Rune - The Hunter's Mark

Chapter 1: The longest night

Setsuna village, 1866.

Under the starry sky, where the wind blows free and peacefully. Carefree are the lives of the citizens that dwell within the walls of Setsuna Village, a small and secluded area of the Northern Regions of The kasai region Of Belledonia. Here, we find young boys that train in various areas of life, for they will one day grow up and serve their people. One such young boy, is named Kuro, a samurai in training.

As if he was atop the edge of the world, Kuro stared out from the peak of the mountain top. From where he was sitting, he could see the world branch out in front of him; trees as far as the eye could see, the horizon fading into the night sky.  A glimmer of light shone upon the distance, where Kuro would often wonder how it would be to see the world. With him, was his long-time best friend, Yari. A short and often bullied individual, people didn't take Yari seriously in anything he did; Kuro was usually the one standing up for Yari. Becauseof this, Kuro became his best friend. Atop the Mountain where there eyes met with the edge of their known existence, Kuro said: "I wonder what it's like out there Yari... So many people living over on that side of the world that we don't know."
Yari - "It must be so cool over there! I wonder what kinds of foods they eat, what kind of games they play!"

Kuro - "I long to see it, my friend."

*Suddenly, a loud hiss swirled up from the trees*

"Wha-what is that Kuro?" Yari said in a nervous tone.

*Kuro squints into the night in front of him, nervously trying to see what the noise was*

*His eyes widened as he let out a scream*

"Yaaah! GET DOWN!" Yelled Kuro.

*FWUUUUU, the noise got closer and the light intensified*

It flew past them, hitting the Village behind the trees from were they were

*CRASH!*
Yari - "Kuro, I'm scared" *Sobbing*
Kuro - "We gotta go see if anyone is hurt, quickly!"

They run off together, getting closer to the flames that soared into the air, screaming women and children echoing through the cracks of silent night. As they get closer, the screams get louder and the flames higher, the song they sang was one of despair and pure fright.
"Kuro -cough, Get away from here!" Said a guard at the gate.
"What's happening?!" "Who did this!" said Kuro, Yari holding onto his cuff the entire time.
"It's not safe here -cough -cough, they are destroying the village! you must get some place safe!"
Kuro refusing the guards wishes, leaving Yari with the guards while he ran on through the big wooden gate, "MOM! DAD!, PLEASE HOLD ON!" He knew he had to save them, without them, he would be lost in the world.

He arrived inside the village, and in an instant was taken aback. People burning and screaming, women and their children running for their lives from masked men, the masks being that of Oni.
One of them,clearly the leader, took off his mask and yelled from atop the tallest of buildings in the centre, "No more of you need to die! Give us the boy with the red mark on his chest, and I promise you safety!"

At that moment, Kuro looked at his chest and was stunned to see a glowing red mark on his skin.

"Ahhh! What is this! Are they looking for me?!"

*He saw a large group of Oni-masked-men rushing towards him*

"Dammit" - flinging himself to safety inside of a storehouse next to him.

"What is this! What's happening to my skin, this mark is...Warm." His chest glowed through his robe, it was easy to see he was the one they were after.
"I need to hide this thing"He said as he searched the room. "Ah, this will work!"
He flung a cloak over himself, it was dark in colour and had a hood, perfect for concealing his glowing mid section.