Chapter 4: The Rebel Ship — Auric Fang
Kairo's head throbbed like someone had dropped an anvil on his skull.
His eyes blinked open to a dimly lit room. Metal walls. Steam-puffing pipes. Old Kaigen circuits glowing faint blue. The floor vibrated gently beneath him—he was on a moving ship.
An airship.
He sat up slowly. His wrists were cuffed—not the black obsidian chains, but something newer. Lighter. Still annoying.
A voice crackled from a nearby speaker.
> "Prisoner's awake."
The door hissed open.
Rhea walked in, arms crossed, sword on her back. Behind her stood the man with the white hair and the mechanical arm, chewing on a stick of dried fruit like he couldn't care less.
> "Welcome to the Auric Fang," Rhea said, her tone unreadable. "Skyblade ship. Don't try anything stupid."
Kairo squinted. "...So I'm your prisoner now?"
> "Depends. You a threat?"
He didn't answer.
> "Exactly."
She tossed a folded cloth onto his lap. Clean shirt. A simple gesture, but surprising.
> "Captain wants to meet you. Says he saw your fall from the crow's nest. Called it fate."
Kairo stood up slowly. "And if I say no?"
The man behind her smirked. "Then we throw you out the airlock and see if fate catches you again."
---
The Auric Fang was massive.
Its outer hull shimmered with rusted armor plating, lined with bolt cannons and Kaigen turbines. Inside, rebels of all shapes and races moved through narrow halls—some human, some not. Some wore weapons shaped like living beasts. Some had marks glowing faintly, much like Kairo's own lotus.
They passed a training hall, a small garden growing under artificial suncrystals, and a war table cluttered with maps of the sky-islands.
Finally, they reached the bridge.
---
The Skyblade Captain stood at the far end, overlooking the skies through reinforced glass.
He was tall. Wrapped in a fur-lined cloak. His left eye glowed golden—mechanical, scanning. His right eye was blind. A scar ran down his face like lightning.
> "So... this is the boy who fell from the gods," the captain said, not turning. "Kairo, was it?"
Kairo flinched. "How do you know my name?"
> "Because your mother saved my life once. And because I saw that mark on your chest when I was a boy."
He turned.
> "I'm Captain Zephyr of the Skyblades. And if you truly are the heir to Null Kaigen... the world's about to change."
Kairo's breath caught.
He hadn't said a word about Null Kaigen. No one should've known.
Yet this stranger looked at him not with fear... but expectation.
> "You have enemies, Kairo. More than you know. But you also have a choice."
> "Run from your power…"
> "Or use it to burn the sky."
---
✦ End of Chapter 4 ✦
> Next Chapter: "Trial by Beast" — Before Kairo earns the Skyblades' trust, he must survive a brutal trial: to face a Kaigen beast and prove he can control his powers… or die trying.