MASTER BATTOUSAI
By Jitou <jitou@geocities.com>
A Primer
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Shadows flickered along the dank, musty cobblestones of the passage, cast by
the flames of the torch she held in her hand. Cobwebs hung across the walls
and ceiling, mirrored by a thick layer of dust covering the floor. As she
passed, bits of silk and cystalline dust clung to her yellow yukata and the
blue ribbon on her head. The air was stale and musty, causing her skin to
feel a strange, clammy tingling, matting her long black hair.
As she prodded onwards into the darkness of the tunnel, faint stirrings of
sound reached her ears, hinting at the presence of rats, spiders, and other
less pleasant things hiding in the darkness. Unconsciously, she grasped the
hilt of her shinai in a reassuring manner, feeling comfort at the sureness
of the wood in her hand. Glancing around to make sure nothing was following
her, she raised the torch just a little bit higher, as if such an action
would erase the shadows which flickered at the corners of her vision.
"Just a little more," she mumbled to herself, concentrating on the darkness
ahead. "Just a little more, father, and I swear..."
Anything further was cut off as she saw something at the edge of the torch�s
light. Squinting her eyes, she could discern the vague outline of a large
stone panel ahead of her. As she moved closer, she saw that the stone
paneling was carved in the likeness of a doorway, and she knew, without a
doubt, that a single touch of her hand would send the portal swinging
inward, revealing a secret as older than the dust that covered the floor.
The door opened at her touch, revealing a large alcove which she could tell
was once magnificent. Curtains and tapestries adorned the walls, at one time
fine and resplendent, now dirtied and torn by the ravages of time. Priceless
paintings of samurai and oni, dragons and even a ki-rin, hung across the
room, now cracked and peeling from the dank air. Various arrays of
furniture, a few candleholders now filled with nothing but formless wax,
dotted the room, highlighting a central fixture at the center of the room--
a small wooden coffin.
She gasped with excitement, her breath coming in ragged bursts, for the
object of her search was now before her. The legends had been true! She had
been doubtful at first, thinking it as little more than an old wive�s tale.
But when she saw the Portal of Earth, she was given a slight reassurance.
And now, to see it right before her... Indeed, fate was smiling on her
today.
She took the last few steps toward the coffin, and with a heave she threw
over the lid, which fell to the floor with a dull thud. She peered into the
coffin, seeing nothing but a pile of decrepit purple robes, almost grey with
age, lying in a pool of ashes. She did not feel dismay, not at all. For it
was this, this pile of unassuming, gray ashes, that she had spent so long
trying to find.
Her eyes gleamed in the darkness as she set her torch in a holder nearby.
She put aside her shinai, and with her free hand she withdrew a small knife
from the depths of her yukata. With only a slight hesitation she drew the
sharp edge across her finger, drawing a small pinprick of blood.
"The Pact of Blood," she said, and she angled her finger over the coffin,
and with a slight pressure the single drop of blood fell from her finger,
mixing with the ashes within the coffin. She held her breath, half-expecting
nothing to happen, when a sudden burst of smoke erupted from the coffin.
She drew back, instinctively grabbing her shinai. The smoke thinned, and
suddenly a small figure sat up in the coffin. She could barely suppress a
yelp of joy as the smoke cleared, revealing a small, human figure sitting up
in the coffin, head bowed. Long, red hair streamed down his shoulders and in
front of him, hiding his face in the shadows of the torchlight.
The figure looked up at her, revealing a dazed looking set of purple eyes, a
deep violet which regarded her with a sleepy expression. A face, like that
of a child, looked up at her, with those deep, purple eyes, red hair framing
features which looked young, yet somehow old at the same time. Two scars
crossed his left cheek, forming an X which ran from his temples to near the
lip of his mouth, from below his eye to the ridge of his jawbone.
He spoke.
"Sessha wa okite de gozaru," he said with a small, cracking voice, using a
strange inflection which she wasn�t quite familiar with. Yet her eyes lit up
like flash at that ancient dialect. Without a doubt, she had found him!
"YOSHI!!!" she cried, moving towards him and putting her hands on his bare
shoulders. "The Pact of Blood is sealed! I am now your master, Master
Battousai! OHOHOHOHOHHOHOHHO!!!" she laughed, turning away from him as she
got up and headed back for the passage.
"Oro?"
***
So, any thing you'd like to say? I'm working on the next part.
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Jitou jitou@geocities.com
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/2098/