Beginning's End

Chapter 2

'It was now that the sun sank slowly, bathing the valley in blood red light, making even the desolation appear almost beautiful.'

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"What a shame it is."

Taneko let her brother's words float in the air around them. Nothing more had or could be said about the recent crossing of swords between Warrot Valley and Dawnacre Mountain. It's paradoxical how two thriving regions could decimate each other over something as foolish as land distribution. Elder Liyan saw it fit to have a dispute over who should inherit the plateau that separated the two regions.

Alpha Sylas did not agree to Elder Liyen's ridiculous terms. He saw that it did not benefit neither him nor his people. The Acretes were hunters and worked purely on instinct and intuition. The mountains were running low on game and they had unanimously agreed on temporarily relocating their village in order to permit the forest to replenish it's stores.

Due to their circumstances, they were hoping to migrate to the vacant plateau down south. The second Elder Liyen heard of their resettling strategy, he marched off to claim the spot immediately.

One claim led to an argument, which then led to an all out war, with Dawnacre in the passive aggressive position and Warrot leading the attack with a frontal approach.

There were no survivors.

All those innocent inhabitants died of their injuries, others from suicide due to the stress of surviving the war, and most from direct approaches. Taneko and Tamero could only watch from afar. As they grew older, they came to realize the importance of life and death. They became knowledgeable in the arts of balance.

Now, as they were nearing the age of acceptance, their teacher, Sensei Igamari sent them off on a quest. Igamari Sasaki was once acquainted with the twelfth and thirteenth holders of Yin and Yang. She learned along with her students just as much as she taught them.

She was also like a mother to the twins. Igamari discovered the siblings cuddled together in the corner of her patio. They were both frozen over with hypothermia. A distinct sound of gnashing entered the Sensei's ears, only causing her to show even more sympathy for the two children.

She took them in and raised them as her own. Though it took a while, they eventually spoke of their tales, starting with the least important of their previous worries before finally opening up about their significant predicament. Their distress was all for nothing as Igamari had figured out most of the situation only a week after their first encounter.

Days of training turned to weeks, followed by months, and ended off in years. Approximately 8 years had passed, each day a new strength unlocked between the two successors. Now, as they neared their birthday, it was time for the test.

The test was sort of a game. If broken down to its base, it would basically be a game of hide and seek. This version of the game, however, is hide and seek to the death.

For each generation came a new test. In order to keep things fair and balanced the competitors were not allowed any outside help within 12 months prior to the start of their quest. Reasons for this were long lost within a scroll that was destroyed centuries before. Only the winds, the sky and the earth knew what was written in such sacred parchment, yet they never had any voice to tell of its tales.

Now, with only a month before the ninth of September, the time for the start of their test had finally arrived.

Tamero and Taneko stood at the front of the once bright entrance into Dawnacre Mountain. A gust of wind blew theatrically behind them. A tumbleweed tumbled right in front of them, crossing the 'road' from one end to the other.