Kaz walked by the pier once more. One of the places that seemed to bring him some comfort. He held his headband in his hand and closed his fingers around it. He had left it before but never again. He tied it around his head and found a place to sit.

He put his feet in the cool water. A simple pleasure easily forgotten in these times. Perhaps it was the act of being by water and the sea that brought him this calm as it had always done so in the past.

He looked up at the sky feeling the warmth on his face. His soul still reeling form the merger of two spirits calm and fierce. But it was becoming more settled now. A smile had begun to creep upon his face more often even if it was a more dull version of the youthful one he once had.

A small thunk rang in his ears. His eyes clinched, knowing what it was but he paid it no mind. Dismissing it. Something he would not get worked up over any longer.

Smack!

A piece of paper flung and stuck to the side of his face, blown by the wind. Kaz reached grasped it and Pulled it away from his face. He could make out the brown wrapping with a yellow sea shell symbol swirled in the center. The sign of a nearby store.

Walking towards him was a group of people crumpling up another bag and dropping it onto the pier. behind them was a trail of trash. The thunk he heard earlier was the unmistakable sound of cups tossed onto the wooden boardwalk.

"Hey!" he yelled over to them. They stopped abruptly. The one in the lead almost hugging himself from being startled.

"If you would be so kind as to pick up your trash," he stared down the group. His words were calm but his eyes hid a storm. They panicked and scattered, leaping off the sides of the pier.

"You little," without a second thought he cast a whirlwind engulfing them. The group fell dizzy eyed and out cold on the small beach. "agh, Looks like I over did it a bit,"

He looked at the rest of the dirty pier. Trash scattered all over it and there was a twitch in his eye. "People can't just take care of things. Leave it as you find it."

He let out a sigh as he grabbed a nearby broom from a custodial shack and got to work running up and down the pier, pushing the trash into neat piles and working up a sweat under the sun.

Kaz stopped with a final push of the brook, shoving a pile into a large bin of the side of the wooden pier. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and leaned on the handle of the broom stick. The sun was high in the sky and the pier he stood on was empty as people moved aside while he worked. He felt the tightness in his palms after a job well done.

He looked at the clean area now with a smile on his face. The breeze was light and ruffled his hair. Taking in a deep breath he stood silent. The waves lapped across the rocky beach and the wooden beams holding up the structure he stood upon.

"Who am I now...What am I," he contemplated as he placed his head on his hands. "Where have I been all this time...Orianna...I need you."A tear streamed down his face. He felt the low growl of the tiger in is sou, but it was a nurturing one. "I just," he felt his knees get weak and were it not for the handle of the broom he may have fallen to a knee.

"mommy where is the water going?" The voice of a small girl carried to his hear by the wind. Looking out he saw a mother and daughter standing at the edge of the beach, their legs in the water but it was pulling away. The water retreated into the sea farther and farther. The beach goers and people relaxing paid it no mind. The boats bobbed a bit at the sudden drop in water height.

"It can't be," he said haphazardly and peered out deeper into the sea. Waiting to see what would happen. His eyes grew wide, as it bulged on the horizon. Racing nearer and scaling in height. The tear still on his face, his hands quivered. Unsure of what to do. Fighting in his heart. Who was he? Who...was...he?


"My Power. My Journey. My life." His hands gripped the broom stick and he stood up straight. "I know who I am," The people began to stare at the massive wave soaring higher and raging faster.  Screams filled the area as numerous as pebbles on the beach. The women held her daughter paralyzed by fear.

Kazimir walked to the end of the pier. As he passed by them he glanced over with a warm smile. His hand pulling out the rune knight pendent from his pocket. It dangled from his hand by the chain. "Get behind me and head to the shelter," his pendent spinning from the chain the mother laid her eyes on it and with a nod she ran for safety.

"Everyone...get back,"He yelled at all of them and put the pendent back around his neck. And took a wide stance. Wind surged around him. The wooden planks buckled and splintered from the rush of wind. Boards flung free and he rose his arms higher and made a circle with his arms. He brought his fists to his shoulders and a white magic circle appeared around him. A swirling and calm wind wafted around his legs. The rush of wind around his small center of calm was more violent.

The wave pulled in more water and challenged to engulf the whole of the area. Kaz opened his eyes and they flashed white with divine grace. "I am the spirit of the tiger and the wrath of the angels." He had hungered for power and when it was given to him he fought against it instead of embracing what it was. The power to save even if it caused him to struggle.

He thrust his hands forward and a torrent of wind stormed forth taking bits of rock and wood in its wake. All headed for collision with the coming wave. Wind against water. The air against the sea.

The tornado crashed into the tidal wave. Water burst into the air as it was pushed and cut. His magical power against a force of nature. He held his hands out with wind flowing around them and feeding the tornado. Sweat beaded his forehead. His heels dug into the wooden planks. Slashed of wind skidded around his feet, leaving cuts in the wood.

His body surrounded by the ever growing fierce wind. He saw the blacksmith, the mother and son crying in tears, the woman who worked with sea life. The crying children and hopeless people starring at their lives that were crumbled by the demons. He breathed heavy and heavy and grit his teeth. Then...he saw her...beautiful and standing at the edge of the pier. The water fell like rain from the crash of wind and the wave. It drizzled down around her. A woman standing in a kimono, with a white scarf around her neck. "Orianna," he whispered to himself.

The cries of the people behind him rank out. His eyes focused in on the wave. His stance widened and his hand drew back once more releasing another tornado. The raging wind ripped through the wave creating a split in the massive water. The two sides rushed out to the far sides of the beaches on either side of the pier. They faltered with their power gone.

Water sprayed through the air as the tornadoes launched off in the distance. Raining down on Kaz and the citizens behind him. A faint rainbow was cast in the sky were there was once danger. The woman on the piers edge turned and walked beneath its illuminating arc. A simple look back before she faded away. He began to understand the message that the tainted spirit had shown him by the riverside.

He fell to one knee and caught his breath. His eyes were closed and he felt the gentle sprinkling of water on his face with a smile.

With a deep breath rain danced on his lips. As gentle as a kiss from his former lover. The one who held his heart still firmly.

"Orianna...Thank you." A chill ran through his body, goosebumps dotted his arms. The water ebbed against the remains of the dock. Wooden pieces bobbed in the water, bumping against the still standing pillars that held the pier in place.

A tear ran down his cheek, mingling with the water. Both tear and rain, dropped from his chin and splashed on the ground. His mind raced to the murders and animalistic acts he committed. Of love found and lost, riddled with confusion. Both his knees pressed against the pier. His hands fell down beside them with fingers spreed out on the wood. His hair hung wet around his shoulders and wild.

The thoughts that cascaded through his mind tumbled into a waterfall all leading to memories of her. She reached out to him. Held his hands at the altar of their most cherished moment. Running together they fought back darkness and foe. His mind trailed to the time in the knights. The reason he had found to continue on. To stand by the innocent, protect them as she wanted. As was his desire.

His hand curled into a fist that slammed against a puddle on the pier. Water splashed up around his fist. His head was held low. With one foot forward he stepped back into a kneeling position. "The past has made me who I am. I thought I would hold on to you forever, then I thought I would put you behind me. Now I see that those not all things need be separate. You, this tiger spirit, the angel, "He looked at his hands. "They are all a part of me. They will be with me forever. And I'm not afraid anymore."

"Not fragments but wholes. Me,"He stood straight as wind rushed around him. His air ruffled in the rising force. He grabbed a handful of it tightly. His eyes drawing in the indigo hue. The symbol of his past and present filled with emotionless violence.

Wind gathered around his other hand. Swirling faster and faster it focused into a sharp blade of air. It slashed forward. Indigo flashed in the air, thin strands wafting in all directions. His long hair was loose and fluttering in his hand from the blowing wind. He rose his hand and the wind gathered stronger. Opening his palm the wind took the strands and carried them higher. Scattered into the skies and over the waters, the indigo strands began their own journey.

"You always said I'd move better with shorter hair," he said with a smile as he ran his hand through his shortened hair. His troubled gaze faced the sea and eased into a soft understanding.

With his hair gone he turned away from the water. His mind was more clear now than it had been in a long time. He was lost to himself and the chaos that ravaged his soul. His mind was suppressed and shatter. Those fragments remained but stood as a pieces of a whole. Aspects not to be avidly fought against but excepted. He was himself again but more realized than he had been. The water settled behind him and the people slowly emerged from their places of sanctuary. None of them had suffered any serious injuries.

The wind mage knew now more than ever that his place was in the knights. In helping those that couldn't help themselves. Facing off against crime and those that would abuse their power and endanger the lives of the innocent. He began his walk back down the pier. The uniform that he wore felt restrictive now. The attire of a murderer with tears and bloodstains that blended into the dark fabric nearly unnoticeable now from a fleeting glance.

He would need to finish this mess with Nerva. Along with that he would finish what they started. What his clan had brought into the world. He would go and get revenge for what they did to him and his fiancee. Finally he could put that to rest and be done with that resurfacing plague. And then perhaps she could rest in peace.

The people approached him slowly. Worry and thanks still in their eyes. Some had tears swelling up, others bore smiles at the residing waters. Yet, there were still looks of horror and dismay at the carnage that could have overtaken them.

"You're all safe now. Perhaps...just stay out of the water today," Kaz said as some rushed him for hugs. He placed a hand on their shoulders and let them have the moment before pulling away. "Be safe," he ended as he walked by them and away into the town. They all had each other now and pages would no doubt be on the way for damage control.

Now was the time for things to get back on track. He had a lot of catching up to do. Track down Nerva, defeat the clan and rejoin the knights. But maybe not in that order.

-exit-