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One short walk later, the afternoon sun beaming down on Gentaro and Brook. The long poles of bamboo provided no shade for either of them. Why was it so hot out here, she was told that the place had temperate weather, whatever that meant?

That being said, Brook looked to be the only one who was bothered by the walk, Gentaro on the other hand walked with zero halt in his stride.

"Come on, he shouldn't me much farther." He said, walking along the trail, turning around to face the panting hyena. "Goodness, you're out of shape."

Lack of exercise, booze, and cigarettes will do that to you. "I know, I know," Brook said, catching up with him, also carrying her backpack with her, unwilling to leave it at the resort; not to be rude or anything, but she didn't trust any body there to not take something out of it... Except for Opal. She would trust Opal with her life. "So how do you know we're close? Do you have some sort of psychic fighter detection?"

"Nope." Gentaro said, "Well, sometimes it feels like I do, heh." He said, tapping the side of his head. The two of them walked and conversed at the same time, as to not lose pace. "I actually took a psychic examination test and got a pretty good score."

Brook nodded, looking through the bamboo trees, spotting the occasional wandering arthropod. "Really? I took one of those and got nothing." She cleared her throat, turning back to Gentaro, "Anyways, how do you know we're close?"

"Right," he nodded, "It's because this trail is just a few branching paths with a few open clearings. Eventually we'll find him. It isn't like we have to comb the whole of the forest. He can't be off the path because that'd be against the rules."

"Did you consider that he might be the type of person to break the rules?" She asked, raising a brow. "I mean, you did say that he 'lives in darkness' right?"

"I... Actually didn't consider that." Gentaro mumbled, putting his hand to his chin, his rabbit nose twitching. "I mean, it doesn't look like a good place to meditate, too much bamboo in the way, so I still think he's on the path."

"I guess you got me there." Brook shrugged, "Plus it's peaceful out here." She took a deep breath. Taking in the peaceful but mundane scenery. Tall rods of bamboo stretching to the sky. Their green color reflected in the sunlight giving the whole place a chlorophyll green shade. "I can see why he chose this place to meditate."

"Correct." Gentaro nodded, before stopping in place, putting his hand in front of Brook to halt her as well.

"Hey!" Brook said, annoyed, "Don't do that, it's annoying." She flicked him in the back of the head. "Almost groped me."

"Sorry!" Gentaro declared, blushing. "Through the trees, do you see it?"

Brook looked, staring through the thick fence of trees in front of them. On the other side of that bamboo was a clearing, plenty of open space. There was somebody there, but it was hard to see them through the trees. Only their black clothes could be seen, Brook couldn't even tell what species they were or if they even were a person. Damn, they had the most amazing timing. "Think we can squeeze through there?" Brook said, walking up to the bamboo wall. She was plump, yes, but she couldn't squeeze through tight spaces if she sucked in her gut. However, Gentaro protested.

"Wait, the rules say we can't walk off the path."

"Since when does a vigilante care about rules?"

"Since a while..." Gentaro said, embarrassed yet again. "Well, I'm fine with breaking rules if it's to punish criminals and..." He cleared his throat again, knowing he is only making himself look like a fool. Brook, however, laughed it off.

"Don't worry about it, I'm just busting your chops." She went up to the bamboo wall, ready to squeeze on through. "You can take the path to there, I'll get there my ways, 'kay?"

Gentaro nodded, looking for the way around, fully accepting that Brook had her ways of doing things and that he had his. She was, as far as he knew, the most difficult person to change her ways when she set out a path for herself.

Brook, sucked in her gut, walked into the clearing, and approached the man from behind. He was wearing an all black hakama, sitting cross legged on the ground. Finally, she recognized what species he was: a markhor. His chest and neck, covered in dense matted fur, his loose hakama barely containing all of his wool. His two spiraling horns giving him an imposing silhouette. But, as Brook circled around him, she began to notice how incredibly aged he was, now that she was facing in front of him. His eyes were sunken, so much so that at the right angle, they looked empty. When you could see his eyes, they were completely unfocused, giving him a vaguely silly wall eyed appearance, just staring off in two different directions. A small strand of drool hung from the side of his mouth. This was the 'man who lurks in darkness?' The man known as Tao?

Fighter

Tao "Way of the Void" Hanabi

With little in the ways of survival instinct, she spoke up. "Tao?" She asked.

He said nothing, just sat completely still. Was he dead?

"Hello, my friend and I were looking for you. We were told that a powerful fighter was here. One that, uh, we were looking to set up a fight with?"

He still said nothing.

Okay, then... Brook hummed, looking around the clearing, before spotting a piece of bamboo lying on the ground. Just a small piece, about the size of an energy drink can. It didn't look like it had fallen off of a tree naturally; she didn't even know if bamboo broke off like that. No, instead, it looked like it was cut off, with one clean slice. Picking up the piece of bamboo, she decided to do something stupid, and tossed the piece in a weak underhand throw at the old man; she didn't want to hurt him, she just wanted to get his attention.

That did the trick. In one moment, the old man's unfocused eyes shot open, now fully alert, with a swipe of his hand, his smacked the bamboo piece away in a chopping motion.

Brook blinked and missed it. The level of footwork, the quick motion of his hands. In a split second, he moved from his lazy cross legged position to a combat stance. Brook's eyes were wide with amazement, at the level of alertness and reflex. Looking at the ground at Tao's feet, she saw the bamboo she tossed; it was sliced in half, as if cut by a sword, yet Tao held no weapon on him, only his bare hands. Then, he sat right back down, back to meditating.

"Astounding." Gentaro said, finally found the way through.

"Found your way through the maze?"

"Uh, no..." He shook his head. "I actually ended up doing what you did and cut through." He said, speaking low, not proud of his insignificant rule break.

"I knew it." Brook laughed, "So, anyways, I think this is the guy. Problem is, he's not doing much." She looked to Gentaro. "You're the warrior, he'll probably listen to you."

Gentaro nodded, then spoke. Not in Castor, resorting to speaking Xivan instead. "(Tao? Tao Hanabi? Are you the one we're looking for?)"

Brook had no idea what they were saying, only assuming he was asking the right questions.

"(We're looking for a specific person and checking all of the fighters at this resort. As a fellow fighter for Primal, I'm curious if you are the fighter working for the man called Audwin. If that is you, I request a fight from you, if not, we'll be on our way.)"

Still no response.

Brook groaned, shaking her head. "I don't want to be rude, but I think this guy might not want us here." Plus, she had the rude assumption that he might be senile. "Why don't you give him a good kick to get his attention, that could work?"

Gentaro too, sighed. He had a temptation at the back of his mind, to go ahead and attack the old man, just like he did with Opal; he had to not let Brook influence him too much, even if he saw her as a friend. But there was something making him hesitate. All warriors, all strong warriors that is, exude a certain aura; just as Opal did back at the resort. But there was something off about the old man. He sensed nothing to him. No sign of weakness, no sign of power. Just an empty space where he sat; that was until he moved earlier to slash at the bamboo. It was then that he sensed something powerful, only for a brief moment. It is warriors like that who are ones to be feared. "Alright," Gentaro said. "Let's find this Patrick guy." Looked over to Brook, motioning for them to leave, only for the both of them to snap to attention when they heard Tao speak.

"Oh by the Spirits, you two are annoying." He spoke in a raspy tone, worn down by old age. "Have you no respect for an old man and his meditation?" He stood up slow, his full height made apparent; he had to be standing at at least 6 feet tall, maybe a few inches taller.

"(My apologies.)" Gentaro said, turning around and bowing.

"Please, speak Castor." Tao said, looking to Brook. "I'm sure this one would like to know what we're saying. Plus, I want to practice it."

"Very well." Gentaro said, on guard. His heart was racing. Again, that feeling of emptiness emanated from the old man. A great feeling of bleak darkness surrounded Tao, an all consuming void, that made it feel like they were trapped in a deep dark cave, even with the sun shining down on them. Staring at him was like staring in the abyss of the ocean where you couldn't see the bottom.

"Well, what is it?" Tao said, "Repeat what you said to me?"

"Are you the fighter working with Audwin? The man taking this place." Brook spoke up, causing Tao to look over to her with just one eye; the other one remained focused on Gentaro, giving him a half creepy, half silly, cross eyed look. Once he was done eyeing up Brook, he quickly adjusted to look both eyes back on Gentaro. Brook shivered looking at him. "Don't do that, that looks weird!" Still, it would make a really good parlor trick.

Tao grinned a crooked smile. "Such a brave woman." He said, not even looking at Brook. "What about you, rabbit? Are you brave?"

"Brave as I need to be." Gentaro said, adjusting to a combat stance, he already knew what was going to happen. "Brook, stand back. This man is dangerous."

"Don't have to tell me twice." Brook nodded, taking a few steps back, towards a wall of bamboo. Another fight was going to happen and yet again they didn't even know if the person they were facing was the man they were looking for.

"There we go." Tao said. "But to answer your question. No. I don't work for Audwin. That would be the one called Patrick."

So this whole trek through the forest was for nothing? Brook groaned, realizing they took the hard path when they didn't need to.

Despite this, neither fighter left their combat stance. Neither willing to let their guard down.

Unlike last time, this wasn't one that Brook was going to be able to stop. The beautiful forest clearing made the perfect battlefield, why stop now? There were no sounds, not even animals, not even the rushing of wind. Then, it began.

"Come." Tao said, "Show me your bravery. Show it to me." He said, as he dashed forward, closing the distance between him and Gentaro, not even giving the rabbit a chance to instigate. Too fast for Brook to register, but just barely too fast for Gentaro. Tao was going for a chop, just as he did against the piece of bamboo.

Gentaro quickly stepped away from the slashing attack, the hit just barely grazing his chest. Blood trickled to the ground, leaving a small red pool on the forest floor and a shallow slice in Gentaro's chest.

"He has a weapon?" Brook gasped. No, if he had one, he was really good at pulling it out and immediately hiding it. The markhor was completely unarmed, no matter how hard she looked. Then she noticed the blood dripping from the fingers on his right hand. A move and a body, so skilled, that you didn't need a knife to cut someone.

"Good dodge." Tao laughed. "Anything less than an above average reaction speed would've spelled death." He flicked his hand to the side, getting most of the blood off. "Now come, show me what you can do."

Gentaro, furrowing his brow, ran over, going for a strong punch to Tao's chest.

Tao held one palm out, catching Gentaro's fist. Even with his dark appearance or his grisly attitude, the old man moved with such gentleness and grace. Graceful as the shroud of darkness and just as violent. The energy of the attack traveled down Tao's left arm, across his torso, down his right arm, and into his right hand. All of it leading up to a powerful palm strike to Gentaro's chest. Even a professional MMA fighter would be destroyed by such a strike. Gentaro's own energy plus Tao's. It felt as though his chest was caved in. Gentaro collapsed to his knees, grimacing, Tao standing above him. In that moment, it felt so dark. The follow feeling in his chest. The looming void around him. The end steadily approached, as he saw Tao raise his hand, palm flat, ready for a chop.

"Gentaro!" Brook screamed, as she watched Tao swing down at him.

The attack, however, fell just short, an inch from Gentaro's face.

"Huh?" Gentaro said, eyes widened, still clutching at his chest.

"Alright, I'm done." Tao said, walking back to his meditation spot.

"Huh?" Brook looked around, confused. "What was that all about?"

"I'm done." Tao said, sitting down. "You came searching for a fighter. I wasn't the one you were looking for but I am still a fighter. When two powerful forces meet each other, it's just logic that they fight, right?"

"Not really?" Brook said. "There was no reason for you to attack him."

Gentaro only sulked in defeat. This man, he was so far beyond the scope of his skills. From that one technique, he knew it, there was just no defeating him. Not with his current strength.

Tao sighed, still smiling, sounding just a bit winded from his fight. He focused on Brook instead this time. "Brook, was it? You see, I have no goal in Primal beyond fighting. There are those do it for entertainment, for money, for personal goals. Many, like I, do it for the joy of fighting. What I did here was simply gauging the skills of a potential playmate."

Gentaro stood up, catching his breath. "Then where would my skills lie?" He asked, walking up to Tao.

"You fall just short of greatness. In other words: You're better than the majority."

Gentaro raised a brow, unsure if that was suppose to be a compliment to him, an insult to everyone else, an insult to him, or a blend of all three.

"So... What do we do now?" Brook asked, looking to Gentaro.

Before Gentaro could answer, Tao chimed in with his own answer. "My suggestion? Fighters should leave the complex stuff to the Handlers. Turn your brain off for a bit, Gentaro." He looked over to Brook. "Ah, but you are a Handler, aren't you? You're a Handler, but you are no negotiator. No, you'll be eaten alive if you try to even think about debating with upper rungs of Primal. Letting your emotions dictate your actions, such a poor show. Be greedy!"

"I'm sorry, but that's not the kind of person I am. To simply sit back and not worry about the emotions of others." Gentaro shook his head. "I don't just fight to fight. I'd even say that I use to detest violence, until I convinced myself to use it for good.

"I won't argue with you, either way." Tao chuckled, just having fun. "Still my point about you still stands, Brook. You wish to earn this place in a fight, yet you don't have any idea how to convince the other man. It'll take an act of the gods in order to convince Audwin to unhand this land."

"Then what should I do?" Brook asked. "If I can't let my emotions dictate things, Gentaro shouldn't get involved in Handler affairs. What are you suggesting I do?" It was on her mind, but she didn't ask it. Why did this land matter so much to Audwin?

"I don't know, Why not employ Gentaro under you, have a few easy fights, and rack up some reputation. This is all a game, right? Everyone treats it like one, so why not just forget about everything for just a little bit. Feel free to get greedy and win as much as you can."

Brook clenched her fist, tired of this old man's bullshit. She should slap him.

"Well..." He said, "These are all just my beliefs. I believe them through and through. But why listen to an old man like me? Why not prove me wrong by doing things your way?" He rubbed his chin, "Ah, what a sight that would be."

"I will." Brook nodded. Gentaro silently nodded, allowing Brook to take the reigns. "I'll see you at the spa later, whenever you decide to leave this forest."

"I'll be there." Tao nodded, both of their hordes said with haste. They knew neither would budge from their statements. "If you fight Patrick, I expect you to show him the same strength you showed me, but even greater."

"I promise you." Gentaro said.

"If you can convince them to have the fight in the first place." Tao said.

"We will. Again, that's a promise." Gentaro.

Then, Brook thought something. Something absolutely stupid. She was this far into things, so why not take things all the way? "Alright," Brook said, "If we have the fight and we win the fight... Then you will have to be one of the Fighters under me."

"Brook?!" Gentaro gasped.

Tao raised a brow, tilting his head to the side, more curious than anything.

"You said that I'm no negotiator, how's that for a negotiation? Perhaps we can prove you wrong if you work under us?" Then, she decided to get even ballsier than she already was, "What was that you said earlier? Turn your brain off, Tao?"

"Brook, I know what you're thinking, but do you realize who you're talking to." Gentaro said, pulling Brook to the side. "That's Tao Hanabi, Primal Royale champion, trained killer, ex-military turned mercenary."

"He asked me to build rep, how much more rep can you get if you have someone like that under you?" She protested. Sure, she was angry at him just then, but imagine how cool it would be if he agreed to this bet?

"I feel like I should be involved in this?" Tao interjected, raising his hand. "You seem to have the right idea," he nodded, "But understand, my services don't come cheap."

"Very well, name it." Brook grinned, much to Gentaro's changrin.

Tao stroked the strand of fur coming off of his chin, humming. Soon, after very little thinking, he gave his answer. "Beer."

"Beer?" Brook asked, confused. Gentaro too, looked just as dumbfounded.

"Yes, beer." He snickered. "What type of man doesn't love a good drink?"

Gentaro raised his hand silently.

Brook though, had already come prepared. Taking off her backpack, she reached in, and took out a 12 oz can of black cherry flavored beer. "Will this do? It's room temperature, if that's okay?" She liked room temperature drinks herself. She tossed the can over to Tao, who caught it.

Tao cracked it open, taking a long swig from it, before sighing in relief, "Hm... Well, no promises." He said with a coy expression.

"Good enough for me." Brook said, giving a thumbs up, before looking back to Gentaro, who looked like he was in thought. "Something on your mind?"

"That brand." He said, "That's a New Castor brand. In other words, not sold here."

"Uh huh, yes?" Brook asked, wondering what he was getting at.

"You brought that on a plane?!" Gentaro said, baffled.

"That's allowed! I'm pretty sure it is!" She explained, very matter of fact about it. "I spent one flight drinking beer out of a thermos and no one said anything."

Gentaro rubbed his temples. "Oh my... Well, at least you haven't gotten in trouble." he smiled, "Guess you really are you."

"Got that right," She laughed. It wouldn't be long before she wore him down, just like she did with Ethan. "Come on, let's get back to the spa. I heard that they have a hot spring there and I want to soak for a while." They still had a few days, a little break couldn't hurt.

Tao, sipping his drink, watched the pair with amusement. Primal really knows how to find weirdos, doesn't it. Then again, he has no right to call others weird.

---

"A small demonstration of strength." Patrick said.

Back at the spa, several Primal staff gathered around a large brown bear, who was dressed in the regular robes the spa handed out. With his large muscular body, the outfit barely fit him. With a coconut in hand, he began to squeeze it, holding up over a bunch of cups. Then, with enough straining, the coconut final cracked open, but not shattered; all of this done with one hand. Patrick laughed, pouring the coconut water into the cups with a steady hand for someone so strong.

Fighter

Patrick "Weight of the Earth" Taxis

"Drink on me." He said, putting his hands over the cups, still holding the crushed coconut.

Some of the White Shirts took the cups. Some of them enjoying the taste, others not so much; it was just ordinary coconut water, nothing special.

Patrick crushed the rest of the coconut and began to snack on the white meat inside. In the corner of the room, he saw the snow leopard, Gem. Narrowing his eyes, grinning, he singled him out of the crowd. "Someone is a bit gloomy over there. When your sister was born, did she take all the joy from you or something?"

"Hilarious. You should quit the Primal scene and become a comedian." He walked over, "...Or a bartender."

"Nah, I have two jobs already." He said, sitting down, lounging back, kicking his feet up on the table. "Construction and fighting. Both are my life's blood"

"Both of them as Ceiling Unlimited's lacky." Gem retorted, picking up a coconut from a pile of them. Grabbing a corkscrew, he drilled a hole into it, wanting a drink.

"What's your problem?" Patrick said, now annoyed. "Yeah I work for them, what is it?"

"First off: You started it. Second: I don't have a problem." Gem said, putting a straw into the freshly drilled coconut. "...I don't have a problem with it. But there is someone here who does. Someone at the resort even."

"Your sister?"

"Well, yes, but there is another." He shrugged. "If you see a hyena and a rabbit mingling around, well, they're looking to set up a fight with you. More importantly, they want to take this place out from under your boss."

"Hm, cute. Bunch of naive newbies I take it?" He said, speaking to a not-so-naive-newbie.

"You say newbie like it's an insult." Gem said, sitting down in front of Patrick, his chin resting in his hand. "So, anyways, what do you say? If they meet you and ask you, would you accept? I sent them to go bother Tao first, just as a little fun prank, so they should be going after you next."

"It ain't my place to say." Patrick said, "If it's just a fight, then I accept. But if we're making a bet here, it's up to Audwin." He scoffed. "So if you see them before I do, tell them that."

"Spoken like a true lacky." Gem said.

"I should break one of those pearly whites of yours, right out of your mouth, you know that?" He said, focusing on Gem's perfect teeth. "Very well, I'll contact Audwin. See what he thinks, will that please you?"

"Very much." Gem nodded, "I don't care what happens to this place. I just want to see a fight. Plus, if it starts, I'll be taking stocks in whoever I think will win. So do whatever you wanna do."

"And I will." Patrick said, crushing a coconut in his hands, as Gem got up and left, leaving him alone, finally.

Until he stopped in front of the door, Gem turned around. "By the way, one more thing. Just something bothering me. What's the big deal with this land? No one seems to be talking about it and everyone is speaking in such hushed tones. Would you happen to know?" He asked, a coy expression on his face.

Sighing, now thoroughly annoyed, Patrick looked around at the crowd, before standing up. "Don't know... Don't care."

"Good enough." He shrugged. "Good. Enough."