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Ginseku rolled over in his bed softly, stirring quietly beneath the silky sheets that comforted him so much. His eyes slowly flicked open, adjusting ever so slowly to the light. He sat up, the sheets falling away from his bare chest. He flexed his arms out peacefully, stretching. And immediately afterwards, his wings stretched out to follow suit. A few loose feathers fluttered to the floor softly as he yawned.
"I wonder what I'll do today..."
And suddenly, his cell phone went off on the night stand next to his bed. He reached over and opened it, reading the text message he'd just been sent.
It read as thus:
"Dear Ginseku Shirokiba,

Today is the day of your March test. Our records show that you have signed up for the immediate delivery route to the test room, at nine o' clock.

Please have a nice day, and good luck with your test.

Signed, Headmistress Navali~"
Ginseku exited the message to check the time. It was 8:59.
"Wait, what did they mean by instant delivery route?.."
The ringer on his phone went off as soon as that minute passed, and Ginseku's bed began to tremble. He dropped his phone next to his nightstand and grabbed at the sheets for dear life. The bed began to tilt upwards at one end, and the floor beneath the bed slid away.
"What the hell is this?!"
He cried out in utter confusion. He tried to keep his grip firm and steady, but he couldn't; His hands slipped on the soft silk sheets and he fell into the dark abyss of the hole that used to be his floor. He tumbled, and fell for what felt like eternity down a long lubricated pipe system before being spouted out into a testing room. He stood up slowly, dusting the only clothing he had on; his faded black jeans.
"Is this what they meant by instant delivery? That felt like it took forever.."
He turned around from his spot in the test room, to observe his surroundings. It seemed like a being inside of a dormant volcano, but...not as hot. Because if it were a regular volcano, his feet wouldve been charred totally black about now from the transfer of heat through the stones beneath him. He walked softly forward, looking about. He frantically jumped to the side just before a blistering pillar of fire burst out of the pit next to him, wincing a bit at the extreme heat.
"Lord, this is gonna be fun...."
He looked down for a moment, and grasped at something that was dangling from his neck. He spoke softly to himself.
"..I’m not gonna die here, or be beaten. I have to see Ryu again."
There was another tremendous rumbling.
"Gawd, Why can't they just be loud explosions instead rumbling? Rumbling makes it hard to keep my balance..."
It was evident from his awkward attempt to balance himself on the large boulder he stood on, that his statement held some degree of truth. He looked forward after the rumbling slowly died down, sighing softly.
"Thank goodness, I was worried was gonna fall in.."
The ground crackled open about 50 feet away, and a large figure the size of a two story house crawled out covered in lava. It stood on the shaking rocks triumphantly, as if it had just run the gauntlet and lived. The lava slowly dripped away, revealing red hot stone beneath. It seemed to be a giant stone ogre, shaped very much like a guardian statue. In one place, on its forehead, there was a glowing green symbol. Instead of a right hand, it had a long section of stone shaped in the likeness of a sword of some sorts. It growled and roared after a moment, in some ancient and unknown language before taking a single giant step forward. The ground crackled beneath its stone foot, a small bit of lava oozing out to soak its' foot just a bit. When it took another step forward, however, the lava dripped back into its place. After several steps by the giant, and several minutes of calm planning, Ginseku finally moved forward. He had a plan. He had deducted that the symbol was probably the life-source that allowed the ogre to live. So all he needed to do was freeze it in place somehow, then he could stab the weak point. The giant was about 20 feet away now, and Gin was just out of striking distance. Ginseku put his thumb to his lips, then bit down to break the skin. Blood rushed out of the p***k that he'd made. He knelt down, then rubbed the blood out into an array, in the middle of which he put the symbol of death. He formed two handsigns, then thrust his hand down into the center of the array. There was a burst of smoke, and the handle of a sword appeared where the array once was. The blade was sheathed up to the handle in the rock. Ginseku reached down with one hand, and slowly pulled out a magnificent blade. Then he rubbed what little blood was left on the array, and repeated the technique to summon up the scabbard. He sheathed the blade, then tied the cords of the blade around his hips so that it rest uniformly at his side. The giant, meanwhile, had approached Ginseku while he was distracted. He raised his mighty stone blade up to smash Ginseku, then let it come down with terrible strength. Ginseku saw the attack coming from a mile away, however, and deftly dodged with a high speed weave between the giant's legs. He was now standing behind the giant, whom was trying to pull the plating blade out from the lava filled crevice he'd just made in the ground. Ginseku formed handsigns, then drew in a large breath. He blew, and what appeared to be a miniature blast of frost propelled itself through the air to the giant's shoulder. The red hot stone mass of stone immediately hissed in reaction, water evaporating from the surface. After a moment, however, the stone was cool and began to ice over. The helpless giant tried and tried, but he couldn't seem to get his sword out of the lava. Rather...he couldn't move his arm at all now. The ice that was encasing his shoulder had jammed all of his movement. Ginseku took another quick breath in, and repeated the process on the Giant's other shoulder. It froze as well. The giant was beginning to freak out now, and it began to take quick steps. Ginseku smirked; that was exactly what he was hoping for. He formed handsigns as the giant shattered the earth with it's feet, lava rushing out again and again as it moved. Ginseku stopped on a handsign, then took another breath in. He blew out with all of his might, and water rushed forward from his mouth in a large stream. It splashed the lava around the giant's foot, and the lava hissed and steamed as it cooled around him. The immobile giant cried out in alarm at his paralysis, as Ginseku smirked and walked ever so slowly to him.
"This has to be the easiest test I’ve had here; I've not taken a scratch of damage since I entered, other than bumping my butt on the ground. It's almost too easy..."
He moved between his colossal enemy's legs again, standing in front of him. With a flap of his wings, he launched off of the ground and flew up to meet his face. The behemoth cried out in continuous panic as it attempted to escape its end. Ginseku pulled out his sword, and it shimmered an orange-red hue in response to the light of the lava below. He thrust it silently into the beast's symbol, and it cried out. The energy that once existed in it's boulderous eyes faded, and the creature fell to pieces. Ginseku landed very softly, then turned around to see and approach the exit door with a smile. But then, all of a sudden, the room became darker. Only the glare of the lava in the ground provided light, which was ample enough to reveal that the door was gone now. An ominous clapping filled the test room silently.

"Bravo, Bravo Ginseku. As I'd expected, you're much stronger than your friend Ryu. You took care of that beast with ease; just as I slew her with but a simple swing of my blade."

Ginseku sat there, leaned up against the wall like a ragdoll as he waited for the end to come. He waited. And waited. And nothing happened. He looked up at the man who intended to kill him, wondering why he was waiting.
"Before i kill you, I'm going to show you how your pathetic friend died."
Ginseku went wide eyed, a tear dripping down the side of his cheek. Yet...He couldn't help it. He just wanted it to be over, so that he could maybe see Ryu in the afterlife. At least there they wouldn't be apart. The man crossed to Ginseku, placing his hand upon his forehead. Instantly, Ginseku was thrust into the illusion of a battleground. It was raining, and they were at the entrance of a castle. Muddy footsteps were dipped randomly in the ground. The sound of metal clashing against metal could be heard, and it drew Ginseku's attention. He ran to see what was going on, and found Ryu fighting his tormentor with a sword. She was bleeding from slash marks on her arm, leg and sides. The red clashed and stained against her white top, and it was sickening to see it. Ginseku felt his heart drop down in pain. His hopes were dying. Ryu slashed tiredly at the man, who sidestepped as he had been doing in his fight.
"Come now, Ryuka. You won't harm me like that."
He slashed at her, and she leapt away to avoid taking a nasty slash to the arm. She pulled out a hidden dagger and ran forward for a quick jab, just as he had, and missed. She threw it at the man, then rolled halfway into a sitting stance. The man dodged again, then approached Ryu. She struck at his neck, and he parried. They continued to fight for what seemed like hours on end, until Ginseku ran up to the couple and tried to stop them. He tried to grab Ryu and run; Run as far away as possible. But he couldn't touch her. And right when his hand came back, the man knocked the sword out of her hand. She tried to take his sword away by force, but he merely smacked her aside. She fell to her knees, and the man stood in front of her. Ryu did not attempt to move. She only sat there as the man drew back his blade. Then he brought it down. But Ginseku didn't wait to see the ending. He physically broke free of the man's grip with a kick, which knocked him flying back several feet.
"YOU SON OF A b***h! I’M GONNA KILL YOU!"
Ginseku was totally enraged now; There was no turning back.
The man laughed, then formed a handsign.
"That is, If you can find me."
Multiple energy clones appeared, and Ginseku held his hands out as if he had something lethal in them. His nails sharpened to fine points, becoming miniature daggers. His brown eyes turned yellow, and his pupil turned to slits.
"Wh...What are you..?..how are you?..."
Ginseku took off at blazing speed, charging at the first clone. He slashed with his nails, killing the clone before moving to the next, and the next. Finally, after ten clones, he was facing the real one.
"...Die, you monster!"
The man thrust his palms out at Ginseku, and beams of black energy shot out at Ginseku. He got on all fours and ran towards the man, his skin smoking and getting hairier as he neared the man. He dodged and weaved several more beams, getting closer and closer to the panicking assailant. There was a burst of smoke, and Ginseku had finally completed the transition. He was now a ferocious black wolf. He bound forward madly, dodging the last few beams before tackling the man. In mid-flight, he planted his jaws on the man's throat and bit down with a guillotine of fangs. Blood rushed out as He hit the ground, and Ginseku ripped the man’s throat out. And when he did, the necklace came off too; It was hanging limply from his teeth. The man gasped for air, his blood dripping into one of the lava pits and hissing as it evaporated. And then, he died. Ginseku spat out the man's throat, and placed the necklace on the ground. Transforming back into a human, He picked up the necklace and placed it around his neck, next to his own so that the two jingled together when he walked. The lights came back on in the test room, and a computer-like voice stated that the main power was working again. The door appeared, and Ginseku headed towards it. Suddenly, the giant's remains disintegrated. They became black dust, which Ginseku turned around to see. The black dust floated to Ginseku, then consumed him. When it finally disappeared, Ginseku was different; His hair was black, and his feathers were too. Looking down at the necklaces with remorse, he collapsed to his knees in tears.
"Dammit Ryu! Why? Why does it feel like your necklace is a body? Why does it feel like I’m carrying a corpse?!"
He mourned her death, tears and snot dripping to the ground as his wings covered his sorrow from the view of the world.