Secret :
It didn't take Toshi long to find this Master Ten who could provide with the information he needed to avenge Alala. Master Ten was famous enough among underground fighting circles, an unarmed fighter long past his prime who could punch through stone and pierce through mail with bone-shattering kicks.
What Toshi didn't expect was that the martial-arts master would be someone he knew, someone he had met once during his childhood. Someone related to him by ties of blood. Save for his hair that had turned pure white the man's large frame hardly diminished over the years.
The large man in front of him slammed a fist into a punching bag loaded with stone and after steeping back he took a deep breath driving the other fist into the bag. Toshi wondered if it was a good idea to disturb the man from his training but his need overpowered his manners.
"Master Ten?" he croaked.
The old man stopped punching the weathered bag turning his eyes towards the young vantha who had stepped into his dojo without permission. Despite the unexpected interruption the man didn't frown, instead a smile appeared on his thin lips. "It has been quite some time hasn't it Toshi."
His grandfather was a towering figure for a vantha though his heritage was questionable. He was a large fellow, over six feet tall with a heavily built frame that was littered with scars on every exposed part of his skin.
"You changed your name."
"I was going to cause more trouble here, I believed it would be better if none here could link my name to my son's own... But I see that trouble is the fate of all those born into our bloodline." he lifted a calloused finger in the direction of Toshi and was eying the ropes bound on both his hands and arms. "Those belong to Alala, if I am not mistaken."
"Yes... these were Alala's..."
"So Alala failed in her task." his grandfather sighed and closed his eyes. "I believed she had the potential to defeat her twin, perhaps I was wrong to place my trust in her."
"She was powerful, grandfather. She defeated Ayira once before, I saw it with my own eyes. Had the coward not escaped Alala would be the one seeing you instead of me."
"...it was compassion I think, compassion that caused Alala to lose her life. If what you said is true I am certain there was an opportunity for Alala to end things, perhaps she still hoped that Ayira would come to her senses... It was that quality, that weakness that forced the hands of their parents to hand the mantle of leadership over to Ayira when Alala was the better fighter."
"...I do not believe compassion is a weakness grandfather. Compassion reflects our capacity for control."
"I will not argue our contrasting philosophies child, but you will learn to accept mine in time. How powerful Ayira must have become since abandoning her name and temple." the older man shook his head and expressed his disappointment in an expression of sadness Toshi had never seen on the man's face before. "I imagine there was no way Ayira could have won without using some technique... no doubt forbidden to augment her power. Tell me, was there anything unusual with Ayira during her final battle with her twin?"
"She had sigils running all over her body, each one glowing during her fight with Alala."
"Gnosis... So she has sold her soul to the divine. Ayira has no pride left in her, to resort to winning on borrowed strength... She is beyond my power to defeat now. And I am past my prime to accomplish the task myself."
Past his prime? Toshi had to shake his head. A man so powerful couldn't possibly be... diminished. His grandfather was the image of a perfect warrior, even Ayira and her infallible strength didn't appear to be matchless now that he had seen his grandfather fight.
"So, tell me, you have to have a reason to be here. I cannot imagine that you sought me out simply because you missed your grandfather."
Toshi was tempted to growl. The old geezer knew there could only be one reason he would come this far and even the loss of his family couldn't drive him this far. "I want revenge grandfather, I want to know where the other scrolls are."