Author Message: Had time to update this story while still working on the Rwby plot, hope to hear what you all think of this chapter and your opinion of it.

WORDS STYLE:

Flashback

(Leo Voice)

Thinking

[Words from the Past]

SHOUTING

TwIsTeD

Chapter 4: Prologue Part 4

—YEAR 412K—

—LOCATION: SMUGGLERS DEN—

"Ahahahah, really?" Laughed one of the two guards who wore an eyepatch. "The kid actually tried being some hero and just died just like that, Boss must've not wanted to get hold up on some kid."

"Should have seen it, pretty sure that kid we took was her younger sister or something. Got real annoying tho, damn brat wouldn't stop crying till I knocked her out." As he spoke, he took a drink from his bottle of alcohol that was atop a crate, the two standing guard over an entrance to the basement. "But I can see why Slave Trading became an issue when it came to Beast Folk, especially the tribes of the Dedoldia and Aldoldia, after they started living together in the same village, it became that much harder to even get close, luckily their was an opening for—" All talk ended when they heard a sudden 'knock' on the door, causing the two too jolt and grab their weapons.

"Go check it out." He orders while taking a drink of his bottle much to the annoyance of the other but he does as told and approaches the door, only opening it a little but his eyes narrow when he sees no one.

"I don't see anything." He places a hand on the hilt of his sword and opens it fully yet his eyes widen to see only darkness, the moon blocked by the clouds in the sky.

"Hey, hand me—" In that instant, something from the right of the door popped out with the guy only able to watch as something bit down on the guy's head and pulled him out of view, signaling the other to follow immediately as he drops his glass that shatters and made his way to the door where he turns to where the other was dragged but only saw a trail of blood yet at that moment he heard a knock, causing a chill to run up his spine as he turns only for a dagger to find its way into his throat.

No words were spoken as Madara stood there expressionless, having placed a hand over the smuggler's mouth, causing him to fall backward with the kid getting on top of him and deepening the blade until the struggling stopped. During the entire altercation, he showed no reaction as if it were natural.

"That takes care of the guards, anyone we're missing?"

(No, from what I can smell and hear, there's no one nearby and it's too dark out for anyone to see us unless they use a torch. They won't see the bodies until dawn breaks.)

Madara walked into the house just as the Sacred Beast, Leo had entered after him, blood dripping from its maw.

(So, is your eye fine, despite it appearing to look like the Rinne Sharingan?)

"Yes, seems my emotions have caused it to change." He bends down to the door on the floor. "It doesn't appear to possess the abilities from my other world so I'm not sure what it can do but we can communicate more on that later."

"Once everything is settled and everything is ready," Spoke the Boss, making his rounds as he passed by the cells of crying and scared Beast children while two men followed closely. "we move before dawn, I don't want to be in the city any longer than we have to."

The three pass by the cell of one certain girl, staring at the ground hopelessly.

[As expected of the daughter of the Sword God, Gal Farion.]

[A true genius.]

[It's only a matter of time.]

"It's been a month…" As she thought to herself, her hands moved to her ears to block out the crying. "Does he even care…?"

[Your sensei was pretty strong but it was just foolish to have a simple Sword Saint act as your teacher while traveling, he should have at least assigned a Sword King.]

"Why would he care tho… Even if I am his child, I was easily captured and my teacher killed." Her fingers tighten around her head. "Even if he got the ransom, I don't think he would bother and waste his time."

At this point, she looked up across from her cell at the one before her, having just been filled with Doldia children of the Dedoldia and Aldoldia tribes that were present in the same village yet the moment she did so, her eyes slowly widened at one particular child. Despite having dried tears, unlike the rest, she was no longer crying but a determined look on her face.

"She…doesn't look like she's given up hope?" Her eyes start to widen in surprise. "Does she think someone is coming—"At that moment, the girl's eyes widened and she turned her head with a look of shock as he ears twitched and with it, the sounds of a scuffle more so the fact a few screams were heard which took the smugglers in the room by surprise, their leader Gallus being the most as his single eye narrowed and merely motioned a few of them to hurry down the hallway and around the corner, only for the screams to once again continue, leading to their leader to frown as he makes his way down the hallway while the children remained silent yet fearful, not sure what was happening.

The girl merely speaks to the other children in Beast God, gaining looks of surprise on their faces which surprises Nina more at the sight of the crying subsiding despite looking fearful as they all looked down the hallway with the three smugglers leaving with the door shutting behind them.

"What the hell…" Spoke Callus, he just stood there in disbelief next to the two smugglers equally shocked at the sight of the room that was used to connect the jail room with the exit, littered with corpses that were either torn to shreds or stabbed and slashed at. In the center was a large beast growling at them but also a kid, no more than 10 covered in blood. He held a dagger in his left while the right was a short sword yet that wasn't what unsettled the man the most, it was his eyes.

"Demon Eye…?" As he muttered that, he became more unnerved as the other eye looked normal yet a single glance at it confirmed one simple thing, this wasn't the eyes of a child but a man who's seen it all, almost as if he were the child being looked down upon.

"A kid from the Dedoldia tribe?"

"Did he follow us?"

The two smugglers took out their weapons but it was obvious they were fearful of the kid with Callus's single eye narrowing.

"Attack now." He ordered, surprising the two yet they froze upon looking at their boss drawing his sword and did as told and charged at the beast and child while Callus simply drew his sword and popped a piece of tobacco in his mouth to chew just before his eye widens when the beast Leo suddenly jumps over the two guards tight for him.

"What?!" He all but shouted as the beast opened its maw to reveal all its teeth yet suddenly stopped due to a shout.

"DON'T EVEN DO IT!" The sudden order came from Madara, standing over the one new corpse while the other had a dagger embedded in the jaw, his eyes focused on the man. "He's mine." As he spoke, his eyes were on the man's sword due to the scent being that of Shīrudo's.

[But this is our chance, we—]

"Don't get involved, no matter what." He thought Leo could only step back as the child stepped forward much to Callus's surprise yet he merely smiled at this contrary to Madara's now angered expression.

"From the looks this is something to do with honor huh," Callus began, paying close attention to his reaction. "could it be this fight has some personal meaning to you rather than the other Beastfolk?"

The question hung in the air as Madara merely pointed his sword at the man who had the title of North Sword Saint.

"You know I'm the leader, yet unlike my men, I haven't taken a single life during our raid. Now that I think about it, you look about her a—" He didn't finish as Madara broke out into a full sprint, taking Callus by surprise as their weapons clashed yet what he was focused on was the speed he moved at and the strength of his blow.

"This kid—" He couldn't think as the two weapons Madara held, he let go of the sword just as he outstretched his hand that went for Callus's single eye, this caused the man immediately push him back yet all he did was land and launch himself once more at the man, his expression becoming more feral like.

"Did I hit a nerve?" Callus asked as their blades continued to clash, every time he forced Madara back onto for him to attack again. "Could it be you knew that brat I killed on some personal level?"

He watched Madara come to a stop, this reaction getting a smile from Callus at seeing an opening but he froze as the feral expression turned cold out of the blue before he dashed forward but this time went to encircle the man who went to follow only to see as he got closer he got lower to the floor, now on all fours with the dagger in his mouth.

"Wait—" Callus reacted fast just as Madara leaped, in the milliseconds that followed the boy grabbed onto Callus, holding tightly onto him and not letting him swing his sword unlike the kid who swung his head to slash at his face yet the man reacts by tilting his head enough so the blade ran across his face and not over his only working eye. Madara goes to swing again yet all of a sudden the man spits out the tobacco into the beastmen's eye to get him to flinch, leaving an opening for a headbutt that had him drop the dagger from his mouth. This moment of weakness led to Callus grabbing Madara by his throat, pulling back his sword he thrusts forward, towards his head yet it moved out of the way from the kid suddenly wrapping his body around the man's arm.

"You think that will make—" He stopped when he saw the kid grab his arm with both hands, veins protruding on the kid's forehead and with a shout his arm snapped, the bones piercing the flesh. With this sight, his eye widens yet instead of withering in pain, he immediately reacts by cutting his own arm off much to Madara's shock as Callus grits his teeth through his own pain while he draws the sword back just as Madara lands on the ground, rolling away to dodge the strike of the sword that was brought down. With that he was on all fours and leaped for his dagger, grabbing it and turning only for blood to splatter over his face which blinded him before a deep pain was felt.

"Shit, were you a handful." Muttered Callus, his sword now imbedded into Madara's chest before the kid was lifted on the sword yet he froze at the sight of Madara grabbing the blade and pulling himself deeper into it, surprising him at the choice till he saw the dagger he once again had in hand, having grabbed it mid-roll just as it was swung right for Callus's face, slashing across his face once again before Madara was kicked off the sword, sending him rolling away.

"DAMN YOU BRAT!" He shouts, walking over to Madara who was trying to get up despite the loss of blood.

[I'm Shīrudo, wanna be friends?]

A hard kick found its way into the side of Madara's head, causing his consciousness to start fading.

"Why…did I risk so much? This isn't like me." As the once Uchiha thought that, Callus placed a foot on his head with his gaze now on Leo growling and on the verge of attacking.

"Such a loyal mutt," He places the sword on his mouth and rips a piece of fabric to stop the blood loss he is currently experiencing, remaining calm while not taking his eye off Leo who takes a step forward yet Callus takes the sword out of his mouth and holds it down to Madara's neck.

"Don't even think about it mutt, or I'll~~"

As he talked, Madara just lay there with his single eye on Leo who looked furious.

(LET ME ATTACK!)

"No."

(WHY, YOUR GOING TO DIE—)

"Stay…out of this." As he thought those words, his thought trailed to Shīrudo who was smiling brightly and as it did so, his Demonic Eye began to glow as the three tomoes started to spin in a circle before his consciousness faded.

"If not for my quick thinking, things could have gone poorly if I didn't use my own blood to blind you." Muttered the man, having just finished using a little healing spell to stop the bleeding while his eye was on Leo. "You were strong but your stupid honor got in the way, if you had teamed up you would have won but—" He stops when he feels something off and it wasn't just the sight of Leo suddenly looking surprised, it was more so the pressure he had felt originating from behind him. The man just turned and at that point, he was looking up, at the 'thing' that had formed behind him.

"What the—" He couldn't finish as in an instant his body was cut diagonally, falling apart in two different directions with the blood falling on the unconscious Madara while Leo just stood there, watching the figure bend down with a large blue aura emanating from Madara's wounds but as soon as the light appeared it was gone with the figure disappearing by evaporation but as it did so, Leo just stood still and stared as it watched it go.

(That was….)

Many thoughts raced through Leo's head but he ignored them all and immediately trotted over to Madara in order to nudge at him and lick his cheek, which got a reaction as a tired eye opened only to widen as he coughed out some blood before he sat up and touched his chest finding only a scar in the place of the stab her had taken.

"What…" He stops and looks up at Callus's corpse that was cut in two and turns to glare at Leo yet comes to the surprise of Leo shaking his head.

(Not me.)

"Than who was—"

(It was you, rather the power of your Demonic Eye, I will explain later…)

It was after hearing that, Madara reached up and covered his Demonic Eye with a frown forming on his face before slowly getting up. It was with this sight, that Leo started making his way to the room where all the kids were held up but stopped when he realized Madara wasn't following, turning to see he was standing in the same spot, staring at the corpse of Callus who lay in half with his broken sword.

"I avenged Shīrudo…but…" Slowly, his hand reaches up to his chest, touching the new scar. Many questions should have been in his mind yet none of them were important but a single topic. "Yet even so, I feel nothing at all."

(Madara…)

Leo's form begins to change as he shrinks a little, returning to his original form yet his partner shows no reaction.

(We should—)

"This world, in ways feels much more crueler than my world." As he spoke, he stepped over the corpses of those he killed, a pool of blood he was in.

(Madara, even so, it's not all—)

"Wherever there is light, there will always be shadows to be found as well. Those words were spoken by my father once, Tajima Uchiha." He looks at Leo with an expression matching a time long ago, the day his brother Izuna died. "He told me as long as the Senju exist, the Uchiha clan would never know peace but in reality as long as the Shinobi world exists, there will never be peace."

His words only worried Leo, seeing nothing but a tired gaze beneath his eyes.

"This world is suffering just like my own…." His words caused Leo to growl, standing defensively in front of him, not to protect the children in the next room but to protect the world they were in.

(Are you planning on trying to achieve that goal you had in your past life? WHAT WILL THAT SOLVE?!)

Leo bares his fangs at Madara who shows no reaction but stares at the Sacred Beast before he turns away from Leo, towards the exit yet all of a sudden his eyes widen as a flash appears in his mind, a smiling silver-haired girl which he only grabs his head.

[I'm Shīrudo, wanna be friends?]

"Why do her words keep replaying in my mind, I only knew her for but a few years…?" His fingers entangle themselves in his own his, pulling at it before flashes going through his mind, the day he and Hashirama finally ended the clan conflict to his final moments along with his new life.

"Stop." He almost spat. "I don't want to see these memories, I know what you're trying to do Leo but it won't—" He all but shuts up the moment a certain memory popped up, of himself sitting next to Shīrudo as they were enjoying a sunset after a day of sparing, having been but a year ago.

[Hey Gādian, I want to ask you something?]

[I swear if this is about another spar—]

[No not that, you know there's been attacks on other tribes, and lots of Beast folks have been taken or killed so I was wondering…if something happened to me…if I—]

"If I died, would you cry…?" As he repeated those words, a lost look appeared in his eyes as he recalled the girl trying to blow off what she said as being just tired and ended up never bringing it up again.

"Why are you showing me this?" He turns to look at Leo who no longer looks defensive, just sad.

(She considered the idea she might die one day despite her age yet the thing she worried the most about was you.)

"So what, what does that have to do with anything at all?" He all but asks, great annoyance forming in his tone and on his face. "What point are you trying to even make?"

No words were said as Leo and Madara stared at one another until finally, it spoke.

(It's ok…)

"What?" At that point, confusion formed on Madara's face yet felt something else he was getting at that he didn't like, an emotion he long since thrown away starting to bobble from deep in his chest.

(Shīudo…she just died…)

"I know that's why—" He stops talking and watches Leo approach him, nudging him.

(Like Izuna, not being able to do anything.)

At that point, the flash of his dead brother and him taking his eyes came to mind, resulting in anger as he ended up kicking Leo away yet the Sacred Beast just skids a little.

"YOU KNOW NOTHING!"

(I DO!)

Leo looked directly at Madara, their gaze meeting.

(I've known you ever since we met and I imprinted on you, I've seen your life through your memories, through your own eyes. I know your story…and I know your truth.)

"Why you damn." He points at Leo. "Shut your damn mouth, or I'll remove it."

His threat had left no mark on the Sacred Beast, Leo appeared unaffected by his words.

(A time of war, every day a fight and no peace. A child forced through all that….)

As Leo spoke, Madara marched towards the Sacred Beast while pulling back his right fist.

(Because of how you were raised, you never let it out nor how to live.)

At that point, Madara came to a stop in front of Leo with wide eyes as his fist was stuck in the air.

"What are you…what are you getting at." All Leo did was nudge him again, into his chest.

(There's a hole in your chest, there's been one for such a long time. You tried to ignore it, but in the end, it's always been there, now more than ever. You never once tried to live. You've only been stuck in the past, ever since you were a child.)

The moment he heard those words, he felt a sensation similar to the day he passed away next to Hashirama, something akin to a weight finally being noticed on his shoulders, a weight that dragged him to the ground.

(You lost each of your brothers until you lost Izuna which ended in giving into hatred towards the Senju and Hashirama, your closest friend. The same goes for now, you gave into Hate and revenge towards the smugglers, yet you already realized it's not going to fix that hole in your chest, that's existed since your brother's death. As you continued down your path, you got further and further away in trying to live again.)

"What are you trying to tell me? I don't understand…"

(You do, you just refuse to acknowledge it. You don't want to admit it… it's ok to grieve their loss…but it's not ok to prevent yourself from finding happiness and trying to live again.)

"I can't find happiness in this world, like the last it won't be possible, not until~~~" The words slowly died in his throat, thinking back to the past, back to the time before he became who he was. Recalling, the deaths of each of his brothers and so on after. Despite smiling with Izuna, despite laughing with Hashirama as they made the leaf village, not once was he truly happy and content with the life he had. Even after being reincarnated, he never once thought of enjoyment despite having so many chances, chances of finally laughing with Shīrudo without a care for tomorrow and connecting to his new family, instead he kept his distance.

(Madara~~)

Leo fell to deaf ears as he watched the Reincarnated one fall to his knees, alerting the beast who rushed to his side yet nothing he did gained his attention as he watched the lost look in his eyes.

"I…" His thoughts move onto his life, ever since he was a child born during nonstop battles and war, never once focused on finding his happiness but instead focused on the nonstop conflict.

[Nothing ever goes as planned in this accursed world. The longer you live, the more you realize that the only things that truly exist in this reality are merely pain, suffering, and futility.]

Slowly his hands balled up, shaking as blood leaked from them, the sight worrying Leo who saw the struggling expression on his face.

[A world of only Victors. A world of only Peace. A world of only Love. I will create such a World.]

"But…what would I have wanted… in such a world?"

Slowly, his head bowed as beads of sweat fell from his face as realization set in, like in his past life, he was walking down the same path that would most likely have the same outcome and it was at this time he noticed his vision becoming blurry.

"Wha—" At that point he noticed a drop of liquid hit the blood covering the floor below him. "Tears?"

He reaches up to feel them falling, unable to stop as he recalled Izuna and Shīrudo, spending time with them up until their deaths yet for both he turned straight towards vengeance and hatred.

[For truly this reality…is a—]

In that instant, as he was sucked into a bottomless pot of despair he felt it, his hands reaching up to grip his hair as many emotions were welling up, all Leo could do was watch in worry.

It was at this moment, he felt a hand resting upon his shoulder.

((((((((((((((((Don't Give Up))))))))))))))))

At that moment, when he heard that voice he looked up in surprise as tears continued to fall, he looked around with confusion evident on his face before his gaze rested on Leo.

"Did you say something?"

(I didn't say anything but I did feel something just now…a power unlike any other I have ever felt. It was, warm and caring.)

Leo looks up at the ceiling, more so what lies beyond it.

(I never put much thought into how you ended up here but that feeling just now, I remember it as the same one the day we met. It could be the voice of the one who brought you to this world, meaning they don't want to you relapse.)

When he heard those, he just stared at Leo before he finally heard it, crying from the room beyond this one before his eyes widened and got up, slowly he made his way to the large door that he proceeded to open, walking into the room and down a corner to find a line of cells, seeing children of the Beast Race in them, some were crying, some were growling, and others looking with a pleading look before stopping in front of a single cell, finding none other than Shīrudo's younger sister, Pursena in the cell, staring at him with wide-eyes as tears start to form before slowly he uses the key he had taken off the wall to open the cell which almost immediately Pursena slams, hugging onto him tightly.

"Pursena—" He stops speaking as the girl who held onto him suddenly broke down, sobbing into him.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm sorry." As she repeated those words, emotions began to well up in Madara yet he didn't try to push them down and tears fell from his face just as he hugged Pursena.

"It's ok, I'm here…" As he whispered that to her, she could only bury her face into his chest as she cried with Madara looking up at all the kids that watched.

"Let's…go home." He told all the kids with Madara turning around, looking at all the cells. "All of you, I'll take you home."

After saying that, he puts on a serious expression as he continues to hug Pursena.

"Who am I truly…and what do I want?"

As he thought this to himself, he didn't notice the look of shock he was getting at the far cell that housed Nina Farion, daughter of Sword God.

xxxxxCHAPTER ENDxxxxx

NEXT TIME: THE JOUNEY BEGINS; GOODBYE GREAT FOREST.