4 Years later…..

“Grandpa, I am going out to meet Ryu….” Said a girl getting ready to leave her house.

“To meet Ryu you say, take some food along with you Kaiya, God knows when was the last time that kid had eaten well.” Said Kaiya’s Grandfather who was the trusted servant of The Sunshine and the Shadow Clan years ago.

“Ya I know that….packed a few of his favorite dishes.” Said Kaiya.

Then she rushed off into the nearby bamboo forest where Ryu was spending most of his time after that fateful night.

While Kaiya was on the way her mind was filled with various thoughts of Ryu. She thought how much he had changed in the past four years not just physically but even his character.

“I still remember him as the little boy who could do no magic but still had the heart of a true warrior”

“These days I don’t even see him properly…he is training all the while” those were some of the thoughts running through her head.

She reached the bamboo forest and began searching for him but she didn’t have to do it for long as she could see smoke coming from a distance and she headed there.
In a small clearing, she saw him his back facing her, he was holding a sword whose blade was as black as the shadow itself and had dark fire emanating from it.

He bellowed the words ‘Shadow Clan’s Forbidden Move…Shadow Reaver’ and cut through the shadows of some trees nearby and after a few seconds the trees themselves fell down as if they had been cut with a real blade.

Kaiya didn’t have to call him, Ryu could now sense presence of people within certain radius and his back still facing her,
He said in a cold voice,” What do you want?”

“Well that’s really impressive Ryu but you know what I want….I want you to eat this…eat them while they are still hot.” Said Kaiya in her gentle and sweet tone.

“Leave them over there and go, now I have to train.” He said.

“Oh you always train Ryu… I am not going to move till you eat this.” Said Kaiya a little defiantly.

Realizing the she was adamant, he deactivated his magic and his Katana returned back to shining silver color.

“Look how thin you have become Ryu…why do you train so hard…” asked Kaiya in a caring voice.

Ryu who hadn’t spoken a lot till then slowly said “The longer and harder I train now…the longer I am going to live…that’s the only way to test the limits of my body.”

“Ryu, I have a doubt, you now possess the soul of the Shadow Dragon right?... why doesn’t it cure you of that curse on your body.” Asked Kaiya innocently.

Ryu put his hand on his chest and he could feel his heart beat, then he looked at his pale chest through the gap in his kimono and could see black lightening like markings covering his body.

Then he remembered the incidents that happened on that night.
A few hours after Ryu had passed out his trusted servant the real old man came into the Sunshine dojo along with the local medico and was shell shocked to find so many bodies of Sunshine Clan members badly mutilated.

He and the medico searched for any signs of life and were not surprised to find any…They were about to leave but just then they heard a low moan of pain coming from one of the corpses.

They rushed to find it was Ryu who was barely breathing and was making low monotonous sounds.

The medico ripped apart the upper part of Ryu’s now tattered Kimono, the medico’s eyes widened on what he saw….

The old man asked “Lee san what are these black markings…..”

Medico Lee was too dumbfounded to say anything for a few moments. But when he got back his breath he said,” This boy has been cursed”

“What do you mean cursed? Do something quick” said The old man.

The next thing Ryu remembered was waking up in the hospital 2 days later and he couldn’t move a muscle.

The old man came in and said “This is not the right time to ask this but do you remember what was the last thing that hit you?”

Ryu sat up with great effort and all those horrible events played in front of his eyes.

After a few moments he said ,” Black Lightening or something like that.”

Medico Lee entered just then and with a straight serious face he said,”Ryu, you have been cursed by the Black Lightening. It is one of the most dangerous curses with a very few known users and no one survived the curse for more than a year.”

The old man got shocked on what he had just heard and quickly said,”Doctor Lee, Young master Ryu regained his consciousness just now…couldn’t you have waited a little longer.”

“No, he has to know what is wrong with him…the earlier he does the better.” Said Lee.

In between all this conversation Ryu asked slowly, “What are the effects…and how long do I have.”

Lee took out some old scrolls from his reading shelf and referred them again and again….Then he said,” Ryu, it is a strange type of curse which affects all parts of the body…The more you use your magical powers the more the curse spreads over the body. It is called Curse of The Black Lightening because when it spreads it leaves lightening like marks over the body… It is something like slow death…eventually you die if you use your magical moves or if you don’t use your magical moves… Your opponents kill you in battle. Finally when it spreads throughout…all your blood vessels get filled with poison and you die.”

“Something to look forward to…. Where is my Shadow Katana” said Ryu.

“What do you want that for…you not going to use it anymore…you will die Ryu.” Said The old man.

“Well you didn’t expect me to just lie here… I am a warrior and I am going to kill that Kagemaru….that I will.” said Ryu.

Lee said,”You shouldn’t strain your body Ryu…You will just get yourself killed faster…”

“Death is inevitable…why not embrace it doing something you like….”said Ryu with wisdom beyond his years…

The old man said,”Ryu, you don’t worry there has to be a cure somewhere or the other…”

Then Doctor Lee said,”I have heard about a village of medicos who use the mystic power of flowers to cure any kind of malady… If we go there maybe we might get something…”

“I will go right away… just give me the map Doctor Lee...” said the old man.

After taking the map from Lee...The old man left for the Flower Village the next day leaving his orphaned Grand Daughter to take care of Ryu

Then after that…it took Ryu 3 months to heal properly and nearly a year to be able to perform another magic attack but after that there was no looking back…he trained throughout the day for four long years.

“Ryu, grandpa returned 2 days ago…when are you coming to meet him…” said Kaiya to a dreamy Ryu.

“Even I was planning on coming soon….” Said Ryu.

Then Kaiya watched as Ryu ate a proper lunch after many days.

After Kaiya left….Ryu too packed his things and first went to the river that flowed through the forest... He bathed himself because he was covered in blood, mud and sweat.

Tidying himself and wearing a new pair of clothes he went to see Kaiya’s Grandfather who was Ryu’s only hope of finding a cure to his curse.

At Kaiya’s house, her grandfather was waiting for Ryu.

The first thing the old man said was ,”Ryu, who are you…been a long time since I have seen you…”

Ryu bluntly said, “What about the cure? Found anything?”

The old man said “Ryu, I have found the ‘Flower Village’ and the flower needed to cure you of the curse is the Black Rose….but the problem with it is…it bears flowers only once every five years and the medicine should be made from its petals instantly and consumed…”

“Give me the directions, I will leave right away.” Said Ryu excited.

“Ryu, the journey is too dangerous, the forests are infested with creatures and bandits who are worse than monsters.” Said the old man with concern.

“Just give them to me…I have waited too long for my revenge…now the time is right.” Said Ryu seriously.

The old man tried to talk Ryu out of revenge and all that but seeing that it was of no use…. The old man just gave Ryu the map and the directions.

That night Ryu was getting ready to leave the village…Ryu told the old man,”Hey, if I don’t come back in a few months…take good care of the village…”

“Master Ryu, don’t say such things...we will all be waiting…” said the old man and gave him a bag of gold for use on the journey.

Kaiya came running towards Ryu and said,”Ryu don’t leave…I don’t want to loose you too…Ryu ever thought of forgiving your uncle.”

On hearing the last words Ryu’s blood began to boil…. He said,”Kaiya, because your name means forgiveness maybe you can even forgive the person who murdered your parents but I can’t…I am a warrior and I need to avenge my family for what that jerk did to them….And don’t ever call him my uncle again…I am the last surviving member of The Shadow Dragon Clan and I can’t let him live any longer…..”

Tears were swelling up in Kaiya's eyes and she said,”Atleast take me with you Ryu…I don’t want you to go alone…”

Ryu didn’t want anyone to walk the path of revenge along with him and said,”Kaiya, if you come with me…you will be nothing but a burden to me…”

Kaiya started crying and ignoring her…Ryu went off into the dark forest on a moonless night all alone to seek revenge.