Bastion

Radiance

In the middle of a forest Roran laid under a tree fast asleep. A woodpecker began pecking at the tree the boy was under causing him to wake up. He looked around sleepily while he scratched his head. " Where am I?, what happened?" he asked out loud. He remembered his village on fire and his best friend turning into an Akuma. He also noticed the sword he had found laying next to him. " So it wasn't a dream, my home really is gone" the boy said sadly. He stood up and looked at his surroundings. " Well according to what that Seika guy said, I should keep going east of here until I arrive at Redwood Town" Roran said grabbing his sword and beginning to walk east. " Hold it, this Dragon Eye guild must be full of powerful warriors and I'm pretty sure that they won't just let an average guy like me in there" he said as he stopped walking. He pulled out his sword and looked at it. " I don't know why, but I feel there is something special about you but I just can't put my finger on it" he said staring at the mysterious weapon. " Its settled, if I'm going to guild then I should at least know some basic sword combatting techniques" he said putting his sword in his right hand and getting in an attack position. He targeted a tree and then ran towards it.

Once he got close enough he slashed it powerfully cutting the tree down quickly. " Whoa, this thing is more powerful than I thought" Roran said looking at the sword as a smile spread across his face. He then charged at another tree and sliced it down as well. He repeated this until most of the trees in the area were chopped down. " Alight, ill work on agility next" the boy said as he began running at full speed through the forest. He dodged trees and rock and basically any other obstacle in his way with ease. Roran then jumped on a medium sized boulder and sliced through a tree in mid air before landing nearby. " This is great!!" the boy screamed. He looked at the sword and smiled. " If I am able to master this weapon then I could have the power to avenge Mary and everyone else at that village" he said tightening his grip on the sword. He looked around the area and then said " But still, I can't exactly call it training if all I'm doing is chopping down a few harmless trees". He then looked back at his sword and saw blue sparks coming out of it. The boy looked closer and saw that the blade was giving off a faint blue glow with blue sparks falling out of it. " Whats going on?" Roran asked himself as he watched the sword's abnormal behavior. The weapon then returned to normal leaving the boy confused. " Well that was strange".

Suddenly, the ground began shaking and animals began running in the opposite direction. The boy then heard screams coming from nearby. " What's going on?" the boy asked. He then saw a huge pillar of light shoot out of the sky from an area nearby. " Damn, its them again" Roran said under his breath. " Well at least this time I'm ready" he said smiling before he put the sword in his scabbard and ran towards the light. He ran for a few minutes until he arrived at a clearing where the pillar of light came from. He looked around and saw a woman and little girl cowering a little distance away from the beam of light." Get out of here!!, its not safe!!" Roran. A loud screech came from the seal that echoed the entire forest. A few seconds later a massive Akuma flew out of it and into the sky. It had the appearance of a manta ray but was the size of a horse, completely black, bones were showing on its stomach and back and it had gleaming red eyes. The beast shrieked as it flew in circles and then spotted the woman and her child. It roared and dove towards them at full speed.

" Mommy, what is that thing?" the girl asked fearfully.

" Just stay behind me sweetie, ill take care of it" the mother said as she grabbed a large stick and began swinging it to ward the monster away but failing. Before the beast got near them Roran ran in front of the mother and slashed the creature in the face sending if flying back in the air. " Listen, take your daughter and hide behind that tree over there, ill take care off that thing" Roran said to the mother who did what she was instructed. The boy looked up in the air and saw the flying creature circling again. " Alright, I've been training nonstop all day, time to see what I can do against a threat" Roran said smiling as he pointed his sword to it. The creature roared and flew towards Roran launching orbs of darkness at him. He quickly used his natural speed and dodged all the attacks that came his way. He jumped up and tried to slice the Akuma but the monster blocked his swing with the skinny blade like tail it had. Roran then dropped back to the floor, not taking his eyes off the opponent as the creature circled the boy looking for an opening. It then went in for a rapid strike but Roran quickly deflected it knocking the creature back. The monster went in for another strike but was deflected again. Tired, the Akuma spotted the mother and daughter hiding behind a nearby tree and went after them at full speed. 

" Hey pall!!!, leave them out of this!!" Roran shouted as he ran after the monster. Once he got close to it he jumped on its back startling the beast. The manta ray flew up into the sky with Roran holding onto its back with his one free hand. The monster then dove back to earth with great speed while Roran screamed on its back. Once it got close to the ground the beast flung Roran into a nearby tree. It then flew back in the air and began charging an attack with black mist coming out of its mouth. Roran saw that it targeted the mother and daughter. " Crap, if that stuff hits them, they'll turn into Akuma" the boy said in his mind. He got up and began to run over to them. The monster released the stream of black mist towards the two while Roran continued to run over to them. " I won't let anyone else turn into one of those things!!" he shouted. He then jumped in between the beam and the parent and child. He held up his sword in front of the beam and roared " Ill do my best to cleanse this world from you Akuma scum!!". The beam then hit the sword causing massive gusts of wind. Roran held his ground and thrusted through the beam of black mist destroying it. He then looked at the manta ray flying in front of them with hatred in his eyes. His sword began to emit blue light from the its blade with sparks appearing from it as well. " Ill kill you all!!" Roran shouted as he charged at the monster. He jumped in the air and then slammed the blade of his sword onto the floor. A gush of blue light exited the sword and rushed towards the monster. Once the beam made contact with it a huge explosion erupted that completely destroyed the Akuma and a few trees nearby.

Once the attack was over Roran looked at his sword which was still emitting the strange blue light. " What kind of weapon are you?" the boy asked.

" Thank you" the mother said walking over to him.

" It was no problem at all" Roran said smiling while he put his sword away. " Anyway, why were you guys all the way out here?".

" We have a house nearby and we came out here to collect some herbs" the mother explained.

" Yeah, and then that meanie attacked us" the little brown haired girl said.

" Well I'm glad to help you" the boy said as he began to walk back into the forest.

" Wait, do you live nearby?" the mother asked.

" No, I'm just traveling to Redwood" 

" Redwood?, well your in luck, Redwood is not that far away from here"

" Really?"

" Yeah, just keep walking east and you should reach it by this evening" the woman said smiling.

" Thanks, and maybe be more careful of where you collect your herbs from"

" We will" the mother said smiling.

" Bye mister!!" the little girl shouted after Roran with the boy looking back and waved as he continued walking. Hekept walking east like the woman had told him. " What kind of power does this sword posses" the boy said as he walked up a hill and thought about the strange power he unleashed while fighting the Akuma. " The power I used was amazing, it was radiant, in fact thats what ill call it" he said taking out the sword. " That attack will be known as the Radiant Blow" he said smiling. " I just hope I can use it again"he said as he put the sword back in its scabbard and walked to the top of the small hill. He looked down to see a medium sized town.

" There it is, now all I have to do is find this Tano guy" the boy said as he began down the hill towards the town.