'Bloodlines'
'Your time will come, Ninja Dragon. Mark my words,
the time of your death draws near...'
Ryu Hayabusa awoke suddenly and with a light shout from
the nightmare, fast becoming a common occurrence. There was an eerie silence
in his Tokyo apartment, pierced only by his short, ragged breathing as
he attempted to regain his breath. He slowly began to rub his temples,
soaked with sweat, as was the rest of his body. That's the third time
I've had that dream, he grimly noted. A loud groan would soon follow
his observation.
Ryu, suddenly remembering that he wasn't alone, cast a
quick glance to the figure sleeping soundly beside him. Beneath the covers
next to him, another figure shifted slightly, but continued her slumber.
Ryu sighed as noted that he did not disturb Irene; he didn't quite feel
up to explaining what had just happened to him.
Nor did he want to go back to sleep just yet.
Taking care not to wake Irene, Ryu quietly made his way
out of the bed. He silently worked his way through his moonlit apartment,
expertly maneuvering even in the darkness. There was a light click as he
undid the lock to the sliding glass door, stepping out onto the balcony
outside of his apartment.
Ryu sighed deeply as he leaned heavily on the railing,
taking in the sights of the late Tokyo evening as he had done on so many
other sleepless nights. Those nights were becoming more and more of a common
occurrence, he silently acknowledged. On the rare evenings when he could
actually get to sleep, he'd usually be interrupted by that dream. Losing
sleep was bad enough, but he felt that he was also beginning to lose his
sanity because of it.
"Ryu?"
He turned around to see Irene standing in the doorway
to the balcony, still asleep for all practical purposes. The petite young
woman was wearing a blue shirt that belonged to Ryu, long enough to cover
what needed to be covered, but short enough to allow an imagination run
wild. She looked very tired, but concern was still etched across her delicate
face.
Ryu began to make his way back inside, pausing just long
enough to plant a light kiss on Irene's cheek. "I'm fine," he
hastily remarked. "I just needed some air."
Irene cast Ryu a quick gaze, a little unsure at her boyfriend's
answer. However, seeing as it was three in the morning, she decided to
let it slide for the time being. She slowly closed the door to the balcony
before stepping back inside. Before she even turned around, Ryu was already
back in bed, sleeping soundly. Irene slowly shook her head as she made
her own way back to the bed, taking care not to disturb Ryu as she pulled
the covers over her.
It was only after he was sure Irene was sleeping did Ryu
open his eyes and acknowledge the fact that it was going to be another
sleepless night.
* * * * * * *
The night wasn't a total loss for sleep, but there was
a price.
For starters, when he woke up, Ryu had found a note where
Irene had been sleeping the night before. A very audible groan was heard
throughout the apartment as Ryu suddenly remembered that Irene had a flight
to catch that day, and after reading the note, confirmed his fears
-Ryu
You looked like you were sleeping pretty soundly, so
I didn't want to disturb you. My flight to Louisiana leaves in about an
hour, so please forgive my brevity. I should be back in about two weeks,
so I'll see you then. Take care.
PS -Look at your clock if you haven't already...
As Ryu slowly turned his head to the clock beside the
bed, he realized what Irene was referring to. It was currently 11:45 AM.
He had a class to teach in fifteen minutes.
Ryu couldn't honestly recall a time when he actually showered
and dressed in under five minutes, and felt quite certain that he had just
set a record of some sort. The dojo was at least a ten minute drive -if
he hurried, he could at least make it before his students showed up. Moments
later, he was on his motorcycle, tearing down the Tokyo streets.
* * * * * * *
No matter what was going on in his life, it always brought
a smile to Ryu's face upon seeing the 'Hayabusa Ninjitsu' sign hanging
above the modest dojo, nestled within a shopping center in downtown Tokyo.
Despite the fact that he was a few minutes late, none of the students seemed
to mind -he had even paused and bowed when they jokingly applauded his
late arrival. Ryu was always one for timeliness, a habit he was glad had
rubbed off on his students. Even so, he didn't mind occasionally showing
up late -it at least showed he was human.
Like most Saturday classes at the dojo, Ryu would begin
by leading the students in a number of stretches and simple katas, and
would then leave one of his senior students to conduct the rest of it.
He usually stayed around, handling the day to day affairs of the dojo from
his office in the back.
There was a light click as Ryu cut on the light to his
office. He stepped inside and shut the door behind him, absently wondering
how such a neat-freak like himself could have such a cluttered office.
He smiled inwardly as he sat down at his desk, vowing once again to sift
through the mountain of papers that had made its home on his desktop before
the day was out.
* * * * * * *
"Sensei?"
Ryu glanced up from his desk to see one of his female
students standing at the door. "Yes Natsu?," he remarked. Natsu
Yasunari was always the quiet, nervous type, but Ryu couldn't help but
notice that the young girl was looking a little paler than usual. She stood
at attention in his doorway, but even doing so, she was fidgeting.
"There's a man here to see you, Sensei," she
responded. She looked as if she wanted to say more, but left it at that.
Ryu nodded. "Send him in, please."
As Natsu stepped back into the hallway, Ryu saw her motion
to some obscured figure some distance away from her. He could hear the
figure approaching his office, and noticed that Natsu had backed away considerably
as he came through.
Standing in the doorway was a young man, an American looking
to be in his early twenties. He was tall and somewhat pale, a point emphasized
further by his dark hair and eyes. He wore a well-made light brown suit
and tie, and his shoes appeared to be made from the skin of some reptile.
A cane of dark wood was held in his hand, but he did not appear to be leaning
on it.
"Can I help you, sir?," Ryu finally asked. There
was something odd about the man's aura, something that didn't quite feel
right. He suddenly understood why Natsu was so nervous around the stranger.
His guest stood in silence for a moment, looking the young
Hayabusa up and down. Ryu was about to repeat the question when he saw
the stranger smile, for lack of a better word. Perhaps 'sneer' would have
been more fitting. "So you're Ryu Hayabusa," he finally said,
his smile stretching a little further. His voice was accented slightly,
but Ryu couldn't quite place it.
"Have we met?"
The man shook his head. "Not in person, but I know
who you are."
The conversation was going nowhere, and it was starting
to irritate the young ninja. Regardless, he decided it would be best to
keep his temper in check. "A mutual friend?," he suggested.
"Not quite."
"Then who are you?"
The man seemed to ponder the question for a moment, taking
the moment to look at the various weapons hanging on the wall of Ryu's
office. After what seemed like an eternity of silence, he stepped forward
and extended his hand to Ryu, who slowly took it. "Call it morbid
curiosity," the stranger began. "But I wanted to meet the man
that killed my father." The sneer never left his face, even with a
statement such as that.
Ryu stopped in mid-shake. "Your father...?"
The accent was beginning to sound a little more familiar, and Ryu didn't
like the memories that accompanied them.
"Larousche DiMiux," he greeted, pulling his
hand back to his side. "I'm sure you remember my father, Guardia."
The Cajun accent suddenly slapped at Ryu 's conscience
like an angry ex. It wasn't the first time he had heard it. He wasn't sure
if he actually paled any, but Ryu's face suddenly felt cold. "...
The Jaquio was your father?" he repeated, making a valiant effort
to remain calm. He felt his pulse rate jump at the mention of his enemy's
name.
The man nodded. "I just happened to be in Tokyo on
some business for a few days, and decided to pay you a visit." He
took a seat at the chair before the desk. Ryu stood and stared at the man
for a moment before taking a seat in his own chair. "And before you
ask, no, I'm not on some vendetta to kill you," he remarked, laughing
to himself.
Ryu merely nodded. Should the situation change, the Dragon
Sword hanging behind him was easily within reach. "Forgive me for
seeming silent," he eventually remarked, "...but this is an awkward
situation."
Larousche laughed and continued to smile. For someone
speaking to the man that killed his father, he did an awful lot of smiling.
The man leaned on his cane as he slowly stood to his feet, reaching out
to shake Ryu's hand again. "Well, I won't waste any more of your time,
Mr. Hayabusa. It was a pleasure to finally meet you," he remarked
with a slight bow of his head. As Ryu shook his hand, he felt a light scratching
sensation on his palm. As he looked at his hand, he found that Larousche
had slipped him a business card. "If you're ever in the area, do drop
by," the tall Cajun welcomed. "Fate has a strange way of making
things happen- I'm sure we'll meet again, Mr. Hayabusa." Before Ryu
could respond, Laroushce had turned away and was already outside of his
door. It might have been for the best- Ryu didn't know quite what to say,
anyway. After being lost in thought for what felt like hours, the young
Hayabusa decided to take a look at the card resting in his hand. The picture
of the black skull on it wasn't enough to deter Ryu from reading it -in
fact, the words disturbed him quite more significantly than the image.
New Age Solutions
Knowledge from the Ancients, Made Available for the Modern Age
Specializing in
-Literature
-Voodoo
-The Occult
Larousche DiMiux
Bourbon Street, Louisiana
Ryu blinked. Despite his most valiant vocal efforts, "What
the hell...?" were the only three words that came from his mouth.
He stared at the card blankly for a few moments before slipping it into
his pocket, really not feeling up to the task of making sense of it. The
events of the past couple of minutes left the young ninja with a myriad
of different feelings- confusion was the most prominent of those, however
'disturbed' was also on that upper tier. Ryu silently hoped that The Jaquio
hadn't had any more children- it seemed like that entire bloodline had
issues.
He took a deep breath as he buried his face in his hands,
hoping to shake the feeling of dread that had just inched its way into
his mind. The whole situation just doesn't seem right -there was so much
about it that was, without a doubt in his mind, just plain wrong. Ryu could
have sat around all day long and came up with reasons why it was wrong,
but instead chose to go with the one thing that had seen him through in
the past. And as his hand wrapped around the sheath of the Dragon Sword
hanging behind the desk, things began to make a little more sense in his
world.
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