Aura of Creation and Destruction

Chapter 6

Good spirits can do bad things, but this does not at one's core make them a bad spirit.

Light appeared in a series. The room ignited brightly as a tarp was pulled from an artificial lamp. Standing at the center of the light, shining green was a familiar face was the famed fighter himself. Gaito took his signature stance, both fists raised, emanating an orange glow with the powers of aura. Suddenly, the warrior looked to his left, and his right. A crowd of viewers gathered around in the bleachers, chatting among themselves in a low roaring hum. Something was off...

Gaito, confused at the setting, found himself fighting in the ring. A place he couldn't possible conceive being seen again. He found himself wielding his martial art and mental fortitude from his teacher. As he had all the skills Faosha taught to keep himself in check, going back on his destined path would be a fruitless error he cared not to make. There was no time to spare for that. He looked ahead of himself, expecting a challenger to step in. Appearing before him was one rippling, thick and muscular, bulked up Machoke without a belt to hold back his own power. This was his adversary.

The referees watched from a distance. A bell chimed and the fight began.

The brawler was giving Gaito a signal with one arm motioning at him. He knew what he was meaning 'put up or pay up.' Gaito instinctively raised his fists and vowed to give the brawny armed combatant an honest challenge, without his old ways of mental illusion in play. No underhanded tactics would come from this bout. As a start to this promise, he marched forward and took the first aggressive blow from the monster. It stung like a blister of the sun. Feeling mortal from the shock, Gaito gave a grin, wiping his fin across the wound before slamming a fist back in delight. This was on.

A right hook, a bluff, two jabs to the left. Given his position, he was offensively in that triple mohawked hairdo of his opponent. Slamming his fiercely flying fist into his opponent's cranium, the Machoke bowed forward from the blow. Gaito came in with an underhanded gut shot, taking in the noble combatant's abdomen. The pain was fuel for the fire of his fight. One blow, a return blow. The true nature of a justice bringer was within him. That idea let his convictions soar as each fist sunk in. Taking the next blow, he flung two hyper speed fists at his enemy's muscular jawline. In the heat of the fight, the two backed off. Damage was being dealt quite efficiently.

He chanted to himself "I-I can do this! I can actually win a match without using those powers. Lets go! Fight, dodge here, Tch TCH." The adversary was getting worn down by his speed, now superseding his own. He went for a low kick, but Gaito sprang up with his father's blessing, his legs extended, freeing him from the ground. Aura flowed within him as he burned with a spirit energy punch down. The Machoke hit the floor. Gaito landed safely.

The crowd went quiet. The referee's countdown started.

"One"

"Two"

"Three"

The anticipation built. No motion from the slumped adversary. Gaito watched, wondering if he would get back up or not.

"Knockout!"

The audience roared the stadium back to life. Light beams were directed in all angles in victory of a fighter. The energy in the stadium went from null to immense. As the Machoke continued to lay there, Gaito put a palm of his fin upon him. A healing ripple flowed through the orange barrier on his body. Slowly, the muscle bound brawnster came to. Gaito offered a hand to bring him back on his feet.

A compliment was uttered by his opponent. "Your speed and technique, that's quite a real threat there. I'm in awe of your skills, Gaito."

Gaito was exhausted, panting for breath as he achieved a victory. He took his words and accepted them into his heart. He had to confess his own admiration for the fight the two experienced together. "Oh you weren't an easy fight though. That sweep? I would've lost balance if not for my leg breaking the fall and converting it."

Bringing his ally to their feet, he issued a consolation rematch. "I'd be willing to challenge you again should the time and place be right."

He looked Gaito in the eye. Pride was the look upon their faces. "Yeah, but you better watch out, you got a big day ahead."

Gaito shook his head. "Huh?"

"I said-" rang in his ears, the voice morphed and changed, his eyes disappeared, as did the rest of Gaito's vision. Suddenly, a morning light filled his eyes.

"Gaito, wake up, you have a big day ahead." His blue headed brother Ghomat stood over his bed.

"Ghhhhhh" came out of his lips; Gaito's audible groan. He was in a dream, that whole thing was a dream. He wished it to be real, but it was nothing but a figment of his mind.

He stretched an arm, freeing his stillness covering his body like a thick, heavy blanket, one fin, then another, both arms up, pushing off the bed. He was standing, rubbing the groggy mater from his eyes. He got up, walked over to his brother, still shocked that the two were united again. There was much catching up to do. Gaito opened his mouth. But before a word could come out, Faosha walked in.

"Ahem, Gaito, you've got some explaining to do to some people outside." She seemed solemn, but not more solemn than usual. Ghomat nodded, looked his brother in his orange tinged eye. "We'll have plenty of time to catch up on things once we get through this. Remember, we're family, and we'll stick together. A smile, a nod, and a pat on the shoulder. Still confused, Gaito waded out of his room and out towards sunlight. In sight beyond the door, a group of 20 turtle kin, armed to the teeth with aquatic cannons.

A mega voice echoed. "Gaito, you are under arrest for your actions against Alabastro's mayor. Come out with your hands raised, or we will be allowed to use nonlethal force."

Gaito obeyed, disgruntled, but not disturbed. He was taken away in a moments notice while Faosha and Ghomat watched on.

As the officers carried Gaito toward the town square's justice center, Faosha discussed her first order of business with Ghomat. "So, like I said last night, your mind will be required for helping our cause here. While we all do our own thing, I'm sure everyone would like to know why we're armed to the teeth against certain outsiders lately.

Ghomat pondered. "Well, why was I let in then?"

Faosha replied "Oh I talked to them earlier, they sensed you have no innate aura abilities earlier. All members of Alabastro are either students, teachers or purveyors of the energy technique I teach. You are safe." She crossed her arms. "However, you must help, being the closest person to Gaito from a long time ago. I would not like to suspect him, but I'm not the particularly trustworthy type when it comes to gallades with a bad attitude."

Ghomat bowed his head. "I hope to not present you with the unpleasant actions my brother may have done to you before. I know he's not one for apologizing, but I strive to be my own being. I have needs too, so please do not think of me as just his brother."

Faosha nodded, instinctively fighting off her internal prejudice to forward her cause. "Well that's good then, I will strive to do the same." She threw her arm into the air, trailing her cloth in a forward direction. Ghomat watched as the fabric wielding mink danced as she walked, leading towards the door outside. "Well let's get some breakfast, then we'll meet at the library. As you know, telepathy is painless, but energy intense."

Ghomat followed her out into the morning sunlit day, the town's barrier as blue as ever.

* * *

A week passed in town. Any progress on Faosha's research remaining questionable. Faosha and Ghomat had begun covering certain areas of the blood brother's mind. They hoped for an answer to awaken. However with no progress, the two gave up for the time being. Ghomat decided to stay in Alabastro and spend time with his brother.

Meanwhile, Gaito has found himself in a new dilemma. After appearing before the town court, he was sorry for his actions, and his punishment was weighed with care and fairness. The committee in charge decided to make his work as a scout more official and monitored. It was decided that he would continue this work, while getting strict oversight by Faosha. Thankfully, nothing much changed because of that, except for his course work. Faosha modified his courses and training to be on a per day basis.

"No studying for today, Gaito. Do your scouting duty and you will be able to rest tonight." She warned as she does out of his safety.

"Remember though, you'll have to train every other day to stay in shape. Otherwise who knows what might become of you."

The duty of Alabastro's scouts was considered by many to be footwork, petty punishment for acts going against the values of the townsfolk. Punching a political figure seemed an apt enough punishment for Gaito, who fell in line to serve just like the rest of the folks as part of the squad. Hours were long, days stretched on, but they treated the soldiers with kindness and compassion, they weren't brutes after all. If Gaito got orders, he took them and carried them out, plain and simple. He may have started doing the job as a vandal, but the town took his talent and repurposed it to be a part of the team. He understood his role, do the job and go home at the end of the day.

With his hands in work, his head often tied up 'Why the spread of this plague was so selective? Why some areas, like the oceans, had no enemies with this power to them, while the natives outside of town tended to possess the accursed trait?'

He figured that he'd find someone or something to explain the phenomenon as part of this team, and for that reason he went along with this plan instead of the alternative, eternal exile from the civilized life in Alabastro, expelled from the temple, and who knows what else. Gaito decided this would be the path of least resistance.

Gaito's assigned scouting duties took him far and wide. His exploration as part of Alabastro's front lines for the time being. One day, he finds a mysterious underground passage. Supposedly built out by some strange unknown creatures.

"Great, another branching underground rock formation. Why do I get the feeling this is a recurring theme?"

He wonders if they had been able to accomplish this thanks to the understanding of aura, of if a new tribe had begun to carve out a new civilization for themselves. These caves formed a ring around mountains, moving outward, then inward, seemingly to collect water and resources that traveled down the mountainsides. Gaito's task one day was to scour the mountains to look for suspicious activity that had been reported. As he climbed upward, the forests adapted to the slant of the mountain, but the pull of gravity kept them centered.

A wind of misfortune suddenly began to blow. Gaito's hair danced on end as the air appeared to swirl before him. Tapping into aura, he felt the presence of their spirits falling to aura, turning to rage as most of the town had these days. His opponent was over a dozen winged adversaries. They had taken to him as an outlet for rage in the skies above. Flying mammals, bats. Vultures, adorned with bone and decay, all fell to aura's bonding and dividing nature. Gaito's duty here was tasked by the town; To fend off these creatures and repel them. Unfortunately, a fighter doesn't have the tools suited to taking on feathers with fists.

Despite his best efforts, they dodged his attempts at blows. He dared not hurl spheres of energy at them, should it devour them, his punishments would be more severe than ever. It was not fair, but it was just. Each fiend swooped in, dispelling their energy in the tips of their feathers. His body began to show wounds. From the top of the mountain, he barreled down until he hit a downward incline.


He lost his footing and slid right into the opening. He fell for a short amount of time. The pit seemed to open up below to an underground cavern. Opening his eyes at the last second, he pushed his hands forward with aura force in order to cushion the blow. His descent was halted instantly, the ground below him cracked as he landed. The floor glowed with a faint orange energy, as magma from below was boiling and churning. He appeared to be inside the top dome of an active volcano. Looking up, finding no more energy readings from his attackers, he decided it would be best to hide out there for the time being. Trying to get his bearings, he ignited his chest lamp to explore a bit. He continued to ping the outside world searching for aura signals.