Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2016 17:08:10 GMT -5
Hwa-Jae tightened her gloves as the morning sun peeked over the horizon and light flooded into Mount Frappe’s wintery valley. She did not greet the sun with her usual morning smile. Instead, she focused on getting ready to leave, her thoughts solely on her Old Master Fuega still in the burning clutches of Cineza. How powerless she had been in taking on a stronger, darker Kasai. Hwa-Jae tied her cheongsam tight and slipped her feet into her boots. She thought of the Kasai Temple and what Cineza’s words meant. There was no way the temple could have fallen so easily. Elder Sister Pyya would not have allowed it.
As she readied to leave, Koge walked over to Hwa-Jae, nudging her with his beak. “You are really leaving,” he said, “I’d be careful if I were you. That blondie beat the spit right out of you. She’s got a chip on her shoulder a mile wide and I’m almost certain she won’t be holding back on you the next time you cross paths.”
Hwa-Jae nodded, but otherwise kept quiet. She stared out into the forest before her. Her mind swam with what she would encounter. She needed to hope for the best, but expect the worst. Eventually she said, “I know Cineza is dangerous and I’m not strong enough to deal with her. But she said she went to the temple and after I felt her power. I need to go back home and make sure everyone is safe.”
“What if they’re not?” the kikui bird asked, “What will you do if you find you lost everything? You’re in an emotionally vulnerable state, not to mention that woman could be leading you into a trap because of that.”
“I don’t care!” Hwa-Jae roared, the heat from the Sukinbaningu leaking from her gloves. She looked down on her hands and could smell the burnt padding inside the gloves. Such a response from her anger surprised Hwa-Jae. She normally had much better control. Taking a deep breath, Hwa-Jae turned away from Koge.
“I don’t care if it’s a trap. I don’t care if Cineza is waiting for me. I need to know that the temple and the Sisters… to know my home and family are safe. She managed to capture my master, which means she had to have fought Elder Sister Pyya and the other guardians… and win. I need to go back and help my Sisters in this terrible time. I need to make sure they are OK… I know they are. They have to be.”
Koge shook his head. “Your wounds have not completely healed, but I know it’s going to be useless to argue with you.”
Hwa-Jae let her shoulders slump as she realized she was talking harshly with her avian friend, but her nerves were shot. She was still computing that her friend, her best friend could have done something as horrible as join forces with the Black Fire Witch.
“We’ll see each other again, Koge,” Hwa-Jae said, “Just look for my flare in the sky.”
Dashing away, Hwa-Jae took to the skies in a blazing red aura. Her flight powered by ki, Hwa-Jae hurtled through the skies as the land hurtled below her. Trees, mountains, rivers and plateaus all blurred together in Hwa-Jae’s mind, but she instinctively knew where to go. The Temple was home and Hwa-Jae learned from a long age to find her home no matter where she was.
The flight did give Hwa-Jae time to think and prepare. She needed to be ready for anything. To her, the best possible scenario was that she returned and Cineza was simply lying to get a rise out of her. Maybe Cineza did attack and maybe she did hurt some of the Sisters, but also maybe the wounds were minor.
Hwa-Jae could not ignore the worst case scenario. As demonstrated in their skirmish on Mount Frappe, Cineza used the Kasai with deadly power and a savagery completely unfathomable to Hwa-Jae. All her life, Hwa-Jae was taught to use the flame to help others, to be the light against the Cold Dark. She knew the fire of the Kasai was dangerous, but never imagined someone, especially Cineza, would use it for such malicious purposes.
Yet Cineza showed herself to be such a person and she wielded the Kasai like a sword. Hwa-Jae could not shake Cineza’s eyes out of her mind. They appeared like that of a serpent, completely at odds to her original human eyes. What happened in their shared upbringing that lead to one forsaking the Kasai and the other faithful to its tenants?
“Elder Sister Pyya is the strongest of the Kasai,” Hwa-Jae said aloud to reaffirm herself. “There is no way Cineza could have defeated her.”
Forests gave way to plains, plains gave way to rivers, and rivers gave way to mountains as Hwa-Jae neared the Kasai Temple. Her heart began to race the closer she became to her old home. Images danced in her head of her landing in the middle of the temple grounds to see everyone safe and sound. Sister Tanta would chase the younglings out of the kitchens, while the Kasai guardians stood vigilant against Cineza or perhaps keeping an eye out for Old Master Fuega. Elder Sister Pyya would shout orders in that demanding voice of hers and at the sight of Hwa-Jae she would walk down from the main temple steps and berate her for some slight or another.
It would be like the old days.
---
Her imagination could not have been so far from the truth.
As Hwa-Jae crested over a plateau, her eyes went wide and her heart stopped for a moment out of shock. Before she left, the Kasai Temple stood out in the middle of a mountain range with large buildings made of from red and orange bricks. Tall towers stood erect carrying bonfires on the very top with roaring flames as an emblem of the Kasai. Sisters walked amongst green grounds with paved stone walkways. A massive mandala lay in the very center of the temple complex with the eight cardinal directions drawn in a highly detail manner. Kasai guardians would keep watch in great towers that keep silent vigilant over the land. Merchants and visitors from the more modern world would roll into the town on cars and carts alike and the Sisters would welcome all with open arms.
Now, the image of the Kasai Temple that lay before Hwa-Jae came as if it were ripped straight from her nightmares. The buildings, at least those that were not smoldering heaps of rubble, stood blackened and charred. The great torches gave only smoke from fires snuffed, the emblem of the Kasai silenced by a malicious hand. The mandala, the great icon of Kasai teachings, lay scorched and ruined by a terrible blasphemer. No one came to the temple to visit for the roads were all destroyed.
Most horrible of all were the countless charred bodies that lay strewn about. Sisters young and old no longer walked, but remained as burnt corpses on the ground. The Kasai guardians had it the worst, for little remained but blackened bones and piles of ashes.
Cineza descended on the Kasai Temple that stood for centuries and reduced it all to cinders in a night.
Hwa-Jae collapsed to her knees as she looked around her ruined home. “No…” she whispered in a small, scared voice, “No… this can’t be happening… this is a bad dream, a nightmare… I’ll wake up and see my Sisters again. This can’t be happening… This can’t be!”
Falling onto her hands, Hwa-Jae clawed at the ground and grasped handfuls of ashes. Ashes that once were her home, her houses of study, her dojos to train in. Ashes that once were her friends and mentors, now long dead after Cineza’s rampage.
“No…” Tears fell from her eyes and mixed with the ashes below. “No! No! NO!”
Unable to control herself, Hwa-Jae cried out into the air as a stream of fire erupted from her mouth. Hwa-Jae coughed having never breathed fire before, only for another breath to let loose the flames, followed by another. When flames did not spew from her maw, Hwa-Jae wailed like a child. Everything she loved and cared for was gone; destroyed by the very skills, techniques, and power Hwa-Jae studied for the majority of her life.
Destroyed by the one person Hwa-Jae considered her closest Sister.
Her throat sore and her voice hoarse, Hwa-Jae stood back up and looked around the ruins of the Kasai Temple. She needed to find survivors of Cineza’s brutal assault. Just one survivor was all Hwa-Jae needed to find.
With heavy steps, Hwa-Jae walked towards the living quarters. This was where Hwa-Jae, Cineza, and their Sisters slept and kept what few personal belongings they owned. Hwa-Jae did not herself call many items her own. Ever since the fire that destroyed her home and killed her parents when she was little, Hwa-Jae held little mementos of the time before Old Master Fuega adopted her into the Temple. Her memories were blurry as well. She remembered her mother and her father smiling at her, holding her, hoisting her up to the air, playing with her. Hwa-Jae gave thanks that the few memories she had of her parents were good ones.
“Another home burnt down,” Hwa-Jae said in her grief-stricken daze, “Is this what my life is to be like? To be happy only for the place of my happiness to be reduced to cinders?”
Grief turned to anger in quick fashion. If Cineza made this place as one for an ambush, Hwa-Jae dared her to attack now. She clenched her fists and ground her teeth, her temperature rising in her hands. Hwa-Jae opened her hands to see small flames lashing out from her palms. She did not recall calling for hinotamas or any fire.
Hwa-Jae quickly squelched the flames in her hands. She never summoned the flames out of sheer anger like that before. Never before had the fires that sparked in her hands felt so wrong. It went against every teaching of the Kasai Temple to use the flame out of rage. Taking a deep breath, Hwa-Jae tried to calm her frazzled nerves and focus on finding survivors rather than on Cineza.
She wandered the blackened halls of the living quarters with a gloved hand over her mouth to prevent inhaling ashes. Hwa-Jae did not want to think that she not only breathed in the remains of her home, but the remains of her friends and beloved teachers. As she walked, Hwa-Jae opened the doors of any room she passed by. Many of them were empty; it seemed that Cineza attacked in broad daylight. A bold attack by a clearly insane foe.
Of course, the Kasai would not have seen such an attack coming. Cineza was one of their own, trusted to become the Dragon that would lead them to victory in battle. How could they? They trusted her as a beacon of the Kasai. That beacon used their trust to destroy them.
As she searched the living quarters, she found some of the rooms were occupied. Hwa-Jae did not linger in those rooms, quickly turning away and choking on her tears. Those that streamed down her face turned to mud thanks to the cloud of ash that lingered in the air. Her lungs burned as she tried to find someone, anyone. Even just one survivor could heal her broken heart.
Finally, Hwa-Jae found her way back to her old room. When her hand pressed against the surface of the door, it fell off its hinges and collapsed into a splintering pile of charcoal. The inside did not look much better. The flames from Cineza’s attack destroyed everything Hwa-Jae held dear. Her sacred clothes used for more formal ceremonies were little more than rags now. Her various scrolls that contained her favourite stories and teachings were little more than ash. None of the photos of her or Cineza remained, for all had been reduced to ash. Lastly, the only remnant of her parents, a small stuffed bunny rabbit, lay half burned on her destroyed bed.
Gingerly, Hwa-Jae held up her toy rabbit and held it close to her chest. Ignoring the ashes on the ground, Hwa-Jae sat down on the floor of her room as she did years ago whenever she felt scared or lonely. She rocked back and forth with the rabbit in her arms and mumbled a lullaby, the only sound of her mother she remembered:
The moon is bright, the wind is quiet,
The tree leaves hang over the window,
My little baby, go to sleep quickly,
Sleep, dreaming sweet dreams.
The moon is bright, the wind is quiet,
The cradle moving softly,
My little one, close your eyes,
Sleep, sleep, dreaming sweet dreams
The verse, interrupted at times with Hwa-Jae drawing hard breaths, did not continue onto the third when the door to her closet creaked open. With one hand on her stuffed bunny and the other hand holding a hinotama, Hwa-Jae spun around and into a fighting stance when she saw her roommate Sister Smolde step out into the light. She looked ragged and tired, her clothes covered in soot. With shaky steps, Smolde approached Hwa-Jae only to leap forward, embracing her Sister and crying into her shoulder.
“Oh thank whatever gods are watching,” she said, though her voice was coarse. “Thank you for coming back, Hwa-Jae! Thank you!”
Hwa-Jae dissipated the fireball in her hand, dropped her toy rabbit, and hugged her Sister tight. “Smolde,” she breathed out, “I’m so happy you’re alive. What happened? Who attacked the Temple? Tell me everything!”
Therefore, Smolde did, explaining that Cineza descended on the Temple and began to burn everything to the ground. While the attack itself seemed random, there was apparently a method to Cineza’s madness. Her focus was not on the Temple or even all of the Sisters, but on the Kasai guardians who actually wielded the flame. They fought bravely, but all for naught. Cineza’s power dwarfed them all from the youngest initiate to Elder Sister Pyya.
“She lasted the longest against that traitor, that monster!” Smolde yelled with grief. “But nothing anyone did stopped her or even slowed her down. I don’t know how, but she drove Elder Sister Pyya to a breaking point. It was the only time I saw that woman lose her sadistic grin, when Sister Pyya… when she changed. She became so scary, Hwa-Jae. Her skin went all red and there were cracks in it and fire… so much fire. I’ve never anyone turn into a monster like that.”
“But even though she changed, Pyya could not beat Cineza. She couldn’t defeat Pyya either, so instead she threw Pyya into the Pyre. With the Pyre sealed and the Kasai… gone… that woman just let her fires burn as she took Old Master Fuega away. Some of us are still hiding in the underground, mostly the younglings and a few of the non-Kasai.”
Sister Smolde began to weep again. “I hid away trying to find some food and water to bring back. I thought you were that woman until I heard your voice. Hwa-Jae, what are we going to do? The Temple is lost forever!”
Hwa-Jae hugged Smolde tighter. “Everything will be fine,” she said, “We’ll do what we can to rebuild. Do you… do you remember the story of the phoenix? The great bird of fire Old Master Fuega tells to all the younglings? We’ll be like the phoenix and rise from the ashes.”
Her brow furrowed. “And don’t worry about Cineza. I’ll find her, rescue Old Master Fuega, and stop Cineza from hurting anyone else with her evil fire. You have my word. Now, go get the other survivors and find the emergency capsules. I’ll find Elder Sister Pyya and help her. We need her leadership.”
Sister Smolde nodded and ran off to get the others, leaving Hwa-Jae alone in the living quarters. Hwa-Jae left the ruined building, charged her ki, and moved with incredible speed towards the Pyre, the heart of the main Kasai prayer building. The Pyre produced a flame of incredible size and heat that burned for almost a thousand years, and provided a place for group prayer and meditation. Only Elder Sisters were to enter the Pyre due to intense heat and energy the flames produced.
As Hwa-Jae approached the most revered site of the Kasai Temple, she saw more of the fallen Kasai guardians slain on the steps of the main temple. The nightmare continued for Hwa-Jae as she walked up the steps. It was here that Kasai initiates first began there tests. She considered it grotesque that it was here many of their journeys ended.
Hwa-Jae shook those thoughts from her mind; she needed to focus on finding Pyya. When Hwa-Jae entered the main temple building, she saw that the Pyre’s fire was at the most dim the fire had ever been, yet still not completely snuffed. A small flame flickered in the cold wind, yet despite its small size, the fire gave Hwa-Jae some semblance of hope. If that fire could survive, so could her beloved Kasai Temple.
She descended the steps of the building towards the lowest reaches where the main entrance of the Pyre laid waiting. All around the path were hundreds of scorch marks, signs of the struggle between Cineza and Pyya. As she made her way, Hwa-Jae’s thoughts turned to Pyya and what sort of technique she could have used to become a fiery monster. Only one came to mind, but it was long forbidden by Old Master Fuega as to become a cautionary tale rather than a true technique to use and master. That said, Pyya was an Elder Sister for a reason. She likely had access to techniques and training from the Old Master that most Kasai could not hope to achieve.
Hwa-Jae walked up to the large stone doors that separated her from the Pyre. She stood in front of the doors when she was younger and Elder Sister Pyya told the Kasai initiates about the deeper regions of the temple, but Hwa-Jae never thought she would be in here for a long while. Before, the roar of the Pyre echoed in the solid stone room even past the doors. An Elder Sister would keep the Pyre working and for fuel they used only rare, long burning logs from the nearby forests. To light the Pyre was an honour reserved for the most dedicated of the Kasai.
The first test was to simply open the door. Hwa-Jae looked up at the heavy stone door and slowly took off her gloves. She did not need to worry about the Sukinbaningu burning anyone here, of all places. In fact, Hwa-Jae needed the Burning Skin Technique more than ever.
She pressed her hands against the stone door and began to channel her ki towards the tips of her fingers. The heat of the Sukinbaningu started to rise and the stone door began to glow in response to the heat and energy Hwa-Jae fed into it. Slowly, the door began to shift against her hands until it opened wide for Hwa-Jae to enter the Pyre.
Hwa-Jae swallowed hard and stepped into the darkness. With her hand open Hwa-Jae created a fireball to light her way. The light from her fire revealed a only a simple stone room, large in scale, with a tall wood burning Pyre in the center. Laying on her side, Elder Sister Pyya took in heavy gasps of air. Hwa-Jae walked up to her rather curt teacher, only to see the cracks in her skin. Blood did not flow, but instead out came flames. Pyya’s red eyes, now long bloodshot, held a rage in them Hwa-Jae never saw before.
Pyya turned her head at the sound of Hwa-Jae’s footsteps. The older woman snarled and slowly got up to her feet. With the light of the fireball, Hwa-Jae could see that Pyya’s muscles had grown in size giving Pyya a much bulkier appearance. Her nails grew into blackened claws and from her mouth spewed a stream of fire.
Gazing at Hwa-Jae with glazed over with blind rage, Pyya hissed at her and raised a bony hand. From her palm came a hinotama of great size, far larger than anything Hwa-Jae was capable of. The flaming ball hurtled towards Hwa-Jae with the roar of a great blaze, crackling in the air. Hwa-Jae dodged out of the way and landed on her hands and feet ready to spring back into action. Pyya’s hinotama smashed into the wall with a violent explosion that shook the entire Pyre Room.
Pyya lumbered towards with slow movements, her body likely weakened by her battle with Cineza. Hwa-Jae figured that Pyya maintained herself through the Iyashino-en, the Flame That Heals technique. With that technique, Pyya absorbed the only flame available to her and that was the one from the Pyre. However, with the Pyre flame now dying, Pyya did not have a source of fire to draw energy from. Hwa-Jae focused her senses on Pyya and felt that when lured away from the fire, Pyya’s ki dropped rapidly.
Despite the downward spiral of her ki, Pyya was still a dangerous opponent to face, especially in this twisted, scalding transformation. The darkness in the room did not act as a hindrance thanks to the near constant flames that flowed from Pyya’s wounds, illuminating her and the room together.
Hwa-Jae raised her hands in preparation to defend herself. Doubts filled her head as Pyya neared her with claws outstretched and ready to strike. Pyya was her teacher and while a grouch, Hwa-Jae did not know if she had the heart to fight her teacher even in this monstrous state. At a height of six feet and seven inches tall, Pyya looked like the domineering and physical master of the Kasai Hato Katchachi. Her strength and skill in the martial arts were well known to those in the Temple. However, Hwa-Jae did need to do anything and everything possible to save Pyya from her own torment. The Kasai Temple needed her. The surviving Sisters needed her.
Even Hwa-Jae admitted she needed the wisdom of Elder Sister Pyya, despite the sharp tongue that spoke such wise words.
“I’m sorry,” Hwa-Jae said as she took on a fighting stance, “but now I need to do everything I can to snap you out of your rage. And if that means I need to beat you, Pyya, then that’s what I’m going to do!”
Pyya did not respond with words but with her long burning claws. She swiped downward at Hwa-Jae who only just managed to get out of the way. The claws sank into the stone floor, melting the ground until it was little more than a burning pool.
Hwa-Jae quickly tried to strike at Pyyra with a stiff kick, only to recoil from the intense heat coming off from Pyya’s body. She could not take on the fire from Pyya’s body, as the fire that raged all over her body was fueled by her ki. Hwa-Jae’s power to absorb fire only lasted to natural flames or those created by her own ki. The fire of Pyya could still harm Hwa-Jae greatly, and in this strange transformed state, Hwa-Jae needed to be incredibly cautious.
Seeing the result of Pyya’s failed attack paused Hwa-Jae in her tracks. If she made any sort of physical counter, her flesh and bones would not be able to withstand being melted by Pyya’s hands when, rather than if, Pyya managed to defend herself. Pyya taught Hwa-Jae everything she knew about hand-to-hand combat and despite being little more than an enraged beast at this moment, Hwa-Jae did not doubt Pyya could still block and grab as well as she did before. Hwa-Jae needed to come up with a better way to take her martial arts master down.
Pyya attacked again, thrusting her claws outward. Unable to properly block thanks to the intense heat from the claws, Hwa-Jae ducked and weaved around the strikes instead. She backpedaled, never losing sight of Pyya in front of her as she dodged blow after blow. One claw swipe managed to clip her, burning through her cheongsam like a hot knife through butter, but left Hwa-Jae unharmed.
That said Hwa-Jae felt the warm stone of the Pyre Room wall pressed against her back. Now against a wall, her options against Pyya shrank a great deal. Pyya roared and raised her right hand high above her head, ready to make a fatal, burning strike against Hwa-Jae.
Hwa-Jae looked up beyond Pyya’s head towards the stone ceiling. There was one thing that could save her. She raised one hand to Pyya but slightly to the side, ki forming a burning ball against her palm. With a shout, Hwa-Jae invoked the name of the technique.
“Hinotama!”
A fireball flashed outward, surrounding the area with light as it struck and exploded against the stone ceiling. The force of the blast was enough to cause several of the stone slabs to fall right on top of Pyya’s head. Forced to recoil, Pyya roared and hissed as she swung her clawed hands wildly in every direction out of both fury and desperation, seeking the transgressor to her injury but her bestial mind never knowing that it was the very stone that surrounded her.
With Pyya blind and stunned, Hwa-Jae made her move. She lashed out with a hard palm aimed right at Pyya’s jaw. The impact from the blow echoed in the empty room. Pyya looked up only to receive several snap kicks to her abdomen. Each hit pushed Pyya back and she could do little to stop it thanks to the incredible pain her head inflicted on her.
Seeing Pyya on the proverbial ropes, Hwa-Jae lifted her leg, spun on her other heel, and struck out with a powerful kick to Pyya’s temple. Like a battering ram striking the gates of a castle, the sheer force from the kick was enough to bring Pyya down. The Elder Sister collapsed onto the cold floor with a thud. Her various open wounds that spat fire before now cooled into disfiguring scars of burnt flesh and blood. Pyya’s eyes closed as they turned normal for a moment and looked up into Hwa-Jae’s. For a moment, there was clarity, but it quickly faded as Pyya fell to unconsciousness.
The fight was over, but the crisis did not end with Pyya’s defeat. Hwa-Jae felt her teacher’s ki deplete, only for Pyya’s life energy to suddenly diminish. Hwa-Jae panicked for a moment as she lifted the unconscious body of her teacher onto her shoulders. The size difference made it a bit awkward considering Hwa-Jae’s lesser stature. She walked in the darkness towards the exit of the Pyre with only a small fireball to guide her.
When Hwa-Jae opened the door, Sister Smolde and the other survivors, including the younglings, were waiting for her to emerge. “Sister Hwa-Jae!” Smolde ran to Hwa-Jae and helped Pyya onto the stairs. “Oh no… Elder Sister Pyya, will she be alright?”
Hwa-Jae did not have an answer. She never felt someone’s life energy being drained as quickly as Pyya’s was now. She removed her glove and pressed a hand against Pyya’s forehead; she did not fear the Sukinbaningu burning Pyya as she maintained the same technique as well. Hwa-Jae tensed as she felt the source of their troubles; with Pyya in such a weakened state from her battle against Cineza and now Hwa-Jae, the Kasai needed to be fed a great deal of energy. Since the transformation sapped her ki, the Kasai now fed on her very essence.
“She needs a fire,” Sister Smolde said, “quick, go get some wood! The Iyashino-en will heal her!”
“No,” Hwa-Jae said, holding up her hand to stop her Sisters. “There isn’t enough time to make a fire big enough to heal Pyya, and I can’t use my hinotamas either, since our ki will be opposed to another.”
Fear crept into Smolde’s eyes as she realized that the Temple may soon be left without Pyya. “There has to be something we can do.”
“There… there is!” Hwa-Jae removed one of her gloves, alarming Sister Smolde. Her hand, pink from the heat of the Sukinbaningu, radiated an immense warmth. Pyya needed energy to survive the draining effects of the Wildfire State. If that was the case, then energy was what she would receive.
Holding Pyya’s head in one hand, Hwa-Jae raised the other to Pyya’s forehead and began to concentrate. She kept her focus on Pyya while Smolde ran to get water to help it down her throat. With the aid of the drink, all the Kasai Sisters could do was wait.
Hwa-Jae never felt anything like it. It was as if there was an emptiness in Pyya, though she could not tell if it was because of the Wildfire transformation or something else. She paid it no mind though as she offered a portion of her ki to Pyya, which the later took on willingly. Pyya swallowed the water, only to then suddenly open her eyes wide. She coughed, struggling to get to her feet, only to give Hwa-Jae her typical, critical eye. “What… Sister Hwa-Jae… it can’t be…”
“Everything is alright,” Hwa-Jae said, trying to reassure the stern master, “I’m here now. You were in some kind of… burning form. The Wildfire State. I helped bring you back from that dangerous power.”
Pyya did not immediately respond. She still looked rather weak and completely dazed. Hwa-Jae took hold of her arm and helped guide Pyya upstairs. “We’ll get you some rest, Elder Sister. Don’t worry about anything, I’ll make sure the Temple is protected.”
When Pyya still did not reply, Hwa-Jae looked up to see the strict teacher of the Kasai silently weep. As tears fell from her eyes, Hwa-Jae felt Pyya’s gloved hands squeeze down on Hwa-Jae’s palms as if she was a lifeline. Together with the rest of the survivors, they ascended back to their shared ruined temple.
---
Hwa-Jae waited for Pyya on the stairs to the main building while the younglings and surviving Sisters busied themselves with preparations to leave. Pyya announced that the Sisters would travel to West City to stay with the Orin Temple until such a time that the Kasai Temple could be rebuilt. For Hwa-Jae, Pyya wanted to speak with her alone but only when she was ready.
Looking over her frightened and tired Sisters, Hwa-Jae’s heart sank. How long had they waited amongst the ashes in fear that maybe Cineza would return. She tried to console them over the loss of home and friends, but many would not accept her soothing words. Some of the children continued to whimper and cry as they waited for Pyya.
“Sister Hwa-Jae,” said a strong voice. Hwa-Jae looked up to see Elder Sister Pyya at the top of the stairs with her hands behind her back. Like a reflex, Hwa-Jae quickly bounded up the stairs to Pyya’s side, bowing low out of respect. Pyya only inclined her head in acknowledgement.
Pyya began to walk inside the main building and without a word, Hwa-Jae followed her. No one spoke for five minutes until they approached the dying flame of the Temple. With the flame little more a wisp in the wind, the building gave Hwa-Jae a chill down her spine as if she was back on Mount Frappe.
“I would have words, Sister Hwa-Jae,” Pyya said, “And I do hope you listen.”
(Elder Sister Pyya)
Hwa-Jae stood as still and as silent as a statue as Pyya began to speak. “This is the greatest calamity to have ever fallen on the Kasai Temple. Our temple is in ruins. All of the Kasai Guardians save three are dead. The Old Master has been kidnapped. All this done by something the Elder Sisters have always feared: a rogue Kasai. Not only a rogue, but one of incredible power and from our own ranks. The one meant to lead us as the Dragon.. I wonder if the Kasai can even survive this terrible tragedy.”
Pyya looked down on Hwa-Jae thanks to her height. “Sister Hwa-Jae… I did not think much of you when you first joined the Kasai initiates at a young age. I thought you were impulsive, flighty, and too naïve to be an effective warrior of fire. You ravenous hunger did not help matters. I thought the flame would refuse you, but when it was trained, it stayed with you much to my dismay. Even now, you still lack control of the Sukinbaningu. I looked at you and saw a girl who lacked discipline and mental control.”
Hwa-Jae’s eyes turned downcast as Elder Sister Pyya berated her in her face, even though they were surrounded by Cineza’s devastation to their home. She always knew Pyya did not like her, but to continue the way she was in this desperate time seemed unreasonably cruel.
“However,” Pyya continued, “what you held in your heart more than any other student was a drive to learn, to improve, but most of all, the will to be true to the teachings of the Kasai. Your strength has improved to incredible levels, Sister Hwa-Jae. Your skills have been sharpened in such a way that you defeated me in the Wildfire State, despite my own weakness. Of greatest importance, you returned to the Temple in its time of need. Even though you still lack the control of the Sukinbaningu, I believe there may be a reason for that for which I will have to research. Despite this, to deny you, of all Sisters, advancement in the Kasai would be a great injustice.”
Elder Sister Pyya then removed her gloves, revealing the long, intricate tattoos, known to the sisterhood as spirit lines, on her hands given to Kasai guardians when they achieved such highly regarded status. She held out her hands palms downward and waited for Hwa-Jae to join her. Hwa-Jae slowly took off her gloves as realization dawned on her of what was about to happen. She let the gloves fall to the floor, leaving her burning hands out in the open.
Pyya took hold of Hwa-Jae’s hands with a tight grip only to suddenly blaze with a powerful aura. Hwa-Jae’s own fiery aura sparked to life, the two joining in one. With a shout, Pyya surged her ki from her hands into Hwa-Jae’s own. Hwa-Jae felt her own spirit lines searing across her skin. The lines that normally ended on her elbows soon grew to the middle of her palms forming the character of the Kasai.
Hwa-Jae stared at her palms in complete and utter disbelief. She never imagined she’d become a true Kasai like this. The power that coursed through her veins felt incredible. The Sukinbaningu still burned in her hands and so she would need to still wear gloves, but now she held just that much more strength as a true guardian of the Kasai Temple. Maybe now she could stand a chance against Cineza.
“I have unlocked your potential as a Kasai. You are now a true Kasai, like your Sisters before you. Remember these words: ‘The Flame Awakens.’” Pyya bowed to Hwa-Jae in respect. “The strength of our order now flows through your veins. Water is no longer your foe, as your flame burns hotter than any water could quench. You are also now the only one who can find Old Master Fuega and bring her home. I never thought I would say this, but you are the Temple’s only hope. You’ve proven yourself beyond a shadow of a doubt.”
“Cineza is powerful though,” Hwa-Jae replied, “She trounced me on Mount Frappe and she is laying a trap for me on Mount Paozu.”
“That she may,” Pyya said, “but it will be a trap you will be prepared for. Continue your training. Continue seeking masters and powerful fighters outside of the temple to train with and become stronger. When you are ready, you will face Cineza. She may know the place, but you will determine the hour of the battle. And you will emerge victorious.”
As they stood on the temple steps, Hwa-Jae could not help but have conflicted feelings of her ascension into the ranks of the Kasai Guardians. This was what she wanted all along after all, to become a true Kasai. However, she thought she would have ascended to such a rank with all of her fellow Sisters, Elder Sisters, and Old Master Fuega in attendance. It should have been a happy occasion with smiles and celebrations. She still felt herself a novice after all.
Instead, the ashes of her dead sisters and the snuffed fires of the Kasai Temple surrounded Hwa-Jae.
"There is one more thing you must know, Sister Hwa-Jae," Pyya continued, "The state you found me in is called the Wildfire State. It is an ability used only in the most desperate situations, as it transforms the Kasai into a powerful monster of flame and embers, as you saw with me. It is a dangerous form, as the Wildfire State will consume your ki as a ravenous furnace would burn wood. However, without a means to stop it, the Wildfire State will also consume the life energy of the Kasai to use it. A Kasai cannot end the Wildfire on their own. It will increase your power by several magnitudes, but you will lose control of your ki and become little more than a mindless beast."
Shaking her head, Pyya closed her eyes. "Only use the Wildfire State as a last resort. I am too weak now to join you in the hunt for Cineza and without another Kasai, you will not be able to exit the Wildfire State. You are the last Kasai, Sister Hwa-Jae. If anything were to happen to you, then the Temple is lost."
Pyya began to walk down the steps of the main temple building towards the surviving Sisters. As she walked, she talked. “The Kasai will not be snuffed in a single sweeping motion by a rogue. A fire may die, but it can be reignited. With Old Master Fuega returned to us, we will rebuild. It is up to you, Hwa-Jae, to complete this daunting task. While my faith in you was not exactly high when you were younger, Fuega saw something that others did not. Perhaps I should open my eyes for a change and see the light before me. I now put my faith in you as she does now.”
Pyya reached into her robes and pulled out a small capsule. She pressed down on the pin and threw it to the ground where an explosion rocked the ground, leaving a large puff of smoke. When the dust cleared, a bus stood where the capsule landed. Pyya urged the survivors of Cineza’s attack into the bus.
“I will take the Sisters to the Orin Temple now,” Pyya said to Hwa-Jae, “I hope when I see you next, it is with our Old Master. Fight well, Sister Hwa-Jae. Know your duty to the Living Flame. Bring Cineza to justice, or end her life if you are forced to.”
Hwa-Jae eyes went wide while Pyya climbed into the driver’s seat and drove off with her fellow Sisters. As she watched the bus leave, she saw Sister Smolde peek out the window. Smolde waved a tearful goodbye as the bus drove off, the dust from the dirt road obfuscating her. Hwa-Jae stood alone in the ruins of the now abandoned temple, thinking hard of what she was to do next.
She had not realized what Cineza’s betrayal meant. As the last of the Kasai, it was Hwa-Jae’s sworn duty to find Cineza and defeat. But if the battle dragged on and Cineza was lost to evil, then would Hwa-Jae be forced to kill the one person she considered her true Sister?
Hwa-Jae looked around the ruined temple grounds and could not decide on a course of action. She needed to get away from the world to clear her head. Wanting to be as far away from the ashes as possible, Hwa-Jae took flight and headed towards the sky and the one place on Earth farthest from it.
***
Elder Sister Pyya walked through the Orin Temple as the rest of the Sisters settled in. Joined together with some of the Orin monks, Pyya remained silent as she tried to decide on her next course of action. Her rage over the destruction of the Kasai Temple conflicted with her grief over the fact that she sent Hwa-Jae on what appeared to be a death sentence. Cineza's strength was incredible, and she possessed the power and skills of a Kasai warrior the likes not even Elder Sister Pyya thought possible. It seemed hopeless for one such as Hwa-Jae could hope to defeat the rogue Kasai.
"Gah!" Pyya suddenly shouted, clenching her fist. The two Orin monks she walked with stopped and looked at her with surprise. "This is ridiculous! Am I not an Elder Sister of the Kasai? How can I send the last Kasai on a death wish all by herself? What does that say about my own courage as a warrior that I would send the last of my students to certain doom all alone!"
Elder Sister Pyya turned to face the monks she walked with. "Make sure the Sisters are well taken care of. If I find out any of them have been treated poorly, I'll come back like a bolt of lightning and reduce this place to ashes. Many of the Sisters are nice and will be helpful to you. I, however, am not so forgiving. Remember this."
With her warning given, the Elder Sister left the Orin Temple. She tossed down a capsule, revealing a motorcycle she had not used for many years. Taking a seat and gripping the handles, Pyya revved the engine of the motorcycle before riding off through the streets of West City. Buildings zoomed by as she travelled down the road. As she left West City, Pyya thought on Hwa-Jae and how much she had grown since she left the temple to take part of Old Master Fuega's pilgrimage.
"I never thought it would happen," Pyya said as she rode off into the night. "You, inspiring me, Hwa-Jae. Now then, I'm going to train harder than ever before to recover my power and join you in your battle against Cineza. When the time comes, we shall greet our Master together. My new training begins now, even at my age. Let us impress Old Master Fuega together then!"
***
WC: 7211
Requesting zeni
As she readied to leave, Koge walked over to Hwa-Jae, nudging her with his beak. “You are really leaving,” he said, “I’d be careful if I were you. That blondie beat the spit right out of you. She’s got a chip on her shoulder a mile wide and I’m almost certain she won’t be holding back on you the next time you cross paths.”
Hwa-Jae nodded, but otherwise kept quiet. She stared out into the forest before her. Her mind swam with what she would encounter. She needed to hope for the best, but expect the worst. Eventually she said, “I know Cineza is dangerous and I’m not strong enough to deal with her. But she said she went to the temple and after I felt her power. I need to go back home and make sure everyone is safe.”
“What if they’re not?” the kikui bird asked, “What will you do if you find you lost everything? You’re in an emotionally vulnerable state, not to mention that woman could be leading you into a trap because of that.”
“I don’t care!” Hwa-Jae roared, the heat from the Sukinbaningu leaking from her gloves. She looked down on her hands and could smell the burnt padding inside the gloves. Such a response from her anger surprised Hwa-Jae. She normally had much better control. Taking a deep breath, Hwa-Jae turned away from Koge.
“I don’t care if it’s a trap. I don’t care if Cineza is waiting for me. I need to know that the temple and the Sisters… to know my home and family are safe. She managed to capture my master, which means she had to have fought Elder Sister Pyya and the other guardians… and win. I need to go back and help my Sisters in this terrible time. I need to make sure they are OK… I know they are. They have to be.”
Koge shook his head. “Your wounds have not completely healed, but I know it’s going to be useless to argue with you.”
Hwa-Jae let her shoulders slump as she realized she was talking harshly with her avian friend, but her nerves were shot. She was still computing that her friend, her best friend could have done something as horrible as join forces with the Black Fire Witch.
“We’ll see each other again, Koge,” Hwa-Jae said, “Just look for my flare in the sky.”
Dashing away, Hwa-Jae took to the skies in a blazing red aura. Her flight powered by ki, Hwa-Jae hurtled through the skies as the land hurtled below her. Trees, mountains, rivers and plateaus all blurred together in Hwa-Jae’s mind, but she instinctively knew where to go. The Temple was home and Hwa-Jae learned from a long age to find her home no matter where she was.
The flight did give Hwa-Jae time to think and prepare. She needed to be ready for anything. To her, the best possible scenario was that she returned and Cineza was simply lying to get a rise out of her. Maybe Cineza did attack and maybe she did hurt some of the Sisters, but also maybe the wounds were minor.
Hwa-Jae could not ignore the worst case scenario. As demonstrated in their skirmish on Mount Frappe, Cineza used the Kasai with deadly power and a savagery completely unfathomable to Hwa-Jae. All her life, Hwa-Jae was taught to use the flame to help others, to be the light against the Cold Dark. She knew the fire of the Kasai was dangerous, but never imagined someone, especially Cineza, would use it for such malicious purposes.
Yet Cineza showed herself to be such a person and she wielded the Kasai like a sword. Hwa-Jae could not shake Cineza’s eyes out of her mind. They appeared like that of a serpent, completely at odds to her original human eyes. What happened in their shared upbringing that lead to one forsaking the Kasai and the other faithful to its tenants?
“Elder Sister Pyya is the strongest of the Kasai,” Hwa-Jae said aloud to reaffirm herself. “There is no way Cineza could have defeated her.”
Forests gave way to plains, plains gave way to rivers, and rivers gave way to mountains as Hwa-Jae neared the Kasai Temple. Her heart began to race the closer she became to her old home. Images danced in her head of her landing in the middle of the temple grounds to see everyone safe and sound. Sister Tanta would chase the younglings out of the kitchens, while the Kasai guardians stood vigilant against Cineza or perhaps keeping an eye out for Old Master Fuega. Elder Sister Pyya would shout orders in that demanding voice of hers and at the sight of Hwa-Jae she would walk down from the main temple steps and berate her for some slight or another.
It would be like the old days.
---
Her imagination could not have been so far from the truth.
As Hwa-Jae crested over a plateau, her eyes went wide and her heart stopped for a moment out of shock. Before she left, the Kasai Temple stood out in the middle of a mountain range with large buildings made of from red and orange bricks. Tall towers stood erect carrying bonfires on the very top with roaring flames as an emblem of the Kasai. Sisters walked amongst green grounds with paved stone walkways. A massive mandala lay in the very center of the temple complex with the eight cardinal directions drawn in a highly detail manner. Kasai guardians would keep watch in great towers that keep silent vigilant over the land. Merchants and visitors from the more modern world would roll into the town on cars and carts alike and the Sisters would welcome all with open arms.
Now, the image of the Kasai Temple that lay before Hwa-Jae came as if it were ripped straight from her nightmares. The buildings, at least those that were not smoldering heaps of rubble, stood blackened and charred. The great torches gave only smoke from fires snuffed, the emblem of the Kasai silenced by a malicious hand. The mandala, the great icon of Kasai teachings, lay scorched and ruined by a terrible blasphemer. No one came to the temple to visit for the roads were all destroyed.
Most horrible of all were the countless charred bodies that lay strewn about. Sisters young and old no longer walked, but remained as burnt corpses on the ground. The Kasai guardians had it the worst, for little remained but blackened bones and piles of ashes.
Cineza descended on the Kasai Temple that stood for centuries and reduced it all to cinders in a night.
Hwa-Jae collapsed to her knees as she looked around her ruined home. “No…” she whispered in a small, scared voice, “No… this can’t be happening… this is a bad dream, a nightmare… I’ll wake up and see my Sisters again. This can’t be happening… This can’t be!”
Falling onto her hands, Hwa-Jae clawed at the ground and grasped handfuls of ashes. Ashes that once were her home, her houses of study, her dojos to train in. Ashes that once were her friends and mentors, now long dead after Cineza’s rampage.
“No…” Tears fell from her eyes and mixed with the ashes below. “No! No! NO!”
Unable to control herself, Hwa-Jae cried out into the air as a stream of fire erupted from her mouth. Hwa-Jae coughed having never breathed fire before, only for another breath to let loose the flames, followed by another. When flames did not spew from her maw, Hwa-Jae wailed like a child. Everything she loved and cared for was gone; destroyed by the very skills, techniques, and power Hwa-Jae studied for the majority of her life.
Destroyed by the one person Hwa-Jae considered her closest Sister.
Her throat sore and her voice hoarse, Hwa-Jae stood back up and looked around the ruins of the Kasai Temple. She needed to find survivors of Cineza’s brutal assault. Just one survivor was all Hwa-Jae needed to find.
With heavy steps, Hwa-Jae walked towards the living quarters. This was where Hwa-Jae, Cineza, and their Sisters slept and kept what few personal belongings they owned. Hwa-Jae did not herself call many items her own. Ever since the fire that destroyed her home and killed her parents when she was little, Hwa-Jae held little mementos of the time before Old Master Fuega adopted her into the Temple. Her memories were blurry as well. She remembered her mother and her father smiling at her, holding her, hoisting her up to the air, playing with her. Hwa-Jae gave thanks that the few memories she had of her parents were good ones.
“Another home burnt down,” Hwa-Jae said in her grief-stricken daze, “Is this what my life is to be like? To be happy only for the place of my happiness to be reduced to cinders?”
Grief turned to anger in quick fashion. If Cineza made this place as one for an ambush, Hwa-Jae dared her to attack now. She clenched her fists and ground her teeth, her temperature rising in her hands. Hwa-Jae opened her hands to see small flames lashing out from her palms. She did not recall calling for hinotamas or any fire.
Hwa-Jae quickly squelched the flames in her hands. She never summoned the flames out of sheer anger like that before. Never before had the fires that sparked in her hands felt so wrong. It went against every teaching of the Kasai Temple to use the flame out of rage. Taking a deep breath, Hwa-Jae tried to calm her frazzled nerves and focus on finding survivors rather than on Cineza.
She wandered the blackened halls of the living quarters with a gloved hand over her mouth to prevent inhaling ashes. Hwa-Jae did not want to think that she not only breathed in the remains of her home, but the remains of her friends and beloved teachers. As she walked, Hwa-Jae opened the doors of any room she passed by. Many of them were empty; it seemed that Cineza attacked in broad daylight. A bold attack by a clearly insane foe.
Of course, the Kasai would not have seen such an attack coming. Cineza was one of their own, trusted to become the Dragon that would lead them to victory in battle. How could they? They trusted her as a beacon of the Kasai. That beacon used their trust to destroy them.
As she searched the living quarters, she found some of the rooms were occupied. Hwa-Jae did not linger in those rooms, quickly turning away and choking on her tears. Those that streamed down her face turned to mud thanks to the cloud of ash that lingered in the air. Her lungs burned as she tried to find someone, anyone. Even just one survivor could heal her broken heart.
Finally, Hwa-Jae found her way back to her old room. When her hand pressed against the surface of the door, it fell off its hinges and collapsed into a splintering pile of charcoal. The inside did not look much better. The flames from Cineza’s attack destroyed everything Hwa-Jae held dear. Her sacred clothes used for more formal ceremonies were little more than rags now. Her various scrolls that contained her favourite stories and teachings were little more than ash. None of the photos of her or Cineza remained, for all had been reduced to ash. Lastly, the only remnant of her parents, a small stuffed bunny rabbit, lay half burned on her destroyed bed.
Gingerly, Hwa-Jae held up her toy rabbit and held it close to her chest. Ignoring the ashes on the ground, Hwa-Jae sat down on the floor of her room as she did years ago whenever she felt scared or lonely. She rocked back and forth with the rabbit in her arms and mumbled a lullaby, the only sound of her mother she remembered:
The moon is bright, the wind is quiet,
The tree leaves hang over the window,
My little baby, go to sleep quickly,
Sleep, dreaming sweet dreams.
The moon is bright, the wind is quiet,
The cradle moving softly,
My little one, close your eyes,
Sleep, sleep, dreaming sweet dreams
The verse, interrupted at times with Hwa-Jae drawing hard breaths, did not continue onto the third when the door to her closet creaked open. With one hand on her stuffed bunny and the other hand holding a hinotama, Hwa-Jae spun around and into a fighting stance when she saw her roommate Sister Smolde step out into the light. She looked ragged and tired, her clothes covered in soot. With shaky steps, Smolde approached Hwa-Jae only to leap forward, embracing her Sister and crying into her shoulder.
“Oh thank whatever gods are watching,” she said, though her voice was coarse. “Thank you for coming back, Hwa-Jae! Thank you!”
Hwa-Jae dissipated the fireball in her hand, dropped her toy rabbit, and hugged her Sister tight. “Smolde,” she breathed out, “I’m so happy you’re alive. What happened? Who attacked the Temple? Tell me everything!”
Therefore, Smolde did, explaining that Cineza descended on the Temple and began to burn everything to the ground. While the attack itself seemed random, there was apparently a method to Cineza’s madness. Her focus was not on the Temple or even all of the Sisters, but on the Kasai guardians who actually wielded the flame. They fought bravely, but all for naught. Cineza’s power dwarfed them all from the youngest initiate to Elder Sister Pyya.
“She lasted the longest against that traitor, that monster!” Smolde yelled with grief. “But nothing anyone did stopped her or even slowed her down. I don’t know how, but she drove Elder Sister Pyya to a breaking point. It was the only time I saw that woman lose her sadistic grin, when Sister Pyya… when she changed. She became so scary, Hwa-Jae. Her skin went all red and there were cracks in it and fire… so much fire. I’ve never anyone turn into a monster like that.”
“But even though she changed, Pyya could not beat Cineza. She couldn’t defeat Pyya either, so instead she threw Pyya into the Pyre. With the Pyre sealed and the Kasai… gone… that woman just let her fires burn as she took Old Master Fuega away. Some of us are still hiding in the underground, mostly the younglings and a few of the non-Kasai.”
Sister Smolde began to weep again. “I hid away trying to find some food and water to bring back. I thought you were that woman until I heard your voice. Hwa-Jae, what are we going to do? The Temple is lost forever!”
Hwa-Jae hugged Smolde tighter. “Everything will be fine,” she said, “We’ll do what we can to rebuild. Do you… do you remember the story of the phoenix? The great bird of fire Old Master Fuega tells to all the younglings? We’ll be like the phoenix and rise from the ashes.”
Her brow furrowed. “And don’t worry about Cineza. I’ll find her, rescue Old Master Fuega, and stop Cineza from hurting anyone else with her evil fire. You have my word. Now, go get the other survivors and find the emergency capsules. I’ll find Elder Sister Pyya and help her. We need her leadership.”
Sister Smolde nodded and ran off to get the others, leaving Hwa-Jae alone in the living quarters. Hwa-Jae left the ruined building, charged her ki, and moved with incredible speed towards the Pyre, the heart of the main Kasai prayer building. The Pyre produced a flame of incredible size and heat that burned for almost a thousand years, and provided a place for group prayer and meditation. Only Elder Sisters were to enter the Pyre due to intense heat and energy the flames produced.
As Hwa-Jae approached the most revered site of the Kasai Temple, she saw more of the fallen Kasai guardians slain on the steps of the main temple. The nightmare continued for Hwa-Jae as she walked up the steps. It was here that Kasai initiates first began there tests. She considered it grotesque that it was here many of their journeys ended.
Hwa-Jae shook those thoughts from her mind; she needed to focus on finding Pyya. When Hwa-Jae entered the main temple building, she saw that the Pyre’s fire was at the most dim the fire had ever been, yet still not completely snuffed. A small flame flickered in the cold wind, yet despite its small size, the fire gave Hwa-Jae some semblance of hope. If that fire could survive, so could her beloved Kasai Temple.
She descended the steps of the building towards the lowest reaches where the main entrance of the Pyre laid waiting. All around the path were hundreds of scorch marks, signs of the struggle between Cineza and Pyya. As she made her way, Hwa-Jae’s thoughts turned to Pyya and what sort of technique she could have used to become a fiery monster. Only one came to mind, but it was long forbidden by Old Master Fuega as to become a cautionary tale rather than a true technique to use and master. That said, Pyya was an Elder Sister for a reason. She likely had access to techniques and training from the Old Master that most Kasai could not hope to achieve.
Hwa-Jae walked up to the large stone doors that separated her from the Pyre. She stood in front of the doors when she was younger and Elder Sister Pyya told the Kasai initiates about the deeper regions of the temple, but Hwa-Jae never thought she would be in here for a long while. Before, the roar of the Pyre echoed in the solid stone room even past the doors. An Elder Sister would keep the Pyre working and for fuel they used only rare, long burning logs from the nearby forests. To light the Pyre was an honour reserved for the most dedicated of the Kasai.
The first test was to simply open the door. Hwa-Jae looked up at the heavy stone door and slowly took off her gloves. She did not need to worry about the Sukinbaningu burning anyone here, of all places. In fact, Hwa-Jae needed the Burning Skin Technique more than ever.
She pressed her hands against the stone door and began to channel her ki towards the tips of her fingers. The heat of the Sukinbaningu started to rise and the stone door began to glow in response to the heat and energy Hwa-Jae fed into it. Slowly, the door began to shift against her hands until it opened wide for Hwa-Jae to enter the Pyre.
Hwa-Jae swallowed hard and stepped into the darkness. With her hand open Hwa-Jae created a fireball to light her way. The light from her fire revealed a only a simple stone room, large in scale, with a tall wood burning Pyre in the center. Laying on her side, Elder Sister Pyya took in heavy gasps of air. Hwa-Jae walked up to her rather curt teacher, only to see the cracks in her skin. Blood did not flow, but instead out came flames. Pyya’s red eyes, now long bloodshot, held a rage in them Hwa-Jae never saw before.
Pyya turned her head at the sound of Hwa-Jae’s footsteps. The older woman snarled and slowly got up to her feet. With the light of the fireball, Hwa-Jae could see that Pyya’s muscles had grown in size giving Pyya a much bulkier appearance. Her nails grew into blackened claws and from her mouth spewed a stream of fire.
Gazing at Hwa-Jae with glazed over with blind rage, Pyya hissed at her and raised a bony hand. From her palm came a hinotama of great size, far larger than anything Hwa-Jae was capable of. The flaming ball hurtled towards Hwa-Jae with the roar of a great blaze, crackling in the air. Hwa-Jae dodged out of the way and landed on her hands and feet ready to spring back into action. Pyya’s hinotama smashed into the wall with a violent explosion that shook the entire Pyre Room.
Pyya lumbered towards with slow movements, her body likely weakened by her battle with Cineza. Hwa-Jae figured that Pyya maintained herself through the Iyashino-en, the Flame That Heals technique. With that technique, Pyya absorbed the only flame available to her and that was the one from the Pyre. However, with the Pyre flame now dying, Pyya did not have a source of fire to draw energy from. Hwa-Jae focused her senses on Pyya and felt that when lured away from the fire, Pyya’s ki dropped rapidly.
Despite the downward spiral of her ki, Pyya was still a dangerous opponent to face, especially in this twisted, scalding transformation. The darkness in the room did not act as a hindrance thanks to the near constant flames that flowed from Pyya’s wounds, illuminating her and the room together.
Hwa-Jae raised her hands in preparation to defend herself. Doubts filled her head as Pyya neared her with claws outstretched and ready to strike. Pyya was her teacher and while a grouch, Hwa-Jae did not know if she had the heart to fight her teacher even in this monstrous state. At a height of six feet and seven inches tall, Pyya looked like the domineering and physical master of the Kasai Hato Katchachi. Her strength and skill in the martial arts were well known to those in the Temple. However, Hwa-Jae did need to do anything and everything possible to save Pyya from her own torment. The Kasai Temple needed her. The surviving Sisters needed her.
Even Hwa-Jae admitted she needed the wisdom of Elder Sister Pyya, despite the sharp tongue that spoke such wise words.
“I’m sorry,” Hwa-Jae said as she took on a fighting stance, “but now I need to do everything I can to snap you out of your rage. And if that means I need to beat you, Pyya, then that’s what I’m going to do!”
Pyya did not respond with words but with her long burning claws. She swiped downward at Hwa-Jae who only just managed to get out of the way. The claws sank into the stone floor, melting the ground until it was little more than a burning pool.
Hwa-Jae quickly tried to strike at Pyyra with a stiff kick, only to recoil from the intense heat coming off from Pyya’s body. She could not take on the fire from Pyya’s body, as the fire that raged all over her body was fueled by her ki. Hwa-Jae’s power to absorb fire only lasted to natural flames or those created by her own ki. The fire of Pyya could still harm Hwa-Jae greatly, and in this strange transformed state, Hwa-Jae needed to be incredibly cautious.
Seeing the result of Pyya’s failed attack paused Hwa-Jae in her tracks. If she made any sort of physical counter, her flesh and bones would not be able to withstand being melted by Pyya’s hands when, rather than if, Pyya managed to defend herself. Pyya taught Hwa-Jae everything she knew about hand-to-hand combat and despite being little more than an enraged beast at this moment, Hwa-Jae did not doubt Pyya could still block and grab as well as she did before. Hwa-Jae needed to come up with a better way to take her martial arts master down.
Pyya attacked again, thrusting her claws outward. Unable to properly block thanks to the intense heat from the claws, Hwa-Jae ducked and weaved around the strikes instead. She backpedaled, never losing sight of Pyya in front of her as she dodged blow after blow. One claw swipe managed to clip her, burning through her cheongsam like a hot knife through butter, but left Hwa-Jae unharmed.
That said Hwa-Jae felt the warm stone of the Pyre Room wall pressed against her back. Now against a wall, her options against Pyya shrank a great deal. Pyya roared and raised her right hand high above her head, ready to make a fatal, burning strike against Hwa-Jae.
Hwa-Jae looked up beyond Pyya’s head towards the stone ceiling. There was one thing that could save her. She raised one hand to Pyya but slightly to the side, ki forming a burning ball against her palm. With a shout, Hwa-Jae invoked the name of the technique.
“Hinotama!”
A fireball flashed outward, surrounding the area with light as it struck and exploded against the stone ceiling. The force of the blast was enough to cause several of the stone slabs to fall right on top of Pyya’s head. Forced to recoil, Pyya roared and hissed as she swung her clawed hands wildly in every direction out of both fury and desperation, seeking the transgressor to her injury but her bestial mind never knowing that it was the very stone that surrounded her.
With Pyya blind and stunned, Hwa-Jae made her move. She lashed out with a hard palm aimed right at Pyya’s jaw. The impact from the blow echoed in the empty room. Pyya looked up only to receive several snap kicks to her abdomen. Each hit pushed Pyya back and she could do little to stop it thanks to the incredible pain her head inflicted on her.
Seeing Pyya on the proverbial ropes, Hwa-Jae lifted her leg, spun on her other heel, and struck out with a powerful kick to Pyya’s temple. Like a battering ram striking the gates of a castle, the sheer force from the kick was enough to bring Pyya down. The Elder Sister collapsed onto the cold floor with a thud. Her various open wounds that spat fire before now cooled into disfiguring scars of burnt flesh and blood. Pyya’s eyes closed as they turned normal for a moment and looked up into Hwa-Jae’s. For a moment, there was clarity, but it quickly faded as Pyya fell to unconsciousness.
The fight was over, but the crisis did not end with Pyya’s defeat. Hwa-Jae felt her teacher’s ki deplete, only for Pyya’s life energy to suddenly diminish. Hwa-Jae panicked for a moment as she lifted the unconscious body of her teacher onto her shoulders. The size difference made it a bit awkward considering Hwa-Jae’s lesser stature. She walked in the darkness towards the exit of the Pyre with only a small fireball to guide her.
When Hwa-Jae opened the door, Sister Smolde and the other survivors, including the younglings, were waiting for her to emerge. “Sister Hwa-Jae!” Smolde ran to Hwa-Jae and helped Pyya onto the stairs. “Oh no… Elder Sister Pyya, will she be alright?”
Hwa-Jae did not have an answer. She never felt someone’s life energy being drained as quickly as Pyya’s was now. She removed her glove and pressed a hand against Pyya’s forehead; she did not fear the Sukinbaningu burning Pyya as she maintained the same technique as well. Hwa-Jae tensed as she felt the source of their troubles; with Pyya in such a weakened state from her battle against Cineza and now Hwa-Jae, the Kasai needed to be fed a great deal of energy. Since the transformation sapped her ki, the Kasai now fed on her very essence.
“She needs a fire,” Sister Smolde said, “quick, go get some wood! The Iyashino-en will heal her!”
“No,” Hwa-Jae said, holding up her hand to stop her Sisters. “There isn’t enough time to make a fire big enough to heal Pyya, and I can’t use my hinotamas either, since our ki will be opposed to another.”
Fear crept into Smolde’s eyes as she realized that the Temple may soon be left without Pyya. “There has to be something we can do.”
“There… there is!” Hwa-Jae removed one of her gloves, alarming Sister Smolde. Her hand, pink from the heat of the Sukinbaningu, radiated an immense warmth. Pyya needed energy to survive the draining effects of the Wildfire State. If that was the case, then energy was what she would receive.
Holding Pyya’s head in one hand, Hwa-Jae raised the other to Pyya’s forehead and began to concentrate. She kept her focus on Pyya while Smolde ran to get water to help it down her throat. With the aid of the drink, all the Kasai Sisters could do was wait.
Hwa-Jae never felt anything like it. It was as if there was an emptiness in Pyya, though she could not tell if it was because of the Wildfire transformation or something else. She paid it no mind though as she offered a portion of her ki to Pyya, which the later took on willingly. Pyya swallowed the water, only to then suddenly open her eyes wide. She coughed, struggling to get to her feet, only to give Hwa-Jae her typical, critical eye. “What… Sister Hwa-Jae… it can’t be…”
“Everything is alright,” Hwa-Jae said, trying to reassure the stern master, “I’m here now. You were in some kind of… burning form. The Wildfire State. I helped bring you back from that dangerous power.”
Pyya did not immediately respond. She still looked rather weak and completely dazed. Hwa-Jae took hold of her arm and helped guide Pyya upstairs. “We’ll get you some rest, Elder Sister. Don’t worry about anything, I’ll make sure the Temple is protected.”
When Pyya still did not reply, Hwa-Jae looked up to see the strict teacher of the Kasai silently weep. As tears fell from her eyes, Hwa-Jae felt Pyya’s gloved hands squeeze down on Hwa-Jae’s palms as if she was a lifeline. Together with the rest of the survivors, they ascended back to their shared ruined temple.
---
Hwa-Jae waited for Pyya on the stairs to the main building while the younglings and surviving Sisters busied themselves with preparations to leave. Pyya announced that the Sisters would travel to West City to stay with the Orin Temple until such a time that the Kasai Temple could be rebuilt. For Hwa-Jae, Pyya wanted to speak with her alone but only when she was ready.
Looking over her frightened and tired Sisters, Hwa-Jae’s heart sank. How long had they waited amongst the ashes in fear that maybe Cineza would return. She tried to console them over the loss of home and friends, but many would not accept her soothing words. Some of the children continued to whimper and cry as they waited for Pyya.
“Sister Hwa-Jae,” said a strong voice. Hwa-Jae looked up to see Elder Sister Pyya at the top of the stairs with her hands behind her back. Like a reflex, Hwa-Jae quickly bounded up the stairs to Pyya’s side, bowing low out of respect. Pyya only inclined her head in acknowledgement.
Pyya began to walk inside the main building and without a word, Hwa-Jae followed her. No one spoke for five minutes until they approached the dying flame of the Temple. With the flame little more a wisp in the wind, the building gave Hwa-Jae a chill down her spine as if she was back on Mount Frappe.
“I would have words, Sister Hwa-Jae,” Pyya said, “And I do hope you listen.”
(Elder Sister Pyya)
Hwa-Jae stood as still and as silent as a statue as Pyya began to speak. “This is the greatest calamity to have ever fallen on the Kasai Temple. Our temple is in ruins. All of the Kasai Guardians save three are dead. The Old Master has been kidnapped. All this done by something the Elder Sisters have always feared: a rogue Kasai. Not only a rogue, but one of incredible power and from our own ranks. The one meant to lead us as the Dragon.. I wonder if the Kasai can even survive this terrible tragedy.”
Pyya looked down on Hwa-Jae thanks to her height. “Sister Hwa-Jae… I did not think much of you when you first joined the Kasai initiates at a young age. I thought you were impulsive, flighty, and too naïve to be an effective warrior of fire. You ravenous hunger did not help matters. I thought the flame would refuse you, but when it was trained, it stayed with you much to my dismay. Even now, you still lack control of the Sukinbaningu. I looked at you and saw a girl who lacked discipline and mental control.”
Hwa-Jae’s eyes turned downcast as Elder Sister Pyya berated her in her face, even though they were surrounded by Cineza’s devastation to their home. She always knew Pyya did not like her, but to continue the way she was in this desperate time seemed unreasonably cruel.
“However,” Pyya continued, “what you held in your heart more than any other student was a drive to learn, to improve, but most of all, the will to be true to the teachings of the Kasai. Your strength has improved to incredible levels, Sister Hwa-Jae. Your skills have been sharpened in such a way that you defeated me in the Wildfire State, despite my own weakness. Of greatest importance, you returned to the Temple in its time of need. Even though you still lack the control of the Sukinbaningu, I believe there may be a reason for that for which I will have to research. Despite this, to deny you, of all Sisters, advancement in the Kasai would be a great injustice.”
Elder Sister Pyya then removed her gloves, revealing the long, intricate tattoos, known to the sisterhood as spirit lines, on her hands given to Kasai guardians when they achieved such highly regarded status. She held out her hands palms downward and waited for Hwa-Jae to join her. Hwa-Jae slowly took off her gloves as realization dawned on her of what was about to happen. She let the gloves fall to the floor, leaving her burning hands out in the open.
Pyya took hold of Hwa-Jae’s hands with a tight grip only to suddenly blaze with a powerful aura. Hwa-Jae’s own fiery aura sparked to life, the two joining in one. With a shout, Pyya surged her ki from her hands into Hwa-Jae’s own. Hwa-Jae felt her own spirit lines searing across her skin. The lines that normally ended on her elbows soon grew to the middle of her palms forming the character of the Kasai.
Hwa-Jae stared at her palms in complete and utter disbelief. She never imagined she’d become a true Kasai like this. The power that coursed through her veins felt incredible. The Sukinbaningu still burned in her hands and so she would need to still wear gloves, but now she held just that much more strength as a true guardian of the Kasai Temple. Maybe now she could stand a chance against Cineza.
“I have unlocked your potential as a Kasai. You are now a true Kasai, like your Sisters before you. Remember these words: ‘The Flame Awakens.’” Pyya bowed to Hwa-Jae in respect. “The strength of our order now flows through your veins. Water is no longer your foe, as your flame burns hotter than any water could quench. You are also now the only one who can find Old Master Fuega and bring her home. I never thought I would say this, but you are the Temple’s only hope. You’ve proven yourself beyond a shadow of a doubt.”
“Cineza is powerful though,” Hwa-Jae replied, “She trounced me on Mount Frappe and she is laying a trap for me on Mount Paozu.”
“That she may,” Pyya said, “but it will be a trap you will be prepared for. Continue your training. Continue seeking masters and powerful fighters outside of the temple to train with and become stronger. When you are ready, you will face Cineza. She may know the place, but you will determine the hour of the battle. And you will emerge victorious.”
As they stood on the temple steps, Hwa-Jae could not help but have conflicted feelings of her ascension into the ranks of the Kasai Guardians. This was what she wanted all along after all, to become a true Kasai. However, she thought she would have ascended to such a rank with all of her fellow Sisters, Elder Sisters, and Old Master Fuega in attendance. It should have been a happy occasion with smiles and celebrations. She still felt herself a novice after all.
Instead, the ashes of her dead sisters and the snuffed fires of the Kasai Temple surrounded Hwa-Jae.
"There is one more thing you must know, Sister Hwa-Jae," Pyya continued, "The state you found me in is called the Wildfire State. It is an ability used only in the most desperate situations, as it transforms the Kasai into a powerful monster of flame and embers, as you saw with me. It is a dangerous form, as the Wildfire State will consume your ki as a ravenous furnace would burn wood. However, without a means to stop it, the Wildfire State will also consume the life energy of the Kasai to use it. A Kasai cannot end the Wildfire on their own. It will increase your power by several magnitudes, but you will lose control of your ki and become little more than a mindless beast."
Shaking her head, Pyya closed her eyes. "Only use the Wildfire State as a last resort. I am too weak now to join you in the hunt for Cineza and without another Kasai, you will not be able to exit the Wildfire State. You are the last Kasai, Sister Hwa-Jae. If anything were to happen to you, then the Temple is lost."
Pyya began to walk down the steps of the main temple building towards the surviving Sisters. As she walked, she talked. “The Kasai will not be snuffed in a single sweeping motion by a rogue. A fire may die, but it can be reignited. With Old Master Fuega returned to us, we will rebuild. It is up to you, Hwa-Jae, to complete this daunting task. While my faith in you was not exactly high when you were younger, Fuega saw something that others did not. Perhaps I should open my eyes for a change and see the light before me. I now put my faith in you as she does now.”
Pyya reached into her robes and pulled out a small capsule. She pressed down on the pin and threw it to the ground where an explosion rocked the ground, leaving a large puff of smoke. When the dust cleared, a bus stood where the capsule landed. Pyya urged the survivors of Cineza’s attack into the bus.
“I will take the Sisters to the Orin Temple now,” Pyya said to Hwa-Jae, “I hope when I see you next, it is with our Old Master. Fight well, Sister Hwa-Jae. Know your duty to the Living Flame. Bring Cineza to justice, or end her life if you are forced to.”
Hwa-Jae eyes went wide while Pyya climbed into the driver’s seat and drove off with her fellow Sisters. As she watched the bus leave, she saw Sister Smolde peek out the window. Smolde waved a tearful goodbye as the bus drove off, the dust from the dirt road obfuscating her. Hwa-Jae stood alone in the ruins of the now abandoned temple, thinking hard of what she was to do next.
She had not realized what Cineza’s betrayal meant. As the last of the Kasai, it was Hwa-Jae’s sworn duty to find Cineza and defeat. But if the battle dragged on and Cineza was lost to evil, then would Hwa-Jae be forced to kill the one person she considered her true Sister?
Hwa-Jae looked around the ruined temple grounds and could not decide on a course of action. She needed to get away from the world to clear her head. Wanting to be as far away from the ashes as possible, Hwa-Jae took flight and headed towards the sky and the one place on Earth farthest from it.
***
Elder Sister Pyya walked through the Orin Temple as the rest of the Sisters settled in. Joined together with some of the Orin monks, Pyya remained silent as she tried to decide on her next course of action. Her rage over the destruction of the Kasai Temple conflicted with her grief over the fact that she sent Hwa-Jae on what appeared to be a death sentence. Cineza's strength was incredible, and she possessed the power and skills of a Kasai warrior the likes not even Elder Sister Pyya thought possible. It seemed hopeless for one such as Hwa-Jae could hope to defeat the rogue Kasai.
"Gah!" Pyya suddenly shouted, clenching her fist. The two Orin monks she walked with stopped and looked at her with surprise. "This is ridiculous! Am I not an Elder Sister of the Kasai? How can I send the last Kasai on a death wish all by herself? What does that say about my own courage as a warrior that I would send the last of my students to certain doom all alone!"
Elder Sister Pyya turned to face the monks she walked with. "Make sure the Sisters are well taken care of. If I find out any of them have been treated poorly, I'll come back like a bolt of lightning and reduce this place to ashes. Many of the Sisters are nice and will be helpful to you. I, however, am not so forgiving. Remember this."
With her warning given, the Elder Sister left the Orin Temple. She tossed down a capsule, revealing a motorcycle she had not used for many years. Taking a seat and gripping the handles, Pyya revved the engine of the motorcycle before riding off through the streets of West City. Buildings zoomed by as she travelled down the road. As she left West City, Pyya thought on Hwa-Jae and how much she had grown since she left the temple to take part of Old Master Fuega's pilgrimage.
"I never thought it would happen," Pyya said as she rode off into the night. "You, inspiring me, Hwa-Jae. Now then, I'm going to train harder than ever before to recover my power and join you in your battle against Cineza. When the time comes, we shall greet our Master together. My new training begins now, even at my age. Let us impress Old Master Fuega together then!"
***
WC: 7211
Requesting zeni