Chapter 2 - Chapter 2 – The Exile's Path

The alarm echoed like a metallic roar in the heart of the Imperial Citadel. Soldiers ran through the corridors, lighting torches and closing gates. The orders were clear: close all exits. The traitor had fled with the Katana of the Sun. Okita ran across the cobbled rooftops, dodging arrows and hooks thrown with precision. The sacred blade hung wrapped in cloth over his back, but its glow still burned. With each step, the blade pulsed with a faint golden light, as if divinity itself were claiming its freedom. "There it is! On the rooftops! Don't let it escape!" an officer shouted. Four Imperial soldiers leaped at him. Okita spun with trained reflexes and drew. The blade ignited like a blaze: a clean slash scattered the first two. The third launched a spear. Okita rolled, dodged, and returned the blow with a swift thrust. The fourth hesitated… and fled. The bells kept ringing. He lowered himself down a rope toward the night market. As he ran between closed stalls, he saw the walls plastered with WANTED posters. Not only his face, marked "Traitor to the Empire," was there. There were others as well: Nael, the missing general; Velka, the sniper; Kaze, the traitorous servant; Kaera, the deserter. "So I'm not alone…" he muttered angrily. He passed through the gates just before they closed and entered the outer quarters. Wounded, exhausted… but free. From a distant hill, the Citadel burned with lights and chaos. At dawn, Okita staggered to a rural village with barely a dozen stone houses and a central well. An old woman offered him water without asking. Her gaze, however, betrayed him with fear. The news was spreading. He hid in an abandoned granary during the day. The rumors grew: that he had killed a noble, that he stole a cursed sword, that the Emperor was offering a fortune for his head. But it was nighttime that brought the true danger. As the sun set and mist drifted across the fields, Okita left the shelter and entered the forest. He had barely taken ten steps when an arrow whistled past his cheek. "Don't move," said a cold voice. From the woods emerged a figure with gray eyes and an impassive expression: Velka. Her bow was still drawn. "Another arrow and you'll have a new hole in your neck." From the opposite side of the path, a more robust figure emerged, walking through the mist. Green hair and daggers in hand... Nael. "So you're the boy who stole the Katana of the Sun," he said in a deep voice. "You look more... alive than I expected." "And you're the traitor from the cartels," Okita retorted. "Have you come to kill me or recruit me?" Nael smirked. In one fluid motion, he calmly drew his daggers. "It depends. Are you willing to fight?" Okita drew his katana. The golden glow illuminated his face. "I will not run any longer." "Then prove you deserve that blade." Nael attacked without warning. He moved like a slashing shadow, his daggers spinning like extensions of his arms. He slashed low, spun, launched a flurry of swift thrusts. Okita barely managed to block with the katana, clumsy but steady. Each clash was a test: Nael's technique against Okita's burning will. Nael slid like a dancer, seeking an opening. But Okita held. Though inexperienced, the katana guided him, burning hotter with each slash. Finally, Nael stepped back and raised his hands. "Enough." He calmly put his daggers away. "You have courage. And the sword has not rejected you. But you do not fight with it yet… you only survive." Velka lowered her bow. For the first time, his eyes held something resembling respect. "Come with us, Okita. If you seek answers, you'll have to earn them." Panting, Okita wiped his sweat and sheathed his katana. "Then take me to whoever has them. I'm ready to stop running." Atop a nearby oak tree, Kaze, the rebel infiltrator, watched the scene with a faint smile. He activated a communicator sphere and whispered, "This is Kaze. Confirmed: the Sunbearer has agreed to join. You will soon learn the truth. Awaiting instructions." That night, as he slept by a rebel campfire, Okita dreamed. A prison of celestial stone. Chains of fire. And at the center… the chained colossus: Helion, the Sun Titan. He didn't say a word. He just stared. And in those eyes burned an ancient promise: Set me free.