Rain: A Manifesto

by venomsixx

The life of the mysterious Rain. Through his eyes, he tells us what he went through in his days a a child, his time with Kahn, and his life through and after...

9. Orders

Rain: A Manifesto

Orders

Chameleon stood and shook his head as he slowly stepped closer to me. "That roundhouse kick was substantially powerful. I feel as though it knocked me around the world and back," Chameleon declared before he stopped and stood up straight with his hands behind his back. "Now that we are aware that you are capable of throwing a decent strike, it is time to enter offensive maneuvers into your everyday training." My trainer paused as the colors of his clothes and skin rapidly shifted between green and blue. "Now that my teachings have given you near flawless defensive posture, you must combine that with a swift and steady counter-attack."

"Why teach me this way? Why did you not teach me to attack and defend simultaneously?" I asked in response as I wiped the sweat off my forehead with a rag.

"Because a strong assault is useless if one is not adequate enough to defend oncoming threats. A fighter with an excellent offense but poor defense will always lose to a fighter who defends well but is not as strong on the attack." Chameleon began to circle around me. "I do not plan on teaching you an excessive amount of offensive strategy. I never did." He then stopped momentarily and began to chuckle in a scornful way. "You seem to have found a girlfriend for that."

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. When Chameleon was finished having his moment, he raised his arms into position to fight. "I will teach you how to counter-attack," Chameleon said very precisely. "The next part of your training will teach you how to find openings in your opponent's form as they attack. Use the defensive skills that I have helped you garner to tire your opponent out and find weaknesses in their style. When they give you a chance, use their maneuvers against them!" Chameleon's voice became bloodthirsty as he jumped into the air and aimed a flying kick at my head. I twisted to the side and raised my arms up to fight as well.

"You may attack me now," Chameleon asserted as he hopped from left to right before throwing a left hook at me. I blocked his hand with my forearm and backed about a meter away. "But your disciplinary training is not over. We are now sparring. Mistakes are still very costly in this training room."

I nodded with an overconfident simper and stretched my left leg out for another roundhouse kick. Chameleon was ready for it this time. He slid out of the way, grabbed my leg and slammed his elbow into my calf.

"Mistakes are still very costly in this training room," Chameleon hissed as he signaled for me to stand up. I groaned; but not because of the pain. The pain was nothing new. It was a groan of defeat. I complied however, and used my water powers to push myself off the ground and onto my feet.

Chameleon seemed amused by my display of power. So much so that he decided to display some of his own. In his left hand he created an orb of water and in his right hand he crafted an orb of fire. He propelled them both toward me. I jumped to the side, able to sharply feel the penetrating heat of the fireball despite avoiding it by a wide margin. Before I could set myself in position again, Chameleon had released another fireball. This one was much larger. I jumped over the projectile and launched a flip kick aimed at my trainer's upper body. He raised his arms and blocked my attack. I landed on my feet. As we continued to exchange blows, I tried to follow Chameleon's advice. I was looking for holes in his defense that could set me up for an attack. However, my mentor moved at an uncommon speed. Breaking his defense would not be a task I could accomplish very frequently; at least not yet.

Chameleon turned invisible just as I was attempting to perform as sweep kick on him. I stopped and began to circle around, awaiting his ambush. "So," I heard Chameleon's voice whisper, although I could not tell exactly where it was coming from. He was too fast for me to track him down. "What kaste are we going to place you in for your tests?" He was speaking so softly that his "s" sounds drew out even further than usual. "Surely you will become an assassin, like me. Are you swift enough? Discreet enough? Can you kill without remorse?" As he finished speaking, I felt a pair of legs wrap around my ankles and drag me to the floor. "Perhaps not," he grunted. I stood up and attempted to follow Chameleon's voice again. But I could not pick up a trace. He was just too elusive. "Perhaps you are a trainer or a weapon smith." A kick came without warning and struck me in the abdomen. I grimaced in pain, but knew I could not leave myself open. After a deep breath, I put my guard back up. Nothing was impossible to find, not even Chameleon. "Or are you just a simple grunt or guard? I think that would suit you quite well. You wouldn't have to fight too hard or think too hard." His fist hit me in the jaw three times in rapid succession. This was beginning to feel far too much like the first time Chameleon and I had met in the swamp, when he broke my body and left me in the dungeon. I was not going to give him the pleasure this time.

I spit a puddle of blood onto the floor and began to circle even faster. I began to quietly create a water orb in my left hand. Chameleon continued to taunt me. "Perhaps you will become an alchemist. Isn't that what you want? To be just like your new little Edenian lover?" As Chameleon's last words left his mouth, I could tell he was getting closer. I immediately propelled the water in all directions. Just as I had hoped, enough water landed on Chameleon that I could see his outline. It must have been instinct, but I used the water that Chameleon was covered in and that had slipped through his pours to levitate him. I had never thought of doing anything like that before, but it was unquestionably effective. I lifted my trainer's body closer as he squirmed and struggled. I was amused, but my control over him was lessening as the water dried became further absorbed in his skin. I dropped my trainer and released an uppercut into the side of his head with all of my strength when he fell in range

Chameleon span around at least three times, leaving a trail of green blood before hitting the floor with a thunderous slam. I began to approach my master as he lay on the ground with his hand on top of his head while wallowing in pain.

"Military Command," I said as a stood up straight in front of my master with my arms crossed. "Put my name in for the Military Command tests." I proudly smiled as for the first time in my training; I was able to extend my hand to Chameleon to offer to pull him off the ground, rather than the reverse. But Chameleon swatted my hand away and actually hissed at me. He was determined to display his strength and leaped to his feet despite the fact that he was visibly still in great pain.

"Military Command?" Chameleon asked mockingly. "That is by far the most difficult kaste to gain entrance to. Those final tests are the most deadly and most demanding. I hope you know that if you fail and happen to live, you become a serf in the Iga-Koga society. There are no second chances. You will spend the rest of your days cleaning the dungeon and serving broth." Blood slowly ran down Chameleon's face as his skin turned an ominous black. "And that makes me look bad as well, does it not?" Chameleon aggressively grabbed me by the shirt. His breathing was so heavy that his mask was shaking.

"I have no plans of failing," I responded sneeringly, looking Chameleon right in the eyes. "Sign me up."

Chameleon grabbed tighter on my shirt for a moment before letting go and turning the other way. "I must say, your ambition and determination are impressive." He sighed and turned back to face me. "Very well. I will sign you up for Military Command testing. You might even have a shot at this." Chameleon wiped the green blood off his head and hurled it to the floor. "We are done today. Meet me outside of the main entrance of the fortress for a briefing at sunrise."

"Briefing for what?" I asked.

"Your first mission."

I smiled very widely as excitement overtook me. "Thank you, Chameleon." I turned around and began to make my exit.

"Rain!" He yelled as I was nearing the door. "If you do fail these tests, I will kill you myself."

I gasped in terror as a chill went down my spine so slowly that I actually trembled. I turned around but to no surprise, Chameleon was gone. In my time training with Chameleon, he was never so stern and direct as he was in that moment. Never had he been so cold regarding any instruction. In fact, I believe it was the first time he had even referred to me by my name. And it was to deliver me a death threat.

As I exited the training room and began to make my way through the hallways, the feeling of fear resulting from Chameleon's threat slowly turned back to confidence. I was finally going to take my tests. And I would not fail. I knew that I would not fail. The Military Command trials may be the most daunting, but no one had studied military strategy as much as I had during these past years. Not only would I not fail. I would thrive.

After refreshing myself from a long day of training, I ran up to Tanya's room, excited to tell her the news. She had just returned from a long and grueling mission, so it was no surprise that when I entered her room I found her deeply asleep. She looked so peaceful and adorable, but I had to wake her up and tell her the news.

"Tanya," I whispered as I put a hand on her shoulder.

She opened her eyes and jolted in surprise before greeting me with a smile. "Rain, it is so wonderful to see you," she uttered in a graveled voice as she pulled me toward her by my neck and kissed me.

I slid next to her in the bed and put my arm over her torso. "I have some amazing news," I proclaimed in a boyish way.

"What?" Tanya asked as she placed her hand over mine.

"Chameleon is going to put me up for testing. I'm going to be joining the Society."

Tanya's face turned to bewilderment. "Already? My goodness, Rain. That is magnificent. I cannot believe Chameleon is already putting you through. He is still not even letting you hit him is he?"

I laughed and looked at our interlocked hands. "Well actually, I hit him really, really hard today. Just to show him that I could. Apparently that was all he needed."

Tanya giggled as well. "Are you going to enter the Military Command Kaste like you have been talking about?"

"It took some convincing, but that is what he signed me up for."

Tanya was visibly very excited for me. She sat up all the way and hugged me with a squeeze so tight that I could barely breathe. "You are going to do it, Rain. From the moment I met you, I knew you were going to be something great. And what you are doing is something so much more." The admiration that this woman had for me was far more than I deserved.

Despite my many attempts at explaining that I had to wake up at dawn for my first mission, Tanya demanded that we celebrate at least a little bit. She opened a bottle of Outworld wine. Of course, we drank it down to the bottom.

Consequentially, I felt terrible upon awakening in the morning. But Tanya being the first sight of my day instantly made me feel better. I gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. She smiled in her sleep as I arose from the bed and placed the sheets over her bare shoulders. I got dressed, rubbed my eyes and headed to the fortress entrance. Not too far outside the gate, Chameleon was waiting, staring at the sun rising over the hilltops.

"I am surprised you didn't try to ambush me out here," I remarked as I stood next to my trainer.

"You cannot be damaged for this mission," Chameleon responded as he looked my way. "Are you ready for your briefing? Or are you too still feeling some sort of… aftereffect?"

I scratched my head in confusion. "Um, what do you mean?'

"You reek of Outworld wine."

My stomach turned to knots and I became speechless. I had forgotten that Chameleon had an abnormally strong sense of smell.

Before I could ponder up an excuse, Chameleon spoke again. "Drunk or not, you are doing this mission." Chameleon reached in his back pocket and handed me a map. "You are to follow the North-Eastern trail for twenty-five miles down the mountain until you have reached the Misty Flats. There is a farm called the 'Cylock Residence' on your map. Within that farm, there resides an old man named Legov who is allied with Shao Khan. You are to wait until nightfall and assassinate him and recover any evidence you can from the property. Any questions?"

I had a lot of questions. But before I could even get a chance to speak, Chameleon did.

"Good," he said. "I will eagerly await your triumphant return."

"But…"

"Get a move on it!"

Chameleon was clearly in no mood to give specifics. I reluctantly complied and started to venture down the trail.

I was still so exhausted. For the first part of the walk, all I could think about was why I let Tanya talk me into drinking that much. She could always get me to do these things. Every time I saw a creek with clean water, I had to stop and fill up my canteen to rehydrate myself. Of course I realized that I could have just used my powers and made drinking water for myself out of thin air. But I was enjoying the adventurous, wilderness experience. After only a few hours, I realized that it was the furthest I had been away from the fortress since I had first arrived there. At first, the thought made me happy, as though I had started a new chapter of my life. One in which I was less restricted and less controlled. But as I had continued to move down the mountain, I was reminded of why Outworld was considered a wasteland. The moderate amount of greenery and fresh air that could be found high in the mountain where the fortress stood was unique to the Realm. The lower the path took me, the more I found desert, polluted water, volcanic activity and poisonous air.

After many hours, I looked at my map and saw that I was within a mile of the Cylock Residence. I did not have to wait for nightfall. I was walking slower than usual due to my fatigue, and the sun was already setting. I began to strategize how I would take out my target. Surely, this would be a large estate. And if this man was allied with Shao Kahn, he would most likely have between 10 and 15 guards; perhaps even 20. I came to the conclusion that I would try to decipher which room Legov Cylock was in, take out a couple of the guards if I had to, and then finish off Cylock. Hopefully I could do all that quietly because if one of the guards called for help, I would not have time to search for evidence. What if he had a Centaur or Shokan keeping watch? I would not stand a chance against either of those. Would I?

My thoughts were interrupted when I emerged to the peak of the hill I was on and could see the Cylock residence in the valley below. It was not at all what I expected. It was not a large estate. It was a small farm that looked like it had been standing the way it was for hundreds of years. I advanced toward the house, hiding behind trees and crawling through blades of grass to avoid detection.

When I was close enough to see in through the blurry windows, I saw him. An old man sitting in a large wicker chair, reading a thick book. Could this truly be one of Kahn's high ranking officers? He looked like a simple peasant. I could not distract myself with these questions, however. He was my target.

I held my position for a short time, looking for any guards that may be patrolling within the house or around its perimeter. But I could not see any. It was time to close in. I found an open window leading to a room that was next to the one that Cylock was in. I climbed up the decrepit wood that the house was made of and quietly hopped through the window. I slowly moved across the floor, making my way into the room where Cylock was reading, completely oblivious to my presence. It may have been the best stealth work I have ever done. As I entered the room and approached my target, not a noise could be heard other than the crackling of the fire that was burning at the far side of the room. It was almost a perfect assassination, until I stepped on a bad piece of wood that made a slow creek which resonated throughout the room. Cylock abruptly turned around with a flabbergast expression engraved on his face. Both of us stood still in silence for several seconds before Cylock uttered "Who… who are you? What do you want?"

I did not answer. I leaped across the room to tackle the old man. He did not even have time to react. Without much difficulty, I was able to plant my forearm against his throat. He struggled, attempting to push me off and break free. But it was useless. I would not let up. He was my target. He was an enemy. Amidst his desperate attempts to gain oxygen, Cylock begged for his life. "No… no… no…" was all I could make out in his crackled voice as his throat was being crushed by my arms and his lungs were being robbed of air. It was horrible. I almost could not take it anymore as I gazed into the eyes of this man that were so filled with fear that even pure evil would have felt a moment of sympathy. Just when I was beginning to give in to my empathy and let up, Cylock stopped struggling. The pupils of his eyes dilated largely, before again returning back to normal size a few seconds later. It is one of the most scarring things in life, to look into a man's eyes as he dies. It is literally watching a person turn into meat.

The first part of my mission was complete. Now, it was time to recover the evidence necessary to prove that Legov Cylock was indeed allied with Shao Kahn and an enemy of the Iga-Koga. I scanned the entire house. I could find nothing. I looked everywhere multiple times. I tore down the walls, the floors and the shelves of the estate. There was absolutely no evidence that this man was an ally of Kahn, only that he was a crop farmer, father of 3 and grandfather of 7. 'I snuck into the wrong house?' I thought to myself as I threw one of his books across the room. 'This is the wrong Legov Cylock.'

"Well done." I jumped and turned around as I was shocked to hear the familiar voice of Chameleon. I saw my master turning visible, leaning against the wall by the doorway. "You have accomplished your mission."

I breathed heavily and began to yell. "You followed me the whole time?" I paced back and forth, grinding my teeth as Chameleon calmly nodded. "This man is not a high ranking ally of Shao Kahn! He is a peasant!" I picked up a pile of letters that I had gone through while scanning for evidence and tossed them at Chameleon.

My mentor briefly gazed at the letters on the floor, and then calmly responded, "That does not matter. You followed your orders. That is all that this mission was testing."

I looked toward the corpse of the man that I had just slain. "So you just sent me to kill an innocent civilian that has nothing to do with Outworld wars and conflict?" I slowly stepped toward Chameleon and spoke with a vicious tone that I normally would not dare address him in. "There was never even any evidence that he was an ally to the Emperor was there?"

Chameleon stepped off the wall and deviously shrugged. "Maybe there was, maybe there wasn't."

Chameleon began to walk outside through the front door. I followed behind, still taking an antagonistic tone. "Chameleon, what does that mean? I want to fight with the Iga-Koga to engage in war, not to slaughter peasants." Chameleon stopped and crossed his arms as he turned his head toward the night sky. "Give me some answers now, Chameleon!"

Chameleon's calm demeanor disappeared as he grew frustrated. He swung his arms down and turned his head to me. "This was not a test to see how good you are at killing Imperial Generals. Every good military leader knows how to take orders as well as give them. Your first trial was to test how well you take orders. This mission was my mission. I was told that there was a chance this man was an ally of Kahn by the Grand Master. I do not know whether he was or was not. I don't care. I always follow my orders. I gave this mission to you to test how well you take orders. You have passed your first trial."

I wanted to argue more with Chameleon. But he was right. A good military could not function unless everyone followed orders. I looked up at the sky and took a deep breath before turning back toward the house. "Should we burn it down?" I asked.

"No need," replied Chameleon. "When his offspring discover him, they will simply assume it was bandits who killed Legov and did not find anything of value to steal." I nodded and looked back at Chameleon as he began to speak again. "What you need to focus on is your second test, which begins now. We have tested how well you take orders, now we will test your abilities as a leader. Several initiate students were sent beyond the fortress on a false mission with false maps. They are lost in the heights. Find them as quickly as you can and save as many as you can. This is your second test."

I spent no time hesitating. "Yes, Chameleon," I responded as I began to hurry back toward the Iga-Koga fortress. The shame of killing Cylock was suddenly gone. I was only following orders. And now, I would get an opportunity to truly show my worth. There would be no rest for me tonight. I was going to find those students. Failure was not an option.

It would be logical to assume that the hike back up into the mountains would take much longer than the hike down. But I was fueled by a desire to track down these students and lead them back to safety. It was all I thought about as I forced my body passed the unkind terrain. I made it within the radius of the fortress several hours before sunrise. I began to wonder how I could locate these lost students. Chameleon gave me no precise indication of where to look. The idea crossed my mind of shouting for them and hoping for a response. However, I came to the realization that shouting into the darkness of an Outworld night was unwise. It was best to not make the wretched evils that reside within the shadows of the realm aware of my presence.

I would have to track these initiate students down. I had little training in tracking and investigation. I would have to rely on my own intuition. I started to wander around the woods in the heights of the mountains. I did not venture too far from the path, as I assumed that the initiates would not either after they came to the realization that they were lost. I spent nearly an hour scanning the areas around the fortress, but could find no sign of the students, until in the distance; I heard several panicked voices crying out for help. 'Idiots,' I thought to myself as I began sprinting in the direction of the voices.

The cries grew louder as I ran closer. I was in peak physical condition for the first time in my life, and did not even know I was capable of running that fast. At one point, the voices stopped. I slowed down my run, and put my guard up. Moments later, I heard the cracking of two bows beginning to wind up arrows. "Who goes there?" I heard a high pitched mail voice ask timidly.

I stood still and put my hands in the air. "I am Rain of the Iga-Koga Society. I've come to help. But you have to stop shouting. You are going to get us all killed."

A single torch lit up from behind a nearby tree. A woman stepped out into the open and pointed the flame toward my face. "He's telling the truth," she exclaimed. "I've seen him around the fortress before."

Several other torches lit, and my surrounding became much clearer. I had been in this area before. It was a canopied section of the woods, not five miles away from the fortress. The light also revealed six faces to me: five young men and a young woman. I knew they had to be very fresh Iga-Koga recruits. I did not recognize any of them.

"Thank the Gods you have arrived," one of the men stated as they formed a semi-circle around me. "We were sent on a seemingly simple retrieval mission this past afternoon, and we got lost in the night. I cannot imagine why, but we are all having difficulty following our maps and can't figure out how to get back to the fortress. Now," the man twisted his head back and forth as his voice grew quieter. "Now, we are being attacked by something, one by one."

All six initiates visibly held terror behind their eyes and displayed an unmistakable sense of panic in their body language. Now was definitely not the time to tell them that they were intentionally given faulty maps for the purpose of being subjects for one of my tests.

"Attacked by something?" I asked as I crossed my arms. "Is anybody hurt?"

The woman sighed deeply and began to speak. "Whatever it is, it is horrifying. One of the most menacing things I have ever seen. It has already killed two of us, and I just know that is still out there. I can feel it watching. I can hear it quietly laughing as it… makes its way through the trees."

The woman's description made me shake. These students had spent the last half-day being stalked by a killer. But then, a thought came to me: 'Only two have died. I can still save most of them.' One of the men with a bow interrupted my thought. "Rain, do you by any chance have any water?" He asked. "We are dying of thirst."

"Let me see your canteens," I responded immediately. One by one, I used my elemental abilities to create water from the palm of my hand and placed it into the canteens of these young initiates. Several looks of both amazement and relief fell onto the faces of the young students as they poured the water that I had just created for them down their throats.

I let them enjoy the moment while I could, but I still had to figure out what was going on with this stalker that was seemingly picking members of this party off one by one. "So tell me more about this thing that has killed two of your company," I stated sternly as I made eye contact with all of the initiates one by one.

No one seemed to have the will to talk about it. After staring the group down for several moments, the woman was the one to finally break the silence. "It first happened right around night fall. Syu-Hong, who was one of our company was standing by a tree. We were stopped, trying to navigate our maps, when from behind a tree, a clawed hand reached out and grabbed Syu-Hong by the chest. We tried to chase after him, but all that was left was a trail of blood that spanned for about 50 meters." The woman began breathing very heavily and took another drink of water before continuing her story. "The second time…" she had to close her eyes and gather her thoughts before continuing. "The second time was several hours later. Vannon was just standing still and that's when I saw it." A tear began to fall from the woman's eye. At least two of the other men were pacing in severe panic only from hearing what they had just experienced be retold. She continued "A creature came swooping in from the trees up above right behind Vannon. We only saw it for a brief amount of time. But it was no ordinary being. It had claws that could tear through steel and blood drenched fangs that resembled those of a Tarkaten. But it was no Tarkatan. It had long, pointed wings. It bit into Vannon's neck, and flew back up into the treetops, leaving us stranded in this more open area, as we figure we are tougher targets here."

At that moment, a twisted feminine laugh echoed from the top of the trees down to ground level. Terror fell over the party as two of the men cowardly ducked down and others waved the torches over their heads, turning rapidly. I considered the woman's description of this monstrous being. I knew the species of Outworld very well, and promptly was able to identify this creature. "Get in a tight circle and face outwards now!" I ordered. Without much hesitation, the company complied. "Prepare for kombat, keep your torches high and circle around slowly, counterclockwise. Stay alert, stay alert!" I barked at the frightened initiates.

The woman, who was standing next to me as we moved in our defensive formation, turned her head toward me. "Rain, what is going on here?" She asked in a surprisingly calm fashion.

"We are being hunted," I replied in a stoic manner.

"What's hunting us?" Asked one of the men anxiously.

I turned around and made uneasy eye contact with the rest of the group. "A vampire."

Murmurs and gasps travelled around the circle. "Vampires are only of myth," proclaimed one of the archers.

"I thought they were extinct," I heard another of the men say among the chatter.

"I knew they exist, but I did not think they wandered in these heights," the woman whispered. "Can they be killed?"

I thought back to a scroll that I had read on the inhabitants of Outworld. "Yes they can," I announced loudly to the group. "Archers, replace the tips of your arrows with wooden stakes. Aim for the heart. Those of you with blades, attempt decapitation." I turned around to face the group. "Do any of you have any elemental abilities or knowledge of magic? I asked.

"I can create fire," said one of the men.

"Good, I responded. Keep the torches lit, and if you see our Vampiress, distract her with a little heat."

"We lost our telekinetic," stated the woman. "But I have control over light. I'm not sure if that helps."

I smirked and turned to the woman. "What is your name?" I asked as she was scanning the tops of the trees.

"Lynn," she answered.

"Lynn," I said. "You are going to play a larger role in this scenario than anyone here. When that vampire drops down for another kill, you shine it with a light as bright as you possibly can. Understood?"

"Yes," she answered immediately.

The archers made the wooden stakes. The swordsman had their blades drawn, and we continued to circle around our perimeter. The rustling in the trees grew louder, and the calamitous, feminine chuckle continued to resonate throughout the woods.

It was then that I heard it. Subtly, it landed right behind me. This vampire had picked the wrong target. Without hesitation, I span around and sprayed this creature in the eyes with water at the highest pressure that I could. She covered her eyes and stumbled backwards with a groan. The group turned around and drew their weapons.

"Attack," I ordered. "Bring her down,"

Lynn shined her bright light and the vampire covered her eyes, and reached her wings out to their fullest possible span. She flew above us, circling like a starving vulture. "Archers, fire!" I yelled as I pointed to the creature. The arrows with wooden stakes attached to the ends were launched toward the vampiress. She was moving fast, and was able to avoid most of them. But, at least two hit her in the wings. It was then that she quickly swooped down in an attempt to take hold of the man who could control fire. He attempted to burn her face, but the she covered herself with her strong wings and thrust her claws into the stomach of the man. She then stopped, and let us have a good look at her. She was tall, towering over all of us. Her wing span must have been at least eight feet wide. Her eyes were a pale, lifeless blue. She smiled, devilishly showing us her fangs and began to lick the blood off of her fingers.

One of the swordsman lunged himself at the vampiress, but she knocked him away with the force of one of her wings alone. Right when she was about to reach in and grab the man who was on the ground bleeding, Lynn jumped in front of him and shined her light into the vampire's face at a level so bright that even we had to turn away. The vampire screamed and hissed. It was then that I yelled for Lynn to move, and unleashed a powerful series of lightning bolts right down the middle of the vampire's spine. The vampiress screamed again and one of the archers followed by releasing an arrow that only narrowly missed the creature's heart. She shrieked at an ear shattering volume and winced in pain before leaping into flight, fading away into the trees in a retreat. The shrieking still could be heard, rapidly fading further away.

I ran over to the man who was injured. The claws of the vampire had gone deep into the student. He was losing blood at an alarming rate, and breathing very shallowly. "Is anyone else hurt?" I asked as I gently rinsed off the man's wound with water that I had created. "We're all ok," one of the men replied.

"What about Alec, here?" Asked Lynn, referring to the injured man who I was attending to. "He seems cut pretty bad."

"He needs medical attention immediately." I responded as I ripped off a long piece of my garbs and tied it tight around the man's wound. "We need to get him back to the fortress so the healers can attend to him."

"Then let's go," responded Lynn.

I tossed Alec's arm around my back. "We're going to make it Alec. You just have to bear with me for a few miles here," I said. Alec slowly nodded as he struggled to keep his eyelids open.

We were moving at double time. I was not going to lose this student. The adrenaline was keeping me going. It had to. We were moving up hill, and I had a man whose weight I was supporting hooked around my back.

As the slopes got steeper, Lynn saw that I was panting and running out of breath. Without any hesitation or a word spoken, she put Alec's other arm around her back and helped take some of the weight off me. This woman knew how to take initiative. I could tell she would make it through the student ranks quickly, much like how I did.

After miles of rough terrain, we managed to make it back to the Iga-Koga fortress. Alec was still alive. I handed him off to two of the other men who I had made this journey with. "Take him to the healers, now!" I ordered.

"Yes, Rain. And thank you. We owe you our lives." The students carried the injured Alec through the fortress gates with great haste.

I then turned around to watch the sun rise over the mountains. Lynn stepped next to me and joined me in observing this view. "I don't know how we can repay you, Rain," she stated as she took a deep breath. I turned my head toward her to see her in the light for the first time. She had short red hair, very long and loose black garbs, and no makeup of any kind. It was a very common look for the small amount of female Iga-Koga students that there were, other than the fact that her hair was red. "Can we start by buying you dinner tonight?"

I was at first tempted to say yes. I would especially have liked to get to know Lynn better. Her kombat and survival instincts were incredible. But then a realization came to me. There was a reason that Chameleon never associated with me outside of training. There was a reason he was so cold to me. It was because he knew how to be a leader. He knew that those who follow orders from you should never see you in any other kind of light. I chose to follow in my trainer's footsteps in this case. "No, initiate Lynn," I said in a detached manner. "I have other important matters to attend to. You must go back to focusing on your training." I turned back to the sunrise. Lynn seemed shocked. She did not understand why I was being so distant all of the sudden. She stammered and cleared her throat, attempting to think of something to say. "Go, leave me at peace," I stated as I placed my hands behind my back.

"Yes, Rai… umm sir," Lynn answered in a dismal tone as she put her head down and began to make her way back to the fortress.

I had saved these students. It was a rewarding experience. But as I stared at the sun beginning to light up the heights of Outworld, I realized that it was not out of some feeling of moral virtue that it felt gratifying to save these students. I did not rush back up the mountain, fight a vampire and carry a dying man around my back out of a selfless desire. I felt accomplished because I knew that I had gone above and beyond my expectations for this test. My abilities as a leader would never again be questioned by anyone in the Iga-Koga society. The sunlight displayed the diverse terrain of Outworld as it slowly illuminated the shadows. But what I was picturing was something of my own: a legion of troops, marching across the realm under my command. The passing of these tests opened my mind to a whole new goal: Konquest.