Heart of Flame

Chapter One - Prelude to Awakening

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:Part 1/2:

A clenched fist hurled through the air but Brave blocked it with his forearm, counter-striking with a knee to the gut of the thug who fell to his knees with a loud groan of pain. Another one of his friends began to advance but Brave intercepted, thrusting his foot out and hitting the thug in the temple with his foot.

This was where Brave was most deadly, cornered by street thugs and forced to defend himself. In most cases, he preferred to avoid commotion but the constant attacks by street thugs gave him no other alternative than to fight his way out.

His short, light brown hair reflected the light of the burning sun as his emerald green eyes sparkled. He wore the lower half of a martial arts Gi, preferring to remain topless to allow better movement. He was well-built for 17 years and had an intelligence that surpassed that of many teachers.

A third thug attacked with a knife in hand, attempting to attack Brave by thrusting it into his gut. Before the attack hit however, the sound of steel hitting steel resounded as a katana blade deflected the knife blade. An old man wearing a traditional Karate Gi and wielding an ornate black katana had interfered in the battle, defending the weaponless Brave from the armed thug. The old man spoke with a tone that commanded obedience;

"Attacking an unarmed opponent with a weapon is disgraceful. I should justly punish you with my blade but I'm in a generous mood today so..."

"...shut up, that was a lucky block is all. If you're going to get in my way old man, I'll kill you too!" shouted the thug in anger, swinging the dagger upwards forcefully and knocking the old man off balance. As if awoken suddenly, Brave sprung into action, striking the thug hard in the gut with an elbow with blinding speed causing him to cough blood and fall to his knees. The old man stepped forward to constrain Brave as he raised his knee for another attack.

"Brave! That's enough!" ordered the man, placing one hand on Brave's knee.
"But Sensei Ryu..." Brave responded, staring at the fallen thug before continuing "...fine. Let's go."

Brave awoke suddenly with sweat running across his forehead. He had awoken from a nightmare in which a great shadow was cast over the dojo he lived in.

"God damn. What is it with these nightmares, they keep getting more bizzare..."

All of a sudden, a scream of pain echoed from the room next to him.

"Sensei!"

Brave rushed to his feet, grasping the hilt of a katana on a nearby wall. He attempted to slide the door open but something on the other side was jamming it. In desperation, he unsheathed the katana and slashed straight downwards, cleaving the door in half and leaving his path open, he rushed forward. Inside his Sensei's room, there were signs of a battle; shards of a shattered blade were scattered everywhere and a trail of blood led outside to the back garden on the dojo.

"..no...what the hell!" Brave shouted, flying into a state of absolute frenzy he sprinted forward and swung the katana diagonally, horizontally and finally vertically to destroy the door leading to the back. As he rushed into the garden though, he froze in a mixture of horror, surprise and despair. There, pierced by a sword through the trunk of a large oak was his Sensei, bleeding heavily from his wound. It was apparent that he was dead and his killer was nowhere to be seen.