Quickly paced footsteps could be heard resonating through the halls of the Montgomery Church. Suddenly, a door could be heard being slammed open, presenting a warrior who was clad in light blue armor.
"Father Laurence! Two of our men have been spotted as dead at our front gates!"
Father Laurence, who was standing in front of a window, widened his eyes at the news. The minister turned around, eyeing the warrior before him. The warrior was clearly running throughout the village. His heavy breathing reveals the notion to be true. Father Laurence steadied himself, parting his lips to speak. "Close off the gates. If what you're saying is true, then we should anticipate that the murderer is on village grounds."
The warrior instantly nodded at the minister's order, then hastily turned around and sprinted back to the scene from which he came. Father Laurence closed his eyes with a heavy sigh. 'They must be enacting their plan. I knew they'd be arriving here, but now I quickly come to the realization that they'd been quite a few steps ahead of me the whole time.'
Father Laurence glanced at the window once more. The elderly man held no readable expression. No emotion broke through the minister's face as he stood in contemplation. Abruptly, he turned to walk toward the exit of the room, causing his robes to sway from the sudden movements. 'I need to collect Gabriel and the children. If they're here for what I think they are, I need to move fast.'
XXX
Haishi and the accompanying warriors could be seen stationed outside the training grounds that were currently occupied by the first-year students of Buraun. A female with dark brown hair amongst the aiding warriors sighed, garnering her colleagues' attention. "Isn't there any first-year classes for a yellow and purple aura?"
A warrior with dark, spiky hair perked up at her words. "Don't they experience different courses throughout the year? When I was in the academy, we'd hardly accompany red and blue aura students on any trips."
The female warrior pursed her lips. "I thought the academies were supposed to be inclusive for all aura senses? I may have been taught at a different academy than y'all, but it should be the same either way when it comes to what aura senses learn what."
Another one of the warriors could be seen leaning against the fence of the training ground shrugging their shoulder at the brown-haired woman's words. "I was too psyched on becoming a full-fledged warrior to notice." The lazing warrior turned his gaze toward the man in command. "How about you, Haishi? We've barely heard anything about your past."
Haishi studied his comrades' puzzled expressions, knowing that they were all waiting for an explanation from the chief warrior. But, before Haishi could voice a single word, he noticed Ryakudatsu troops running through the village's pathways. Haishi straightened his posture and looked around at the rushing troops. Haishi then turned back to face the assisting warriors, observing their increased enthusiasm in all of his teammates. "Something must've happened. But, even if something had happened, we were expected to remain with the students. It is not our responsibility to handle Ryakudatsu's affairs. At least not till the journey is through."
The female warrior with brown hair looked at Haishi quizzically. "So are we just supposed to leave the kids here?"
Haishi gave the female warrior a stern look. "No. I want you to round up the students and the instructors. From there, it'll be Instructor Oshieru and Instructor Akushon's responsibility to watch over the students."
The aiding warriors nodded, then they quickly sprinted through the entrance of the training grounds. Haishi watched as they ran off. He then allowed himself to turn away, running in the direction of the Ryakudatsu warriors. 'Whoever is at the scene can probably explain what's going on.'
XXX
"What did you call me for, Father?"
Gabriel was currently standing in front of the minister, an expectant expression on his face as he patiently awaited Father Laurence's response. At the Montgomery Church's entrance, both Father Laurence and Gabriel could be seen.
Father Laurence gave Gabriel a stern glare. "I want you to collect the children and bring them somewhere safe. I'd usually recommend the church, but we're being potentially targeted."
Gabriel adorned a look of shock, his eyes widening to indicate as such. "Why? What's happening, Father?"
Father Laurence waved his hands at the blonde's questioning. "No times for questions, child! We must make haste! Just bring the children to a safe location. I'll inform you later. Now go!"
With Father Laurence waving off Gabriel, the blonde turned the other way and ran. Father Laurence turned toward the Montgomery Church, getting a good look at the giant, white building. 'Not again. I'm not letting a group of heathens steal my glory again!'
—Flashback—
Fire. A humongous building could be seen being lit ablaze by groups of people in armor. In the distance, a younger Father Laurence with noticeably less grey hair could be seen with a horrified expression as he watched the building be ravaged to the ground.
"No! Stop!" The younger Laurence pleaded, running towards the burning building.
The warriors who were lighting the place on fire turned, spotting the sprinting Laurence. "There he is!" One of the warriors yelled, raising their glowing sword and charging at Laurence. The other warriors joined in.
Laurence came to a halt when he saw the approaching warriors. But, before the warriors could come too close, all of their heads slipped off their bodies and dropped to the ground, multiple thuds came from the impact of the heads hitting the earth's surface. "Laurence!" The younger Laurence turned to his left after hearing a feminine voice and recognizing a familiar female.
"Rosaline!" Laurence cried out to the female running toward him. "Rosaline! They've burned down the facility!"
A grimace found its way onto the silver-haired woman's features. "I'm sorry to hear the troubling news, but we need to get out of here! Furusato has already overwhelmed our forces. I've gathered all of the survivors from the facility that I could. We now only need to make our escape!"
Laurence gritted his teeth at the news, shooting copious glances at the burning building before them. He then glanced at the dead warriors on the ground, eyeing their red-tinted armor. 'Damn you, Kokoro Kangae!'
A section of the flaming building fell, crashing to the ground and spreading the flames even more. It was safe to state that the building, including itself, had been completely destroyed.
—Flashback End—
XXX
The sound of Haishi's footsteps could be heard as he neared the front gates of Ryakudatsu. Upon his arrival, he halted to observe the scene before him. The numerous scattered warriors, the closing of Ryakudatsu's golden gates, and the two bodies lying side by side on the ground.
'What happened?' Shortly after his mental questioning, he slowly walked up to the scene, looking all around.
"Hey!" When an unexpected voice cried out to Haishi, the Buraun chief warrior turned around to see a Ryakudatsu warrior approaching him. "I recognize your armor. You're a part of the new village we aligned ourselves with, right?"
Haishi hastily nodded, following up with his own question, "Yes, I am. But I came to see what was happening. We noticed groups of warriors convening in one location, rushing through the village, so I came here to investigate the situation."
The Ryakudatsu warrior, who had a light grey beard and hair, wore a look of understanding. "Well, recently we received news of two warriors being killed, so troops were dispatched to the scene to lock everything down. We assure you that your students will remain safe."
Haishi gained a look of confusion. "Lock everything down? Like the entrance and exits?"
The warrior nodded. "Unfortunately. But we can't risk the murderer getting away if he so happened to have entered the village."
Haishi titled his head down in contemplation, then turned to glance at the scene once more. "Do you know when everything will be opened back up?"
The unknown warrior from Ryakudatsu shook his head. "No. We only just identified the situation. We have yet to even address the public about the situation."
Suddenly, the sound of the golden gated entrance to the village could finally be heard. The gates now being fully closed, restricting any access to the village from the outside. Silver chains could then be seen being wrapped around the gate to facilitate it being shut.
Haishi narrowed his eyes at the now-closed gates, a dubious look staining his features. 'So we have a murderer on the loose, eh?' Haishi then sighed exasperatingly. 'This trip has been way too laborious.'
XXX
Hey! I hope you guys enjoyed today's chapter! Sorry that I haven't been the most active. Just familial issues are making themselves known. However, things seem to be progressing quickly! Stay tuned for more.
Have a Good Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_