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Disclaimer: Recca no Honou belongs to its respective owner(s).

The Future
Chapter One: The Awakening
by katanashi

Note: This isn't really an alternate universe fanfiction; it involves the madougu and their new masters after the Hokage masters.
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* * * * *

It all started with a scream, a shout, and an explosion. An explosion of pure flame, a strange mixture of blue and red fire, terrifying in its intensity, stormed throughout the forest. To the frightened observers, many who were turning alarming shades of white, it seemed to morph into different shapes, at first a sort of multi-headed Hydra-like creature. As the flame turned towards them, they saw two glowing white embers acting as eyes, and the flame began to shift shape until it took the shape of a ghostly bird, tinges of blue at its tips, beating its wings with a thin, triumphant cry.

"Kami-sama protect us all," a man whispered under his breath, his eyes wide as he took in the sight.

Just at that moment, the flaming bird gave one last cry before it collapsed into a mass of churning fire. Over and over again, the tongues of flame seemed to run over each other, like a pack of wild dogs fighting each other. Flames flared out here and there, singing the trees, the houses, and even the people.

Suddenly, it stopped.

And with a mighty blast, the flame exploded into nine different streaks. Each line rapidly coalesced around a set of glowing, green emerald eyes-- eyes of green flame.

"Dragons," the same man whispered. He was young, bordering on early manhood-- perhaps eighteen, twenty years of age. "Flame dragons. Karyu."

"The legendary flame of Eimin finally awakens," an ancient man said next to him, his deep voice grave.

"The flame of Eimin?" the young man, Hiroshi, turned back, startled.

The man nodded. "The flame of the eternal has come out at last." He closed is eyes and reached his hand out, as if to feel the aura that the flames put forth. "The flame's sole power is to protect the world when the evil arises. Whenever the flame comes out, it is because the evil has reawakened as well."

"The evil…" Hiroshi whispered. "What kind of evil could be so great as to challenge the incarnate of flame?"

The old man smiled slightly. "It is the age-old battle again, between good and evil, a constant balance between the two. One may win the battle, but neither will win the war because it is a war with no end. And those that enter the battle will never come out with their identities the same."

"What do you mean?" Hiroshi demanded, turning back to him.

"You will see," the old man murmered. "You will see soon enough…"

Hiroshi waited impatiently for a moment, but his inability to stand still in the face of trouble took over, and he ran off, shouting for people to bring water so they could douse the flames and prevent a village burnout.

The man opened his eyes, and if anyone had seen him, they would have seen his old withered form waver, then disappear, replaced with the ghostly image of a toned, bronzed young man in his twenties with four tattoos on either arm, crowned with a shock of spiky black hair and blue-green eyes that could burn or freeze.

"He's the one," Recca murmered. "Nadare, Saiha, Homura, Setsuna, Madoka, Rui, Kokuu, Resshin…he's the one. That's Kouen."

* * * * *

Farther out, a young woman cautiously made her way through the collapsed buildings. Her long dark hair was piled in a great mess upon her head, baring her tanned neck and hiding the brilliance of her green eyes, now hardened in grief and anger.

"Of all things!" she exclaimed, stomping her foot in outrage. "Tornados don't occur here!"

"Of course they don't," an woman answered her to the side. The girl spun around. She hadn't seen anyone there a moment before. The speaker was tall and shapely, with an athletic build and neatly chiseled face. Strands of lavender hair trailed over her eyes, hiding their expression. "It's of supernatural origin, of course."

"Supernatural, my foot. It's some stupid nature quirk, I swear!" The girl stamped her foot again stubbornly.

"Fine, fine. It's a quirk caused by nature. Of course, since tornados don't occur here, something unusual must be going on, shouldn't it?" The woman smiled at the girl. "What's your name, hon?"

"I am Long Shaolin, of the Dragon clan," she declared proudly. "I'm the leader of the Three Knives gang of the harbor district."

"Is that really something to be proud of?" the woman inquired.

"I worked hard to make it to the top, if that's what you mean," Shaolin huffed out, annoyed. "I'm the best fighter in the county."

"Really. Is that so."

"Yes it is! Now get to your point, you stupid purple-haired twit!"

The woman raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure I even had a point to begin with. Of course, that would be Mi-chan's department, not mine; he was the brains of our group." She smiled, confusing Shaolin. "Long Shaolin, it is good to meet you. We shall talk later." She held out her hand in a friendly way.

Shaolin stared at it, then turned away with a huff, running off and disappearing amid the ruins.

Kirisawa Fuuko gazed out after her, memories dancing in her mind. "How strong her spirit is…" she whispered into the wind. She closed her eyes and let the breeze carry her away, her form slowly disappearing and becoming one with her beloved element, until her form was no more than an outline of mist. "Fuujin, you have met your match."

The wind answered in an affirmative whisper, curling its powers around her now nonexistant fingers like they used to when the Fuujin had rested on her right wrist.

"She'll be every bit as difficult as I was," Fuuko said quietly. "But you know she's the one, right? Seifuu's the new mistress of the wind. She bears my namesake."

The Fuujin appeared briefly next to her, and nodded. Both Fuujin and former Fuujin master once again gazed out, watching for the new Fuujin master.

* * * * *

A handsome young man, with light blond hair framing his face, sat near the pond with the air of one with no worries.

"Ahhh…." Archibald Coxley sighed in contentment. Archie wasn't a person who liked to study, although he did like to learn. He preferred to spend his time outside, usually next to a lake on his family estate in the English countryside. He would sometimes bring a book, but after a library book fell into the bond, having slipped from his grasp when he fell asleep, he'd preferred to bring some food and nothing else. "Wish I could stay here forever," he murmered.

"If you could define forever, that may be possible," a voice said from above him.

Archie opened one eye lazily, expecting to see his butler. Instead, he saw a boy, perhaps a tad younger than him-- he looked around fourteen years of age to Archie's own twenty-one-- with a mop of silvery hair hanging around his face. Archie sat up, startled. "Who are you?" he demanded in his crisp English accent.

The boy bowed. "Excuse my crude manners, my lord," he said. "I was just here to ask you some questions, that's all. I mean no harm, I assure you."

Archie lay back down and basked in the sunlight. "Go ahead," he murmered sleeply.

"Do you like water?"

"What kind of question is that?" Archie asked, surprised.

The boy persisted. "Please, just answer it."

"Yeah, I do."

"Why's that?"

Archie groaned and rolled over. His afternoon was being disrupted, and he didn't like it. It set him in a bad mood. "If you must know why, it's because water is what makes me clean after I get sweaty from whatever stupid exercise I'm coerced into, because it is the most essential nutrient to my body, and because it is both gentle and harsh at the same time. Is that enough for you, lad?"

"Very," the boy said. "May I ask you just one more?"

Archie sighed. "Very well. Get on with it, if you please."

"How are you with swords?"

"What in bloody hell do swords and water have anything to do with each other?" Archie asked, exasperated by this seemingly pointless questioning.

The boy only gave him a sweet smile. "Please sir, I just really need to know."

"Well, I do indeed enjoy working with swords," Archie admitted reluctantly. "Especially those of Oriental origin. Kendo is indeed a fascinating art." He closed his eyes. "Now be off with you! I have work to do!"

The boy bowed one last time. "Yes sir! And thank you, sir!"

Archie closed his eyes and resumed his sunbathing gratefully. The oddness of the incident nagged him in the back of his mind, but he dismissed it in favor of the relaxing in the sun.

The boy ducked behind some bushes and drew from his pocket a sword handle. His form began to waver, like ripples in water, until they formed the transparent image of a young man with dark silver hair and piercing ice-blue eyes that were capable of expressing so much in so little. "Ensui," he whispered. "Are you satisfied?"

Mikagami Tokiya felt the sword give its wordless consent. "Then it is well. You have chosen your successor." He turned his blue eyes back to the oblivious young Englishman. "You will soon realize it, Touki. You will see soon. You will see the connection, the link between swords and water."

* * * * *

A handsome young man, with dark golden blond hair and hazel eyes partially obscured by a pair of wire glasses, whooped and ran through the door, a letter clutched in his hand. "I made it! I made it!" he shrieked. "I made into to the Harvard med program!"

"Of course you made it, Mr. 5.0 GPA," his roomate, a thin, haggard-looking man in his early twenties grumbled. "You could make it into wherever you want as long as you write your name on the application."

Benjamin Lacioux was in too good a mood to get weighed down by his roommate's griping. "I can't believe it! I'm actually into Harvard!" he said again, exultantly. "And I'll be graduating next year! I can't wait!"

The cell phone rang. His roommate picked up up. "Yeah, Dave here. Yeah, that's Ben in the background. He made into Harvard. Yeah, I know, big surprise. They'd have to be idiots to turn down the valedictorian of Yale. Yeah, I know. Yeah. Ok, I'll see you later then. Lates." He turned around, only to see Ben running down the street. "Idiot! He'll get hit by a car!" he groaned, pulling himself up and running after him.

Ben danced his way down the sidewalk, so giddy that he didn't notice the huge man towering in front of him until he actually bumped into the giant. He looked up. And up. And up.

The big man had a hand on his shoulder, steadying him. "Whoa, man, I thought you were gonna walk right into the traffic jam," the man remarked. "What's goin' through your head, man?"

Ben shook his head. "Sorry. I just got some really good news, that's all."

The man nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean." He grinned, a grin that was as big as he was. "But it won't do you any good unless you keep alive. If you hadn't run into me, you would have been hit by someone out there, and with the way traffic is going, you wouldn't have survived, especially with your skinny little body."

Ben turned red. "S-S-Sorry," he stuttered. "I mean, thank you."

"Nah, it's no problem. Just get some exercise, pal. You're as pale as the moon, and if you don't keep in good shape then you're not going to study good. Trust me, I've been there." With a wave of his hand, the big man continued his way down the street. Ben stared after him, then shrugged and headed back to his apartment, still walking on cloud nine.

Domon shook his head and looked out after him. 'Are you sure he's the one you want?' he asked the Dosei no Wa dubiously. 'He's smart as heck, but he's also skin and bones.'

He listened to the madougu's reply. 'Aw heck, if you put it that way, then I guess he's alright. Strength and speed? I guess so. We'd better feed him, though.'

He turned down an abandoned alleyway. As he walked, his form disappeared, almost as if it were evaporating. 'So his name is going to be Keishou, huh? Let's see if he can live up to it.'

* * * * *

A young woman, with dark hair tinted by purplish highlights, crept her way through the forest in complete silence. Her face was streaked with dirt and blood, her hands covered with callouses, her feet ripped from too many days without shoes.

She stopped suddenly, her dark eyes narrowing as she sensed an extra presence around her.

'You are sharp, young one,' she heard a voice in her head. To her amazement, she saw a ghostly apparation in front of her, the figure of a man with long hair in a ninja outfit, a katana strapped to his back and laughter dancing in his eyes. He held out a friendly hand to her. 'Who are you?'

She jerked herself away from the hand. "Who are you?" she demanded.

'I asked first,' the man countered easily.

"That doesn't matter."

The man nodded. 'It doesn't. Child, what has happened to you?'

Her hands tightened into fists. "Why would I tell you?"

'You would if you knew, wouldn't you?'

Her knuckles turned white. "How do you know? How do you know that I don't know?"

'Child, I have been watching you. Watching over you.' The man smiled sadly. 'I saw what happened to you, and I saw what you were forced to become.' He held out his hand again. 'What is your name, child?'

She hesitated. "I…I don't have one," she admitted softly. "I don't know what my name is."

The man gave her another sad smile. 'Then I will give you mine.' He brushed a non-physical hand through her cheek. 'I will call you Raiha.'

"Raiha…" she whispered, testing it out. After a moment, her dark gaze locked with his empathetic one, and in those few moments the first Raiha saw into the new Raiha's soul; the churning confusion, the frustration, the hopelessness. But she turned away soon after, looking to the side, feeling something that he couldn't understand.

He reached out for the third time. 'Child, trust me…please, trust me.' Once again he locked gazes with her. Once again, he saw into her soul. But this time, he saw something burning in the very back, just a glimmer, but enough to fill his heart with hope for her.

* * * * *

The Phoenix stood over the horizon, watching the scenes with an impassive face. Next to her, Kurei stood, also watching.

"The madougu are awakening again," Kurei said quietly. "The war begins again, as well."

The Phoenix nodded. "I will remain neutral this time, Kurei. Nobody will possess me in this war. I will not interfere on your behalf, whether the spell is used or not."

Kurei nodded. "I understand." He shaded his eyes and looked out at the burning village where the Hachiryu had awakened. "But may I take part in this at all?"

"I have no hold over you," the Phoenix replied. "You were a flamemaster, along with your brother. Because you are linked by blood, you may help Recca with the successor of the Hachiryu, Kouen. But you cannot call upon me as your flame in this war. To do so would upset the balance."

Kurei nodded. "What will happen, now?" he asked quietly. "Why are the Fuujin and the Raijin on the same side?"

"That remains to be seen if they will stay on the same side." The Phoenix crossed her arms, her face hidden under her cloaked hood. "Everything will balance out, Kurei. It always balances out in the end." She paused, then added in a hard voice, "It all depends on which end is chosen."

* * * * *

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Author's Notes: I could definetely use some ideas on what to do with this story, so any input or feedback is even more appreciated. I'm not sure what to do with this story as of yet; I have some idea, but not a lot. What do you think so far? Let me know!

Here's the breakdown of names.

Eimin: eternal sleep
Keishou: strong and nimble
Kouen: flame
Seifuu: west wind
Raiha: thunder champion
Touki: wintertime

Well, that's it for now. Later! ~katanashi
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