i am deeply sorry for posting a virus in my earlier attempt to get a fic
i have signed up with a different computer to keep it from happening again.
it was purly unintentional. that was the first mail i have sent in months.
i wont post again until i get a new hard drive. the computer is so old that
it
cant handle an antivirus program,i will now paste an unfinished fic that
involves
bushido blade, no c&c is needed, i also took some names from somewhere.
if you want to continue this you have my full permission.
as it is my first attempt at writing it probably sucks and wont make up for
my
mistake earlier
We look out upon a building, as we get closer to this building we can
see in the windows. As we look into the windows, we see a large group of
people listening to a large, Japanese man. He has short black hair, slightly
tanned skin, and is very muscled. "OK class, listen up. We are going to learn
some more advanced stances today." The class, largely consisting of young
men, and a few women, seemed to perk up. "Hai Sensei!" they all said at once.
The class lined up from where they were sparring with each other and stood
at attention.
Gengoro smiled at the quick response from his class. "OK, this is the
iae stance." Gengoro put his katana in his sheath and held it to the side of
him. "This stance allows for very fast attacks, but leaves you wide open for
a time too long to be acceptable in battle. This is not a very defensive
stance. Unless you change to your normal stance right after this you will be
an easy target." Gengoro went over to the training dummy and got into the
iae stance, he seemed to blur and appeared behind the dummy with his katana
to his other side. The top half of the dummy fell off a few seconds later.
"However, if you no longer have an opponent who would there be to strike
back? As you can see this is for single opponent matches only"
The class gawked at the dummy, and then at the instructor, looking back
and forth between the two. One of the students said "Sensei, when will we be
able to move this fast?"
Gengoro smiled at his student, Tatewaki Kuno, he would be a very well
trained Samurai when he was done with him. Tatewaki had great potential and
Gengoro was forced to take him in for a while because the child's father had
left to Hawaii, deserting the poor child. "When you have trained in the ways
of bushido for long enough, though you can still use this stance, be it not
as fast, but still marginally faster than any other single strike."
Tatewaki smiled and said, "May I practice now?" He seemed very eager to
learn and please his adopted father, grateful for the help Gengoro provided.
Gengoro nodded to Tatewaki, and then said "Begin training with this new
stance, I will be in the next room over, introducing the new class. If you
have any problems ask Isohachi over there" He pointed to the other side of
the room at Isohachi
Isohachi glared at Gengoro for a second and then nodded and said "Go
now, before I change my mind."
Gengoro quickly took his leave thanking his old master on the way out.
Walking to the next door over Gengoro sighed, he had enough students already,
but the upcoming war with the nearby clans demanded a large fighting force,
if they were to survive into the next era.
The soft hum of whispers stopped as Gengoro entered the room, taking his
place at the front of the room. He looked over the room as if searching for
something, sighing he said, "As you know, we are in need of warriors for the
Shinto clan
Some of the mothers hugged their children and began to weep; the war
would take its toll on them all, some sooner than others.
Gengoro sighed; this was the worst part in his mind. He started to walk
into the crowd, giving some a small token, and passing others by. Those he
gave the tokens to he deemed to have potential for the ways of bushido and
the sword.
Some of the people he gave tokens to grew excited, others started to
cry, and still others became pale. The mothers who saw their children get
tokens latched themselves to them, as if they could hold onto them tight
enough, they wouldn't be forced to go.
Gengoro said, "To those I have given a token you have until the end of
the week to say your goodbyes and come to this room again, to those that I
haven't given one, you do not have to return here unless summoned. I expect
strict adherence to this, we all know it is for the good of the clan" This
statement, however true, didn't seem to help at all with the mood of some of
the new recruits
The samurai instructor walked back through the training room, seeing
Isohachi handling things, and into his office. He sat down on a pillow by the
low table, noticing part of the top peeling away."Hmm, I need to get some
stronger adhesive."
Isohachi wasn't very angry with Gengoro at all, in fact he enjoyed
teaching the class, it made it feel like a youth again, he stroked his
short, white beard and looked down at himself, skinny when compared to
Gengoro. But he was definitely in good shape, considering his age, which
happened to be around 93.
Tatewaki looked at the stance he was trying to master and administer on
his best friend and sparring partner, Lano. "Come on Kuno," Lano refused to
call Tatewaki by his first name, and it infuriated him to no end "you can do
better than that, or can you. You never could get any stance right anyways!"
While the youngest Kuno knew Lano was trying to goad him into attacking
before he was ready, it almost worked, taking all of his willpower to keep
from giving Lano what he so rightly deserved.
Kuno started to calm himself to try to remember how Gengoro stood
before he disappeared and the dummy fell apart. He almost duplicated the
strike completely, in super slow motion compared to Gengoro, and with a
wooden sword, but a lot faster than Lano was expecting from Kuno. The strike
connected with Lano in his side, Lano fell over clutching his side in seeming
agony and rolling on the ground.
Kuno laughed, " Stop faking it, I know you can take more than just that
light tap. Or did you try so hard to make it look convincing that you didn't
even bother to feel how much it actually hurt?"
Lano got up, rubbing the back of his head in an impulsive gesture, and
said "What would make you think that? Heh heh."
Isohachi watched the scene play out before him and smiled, those two
were the best in the class and would one day be up to their level in skill.
"If they live that long" said a dark corner of his mind. He banished the
thought and began to wonder how long the young Kuno and his friend would be
bachelors, both of them were around 18 and were quite good looking, if the
longing stares from the female members of the class were any indication. He
returned his attention to a student talking to him about when to strike and
whether he should use the vertical chop or a horizontal slash.
Gengoro was walking to his house on the rather large compound, used for
both training the students in the way of bushido, swordsmanship, housing the
said students, he passed the chapel and bowed in respect to the kami (gods)
and continued on his way to his home. It was getting late and he was tired,
the long day of teaching finally catching up to him. When he reached his
house he looked at it in comparison to Isohachi's house both were large, and
looked like traditional Japanese homes for the times, but Isohachi's house
had an
added room, making it more than just the one room house like everyone
else's. Gengoro thought that it was only fair, seeing as Isohachi taught him,
and was the oldest remaing Shinto leader. Gengoro was next in the lineage to
become the Shinto's leader, and he wondered if he would own his old masters
house later in life.
Gengoro looked at the baggage at the entrance to the house on the other
side of him, "Hmm, must be one of the new students moving in there." He
decided to go in to his house to have some hot green tea, that beverage would
hit just the spot before he went to sleep, "after all" he thought, "tomorrow
is another day."
Gengoro began his day by smashing the alarm next to his futon. (A mat on
the floor that is slept on and can be rolled up to save space) "I hate those
things," he grumbled to himself. Gengoro immediately grabbed his katana, and
then began to get dressed for the arrival of the new students. When he walked
out the door a moment later, he looked like he had been ready for hours. The
stifled yawn quickly dashed that line of reasoning. Gengoro wondered at the
sunrise happening. "You never know which one will be your last, eh Isohachi?"
It was part of an elegy that he remembered.
Isohachi was just coming out of his house in much the same manner as
Gengoro. "At that you are right, my stupid pupil!"
Gengoro allowed himself a smile. "So you feel up to sparring today, do
you?" Gengoro grabbed the couple of bokkens he had right inside his door and
started off to the dojo where this not so often occurring event was about to
happen.
As the two went in both could be seen smiling, Gengoro wanted to show
his former master that he could beat the stuffing out of him, and Isohachi to
'enlighten' his stupid pupil."
The two masters of the katana stood facing each other on opposite sides
of the dojo, bowing simultaneously, they looked at each other and were off!
Not one to waste his speed advantage over Gengoro, Isohachi tried for a
quick lunge at his opponent's gut. Expecting the move Gengoro deftly
sidestepped and retaliated with a quick downward then upward slash. Isohachi
managed to avoid the first stroke and to parry the other, with Gengoros just
returning to stance Isohachi tried for the iae stance, he held the bokken to
his side and waited for gengoro to get a little closer. Gengoro saw what his
long time friend and partner in battle was doing and got into his own iae
stance, as the two inched closer to each other, then suddenly blurred as the
repeated clack of wood on wood sounded, the bodies too fast for the untrained
eye to see, suddenly jump apart, then run at each other again. Isohachi
smiled, he hadn't had fun like this in ages! Gengoro saw the smile and
mirrored it, for he had decoded his former sensei's defense and saw an
illusive hole in his opponent's defense that could give him the victory!
Gengoro struck with lightning speed, however Isohachi was still faster,
enabling him to block. Though Isohachi was fine, the bokken he had did not
fair well against the last strike. With his superior strength Gengoro had
claimed the match letting out a cry of victory, however he noticed a scrape
on his ear where Isohachi had grazed him.
He rubbed the sore cartilage and said "Almost had me back there old
friend," the epidermis around the area starting to turn red.
Isohachi grumbled, "Almost doesn't cut it."
Thankfully, it was time to start the morning training for the soon to be
samurai.
"I'll go to start the morning classes, Gengoro, so don't you worry
about me. Oh, and I will beat you next time!" He said after he took a moment
to compose himself, the duration of the fight a little too long for him,
making him a quite dirty.
Gengoro nodded and said "Thanks, and that is not a certainty old friend.
"He started back to his house to get the necessary equipment for the
training, such as the bokkens, body armor, and facemasks.
With the said items in tow, Gengoro followed Isohachi's path to the
training dojo. A few minutes later Gengoro walked in the door to a room
full of waiting students. He thought: Yes, the art is all that really matters
in here.:
The students stood waiting for some kind of instruction or action from
their sensei, Gengoro. Tatewaki, at the front of the lines of students
started to look a little impatient at Gengoro's inactive state. "Sensei, we
are ready to begin our training," he said. That snapped Gengoro out of his
reverie right away. "O.K. students, we will be working on the aspects of
defense. As you all know, the sword limits the ways a fighter can attack, we
can only slash up and down, or left and right, or stab. However," he added "
the sword is a much better tool for killing than just our hands and feet, and
can be used for defense much better than our arms and legs. That is why we
use the sword. Today we will be studying hand to hand combat, and how to
incorporate it into our style of kendo. Many times you can surprise your
opponent by kicking him in the middle of a swordfight, either saving your
life or winning you the match, sometimes both.
On the other side of the Japanese mountains the last descendent of the
Narukagami clan had decided the endless fighting had gone on far enough. "My
friends, I am sorry for what I have to do today, but the fighting must stop
before more needless blood is shed."
Taking the solid ornate tanto in her hands she shoved it into her belly,
twisting it once, she fell to the ground, no longer moving. The silent throb
of her heart had stopped.
As her best friend walked in he was saying "What was that sound, milady?"
He slowly drank in the sight before him, lastly coming onto the note left by
her body, it read:
To my followers and my best friend
I am sorry that I had to do this, but there was nothing else I could do to
stop the war between our two clans. My one life is less important than those
of the many lives of both our clans, I think an American saying that would be
appropriate is "to make an omlet one must break a few eggs." I would be the
egg, and the finished product would be peace between us. My last wish is that
the fighting stops, for this timeless war has left us in the past, while the
world goes on without us. Move away from the isolation and start new lives
you owe that much to the world, it would also be a more sensible lifestyle
than what we have now. I am truly sorry for what I have done Kakuni, you have
been my best friend and sometimes you were my father, the one person I loved.
Kakuni was at the point of hysteria; his adopted daughter had just
committed seppuku for the honor of the Narukagami clan and so that her
friends and family wouldn't have to die fighting for her. He began to curse
his ancestors for committing that crime on the Shinto clan so many
generations ago.
***FLASHBACK***
"Oh, Goadi, I have some news for you. The war is just now beginning to
affect Japan. America is becoming more and more aggressive, I think we should
go into hiding, just until the war is over, for the safety of our people if
nothing else."
"You know we can't abandon our natural habitat just because the
governments can't get along. We are far from any conflict that may happen on
our homeland and you know that, Soun."
"Goadi, the world is fighting. The weapons that they have now could
decimate us before we knew that we were being attacked. We may be far from
any real combat, but if the Americans do get to the mainland, we could all be
killed. The needs of the many out way the needs of the few, I have asked the
people for their opinions, and most say we should leave!"
"Who have you asked, the children? Of course they would want to leave!
This is the first major event in their lives, and they have yet to develop a
real connection to our natural soil. You said most, who didn't want to leave?"
"That impetuous Isohachi and his adopted son Gengoro, but you are just
being an idealist, sure the armies may never get here, and the bombs wont
drop anywhere near here, but that's just what I said, idealism! There is a
very good chance that they will!"
"My friend, you and I both take the lives of the clan and their safety
above anything else, even our own wants and lives could stand above those
goals. As for my idealism, you have no ideology to start with. How can you
even hope to have a stable life in these mountains when you want to run at
the first sign of danger, albeit very small."
"That is a harsh assessment, Goadi, you know as well as I do that the
threat of our continued survival is much more than 'slight'."
"Oh come now, you'll jinx it. We can stay in this small valley for as
long as we want, we grow our own food and we can get our water from that
flume that runs off from that natural spring near the top of the mountain, we
have no need for anything external of our little community."
"That may be right, but the armies sometimes travel on foot to get to the
larger ship transports. They may stumble on our little village. I forsee an
end to our peaceful life here in the mountains."
"Tendo, I know that there is a war going on, but we are a simple village,
what would the armies want with us? And don't you give me that frosty
shoulder bit!"
"The few people we have sent abroad to study the outside world did get
some interesting jobs at the military bases near here, I have been told that
they have been experimenting with francium, just being close to that stuff
can kill a person Goadi! Why would you want to mess with that?"
"Tendo, I know the times have been rough with us, but we can get through
this, surly the ways of bushido and our kind of fighting cannot loose to
those unmanly fools, thinking that they are actually fighting with those
horrid weapons they call guns."
The lone howl of a wolf is all that is heard for a long time.
"I'm afraid that they do think they are fighting. Those guns, which we
both loathe so much, take much less time to train men in than the ways of the
sword. They can kill you before you have time to blink. I cannot let any of
those 'weapons' into our village, so I will leave with those who are willing
to go with me. We will become two clans. I am truly sorry my oldest friend."
As the words were sinking in Goadi yelled "NO! I will not allow the
separation of the clan, all that we have left in this crazy time is each
other!"
Tendo withdrew his tanto and hid it in the folds of his kimono.
As he slowly walked over to Goadi he said, "My oldest friend, you were truly
the best man one could want at their side, stubborn, strong, and loyal, all
of these features kept us together for those long years lost within the
depths of our souls, after our families were killed by the master when he
went insane. This act pains me, and will do so for the rest of my years, but
for the safety of the clan I must do it."
His voice was eerily calm and he wore a mask of indifference and
carefully hidden pain. He stabbed Goadi in his kidney and watched as he
jounced on the floor once.
"May the bittersweet kiss of death take you quickly to the next world and
far away from this tragic site, my last true friend."
***END FLASHBACK***
"I know Tendo was only trying to save the clan from any danger the war
might have caused, but the inevitable split came when what happened came into
the light. Most of the children and some of the more elderly came with
Tendo's side; they were either afraid or wanted to move before the split.
Goadi's side consisted of the large fighting force of the Adun Clan. They
moved to a further location, in a direction away from us. I don't blame them,
if someone had killed the man that represented the passionate spirit of my
clan, I would be considerably angry! I assume that we were lucky to escape
with our lives."
"I suppose that I shall be an ambassador to the Shinto clan to give them
the news, the fighting shall finally be over."
Kakuni made a mental note that his eyes were moist. He mastered his
emotions and began the long trek up the mountain trail to the no longer
opposing force of the Narukagami clan.
"HAA! HAA, HAA HAA HAA!!!" The sound of the training students could be
heard outside the training dojo clearly.
"I suppose I should get in there to tell them about the training trip we
planned taking them on," Gengoro said.
"That might be a good idea, but don't let them get too excited. They have
a peculiar way of taking news, good or bad," said Isohachi.
"It is tomorrow you know, and I know you do." *Sigh* "but I do suppose
that the trip will make them look around at the world with a larger
perspective." Gengoro looked at the sky and then to Isohachi. "Isohachi, we
have been hiding in this little village since the split, and before that, we
were hiding since the begging of the meji era, when this nation was young.
Maybe it is time to go back to the rest of the world; it is bound to have
changed since to the last time we checked
"MASTERS, THERE IS A NARUKAGAMI CLAN MEMBER STANDING, UNARMED, AT THE
MAIN GATE!"
The two remaining masters in the Shinto clan looked at each other, then a
split second later, were off in the direction of the front gate.
"Hello Gengoro, Isohachi. I bring news of unabated importance." Kakuni
let the fact that he wasn't here to kill anyone sink in, then continued. "I
bring the news of the death of the remaining descendent of Soun Tendo. We are
no longer at war, there is nothing left to fight for. The Narukagami Clan has
lost; I am offering peace, and the sacred blade that killed Goadi. Kakuni
handed the blade to Isohachi and started back up the trail to his village.
"And one more thing, this lifestyle shall end." His last sentence was
laconic, as to leave no room for confusion.
The two watched him go in shock. Isohachi was the first to recover.
"Is this really the blade?" He looked down into his hands at the highly
polished surface, not a bit of rust on it. He also noticed that the surface
was green, for some reason, tarnished with the sorrow it had caused.
"It is. Do you realize what this means!? We can finally be at peace, or
we could go back to the world around us. The last person we sent to study
hasn't come back yet. Gone for over three years