Sunrise came faster than Shiro expected, with the early rays seeping into his eyes, refreshing his tired body. Shiro couldn't recall when he fell asleep, or how he did it, only that he'd woken up, with Brandon right in front of him.
"Rise and shine, boy." Brandon smirked. "You should really see your face when you sleep, you look adorable."
"Shut up." Shiro said, getting up with Brandon's help. "Where's Jake?"
"Doing some rounds, I guess. Didn't want to wake you up."
"Oh. How nice of him. Guess we have to wait for him then."
"I'm hungry."
"Yeah, me too." Shiro said, "Want some fries?"
"Sure thing."
"Go buy some then." Shiro snickered."
"Haha, very funny." Brandon said, sitting down on a tree stamp. He looked far off into the distance and sighed.
"Hey, Shiro? Do you think its okay to pave your own path?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, you know, I used to be Barry's student and all, but now, he's gone. I thought I could be like him so I tried to synchronize with Spearhead..."
"And it didn't work."
"Yeah."
"Never was going to. Never heard of someone use two reis before. That thought alone is suicide."
"Right..." Brandon sighed again. "But then there's nothing to me then."
"What do you mean."
"C'mon, Shiro. Look at Blake and Sarah, they've got some wild amounts of licht energy. Rachel's also unique with her licht weapon and all. But me, I'm just some average guy who waltzed into the Inquisition."
"That you are."
"Not going to try huh?"
"Yep,"
"Thanks."
"You're not the first guy to walk into inquisition with that kind of licht energy, kid."
"Kid."
"In the inquisition, its not a competition. Its just a fight between us and daemon. Nothing more, nothing less. We're not trying to grow stronger to catch up with others, or be like others, we're doing it to kill daemon faster and better. In the words of Kyler, we're inventing new ways to kill daemon."
"So I should just give up on the 'O'Neil' legacy."
"You're not the first to try and be like him. First time I saw him he was also a recruit. Right after the 2nd daemon incident. Still remember his bravado and all. I adored the guy."
"Adored?"
"Yeah. Past tense. I woke up one day and Barry was gone. He just packed up and left without saying a word to anyone. That's when I realized, Barry was just another guy in the inquisition. Another soldier in the army, trying to pave a path for himself just as I was trying to do to mine. Sure he did come back, but I had grown by then. Then a few years and you and Rachel joined."
"Oh yeah, I spilled your coffee."
'Yes. I remember that too. "
A twig snapping made both inquisitors turn. It was a man armed with a rifle aimed at them. Behind him was the rogue.
"Oh great." The man said, "What are you guys still doing here?"
"Well..."
"As we told you yesterday, we don't need you here." Vincent said, "So pack up and leave. This doesn't have to get ugly."
"Or what, you'll fight us?"
"If we have to." the man said. "Don't try us."
"Fine then." Shiro said, standing up to face them. "We'll leave. But not without that scythe."
"Hell no!"
"Shiro, we don't need to take the scythe," Brandon said, "They need it more than we do."
"You guys insist on not wanting anything to do with the inquisition, then you guys don't need our weapons in the first place." Shiro said, ignoring Brandon.
"There something wrong with your friend, kid." Vincent asked Brandon. "Tell him that I will die before I let go of this scythe."
"Sorry, but he's my superior." Brandon explained. The man raised the gun at Brandon, who was shocked, taking a step back, "Whoa, put the gun down."
"Leave now then, cus I ain't dropping this gun till you lot are out of this town."
"Calm down sheriff." Vincent said, taking out the scythe, and showing it to Shiro. "Let's see what this dunce has."
"Shiro, calm down." Brandon said. He turned to the man and slowly approached them, his hands in the air.
"Look, we don't want to hurt you guys. We aren't like the other inquisitors who came here. We'll be on our way. Inquisition protocol states that if there is a rogue daemon hunter in the area, we can assess his abilities and let him maintain his duties. We can let it be that way."
"So what, because you guys are so high and mighty you get to decide the rules, you think you can assess me? Screw you all!"
"Ok, I've had enough of this!" Jake cried, The man instinctively fired at Jake, catching Jake off guard. Brandon reacted quickly though, taking out his nunchunks and deflecting the bullet downward. Jake stood still for a second before sighing.
"Thanks, kid."
"No problem, now would you put the gun down before someone really gets hurt?"
"Mr...whatever your name is, rogue. We are going to leave right now, without assessing your abilities. Whatever happens to this place is on you, if that's what you want."
"Finally, a guy that listens." Vincent said. "Yes that works well with us."
"Shiro, lets go." Jake said.
"No."
"That's an order, Shiro." Jake said, "Lets go."
Shiro rushed at the rogue, conjuring a halo in his left hand, The rogue pointed his scythe at him and immediately, a shield cut him off. Shiro jumped back, standing up straight and sighing. He turned to Jake, pain in his eyes.
"Do we have to leave it."
"He's already synchronized with it, Shiro.
Vincent rushed at Shiro, slashing downward but Shiro dodged it, kicking him in the knee. "We're even now."
"Nah, you can't just attack and leave like nothing happened." Vincent said, "So much for not being like the other inquisitors."
"That scythe belonged to his sister, kid." Jake said, "Sakura Madarame, I'm sure she said her name didn't she."
The man remained unfazed but the look on Vincent's face confirmed it. "But...that can't be right, she wasn't an inquisitor."
"Yeah, you and your damned lies." The man said..
"Sakura Madarame. She was tall with silver hair covering one eye and green eyes like mine. Had a scar on her lip." Shiro said, looking at Vincent. "She dropped the scythe and left, right?"
Vincent looked at him, not knowing what to do. "She taught me how to use this scythe and left. She might be dead though. Sorry."
"Yeah, yeah." Shiro said as he walked away, "I don't need an apology."
"Wait up, Shiro!" Brandon called after. Jake sighed, shrugging.
"So what now, huh?" Vincent asked, "I give him the scythe just because his sister was the owner. He already has a weapon. If I don't have the scythe then I'm nothing. Then you guys would come and terrorize this town again."
"Your rei and his are two sides of the same coin. He's already giving you his approval to use it so don't worry." Jake said.
Vincent sighed. "Then I guess there's nothing left to say."
"Just one thing though."
"What's that?" The man asked.
"If you think that Garnet and Harriet are the worst inquisitors you've met, then think again." Jake said, "Because honestly, I'd say that my unit is the nicest as compared to the rest of them."
"You know about Harriet and Garnet?!" Vincent asked angrily.
Jake nodded.
"And what do you mean by you guys are the nicest. The only nice one is just a kid and you to some extent."
Jake smiled. "Yeah. That's the point. All the nice inquisitors are dead, mate. Its just left with the terrifying ones."