Normal POV

Outside Adabat Embassy in South Island

Yua was slowly arriving to what was a large burning building out in a massive field with a river.

Smoke was spread across the sky in a gloomy atmosphere, creating more unease upon arrival outside the area.

The car came to stop and Yua stepped out, seeing Suzuki running towards her.

Suzuki grabs Yua in a hug. "Yua! Are you hurt? Did they do anything to you?"

Yua grabs one of his hands that was stroking her face. "Suzuki, I'm fine. I never was kidnapped."

Suzuki asks her. "Then why were you not in the valley? And how come your necklace was in the monastery while it was burning?"

Yua sighs. "That was my friend Kira. She pulled me out before the place started collapsing. Kira then took me away from the valley while the Fallen attacked."

Suzuki breathes out in relief. "I thought I lost you."

Yua asks him. "Why did you do this? It's not like you."

Suzuki looks at the wreckage of the building. "You were taken away from the valley and the elders decided to let the outside world know about us.....so I decided to destroy everything before they could get their hands on it."

Yua shakes her head. "No one in the valley has made that action yet. Nothing has been taken away from us."

Suzuki nods. "I know, but after Tanya betraying us and the Fallen destroying the monastery, the River Village would use this as an excuse for outside help. I can't risk our home being turned into some wasteland for a factory to be built in."

Yua stutters some. "B-But you killed so many..."

Suzuki answers bluntly. "All so our home could be safe and peaceful."

Yua gets out of his hold. "....My friends were right......you have changed."

Suzuki groans in annoyance. "I don't want here about any of our "friends" anymore, alright?"

Yua looks at him with pleading eyes. "Please, just stop this madness and turn yourself in. I love you, and I can't just let you do this to yourself."

Suzuki looks at her with a determined face. "It's too late for that now. Besides, I'm more powerful than Ki  or anyone. I can overthrow Lord Rai and all enemies......and we can rule together."

Yua backs away more with tears in her eyes. "..........I don't even know you anymore. What did you do with my lover?"

Suzuki steps towards her. "Nothing!"

Yua was close to breaking down. "You're going down a path I can't follow."

Suzuki mutters. "Because of our friends?"

Yua shook her head. "Because of what you did. It's not too late to change your path. Please...."

Suzuki yells at her. "Traitor!"

Yua looks in the direction he was looking and saw why he had that reaction.

Aura was standing there after just getting out of the back of the car.

Yua tries to deny she knew he was there. "No! I-"

Suzuki grabs her by the throat. "You're with him! You brought him here to kill me!"

Yua gasps for breath and tries to free herself.

Aura yells at him. "Let her go, Suzuki!"

Yua felt weak as she was quickly losing air. ".....Su-"

Aura demands him again. "Let. Her. Go."

Yua was almost done for, so Aura knew he had to act quickly.

He ran at Suzuki and trips him, but this proved to be a big mistake.

The momentum of the attack was too great, resulting in Suzuki accidentally dropping Yua off a ledge next to them.

Suzuki desperately reaches for her, but it was too late.

The two rushed down to the rocks below, where Yua had crashed down onto her back.

Aura feels her pulse...... and finds it completely down.

The impact broke her neck and skull, taking her out instantly.

Suzuki has tears fall down and looks at Aura in rage. "You turned my girlfriend against me!"

Aura looks at him. "No! I....I didn't mean for this..."

Suzuki circles around him. "You will pay for ruining my life!"

Aura pleads with him. "Suzuki, you need to get a grip on yourself. It is not your friend's fault or the valley's fault. It's the drug! It's driving you to not see reason."

Suzuki glares at him with pure hate. "You think you know better than me just because you have powers and is Ki's best student? I've lived in your shadow ever since you came to the monastery. Everything was always about you! Aura just learned a new technique. Aura meditates all day. Or how about all of the times you beat me and didn't acknowledge me as a worthy opponent? You said you viewed me as an equal, but everyday of your life was spent being more loyal to the clan than to me, your own friend!"

Aura backs up from him, the realization of how much his partner's rivalry meant to him hitting him like a brick wall.

Suzuki adds on. "I wanted to be your friend, but I couldn't find a way to bond with you over anything other than sparring, so I tried to match you so we could. But you were always driven by your duty more than being concerned for me and Tanya."

Aura tries to deny it. "No! I do care about you two! I went through hell to get that cure for the drug in you!"

Suzuki crosses his arms. "Then why didn't you wait like Ki said to?"

Aura's eyes widened as the guilt was starting to grab at him.

Suzuki continues on. "Be honest with yourself, you may have thought it was for my own good, but all you cared about deep inside was getting rid of the enemy like Ki did. If you did care about me, you would've rescued me from the factory yourself instead of sending that cat to do it!"

Aura tries to answer, but his will was weakening. "Suzuki..."

Suzuki pulls out his blade. "I've had enough of you! This ends now!"

Aura dodged a strike and pulls out Anzen.

The two stare each other down as the sky darkens, only nearby lanterns lighting up the area around them.

Aura digs his feet in, preparing for the next move his opponent would make.

The wind starts to howl past them, ruffling the leaves in the trees up and moving the grass around them.

Suzuki breaks the silence goes to hit Aura at the torso, but Aura blocks and pushes him back.

The blue ninja follows it with an counter attack to Suzuki's arm, but he just gets caught in a hold against his blade.

The two push their weapons against each other in a long clash, Suzuki looking at Aura with hate while Aura was with regret.

Suzuki pushes Aura's weapon downwards, knocking over a lantern.

The two see the trees start to catch fire at a rapid pace, setting up a more intense battleground for them.

They break free of the hold and continue clashing weapons, going deeper into the woods around the.

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Cream's POV

Cream was looking around for Aura after her mother found out that he had ran off.

Cheese stays with her, worried that something would attack them while it was this dark.

Just when they were about to turn around and head home, Cream got caught in a hanging net trap.

Cheese was surprised, but quickly tried to get Cream free.

Cream looks and sees an armored man come forward, a dagger drawn.

He looks at her with the intention of completing something. "I won't hurt ya, but I need to know if you've seen a blue wolf."

Cream looks worried. "W-What do y-you want with Mr Aura?"

He responds. "I gotta bring him in because some big guy wanted him arrested."

Cream could see through the lie. "I'll never tell you!"

Cheese went to attack the masked man, but he dodged and hit him with a backhand, causing Cheese to hit into a tree.

Cream screams. "Cheese!"

Before anything else could happen, a spear cut through the ropes holding the net, setting Cream free.

They all looked and saw a blue skinned figure run at and kick the armored man.

The mercenary slides across the dirt on his feet, but stops himself with two blades.

The blue figure tells Creak. "Don't just stand there! Run!"

Cream does as she was told and ran in a random direction after grabbing Cheese.

She could only hear the sound of metal on metal as her rescuer fought her captor.

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Normal POV

Forbidden Valley

Blaze and Espio were surprised after having learned what Lord Rai's plan was.

They decided that the best way to stop him was to take him out when he wasn't near any statues.

The group they followed had exited the cave recently, but there was plans to get those statues out as soon as more troops arrived.

Once all guards and Commander Trailing left, the two purple heroes followed Lord Rai up the mountain where the ruins of the monastery were.

Espio tells Blaze to wait, knowing they needed the dark lord off guard at the right moment.

Unfortunately, their ambush plan wasn't necessary anyways, because Lord Rai knew they were there.

"Here to avenge your friend I assume?" The dark lord says, "I can see you wherever you are like he could. You could not surprise me if you even tried."

Blaze jumps out and throws fireballs at him. "You will pay for killing my friend!"

Lord Rai catches the fireballs and throws them at her. "This cat may have claws, but they are all for show."

Espio uses camouflage to sneak behind him and attack from the back, but Rai just does a backwards kick, sending Espio into a rock.

The dark lord smirks at their pathetic attempts. "No wonder Aura died, his friends made him weak......like both of you."

Blaze runs at him in fiery twister, torching anything between her and Rai.

The old master punches the ground, causing a well nearby to somehow launch water at Blaze.

The cat's twister was interrupted by the water soaking her and dulling her flame powers.

Espio throws three shurikens, only for two to be deflected and one caught and thrown back at him, impaling his side.

Blaze jump kicks him, but Lord Rai catches it and slams her to the ground.

Blaze could only scream at the painful impact and curl up.

Lord Rai then looks at Espio. "I want you to leave a message for one of your friends.....this hero of the world you know."

Espio weakly gets up and pulls out his own shuriken.

Lord Rai states to him. "Tell him.....his days are numbered and the afterlife awaits him. There is nothing he can do to prevent it."

Espio groans in pain. "You will never get away with this, Rai. Everyone will stop you, and you will be brought to justice."

Lord Rai waves him off in dismissal. "Do not waste your breath on me, boy. Get going now."

Espio drops a smoke bomb and runs off, knowing he wasn't going to be able to get Blaze out with him.

He could only hope that the princess could defend herself well while he goes to get help.

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Aura's POV

Aura was trying to hold back the enraged human before him, but each attack was getting more and more aggressive.

To make matters worse, he was still trying to recover from his injuries from before.

The forest around them was burning in a furious fire, destroying everything around them.

Suzuki swings his blade around in unbridled anger, not even planning his hits anymore, as if he was fighting illusions.

Aura then was surprised when he dodged a purple energy shot, the blast exploding a tree behind him.

The young man fired more shots at him, with Aura barely deflecting them with Anzen.

They were about to go down a pathway, when a tree fell down and blocked the path.

Aura was pushed back by a powerful blast from his former partner, nearing the tree blocking them.

He barely dodged in time to avoid Suzuki jumping at him with his blade, the metal implanting into the tree instead.

Aura hits at him numerous times as he tries to get it out, only getting pushed back by a kick to the torso.

As soon as the blue ninja recovered, Suzuki had his blade out and met Anzen with it.

They soon start making a path towards the river not far away.

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Cream's POV

The young rabbit flew as far away as she could, narrowly escaping darts being fired at her and Cheese.

Suddenly, a grapple line catches her leg, pulling her down and getting closer to the dangerous man.

She tries to get untied, but that only made the stranger pull harder.

The blue figure showed up again to cut her free and stabs the stranger with a poisoned dart.

Cream runs off again as the enemy ran after her, stumbling some like in a drunken daze.

The armored man was gaining ground with every few trees they passed.

Luck then came to the rabbit's side when she saw a cliff approaching.

She tried to pretend she was trapped, to make him think he had the upper hand.

At the last second, she somehow side stepped him and made him trip down the cliffside.

She looked down after he disappeared under the trees below before waking off.

Cream had to get home and hope her mom could find Aura and stay safe.

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Aura's POV

The two fighters neared the water's edge, Aura now trapped between wild rapids and an angry ninja.

They then had to react quickly as several trees were about to fall on them.

Aura jumps onto one that lands into the river, riding it down the current.

Suzuki gets on one a few seconds later, only a few logs between the two.

Aura jumps from log to log as Suzuki fires blast after blast at him and the logs around him, both almost losing balance when the rapids became more violent.

Soon they were both on the same log together, facing each other down.

Aura finally speaks up again. "I have failed you, Suzuki."

Suzuki glares with deadly intent. "I should've known the Fuji Clan was corrupt."

Aura responds back. "Suzuki! Lord Rai is evil!"

Suzuki points his blade at him. "Ki is the evil one!"

Aura yells back. "Then you are lost!"

The waters seem to calm a little, but the log they were on was still moving about like a tea cup ride in a twister.

Suzuki strikes at him. "This is the end for you."

Aura could only block more and more, getting weaker from having spent his energy.

He needed to finish the fight as soon as possible.

Aura sees a waterfall coming and knows he needs to get off soon.

He dodged a swing from Suzuki in another attempt at his head before jumping off and landing on a rock near the top of the waterfall.

Aura looks at him from above. "It's over Suzuki!"

Suzuki stares at him with the soulless white eyes. "You underestimate my power!"

Aura shook his head at him, pleading him not to attempt attacking.

The former partner jumps at him, delivering a downward swing, only for Anzen to block it.

Aura then roundhouse kicks Suzuki, causing him to tumble down the edge of the falls.

The blue canine runs over to Suzuki hanging onto the ledge.

Aura reaches down to get him. "Suzuki! Grab my hand!"

Suzuki slowly starts to reach for him, seeming to maybe snapping out of it.

But at the last minute, he scratches at Aura, making him flinch back in defense.

Suzuki lost his strength and falls off the ledge, going down to the foggy abyss below.

His former friend yells something that haunts him for life.

"I HATE YOU!!!!!!"

Aura looks on in devastation, tears spilling out as he saw the last of those he knew.....gone forever.

It started to rain around him, putting out the fire and leaving only smoke from the area.

The smoke was now a reminder of everything now gone, ruins in suffering in place of what was held dear.

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Blaze's POV

The cat could only watch whatever the dark lord was planning next.

She tells him in a stern tone. "You cannot win against any of us. What do you even hope to gain from all of this?"

Lord Rai answers her. "Because I asked the question no one dares to ask. Why keep the universe going, if everyone still suffers?"

He paces around the purple cat, showing no form of fear to the flame powers she had.

He adds on. "If I can bring the universe to it's fated destiny, no future generations have to suffer for a past generation's mistakes. We would all be in the peaceful afterlife."

Blaze then remembers what one of her friends told her about life and friends.

Blaze stares at him. "A friend told me once that I can rely on others, even when times are rough. Even if we suffer like you said, we at least have each other."

Lord Rai shakes his head. "How naive, your highness. Unfortunately, for you, I have other plans."

He grabs her forehead and pokes multiple spots and hits her neck.

Blaze lost feeling in her legs and arms, not able to move.

The old master chuckles darkly as the cat flopped to the ground like a wet paper.

Blaze's eyes weaken as black spots appear in her vision.

She slowly fades to black.....all senses down.

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Aura's POV

Aura's eyes widened and he fell to the ground, changing back to his wolf form.

He had changed to it after his fight with Suzuki to see if Blaze was alright.

He had it for a while, but it suddenly disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Reality set in for him heavier than metal.

Blaze was dead.

He was all alone now.

Aura had no reason to live anymore.

No cause to defend.

No home to secure.

No friends and loved ones to call his own.

All because he was either too weak in one moment...

...or too reckless in another.

He knew what his code asked of him now, and he was ready to do it.

Aura placed his weapon securely on the ground, getting ready to commit seppuku.

Just before he was about to do it, someone grabbed him from behind to stop him.

He saw it was Vanilla, who was looked like she was pleading with him not to do it.

She looks him directly in the eyes. "Please..."

Aura would've tried to fight her off, but he didn't, as if he could feel something else begging him not to do it.

He started to also get the instinct.....that Vanilla knows how he feels, as if she went through this too.

Aura tears up again and could only burry his face in Vanilla's chest.

Vanilla hugs him and pets his head. "There, there. Let it all out."

For once after a long hour, the rain finally stopped falling, letting them have their moment.

For now, the blue ninja was going to have to find new meaning after what happened today.

After what suffering he witnessed...

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Thank you for making it this far!

I know I take a while to update stuff, but it feels worth in the end, even no one sees it.

If you have any questions about this page, let me know.

I'll see you next time!