Having finally formed a pactio, Sai had decided he would share this news with his clan, his family in particular. He had been given a message that his mother and father were home for once, for a short while at least and he really wanted to see them. He wasn't sure how they would take the news exactly, considering they didn't like out of clan relationships of any sorts. But, he knew that he would be able to convince them that it was a good thing that he was doing, forming strong bonds with his friends would hopefully prove a good thing in the future, he had been helping as many people as he possibly could recently. Even if it caused him pain at times from over-exhaustion, particularly that nasty cough that had him a little worried, another reason why he was on a journey back to the clan. He stopped about half way at a small village he had found along the way once when he was taking a similar journey. They were nice people, and welcomed strangers, even if they knew him quite well.

He found a small inn, where they served delicious meals that he had become fond of, usually one of the highlights of the trip over. He ordered himself one of their home-made pies, as he didn't have enough time for a good stay, and quickly paid and ate it before moving on.. noticing a man in a cloak but didn't really take enough time to get a good look at him. Deciding to ignore the odd sight, Sai would move on and continue the rest of the way, hoping to arrive before night-fall, and as he could see the entrance in the horizon, he felt that he was going to do so, which was good as he really needed a rest from everything he had been doing, and really his village was the best place that he could do that. Finally, after a days worth of walking, he was home.

When he got there, his little sister was already waiting for him at the gate, odd, she seemed different. Though he couldn't exactly pick out why that was so. ”Saijun! Your back!” As she usually did she pounced and hugged him within an inch of his life. He smiled and patted her on the head before getting her off him. ”And I have good news as well, but I'd like to tell the rest of the family as well. Where are they?”. Autumn smiled and nodded. ”They are back at home”. Sai nodded as she lead him off, he thought he could see someone wearing black, which was odd as not many would do so around here, but again he would simply ignore it, no reason to worry about it here, it was possibly the safest place that he knew of. Soon enough he walked inside to see two adults waiting, apparently they had heard the news of their son returning once more and both of them seemed quite happy to see him.

His mother had a similar reaction to Autumn. ”Saijun! You're finally home, we were hoping to see you this time.” she said, hugging him tightly before letting him go, she was middle aged, but looked youthful, able to pass off as a younger woman with ease if she felt like it. While his father seemed impressed ”I see you have been collecting more weapons son.. you will have to show me what they do later” They both seemed to be heavily armed, his father more so, but of course they were all collected over a lifetime. They all seemed happy to see each other, and began sharing stories of their exploits, Autumn took the spotlight, being trained as one of the elders was no small matter and all of them seemed quite proud of her. But eventually they all god tired and went to sleep, ready for an early start in the morning.

Sai was first up, deciding to go out for a walk early in the morning, wondering how he would explain this pactio situation to his parents. It would seem like a sort of foreign thing to them of course, usually the clan didn't socialise outside their borders unless absolutely necessary. But as he was about half way through his walk he heard a voice, turning quickly he saw that man again, lifting up his hood. ”I've heard a lot about you boy.. made a few enemies it's seems... enough to hire me of course” the man was about twenty, he looked strong but Sai didn't know what he could mean by that, at least until he saw him brandish a pair of silver daggers. ”I'm going to be paid handsomely for this boy, so you might as well give up now. No one gets away from me” he suddenly sprinted forward, faster than he had ever seen someone move.

Barely having enough time to draw his tanto and block the slash at his chest, a loud metal on metal scrape could be heard. He seemed somewhat impressed he could even avoid that first attack, but was unrelenting. Attack after attack would keep Sai on the defensive, giving no chance for him to fight back or escape. He was slowly moving back, avoiding and blocking the man's furious attacks until he found himself backing into an alley, he knew that this wasn't going to be good. He was right of course, the man suddenly span around and kicked him in the gut, slamming him against the wall behind him. Sliding down it he coughed up blood as the man stood in front of him. ”And I heard you were an expert with a blade... to bad. Get up” he didn't give him a choice, lifting him up by the neck with one hand. The other holding the dagger. ”This is it boy, it all ends here” With a quick flash, he readied to stab him.

The blade easily passed through his chest, puncturing a lung where it stayed. Sai felt himself go paralysed by the shock that the pain brought. He fell to the ground again, unable to stand anymore as the man grinned. ”Still awake? Good, I don't like a weak kill” He said, before lifting him up and taking the second dagger, burying it in his gut, not once, but multiple times. Until suddenly there was a shout of rage. The man wasn't grinning any more. Leaving both daggers stabbed into the barely conscious young man, he turned around to see a furious looking older man... Sai's father.

”... Don't move” he was holding an ornate sword in his hand, ready to destroy this man for what he had done. Though he wasn't going down without a fight. Suddenly rushing forward with only his fists, Sai's father didn't even flinch. Sidestepping and brutally cutting him down, cutting his whole arm off. The man didn't stop, running as fast as he could to try and save himself, though the older man didn't seem to thing he would last long. Instead he turned his attentions to his dying son.. who had finally succumbed to the darkness.

Sai awoke, laying down on a cold table, it felt like stone in fact. Everything was a blur and he felt quite horrible. In fact he was falling in and out of consciousness as he tried to focus on his surroundings. All he could see were people standing around, in a candle-lit room, with one walking towards him. Moving his head slightly, he could see other tables, very few, maybe one or two more beside him, with someone laying there, with a ethereal sword through their chest, where their heart would be. Rotating his head upwards, he saw his father standing, ready with an exact replica of those swords. ”... We will save you son” he said, before suddenly stabbing downwards, though his chest and into the stone table beneath. Where it would go black once again.

He woke with a start, he wasn't meant to be awake.. he could remember the pain from those silver blades quite clearly.. they were meant to kill him then and there, having been dipped in some form of poison probably, as he couldn't move much at all after it had taken effect. But now, he was laying in what seemed a peaceful meadow. The grass was quite tall, waving gently in the calming breeze. He looked down.. realising that there was no pain, he patted down his chest and there no wounds. Had he died? Maybe this was the afterlife. He stood up and looked around, nothing but this field around him, leading up to a cliff at one side, while the other seemed to go on forever. Though, after a better look, he could see an entity.. he wasn't sure what it was, but decided he would move closer.. maybe it had some answers.

As Sai went closer, he found that she was shorter than he would imagine. She turned and smiled, it was Autumn. ”It worked” she seemed pleased, though she didn't move any closer. ”We had to preform the regeneration ritual.. I can only stay here for a few minutes. We aren't sure who you will appear with, we didn't have enough time to choose.. I'm sorry” Sai knew now what had happened, he had been saved, but this was the result. His body was going to take a long time to recover from those wounds, and that poison. He smiled and his sister moved to hug him. ”I'll see you when you get back” before she would simply disperse into a bright white light. Leaving Sai alone again..

As he wasn't sure who he would end up with, he decided that it was about to find out. He had been told about this ritual, whoever he had been linked with he could communicate with them while they slept, basically invading their dreams. Though one thing he hadn't noticed yet was how he was now dressed, a black robe, and what seemed to be a blindfold.. though it didn't blind him. He figured it was some sort of manifestation of his current situation. He began to walk, wondering how long it would take for him to meet the person who was to wield the sword. As suddenly, he saw in front of him something taking shape, he wasn't sure who it was, but they seemed slightly familiar..

(This is where you start postin' Rie XP, and if you were wondering, I am totally stealing some appearance from Riku with the blindfold and such)

Sai's Manifestation:

Rie was most decidedly confused about this dream. It certainly wasn't one of her ordinary dreams that's for sure. She stood up from where she had been kneeling on the ground, wondering where Hyoriin and Ryuujin were. Turning around she saw a young man (or what LOOKED like a young man) clad in a dark robe (or dress but she highly doubted THAT) with a blind fold.
"Greetings to you, mysterious dark robed man. How can I aid you?" Rie asked politely while bowing.

Sai looked at her, not exactly seeming very blinded by that blind fold. ”Well... I guess I have some explaining to do. You are here because I am currently... well indisposed. I have had my being sealed within' a sword which now belongs to you.. My name is Saijun” he said, bowing politely back to her. She seemed familiar, maybe she was a student from the school, what were the odds? ”Any questions?” he actually was hoping she would ask some.

(CBF'd swapping accounts ^^)

Rie looked at the man, Saijun, before smiling brightly.
"Just one actually: Why me? Not that I don't appreciate it, but still. I already have two swords and they're rather... possesive of me. Especially Ryuujin, he has quite the temper by the way, be careful around him." Rie said with a small smile.

Sai smiled, this Rie seemed straight to the point. Though he wasn't at all sure what she meant by watch out for the two other swords bound to her... odd, maybe she was simply prone to such a thing. ”Well, I am not sure how the ritual itself works apart from saving someone from death.. I assume it choose you because it felt you would be able to utilise such a power.” it was the only explanation that he could give her. ”I am not sure what form that I will take either, I assume a sword, but I might be wrong. When you wake up it will probably be waiting there for you”

Rie sighed quietly, shewondered when she could use Saijun in actual battle... Hm, She COULD try and dual wield with him, since she couldn't use both Garyotensei and Shoryoutensei at the same time...
"Very well. I shall strive to put you to the best use I can manage, which I assure you is quite a lot." Rie said softly.

Sai grinned, and then nodded. ”I'm sure you can. There is something else too. If you ever find yourself outnumbered, you can 'summon' me.. sort of. Liberatio is the spell, and I think I should be able to fight with you for a while. Of course the sword won't be available, I'm sure you can deal with that. he informed her. It seemed he had found a good partner for now, until he got his body back. When he did he hoped to meet her in person.

Rie stopped short... Magic?
"I... I don't KNOW any magic... But I could learn I suppose, it shouldn't be overly hard... I hope." Rie said quietly before she felt herself starting to wake up. "Ah! It seems I am about to wake up... Well, until we meet again I guess?" Rie said softly.

”Well, that doesn't really matter. It is quite a simple spell, and I doubt you will need to do more than say the word. I'll take care of the rest.” He said smiling somewhat. He turned and looked back as she began to wake up, to him she seemed to slowly start disappearing. ”Of course.. Before leaving her to wake up. When she did so, she would find a noticeable long blade nearby.. just sitting there. WATCHING HER (Not srs... kinda). Though, it was quite obvious what it was.

Rie walked over the the sword, a nodachi and very finely crafted to... Grasping the hilt in her left hand she let a small soft smile grace her lips. "So... beautiful." Rie said softly, feeling Ryuujin huff in annoyance as she did. "Oh do calm down Ryuujin, you'll always be my favourite fire sword." Rie said, grinning cheekily. "Oh, and do try not to kill him, would you? After all, he's here to survive. unlike you." Rie said, a hint of force in her voice.

As she picked it up, she would hear Sai's voice in her head. ”... What do you mean try not to kill him. You can't kill me any more than I already have been” he informed both Rie and the... thing that seemed annoyed. Whom he was sure he would meet at least once, but wasn't sure if he was actually ready for such a meeting.

Rie sighed mentally.
"Don't count on that, if anyone can find a way to kill you beyond dead it would be Ryuujin. And he isn't pleased at having you here." Rie said softly.

-The end?-

(Yuh, end)

Rewards

Ryo: 3 SP, 2 MP and 350,000 Drachma
Rie: 2 SP, 1 MP and 100,000 Drachma