(Ltn) Omne Initium Difficile Est
(Eng) Every Beginning is Difficult
_________
He thought he'd died.
Now, though...
He had not died.
Seated on a sandy beach, the former Light Hashira, Hikaru Shin, fixed his gaze intently on the rising sun that was visible across the blue ocean.
His expression alternates between confusion, anger, disappointment, and sadness at times, as if his mind is uncontrollably spinning its cogs and gears wildly.
He was supposed to be dead. Alongside them...
He had done what a Demon Slayer was supposed to do.
He had witnessed Muzan's death.
There is nothing but questions.
What brings him here? In excellent shape? How come he is still breathing? Why is he able to stand? And talk?
Such inquiries probed the depths of his mind, weighing each and every potential explanation.
That wouldn't matter anymore. Hikaru should give thanks to God for his survival, that is all he knows. He is grateful for his second chance at life, regardless of the reason behind it.
Resolving that pursuing answers will no longer be helpful, Hikaru slowly gets to his feet, having just begun to acclimate to his restored body. His haori quickly appeared to be fixed, as if nothing had happened to it. Tucked into its sheath around his waist was his Nichirin Blade. A square-shaped object was felt inside of his clothing just as he was about to take his first step. He took it out and grinned at the object.
That was his Bible. Like newly created,no blood, and not even a single damage on it.
He gave a brief nod of gratitude as he put it back inside of his clothing and starts to look around.
"All right. First things first, where am I?"
Merely listening to the waves lapping against the sands and rocks, while scanning the deserted shores. Hikaru pivoted and strolled along the coastline. Wondering anxiously if the people were speaking the same language as his or not, Hikaru hadn't seen a single soul for the last fifteen minutes.
That made him dejected, but just as he was about to give up, he happened to spot a rough road that leads away from the coast.
Hikaru follows the road for five minutes, trekking , and as the sun starts to show itself, Hikaru can feel the heat slowly touching his skin. But his patience paid off as he saw a small village at the end of the road.
"Civilization, finally." Hikaru laughed quietly.
Moving forward, Hikaru saw the name of the village.
"Sumire..." He uttered the name. "So, I'm still in Japan?"
Presuming he is correct, Hikaru secretly felt delighted to see those individuals. Thus, he advanced and came to a halt in front of the village entrance. He noticed an old man brandishing the tip of its spear.
Seeing this, he decided to conceal his blade out of consideration.
"Hello." He said in Japanese. "Lovely day, is it?"
With confusion, the elderly man's eyes narrowed at him. Hikaru understood this right away and knew...
'English, then?' He thought, 'Oh no.'
"I, uhh... Sorry..." The man was able to understand Hikaru despite his knowledge of English. "Do... you... understand... the... words... coming out... of my... mouth?" Word for word, he spoke before sighing as the old man nodded. "Could you please tell me where I am?" Hikaru continued.
The old man ceased brandishing his spear and laughed. "You an explorer? My boy, you are in Sumire, within Vale."
Hikaru felt uneasy and was shocked by that statement.
"Vale?" He muttered in Japanese. "That's not Japan..." He then looked at the man and nodded. "I see. Thank you, sir."
The man waved his hand in dismissal, "Where are you from, young man?"
Hikaru stopped to consider. Firstly, he was aware that he was no longer in Japan and, worse still, that he was nowhere on Earth anymore. Secondly, this world could be exactly like his, complete with demons and all. Finally, there is the technology. Because he had observed that one of the guards was staring at a gadget he was using, and that there was a massive steel tower nearby that is unfamiliar to him.
"Not..." *He paused before continuing, "- from this continent, but from another." He refused to give more information in secrecy. Fortunately for him, the elderly man refrained from pressing the issue.
"That sounds plausible. I have seen people from all walks of life taking their stop here in our village. Faunus or not."
The word caught Hikaru's attention. "Faunus?"
Eventually, the man raises his eyebrow at him. "Ya don't know? Faunus, people with animal-like traits." The old man explained.
"Ah, Kemonomimi, I see..." Hikaru spoke quick as his Japanese brain automatically translated the word for him. "Apologies, it seems we have a different word for their...race." By his words, Hikaru shuddered at the thought of people with animal features that made him to mutter something under his breath.
"By the Lord in Heaven..."
"Eh, don't 'cha worry now, boy. Faunus here are friendly, sometimes I envy them when they can hear, see, and smell better than us, humans." The old man shrugged. "Ah, where are my manners." He stands up with a groan and stretches his back, offering Hikaru a hand to shake. "My name's Dell. Retired hunstman, currently town's Marshal and Lead Guard."
Hikaru shook Dell's hand and grinned. "Hikaru Shin. I am a... swordsman." Dell arched an eyebrow at this.
"Swordsman, you say?" As they withdrew their hands, he laughed. "How pretty good are you with it?"
Hikaru gives his chin a quick scratch before revealing its sheath to Dell. "Very good at protecting myself from harm." Hikaru answers exuberantly.
As he quickly examined the sheath made of gold and white, Dell hummed. "If ya say so, boy. Me boys might've want a lil spar with you with that!"
Hikaru lowered his head and laughed quietly. "I would gladly take upon the offer, Dell-san." He spoke as his automatic incorporation of Japanese honorifics showed up.
"Hah!" He gave the boy a back pat. "Well, don't just stand there! Come inside the village, look around if ya found something."
"Thank you, Dell."
"Do not worry, boy! You were also in time for breakfast! To commemorate the creation of the town, Mayor Teele is hosting a gathering this morning."
"Festival?" When he asks this, Dell is talking next to him as he enters through the gates.
"Aye, The Sumire Festival. The day following the Great War, our village was established."
A knot formed in his throat, making him hesitate to inquire, "This... Great War. Could you elaborate on it for me?"
Dell looked ahead and remained silent for a short while before he finally gave in and sighed.
His face gave into seriousness aa he starts his story.
"A long, long, time ago... There were four kingdoms. Mistral, Atlas, Vacuo, and Vale..."
__
Dell's storytelling finished almost exactly as they reached the town proper. People can be seen gathering at the center of the plaza, stalls of different kinds of food, and weapon shops.
Walking ahead, Hikaru asks Dell regarding the aftermath of the Faunus people. "You were saying that the Faunus were given a small island below Atlas as a reward for their participation during the war? That's it?"
Dell grimly nodded. "Sadly, yes. Discrimination after the war became rampant as people began to blame amongst themselves and nost especially, the blamed the Faunus kind."
"But, why them? Shouldn't they blame the people who are responsible behind that war?"
"That argument won't work here, Hikaru." Dell coldly stated. "With the White Fang, there's no turning back of the hatred Humans have created on them."
"That is... sad." Hikaru commented.
"How come you don't know about it?" Dell asks with an intriguing tone.
"Our continent is kinda... isolated to the world?" Hikaru responded in mistaken questioning tone. And he continued, with a slight hint of seriousness in his voice. "Our government strictly bans foreigners, and travelling outside. So we don't have any knowledge unless approved by them."
Dell's eyes slightly narrows at him before conceding. "Very well. I won't pry further."
Silence fills between them after their conversation, Dell's expression shifted in a happy one as he took a step ahead. "Hikaru, my boy, welcome... to Sumire!"
__
(8 Months After)
Hikaru felt happiness. A peaceful one he had ever since he died.
He was like a family inside the village. Dell Ingot and his wife, Elia happily accepted Hikaru in their home. He and the old couple exchanged stories as time goes by.
Hikaru learned so much from this new world. And when it means all of it, means a lot...
The usage of Dust crystals, utilization of Aura and Semblances, the ugly relationship between Humans and Faunus, the four Kingdoms, the Great War, the Brother Gods, and most especially...
The Creatures of Grimm.
Demons... Prowlers of the night.
From what he learned, these creatures are the real enemies. They were originally created by the God of Darkness and are described as "creatures of destruction" that do not possess a soul, rendering them unable to use Aura. They are also drawn towards negative emotions such as jealously, grief, loneliness, hatred and fear; causing them to often congregate on the source of these emotions, attacking any and all Humans and Faunus they encounter on sight.
In short, Hikaru sees them as heretic demons.
Ranging from different kinds of unimaginable beings, tiny or a huge one, they are all the same for him. They do not posses emotions, they are monsters.
The first time he encountered those creatures when a group of Beowolves raided a small farm inside the town's territory. Dell, Hikaru, and a couple of local hunstmen fought the Grimms yet the former Demon Slayer refrained on not using his Breathing Techniques in order not to raise suspicion and to show the others that he's skilled on using his blade.
Months came by and they would regularly fight some of those wandering Grimms.
And then came the training of other Breathing Styles of his friends... Which was surprisingly easy yet tiring for him.
How did he do it?
It's a simply yet complex theory basically. Like what Gyomei had taught him, every Breathing Styles had their own type of stances, ways to cut, and to kill.
For example, Water Breathing is derived from the 'flow of water' itself. Adaptable,flowing, precise, and swift strikes. Even with the tiny strike can pierce and cut through an immovable object.
Wind Breathing is the opposite, it uses numerous swings, wild cuts and slashes that resembles gusts of wind itself. Destroying everything in its path like a razorblade.
Thunder Breathing, quick sword draws to end the fight. Simple.
Flame, is a tricky one. Heavy swings yet precise. Straight to kill, and to destroy things. Stances and strikes are almost a mix of Water and Wind. And like visualizing a burning ember that quickly turns into a wildfire, he had one in in less than a month.
Hikaru would secretly train his Breathing Techniques outside Sumire and honing them more clearly. He also managed to learn Thunder Breathing's First Form and its Variants thanks to Zenitsu's demonstrations, he also learned Water Breathing before from Tomioka's spar against Mitsuri, and by luck, revising forms, and theories... He finally gained the First Forms of Mist Breathing and Stone Breathing.
However, the hardest he had yet to learn was Sun Breathing itself. He knows that Light Breathing was the descendant of the first Breathing Technique and for him, he was still learning the first two Forms, and it annoyed him.
But for now, he is having a meeting with some of Sumire's finest Huntsmen, and a map of the town pinned on the wall, four black arrows directing to the village itself.
He was there, listening as Dell had an argument with Mayor Teele. She tried to explain that there is a huge amount of Grimms currently traveling and is about to make way to the village.
"Mayor, we cannot face that amount of Grimms! Think about the civilians!" Dell implied.
"Dell!" Mayor Teele snapped. "What do you want me to do?! Leave the village that you grew up and loved?!" Realizing that she had let her emotions took over, she slumped back to her chair and let out a deep sigh. "I am in a tight spot as well, Dell... You know that."
Dell understands the Mayor's anger and apologizes, "Forgive me for speaking such words, Mayor Teele. But your plan is... stupid, and suicidal. If we chose to face the Grimms head on, we might slow them down, but they will not stop and still would head towards the village."
"I know my plan will work, Dell." She stated and looked briefly at Hikaru, before she glanced back to the hunstmen. "Do not worry, the villages around us had gave us their support to fight the Grimms head on, too. Considering that their path will trample upon their villages most likely."
"Villages?! Does the King and his council knew about-"
"Probably. But he'll turn his eye away from us just like those times..." She said with a frown. "Look, we can't depend the safety of our village to the King, the council, nor to Headmaster Ozpin's Beacon Academy, we are on our own."
Dell went silent as murmurs from the other huntsmen filled the room. Hikaru silently listened as they heard a horrifying roar outside. The whole room shook as the rest grabbed their weapons.
Mayor Teele looked at Dell and his group. "Dell, this is it. If we fail, seven or nine villages will fall. But if we win..." She paused as her hands trembled. "May the Brother Gods guide us."
Countering that, Hikaru made a sign of the cross and muttered in Latin, "Deus nobiscum."
"Everyone, move out! Stella, lead me to the villagers we'll handle the evacuation!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Stella Jade, Mayor Teel's aide, nodded and exited the room, with the Mayor following her from the back.
As the group of huntsmen geared themselves up, Dell approaches Hikaru and greets him with a pat on his shoulder. "Are you nervous, kid?"
"Not at least." He said with a calm nod. "I have seen much worse, Dell."
"Worse?" Dell said curiously.
Hikaru paused, his body shook a bit as he remembered the pain and their fight against Muzan. "It's... nothing."
Dell sighs, already seeing this kind of reaction from Hikaru, and refusing to tell him the story behind. "As you say, kid. But remember this, me and Elia considers you like our child. If you are ready, just tell us, everything."
He smiled and leaves the room. One by one, the huntsmen followed Dell, leaving Hikaru alone, deep in thought.
He was conflicted to tell the truth or not. Hikaru knows that he is an outsider in this world. He does not belong here. He's already dead for God's sake!
He remembered his family.
His friends.
His loved one...
"Everyone, should I do it?" He muttered to the wind. "Do I have the guts to tell Dell and his wife the truth? I don't want them to hate me that I lied about my origins for almost nine months."
His thoughts were interrupted as another roar shook the ground. "I guess I'll do it after we defeat those heretics."