CHAPTER I - SACRED BLOOD

CHAPTER I - SACRED BLOOD

May the 4th

Year 611

9:03 AM 

 Tora awoke to the distant singing of the birds. He sat up, slowly getting out of his blanket to grab his book. And without making a sound, he heads back to bed with his blanket covering him,with little light shining through a small gap. 

Tora mumbled to himself about how much he liked the book genre, a post-apocalyptic story. The chapter he was reading was called the "Watcher". As he was reaching the turning point of the book, a noise could be heard from outside his bedroom door. 

Someone was approaching closer with big heavy steps, he knew only two people in the house, and one of them always walked with heavy steps, and so he guessed it was his twin brother Raion. 

In the next moment the door swung wide open, surprising Tora to see his grandpa Akira to be the one to open the door. "Rise n' shine! Time to wake up and shine like the stars!" Akira crossed his arms seeing a silhouette of a book behind the blanket and walked closer without making a single noise. 

He then flung the blanket upwards and grabbed Tora up and onto his shoulder with a big smile. "Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey!" Tora grunted and frowned with disappointment seeing that he might not be able do his morning reading today.

Akira then walked over to Raion, sitting outside in the morning dew training with his leg crossed in a deep thought, Akira knew this boy was sleeping while pretending to be serious while training. Akira jolted Raion by tickling the side of his stomach. Raion giggled with a big smile, guessing he was busted. Then Akira carried Raion and continued to hold both of his grandchildren back into the cabin and sat them down in their wooden chairs. 

Akira presented the two of them with bowls of steaming hot ramen noodles, with fishcake, fishball, fish tofu, and lastly grabs and deep lasting broth. Tora immediately dug in, yelping in pain as he burned his tongue on contact. 

"Ha-ha, that's what you get." Raion teased as he blew on his noodles.

His eight year old twin brother, Tora, ignored him and continued to eat as quickly as he wanted, continuing to burn himself as he ate. 

After a moment or two Tora began slurping as loud as possible to annoy his brother. 

 Raion shot Tora with a glance of bother. "Do you have to eat so loudly?" 

Tora smirked at his brother for a second.

"Done." 

He roughly sat his bowl into the sink and charged straight to the front door. 

But before he could leave, Akira told him to not slam the door on the way out.

 Akira smiles with amusement with how the day is going with his grandchildren and decides to add a bit of spice to his meal.

In the next moment Akira heard a loud slam. 

Tora's heart dropped at the sound of the door slamming shut. "Whoops…" He nervously reopened the door and turned towards his grandpa, who eyed him sternly

"Go tell Raion he should be with you." Was the first thing that came out of Akira's mouth. 

Tora sighed out of relief. "But he never wants to come." 

The grandpa called for Raion to come out.

Raion approached the doorway, an annoyed expression on his face. "What?" 

"Go with your brother into the woods." 

Raion sighed, and was about to complain. "But-"

Akira gave him that look every child knows.

"Yes sir." 

He turned around, but Tora had already been gone. 

Tora had already sprinted into the opposite direction, which was the woods. Raion sighed, as he began following behind. He walked until out of sight from the cabin, and then went in a different direction. 

As Tora was running away, he heard his grandpa shout, "stay on the path!" 

Tora turned his head, still running away.

Akira put his finger against his nose bridge with a sigh, "Kids…" 

He decided to head back inside the medium-sized two story cabin that he built years ago. All the while, Tora slowed his sprint into a slow-paced walk. The sound of flapping entered his ears, as he looked up to see a dark crow flying circles above his head, swooping lower and lower by the second. Finally the Crow landed in front of Tora, flapping its wings as it cawed. 

"Tora! How have you been?" The crow asked in a male voice. Tora plopped down onto a knee, reaching out to pet the crow. "Mister Crow!" The bird pecked at his hand playfully. "Hey, stop that!" Tora giggled, before standing back up to his feet.

"What do you want to play today?" Tora asked. "I think you should try hanging out with the kids next door. You know they are Akira's kids too," The crow said. Tora got quiet, as he looked down in thought.

There was only one house nearby, as every other house was in Aurora City across the river. 

"But Mister Crow, They never want to play, Not Tamashi." 

"Then ask Nola. She seems friendly." The crow rebutted. "But I tried that before, Tamashi doesn't trust me enough to play with her." 

"Alright, then.." The crow said, giving up on the idea. Tora reached down, scooping up the bird and placing it on his shoulder. The two continued walking through the woods, discussing what to do on this day. 

"I Wanna play hide and seek!" Tora said aloud.

"Why not tag?" The crow replied. 

Tora cocked his head in disagreement. 

"We should not play hide and seek, because you could get hurt. This forest is far too dangerous for you to be hiding alone out here."

But Tora insisted. 

"Please~ Let's play hide and seek! It's my favorite~!" 

The crow hesitated, before finally giving in. 

"Fine. Have it your way."

"Okay! you're it!"

Before the crow could retaliate, Tora ran off, forcing the bird off of his shoulder.

With a sigh, he shut his eyes and began the countdown.

.

.

.

**Huff**

**Huff**

Tora huffed and puffed as he lost his breath. He had run far away from the bird, putting him even further from home. "Okay, there's no way he'll find me now!"

Tora stood there next to the tree and waited for a few minutes, before realizing that his hiding spot was a bad one.

He glanced left and right, searching for a new spot to hide.

There was a large bush on the right, and he decided to go sit behind it.

"Now he really won't find me thi-" 

"There you are." 

Cutting off his sentence was the crow, now sitting behind him. 

"W-What!?" Tora jumped back, tripping on himself and falling onto his back. "Ouch!!" 

"That's what I meant. Next time, you should listen." The crow spoke, landing beside Tora once again. "You cheated!! Cheater!" 

Ignoring his remark, the crow said, "Now it's my turn to hide, Count." 

Before he could fly out of sight, Tora called out to him. "Wait, don't hide in the trees!!" 

But the bird was far gone. 

So Tora just began the countdown.

"One….Two….Three...Four…"

He resumed his counting, pausing when he reached nine.

"Ten! Ready or not- Here I come!!" 

 He stretched his legs, before charging straight through the forest.

"I'll find you!!" He shouted. 

He ran and ran for twenty minutes or so, stopping to catch his breath every thirty seconds. "Where are you!?!" He shouted, huffing.

…

No Response. 

He sighed, dropping his shoulders, before sluggishly walking through the forest. 

He was unaware of how much time had passed, but it was turning dark at this point.

"I Quit!" 

He said, as he plopped down against a tree. He sat there, watching the sky as it grew darker with time. 

Another five minutes passed.

"Mr.Crow..?" 

As he grew lonely, he also grew sad. "I Want to go home…" 

He stood to his feet, looking left and right, before realizing that he was lost. "Grandpa always said, 'Follow the darker side of the path'..." 

But the thing is, it was nowhere to be seen

He whimpered, before sitting back down, burying his face in his arms. 

He glanced up some time later, and the forest was nearly pitch black. Time was passing by very quickly.

"Mr. Crow!! Where are you! Please-" 

His voice caught in his throat when he heard a low growl from behind him.

He quickly turned around, glaring directly into the woods. 

"What was that..?" 

He thought to himself, slowly backing away.

The growl continued, before a dark, dog-like figure leaped out of the woods towards him, roaring like a wild beast.

Tora shrieked, rolling out of the way before quickly backing away. He stopped to analyze the figure. 

Giving him no time, It leaped again, as its eyes glowed a low red. 

He broke into a sprint the opposite direction, mustering every single bit of strength he could. 

Just as he thought he was getting away, The beast landed right in front of him, forcing him to run the opposite direction once again. 

"...I-It's too fast...!!" He thought, as he continued to sprint away. 

The creature let out another roar, before leaping at Tora . "It won't let me think..!" He barely managed to dodge, as the beast's claws tore through the wind, making contact with his shoulder. It could have been much worse. Tora yelped, grabbing his shoulder as he dropped to the ground. He began crawling the opposite direction as the creature licked its jaws, taunting him with the way it slowly approached him.

"W-What should I do…!?" Before the beast could attack, it suddenly stopped, as it raised its head to the sky.

It began sniffing, as if smelling something strange. Tora sat up, filled with confusion as he watched, but also wincing at the pain. "Stay away from my grandson!" 

"Grandpa!!" Tora shouted as his soul was filled with relief.

"Stay back!" He shouted, raising his old, rusty katana. The beast roared, now focusing on him. It charged at him.

"Grandpa, move!!" 

Akira smirked, and in a quick flash, he sheathed his Katana, and leaped into the air, raising a dagger and burrowing it deep into the creature's stomach. 

It roared in pain.

Before it could react, he pulled out another Dagger, leaping over the monster, stabbing it through it's eye whilst mid-air, pulling it towards the ground.

The creature retaliated, but he forced it into the ground, stabbing through its skull.

Tora watched, a sad feeling filling his gut.

"Oi, you alright?" 

Tora glanced up to see Akira, reaching out to him. 

There was small hesitation, before he continued. "Grandpa!" He jumped up to wrap his arms around him, but his left one was numb, so only one arm actually moved. 

Akira came prepared, immediately tending to his wound. "Where did Raion go?" 

Tora sniffled, without responding

Before Akira could make another move, The beast growled, tearing the dagger out of its skull. Blood poured from its head as it howled into the black skies. "G-Grandpa, wait! I think it's scared of us!" 

"Get back! Now!" Akira said, seeming to not have heard what Tora said. Tora looked down, the sad feeling in his stomach intensifying. 

Meanwhile, the Creature lunged at Akira with open jaws. 

Akira drew his Katana, and took a defensive stance.

As the wolf attempted to bite at him, he plunged his foot towards its snout, knocking it back. It bounced back, swinging its claws.

Akira quickly raised his blade, grunting as the beast's claws collided with it. 

It roared again, as it raised its other paw, and swiped at Akira.

Akira pulled his sword back, and raised his arms, blocking the attack, but also getting pushed back in the process. "Damn it… If only I never used Zenith at that time…" The creature pounced at him once again, and he expected it. 

Grunting, He kicked the monster away to create distance, before Slashing downwards.

The trees and bushes around began to dance as the wind materialized sharp gusts of wind into dangerous blades that hit the beast, cutting clean through its flesh. It screeched as it fell backwards onto its side, seemingly dead. 

The Crow appeared once again, landing in front of Tora .

"Tora ! There you are! I was worried sick!" 

"Crowley, Get him out of here!" Akira shouted. 

Before anyone could respond, a loud growl was heard as the beast leaped over Akira, going straight for Tora .

"Look out!!" He shouted…

At this very moment, Tora saw the crow jump up, taking the blow.

The beast flew back, tumbling into a tree, as if it were repelled by an invisible force.

Akira gritted his teeth, frustrated. The crow dropped to the floor, a large gash in its chest revealing red, gushy insides. 

Tora dropped to his knees, as tears welled in his eyes. 

"M-Mister… Crow..!!" 

His voice shook as each word squished out of his mouth. He began to tremble, as the life of his best friend was at stake. 

"Tora , Run! Last time I'm telling you!" Akira shouted. 

The Demonic creature raised itself to its feet once again, preparing to strike. "Mister Crow, what can I do to help you!? Is there any way to save you?" 

…

..

.

Silence. 

Mr.Crow was dead. Dead for good. 

Tora's vision blurred for a second as the tears that had welled up were now streaming down his cheeks.

"Tora!" 

Akira and Tora both glanced back and forth, confused. "Who was that?" Akira said aloud. "Wait, it can't be…" 

Tora turned back towards the Crow's corpse, to see…

There was a man sitting there, exactly where Mr. Crow was. The man was like a shadow, completely black. "C-Crowley!?" Akira exclaimed, shocked. 

"Not quite. I'm a spirit." Tora's eyes widened. "So you're still here!" 

From behind them, the beast howled furiously, signaling that it was now up once again. 

It turned towards them, and began taking slow, menacing steps. 

Then it stopped, along with everything else around it. 

The howling of the wind had stopped. The trees no longer danced around them. Tora glanced towards Akira, and he was frozen too. 

The shadow stood up to its feet, as it turned towards Tora . "You have a lot of potential, you know that?" 

"What… What do you mean?" Tora asked, raising an eyebrow as he wiped his face using his hands. Suddenly, The Shadow reached out to Tora , before placing his hand on Tora 's forehead. "You'll see." 

Tora 's eyes widened, as his mind went blank in that one instant. 

He blinked twice, startled. 

"Move!" Tora looked to Akira again to see him rushing past him. 

Tora looked back to the left, to see Akira and the wild beast lunging at each other.

He watched in extreme detail as the beast leaped at Akira, swiping at his torso.

The old man acted quickly. Leaping out of the way, then jabbing the previous dagger into its stomach. This time, it wasn't stunned, and it swiped back, knocking Akira back against a tree.

 The beast quickly charged at him, ramming at his stomach. He grunted, before spitting up blood as he flew through the tree, before hitting another and crashing to the ground. He grabbed his Katana and quickly hopped up as the wolf-like creature attacked, avoiding death. He then drew his Katana, before slashing multiple times without end. The creature shrieked in pain, the loudness of the sound snapping Tora out of his trance. 

Immediately he was hit with an intense wave of nausea. 

"Ugh… I feel sick…" 

Every noise began to fade in his mind as the world warped into a distorted version of what it should be. 

He blinked once, and the crow's corpse suddenly vanished. 

He felt a sharp pain as the world around him flashed between black-and-white….

"G-Grandpa…!!!" 

He shouted his name as he began screaming so loudly that it became a continuing shriek. It felt as though he was burning alive in the flames of hell. 

His vision flashes white, then black, then white, then black again. It felt as though his insides were tearing themselves out.

As if something was tearing him apart, killing him again and again. A Feeling worse than death.

Akira pinned the beast to a tree with his weapon, before rushing to Tora . 

A white, electric-like aura surged around Tora as he howled in pain.

He foamed at the mouth, and shook violently. 

The clouds above began to gather and darken as black lightning danced around the skies.

An intense wind slapped Akira in the face, as the sound of shuffling leaves filled the atmosphere.

The wild beast noticed, and quickly freed itself.

It let out a loud, aggressive growl as it leaped at Tora .

Akira quickly jumped to action, shouting as he landed an upward kick into the beast's abdominal area, completing his skill, 'Rising Flow'. It was flung backwards again as a transparent wave reverberated through the sky. 

It landed back into the mud with a sickening splat.

Once he was sure it was down, he rushed to Tora , putting his hands on his shoulders. "Hey..! Hey!"

Tora did not respond, and continued trembling. 

"Ouch!" 

Akira jumped back. One of the sparks of lightning had zapped him, leaving his hand red.

**BANG!**

The sky flickered white as a storm of rain arrived.

The raindrops were heavy, and quickly drenched his clothes. 

**BOOM!** 

Looking up just in time, 

Lightning struck somewhere far away, but something was off about it…

The lightning was black.

A Pillar of light fired from the sky, striking Tora .

An explosion was formed, blowing everything away.

Akira crashed into the mud, landing on his face.

Akira rose to his feet, stumbling. 

He surveyed the surroundings, squinting as he searched for his weapons.

The beast lay on the opposite side, and appeared to be getting up as well.

Tora was floating mid-air, as Black, White and violet lightning zapped violently around him. That specific part of the forest was destroyed; resembling a barren wasteland. 

Akira took a step forward, nearly slipping on the recently-made muddy ground. 

The beast let out a low growl, as it stood once again, this time no longer on all fours. It was now standing on its hind legs, making it look taller. It grew into a… "humanoid" shape. "What is this thing…?" Akira questioned himself. 

He was interrupted when a sharp wind slapped him in the face. 

Akira raised an arm, covering his face. Now everything was calm…The rain slowed down to a steady pace, while the thunder stopped completely. Now it was these three, in the middle of a destroyed forest.

The beast vanished in the blink of an eye, appearing in front of Akira.

"What the fu-" He was cut off when it slammed it's fist into his jaw, tossing him upward. Before he could fly away, The beast grabbed his ankle, tossing him back towards the ground. Akira tried to get to his feet, but the beast stomped on him. As he flew upward from the impact, The beast grabbed him by his robes, before tossing him towards Tora 's lifeless body. 

He slammed onto the ground, rolling towards him. "That damned thing caught me off guard…" He coughed, as he struggled to catch his breath. He looked up at Tora who lay there in the mud, his white sweater covered in brown stains. "Tora !" 

…. 

Steam enveloped his entire body, like freshly cooked food exiting an oven. He was in a peaceful sleep, the literal complete opposite of the state he was just in. Akira scrambled to his feet and towards Tora . "Wake up-!" Akira said through gritted teeth, making one final attempt to awaken Tora . 

Nothing.

"I'll have to find another way around this." He said to himself under his breath.

Before he could grab Tora , a loud footstep caused him to turn around.

He watched as the monster approached. A look of anger spread across Akira's face with every passing second as he slowly raised his fist. 

"You're pissin' me off…" The wolf continued to walk, slowly speeding up.

Just as it was about to attack, Akira took a step back, shutting his eyes. 

He thrusted forward, propelling his hand into the Creature's gut using the skill, 'Repulsive Echo'. It coughed, slumping over, before dropping onto its knees as vibrations ricocheted through the air. Before it could react, Akira Leaped into the air, before swinging his opposite arm downward, completing the skill 'Flying Thunder Strike'. He crushed his hand onto the beast's head, which created an electrical shock that reverberated through its entire body. It dropped over, now unconscious… Or so he thought.

He looked down on it for a few more seconds, before turning away. 

"This thing has no Anima Signature…. I can't tell if it's down or not." 

"Agh-!" Akira stumbled, nearly falling. His arms had begun to sting. "I gotta be more careful, It's been a few years since I've last used the Translucent Fist Style." He began walking towards Tora , but then...

Akira was suddenly lifted from behind by a very obvious force…

The Wolf. "Annoying mutt..!" He attempted to free himself, but instead was slammed into the mud. A toothy, sinister grin appeared across the Wolf-Man's face at the sight of Akira's pain. At this point, it was more man than animal. Fur no longer coated its body. 

.

.

.

Tora's eyes slowly slid open, as he steadily stood up to his feet.

A stern expression crossed his face as he looked upon the sight before him.

The beast crushed Akira into the ground with his fist. Akira yelped as a cracking sound erupted from his back. Tora frowned in disappointment, as he took one step, and then… vanished. 

In the very same instant, he reappeared in front of the wolf. 

He lifted his hand, as black and white lightning sparkled all around it. 

Tora placed his hand on the wolf's torso, as a burst of electricity erupted on contact that caused the beast to scream out of pain. 

It jumped back, before whimpering out of fear..

Tora watched silently as it squirmed in agony. 

He leaped at the beast, appearing extremely fast, before landing a thunderous punch to its stomach. It yelped as it was thrown backwards, smashing through multiple trees before finally crashing to the mud. 

Tora reached out towards the wolf, and as he did so, the beast was pulled back towards him in an instant. He then grabbed it by the head, sparkles of black and white electricity shocking the wolf continuously until its arms hung limply by its sides. Without another word being said, Tora tossed the beast aside. 

 "I Don't have much time..." Tora thought to himself as he dropped to his knees. Lifting himself up, He stumbled over to Akira, before lifting the man onto his back. He turned around to see that the wolf was nowhere to be seen. "What..?" 

But without saying another word, he decided to head back towards the cabin. 

END