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So. With all that's been going on, I've decided to try out writing from a different perspective. Just trying this out to see what people think. If you all like it, please give critique. I'd appreciate it a ton. If you have anything that you'd like to request or point out, please let me know.

Now. Back to where it all started. (This will have a lot of additions to the previous story, just to let 'yall know ;3)

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A young boy steps out, grabbing a pair of hook swords and blade guards on his way, into the cold winter air. He takes a moment to breathe in, and out, as he lets his eyes close. The feeling of the cold winter approaching nips at his bare torso, and the wind carrying the cold makes his long dark hair appear like silk ribbons, before he ties it into a neat ponytail.

He draws his eyes open, revealing a pair of ice blue irises, as he hears his master yell out his name.

"Ryu! You're taking too long!"

The boy immediately darts towards the sound of his master, into the training grounds, leaving the wooden cottage he sleeps at behind.

As he passes some of the larger forest, he enters a clearing. Specifically meant for practice. Ryu looks around, noticing a few of his trainers awaiting. He recognizes Marena, his spear-instructor. Oh how he hated the spear. I was far too long and too clumsy for him, although it did provide good defensive options. She gave him a quick glance, disapprovingly, as she knew his resentment towards her weapon of choice.

On the left, there were a few of his fellow students. Although they were good, each and every one of them knew that they couldn't even light a candle, let alone hold one, to Ryu. He excelled overall of the men and women, older or younger, it didn't matter. Ryu had always known how to fight. It was in his blood.

His second instructor, Severi, walked up to Ryu. He had taught Ryu the art of silence and knives, as Sev - as most of his students called him - was the single best assassin known to man. So far, at least. Ryu respected Sev a great deal, but always strived to better any one in a fight, fair or not.

"You are late, boy." Severi remarked simply in his typical tone, dark and threatening, yet strangely calming. Severi was tall, very dark haired and very... Vampiric, as some might describe. Of course they didn't exist, but with his elegant body, as well as his pale skin, could've fooled Ryu - or anyone, for that matter.

"I was lost in thoug-" Ryu started, but Severi was quick to muffle the boy by snapping his fingers. A gesture Ryu had grown to hate.

"I taught you silence for a reason. Make no excuses, leave no traces and never - under any circumstance - get caught in the act."

Ryu simply nodded, afraid of being dishonored in front of the strange crowd. As he glanced around, he could see other teachers, whom he didn't recognize. He did, however, see his own master.

The boy walked up to his master and bowed before him, as a sign of respect and honor.

"Niten Ichi-Ryu." He grumbled. Master's voice had always been very deep and full of a strong bass, enough so, that one could feel him speak, without even hearing him. "You are seventeen. This means that your coming of age is merely one year away. Each year, we hold our tests. You will be pitted against three men, and a woman..." he scoffed. No women normally attended, since women were considered inferior fighters. Ryu knew better though, giving a quick look at Marena. The muscular female turned her back on him, letting her waist-long red ponytail whip against her body.

"Ryu! Are you listening?" The master spoke up, snapping Ryu back into a state of awareness.

"Yes, sir." He simply bowed again as an apology. "Three men, one woman. My weapons?" He added a standard question. Each mach would have set weapons. Since Ryu would be the defending party, the underdog, he would be given defensive weapons.

Just don't let be a spear... Ryu prayed in his mind.

"Knowing how much you loathe spears... I'll give you a sai." The master spoke, revealing a single, lonely dagger.

"But sir..." Ryu glanced at the black-bladed sai. "These are meant to be used in pairs. Not alone."

"A talented fighter should know one of the basic rules of weapons." The master scoffed again.

"Sir?" The adolescent bowed again, gently probing for an answer. He didn't dare anger the master, as he could never win a fight against his tutor. He bore the scars to prove it.

"Anything is a weapon." He grinned. "A stick, given to the right person, can destroy a nation. But only if the person wielding it knows where to stick it - mind the pun."

Ryu cracked a thin smile. He wasn't generally allowed to do so but he had to, for the sake of his master's bad jokes. The boy took the sai from his master and walked up onto the wooden ring. It was a big arena. Much more so than he was normally used to. About ten by ten meters, at least. Then again, they'd be hosting a five-fighter-event. Last man standing wins. Simple rules, if you think about it. Five representatives for each clan. Ryu represented the Crimson Shadow's clan, the rest their own respective clans.

The first to step onto the arena was the woman. She was also seventeen. She didn't identify herself, only her clan, as she stepped up, waving her double-tipped spear above her head.

"For the Raven's Shadows, I bring my spear to your knife. We'll see who wins." She was arrogant. Ryu found that relieving. He wasn't, himself, but arrogant people tended to be irrational, no matter the training. The spear would be a problem though, until he took it from her, not that he preferred the spear, in the first place.

The second would prove to be more troublesome. A large, husky male approached. His footsteps could be felt on the planks, before he even stepped up on them. His weapons were simple knuckle enforcers with two spikes on each. Ryu took close notice of a dripping substance from the left side's spikes. The tips were longer, probably hollow, poison capsules. He'd have to watch for those.

The dark skinned man couldn't have been younger than twenty, although the clan he represented was known for using muscle-enhancements. "Screw your blade and fuck your spear. My fists will pound your faces in, faster than 'yall can blink!" He pummeled his chest a few times, slamming a tattoo on his left collarbone. _Skull's Shade­-_clan.

Ryu drew his eyes towards the next two combatants. Neither of them seemed too terribly lethal. One had a bow and an arrow, where as the other used a chain with a strange dagger on both ends. Ryu wondered about the efficiency of bringing a bow to a ten by ten arena, but didn't blink. The man was from the Eagle's Shadow, which tended to have the keenest archers in existence. The second, with the chain, was from a clan Ryu didn't recognize as he spoke it's name: Clan of the Wayward Shadow.

Everybody took their places. There were four corners, so whoever ended up taking the middle, would be the first one to go down. Or that's what one would think. Ryu stood still, letting the others choose first. He may not come from the clan of the keenest, most powerful or the smartest one around. But if the Crimson Shadow was known for something, it was premeditation and speed. A legend existed, where a member of the Shadow annihilated an entire army, before the emperor could even speak the name of his killer.

Niten Ichi-Ryu was the underdog. He took the center-place.

The gong made a loud sound, signaling the start of the match.

The archer fired his arrow at Ryu immediately. He had anticipated it, although not so fast, he managed to dodge it. The arrow flew into the shoulder of the man with the chain, wounding him seriously.

The spear-woman went for the weak spot and flung her spear at the man with an arrow in his shoulder. Ryu intercepted the blow with his sai, catching the spear and spinning it in her hands, causing her left wrist to snap. She didn't give up though, and pulled a drop kick, aimed directly at Ryu, which he barely managed to avoid. Ryu let go of the spear and threw his sai at her right foot, immobilizing her for a moment, as he dropped onto his knees and rolled under her to sweep her. This caused her to tumble over, ripping her foot apart on the dagger that kept her pinned down. She fell to the ground and Ryu snatched the spear in midair.

During the flurry of a few seconds, the Skull's Shade had already managed to pummel the Wayward Shadow's face into an unrecognizable heap of meat, blood and bones, and the archer had fired an arrow that hit the Skull into his back, between his shoulder wings.

Ryu smashed the spear into the archer's bow, rendering it useless, and ducked under the fist of the massive beast of a man, as he swung a punch at Ryu with his poisonous left arm.

Ryu quickly picked up the sai, flung it into the huge man's right armpit and slashed at the man's Achilles tendons, managing to throw the beast down to the ground, stomach up.

The young man, now covered in blood, quickly jammed the sai deeper into his arm and swung the spear in a long arc, hitting the Skull's Shade's neck, his poisonous chamber in his left spikes, and finally landing a final slash onto the archer's chest. It wasn't a lethal blow, but the poison would ensure the death.

The archer fell to the ground in a matter of moments, clinging to his throat. He couldn't breathe. It would be a long and a painful death.

Ryu stood in the exact same spot he had stood when it had begun. A victorious grin smeared across his face, as he had not taken a single swipe during the whole time.

Then, he felt a sudden stabbing jab in his left flank.

"Don't leave your weapon of choice lying around... Could kill 'ya..." The woman wheezed. Her right foot was in ribbons. She must've crawled from one side to the center, and completely without being noticed, as well?!

Ryu could feel the sai being wet. Not with blood, but something heavier. A thick layer of poison covered the blade. He whipped his head towards the poison spikes. He had smashed one open, as he took the poison for the archer. But both spikes were wide open, now, which meant that she had, at some point, done the same as he had.

Then, for Ryu, everything blacked out.

The arena turned darker, as if every shadow in the nooks of the planks had risen from below. His eyes flared red and he roared, as he grabbed the sai from his side, ripping it from the woman's hands. He turned around, showing no emotion at all, as he leapt high in the air, catching almost a meter of air, before he landed on her back. A loud crack could be heard, echoing around the woods, leaving a few of the spectators to cringe. One even vomited, although discreetly.

Ryu didn't stop at that, though. He pulled the dagger up and slammed it into her neck, again and again, finally managing to cleave her head off. The raging teen was covered in blood, and he kept on going. He took the woman's head for a moment, drove the sai through between her eyes, leaving it for the smaller blades on the sides to punch through the soft eyeballs.

Eventually, he stopped. His crimson eyes shaded down into icy cold, and he cracked his neck a few times. Ryu couldn't remember what happened. He never could, when he blacked out. He wasn't even worried of the poison in his blood, since he could feel it leaving his body.

He stepped down and bowed to the spectators. Ryu didn't stay for longer, since he knew all the customary traditions, and his master sent him to wash up the blood.

///An hour later///

Ryu sat under a waterfall, finally managing to scrape off the last drop of blood on his body, and relaxed.

He spent a lot of time checking his body, after fights. This time would be no different. Ryu wasn't especially muscular, but he was quite lean. A good set of abs and visible muscle in his arms and legs. He checked the wound he had received from the knife. It was deep and had two smaller cuts on both sides. They were due to the three-prong sai, of course. The wound had healed already, enough to prevent bleeding. That seemed to happen to him, whenever he got injured. After a few hours, there would only be a scar left, if anything.

A loud snapping sound brought Ryu back to focus.

He launched for his swords on the ground to his left, but they were gone. He stepped out of the water, finding his sand colored pants there, but nothing else. He pulled them over his legs like lightning, checking for the source of the sound.

"Not as bright as I'd hope, leaving your gear all 'round the ground, ready for picking and all."

Ryu heard a man's voice above him, taunting in every aspect. He raised his gaze up towards the waterfall, noticing a strange figure. He didn't waste any time, but darted up the side of the waterfall, ignoring the pebbles grinding into his feet.

As he made it up, he could see the man more clearly, although he wasn't a man, per say. Ryu was staring at a half-human person. His feet were longer than normal, due to the double joints that were visible, along with the three long black talons on each foot. His face was long, like a lizard's, and he had pointy ears, like an elf from a fairytale. His skin - scales, more like - were a dark blue, his hair was short and tied down behind, just like Ryu's.

"What's the matter?" He grins at Ryu, flicking his tail into sight. It seemed rigid, but was definitely real. That, and the chain the man wrapped around his torso, worried him.

"Who are you?" Ryu asked, not really sure if he had fallen asleep during his bathing.

The raptor-like person tuts at Ryu. "Now, now. I asked you a question, so you answer first." He strokes the side of the chain, again, the chain has two points, start and the end, and each has a long curvy dagger.

"Identify your clan." Ryu insisted.

"Are you deaf?" The reptile-male launches at Ryu, not out of anger, but simple amusement in his eyes. Ryu dodges with some difficulty, which he's not used to. He's fast. Faster than a human should be, and this raptor just moved faster than he did. That made Ryu very worried.

The raptor stood on the water. Not on a rock in the water, but the water. His claw-like talons were firmly placed above the raging waterfall. Ryu tried to figure out how this trickery worked, but couldn't find a way to explain it.

"You're quite fast, though." The man laughs. "I've never been dodged like that before, so I do give you some credit," his eyes glint a little, "but..." The raptor vanishes in an instant, then lands a palm strike on Ryu's chest within the same blink of an eye, knocking the wind out of the poor boy. "You're not faster than me by a looong shot."

Ryu gasps for air and looks at this strange monster with fear in his eyes. Then the man raises his hand, Ryu ducks in anticipation, but he only extends it.

"Here," he waited, "let me help you up."

"Why?"

"Would you rather have me kill you, when you're all defenseless? I don't think so." He chuckles. "Besides. I wanna fight you for real, some day."

Ryu can't make any sense from that, but grabs the man's hand and allows himself to be pulled up, feeling the scales and claws of the man.

"So. What's the matter?" He repeats his question to Ryu, calmly.

"You're not human."

"Aah. Quite smart, aren't you?" He responds with obvious sarcasm. "No. I am not human. And nor are you, now that we're on the subject." The raptor pokes Ryu's chest.

"So... What are you?"

"I am Ravener!" He stands up, striking a heroic pose. "The great Hunter!" He unravels his chain and whips it around. As Ryu dodges the chain, he notices electricity arching from the metal loops. "Oh crap! Sorry!" Ravener apologizes and lifts his hands up, showing that he is done doing whatever the hell he just was doing. "I didn't mean to do that!"

"You said that I wasn't human. What does that mean?"

"Well. That's kinda difficult to explain."

"What did you mean by that?" Ryu repeats the question with more vigor.

"It's difficult to explain, because I don't know for myself. You seem like a human, fight like a human, and sure as hell smell like a human." The raptor clamps his fingers around his nose and feigns disgust. "Everything points to you being human. But Iris says that you're not, so let her explain it." The raptor looks up at the sky, marveling at the stars.

"Iris?" Ryu asks, unsure of the name or object, Ravener was talking about.

Ravener doesn't answer, leaving the boy completely bewildered. Ryu gets up and starts walking away.

"Hey, kid. You forgot something." Ravener steps behind him and extends Ryu's hook swords and blade guards to the boy, not giving them quite yet. "Before I give these, there's one more thing."

"What?" Ryu asks, frustrated. He doesn't like other people touching his weapons. Especially his swords.

"Your clans, regardless of which one you belong to, are going down. Sometime next week, we're not really sure when, a very powerful group of people will come and slaughter them."

"And how do you know this?" Ryu asks, stunned of this outrageous statement.

"That's not important. What is, however, is that you're coming with us." As Ravener finishes his sentence, a larger figure appears from behind him, previously covered in shadows.

"I don't like this either, kid, but we ain't got no choice." The man spoke. He was completely robed, which meant that Ryu couldn't see him. But his voice was deep. Not quite as such, as Severi's, but close enough to spook the boy.

"And why would I tag along with strangers?" Ryu continued, starting to get more and more distressed. The raptor was fast enough, but if the second man was half his speed, Ryu wouldn't stand a chance.

"Because we offer you safety." The robed man spoke. "I doubt you're happy with your clan now, as it is."

"What do you mean?"

"If you continue with the clan after you're 18, will you really be content with killing people daily?"

Ryu took a moment to think, as he hadn't done so about the future too often. He did know that that was the case, but he had always been told to obey.

"The clan above all. My discontent is heard, but nothing is done to cure it. To answer your question, no, I am not content, as you see it, but content, as it is to my clan."

"The boy's not stupid, but blind." Ravener spoke up, seemingly defending Ryu.

"Listen. You will meet them again. But for now, come with us." The taller man spoke.

"What guarantee do I have?"

"None. Only our words. But we promise that you will return here, before the slaughter." Ravener seemed to finish the second man's sentence.

"As a token of trust, we will allow you to hold on to your weapons. And Ravener can enforce them with his magic, if you allow him to."

Magic? Ryu didn't know about this. Which is why he didn't allow it.

"My teacher taught me, that trust is earned, not given..." He thought for a longer time. They allowed him to keep his swords and armor, with the exchange of him simply following them. "Fine. But I want to be back before the week ends. Is that possible?"

"Yes." The boy responded and took the swords from Ravener.

Both of the strangers nodded approvingly and started walking. Ryu followed close behind, strapping his blade guards on and placed his swords on his waist. He didn't talk to the two men, but observed them, constantly.

_Trust is not given. It is earned. Just because he trusts you, doesn't mean that you must trust him back, though..._Ryu's master's words echoed strongly in his mind, as he followed the two strangers deeper into the forest.