Chapter CXVII: Might and Light ~Naaro

The great stone walls of the temple in the clearing stood as a testament to the ancient race that had built them. They were the Mayan temples, built prior to the discovery of First Earth's 'New World'. They still stood today, and this particular one stood in silence, the jungle around it quiet and calm. That all changed when the blade of a hockey stick slashed through a curtain of leaves. Holding it was the red-jacketed youth. He looked out upon the temple and stepped out of the jungle, into the clearing. He walked toward the temple and entered, hockey stick resting on his shoulder as he walked. As he entered the temple, the smell of death filled his nostrils. It didn't worry him. It didn't even decrease his level of comfort, in fact. He enjoyed any kind of smell because he had seldom had the ability to smell. He continued along, taking silent and action-less note of the skeletal soldiers coming to life as he walked past their bodies. After walking a good distance, he suddenly stopped. The skeletal soldiers raised their swords and charged, screaming silent warcries due to their lack of a voice box. The youth gave a smile, eyes closed, and in a flash he was turned around with his hockey stick in post-slash position. 5 skeletons crumbled to the floor, spines cut in half and the magical enchantment binding their bones gone. Several more replaced the 5 fallen skeletons, and were quickly taken out by a punch, a slash, or a kick. In a couple of minutes all the skeletons had been felled, and the youth had not taken a single hit. "Embarassingly easy," he remarked as he continued down the dark halls of the temple.

After the skeleton battle, the youth's walk was uneventful. He arrived in the chamber he was looking for and found the pedestal in the center of the room. He stepped forth, and a circle of fire surrounded it. From the fire, a humanoid creature about 7 feet tall sprouted, wearing a helm, shinguards, and elbowguards made of a metal never before seen on First Earth or any other planet. It was Inferno, guardian and will of the item he sought. The guardian swung its arm out, and to its hand came the item: a gigantic, mutated, half-metal half-flesh and single-eyed sword Soul Edge, an entity of pure evil designed to corrupt its wielder. The youth smiled and readied its hockey stick. "Alright fireball, let's go," he remarked smartly. Inferno charged and heaved a hard downward swing at the youth, who leaped to the side and performed an interesting martial arts move in which he ran up Inferno's back, spun in midair, and flung the hockey stick at him, sending Inferno's face into the ground. The guardian's temper soared, and he began swinging wildly. The youth gave a chuckle and leaped into the air, recovering his hockey stick with a telekinetic move from one hand and flattening the other to Inferno. The beast looked up questioningly as the youth caught his stick. "Ice Moon!" he cried as a column of hybrid ice energy/real ice struck Inferno. The beast's last cries emerged from its nonexistent mouth, and it hit the ground. The fire circle around the pedestal faded, and the youth landed beside it, looking over the Soul Edge. "Yep...this is it," he said, removing the strange mirror from his belt. He held it out to the Soul Edge, shouted "Eisago kathreftis!" and the light particles touching the demon blade were sucked into the silver screen-like part of the mirror, followed by the blade itself. The youth swung his hockey stick at the ground, and in a flash of quick, blinding light he was gone.

The youth appeared beside CR out of nowhere. The Rip Watcher was a tad startled by this, crying out, "Ack, who are you?!" when the youth appeared. He smiled, and merely said, "I'm a good samaritan." He then removed the mirror from his belt and said, "Anadyomai." With those words, the Soul Edge landed at CR's feet. "It's a Creation's Weapon," the youth explained. "Use it wisely," the youth advised. After those words, he disappeared in another quick and blinding flash, leaving CR and any others who had caught the exchange puzzled.

Naaro slowly opened his eyes, the light flooding into the room. He was on his back, remembering having been cuddled up with Rynn in bed earlier. She wasn't there anymore. (Note: She never was there in truth...Rynn and I may explain that later, and no, it wasn't me being delusional) He sighed. "She's gone...that demon @#%$..." He pounded a fist through the bed. Why Rynn? Why...him? Neither deserved this. He rose from bed and got dressed, making his way out of an empty house. Deciding it would be best to expel his rage in some sort of combat practice. He created a Shadow Shape (dark, featureless silouhette of the user controlled by the user's mind designed to provide twice the defensive and offensive training of a normal sparring match plus concentration honing) and drew Ocelot, having put the Halcyon away for safekeeping. He took a series of swings at his Shadow Shape, which countered them with swings of its own. This went on for a while until Naaro brought Ocelot down on the Shadow Shape's head. At the last possible second, however, the black blade of a hockey stick intercepted his swing. The Shadow Shape disappeared as Naaro lost his concentration. "Hey!" he growled, looking up at the holder of the weapon and seeing a young human boy. The boy merely smiled. "Why you li---" Naaro's tongue held itself as his instincts clued him in on the boy's power. "Wow...you have some intense ability." Naaro withdrew his weapon, and the boy did as well. "Thanks," the youth said. "What's your name?" Naaro asked. The youth replied with "Just call me Rody (long 'o' sound)." Naaro nodded.

"Alright, Rody," Naaro said, continuing, "Where the hell'd you get so strong?" Rody smirked. "You might find out if you agree to a little proposal..." Naaro's interest was piqued. "Alright, what's the proposal?" "Allow me to train you for two days. At the end of the second day, I will give you these." Rody then removed two glowing metal tonfers from his belt. Their auras seemed to pulsate with power. "Might and Light. They're tonfer weapons, nightstick-like and almost always paired. Think un-connected nunchaku." Naaro scoffed. "That's all I gotta do? That's a good deal...count me in." Naaro's worries about Rynn seemed to be gone for the moment...little did he know how much of an effect this young man who calls himself Rody would have on his future.