A gentle breeze of wind rustled the grass. It was so quiet Sato could hear the crickets chirping and the birds singing. The fish swam peacefully through the river. An arrow bounced off an apple atop of Hikaru''s green head. "Well, you''re getting better. At least this time you hit your mark." Hikaru said looking around at all the arrows scattered on the ground or stuck in trees. "Now this time, try and knock it off my head."


    Sato nodded, "Right!" He pulled the bowstring back and carefully shot the arrow, this time it stuck in the apple but remained on Hikaru''s head.


    Hikaru sighed. "Not quite." A worried expression crossed over Hikaru''s face. "Something''s amiss. Stay here and practice, I''ll be right back." Hikaru took off running through the woods.


    Blue flames continued to swirl around Arashi''s body constantly growing more powerful. Yoshi scowled at Arashi, "How are you not dead? That last blow should have killed you."


    Arashi smirked, "Should have. But you see the thing is I cannot and will not die until I have gotten my revenge on Niji. And until then I don''t plan on being killed by his lowly servant!" Arashi put his hands together in front of him shooting out a blast of blue fire.


    The fire attack caused Yoshi to fall through the sky. He quickly caught himself in mid-air. Yoshi grimaced, "Impossible! How was your fire able to break through my wind defenses?!"


    Arashi grinned exposing his fangs, "Blue fire is a lot hotter and more intense than regular fire. Because of this, my attack was able to burn all the oxygen in the air surrounding you, thus rendering your wind useless."


    "Why you! I''ll show you just how useless my wind is! "Yoshi then delivered his own attack. Multiple blasts of wind slashed Arashi all at once.


    Arashi rocketed off the ground leaving trails of blue fire behind, "Say your prayers!" Arashi''s flaming fist made contact with Yoshi''s face. Blood ran down Yoshi''s forehead.


    Arashi brought his blazing leg around for a kick but Yoshi grabbed Arashi mid-kick. "Fool. Did you think wind was my only line of defense?" He heaved Arashi towards the ground slamming him into the street. A large carriage comes straight for Arashi.


    "Arashi look out!" Sakura shouted. "Ai put up a shield or something!"


    Ai shook her head, "I can''t. I''m still worn out from when I shielded everyone in Woodlake Village. "I''m just a kid, what do you want from me?"


    Yoshi grinned, "Night-night."


    The carriage crashed into a semi-paralyzed Arashi and lit on fire. Smoke blew up from the center of impact. When the smoke cleared Arashi was no longer on the road. "What the hell?" Yoshi scoured his surroundings until he saw Arashi kneeling next to Sakura and Ai. "How did he get all the way over there?"


    "Hey! Up here!" Hikaru was standing on a skyline. "Who are you?"


    Yoshi scowled at Hikaru but answered anyway, "I am Yoshi, Wind-Bat Bakemono, right-hand man of Niji. And your worst nightmare."


    Hikaru smiled, "Oh really? Well then, show me." Hikaru offered.


    "With pleasure." Yoshi released a blast of wind from his hands. Hikaru flipped off the skyline dodging the attack. He landed right behind Yoshi, his sword ready around his neck.


    Yoshi calmly smiled, "I see, I''m clearly outmatched here. Until next time. Later." A gust of wind surrounded Yoshi and when it cleared Yoshi had vanished.


    Hikaru sheathed his sword, "Damn it. He probably knew where Niji was. Oh well." Hikaru walked up to Arashi. "Arashi, are you okay?"


    "Yeah, I''m fine." Arashi winced.


    Hikaru turned to Ai, "Can you heal him?"


    "Sorry, I''m all out of magic energy right now." Ai looked down at Arashi with watery eyes.


    "Very well then." Hikaru picked up Arashi and tossed him on his shoulder. "Come on let''s go. Sato''s in the woods just beyond here and I have something I want to tell you all.


    Sato was rubbing his head trying to think, "Damn it! How am I supposed to practice when there''s nowhere for me to shoot the arrow off of? Hikaru, hurry up and bring your green bean ass back here!" Sato shouted to the sky, frightening the Bird Bakemono who then flew out of the trees.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    Arashi was asleep still on Hikaru''s back mumbling, "Niji, I finally found you. I can finally get my revenge. Say your prayers!"


    Hikaru sighed, "Geez, this kid is way too obsessed with revenge for his own good. Do either of you know why?"


    Sakura shook her head, "All we know is that Niji somehow killed every one of the Fire-Bat Bakemono and Arashi was the only one who survived. We don''t know how or why."


    "I see." Hikaru looked ahead, "We''re almost there."


    Sato was pacing around looking for something to put the apple on. His eyes fixated on a tree branch, "A-ha!" Sato climbed up the tree and placed the apple on the branch. "Okay." He climbed back down the tree and shot his arrow which missed the apple just by a hair.


    "Well, at least I was close that time." He readied another arrow but a Bird Bakemono swooped down picking up the apple. "Hey, that''s mine!" Sato shouted. "Give it back you lousy bird!"


    Sato tried to chase the bird but it was too fast. Sato climbed up the tree planning to catch it in his hands. "Ha! I got you now!" The Bird Bakemono just flew up higher and Sato fell out of the tree landing on his head. "Ow." The teen''s blood was boiling. He already had enough to deal with since Hikaru left. He didn''t need for this stupid bird to make it worse.


    The bird just continued flying around Sato, mocking him. Sato sat up and grunted, "Stupid bird. Now how am I gonna practice?!" Sato stood up, "Listen here you damn bird. I need that apple for my archery practice. So I''m taking it back whether you like it or not." He shot an arrow knocking the apple out of the moving Bird Bakemono''s mouth. The apple plummeted to the ground.


    "Oh yeah! I did it!" Sato stared at the Bird Bakemono who was staring right back for a minute. "Oh no you don''t!" Then they both headed for the apple in the middle of the ground between them.


    Another arrow shot the Bird Bakemono impaling it into the ground. "Good job Sato. I saw you knock that apple out of the bird''s mouth." Hikaru was standing on a tree branch with Arashi still on his back.


    "Hikaru! How long have you been here?!" Sato shouted.


    Hikaru scratched his head, "About fifteen minutes, give or take."


    "So then, you''ve been here this whole time? Why didn''t you help me?!"


    "Because sometimes the best teacher is yourself. Plus it was pretty funny watching how helpless you were against a little baby Bird Bakemono."


    Sato''s sweat dropped, "Gee, thanks. Wait a minute, did you say baby?!" He had thought it was an adult bird. But it was a baby. He was never going to live this down.


    Sakura and Ai came out from behind a bush. Sakura laughed, "Yep he sure did. Honestly, Sato, you''re completely helpless on your own. And to think, you originally wanted to travel by yourself."


    Great, just what Sato needed. For Sakura to milk his humiliation as much as possible. "Yeah, I kind of still do," Sato muttered. "Hey what happened to hotshot?"


    "He fought Yoshi. Apparently, he''s Niji''s assistant," Hikaru said removing his previously joking tone from his voice. "But he disappeared before we could gather any information on Niji''s location."


    "So why are you two all dressed up?" Sato asked Sakura and Ai curiously.


    "Oh well, we kind of went out for dinner while you were training," Sakura answered him.


    Sato''s head fell down, "Aw man. And I''m really hungry too." How could they go to eat without him? First, they freeload on his journey then they exclude him from dinner. Some nice manners these Bakemono have. He thought to himself.


    Ai ran up to Sato, "Here big brother, I saved this for you." She handed him a box of fries.


    Sato smiled widely, "Sweet! Thanks, Ai, you''re the best!" Sato was glad at least Ai had some manners. He knew he could always count on her to never exclude him. Sato tossed the fries in his mouth.


    Hikaru peeked over, "Hey, um Sato. You know I kind of never ate dinner yet either. So if you don''t mind." Hikaru reached for Sato''s fries.


    Sato shut the box before Hikaru''s hand could make it in. "Buzz off. Get your own damn fries." Sato wasn''t about to give Hikaru any fries. Not after he left him in the middle of his training.


    "That''s no way to talk to someone who taught you archery!" Hikaru protested still reaching for the fries.


    "What happened to the best teacher is yourself, huh? Because as I recall you didn''t come in and help me until after I already learned on my own." Sato retorted bringing the box firmly behind his back and out of the green man''s reach.


    When nightfall struck Sato and co. set up camp. Hikaru gathered everyone around the campfire for the discussion he had told Sakura and Ai about earlier. "Listen up everyone. I know I said I''d train you all. But the thing is Sato needed more help than I originally imagined."


    Sato sighed, "Please, don''t you start making fun of me too, Hikaru.


    Arashi was now awake with his wounds having been bandaged, "Well what do you expect when you''re a human surrounded by four Bakemono?"


    "Ahem." Hikaru coughed to get everyone''s attention back. "As I was saying. Since Sato needs more help than previously intended, I have come up with a new training plan for Sakura and Arashi. We have a whole month until the port opens back up here. And next month is when the annual Sihalia Battle Royale is held.


    "Sihalia Battle Royale?" Sato questioned.


    Hikaru nodded, "Yes. It is a tournament held in Sihalia every year where Bakemono battle it out until one is left standing. And since one of the best ways to get stronger is through hands-on experience, I figured this would be the best opportunity. Plus anyone is welcome to compete."


    "So then, we''ll have to backtrack all the way to Sihalia." Sato realized.


    Hikaru nodded, "Yeah. But we could have some fun with it," Hikaru said lifting his finger.


    Sakura raised her eyebrows, "What do you mean by fun?"


    "You know, take a different route. Sihalia''s at the center of Oldhedge, so there are many different ways to get there."


    "Oh great," Ai moaned. "I don''t wanna go back."


    Sato ruffled her hair, "It''ll be okay kid. Remember, your dad said it was fine for you to travel. I just can''t wait till I win that tournament!"


    Arashi stood up, "What makes you think you''re gonna win, huh human?"


    Sato stood up as well, "I have a whole lot better chance of winning than you do, pyro!"


    Both of them stared at each other intensely grunting. A blue spark of lightning connected their eyes.