Before I begin this story, I'd like to thank my friend Abby, a wonderful Daisuke roleplayer, for reading this and encouraging me to post it. I'm really excited about this idea. It's something I've never tried before and have always wanted to explore. On that note, I hope you all enjoy it! Feedback would be much appreciated.

Summary: Taichi Yagami is a warrior, one who is famous for destroying half of Emperor Hidou's evil army. However, Hidou has tracked him down, killed his parents, and kidnapped his sister. Can he save her with the help of a blonde prince and a red-headed genius? Things quickly turn sour when Taichi discovers his sister isn't the only one in danger, and when a mysterious cloaked fighter has to continually get him out of trouble. Taiora, Mimato. Takari, AU.

"Come on, come on! We're almost there!" A brunette boy ran through the roads, pushing past other villagers. Some were screaming, some were crying, some were searching desperately for lost family members and friends. Others wandered lifelessly around as each and every house burned. The images of blank fear and hopelessness burned themselves into the boy's brain as he dragged his sister along. "Hurry up, come on!"

"But Taichi, I can't run any longer!" she panted, her legs kicking uselessly at the cobblestone below her.

"Hikari don't think like that! We have to keep moving!" Taichi's chest was heaving up and down, he was ready to give up himself, but he couldn't let her see that. He had to be strong for both of them as they ran through the desperate crowds. His hand was wrapped tightly around hers to make sure she didn't get lost or dragged away. No, she couldn't end up like their parents. He couldn't think about that now.

"Here!" He called, dragging her forward as they neared an alleyway. It was small, perhaps only thick enough for a child to fit into. It was dark though, and it would work perfectly. "Get in."

"But Taichi-"

"Quiet!" He squatted down and put both his hands on her shoulders, pulling her close. "Listen to me, you need to hide! I can't let anything happen to you! I can't lose you as well, you understand!"

With tears forming in the corners of her eyes, she nodded vigorously, obeying her brother's word. She held a small stuffed animal, one she'd saved from her house, and pulled it close to her chest.

"Good." He squeezed her shoulders tightly before letting go and standing up. "Now get in there and don't move until I come back, you got that?"

Hikari silently nodded again, a single tear now sliding down her cheek.

"Be strong for me, yeah?"

"Okay.." The girl's voice was shaky and it tore Taichi to shreds. He couldn't put her in danger though. He knew why they were after his family. Taichi Yagami was one of the best warriors in the nation. He was famous around his parts for his great swordsmanship. For years, he'd used his skill to fight the evil empire, but they were finally hitting him where it hurt: his village. They'd found him.

Taichi took one last look at his sister before turning around and running off. She'd be safe in the alley; no one would even think to look there. Now, he just needed to get back to his house before the entire thing burned to the ground.

As he ran through the crowded roads, he had to push past screaming children and lost mothers. He had to run by piles of burnt wood that used to be elegant houses. He had to pass the school where he'd learned to fight, the school that no longer stood. Taichi gritted his teeth and ran faster, all of this was his fault. They'd come looking for him, and now everyone was in danger.

Taichi reached his house and looked up at it- the entire thing was on fire. The roof was beginning to cave in, but he had to risk it. He grunted loudly as he used his shoulder to break through the door, stumbling into a dark, smoky room. Flames jumped out at him from the walls and made his skin look orange as he searched for what he was looking for, his weapon. It would be in his room, it's normal place.

Taichi dashed over to the stairs and began to climb, only halting once flames shot up through one of the steps above him. He blocked his face with his arms and jumped around them, feeling the wood crumble beneath his feet.

"NO!" He exclaimed, jumping forward just as half the staircase collapsed. His stomach flipped as he felt himself falling, but he reached out with his hand and grabbed the ledge where the stairs used to connect to the second story.

He could feel the heat on him now. Sweat dripped down his back as he lifted himself up, swinging his legs onto the floor. "Oh my god.." He rolled onto his back for a minute to try and catch his breath, which was difficult to do given the flames and the thickness of the air. However, as he looked up, he saw the roof continually burning and sending ash down towards him. "No…"

Taichi jolted up and ran towards his room, pushing open what was left of the door. The flames had gotten there already. His bed was nearly completely turned to ash, along with the majority of his other things. His heart sank a bit, but those material items weren't important. Well, just one was.

Thankfully, the boy's wardrobe was still intact. He ran over to it, hopping over a fallen ceiling beam, and pulled open the doors. Taichi reached his hand in behind his clothes and felt something hard and familiar, something that felt right in his hands.

"Come on.." Taichi muttered, wrapping his fingers around the handle. He pulled his weapon out and held it in front of his face, examining the masterpiece. The sword glittered in the light of the flames, like it was alive and ready for battle. Well, battle it would get.

Another falling piece of the ceiling took Taichi out of his awe and drew a gasp from his chest. "Shit.." He looked up and saw the entire roof begin to crumble. He needed to get out of there, and fast. He jumped back over the fallen ceiling beam, sword in hand, took one final look into his room, and ran out. How was he going to get down, though? The stairs were gone. Desperately, he looked around him as the smoke thickened and the heat intensified. He knew he didn't have much longer. He needed to get out of here.. he needed.. he needed.. His thinking stopped. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw an open door. When he'd gone to bed that night, the door had been closed. Now, as he turned to look at it, his heartbeat slowed and the crackling of the flames around him quieted. All the noise stopped, except for the slow pounding of his heart. Taichi swallowed hard as he walked towards it, his parent's room, the room he'd run into as a kid every morning to wake them up. The room he'd run into to see his new baby sister. The room he'd fallen asleep in when he was too scared to sleep on his own. The boy put a hand on the door and ran his palm across the wood. Time slowed as he remembered what happened. The surface was cold and dead, like the bodies inside. Taichi grunted a bit and bit his lip, pressing his forehead against the door, memorizing the room and replaying the memories before they were all burnt to bits. This wasn't fair; he couldn't even save their bodies, he couldn't-

"Taichi."

The boy lifted his head, his heartbeat instantly speeding up. It was him, he was sure. No other voice sounded as cruel as his.

"Hidou." Taichi slowly moved his hand from the wood to the doorknob, pulling the door shut. Forever.

"I knew you'd come back." Hidou spat, his voice crawling into Taichi's ears, scratching at his brain.

"Of course I would." Taichi retorted, his knuckles tensing as he held his sword tighter. He spun around to look at the man, hate in his eyes. His final moment with his parents had been ruined, at least for now. Now he could take revenge. When he turned, he saw that Hidou already had his weapon ready. It was a large staff with a metal spike at the end. Sure, he could attack from afar, but as the boy held his own sword, he felt confident, angry.

Hidou was standing in the fighting stance, his strong legs bent and ready, his arms up, his weapon pointed straight at Taichi's nose. His mouth was snarled and his long, black hair was pulled back into a ponytail. His eyes though, they were the most frightening aspect of him. His pupils were psychotically small, and his eyes were colored frighteningly dark, so that if the flames weren't flashing off his face, one would be unable to make out the tiny black dots. Hidou stared with them with such anger and bloodlust. In them, Taichi could see the want to kill. He'd seen that same look earlier that night, when he got to his parents. His parents.

Taichi held his sword out in front of him, his arm strong and unflinching. He took his other hand and doubled his grip, not once taking his eyes off the evil man. The adrenaline was pulsing through his body now, tightening his muscles and quickening his breath. However, for as excited as his body was, he remained oddly calm on the outside. Neurotically calm. The tip of his sword was pointed right between Hidou's demented eyes, Taichi's sights on the kill. "You took my family," he muttered with hate in his voice. "And for that you must die."

As the boy narrowed his eyes, Hidou laughed. It echoed throughout the burning house like the laugh of a hyena. Taichi though, didn't budge. He raised his chin and glared at him, his eyes reflecting the heat of the flames as debris and embers fell around him. "Get out of my house before I kill you."

"Tsk tsk, boy." Hidou growled, strengthening the grip on his own weapon. "You know you can't defeat me with the hate running through your veins. You're no match."

"We'll see." Taichi grunted, charging at the man. He swung his sword at him, and his entire body started to shake with rage. Hidou blocked his first move effortlessly and took advantage of the boy's stuttering form. The man's moves were swift and concise, each jab of his staff getting closer and closer to Taichi's gut.

"Come now," Hidou laughed, pulling a move the boy didn't expect. After jabbing one final time, he spun his staff around and knocked Taichi over with the blunt side of it, sending him tumbling towards a thin, cracking wall. Effortlessly, the weight of Taichi's body broke the fiery structure, and the cool outdoor air hit him like a knife. The entire wall of his house fell through, and Taichi was stumbling off the second story floor.

"NO!" He exclaimed, dropping his sword to the ground below so he could grab hold of the floor. He had a decent grip on it, but his legs were dangling down, the wind pushing him back and forth. As he heard footsteps approaching, Taichi made the mistake of looking down. His sword glistening in the grass below, the grass that was two stories below him. The cool night wind blew across his clammy skin as he hung there, waiting for Hidou to approach.

"It's only natural that it would end like this." Hidou cackled, standing so his feet were on either side of Taichi's hand. His knuckles were nearly white now from the effort it took to hold on.

The boy couldn't muster a response; he had to focus his entire energy on hanging there. As he looked up at the man, he couldn't help but notice how terribly evil he looked. The flames behind him cast a wicked orange light over his face, and it made him look even more psychotic than he was. The whites of his eyes even seemed sickly and yellow.

"After all," Hidou continued, picking up one of his feet, "it is your destiny."

As Taichi grimaced and groaned, Hidou pressed his foot down lightly on his fingers, cracking them. "No.." the brunette muttered, trying as hard as he could to resist the urge to cry out in pain. This couldn't be the end, it couldn't be. He had so much left to do. He needed to avenge his parents, he needed to return to his sister, he needed to save his village. The screams from the people down below him were now clearly audible. Some were screaming at the sight of him hanging from the building, others were screaming because the raiders were separating families, others yet were screaming because of the sight of dead friends and burning houses. The entire village was ablaze.

Taichi though, could concentrate on none of that. All he could think about was how badly Hidou's foot felt as it crunched his hand, and how badly it'd hurt to hit the ground- at least until he died. He could die. Taichi swallowed hard, putting on his bravest face as he looked back up at his foe. "Even if I die," he stuttered, the pain showing through in his voice, "you'll be defeated. You know there's others out there."

"That may be so.." Hidou narrowed his eyes as he prepared to finish him off, "but at least I've eliminated the warrior who killed half my army." Never had Taichi heard words uttered with such detest, such hatred. Never had he felt so much pain. Hidou's foot was pressing down on his fingers with his full weight now, and he knew he was going to let go. His fingers were slipping; it hurt too much to hold on. He hated how he couldn't bare the pain, he hated how he was letting everyone down, he hated how he promised his sister he'd return for her, when now, he wouldn't.

"AHHHH, GOD DAMNIT!"

The pain was gone. Had he fallen? No, his hand still had a hold of the floor's edge. What the hell happened? Taichi caught his breath and let his vision focus as he tried to figure it out. Hidou was now on the ground, weapon by his side, holding his foot and screaming out. An arrow was through it, but where did it come from? Hidou screamed painfully as he took the arrow in his hand and pulled it out, blood now gushing from the wound. The way the arrow was angled into his foot, it looked like someone had shot it from behind Taichi, but that was impossible- he was hanging off the edge of a building.

Hidou stood up and stared out of the house, past Taichi, and into the woods. He squinted his eyes to see better, and his face turned white. "You've caught a break this time, Yagami.." he muttered, picking up his weapon and backing away, his voice trailing off.

Taichi continued to hang there until he could see no part of Hidou's silhouette through the smoke. In one pained but smooth motion, the boy swung himself back up onto the second floor and collapsed onto the ground, holding his hand in pain. Somehow, he was safe, but who the hell shot that arrow? He looked off into the distance, where Hidou had looked before, and squinted his eyes. The forest was that way- it was filled with tall, thick trees. This time of year it was impossible to see through it, but he didn't need to. Across the road, on the branch of the tree closest to his house, Taichi saw a cloaked figure watching him. In his hand, he held a bow- it must have been the one that arrow came from. Whoever he was, he'd just saved Taichi's life. The boy picked himself up off the ground and looked back, intent on offering a wave of thanks, but by the time he was back on his feet, the cloaked figure was gone. Taichi narrowed his eyes and sighed. Perhaps the cloaked man didn't want to be discovered.

The house shook and tore Taichi away from his daze. The entire place was still on fire, and the boy needed to get out, quickly. As he dashed back towards the stairs, he remembered half of them had already collapsed- how was he going to get down? A steady stream of debris was now falling from the ceiling, some embers hitting Taichi's arm and leaving small burn marks.

The railing of the stairs was still intact; perhaps he could slide down it. The boy ran over to it, taking one last look at his parent's closed door, and pressed down on it with his hand. It was awful shaky, but it was his only way out. Shutting his eyes and uttering some sort of prayer, Taichi hopped up onto it and slid down, trying to hold on the entire way. Once he'd made it halfway, the railing cracked and let the boy fall, but he was closer to the ground now, so it didn't hurt as badly. Still though, it was rough.

Taichi inhaled painfully and sat up on the ground, not having much time to think about his wounds. He jumped to his feet and threw himself out the door, just as the main ceiling beam gave way, sending the entire house to the ground. On his hands and knees, Taichi coughed and exhaled a mixture of air and smoke. His lungs felt like they were collapsing as he watched his house fall- his things, his memories, his parents. His parents.

They were gone, and this settled it. Nothing was left. Taichi lowered his head for a moment, letting his mind go blank. The pain was too much to deal with now. He would have to mourn later- Hikari was still waiting for him. The boy stood up off the ground and walked over to his sword, grabbing it in his hand. He held it up towards the sky and looked at it, the light of the moon and fire dancing in its reflection. The sword also reflected his face- it was dark, dirty, and angry. So Hidou had some sort of predicted destiny for him, eh? Well, he just decided one of his own. As the boy looked out across the burning village, he decided he would avenge everyone. He would go after Hidou and his army, eliminating them for good. It was final.

He could plan later, though. For now, his heavy footsteps carried him back to the alleyway where he'd left Hikari. He hoped she wasn't worried- he hadn't been gone too long, had he? As Taichi ran, his shoulders heaved up and down. It was difficult to breathe because of the amount of smoke that suffocated his lungs. About every other step, he coughed and needed to slow down, but he couldn't stop. He needed to get back to her. Taichi tightened his grip around his sword as he turned onto the street the alleyway was on.

"Someone help, please!" The boy halted. A shrill voice behind him called out for help. He had no time though, he had to get to his sister. Off in the distance, he could see raiders running past the alley where she hid. It would only be a matter of time until someone noticed the small shaking girl. Taichi looked behind him and quickly regretted it. A girl with long, brown hair was getting dragged away by two men, presumably the enemy. Taichi bit his lip and considered running towards her, but he couldn't. Both raiders and flames were nearing the alleyway now- his sister was his top priority. With guilt sinking in his stomach, making him sick, he turned and abandoned the girl, her scared, helpless face burned into his mind.

He tried desperately to block out her screams as he ran towards the alley. He was so close. Now, with his sword in hand, he could get her and run. They could hide for a while while he found a place for her to stay, then he could avenge his parents. Whatever he did though, he knew he had to keep her safe. She was his only remaining relative, and he wouldn't lose her.

The streets were nearly abandoned now. People who weren't taken or killed had found their way into the forest to hide. The fires were dying down as the majority of the buildings collapsed. Still though, the alleyway stood between two shaking homes. As Taichi reached the alley, he was sure they would go. He had a few seconds, just enough time.

"Hikari!" He breathed heavily, halting in front of the small passageway. "Hikari?" It was empty. Taichi's eyes opened wide in shock as his heart began to beat faster, panic settling in like his lungs were home. "HIKARI?" His screams echoed throughout the once-thriving town, his careful attempt to remain undiscovered completely ruined. He didn't care though, not anymore. With heaving shoulders and shaking arms, Taichi leaned down and picked a small stuffed animal off the ground- the one Hikari had been clutching in her frightened hands before. The boy held it close to his chest, his heart nearly bursting from his rib cage, his cries scratching at his throat as they escaped his mouth. "DAMN IT! NO!"

Taichi took a step back and coughed heavily as one of the buildings next to the alley collapsed, sending smoke and ash his way. His tears stuck heavily to his cheeks, burning his face. Through the smoke though, he could make out a silhouette approaching him. Preparing for the worst, the boy gripped his sword tightly in his hand, prepared to do whatever he needed to whoever it was. His brown eyes were filled with rage- he would stop at nothing to get Hikari back. As the shadow of a young man got closer and closer, Taichi began to make out colors- a poof of red hair, specifically.

"Taichi Yagami?" The stranger uttered, it's voice unshaken by the view of the warrior prepared to kill him. Slowly, the brunette lowered his sword, unsure of why he'd decide to drop his defense.

"Who… who are you?"

I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter! Next time, we'll see who the red-haired boy is (although I'm sure many of you already know), and Taichi will run into a royally unhappy blonde. Thanks for reading!

-surflilu