The Prince of Astoria-Chapter 67: LXVII - SNOW IN THE DESERT (Part 3)

The students murmured loudly among themselves as Guy stared at Jeremy, still holding the log out in front of himself.

After a few more seconds of staring, Guy bust out into laughter, causing all the murmuring to cease immediately.

"Sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh, but are you really going to fight me with that? That’s a bit arrogant, don’t you think?"

Jeremy stood resolutely and continued to hold the log up.

"Put the log down, kid," Guy shook his head.

He turned to Yasuke, still hobbling next to him, "Yasuke, why don’t you get our friend a real weapon. Based on how he’s been fighting, I think he needs a nodachi. He’ll be able to handle the size of it with that strength of his."

Yasuke nodded and walked away slowly.

Guy reached out and grabbed his arm, "Actually, you know what? Get him a kanabo. I think that’s more his style."

Yasuke nodded once more and walked off.

Guy turned to Jeremy and smiled, "So Jeremy. After you leave me, kill me or whatever you plan to do, what’s next for you? You gonna go back home?"

Jeremy shook his head, "I’ll protect this country from men like you. I won’t let any kids get exposed to situations like this. I’ll be a—"

"A hero," Guy finished his sentence, nodding his head slowly, "You’ll be a hero. Not a terrible career choice, it doesn’t pay that well though. But tell me, do you really think you can save people with that meager strength you have?"

Jeremy grit his teeth and held the log in front of him defensively, "Meager? I defeated Yasuke, didn’t I?"

Guy nodded his head, "Yeah. You did beat Yasuke."

The crowd around them parted as Yasuke returned heaving the large iron kanabo over to Jeremy. He placed the weapon at Jeremy’s feet and walked back over to Guy’s side.

Jeremy dropped the log and picked the kanabo up with two hands, testing its weight.

"Try holding it with one hand. You should be strong enough if you were swinging that huge log around."

Jeremy glared at Guy before taking the kanabo into one hand, swinging it effortlessly to the amazement of the surrounding crowd.

Guy let out a giddy laugh, "I don’t want to belabor the point, but the only other person I’ve ever seen do that is Yasuke. He ended up opting for the nodachi, and he used that one handed too."

Guy titled his head to the side and smiled from ear to ear, "Last chance Jeremy. We don’t have to fight. You’re exactly the person I’m looking for. If you join me, I’ll shut down this village. I’ll train you. I’ll make sure you’re strong enough to be the hero you want to be."

Jeremy pointed at him with the kanabo, "I don’t want anymore of your training. I want to shut you down. You ripped me away from my family, you made my life hell!"

Guy shrugged his shoulders, "So be it. Is Number Three awake yet?"

One of the boys yelled back, "No sir, not yet!"

Guy sighed and turned to Yasuke, "Alrighty then. You’ll count down our match and be the judge. But I need a second before we start. Is that alright, Jeremy?"

Jeremy held the kanabo in front of him, dropping into a battle position.

Guy nodded his head, "I’ll take that as a yes."

Guy clasped his hands together and bowed his head low, "Since you don’t want to be my disciple, I’ll teach you one thing Master Musashi taught me. It’s called Geido. The way of art. From what I remember, there’s three parts to it. Commitment. Mimicry and expression. That is the easiest way to master anything and if you were my student, that’s how I would teach you."

Guy raised his head and smiled once more, "Whatever endeavor you choose next, I would look into the art of Geido. I assure you it’ll help you achieve mastery."

Guy put one hand on his sword and looked at Yasuke, "Alright, we can begin now."

Yasuke raised his head and Jeremy jumped back, holding the kanabo up defensively.

"At best, this guy is an experienced swordsman with decades of experience. I can tell that much by how he grips his sword. But at worst..." Jeremy’s grip tightened on his kanabo, "At worst, he is who he says he is. He’s some immortal disciple of Miyamoto Musashi. Either way..."

Yasuke put his hand down, signaling the start of the fight. Before Jeremy could even begin to formulate an attack or defense plan, he dropped down to one knee. Guy, Yamato and the other students turned and walked the other way.

"W-where are you all going?" Jeremy sputtered out, blood flowing from his mouth, "I’m not done yet!"

Guy turned around and sighed, "You’ve lost Jeremy. You’re officially banished from Kōri no Jigoku Village and all Guy Yamato Martial Arts Schools. Effective immediately. Leave and—"

Guy pointed to the orange fox, still laying on the ground struggling to breathe, "Take that thing with you. I hate those."

Guy turned and walked with the rest of his disciples, before pausing once more, "If you survive, come and find me Jeremy. We’ll fight again."

Jeremy looked down and spotted a deep slash wound across his chest, bleeding profusely. He tried to focus his chi and heal himself to no avail.

"Damn it! The wound is way too deep," Jeremy thought to himself, "I can’t..."

Jeremy panicked and put his hands to the wound before jumping at something rubbing against his leg.

He looked down and saw the orange fox nuzzling up against his ankle, whining softly. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Jeremy looked down at the fox and smiled, "Don’t worry little buddy. We’ll be alright. I’ll make sure we survive."

___________________________________________________________

Two hours later...

A blizzard whipped by furiously, the freezing winds lashing his face.

"I picked the absolute worst day to get kicked out! Today is the day the storm surges the hardest."

Jeremy held his arms up to shield his face, to no avail. He looked down at the orange fox, struggling equally as hard against the violent cold wind.

"I had no idea the snowy weather stretched out this far! What part of Africa are we in that’s cold year-round? Does Guy have something to do with this?"

Jeremy dropped to a knee and wheezed. The cold air assaulted his lungs and prevented him from breathing properly.

"Is this it?" Jeremy thought to himself, "I get sold off to my family, forced to become some martial arts school’s puppet and the moment I amass some strength, I’m sent out to freeze to death?"

He pounded his fist into the deep snow and screamed, the fox howling along with him.

"Damn you Guy!" Jeremy screamed in his mind, "If I survive this, I swear...I’ll make it my mission to tear you apart!"

He looked at the little orange fox struggling to breathe and sighed. He plopped down in the snow and pinched his forehead, the cold making it nearly impossible to even do that.

Jeremy sat in the snow for a long time, pondering on the futility of his life before taking a long exhale and collapsing to his back.

He laughed as he gasped for air and thought to himself, "Nope, no miracles are coming. This is it, I died without accomplishing anything or making one decision on my own."

Tears attempted to fall down his face, but froze as soon as the left his eye.

"I wanted to live. I really wanted to live..."

Jeremy used what little strength he had left and sat up. He used his frozen fingers and scooped through the snow, creating a small hole. He looked over at the fox and motioned to the hole.

"Here," He spoke softly, his voice hoarse, "Maybe we both can’t live, but you can. I’ll lay on top of here, so use my body heat for however long I’m worn. Feed on my body if you need to."

He leaned in close to the fox and let out a dry cough, "I know you can understand me at least a little, so listen. It doesn’t matter how you do it, but you need to live. Outlast this storm and survive."

Jeremy took off his shirt and lined the hole with it.

"You’re right Jeremy, both of us can’t survive. But you’re wrong about which one of us will live."

A light, almost feminine voice spoke. Jeremy looked down at the orange fox in confusion and it smiled back at him.

Jeremy rubbed his shoulders and shivered, "You can...talk."

The fox nodded back at him.

Jeremy coughed and chuckled at the same time, "It’s a bit late for a long conversation. I don’t have long left. I just want to know one thing. I always felt bad about just calling you fox. What’s your name?"

"Aganju," The fox stated proudly.

"Aganju," Jeremy repeated, "Sounds familiar. I think I..."

Jeremy’s thoughts trailed off as he fell face first into the snow. The orange fox climbed onto his back and slowly melted into his skin until he completely disappeared.

Jeremy continued to lie motionless for a few seconds until the snow touching his body melted and evaporated into vapor. Then, what was left of his tattered clothes melted as well. Jeremy pushed himself up slowly and looked down at his hands. Even in the heavy snow, fire burned from them. He touched the top of his head and felt two horns protruding down to his shoulders.

Jeremy stood up fully and trudged through the snow, leaving fiery footprints behind him.

"So that’s what you meant, huh, Aganju? I was wrong about which one of us will live...well, don’t worry. I’ll make sure I live. For you."