"Are you just gonna stay quiet the whole time?" Aimee said with frustration. It had been just over three hours since she and Taiyo had departed from the city and his family. "Hmm?," Taiyo replied quietly, as he lifted his head and rolled his shoulders. "I'm tired, what did you even wanna talk about?," he said to her, but to his surprise, he was only met with a scoff and an eye-roll. Taiyo scrunched his face in confusion, "she has a problem with me already?" he thought to himself as he tugged and pulled at the newly crafted uniform Aimee had reluctantly given him earlier that morning. "Stop tugging at it, it'll adjust on its own," Aimee said with another scoff as she rolled her shoulders. The uniform Taiyo was wearing matched hers, something Taiyo wasn't particularly fond of, but was standard practice for Sentoki working on a mission together. Aimee began to reach into the inner lining of her uniform and pulled out the little black book Hiro had given to her before they left. "Read up." She said, passing the book to Taiyo without looking at him. Taiyo held his look of confusion for a second before he slowly grabbed the book from her hand and flipped it open.
Request from: Ko'Gato village, Southwest Shore. Issue: Seafaring marauders have been attacking both shipping and fishing vessels and raiding their wares. Until recently the villagers have been able to aptly defend themselves, but with the arrival of a new combatant, Sentoki assistance has been requested. With the most recent Incident, the attackers have become emboldened enough to enter Ko'Gato village, occupying a number of homes and businesses while holding the townspeople hostage.
Your Objective: Drive out the Marauders and if at all possible arrest and detain their leader. Once arrested, Ko'Gato village local guard will be able to assist with arranging their travel to a detention facility.
"I know all this already," Taiyo said arrogantly, as he skimmed through the details listed on the page. Aimee glanced over to see what he was seeing. "How about you get past the first page before you get ahead of yourself," she replied. Taiyo flipped through the pages, his eyes seeing nothing more than a list of the businesses and houses that had been taken over and the details about them. "Keep going," Aimee said impatiently as he kept flipping. "Combatants," read the final few pages of the mission book, finally piquing Taiyo's interest as he read.
Combatants: The group of marauders have all been reported as regular combatants. Equipped with weapons and minor artillery, the group has been classified as a low-level threat. No Mesukiro abilities were reported.
New Combatant: With the most recent report from Ko'Gato, a problematic combatant has joined the ranks of the marauders as their commander. A young Senpachi with the Nikugan known as, 'Wyald Reeches'.
"Hiro didn't mention this… Is he really sending us out to deal with a Senpachi on our first mission?" He said out loud. Aimee quickly snatched the book out of his hands and tucked it back into her shirt. "It's your first mission, not mine," she said coldly as she paced ahead of him. Taiyo scrunched his face once again before speeding up and matching her pace. "So have you dealt with a Senpachi before then?" Taiyo asked innocently, trying to ignore the attitude she was giving him. Aimee's tension broke a bit as she began to answer, not able to keep up her angered demeanor through his question."...No," Aimee said begrudgingly as she turned her head away, expecting him to begin berating her for her inexperience. "Well, then we should discuss how to deal with him, this 'Wyald Reeches' guy," Taiyo said as the two of them rounded the corner of the trail they were on. Up ahead of them, they could see the towering set of plateaus that was their first destination through the break in the trees. Aimee let out a sigh as they kept walking, surprised at Taiyo's response to her agitation. "From what I hear, he's a Senpachi from the mainland, a mid-level thug from a larger crime ring known as 'Miruso'. He's causing trouble for the village, which doesn't have much in the way of protection but we should be able to deal with him," Aimee said. Taiyo could tell she had shifted her demeanor, realizing it was better to leave well enough alone. The two of them continued to discuss the details of the mission ahead as they continued out of the wooded path and toward the base of the Southwest Highlands.
The sheer and towering presence of the highlands loomed over them as they arrived. Much like The School and City they had left behind, the Southernmost tip of the highlands reigned over the landscape as a towering red monolith of stone. Despite the majority of southern Kamikochi being littered with plateaus, the Highlands stood out, jutting from the landscape higher than any of the other rising and falling swaths of land, the massive single shelf of land sat well over a mile high in the air. As they approached they could hear the clamoring and bustle of the trading post and resting stop that sat nearby. A small set of stone buildings gathered around each other sat at the base of the cliff, surrounding the series of lifts that carried travelers up the side of the mountainous wall of rock. The two of them continued into the small collection of crude huts and sheds, some of them filled with sleeping merchants and travelers, others filled with those who had merely stopped to catch their breath and enjoy a meal before they finally arrived at the base of the Highlands cliff. As Aimee approached the lift operator, she pulled the small black book out from her shirt once again and flipped it to the last page. She showed the page bearing Hiro's headmaster seal to the operator, who promptly opened the small metal gate that let them onto the lift. "We don't have to pay?" Taiyo asked as they stepped onto the stone platform that was in front of them. The lift: operated by a Gensogan user, was no more than a platform of stone, encased in a metal wire fence that sat in a carved-out notch, running up the face of the cliff. "Of course we don't," Aimee said as if it was obvious. "Sentoki don't pay for travel and stay when we're on an active mission, hell most places will let you eat for free too," She added, Taiyo's eyebrows raising at her response. "Everybody ready? It'll take about 20 minutes to reach the station up top," said the operator, the both of them nodding in agreement as his bluish Ki began to glow around the base of the rock and lifted it from the ground as it slowly ascended the face of the cliff, taking them higher and higher above the surrounding landscape.
"So… About yesterday?" Taiyo muttered awkwardly trying to see if he could figure out why Aimee had been so shaken, despite her only real punishment being her obligation to bring him along. Aimee's head rolled slowly to the side as her glare pierced through Taiyo's feeble attempt to make conversation, but her cold stare only lasted a second before she assumed a more careless demeanor. "I overreacted a bit, that's all," Aimee replied casually as if the state Taiyo had seen her in wasn't just short of terrifying. Taiyo scrunched his face as he watched her pull a hair tie off her wrist and put her long blonde hair into a high pony-tail. "Why am I even asking? It's not like I care," Taiyo thought to himself as he looked out over the rolling hills and forest of Kamikochi that came into view the higher they climbed. "But I have to say… after our fight yesterday… She's gotten way stronger than I thought she had…" He continued to think as looked back over at his former rival and now mission partner. "What are you looking at?" Aimee said with a scoff as she turned away, only for her, Taiyo and the lift operator all to be taken by surprise by the sudden light that had erupted from the horizon.
"What the hell is that??" Taiyo shouted as he and Aimee both gathered at the side of the lift in order to see the massive beam of like that had erupted from the ground back in the direction from where they came. "Holy…" Aimee's words trailed off as she looked onward mesmerized by the sight. The sky around the pillar of light gathered and darkened as the light shot up through the clouds and into the sky. Massive trails of energy sputtered off into the sky, cracking like lightning as it continued to surge higher and higher. "Do you think that's some sort of display for the exams celebrations? Seems kind of over the top," Aimee said in confusion at the ominous sight. "I… don't think so… Hiro would have been bragging about something like this if he knew about it," Taiyo replied. "Oh well, if it's important we'll get called back, other than that we have a mission to focus on," Said Aimee as she went back to reading details from her little black book. Although he couldn't relate to Aimee's lack of curiosity, he didn't have a good argument either. "We've arrived ," Said the operator as the lift approached the top of the cliff. Before the gates opened, Taiyo looked back over his shoulder one more time to see the impressive display begin to flicker out of sight. Within seconds the sky and clouds had returned to normal, as if nothing at all had occurred. "Weird…" Taiyo thought to himself as he turned back around and followed Aimee off the lift.
Walking by themselves through the early morning streets, Ren and Rei hadn't been able to sleep for even a moment the night before, after their fight with Eiji the previous day. "You didn't need to be that harsh Ren… you could have worded it better." Said a voice inside Ren's head as he aimlessly walked the streets of Kaika Temple, unable to relax after his fight with Eiji. "Rei… you can deal with Eiji however you'd like… but we've always known I have to be the one who's blunt with him, sometimes it's the only thing that gets through," Ren replied to his brother's voice as the calmness of the Temple in the morning wrapped around their thoughts. "He's too stubborn for his own good sometimes… I think he gets it from Headmaster Hiro," Ren continued as he chuckled to himself a bit. "We just need to let this pass… After graduation and after the special excavation team finishes the temple… Things will go back to normal," Ren said confidently to his brother as the two of them peered off towards the horizon in the direction of the ruins. As the cool morning air moved through the almost empty temple streets, Ren and Rei basked in the thought of things returning to their days spent in the library exploring new research ideas, and the nights spent exploring the city with their friend Eiji, but the peace of that thought was quickly interrupted.
In a chaotic burst of power the sky had erupted just outside of Do'kobu City. From atop the plateau that harbored the ruins, an erratic and violent storm of energy began to fill the sky, illuminating the surrounding area as if the sun had come to greet them. The deafening roar of the torrent tore through the silence. Parting the clouds and breaching into the sky above as it swelled, before crashing down into the ground. "No…" Ren and Rei both thought as they witnessed the grand display of energy reach higher and higher, shaking the ground and the air around them. "He… He didn't go back right…?" Ren whispered to himself, frozen by the magnitude of the sight before him. Before Ren or Rei could object to the thought, their feet had begun moving across the ground and toward the ruins where he knew the light was coming from. As the sound filled the air and the storm lit up the sky, people began flooding out of the buildings and into the streets. Doors and windows swung open throughout the Temple and City in order to see the Storm of Ki that could be felt across the entire area. Ren frantically pushed through the gathering crowd as he made his way, seemingly being the only person who was trying to move towards the ominous event. Ren quickly made his way to the edge of the Temple grounds and was able to break free from the commotion that had begun, taking off in a mad dash toward the Temple ruins. His red Ki glowing underneath his feet as the ground seemingly propelled him forward with each step. In a matter of minutes, Ren had successfully made his way to the top of the plateau. The pressure and sheer force of the energy that rained down almost swept him from his feet as he pressed forward toward the entrance to the ruins where a blinding light was spilling out. "We can't go in there!" Rei's voice rang out as they struggled to keep their composure in the face of the torrent. Much to Ren's dismay his brother was correct, there was no possible way the two of them could get any closer than they already were, but by some miraculous stroke of luck. Just as Ren & Rei's hopes began to disintegrate, the massive swell of Energy and Ki came to an abrupt stop, almost vanishing from the air in an instant and returning to the silence and stillness of morning as if it had never happened.
"Do you think he'll learn his lesson? On the mission, I mean?" Gado asked his younger brother as the two of them sat at the kitchen table each drinking a cup of tea spiced with Interrica, a popular berry native to Kamikochi. Hiro wiped his lips with his sleeve trying to get rid of the tingling feeling the berry left behind. "I know it's supposed to help wake you up, but this stuff just makes my head spin," Hiro complained as he set the mug down. "Well?" Gado asked again, knowing his brother was avoiding the question. "You know I can't answer that," Hiro said with a sigh, wishing he had something better to say. "He's young, he's still got a lot to learn. Don't you remember how I was at his age?" Hiro said with a raised eyebrow. "Dont remind me…" Gado replied as he rolled his eyes. "He's strong… and he knows he's strong. He just… doesn't know how far strength really goes… he doesn't understand its depths…" Hiro said slowly as he swirled the remaining liquid in his cup. Gado stared at the table in front of him with the crest of the Umitasora family that had been carved into the wood looking back at him. "Maybe we should finally show him… when he gets back from the mission," Gado said as his eyes fixated on the crest. "You're not saying what I think you are? That would be against the law-" Hiro started to say. "No I didn't mean that!" Gado blurted out, cutting him off. Hiro shrugged his shoulders a bit in response "I wasn't saying I was against the idea," He replied jokingly. Gado just shook his head at his brother's unseriousness. "Maybe something close to what you were thinking would do the trick though…" Gado said as his mind wandered off into thought once again.
"Hey," Hiro said, snapping his finger in front of his brother's face in order to break him out of his trance. "What did you think about what Eiji said the other night? He hasn't seemed like himself at all lately," Hiro asked. Gado slowly closed his eyes and let out another sigh as he leaned forward and let his head hit the table. "Be honest. Am I a bad dad?" Gado asked in exasperation as he rolled his head to the side, his cheek squished against the flat surface. "Hmm, You were a crap brother growing up sometimes, especially that time you started dating Mia Rosse when you knew I had a crush on her. Or that time you broke dad's winter boots and let me take the blame. Or the time you handed me a hot pan-" "Okay! Okay!" Gado said in exasperation as he rolled his head back to facing the table. Hiro just smiled as he reached over and patted his brother's shoulder. "But you've always been an amazing father, Gado," Hiro said with a smile as he leaned back into the chair. "Thanks," said Gado's muffled voice from between his face and the table, still pouting a bit at his frustration on how to deal with his sons.
All of sudden the two men shot up from their seats as their faces became struck with a sense of seriousness. "Did you feel that?" Hiro asked his brother as the glow of his Mesukiro filled his eyes. "Yeah… Something big is happening." Gado replied. Meanwhile Kyuen, who had been sound asleep on the couch in the room next to them quickly appeared and was just as much on her guard as the strange feeling filled the air. "Kyuen, go wake up Hikari and Eiji. Gado, follow me outside," Hiro commanded, and as the two men hustled out the door and onto the steps they were met with a truly unexpected sight. The morning sky swelled and darkened as an ominous hum filled the air. The clouds swirled over a spot in the distance, and they felt the ground begin to tremble as they watched. "This is an overwhelming amount of Ki, I don't think a person could be responsible for this," Hiro said to Gado as the two of them peered into the sky. A moment later Hikari and Kyuen came running out from the house behind them, just as confused and mesmerized by what was in the sky. "Eiji's not home, he must have left the house already," said Kyuen through shallow breaths. "I need to check in with the scouting teams and see what they know about this," Hiro said as he began to take a step forward, but from behind him, a worried-looking Hikari spoke up. "I… I think that's near the ruins Eiji has been exploring…" Hikari said with a tremble in her voice as she pointed to the swirling mass in the sky. Gado and Hiro just exchanged a worried glance, but before they could think or act the sky had already erupted with the brilliant pillar of crackling light and breached the clouds above their heads.