It’s been over a year since the last time the bastard son of Akashima visited his families’ home. Hayate often found himself thinking of the cherry blossoms that used to fill the pagoda with a sweet aroma which always reminded him of his mother. She was a sweet woman with a big heart; he wondered what she would be doing now if he had the chance to see her again. The days were begging to stretch into months as Hayate held control over Tylermande, a time he wished he spent searching for any clue to his families’ whereabouts.

“Sir,” One of the Immortals spoke up as they waltzed into Hayate’s office, formerly that of the townships mayor. “There seems to be a disturbance along the canal. A group of fishermen took a few of our men hostage and are threatening to execute them if we don’t leave their town.”

Hayate sat behind the magistrate’s desk in quiet contemplation as he stared off into the void behind his soldier. Had he really been left behind just to quell the rabble? Was this his reward for a job well done and a city taken in the name of the Brotherhood? Vann Osiris wouldn’t be the first to manipulate Hayate into doing unspeakable things, but he would surely be the last. Once the war was over he planned to leave this land and make his way to Keribas, surely his past couldn’t follow him across the great northern sea.

“And what exactly do you expect me to do?” he said as he began impatiently taping his metallic fingertips on the desk between them. At this point in his career he was now the general of the forth division and a well-known and respected warrior feared by friend and foe alike. He hadn’t the time to deal with the commoners that he stepped on, but his orders demanded it. “Never mind… be assured that there will be no death on either side. I’ll handle it.”

For whatever reason Hayate fought his urge to slip away in the night, he fought the instinctual drive within all of use to survive. Deep down the Shinobi knew that he lived on borrowed time and that when his usefulness ceased then he would be disposed of. He’s seen just how cruel Vann Osiris could be and how his ambitions clouded his sense of morality. It was simply a matter of time at this point.