Just a few short hours later as the sun began to peak above the horizon, Aimee's eyes fluttered open as she rolled over toward the mouth of the small cave. Only to see Taiyo still sitting in the same spot he took up the night before, his hands clasped and his elbows resting on his knees as he stared forward. "Did you not sleep at all? We should have traded off," Aimee asked as she stood up and yawned, her hands hitting the roof of the small cavern as she tried to stretch. "I'll be fine, take the extra few hours as part of my apology," Taiyo replied as he stood up and stretched a bit as well. "Hmm,' was all Aimee gave for a reply, letting Taiyo know it would take more than a few hours of sleep to win back her trust after his poor choices the day before. "Should we head back over to the campsite and see if we can get to our stuff?" Taiyo asked as he rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. "That's probably our best move for the moment, to be honest I was thinking about it last night and we can likely continue staying at that same site. I doubt Wyald or the patrol is going to come anywhere near the area now that they know we're here. They'll likely shut themselves up inside the city and wait for us to make a move," Aimee explained as she started making her way through the woods towards the campsite. "Oh? Wait, you really think so?" Taiyo said, surprised by her words. "Well… I know you're probably not super keen on hearing my ideas at the moment… but if our only choice is to make the first move… I did think of something while I was up last night," Taiyo added with a sense of caution in his voice. Aimee just slowly looked over her shoulder, her face making it perfectly clear that if Taiyo wanted to share an idea, it had better be a good one.
"You're kidding me right??" Aimee said to Taiyo as the two of them stumbled into the clearing. She had spent the last twenty minutes listening to Taiyo justify his ludicrous idea and scouting the area around the campsite in order to make sure none of the Miruso men were hanging around. "Look, I know you don't trust me right now but this will work," Taiyo tried to continue on saying as Aimee just rolled her eyes and walked towards their tent. "I didn't have to see much of him to know exactly what kind of guy Wyald is," Taiyo added as Aimee pulled back the cloth of the tent and walked inside, seemingly ignoring his words. "I know another cocky idiot when I see one!" Taiyo called out in a desperate attempt to make her come around. For a moment he just stood there in defeat, until Aimee seemed to pop just her head outside of the tent as she glared at him with disdain. "That's the only convincing thing you've said so far," Aimee replied before disappearing once more.
Taiyo let out a sigh of relief as he waited outside the tent for Aimee to finish whatever she was doing. When she emerged, he immediately stood up again and went to continue his pleas. "I could-" "Shut up," Said Aimee, quickly cutting him off while she began looking around for one of the scopes the two of them had dropped the night before. "Lets just say for a second we did go with your idiotic plan, there's one serious issue we haven't talked about yet…" Aimee said somewhat ominously as she located not just one but both of the scopes, picked them up and tossed one to Taiyo, making sure to look him in the eye for her next words. "Wyald is way faster than you," She added with a cold and deadpan voice. Taiyo tensed up a bit at her words, normally he would try to defend himself against such a claim, even if it was true, but in an effort to stay calm, he just thought for a moment as they both climbed to the top of the rocks that sat over the tent. "It won't matter," Taiyo finally replied as they reached the top. "I won't be chasing him this time, and he's not so fast that I can't hit him, right?" Taiyo replied, hoping she would give him some insight into Wyald's level of strength, since she was the only one of the two of them who had gone toe-to-toe with Wyald the night before. Aimee shot him another glance of ambiguous approval before looking back through her scope once again. She was rather surprised he was thinking this through.
"And what makes you so sure he'll stay put?" She asked, wondering if he could come up with an answer. "Oh, he won't be going anywhere… I'm sure of it," Taiyo said with confidence, making Aimee just roll her eyes. "But it has to be today if we're gonna do this, otherwise it won't be convincing if we wait," Taiyo added, his voice holding just a bit of hope that Aimee would agree to his plan of attack. "Yeah, yeah. I Know," Aimee replied before she let out another sigh and turned to the mission partner she so far regretted ever having to join up with. "I hate to say that I don't have a better plan… but I don't. So if you really think that you can pull this off…" Aimee's voice trailed off a bit but it was clear she was willing to go along with his scheme. A confident smile grew across Taiyo's face as he held out his closed fist to her, looking for approval. Once again Aimee just rolled her eyes in exasperation as she reluctantly bumped his closed fist with hers. "Just don't mess this up… Lets go," Aimee said as she slid down the face of the rock, and for the first time since they had left the City and Temple behind, the two of them were beginning to act like real partners.
It was just about an hour before noon and the sun was almost directly overhead, shining down on Ko'Gato village. Taiyo sat behind the treeline looking at the main entrance from the same spot they had been lured to the evening before, the shimmering cannonball still lodged in the ground out in front of him. Despite his confidence in his own plan, a lump had formed in Taiyo's throat as he stood alone, trying to ready himself for the bold move needed to make things work. "You've got this," Taiyo repeated to himself again and again as he stood behind the treeline, slightly bouncing from foot to foot in anticipation. "They'll never expect this from us… so it'll throw em' off and that's what makes this work," Taiyo thought to himself, still trying to work up the nerves to go through with his plan. He looked up through the branches to see the six Miruso men who guarded the gate as well as the varying men who sat on top of the short stone wall that surrounded the village, ready to man the cannons whenever needed. Taiyo took a few more deep breaths, "You've got this," he said to himself one last time before he began to summon his Ki and launched himself from behind the trees and towards the gate.
Taiyo cried out as he rushed towards the men with as much speed as he could manage, making sure to close the gap where he could be hit by the cannon as quickly as possible. The men scrambled as Taiyo approached with his fist raised, the men atop the wall hurried to the cannons, but couldn't react quickly enough to hope to get in a shot. Taiyo bounded towards the men in front of the gate looking as though he was targeting them directly as they drew their weapons and stood before him. Just like he had hoped their faces were stricken with fear, as non Mesukiro users, the guard men were no match for Taiyo, and it was clear he was right in assuming that they had never expected him to just charge the gate like he did. Taiyo smiled with confidence as he stopped just short of the men and slammed his fist into the ground, sending a wave of dirt and stone that easily toppled the men and pushed them aside, and without so much as losing a step, Taiyo once again summoned his strength as he cried out and used both hands to crash through the massive wooden gate that closed the city off from the surrounding area.
Miruso men scrambled in all directions as Taiyo brought the gate crashing down, yelling and screaming to each other as they did. Taiyo couldn't waste any time, after bursting through the gate, he quickly made his way up to the top of the wall, easily dodging the attacks of the miruso men as he did. With unmatched speed, at least against the low ranking henchmen, Taiyo quickly dispatched each cannon that sat on either side of the gate, before jumping down from the wall and crashing down in the town entrance, the Miruso men gathering around him in a circle as he did. "Comon! Get closer I dare ya!" Taiyo bellowed as the men enclosed him yet kept their distance, none of them wanting to take on the challenge of fighting a Sentoki. "No one? How weak! This is the infamous Miruso gang? Taiyo yelled as he mocked the men around him as his confidence boiled over. "Where's that pink-haired punk from yesterday?? Bring him out if he's not chicken-shit!" Taiyo continued to shout as more and more of the men came from the surrounding area. "Just shoot him with the cannon!" One of the men in the crowd yelled. "He busted them both!" Another man yelled back in reply. "Just cut him down already!" Shouted another man as the rest of the crowd cheered, but none of them seemed to step forward. Taiyo snickered to himself a bit as the men shouted and waved their weapons at him, his plan had worked almost better than he had thought it would, as long as he could get Wyald to show up. "So where is he huh?!" Taiyo shouted to the crowd as he let his Ki flare up in front of them all, making a number of the men quickly step back. Finally one of the men had summoned enough courage to charge in, his club raised overhead as he tried to rush Taiyo from behind. To Taiyo, it was as if he was being attacked by a child. He quickly spun around and stepped in toward the man before he could swing, grabbing him by the throat and tossing him across the circle and into a row of men, knocking several of them over and laughing as he did. The men all shouted in anger, cursing Taiyo and waving their weapons in response and as they did, he could see from the back of the crowd that a path had begun to clear, and from behind a few of the men he could see the glow of a pinkish hued Ki rising up and letting him know he had been successful.
Meanwhile, just a few hundred yards away from where Taiyo had burst through the gate, Aimee sat in her own spot behind the tree line as she watched the guardsmen all rush to the commotion her partner had created. "Damn, that worked better than I thought," Aimee said to herself as she chose just the right moment to dash up to the wall and pull herself up and over as soon as she thought that none of the men were watching. She dropped down the other side, landing between the wall and a small house with a lean-to basement entrance. As men continued to run by the front of the house just a few feet away, Aimee quietly slipped into the basement of the house as she waited for the commotion to die down. It was only just another short moment later when she could no longer hear the Miruso men clamoring that she swiftly left the basement area and began making her way across town and toward the building the marauders had made into their base of operations.
Aimee snuck to the back of the building, making sure to avoid the occasional henchman that ran by in an effort to join the fight against Taiyo. "Let's go! Wyald is gonna cave that guy's head in!" shouted one of the men as he rushed down the street and away from his post guarding the main building. "Ugh if this plan actually works I'm never gonna hear the end of it," Aimee said to herself as she jumped up on top of a shipping crate that sat just underneath an open window to the building and jumped inside. As soon as Aimee's feet landed on the floor, a man stood up from a chair tucked away in the corner of the room. "Oh, I didn't see you there," Aimee said casually as the man looked at her with shock before trying to run for the door. Only to be swiftly hit on the back of the head and knocked unconscious. As the man's body fell to the floor, he had knocked over a stack of boxes and supplies which let out a crash as they hit the floor, letting the rest of the men inside the building know that something was going on. Aimee just let out a sigh as she heard the Miruso henchmen all yelling and making their way up the stairs that led to the room she was in. Instead of waiting, Aimee brought the fight to them, bursting out from the doorway with a speed they couldn't dream of matching and making quick work of the dozen or so men that were inside the building with her. After throwing half of them down from the walkway that she was on, she jumped down to the floor below and one by one fought off the men that were dumb enough to charge in again.
After about fifteen minutes of continuously toying with the henchmen as she tossed them around like ragdolls, Aimee had finally had enough of her fun and began asking questions. "Why is Miruso here? Why did you come to Kamikochi??" Aimee demanded an answer from one of the bloodied and bruised men who she stood above. Her fist wrapped with Ki as she knelt down and grabbed the man by the scruff of his shirt and lifted him just a bit. "Don't make me ask you again," she said as she threatened him. The man trembled as she looked into his eyes, unable to answer her yet glancing ever so slightly toward a pile of shipping crates that were piled up against the wall. Following his glances, Aimee shoved the man to the ground hard enough to knock him out, letting his body thud to the ground as she walked over toward the corner of the room, stepping over the bodies of the other already unconscious henchmen as she did. It was a fairly large shipment that had been piled up and made ready for transport. Over five dozen crates that were almost as tall as her stood stacked and lined up.
"Lets see what we have here," Aimee said as she busted through the side of one of the crates and let the contents spill out. To her surprise, a pile of different shaped and cut Ki crystals began falling out from where she had punched a hole in the crate and onto the floor. "Ki crystals? Why would they come here to steal these? Aimee wondered to herself as she knelt down and picked one up off of the ground. Only to quickly realize as she touched the Ki crystal that these were not just empty stones, but that they had all been filled to the brim with Ki. Aimee slowly realized the magnitude of what she had stumbled upon, if each of the crystals inside the crates in front of her had in fact been filled as well, then Aimee had stumbled upon a massive source of power. As she stared at the stone in her hand and the thought of someone like Miruso having so much stored Ki at their disposal she shuddered a bit and felt glad that she had managed to find the cache before it was shipped off the island for whatever twisted purposes the crime organization might have. All of a sudden as Aimee stood in front of the shipping crates, she heard something slam shut from behind the rows of boxes against the back of the wall. "Who's there?" Aimee yelled as she began making her way toward the back of the room. "I could have sworn I'd gotten everybody…" She thought to herself.
Back across the village just in front of the entrance, Wyald had made his way through the crowd of his men and now stood face to face with Taiyo, cracking his knuckles and smirking. "Well, well, look who had the guts to come waltzing onto my new turf," Wyald boasted as he began to pace around the circle, his men cheering him on and slapping him on the back as he did. Taiyo responded in kind as he paced the circle opposite Wyald, making sure never to take his eyes off his opponent. "You got me kicked off my mission," Taiyo scowled as he clenched his fist and began to put on a show, knowing he needed to keep Wyald occupied as long as possible. He had no issues following along with the theatrics that riled up the spectators and fed into Wyald's ego. "Oh! You hear that! It's even better, men! The sanctimonious Sentoki has come back for revenge! How pathetic!" Wyald exclaimed, trying to mock Taiyo as much as he could. "What have you got against the Sentoki anyway?" Taiyo shouted, trying to continue prolonging things. "Ha! What a stupid question! Are you serious?" Wyald said as he and the rest of the men bellowed with laughter. Taiyo gritted his teeth a bit, as much as he was trying to keep his calm, the crowd of laughing men got under his skin. "Everyone who knows about the Sentoki outside of this island hates the Sentoki!" Wyald continued to say as the laughter died down, making Taiyo's face scrunch in confusion at his response. "What does he mean, everyone? There's no way he thinks I'd take that seriously, does he?" Taiyo thought to himself as Wyald kept ranting. "All of you self righteous Sentoki sit on your little island while the rest of the world turns to shit!" Wyald belted out, his yelling becoming more angered and less geared toward firing up the crowd. Once again Taiyo's face contorted at Wyald words, not fully understanding the criminal's outlandish perspective. "You hide away from the suffering of others! While you all fiddle around with your fancy techniques and useless training! All so you can just sit here and save nothing!" Wyald screamed, his face becoming red as he shouted out his beliefs and turned the crowd from a bunch of jeering onlookers to an angry mob.
Taiyo had lost some of his vigor as he listened to Wyald's ranting. He had never heard someone speak of the Sentoki and the people he loved in such a manner. Taiyo took great pride in his role as both a warrior and wielder of Ki, but the tirade Wyald had let loose on him struck a nerve inside of him that didn't sit right. The face of Wyald and the men around him were filled with genuine hatred as he spoke and they shouted. Not only were they filled with hatred, but they were also filled with pain. "You're wrong…" Taiyo said as he remembered the importance of the situation he was in and puffed his chest back out, knowing no matter what Wyald said to him, this was likely going to end in a brawl and he needed to be prepared and not distracted. "I wonder just how long I can keep him talking though" Taiyo thought to himself. "Oh you wouldn't even begin to know how right I am!" Wyald shouted back. "I bet you've never even set foot off this Island! I'm sure you've lived your whole life blissfully unaware of the pain that happens in the real world!" Wyald continued, the two of them still pacing the circle as it grew wider and wider from the men giving them room to begin their inevitable fight. "Well what do you say men?! Should I show this guy some of the pain he's missing out on?!" Wyald shouted as he raised his arms and rallied the men who had gathered once again, this time cheering as loud as they all could.
Taiyo readied himself, putting up his guard and taking note of his surroundings. "Aimee's book said that all of the houses near the entrance had been taken over by the guards, so I don't have to worry about hurting citizens," He thought to himself as he watched Wyald crack his neck and roll his shoulders. "He's gonna charge any second now I have to be re-" Taiyo didn't even get to finish his thought before Wyald had closed the gap between them, his closed fist raised and hurling towards Taiyo's face. "Hey, big guy," Wyald whispered with a smirk before his fist came hurling toward Taiyo faster than he could react and try to soften the blow with his own Ki. Wyald's fist slipped past Taiyo's guard and made contact with his chin, making him momentarily black out as he was thrown from his feet and through the walls of one of the houses behind him. Although it had been a decent hit, Taiyo had taken harder blows from his father and uncle in the past, and within less than a second came erupting back out from the house he had crashed into. "Look who's still on their feet! Wyald said as he swiftly dodged and evaded Taiyo's blows. "Carful how much stuff you end up breaking! Those pesky leaders of yours would be awfully upset if they knew a rogue Sentoki ended up destroying half the town!" Wyald added as the two of them continued to crash through the walls of the buildings around the town entrance. Taiyo began panting as he tried to reach Wyald but his blows kept coming up short. "It's too early for me to be wearing myself out… I have to switch things up!" Taiyo thought to himself as he planted his Ki and resumed his fighting stance, His dark red aura flaring up around him as he did. "Oh? Are you trying to say you're done chasing me? Like that makes a difference!" Wyald belted as he rushed in toward Taiyo with zero hesitation. Despite Taiyo usually having a similar mindset to Wyald, he had found it embarrassing easily to manipulate Wyald's ego. Once again Wyald came bounding toward taiyo with amazing speed, streaking across the ground as nothing but a pink blur as he looked to land another blow. Instead of trying to evade or block, Taiyo's Ki flared up and surrounded his body, waiting for Wyald to strike.
Wyald Fist came hurling in and landed square in Taiyo's chest, the sound of the impact, ringing out across the half destroyed area. Yet unlike the last time when Taiyo had failed to raise his defences, this time he absorbed the blow as if it were nothing. Of course it had still hurt, but not so much that Taiyo couldn't put on a face through the pain. Taiyo grabbed Wyald's wrist as soon as the blow had landed and pulled him in closer, his massive physique towering over Wyald's as he scowled in his face. "You know my partner told me about Senpachi like yourself before she tried to send me back home," Taiyo said as he raised his fist above his head and brought it crashing down across Wyald's collar bone. Dropping his pink-haired opponent to his knees. "She said you rarely have balanced training!" He shouted as he brought his knee up into Wyald's chest with so much force that the ground behind Wyald's body cracked and spit from the shock. "And she was right! Cause' while you might be fast! You're also weak!" Taiyo shouted as he lifted Wyald back to his feet and landed another punch to his gut, this time letting go of his wrist he had been holding onto with his other hand and letting his body sail backward and crash through a row of houses.
The crowd around them fell silent as they watched their leader's body fly across the empty street and tumble through the wooden structures as some of them came crashing down. Everybody had frozen in place, unsure if the fight had ended or if Wyald would manage to get back up. "Even if he can get back up, he can't keep moving around like he was before after that," Taiyo thought to himself as he walked forward toward where his opponent had landed, but before he could make it all the way there, Wyald stood up and emerged from the rubble, bloodied and breathing heavy as he glared at Taiyo with rage. Taiyo just smirked as he kept on with his approach, picking up his pace as he came in to continue the fight. Before Taiyo could reach him, Wyald quickly reached into one of the zipped pockets on his pant leg and pulled out something too small for Taiyo to see. Wyald smirked and positioned the small object on the back of his thumb nail and against his pointer finger, almost like a marble. "What is he-" Taiyo's thought was cut short by a searing pain that shot through his left shoulder like he had been stabbed with a red hot iron poker. Faster than he could even see it happen, Wyald had launched something in Taiyo's direction that ripped through his body, and as Taiyo turned his head. He could see the pool of red leaking out from under his shirt…
Back in the building where Aimee had made her startling discovery, She slowly made her way toward the back of the room as she passed in between the rows of shipping crates that surrounded her, searching for where the sound she had heard came from. As she reached the back wall, she looked back and forth as she stayed on guard, but there was no one in sight. "That's strange… I know I heard something," Aimee thought to herself as she continued to look around before noticing that there seemed to be one of the shipping crate lids sitting on the floor, but none of the crates around it were missing their tops. Aimee slowly walked over and bent down, placing her fingers under the wooden lid that sat on the floor. She flipped the lid over and swiftly stood up, taking a step back as she did. Aimee gasped a bit as she flipped the lid a revealed the person sized tunnel that had been dug down into the floor and at the bottom of it looking up at her were the eyes of a small child, who scurried away as soon as she had moved the storage bin lid that was covering the hole.
"Hey kid, wait up!" Aimee shouted as she quickly jumped down into the hole and landed about ten feet below at the bottom, only to realize the tunnel continued on under the ground. Aimee could see just the feet of the child round the corner as she continued to chase after him, while also having to duck down just to fit through the narrow space. "Kid wait up! I'm here to help, I don't want to hurt you!" Aimee shouted once more as she rounded the corner, but as she did, she discovered her second surprise for the day. Aimee stood in shock as the small tunnel opened up to a narrow room that was just slightly wider and dimly lit by a lantern. Aimee watched as the young child ran into the arms of a nearby woman who stood amongst a small crowd of others. Each of them dirty and disheveled, their hands and feet bound by chains and their simple linen clothes tattered and full of holes. Each of the adults who stood in the crowded and dusty underground room appeared emaciated and bruised all over, the only one of them who appeared to be in somewhat decent health and unchained was the small child. Aimee stood in the entrance to the room confused and horrified by what she had found, the sight before her was far from anything she had expected. "Are they… being trafficked? Why?? I've never heard of Miruso doing something like this before," Aime thought to herself as she took another step forward into the room.
They all cowered away from her as she entered, shaking with fear and hesitating to speak up. "No, no! It's okay, I'm here to help! We need to get you all out of here immediately!" She said trying to reassure the downtrodden group she had stumbled upon underneath the hideout, but she was only met with a face of confusion and apprehension. "Et au vers ara!" One man shouted as he dropped to his knees and made a pleading motion toward Aimee, as if he was begging her not to hurt them. "Oh my god… I think they're speaking Loranan," Aimee said to herself as she covered her mouth in shock after realizing how far the poor people in front of her had been brought from their home. "I… I don't really speak any Loranan," Aimee said to them, "But I'm a Sentoki! I'm here to help!" she tried to say again as she gestured for the group to follow her out of the tunnel. "Sentoki…" The old man said in a low voice as the word murmured through the rest of them, their faces taking on a look of worry as it did. "Yes! A Sentoki!" Aimee exclaimed as they seemed to recognize the word, but it didn't elicit the reaction she had hoped for. The group chatted amongst each other for a second, as if they were unsure of whether to trust her or not, meanwhile they continued to murmur the name of her title every other few words. After another few seconds, the old man turned back to her as he put his arm out in front of the others, guarding them a bit and shaking his head from side to side. "Wait… is he saying they don't trust me?! Are you kidding me?" Aimee thought to herself as she took a step towards them once again, only for the entire group to cringe and shudder at her approach. "This isn't going to work… I can't get these people out of here while the town is overrun with marauders… I'm gonna have to move on to the next part of the plan and come back for these guys," Aimee thought as she tried to gesture to the people in front of her that she would be back soon and to stay put.
Aimee hurried herself out of the hole and back into the warehouse, her heart racing with the added weight of what she had discovered. Between the charged Ki crystals and the hidden prisoners, her skin crawled with the thought of what Miruso's true intentions here in Kamikochi were. "I have to get to the local guard station and let the local guards out, then I can meet up with Taiyo and help him finish off Wyald. I'll figure out what's going on with the prisoners after that…" Aimee said to herself as she dashed through the town in search of the local guard building. It had only taken a short five monies for Aimee to find the building she had needed to find. Surrounded by henchmen who had remained at their post rather than run off to see the commotion at the town entrance, Aimee couldn't spare any time trying to remain unseen as she made short work of the men who stood outside the door. Aimee burst into the local guard building and easily rendered a number of other men unconscious. "Over here!" a voice shouted from the end of a long hallway as a hand and arm waved for her attention. Aimee spun around to see the lot of guards who had all been taken hostage and locked inside of their own cells. Aimee quickly rifled through the bodies of the Miruso men around her until she found the keys to the cells and rushed to bring her plan to fruition. "Oh thank god! The Sentoki are here! One of the men inside the cell shouted as Aimee started unlocking the doors one by one. "Who's in charge around here?" Aimee shouted as she let the men free, looking for anybody who could help rally and organize their forces. "That would be me mam," Said a dark-haired and tall moustached man who stepped out from one of the last cells she had unlocked. "Does our freeing mean the Miruso men have been dealt with already?" The man asked Aimee as he and the others made their way to the front of the building. "Quite the opposite, I let you all out because we need to finish clearing out the henchmen," Aimee said to the guard chief as glanced at the man over her shoulder. "After that we've got a bigger mystery to solve," She added, trying to let him know that the situation had become more dire.
"How did you guys get yourselves locked up in the first place?" Aimee asked the guard chief as she and thirty or so men made their way out of the barracks and began spreading out across the town. "They showed up in the middle of the night and took hostages…" The guard chief replied as he gritted his teeth in anger. "Some of the hostages they took were our friends and family… We had no choice but to comply and let them lock us away… it was disgraceful," He added as they began rounding up the Henchmen who still loitered around the town. "I get it now…" Aimee said as the anger welled up inside of her. Her burning hatred for the Miruso group and impossible to hide at this point now that she had uncovered part of their ominous plot. "Listen up men!" Aimee turned around and shouted at the group of Sentoki guards she was leading. "With all of you now free we should have no problem taking back this town! Don't let these thugs threaten our way of life! Drive them out!" She shouted to rally the forces she had gathered. With the local guards freed and most of them being at least somewhat capable Mesukiro users, Aimee had confidence that they could turn things around. "Stay clear from the entrance to the city until you see my signal! Until then work on clearing out the rest of town!" She continued instructing the men behind her. "And where are you headed off too," The guard chief asked Aimee as he readied himself to take back his village. "I have to go help my partner deal with their leader… I need you to head to the warehouse across town and take care of something for me… do you have anyone here who speaks Loranan?" Aimee asked the chief, only for him to reply with a confused expression.
Taiyo's hand came up to his chest and touched the spot where he had been wounded, leaving it covered in dark red blood that pooled under his uniform. He hadn't even realized he had been dropped to one knee as he clutched the searing pain that coursed through his shoulder. "What the hell just happened?? This… this pain is overwhelming!" Taiyo thought to himself as he tried to regain his focus on his opponent who was now slowly walking him down after emerging from the pile of rubble he had crashed into. "What do you think of my 'Wyald Shot'? Stings doesn't it?" Wyald shouted as he stepped over the debris in his way and reached into his pocket once again, pulling out another small metal orb that Taiyo could see this time around now that he was a bit closer. "They're made from an alloy of tungsten and iridium," Wyald bragged as she held the small dark metal ball out in front of him and gloated in his success. "Even a Sentoki like yourself can't block something like this!" Wyald shouted as he placed the ball between his thumb and finger once again, aiming directly at Taiyo's head. "You were right, you know? About my 'unbalanced training'!" Wyald said as he stood across from Taiyo ready to blow his head off. "I've spent all my time focusing on my speed and application of Inertia, leaving me admittedly weaker and less skilled with Resonance… but that doesn't matter now does it?" Wyald boasted to his opponent who had been gravely injured. Taiyo panted as he watched Wyald reach out his arm and take aim, and in that moment he wondered if his father had even been face to face with such a situation during his years as a Sentoki.
"Of course he has… And I doubt he just sat there and let it happen," Taiyo said to himself as he hoisted himself to his feet and let go of his injury that was still leaking blood. "Oh what a show!" Wyald shouted as he watched Taiyo slowly stand up. "You know you gave me a good fight… So I'll let you die on your feet Sentoki…" Wyald said with a devilish smile as he summoned his Ki and shrouded his arm and hand in his taunting pink aura. "I just have to dodge… as soon as he lets his Ki release I have to move… if I'm even a second late… I'll Die!" Taiyo's mind screamed as he watched the smile painted across Wyald's face grow even wider. All at once his Ki flared up in one desperate final move Taiyo attempted to dodge the incoming projectile, but something had managed to give him a glimmer of hope for his own survival. As Wyald released his attack, a flash of orange can from behind and shot across the landscape, hitting Wyald in the back and shooting him forward, but not before he was able to send his attack in Taiyo's direction. The small metal ball shot from Wyald's hand with tremendous speed and hurled towards Taiyo who tried to react as fast as he could and move out of its trajectory, but he was only halfway successful. The small metal ball managed to once again rip through Taiyo's body, this time carving another hole out of his upper thigh as blood spurted out from where he had been shot. "This is our chance!" Taiyo heard's Aimee's voice ring out over the commotion and despite the pain that wracked his entire body, he managed to lift his head fast enough to see that Aimee had not only landed a surprise blow against wyald, but that his body was now hurling towards him just as the metal ball had done just a fraction of a second earlier.
Taiyo dug deep. In that moment the images of his father, his future, his rival and his entire life flashed through his mind in an instant. The will to overcome surged throughout his body as his Ki flared up beyond a level he even thought possible for himself. With a guttural cry Taiyo planted his bloodied leg in the ground and pulled back his arm as his blood red Ki wrapped around him and blended with the color of his injuries. Wyald's momentum couldn't be stopped, he had been ruthlessly kicked in the back by Aimee and flung forward towards Taiyo, whose eye had all but rolled back as he wound up for a final blow. With the blood pouring from his body and a show of unshakable resolve. Taiyo brought his fist forward as Wyald's body approached, catching him in the chin just as Wyald had done before and driving him back down into the ground. The town entrance erupted with the strength of Taiyo's blow. The ground shook as Wyald's body slammed down and cratered the dirt and stone around him and red Ki sprawled out across the area. Blood spurted from Wyald's mouth as his body sunk into the ground, his eyes rolled back as overwhelming impact knocked him unconscious almost instantly, leaving nothing but a cloud of dust in his wake. Taiyo dropped to his knees as he followed through with his strike. He had used the last of his strength to finish things and despite his ability to finally take Wyald down, he was no longer able to keep himself upright.
Once again the crowd froze as the battle came to its shocking conclusion. Wyald lay motionless in a crater on the ground and next him Taiyo sat on his knees, almost just as motionless except for his ragged breathing. "Taiyo!" Aimee yelled as she rushed forward toward her partner, managing to catch him in time before his body fell forward. "Damn, you've been hit bad…" Aimee said she supported his body, his blood covering her hands and the light slowly fading from his eyes. Taiyo coughed and fell into her for support, just barely opening his eyes as he did. "I… I might be stupid sometimes… and I might be inexperienced too… But I won't let myself be weak!" Taiyo managed to say as he once again hoisted himself to his feet with a bit of Aimee's help. "Lets get out of here! Get down to the boats! Wyald's been defeated!" The men around them began to shout as they all scattered and ran in every direction, but they were immediately met with force and anger of the local guards, who quickly rounded up as many of the remaining men as they could. "Medic! I need a Medic!" Aimee shouted frantically amongst the chaos, but her words were lost amongst the commotion. All of a sudden a blue flash appeared in the corner of her eye, and next to her the young boy from the other day showed up and slung Taiyo's massive arm over his shoulder, helping Aimee support him. "Follow me! My mom can help!" he shouted as he began leading her away from the chaos.
"You were the boy from the other day!" Aimee said in amazement as the two of them hurried through the fighting crowd and towards a house that had been just out of reach in Wyald and Taiyo's brawl. "Armon! There you are! I told you not to leave the house!" a woman shouted as she came rushing out the front door to greet her son. "Mom, this is the guy that saved me! You have to help him!" The young boy shouted as he and Aimee hoisted Taiyo's body on the family's porch and laid him down. "Oh god, what happened to him?!" The woman shouted as she quickly knelt down next to Taiyo and put her hands out over his body. "I-I'm no Sentoki but… But I should be able to stop the bleeding!" She said frantically as her Ki poured out from her body and enveloped Taiyo's wounds. Aimee just sat there panting with shock and fear. She had never imagined that this was the way things would go. He stomach dropped as she looked at her now unconscious partner who lay covered in his own blood after managing to defeat their opponent. "You should get back to help the guardsmen, we can take care of him here… just send a real medic as soon as you can," the young man said to Aimee as she knelt down next to Taiyo's body. "You… You're a very brave young man…" Aime said as she swallowed a bit and stood back up. Regardless of the shock she was in, the young man was right and her job still wasn't done.
Aimee wasted no tim in hurrying back to the spot where she had left Wyald's body, only to find that he had already been cuffed and apprehended by the local guard chief. "Don't worry young lady, he's not going anywhere," the guard chief said as his men around him continued to chase the remaining Miruso members out of town and arrest as many of them as they could. Aimee let out a sigh of relief as she watched the guard chef place the set of Ki chains on Wyald's wrists, knowing that they rendered him as weak as a common man. "I've already sent for a medic for your friend as well. My men made sure to report that he had suffered some serious injuries while defending our town, they should be getting to him shortly, now let us handle the rest of this!" The guard chief bellowed as he began to walk away, dragging Wyald's unconscious body behind him. Without a moment to spare Aimee rushed back in the direction she had come from and as she rounded the corner to the young boy's house, she was met with another wave of relief as she saw the Sentoki medic who sat over Taiyo with Ki extended outward. "Okay… he should be okay…" Aimee said to herself as she doubled over and put her hands on her knees in exhaustion. "He's waking up!" the young boy shouted from the porch as the glow of the medic's Ki began to quickly close up Taiyo's wounds.
Taiyo's eyes slowly opened as he could feel the pain fading away. He looked down to see the greenish glow wrapped around him and fixing his wounds. He had been to the medic back home enough times to be able to recognize the sensation. He looked up to see the medic sitting beside him as well as a number of strangers he didn't recognize. "Wait… you're the kid from the other day," he managed to say as he furrowed his brow while looking at the young man. "Aimee!" She said a bit louder as he saw her walk up behind the others who were gathered around him and tried to sit up. "What happened with Wyald?" He tried to say as he winced a bit. "I was able to free the local guards and he was arrested after you took him down," She said with a slight smile as she crossed her arms and stood over him, just lightly kicking him in the ribs with her foot as she did. "Your stupid plan worked." She added as he fell back in relief and let the medics finish their work. "Aimee laughed to herself through her nose a bit before turning to walk away once more. "When he's on his feet again, tell him to meet me at the Miruso base building across town," She said looking at the young boy as if she was entrusting the brave young man with a set of orders. To which the young man quickly rescinded with a confident nod and a bright smile.
Aimee had made her way across the town in search of the guard chief once more. Hoping she could finally get some answers on what she had found inside the warehouse the Miruso had previously taken over. The streets had begun to calm down as citizens began to come out of their houses once again, some for the first time in weeks. The local guard had rounded up the remaining Miruso men that they were able to apprehend. Only a small number of them were able to get down to their boats and escape. A number of men had also been quickly enlisted to spread the word of Taiyo and Aimee's victory around town and as they did the townsfolk began to thank her gratuitously as she made her way through the streets. In time she found the guard chief once again as he and his men ushered in a long line of chained up Miruso marauders into the guards barracks. Meanwhile Wyald had been sat at the guard chiefs feet, his hands cuffed behind his back and his feet bound as well for all his men to see. "Ah! There's our young Sentoki heroine," The guard chief shouted as Aimee approached, eliciting a wave of applause from the other nearby guardsmen. Aimee waved politely as she walked up, hoping that Wyald was once again conscious and ready to talk. "So were you able to get any information out of him?" Aimee asked as she glared down at the pink-haired Senpachi who had caused them so much trouble. "He's refusing to talk, I'm pretty sure he's conscious at this point but just won't open his eyes," The guard chief replied. "Yeah well that won't last very long after he gets shipped off to Do'Kobu detention center," Aimee said as picked her head back up and met the guard chief's gaze. "What about the hostages I found? Are they safe?" She asked him. "They indeed are. We were lucky enough to have a guardsman who spoke a little Loranan and was able to coax them out and take them to the local hospital where we can take care of them until we figure out this mess." The guard chief said. "It's strange though… While Miruso is known for being a major crime organization, we've never known them to engage in the business of stealing and selling people…" he added as he looked down at the Senpachi prisoner at his feet. "I agree… something about all of this seems off, hopefully we can get some answers from either him or them," Aimee replied.
"Aimee!" Taiyo's voice called out from behind her as he continued to talk with the guard chief about what was to come, but as soon as he had spoken her name outloud, Wyald seemed to pick up his head almost immediately and fix his eyes on her. "Did he just call you Aimee?? Aimee Rhall?? Ha! I didn't think I'd actually run into you!" Wyald said in shock as Aimee and the guard chief looked down at him with surprise while Taiyo watched from behind. "Emitt told me to be on the lookout for a blonde haired girl around your age but what are the chances it was actually you!" He added. Aimee's eyes shot open as Wyald spoke to her, her rage boiling over as she pulled back her fist and poised herself to strike. "Shut up! Shut up!" She screamed as she grabbed Wyald by the collar and hoisted him up, her eyes glowing with the color of her Ki as she did. Taiyo stood in shock as Wyald seemed to address Aimee on an almost personal basis and provoked her to react in such a way. Aimee dropped Wyald back to ground and quickly turned on her heel, and once again as she began to walk away Taiyo was able to see the same pained and unusual expression he had seen from her only a few times before.
"Aww comon! Don't you wanna hear the message he gave me?" Wyald continued yelling after hitting the ground. "Stop it…" Aime muttered as she clenched her fists with her back turned to him. "He says that he misses you!" Wyald added with a cruel smile. "Stop…" Aimee muttered again, this time her nails digging into her fists as blood began to trace the line of her hands. "He says He's gonna take you away from these bastard Sentoki so you don't meet the same fate as you-" Stop it!!" Aimee screamed as she dropped to her knees and covered her face, her breathing becoming hysterical and tears rolling down her cheeks and mixing with the blood from her palms. "Wyalds face twisted into a smile once again as he watched his words dig into Aimee's psyche, "Don't you wanna see him agai-" Wyald's words were cut short by a rapid blow to his stomach as he lay handcuffed on the ground. Without any of them noticing Taiyo had sped across the ground and closed the gap between him and Wyald, landing his foot into his gut as if he were kicking him like a toy ball. Wyald rolled across the ground a bit before he came to a stop with Taiyo standing over him. Taiyo knelt down over the Senpachi who seemed to be taunting his partner, and despite his lack of knowledge as to what was going on, he wasn't going to let wyald continue. "Say one more word to her and my report will have to include your accidentaldeath," Taiyo growled as his eye flashed red and he stared at the defenseless man on the ground. Before standing up Taiyo reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the small metal balls that had pierced his body earlier that day, "I'll be keeping this, hope you don't mind," he added as he stood up and turned around to face the guard chief. Who simply stood there in confusion with what had transpired. "Im assuming you're in charge?" Taiyo said to him as the man slowly nodded in response. "We'll send somebody to assist with his transport to Do'Kobu and collect the rest of the details about what happened here today. We need to get back and make our report," Taiyo said somberly as he looked at his partner who was still on her knees and seemed to be crying, despite how she was trying to hide it. "I… I Understand. Please, take one of our Kuduruu carts stationed at the front of town to make your trip a bit shorter, one of our men would be glad to be your driver," The guard chief said as he bowed his head. As Taiyo bowed his head in response, he slowly walked up behind his Mission partner and stood beside her. "Ready to go home?" Taiyo asked without so much as looking down at her. Aimee slowly stood up beside him, her hair covering her face as she simply stepped forward without a word.