𝗕𝗘𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗛𝗔𝗟𝗢 ✧ y! leonardo hamato

𝟎𝟏𝟐 . 𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗼 𝗸𝗶𝘁𝘀𝘂𝗻𝗲

Suffering in silence, the void within the fox's body felt just like his blood had exploded, flooding back into the streets. Sitting in darkness with candles lit up, this glimmer gave him space to contemplate.

Three remaining tails were enough for him to feel the last warmth of the sun and the chills of the moon. If he were more cautious, the three remaining tails would be enough to live on, once in a while. Nonetheless, he yearned to sear April to ashes, and her turtle allies were not helping with it, especially the blue one he despised the most.

"Ah, these troublesome kappas , always making our lives difficult yet exhilarating," the fox grumbled, the blood continuing to trickle down his crooked fur. "Do they seek challenge? Very well, I shall oblige with pleasure."

"Oblige with pleasure, yet you are already wounded. You possess your abilities, yet these kappas consistently impede your progress. How pitiful, brother," a familiar voice echoed in the room, dripping with disdain. "I had assumed everything came effortlessly to you, Ensho."

"Hush, you fool!" Ensho snapped with a growl. "Anything that crosses my path falls with ease, a single slash in a spree. These kappas only desire to prolong our battle a little longer," he argued.

"Are you trying to mask your own inadequacy?" his sister scoffed. "Let us simply acknowledge that I am the superior of us. If I were in your position, I would have dispatched them months ago," she taunted.

There was a point behind her words; she was right. Ever since they were children, Ensho had been left behind while his sister forged ahead, stoking the flames until they consumed him beneath the scorching coals.

Instead of illuminating his path, it only ignited envy and pride within him, driving him to strive for superiority. Yet, as the years passed, would he still have a chance to rise above the burning coals and emerge from the fire unscathed?

"I would like to interject," his sister interrupted his contemplations in the depths of thought. "It is futile to devote much attention to these pitiful kappas ," she asserted. "And do not presume to speak of feeling any connection with them in my presence."

"I would never entertain such a notion!"

"Then why do you persist in associating with them?"

"Because they deserve to suffer for the curse they inflicted upon me."

"Well, it is indeed a fruitless endeavor," she confirmed, rolling her eyes dismissively. Ensho found her disregard for his motivations infuriating, as she always underestimated him. "Just abandon this pursuit. You are unaware of everything I have been considering, " he demanded.

"It was merely a word of caution."

"It is of no assistance."

"How tedious," she scoffed as she departed through the open door, the weight of the room lifting with her absence. "She never heeds my counsel," he grumbled, his gaze returning to the blood crawling down his claws.

These claws stirred memories of the encounter in the snow. Blood splattered around him, his skin hissing in pain, and he remembered the madness in the turtle's face as he brutally gashed him.

It was a moment he was buried, frozen in the snow, even though he had fur to embrace him in warmth. In that brawl, his fur failed to protect him and was replaced by chilling snowflakes. Nonetheless, another memory resurfaced - the lady with the blue one.

"Have I struck a chord with him?" he muttered to himself, contemplating the woman he had been intimidating. "She appears to hold a greater significance to him than any other kappa ," he continued to reflect on this. He had not anticipated such a reaction from the blue one, and he himself was taken aback by the outburst the turtle displayed.

It could only mean one thing to make the turtle pursue acting that way. Something powerful. Something unwavering.

A snicker slipped from the fox's lips. The notion of pondering how far the turtle would go only heightened his interest. "I see. I could perceive it already," he remarked, rising from his seat and sauntering to his shelf adorned with a dozen darkened scrolls.

"As I mentioned," he continued, reaching for a scroll from the shelf, "they seek challenge in this endeavor." He rolled up the scroll with a mark of triple fire in a small circle.

He would cling to this blaze, nurturing it until it would paint the sky for all to see.