A tree stands alone at the edge of a town where people buy and sell things. Its big branches stretch out hidden from the people walking below.
High up in the tree Ryu is half asleep leaning against the trunk his arms crossed, one leg hanging down and his cloak wrapped around him like a blanket.
His eyes open wide.
He blinks once.
Then he moves.
Ryu jumps down from the branch. Lands softly on both feet. The town is on the other side of the trees.
Ryu says quietly "It is morning already."
He stretches his arms. The sun is peeking through the clouds.
Outside the town square Elrik is leaning against a stone post near a fountain his arms folded and a bored look on his face.
His helper is standing behind him fixing a list of people they will meet that day.
Elrik taps his foot impatiently.
Elrik says, "You are late."
Ryu walks out of the crowd, calm and quiet his face not showing any feelings.
Ryu says flatly "I got lost."
Elrik. Says, "You got lost? In this town with not many streets?"
Ryu shrugs his shoulders.
Elrik pretends to be upset. Says, "Whatever let us go. We have a meeting with some people who sell clothes."
They start walking Ryu following Elrik.
Later they are walking through a market street going through narrow alleys and making stops.
Elrik talks fast. Makes deals quickly using his charm and confidence to get what he wants.
Ryu walks quietly watching everything around him.
Sometimes Elrik looks at Ryu and says, "So are you going to carry a weapon?"
Ryu says without turning "I do not need one."
Elrik says, "That is not creepy all. Are you going to punch dragons to death or something?"
Ryu says quietly "Maybe."
Ryu puts his finger on his chin. Imagines himself punching a big dragon.
Elrik laughs,. Then he looks at Ryu more carefully.
They stop near a stall. Elrik says, "How old are you? Twenty-five? Thirty?"
Ryu says, "I am seventeen."
Elrik looks surprised. Says, "Seventeen? What kind of war made you look like that?"
Ryu does not say anything just stays quiet and calm.
After a hours of Elriks work they go through a narrow alley. Ryu walks behind Elrik, who's busy reading a scroll.
Then a dagger flies through the air and sticks into the wall beside Ryus head.
He reacts fast grabs a pallet and raises it just as another dagger hits it.
Ryu says in a cold voice "It is an ambush."
Six people jump down from the roofs wearing cloaks and masks and surround them.
Then a woman named Mirel steps out her black hair tied back and a smile on her face.
She says, "Nice clothes. Did the rich kid choose them? It is time to surrender, RedDeath."
Ryu does not blink just grabs Elrik by the back of his collar. Says, "Close your eyes."
He throws Elrik into the air and at the time three daggers fly up towards Elrik.
Ryu moves his hands fast. Three black fireballs shoot out burning the daggers in mid-air.
He lands back on his feet. Says to himself "Six strong assassins and her. I am outnumbered. I can handle twenty or thirty soldiers, but not this. If he dies they will all blame me."
Ryu charges forward kicking with a black flame that sparks on the ground.
The assassins jump back. Mirel blocks Ryus punch easily.
Mirel says, "You are fast."
Ryu does not answer, keeps running carrying Elrik like a sack.
Mirel follows, punching fast. Ryu dodges and hits an assassin breaking his neck.
Mirel says, "Oh you are better than I thought."
Another dagger. Ryu blocks it but a second blade pierces his upper arm.
He does not flinch, keeps running.
An assassin says, "Does he not feel pain?"
Elrik shouts, "You are hurt!"
Ryu says, "Shut up."
Mirel raises her hand. Says, "Do not lose him."
The assassins. Hide in the shadows.
Ryu runs until he is clear of the alley then turns a corner. Enters an empty storage room.
He drops Elrik gently on the ground and Elrik collapses breathing hard his eyes wide with fear.
Elrik says, "What the hell... Who were they? Who the hell are you?"
Ryu says in a voice "Are you alive?"
Elrik nods, still shaking and says, "Y-yes..."
Ryu says, "Good. Let us keep it that way."
He pulls the dagger out of his arm. Throws it aside.
Ryu thinks, "It probably has venom."
Elrik says, "Should you not go to a healer or a doctor?"
Ryu does not answer just looks around the room checking for any danger.
Then he swings his fist into space and a shockwave hits the room making the lanterns shake.
From the darkness Mirel steps out her face surprised.
Mirel says, "You saw me?"
years ago Ryu was a child sitting on a rock by a lake in a forest. He was trying to feel the world with his mana, not his skin.
His teacher, Yizo said, "Close your eyes and feel the world not with your skin but with your mana."
Ryu closed his eyes tight straining hard.
Suddenly he made a sound and Yizo lifted an eyebrow.
Ryu opened one eye. Said, "I felt something! Did it work?"
Yizo said with a face "No idiot. You farted."
Ryu. Yizo said, "But at least you are trying. Now again. This time do not blow wind from the wrong place."
Later Ryu tried again relaxing and breathing quietly.
The wind rustled the grass. A deer stepped into the clearing.
Ryu lifted a finger pointing at the deer without opening his eyes.
Yizo said softly "There now you are doing it."
Back in the present Ryus eyes meet Mirels.
Ryu says in a voice "Shadow magic will not help you."
Mirel says quietly "You are really trained."
She lunges at Ryu. They fight in mid-air, punching and kicking.
Ryu grabs Elrik and hurls him upward past the blades and daggers.
Ryus arm is covered in flames and he compresses his mana inside his fist.
Then he punches the ground and the floorboards explode in fire destroying half of the building.
Two assassins are torn apart by the blast. Ryu disappears into the smoke carrying Elrik on his back.
Outside Ryu stumbles out of the smoke his cloak half-burned and Elrik on his back.
He disappears down a side street gone.
Ryu thinks, "If it were her I would win.. Five? No.. This boy... I cannot let him die."
Inside the burning storage hall Mirel watches the flames, her face
An agent limps beside her bleeding from his arm.
The agent says, "He took out two. While protecting the boy."
Mirel says quietly "He could have killed four five.. He held back."
She crouches beside a scorch mark. Touches the wood burned perfectly clean.
Mirel says, "His mana control is beyond refined.. Fire affinity, like that... Black flames."
She stands up. Says, "Good thing I did not come alone."
She turns to her agents. Says, "We got what we came for. His power level. Fighting style. Magic."
An agent asks nervously "Should we pursue?"
Mirel says softly "No. He knew when to run. That makes him dangerous."
She gets down on her knees again. She runs her gloved fingers over a burn mark on the ground.
MIREL says in a voice: "And the way he looked at us. It was like he was ready to kill all of us."
She lets out a breath. Then she smiles again.. This time her smile is colder.
MIREL says: "He did not run away because he was scared."
There is a pause.
MIREL says: "He ran away because he was thinking about what to do."
There is a silence. The only sound is the flames crackling.
MIREL turns to her agents. Says: "Write down everything that happened. What kind of magic was used. How much energy was used. How everyone reacted.. How long it all took."
There is a pause.
MIREL says: ". Find out where he came from."
She stops at the door of the broken building.
MIREL is smiling to herself. She says in a low voice: "...You are not someone to be hunted."
Her smile starts to fade and her eyes become serious.
MIREL says: "...You are a problem."
Then she disappears into the shadows.
EXT. ABANDONED DRAIN TUNNELS. NIGHT
The tunnels are deep under the part of town where people buy and sell things. They are muddy. Have been forgotten. The only sounds are the drip of water and the crackle of Ryus aura, which is still cooling down.
Ryu is crouched down beside Elrik, who is sitting against a wall with his eyes wide open and shaking. There is ash on his cheek.
Elrik says, trying to catch his breath: "...They were going to kill me."
There is a pause.
Elrik says: "And you -"
Ryu does not say anything. He rips a piece of cloth from his sleeve. Starts to wrap the wound on his arm.
Elrik is staring at the mark where the dagger went in.
Elrik says: "That black fire was not magic was it?"
There is a pause.
Elrik says: "Who are you?"
Ryu does not look at him.
Ryu says in a voice: "No one you need to know."
Elrik says, frustrated: "I do need to know. You just destroyed half a building while carrying me like a bag of rice."
Ryu tightens the cloth around his arm.
Ryu says: "You are still alive. That is what matters."
Elrik says: "Yes, because you kept me alive."
There is a pause.
Elrik says: "...Why?"
Ryu finally looks at him. He does not look cold just tired and old like someone who has been fighting for a time without a reason.
Ryu says: "If I let you die I would make enemies that I'm not ready to fight yet."
Elrik blinks.
Elrik says: "...That is it?"
Ryu shrugs.
Ryu says: "It is enough."
Elrik shakes his head slowly trying to laugh. It sounds shaky and empty.
Elrik says: "You are crazy. I hire a bodyguard. I end up being protected by a living weapon."
There is a pause.
Elrik says: "You are human right?"
Ryu does not say anything.
Instead he lifts his head and his eyes narrow.
The air starts to tremble.
His senses start to reach out like sonar.
Ryu says in a voice: "They will come again. Not tonight,. Soon."
Elrik laughs bitterly.
Elrik says: "Great that is comforting."
The fire on Ryus skin has cooled down. The wound is covered. Elrik is breathing slowly now. He is still pale. He is calmer.
There is a silence between them.
The only sound is the water dripping.
Finally Elrik says something.
Elrik says in a voice: "So that is it? You saved me because it was... An idea?"
Ryu leans against the damp wall of the tunnel and one of his eyes is still scanning the darkness.
Ryu says: "It was not personal."
Elrik grinds his teeth.
Elrik says: "It felt pretty personal when I was dodging knives that were meant for my neck."
There is a pause.
Elrik says: "...But I get it."
He opens a pouch on his belt. There is a clink of coins. Then another. Then another. A whole bag of coins.
He throws it. It lands beside Ryus foot.
Elrik says: "I will pay you three times the rate. No negotiating."
Ryu looks at the bag. He does not move.
Elrik says firmly: "You kept me alive. That is worth more than money. It is what I have."
Ryu does not look at the bag of coins.
He looks at Elrik.
For a time he just looks at him until Elrik starts to feel uncomfortable.
Then Ryu says something.
Ryu says in a voice: "You talk too much."
Elrik snorts.
Elrik says: "And you do not talk enough.. Somehow we are still alive."
There is a pause.
The sound of the water echoes deeper in the tunnel.
Elrik says in a voice: "...You are more than what I expected. A lot more."
There is a pause.
Elrik says: "I do not know who sent them but I will find out."
Ryu says: "That is not your fight."
Elrik says: "Maybe not. They made it my problem when they tried to kill me."
There is a pause.
Elrik says: "You do not survive in business by ignoring warnings."
Ryu does not say anything. He gets down on his knees. Picks up the bag of coins.
Elrik nods once.
Elrik says: "Good."
He turns to leave and his boots echo faintly against the stone.
Then he stops.
He looks over his shoulder and his eyes are sharp but not mocking.
Elrik says: "Well... I wish you luck, Ryu."
There is a pause.
Elrik says: "We might meet again."
Ryu does not say anything. He walks away.
Ryu says: "Yes we might meet again."
EXT. BURNED WAREHOUSE RUINS. NIGHT
The wind is blowing low through the remains of the burned warehouse. The beams are. They creak in the wind. The smoke is gone. The air still smells like ash and fire.
Ryu walks through the wreckage. His boots crunch softly over the blackened wood and broken tiles.
There are no bodies.
There is no blood.
There is no sign of the assassins he killed.
There is silence.
He crouches down where one of them fell and his hand brushes over the floor. It is smooth and clean. Too clean.
Ryu says in a voice: "...So you came back."
There is a pause.
Ryu says: "You did not want to leave any evidence behind."
He stands up.
His cloak flutters faintly in the breeze.
He scans the debris again. Then his eye catches something.
A piece of paper. Half-buried under a crate.
He pulls it out.
He dusts it off.
He opens it.
There are a few bold letters at the top written in red ink.
"RED"
There is a pause.
"DEATH"
Ryu stares at the words.
He does not show any emotion. His eyes narrow slightly.
Ryu says in a voice: "...So that is what they are calling me now."
The paper rustles in his hand.
Then -
FADE TO BLACK.
[END, OF CHAPTER]