The building was aflame.
His house and all he loved set alight by a man he once had called brother. He’d lost everything important to him. His wife, who lay lifeless in his arms, and he could not hear his daughter's cries anymore, only the loud roar of the fire surrounding him and the hate and despair creaming in his mind. He assumed Miwa was either taken by the flames, or choked on the thick black smoke that was filling the spaces that the flames hadn’t yet consumed.
The shadowy outline of his betrayer had faded from Yoshi’s view. There was only two thoughts running through his head; Getting revenge on Saki, or letting himself be consumed by the flames.
Suddenly the figure of Oroku Saki was back, making his way into the flames like the yoki he had acted like.
At first he missed the soft sound. The smell of smoke and pure heat distorting his senses to the point he wasn’t sure what was real. The only thoughts in his head were revenge and how Saki would suffer for what he had done to him.
But the hissing of the flames were barely masking it, the loud crying of his infant daughter slowly filtered into his rational mind, washing away the anger as he realised there was something more important for him to fight for than revenge.
With a heavy heart he lay his wife's body on the ground, leaving a small kiss against her forehead. If it was in his control then Shen would have a proper funeral, she deserved to end this life with dignity and surrounded by friends and family, with her loved ones able to grieve respectfully for her. As it was, her body would be taken by the flames, further fuelling his hatred of Saki.
As he stood and made his way quickly towards the sound of his crying child he decided to think of Shen’s impromptu cremation as something different. Her body would be consumed by the flames, in the same way the nordic vikings would be on their funeral boat. He needed to think that way so that his despair didn’t distract him from saving losing the one thing he still had in this world; Miwa.
He arrives moments after her cries stop and his heart skips a beat. But his child is alive and stood in her crib, reaching out towards a man that he can only see the back of, but instantly knows him.
“Saki! Stay away from my daughter!”
The angry shout gives the young clan leader enough time to step away from the rushed attack, easily dodging Yoshi before swinging around to attack himself.
Miwa's cries rang louder in both men’s ears as they fought amongst the flames. Both were skilled in the same arts, having been brothers in all things they knew eachothers style well, making it difficult for either warrior to take advantage for long enough to end the fight.
Suddenly Oroku Saki slashed out in a dirty move with his tanto, any honor and discipline that the man once had faded before Hamato Yoshi’s eyes. The man he had called brother was truly gone, as lost to him now as their beloved Teng Shen.
There was a terrible noise as the fire finally ate away at the roof, causing flaming debris to fall around them. To the two trained warriors this did nothing but spur their hatred further, both thinking of leaving the other to the terrible fate of being burned alive with the house.
But the falling debris was a more dangerous to the little girl who gave a blood cuddeling cry as a piece landed inside her crib, kindling against the fabric and threatening to set the whole thing alight with her still inside.
Just as the fathers sudden fear gave the new leader of the foot a chance to end him, there was a loud SNAP as one of the roof beams came hurtling down at them.
Both men acted with the quick instincts that they had been raised to respect. Rolling out of the way only just in time to avoid being crushed under the hefty support beam.
With a relieved sigh Yoshi noticed that Saki had dodged in the opposite direction, now trapped in the other side of the impassable wall of flame.
Quickly Yoshi scooped up his crying child before the small flame in her crib could take her from him aswell.
All thought of revenge dissapeared, nothing mattered now but the sacred life he know held in his scarred hands.
Miwa's was crying and screaming, he could see her one arm was burnt badly and he knew that they would need medical attention before they could flee to America. Where Teng Shen had wanted them to retire and become a real family. In her memory he would honor her wishes.
America should be safe for them. Away from their past and the evil men that would hunt them, either in revenge for Saki's Death, or by the man himself if by some minimal he managed to survive the flames he himself had set in place
Eventually his daughter exhausted her self with her screaming and cried herself to sleep. With a sad smile Yoshi looked down at her, how much she looked like Shen when she was sleeping.
It wasn't until he was ready to collapse, having ran all the way to the closest hospital that he allowed himself to cry. Grieving for all that he had lost that day.
