At 09:05 11/04/96 -0800, Foxtrot wrote:

"Why, becasue we're afraid Foxtrot the Furryous will prod me"

Wow!  I'm even scaring the Orick!
Very well written, The Orick, and you might want to brush up on you
r "ie" versus "ei" lessons.  Other than that, great job of summing up some
of the current Sig War action.
Now, if only we could hear from the rest of the participants

Foxtrot the Furryous
...oh, Pandaaaa!

You want to read my first installment of the SigWar? Okay! Here ya go :)

At 03:46 PM 03/4/96 -0700, THE NEFARIOUS ROBMA >>CHALLENGED:

<earlier meeting snipped - NightElf attempts to fight Panda/Kajagua>

Zodiak(refuses to look at the newcomer, his eyes fixed on his greatest rival.  
Through gritted teeth, he speaks): Remove yourself from this 
battlefield, my grievenaces with the Ronin (the word is spat out as if 
the taste disagrees with him) far out weighs your own. 

The figure watches the two combatants as they stand ready to charge again. > 
He doesn't want to surrender his claim, but he concedes to the two who are 
already engaged in combat.

Zodiak(raising his blade high): Come, Ronin.  Let's see what you are made 
of... (with a cry of hate, Zodiak charges at his opponent.  Kajagua 
charges ahead without hesitation)

The two blades meet in another clash of steel.  Zodiak twists to catch 
Kajagua's blade in Soul Defender's own V-shaped hilt.  Kajagua loosens 
his hold to avoid being disarmed and kicks Zodiak away.  Zodiak lashes 
out, but Kajagua brings the katana up and the two swords lock, the 
screeching of steel as the two blades hold the other back from their masters.

Zodiak(sneering): I hope you'll take some pleasure at the fact she screamed 
out your name when I struck the blow that stained that hair band...
(Kajagua freezes for a second, a second Zodiak takes to head butt 
him between the intertwined blades.)  Nevermind, I lied.  She just 
screamed in pain... (Kajagua heart turns cold at Zodiak's gloating 
of the agony he inflicted to the woman they both loved.  In a cold 
rage, he strikes hard and fast as the startled Zodiak moves to block 
the furious blows.)

Kajagua strikes from the side.  Zodiak nearly missed blocking it.  Kajagua 
strikes with the hilt of his sword to Zodiak's exposed face.  Zodiak 
stumbles back, the back of his left hand to his mouth.  The right hand 
holds the blade ready as the left hand pulls away, stained with blood.

Zodiak: First blood is yours.  I'll tell you this, Ronin.  She lives.  
My strike only stunned her enough for me to take her as my prisoner.  
But she will never be the woman you remembered her as... (His eyes 
start to glow blood red) I'll see to that. (a dark portal opens 
behind him) Follow me to Tokyo, if you dare...  You'll never 
leave alive, again... (with cold mocking laughter, Zodiak steps 
through the portal)

The portal remains open...  waiting for Kajagua to go after Zodiak...  and 
to find her before it's too late.

The ronin stood for a moment to ponder the invitation. It was an event that
had been foretold to him by his "moral guide", the Rain Dragon. He smiled
sadly, thinking of what his new enemy had said about Uki, and then his
thoughts were suddenly a million miles away. As the mists of time and space
swirled before him, a yawning abyss that held an offer he could not refuse,
his thoughts drifted back briefly to a time he could never forget . . .

(Ancient China)

A young man stepped into the bright sunlight, his feet stirring up tiny
whisps of dust on the hot, dry ground in front of the family dojo. Before
him lay the rising, green steppes of his valley homeland, where agriculture
was the way of life. His family and a few other families were already out in
the rice paddies, preparing another crop for harvesting. The boy looked up
at the clear blue sky overhead to see a hawk soaring high above him. As he
raised his hand to block the sun, the hawk's shadow passed over him
fleetingly, making him blink.

Pushing his long black hair out of his eyes, the boy paid no further mind to
the circling raptor, and began the long walk down into the valley towards
the shallow, brown paddies. His slow, heavy gait was filled with
stubborness and  frustration. Each step closer was a step away from where he
wished he could be. Harvesting rice was no place for a warrior! He should be
training, and honing his skills! The boy sighed heavily, resigned to the
fate of a farmer. Training at the local temple was not to be, for his
parents were poor and could not afford to pay for his tutelage. But the
boy's spirit was not so easily broken. Like a candle fighting for its life
in a spring breeze, the boy would have to earn the right to learn. So work
he must to someday join his friend Hiro at the temple, to train and learn
the way of the warrior.

It was on this very day that a teacher from the temple had travelled to the
valley region, in search of new students to consider. By other people's
standards the monk was far too old to be travelling on the open road. But
decades of disciplined study and training had molded a man well capable of
his journey. Squinting into the mid-morning sun, the monk's weathered and
wrinkled face twitched slightly as he caught sight of the hawk circling high
over the rice fields. The puffy eyelids narrowed, and a slight smile formed
on his thin, lips. Looking back down the sloping trail, the monk picked his
way over the rocky path and descended into the valley, while the hawk continued
it's slow graceful circling motion in the sky.

"Kajagua!"

Kajagua looked up and wiped his hands on his already mud stained shirt.
Across the paddy on the dirt causeway, his father was waving to him to
come to him. Beside him stood a man garbed in simple robes, leaning lightly
on a wooden staff. The boy picked up his basket and walked towards the two
men, the mud sucking at his bare feet. Stepping from the silty water, he
climbed the short slope up the causeway, and set his basket down on the
ground. As he stood before the two men, he became aware that the monk's
eyes were riveted to him.

"Kajagua," his father began, "This is Wo-Kwin, a teacher from the temple east
of us. He has come looking for students." Kajagua's father paused, seeing
the sudden glimmer of light in his son's eyes, then continued. "I told him that
you would know of any boys around this area who would be interested in
studying there."

Kajagua's face clouded over, his hopes raised and crushed in one fell swoop.
The monk watched Kajagua's changing expression carefully, noting the boy's
strong body and broad shoulders. Before his father had spoken the boy's eyes
had been bright and sharp, full of desire to be more than what he was. Now
his eyes showed disappointment, while unseen to the father, his heart
remained full of pride and the willingness to learn.

Kajagua's father ignored the boy's obvious display of disappointment, and
continued to speak. "Wo-Kwin says that they need boys who wish to learn the
ways of unarmed combat. The master of the temple has recently turned
many away, and the temple must have students to survive. Do you know of
anyone who might be acceptable?"

The boy looked up into his father's face, trying to say the words, but could
not. The monk watched the boy lower his head and retreat into himself,
unable to make a stand. The father turned to the monk and apologized for his
son's behaviour, but the monk could not hear him, for his ears were
listening to the boy's pounding heartbeat and the flap of the hawk's wings
above.

Later that night, Kajagua lay in bed listening to the wind caress the walls
of the dojo, his thoughts still focused on the monk's visit. Windswept shadows
played on the wall of his room as he thought about leaving under the cloak of
night, but his parent's sad faces kept creeping into his mind, their heart's
broken and their crops lost because he had left them to harvest the
rice themselves.

He turned over on his side and gathered the covers about him, the wind
becoming just a little louder than before. While the shadows danced on the
walls of his room, his eyes grew tired and their lids grew heavy. Finally,
Kajagua succumbed to sleep where his thoughts of his family's sadness were
just the beginning of his troubles.

Throughout his dream, images assaulted him, of wars in distant lands, and
most vividly, a beautiful young woman with snow-white hair. Many people
died in the wars that were waged, but the white-haired woman always returned
to his thoughts, her face always lit with a warm smile, and her eyes
filled with a firey passion. That was, until a shadow emerged. A shadow of a
man with glowing red eyes and hatred entrenched in his heart. The woman and
man exchanged words, the woman always pleading and the man simply
ignoring her. Kajagua could not make out their exact words, his eyes seing
their lips move, but the words were carried off in a howling wind. Then
suddenly the woman and man were gone, and blackness filled his sight. For a
moment the blackness conquered all, then two menacing eyes pierced the sable
depths, and stared out at Kajagua with a steady gaze.

Frozen to the spot, his legs somehow refusing to respond, Kajagua trembled
as the eyes came closer, revealing more detailed features of a serpentine
head. Rows of bright white ivory daggers lined the dragon's mouth, its lips
pulled back as if to smile. A black tongue lolled inside a toothy prison, a
serpent unto itself. The dragon rose up in the glow of a supernatural light,
slowly towering over Kajagua. A deep rumble began in the beast's throat, and
came forth as a raspy voice speaking words that he could understand.
Lowering its massive form down to Kajagua's eye level, the beast regarded
the boy carefully, and spoke two words. . .

"Step through ... "

Kajagua woke with a start to see the shadows still playing on his walls. The
images he had seen lived on in his racing mind, as he sought to understand
what he had seen. Releasing his body from the grip of involuntary muscular
tension brought on by fear, he wiped his sweat covered forehead with the
palm of his hand, and let the images tumble in his mind.

Staring out the window at nothing, Kajagua thought about his life in the
peaceful valley and how long he might have to wait until he could afford to
be trained at the temple. His jaw became tighter as he pictured himself an
old man, bent over a rice paddy with age as he prepared for one more
harvest . . .

Kajagua stood and dressed himself, and then began to quietly pack some
clothes into a tattered canvas bag, being careful not to wake his sleeping
parents. He would miss them dearly, but some day he would return to explain
and make up for his dishonour.

Outside, a hawk sat perched on the upper boughs of a tree just outside
Kajagua's window, hidden from the boy. It's left eye blinked open as it caught
sight of a shadow slowly sliding the front door panel shut. The shadow then
moved silently across the front yard, and headed east. The hawk shook itself,
and flexed its wings briefly before taking flight, heading in the same
direction. Soon the shadow and the hawk were both out of sight.


The ronin looked up at the swirling portal before him and smiled sadly, the
thought of that fateful night bringing back many memories, including the
image of the face of his long lost Uki. He had travelled many lands in search
of her for many years, every trail telling him that she was lost forever. Now,
his most hated rival had given him hope that she was still alive, although
bearing a different name. He stared at the blood-stained head-band and then
without hesitation stepped throught the portal to whatever lay beyond  . . .

Panda

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"Bubblegum Cross"
"The Dark Traveler"
"The Dragon's Tower"
askuse@execulink.com
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