The Innocent Outcast

Far, far away, in a galaxy located deep in the darkness of "The Celestial Realm" our story begins with a youngling, a boy Far, far away, in a galaxy located deep in the darkness of "The Celestial Realm" our story begins with a youngling, a boy whose life shall change forever, but potentially ever more importantly with another, one that many described as a strange, troubled little girl. War continues to rage on throughout the galaxy just as it had for countless eons before. The Daku(Dark) had become relentless in their pursuit of power, some nearing savage. The Raito(Light) had solidified their resolve to protect others from the savagery of the Daku. Scattered amongst them far and wide, the Chusei live their lives refusing to choose sides in the war believing nature shall rule over all in the end.

Since she was a child Thea always understood that while already being amongst what many other realms would consider extraordinary, a galaxy that thrived off of peoples strengths, skills, and abilities, she was different from other children, she was different from other people. While she did not tell many others, Thea felt it in her spirit. She often had holes in her memory and lost time she could not account for. She would occasionally wake from her slumbers astounded by her whereabouts and even on what day it was and she could always feel a dark presence for a short time after she woke.

Thea was always a gentle and loving girl. She had a strong sense of curiosity but it was always fueled by a good heart and good intentions. Nonetheless, Thea was usually seen as an outcast. Having spent months traveling, passing through numerous villages and tribes she had always been seen as an exile, someone who did not belong. But she always tried her best not to let this bother her. She just assumed it was because people thought she was crazy or mentally ill because of her "best friend" or had just finally lost her mind along with her brother, Koraki. Most of the time Thea paid them no mind, she knew she was not crazy. She knew while she may be different,there was nothing wrong with her. She knew the voice she heard in her mind, the boy she saw, was not her own nor was it one of her creation. She knew Kenshouu did not come from her imagination, no matter how wild it could get at times.

His beautiful sorrow filled voice had come to her on the night of "The Night of The Blackened Moon." She had been laid out in the open fields staring at the moon, her only other friend beside Kenshouu, her pet jackal,Anuubis just beside her licking his paws. She gazed up at the beautiful moonlit sky. As she stroked Anuubis' head over and over she stared on and on becoming mesmerized by the rays of light reflecting off the moon as they passed through tall tress reflecting off the surface of the little lake near the bottom of the hill she sat upon. She watched on and on for hours, taking in its beauty and elegance as if it could be nurturing her very being. Most of the world had become dark and distant in her mind as she sat in tranquility. Until the moons surface began to shift and change. It began so suddenly, so slowly, she thought it was her mind playing tricks on her until the changes slowly hastened. The surface began to darken until it turned a dark and rough pitch black only disturbed by the blood red. It was as if the surface had just rotted, giving it the appearance of magma cracking across its surface to reveal the scorching heated hell from below.

She continued to gaze upon the moon until suddenly, like glass shattering she felt a slight shift in her consciousness. Anuubis propped his head up in surprise as he himself felt her consciousness shift, adding something more. Seconds later she began to hear the deafening screams of a boy's pained voice.

"WHY?! WHY?! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?! WHO WOULD DO THIS?," He exclaimed.

As she listened to the pain in his voice Thea's heart began to weigh heavy on her. It felt as if her heart had dropped to the bottom of her stomach. She didn't know how or why but she felt the enormous pain and sadness from this strange boy's consciousness that even still was rapidly growing deeper and stronger, burrowing its roots into the depths of his heart. As Thea closed her eyes listening to the boy's cry and whimpers of pain, tears began flowing from her eyes like a faucet as it reminded her of her loss and in her heart she empathized with the boy in the pain. She allowed herself to focus and feel the boy's pain and agony entirely. As she focused on his pain images began to flash inside her mind. Startled at this discovery, Thea jumped in surprise before allowing next images to follow flashing brightly into her mind, Anuubis to leap to his toes defensively ready to protect her.

She saw a young boy, his skin a light gray and no older than 8 or 9. He knelt inside a wide hallway of what Thea only assumed was the largest sized paper furnished home she had ever seen. Barely more than a dozen feet from the front door the boy knelt on his knees clutching some sort of medallion to his chest. Blood covered the walls, paper or not, the table stands, portraits, and all other decorations. It even dripped from the ceiling. Pieces of bone and flesh had been thrown all around leaving massive puddles of blood to spread across the floor to grow along with the blood that dripped down the walls and parts of the ceiling.

Thea gazed upon the horrific scene as if she were standing in the doorway herself. She wondered just how many people had been there to cause so much bloodshed. She focused more, becoming consumed in the scene of agony from the boy's consciousness. She felt his pain, his agony, his sorrow. But then to her surprise she felt an enormous wave of loneliness grow inside him turning into a searing and blistering rage. As his anger grew and began to consume his mind black smoke with small shimmers of blood red began to protrude from him. First it protruded in slight amounts from his mouth that now displayed fanged teeth, then it began to come out of the corners of eyes that were now becoming blood red to cover the blackness of his eyes and the silver of his irises. It began flowing along his body rising higher along his now pointed ears and continuing higher until it dispersed along the ceiling. With his body now cloaked in a thin pitch black cloak outlined in blood red his nails became sharp and his hair grew slightly longer and more wild changing blood red.

The boy knelt farther down curling himself into a ball. For a moment there was silence until the only sound became his heavy labored breathing at a low growl. As he curled up the smoke began collecting around him into an orb building in pressure. The air itself now felt thicker causing Thea and Giza to begin slightly gasping for breaths.

Then with a skyrocketing rage, "KILL! KILL THEM! MUST KILL THEM ALL!" The boy roared in what was now a dark and demonic voice.

As he screamed he stretched out his torso, opening his arms wide, his head now raised toward the ceiling. As he spread his torso out the aura surrounding him condensed before imploded outward with great force it caused Thea to stumble back and sent Giza flying into the corner, covering his fur in the blood that coated their surroundings. The blood that surrounded the boy was blown away from him covering even more of the room and splashing across Theas' clothes. As the smoke blasted away from the boy Thea could now see his eyes almost mirrored the molten moon she had just seen, he had grown enormous pitch black leathery wings with pointed ends and veins visible on their surface that shone a dark blood red, black horns began protruding from his head appearing coated along the tips with blood, his black leathery tail concluded into a matching arrowhead shape and theme. The boys nails had become pointed and sharp. His ears were now pointed, the sclera of his eyes were now blood red and his pupils pitch black.

Thea was petrified at what she saw. Giza was growling and shaking ferociously. Thea felt her knees nearly buckle beneath her. Her stomach felt as if it had turned upside down. Every inch of her body told her she should run until her legs gave out from exhaustion yet as she began trying to separate her consciousness to her own body Thea couldn't stand the thought of leaving the boy in such agony. She could feel his pain within her heart as if it were her own. She watched the memories flash through his mind of a woman standing in the doorway behind them calling out "Kenshouu, Ren, ___, where are you," causing the boy to come running around a corner to answer her call followed shortly by two other boys whom Thea did not know but knew, to him, they were important. She understood his anger and all she wanted to do was comfort him. She had no idea how she would, had no idea how she could. She had no idea who the boy was aside from his name. Where she could find him or how she could help him she had no clue. But it was all her gentle heart desired to do as tears continued to flood down her cheeks.

"Oh Kenshouu. You poor poor boy," Thea cried out as she sobbed into the palm of her hands. Tears dripped along her face as she fell onto her knees. Her legs collapsed beneath her like two lead beams as she continued sobbing, crying for Kenshouu and wishing she could find a way to comfort him, take away his pain, his rage, his loneliness. As she knelt crying into her palms she felt a flash of warmth growing in what she now understood to be Kenshouus' consciousness. She heard heavy labored breathing drawing slowly louder and closer. As she took her hands away from her eyes wiping away tears she was surprised and slightly terrified to see Kenshouu walking toward her with one arm outstretched, the pressure of his aura still blazing strong. The smoke-like aura flowed steady like a river as it continued to rise through the air. Theas' heart beat spiked as he drew nearer causing Giza to run in front of Thea growling at Kenshouu. Theas' terror grew tremendously as she began to wonder how Kenshouu even knew she was there. He stopped barely an arms reach away before Giza and fell to his knees, shocking Thea and in turn causing Giza to whimper as he recalled to her side. As he knelt before her the smoke slowly began to calm and evaporate. His wings and horns shrank and withdrew into him. His ears returned to normal, his teeth and nails no longer pointed or fanged. His hair returned to its regular straight pitch black. The red in his eyes faded to reveal his natural eyes. An elegant silver shined in his iris', his pupils and scleras both a deep shade of pitch black.

As he returned to his normal self the darkness in his voice began to fade and he began to speak in his regular voice, though he sounded exhausted, "In the darkness I could hear your voice call to me. Thank you so much. I know somehow you saved me. I am Kenshouu. Please do not be afraid any longer. I could never harm a girl, especially one as beautiful as you."

Theas' cheeks blushed at the sound of him calling her beautiful and with tears still rolling down her face she rose to her feet, calming Giza before moving on her way, she rested her hand on Kenshouus cheek.

"I am Thea." She replied with a smile but as Kenshouu smiled back at her, he passed out from exhaustion, falling sound asleep into Thea's arms.

Thea laid Kenshouu comfortably with his head across her lap as she sat upon the floor. She sat under him brushing his hair with her hands as she watched him sleep. Every now and then Kenshouu would whisper in his sleep. He would call out for his mom. But ever so often, managing to make her blush again, he even whispered out for Thea. However, most of the night he uttered words Thea could not understand. At times his voice would deepen and change back to the demonic tone and smoke would start to flow from him. His ears, nails, and teeth would sometimes grow pointed so each time Thea would pull him closer and stroke his hair talking to him until it calmed him and his changes subsided.

The sunrise now peaked out over the top of the far off mountains and Thea was forcing herself to stay conscious. For a moment she contemplated leaving while Kenshouu slept but she worried about if she would ever actually see him again and if he would change in his sleep. After a few more minutes of debating she called out to him.

"Kenshouu."

But he did not wake or stir a bit. So she tried calling out to him a little louder.

"Kenshouu, wake up please."

This time Kenshouu tossed and rolled over but still he did not wake.

"KENSHOUU!" Thea exclaimed.

Kenshouu thrust himself upright. He tossed his head back and forth searching the room before finally turning around and resting his eyes on Thea. Thea blushed and looked at the ground for a moment.

"You're real," Kenshouu said with a tone of shock.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you, I was trying to call you but you're a heavy sleeper." Thea said with a look of embarrassment on her face.

Kenshouu briefly smirked before replying,

"It's ok don't worry about it. Are you ok?" He asked in a depressed but slightly worried tone.

"Oh I'm fine," Thea replied hastily.

"Did you stay here all night?" Kenshouu questioned, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Yes I did, I thought you might need someone here for you," Thea answered as her cheeks blushed heavily.

"Thank you Thea, I really appreciate it. I don't know how you did it but you really saved me. I could feel the darkness growing stronger until I heard you calling out to me." Kenshouu said as a tear rolled down his cheek and dripped to the floor.

Thea pulled him into a hug wrapping her arms around him.

"Don't thank me Kenshouu, honestly I don't even know how I did it, I'm just glad I could help and bring you back. Whatever that thing was last night, it's terrifying"

Kenshouu wrapped his arms around Thea and slowly began to cry as she held him. A tear rolled down Theas' face, but she didn't say a word; she just sat there and held onto him and allowed him to shed his pain. They laid there in silence for a while as the sun continued to slowly rise higher and higher in the sky.

After a while Thea called out, "Kenshouu."

"Yes, Thea." He answered.

Exhausted Thea looked at Kenshouu and said with worry in her voice, "I'm sorry but I have to go now. I hope I'll get to see you and talk to you again soon."

Kenshouu stood, looked at her, and calmly answered with a smile on his face, "Without a doubt I'm sure you will Thea, thank you again."

Thea smiled and stood up in front of him. As she turned and began walking away she paused for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Kenshouu asked.

Without saying a word Thea turned back to Kenshouu and softly kissed him on the lips before separating her consciousness back to her own body still on top of the hill, that now had a clear view of the bright shining sun. But in the back of her mind Thea could feel a warmth slowly spread throughout Kenshouus' consciousness before she laid in the grass and fell asleep.

When Thea woke the next day the sun was just beginning to shine over the mountain tops. The morning air had a chill to it that sent shivers down her spine. As she sat there watching the sunrise admiring its beauty, Thea realized she had not been back home in nearly two days and for once she was a little happy she had no one at home waiting for her, no one that would be angry or worried at her absence. But in return that's when she began to think of her brother, Koraki. It had been nearly three years since she had last seen him. At times she even had trouble remembering his face, but she could always picture his gigantic smile. She missed watching him train vigorously and while he lacked something essential the elders seeked he possessed more raw talent than she. She missed the way his face lit up as he promised he'd be the greatest to ever enter The Chinokawaki tournament. As she sat there reminiscing, tears slowly beginning to fall down her cheeks, she could feel a nudge in the far depths of her consciousness that reminded her of Kenshouus' presence.

"Sorry, this is going to take some getting used to." Thea said mentally.

"There's no need to apologize Thea. I am here whenever you're ready, just talk to me. Tell me what's wrong, or just show me. I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I could see the little boy who was smiling you were thinking of, i'm sorry I didn't know how to stop it." Kenshouu replied.

"It's ok. His name is Koraki. He was my twin brother." Thea said.

Thea began to think of the days when she and her brother would spend hours together watching the warriors of their village train, imitating all of their actions together slowly getting better. She remembered the way her brother would freak out and frantically apologize any time he got too serious and got the upper hand in their sparring matches and would best her no matter how many times she insisted it was alright. Then she remembered the way he'd push himself twice as hard to congratulate her any time she bested him.

Tears began to flow down her cheeks at a more rapid pace now as she thought of all the nights they'd spent home alone eating dinner together. She thought of how after she would wake from her black outs he was always worried about her, asking a million questions. But sometimes on occasion she would get the feeling he was slightly afraid of her or she had done something to hurt him because he had a habit of keeping his distance from her, never getting within arms reach of her until he knew for sure she was alright. Thea knew he would never tell her even if she had so one afternoon she began keeping an eye on him and trailing him. She noticed he had bruises across his body that she was positive had not been caused during their training that day. After they ate their dinner and Koraki had dismissed himself to prepare for bed, Thea watched him through a crack in the door as he struggled to take off his clothes and even winced as he took the bandages wrapping his body off to take a bath. With grief and guilt filling her heart Thea walked to her room. She sat in the darkness thinking of the pain she knew she had caused her brother and tears began to pour down her face and she quietly sobbed away her pain.

Kenshouu sat in silence for a moment wiping the tears from his face as he felt Thea break down.

"I'm really sorry Thea, but you still don't know for sure those bruises were your fault. But even if they were, we both know you never meant to hurt him and you are not an evil person. I have seen true evil and you are not it... You're beautiful."

It took only seconds for Kenshouu to feel warmth begin to spread and her spirits lift.

"Thank you Kenshouu." Thea said softly as a smile formed on her face as the dream world took hold of her for the night.