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10 years ago...

Hideki D. Weiss was a notable Marine in life. He would spend months traveling the world, helping the World Government's reach extend further across the seas. Fighting wars, saving lives, and capturing pirates, Hideki was a Marine actively trying to make the world a better place. A force to be reckoned with, his name began to spread to islands before he did and his rank began to climb. At the time of his death, Hideki had achieved Rear Admiral and had a small unit under his control. While his Marine life was a highlight of what he did, few knew him on a more personal level.

Behind his masquerade as a Marine, few people were privy to the information of his past time. Pushing the World Government's ideology by day, at night Hideki was a hunter just like his son, Bogart. A premier hunter, Hideki is the author of the hunter manual that Bogart now carries with him. His time as an active hunter was spent learning about the predatory species that lurked within myth and legend, taking his stories back to his home on Lulusia to tell his son as bedtime stories.

Bogart took a unique fascination to the stories that his father told him, intending to pursue them as more than just fantastical tales that were told by a man wishing to conceal his identity as a Marine to the son that looked up to him. The young Wiess' drive to follow the same path is what forced Hideki to evolve early as a hunter and learn new tricks to tell stories and adventure the world with. Teach his son to fight became less about simple survival and more about the nature of fighting as a hunter.

Hideki D. Weiss was the birth of the fighting style that Bogart has taken up as a weapon: Light Return.

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Hideki was only capable of returning to Lulusia every few months. For a year now, his return to home was paired with having to teach Bogart how to fight. It initially began as a method to teach his son how to defend himself in his absence, teaching him a variety of basic techniques from the most popular martial arts, but as Bogie developed a sense for his strength, speed, and reach, the techniques being taught to him began to evolve just as he did. Almost exactly one year later, Hideki had the initial techniques of Light Return to begin teaching his son and secure Bogie's identity as a martial artist with a new form of martial arts.

The origin of Light Return came from Hideki's roots as a hunter. Fighting creatures of the night caused the man to relish in the light of day, eventually allowing him to brandish it as a sword to vanquish the monsters he hunted. However, while the capacity to do this came from a specific mindset, the ability to do so is something that Hideki had to work long and hard for. In order to manipulate and use the light of the sun, Hideki first had to conquer himself, which is part of the training that he forced Bogie to go through.

As a child, Bogart was impatient. His desire to learn to fight came initially from his desire to fight monsters just like his father. This childish reasoning to seek out danger and put his life on the line was the first thing his father wanted to uproot when teaching him martial arts. The basics that were taught to him not only satisfied Bogie's need to learn how to fight, but also taught him a valuable lesson in controlling his emotions. By calming himself down and taking things one step at a time, Bogie was able to practice the basics that were taught to him for longer periods of time and helped him keep his frustration from reaching a tipping point. However, these were just the beginning stages of what would inevitably turn into Light Return; after all, they were the basics. After a year of learning to control himself and practice the basics without his father's watchful gaze, Hideki found his son ready to begin the next step. Before it could turn into Light Return, one must begin with its foundation - Life Return.

Life Return is a technique that has been passed down through generations, founded in the concept of combat-capable meditation. Meditation, at its core, is the ability to calm oneself down and find inner peace, but it is also something that can be stretched to be able to feel your body and know your limits. By taking this meditation to its extreme, Life Return was born. It became a technique to not only actively sense and feel the different parts of one's body, but to then be able to use it in combat far above what would normally be humanly possible. Since Life Return is so deeply based within meditation and being able to understand yourself, it was imperative that Hideki root out the childish urgency that Bogart felt.

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With a year of practicing the basics of martial arts, Bogart had been able to meet the bare minimum requirement for Hideki to begin teaching him Life Return. It was, however, still a mental feat for an eight year old boy. Monks train years in order to reach the level of tranquility required to actively meditate, but Hideki was bound and determined to put his son on the right path should the worst ever happen to him. As a marine and as a hunter, his life was constantly at stake and he'd never leave his family behind without the tools needed to help them survive without him.

A few days after Hideki arrived home from duty, he woke Bogart up early in the morning. The sun had barely begun to peak over the horizon and the morning dew still clung tightly to the grass. The young boy had complained momentarily, but had followed his father out regardless. Bogie was now being led across a bare field on the outskirts of the Common Grounds - a perfect spot to train calmly.

"Now, Bogart, listen to me," Hideki began, grabbing his son by his shoulders and looking him straight in the eye. "What I'm going to teach you is no joke. People train their entire lives to make use of this, but it's something that is important if you truly want to live as a hunter."

The tired look on Bogie's face was quickly traded out with that of resolve. Although just a child, Bogart had already made the decision to follow in his father's footsteps and become a hunter. For Bogart, there was nothing that his father could say that he would not listen to, especially as it pertained to becoming a hunter of the same caliber. If he said jump, he'd jump.

"I understand, father. I'll do what is needed. I want to hunt with you."

In a few weeks, Hideki would leave again for Drum Island. He'd travel there as a Marine, but those privy to his activities as a hunter would know that there were other reasons to visit that island. If the rumors were true, then there was a need for Hideki to teach Bogart as much as he could before the time came for him to set off back to sea. He pursed his lips, letting go of his son's shoulders and pointing to the ground.

"Sit. Cross-legged. That's your only task." Bogart did as he was told, but there was visual confusion strapped across the child's face. "You're going to meditate. For as long as necessary. Sit there, control your breathing, and feel your body. Just... think."

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Bogart did as he was told. Crossing his legs before him and shutting his eyes, the child began to simply breath and get lost within his own thoughts. What he'd gotten - or not gotten - for breakfast, what he'd eat when he got home, what his mother was doing, what his father did while he was away from Lulusia; many thoughts flowed through Bogie's mind, but they were the trivial thoughts of a child, meaningless and only there to fill the void whilst his body did nothing. The boy's face began to twitch with agitation as he grew to understand what he was thinking and how little it pertained to training, fighting, or getting stronger. Bogart couldn't understand what he why he was doing this, which is why he was under the ever watchful guidance of Hideki while doing it.

"Just breathe. Don't think. Just feel. Without your eyes, you need to be able to feel your surroundings and feel your body. The direction of the air, the temperature, the tips of your fingertips... Feel it. Don't think it."

"I don't ge-"

"Shh... Just try it. Trust me."

He did. There was no one in the world that Bogart trusted more than his father, the way a young boy always does. Though he didn't understand what he was being told to do, he trusted in his father's guidance and began to feel his surroundings and feel his body. In spite of having nothing of consequence to think about, the concept of not thinking was foreign to the boy. Rather than think about thinks he thought or would do, Bogart shifted his mind set according to what his father had told him. He began to actively register what he was feeling with more than just passing thoughts.

The cold morning air, something normally trivial, he gave thought to. Which part of his body felt the coldest because of it, which part of his body could feel the sun's warmth as it came over the horizon. The way his fingers felt curled into his hand versus when they were outstretched. Thoughts of what he'd eat were traded out with thoughts of how hungry he actually was.

As Bogart's thoughts became reigned in according to Hideki's guiding words, the child's breathing did the same. His normal breathing became erratic as he thought about each breath and how much his chest expanded when inhaling, but then became further soothed as he felt what was more natural or necessary.

"Good, Bogie," Hideki commented. The boy's father stood over his son and watched him carefully. Having gone through the training himself, he knew what to look for when it came to success. "The more you practice and meditate, the more powerfully you'll be able to feel these things. They're important."

Having been meditating for a few minutes, Bogart finally looked up at his father while he was talking. "When do I know it's enough?"

Hideki smiled. It had been a question he'd asked as well. Repeating the words he was told, Hideki said, "It's never enough. Meditation is useful for many things. However, if you keep doing it, you'll realize when you've learned what I'm trying to teach you."

Bogie nodded, clasping his hands together and shutting his eyes once more. Until Hideki said it was enough, he'd continue meditating as he was told. The boy could feel his muscles tense up with desire to move, but he ignored it in favor of his father's words.

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The end goal in training Bogart was to make him strong enough to stand on his own in the future, however, his immediate goal while on Lulusia was to instill good habits within his son. Every morning, Hideki would drag Bogie out to the fields for meditation training. The child would rarely sit still for the entire time that they were out there, but creating a habit out of it was the important part. When the two of them returned home, Hideki would push Bogie straight into physical training. As a well-rounded individual himself, this physical training wasn't just about martial arts basics, but weight lifting and endurance training as well. When that was done, Bogart was free to run rampant with the rest of the children his age until it was time for bed.

For the few hours that the two of them were out in the field, Hideki stood watch correcting Bogart where he felt it was necessary. Having done the training himself, the marine would assist in posturing and leading Bogie's thoughts in the right direction in order to help accelerate the rate at which the training would bare fruit. Yet, while he did his best to set the child's direction, Hideki was well aware that a few weeks of meditation wasn't going to be enough in order to manifest the ability to use Life Return. He could only hope that the habits and structure would make their mark on his son, especially if Bogie's goal of being a hunter were as powerful as he led him to believe.

Hideki had trained for many months before he had unlocked the potential to use Life Return, and many more months before that had transformed into Light Return. The strength, both physical and mental, that the training had given him was something he wished to pass on to future generations, starting with his own son. However, with only a few more days before he set sail for Drum, there was little time for him to teach everything that he wished he could.

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By the time came for Hideki to leave the island, there was little more he could do for his son. He'd done his best to instill the values of meditation and structure, so whether or not Bogart followed through with the training was up to him. Yet, on the final morning before he departed, Hideki did what he'd done since he'd arrived and dragged Bogart out to the field for the morning meditation training. However, this time, it was more than just the typical leading of his thinking. Hideki wanted to show him the fruits of his own training with the intent that if nothing else had, that would solidify the importance of what they had been doing.

While Bogie sat on the ground ready to begin his meditation, Hideki stood before him with a serious look on his face. "I understand that this training doesn't mean a whole lot to you. But I want you to know what it's done for me, so watch..."

The two had come out a little later than they had been for the past few weeks. The sun was over the horizon and shining brightly across the field onto the two of them. Hideki held his hand up, clenched his fist, and closed his eyes. As Bogie watched, the marine's hand began to glow faintly. Suddenly, Hideki opened his hand and flung it across the sky as if he were slapping the air, releasing a small, crescent shaped ray of light from his fingertips. As if understanding everything he'd been doing, Bogart had a look of complete amazement at the display.

"This is Light Return. Through meditation and feeling the sun, you harness its power and use it for yourself."

As if to drive his point home, Hideki put his hands to his hips and closed his eyes once more. The skin all over his body began to glisten and sparkle as the sun's rays bounced off of him, making the man shine bright. In that moment, in the eyes of Bogart, Hideki was the absolute pinnacle of what could be accomplished with hard work and dedication... and talent. His father was amazing and he wanted to do everything in his power to become just as great.

All the child could manage to squeak out was a quiet, simple, "Amazing."

Hideki's ship was scheduled to leave early, so their training that morning was cut short. An hour of meditation and the two of them walked home in silence, Bogart's mind racing with the amazing display his father had shown him. When they got home, Hideki said his goodbyes and set off back to sea, headed for Drum Island. Little did either of them know that this was the last time they'd ever see each other.

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