Chapter 10 - History

I sat alone on a bridge that crossed over a small stream. I threw rocks into the water below, watching as each one caused the water around it to ripple and change. Soft footsteps slowly approached from behind, but I didn't bother looking to see who it was.

"Something on your mind?"

"…"

I threw another rock, watching as the ripples made their way along the water until they disappeared.

"You always come here when you're upset, so don't try to hide it. Spill."

I sighed and threw one last rock. This one managed to hit a mound of dirt that was sticking out of the water and landed with a light thump.

"Do you think we make a difference?"

Luna reflected for a few moments.

"Are you really asking me that? Of course we do! Think of all the work we've done for this village, and all of the people we've helped!"

"Mm."

I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"That's not everything, is it?"

"…"

"Kiran, we're friends. You can talk to me."

"…"

She pulled her hand back with an annoyed sigh.

"Fine, I'll pull the duty card and approach from a different perspective. I don't want your grumpiness affecting our team on this upcoming mission, so let's resolve this."

"…My mom died on this day, seven years ago. She always said that what she was doing made a difference…"

I picked up another rock and rolled it around in my fingers, taking comfort in the smooth surface.

"…But we're still fighting the same war, and nothing has really changed. How can I believe that what I'm doing is making a difference here, if nothing out there is getting better?"

Luna was quiet for a minute and I was wondering if she couldn't think of anything to say. I felt the same hand on my shoulder, and then a small reassuring squeeze.

"Let me ask you something. Where would I be right now if you had never become a ninja?"

I grimaced. I didn't like to think about things that could have been.

"That's right, you've saved me on more than one occasion. If that doesn't show how much of an impact you have, I don't know what else to say."

"So it's worth it, right? All of this death, all of this sacrifice… just to protect the village?"

Luna snorted and my eyes whipped up to look at her.

"To be honest Kiran, I could care less about the village at this point. There's only one reason I'm still here, fighting day in and day out and pushing myself to my limits."

"Why?"

She ruffled my hair, which irritated me like crazy, and smiled somberly.

"I do it to keep the people that I care about safe. I'm going to protect the people I love with everything I've got, even if it costs me my life."

I jerked awake, wearily looking around to see if Luna was still there before realizing it was just another dream. I clenched my fists angrily and let out a long and heavy breath. Every time I had a dream involving Luna, it dredged up more memories, but I couldn't do anything to stop them. All I wanted to do at this point was forget, but my stupid brain was refusing to do so.

I looked down at my palms, knowing that they would permanently be stained with her blood. It was a burden that I was going to have to bear, because I made a promise to protect the village first. Luna had chosen her own path, and I chose mine, meaning it was only a matter of time before those ideals came into conflict.

And I had to stick to my ideal, I had to believe I was right. If I was wrong, I would have nothing left. No purpose, no family, and no reason to go on. Every step I had taken as a ninja would have been under the guise of a false truth, and that would cost me more than I could live with. I depended on that purpose, and I wasn't going to let myself waver from it because I was too weak to face the possible consequences.

I once again sent my thoughts in the ever expanding vault of my mind and focused on the day ahead, despite how tired I was. I quickly got ready, ate a quick breakfast and skipped my usual exercise routine so that I would be able to slip out of the house without having to say goodbye to Leah. I never liked goodbyes, and leaving would be hard enough already. I slipped out of the house and made my way over to the southern entrance to the village, well before sunrise, then made myself comfortable by sitting down against a building that was situated close to the gate. I sat there in the dark, enjoying the time to myself, and filled the time by looking up at the strange moons and stars that I didn't recognize. I wondered if the people here had names for different constellations, or if they even cared about the stars. It all seemed so strange to me, and I never thought that I would find myself looking at the sky from a different planet. Briefly, I wondered if one of the stars twinkling in the twilight was my home. As I watched the sky, the sun slowly rose from the east and the residents of the village started to leave their homes and start their day.

Once daylight had lightened up the village, wagons and people began to trickle to the gate, and soon enough I saw Strongfang heading to the front of the pack. He had a large bag on his back and was drinking something warm. I decided not to bother him as he was already going over a list, checking off what I assumed were names of both the merchants and his crew. Shortly after he arrived, Shimmer flew down from above and landed on the outskirts. I noticed that her eyes were bloodshot and her wings and head drooped as she began to look around. I got up from my spot and walked over to her, observing that she had large bags under her eyes.

"Woah, I've never seen you like this. You ok?"

She turned her head towards me slowly and smiled when she saw me.

"Mmm…? Oh... hey Kiran. Yeah... I'm fine, I just-"

She yawned loudly, exposing her sharp teeth.

"- didn't sleep. I was too excited."

Feeling that this was my chance to poke fun at her, I patted her back in consolation and talked to her in a sarcastic tone.

"Really? You, excited? I could have never guessed. Sorry to hear that you weren't able to get enough sleep."

She glared at me in irritation but then yawned and rubbed one of her eyes with a paw.

"Let's just find Heimer. Maybe he'll let me take a nap in his wagon…"

"I don't see why he wouldn't. It's not like you need to be paying attention while we travel, and I can't imagine that napping could cause any problems."

"Mhm."

"Man, you really are tired. I don't think you've ever talked so little."

Her eyes lazily flickered over to me and she did her best to glare, but I could tell that most of her energy was focused on not falling over. She gave up on her attempt to be indignant and started walking towards the merchants.

"Let's just find him so I can sleep."

We began wandering from wagon to wagon, asking the moles that we found if their name was Heimer, until we eventually found him near the back of the group. He was shorter than most moles, and had the most ridiculous blonde mustache I had ever seen. It was massive, and it shot out in all directions like bolts of lightning. His hair was arranged in a similar fashion, and I had trouble figuring out which part of his head was hair and which part wasn't. When we approached, he looked at us through rimmed glasses that had thick lenses, causing his eyes to appear much larger than they were. All in all, he looked ridiculous, and I had to wonder if his style was intentional or not. He talked quickly, and had a… snooty? Intelligent? Hyper? A mixture of accents in his voice.

"Yes, Heimer, at your service. To whom am I speaking?"

Shimmer sighed in relief and smiled.

"Finally! I'm Shimmer and this is Kiran. We'll be riding with you to Warfang."

He pushed up his glasses and raised a finger.

"Correction. The dragon will ride in the wagon. The guard will be walking. He will better accomplish his duties on foot, rather than sitting down."

He made it a point to look me over.

"Wouldn't you agree, sir?"

I didn't have any problems with that and nodded. Shimmer, however, wasn't as happy about it.

"Hey! That's not fair! I've seen guards ride in the wagons before, so I don't see why Kiran can't!"

Heimer raised a brow curiously as Shimmer protested.

"That may be how others have operated in the past, but my rules stand. He won't be riding in the wagon."

Shimmer stamped a paw and opened her mouth to continue arguing, but I clamped her mouth shut with my hands and pushed her away from Heimer. She said some muffled words indignantly and I apologized to the mole as I struggled to direct Shimmer to another spot.

"Excuse us for a moment."

"Of course."

When we were about fifteen feet away, I let go and Shimmer turned on me instantly, growling and baring her teeth.

"What the heck Kiran!? What are you doing?"

I replied to her with a harsh whisper.

"I'm trying to keep my job! You don't need to argue on my behalf! Just accept his rules so we can get on the road."

Shimmer dropped her jaw and adopted a face of complete bafflement.

"You're seriously going to let him do that to you? You know why he's actually saying that, right? You can't let them treat you like that! It's not fair!

"What are you talking about?"

Shimmer stamped one of her paws.

"He thinks you're an ape! That's why!"

"So? It's not my job to complain if someone thinks less of me because I look like an ape. It's his wagon and I'm the hired help, which means I follow his rules if I want to get paid, ok?"

Shimmer looked between me and the wagon several times and bit her lip as a frown formed on her lips.

"But- It's not- You can't just- UGH!"

She whirled around and began walking back towards the wagon.

"I don't understand why you won't stand up for yourself, but fine."

I let out a sigh of relief as she hopped into the back of the wagon, but not before she was able to give Hemier a long, vicious glare that he seemed a bit unnerved by. I was thankful that Shimmer… cared, but this wasn't a situation where she needed to worry. I didn't want to take any chances with the client so I made my way back over to him and apologized.

"Sorry about that."

He waved dismissively.

"Think nothing of it. She's a young dragon, I'm sure she'll temper some of her fire as she matures."

"Right... as she matures. I'm sure she'll do just that."

A sudden loud whistle called the attention of everyone waiting, and we turned towards the main gate. Strongfang stood at the front with his double headed battle axe strapped to his back and cleared his throat.

"All right, we'll be headin' out soon. Ya know the rules, so make sure t' follow them for yer own safety. We'll be stoppin' for the night at the edge of Farleigh, so if ya have t' stop for any reason before then, let me know. As usual, keep an eye out for danger and be vigilant, we're all workin' together."

He then flipped through his notes and then nodded to himself.

"That's all I can think of. Let's head out."

Strongfang motioned for the merchants at the front of the caravan to follow and began the trek to Warfang. All of the merchants started up some kind of strange machinery that had a single wheel and were attached to the front of their wagons. The machines rumbled ominously before a metallic groan echoed out and they began to whirr with some kind of energy. Then, without much warning, they lurched forward, pulling the wagons along behind them. I honestly had no idea what they were and I wasn't quite sure what they were using as a fuel. Hemier must have caught my curious stare because he started to explain it to me.

"You're gazing upon the most advanced and prestigious mole technology! We have discovered a method to use the power inside of green crystals for various purposes. Using these crystals, we have been able to craft all sorts of interesting and useful tools for use in a wide manner of applications. It's quite fantastic!"

"And where do you get all of these crystals? Aren't they a bit hard to come by?"

Heimer smiled and adjusted his glasses.

"They were at one point in time, but we created a solution. Ever since the world was pulled back together, there have been large fountains of magical energy pouring out of the earth. We have been able to create artificial green crystal farms around these natural wellsprings, allowing us to develop a plentiful supply for ourselves. This only applies to the green crystals, however. Red and blue crystals are much more difficult to obtain because they don't form in the same conditions that the green crystals do. We don't quite have a full understanding of what causes them to grow."

The fact that there were green and blue crystals was an interesting tidbit of knowledge, but that was overshadowed by Heimer mentioning something about the world being pulled back together.

"Woah, woah, woah, what do you mean when the world was pulled back together?! What the hell does that mean?"

"What? You've never heard of the great separation?"

"No, never."

He looked at me like I had just admitted to not knowing that the sun existed, and I rolled my eyes. Instead of explaining that I was from another world and didn't know anything, I kept my explanation simple.

"I'm not from around here and was… too young to know about whatever you are talking about. No one ever bothered to tell me, and I don't know anything about the Great War or… Malefor? I think that's what his name was."

Hemier's hair bristled and his eyes twitched angrily.

"No one decided that it would be important to educate you on the history of the land? How awful!"

Heimer then scowled and spit into the wind.

"And curse that damned Malefor! That dragon brought pain and suffering upon this land like no other has in the history of this world!"

I didn't expect such a strong reply from the mole and did my best to retract what I said.

"Sorry, I didn't know. Was he really that bad?"

Heimer grumbled to himself and waved his hand dismissively, then cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses again before continuing.

"Yes, he was, but pay no mind to me. I just hate his name. Several members of my family were killed during the war against him and his armies. I'm somewhat surprised and consider it such a disappointment that you don't know the history of your people. I can only assume that the apes that remain are terribly ashamed of their past, as they should be."

"Well, I'm not an ape, I'm a human."

Heimer leaned in close to inspect me after I said that and raised his brows with excitement.

"Hmmm… similar structure, but quite different… shorter… not as strong… A human you say? My, my, my, I've never heard of such a species before. What a surprise this trip is turning out to be!"

"Right, and because of that I don't know what's going on. Could you tell me what happened all those years ago? I haven't been told the full story and I want to know for myself."

Hemier looked at the long trail ahead of us and then back to me. He smiled, stroked his mustache and then nodded.

"A story? I suppose I could indulge you in a bit of history. It would make the day a bit less dreadful of an experience."

Heimer made a small waving motion towards himself.

"Come closer so I don't have to talk as loudly. I'd like to keep my voice fresh for when we return to Warfang."

I moved to within a few feet of his seat on the wagon and then waited for him to start. He mumbled to himself a bit and stroked his beard until he snapped his fingers.

"I know exactly where to start! I'll cover what led up to the war, the end of the war, and the direct aftermath. That way you'll have a full understanding of past and recent events."

Heimer made himself more comfortable as he settled down into his seat, and pulled out a small pipe and some tobacco from a pouch on his belt. He stuffed the pipe, lit it and took a few puffs before he began his history lesson.

"I'll assume that you don't know anything. Do you know who Malefor was?"

"All I know is that he was bad."

"Hah! What an understatement. Yes, he was bad. Over one thousand years ago, when he was younger, he was the first of his kind, a purple dragon. He was initially viewed as a prime example of excellence because of his abilities, but nothing could have prepared the world for what was to come. At some point during his life, he became dissatisfied with what he had and gained an uncontrollable lust for power. Those that initially trained him saw the danger in his new path and banished him in the hopes that any tragedy would be prevented. However, this only caused Malefor to embrace forbidden magic and dark elements, and he irreversibly changed in character and appearance. His eyes became a sickly yellow and his mind twisted into that of a psychotic and thoroughly evil being. In his deluded and prideful mind, he convinced himself that he was the individual that should rule over the entire world and began a war against everyone. This was the first mistake of the apes, because they sided with Malefor from the beginning and served him as his personal army. As to why Malefor thought he deserved to rule, I do not know, but he had the power and ambition to achieve that goal. Eventually, his goal changed from domination to destruction as he sought to destroy the world."

Heimer took a deep drag from his pipe.

"Do you know what made him so powerful?"

Something familiar struck me when he described the eyes, but I couldn't quite remember what it was. I strained to recall it, but failed to do so. I gave up and responded to Heimer's question instead.

"I mean, you said he was one of a kind because he was purple, right? What did that mean though? Dragons seem strong, but not unbelievably so. What made Malefor different?"

"Well, He was a purple dragon, which meant that he had access to all of the elements dragons were capable of using, including a few that were unique to him. Add this with the fact that he was willing to let go of all of his morality, and it's plain to see why he was almost successful in destroying the world. He was stopped when his soul was sealed away about a thousand years ago, but he still had influence over the apes until his resurrection. The apes continued to fight on his behalf during that time, until Malefor was revived. When he returned, the only person that prevented him from destroying the world was another purple dragon, Spyro, and the combined power of every mole, cheetah and dragon that remained in the land. Even with this, Malefor still managed to summon a being that razed the face of the entire world and then caused the planet itself to literally break into pieces that began to drift into the sky. Thank the ancestors that Spyro was somehow able to pull the world back together after he defeated Malefor for good. And yes, when I say the world was pulled back together, I mean it literally."

That was the most insane thing I had ever heard, and if it wasn't for Shimmer popping her head out from behind Heimer and nodding in agreement with the story, then I wouldn't have believed it. What kind of crazy world was this, and how were dragons able to become so strong?!

"So, Malefor was strong enough to destroy a planet…? How is that even possible?"

Shimmer, who looked a bit more rested than before, answered before Heimer could.

"It's because of the dark elements! Malefor messed with things that no dragon ever should to gain more power. But enough about him, I want to say that Heimer forgot to mention that Cynder also helped to defeat Malefor! She was right by Spyro's side when they ended him for good, and she's a hero too!"

Heimer huffed indignantly at her interruption and frowned a bit as he replied.

"Yes, you are correct about two of those things, Shimmer. Malefor tapped into dark power which allowed him to do things that otherwise would be impossible. His resurrection, for example, is evident of this. Cynder also assisted Spyro, but I don't think it's reasonable to qualify her as a hero. Much like the apes, she has her own long and bloody history, and I for one don't think her later acts should relinquish her of that."

"But she was being influenced by Malefor! How can you blame her for that?!"

Again, a terrible sense of familiarity washed over me. What the hell was I missing here? Why did this sound so familiar?

"The answer lies in the wording, Shimmer. Influenced, not controlled. Cynder was able to resist Malefor's suggestion before the final battle, according to Spyro. If that's the case, then why not before? Did she truly turn sides? Or did the opportunity to join the winning side present itself? How can we know for sure what her intentions were and are?"

Shimmer growled angrily at Heimer and stomped a paw down harshly.

"Do you really think any sane dragon would do things like that of their own will?"

"Yes, evil like that clearly exists, otherwise Malefor would have never come to be. Is it so hard to believe that another dragon could be as twisted as he was? Of course not. Malefor only brought to the surface the desires that were already inside of her heart."

"That's not true! Cynder is a hero and has done more for everyone than you or I ever could! Why can't you see that?!"

"I'm only keeping in mind all the factors of her actions, nothing more."

I didn't really understand who Cynder was or what they were talking about, and I wasn't going to ask as Shimmer's face twisted into a knot of frustration and she looked ready to explode.

"Why do I have to deal with two boneheads in one day? Can't I catch a break?"

She looked towards me suddenly and glared.

"I'm going for a flight to cool off. Don't take Heimer's word at face value, ok? He's… ugh, never mind."

Shimmer extended her wings and then flew up into the sky high above us and disappeared behind some clouds. Now that she was gone, Hemier shook his head silently to himself.

"She still has much to learn about the world. Now, where were we?"

"We talked about Malefor and Spyro defeating him, but I have a question. What did you mean when you said Malefor was resurrected?"

"Ah yes, that. Well, he was resurrected by the apes because they sought to use his power for their own vengeance against dragons. Without his help it would have been nigh impossible for them to do so. As I mentioned earlier, the apes worked for Malefor and helped to enact his will on those that opposed him. It is part of why they are so hated, even today."

"But why? If he was going to destroy the world, why would they help him?"

Hemier shrugged.

"There were some that thought that they could use Malefor, and I think that their own natural evil and greed blinded them from the dangers they faced. Once Malefor became aware of their plans, he cursed almost every ape that had served him and turned them into some kind of twisted version of themselves. They became terrible beings that can only kill and destroy, roaming around in the darkness in search of something to devour. The few apes that didn't serve him eventually attempted to reintegrate into society, although I, along with many others, aren't very interested in allowing that. There are a few exceptions, such as Strongfang, but for the most part I hate them and what their ancestors have done."

Now that I understood a bit more of the history of this world, the reactions and treatment that I received made sense. There must be a lot of anger and distrust brewing underneath the surface and the result of that was an attitude of contempt towards all apes. I was hoping that this wouldn't affect my ability to visit with the council, but a small worried nag began to work its way into my gut.

"So what about after the world was brought back together? Was there another war?"

Heimer sighed sadly.

"Yes, but I would consider it more of a continuation of the former. Malefor had replaced the apes with his own mindless minions called grublins, and they desired destruction and death, despite the fact that their master had been destroyed. Add onto this the fact that there were still some apes that managed to avoid the curse and wanted vengeance against dragonkind, and you could see the potential for disaster. Spyro, Cynder and the remaining guardians led an army against the grublins that wiped them out permanently. The apes that fought on their side were quickly defeated throughout the realm and driven out of the main continent, banished to Dante's Freezer with the promise of death should they attempt to return. This hasn't stopped them from causing problems though, as there have been a few small groups that have attempted to fight over the years, but I think they've begun to realize that they don't have a chance of success because they've been showing themselves less and less. Ever since the war ended, the Dragon Realms have been at peace, and the world has been rebuilding. It seems that we're entering into an era of prosperity that hasn't been seen for over a thousand years."

I walked along quietly as I digested all of the information that I had just been given. The history of this world was a lot more violent and terrible than I had originally thought, and I didn't want to be a part of it. I had enough of my own problems back home to deal with and there was something about the way he described Malefor and his influence that seemed terribly similar. I know I had seen eyes like that before-

It hit me like a bolt of lightning and I jerked to a rigid stop. The slitted, piercing yellow eyes, the malevolent black and purple chakra, the disregard of reason and unhindered attack against teammates and friends. It took everything I had to stop myself from going into a full blown panic when I realized that Malefor had somehow managed to find a way to my world and influence Luna. My mind reeled as I tried to come to terms with this, and a barrage of questions with no answers caused my head to ache.

"How did he do this? Was it through the crystal? But isn't Malefor dead?! If he isn't, how is he alive? How did he influence Luna? Did she fall for a trick? No, she's not dumb, but it sounds like Cynder wasn't either. What was it then? Why didn't she resist him like Cynder did? What happened to her?"

A sudden, chilling thought hit me and I froze, unable to move.

"If she was only being influenced… could I have saved her? No… no, no, no, no, no, I refuse to believe it. There's no way. She was beyond saving, and there wasn't anything I could have done differently."

Luna's last words repeated themselves in my thoughts, breaking my reasoning and giving me a horrifying sliver of dread that I could be wrong. Heimer started to speak to me with an understanding tone in his voice and I desperately grasped onto what he was saying to drag me out of my own head.

"I know that you just had a lot of information given to you all at once and that you must feel overwhelmed, but don't let it get to you. Feel free to ask me any questions that you have, but for now why don't you focus on sorting out your thoughts and keeping us safe, eh?"

He puffed his pipe a bit more and gave me a small wink. I mustered the strength to give him some sort of response, although it was a lot quieter than I intended.

"Alright, I will. Thanks for sharing all of that with me."

"It's no problem at all! I love discussing history and even more than that I never pass up on the opportunity to educate someone!"

I gave him a weak smile and slowly angled my walk away from the wagon until I was a good distance away. I then slowed down my pace until I was behind him and he couldn't see my face. When I finally felt like no one could see me, I let my face fall into a barely controlled frown and focused entirely on controlling my breathing to stay calm.

I heard a solid thump next to me and I did my best to appear normal when I saw Shimmer. She caught a glimpse of my face though and she narrowed her eyes in confusion and concern.

"Hey, is everything alright? You don't look so good. Heimer didn't say anything stupid, did he?"

I really didn't want to talk to anyone right now, and let some of my fear leak out as irritation in my voice.

"No, Shimmer, he didn't say anything. I'm fine. Please just leave me alone, ok?"

"Seriously, what's wrong? You look pale and your breathing is shallow. We're friends Kiran, so if Heimer said something I'll-"

I lost all semblance of control and yelled at her. I couldn't hold myself together and burst out exactly what was on my mind.

"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP! And we're not friends! We barely know each other and I've already told you that I'm leaving as soon as I can, so please just drop it and leave me the hell alone!"

I could feel a few heads turn in my direction after I yelled and Shimmer had a mixture of shock and anger fighting for dominance in her body. She eventually dropped the anger though and responded with an indignant huff that was tinged with confusion and sadness.

"What's going on? All I want to do is help you, but you're resisting and pushing back! Are you just too proud or something to accept help, because you don't have to be that way, Kiran."

I threw a hand up to the bridge of my nose as my head throbbed.

"Look, I never asked for your help and I don't need it. I don't understand why you can't understand something as simple as that, but I guess I'm stuck reminding you because you're too idiotic to take a hint.

She hissed, and a small cloud of cool air escaped her throat.

"Excuse me? I kinda saved your butt in the woods a few days ago, so your argument doesn't make any sense! You're the one being an idiot, so stop yelling at me when I'm trying to help! We're friends and I'm going to help because you've clearly got something wrong with you!"

I rolled my eyes and scoffed.

"All you can do to help me is to leave me alone, but you insist on bothering me. Also, how many times do I have to say that we're not friends!? I appreciate that you've helped me, but honestly? You're annoying, pushy, and half the time I don't know if I really trust you! I'd prefer it if you stopped caring and left me alone."

Shimmer recoiled as if someone had just slapped her, and tears began to form at the edges of her eyes.

"Why are you acting like this? I don't know what your problem is, but you don't have to deal with it by yourself. Just accept that I'm trying to help you!"

"No. I don't need your friendship or your help. I can handle myself."

"Rrrrgh! Fine! Be that way you jerk!"

With that, she made her way over to Hemier's wagon and hopped inside to a spot where I couldn't see her. I felt an overwhelming sense of regret for alienating one of the nicest people I had met here, but I couldn't have people poking around my thoughts and endangering the already precarious balance I was in. If the floodgates opened, I wouldn't be able to stop.

The heads that had turned eventually stopped staring, although I could hear people talking to each other and occasionally sending glances my way. I shoved my hands into my pockets and then settled into a dull, quiet walk. I felt alone again, not unlike the first few days I had been here, and a part of me was feeling ripe with guilt. I bit my lip, and managed to shake the foreboding thoughts forming and replaced them with a reminder of my goal.

While I was thinking, I caught a glimpse of blue scales in the wagon and began questioning why I had yelled at her in the first place. I was being honest with what I said, and I knew that I was only doing what was best in the long term by not forming attachments, but that didn't make it any easier to deal with the regret that I felt. As I walked, a single question began to subtly prod at me, despite my protests against it.

"We're not friends, right?"

Hey everyone, there may be a week or two delay with my next chapter. My wife is due tomorrow so we'll have a new family member soon. Please let me know what you think of the story!

SonicStreak554 - This is directly from canon Naruto. The events of Kiran's past occur during the Third Ninja war, although I took the liberty of creating a non-canon village as his home. He mentions it in Chapter 5 when talking with Leah.