There was no time to think or to stop. Wounds left unmended and exhaustion only waved to the back of the mind. We would ride until we reached our destination, there was no more time for rest or leisure. We had a job to do.

I looked over to Anzen. He had taken the largest beating in our fight earlier that day. Shards of sharp rock were plunged into his back and side as his face started to show bruising. Anzen’s eyes squinted to see in his exhaustion. His hand that wasn’t steering his horse was clutching and unclutching his leg, not for any other purpose than to keep himself awake.

Hayato was to my right with a bruised and misshapen looking arm. Hayato shook his head and grimaced as he stared into the distance, taking notice of the rather dim lights shining through the darkness.

My home was only a small ways away. We would meet Sora and Lee and we could leave for Amaterasu’s palace.

There was no way we could stop. We would have to be an unmovable force if we wanted to win.

We galloped out of the forest and into the village. My vision was so clouded and narrow that I didn’t take notice of the buildings around us or the people staring at the spectacle we must have been. My eyes only were searching for one place, and that place I would eventually find.

A large and familiar temple shone on the outskirts of the village. I slowed my horse as Hayato and Anzen followed. Without even bothering to hitch my horse, I jumped off and stumbled into the building.

Old men shroud in white robes muttered and asked questions I didn’t have the energy to respond to as I pointed outside. Monks left and retrieved my companions as I slowly got on my knees to rest, eyes getting heavier as the injured Anzen and Hayato were assisted into the building and immediately into chambers to rest.

Once I had finally sat, I felt as though I wouldn’t be able to get back up. My broken rib started to make itself noticed with a piercing shot of pain along with my deeply cut legs and their aching introduction.

Eventually, the temptation got the better of me as I closed my eyes.

Next thing I knew, I was being awoken by a familiar face.

Sora looked down at me with a blank face, waiting patiently for me to wake. His hair was still pulled tightly back into a ponytail in a utilitarian fashion. He wore new clothes. Light blue, very loose and longer. Something an archer who needed a range of motion more than having less of a distraction from the waving kimono would wear. In his hand was a book that I would’ve assumed he had been reading prior to our rather rambunctious entrance.

Lee was frowning with his arms crossed. His ear-length hair was parted near the center, and his clothes had also changed. A more form-fitting and short white kimono with the usual baggy trousers beneath.

Even though my mind was still consumed with the furiousness of earlier that day, I found a smile. “It’s been far too long.”

Lee’s composure instantly loosened and a bright smile came across his face as he heard me. “You’re awake!”

Sora sighed and nodded. “It’s good that you’re awake, but you and what I assume to be your companions aren’t in good condition. What happened?”

“Things went worse than I expected. They had a young ember wielder with the ability to track people. There was no way we could outrun them or hide, so we fought.”

Lee rolled his eyes at Sora, most likely due to his rather untimely straightforwardness. Lee then began to change the subject back to its optimistic roots. “What matters is that he got here. We’ve been training since we got here with these old guys. I know a lot more about my ember now, too.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. Well, remember how I was able to move around and dodge everything? Apparently, that’s because I can see forward in time.”

Forward in time was a broad explanation, so I inquired further. “What do you mean by that?”

Sora expanded it further for Lee. “He has very limited foresight. He can see the future and its possibilities for close to five seconds at a time.”

I started to ease myself from laying down on the sleeping mat to sitting against the stone walls of the Temple of Sunlight. “And I hope you’ve also been practicing your marksmanship.”

Sora nodded. “I have been.”

After the pleasantries had been completed, I began to stand. Every force within me told me not to, but I didn’t listen.

I painfully eased myself onto my cut legs and spoke to Sora and Lee. “Good. We need all the strength we can get. Gather your things.”

Lee looked at me with a confused glare as Sora raised an eyebrow. Lee spoke as I started to slowly step towards the exit. “Why leave now? You and your friends are seriously beaten up.”

Sora muttered. “If you want ‘all the strength you can get’, then it would be best to let yourselves heal beforehand, yes? At this state, you would be a hindrance rather than an asset.”

I shook my head as I walked over to the stone doorway and leaned against it. Every muscle I tried to move seemed to ache and feel overwhelmingly sluggish. I knew what Sora and Lee said was true, but I still didn’t want to listen. I wanted to confront the old man and the Shogun… I wanted to leave the temple we had been forced to enter. But what I wanted didn’t match with what I could do.

With a sigh, I leaned more against the stone doorway. “You two are right. But we can’t stay here. There should be an inn somewhere in town if I’m not mistaken, right?”

Lee was still confused. “Why go to an inn? The monks here know old medicine and can help you guys heal, and I don’t know about you guys but I doubt we have the money to be buying rooms at an inn…” The young Lee thought for a second, then continued. “Besides, those weeks ago when you told us to come here you said these people were like family, right? You should be eager to see them.”

Sora shook his head at Lee. “I believe that’s the exact reason Kenshi is so adamant to leave. They told us about your past, or what they knew of it. I’m sure that’s why you don’t wish to see their faces once more.”

The intellectual Sora, as always, was correct. Those monks were like family to me, and I hadn’t seen their faces or spoken to them since I failed them. After such a dishonorable event, I should’ve killed myself, but yet I found a way to disgrace them more just by continuing to live. But it was too late for that. My only redemption came from Mt.Fuji, and that was why I had to leave as soon as possible.

I realized that I had caused an awkward silence with my thinking, to which Sora spoke through. “You’re as contemplative as always, I see.” With a sigh, I nodded. I wanted to explain to both of them why we had to leave, tell them exactly what I had just thought, but I couldn’t. Sora continued. “However, whatever you were contemplating doesn’t matter. Your companions are in even worse shape than you are. The strong-looking one with the shorn hair is not hurt badly, but the thinner one with the shoulder-length hair… The monks are still taking pieces of what has to be rock out of his side. Either you leave now and take us without them, or you wait.”

Damn it. Sora was right. We needed everyone if we had a chance of breaking into whatever base they had made at Amaterasu’s palace.

I trudged back to my mat and sat back down. With the pain in my legs and side, I knew I wouldn’t have made it much farther than that doorway.

Lee tapped his foot on the stone flooring until Sora turned and began to leave me. With a bit of prompting, Lee also left, but not before speaking. “We’ll see you in the morning, Kenshi.”

I grunted as they left, still reluctant to stay. Closing my eyes as their footsteps grew fainter.

Farther away, and farther away.

Silence.

But as I began to drift off to sleep, an unfamiliar rhythm of footsteps approached my room. I pushed myself up and leaned against the cold wall as a light grew in the halls ahead of me.

The footsteps grew closer as my hand searched for the lamp sitting next to my bed. Finally, I found the lamp and pointed it to the figure. A large robed man walked into my room.

As the light revealed his face, I knew who it was. He was wrinkled far beyond my memory and his hair was nothing more than whisps, but his shoulders still showed strength.

The one I had wished to avoid. He spoke as he sat on the ground next to me, a dry smile under his thick white beard. “You’ve gained a few grey hairs since last I saw you.”

“Mishima.”

His smile lessened to a blank expression. “No energy for a laugh? That’s perfectly fine…” We sat in silence for a while, getting used to being in the presence of each other once again. Waiting for Mishima to get to the point. And to the point, he did go. “I know I’m not the person you would probably like to see right now, but I wanted to see your face once more.” He wanted to see me? “I’ve missed you. I know that much has happened since the days that I would tell you stories as you explored the monastery, and I know that you’ve changed. But, I still see the steadfast and curious child in those eyes that I once knew.” I grimaced with no response. I found myself looking away from the old man as his tone grew less optimistic and more serious. The gruff voice bounced on the stone walls. “Kowareta Kenshi. Do you know what that name means?”

“Aside from its literal meaning… No.”

“Kowareta means broken, and Kenshi means swordsman. Your father gave you that name. Almost seventy years, there were no yokai and lady Amaterasu’s name wasn’t known throughout Nihon, and along with that, we were at a civil war. We were young at the time, fighting alongside our fathers, following their own forefather’s ideals. The barbarians that refused to see the light tried to steal and pillage and rape, but we were able to fend them off from the villages that followed lady Amaterasu. Your father and I were warriors of light, and we were able to turn Nihon into the peaceful place it once was under Amaterasu and the old emperor, not his comedic excuse of an heir. He fought the blasphemes and the heathens with tenacity and willpower I had never seen before. He once fought off a hoard of the bandits for so long that his sword broke in half, yet he kept fighting.”

“And why are you telling me this?”

Mishima answered quickly, and with a fiery passion in his eyes. “Because. Although you inherited the name of Kenshi, you’re given name alters it to reflect your father’s greatest feat so you would remember that lesson. You’ve fallen from great heights, Kenshi. Young Lee told me how you plan to redeem yourself, and we saw the broken katana in your luggage. It was lady Amaterasu’s final request for your father and the rest of the monastery to make you that sword. Now is the time you either decide to keep fighting and let us help, or to lie down and die.” I had no words for Mishima. He and my father were like brothers. Seeing his ancient face reminded me of the man I once looked up to so highly. I worked hard to ignore the tears forming at the creases of my eyes. Mishima held his wrinkled and old fist out and placed it against my chest. “Remember who you are, Kenshi. There isn’t going to be anything left of the warriors of sunlight soon, except for the memory. Let us reforge your sword before we fade into history. Restore the world and reclaim your honor.” He finally smiled once more. This time, a genuine and hearty smile. “Your father would be proud.”

Although it hurt to move, I eased over to Mishima and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. For so many years I had felt like a different person than I once was. The reason I was so adamant at finding Amaterasu once more was to make things how they once were, to be who I once was. But in that temple, with the man I had spent so much of my childhood with, I felt a hint of someone young and happy. I no longer entirely felt like a shell of what once was. I felt hope, the hope that I could be truly happy once more, the world could be what it once was.

The sword will be made anew. Our wounds will be healed and our strength regained. Nihon will bask in the sun once more. My unkempt anger had turned into pure determination.

It could be the way it once was, I knew it could.