Thread: The Seals of Onykieto

oh.... he... I guess I didn't get the right idea... I didn't realize we weren't allowed to post links... My files are all in PDF format so I can't highlight the text... Well if you're still interested there's the link, if you find that I'm being a burden, Mods, lock me up and throw away the key.

Sorry for causing trouble

Alright!!!! I managed to extract the first chapter out of my original PDF files!!! To be honest I don't know where by original Word file went, but when I get it, this'll be the first place I post it!!



The Seals of Onykieto

Prologue


Early morning, the sun has barley raised from the horizon. A young man stands in the bamboo forest surrounding a clear field of pure-green grass with a silver coloured sword in his hand, a small, round shield in the other, and his red-silver amour gleaming in the slowly growing light. He walks slowly through the forest as the light creeps up behind him. Before catching the bottom of his legs, the light from the sun is blocked off by the thick bamboo shoots all around. Suddenly, four dark figures from atop the tall green bamboo forests swiftly swoop in on the young man’s location. Surrounded from all sides, there is a pause in which the young man takes in his situation briefely, before springing into action. He jumps back and hurls his shield at one of the figures, blocking the attacks from the other three with his sword. He landed and wheeled around to face his opponents. All four dove forward again. The man swiftly and gracefully blocked all attacks and with three quick slashes and a wide spin, all opponents dropped to the ground turning to dust, bursting into smoke. The young man backtracked behind him to retrieve his shield from the ground and headed towards a clearing on the other side of the forest.

The sun rose over the lush green hill to the east. The evaporating dew in the sunlight looked like mist from the quiet house west of the hill. The young man stands, watching as the mist lifted above the trees and bamboo. In his hand is a stone with a flame carving on it. As the mist clears away, the young man also departs. He makes his way back to the house on the far side of the hill. Inside is an old man standing next to an old rickety table with a book in front of him.
"You are the last to arrive," he said calmly "the others have already departed."
"I assure you sir," the young man spoke "getting here was not an easy task."
The old man chuckled. "After what you've just faced I'm surprised you would say that young one." He paused for a moment to gather some powder out of a leather bag. "Our final task, to lock away these Seals, for you know that the evil sealed shall return without a doubt." The young man lowered his head, as if shamed.
The old man, ignorned the hero's gesture, "Your Seal boy?" He stretched out a bony hand to the young man.
The young man reached into this breastplate and removed a golden chain with a small, round stone around it. He handed it to the old man slowly, turning it over in his hand, looking at it one last time before doing so.
He sprinkled the powder into a circle and placed the young man's stone in the middle.
"Master," The young man looked up and spoke before the old man began. "Is there anything else I must do?"
"Yes my boy." The old man replied. "Pass your ruby though each generation and it shall reach your successor."
He chanted a few words and there was a blinding flash of light. "Now my guardian, Send your prize!" The old man boomed as the light engulfed the room.



Seal 1: Gift from the Hero


"Okysho wake up!" There was a loud thump as Okysho Kenyaku rolled out of bed onto the hardwood floor.
"Ow." He said with his face still planted into the plank dented with marks from so many other times before. He looked at the clock it was only five A.M. He sat up and looked upwards towards his friend towering above him with a look of anger on his companions face.
"Get up you lazy ass, or were gonna be late!" He shouted
Okysho groaned, still dazed and sleepy, then he asked groggily "Wazzat? Whosair?"
"ARGH! It's me Kenishido your best friend!" He said irritated, stopming his foot on the floor.
Okysho stood up and rubbed the back of his head. "If you're my best friend how come you're yelling in my ear?"
Kenishido wrinkled his brow as he spoke. “Because we promised to help Ruriko with her medieval exhibit at the convention centre and WE'RE LATE!"
"Alright already you don't have to keep yelling. Let's get going." Okysho quickly threw on a black T-shirt and a comfortable, broken-in pair of jeans, a watch, his lucky blue scarf and put on a gold chain with a stone pendant around his neck. The two boys quietly made their way out the door, doing his best not to make any noise as he closed and locked the front door behind him.
Okysho and Kenishido set out to the convention centre, Kenishido taking big strides, while Okysho strutted casually behind. It was a long walk from Okysho's house to the convention center, but Okysho was already used to walking this far to get downtown, he had to do it almost everyday to get to school. No busses ran out as far as he lived, and he wasn’t old enough to drive yet. Besides that, he didn’t have the means to pay for a car, or maintain it.
It was nearly a whole hour of walking before they reached the convention centre’s exterior; it was wedged between two office buildings and a shopping mall, surrounded by a mass amount of sidewalk, almst like a town square, no green in sight. Trees or otherwise, there was no sort of vegetation, just gray concrete. A hug crowd had already formec outside the building, event though it was only six A.M. Okysho and Kenishido had to fight there way though the monstrous crowd, which was lined up from the doors of the convention centre all the way to the edge of the street. As they were squeezing through the door, the latch on Okysho's chain gave out and fell from his neck thumping on the carpet through the crowd, though inaudible over the noise of all the people behind him. Okysho, somewhat frustrated bent down to pick it up. Kenishido gazed at the pendant with interest.
"Hey where'd you get that?" He asked, staring at the pendant as Okysho re-attached the chain around his neck with the latch, underneath his scarf, "I never noticed that before."
"Are you serious?" Asked Okysho, "I've had this forever. I got it from my parents... At least... that's what they say...” Kenishido eyed him with a puzzled look
“It was a special heirloom on my dad’s side, but he says said it was lost a long time ago. Everyone in my family looked for it at one time or another… They say they never found it. Then, I just found it on my night table one morning. I guess my parents found it and put it there before they left last year. I never really bothered to ask about it…”
Kenishido didn't look very impressed. "Yeah right nice try. Do you think I'd actually believe that?"
"Well yeah. I mean if you really were my best friend you would." Muttered Okysho, giving a cold stare.
Trying not to block the crowd Kenishido urged to Okysho. "Come on you sponge head Ruriko’s gonna give us shit if we don't find her in two minutes." Okysho smacked Kenishido on the back of that head with two fingers and pointed in front of them.
"Come on Ken, use your eyes. She's right there waiting for us." Okysho's finger pointed in front to a long dirty blonde haired girl in a white t-shirt that said 'Exhibit Staff'. Around her neck was a silver chain with a small ice-blue sapphire inside a silver eagle's claw. She was about thirty centimeters shorter than Okysho. She stared at them both with her teal-shaded eyes. "Okysho! I'm so glad you could make it!" said Ruriko gleefully.
"What about me?" whined Kenishido quietly.
"Oh yeah. Hi Ken." She said dully.
"Hi Rick!" He cried out, giving her a friendly slap on the back.
"Don't call me that or I'll kick the crap out of you!" Threatened Ruriko.
“Remind me why we’re here?” Okysho asked her, avoiding her gaze.
"Come on boys!” Ruriko grinned“Now that you're here, we can start working."
Kenishido turned and whispered to Okysho, “She’s not actually allowed to hit me, is she?” Okysho shrugged, “She’s a girl… I wouldn’t piss her off if I were you…” he answered as they follow Ruriko.
“I heard that!” Ruriko scolded from up ahead. Both Okysho and Kenishido fell silent.
Ruriko led them through the convention centre, the crowd becoming smaller and smaller as they walked through the aisles. She led them into a back storage room, which was very out-of-the-way from the main exhibit. There piled up to the ceiling were big brown boxes, containing big heavy metal objects no doubt.
“Carry!” Ruriko commanded.
"Oh Shit!" said Okysho looking up at the top, his palms beginning to sweat with anxiety.
"Does she really think we can do this?" asked Kenishido.
"Come on, move!” Ruriko urged on.

Okysho and Kenishido set to work. Their daily task as part of the “set up crew” involved moving the heavy boxes and set up all the tiny pieces like those impossible three-dimensional puzzles. Attempting to speed up the process, Okysho tried to lift four boxes at once. Grunting as he struggled with the heavy load, his legs shaking as he proceeded to carry four huge steel displays by himself. Much to his dismay, he didn’t exactly have the manpower to lift four boxes of steel at once. Okysho lost his balance, slipping and falling backwards, bum first onto the cold floor. All the boxes fell on top of him in a heap with a crash. Kenishido started laughing as Okysho pulled himself from under the mess, miraculously unharmed. He charged towards Kenishido intent on making him shut up and punch him in the face; but Ruriko got to him first. There was a loud smacking sound and the next moment Kenishido was on the ground; a big red fist mark covered his face.
Once all the boxes in the closet were moved and the displays assembled Ruriko announced that everyone would be allowed take a break and rest.
“Um… So how much we’re getting paid for this?” Okysho asked wearily, slumping down onto an empty box.
“Just a few dollars!” Ruriko smiled, “Fourty each to be exact!”
Okysho’s box collapsed underneath him, and Okysho fell straight on the floor with a rather loud thud.
Kenishido groaned, “Ugh! It’s not worth it!” he was lying on the floor, exhausted.Ruriko frowned and turned away, “Well the museum isn’t all that rich. You should be thankful I managed to get us this part-time shift in the first place.”
"How much time have we got until the next display gets here?" asked Okysho, once he’d finally stopped panting.
“About half an hour or so.” Ruriko said definitively.
“Is it ok if I walk around?” Okysho stood up.
“Sure I guess so…” She murmured. “Just be back in time!”
Okysho left his friends behind and began walking around the building, just to see what there was. He, Ruriko and Kenishido had worked in the display area, but there were still many sections with shops, shows and auctions. It was rather elaborate for an extension of a meusem exhibit. Of all things, Okysho was a little more interested in the shops. He wanted to see if there were any authentic-like relics that he might get to see up close. Anything involving swords had always intrigued him somehow. He wasn’t sure how or why, but something about them made him feel… Majestic or powerful, like he wasn’t just another person in the world, it felt like he meant something. Okysho passed many different types of swords including a replica of a blade said to be legendary, with jagged edges, sword replicas or actual sword props from famous movies, a shield with a shiny, reflective surface, which was said to have repelled an attack from the greek mythological moster Medusa. The props themselves were rather expensive, they came mostly from old movies and weren’t very impressive since they were far from authentic. Okysho was disappointed in the displayes overall especially one in particular that caught his eye… it a picture of a handsome blonde haired man in steel amour. Looking closely, it was actually a shot of a famous male supermodel that was apparently modeling armour. The reason how or why a supermodel managed to get a job modeling armour, which was never used in today’s world was just beyond Okysho. He then took a look at the price, Four thousand dollars for the exclusive movie addition of the photo.
"Who in their right mind would buy that?" Okysho asked himself. “and at that price!?” At those very words a mob of girls, squealing and shouting came bounding up to the display case with the picture trampling Okysho beneath them.
Okysho crawled out of the mob and made his way through the brown-walled corridor to another section of the shopping area. There in the middle of the large room was a horse drawn cart, which nobody in the crowded room seemed to notice. On the cart was a misspelled sign that said 'Majical Amulets'. Beside the cart was a short human-like figure wearing a tattered brown cloak spattered with mud. Okysho approached the cart in case the owner was not aware of his embarrassing error.
"E-excuse me sir," Okysho started "your sign is-"
"The time has come young lord" The thing in the cloak interrupted, with the voice of a young man. "Take this and live your destiny". The figure reached into his cart, took Okysho's hand and pressed a circular type object into the palm of his hand then slunk into the shadows without a trace along with the cart. Okysho looked at the object in his hand. It was a stone just like his. The shiny stone was perfectly round just like the one around his neck. But there was one difference. On the stone instead of a red flame like his there was a blue water droplet in the centre of the stone.
Tired of the weirdness which had followed his leaving of the display area, Okysho walked back to where his friends were waiting. He hadn’t once checked his watch since leaving and had noticed, by the complete rearranging of the area and Kenishido collapsed on the floor again, that he was rather late, and possibly even missed the entire shipment of displays.
"OKYSHO WHERE WERE YOU?" Kenishido shouted as Okysho walked down the hall towards him and Ruriko. "I HAD TO DO ALL THE WORK!!!!!"
"It wouldn't kill you to do SOME work once in a while you know!" snapped Ruriko to Kenishido. Okysho reached his friends with his hands jammed in his pockets.
"Er… Sorry Ken, I was on my way back I swear..." Okysho stuttered out. “I just… lost track of time… kinda…
"Well let's get back to work then you're almost done." Ruriko urged to Kenishido.
"Wah? Why are you making me do all work?" He asked taken aback.
"Because Okysho's been doing most of the work with the first shipment and you’ve been slacking off this whole time!”
Okysho looked puzzled. "Seriously, it’s not that hard on me... I don't need to rest, I just had a break…"
"Perfect! Just what I wanted to hear!" Ruriko cheered, pulling out a sword from one of the displays and waving it like a scepter, “Come on! I want these displays up in an hour! Let’s go! Move it!” Ruriko gave a wide grin as the boys got back to work. Ruriko worked them both like dogs, as they went from lugging and setting up displays, to polishing the cases and even played security guard for a while outside the shopping area. The rest of the day passed by with sweat, muscle pain, and Ruriko barking orders to Kenishido at every chance she got. Okysho was relieved when he heard a loud beep sounded from Okysho's wrist. Okysho looked at his watch. It said six o'clock. A full twelve hours doing nothing but hard labour, was coming to an end. He gave a wide smile
"Look at the time! Sorry guys, I’ve gotta go! My sisters supposed to be in bed by eight"
"Hey wait!" Called Kenishido. "Don't leave me here with her!" His voice faded off as Okysho burst through the back door to the convention center.Okysho headed down the busy street. He walked slowly and hummed a little tune to himself, one of those songs that get stuck in your head. You only know one little part of and forget the rest, just repeating that one single section in your brain.
Okysho’s thick black hair waved in the wind along with his short scarf and his hands were jammed deep into the pockets of his baggy jeans as he stepped casually through the edge of the city towards his home. His black T-shirt covered his strong arms and hid the scar near his right shoulder, which he had gotten while escaping from a knife fight just last year. Generally, Okysho was just like any other fifteen year old out there. He had good grades, nice parents and friends better than he could ask for.
He stopped a few times on the street corner and looked at his watch. It was about six-thirty. He'd walked an entire half-hour without even realizing it; humming all the way home seemed to make the long walk much shorter, probably because it blocked his mind from just about everything around him. In no time at all Okysho found himself only a few blocks from home. However, Okysho has slowly become more and more annoyed with the song he’d started nearly an hour ago and tried to focus on changing it in his mind. As his thoughts swirled in his mind, constantly interrupted by the overpowering chorus of the previous song lodged in his mind, he wasn't really paying attention to where he was going and bumped into a boy on the street making him lost his balance.
The boy looked about Okysho's age with almost the same height and hair, except that the other boy's hair seemed even darker than Okysho's. It was almost like a deathly coloured black. The boy looked up at Okysho and gave a smirk.

“Better be careful,” He said in a low voice, “there can be some pretty nasty people out at this time of night…”
“Yeah…Thanks…” Okysho regained himself and nodded his thanks to the boy.
“Nights like these have been known to play tricks on people… People have been killed out in this kind of night… You’d better get home…”
Okysho looked up at the starry sky above him, “Really? Thanks for the tip… I’ll be careful…”
The boy just stood there and looked at Okysho. Okysho stared back. He had some trouble deciphering how it was that after saying something involving murder that this boy was still smiling.
Okysho shook his head, coming back to his own senses, he was still in the boy’s way after all. He stepped aside. "Oh, right, sorry…" Okysho moved out of the way to let the boy pass.
“Thank you …” the boy said as he walked by, still smirking.
Okysho watched the boy move down the road. He hadn’t noticed it before, but the boy’s arm was limp. Watching, Okysho thought he saw a few drops of blood fall from it onto the pavement, but he assured himself that it was his own paranoia from the boy’s words.
His hand immediately went for the pendant around his neck. He rubbed it and the warmth that radiated from it made him feel easy and peaceful.His nerves calmed at last, Okysho continued his way home from there stumbling from fatigue as he walked. He got to his house in a little loop at the end of the street. He stared up at the relatively large grey-stoned house before him. Their house was rather large, and the concept of living in something so big with just his sister and himself always seemed a little overwhelming, however after considering his mother’s occupation as a top scientist, Okysho’s bewilderment faded away. He walked in the door. Immediately after entering, he saw a flash of black, followed by a huge impact on his chest and two little arms clasping around him as his little sister, Itara, jumped on him, giving him a huge hug, her arms hooked around his neck.
"Hi Okysho! How was your date?" Okysho pushed his sister off of her. The eleven year old was jumping up and down in excitement. Her black hair like Okysho's bobbed up and down as she hopped. It was long and flowed down to the middle of her back, tied in pigtails. She was about as high as Okysho's waist with a cute, caring face like someone you could tell anything. She was in her favourite casul wear, black long pants and a matching T-shirt with a big, red, fuzzy cartoon chatacter with it’s arms spread wide, the words, “Hug Me!” scrawled underneath.
"I told you. I didn't go on a date." Said Okysho tired and somewhat annoyed with the day's progress. "I went to help out a friend and got some extra cash out of it."
"But your friend was a girl right?" asked Itara as if Okysho actually had been on a date.
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we're deeply madly in love or something." Said Okysho emphasizing those words.
"You're still in love though right?" Itara asked. It seemed to Okysho that she wouldn't drop the fact that he had never gone out with Ruriko or wanted to… at that point in time.
Okysho figured, in order to get Itara off her back he'd just have to tell her what she wanted to hear. "Oh yes!" said Okysho sarcastically. "We walked out to the park after a fancy dinner in a fine restaurant, and then… we kissed."
Itara sighed. "How romantic." She said with a dazed look in her eyes. "Oh by the way Mom and Dad sent you something! It's your birthday present since their not going to be here tomorrow.” She handed him a white envelope with an eagle stamp on it, the address written in blue pen with a neat cursive font, his mother’s handwriting.
That's right. Okysho's birthday was tomorrow. How could I forget my own birthday? Thought Okysho. Okysho's mother had always been going out on business trips ever since Okysho became old enough to look after Itara, always taking their father with her wherever she went. They're both currently in the United States. Both of them were living out of a hotel, while Okysho’s mother worked in a lab doing some of the latest research on human genetics. Okysho’s father, on the other hand, was a part time writer and devoted most of his time to experience for his works. Okysho could picture his father in a motor cycle gang for about a day just to get the thrill for his next chase scene, or something similar to that effect. They were very hard working and always encouraged Okysho and Itara to work hard and do their best at school. He didn't see why they kept pushing him on however. Okysho's grades were pretty good for his age and so were Itara's. Nonetheless, both parents pushed them on to be better than their best. These efforts however, were proved futile since they were away most of the time.
Okysho opened the envelope carefully with the brass letter opener next to his computer on the hardwood desk upstairs. His bedroom was decent sized, filled with books and posters and the desk next to the big window that nearly stretched to the floor. As he tore open the paper over his bed, a ring fell out of the envelope, along with a birthday card with a white dove on the front. Inside the card was a check for fifty dollars American and a letter written within from his parents. It read:

Dear Okysho.
Today is your sixteenth birthday. Your father and I thought you'd be responsible enough to take care of this. It belonged to your father and grandfather and so on. We hope that you will think of us when you wear it. We're both very sorry we could not join you on your special sixteenth birthday. We miss you and your sister both very much and hope to see you both soon. Xoxo, your Mother.
Hey Okysho. I'm sorry we couldn't be home for your birthday. Its tough working freelance out here and the two of us haven't had much free time. This ring was passed on to me from my father as it is now passed on to you. Promise me, son that you'll never take it off. At the first chance we get we'll head on over with your real birthday present! No it’s not a giant cake with a dancing girl inside it! You’ll see later! Study hard, you and your sister both. Love Dad.

Okysho folded up the card and picked up the ring. He stared at the small ruby in the centre. It was a perfectly cut sphere in the centre of the golden ring. It seemed to Okysho as if the bright red ruby in the centre was not an ordinary hand carved ruby. As he stared at it, he noticed that it could rotate and turn in its socket. He moved it gently with his index finger. On the other side were what looked like tiny gold letters carved in, almost by magic.
Okysho had to strain and squint in order to make out the writing on the other side. Since it was from his father, Okysho thought it probably said something corny like “I love you my son” or something like that, but the letters didn’t say “I love you,” they said, “My successor.” Suddenly, the letters then faded away, and to Okysho's amazement, new ones appeared. “You have received my inheritance.” Each sentence that was completed was then replaced with another. “My final mission is now complete. Use your gift well, and finish what I was not able. Farewell pure of heart.” The ring stunned Okysho. It seemed as if it was talking to Okysho.
The last of the words faded away into the spherical ruby. Okysho put the ring on carefully. Maybe he was hallucinating. The whole day had worn him out, perhaps he was just tired. But as he put the ring on his finger, the ruby shot out of it like a bullet and stopped in front of Okysho's neck. It began to spin very fast. As it spun it began to glow with a bright red light. Okysho's pendant around his neck seemed to be reacting with the ruby. The stone pendant snapped off the chain from around Okysho's neck and flew into the ruby. The room filled with a blinding light. Okysho covered his eyes. He opened them again and looked around. Neither his pendant, nor the ruby was in sight. Instead, on the ground in front of him was a grey handled sword with eight golden jewels encircling a larger one, in the center of the cross-section. Two bone-white spikes protruded from the cross section and pointed to the blade, which was covered by a black sheath with flames painted on it, just like his pendant. The handle was long, almost long enough for Okysho to fit both hands on it, but not quite. He put his hands around it. One hand fit nicely, but the handle was only long for about half of his other to grip it. Okysho drew the sword from the sheath and examined the long blade. It was a silverfish-sky blue colour. Its sharp tip looked as if it could puncture anything with the slightest bit of effort. Okysho looked closer at the sword. There, at the bottom of blade were black letters, spelling “Onykieto”. As he watched, just like the ruby, the letters faded away, and in its place said “Okysho.”

Okysho was astonished. Was this his “real present” that his parents had talked about? Maybe it was some sort of digital hologram or some sort of reaction between the ring and the pendant. It was a neat little trick. Either way, it was about time to sleep.
Okysho sheathed the sword and trudged down the stairs to the living room, where Itara was lying in front of the television. She was sound asleep. Okysho lifted her up with his strong arms and carried her upstairs to her bedroom. He gently lowered her onto the bed and lightly kissed her forehead.
Okysho walked back to his own room and drew the sword from its sheath again. He flicked the blade with his finger. It was definitely real.
Before his mother had gotten a job at the lab, and taken his father with her, Okysho's father had signed Okysho up for some martial arts classes, he was taught some easy punches and even how to handle a short wooden tai-chi sword a little bit. However, Okysho did not make the commitment to continue and ended up quitting soon after his parent’s left... Okysho was rather young when he was taught, but he still remembered some of the basic moves, like how to make a quick slash without losing your balance or leaving yourself open for a counter attack.
Okysho raised the sword high above him. He gave the sword a quick spin in his right hand. The sword felt light when he held and moved with it, but he paid no mind to the awkward detail. He ran through the movements he had learned in his mind, before trying it himself, then carefully raising the sword, Okysho made a diagonal swing which would have left a wide gash on an opponent from the collarbone to the waist.
Okysho lowered his sword, cleared his mind and sat down on the bed quietly. He stared for a moment, mesmerized by the sheen of the blade. A few moments passed where Okysho just stared at it, then he shook his head, welcoming himself back to reality.
Okysho was tired from the day’s events. He sheathed the sword and put it down on the bed next to him and stared at it, remembering his parents. He hoped that they would come back soon, he missed them. As he stared, his eyes began to feel heavy and droop until he finally fell asleep.



Note: WOW I had no idea that chapter 1 was THIS long!!! SORRY FOR THE TRIPPLE POST!!!

am I allowed to bump my own thread? I'm working on extracting chapter 2 I swear!! PDFs are hard to crack!! Where did my original go?!?!

Seal 2: Who Could Have Asked for More?
Okysho awoke to the sound of his black digital alarm clock. His eyes opened up slowly and he stared at the big red numbers displaying 7:00. What did I set my alarm for? It's Sunday. Thought Okysho. He puzzled over the fact for a moment, when suddenly he was struck by the memories of the previous night. He leaned over each edge of his bed until he found the blade. Of course, the sword was still there beside his bed, where he had left it. He picked it up and looked at it again. It was definitely real; there was no doubt about it. A super-cool birthday present for sure. Okysho looked at his hand. The ruby-less ring was still on his finger, a small hole in the gold, waiting patiently for the ruby to return. He turned his attention back to the sword, drawing it slowly and examining it again in the sunlight. The blade glistened like blue ice in the winter and the dark-red hilt, had a different quality of sheen on it’s own. It felt like Murano glass as Okysho ran his fingers over it. His hand brushed gently over the jewels embedded into the hilt of the blade. They were a bright golden colour, their transparent glow reflected the sunlight from his window onto the wall, mimicking the pattern of the jewels on the sword. He ran his fingers over them slowly, pressing each one as he touched it, getting a feel for the mysterious jewls. As he pressed the middle jewel, the sword began to glow with a strange golden light, then flashed brightly, blinding Okysho for a moment. Okysho opened his eyes and they re-adjusted to the lighting in the room, which had returned to normal, there in his lap were his pendant and the ruby from the ring. As Okysho watched, amazed once more, the ruby floated to Okysho's finger and smoothly entered the ring and clicked into place. Okysho tried to transform the pendant into the sword again; this was just about the coolest thing his parents had ever done for him. He took the pendant in his left hand, slowly bringing it towards the ring on his right hand. His hand shaking in excitement, he lightly touched the pendant to the ring on the other hand. The same familiar blinding flash of light engulfed the room, and the sword reappeared before him.
Okysho got up from his bed, unsheathed the blade and swung it around a little. The blade felt light in his hand, making the problem of holding it with too hands, null. The light weight of the blade made Okysho's movements flow gracefully as his three long lost sword movements came flowing back to him. First a spin in his right hand, which he'd perfectly completed without losing grip on the sword, then a full body front strike, which the sword cuts downward on an angle slicing from the collar bone to the opposite hip, and a thrust, which involved a twist at the last moment to make the blade slide in a bit easier.
Okysho closed his eyes and tried to remember what else he'd been taught, but all he could see was an image of himself sitting in a field with a bowl of dumplings and chopsticks. Having forgotten everything else, Okysho sheathed the sword and laid it back down on the bed before realizing that he should make the most of his day and do something productive instead of sitting around. Time to enjoy my birthday! He thought smiling.
Restoring the sword to its original state once more, Okysho threw on some clothes, another black T-shirt, this time with a flaming sword, another comfortable pair of dark jeans and of course his lucky scarf. He stumbled out of his bedroom and climbed down the stairs to the kitchen to cook breakfast for him and his sister. His lifestyle seemed kind of odd from your average fifteen, now sixteen-year-old boy. Okysho had to do all of the cooking and most of the cleaning while Itara was out with friends and such, but it didn't bother Okysho much, it kept him busy instead of worrying about everything else that was going on in his life and kept him from getting into trouble, even though he tried to avoid that as much as possible.
When Okysho arrived in the kitchen, Itara was already there, cooking. Itara was cooking! Okysho's parents warned him to keep Itara away from the stove in case she burned herself. But Okysho was a little more worried about the food getting burnt than his little sister.
"Oh. Good morning Okysho, happy birthday!" Itara Smiled. She had her hair in a ponytail today and she had on her typical weekend wear, jeans and a cute little tank top "I wanted to bring you breakfast in bed. But I guess you're already up."
"Well that's a nice thought anyway. Thanks a lot Itara." Said Okysho ruffling her hair as he walked by and headed for the door.
Itara hopped down from the kitchen and ran in front of Okysho blocking the door. "Oh no! You're not going anywhere today!" said Itara gave a devious smile. "I'm taking you out today. You're not going to have time for any dates today!"
"I told you Itara! I'm not seeing anybody!" said Okysho annoyed with the same story every time he came or left the house.
“Brother! You're not going anywhere today ok?!” Itara said in a whiny voice.
Okysho sighed, he didn’t want to start his sweet sixteen, fighting with his little sister. He looked around a moment at the black smoke rising from the stove. He pointed and stammered, “I-Itara... You're breakfast is burning...”
Itara wheeled around and ran to the stove and quickly turned it off as Okysho watched. He lowered his head and sighed again. It was bound to happen sooner or later, and it had only just occurred to Okysho that he should have taken over the cooking while he had the chance, too late now.
Itara, desparately trying to cool the hot pan and stop it from smoking, was moving it around from burner to burner on the stove before finally giving up and simply throwing the entire pan and all it’s contents into the sink. There was a big hissing sound followed by a stream of steam rising from the sink as Itara turned the faucet to cold and opened it all the way. As the cool water ran over the pan, even more hissing and steam erupted from the sink. After about a minute or two, the hissing stopped and Itara turned off the water. Wiping her hands off with the dishtowel she walked back up to Okysho, who was watching Itara's endeavor the whole time, his eye twitching at the way his little sister handled the situation.
Itara stopped in front of Okysho, reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a small white box tied up with a black ribbon. "Happy birthday big brother!" she said holding it out to Okysho.
Okysho took the box from Itara and opened the small package. Inside, carefully wrapped in white tissue paper, was a smooth shiny, black, polished piece of wood, ebony. He turned it over in his hand on the other side were the words written in gold.
“To my dearest brother! Hapyp Birthday! Love, Itara.”
The gift was custom made. "I-I bought that with my own money." Itara said blushing.
Okysho knew that money was something they didn't normally have the luxury of spending freely. Their parents sent enough money each month to pay bills and such, but they never really got any money to spend on their own. Okysho was in charge of handling the finances of course, and he tried to make sure that they both got a little spending money, but not enough to get something like this. To afford something of this quality must have cost quite a bit. The thought of the price of the gift, along with the rarity of spending money they both got, made Okysho feel a little guilty. "T-thanks Itara."
He put his gift back in the box and put it aside on the counter.
"Come on," said Itara urging Okysho out the door, "We're going downtown today!" She smiled as she took Okysho's hand and ran out the door dragging Okysho behind her.

"So… how long have you been planning all of this?" asked Okysho, a little curious about how much his sister would spend on him.
"It's been about two year's now." Replied Itara as they crossed the last intersection before China Town. "I've been taking odd jobs at around the neighbourhood and doing favours for people at school. And I know how much you were looking forward to your sixteenth birthday, so I decided to make it the best day of your life!"
"Wow Itara... You didn't have to do all that for me." Okysho said, astonished at both his sister's determination to make it the greatest birthday in the world and his sister's abilities to organize something as big as she claimed.
It had to be one of the biggest things his sister had ever done for him, usually for his birthday she’d just buy him something small and leave it at that, then again Okysho spent most of his birthdays with his friends. Perhaps he had been neglecting the sibiling love he was receiving from his adorable little sister.
When they finally reached downtown, Itara first took Okysho into a boutique store and bought him some of the coolest-looking clothes he'd ever seen. A navy blue 'S' squared T-shirt. The rock group's symbol was printed on the front with a yellow background, which faded into a red background, which faded into the main blue colour. She also bought him really nice black jeans with tons of pockets, a black, studded dual belt and a slick leather jacket. Okysho couldn’t help but gawk at his sister at the register when she whipped out a wad of twenty dollar bills to handle the expenses.
After leaving the store with Itara’s second, third, fourth and fifth presents, Okysho asked why she had specifically picked those items for her, and why the jeans had so many pockets.