The sun blazed mercilessly over the dunes as Kairo and Yuki continued their quiet journey through the desert. Their footsteps sank softly into the sand, but the tension between them was undeniable — not from anger, but from something unspoken.
Kairo, his grip still firm around Yuki's hand, finally broke the silence. "Why weren't you scared?" His voice was low, but steady. "When you heard who I was — the prince of the Aqua tribe. The man trying to drown these districts."
Yuki's head tilted slightly at his question, her long blonde hair catching the wind like a delicate flame. "Because," she replied softly, "I don't see you the way others do. I can't see the crown on your head or the storm you carry."
Kairo frowned. "And what do you see?"
Yuki smiled faintly. "Your hand — the one that lifted me. The voice — that defended me when no one else would. That's what I feel, Kairo. Not the prince of Aqua... just you."
Kairo's chest tightened. No one had ever stripped him down to something so simple — not his sister, not his people. It was both comforting and unsettling, like she was prying open a part of him he wasn't ready to expose.
Before he could respond, the sound of shifting sand echoed from ahead.
A crowd had gathered — a large group of Sand tribe warriors, their tan and gold clothing blending into the desert backdrop. Their faces were stern, their eyes locked onto Kairo with burning intensity. At the head of the group stood a tall, broad-shouldered man with an intricate sand-colored cloak — clearly a figure of high rank.
Kairo's jaw clenched. "Looks like we have company."
The man at the front stepped forward. "Prince Kairo," he said coldly. "We've heard of your arrival."
Kairo's grip on Yuki's hand instinctively tightened. "And?"
"We're here to stop you."
Yuki's breath caught, but Kairo remained unfazed. "You're wasting your time," he replied. "I have no interest in battling weaklings."
The warrior's gaze shifted to Yuki — his expression darkening. "And as for you..." His voice dripped with disgust. "You should have stayed where you belonged, undesirable."
The word hung in the air like poison.
Yuki didn't flinch, but Kairo's entire body tensed. "Watch your mouth," he growled.
The man sneered. "You, of all people, should understand. She's a disgrace to our tribe — a blind woman, past the age of marriage, still wandering aimlessly. She was banished for a reason."
Kairo's voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. "If she's so worthless, why are you wasting your time chasing her down?"
Another warrior stepped forward. "Because she defied the rules by leaving the area assigned to exiles. And we — as the highest authority of this district — have decided her punishment."
Yuki kept her head high, but Kairo could feel the slight tremor in her hand. "Punishment?" he repeated, his voice an icy calm.
"Life imprisonment," the man said flatly. "She's to be confined, so she no longer stains the name of our tribe."
Kairo's rage simmered beneath the surface, threatening to spill over like a tidal wave. "And if I don't let you take her?"
The leader smirked. "Then we'll keep you here, Prince Kairo — until Dune himself arrives."
A flicker of surprise crossed Kairo's face, but he masked it with a cold smile. "So you want to stall me until the old man shows up?"
The warriors remained silent, their stance firm.
Kairo's fingers twitched with the urge to summon a flood — to wash these fools away. But Yuki's hand in his anchored him, even as his fury threatened to boil over.
Yuki's voice, gentle but unwavering, broke the silence. "Please," she said softly. "I don't want bloodshed."
Kairo's lips parted, but no words came out. For once, he was caught between his rage and her plea for peace.
The Sand tribe warriors didn't move — and neither did Kairo.
But his storm was building.
The air grew heavier, the tension thick like an impending storm. Kairo's grip on Yuki's hand tightened as the Sand tribe warriors, unmoved by her soft words, sneered.
"Undesirables don't have the right to order us," one of them spat. "Your words are as meaningless as your existence."
Another warrior, his face twisted with disdain, stepped forward. "We are the highest authority here — second only to Lord Dune himself. Your pleas for mercy sound like resistance."
Kairo's eyes darkened, the oceanic blue in them swirling like a whirlpool about to devour everything. "You think threatening her is resistance?"
Ignoring him, the lead warrior smirked at Yuki. "For leaving the place assigned to exiles, you will face the consequences. By the authority of the Sand tribe..."
He raised a hand, and several others rushed forward.
"...you are sentenced to death by guillotine."
Before Yuki could react, rough hands grabbed her from Kairo's side, tearing her away from him. She gasped softly but didn't struggle — not out of fear, but because she refused to add fuel to the fire burning inside Kairo.
But it was too late.
The second Yuki's hand slipped from his grasp, something inside Kairo snapped.
The soft, simmering anger he had barely kept at bay roared to life — a tidal wave, wild and untamed.
"You just made the biggest mistake of your pathetic lives."
The ground trembled beneath their feet as water erupted from the air itself — spirals of liquid twisting like serpents around Kairo, glowing with a deep blue hue. The heat of the desert seemed to vanish, replaced by a bone-chilling humidity as if the ocean itself had descended upon the sand.
The crowd screamed as sudden jets of water blasted through the sand dunes, carving deep trenches and flooding the village streets.
Kairo's water didn't just splash — it crashed, surging like waves against a shore. With a flick of his wrist, the liquid spiraled into a massive, hovering sphere above the village, threatening to collapse and drown everything in its path.
The Sand warriors scrambled, raising walls of sand in unison — an enormous, golden shield forming around them.
"He's going to drown the entire district!" someone yelled.
Another warrior smirked grimly. "We're not strong enough to defeat him... but we can defend until Lord Dune arrives."
Kairo's eyes narrowed. "You're counting on Dune?" His voice was a dangerous whisper, the water sphere above him growing darker, heavier. "You're all so helpless that you need to call on your precious leader just to stop me?"
One of the warriors laughed. "He's already on his way — the villagers saw you speaking with the elder and warned us."
Kairo let out a low chuckle, though there was no humor in it — only bitterness. "Then you better pray he gets here soon."
Yuki, soaked from the sudden bursts of water, spoke softly despite the chaos. "Kairo... please..."
But Kairo didn't look at her — couldn't. His fury had already swallowed him whole.
"You had one thing," he said coldly to the warriors. "One thing keeping me in check..." His gaze flicked briefly to Yuki, still held by the Sand tribesmen.
"...and you took her from me."
The water sphere above him twisted into a violent whirlpool, ready to collapse at his command.
The warriors braced behind their sand shields. The villagers watched in horror.
And Kairo stood at the center of it all — a storm with nothing left to hold him back.
The Sand tribe had gravely underestimated Kairo.