Shadow Claw
By Blue Dragon-sy

Chapter 2:
Journey’s Beginning

When Rapheon opened his eyes, he winced against the bright light that was shining through the window in his room. Everything seemed rather blurry, and his eyesight refused to focus no matter how many times he blinked and shook his head.

It’s… already morning…

When his eyes finally focused, he tried to sit up, but the moment he did there was a sharp pain in his chest. He only just managed to keep himself from yelling out loud, and was only too glad to sink back onto his soft pillow and contented with just looking upward at the white ceiling.

He was only slightly conscious after he was attacked, but he heard every word that was spoken – about the dark wound, the Shadow, everything. And he had miraculously remembered them all too…

Slowly, he lifted his shirt to examine his chest where the demon had hit him… but he found no scar at all. In its place, however, was a mark instead, a mark that was rather similar to a tattoo of a serpentine dragon. It was deep blue in colour, deeper than the colour of the seas, and it glowed a dim white light every few seconds. He could even feel silent power from it, exhausted though he was.

Then, the door slowly opened and his sister stepped in quietly, not intending to wake her brother up in case he was still sleeping. She looked up as she closed the door as quietly as she could, saw him looking at him, and smiled in relief.

“How are you feeling?” she asked softly, bending a little to feel his forehead.

The young boy nodded slowly. “Better than yesterday… or was it? How long was I asleep?”

“About five days. You slept for so long, we thought that you might not wake up.”

“I see…Where’s Camus?”

She took a hair brush and slowly brushed her brother’s hair affectionately. “He’s out helping the others to rebuild the village.” She sighed. “That monster was strong, and it destroyed several houses in just minutes. Half of the villagers were killed that night.”

“…” Rapheon remained silent, casting his eyes downwards.

Cecille stopped. “I… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t tell you all this yet. You should rest.” She was about to get up, but her youngest brother put a hand on her arm to stop her.

“Wait, I have one more question to ask…” he stated.

“Huh? What is it?”

“This.” He placed a hand softly on the Dragon mark on his chest.

She shook her head. “I don’t know anything about it. We found it on your chest only yesterday morning. I don't know if it's bad or not, but it doesn't seem to do anything to you."

Rapheon didn’t feel too surprised – he had already expected that sort of answer. “We’re going to Nagerilna soon, isn’t it?”

She looked surprised. “Were… you awake that night?”

He nodded. “Only barely, but I heard everything.”

“I see. We’re not going anywhere for the moment, you still need to rest.” She opened the door, but glanced back for a moment. “Tell me if you need anything, okay?”

He nodded again, settled down on his pillow and closed his eyes. Somehow even staying up and just talking for a while wore him out…

 

Rapheon stayed in his house for a while to recover from the Shadow’s attack, contented with just resting and the occasional walk around the house to help his sister with the chores, since Camus was out more often than usual to help with the village rebuilding. After about four days, he felt well enough to even get up and walk around the little seaside village, and that was what he did.

Enjoying the summer breeze, he strolled along the little weather beaten path in the middle of Yurhosha, but he noticed that some of the houses were in shambles and as Cecille had stated, only half of the villagers were left. Even Garlen's students remained only thirteen, including the two brothers.

He stopped when he caught sight of several wooden poles at the space near the entrance of Yurhosha Forest, each one with a wooden plate carved with a name on it, and some of them had things like a necklace, dolls and flower wreaths on the poles. This must be where the fallen villagers were buried…

Rapheon knelt in front of each of the poles, his hands clasped together in a silent prayer, refreshing his mind of the memories he had spent with each one of them before they died. Some of them he weren’t very close with, yet he still felt anguished that they had died this way. None of them deserved that… not one of them.

When he got up to leave and turned around, he found that his path was being blocked by the three bullies – Ken, Laine and Dean – again. Even if they were the first few ones who had fallen unconscious when the metal demon attacked, they had an air of warriors who had fought a long, hard battle and emerged victorious. One would’ve thought that the attack taught them a lesson.

“Hey, look who’s here,” Ken said, crossing his arms. “It's Rapheon Sarphoenix.”

“Looks like poor Raphy got, like, beaten up real nicely,” Laine remarked.

Dean laughed. “Brave little Raph-Raph lost in a battle against the big-bad-demon!”

Rapheon looked away, a hand at his chest where what he learnt was the dark wound was, and was definitely not in the mood to talk to the trio. He tried to walk away, ignoring their remarks.

“Running off?” Ken's voice stopped him. “It's just like our everyday Raphy to run away from his troubles... huh?” He stopped when someone ruthlessly grabbed him by his shoulder. As he turned to face the person, two angry cerulean blue eyes, belonging to Camus, looked back at him.

“I don't think either one of you idiots have any position to EVER say things like that to MY younger brother,” the green-haired man said solemnly, but it was obvious to the trio that he was ready to blow up in a rush of flames, intending to burn them along. The trio knew better than to stay there and ran away as though the hounds of hell were after them.

Rapheon watched them silently as they hurried away, his hand still at his chest. He closed his eyes and smiled in gratitude when a hand was placed lightly on his shoulder.

“Thanks, Camus,” he said. “I knew I could count on you.”

“Are you okay?” Camus asked, his eyes narrowed in concern. “You know, you should take it easy. You've just recovered.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be okay…” Then he looked up and smiled, hoping that his brother would believe he was fine.

“Camus! Rapheon!” a voice suddenly yelled out for them.

Both of them turned and saw that it was another one of Garlen's students running up towards them, breathing heavily as if he had run for miles without stopping.

“Huh... pant... Geez! Where did you two go?!” the student breathed out, resting his hands on his knees. “I've looked all over the village for you!”

Camus sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry... did Master call for us?”

“You've... huff-huff... got that.... right....”

 “Hey, take it easy. Go and take a rest or something.” The elder brother turned to the younger one. “Well, let's go, then. Goodness knows what Master wants us for.”

Rapheon nodded and then they started walking towards the other end of the village, where Garlen's house and training field lay. The master was doing practice swings with his sword when the two of them arrived, so he sheathed his weapon when he caught sight of them.

“What took you so long?" he asked, glancing first at Camus then at Rapheon, who was sitting down on the ground with a tired sigh. "Where have you been?”

“Nowhere,” Camus answered. “We came straight here after we know that you were calling us.”

He raised an eyebrow in a disbelieving way.

“Yeah, it’s true. It’s just that these days, Raph gets tired easily, so I walked as slow as I could.” He gave half a shrug. “Anyway, Master, why did you call us?”

Garlen glanced at the younger student again before replying. “I just wanted to explain something to you. It's about the Sora-Ryuken fighting arts that Rapheon's been training with.”

Camus blinked at the strange name. “Sora-Ryuken?”

“It's the art of using double swords. It is actually a very rare kind of sword technique that only one in a few million people can handle because of the power that the magic in two swords create when used together.”

Rapheon lowered his eyes towards the ground. Now he knew why he was the only one with double swords among all the students…

“As you know, the journey to Nagerilna will be arduous because of the possible number monsters you may need to face and that no one knows where the legendary village is.” Garlen turned to face the young boy. “Rapheon, your sword techniques may overcome the monsters, but better swords will do a lot of difference. Therefore–” He picked a pair of sheathed swords up from the ground where he had placed them earlier. “–these swords may help both of you.”

The elder brother eyed the swords in puzzlement. “These swords?”

“These are the legendary Ryuken swords, forged by the founder of the Sora-Ryuken fighting arts who was also a famous blacksmith. It is said to have the great power to destroy and must be used as a pair. Although they have been in my family's possession for generations, they don't seem to show any extraordinary abilities.” He handed the swords to the younger student. “Here, these are for you.”

“For... me...?” Rapheon muttered, surprised, and then shook his head. “But why?”

“Unsheathe one of them and you will see.”

He did as he was told and set the other sword on the ground. Raising it above to inspect it properly, he admired the design that was different from the one his own swords have – more elegant and ancient-looking. A large, partly diamond-shaped red crystal was welded onto the golden hilt and the blade shone bright silver, looking as if it was made of a magical metal unknown to this world.

But that wasn’t why he was staring at the sword… it was the engraving at the bottom of the blade that held his attention ever since he laid his eyes on it.

“T-that engraving!” Camus exclaimed. "It looked just like the mark that appeared on your chest!”

As soon as he said that, the sword emitted a dazzling white light that grew so bright that it blinded all three of them momentarily. As soon as it dimmed though, it seemed as if nothing had happened… but Rapheon now felt a burning sensation inside him, like there was energy aching to escape from him. He looked at the hilt of sword that was still in his hand, which was now beating as though it was the heart of a creature…

“What happened?” the master asked, and then turned to his students. “Are you two all right?”

“I’m fine,” Camus stated, turning to his brother. “Raph, what about you?”

“…” Rapheon hesitated before looking up at Garlen. “Master, may I try the swords out?”

The middle-aged man looked surprised for a moment, but then nodded. “Yes, go on ahead.”

Silently, he unsheathed the other Ryuken sword, which had began to beat in his hand like its twin, and slowly got up. Then, he headed towards the middle of the training field where several straw dummies were and stopped. Focusing his mind on the two swords in his hands, his eyes closed, he suddenly heard a calm voice in his mind.

Calm and soothing. Like the gentle waves of the sea.

“The Dragon takes off to the sky with its elegant wings spread out like the rays of the sun, its eyes glowing as it watches the world. When it is certain, it charges towards the shadow demon, its body emitting a bright light, and circles around the demon with the four elements of the planet around it. The wind cuts the demon, the earth splits beneath it, the water suffocates it, and the fire burns it. The Dragon's wings of light spread further as the Dragon defeats the demon with a beam of light.”

“Raph…” Camus called after a while, but he received no reply.

Rapheon bent a little with his arms crossed and the Ryuken swords held at his side, the blades pointing upwards. As he did so, his mind was focused on the verse.

“The Dragon takes off to the sky with its elegant wings spread out like the rays of the sun, its eyes glowing as it watches the world…”

He did a somersault in the air; his swords pointed outwards, the blades emitting a bright white light.

“…when it is certain, it charges towards the shadow demon, its body emitting a light…”

He charged towards the straw dummies while still being in mid-air, like an eagle reaching out with its talons, with a white light surrounding him and his glowing swords at his side like wings.

“…it circles around the demon with the four elements of the planet around it…”

Rapheon landed on the ground in a crouch and immediately sprang forward towards the dummies, running around in a circle and striking them with multiple slashes. With each slash, the light around the swords switched from green to yellow, blue, red, and then back to green again, and the white light around his body grew brighter and brighter.

“…the wind cuts the demon, the earth splits beneath it, the water suffocates it, and the fire burns it…”

He skidded to a stop and stood straight, forming a cross with his swords, and then suddenly the sky grew dark and menacing, rather like the night when he was attacked. The wind cut the dummies like a knife if they weren’t already destroyed by his slashes, the earth split and crushed them, water appeared around them and the pressure also crushed them with force, and fire burned them.

“…the Dragon’s wings of light spread further as the Dragon defeats the demon with a beam of light…”

“Dragon’s... Fury!!” he yelled as he charged past the destroyed dummies, his body emitting so much light that it formed a beam of light behind him. This led to a huge explosion of light, and even though the dummies were already in pieces and ashes, Rapheon's finishing attack was so powerful that the straw dummies were reduced to minute pieces similar to sand.

When it was all over, the sky returned to its original state and the light around him faded away slowly, as though nothing had happened. Rapheon, who had felt the rush of energy during the skill earlier, now felt rather exhausted to the point he had to sit down. As he rested, breathing hard, he looked around and was surprised to see that not only his master and brother were looking at him, but many other villagers too. Apparently they had heard the sounds of his sword and saw the explosion of light earlier.

Camus came over to his side and knelt beside him with a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Hey, are you okay?”

He nodded, slowly sheathing the double swords. “I’m fine, just a bit winded…”

“I see, that’s good…”

Catching the strange look on his elder sibling’s face, Rapheon shook his head and turned away, keeping his eyes focused on the ground. “…actually, I’ve no idea how I even did that move. I just felt like I was in a dream…” He gently touched one of the two sheaths of his swords. “But I heard this… voice, inside my head, and it told me something… something about a Dragon defeating a demon.”

“A… Dragon?”

He nodded, his eyes still on the ground. “…the Dragon takes off to the sky…”

Camus watched him a little nervously as the young boy muttered a long verse about a Dragon, in a strange, emotionless voice so soft that it was rather hard to hear what he was saying.

He’s… acting strange…

“That sounds like the legend,” came his master’s voice from beside him.

He jumped and turned in reflex, only partly noticing that his brother jumped as well. He relaxed and then asked, “What do you mean by ‘legend’?”

“The legend of the Ryuken swords, the legend where the founder of the Sora-Ryuken arts forged these swords to save a dying Dragon by putting his soul into them. It was the Sky Dragon, Shoreaden.” Garlen paused for a moment, as if to remember the exact details, and then continued. “The reason why these Ryuken swords have to be used together is because Shoreaden’s soul is put into both of them at the same time, so using only one of them is like having only half of his soul.”

“…wow.” Camus simply didn’t know what else to say.

“Shoreaden told the founder the verse and he did the ‘Dragon’s Fury’ skill as well, just like young Rapheon here did.” He gestured towards the younger student. “This was actually the first time two swords were used at the same time, so he experimented by using two swords and created fighting arts out of them. He then named he arts after the Sky Dragon and the swords after the name of the arts.”

There was a long pause, and then Rapheon asked, “Which means… Shoreaden’s the one who told me the verse?”

“It would appear so, we don’t exactly know for sure.” Garlen rested his gaze on the blue-haired boy. “Rapheon, you’re one of the few special ones who could fight with the Sora-Ryuken art of using double swords. However, in the world outside there are people who would do anything to achieve what they wanted, so be careful.”

Camus nodded. “We’ll be careful.”

The master nodded as well and then turned. “And one more thing, Rapheon, don’t ever lose the Ryuken swords.”

Rapheon gripped his hand around the sheaths for a moment and then strapped them around his waist. “I won’t.”

He rested his hand on the hilts, feeling the swords beating twice in his hands as though to tell him that they would help too.

I won’t… he repeated in his mind.

When Rapheon decided that he had rested enough, both he and his brother prepared to leave the village. It was hard persuading Cecille to stay behind, it had taken nearly the whole of two days to do it, but in the end she agreed. They felt that the journey to Nagerilna would be dangerous, especially when they wouldn’t know what to expect and that she didn’t know any fighting arts.

When they were ready to leave, though, the whole village was at the entrance to see them off. That alone made the young boy feel awkward, but he felt particularly so when they yelled advices as though they were trying to out-yell each other.

“Be careful on the road, you two!”

“This is your home so be sure to return here once you're finished!

“Be sure to eat your vegetables!”

“Don’t follow strangers!”

Garlen, too, tried to say as loud as he could while still trying to seem calm. “To get to the nearest town, you need to go northwards and get past the Dawnstone Mountains, but the only way across it is to go through Dawnstone Pass. You two must work together and protect each other.” He smiled. “You might not be coming back for quite a while, but remember that this is your home. No matter what happens, you will always be welcome back here.” Then quite suddenly he looked exasperated, as though he had failed to make his voice heard.

At that moment Rapheon caught his brother’s eye, and both of them burst out laughing – the whole thing just suddenly seemed quite hilarious.

Cecille, on the other hand, kept looking as though she would cry anytime soon, even though she tried to mask it with a smile. She hugged both her siblings tightly, then wiped a tear from her eye with one hand.

“I can’t help Dad look out for you two any longer,” she said, trying to keep her smile on. “Do be careful, all right?”

Rapheon put a hand on her shoulder and smiled as well. “We’ll be careful, and we’ll come back in one piece too.”

“That’s right, and nothing’s going to happen to Raph as long as I’m there,” Camus added. “I swear it.”

Their sister nodded. “Okay then, I trust you.” She turned towards the sky and then back to her brothers. “It’s getting late though, you two should get going.”

“Yeah, we should.” Her twin turned to go, but glanced back with a grin. “We’ll be back soon, so don’t worry!”

“I won’t!”

Once everyone had said – or rather, yelled – their farewells, Rapheon and Camus finally started their journey northward. Once they had walked a while, though, they turned to take one last look at their beloved hometown, sitting on the horizon with the sun shining brightly on it. They looked at it for a long time in silence.

“I’m… going to miss everyone,” Rapheon finally said.

Camus smiled and patted his back. “Me too, but we’ll be back one day.”

“Yeah, I know. We’ll be back.”
 

Pronunciation guide again! I’m not bothered about the Japanese names. =P


Shoreaden = Sho-read-den (‘sho’ as in ‘show’, ‘den’ as in ‘olden’)