In the same forest, a twelve-year-old boy ran through the trees with fear carving deep into his face, wounds burned across his body. His breath tearing in and out of his lungs as branches clawed at him while he fled without slowing.
And just as he burst out of the woods, he stopped so abruptly that his body lurched forward, boots skidding against loose soil.
There was a cliff before him.
The ground fell away nearly fifty feet ahead, dropping into a dense, shadowed forest below. Darkness crawled between the trees, alive with abyss creatures and possessed animals, their presence thick and waiting.
The boy scanned his surroundings in panic and realized there was nowhere left to run and in the same moment a running footsteps reached him from behind making the boy's heart beating faster than ever.
Six figures burst out of the shadows at once.
They were thieves clad in red and black stepped into the open, swords already in their hands, steel catching the dim light as cruel laughter rolled outward. They did not rush instead gently spread and began walking at the boy, boots crunching closer, bodies shifting with intent.
The space around the boy began to close in quickly.
Terror seized the boy as he staggered backward before losing his footing and falling to the ground, scrambling away on his hands.
One of the thieves lunged forward and swung his blade at the boy in a swift, ruthless arc, causing the boy to squeeze his eyes shut.
But the strike got stopped in midair, by another thief gripping the attacker's wrist and freezing the blade inches from its mark.
The thief who stopped the attack smirked before saying, "Why should we give him death?... This brat made us chase him. Let's give him something worse than death."
He turned toward the cliff.
"Throw him into the forest below. No one comes back from that place."
Laughter answered him.
Before the boy could even react, a rough hand seized his arm and began to drag him toward the edge. The boy began to fight back desperately, nails scraping, legs kicking, but it meant nothing. Their grip was iron.
With a final shove, the thief sent him over the edge, sending the boy plunging downward. The forest rushed up to swallow him. Terror crushed his chest as he squeezed his eyes shut, tears tearing free while the wind screamed past his ears.
Then suddenly something caught him.
A firm grip locked around his body, stopping
the fall in a violent jolt. Before the boy could process what's happening, he was being pulled upward, fast and relentless, the air rushing the other way now.
Cruel laughter reached the boy's ear once again, echoing above him.
Then, abruptly, the upward motion stopped. At the same moment, the laughter cut off.
"Who the hell are you?" one of the thieves shouted.
The boy slowly opened his eyes to find out an hooded assassin was holding him securely in his arms. His piercing yellow eyes were staring at the thieves out from behind a ninja mask, cold and unreadable.
A sun-emblazoned armband wrapped tightly around the assassin's bicep, catching the light as he stood there in silence, the boy secured in his grasp.
Carrying an air of confidence the hooded assassin set the boy down on the ground before straightening up and drawing his two gleaming katanas from his back. Once the blades were out, he pointed it at the thieves.
"You should consider yourselves fortunate," the hooded assassin said, his voice cold and unwavering beneath the mask. "For you all will meet your death by the hands of the future King of Sugiyama."
A heavy quick silence envelopes the area at the bold statement by the assassin. The little boy himself appears stunned, when suddenly the thieves burst into laughter.
One of the thieves scoffed, "A king? Who the fuck do you think you are? We'll put an end to you right now!"
The hooded assassin answered only by tilting his head a little, a silent challenge.
The thief snarled, before launching himself at the assassin, blade cutting through the air in a vicious swing.
However, the assassin remained unfazed before stepping aside just in time, causing the blade to miss him by inches.
Shock flashed across the thief's face as he launched into a furious flurry, slashing again and again at the assassin who moved with effortless precision, slipping past every single strike with effortless precision.
Between the dodging, the hooded assassin remarked.
"Impressive! You're certainly brave and fast… But not fast enough,"
The assassin stepped in close and, in a one single sharp rising motion, he swept his blade up and slashes clean through the thief's arms as flesh and bone split apart in one brutal arc. The severed limb with the sword still clenched in its hand, dropped to the ground with a wet thud.
A scream ripped from the thief's throat, raw and unfiltered, as blood burst from the stump and splattered across the dirt, but before the scream could fully escape him, the hooded assassin thrust his blade straight into the thief's open mouth. Steel tore through teeth, flesh, and bone, driving clean through his skull and bursting out the back of his head.
The scream died instantly.
The assassin pulled his sword free, making the thief's lifeless body crumpled to the ground, hitting the dirt with a finality.
looking up at the remaining thieves, the hooded assassin remarked, "I have a headache today, so please refrain from screaming."
For a heartbeat, disbelief froze them. Then rage took over. Four of them charged at once.
The assassin smiled and in what felt like an instant, all four were decapitated. Headless bodies collapsed where they stood, blood spilling as their weight hit the ground. The assassin remained upright, untouched, casually rolling his shoulders as if loosening stiff muscles.
The hooded assassin then cast a brief glance up at the sky, "What a splendid day, and my blades have been graced with blood. Truly, a fulfilling day."
He then turned his attention to the lone remaining thief. The man was shaking, fear tearing through his body as he stood frozen under the assassin's gaze.
The hooded assassin began walking toward him, before almost casually, he asked, "Hey. Do you have anything to eat? I'm feeling a bit hungry."
The question broke what little courage the thief had, as he turned around and began to run away causing the assassin to stop in his walk.
"I simply asked for food and you ran! Do you really think you could run away from me?"
The assassin slid his right foot backwards and threw one of his katana at the thief.
The blade spun through the air and struck the thief's leg with brutal force, piercing straight through and pinning him to the ground. A scream ripped from the man as he collapsed, pain tearing through his body.
The hooded assassin approached the thief with an unhurried pace and wrenched the blade out from his leg before raising it again, stopping just short of the thief's throat.
"Acknowledge me as your king and I will spare your life." The assassin said coldly,
The thief collapsed at his feet, terror breaking him, as he clutched the assassin's leg and begged desperately, words spilling over one another.
"You are the king of kings, my lord. No one is stronger than you. No one can rival you. Please… Your Majesty… forgive me."
Silence followed. The thief's voice falters, before he hesitantly looks up.
Tears were glistening in the assassin's eyes as he simply stood there, staring down at the thief clutching his leg.
"Remarkable," the assassin said quietly. "That was brilliant."
Hope flickered across the thief's face. He forced a trembling smile. "May I leave now, Your Majesty?" he asked.
The assassin raised his sword up high.
"Kidding,"
He said coldly before swinging his blade in one sharp, merciless arc, splitting the thief's face in two.
The thief's body collapsed at his feet, while the assassin stood alone once more, blade steady and bloodied, expression empty.
The assassin snapped his blade through the empty air, a sharp swing that flung the blood away. He then turned and began walking toward the boy, sheathing the katana mid-step as if the violence behind him no longer mattered.
He stopped in front of the child and lowered himself, kneeling.
"Are you alright, little one?" he asked.
The boy recoiled in terror, scrambling backward on his hands, his voice cracking as he cried out and called him a monster.
The hooded assassin let out a quiet chuckle. "No, no," he said calmly. "I'm not a monster. I'm human, an assassin. And I'm here to protect you, kid."
The words did nothing to ease the boy's fear who quickly snatched up a small stone and tossed it at him striking squarely on the assassin's head. The stone dropped to the ground, leaving no mark, no reaction, not even a flinch from the assassin, who only watched the boy in silence and confusion.
"You're a monster!" the boy shouted, his voice sharp with terror.
The hooded assassin chuckled again before slowly, he reached up and pulled back his hood, then lowered his ninja mask.
An eighteen-year-old boy was revealed, black hair falling loosely around a calm, youthful face.
"You see," he said evenly, "I'm human. Just like you." His gaze softened only slightly as he added, "I'm Kageru Minamoto. An assassin. And I'm here to protect you."
He extended a hand toward the trembling child. "Come on little one, time to go home."
The boy slapped Kageru's hand away and fled, calling him a human-like monster.
Kageru remained where he was, watching the small figure running towards the forest, fading into distance.
"Well, well, well…" he murmured quietly. "What an odd child."