Rain fell in jagged sheets, hammering the cracked asphalt of Rokugan-no-Yoru like a thousand restless hands. Neon signs buzzed and flickered, their light refracting through the wet streets in fractured patterns. Puddles mirrored the chaos above, as if the city itself were drowning in its own reflection. Rin hugged his thin jacket tighter, the collar scratching against his neck, and cursed under his breath.
He had been walking home from the market, clutching the small bundle of supplies he had scraped together with what little allowance his mother had sent. But the alley he had taken to save time the shortcut everyone warned against was anything but safe tonight.
A low hum vibrated through the air, more felt than heard. It made the hairs on Rin's arms stand up. He froze, instinct tightening his stomach. From the shadows at the alley's mouth, a group of figures emerged. Five men, faces masked, teeth bared with malice. Their movements were too fluid to be normal; there was a predatory synchronicity in the way they circled him.
"Hey, kid," the tallest one said, voice dripping amusement, "what's a little brat doing out here all alone in this weather?" He flicked his wrist, and the others spread out, like a net closing in. "Should've stayed home."
Rin's pulse thumped in his chest. He weighed his options. Run. Fight. Hide. All useless, he knew, against five fully grown men who had the look of blood in their veins. He swallowed. That's when he saw it.
A flicker in the corner of his vision. Black smoke? No… his shadow. It trembled, coiling unnaturally, stretching wider than his own body. He froze. That shouldn't happen. Shadows didn't move like that. Shadows didn't have thought.
And yet, tonight, his shadow did.
The first man lunged. Rin flinched but the movement didn't come from him. The shadow surged forward, a living mass of ink and darkness, and before he could even blink, it enveloped the man. A scream tore from the group, raw and ragged, echoing off the narrow alley walls. The shadow pulled the man down, writhing like a living thing, and crushed him into nothingness.
Rin's heart hammered so loudly he was sure everyone would hear it. His knees shook. The remaining four men stumbled back, fear flashing across their faces as they realized what they were facing. One reached for a knife, but the shadow Rin's shadow had already stretched toward him, coiling around the blade and crushing it silently. Another screamed, "What the!" before the darkness reached out and swallowed him whole.
"Stop… stop it!" Rin yelled, clawing at the shadow, trying to pull it back, but it didn't listen. It had a hunger of its own.
Rain poured harder, masking the chaos in a silver curtain. The neon signs shook and flickered. Somewhere, a car alarm blared. The city trembled in response, though no one outside the alley could know why. The shadow pulsed, expanded, and devoured the remaining two men in succession. When the last of the gang vanished, only Rin was left standing, soaked to the bone, shaking uncontrollably, the echo of screams still ringing in his ears.
He fell to his knees, chest heaving. "What… what just happened?" His voice was a hoarse whisper, swallowed by the rain. The shadow receded a little, but not completely. It lingered at his feet like a coiled serpent, as if it had tasted blood and wanted more. Rin's fingers itched to touch it, to see if it was real. He recoiled. This wasn't real. This couldn't be real.
Then, he heard it. A voice, low and sibilant, yet unmistakably clear.
"…Do not be afraid, Rin. I am here."
Rin staggered backward, blinking against the rain, scanning the alley. No one was there. Yet the voice had come from everywhere and nowhere. It was cold, but not cruel more curious, like a predator studying a trapped animal.
"My… who… what… are you?" he stammered. His heart pounded so violently it felt like it would burst from his chest.
"…I am yours, and yet not yours. You will understand in time."
The shadow quivered, as if responding to the voice. The darkness on the walls seemed to stretch toward him. The rain hissed as it touched the edges of the living shadow. Rin's hands trembled. His mind screamed.
"This… this isn't… real," he whispered to himself. And yet, the rain carried the smell of burnt iron and something far older something that had the scent of nightmares.
He stumbled out of the alley, into the broader street, and the city seemed to notice him. Windows rattled. Streetlights flickered violently. Across the rooftops, pigeons took flight in a black cloud. Shops nearby shuttered automatically, as if the city itself recoiled from him. The shadow followed, sliding along the wet pavement, stretching impossibly long, feeding off the dark corners of the city like it had existed there long before him.
A passerby screamed as they saw it. A cab screeched to a halt. But Rin ignored them, focusing on one thing: staying alive long enough to figure out what the hell had just happened. His body shook uncontrollably, drenched and trembling, yet he felt… alive. More alive than he had ever been.
"…You are stronger than you know," the shadow hissed. "…And this is only the beginning."
Lightning cracked across the sky, illuminating the alley behind him. The bodies of the gang were gone. Not a mark remained, not even a drop of blood. Only the wet asphalt reflected the neon signs. Rin's chest heaved, and the hair on his arms stood on end. He wanted to run, wanted to hide, but his legs felt heavy. It wasn't fear it was… awareness. He knew, somehow, that this was not the end. This was the start. The night the Veil had split open.
He whispered to himself, shivering. "What… am I?"
The shadow curled around him, wrapping him in cold and dark, and the voice answered again:
"…You are the beginning… of something that the world has not yet seen."
Rain continued to pour, indifferent to the chaos it hid. Somewhere in the city, sirens wailed faintly, but Rin barely noticed. He stared at his hands, trembling, and then at the shadow at his feet.
One thought crystallized in his mind, sharp and undeniable:
"I'm… not alone. And I'm not normal. Not anymore."
And with that, the city shivered under a sky that had just grown darker, a veil split open that night, and Rokugan-no-Yoru would never be the same again.