From Dusk Till Dawn – Chapter 3: Twilight

Yasuo was absolute this time: he wanted the Order of the Shadow completely destroyed once he figured out what the strange mark on Riven's shoulder was.

"That mark…is the mark of the Black Rose. I know, because my brother joined the Black Rose in search of answers."

The entire room gasped. Karma was the only one who held silent. "Yone, I knew he was a fool at heart. After years of teaching him, he denied everything about his family and ancestors. He was a man who would take every possible step to find answers, and joining that order would of course be an answer to him. How did you realize this, Yasuo?"

Yasuo looked at the ground abruptly, trying to remember the few last days he saw him. "Very long ago, before Noxus invaded Ionia. He told me he would surpass me and find answers. I told him he was foolish for wanting to dig deeper into the bottomless grave he was making. After the invasion, he still thought I was innocent, until one day…I believe he was told to kill me. I didn't think Ionia wanted me dead, so this makes more sense. One of the leaders of the Black Rose must have given him Intel or reason to kill me to figure out his past. Yone was unsuccessful, but now I fear that…Yone is alive."

Karma tried to calm down the room. "Death may not be permanent for those foolish enough to hand over their soul, but one thing for sure is that they are beatable."

Udyr chimed in. "I agree. Zed, Yone, Yorick…they may all still exist, but they have to die sometime. All we need to do is eliminate the source."

Yasuo was silent. "I still can't believe this is real. We have to kill Zed again, and I'm going to have to discipline my brother once again. I thought it was all over, and it hasn't even begun."

'Yone, your father would condemn the route you have chosen just to find your past, but what is it all for in the end? You have given away your life, and become a living corpse…Maybe this time you will rest in peace.'

Riven was able to stand, but she couldn't walk easily, so Yasuo helped her along the way. Karma ordered Yasuo to take her home, and let her rest. In the meanwhile, everyone else, except for Jin who decided he wanted to walk his own path, stayed and talked about the possibilities of how to fight back. Karma came to a decision:

"This war is too close, and I fear that there is too much at stake. You all are still in a weak condition to take on the heart of the Shadow Isles. I want Udyr, Udyr's son, Lucian, and Yasuo to train for seven years in hyper reality, where time moves faster than it does in real life. I can create many instances of hyper reality, but it requires a good amount of power on my end. Are you all up for this task?"

Udyr was shaken by Karma's statement. "Why are you brining my son into this situation in which he has no cause over?"

"Spirit Walker, listen up. If Soul becomes strong enough, he will become a vital player in our mission. If you sit by and let him stay here, he might be without a mom and dad permanently, or for a long period of time. Would you rather have this happen, or watch him grow with you as your master did? Do you disapprove of your Master?"

Udyr held his fist by his side. "I do not regret my Master's choice, but I felt like I never had a normal child life that everyone else had. I want that for my son, not to grow up and become a ruthless beast like me. You don't have a family, so of course you don't understand my fatherly attachment to Soul."

"LISTEN TO ME UDYR! You either let him grow up to make his own decisions, or you ignore his right to be able to choose his life. I understand you want Soul to be a normal child, but he has the potential to become a great warrior!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU HAG! I don't want my boy to be anything like me; I want him to know what it is like to have friends, to have family, to have everything that my bastard Father never gave me…" Udyr started to cry as he remembered his past, and being left behind only to be picked up by his Master. Lucian consoled Udyr.

"Spirit Walker, I think she makes a valid point. Your feelings for Soul may get in the way of his own decision making, and he might not be able to grow up by himself if you don't allow for this to happen. I may not know your feelings because I never had kids, but I do know what it is like to have a bond so strong you do not ever want it to be broken. You just need to trust us, Udyr."

"I…I just want to protect Soul."

"If you train with him in hyper reality, then you can get exactly that. You can watch him grow, and become strong and independent."

Udyr finally snapped out of it. "Okay then, I will allow this."

Karma nodded. "I'm glad you came to your senses, young one. Now that we have sorted that out, go get some rest. Tomorrow will be a long day for me, and for all of you."

Udyr offered to let Lucian stay with him, and he accepted. Before Udyr went to sleep, he wanted to check up on his son, Soul. He saw him in his small cradle, sound asleep.

"Son, I love you more than I love life itself. I know you will grow to become a better man than me."

With that statement, Udyr went to his room and went straight to sleep. Oddly enough, he dreamt about his past endeavors. He saw his Master taking him to an old festival in Ionia. His memory was vivid of that day:

'I hope that this event does not get you attached to the life of a regular Ionian, Udyr. I just thought that it would be right of me to show you around the town where I grew up.'

'Master, can I ask you a few things?'

'Anything.'

'What were my parents like?'

Udyr's master hesitated. 'I knew your parents quite a bit actually. Your mother, she was the sweetest person that any boy could ask for. It wasn't her decision to give you up to me, but she would always send letters to me asking how little Udyr was doing. I would always tell her I saw the spitting image of a better man than your Dad. Your father…I don't like to talk about him. He was a very inconsiderate and selfish man, and he deprived you off of what a family feels like. No child should ever have to live without knowledge of what a family looks like. I wish I could give you that myself, but I am by myself.'

'Why do I not remember my parents?'

'You were just a little cub when I took you under my wing, Udyr. Your memory is quite better than my old memory, but I do believe that you were in your early years of childhood when your parents told me that they could not take care of you, and I offered to make a man out of you! I hope that you can one day become a greater teacher to me than I am to you.'

'No fair, master! I can't think of anyone better than you.'

He laughed back. 'I'm sure you will become stronger.'

'Lastly, however, what is your real name?'

'…Well…' He looked awkwardly at that question. 'I'll tell you what: I will tell you everything you need to know when the time is right! I'll even see if I can get your mother to come see you again!'

'That's awesome, I can't wait!'

I waited for that moment my entire life, and had to witness my master fall into the hands of that Ice Witch. Now, I still have questions everywhere in my mind about my past. If anything, I am happy that my master did what he could…I just hope…to be...even better…

A couple hours later, Udyr woke up. Lucian woke up as well, and he got up and ready before Udyr could leave his room. Lucian knocked at his door.

"Hey, are you ready for today?"

"As ready as I will ever be. Let me get my Son, and we will get started."

Udyr got on some old robe that he used to wear around the forest when he was teaching Nidalee. He wanted to go into this hyper reality with the intent to fully teach his son everything he had to offer him. Udyr took him from his Cradle, and carried him on his back. When they got back to Karma's place, Karma laughed at Udyr carrying in his son.

"You really do look like your father, Udyr."

Udyr hesitated. "You knew my father?"

"Hardly, but I do remember what he looked like. I can tell you more after your training, but I need you to start training immediately. I can already feel these hyper realities straining on me."

Udyr decided not to stay and ask questions, because he knew it would just be a waste of time. He entered the first realm, and Yasuo entered the second along with Lucian.

"Hyper reality 1 and 2…Jinkai Salamez…TON!" Karma closed both gates, but still held them up with her Ionian magic. She had to stay in her exact location, otherwise the instances would break and they would be trapped in hyper reality for eternity. The magic that she had to concentrate for one hyper reality isn't too straining, but having two completely paralyzes most body functions from the amount of strain.

'I'm counting on you four to do everything necessary to grow stronger in these seven years.'

(Hyper reality – Instance #1 – Udyr and Soul – Day 3)

"Son, can you stand up straight?"

Soul fell to the ground again, and cried. "I'm a failure!"

"Relax, child. You have seven years to get this technique right. It took me long to get it, but I would have never gotten it right if my master hadn't pushed me hard enough. Now stand like this." Udyr stood straight up, and lifted off the ground after linking his spirit energy and sending it to his feet.

Soul did exactly as Udyr did, and for a moment he was off the ground. He was so pressured into doing good, that his spirit energy went from his feet to his chest. He fell flat on his face, and felt sad once again. This time, Udyr gave him his hand to help him get up.

"Dad, why are you helping me up? I keep on failing you…I'm not a warrior."

Udyr laughed. "I love your rough criticism of yourself, Soul. You really are like your Father. You know, my master always use to have this old saying: A mother bird nurtures and cares for her little one, and she watches her little one grow up every day until they can fly on their own. Until then, it is the mother's responsibility to help that little bird grow. If I let you fall, it is a sign that I am allowing you to grow on your own, but if I sit there and watch you fall over and over again, it is a sign that I have created a deep bond of trust with you. For one day, I know that you will spread your wings and fly, and become strong. Soul, I can see you trying over and over again, and I see you continually getting better. If I had no confidence in you, I would stop you from falling. I trust that you will become great, so I allow you to fall, but will be there to help you get back up."

Soul sobbed as he heard this, and gave Udyr a hug. "Thanks Dad, I love you."

"I love you too, Son. Now then, let's get back at it."

(Hyper Reality – Instance #2 – Lucian and Yasuo – Day 34)

"Dodge THIS!" Yasuo's sweeping wind send Lucian into the air, and Lucian reacted quickly to the next attack. He blocked the strike from Yasuo, and counter-attacked with a kick to the ground. Yasuo was in a bit of pain, but he laughed it off. "Impressive showing, Lucian. You are both adept at long ranged combat and close quarter combat."

"I use to be more of a fighter myself, but that was way back in the day. I can still remember being able to fight off all those thugs who attacked her…"

"Your wife?"

"Yes. It's a past that I'd rather not touch on, because it brings too much pain to say her name. I sometimes lose sleep at night wondering if I could have saved her if I was stronger. It really pains me…"

"I sometimes wondered the same with my brother. I didn't intend on killing him, but he left me no choice. I saw that mark of the Black Rose, and knew he had no future ahead of him. The only unfortunate thing is that I didn't give him a proper resting place, so this time I'll have to dig his grave."

Lucian kept on fighting while the two were talking. "You make it sound like you were just a shadow of your brother growing up. Is this accurate, Yasuo?"

"It could be, but I gave no heir to what those fools thought of me. I left all that back with my old self before I was accused. Even now, I still feel like I am not a part of this Ionia that I once used to live in." Yasuo had blocked every bullet fired at him with his steel tempest.

"You fought for what seemed like a greater good in the end, and broke ties with your past. Have you found amenity in your life of burnt bridges and broken paths?"

"Surprisingly enough, I have not. That is my only purpose to life: to amend what has been broken by those that have taken it away. It would have been all over if I decided to kill Riven, but I soon realized that wasn't the answer. The answer lies within those monsters in the Order of the Shadow; the ones that abused the nature of power and have destroyed so much with it. I have seen too much come from it, and I want it all to end."

"I see, so that is why you chose to openly walk on this path. I commend you for your honesty, Yasuo. Let's take a break for now."

(Reality)

'This strain is getting to the point where I can't seem to control the nature of my power. If this persists, then I might fall unconscious or break the hyper realities. Those four better get something out of this-'

The door was bust open. Karma hesitated for a second, but looked over to see a large amount of dark energy intersect her beam of light. Next to it was none other than Yone, sniffing a black rose. "It's been too long, Miss. I really missed this desolate town."

'I can't…believe he's already here…this is terrible!'