Sands of Destiny: Five Lights Appear

Chapter 2: Like a Father

It had been about a year since we first met. During that year we fought and killed countless Sheriffs, and although they were mostly in self defense, we'd already made a name for ourselves in the West Sands. The citizens praised us, and even offered us a small house, where we lived with Mio. We trained day in and day out, perfecting our abilities. Midaco and I trained so much that we'd often fight in our sleep, earning us both a pan thrown at our heads from Mio. We were like a family, something none of us had of their own. It's amazing what can change from one fight in the desert continent, and our next fight would change our lives forever.

—

"Hey Aux, how strong do you think the Great Eight are?"

"I don't know, why do you ask Miadco?"

"Hehe, just thinking, that's all!"

Midaco smirked mischievously. I sighed.

"We probably aren't strong enough yet Miadco, don't you have any patience?"

"Oh come on Aux, I said I was just thinking about it!"

At that same moment, two men burst out of the wall next to us, almost knocking us over. As they stood, I recognized them both. Their rivalry was a legendary one, and they'd been known to fight all throughout the Desert, destroying anything in their path. The first man was the current Chief of the Sheriffs, who was more powerful than all of the Great Eight combined. He took command of the Sheriff's after gaining the powers of an Elixir, and humiliating the Chief before him in a fight to see who was best fit for the job. He was a large, husky man, and he sported long, flowing black hair. He was the same color as the sand, and his eyes were grey, without any pupils. He wore a black trench coat, with a black shirt and black slacks underneath, and a pair of black leather boots. His name was Divinius, the Blind Brawler. His power was grey winds, that gave him the ability to both sense everything around him and to predict where and how his opponents would attack from. His opponent was none other than the legendary Frixius. He was younger back then. He was tall and muscular, with purple eyes you could drown in. He frowned at us.

"Get lost brats, you'll only get in my way!"

Before I could speak, Midaco had already shot at Divinius. He smirked before redirecting Midaco's bullets. I sighed, and swung my sword, flinging the bullets right back at Divinius. They struck, leaving two small gashes on his face, and a flesh wound on his shoulder. Frixius raised his eyebrow.

"Who's the brats now, old man?!"

Frixius was noticeably irritated.

"Well if you're that eager I'll give you a deal, you two can fight this bastard for the next five minutes, if you live, I'll train you myself! But if you die, I'll simply leave and let him do whatever he wants to your town. since you got in my way! HOW'S THAT SOUND BRATS?!"

Miadco smirked. I shook my head and unsheathed my sword. I knew that with Midaco being this fired up, there was no getting out of this one.

"Then get the hell out of my way old man! Me and Aux will protect this place with all we got, I don't care who the enemy is!"

Frixius looked shocked, but quickly changed his expression to a smirk.

"Alright fine then! One more thing, you get bonus points for the kill, if you're that cocky brat!"

"You hear that Midaco?! Bonus points!!!"

"Now we're talking Aux!"

We walked past Frixius, and without a single word, we rushed in simultaneously. We zigzagged in front of Divinius, Miadco shooting while I defended, knocking any returned fire right back at him. Midaco ran up the wall on his side, and I on the wall on my side. I jumped off the wall and spun in the air, spinning my sword. Miadco jumped next, landing on my blade and using its momentum to propel himself towards Divinius. He let off three shots, two intentionally placed to the left and right to increase his chances, even if Divinius tried to dodge. Suddenly though, he vanished, reappearing behind him with Miadco's bullets in hand. He launched the bullets at me with his thumb, like he was shooting marbles. I deflected them, and sliced upward, replacing his eye with a large gash right before he dodged. Miadco fired three more shots and took one of his ears clean off before he retreated to a roof. I batted the remaining bullets upwards towards Divinius. He took off towards the sky, flying away.

"Well, that's time, brats. Looks like we've chased him off for now. To be honest you're way stronger than I could have ever imagined. If there is anything or anyone you love here, I suggest you grab it or them and meet me back here in an hour. If you don't you may never see whatever it is again, because now Divinius will look for you, and increase the Sheriff count and quality in the West Sands. As for you two, you will be fine, if my training doesn't kill you that is."

Midaco smirked.

"Aux stay here and get to know the old man, I'll go grab Mio!"

I nodded. I stared up at Frixius curiously, and he stared down at me, frowning.

"Do you ever smile, old man?!"

"How about some respect, I just saved your life, you know!"

"So you also knew he was holding back?!"

"Of course, he's MY rival!"

"What if I told you we were holding back?"

Frixius stared at me intensely.

"Even with your full power, and perfect team work, you two couldn't match him at full power. Had he not underestimated you, while having already been tired from fighting me, he would have killed you instantly. You seem like the logical half of your little team, so you should know!"

"You're right, I couldn't have touched him under any other circumstances. However, Miadco is a bit different. You see, he grows stronger with every opponent, and when fighting a real threat, he begins to grow on the move, getting faster and stronger until he can win. I encourage him because I know as long as he is breathing, he won't lose with his life on the line."

"That's a lot of faith you put into a 6 year old kid, but I guess you are around his age too."

"Actually we are both 7 years old."

We waited in silence.

"Here's the geezer I was telling ya about Mio! He's really strong and he said he'll train us, that way we can get strong enough to free the Desert Continent!"

Mio smiled politely and bowed.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Old Man. I'm sorry in advance for any trouble we may cause you, especially Midaco."

"Ugh! My name is Frixius, and I'm only 35, I'm not old just yet! Anyways you three hold still!"

Frixius snapped, and his eyes turned gold. All of a sudden our bodies were consumed by the rain, and it felt like we began to grow in power just from touching his golden water. With another snap we all teleported to an unfamiliar room. We were surrounded by weapons on every wall and there were the heads of high ranking Sheriff's mounted on plaques on a table in the corner of the room.

"Welcome to my home, or hideout rather. Welcome to the Lost Sands, the most dangerous place on the continent!"