Chapter 1

I'm back! How are you all doing, I hope that fine. I'm great because here it is the first chapter of 'The Thin Line'. In this one, is where the main plot stats to unfold. And someone in the reviews asked me if Tatsumi is going to confront Night Raid more than once and the answer is that they are going to have a lot of interactions. With that said, let's go to the story!

Legend:

"Talking"

'Thinking...'

Chapter 1: Knowing a Powerful Truth

For the second time in the trip for the capital, Tatsumi woke up. Not because a dream about his past, because the cart suddenly stopped and some screams accompanied that.

"What the hell!"

"Is that an Earth Dragon!?"

"I never saw one so close to the capital!"

Taatsumi heard those screams outside and could tell that they were in danger. Quickly getting out of the cart, he saw that there was a danger beast in front of the cart.

Activating his Teigu, a small ball of blue lighting was formed on his open hand as he rushed at high speeds towards the earth dragon.

Jumping to cut its arms and head off with his Lighting Cutter then he landed on his feet as the beast fell dead to the floor.

He coughed a little and cover his mouth with his hand. After the cough stopped he looked at his palm to see a little of blood on his glove. He frowned knowing that the blood wasn't from the earth dragon.

"WOW! Are you okay!?" One of the drivers asked him and he turned his head and gave them a smile.

"Yeah. Back home I killed even more dangerous things than this."

Another driver smiled "Well kid, that was impressing. Say, how did you do that?"

Tatsumi chuckled as he put one finger over his own mouth "Trademark secret."

The last other driver chuckled "Very well, so by curiosity where are you head at exactly?"

"Planning on staying at the capital. Why?" Tatsumi answered as the faces of the two drivers were filled with sorrow.

"The capital... look kid; I don't know what you were told, but that place isn't what it seems like." One said and the other nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. The place is rotten as they come. I wouldn't go there if I were you."

Tatsumi sighed "Yeah, I've been told things like that. How crooked the capital truly is. But I need the money. I need to save my village. But thanks for the advice." He thanked smiling as he went for his bag and continue the rest of the way at foot.

The drivers were looking at him with curiosity before one shook his head.

"Poor kid doesn't know what is up to him."

His partner could only nod in agreement.

*Capital, Military Recruitment Office*

"Yo. I want to join the army. Any position would do." Tatsumi said to the receptionist of one of the many recruitment offices that were spread across the city. The receptionist nodded with a big grin.

"Great! Your first name and age please."

"Tatsumi and I'm 17."

The receptionist nodded as he handed a bag and a sword to Tatsumi. "Good. We had an overdue of applicants but we got a spot for you for a special mission. Report at the camp outside the city heading east. Welcome to the army."

"Thanks. I guess." Tatsumi said grabbing the bag and strapping the sword to his hip. He then left the office having a bad feeling about all this.

'Well, how hard can this be...' He thought.

"I mean, I had done harder things in the past..." Tatsumi mumbled as he crashed against a person but he continue walking thought.

"Sorry." Tatsumi said giving the person a brief look, seeing that it was a blonde woman with short hair and two long bangs framing her face, a black tube top, detachable sleeves, white pants, boots and a scarf.

"Hey, wait! At least invite me to an apology drink!" She screamed at him with a grin and Tatsumi turned his head back at the way ahead.

"Sorry lady, I'm in a hurry. Maybe next time." He said as the blonde woman was lost in the crowd.

'Maybe next time...' Tatsumi though.

*City Outskirts, Military Camp*

"Are you Commander Archer I have to report to?" Tatsumi asked in the military uniform and his strapped sword on his hip, to a tall buff man with white skin and blue eyes.

The man sighed "That's right recruit. They also send you into this suicide mission it seems."

"What do you mean by suicide mission?" Tatsumi asked to Archer.

"Our mission is to storm a bandit hideout and we are lacking men to do it. So, there's a really slim chance that we get out of here alive. Prepare yourself soldier, we go out in 5. Dismissed." Archer said with a grim expression and Tatsumi nodded unsure.

"Sir." He said before leaving to his position.

After 5 minutes the 100 men were lined up next to each other and in front of them, was the commander Archer, briefing the troops about the mission and saying that they had more possibilities of losing than winning, but if they win, they might get enough money for retirement. He looked to his right and saw that a fellow soldier, probably the same age or younger than him was shaking in place.

"Hey," Tatsumi said patting his shoulder to catch his attention "Relax, we're going to be fine."

"How can you be sure? The commander said this was a suicidal mission." He said eyes wide with despair.

"What's your name'" Tatsumi asked to him.

"Hitsuji, why?" Hitsuji asked him and Tatsumi gave him a reassuring smile.

"Stick next to me and I promise you, we will make it out alive. Then you can invite me to a drink or something."

Hitsuji was taken back by that statement "D-Do you actually think we can make it?"

Tatsumi nodded "Of course we can. Name's Tatsumi by the way."

"Very well soldiers! We start marching towards the enemy. And one last thing; the bandits are rumored to have a Teigu with them. So, if they know how to use it, we're doom." He briefed confusing many, surprising others and terrifying another.

Hitsuji was confused "Hey Tatsumi; what is a teigu?"

"Something really powerful. I'll give you more details later. But what you need to know, is that we are going to find it." He said giving him a smirk.

"What do you mean by that? If it's so powerful, wouldn't the guy that use it just kill us at sight?" Hitsuji asked worriedly and Tatsumi shook his head with a smirk just as they started to march towards the fortress.

"Nah, Teigus doesn't work like that. The Teigu chooses you. Not you the Teigu. It is needed some sort of connection between Teigu and user to be safe to certain point. If there isn't a connection, the wielder mind and body will break, leading him or her to its dead or in best case scenario, leave him or her crazy." Tatsumi explained as Hitsuji face turned one of horror.

"Then why the hell you want to find it?"

"Because it is our ticket to ascend on the ranks." Tatsumi said grinning "Look, we found the Teigu, we hand it to some high level official and with that a promotion will come. Or at least a really big paycheck." Tatsumi explained and Hitsuji sighed.

"Just promise me we'll make it out alive."

Tatsumi nodded "You got it."

The walk lasted some more minutes until they got in front of the castle where the bandits were hiding. Archer took out his sword and pointed towards the gigantic gate.

"Now men! Go and fight for our great empire!" He screamed as all the soldiers let out a battle cry and stormed the gate. Hitsuji was about to follow when Tatsumi stopped him.

"Wait, do you see that tower?" He asked him pointing to the tower that was sticking out. Hitsuji nodded.

"Yeah. What about it?"

"I think that there is the Teigu. So, if we avoid the main battle, we might get the Teigu in middle of the confusion and with a little of luck, we don't even need to fight."

Hitsuji nodded "And how we will know how it looks?" He asked.

"Teigus usually looks like some common object but with some specific decoration. It might be some gloves, a sword, or even a helmet or a guitar." Tatsumi explained and Hitsuji nodded.

"And how you know so much about Teigus?" He asked as they infiltrated the tower. He was really curious on why this guy knew so much about these weapons.

Tatsumi smirked at him as he took out the military gloves to show the Zeus. "This my friend, is my Teigu."

Hitsuji eyes widen "Really? And how do you use it?"

"With a lot of physical and mental force that then is accompanied by a lot of pain."

"Ouch." Hitsuji said and Tatsumi nodded.

"That's one way to say it. We're here." He stopped in front of the door that lead to the only room in the tower.

Opening slowly the door to see if there was anybody inside, he spotted a man sat down on a chair giving the entrance his back.

Tatsumi made a 'Shh' motion with his finger and went silently behind the man and started to choke him. But then he noticed that the man was not putting any resistance, he looked at the man face that was gaping and had its eyes half lidded. He checked his pulse and notice he had none.

"He's dead." Tatsumi stated with a serious expression.

"D-Did you kill him?" Hitsuji asked shakily. He hadn't expected that change from Tatsumi. His voice, his facial expression, his eyes. The kid he met that gave him confidence seem to go away and to be replaced by a cold-blooded assassin.

Tatsumi shook his head a little and he looked at Hitsuji back to his normal self "Nah. He probably was killed by the Teigu. Which I can guess is this little fella." He said grabbing the arm of the deceased bandit and holding it high to show that in the index finger, he had a dark purple ring with some sort of inscription on it.

"Is that ugly ring the Teigu?" Hitsuji asked and Tatsumi let out an irritated sigh.

"Yes. And now neither of us can use it."

"What? Why?" Hitsuji asked getting confused by how this Teigu works.

"Remember how I told you that Teigus choose you? Well, first impressions are really important on that topic. So, by calling it 'ugly ring' I'm pretty sure the Teigu doesn't like you. And for me, it is impossible to use two Teigus at the same time without dying or becoming crazy." Tatsumi explained and Hitsuji slumped his shoulders.

"Sorry."

Tatsumi waved his hand "No good on crying over spoiled milk. Now, let's continue on the plan." He said taking the ring off the finger of the corpse. Once it was fully out, Tatsumi eyes widened as he had some sort of vision.

"Michael." A man dressed in the emperor clothes said to a blonde man in a black armor that was bowing to him in one knee.

"Yes, my lord?" Michael answered and the man took out the ring and handing it to him.

"Take this ring and protect it with your life. This ring is a Teigu that will decide if our empire stays alive or fall at the hands of our own people."

Michael look at the man as he grabbed the ring "Why my lord?"

"This ring name is Key of Heaven: Khan. And it is the key for the Teigu Forge. Without it, it is impossible to work."

Tatsumi fell to his butt and stay sat down panting and the ring fell in front of him. Hitsuji rushed next to him.

"Tatsumi! Are you okay? You kind of spaced out and then you were like this."

Tatsumi nodded dumbly "Yeah I think so." After standing up Tatsumi said "We can't give this to the empire."

"Why? Wasn't this your plan to ascend the ranks?"

"It was. But if we give this to the empire, more people will suffer. Besides, I bet that the rebel army would pay a lot to get their hands on this." Tatsumi said grinning and Hitsuji looked at him confused.

"But, wouldn't the rebels do something similar?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, that if the empire will do horrible things with that, what are the chances that the rebel army would do something similar?" Hitsuji explained and Tatsumi looked at the ring that was still on the floor.

Letting out a groan Tatsumi said "Goddammit! Fine. We will just sell it to some rich idiot, split the wins, and then do whatever we need to do with it. And yes, we're leaving the army. Right. Now." Tatsumi said as he took off the coat of the army and the helmet leaving him on a white shirt. "Keep the pants, no one will connect them to the army."

Hitsuji complied and took of the upper part of his uniform leaving him on a white sleeveless shirt. He shivered and hugged himself.

"Is it me or is it really cold?" Hitsuji asked and Tatsumi nodded slowly.

"Yeah. The temperature suddenly dropped. Let me see and- shit." Tatsumi said seeing that the courtyard and everyone in there where frozen in solid ice.

"What's wrong?" Hitsuji asked as he watched Tatsumi rush to put a thin rope on the ring and then tie it like a necklace around his neck.

"If it is what I think it is, we are in deep, deep trouble." Tatsumi said going out the door being followed by Hitsuji.

"And what is it?"

Tatsumi glanced back at Hisuji while running downstairs. "General Esdeath."

"Who?" Hitsuji asked not really hearing that name before.

"She is a general for the empire. And one of the most powerful and sadistic there are between the lines of the empire. At least, for what I've been told." Tatsumi explained and Hitsuji nodded unsure of all this.

"So, what's the new plan now?"

"For now, let's try to escape." Tatsumi said and glanced one more time at Hitsuji and sighed of relief to see that he carried his sword.

"Hey you two! What are you doing here!?" A soldier from the army asked to them and Tatsumi clicked his tongue.

"Dammit." He said spotting the soldier and he activated his Teigu.

"Lighting Cutter." He said as the blue lighting started to form on his palm.

"What the-" The soldier didn't finish due to Tatsumi piercing with his arm where his heart should be.

"Sorry." Tatsumi apologized to the deceased soldier.

"Y-Y-Y-You killed him!" Hitsuji screamed at him and Tatsumi nodded grimly.

"It was him or us. Sometimes you need to make those decisions you like it or not. So, prepare yourself, because if they didn't hear the lighting, the hear your scream."

Hitsuji nodded as he unsheathed his sword and followed Tatsumi outside in the courtyard. Where there were a group of soldiers waiting for them.

"Lighting Cutter." Tatsumi said activating for the third time this day his Teigu, as he started to fight off the soldiers.

Hitsuji gulped hard as he let out a battle cry, following Tatsumi and slashing the soldiers he could see.

Tatsumi spotting his new friend doing well, smiled at him "See Hitsuji!? We can do this! We're leaving this place alive!"

Hitsuji grinned annd nodded "You're right! We can do this! We can do this! We can-"

He didn't even saw as an axe cut his head off.

Tatsumi eyes widen seeing the head of Hitsuji hit the floor. "Hitsuji!" He then turned to glare at the man responsible of killing him. It was a muscular man, with long, spikey blonde hair and white-pupil-less eyes. He was wearing some sort of uniform that consisted in a black coat, black pants, black boots, a white shirt tucked inside his pants and some black cross that was used as a tie. He also was wearing some sort of headdress similar to some horns.

"HAHAHA! That won't give me so many experiences points as I wanted but you should do." The man said holding twin axes in each hand.

"You son of a bitch!" Tatsumi screamed as he rushed with the Lighting Cutter at full strength.

The man laughed as he threw the two axes at Tatsumi. Tatsumi ducked the first axe and sidestepped the second and then with all the strength he could pull out, pierced the man's stomach and lifted him some meters of the floor.

"Daidara!" He heard someone scream and he looked around and founnd himself surrounded. Between the troops a beautiful woman with long blue hair, blue eyes and a porcelain skin dressed in a general outfit. She also had a tattoo on her chest.

"You. What's your name?" She demanded at Tatsumi that coughed a little. He covered his mouth with his hand as a little of blood was now on the glove.

"Tatsumi. And I guess that you're the famous General Esdeath." Tatsumi said glaring at the woman that gave him a sadistic smirk.

"That's right. Now, you killed one of my beasts and I need a substitute for him. And as you seem strong, you will do."

"Do I have a choice?" Tatsumi asked her as the smirk turned into a grin.

"No." She said before kicking him and knocking him out.

As they started to leave, Tatsumi tied up and still knocked out, the same girl from the city was watching the whole situation. But only that this time the girl had longer hair, cat ears, a tail and her hands where replaced by the ones of a beast.

"Well, kid's tough. Might as well take him out of this." She mumbled as she leapt of to another tree.

*Later that Night, Esdeath Camp*

Tatsumi woke up outside of the camp and tied to a pole. In front of him was a note that any attempt of escaping would be punished with dead.

Sighing and leaning his head back, he thought of how he got into this problem. Then he thought about Ieyasu and Sayo, wondering if they are okay. About Hitsuji and how he could had saved him. About the elder and Ken.

'At least they didn't take the ring...' Tatsumi thought. Thinking back on the ring, Khan was its name, wondering why it reacted like that. It was like the ring showed him something important. And that it was related to the first emperor, if he wasn't wrong.

His thought where interrupted by the woman from before landing in front of him. But with more animalistic features.

She was grinning at him. "Need help?" She asked teasingly.

"You can say that." Tatsumi answered, trying to process what happened to this girl.

The woman smirked as she with pure strength broke the chains that tied his hands to the pole. It didn't make a lot of sound, so it wasn't noticed by the soldiers that many were asleep already.

"Let's go." She said and he nodded as they ran into the forest.

*Next Day, Mountains*

"So, you're with Night Raid?" Tatsumi confirmed and the woman, that name is Leone, nodded with a smirk. She also told him that what he saw before was the transformation of her Teigu.

"That's right Tatsumi. And we think that we got a spot open for you." She said smirking.

"Let me see if I get this clear. Night Raid isn't the merciless assassins that everyone paints you guys to be, but instead, you are assassins for the rebel army that only takes jobs to kill the corrupt ones in the empire?"

Leone nodded "Yep. So, you're in?"

Tatsumi sighed "I'm going to get paid right?"

"That's right."

"Then I guess I'm in."

Leone grinned and hugged him with one arm "That's great to hear! Believe me, you're going to love it in here. And we arrived by the way." Leone said stopping in front of a mountain that had some fortress below.

Tatsumi nodded his head and prepare himself for his new life.

And done! This was the first chapter of 'The Thin Line'. Any positive or constructive reviews are appreciated. Now, a couple of things:

1) Tatsumi will be with Night Raid a short time only to bond with an important character in the story.

2) Hitsuji means sheep.

3) Esdeath didn't kill Tatsumi for killing Daidara because she respects strength. And she saw that Tatsumi had it.

And that's all! Leave your Review that it is important for me, PM me for any doubt or suggestion, Follow and Favorite the story.

Till Next Time.

Roy D. Harper.

Next Chapter: Assassins