Promise of a Soul
 
 It’s hot.  The heat sears through his veins in
blistering waves, but then it…changes.  The pain
leaves, no, is transformed into something more.  It
fills him to his very core, warmth, power, pleasure. 
More.  He wants, no, NEEDS more.  He drinks it in like
a dying man, the red hotness running down his throat
like the sweetest of wines.  Flames lick at his skin
is fiery caresses, coaxing him deeper into their
bosom.  A warmth impossible to describe, a strength
hardly imagined by mortal being, all his if he only
ask.
 Others.  He can feel others subtly making their
presences known.  A healing light, strong earth, cool
wind, gentle sea…he knows them, if only for a short
time.  Knew that when they first met on the
battlefield they’d become more than friends or
comrades, closer than any word or words could hope to
express.  They mingle together, exploring, learning,
binding themselves closer to the others.  The
contrasting elements don’t hurt as one would think,
but only add to what he feels, peaking his ecstasy. 
They feel the same, he knows.  Words he can’t quite
hear are whispered into his ears, but their meaning
clear all the same.
 A red glow brighter than the surrounding magma flares
to life, JIN shines brightly on its possessor’s brow. 
Tiger blue eyes open, fires burning in their recesses,
staring into the distant skies surrounding Mount Fuji.
 The molten rock drips off his armor like dew on a
rose as he struggles to his feet.  “I’ll find you.” 
He leans against the volcano wall, staring into the
skies once again.  “I swear.”  He begins his long trek up.