Prologue
< "Everything in this world is created so that something exists to oppose it. Like dark opposes light, Cold opposes heat and death opposes life. So certainly where there is joy and hope, there is also anguish and despair. This cycle of life has pursued us for centuries and will continue to pursue until it is broken,
"It all started with just a pair of pure darkness and pure virtue. There, two paths were created. A choice was given and the will to act on it. One can only move in a direction at a time and changing that direction changes the
destination." >
"Father, why are the rest of the pages of this book torn out?" asked a young boy with spiky orange hair and black pupils. He was wearing a full sleeved pale orange skin tight shirt and mildly loose black trousers.
"Where did you get that? Put it back! Damn it Hoshi! These books aren't for you to read!" a tall man with linear scars running perpendicular to both his eyes scolded. He was wearing similar but darker clothes as the boy.
"Why? What's there to hide? I don't understand these anyways," Hoshi timidly asked.
"Nothing you should care about. I told you to never question these things. Now do as I asked!" the man scolded.
"I'm sorry father." Hoshi apologized while putting the book back in a cabinet nearby which was crammed full of either burned up or thrashed books.
"I am going out, don't go out in my absence," the man ordered.
"Why father? Why don't you let me?" Hoshi questioned.
"What have we discussed? Only in my shadow! Nobody is yet ready for you," the stern man answered.
"Is there something wrong with me father?" Hoshi stressed.
"I said no questions! Just do as I say!" the man yelled.
"Yes... father," Hoshi stuttered.
The man wore a large red cape with a star shaped symbol on the front and the left. silence escalated in the fairly large but dark room with minimal furniture. Sorrowed by his father's mood, Hoshi shed a few tears and ran to his room. The room was quite spacious as it lacked any furniture at all. All It had was a mattress, a blanket, a lamp and a small stand with a yellow tinted grey scarf hanging.
Hoshi threw himself on his mattress and tried desperately to sleep but a peculiar feeling kept him awake. "What's this intensity? As if someone really evil is watching me constantly. Should I go there? But my father will be enraged. No, he will never find out. He always leave for a long time and I will be back before his return."
Outside the small settlement Hoshi lived, there was a large rocky mountain on which he used to climb up and enjoy the fresh air. There, he used to observe the locals from above as he was forbidden to meet them face to face. Hoshi jumped out a single small window in his room and silently headed east from his wooden cottage with a hay roof. It was night time and most people were asleep so it was trivial for Hoshi to arrive at the base of his favourite mountain. His athletic skills were exceptional as he swiftly climbed the mountain with ease. Once at the summit, he took a long deep breath and sat down to enjoy a vast, hilly view with a mosaic of wooden houses surrounded by faint, orange grassy fields.
Suddenly he felt something moving insanely quick behind him and urgently got up to investigate. "What was that?"
He saw nothing and reassured himself, "probably just my mind."
< "What is your purpose?" >
An old voice gently vibrated in Hoshi's ears as he astonishingly swung his head around.
"What!? Who are you!?" Hoshi still saw nothing but a lush forest at the opposite end of the summit.
Upon serious inspection, he saw a faint glow traveling through the long, dry leafed trees. He rubbed his eyes but the glow didn't vanish, so he proceeded towards the forest and heard yet another phrase in an old gentle voice.
< "Follow your heart." >
As Hoshi continued to walk through a narrow pathway between the trees, the glow from earlier got brighter. Additionally, he heard all sorts of bizarre sounds like swords clashing, war sirens, blood splattering and loud screaming. He started to shiver in fear and decided to head back.
< "Over here." >
A familiar voice came from the left.
"Father?" Hoshi rushed towards the voice.
The forest suddenly cleared up and the sight at the end wasn't his father. Instead, he saw a huge crater in the ground with pieces of ripped fabric stained with blood everywhere.
"What is this?" Hoshi couldn't comprehend the strange scenery and started shaking.
< "You were just a child earlier, but now you will finally have a chance to sever the bond." >
The old man's voice faded in as Hoshi's eyes halted at a small piece of paper covered in red aura.
After picking it up, Hoshi smelled a bitter aroma in the air. "What's this smell? I feel dizzy."
Hoshi fainted by the smell and everything around him became white.
After some time he woke up in his house.
"What happened?" Hoshi swiftly got off his bed.
He heard an unpleasant crackling sound from the outside.
"Fire?" Hoshi went outside and saw his father burning his books. "What are you doing? Aren't those important?" Hoshi abruptly asked.
"Oh you're awake. These? No. It was getting cold so I made some fire," the addressed man replied.
"Are you not mad?" Hoshi muttered.
"Why would I be?" The man was acting calmer than before.
"I left the house and you found me outside," Hoshi admitted.
"No I didn't. You were sleeping here all along," his father replied.
"What?" Shook Hoshi.
"Something wrong?" his father asked calmly.
"...." Hoshi stood there in silence and felt something crinkling in his hand.
He made haste back at his room and unfolded the piece of paper stuck to his hand. "I picked this up from the forest, that means all of that wasn't a dream. What the hell is going on?"
There was a single sentence written on the paper with red ink.
< "Thou were plucked from the ground to fulfill thine ambition, Soon thy garth shall be
revealed." >
Hoshi couldn't comprehend a single word as he scratched his head in confusion.
"Get some sleep! We are going to train tomorrow at the lake!" his father ordered.
After hearing this, Hoshi got excited and instantly went to bed while throwing the paper away. The paper, upon touching the ground, faded away as red ashes.
The next day, just before Hoshi and his father were about to head out, he decided to tell his father about what happened last night honestly. To his surprise his father didn't react harshly at all and instead, calmly encouraged him.
"Are you alright father?" Hoshi asked with uncertainty.
"Come here son. I have been harsh on you since your birth for this exact reason. So that you can become something more than just my shadow." Hoshi was hugged by his father. "It's time. Come with me, let's train. Together."
"Yes father." Hoshi smiled and the two set off early in the day before the majority woke up.
From that day on, he never climbed that mountain alone again. Something changed his father's behaviour towards Hoshi, what could that possibly be?
Two years passed and another chapter commences. Now, where will the tide take Hoshi? What was that sight he saw? Why did his father change? Who is he meant to be?