"Why! Why! Why!" Grim'Lok runs toward the lifeless bodies of his family.
His mother, father, and younger brother lay just a few feet away, bloodied and brutalized. Grim'Lok falls to his knees as he pulls their bodies into his arms, his tears streaming down his face like an endless waterfall. Footsteps flood his hearing as he turns to see who or what could be walking.
A cloaked figure walks towards Grim'Lok wearing a white and red mask that Grim'Lok barely makes out, multiple crescent moons with daggers intersecting them dawn the hooded cloak. "He won't be happy." He turns around to see the rage in Grim'Loks eyes before walking away.
Grim'Lok rises to his feet. "You… You and that man… YOU SLAUGHTERED THEM!" The ground starts to rumble as Grim'Loks rage builds "MY CLAN!" He screams out as he dashes towards the man, "I'LL KILL YOU!"
Grim'Lok throws a punch that the man dodges, a kick, then another punch but the man deflects every attack he throws. "This presence.." The man thrust his palm into Grim'Loks face then leaps back a few feet.
"And you're a spitting image of Alexander Wolfshire..." The man's voice is cold and calculated as he analyzes Grim'Lok.
"Leave my father out of this!" Grim'Lok comes running in again only to be met with the man's jab, then another jab that causes his head to snap back before the man spins his body around to kick Grim'Lok in the stomach, sending him soaring through the air into a wall. His body crashes to the ground and he clutches his ribs. "That was nothing.." Grim'Lok chuckles as he struggles to stand.
"Get up then." The man's voice is cold as he watches Grim'Lok force himself to his feet before walking towards him. "Who are you?" Grim'Lok demands cause the man to smirk. "I'll tell you under one condition."
Grim'Lok blinks he's suddenly gone, Grim'Lok quickly gets on guard as a hand suddenly touches his shoulder. "You have to hit me."
Grim'Lok turns around swiftly causing the man to leap back. "Oh my," The man says as Grim'Lok dashes towards him, throwing a wild overhand that he dodges smoothly.
Grim'Lok throws a spinning back kick that the man blocks, along with his other 3 spinning kicks. The man parries Grim'Lok's hook, and pushes him away.
"So you at least understand basic martial arts." The man says as he dashes towards Grim'Lok cocking back his arm "But do you understand how to defend yourself!" The man's fist comes barreling towards Grim'Lok but before he can react the fist stops just before his face.
"I guess not." Grim'Lok twitches his finger for barely a second but that's all it takes for the man's palm to be directly in front of his face.
"Who are you…" Grim'Lok says through gritted teeth as his eyes stare directly at the man's hand.
"Tell me your name, boy." The man says as he drops his arms back down to his side..
Grim'Lok stares into the man's mask, taking a giant leap back as the man's finger twitches.
"I'll tell you under one condition." Grim'Lok smirks before pointing at the man. "Tell me your name first!" This causes the man to chuckle as he puts his arm down.
"You are quite the persistent one aren't you?"
The man walks towards Grim'Lok as a staff made of Chikara starts to materialize in the man's hands. "I suppose it'd be respectful to respect your last wishes. My name-"
A clock chimes in the distance causing the man to stop talking.
"I retract my last statement, I'm running low on time." The man says, dashing towards Grim'Lok swinging the staff at his legs sweeping him off his feet.
Grim'Lok tries to block but it's futile as the staff comes slamming down into Grim'Loks guard.
Grim'Lok feels his arms break upon impact. "AAAUGH!" he screams out as his body lands on the ground. He tries to move his arms but he can't.
The man appears in front of Grim'Lok, pointing the mountain staff at him. "No more games, what is your name?" He says as he lifts Grim'Loks chin up with the staff.
Grim'Lok says nothing, just staring up at the man.
His lack of words causes the man to bring the mountain staff above his head with a sickening grin "One last time." The man says as Grim'Lok smirks
"No-" Grim'Lok can barely finish his sentence as the mountain staff slams down hard causing an explosion that kicks up dirt and smoke.
"Interesting." His grin fades as he looks down, the smoke settling revealing a crater and nobody inside.
Dream Sequence
Grim'Lok's body floats throughout an endless ocean, the waves threatening to overtake him as a giant tsunami barrels towards him.
It's the size of a small mountain but doesn't get the chance to touch him as some unknown force pulls him into the air, his body rising above the tsunami entirely.
"Grim'Lok Wolfshire." A voice calls his name, forcing him to open his eyes.
a magnificent woman glowing an ethereal white light, her blonde hair and blue eyes meets him and she smiles "This is very interesting." The woman says as she waves her hand towards Grim'Lok causing all his injuries to heal and the Tsunami which has fully passed them to disperse.
"What.. Where am I?" Grim'Lok says this as the ocean rises to their feet but neither sink into it. "You're in the realm of Tsyra. My realm to be exact." Grim'Loks eyes widen as he hears this.
"Tsyra? Are you… Uken?" As he asks this she chuckles.
Her innocent chuckle turns into full on laughter as she lifts his chin up to look at her.
"In the flesh." Her fingertips are glowing and she slowly puts her hand on his shoulder causing Grim'Lok to scream out in pain.
"AAAH!" Grim'Lok tries to grab her hand but some unforeseen force stops him. "What.. What are you doing!" Grim'Lok demands but Uken's words cut him off.
"Lay upon this boy my blessing, the Mark of Uken."
As she says this his entire body starts glowing. His clothing starts to rip apart and a mark appears on his shoulder. Uken takes a step back as the mark begins to overtake his body, causing Grim'Lok to scream even louder.
"Sorry for dropping this on you but, you'll understand when the time comes. Now adapt." Uken's words are like daggers urging Grim'Lok's screams to continue on.
"I will adapt!" Grim'Lok grits his teeth as his eyes start glowing
"I WILL ADAPT!" His words cause the chikara generated inside his body to explode.
Reality
Grim'Lok suddenly sits up, his hands immediately clutching his shoulder.
"Huh.." He realizes he's no longer in his ruined village instead inside a grand forest.
He looked down at the black and green gi he's wearing now. Past that his eyes notice the Ever-Shifting Mist that stretches endlessly through the forest. "How.." Grim'Lok says as he realizes exactly where he is.
"How the hell am I in Gomen!"
Grim'Lok springs to his feet, darting through the forest. He takes multiple hidden paths leading him to an open clearing.
"Who does he think he is, I know he feels my presence!" Risaki Payne stands with his back turned, his gi matches Grim'Loks but on top his head he wears a straw hat that does little to conceal his snow white hair.
Water sprouts from his finger as he flowers various plants, humming his favorite tune with his guard completely down.
"Risaki!" Grim'Lok's voice meets Risaki before he does, jumping out of the bushes with his arm cocked back.
"You just gonna leave me in the forest?"
Grim'Loks yells as Risaki dodges the punch, Grim'Lok notices the bandana around his eyes and the Smirk on his face as Risaki grabs the collar of his gi, suspending him in the air.
"Calm down, you've been sleepwalking for 3 days, But hey I'm still glad you know how to navigate the forest." Payne says as he drops Grim'Lok on the ground.
Immediately Grim'Lok kickflips up.
"How could I forget how to navigate the Sacred Forest of Gomen." Payne smiles upon hearing this before turning to the empty clearing behind him. "I bet you're hungry!"
Payne takes three precise steps forward causing the ground to rumble. Multiple constructs sprout from the ground and it's clear to Grim'Lok what's happening.
"Welcome back to the Dipea-Kicho Dojo, Grim'Lok." Risaki Payne says as the entirety of the Dojo stands in front of them in pristine condition.
"It's been so long since I've seen this." Grim'Loks eyes spark with amazement as Risaki starts to walk towards the Dojo, Grim'Lok quickly following him.
Most of the walk is silent until Risaki finally breaks the tension, "I know it's hard."
Those words cause Grim'Lok to stop momentarily before continuing moving forward.
"What do you mean?"
Grim'Lok's voice is cold as Risaki puts his hand on his shoulder.
"I mean I know it's hard bearing the entire weight of a dean clan on your back." Risaki says as he looks at the Dojo, "Especially knowing it happened so recently."
Grim'Lok stops before taking a step back with a shocked expression on his face. "How do you know what happened?"
Risaki turns to Grim'Lok with a serious expression on his face. "Who do you think saved you?" He says as he turns him so they're facing each other.
"You were already knocked out when I found you so you probably don't even remember."
Grim'Lok throws a punch which Risaki dodges. "Of course I don't remember you old bastard!"
Risaki quickly moves inside the Dojo, leading Grim'Lok to the main hall. Grim'Lok's eyes immediately go to the tree in the center of the room, a sapling from the tree of life.
"Still praying to that Altar huh?" Grim'Lok asks as he approaches the altar, Risaki following close behind him.
"This is not just any Altar Grim'Lok, It's the tree of life," Risaki opens his palm, summoning a ball of Chikara.
"Without it we wouldn't be able to use Chikara."
He squeezes the ball and it pops.
"And without Chikara, the world would've ended a century ago." Payne says as he walks past the Altar causing it to emit a faint glow, all the way to the training hall.
Grim'Lok doesn't follow Risaki, instead he stares at the tree.
"Growing up my clan always told me I couldn't use it anyway." As Grim'Lok declares this he reaches out to touch the tree, and as his hand makes contact he feels it react to him.
The tree's intense glow reflects off Grim'Loks eyes.
"They were only saying that because they didn't want you to become a warrior." Risaki analyzes Grim'Loks chikara streams and his eyes widen in surprise, "There's no doubt in my mind they knew you could use it." he thought to himself as Grim'Lok turns around snapping him out of his trance.
He beckons Grim'Lok over to him.
"Make sure to get comfortable. Your training starts tomorrow."
He points down a hallway, as he continues talking.
"The living quarters are that way."
He says as he turns around walking away in the opposite direction.
Grim'Lok walks through the hallway, his mind recalling back onto the fight he had with the cloaked man.
"I was so powerless.."
His mind drifts to the screams he had to hear, the bodies he had to see.
"I never wanna be like that again."
Suddenly a voice brings Grim'Lok back to reality.
"Long time no see Grim!"
A hand slaps his back causing Grim'Lok to yell out in pain.
"Hey-"
As he turns around to see who it is his eyes widen with recognition, a fairly average heighted dark skin woman with brown eyes and orange hair stands just a few feet in front of him.
"Nay?" Grim'Lok asks and the woman nods.
"You don't recognize me? I know I changed my hair color but damn dude it hasn't been that long." Her words cause Grim'Lok to scoff,
"It's been almost 9 months since I visited, I'm surprised you still remember me."
Nay and Grim'Lok walk through the halls catching up on everything that happened during the time Grim'Lok has been away.
"So you've been training to become a warrior like Master Payne?"
She nods and Grim'Lok smiles. "I'll be a warrior with you."
He stops as he finishes talking, turning to the door that has his name carved into it.
"I remember when I did this, Payne was so mad!" Grim'Lok chuckles as he opens the door, inspecting the room without going inside it. "Still as mediocre as I left it."
He says as he finally takes a step inside, waving Nay goodbye as he does.
immediately he headed towards the desk in the corner, seeing a scroll in the middle of it.
"What's this?" He picks up the scroll and opens it. "..." His silence is as loud as a siren as he reads it in his mind.
"Grim'Lok if you are reading this we are dead." His eyes scan the first few words.
"For the last 17 years we kept you sheltered from the world. Trying to hide you from them. You're special, very special. You were born with more Chikara than even the clan elders and due to being hunted by a group of Ronin-Class warriors, our death was already sealed the moment we didn't give you up."
He pauses as he looks at his hand, then back to the scroll.
"We understand that everyone has told you you were born with no affinity for Chikara. You've been outcasted your entire life and I'm sorry they treated you like that."
Grim'Lok continues reading as a hand touches his shoulder, he looks but no one's there.
"Which is why we told Risaki Payne to bring you to Gomen if a time like this ever fell upon us."
His eyes gaze down to the bottom of the scroll seeing a necklace, immediately he recognizes it and picks it up.
"Mom's necklace." A silver wolf pendant with glowing red eyes accompanied by a silver chain. He puts it on and the words pop out to him on the scroll reading "From your family and clan, we love you."
He looks out the window watching the trees rustle with the wind.
"I'm gonna make you proud."
Grim'Lok clutches the necklace.
"I promise."