The sky hung heavy with thick smoke and ash. The sunlight barely piercing through the endless grey.
Jin stood on the crumbling walls. The cold wind biting away at his worn out cloak. His face hidden behind a sleek, dark mask.
Before him was the village he once called home. Rose Village-Named from the roses that bloomed there in abundance. Jin remembered when he was younger playing with all the other kids in the village .Chasing fireflies here as a boy. Laughter echoing through the fields, the smell of warm bread from the baker's hut. It felt like a different life
But now it was nothing, Just a pile of ash. No sign of the roses. It was a barren land. Charred beams, shattered pottery, and the twisted frame of what had once been a cradle lay among the ruins.
His fists clenched so tightly,his knuckles turned white; veins bulged along his jaw "Jorntur" he growled.
The kingdom of Jorntur was ruthless. They descended from the north and traversed down the Crimson Valley killing all those who stood in their path. Swift and Merciless. They shattered the Manarok army with brutal efficiency.
A distant cry was heard by Jin.
It was a faint sound but it was a sign of survivors.
Without hesitation, Jin jumped down from the walls, landing gracefully on the parched ground below
With every step he took, the cry got louder.
He arrived and was met by a horrifying scene. Blood stained the earth and bodies laid scattered .The air reeked of death
The cry was that of a child. They were trapped beneath a pile of rubble.
Jin knew he had to help.
Jin crouched low, brushing ash off a jagged plank. His fingers found a grip, and with a strained breath, he lifted the first piece. The rubble shifted, groaning beneath his effort. Dust choked the air as he moved another.
Finally, he uncovered the child-trembling, dusty and sobbing as they clung to a still body besides them.
"Wake up"
"Wake up Mom" The boy cried
The mother had a face covered in blood and a body filled with wounds.
She was gone.
Jin stood frozen for a moment, this was cruelty in the flesh. A village reduced to ash. A lone child in the middle of the ruins of the place they called home.
He reached out slowly placing a hand on the young boy's shoulder.
"You're safe now" He said softly, his voice muffled by the mask "I've got you"
The child flinched at his thought. The boy's eyes were filled with fear and confusion. Dirt streaked his face and blood- perhaps not own-matted to his hair. His small hands still clung to his mother, unwilling to let go.
Jin knelt beside him in silence. For a moment he didn't speak. There were no words that could undo what happened here. No comfort could ease this kind of loss.
Very gently, he pried the boy's arms away from his mother and lifted them into his arms. The boy resisted at first, squirming calling for his mother. But their strength faded quickly, replaced by short broken sobs against Jin's shoulder.
"What's your name boy " he asked.
The boy momentarily stopped crying "Koichi"
Jin wrapped the cloak around Koichi shielding him from the attacking cold.
The roses were gone, but their roots might remain beneath the ash—waiting, stubborn, like hope.
Jin turned his back on the ruined village and began walking, boots crunching on the brittle debris-bone perhaps. Or broken pottery from someone's kitchen. . He moved with quiet purpose, past the wreckage, past the dead. Past the place where his childhood ended.
The wind howled, whispering through the skeletal remains of the trees and burnt homes.
But Jin didn't stop. He couldn't
There would be other survivors. Those who needed help.
They reached the place where a popular trade route remained.it was untouched, but empty. This route always had a bunch of merchants on their journey to sell goods and earn profits. But here it was eerily silent.
As he walked the empty trade route, Jin glanced at the distant hills where the sun once rose golden over rice fields. Now, it struggled to rise at all.
Plants withered across the whole trail. The once bustling path this route was diminished to nothingness.
Jin saw countless carts used by merchants that were broken and bloodied on this path. Broken pieces of armour scattered everywhere like a jigsaw puzzle.
It was a sorry sight but a brief reminder to the reality.
The silence was broken by distant footsteps.
"Koichi, go hide" He commanded.
There wasn't just a single foe but a group of them.
Jin stood in the middle of the pathway. eyes glaring at the tips of the heads that emerged up the hill.
He had a firm grip on his sword.
"Sorry master, I promised I would never use the sword again. But in a world full of war ,sometimes you have to unleash your restraints. "He muttered.
The group emerged quickly. They were Jorntur soldiers.
There were 5 of them behind them was a chained woman. A prisoner of war maybe. Or a victim of the soldiers twisted desires.
"Who's that over there" One shouted.
Jin didn't respond, instead he waited for them to come to him.
They did so. They stood across him.
"Get out the fucking way"
"What if I don't " Jin responded in a calm manner.
They unsheathed their swords. Malice etched on their faces
"Who are you" They aggressively questioned.
Jin pulled down his mask revealing a grin that resembled that of a devil. His eyes burned with the same intensity as hellfire.
" Jin Kanzaki "
He unsheathed his sword.
The soldiers started laughing. "You think you alone can beat all of us"
"There are only five of you, you'll need more than that"
The first soldier charged at him.
Blood splattered as a clean cut on the soldiers torso formed.
They didn't even have time to register what happened in their minds.
Thud!
The body collapsed.
Jin rested his foot on the dead man's head. Eyes fixed on the rest of his opponents
A low bone-chilling laugh escaped him as he watched the other four faces contort into shock. "Those who live by the blade, die by the blade"