Crystal Seal

Prologue

The cold wind blew the forest gracefully. It whispered through the tall bushy oaks, with cold rushing rivers along the side of Firena Empire's forest as the moon reflected on it. The breeze passed Kai's bushy orange hair and his kitsune mask just as he dodged the incoming flames from the empire's council and mentor, Koshi Kazake.

"Focus, young Kai," reminded Koshi, turning on Kai with his fiery blades. Kai kept on blocking the fire, breathing tiredly since Koshi's attacks are quite fast and dangerous. Kai could not give up so easily, dodging all the blades there he began to attack him back. The fight between the two continued, catching their breath each and every second of the battle. Not just that, Kai striked his mentor even faster than ever. Koshi tried his best to dodge all his incoming flames.

Shortly, Koshi was exhausted from Kai's swift attacks and dipped his head lower to his apprentice. Kai stopped targeting his mentor and stood still, dropping his fiery blades too. He knew what his mentor meant, training is over. "Thank you for your cooperation, Koshi. Thank you for the extra training tonight," Kai thanked him, giving Koshi a smile. Koshi smiled back at him, "You did very well, Kai. I am quite impressed by your flames. Keep it up."

"Why thank you, Koshi. I've been training with Benjamin and Feng for these past few days," Kai told him as he rubbed his fingers against the kitsune mask to clear some leftover smoke lying within them. Koshi twitches his eyebrows with suspicion, trying to recall his memory about these boys. "Benjamin and Feng? They must be your best friends, I assume," Koshi asked, tilting his head cluelessly. "Yeah! They are the bestest friends I could ask for," Kai chuckled softly, lifting up the mask just as he finished cleaning it.

"Here is your mask. I've cleaned it thanks to my napkin I kept inside my scabbard everytime," he added, dipping his head for some respect. Koshi just gave him a sigh and gently pushed the kitsune mask back to Kai, "I want you to keep it. This is for a-" Kai widened in surprise and began to cut in Koshi's upcoming words. He could not believe what his mentor told him. Is it just his ears or it's just the cold breeze whispering? Kai caused the silence around them.

"Keep it? But Koshi, this is-" Kai began to protest, though Koshi held his finger on Kai's forehead. Kai knew what he meant by this, never ever cut in someone's message. Koshi still kept his finger on Kai's forehead, glaring at him with his orange eyes. Kai felt wrong as his soul just sank, "I am so sorry to cut in your words. My deepest regret," he apologized, refusing to meet Koshi's icy glare. Koshi let go of his finger and nodded slightly, "Don't do that ever again, especially with your seniors." Kai responded with a yes and gave him a salute, a serious one I must say. "Let's go back to the empire. The others would be suspicious of us, training at this time," Koshi ordered, looking up at the light of the moon and began walking through the tall, bushy oaks.

Trotting back to the empire, Kai was suddenly struck by a small rock. He thanked Koshi's mask for protecting him from the small rock. He looked down at the small rock and heard a familiar voice. Kai rolled his eyes, letting this 'certain someone' to surprise him. "Big brother, you must be in shock!" The voice teased him, running towards him from a bush.

"Right. You could at least do better, Taichi. I could hear your chuckles and noises thanks to the cold breeze," Kai spat back. Taichi gave him a stern face, looking away from his gaze. "Yeah sure. At least I am better right? Thanks to Benjamin and Feng who taught me while you're always so busy training with your mentor," Taichi sighed.

"I heard that, young Taichi. Look, your cousin and I had some extra training and you better have patience for his disappearance," Koshi replied from afar, giving him a mocked face. Taichi blep at Koshi, he does seem to dislike him for taking his bestest cousin away. Kai would not mind this, just Koshi and young Taichi arguing about Kai's extra training. Kai did take notice of his best friends, Benjamin and Feng, approaching him from the same bush Taichi hid.