Sorry for taking so long but at least it's longer than the others. Im not sure how this turned out but hopeful it's okay.

Rain crashed against the roof of the small shack-like house, it was as if there were thousands of tiny drums being continually beaten throughout the night. Despite this however the small home emit a loud snoring that almost drowned out the sound of the rain. Suddenly a loud crash echoed through the town before a deafening roar over shadowed it.

Inside of the small house on the right hand side as you enter through the door, lay three beds placed next to each other with small gaps in between. On the left side of the one room house stood a chair and a desk covered in paper and by the wall on the far side of the house stood a small work surface with a sink that had plates and other cutlery piled high and spilling over the sides. In the middle of the room stood what seemed to be one of the people involved in the racket; a tall man who was at least 7 foot in height, with black mid-length wavy hair, short un-styled facial hair and light brown skin, wearing an orange t-shirt that said "one hit knock out," on the front. He also wore a pair of plain black track suit trousers and black and white trainers, and at the moment one of them was placed on the back of a tall young man, that would have been dwarfed if he stood next to the giant. He lay on his stomach wearing a white hoody over a grey t-shirt, plain jeans and white trainers. After a few seconds the young man said in a gruff muffled voice, "Raion! Can you PLEASE get off of me now?"

There was a quick snort but the foot had not moved by the time Raion bent down towards the boy's level and said, "Well, have you learnt your lesson yet Arashi?" While there black eyes stared so intensely at each other it was as if electricity was passing between them.

This earned a burst of rage from the boy called Arashi as he pushed himself back up, causing Raion to fall over before Arashi bent over him and started shouting in his face, "How dare you talk to me like I'm a child! I'm OLDER than you! You're only sixteen!"

The hairy boy that looked at least ten years older than he actually was jumped up at that point into the face of Arashi and shouted back, "well that's 'cause you act like a child, I mean why the HELL did you kick me out of my bed."

"How could I not." Was the immediate response before Arashi continued his rant, "You were snoring so loudly I doubt anyone in the town could sleep, I'm practically a hero…"

Before Arashi could continue however the door smashed open and a tall figure walked in. He was deathly pale and had pitch black shoulder length hair that fell onto a plain black hoody that was worn over another bare black t-shirt. As well as the hoody and t-shirt he wore unadorned black tracksuit trousers and trainers and rings on his thumbs. Most striking of all however was the boy's two pistols hanging in holsters with large bayonets pointing down from each one on either side of his legs and his piercing blue eyes that hardened as he saw Arashi and Raion's confrontational body language. As the two young men sheepishly looked up he glared at them coldly before quietly growled, "What, the HELL!"

The next morning was almost the mirror image of the events the previous night for Raion. It started with a kick to the back and him landing on the floor, but unlike the night before he didn't have to attack Arashi as he soon joined him; the both them sprawled out on the floor and getting increasingly tangled as they tried to worm their way off of each other and out of the gap between their beds. The sound of the two muttering and kicking each other in their failed attempts of escape were quickly drowned out by the sound of the man from yesterday loudly chuckling. "ERIOT" both boys loudly proclaimed.

"What?" Eriot asked innocently.

Arashi jumped up and angrily said, "You know what. You kicked us out of our beds."

Eriot looked confused as he repeated himself, "what?"This caused both boys swiftly turn to each other causing Eriot to fall on his back laughing.

When he managed to calm down and the other two picked their jaws off of the floor he chuckled to himself saying, "you're both so gullible, what would you do without me?"

Raion quickly spoke up and said, "Well first I'd get rid of Arashi and then I'd finally get some sleep" as nonchalantly as he could.

Eriot once again chuckled as Arashi turned around, glared at Raion and said, "Ditto."

This caused Raion to laugh as he said, "What? You wanna get rid of yourself too?" This remark caused Arashi to silently seethe.

Eriot smiled and said, "I didn't imagine when I started looking out for the two of you that you'd be so much trouble." Eriot remembered the day he started looking out for Raion; the day he became indebted to his younger brother.

It was 12 years earlier; Eriot was 7 while Raion was just 4. Up until then Raion had mainly stayed in the play room of the orphanage and had therefore not seen much of Eriot as he always snuck out to explore despite the beatings it earned him. However previously Raion had been moved out of his old room next to the, "mother and father" of the orphanage's room and been moved in with Eriot in order to make space for the younger children that the "mother" had to keep a closer watch on. Initially Eriot had paid no attention to the young boy, but the indifference was quick to grow into annoyance as Raion followed him everywhere, as to the child he seemed strong and mysterious as he often saw Eriot taken beatings without a tear leaving his face and at other points he would simply disappear without even the seemingly all knowing "father" knowing where he was.

During one day that was like many others something happened to change this strained barely existent relationship. Eriot had once again somehow escaped his young stalker who sat in their room waiting for him to climb in through the window when he thought everyone was asleep like he had numerous other times when he heard "father" walking up the stairs. The smell of alcohol wafted all the way up to their room. When he heard him stop outside their room he knew he was planning to take out his frustration on his favourite punching bag, it was not like Eriot was an angel, he had caused trouble all his life but once he had reached 5 he had been even worse, leaving randomly and sometimes staying out for days on end so when he came back "father" had been more than generous with his beatings. Though Eriot often ignored him Raion still liked him and didn't want to be hurt so he immediately put his pillow under his covers and jumped into Eriot's bed, knowing "father" wouldn't know the difference in his drunken stupor.

Once Eriot got back he found Raion crying on his bed and was about to throw him on the floor when he saw the bruises. He quietly growled, "What the HELL?" Before Raion sat up and explained the beating he took to stop Eriot from getting in more trouble; after all the last time "father" found out he snuck out he ended up in the hospital due to a "fall". Eriot sat down next to the crying boy he had repeatedly shunned and put his arm around him in attempt to comfort him. He then promised, "I will make this up to you, even if it's the last thing that I do."

Eriot sat there thinking about this for a while, oblivious to the world as he remembered what his actions caused the four year old Raion. He remembered all that he had put his 'brother' through and the debt he stilled owed him. He then looked to his newest 'brother' who also was remembering those times from the stories he had heard from the other two.

Eriot stood with a frown on his face as he looked at Raion and stewed in past regrets while Arashi remembered the stories and Raion continued the playback of his childhood memories.

It was two years later; the orphanage had closed down after Eriot decided to fight back against the over enthusiastic punisher and put him in the hospital and both boys were living on the streets. Eriot had made good on his promise to make it up to him in Raion's eyes as soon as he stopped ignoring him, and even more so when he put "father" in the hospital. However Eriot didn't see it that way and still strived to straighten out his debt, but that wasn't the only reason he helped him anymore. Over the two years Raion and Eriot had grown close and they were the closest thing the other had to family since they came to the orphanage as babies; Raion due to his mother's death during child birth and a previously dead father and Eriot due to what appeared to be abandonment.

After a few months of homelessness the strain was beginning to show; especially on Raion who wasn't as strong or resilient as Eriot. If it hadn't been for Eriot's natural stealth and his ability to steal the two may not have made it. Though Eriot at this point could probably take out most people if he needed to, he still refused to attack people as long as there was another option and if he didn't have to look after Raion he still wouldn't have done it even then.

It had been about a year of petty thievery when Eriot had decided to up the stakes. He began to realize that simply stealing food wasn't enough; they barely got enough to eat. Raion had attempted to help a few times but he was simply too clumsy and didn't have what it took to pull it off. The few time Eriot had allowed Raion to join him he had given them away which meant that Eriot had to incapacitate the store or stall owner before getting Raion and making a run for it. The catalyst of the change in lifestyle started on a day when Eriot decided to mug someone. Raion had grown thin and ill and they were without the money they needed to be able to pay for medication so Eriot had set his mind on doing anything he could to make the money needed.

Though Eriot had said he would get the money no matter what he couldn't bring himself to steal from any of the people he saw. As he sat on a roof top looking down at the people passing by he saw someone who he immediately knew deserved to be robbed; he was a pirate. Eriot had kept the ship the man had left in the corner of his eyes. It was a medium sized vessel, with a large fish on the front. There were many men that poured out but this man had started walking towards his direction after splitting off from the rest of the crew.

His name was 'hook hand' Harry and he had a bounty of 7 million beli but unknown to Eriot at the time was the most important fact about the pirate, and that is that his encounter with him would change his life forever. Eriot crouched on the roof preparing his attack while the pirate walked below him when suddenly he stopped. Though he was too far away for the 9 year old Eriot to see this, there was a slight smile on his face as he looked up directly at Eriot who thought that he was too far back along the roof to be seen and said, "you gonna stay up there forever?"

Eriot was visibly shaken by his presence being known but he shook himself into a more calm state before muttering, "no matter, we NEED the money" and with the last word he jumped from the height, flipping in the air just above the man and aiming a kick to the smiling pirates face. He landed with a crash and a cloud of smoke was released into the air. A dark silhouette could be seen behind the young boy as he wondered where the man had gone.

"I'm Harry by the way, what's your name?" Harry loudly asked causing Eriot to jump and aim a kick behind him, Harry was already gone. "That was very rude" spoke Harry from behind Eriot once again, however as Eriot sent another kick behind him, instead of dodging as he had consistently done before Harry simply smacked the leg out of the way before wrapping his fingers around Eriot's neck and lifting the boy in the air.

"Eriot, my name's Eriot" the young boy moaned as he struggled against the man who held him in the air by the throat; he was afraid for his life only now realizing how outclassed he was.

"That's better, now that the pleasantries are out of the way I think you have potential and I think we can come to some arrangement."

On the other side of the island another young boy of the age of 8 stood in the blistering heat of his father's forge. The boy's father stood over a large work top that was the main feature of the room although it contained many other things of note. Swords, hammers, the prongs from pitchforks and many other objects made from metal hung from the walls of the room and a large furnace attached to a chimney stood in the corner. The flames burst out heating the room to an uncomfortable level.

The man was tall and muscular with a shaved head, shorts and a muscle vest. He stood over a large nodachi that had a long black handle. The blade had a bright orange glow and sparks shot out as the man struck it with a large hammer. The boy with short black hair and a grey t-shirt and black shorts stood looking at his father in awe as he honed the edge of the elegant blade. "This will be yours one day Arashi" the man said as he smiled down at his son while continuing his work on the blade. Arashi just continued to beam at his father as he watched him: work on the sword and practice the trade he hoped to inherit.

Three years later Arashi had started his training as a blacksmith and was able to use all the tools his dad owned; as well as being able to use the furnace though he still wasn't as skilled as his father who had had a lot more practice. He had also greatly improved in his sword fighting abilities, now having the strength to go with his experience and skill. His fighting abilities were now at the level where he was able to consistently able to beat his father in their sparring matches as well as anyone else who challenged him. Though he didn't officially own the blade his father had entrusted it to him for safe keeping and to train, which greatly improved the boy's motivation.

Arashi was beside his father with swords in hand as they walked back to their forge to check on it before going home, after a long day at the market attempting to sell their wares. The trek home was long but the father and son weren't tired as they often went for runs longer than this in order to stay in shape.

When the 12 year old Arashi and his father reached the forge they saw something that they hadn't expected. Seven men of varying heights stood outside the forge wearing dark clothes and black cloth over their faces. As the two males entered their line of sight they immediately drew their weapons and charged the father and son pair.

Arashi immediately froze in shock as he had no experience in actual high pressured situations. He often fought but his sparring matches couldn't compare to actually being attacked; the killer intent could almost be felt in the air causing it to thicken and weigh down on the young boy.

Arashi's father however reacted completely differently. He was a lot more experienced than his son, and had been through a lot. Being an ex-marine he had fought and won many battles where combatants had been after more than just victory. He immediately drew a blade from Arashi's hand leaving behind its scabbard and charged to meet the attackers head on.

The blacksmith rushed to meet the seven attackers clashing blades with the spear point of the group with a loud clang as the one man army charged forward with the man still attached to him through their blades breaking the strict formation they had earlier ran in. The ex-marine immediately gave a smile at the ease in which their squad was broken. The smile quickly turned up-side down however as he realized it was all part of their plan. The masked man that was being pushed forward quickly pressed his heel down bringing himself to a halt as his companions surrounded the target, they formed a circle around him as the man pushed the target back and they then started to move inwards; causing him to be at risk from all of their drawn blades.

The man slowly looked round attempting to assess the situation and find his enemies weak points and exploit them; the opposite of what he must now do to the swords in his current trade. He loved his work, ever since his wife had become ill he had decided he couldn't stay a marine and when she died that was the last straw. He hadn't been there for her in her last moments having been stuck out at sea; something he would never forgive himself for, but he had to be there for his son; his son was all he had and vice versa. He immediately resigned after getting back to his post on the island they called home. He lived in the marine base of the island with his family and having resigned he had to leave, so he decided to go to the largest most industrial island in the area. He decided to have a peaceful trade his son could inherit and that could give him a nice life and provide for his family even after he joined his wife. He never thought that his previous life would catch up to him and cause trouble for his family.

Looking at his son's blank crying face the man made a last ditch attempt to escape. He made as if to charge forward as the man in front of him braced, he feinted right before turning and jumping backwards. However the man he initially confronted was too fast and sliced open his back so all could see his almost severed spine, blood spraying over the man's face causing him to look even more demonic. The young Arashi simply fell to his knees, wide eyed not believing his father could truly lose; knowing he had never truly tried to fight his son at even half strength.

The dying man looked to his killer with glazed eyes and asked, "why, why did you do this now of all times?"

The man looked at him expressionlessly. "Because Rodan doesn't like competition." The ex-marines eyes tore open. RIVALRY! I have been killed, and my son has been left alone for something as meaningless as BUSINESS RIVALRY. Thought Arashi's father as he lost what was left of his composure and dignity. He immediately slumped down to the floor on his back from his propped up position as tears streamed down his face reflecting the light from the stars above. He had enough rage in him at this point to fight on pure adrenaline but he had already lost feeling and control of his legs. He lay there paralysed as the emotion, feeling and blood slowly drifted out of his body and then there was nothing. Arashi simply kneeled there as his father died and his killers slowly strolled pass before he also became dead to the world.

A year had passed and Raion had gotten his medicine and was feeling better than ever. He had grown by this point in time and now towered over Eriot which made him wonder what exactly was in that medicine. His 6 foot height coupled with the beard had made him seem much older than the 11 years he actually was. His hair had also grown beyond the short length the orphanage had kept it and now the hair curled all over his head causing it to be just off the collar. His muscle size also caused him to seem much older and extremely helped in any rough situation he found himself in.

He and Eriot had just left the house they now owned and were jogging through the streets for both exercise and in order to find someone. The two brothers jogged along the narrow paths of Pastoria Island's main town that they knew like the back of their hands. They continued down one of the longer paths until they reached a large colourful forge attached to a shop that sold the products made in the forge, and took metal objects that needed to be honed or fixed as well as the place that tools were given back. Standing outside were the people they needed to see, but standing in front of them with a large nodachi in one hand and the black scabbard in the other, was a young boy around Eriot's age that stood challenging their targets.

As they slowed their walk the boy without turning to them said, "Back off these guys are mine."

Eriot smiled at the fact that the boy already knew who they were and then replied, "Sorry kid, but how about you get lost and let us do our job."

The boy immediately shouted, "My names not 'kid', it's Arashi and I can't just back off. With these guys its personal; they killed my father" in reply as he finally turned to the two assassins, and as he did so the men took it as their chance to attack him using the same diamond attack formation. Unlike his father however he didn't simply attack the middle, as he knew that they would simply surround him; he had learnt from the mistakes of his father.

Arashi immediately appeared behind the seven thugs after doing an incredible leap over the whole squad. He then made a quick slash at what he could guess was the weakest of the group as he noticed the strongest were at the front. The spear point of the group, the man that struck the finishing blow on Arashi's father immediately appeared blocking the blade; holding the handle of his katana and palm pressed against the flat side of the actual blade. Arashi then made an upwards sweep with the scabbard of the nodachi and upon making contact with the thug's katana it sent him reeling back as his companions scattered to make way. "So the son returns to avenge the father hmm, you've already surpassed him as well; you have a lot of potential." These words wrung a bell in Eriot's head causing him to remember the deal that he made after he started a fight around a year ago.

Arashi began to trade blows with the man. He weaved and jumped and rolled passed a multitude of attacks while also sending off a few of his own; the gap between the two's skill wasn't nearly as large as between the man and Arashi's father. Arashi struck with both the blade and scabbard; black and silver blurs whizzing through the air towards his foe, while the man simply struck with his sword other than a few low blows with one of his fists or knees. The man was able to land one of these less honourable blows after a particularly unbalanced strike from Arashi; giving the man the chance to side step and knee him in the stomach and cause the child to fall on the floor with blood in his mouth.

"Aaaahhhhhhh" the boy screamed as he flew off the ground and charged towards the man; there was a loud clash as they entered into a contest of strength. The strain was showing on both parties as the swords clashed; each side putting all of the force they could muster into the battle. The ground beneath their feet began to crack due to the pressure they exerted, however the balance of the competition began to shift as Arashi began to press forward. Step by step he slowly started to overcame the man, having proven to himself the benefit of his training the boy once again swung the scabbard using his left hand having only used his right in the struggle, and the scabbard made contact with the murderers chin with a loud smack knocking him into his companions before turning on them as well. Having proven to himself the difference in their strength the boy immediately set about knocking out the battlers with his scabbard or the flat side of his blade before turning to the man he would always hate.

"I guess I was wrong when I said you had potential. You're already strong in your own right" said the man with blood trickling from his mouth and split jaw. The boy silently walked towards him blade glistening in the sun as if it could almost taste the blood that would soon satiate its thirst.

When the boy reached the man propped up on the floor he simply stated, "You're not worth staining my sword" and put it back into the scabbard after giving the man a low blow between his legs causing the man to gasp. He was about to walk away when a shot was fired and blood squirted across his leg. Arashi turned round to see the nameless assassin lying on the floor with a massive hole in his head and blood pouring all around him. Shocked at what he just saw Arashi turned to the older boy who was holding the smoking gun and shouted, "what the hell; you killed him in COLD BLOOD!"

Eriot looked at the teary eyed boy with an expressionless face and said, "I was doing my job and like I expected, you couldn't manage to."

The shocked Arashi slowly took a deep breath before saying, "What? Your job is to murder people!"

"No. My job is not to murder people, I do that at my own discretion; my job is to eliminate threats."

"But he was already beaten, he was no threat."

"Getting beaten doesn't make you any less of a threat; it just makes you pissed off. He would have eventually continued and killed someone else's father." This caused an angry-determined look to return to Arashi's eye as he moved to draw his blade; causing Eriot to rapidly continue "What I did was for the best, the main fighting force of the 'blood hand' is gone for good and this will likely break up the rest of the group, discourage other groups from forming and send a message to their employers" the man said as he nodded to the forge. Arashi just shook his head in irritation as Eriot spoke, what in his mind was a load of rubbish.

As he had no more reason to be at the scene of the murder he decided to get out of there; it might bring back memories that wouldn't help anyone. He simply walked past the black haired murderer without another word; the two of them not breaking eye contact wandering what the other would do as Arashi walked passed a hand suddenly shot out a few inches from Arashi's chest stopping him from leaving. As he traced the origin of the large hairy and muscular arm he saw it was attached to a young man with unruly facial hair and black and curly hair. As he looked along the arm he saw at the base there was an orange t-shirt with a large black star on the front.

Arashi immediately reached for his blade but Eriot had firmly gripped both hands before he got the chance. "We don't want to fight." Eriot quietly assured Arashi.

"Then get off me and let me pass." Arashi muttered venomously while keeping his eyes on Raion.

"Calm down we just want to talk." The large man said with a voice much higher than would have been expected to come from someone as large as him.

"I have nothing to say to you."

Eriot ignored the comment from Arashi before continuing, "Do you have a place to stay; you're looking pretty skinny."

"HA that's rich coming from you and what's it to you anyway."

"Well if you don't," he said before pausing, " I might have a job for you."

"And what might that be." Arashi said; hi voice dripping with sarcasm.

"The same as us." The two boys replied at the same time.

"You want me to be an ASSASSIN!" Arashi shouted.

"We're not ASSASSINS! We're peace-keepers; warriors of justice!" Eriot said striking a 'heroic' pose.

"Yeah right."

"WE ARE! By taking out the opposition of Hook's crew we stop battles; stopping innocent people and their property from getting caught up in the cross-fire. Our job saves people's lives." Eriot said attempting to defend his position. "Plus the pays not too shabby." Eriot said smiling widely and scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"So you kill for the money. Remind me again why you're not assassins." Arashi argued.

"Because we don't have to kill, I just choose to. Besides I doubt we'll have to do that again, after all apart from a few pirates coming into town, who will be stupid enough to try and take US on, and we get taken care of regardless of when we actually fight; beating people up just gets us bonuses." Eriot said grinning and causing Raion to break into a smile.

"Hmm." Arashi said as he thought about what the outcome of his accepting the job would be.

I only just read the "it might be easier if you had your own submission sheet" from Mareo and Anime so here it is.

Submission sheet for characters

Name:

Age:

Gender:

Race:

Position:

Weapons:

Appearance:

History:

Family:

Personality:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Aims:

Other