Chapter 2
A New Friend
His bleak eyes glanced around his dim, pale room. Masamune was the only
light to be seen, everything else was boring. He got out of bed and
stretched, with a heavy sigh he walked towards his pile of clothes. Putting
on a thick black shirt, with sleeves a little to long for his arms. His
shaggy white hair covering his eyes some, was a mess, but wasn't it always.
He pulled on some deep blue jeans and his put on his favorite black boots.
He smiled up at his sword and grabbed it and strapped it to his back with
some old, worn belts.
He headed down the stairs to the room where his foster mom was drinking
coffee and reading the newspaper. He managed to slip into the cupboard and
pulled out a loaf of bread and some milk, he crept to the door, but the bark
from his old, rusty dog, Nykto, made his mom glance over at him. "What do
you think you're doing Damion? Go get the chunk of bread I left you, you
can not have that much for breakfast.", said his mother. "What am I to
drink then Crystal? I need something to drink or I'll pass out before I get
three miles from town." She threw him a small canteen and pointed out the
window towards the well. "That will be good enough, you don't work hard
enough for milk, you're a lazy child and doesn't deserve that kind of
treatment. Now, go to school before I have to smack you again."
He gave an evil glare at her, but she was too preoccupied reading the
paper. He tore a big piece of bread off the loaf and went toward the table
to get the piece she left him. It had mold and maggots inside of it, and he
decided to take the rest of the loaf and stuffed it into his leather sack,
hanging from his shoulder. He walked to the door and threw the bottle of
milk on the ground. Crystal looked over at him and yelled "Hey! Get back
here now and clean up this mess!" He just gave her one last evil glance and
walked out and slammed the door.
He could still hear her yelling from inside the house. He just shrugged
and went walking on his way. On his way to school, he always stopped and
went through this forest that had barely any light at all. In this
twigh-light, he felt alone and at peace. He would lay on the cold, moist
grass and feel the insects and small animals creep and run over him, he
loved the feeling. But if he didn't get to school on time, he knew the
penalty that would occur. So without even being in the forest for three
minutes, he was back on his way again.
He would get to school, pretend to listen to his teacher, and then be back
on his way home again. Some days he would stay in town and hide in corners,
listening to peoples gossip and new events. On this day he was walking
through town and heard a commotion coming from the center of town. He
squeezed his way through the crowd and found himself staring at what looked
like a fight. But the fight was strange. One man, holding a knife and the
other was a boy, about Damion's age, that wasn't armed at all. He looked
extremely scrawny; he had red hair that shot out in random directions. He
had a blue sweater on and gray, ragged pants and black, smug shoes on. He
just stood there, smiling at the other man, looking as if he was about to
burst in laughter. The man with the knife ran at the boy and same the boy.
As they got half way from each other, the boy tripped on a loose stone on
the street and skidded into the man's legs. The man toppled over and his
weapon went flying over the town's walls. The boy stood up, put one foot on
the man's back and raised his hands as if he achieved victory. The
expression's on everyone's face was from excitement to astonishment. They
couldn't believe a mear boy could defeat a man. They all left and the only
remaining was Damion, the boy, and the unconscious man under his foot.
Damion approached the boy; his arms still raised high, with the same smirk
from two minutes ago. It looked as if the boy wasn't expecting to win,
because his face was as red as a cherry.
Damion looked at him with a bewildered look, the boy still with his eyes
closed. "Who are you?" Damion blurted out real quick, startling the boy.
He smiled and let out with a small laugh, "Me? Hahahaha! I am the great
Frank, the quickest person you will ever meet!" "By the way, call me Kasen,
I hate my name…" Frank, or Kasen, moved away from the sleeping man and
walked up to Damion and put out his hand, to receive another. "What is your
name?" Damion stared at the hand for a few seconds and then looked up at
the over enthusiastic face, and made a queer glance at it. He put out his
hand and grasped Kasen's. "My name is Damion." "Damion, eh? Well, it's a
great pleasure to meet you. Tell me, what is that on your back?" Getting a
little tired of his extraordinary attitude, Damion gave a short sigh, "It's
called Masamune, and for your sanity, I would hope you know that it's a
sword." Kasen's face went from a smile to a scowl, "Well, I'm sorry for
disturbing you, but wasn't it you who came up to me and wanted to have a
fellow conversation."
Damion rolled his eyes, and henced to leave, but Kasen came upon him again.
"Hey, I want to show you something…" He grabbed Damion's arm and darted
down an alley. Damion trying to pry away at his grip, but wasn't successful
and they had reached a door. It was broken down and looked like it was
going to fall down. Damion saw rats scurrying down the alley and a tabby
cat chasing after, the only fur left on the cat was in random patches, and
the rest was baldness and bone. Kasen saw the cat run and he laughed,
"That's my cat Spaz, he always chases these mice, but he runs out of breath
before he's 10 inches from them." He pulled a key out of his back pocket
and put it in the lock. It would seem more convenient just to kick down the
door. They went inside and Kasen looked around, making sure no one was
home. They got to the back of the house and Kasen dove under a bed. It
really looked like he tripped over one of his feet, and just so happened to
land on his destination. After a few seconds of rummaging around, he
dragged out a huge case. He looked up at Damion and gave him a bleak grin.
He opened the locks on the side of it and slowly lifted it up. Inside there
was a long katana and a small leather pouch with ninja darts in them.
"These were my great granddad's, he gave them to my father, but he got
killed two years ago in a fight out in the Palindar Fields. My grandma
wouldn't let me have these until I was 20, but I sneak it in my room every
few times to admire it." He held up the katana, and as he picked it up,
admiring it, Damion saw something else shining in the case, besides the
darts. He bent down and felt around the case some. He felt a loose
section to the fabric holder. "I think there is something else in here…"
Kasen still caressing his dad's katana, looked down at the case as Damion
lifted up the katana holder. Below where the katana laid, there was another
one. It was in the same stature and shape as the other. You could say that
it was a carbon copy of the first one. Kasen stared down with amazement and
went down and grabbed the other katana. His eyes were glowering and his
expression was as if he had just saw the most extraordinary thing you could
think of. He let out a heavy, quiet laugh. Kasen couldn't believe that his
grandfather and father were Diotriks.
A Diotriks was a warrior that was skilled enough to use two katana, but the
katana were different from a regular one. They would have to make the blade
a little bit shorter than a normal one and the handle is more handheld and
not two handed.
Kasen held both katana and twirled them in his hands and then with quick
speed, he swirled them while crisscrossing them back and forth. Kasen the
whole time was giving a grand smile and the picked up the scabbards for both
swords. He attached them to his back and with a swift movement, the slid
them into the holes of each scabbard. He then asserted the leather pouch
with the ninja darts in them to his side and stood there, like a great super
hero. Damion let out a small half laugh and half grunt; "You seem to be
pretty enthusiastic about those Diotriks katana. Have you even trained
under the Diotriks laws of order?" Kasen looked at him and Damion could
tell that he was lost and confused. Then, Kasen had a thought in his head,
and then he went to a box. He pulled out a raggedy, old scroll. He tossed
to Damion's side and he picked it up and rolled it out. In old Japanese
writing, Damion had paid a little attention to Japanese scriptures lesson in
school and could make out a few words. "That must be it. My grandma gave
it to me to study how to read Japanese, hear I'll read some to you." Damion
handed him the scroll, and Kasen began to read. "Apprentice to the
Technique of Lord Xin Diotrik. You have been chosen as one of the unique
fighters in the land. You must follow Lord Xin Diotrik's laws to become one
of his men."
1. After each man you kill, praise him safe passage to his new life.
2.Never wield any other weapon besides the one Lord Xin Diotrik assigns you
3.Pass down your position to any offspring you have in your life, so they
can cherish the opportunity of being one of the Lord's men.
4.Respect every aspect of Lord Xin Diotrik's kindness and be loyal forever.
Kasen rolled up the scroll and placed it back in the box and looked at
Damion and gave a large smirk. "Well, I guess that's all I need to know
about the 'laws'." "Do you even know how to wield two weapons? I heard
it's really hard to accomplish, only skilled warriors can. You seem to be
like a… clumsy kind of person", said Damion. "Ha! Yeah, well, I can be in
control in a serious situation." "Ok, just like earlier, when you got lucky
and knocked that guy unconscious, very 'in control'." Kasen blushed and
reached back to scratch his head. "Well, that was just a set up… yeah, just
a fake…" His face was beet red and was letting out a fake laugh; scratching
his head faster.
While they stood there, Kasen still blushing and Damion shaking his head in
frustration; a crash came from the front of the house. Kasen instantly dove
under the bed, in his tripping like forms, and Damion looked franticly for a
place to hide. He finally found a small closet, no more then 4ft. high and
shut the door silently.
Three men in black tight clothes, almost like a ninja's, slid into the room
and looked around. Damion could see almost the whole room in a hole in the
door, but his face was concealed by the darkness. The men threw things
around and the found the box containing the scroll. The one holding the
scroll looked around the room like crazy and his sight went to the floor,
where the case was. His eyes then went to the bed and he let out a laugh.
The other two looked down at the bed and also laughed. "You can come out
Frank, you can't hide. You're so pathetic." Kasen slowly came out from his
hiding spot and looked up at them. Only Damion could see this, but Kasen's
hand was reaching to his back to the ninja darts, putting a dart in between
each finger. "Hand over the Diotriks and we won't have to kill you." "How
in the hell did you find out I had a Diotriks katana? I just found out
myself.", said Kasen with a menacing look on his face. The man with the
scroll laughed, "I guess you don't know the people that killed your father
then. We are from the same clan that your father fell too, so you might as
well hand over the swords. And now that you said you didn't know about your
Diotriks, then you will be of no match to us." Kasen made a slight smirk,
"But that doesn't mean I haven't been training with something else…" As he
said that the men looked at each other and then back at Kasen with wide
eyes. The second their eyes met his, three darts came out of his hand and
rushed at the men. One of the darts came and hit the man closest to the
door's neck, killing him instantly. Another dart hit the guy by the bed's
head, also killing him right there. But the middleman shifted to the side
and the dart hit the spot where the man's heart would be. He then dashed at
Kasen and tackled him. Two more men came in the room and carried Kasen's
knocked out body through the door and outside. Damion was still in shock of
seeing the two dead men on the floor, and then realized that Kasen had just
been taken.
Damion rushed outside and looked around. Any sight of the men and Kasen's
sleeping body was gone. The only thing left from the happening was a note,
sitting on the doorstep. Damion picked it up and it read:
To the people of this house;
The one named Frank has been taken for purposes that acquire none of your
attention. It is possible that his body may be never seen or returned to
you as a bloody corpse. There is no chance of seeing Frank alive again. You
may come to his rescue, but die in the process.
Damion could barely believe as he read the note. But he knew deep down, he
had to save him. Not just because this boy was innocent of doing nothing
(well, besides the fact of killing two assassins) but Kasen had grown on
him, and Damion had actually found a companion. He raced his way back down
the ally and something had fallen into his leather bag hanging from his
shoulder.