Ayden came to surrounded by nothingness. Not an empty room but rather a space filled with nothing except darkness, no walls, no floor/ceiling.
A vast emptiness
Though he felt warm Ayden had no clothing on, no weapon to protect himself. The feeling of nakedness in more ways than one.
Looking down Ayden did not see a floor keeping him afloat, only his flat defined stomach and toes stretched out among other things.
Though every time he moved his foot a step he felt pressure against his soles in the darkness.
~"Unnerving isn't it" a voice sounded from everywhere at once causing Ayden to jump and reach for his sword.
Even more shock making him Look at his hand which now laid on the hilt of a sword, as he was now fully armed and clothed in his battle attire.
"Where am i, who are you, what is this place?!"
~"this is the desolate plain in the land of spirits, this is where those who have surpassed the mortal shackles or have fallen to escape those who call themselves God come! Or at least my mental representation of it."
The voice no longer echoed from everywhere but from behind Ayden.
This caused him to spin around in a panic once again, coming face to face with a man with light brown eyes, brown skin and a short haircut tailored to fit his head perfectly.
The clothing or armor he wore seemed of a different time, yet also quite modern.
He wore a fitted shirt that seemed to shine like diamonds, with many intricate designs all around. The pants had the same look but were black as the night sky and seemed easy to move in. The boots came to his knees, an odd combination since they were white as the mountain snow; matching the cloak sitting across his shoulders.
Ayden couldn't see any weapons on the man but the harnesses they wrapped around his body made him feel that at any moment this being would attack.
The tension inside his body moving him to a fighting position, just in case this man meant him harm.
~"calm down Ayden, allow me to introduce myself once again,… i am Koko sky of clan blackwater. Also know as the shadow swordmen."
"So you are a Blackwater?! How long ago did you die?! How are you able to change our martial art to do what you did? What happened… to our people?"
An endless list of questions filled Aydens mind, but not knowing where to actually start he just asked the questions that were closest to the surface.
~"ha! You're quick to adjust to things now aren't you!"
The quick change in how Ayden was reacting to Koko reminded him of how days when he was young, and how regardless of the situation he made friends. The same instinctual gut feeling about rather or not they should be trusted was shown in Ayden, in that moment.
~"Yes,… I am Blackwater. As for when i died… let's just say it was long before the Haze Beast decided it was time to attack the surface world.
But what do you mean changed the family martial arts? Have you not started the second set of sequences? Yet you are at the cusp the second evolution.
Curious"
"Second…. Set to the martial art? … second evolution? What do you mean!?"
While Ayden had long taken his steps into adulthood, having never truly experienced what one would call a normal childhood Ayden was still at heart quite immature and it showed. The only difference now was that their was no one to stop him from doing what he had be barred from, for so long.
Yet having thought he had learned everything possible from his family tome, Ayden had felt sadness at having learned all that was left of his family and ancestors.
Yet the feeling of Koko's use of his body to battle the haze beast breathed excitement back into his body.
~"Oh little Lycan, you are truly the last of us aren't you? What has happened for the Blackwater's to have fallen so far.
I am truly sorry that those of your time were unable to teach you who we are before disappeared. To teach you what we do, but ever more so… how.
What is a Lycan without family, without connection, without a bond.
Who are we without a Pack?"
Putting things together finally Koko figured out that Ayden was walking the path of the Lycan alone, which was dangerous even for the most prepared. This gave him a feeling of loss and guilt.
It had been many years since Koko had felt the echo of energy being used to evolve, and this drew him towards Ayden. What allowed him to finally find him though was the aura Ayden started to exude all of a sudden.
Enforcing his resolve Koko came to a decision, One based on kinship and the continuation of his families bloodline.
"What do you mean? Pack…"
Ayden stopped talking as Koko raised his hand, determination written across his features.
~"As our time is short we should move on to the most important topic, all else will be explained min the future.
Right now our contract has ended and the use of my abilities have caused me to run out of energy to stay in the mortal plains. We have two options the first of which is for me to return to the land of spirits to gather the energy to come back, or we can form another contract only this time it's permanent… already until you die, my spirit body is destroyed, or one of us choses to terminate the bond.
If you choose the bond there are 3 conditions:
1. You cannot use my abilities to harm the innocent, on purpose.
2. You cannot use our families martial arts to steal money or power.
3. You must never teach it to those who are not blood, and of those who are blood only the truly trusted ones can learn our way!"
"Is that all? And you will teach me what i need as a Blackwater?!"
~"yes to both, but be warned should you break one of my conditions i will not only cease our bond but i will kill you and those who i deem unworthy… that is a promise!
Now do you wish to form a contract with me?"