- TOH SHIN DEN: To Challenge Fate -

a Battle Arena Toshinden fanfiction by Athena Asamiya and Kasumi Todoh


CHAPTER FOUR: Vengeance



Translations:
niisan - informal version of oniisan, elder brother
onegai - please
damare - shut up
mina-san - everyone (polite)
chikusho - dammit
sayonara - good-bye
yosha - all right
baka - idiot
-chan - honourific used on ends of names, usually children or close friends
koko wa - where am I
anata wa dare - who are you
hen na no yume - a strange dream
-kun - honourific used to replace -san when dealing with younger colleagues (Ellis has got this wrong ^_^;;)


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The next morning, Eiji headed over to one of the side arenas, feeling nervous in spite of himself. He had managed to defeat Duke once, but that was quite awhile ago. Perhaps Duke had managed to hone his fighting skills better now that he knew someone could defeat him. Eiji pulled his sword partway out of the sheath and admired its shine, remembering that the Byakko no Tachi katana was rumoured to be magical. If this sword is magical, Eiji thought, please help me in this battle. I like a challenge, but I have to defend my honor this time. He looked up to the cloudless, ethereal blue sky and sighed quietly. Yeah, I know I'm a little naive, and I'm never going to be even half as good as my niisan is, but I do try my best. Onegai... So, he headed onward to the arena, his feet feeling like they were strapped to lead weights. Eiji entered the small coliseum, that served as today's fight's arena, and stood in the doorway for a second before entering the platform. Eiji headed towards the dividing line, accompanied by a chorus of cheers from the spectators. The Duke himself was waiting.
"Finally," he laughed, "the chance to even the score and earn back my pride is mine at last!"
"Damare! You aren't going to get that chance!" yelled Eiji, unsheathing his sword and getting into his fighting pose, as did Duke most willingly. The audience roared its excitement.
"Let's just get on to proving who's the best!"
"You're on!"
"Mina-san, your fighters for this battle! EIJI SHINJO and DUKE RAMBERT!!" called the announcer. "Bout 1! FIGHT!!"
Duke decided to open up the battle, and spun around in a circle, slashing his two-handed sword through the air. Eiji jumped out of the way, the sword barely missing him. Duke swung around and brought his sword down on top of Eiji, hitting him in the shoulder and knocking him to the floor. Eiji rolled in and got to his feet quickly. Now it's my turn, Eiji thought with a sly grin. He got up, raised his Hyakko no Tachi, and yelled, "Rekkuzan!!" A large blast of fire flew from the slash, similar to Kayin's Sonic Slash. The fireball hit Duke full in the face, and knocked him over, but he quickly recovered and launched a spectacular attack which left a lot of shimmering sparks in the air and included Duke charging into Eiji with his sword and then doing a flip, as well as numerous sword slashes. Eiji was knocked to the floor, hard, while some portions of the crowd cheered, others booed. It was clear that Duke had the advantage in this fight, but as Eiji started to get up, he remembered something Sho had taught him years ago.
Every attack has a hole. Find that hole and use it.
The hole? Eiji thought to himself, What hole? Chikusho, niisan, what did you mean? Just then Duke charged forwards and started to do another of the same attack, which Eiji had learned in his last battle was called the Southern Cross, and just as it was about to hit, Eiji saw it. Of course, the hole, the break in the attack! Quickly, Eiji jumped up and out of the way. Duke, unable to control his forward momentum, careened off and over the edge with a surprised yell. Eiji grinned. Eiji 1, Duke zip. Sayonara, baka.
The second bout was looking to be a pretty tough match. However, Eiji had gotten his second wind, and was ready for an enraged Duke who was humiliated with his early loss. As Duke rushed towards him, Eiji jumped up and came down with his fiery mid-air kick right in Duke's stomach, calling "Ryuseikyaku!!", the Shooting Star Kick. Duke fell heavily to the floor with a clang, winded. He got up and rushed at Eiji again, but Eiji slid almost underneath Duke, driving his foot in and knocking Duke over, followed up by a Hishouzan, thrusting his sword out and executing a blender-type uppercut like Kayin's Deadly Rays. Though Kayin had always been better at the uppercuts than me, Eiji thought as he landed on his feet. He advanced towards Duke, wary as why he had not gotten up quickly. Eiji shrugged, and turned around. Guess I've won this fight too, he thought, but then heard a yell that signified that the fight wasn't over yet.
"COUP DE GRAS!!!"
Eiji whirled around just in time to see Duke spin around and slam his sword, flaring with purple sparks of ki, right on top of Eiji's head. Eiji tried to block, but it was in vain. The attack was just too powerful. Eiji crumpled to the ground, blackness overcoming him. When he regained conciousness quite a few seconds later, he opened his eyes to see the spectators hushed and Duke standing over him. "Poor boy, defeated by one who is truly greater than you," laughed Duke. "Now we are even, Eiji Shinjo!"
Eiji coughed and slowly got to his knees. "Anta...sono te..no..ka yo..."
Duke was taken aback as Eiji stood up shakily.
"Byakki..."
That was definitely something Duke did not want to hear. Nor did he want to see the blue sparks of ki crackling off of Eiji's diminutive frame. Eiji's eyes snapped open, and he dashed forward, holding out his sword in front of him.
"...MOSHUUUUUUUUKEN!!!!!!!"
Suddenly, Eiji was in Duke's face, throwing hard kicks and fiery slashes at a speed that seemed inhumanly possible, and finally, blasted him with a powered-up Hishouzan that lit up the castle. Duke went flying from the blast of ki, and landed with a loud metallic clank--on the other side of the arena.
"The winner--EIJI SHINJO!" said the announcer.
Going over to where Duke was getting up, Eiji said, "You don't make the same mistakes twice, ne? Right."
Eiji turned, but just before he did, heard Duke cough and mutter something that sounded like, "Uranus..."
Uranus?
Eiji looked over his shoulder, but saw that Duke was gone.
Who the hell is Uranus?
He shrugged, and pushed such an unimportant thought to the back of his mind, as he often did, even if the thought turned out to be more than important. Eiji left the arena, though, as always, felt somewhat dishonoured at gloating at his fallen opponent. Once he made it back to the tourney grounds, he found Kayin waiting for him.
"That's great!" Kayin said, once Eiji had told him how he'd done. "You see? I told you you could do it, damn it. I knew that Duke B-for-Bastard Rambert was all talk and no action. Are you okay?"
Eiji rubbed his shoulder. "A little sore, but otherwise fine." He grinned smartly. "The ol' Byakki-Moshuken comes through for me again." He made the victory sign and winked. "Yosha!"
Kayin laughed. "Oh, so Duke actually managed to get you in the red, did he? Either he got better or you've gotten worse. And I'm sure the ladies didn't cheer for you as loud as they did for me yesterday."
"Don't start with me, Kayin-chan."
When the two got back to their cabins, Eiji found someone waiting for him. She was leaning up against the door of his cabin, slowly winding and unwinding a whip around her long red-nail tipped fingers. She looked somewhat pensive, perhaps lost in her thoughts.
"Sofia!"
"I need to talk to you. Alone."
Kayin got the message and headed for his cabin, but not before winking at Eiji. Eiji shot him a very dark look. Kayin gave him a devilish grin and left. When they were alone, Sofia turned to him and said, "I watched you fight against Duke."
"How is that possible?"
"I have my ways," she replied quietly. "Listen well. I have seen someone with the same moves and fighting style as you before. And even though I do not remember much, it stands out in my mind." Sofia told Eiji that a couple of years back, she had been surrounded by assassins while on a 'mission' of hers. Eiji was confused. "What do you mean by a 'mission'? And why would assassins have attacked you?"
"That is not imporatant. Yet."
Sofia continued by saying that she was rescued by a mysterious stranger. The man had a sword and had used a fighting style that was almost identical to Eiji's, and Sofia had also noticed that Eiji had the man's eyes. She was wondering if Eiji had been the one who had saved her life.
"I'm afraid it couldn't have been me," Eiji said after Sofia finished, "but it does sound like my brother, Sho. I think he might have been the one." He bit his lower lip. "Did...did you know him?"
"I do not know," she snapped, almost angrily, but quickly recovered. "It has been one of the foremost mysteries that I am trying to uncover. Perhaps recovering this memory is the key to uncovering some of these things...for both of us."
"What do you mean, 'recovering memories'?" Eiji asked, still slightly confused. But Sofia said no more. Her deep blue eyes were not focused on him; but rather staring emptily into the blackness of the oncoming night.

**********

"Eiji is a good fighter," Uranus concluded. "Just like his brother. Swordsplay must run in the family."
"Well, are you satisfied enough?" asked Gaia with a proud smile.
"I must congratulate you, Gaia. You have managed to bring two very talented combatants to this tournament. These two will make fine champions for us."
"I thought so. How do you propose we capture them?"
"We still must wait until the time is right," said Uranus mused.
"And try to get them both at the same time. That way, one won't notice the other missing and raise the alarm. That shall be our plan of attack. But for now, we must be patient."

**********

Ne, niisan, what is destiny?
Why do you ask, Eiji?
It's just...well...everyone says you have a great destiny.
That is true.
How, niisan?
Eiji, it was destiny that gave me the sword. It will also be my destiny when I fight in the great tournament. It is your destiny to be my brother. And, one day, you will have a destiny as well.
I will?
Yes. Destiny is the wheel of unavoidable fate, that decides our ultimate goal in life, who we are, and what we are meant to be. Everyone has a destiny to live up to. That is all, Eiji.

The quiet sequence of voices faded, only to give way to enigmatic dream. Eiji was standing at one edge of a great arena, with an almost translucent floor. All around him was a great ancient city, with pillars and castles and unimaginable stone formations. The sky was dark, darker than he had ever seen, and silver-blue bolts of lightning flickered across the black covering of clouds. Eiji looked around him. It was almost as if he was awake and asleep at the same time.
"Koko wa...?"
You are here, young one. In my battle arena.
Eiji whirled around, looking for the source of the voice that seemed to come from all directions at once.
What a fool you are. Look in front of you.
Eiji did as he was told, and noticed that a mist was rising up around the arena. From these mists walked a woman, slowly yet very sure of herself. Her short purple hair, contrasting with her ivory skin and ruby-red lips, was flowing gently behind her from the light breeze, as was the maroon shawl draped over top of her black bodysuit and gloves, wrapped around her shoulders and tied at the front by tassled knots. Eiji tensed, and his hand crept towards his sword-hilt when he saw that she was carring what looked to be a large glaive of some sort, almost a halberd, with a long, thick blade mounted on a stick. She smiled slightly, red eyes flashing.
So. You are the one they call Eiji Shinjo, the burning Yamato soul.
"Anata wa...dare?"
Ah, that question would lead to many more, which I am not prepared to answer. I will simply say that I am a watcher, a turner, an agent of Fortuna if you will. I turn the wheel of fate.
"Wheel of fate? What are you talking about??"
The wheel of fate is turning. You can't struggle against it, Eiji Shinjo. None of you can. It is their way. They make it so. And they will prove to be powerful opponents in this battle. In the Toshindaibukai. It has been fortold in the future, which I and I alone can read. Something will happen, to set off a chain of unforgettable events, in which you and your allied friends must face a danger beyond anything any of you have ever seen.
"Danger? Stop speaking in riddles!! Who the hell are you??"
Destiny approaches. And we approach destiny. You and your companions must be strong to win this battle of battles, the Toshindaibukai. I wish you luck, and I'll be watching.
And with that, the mists swirled up even higher and thicker than before, and the woman disappeared. Eiji's eyes widened, as her soft laughter echoed through the arena.
I'll be watching...

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Eiji woke up.
"Hen na no yume..." he muttered to himself. "Just who was she? And what was she talking about?" But still, the dream caused him to reflect on what had happened in his past.
The words Sho had said to him kept coming back.
And his own words as well.
Am I just the little brother, or am I something more? Was it destiny that gave me the sword? Am I fated to be a warrior too?
Eiji had thought that to himself many times in the past three years.
He couldn't sleep. Maybe it was what Sofia said about Sho, or maybe it was the full moon making it so bright outside, or maybe it was that strange girl in his dream, but whatever it was, he just couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned a few times, then gave up and got out of bed. He needed to take a walk and think. Eiji pulled on his red-and- white battle kimono, picked up his sword-sheath, and quietly left, closing the door behind him.

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Uranus was about to call it a night when one of the cameras showed Eiji getting up and leaving his cabin.
Where is he off to at this time of night? she wondered suspiciously. Well, no matter. Both Eiji and Kayin are alone now. The perfect chance. Quickly, she had two groups of dark-clothed henchmen ready, one to capture Eiji, and the other to capture Kayin.
"And don't come back empty-handed!" Uranus ordered as she sent them off.

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Eiji walked through the moonlit woods and tried to make sense of everything. He took out a picture of him and Sho, looking ever the pair of siblings, taken a few weeks before Sho left. There were too many questions, some of which were threatening to be left unanswered. Eiji knew his brother was somewhere at the tournament, but where? He certainly hadn't seen him around. And what was it about this whole tournament? It seemed harmless enough, so then why did he feel so uneasy about being here? And what if that girl was right, and something was going to happen? It seemed too much that there was always someone - or something - watching him...
Eiji's thoughts were interrupted by a soft rustling noise, a noise he distinguised as someone walking through the bushes. Eiji pulled out his sword, fiery ki starting to flare off it, jumped into the path of the other person, and started to call, "Rekku--"
At the same time, the other person had pulled out a pair of small knives glittering with yellow sparks and started to let out a defiant yell to match his. But for some reason, they both stopped. For a couple of seconds they just looked at each other. Then Eiji breathed a sigh of relief. He recognized the voice, and in the moonlight he could also see who it was, the pale light of the moon shining off of her silver heart locket.
"I take it you couldn't sleep either," Ellis said.
Eiji re-sheathed his sword. "No," he replied.
Ellis bit her lower lip, nodded slowly, then turned to walk away.
"Hey, wait!" Eiji said. "You want to...maybe...walk together?"
Ellis just stared at him for a second, then a slight smile slowly spread across her pretty young face. "Sure."
They walked in silence for a few minutes, neither knowing where to start or what to say, until Ellis noticed the picture Eiji was still holding.
"Who's that?"
"That's my brother, Sho," he found himself telling her. "The only other surviving member of my family. He's been missing for three years. I heard he was in this tournament, so I came to find him."
"Oh," said Ellis. She was quiet for a few seconds, and then said "I'm looking for the last remaining member of my family, too. My father. My mother died in an accident when I was three, and I have no other relatives. So I was taken in and raised by a group of travelling gypsy performers. I though my father had been killed as well, but then a few weeks ago I heard he was still alive, and had a connection to this tournament." Her fingers brushed the silver locket around her neck. "This locket was what my mother left me. My father has an identical one. A pair." She swallowed hard, then sighed. "But I don't know who I'm kidding. I don't even remember what he looks like. He could be anyone."
Eiji cast her a quick glance. "Well, hey, if it helps, I think that when you do meet your father, you'll know. I don't know how, I just know you will."
"Really?" Ellis looked at him with newfound respect. Then she coughed and said, "I'm sorry I kicked your ass yesterday - even if you did deserve it - and for crashing into you at the airport." She stopped and smiled. "It is Eiji, isn't it?"
"Yeah. Please don't ask me what it means."
"All right, I won't. But really, I am sorry."
"And I'm sorry I yelled at you," Eiji said. "I guess I was just embarrassed at the fact that I was beaten by a girl, especially one younger than me."
"Look, Eiji-kun," Ellis said, "I know we got off to a bad start, but I'm willing to start over and let bygones be bygones. Truce?" She held out her hand.
Eiji thought for a second, then took her hand. "Okay, truce." They shook on it.
The happy moment was interrupted, however, by another, louder rustling in the bushes. Eiji turned--just in time to see several dark shapes jump out. It only him a second to guess what was going on.
"Ambush!" he yelled, but it was too late.
Their attackers jumped them in a matter of seconds.

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