A/N: The Hizoku have so many weird powers that they don't explain…and while I don't necessarily want to explain away EVERYTHING with all the powers, I like having stories that discuss Duo Lon's past training with some of the hairier, or more dangerous powers…and perhaps how things went to help form him into the taciturn assassin that he is today.
At this point, consider this a sort of miniseries of Hizoku backstories dealing with Duo Lon.
Horror stuff going forward, along with more teenage death. (Teens do not do too well in Duo Lon's backstories, given how young they are while training.)
"Master, why must we learn this, when we can just teleport through the other world? Didn't we learn that for when ordinary stealth would not suffice?"
The hard-eyed man-though fairly young, no more than his early thirties-looked at the teenager in front of him. "Because barriers can be erected," he said, simply.
"Barriers? In the other world?"
Duo Lon stood next to his training partner-along with a handful of others-and listened. The tall, long-limbed young man-a few months shy of his seventeenth birthday-was quite experienced in the goings on of the other world-including its most dangerous side-having had incidents there himself. As he stood shirtless, the angry, criss-crossed scars stood out on his chest and back, received not all that long ago when he had hunted down and executed a clan traitor. Given the man had been twice Duo Lon's age and well trained, it was an extreme feat, and so they had deemed him ready for the next training. His long, heavy braid swayed in the wind, the weights at the end-almost seventeen pounds worth-weighing it down. It was of no bother to him, the cords of muscle that snaked through his neck, shoulders and arms long conditioned to be almost like a sinewy steel.
"Yes. You think they can't be erected beyond what we can see? There are spells and other incantations, you know this. If they know we are coming, rest assured they will try to keep us out. So the Hizoku have developed…other ways around this. Ways to physically penetrate these barriers, silently."
Duo Lon said nothing, his hands clasped behind his back. He knew the 'silently' part; the Hizoku who ended up training more in body control learned adrenaline controlling techniques, enabling them to generate a lot of strength for a blow to break through barriers when necessary…though this was not quiet to do so. This was an early thing he had learned himself; before he was even blooded.
"So…" the other young man, named Qin, started. "We…learn to move our entire bodies past the barrier, physical and spiritual."
"Yes," their master said. "But it is dangerous."
Not that this was surprising. The Hizoku's numbers were likely only as low as they were due to the training they had to go through to get where they did. Starting with the poison training as youths, it only got worse. While there were rank-and-file among them, the higher ranked ones would often go through extreme training-extreme enough their numbers would be culled on their own.
"How?"
"It's dangerous enough visiting the death realm," the master started. "Duo Lon can attest to that." He did not mince his words.
Duo Lon only nodded once, stone-faced. Twice, he had gotten stuck in the death realm. The second time was through no fault of his own, they had known-he was pushed beyond what even some people with ten years of training on him could have actually put up with, during the fight with the traitor.
But the first time, in the graveyard...
The master continued, as the pupils did not tend to talk out of order. "This, though…you get in touch with the death realm, while you stay in the normal realm. But if you are not careful…you can bring the death back with you. Which needs to be avoided at all costs."
"What…happens?" Qin asked, when he saw the master was done speaking.
"Everything you might expect that could happen," was his only reply. "Now then. Listen closely."
Outside, it was sometime in the very late summer, almost on the tail end of the early fall, so there was a chill in the air, especially in the evenings up where the Hizoku were located. The pair were nonetheless dressed lightly, with the ability to stave off uncomfortable weather. Part of their training involved them going out into the cold wearing very little, to further train their body control abilities.
Duo Lon noticed Qin shiver slightly; the young man wore a sleeveless qipao, arm-wraps, loose trousers, and tabi…less than Duo Lon himself, who wore only his trousers, sash, and wraps around his wrists and ankles. When he trained outdoors, he liked to dress lightly. Indoors during more formal occasions, he wore his elaborate long, silk jacket with its high collar, or whatever he had to wear to blend in on a job. While training outdoors, he preferred to wear less, with large amounts of clothing getting in the way of leaping through trees, or climbing around in general. The sash around his waist could be pulled around his torso and pale skin to better hide him if necessary.
The shorter man looked around, rubbing his neck. "I think we're almost there."
"Are you okay?" the young assassin asked his partner.
"Yeah. Cold breeze, I guess."
"Are you sure? If you can't handle…"
"I'm fine. I handled the spirit realm well. Probably just nothing."
Duo Lon simply nodded, trusting that he was telling the truth.
As they arrived at the cottage, Duo Lon peered a moment into the spirit world, seeing that indeed it was warded. He looked toward Qin, his eyes snapping back to normal from the distant look they would get peering into the other side.
"It is indeed warded. I cannot even see inside."
"So we just…translocate ourselves inside. This shouldn't be bad."
"We focus. Remember what we were taught."
Looking at the building, he first started to 'attune' to the inside, where he knew the spot would be. He then began to focus on both worlds at once, living and dead…before focusing on his own body. His heartbeat…he began to concentrate, slowing it down gradually. In time, he would be able to do this instantly, on a whim, but one's first time was always careful and gradual.
As he felt it slow, he felt his limbs grow somewhat tingly; the cool grass that he stood on began to almost feel like it was an almost similar temperature against his skin, as his own body grew colder. He continued to slow down his bodily functions, until reaching the point of near living death.
It took him several moments to do this. He was familiar with the feeling, but he had never slowed them down to the point of actual death before. It was a bizarre feeling, as he could still see and hear, but he was not breathing, nor could he feel his heart beat.
Finally, when he felt all functions stop-he almost felt detached from his own body, but his sheer focus kept his body and soul intact. Within a few moments, he almost started to feel things…fall, almost turning to dust. It didn't hurt…it didn't feel like much of anything, but it felt strange.
It was then that he became one with the earth, and for a few seconds, his senses were inundated with the feel and smell of earth and death…until he appeared, suddenly, inside of the cabin, none worse for the wear.
Instead of standing on grass, he stood on a firm oaken floor that was still cool to the touch, but it was solid ground. His heartbeat began to speed up again, his breathing evening out. Finally, his limbs began to tingle again as life flowed back into them.
Turning to the side, he saw Qin was not there yet. Peeking out the window, he didn't see him…until he saw him reform, suddenly, outside. The young man was unable to get in the first time, it would seem. The reformation would have terrified an onlooker-it was like his body pieced itself together again from ash.
Walking out of the cabin normally and shutting the door-one's first time usually did not involve them overdoing it-he checked him out as Qin, looking somewhat disoriented, shook his head.
"Hey. Sorry. Got dizzy, damnit." he muttered.
"What happened?"
"I…got stuck. It was weird. I felt myself…there, but then I hit a wall. Popped back up. No idea what happened."
"You were still attached to both realms," he said. "The barrier got you."
"It felt like if I let go, I'd have disappeared."
"In essence, you are. I thought you knew that. We learned the same things."
"I...I know," Qin replied, somewhat ashamed. His arm began to inexplicably itch. Scratching it carefully, his nails sharp like many Hizoku, he began to look around, a cold chill hitting him again. "Why am I so itchy?" he said, mostly to himself.
"We can try again," Duo Lon said, looking toward the cabin. "I'll shut the door and…"
Suddenly, his training partner started screaming.
Duo Lon looked over, somewhat alarmed; his voice was terrified in a way that the Hizoku usually did not show. The last time Duo Lon himself had screamed like that, he was stuck in the other realm, being tormented by spirits, where he was found by the cemetery groundskeepers in his frantic, insanely violent state.
What happened after was only spoken in hushed tones, though Duo Lon certainly never forgot, especially after paying penance to the families of the dead.
Would be that being stuck somewhere in the spirit world was the only thing happening to the other fellow, however. He looked at the young assassin desperately, rubbing at his arm…which, as he held it up, Duo Lon saw that it was seemingly decaying on his body; he also saw that part of his cheek was worn away, the jawbone visible under it.
"It's…not…coming…back?! It's not coming back! Help me!" He seemed to reach out with his good hand…only to see that there was decay on that arm, as well. He started to try to rub at his worse arm, only to pull away, recoiling in horror as something fell to the ground. In a panic, he started to try to put it back on, only to have it get worse as the bony fingers on his hand tore at what flesh was left.
Duo Lon was partially stunned…but he knew what happened.
Just like they were taught, he had miscalculated and did not focus well enough. And while learning, that was all it took; the other side kept a hold on him, clinging to him as he came back to the world of the living.
Staggering over to him, he reached out with his arms-one half-skeletal, and one that seemingly was trying to come back, but could not, and he stumbled.
"What's happening to me?!" he yelled.
Looking down, he felt one of his legs was also affected. Tearing at it with his clawed, bony hand, he could see the decay on his thigh. It wasn't spreading, but he had brought the death back with him.
"Qin..." Duo Lon looked him up and down. "Try to stay calm. Focus." His words felt absurd given the situation, but it was all he could think to say at the moment.
"Please," he said, looking up at the assassin. "Help me. I'm…my body…it's…" He scratched at his leg…exacerbating the situation even more. He pulled again madly at his arm, screaming, as the decaying flesh fell away as if he were a living corpse. His skin was cold; the young man was clearly caught between life and death, though stuck partially on the living dead side. The decay still didn't spread…but nor was his flesh coming back.
He knew it would not. Not once the death realm was a part of you.
After making a split second decision, watching the young man start to tear more at his horrific limbs, Duo Lon helped him the only way he knew how. He reached out, cradling his head, his hand covering the slight hole in his jaw…and quickly snapped his neck.
The assassin knew that a quick death was the only thing that could be done at this point. Even if he had managed to survive, his life would have been that of pain, as he was well-tainted with the other realm. Likely suffering nightmares from what was probably a permanent 'link', on top of it.
Gently putting the young man on the ground-he was maybe a year younger than Duo Lon himself-he sighed.
This was the second time he had to put a fellow trainee out of their misery. The first was one stuck in the veil of death, much like he was…only he was not coming out. The young man had clawed massive gashes in his face and body trying to nearly tear himself apart; it was all Duo Lon could do for him.
Seeing how this young man had limbs that had started to literally decay on his body, he was certain he made the right decision. But, he had to go tell his master what had transpired.
Wrapping the young man's body in his cloak, he hoisted him over his shoulder and started to make his way back to the small outpost in the woods.
The master saw Duo Lon walking…alone, with what appeared to be a body over his shoulder. He said nothing; he simply stood as the young assassin arrived, bowing his head respectfully and placing Qin's body on the ground.
One look told him what happened.
"He did not stay focused," he said plainly. "He brought death back with him."
"Yes," Duo Lon answered. "I…believe I made the right decision."
Seeing clearly how he died, he nodded once. "Yes. There was nothing else to be done. The remainder of his life-short as it likely would have been-would have been agony." He sighed. "One can recover from the other realm…as you have shown. Though…you still get nightmares, do you not?"
"I do. Sometimes."
"Unfortunately, this…does not have the same leeway. It will decay your body inside and out. Some die within moments. Others linger in pain. There were…one or two in the past who carried some back with them and went on to live, but it was minor."
"The Necromancer."
"He was one, yes." A story was told that around a hundred years ago, one Hizoku simply called "The Necromancer"-due to his uncanny ability to hold and shape death itself-managed to survive with a near-skeletal hand that he managed to use his uncanny powers to control. "But it's a rarity."
"Yes."
"But. What's done is done. Importantly, how did you do?"
"Fine," he said. "I felt well afterward."
"Then escape this building without breaking anything. It is warded."
Emotionless, Duo Lon focused for a few moments; he had a feeling this would have been asked of him. Concentrating, he began to feel his bodily functions slowing…slowing more and more, until eventually stopping. He knew this would come faster in time, but for now, it was a gradual process.
It all happened at once; he felt himself disassociate for a moment, but then focused on his destination on the other side of the wall. He imagined himself there…and things went dark for a split second.
Before he knew it, he was standing again, his limbs tingling as life flowed back into them, and his mind settled back into the realm of the living once again. The smells of wind and trees entered his senses once again, rather than that of death. This time, it was almost natural.
Without thinking, his hand snapped out, powerfully gripping his master's fist, who had chased him to attack him as he rematerialized, testing to see how quickly he had regained his senses.
"Good," he said, impressed with how easily he was deflected. The two bowed toward each other. "Go. Ron wishes to speak with you."
"My father is here?" This surprised him.
"Yes. Business. He is returning to the village soon, though."
"I will go see him." Quickly, the young assassin leapt into the trees, making his way back to the other small outpost. Hizoku were generally sent to train with other masters of the clan, never much staying in one place, learning a wide variety of things, as befit their skills. Ron, being the clan leader, was usually at their main village, which was very well hidden and guarded.
The scent of rain in the air again, he could feel the change in the air pressure as he darted among the branches. He made barely a sound as he did so. Duo Lon, while traveling, could move quickly from place to place, but in battle, he was not the fastest fighter. He moved deliberately, examining his opponent, and then suddenly with a teleport or dash he would be on the opponent, overwhelming them with one of his deadly strikes. Some fought like air; speedy and elusive, never being too often in one place. Others like fire-also speedy, but could engulf you in a dangerous flurry in moments. Some were earth-steadfast, slow, but incredibly strong.
Duo Lon was like water-elusive, flowing…but when he struck, much like the very element, his blows were devastating. It was water that could extinguish fire, erode earth, and fill the lungs of anyone who breathed air. It could be calm, lithe and graceful before turning into a tsunami that could crush all in its path in mere moments, and then disappearing back from where it came.
And when the nighttime hit, the water drew ever closer, tumbling more over land than during the day.
He leapt from the last branches, hitting the cool, damp grass with no issue from even twenty feet up, keeping his balance as he dashed toward the outpost, which was simply one of many small cabins that the trainees would stay at while out training. The entire time, he was a shadow; he had hunted targets in the woods as such, with the quarry not even knowing death chased them until he came down from above.
Sliding inside quietly, he shut the door behind him, noticing two small figures sitting off to the side, seemingly talking with one another. This caused a smile to appear on the usually taciturn, serious young man's face.
"Feng. Liu. I haven't seen you in more than a year." He smiled softly down at the boys.
Feng-only five, and more bold than his six-year-old brother, grinned up at him. His braid was short, still, but they both had them. His eyes were amber, as opposed to Liu's hazel, though both of them had black hair.
"Brother," he said, his small voice still strong. "We have conquered the sand training."
Crouching, he smiled, allowing the boy-who still wore his small hat-to punch at his outstretched hand. He knew the 'Sand Training' was when they had to consistently drive their hands into small buckets of sand, and this was one of the first things started. While Duo Lon's hand did not budge, he smiled. Liu did not follow, as he was always the shy one, but he smiled proudly.
"This is good," he said. "You are strong." He did not bear any air of a man who just had to kill his training partner whose limbs were in a state of decay.
Liu surprised him with a strike, which he intercepted; he could feel some power crackling. Liu had a tendency toward lightning, he knew. He did not know about Feng yet. Many Hizoku had aptitude for an element; poison was common, but his young half-sister was incredible with it, as was Lin, who was training her…though poisons were basically taught to them all, and they all had it in their blood...literally. The legends of the clan that could spit poisons from their mouths was far more than just a legend.
Two of his brothers had a tendency toward fire, just like one of his childhood friends. Lightning was rarer, but the young Liu could manipulate it.
Dealing with the realm of the dead was the rarest of all. Not many had the aptitude…and those who did, didn't always complete the training.
"Do not harry your brother, now," a voice said behind him. It was fairly laid back.
Standing and bowing toward the man in front of him-whom he was now about an inch taller than-he looked him in the eye.
"Father," he said.
Ron looked at him, his own black braid swaying in the wind, and his gray, red and black robes hanging on his slender, almost pallid frame. No one was as skilled at the art of necromancy as he, and his thirty-two year old body already showed the results. Pale to the point of near death, his red-rimmed eyes and strange, almost bony hands were definitely of one who dealt with death often, and for a very long time. While very skilled in hand-to-hand fighting, Ron seemed to prefer the use of spells and spell like abilities in battle; while his frame did not look frail, he was not as sinewy as his son, who fought most often with his own hands and feet. He would supplement his attacks with dark, necrotic chi when necessary in the form of a blast or shield sometimes, which he was still perfecting. He was highly resilient, though.
His black mask was not worn; it was pulled around his neck for now. His face was relatively handsome, though somewhat gaunt.
"Hello. I was told you were successful."
"Yes. My training partner, though…"
Ron shook his head, though gently. "He wasn't ready."
"I…could tell. He shivered in the cold before we were even at the spot. But…"
"It's not your place to stop someone."
"I know. I didn't hesitate."
"I know you didn't. You didn't hesitate with the traitor, either. Nor your first. You never have."
Duo Lon stayed silent, though stood with his hands clasped in front of him. Ron continued.
"But it's why I always knew you could handle it."
"I had my troubles," Duo Lon said. "But I got over them."
"Do you think my training went perfectly? We have all made foolish mistakes. But only fools do not learn from them."
Duo Lon nodded in agreement. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Feng and Liu beginning to mess around with some of the stones in the garden right outside.
"So," he said to Ron, "What brings you all the way here from the village?"
"We have heard some news," he said. "Apparently the small group-not large enough to be a clan-was found. They had ties to the traitor that you exterminated."
He blinked. "Really. Do they have more spies?"
"We are finding that out now. But since you dealt with the first problem swiftly, I would ask you to deal with any names we give you belonging to the enemy clan while we root out the rest."
"Of course." He was somewhat surprised his father would ask this from him already, but here he was.
"I trust you," he said earnestly. "I know you will never let enemies of the clan, nor traitors, survive."
"Never," he said. He would have no idea what his words would mean a few years later.
Neither did Ron at this point.
"You will get the information you need. Quietly. But…send a message," he added, his voice taking a grim tone.
"I understand." He knew what that entailed. Do not be seen, but…it was to be done so that others who saw the aftermath knew not to attempt such things again.
"They said you were too young. I did not believe that for a second." Ron put his hand on his son's shoulder, his eldest, tallest, and strongest. "I am proud," he said, honesty in his red-rimmed and dark-circled eyes.
"Thank you," Duo Lon replied, actually feeling accomplished despite all that had transpired. Ron was strict, but kind; the Hizoku liked the man well. He did not believe in false praise, so when he did it, he meant it. He was ruthless to enemies-as Duo Lon knew from when he was sent after the first traitor-but to his clan, he was seen as a wise leader, despite his age, being much younger than many of the clan's elders.
"You can see your brothers for some time if you wish," Ron said. A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips, which did not happen often. "I am sure they would like that. I will send a message when it is time for you to act." With that, he stepped out. Ron was never much for small talk-that was more his mother's thing. Ron had strayed from her once, during a time of injury and duress, where he bore his half-sister.
His other brothers-the ones old enough to understand-did not like this at all and shunned the young woman, as did other members of their clan, but Duo Lon was always kind to her; it was not her fault, after all. She trained with Lin now, as her more frail body was not suited for extreme physical endeavors, though everyone received training in the martial arts to at least some level of proficiency. But she had an uncanny, extreme aptitude for poisons…however, she disliked the idea of the profession.
Shaking his head to snap himself out of his lost thoughts, he saw Feng and Liu looking at him.
"What would you like to do?" he asked kindly.
"Mahjong?" Feng asked.
Duo Lon smiled. "Let's see how much you've learned after I make something to drink."
Going over to the fireplace to put the pot on, the young boys-who still had eight or so years before they would end up blooded-set up the tiles for a rare bit of time to spend with their eldest brother.
A/N: Another laundry list of ANs since I'm building like, ⅔ of the Hizoku stuff from whatever scraps SNK has fed us.
Remember Ron was never always evil. For most of his life, he was a strict, but kind teacher and leader going by the actual lore, so I tried to portray this the best I could(the character is never even shown in flashbacks.)
He did not betray the clan until the NESTS saga, which, in-universe, wasn't all that long ago(in the Modern Timeline, the betrayal probably happened right before Duo Lon turned twenty or so even. I imagine there was *some* lead up toward it? Perhaps him meeting with strange people or something.) But with Duo Lon not even seventeen yet, that still had at least a good three and a half years still, so we're seeing Ron back as people remember him. Ron's fighting style-the bit you'd see it-seemed to usually surround him utilizing some kung fu strikes, but also a lot of his spells, braid, and the like-where Duo Lon, besides his fireball, often uses his own body more often than not.
Duo Lon has eight younger brothers. Given Ron's relatively young age(he was barely over 16 when he sired Duo Lon, as he's 37 when Duo Lon was 21), the kids were probably had close together, and I imagine at this point, assuming they still all live(this is questionable) they would range from 10(youngest) to 21(Duo Lon himself.) There is NOTHING on his family besides Xiao Lon(who, as a bastard, was shunned by most; Duo Lon was kind to her, but she went off for training with Lin early on due to her extreme talent with poisons). Given this when he was sixteen, the youngest could would be around 5 and 6 at this point. The brothers had no canon names; I had to make some up. (It also never specified why Ron had a mistress, I made up something here, too.)
The circumstances of his mother's death are unknown. I imagine it may have happened a couple of years after his youngest brother was born. Perhaps an illness, since no one seemed to be on a rampage of revenge in the actual lore, she was probably not killed.
I tend to be light using the 'trio' from the NESTS saga. He knew them for awhile, but those three always struck me as mysterious, chummed more with Lin, and Duo Lon more knew Luan in childhood(when they separated to train, her specialty is fire.) They run into each other now and then later(she's mostly out of the picture), but are opposed, as they both want to strike down Ron(opposed, but not quite *enemies.*) The other two were last seen around Lin, but are also unknown.
ANYWAY, this is me exploring stuff that SNK never really did, since the Hizoku can do so much in the way of weird-ass powers, and I figured the training for them has to be absolutely hellish, especially with as scary as Duo Lon seemed already. There's several stories now surrounding this. Hope you continue to enjoy!
