"HAHAHAHA!!! COME GET SOME, YOU TWISTED WIMPS!" Laughter rang out as a fresh torrent of fire reduced everything in its way to ash. A young man was standing in the golden plains of Jasumin with a burning sword, making wild slashes all around. Long black hair flew in the wind as his blue eyes were alive with the thrill of battle. Flames licked at his hands and he was grinning from ear to ear. Crimson fire leaped onto the grass and began to spread at an uncontrollable pace. It devoured whatever it touched–plants, enemies, anything that wasn't protected. Normally making such erratic attacks would leave one wide open to an Infecter or Stalker, but if they thought Genjiro was easy prey, they were in for a nasty surprise. Nezha was no ordinary sword and these flames were no ordinary flames. This was his power, hellfire. Having received his first taste of a real battle, the rush was intoxicating as his chaotic oni nature was let loose. He didn't have to worry about breaking rules or holding back. He was free!

Free to test the full extent of the power within his blood, Genjiro was carving a burning swath through the battlefield. Banshees, Chompers, Stalkers, Reanimators, Infecters, Amalgams and more fell by the fiery flood. It was almost too easy. Eyeing a Rhino he charged head-on, bloodlust and adrenaline surging through his veins. With a manic grin he slammed into its hide, only to be pushed back. Charred ash was in the air as a deep sear wound blackened its side, but it was still standing. It was enough to take the hot-blooded youth by surprise, only for him to keep on grinning. Finally, something he could fight! This was going to be fun! "Alright tough guy, ready or not—HERE I COME!" Blasting forward with a trail of hellfire left in his wake, he prepared Nezha for a full-powered thrust! Even though the world was in danger, he never felt more alive. 

It started when reports of creatures swarming in from the north reached the town. His mother was contacted by her clan members in Kujishoku who were already mobilizing their defenses. With the help of the priests, she and others created a powerful barrier that would repel anything that tried to get in. All non-combatants were brought to the monastery while those who could fight stood guard. Nui and the old man rounded up everybody for the evacuation while his older brother was preparing to leave to enter the front lines. Their mother didn't want either of them to go, but she reluctantly agreed when they said they would watch each others' backs. 'If both of you are going, then perhaps my heart will be more at ease. Stay close to each other, and stay safe. Genjiro, protect your brother. Even though he may be stronger than you physically, he will still need someone to ensure there will be no attacks from behind.' 

And he would keep that promise–no matter what. Just let them try to reach him, they would all be burnt to ash by Nezha! Flames that kept burning, flames that even water could not quench would envelop and consume everything.

Arahabaki would get its first taste of a real fight today. This was no sparring match, it was life or death–victory or a fate that surpassed dishonor. The creatures they were facing truly were monsters, horrific and brutal with no other purpose than to cause destruction. Cleaving through Chompers and Stalkers gave him little difficulty as long as he was alert, but what he feared the most were the Reanimators and Infecters. Those were small, faster and harder to hit with his odachi. As he had promised to his mother, he stayed close to Genjiro, allowing the hellfire to act as a barrier. Even so he had to take care not to stand in his younger brother's line of fire, as hellfire still scorched him. The wounds would heal, but he was by no means immune. Fortunately the same could be said of the Void monsters. The peal of familiar laughter made him whirl around to see Genjiro charge a Rhino, with only Nezha in hand. There was a blackened spot on its body, but he had seen such a thing run down men. "GENJIRO–NO!" Sheathing Arahabaki, Rashomaru broke into a sprint hoping to intercept him in time.

Swinging his sheathed odachi, the force gathered with each turn was enough to give Rashomaru the boost he needed to leap high into the air. With the blade glinting in the sunlight, the great sword came crashing down from above onto the Rhino's back. The force of the blow had it stunned just long enough for Genjiro's accumulated momentum to ram into it with red-hot vengeance, causing a burst of crimson flames. Quickly he leaped off the Rhino as his brother's flames took hold, eating away at its tough hide. With no intention of giving it a moment to recover, Rashomaru swung his odachi again, hacking at it with heavy blows to keep it down. When the flames were close enough, he fell back and nature ran its course. Finding his brother momentarily on the ground, fear flashed in his eyes as he ran over. "Genjiro! Wake up, it's not safe here! Genjiro, can you hear me?"

While her last visit to the eternal autumn kissed lands had been one of peace and understand the former was neither peaceful nor bore any possibility of understanding and accepting what she had become. Following the sounds of battle and smoke billowing off the horizon, she came upon an insane sight. Two men most likely Ataiyian by their choice of weaponry and grab, were talking on an entire horde by themselves. Ignoring the stupidity of the two men as their bravado only worked for so long. With the arrival of a giant beast, the one man broke off toward the other while the other seemed to be consumed by battle to notice. With their formation and one of them down the only thing holding the hordes back was the ominous black and green fire.

The fires would not protect them forever and was well aware of the kind of being could create such a fire, she could not ignore those in need even if they were evil being such as herself. The hellfire was not only a hindrance for the beasts but herself as well as fire and her new form were not the best of friends. Covering herself in ice armour in hopes that the magical protection would be enough to protect her from most if not all of the fire the Undead Presitess teleported in front of the still conscious member surrounded by hellish flame.

"We don't have time for pleasantries grab onto me"! As steam rose from her person as the ice armour eroded faster than she would have thought. While she would rather not have a strange man place his hands on her, personal space would have to be momentarily cast aside for their benefit. Placing her hand on the down fool of a man, she focused her mind and transported the group.

A flash of light covered the amber woods momentarily as the three strangers arrived at their destination. Quickly removing her hand from the man she grasped at her side as burns covered most of her body. Cracked skin peeked out from the tears from her wartorn vestments as she held back her screams by biting down on her hand causing blackened blood to seep from her mouth. The pain would soon subside as the burns would quickly heal. Taking a moment to collect herself as the fire was far more powerful than she had thought, however, she could not allow the shock to overtake her as she did not know how close the remaining horde was from their current position.

Turning away from the still conscious man, she would whip her face and make herself more presentable before standing and giving a slight bow to the man. "Excuse my curt entrance, but time was not on either of our sides. I am Cao Lixue like you I've been fighting against this threat that is spreading like a plague throughout the world. I do not know how far we are from the enemy, but if you'd like to use the trees to gain a better vantage while I tend to your comrade". Kneeling down and rolling the other man over she would take note of his handsome appearance as she rested his head on her lap. "I did not see anything gain a hit on him, nor do I see any signs of damage perhaps it's just exhaustion"? Placing a hand on the man's head she would try her utmost figure out what ails the man.

As the battle raged all around them, he hadn't noticed a girl suddenly appeared close to them until she spoke. With Genjiro unresponsive and fearing more would swarm them once they broke through the hellfire, Rashomaru took hold of the girl's wrist as the three of them disappeared from the battlefield. The next moment they were somewhere else, somewhere far enough away that the grass and trees were untouched by his brother's flames. His gold eyes darted, trying to grasp their current location. Where were they? How far away had they moved? And more importantly–where was the enemy? Genjiro was still on the ground, eyes closed and fingers curled tightly around Nezha, which only had weak sparks of red flickering from it. He let out a deep sigh of relief. "Thank the ancestors…" The girl who had pulled them from the fray returned, her clothing having taken damage from the hellfire. She looked worse for wear, without a doubt due to only being moments away from being consumed. Hellfire was magic made in fire's image. It burned far quicker and more intensely than anything else, with enchantment being one of the few things that would hold it back.

The girl bowed to them and gave them her name. She too was fighting against the corrupted creatures and explained the reasoning her sudden transport. "You have our gratitude, Miss Cao. My name is Rashomaru Kaname and this is my younger brother, Genjiro. You took a great risk to assist us, especially in the heat of battle." Miss Cao then began to inspect Genjiro, as did he–watching as he stood above her with worry. When she stated his brother did not appear to have any visible injuries, Rashomaru was quick to reply. "I am relieved to hear that. Before you found us, my brother charged at one of those large behemoths head-on with only Nezha in hand. He may have fainted from the impact. As sturdy as he is, I admit I still worry over him whenever he does things like this." Genjiro seemed to be sleeping soundly from the look on his face. 

Still examining the now named Genjiro as Rashomaru introduced both him and his younger sibling. Upon hearing of their tie Lixue could not help but think back to her own siblings and how she used to cooperate with them against plagues or monsters. Opening on of Genjiro's eyes to see if anything was out of the ordinary, while Rashomaru finished his thanks. Leaning closer to get a better look nothing seemed out of the ordinary as she looked into Genjiro's pale blue eye. "While I'd be more than happy to accept your thanks the spell I used could have placed any distance away from the beasts they could be either closing on our position as we speak, all I merely did was momentarily delay their attack". Releasing Genjiro's eye as concern grow across her face. While risking herself was nothing as the world would be better off without something like her around. Unsure of what was currently wrong with Genjiro her self deprivation would be put on hold as the words of Trafalgor echoed through her mind. While the monk was not around to chastise her, her life was not her own to throw away anymore as she had promises and friends to both protect and keep.

Snapping back as Rashomaru spook of Genjiro's encounter with the large beast the events that unfolded gave her at least somewhat of an idea. Placing her hand back on Genjiro's head a smoothing light washed over the unconscious warrior's face. "I don't know if this will work, but by your account the damage maybe internal". Continuing to attempt to heal the man as pain shot through her body as the holy power still damaged her undead body. Fighting through the pain Lixue would both try to heal unknown damage with both equal parts magic and prayer as she had no idea where to focus her healing on. Deciding to rather be safe than sorry, the Undead Priestess switched from a simple heal to an Archheal enveloping the entire man's body in healing light. Smoke rose from Lixue's hand as the higher level spell produce physical burns across her hand adding to the already significant pain shooting through her arm.

Miss Cao went on to explain that the spell she had used to bring them to safety had merely dropped them at a randomly chosen 'safe place' within the immediate area. This was somewhat less comforting to hear. Neither of them knew how far or close they were from the battlefield at this moment. While being in the midst of the fray put them in greater danger, there was a greater chance of help arriving if others noticed they were in trouble. No one knew where they were; if they were attacked they could only rely on themselves. For the time being he would keep his eyes and ears alert, turning to watch the girl tend to his brother. As she began to use magic, he noticed something didn't seem quite right. His brother was fine, but the girl's body was stiffening as if in pain. Rashomaru's gold eyes grew wide as her pale skin began to burn as the spell continued, even to the extent that there was smoke! "Wait! You need to stop! Your body–it's burning!" If this much was enough to cause such a terrible reaction, then he would rather let her rest while healing Genjiro himself.

"I can finish healing him, please don't push yourself any more than that!" His shouting caused his brother's eyes to flutter open, staring upwards as if in a daze. And not a moment too soon; Rashomaru was just about ready to pull the girl away to stop what she was doing. "Genjiro! You're alright–I'm so glad…" Genjiro rolled to his side and mumbled sleepily, "Bro…I wanna go back. I wasn't done fighting yet…" Looking up, it took a few moments for him to realize he wasn't being held by his brother. "Hm? Who're…you? You're not bro…" Rashomaru took his hand and held it tightly. "I'm right here Genjiro. Don't ever try to do a wild charge like that against a heavily armored enemy, understand?" His brother gave a sheepish grin, and with that Rashomaru was glad. Genjiro wasn't fragile by any means, but he couldn't help but worry about him. "This is Miss Cao, she is the one who spirited us out of battle and helped you regain consciousness." 

"Please do not yell… we do not know how close the enemy is". While the pain was nothing to scoff at, it was only temporary as her corrupted body would fight back the burns from spreading while she continued to heal Genjiro. "This is normal for me now, no cause for panic". Doing her best to calm and focus on the task at hand seemed to do nothing for Rashomaru's conscience. Even with Lixue's repeated attempts to quell the giant of a man he persisted, even to the point that he was about to try and forcefully remove her from continuing to heal Genjiro. Perhaps some outside force enjoyed perfect timing or perhaps her magic had finally fixed the root of the problem. Whatever it maybe Genjiro's eyes opened in a sleepy state switching Rashomaru's focus onto his now awakened brother.

Releasing her spell, Lixue would quickly pull her hand away and hide it within her sleeve. Her unnatural heal would quickly fix any remaining damage as Rashomaru express his joy and relief that his brother had awakened. Feeling movement she looked down to the sleepy Genjiro as he rolled to his side mumbling about wanting to go back into the fight. If his statement was not so foolish considering the events that had lead him to be in her care, it would almost seem cute. As the fog slowly cleared from Genjiro's mind, he looked up to find not his Brother, but the steel eyes of Lixue. Clearly the man's mind had not fully awakened as it should have been fairly obvious from the state that the slim Lixue was not the tower of a man that is Rashomaru. In mere moments the older sibling grasped the younger sibling's hand spouting out words that were more for a parent than a sibling. As much as she would have liked to give the siblings time to interact, time was not something they had in abundance. Clearing her throat to get the Sibling's attention and looking towards Genjiro still using her lap as an impromptu pillow. "Pardon my interruption, but I have to check a few things before we're flung back into the heart of battle". Holding out two fingers Lixue would ask Genjiro how many fingers she was holding, increasing or decreasing the number five times to make sure. Asking simple questions such as his name and date of birth just to see if any unknown damage still persisted. 

Meanwhile as the undead priestess attended to the medical needs of an hot headed fire warrior, a new entity was getting closer towards the blazing field of battle. It was an Golem, a construct given form wrought from pure Steel and given "Life" by magic in order to fulfill a task, a purpose bestowed upon by it's creators. What is the previously mentioned purpose? Well …..it depends but in this case it was to fight. Fight and Kill all the monstrosities that were spawned by the Void and were now rampaging across the world. It came here to do just that and it was ready to do so. How did it know that it was here that it was needed? Well the gigantic plumes of smoke where a sign that was considered by it to be an acceptable pointer to the fact that a battle was occuring in this area.

As it moved forwards, getting ever closer towards it's destination, the construct had noticed a group of three Citizens nearby. This wouldn't do, an active Warzone was no place for Citizens, it needed to remind them of that before it could move onwards. Then it ploted a new course for itself, one that would bring it into contact with the above mentioned group of Citizens, it then executed said course, turning it's entire being towards Cao, Genjiro and Rashomaru. This was, ofcourse, an easy thing to spot and to hear by them, as  the Golem was very much so massive and every step it made resulted in a terribly louad "Thud".

When it got close enough it simply turned it's crimson coloured gaze on the entire group and begun speaking in an emotionless, monotone voice
- Order/Reminder. Citizens should not be present in an area that is designated as an Active Warzone. Citizens, please vacate the area and find shelter and wait for an refugee caravan or move on into an safer area by your lonesome. This Unit repeats, Citizens should not be present in an area that is designated as an Active Warzone, please vacate the area. Will you comply to this in an orderly fashion, Citizens?

Getting up, there was this little girl who kept trying to ask him how many fingers he could see, repeating until he gave the right answer. When she was done, she finally let him go and he rolled himself up to stand. With a quick glance, he saw he had Nezha and nothing was missing. There was a loud sound approaching in the distance, which soon became not-so-distant at all. His brother immediately became tense, worry clear in his eyes. A huge metal thing was stomping over stiffly with reddish lights for eyes. The voice that came out was weird, sort of flat but not like a real person. And it started talking like some stuffy general, the kind that kids would make fun of in stories for being boring and sometimes mean. It thought they were citizens, which was funny too because there wasn't any villages here that they knew of. But as strange as this metal man was, Genjiro found him interesting. Sheathing Nezha, he put a hand on its hilt with a grin. "We're not citizens! We're here to fight these ugly monsters who think they own the place; and we're just about ready to get back into the thick of it." He showed the golem his sheathed sword to make a point. He and his brother were armed and were wearing armor. They weren't your run-of-the-mill people walking around.

Putting a hand to his chin, he narrowed his blue eyes as he looked this metal man over. He looked pretty strong, and Genjiro bet he could pack a punch. There was always room for more when it came to fighting, especially with how many monsters were in the fields. "Come on bro, let's hurry! Those monsters aren't going to burn themselves!" He snickered, causing his brother to sigh. "Miss Cao, thank you for your help. We will be going now. Take care." The two brothers were heading back to the battlefield, having finally figured out where they were in relation to the invasion. Rashomaru was wary of the metal man but Genjiro thought he was the coolest thing he'd seen all day. Not as cool as his brother, obviously–but pretty high up there. With a swing, he drew Nezha and set the sword ablaze. His eyes were alight with excitement. Now that he'd tasted a real challenge he was ready for more.

Refuse to allow Genjiro to get up till he answered her questions as she was unsure if the man was fully healed. Persisting until the man finally relented and answered her questions. Genjiro appeared to be fully healed, lacking in manners and gratitude but fine. Releasing the rude Sibling the first thing he did was check for his sword which he had clasped around his hand for the entire time even when unconscious revealing that the man while rude and lacking gratitude trained a lot to gain an impressive level of muscle memory.

While the Undead Priestess was about to chastise Genjiro on his recklessness and rudeness the sounds of rhythmic thuds quickly change her focus onto what could be causing such a racket. Expecting the Void Beasts she readied herself for a battle planning on using the forest to hinder their ability to use their numbers against them. Readied for battle what appeared before them was not a Void creature, but a knight, no its voice was not of a living thing nor was that height possible for a human. The being thing that stood before them had to be a sort of construct. Sharing Rashomaru's concern she did not lower her guard as the lack of a master deeply concerned the Priestess.  Listening to the thing's words it was clearly designed for war though its request towards citizens was more of an order than a suggestion. Almost on cue to further her concerns, Genjiro approached the Golem refusing the construct's order. "Genjiro be careful that may be an unbound golem there is no way to know how it will react to your refusal"! Seemly to completely ignore her or purposely go against her concerns the fool revealed his weapon to the golem while closing in on the golem to get a better look. Unsure of who the golem would react she readied a protection spell for Genjiro just in case the golem wished to evacuate them by force. 

Oblivious and far too optimistic, the reckless man egged his brother on to rejoin the battle seeming to forget that his recklessness was the reason she had to intervene in the first place. Feeling Rashomaru's sigh as she had already had enough of his sibling and the man had only been conscious for mere minutes. Still focusing on the golem her brow furrowed as the Older Sibling thanked her and dismissed both him and his rude brother. "Are you planning to leave me behind? Did you forget that your past recklessness was the reason that I had to use such risky and inaccurate spells and tactics to save the both of you"? It was doubtful that it was Rashomaru's intent to insult her, but she had to remind the man that it was foolish to try and take on the hordes alone again.