Both Ania and Tom were walking back towards the dorm when they spotted Alan trudging along staring at the ground lost in thought. Just as Tom was about to call out to him he felt Ania place a hand on his shoulder and shake her head "He just wants to be left alone to reflect on what happened and we should respect it" "I do understand he is our team leader after all and needs to have a clear head to make decisions for us".
Opening the door they walked inside to find Mitch lying on the bed staring up at the ceiling "You run into Alan?" he asked without even looking down "Yeah he seemed a bit out of it" "Just leave him by tomorrow he should be back to his old cheery self" "I'd hope so tomorrow is Professor Oobleck's class and that's one class you don't want to miss anything on since he has so much to say" "Yeah not to mention he fires it off at a machine gun pace so if you miss one word chances are it's been a whole paragraph" Ania grumbled twisting her wrist which always was sore after his class from frantically scribbling down notes.
Sitting on the oval all by himself Alan watched the sun slowly setting in the distant as he threw a tuft of grass into the air and watched the blades slowly float down onto the ground. The words that Mitch had mentioned earlier rung clear inside his mind "For a guy who is lazy about everything he would make a good team leader if he tried" Alan chuckled before laying back on the cool ground enjoying the quiet sound of birds chirping before they went to sleep and the feeling of the cool breeze blowing over him. Holding his right hand up there were three identical rings on each of his fingers with a black dragon engraved on them "I swear that I'll avenge your deaths no matter what even if it takes my last breath" clenching his fist he slammed it into the ground before letting out a deep sigh and closing his eyes to take a brief nap before heading back to the dorms.
As night fell and his team mates fell asleep Mitch laid on his bed holding a picture frame up where a younger version of him was standing in between two taller and older people. The man was 6'2 with a stocky build and pitch black hair and blue eyes while a grey thick beard covered his face and a calloused hand rested on his sons shoulder. The woman was much more smaller and petite with long white blonde hair and piercing blue eyes while her small delicate fingers also were on Mitch's other shoulder. The blade Ashura was cradled in Mitch's arms as he smiled happily at the camera, "I miss you guys….." he mumbled gently running his finger across the frame.
Rain poured down across the streets as a dark towering figure loomed over Mitch's father who was lying on the ground a pool of blood pouring out "RUN SON!" his Dad's voice boomed as the blade Ashura was tossed at his feet "Take the sword and run" his mother yelled as a stream of water was unleashed from her hand slamming into the man who stumbled back chuckling.
Turning his back to the scene the blood curdling scream of his mother being cut came from behind as he turned back around to see her lifeless body slumped onto the ground her fingers reaching out towards her son as a single tear was seen in her now lifeless blue eyes. "NOOOOO!" Mitch roared gripping Ashura between his hands as he ran towards the man swinging his blade down which was easily caught as a pair of cold sky blue eyes glared down at him and an all to calm voice spoke "I must commend you for taking me head on but it was rather foolish". "LEAVE HIM ALONE" a fireball cannoned into the man's face as Mitch's father scooped him up only to grunt in pain as the flash of an axe was seen cutting across his back. Spinning around he delivered a crunching punch to the shadowy man's face knocking him flat onto the ground before rushing over to his wives fallen body and scooped it up as well.
After racing past a few streets he stopped down a side alley laying Mitch down along with his mother's lifeless body. Slumped against the wall a trail of blood followed before pooling at his feet while his breathing became more laboured and his eyes started to cloud over "Dad, DAD!" Mitch yelled shaking his father who looked up at him and placed a hand to his face "Your mother and I are so proud of you". Picking Ashura up he placed the blade in his sons hand "I'm passing Ashura onto you now, you must carry on our legacy" he coughed violently spitting up blood before looking down at his wife and placing a hand on her face. "Run and escape from here before that man tracks you down" "You'll meet up with me later right?" "Sorry son that's not a promise I can keep…." his Dad looked away trying to hide the tears as Mitch knew the truth all to well as he hugged his father tightly "I love you Dad, Mum" "We love you to son, now get going".
Strapping Ashura to his back Mitch turned away and ran away as fast as he could the rain mixing in with his tears as his feet pounded against the cold concrete ground. He didn't know where he was running to but he just had to get away from here as he escaped from the city and ran into the dark forests before stopping to collapse against a tree as all the emotions he felt finally unravelled. While he sobbed to himself huddled in a ball a giant looming shadow with bright red eyes glared down at him a deep animalistic growl coming from it.
"DAD!" Mitch yelled jumping up as a fireball was summoned into his finger tips just as he was about to hurl it across the room. He looked down at the picture frame lying on his sheets and placed it back on his bed side desk and sat at the edge of his bed face in between his hands. "Must've been a bad dream" Ania's voice could be heard from behind her veil as Mitch looked up "Heh so you heard me" "Well I was woken by my own nightmare but mine didn't seem as bad as yours I mean you were crying" "What you heard that…" "Hey I won't tell anyone" "…..yeah thanks." Mitch looked across at Alan's bed to find it was empty "Huh guess he fell asleep somewhere outside, well I'm sure it'll do him some good" he thought laying back on his bed but found he didn't want to sleep as those reoccurring nightmares of his past kept creeping back to haunt him as he took a swig from his flask.