The Warring World Within

Subject: The Warring World Within Sun Jun 14, 2009 6:26 am

As a ball of white energy releases from her hand, I stand prepared to defend. My breaths speed up as it moves towards me in slow motion. Unable to move or anything, I just stand in front of the attack and watch seemingly petrified and trying to regain control.
It was moving too fast for me to evade it, then something snaps inside of me. A surge of energy flows through my body and I palm strike the ball. My "defensive" measure burns my hand and I grimace visually, but contain all sounds. She rushes to me in amazement and concern. I tell her that I'm fine and she focuses on healing my hand anyway.

Less concerned with a petty burn, I was more concerned with learning the martial art that she used to block most of my attacks. She tells me that my problem isn't so much my fighting style though it could definitely use polishing and honing, but it's the fact that I don't really understand what it means to be a warrior. She tells me that the Shikaze are some of the most disciplined warriors because they spend the majority of their focus deepening their understanding of the Ways of War and the Warrior. Though argued, it's typically a given that they have the most brilliant tacticians in the realm. I listen to her growing more and more fascinated with them and ask her how she knows so much and she giggles and tells me that both of her father's strategists were from the Shikaze. I nod and she tells me that we should go seek out the Shikaze and spend some time learning from them. The idea seemed very good to me if they are even remotely as skilled as she says so I agree and tell her that whenever she wanted to go that I'd escort her there. She giggles and nods telling me that it would be a deal.

We keep walking until we get back to the courtyard leading into the inner palace. I walked her to her quarters and notice that the information stations, some older warriors who easedropped on everyone and knew almost everything, were buzzing as she approached her door. I ignore it and head over to my chambers, and I saw their attention diverted between the two of us. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I knew for a fact that I was most likely in "trouble" with the Dark Maiden AGAIN and it would be a result of the fight that occured earlier. As I walk into the house, I see the young lord that I fought and his retainers then the Maiden appears with my "Guardian" and his facial expression explains all that I need to know. I walk closer and the verbal lashing from my Guardian begins. I had learned to tune out a good majority of it quite a while ago and that's exactly what I do. The only problem is that he asks me a question and I don't catch it. This only makes him more angry and he begins to chastise me for acting like a dark one. The final straw comes when I am told to apologize for my actions and I look at him as if he is completely out of his damn mind. Has he forgotten that in this land, I am still Sovereign Prince? My answer is very opposing to what they expected.

"I'm not apologizing for shutting you up and embarrassing you in front of all your pampered and worthless so-called friends who turned around and laughed at you. You run your mouth every time I have to go into that district on an errand, but today it got shut. Insult me again and I'll show you true pain. I apologize to your retainers for having to serve a cowardly weakling that got beat up by someone who is younger than he is. You are so pathetic that is no longer amusing. Don't ever forget your place here, servant! I am Sovereign in case you all are unaware and I will do as I deem necessary."
The Guardian looks at me and his retainers stare at me in an outrage. I look at them and shrug. They tell their lord to get up as they are leaving when they demand reparation for my behavior and the Guardian proves that while even he may not approve of my actions, his loyalty still lies with his Prince and ensuring that respect is shown to me. He refuses to cave their "outrage" since their son started the fight. They leave and my verbal lashing resumes. He finally upsets me when he insults our darker allies again by negatively comparing me to one. I fire back in anger.

"And my consort?! I dare you to insult my consort in such a manner! Such a fake front that you put forth for these people. Who are they to judge me? He insulted me and that's how I chose to deal with it. I don't care what you think about my actions as I rule this land! The Maiden aids me in my endeavors so do not forget that you can be replaced. I allow you the liberty to speak your mind freely, but do not overstep your place either!"
I storm off for my room and slam the door shut. I wanted to just get away and return to Shadow Falls territory and more specifically to my consort, but I couldn't because the borders were being watched more and more. I pack up a bag, not caring if anyone else would approve or not and once I have it packed, I turn around feeling another presence close and see my friend, Laili. I am very surprised to see her in my room and I ask her what's wrong. She tells me that my advisors had betrothed her to marry and that she doesn't want to marry and be stuck in her house all the time like her mother. She craves to live the life of a warrior and fight to protect the realm like the noble men are allowed to. I tell her that she is a very unique angel and she asks if I still wanna go to the territory of the Shikaze. I think about it and tell her that I'll go anywhere to get away from my Guardian right now. I never thought we'd stay away for as long as we were going to though.

The flight to the Land of the Shikaze is confusing as we fly as fast in as chaotic of "patterns" as we can to make sure that we aren't caught. Knowing that we can't pass thru the main cities for worry of being recognized, we stay on the outskirts. It's most interesting to me that we are very young in both age and appearance yet no one that encounters us around these parts treats us like it. We are allowed to work and help out running errands and such, so we are able to remain as comfortable as possible without revealing who we really are. We are happy and train daily. Every morning, we meditate in the village square with the others to sharpen the focus of our souls. We go to the Academy there like the other young candidates where we study war, economics, etiquette, and psychology. In our district, only the adults learned psychology, but here you start learning complex things at a young age. I never knew how much fun it was to understand the mind. Our instructor tells us:

"The first step to being a warrior skilled in tactics is to understand the mind. We must understand our own minds before we can understand another's mind. A tactician must know themselves first, those close to them second, and then those opposing them. Your mind must always ripple outward. If you think in this way, you can easily outmaneuver your adversary. Think of it like this. If you need to move somewhere, but you have enemies around and a single ally. First, you must decide what you want to do. Second, you anticipate or coordinate what your ally will do. Once you have figured out those two things, you must move your adversary in the most advantageous. It is the same thing for battle. The second step is to maintain discipline. A hot-tempered warrior is far less effective than a warrior who is able to remain calm and methodically calculate their decision. His enemies will use his temper to be their sharpest weapon against him. You must be able to separate your battle mind from your everyday mind. The dark ones will taunt you without end in an attempt to break your focus and draw you out of your strategy and into theirs, so the key is to maintain your discipline in order to outmaneuver and crush them. Save your taunts for after the battle has been finished with your side as the victors. Remember that discipline is also very important in matters of diplomacy, both with outside clans as well as your own allies. The strategists of all of the main clans do not learn as you do, so all of them will not possess the tactical skills that you will. You will encounter a good number of overly aggressive and overzealous commanders when you graduate from here and receive assignments to the different units. Knowing the minds of those involved will give you control, but it is discipline that will allow you to maintain that control even in the face of ignorance or down right stupidity."

His lecture continues and his every word burns into my memory and loops in my thoughts. His teachings on the psychology of a warrior fascinate me more than any other class I have. Every day, I stay after class to discuss things with him. Laili hates etiquette class because female etiquette is far more strenuous than male etiquette, but she loves our war classes as they focus on learning different weapons. We are rather nonchalant about our economics classes. Money doesn't mean that much even with us basically having renounced our "privileged" status. I know how to make money in business and I am able to utilize that knowledge to keep us living comfortably. We continue thru school and our psychology instructor continues to be my guiding mentor.

After 6 "mental years", we were almost done with our Academy studies and the scouts were headed to our village. We had been on our own for the past years and we survived well and took care of one another. Whenever we needed anything we've managed to handle it without our families since we left. Being so close to graduating amongst the top of our class, it enraged me that we had to leave the village, but it's what we had to do. Since he was so close to me and helped us out so much by teaching us the way of the warrior and always pushing us to improve our minds, I told him that we had to drop out and leave the village. I couldn't lie to him, and he asked why we were leaving. Laili tells him that we can't be found here. He instantly nods and replies telling us that the scouts coming are looking for us. We nod and he tells us that he knows where we should go. He tells us that he knows a brilliant tactician whose questionable methods got him discharged and restricted from re-entering military service. I look at him and he chuckles. He tells me that I'll like him alot though he's going to break and destroy both of us in order to rebuild us much stronger than when we begin with him. I like the idea of growing much stronger and we thank him before we take off for the location he directs us to.

Always on the run, I honestly hate having to pack up what we can from a nice house with plenty of nice things and memories that we made there together. This reminds me of one of the instructor's lectures on how a warrior must deal with losing what he cherishes as well as dealing with taking away something that an adversary or their loved one cherish.

:sango:

Subject: Re: The Warring World Within Sun Jun 14, 2009 6:29 am

Things start to click for me here as well. As I look off at the river from atop this waterfall, the wind catches the majority of my attention. It is a soothing breeze with the strength to carry the water to splash about. My body moves back and forth with it. All of it makes sense now. I finally begin to understand what the task of the Strategist truly is. As if the wind were listening, I speak to it spewing forth my newfound revelation, "I have to be able to calm my unit. But to do that, I must be calm. When the battle changes, so must my plans and thoughts. When the enemy is weakened, I must push my unit to strike swiftly and precisely. When the battle is dragging, I must divide the strength of my adversary in a way to benefit each of the other elements that my unit contains."

The breeze picks up a little faster and stronger as if it is impressed and beckoning me to continue, "Once the enemy is divided, they can strike as they need to. The Strategist is the Mind of the entire battlefield and so that is exactly what I must become. I must free myself of all weights that hinder my sight. Only then..." My thought drops off as one of the things he said stir up in my head again. Finally with the frustration of not knowing the answer, the question finally escapes from my lips, "What does the storm mean? The demons? No. My Wrath? Hmm… perhaps that is what he meant." Words are spoken, "I was hoping that you would understand. Tsk. But with that look... you have questions. You ask one then I'll ask one. I'll adjust the rules of this exercise as we go." I turn around at the sound of his voice. "How did you get your voice to keep echoing in my mind to lead me here?"

"That is a trick that I learned from an old Onihume actually. He could do incredible things with his mind. You think a Succubus has skills, if they were demons, I would swear that they were his offspring. The trick is to focus on their mind and make them invite you into their mind without even knowing they did it. The stronger they are, the harder it is. I brought you here for a reason though. How will you explain being trained by a madman?"

"You aren't a madman. Our instructor referenced your tactics often when he taught me in private. He held such a deep respect for you and I'm beginning to understand why. After meeting you, I'm sure of it and I'm also sure that he was your apprentice once. You learned from your adversaries so that you could better defeat them. That is genius, not insanity and the conventional Strategists, if they could be called that, lost the most battles. It was the unconventional tacticians that obtained impeccable battle achievements. I don't care if I have to hire possessed or even loyal demon mercenaries to help protect my family’s lands and obtain peace. That is what I will gladly do. I have no qualms with sacrificing my soul in order to protect all of the innocents who will be consumed if I do nothing. This feeling that I feel right now looking out at the sea, I want everyone to feel this feeling.”

I pause for a second to take in this moment for a while longer and the hermit smiles as he looks out at the water and feels the breeze. I continue, "Hearing the passion of the waterfall yet being comforted and blessed by the winds. How do I keep myself from being a disaster when I desire to be a storm?"

"I'm glad you understand that at least. You must learn to organize and prioritize your emotions for each situation. For instance, if I was to take Laili hostage in front of you, you would not be able to let yourself get angry because I might use that to gain a needed advantage over you. With that I could kill you and then I would kill her as well. Also, if you are handling a more docile diplomatic matter of importance where an ally unit that one of your friends is assigned to, and your superiors feel that your unit can be better suited in another location. You need to know how to handle that. You can't let your personal feelings cloud your argument. You must assure them that your judgment and thoughts on this matter have received a great deal of thought and planning and that you have weighed outside needs as well as yours and that unit's. You assure them that you will be most effective aiding your friend’s unit and doing so would be of the greatest good for your forces. That is what a storm would do. A disaster is what you will be if you cannot control your emotions and are led by them. There is a distinct difference between passion and emotion. You need passion in battle, but you do not need emotion, merely conviction to fuel that passion. You must see your objective and only your objective as a Strategist. Next question, how will you explain your darker side?"

Eagerly awaiting my chance to answer as I had figured out a more than suitable answer I reply with confidence to the posed question, "I have been trained by one who spent time as an agent of the Elders. During his time with the enemy, he learned a lot of their tricks and he taught this one to me so that I may use the ability of the enemy as a weapon against them. I will attribute all other demonic tendencies to my time with him as well."

Before I could ask my next question, the hermit strikes me in the chest with a move that seemed so soft, but actually hurts. I look at him and he attacks again. I block the attack, but my defense leaves me open to get hit by the four strikes following it. After striking me several more times and watching his body move like the wind, he pauses. "I thought you had a question for me? Under me you will learn martial arts and the ability to plan while fighting, because this is one of the most important talents a Strategist must be able to possess. Always remember that you must manipulate your opponent, not the other way around."

He starts showing me the basic movements and nods as I progress through them quickly under his correction and guidance. Finally, beginning to get the movements to flow together slightly, I get to ask a more personal question. "What do I do if they do not accept me? If my family and the Elders are too upset about the fact that I left, how can I help to bring peace to the land?"

"No cheating now, Psyre. That was two questions. If the Elders reject you, then you will have to become a mercenary to accomplish your objectives. There are numerous independent factions in the lands who do not yield to the Elders' ideals and they have their own private forces and it is very possible that they will allow you into their fold. Just because you made the choice as a boy to go rogue, does not force you to accept the first offer that will be presented to you because it is hard to leave a mercenary group. When you finally leave here, you will possess all the skills you need to be an extremely proficient Strategist. Last question for this exercise then, explain to me what you think of when I ask, what are the 3 main components of a unit's being?"
While still receiving attacks, I try to counter with an attack of my own. This turns out to be very hard since my entire body hurts right now. It confuses me as well because none of his movements were sharp or forceful, but when he strikes, it sends a shooting pain throughout my being. Finding a moment as he waits to strike again, I reply.

"The troops are the body, the Commander must be the soul, and the Strategist is the mind. The mind must formulate the way that the body will move and continue to guide it, but it is the soul that controls the body and the mind. All components are intertwined and dependent upon one another."
After countering one of my attacks and putting me on my back after I finish speaking, the hermit looks down at me and nods. "Good answer. Let's head back to the house." I nod in agreement and while we're walking, I ask him what that fighting style is called. The hermit tells me that it currently has no name as it is a mixture of different styles combined together. He goes on to tell me that it is not so much a fighting style as it is a way of living and feeling. He tells me that the object of his style is not to fight, but to stop your opponent from fighting. Listening to him, I am informed that the purpose of the style is to bring harmony to your being. What we eat, how we exercise and train and most of the way we live, all of it is governed by the principles of combat. Before you can shift the balance of a battle, you must have balance within yourself.

In this hermit, who I simply refer to as Master, I have found a marvelous mentor and teacher. Everything that I want to know, he seems to already know. Beyond that I constantly discover that there is so much more that he is willing to teach me. Now it is up to me to learn all that he would offer, but I wonder about Laili's position in all of this.

:sango:

Subject: Re: The Warring World Within Sun Jun 14, 2009 6:33 am

Three days later, a young messenger boy from a female mercenary contractor named Topaz walks into the herbalist shop that I like to spend a lot of my time looking for the apothecary, who doubles as a handler when I am requested. The apothecary speaks with the boy who hands her a small purse and a letter before he walks out. Laki reads the letter and it is a request for my skills. It tells of a secret meeting between two nobles in which one of them plans to have an ambush waiting for his unsuspecting "ally". The employer wants me to protect the unsuspecting noble who is walking into a trap. It specifically instructs me not to kill the other noble, just to protect the ally and get him to safety. Laki waits for a while until I return from his studying. She hands me the scroll so I can read over it. Once I finish with it, I nod and give it back to Laki. I tell Laki to keep this one and every scroll to come hidden somewhere safe where no one could find it but her. Should the employers ever turn on me or the Shikaze, I would use their enemies and allies to destroy them by revealing their treacherous ways while keeping secret the treacherous ways of those helping us until they too turn on us. This is a dirty game, but I have not amassed enough power yet to be able to make my return to the Capital, so I must continue to play. Besides, what I experience now in this capacity will prepare me for dealing with larger enemies that are to come. Laki nods with a grin and goes to put the scroll away. When she returns, I am already gone.

I move through the night as it is the best time to travel undetected to where the meeting is supposed to take place. The next part is when I am simply called to wait until the meeting. With nothing else to do, I kneel down and focus my thoughts. Seeing the ambush developing, I watch with amusement. Next, the treacherous noble arrives with his bodyguards so I make note of his face as I figure I’ll surely be asked to kill him later for quite a payment. And here comes the ally noble approaching with his mounted escort of three bodyguards. Yeah, they would definitely be killed quickly. I suppose it’s time to get to work.

I slip out of my perch and down onto a ledge behind two archers. I never understood why some warriors don’t keep a better watch over their weapons as I simply lift the short sword gently out of its sheath and drive it into the spine of the first archer. Back at the Shikaze academy, we learned all about the body and which nerves, vertebrae disks, and muscles control what, so I served a critical point on the nervous super highway that would not allow him to move as his body shut down. Not one to try the same trick twice so close together, I create a small fire in the throat of the second archer making sure he couldn't call for help or scream out in pain. Quickly leaving their perch, I head down towards the meeting.

I slowly move through the shadows using my improving movement abilities to kill a few more would-be assassins before they start talking. The two nobles discuss an economic contract where they would increase trade between their villages while keeping the Kawasaki Clan in the dark. The increase in funds would allow both of them to grow and help strengthen the overall economy and security of their sectors. Now I don't know much about the politics of this territory, but it is quickly sounding like my current employer is trying to get these two to wipe each other out, so he can take over more land. Sounds like a powerful ally to have. Either way, benevolence or scheming, I care little as it is an opportunity to continue to sharpen my skills and gain valuable experience. One of the ambush warriors kicks a rock and it rolls making noise and both of the nobles hear it and look at each other. The archers surrounding the meeting fire at both nobles, which confirms my thought about a third party sending me here. This could all just be a skillful ploy by one of the meeting nobles to cover their tracks when their "partner" finally dies. Nevertheless, I use the Godspeed power to propel my body to a speed fast enough to rush in and intercept an attacking assassin thus saving the ally noble. The noble stops and looks at me, “A shinobi?! What is your purpose?” Realizing that we really don’t have time for any of the chit-chat right now, I respond with a very short response, “Your protection. Quickly!" I cut a path to the noble's horse-like animal and his remaining bodyguard puts him on his "horse" before getting shot by an arrow that just barely misses the noble. I look at the noble and tell him to go quickly. Slapping the horse on the rear and it takes off away from the ambush as the noble’s wounded bodyguard follows quickly. I look at the other noble and disappear into the shadows using the Haku ability. The remaining noble orders his bodyguards to capture one of the men and find out who is behind this ambush. The second noble leaves as well and the bodyguards watch him go then one of them signals for the ambush to cease. The other three look at him and he smiles.

Bodyguard: “Lord Kreyan will claim ruling supremacy over the Garden City as soon as he gets the support of a certain powerful clan. This meeting between the young “fallen knight”, Lord Dosaka, and the kind-hearted yet aging Lord Neppa was to eliminate Dosaka and place the blame on Neppa Tamaguchi. Thus the Dosaka Family would retaliate in a most furious fashion and destroy the Neppa. Lord Kreyan would then eliminate the weakened Dosaka forces and gain the fealty of their vassals and their land. With the vast army that he would have no one else in the region would possess the necessary power to challenge him. Join him or die. You deserve a Lord worthy of your skills. Dosaka is too young to truly understand politics and such.”

They refuse and go to attack him, but are shot in the back by arrows. I dash from the shadows and when I actually appear in view, the traitor's stomach is gashed open with his armor severed and a wound struck deep into his flesh. So deep in fact that as I look back, I watch the traitor's internal organs fall out of his body. One of the bodyguards is still breathing so I grab him and using Haku, I move us out of view and into the shadows. I can’t heal other people, so I am forced to use first aid. I burn off a section of the bodyguard's shirt to make a bandage before retrieving a healing concoction that I apply to his wound before applying the bandage. Making sure that he is alright, I check him over and leave.

I return to the herbalist shop about an hour or so before dawn and look at Laki with a nod. I go take a bath then leave to go study and train. Later on that night, I return to the shop and Laki tells me what my half of the payment is and that she will just keep it and pay me a simple stipend each week to protect for the hard times. I nod to her as I never gave a damn about the money. If I cared about money, I never would’ve left the Capital lands or my true birthright. Laki stops me before I disappear again. Laki tells me that I need more armor and items than what she currently has to offer me. She goes on to tell me that she has a contact that could get me some items that I need and for a pretty decent price.

Lord Dosaka's bodyguard returns the next day and reports all that he heard to his Lord. Tehiro, the young teenage leader of the Dosaka Clan hears of this treachery by Lord Kreyan and becomes incensed. He tells his advisors to ready his warriors for battle. One of his advisors stops the others and inquires the young Lord about the assassin that saved him. Lord Dosaka stops and asks the bodyguard about him. He tells him that the assassin is the one who saved him and told him to inform his Lord of what he heard. Dosaka paces back and forth thinking of his next move with an angry, yet calming head. He wasn't sure how to find the shadow warrior from the night before, but he knew that he wanted to hire him to eliminate Lord Kreyan and possibly hire him for his own personal service. His advisor tells him that he knows a courtesan that used to peddle an assassin's skills. He tells Lord Dosaka that her assassin was a high-class mercenary who has close ties with several shinobi as we hope to and I highly doubt that he is the same one, but the courtesan might know who this new figure is or at least how to reach him. Dosaka agrees to his advisor's plan and tells him to be quick about things. He wanted to strike back at Kreyan before he had time to figure out that his treachery had failed. His advisors meet together before the chief leaves.
One of the advisors speaks out, “Hire this new warrior for two jobs. The first being to eliminate Lord Neppa, then have him eliminate Lord Kreyan. Lord Dosaka will believe that Kreyan hired him to kill Neppa and with Neppa having no sons, his daughters would not ascend to the head since their territory follows the old ways, which means that the new head of their territory would be Lord Dosaka's cousin, Lunis Saeko, who is married to Neppa's third daughter. The first daughter is about to die and the second is unmarried. That will give the Dosaka Clan a much stronger influence in the province. The young Lord mustn't learn of our plans, as his ignorance will undoubtedly protect him and the Clan.”

The chief advisor dispatches his messenger with a scroll. The messenger goes to the theater district and more specifically to the Snowy Swan to find the courtesan, Amiya. Looking around and speaking to other workers there before getting pointed in the right direction. Once he finds her, he speaks with her about the matter and she tells him that she might know who he is requesting, but that without food and drink, she cannot be for sure. He gives her 100 gold coins and she tells him that she will take care of it from this point. He tells her that it would be best if he delivered the scrolls and she tells him that no one meets the shinobi's contact and that the contact doesn't inquire about the employer. Amiya remarks, “It’s the best policy for business we have found.” The messenger nods and leaves the scrolls and the payment purse with Amiya. He asks her to inform the shinobi that he will bring the second purse should the shinobi agree to the task. She nods and the Dosaka messenger leaves. She sends for her messenger and when he arrives, he nods to her and takes the scroll and the purse.

The messenger walks into the herbalist shop while Laki is organizing and smiles to him welcoming business.

Laki: “Back so soon? My! He must be a hit with the ever warring nobility.”

Messenger: “It seems like last night's mission gained the attention of a certain noble. Here you are though.”

The messenger hands the items over to Laki and leaves just like before. Laki reads over the scroll and looks in the purse. The standard gold amount is inside and she tallies it up with a seventy-five percent cut for me and 25% for her. That night when I approach, I hear a flute being played in a serene yet somber melody. It fits the mood of this night though. I slip in and sit on one of the wooden support beams listening to her play. She puts so much passion into her playing that I don't want to interrupt her even if I did see the sign for a new mission. She stops to find me knelt in front of her. She jolts then calms herself and looks at him. Laki walks in hearing her initial shriek and knows exactly who it is. She excuses the musician to speak in private with me.

Laki: “There is another mission for you, Psyre. The employer wants you to kill Lord Neppa and place this note at his bedside. A few days later, they want you to kill Lord Kreyan and steal proof of his treachery. If you agree to kill Lord Kreyan they will pay you a bonus fee and I get a nice necklace to peddle. First things first though will be the Neppa mission. Considering who was involved last night, I have a feeling that Lord Dosaka will probably be your next target.”

“I believe Lord Dosaka or someone close to him is the employer for these two missions. Lord Neppa and Lord Dosaka were to go to war after last night, but the conspirer made the mistake of having loose-lipped men in his employ and now Lord Dosaka knows about the treachery. By now, Lord Dosaka should be in the process of informing the Neppa Clan of Kreyan's attempt and when I kill Neppa, it will solidify a union between Lord Neppa's heir and Lord Dosaka, then I will remove Lord Kreyan thus appearing that Neppa's heir struck back at Lord Kreyan as this letter is undoubtedly written in the hand of Lord Kreyan. A strategist must know his Lord's ways in order to safeguard and serve his commander.”

:sango:

Subject: Re: The Warring World Within Sun Jun 14, 2009 6:35 am

Laki confirms, “The task is completed?” I nod to her. She continues, “Good then. The second task, do you wish to undertake it?” Again, my head lowers and rises in a nod. Slightly concerned, Laki questions, “Do you not worry about the nobles finding us?”

Seeing where this is going, I stop eating to speak, “Finding me, no. Should they ever find you, run with the girl to the western sector of the city and play the tune you played when I took this mission. Never play that tune unless you are in danger. If you try to use it to find where I sleep, I will kill you without regret or mercy.”

Laki responds understandingly, “Good to know. I will inform Amiya of your acceptance tomorrow. I'm going to bed. Good night.”
Nodding to her, I remain where I am and continue eating while she retires. One down… one more noble to go. Good thing, I never cared for Lord Kreyan anyway. I have no qualms about killing him now that I’m being paid to do it.

Laki wakes up the next morning and goes to the Snowy Swan to see Amiya. They speak in private and Amiya tells her that she would be able to make a lot more money if she worked out of the House or if she let the pretty little musician of hers work at the courtesan house. Laki tells her that she could not give herself to a man she did not love and that she doesn't like the House's terms for business as they want too much for doing nothing. Amiya tells her that she believes that her little flutist is falling for her shinobi and that she will not be taken by the assassin as I would have to reveal my soul to her to take her the way Amiya believes she wishes me to. Laki smirks at the thought of a person completely shrouded in secrets and shadows being able to bare their soul in the first place and Amiya giggles.

Amiya tells Laki that she will contact the employer regarding a progress report and that a minor clan leader is looking to hire Laki's shinobi for a mission. He wants someone kidnapped and someone else assassinated. Laki nods seeing no problem with the missions herself, but tells her that she will need a scroll with the usual details and information so she can pass it along to her shinobi. Amiya nods in an "of course" sort of manner. Amiya's messenger knocks on the door and tells her that the Madam needs her to perform on stage. Laki bows to the youthful woman who has been a close personal friend for many years especially because of the business that her business has brought and walks out.

The musician is waiting for her outside and to the musician’s surprise and disposition, she runs into her father inside the courtesan house and he is furious at her thinking that she works at the house as a courtesan while he is gone. Laki ushers them outside since they were making too much noise. The musician girl tries to explain, but her father backhands her. Laki steps forth and draws her dagger at the girl's father. She kicks him in the chest and goes to slash at him when the girl stops Laki from attacking her father. Her father looks at her with eyes of disgust and calls her a whore. He tells her that she can stay at her whorehouse with her pimp. Laki scowls at him as she hates a fool nearly as much as he hates a woman-beater and currently in her eyes, she sees the Musician's father as both. As she escorts Hinako, the musician, back to her house to collect her things, Laki gives heavy thought to asking me to eliminate him permanently but knows that it would hurt the girl as well as bore me most likely. She packs up the mission scrolls and all of the items that she had bought. Lowering her head in sadness, she walks past her father and heads towards Laki's house which is right next to her shop.

Laki is carrying the majority of her stuff and she takes it to her place. Hinako moves into the extra room in the house. While Laki helps her get situated, Hinako thanks her for defending her back at the theater and she tells her that she loves her dearly in a maternal sort of way and anyone that she loves, she will do everything in her power to protect them.

I come to the house that night and see a young man with the dagger. I see Hinako lying down and Laki gone, so obviously I assume that the young man was planning an ambush for Laki and holding her hostage as insurance. I sneak up behind him and seize him in a telekinetic chokehold. Right before I go to snap his neck, Hinako stops me. I look at her as if she has lost her mind and she tells me that the young man is a friend of Laki's and supposed to be her new Guardian. Seeing no reason not to believe the girl, I release him and nod to Hinako. She bows and tells me what happened earlier with her father. I nods and ask if she wants the problem eliminated, as he has earned Laki's disdain for women beaters considering them cowards of a manner most unworthy of life. Hinako looks at the bodyguard and me still looking at each other with distrust and disdain.

Hinako pauses for a moment before finally growing tired of this staredown and speaks to both of us, "Both of you relax, you are on the same side. He is my new bodyguard sent from Amiya, Psyre, and you work for Mistress Laki so both of you can relax as there is no point in the two of you disliking each other."

Personally, I’ll be the judge of that statement. The bodyguard and I nod slowly to each other never taking our eyes off of one another. Katosh, the bodyguard’s name I would discover, speaks, “There is a tunnel system under the house that branches off eight ways throughout the city and one can take you so far as a bordering town to the West Kingdom. My Lady's former assassin used them to move throughout the city and to escape pursuit and capture. He also used them to get to and from the house without being seen. Come, I will show you.”

We walk downstairs to the shrine room and Katosh reaches under the shrine table and pushes a button. A portion of the floor drops and slides back. Katosh jumps down and so I follow him. We both help Hinako down into the passage before the floor closes back. Once the floor panel slides itself back into place, two torch lamps light up. Katosh shows us the switch to get back in and the lights go out as the floor opens back up. Next, he shows us around the main tunnel and shows me how to get out to the branching tunnels and the trap triggers to safeguard the entrance to the main tunnel should someone be chasing me through the tunnels. Hinako notices that the tunnels are lined with lit torches. Katosh tells her that the first trigger turns out all of the lamps, so that by the time I make it back to the main tunnel, all of my pursuers should be very dead. He looks at me carefully and tells Hinako that I shouldn't have that problem anyway though. I tell Katosh to take Hinako back to the house as I want to familiarize myself with the tunnels in total darkness. This would test my ability of sight and movement as I proceed through the tunnels for hours finding landmarks and such in the darkness and figuring ways to set up unsuspecting pursuers should I ever be betrayed or hunted by assassins and/or ninja from rival factions and clans. I will undoubtedly continue to grow in skill and ability and as I grow, the caliber of my threats would greatly increase as well. This is one truth that I know all too well. Once I feel very comfortable in the tunnels, I return to the shrine room. I remain in the shrine room and make an altar to the Goddess to ask for her blessing and giving thanks to her for my continuous strengthening.

A couple of days later, Hinako returns to the shrine room with Katosh and finds me meditating. Hinako asks to make the shrine room her bedroom and to use her room as my shrine and weapons room. For some reason, Laki had actually consented to this so they start moving things. Through the entire process, I don’t even both to come out of my meditation. Katosh looks at the shrine and bows to it before he leaves out. Hinako gets settled into her second new room of the week when I open my eyes. I get ready to leave and Hinako tells me that I don't have to go anymore. Looking at her with a stoic discipline, I tell her that the distance I keep between us keeps her safe. She retorts telling me that my being close to her keeps her safe. I cut off one of the lights to cast a shadow over half of the room and slip into the shadows to seem as if I have vanished into the night. That is what I should have done, but instead I remain to watch over the room while Hinako sleeps. Speaking softly, I allow her to remain aware of my presence to give her serenity as she sleeps with three words of comfort, “As you wish.”

:sango:

Subject: Re: The Warring World Within Sun Jun 14, 2009 6:36 am

The next morning, Katosh taps on the door to the apartment and tells Laki that Amiya wishes to speak with her. Laki acknowledges and after getting cleaned up, she walks over to the Snowy Swan to see Amiya. Amiya tells her that the Madam has agreed to allow Hinako to work at the House as a dancer and musician. She will play the flute, lyre, and harp as well as sing and dance. No man will be allowed to touch her without suffering. Amiya tells Laki that it would help to be able to conceal how she gets all of her money when trade slows up. Amiya tells her that he could also sell more diverse types of medicine as that is always a steady income giving profession and that Katosh would help her. Laki nods liking the idea and tells her that she will consider allowing both.

"She wants to make enough money to be independent, so they all can leave the Garden City and move to a city where the streets aren’t prone to bloodshed and the people live in a more harmonious environment and have a better life. Amiya smiles and tells her that she has beautiful dreams and Laki agrees. Amiya hands Laki a scroll and tells her that it's a sort of personal favor that she needs. Laki looks at her with an intrigued interest and reads it and asks if the target had wronged her and Amiya shakes her head. Amiya tells her that he raped one of the new girls and she doesn't have the money to hire someone good enough to kill him and that if he leaves the Garden City alive, the girl will commit suicide as she can't stand to live knowing that he's free and alive and no one wants her to do that as she is a very sweet girl who has been wronged. Laki listens and finally there was a target that she truly despised and tells her that she will have the shinobi handle it as soon as possible.

Laki returns to the house and Hinako is in the tunnel while Katosh and I are in the tunnel training. I am helping to teach him to fight without being able to see. Laki watches as I look at Katosh teaching him how to tap into his dark nature to perform some powerful attacks that will halt a formidable attack. Katosh stands back and watches. There is a small collection of quickly constructed dummies and I look at the first and envision that it is my new target. I get a good visual in my mind and focus. My mind locks in on the target and the shadows. This now comes easily to me and with a quick lifting hand gesture that is more for show than any actual practical use, they watch as an orb forms in front of the dummy and the Cyclone Cutter power activates dealing major damage to the dummy and close by area then dissipating. Katosh watches in amazement. I perform a new hand gesture at a dummy to the side of him and flames appear out of nowhere and engulf the dummy in a walled cube. Clenching my fist tightly, we watch the dummy get consumed into ashes. The third and fourth dummies get targeted next and I surround them with four tall columns. Now it becomes visible that I am having fun as this growing darker nature seems to be surfacing as if it is becoming my true primary nature. I start to envision that demons are literally within me trying to reach the surface and gain control, but there is no internal struggle which counters that thought and makes me question if I am truly good or if there is something else happening to me… if I can access destructive powers because the darkness that I have been working to suppress is the true essence of my being and my Mind’s true capabilities. The confusion in my mind only seems to upset me more and more until finally it boils over and I lash out even more violently at the dummies with the flames from the columns taking vicious form and tearing the dummies to shreds. I look at the dummies breathing heavily with the faint light in the tunnel radiating his combined emotion of bewilderment, anger, and passion.

Hinako, who had already returned to the house while the training was still going on, finds medicine bowls in the kitchen area and heads to her room. She opens the tunnel hatch and the two warriors turn to the opening. I fade into the shadows and moves towards the opening. I smell the air as emerge from the shadows. I float up from the tunnel and Katosh climbs up shortly after. Katosh goes outside to practice with his bokken. Laki tells me of the new mission and tells me that it's an off-the-books mission which causes me to look at Laki for clarification as I’m not completely sure I understand what she means. She notices the confusion and explains everything so I nod, knowing that we wouldn't have made nor be making as much as we has so far if it wasn't for Amiya. I get the description and nod. Katosh goes to visit Amiya about two hours later and she tells him that a regular patron of the hotel had recently gotten into a confrontation with the target and Katosh returns with the location and tells me where to go. Without another word, I take off to try to and find this new target.

Moving through the night towards the bar the target is said to frequently visit. I wait and watch the people that enter and exit. After about an hour, a swordsman comes out of the bar followed by three other men with swords being drawn. The man looks back at them and smiles. He looks at them if silently asking if they truly believe they can defeat him. Two of them attack at once and he shakes his head and as soon as they go to swing, the vicious exodus of the lone swordsman's blade from its scabbard is heard before they fall short of him. Pools of red liquid form around their heads as the third man readies himself to fight the swordsman. The swordsman shakes his head and tells him in a mocking tone that his wife had already been taken by his charm and that it would be a shame for his head to be the next item from his house to fall before him. The man charges at him and the swordsman toys with him. The enraged husband tries valiantly to best the swordsman for defiling his sacred union by lusting with his wife and while I could interrupt this to save the outclassed swordsman, I stay in the shadows watching the swordsman and analyzing his styles as I would be amongst the next to face him and I cannot afford to be unprepared. The swordsman grows tired of the man and parries an oncoming strike, then counters the overhead strike with a swift downward slash that slices him from his left shoulder to the right side of his waist. The swordsman looks at him and walks away as the wife runs up crying.
I look at the man and decide that I will learn more about the swordsman before challenging him, but now I have a perfect picture of what the target looks like. The sword police comes around and finds the woman with the bodies and a small crowd of citizens talking about what happened. As the police show up, most of them scatter. The wife walks away to grab her husband's sword which had been knocked away and as she bends down to pick it up, she is pulled into the shadows. She fights briefly then when she is far enough away, she stops fighting and goes willingly. The hand that kept her from screaming releases her and she speaks softly, “You weren't supposed to kill him in the streets like a brawl. It was suppose to be a duel of honor between just the two of you. There is an operative after you. A courtesan has hired him because you chose not to listen and went back to that whorehouse. You nearly killed the girl there. It would be best if you stayed out of sight for a little while. We are so close and I don't want everything getting messed up because some little whore triggered your temper.”

:sango:

Subject: Re: The Warring World Within Sun Jun 14, 2009 6:39 am

My voice speaks no louder than a whisper, “One problem. I'm not the swordsman. Now, you're going to tell me everything you know about him.” She tries to run but I trip her up and force her to tell me every little detail about her plan that I need to know and some extra details for good measure. I tell her that if she had just lied to me that she would be the second person to die after her lover. She nods to the shadows and runs away. I proceed to where she told me he would probably go from the sake house. Time is of the essence as tomorrow, the scheming woman would get word to the swordsman about his shadowy pursuer. I am well aware of the fact that this swordsman is quite skilled and as such, it is likely that he is capable of besting me in battle, so I would use the element of surprise and the full scope of my powers as all I truly need is one well placed and well timed strike to neutralize him. The abuse and torment that he put the girl through would now be returned to him. I know full well that one day it will be my turn to suffer as I have and will continue to make my victims suffer as my contractors request of me.

Meanwhile, I move from the streets of Garden City to the countryside. The widow did not like pain at all and with the slightest application, she told me that the swordsman, Rojia, would be at a creek about five miles outside of town. As I make my approach, I see the silhoutte figure of the swordsman and the clothing of the man confirms that it is Rojia indeed. Hovering slightly above the ground, I am able to move in quietly and I get ready to strike when Rojia turns around and looks at me.

Rojia addresses me, “Thank you for coming to meet, assassin.” I stop realizing that this is looking very much like I had just been set up, but by who? He continues, “I was hoping you would be able to find me. Do you know why I love the Garden City so much? The people… so diverse, yet so controllable. That is also the key to battle. Control and diversity… which is why you're here. My advisor, so to speak, visits the Snowy Swan regularly. The girl that I "raped" told him that she had overheard talk of a shinobi strategist working in the Garden City. A skilled one that no one knew anything about. When she told him, he relayed the information to me. He came up with the plan and she agreed. Deception is a necessity amongst swordsmen when we deal frequently with nobles and politicians. I detest abusing women or children, as it is a sign of cowardice. I am pleased that you do as well. My advisor suggests that I acquire your services as he foresees a war between the territorial warlords, the Northern Kingdom and the forces of the Spectre in the central lands in the near future. An ambush was set for Lord Neppa and Lord Dosaka, but was thwarted and my suspicions tell me it was by you. Then shortly after Lord Neppa was assassinated and Lord Kreyan was discovered to be behind both the attempt and the successful assassination. There are several other incidents that occurred recently and even more that are rumored to occur. If a war breaks out, it will not be wage in the streets of the city, it will be in the outskirt plains and in the shadows. That is why I had you come here. I need a shadow in case the petty squabbling of the nobles and chieftains down here does erupt into full-blown clan war. What better assassin and guardian to have than a shinobi? You all are a rare breed of loyal and lethal.”

Listening to the entire rundown of things, I am pleased to know that I am not his target, but I am also intrigued at the fact that this swordsman went thru such an elaborate scheme to solicit my services. Still, I don’t like being manipulated, so I respond, “I already work for someone and he has looked after very well, I cannot abandon him now.”

Rojia: “I give you my word as Rojia Sakalo, son of Lord Jitada Sakalo. Your employer would work for my family, but deal only with me and you would answer only to me. No one else in my family would be able to command you. Should I die, my only wish is that you avenge my death then fade away from the Sakalo. It pays well and there is much to be done for my family to rise. That translates out to a lot of training for you to improve yourself to be the strongest that you can.”

Me: “I have a mission that I must complete before I can accept your offer. Another must fall to me very soon.”
Rojia: “I need him alive a while longer actually. Lord Kreyan. You don't need to finish him off as Lord Neppa's heir is planning on attacking Kreyan's estate in two days. He will do it for you. I do need a few items from his house though before they burn it. Can you handle that? Think of it as an initiation mission, you succeed and your handler's business steps up to a higher level and you all start working for the Sakalo Clan. Fail and you can keep working with the courtesan.”

:sango:

Subject: Re: The Warring World Within Sun Jun 14, 2009 6:41 am

Me: “What items?”
Rojia smiles, “The first is his council's scrolls. Those are kept in his war room in a floor panel hidden under the map table. The second and third items are in his armory; the Sun Falcon daisho and the Ice Dragon Spear. The Sun Falcon has gold scabbards and the hilts have red, white, and gold stitching with gold, ruby-eyed falcon head pommels. The Ice Dragon has a silver shaft with sky blue metal embroidery. The spearhead is a silver dragon with sky blue sapphire eyes and a fearsome steel blade as its tongue. Remarkable weapons indeed. They are very beautiful and it is said that they give the wielder confidence in battle. I just realized something. That's a heavy load. Well the fourth item can assist with that. This one is slightly personal. My horse is there. Horses, actually, one is black as the shadows on a moonless night with silvery eyes. The second horse is a radiant golden brown with an even lighter colored mane. The black one is very calm like a shadow, but the golden one is wild and chaotic like a storm. You have to have a similar spirit for her to carry you. The last thing I need is the old Kreyan weaponsmith. He is amongst the best in the art of weapons design and crafting them in the City. Here is a written description of each of the items along with directions that my advisor was able to acquire of Lord Kreyan's estate. These should help you find everything. Remember, the attack is two days from now. Before we part, one question. . . is the woman still alive?”
I respond coldly, “For the moment. What is your dealing with her?”

Rojia: “Funding. Soon I will hire some thug who cares nothing of honor to kill her, as a man of honor does not kill women or children. To me and my family, it is a great act of cowardice for a man to do such a thing knowingly. You have planning to do though so I take my leave.”
Rojia and I go our separate ways and I dash to the tunnels using Godspeed which gets me there in a matter of seconds on my return to the house. I get back and Laki looks at me. She asks if I had completed the task already and I tell her that the task has just begun. Next, she asks if I found the rapist so I inform her that there was no rape and even explain what I have learned. Laki becomes deeply intrigued by the peculiar act from me simply because of the fact that I met the target and instead of killing him, I seem to have befriended him. I tell her that Amiya had me sent to kill an innocent swordsman and that the entire mission was set up so that I could meet with the swordsman. Katosh speaks up and inquires about the swordsman.
Katosh and I excuse ourselves from the room and thus the conversation taking place here to go up to Hinako's room since Katosh needed to spend most of his time around her. I tell Katosh about the mission, but don't tell him about the new mission nor do I tell him that it is actually Rojia Sakalo, just that it is a swordsman from the Sakalo Clan. Katosh looks at me and tells me that the Sakalo are reknown throughout the West Kingdom for their kenjutsu mastery and duelist school. I tell Katosh that after the Kreyan mission that we may get the opportunity to train with the Sakalo swordsmen and if Katosh truly likes their style then I can request a test to see if Katosh could be admitted into the school. Katosh tells me that he would be in my debt for such an honorable gesture. I tell him that his services to the Sakalo would help protect the West Kingdom citizens and furthermore Hinako and strengthen the swordsmen ranks for the Sakalo. I ask what Katosh's family name is and he tells me that he doesn't have one since he never knew his family, and Amiya was the one who named him Katosh after a knight that she fell in love with.
“Yaku Katosh the swordsman. That is the name I will tell them.”

Katosh bows as I head back downstairs to the tunnels to handle my planning for the coming mission in solitude.
I spend the next day planning my movements through the estate and how to get the items and the horses out without getting caught. That night, I pay a visit to a house with a direct view to Lord Kreyan's estate. Observes the normal activities of the day there, I notice stealthy movement on the grounds. Either Kreyan hired some rogues to patrol his estate or someone decided to strike early at the scheming Lord. The estate guards engage the assassins, but I notice that I originally saw five figures and the guards are only fighting four. I hear drums beating in the approaching distance and figure that Neppa's heir had sent the rogues to unsettle the guards as they attacked then fled. The missing rogue must be looking for Lord Kreyan. This would be the perfect time to move as the guards are searching for the other assassins. This would have everyone on alert, but also spread thin trying to cover the grounds and most of Kreyan's forces would start moving towards the drums to intercept the attacking force from the Neppa Clan. I leave the rooftop that I’ve been perched on and make my way over the wall into the estate. He looks around and sees guards still searching for the rogues. The war drums become more audible as the force moves closer.

Now inside the grounds and hidden in the shadows, I decide that I had better get moving on my objectives before the guards start trying to evacuate the valuables that I came for. I dash to the main house of the estate moving quickly under the cover of the night sky slipping between two patrols. My back presses up against the wall. As I come upon a door, I hear fighting going on around the corner from my position as well as inside the estate to my right where another door is located. I open the door in front of me and peek around. Making my way inside, I look around familiarizing myself with landmarks then slip into a nearby room to look at the directions again. I figure out where I am on the estate grounds and which item is closest to me. The weapons are the closest, but I want to get the scrolls first as they are the easiest to transport. Going from room to room and from shadow to shadow, I make my way past the guards to the war council room.

It is silent inside the council room. I see some guards coming so I duck inside quickly. An attendant is putting the scrolls away when I enter the room. I smell the attendant's fragrance letting me know that I am not alone in here, so I quickly turn towards him and telekinetically use a heavy scroll case to knock the attendant over the head before he can yell for the guards. I leave him in a corner of the room asleep rather than kill him before I proceed to collect up the scrolls. I check the scrolls before putting them in a satchel and put the attendant under another table. After two guards pass by the room, I leave.

I figure to head for the weapons next as the horses would have to be the last items as they make the most noise. There are two guards standing in front of the armory, so I decide against confrontation and creep around the building to see if there is another way in so I figure that quietest way is to crawl in through the opening at the top of the back wall. The Wisp power allows me to do so very stealthily and I land inside the armory without making a sound as the air is passing under my feet when I enter. There are two more guards at the other end and they start to turn towards where I had just landed when the outside guards calls for the inside guards to help them with four attackers. I grab a small metal "mirror" to reflect the outside light to see in front of me. With the gold plating from the scabbard and handle twinkling in the night’s light, I find the Sun Falcon daisho with no problem. The spear is a bit more difficult as Kreyan seems to have quite a few valuable spears and reflecting the light is hard throughout the rest of the room. I resort to feeling the differences in designs until I find a spear that fits the description. Taking it over to where the daisho was being kept and reflecting the light on it, I learn that it's the wrong spear. It wasn't a dragon, but a snake. Damn! I go back to the spears and keep trying. I find another spear which the initial inspection feels like a dragon and when I check this one in the light, I wrap it up quickly. I float out of the armory as the victors of the skirmish make their way inside. I land and take off for the stables.

I have to hide for a while as the mounted leaders run past my position and rush to the stables for their horses. After about 15 minutes or so, I sneak into the stable. Finding the black horse first, I look into its eyes before it snorts at me and I nod at it. I grab a saddle and strap it to the horse before I hide the spear and daisho within its hay. Next on the agenda is finding the wild horse quickly as its unique beauty stands out amongst the other horses. Grabbing another saddle, the horse looks at me and snorts, but it wasn’t anywhere near the type of snort the first horse gave me. I growl at the brown horse and stare into its eyes. With the black horse I saw serenity yet the golden brown horse forces me to look deep within its eyes as all I see is untamed passion and a yearning to run wild and free, I see the same spark in this horse that I remember seeing in the eyes of Rojia when I watched him fight outside of the sake bar. It is now that I find myself able to decide that I can indeed serve Rojia Sakalo as the swordsman's previous words rang in my head, "You will have to show the horse that your spirit matches its own." I am not bringing the horse to Rojia. The horse is bringing me to the one who would be Master of all of us. I nod to the horse and strap the weapons to the golden horse now having a kindred understanding with one another.
I leave the stable quickly as by now the fighting between the forces is getting closer to the estate. I rush back to the house heading straight for the weaponsmith's room. Two guards come around a corner as I make it to the smith's room but unable to hide. Thinking to myself how much I wish that I had a serrated spiked whip and as they close in, I look down at fingers on my right hand with a dark grin on my face and snap my joined index and fingers at them and they are left in awe and shock as a whip of fire lashes at them in a very bloody fashion. Before they can draw their swords, the flames claim their lives and I move on. I pull them inside the room and looks at the weaponsmith who is terrified at the sight of me which I find to be a bit rude all things considered.

My words are kept short with him, “The Kreyan weaponsmith?” The smith nods slowly and I call for proof. The smith shows him his latest spear design and it is a beautiful design that he gets ready to start detailing. Only the artisan would want to describe their creation in the midst of an attack like that. It was him and this was the last of my targets to obtain. “Let's go, it's not safe here.”

The weaponsmith weighs his options of refuse and die now or obey and try to make a deal for his life or release later so he quickly follows me back to the stables. I notice that it takes a lot longer to get to the stables with the old man following me and I am quickly reminded as to why I have generally hated rescues. The fact of having to move at another's pace is very dangerous for the one who is used to moving quickly and quietly. Nonetheless, we make it to the stables and my powers place the old weaponsmith on the black horse. I wrap a cloak obtained from the weaponsmith’s room around me before mounting the wild horse. The golden steed bucks yet I hold on tightly. I grab the reins of the black horse as the golden horse takes off at a dead sprint as we had to ride quickly to escape the guards, but also had to ride directly towards the battle. We branch off very quickly and take the road away from it. We escape the estate and take the main outskirt road to the creek where I first meet Rojia.

Coming up on the creek, I see a figure in the distance but notice quickly that it isn't Rojia. The figure turns around and it is a man around the age of 22 or so and he looks at the horses then at the riders. He bows then speaks to them. The unknown figure addresses us, “I'm impressed. You accomplished each of your objectives. My Lord will be most pleased. You must be the Kreyan weaponsmith? I've been most eager to meet you. I can assure you that your efforts will be much more appreciated in the services of my Lord, Master Suko. Oh! Where are my manners? I am Sasuni, advisor of Lord Rojia Sakalo. Speaking of which, may I present to you, Lord Rojia Sakalo.”

Rojia steps out from behind a tree and nods to me then to the weaponsmith before he speaks, “You have succeeded in your mission. By doing so, it seems you accept my offer?” Seeing no reason not to join with such an ally, I nod to him. “Excellent. Master Suko, it is an honor to see you again. I keep my word, do I not? Well, let's go so everyone can get settled in. There is a long path ahead of us if we are to achieve our joined ambitions.”
I dismount the golden horse handing the reins to Rojia. Master Suko gets into the carriage with Sasuni, and I am told to ride the black horse as we escort them back to the Sakalo estate. Rojia and I talk about the necessary Sakalo knowledge and I tell him about Katosh. Rojia tells me that I should bring Katosh by the school and the Masters will decide if they wish to train him or not. Rojia asks me what I am called and I tell him that my name is Psyre. Rojia pauses for a moment and looks at me, but my expression remains stone cold. So then he knew the truth from the mention of my name. Damn, most people didn’t make the correlation because I have generally kept to lands that are outside of the Capital’s realm of control. Rojia smiles at me and just nods though.

Rojia: “Your past no longer exists then. You know that you risk much, don’t you? Much more fear-instilling though. And that is what we want. We want our enemies to fear the thought of you being unleashed upon them for when diplomacy begins to fail, they will quickly begin to think of the alternative and start thinking of solutions. You will use my personal dojo for your training and quarters when with me. The only people that go in there are myself and Sasuni. I will have Sasuni pick one of the servants to tend to your needs. The dojo has everything that you will need for sufficient training except for training clothes. Whatever else you need for that, I will get for you within reason. There is already a full set of training equipment to use, so you can practice with those. The War of the Territories is coming, Psyre. I only hope the people do not suffer because of it.”

:sango:

Subject: Re: The Warring World Within Sun Jun 14, 2009 6:43 am

We arrive at the Sakalo "village" on the southwestern outskirts of Garden City near a secluded "beach". The Sakalo Family owns a large cache of land in the outskirts and the majority of the Family's leadership stays in a small community of sorts there. As the gates open, I see the little city outside the Garden City. They have fields off in the rear of the village. They have the training grounds and barracks for their faction army, which is about the size of a militia instead of an actual army. A library and academic school combo in one building, several personal houses, one guest house which is kind of like a hotel, but for honored guests, the swordsman-duelist school along with its dormitory, and two storehouses distanced from each other. One of them is for food and the other is for supplies and goods. Defense towers are currently being constructed for protection. There is also a small shrine building that is clearly illuminated. I have to tell the truth that I am amazed at how much this "village" seems so familiar to me as if I had studied this place or even been here before.
I go inside the dojo and familiarize myself with my new home. I find that my mind difts to thoughts about Laki, Hinako, and Katosh. Soon I start to wonder how they're doing and realize that staying here without them might be hard pressed at best. All of these thoughts and worries fade though as I slowly become deaf to the outside world and my mind fades to darkness. I can finally rest now. Still my mind flickers with activity as I have to consider the position that I am putting Rojia in by staying here and in this capacity. He knows who I am and if the Elders are still looking for me and they find me here, he and his people could be placed in danger because of me. I am running short on time to gather what I need to make my return to the capital. I just don’t have enough allies yet.
Palace at Shadow Falls Point...

Waking up in the midday-afternoon, I find myself surrounded by several people in an inn room. Grogginess still partially set in from the night before, I look around as my friends are scattered in positions of drunken lust. I make my way to the toilet room having to tip toe over and around people just to use it. Once I'm done, I dip my hands in the cleansing bowl. None of us are sure what's in that bowl, but a friend who is an herbalist and earth druid prepares it all the time for us and it keeps us fresh, so whatever it is, it works. Getting back to the bed, I get in and one of my bed guests rolls over and looks at me. She kisses me on the lips and I smirk.

"Well hello to you too, beautiful."

"Psyre, how important is it for you to leave the palace? Look at how much fun we have here and I know that Shorel and I keep you happy. Why not stay and just coordinate your efforts from here?"

"It's too early for this convo, Omita."

"I'm serious, Psyre. You've been talking about going to the forefront of the main battle area for the last month or so. Your abilities have become known now, so you have no need to flex your power anymore, my Prince. You will targetted even more so now than you were before. We must protect you from harm, not send you rushing towards it."

"I don't care, Omita. That's just the sort of sovereign that I plan to be. We need someone who would think to profit from utilizing an alliance with us to propel their status in the lands. We also require a figure of influence of charisma to keep the morale of our forces raised when times get hard. My powers are still growing, Omita, and I have to grow as well until I master them. Now rest and we can talk more later."

She rolls onto me and lays her head on my chest and rubs my abdomen gently as we fall back asleep. I avoided the conversation later on that night, but it also kept me out of a mood to party as I go off by myself to train some.

Spending time alone helps me to focus. I practice channeling more energy into my mental attacks as well as strengthening my focus on expanding my mind's control over my powers and my body. Last week had shown me that while my powers are strong, they need to be stronger. Manipulating and destroying several rocks and similar surrounding targets, I start throwing them around to practice my targetting as it is useless to be powerful if I have no accuracy and control. After two hours of training, I am finally discovered as I notice that a group of shinobi have been watching me. They posed no threat so my instincts never gave them away it would seem. As the breeze around me moves to part the brushes and reveal them, they come out and I ask them if something is wrong. They shake their heads letting me know that all is fine, but that I am not to be left alone. I nod to them and hold out my hand with my palm facing the sky and they back up slightly. A small ball of fire shoots from my hand and erupts in the sky. They fade into the darkness as I send up a swarm of fire sprites that perform a dancing light show. I take a moment to rest and a voice from the shadows asks me why I'm not partying tonight. I tell them that to party every night and neglect my training would make me a weak ruler and weakness within me would be horrible for our cause.

I return with them to the village and as soon as I return, Shorel runs up to me crying. I look at her and she tells me that the men that my friends and I had gotten into a scuffle with came up and beat two of my friends to death and attacked Omita. Anger fills my entire being as I tell Shorel to find the priest and requests that he ressurrects them as a favor to me. She turns and asks what I am going to do, but I'm already gone. Being trained by the Dark Maiden and the other shinobi, speed is something that I have an abundance of when I'm upset. I am told where they went and instantly I am in pursuit....

The following morning about 10 miles of Shadow Falls Point...

Finding their village, I walk into town and the people stop to look at me. I see a boy get ready to sneak off and a warning burns into the ground in front of him and he falls backwards onto his rear. They had courage enough to come out when someone, who was blocked from my sight by other bodies between us, had informed them that someone causing trouble had arrived looking for them. They had me outnumbered about 14 to just me. They ask if I have a death wish to come alone and my eyes sharpen on them. The bright sunny day fades from sight as dark fiery clouds move in and the people start to look around in a bit of concern and confusion as my eyes do not leave from my primary targets.

"You were stupid enough to come into my village and attack my friends because your pathetic excuse of a brother couldn't accept rejection from a woman. I shouldn't be surprised at your stupidity considering that you are mere beasts. It is time for your judgment now."

The lower-level demons draw their weapons and I close my eyes. As four of them charge at me, I remain completely still and the winds remain still around me as clumps of sand and dirt are lifted into the air. As the clumps are hurl out at the attacking demons, they break apart and bombard the eyes of the attacking demons and nearby spectators, I whistle into the winds. The noise further confuses the demon ilk and I listen as they attack one another. The fools! They actually thought that they could use brute force against me. My charging was complete and now I would truly show these idiots the folly in attacking my village. Now afraid, the townspeople are stuck trying to decide whether to flee, watch, or attack me as the dark clouds above begin to swirl and rumble.

Suddenly, I feel a new surge flowing thru my body. What is this feeling? Why does it seem as something else is controlling my body and my powers? What is happening to me? NO, I cannot falter here! I want them all dead! They killed my friends and attacked one of my lovers... their judgment is for Death! THEY MUST ALL SUFFER!!

The more fury built in my body the faster I felt myself being overpowered. Why couldn't I control myself now? What was about to happen? No sooner than I asked that question to myself, do my eyes open with energy seemingly flowing from the gold orbs and rune markings appear on my face. My mind becomes filled with dark thoughts very similar to the sky above. Staring a hole thru the enemies standing before me, I look to the sky and a vile grin comes across my face. Suddenly my lips move to speak and my voice is slightly deeper.

"Beloved Goddess... they are not worthy of life, so I bring them Death as a sacrifice."

As my lips press against one another again, the people look at me before a before rumble of thunder is heard directly above me...

"VORTEX!!"

A single large orb appears in the center of the demons who attacked my friends. The cyclone cutter power activates and when the orb reverses its draw and the suction, cutting, and ripping begins, the demons scream out in pain. I should have had control to stop there, but I do not. This village would feel my wrath like no other village had felt it before. I am not sure why I do not exercise restraint, but the destruction that follows...

The winds pick up stronger around me to usher in a sight that none of the villagers could have expected or even remotely understood why this fate would befall them. They were loyal to the Spectre and he had ordered his forces to annihilate the people of one of my villages, so my anger calls for nothing short of equivalent retribution. A series of vortex orbs appear across the town with a mild pull. As I stand in the center of this destructive chaos, the city catches fire and I don't move as I simply watch as I bring about the destruction of this village. The villagers try to scatter but the orbs fully activate around the village and random fire javelins keep claiming lives. Once "enough" have died, the carnage stops and I snap out of this "blood rage" suddenly feeling very fatigued. I could hear myself cheering for the massacre and as I look around me, I am completely surrounded by this chaos that I have spawned. Watching the rooves of several houses cave in from the fires, seeing the burnt corpses of so many enemy civilians, I am confused as it seems that no one is alive. How could I have done this much damage? There is not a doubt in my mind now, I must leave Shadow Falls Point. It is not time for me to be here yet. My powers are far greater than even I know and I cannot risk losing control with my friends around me. Not like this...

Confused at how I wiped out a small village in less than an hour, I quickly leave and return to Shadow Falls Point. Moving with a true sense of urgency, I get to my room and pack up some essentials. I take a moment to write them a letter telling them that I have to leave and depart before anyone can stop me.

:sango:

Subject: Re: The Warring World Within Sun Jun 14, 2009 6:44 am

A shadow appears behind me. "What news for me?" The shadow sighs at being detected and speaks, "A letter has arrived for you... from Yukawa." I turn around and look at the shinobi knelt before me and ask, "What do the Kawasaki want with me?" The shadow explains that Lord Iori wishes to retain my services. I begin to snicker at first thinking it a practical joke being played on me until the shadow presents the letter that indeed bears the seal of the Kawasaki Clan. Unrolling the scroll, I read it. I pause for a moment thinking that perhaps I could have attacked a storehouse or stolen documents from the Kawasaki, yet the Master would not allow me to accept missions against the Kawasaki. I look at the shadow and tell him to prepare the Shikaze to head for Yukawa.

Our group of shinobi lives in a village that is hidden in the lands near Odawara so I figure that if I am ever going to make a name for us within the shinobi societies then I would have to seek out an ambitious lord to serve. Besides working for one such as he can be the exact sort of help that I need to solidify my rise to power over my lands when I return to face the Elders and my Family. Now my Master was no friend of the Agi ninjas yet I did not care about them. If the rumors about Kawasaki Iori are true then he is who I should seek out and aid I suppose. The power of the Nojo Clan is nonexistent so while they are known for employing shinobi to do their dirty work, it would have no lasting benefit for me or my Shikaze cadre. So it is decided and I depart from our village with a mere 30 or so shinobi with me. One of my men informs me that should we find it necessary, there is a mercenary group in the Yukawa area that could aid us. I did not care whether they were samurai or ashigaru as long as we had a means of escape should this be a trap.
These are the sort of things that you must learn to consider when your livelihood depends on how well you are able to serve your employer and accomplish their goals moreso than your own. As a shinobi, I must remain in favor with the territorial warlords of all sizes from the powerhouses to the small localized lords because all of the powerhouses started small and grew either over generations or due to one ambitious lord or lady possessing great tactical brilliance. All in all though, I truly believe that this decision was the best for me when I was a boy and Laili and I decided to flee from our lands. It is quite likely that if I had stayed, I could have become the sort of leader that cared only about increasing my position. Now when I decide to return to claim my position as Crown Prince, I will be a better commander than I would have been. Learning the Way of the Strategist from the Shikaze was also the best thing that could have happened to me as I learned to truly analyze my decisions to not only anticipate my opponent’s responses to my actions, but to manipulate and control their actions. It has also taught me the value of the warriors under my command. When you deal with small units, you become very close to them and you find that you truly care about their well-being and become reluctant to make uncalculated decisions that could result in them dying or being captured. There is much that I have learned being a shinobi mercenary.

The journey to Yukawa is rather brief for us and the chief scout, one of my best friends, reports telling me that Lord Kawasaki was last known to be in Akonoh Castle. "Damn. Very well, find out how to get in. If it is a trap then I want a chance to take him out with me."

One of the elder shinobi chuckles and I look at him with a raised eyebrow. "On the southern side, there is a secret entrance that runs underneath Akonoh Castle. We take the underground passage and we will come up in a brush behind the stables. Also, young Master, if Kawasaki wanted you dead, he wouldn't have written the letter. One of his shadows would have."

Now I'm not sure whether I'm impressed or disturbed at the knowledge that he presents me about Akonoh Castle as I do not remember sending any of my shinobi to investigate. Then again, it is of no consequence.

Having him serve as point, he leads us directly to a patch of land that is covered in thick brush and stops. I look around for a moment trying to figure out where this entrance could be and stop suddenly then take a step back. I kneel down and lift the hidden latch. Looking to my chief scout and the guide, I tell them both that they're coming with me and tell the others to vanish from sight. They disperse quickly and we drop into the passage. Looking around, he uses what we call "psychic hand signals" where the signals are sent by subtle manipulations of our environment that are only visible to those trained at noticing them instead of having to rely on sound or sight to be able to communicate with one another. For one by the Shikaze shinobi, all of our senses are necessary and thus we train diligently to hone them.

We move underneath Akonoh Castle and finally as we reach the exit, I stop the two and sign the question asking him how he knows so much about this castle and he turns around and tells me that when the letter arrived, that he was the one to receive it since he is my senior shinobi in this and that the messenger was a ninja in Kawasaki's service, so the ninja told him how to enter. This unsettles me even more as now I have to question the loyalty of my own elder shinobi and second in command. My thoughts of treacherous intent on his part are forced to the background when I tell him that since my Master trusted him and he has never had reason to betray me so I will trust him. He tells me the safest way to get into the castle is to head northwest from my exit point to get into the kitchen and from there, go east two buildings and come up thru an escape hatch in the floor. I ask him if those were the directions that the ninja gave him and he nods. I tell him that I'm going the opposite way then. He asks why and I tell him that either the ninja will have an ambush waiting to test my skills or he was telling the truth and I'll be going the more difficult way to test my skills. Either way, I'll get to test my skills, but I prefer going my way. He nods and I exit the underground passage.

Making it to the surface inside Akonoh Castle, I remain crouched and look around. Noting the moon provides minimal lighting is a benefit to me, so I get ready to move as visibility of me would be quite low even with the lanterns, though my primary concern is avoiding the Agi Ninjas. Nuro had said northwest and then east, so I'll go northeast and then find a way in from there. Timing the patrols, I dash northeast and slip my way into a barred window. Looking around, I have no idea what this room is, but it doesn't look important, so I head out. Moving thru the shadows of the hall, I get the feeling that someone else is near. Damn it. Remaining in the shadows completely still I hold my breath so that there is no indication of my position. The feeling passes and I keep moving.

It's at this moment that I realize that I ALMOST wish I wanted to kill Kawasaki so that I would know where I was going exactly. Still having my bearings, I was currently north-northeast of the passage exit, so I need to keep heading west. Hearing some guards coming, I shake my head and think to myself, Agi... what nice positions you leave your secret hatches. As I jump up to slide the hatch open, I hear the guards getting closer. My heart starts pounding as I know that if I'm caught, I'm dead, so I balance myself, VERY uncomfortably at a slant with my feet on the wall, my right hand pressed palm up against the ceiling as my left hand slides the hatch open. My left hand grips the opening and I flip into the hatch and quietly slide it back such. Knowing that I still have a ways to go, I hold off my sigh of relief. Moving swiftly across the ceiling passage, I turn left and continue heading due west now. I come upon several spying holes and look around to scan the area.

This had to be a room of importance judging from the layout. Dropping out of the ceiling passage, I move to the Lord's seat and having successfully made it inside. I choose not to hide as I had done what I set out to do, so instead I take a position kneeling on the right side of the noble chair. It would only be a matter of time before one of famed Agi ninjas would do their routine rounds and discover me. I remain in plain sight from any of the spying holes around the audience chamber and I set out the letter in front of me in plain view. While questions might arise of why I chose to sneak in during the night instead of following normal procedure during the day, my answer would be simple. The fact that I made it inside is the reason that I am here at all. It does not show my ability as a shinobi strategist to pass thru the gates as a normal mercenary is allowed to do, but to show my ability by infiltrating a location that is very difficult to do.

For now, I wait in a trance-like state that is near meditation yet is used to heighten a shadow's attention to his surroundings. In case an attack does happen to come. Should the Agi ninjas not do rounds here, I would still be here in the morning when Lord Kawasaki or one of his retainers arrives. It’s not like I had anywhere else to be anyway.
When the morning brings the arrival of Lord Kawasaki’s retainers, I would still be here waiting patiently for his arrival. They look at me and draw their swords. I open my eyes and seem very relaxed to be surrounded and outnumbered. I grin and telekinetically pull their weapons from their hand and lodge them into the ground around me. As the ninja in the ceiling move into attack position, they would find striking me so much harder as the “confiscated weapons” form a shield around me. Once the attacks are deflected, the weapons would launch into the ceiling to trap the ninjas and the sliding door opens and Lord Kawasaki enters the room. His retainers move to guard him and I sit down. “Seriously now, if I was here to kill him why would I have waited in here all night when I could have made my move to kill him last night? It’s not like I have to get close to him at all for his bed sheets to strangle him or anything to happen.” Lord Kawasaki smirks and nods, “So the Prince of the Shikaze has heeded my call… I am honored. Let us talk business, young Prince. There is much to discuss in order to eliminate our mutual enemy.” I nod to Lord Kawasaki and retrieve all of the weapons and return them to their rightful owners as safely as I can manage.

:sango:

Subject: Re: The Warring World Within Sun Jun 14, 2009 6:46 am

Lying in this bed, I find myself trying to figure out what it is that I am supposed to learn during this trip and also trying to avoid the small city lords who are upset because their friends and relatives have bad manners and were not very adept at fighting after shooting off their mouths. It is of little consequence though as I feel the wind shift in my room and I nod my head.

A whisper reaches my ear, "You must return to the Capital, my Lord. The Guardian requests your presence immediately." While I am myself partially asleep up to that point, my eyes burst open and I look at the shinobi that brought forth the message. My natural instinct as one of his officers is to ask if he is in trouble or worse yet, if I am in trouble. The messenger shakes her head and tells me that the Guardian seems to be on edge over the past week and almost paranoid. It was obvious to me that he felt that someone was planning to kill him. I had to return to the capital as quickly as possible. Rising out of bed, the girl next to me stirs and reaches for me to come back to bed. I toss her hand off of me and tell her that I must return to the Capital at once. She pouts and I finish getting dressed.

With haste, I make my way downstairs and to the private stable where my horse is at. I mount the black haired beauty and speed out of the city as if I had robbed the place. I get back to the Capital as quickly as I possibly can. Sasori, my personal Shinobi Shadow, is waiting for me as I ride through the capital city's gates and the guards look at me as I come charging thru trying to figure out what has brought about my early return. I was expected to be gone for at least two more weeks off training. Making it to the stables, I leave my horse and find that I am met by an unexpected guest. I turn around and Lord Toushiro is standing before me with Lady Hitsugaya Ritsuko, the Lady General of Defense. We bow and the Guardian tells me that he would like to take a walk with me.

"After you, Toushiro-dono."
We all start walking and Lord Toushiro speaks to me, "You know that the three of you are my most loyal retainers and advisors. You, young Prince Psyre, have served me as a Strategist Warlord for two years now since you made your return to the Capital. Not once have I ever questioned your loyalty to me or to the people of this land. It is because of this trust and faith that I have in you that I summoned for you early."
"My dear Guardian, whatever troubles you, I shall send it into Oblivion."
Toushiro chuckles, "I can always count on you for that, but what I need from you, is something that is completely out of your element. I know for a fact that someone is plotting to assassinate me. I know when it is going to happen, but I do not know who is behind it all yet. Should something happen to me, I want you to stop running from your destiny and ascend the throne of this land to lead your people when I am gone. Ritsuko will assist you as will the Council.”
"My Lord, I am honored by your trust, but I know nothing of politics. Merely sitting in those meetings bore me. The Elder Council will never accept me as the Leader. Most of them are still upset by that whole running away as a boy with... Why not have Ritsuko assume control?"
Ritsuko speaks up, "We all know that the Council will not let a woman lead our kingdom. You should know that I will explain the different situations and Sasori is very knowledgeable of politics herself. The most important thing is protecting Lord Toushiro and discovering the assassin's employer."

All of this comes at me so suddenly that I am unsure what to think either way. My Lord's word is command, but I don't know how to run the Capital let alone the whole kingdom. What does he expect me to do? Learn politics overnight? Finally I speak up, "Guardian, you know that I will not disobey you, but I would prefer to keep you in good health and standing so that you may rule over your clan."
Toushiro chuckles again, "I would too, but we must always be prepared for death, Psyre, and we must always be prepared to give our lives for the betterment of the land. I am prepared to do what is necessary for the good of the land, but my young Prince, are you?"
I honestly don't know the true answer, so I remain silent for a while as we continue to walk. Looking at Lord Toushiro, "I will always do what I must for the Kingdom, Guardian."

The walk and talk continues for a while before I jump in front of Lord Toushiro and my quick telekinetic push just barely deflects a shuriken from its path towards the Guardian. Sasori looks around then vanishes from sight. Ritsuko and I scan the area, before quickly moving Lord Toushiro to safety. We get him inside a building and the guards begin searching the grounds for the attacker. A few hours later, Sasori returns and throws a cloaked figure at Lord Toushiro's feet. Nodding to her, she vanishes while Ritsuko begins her interrogation. The assailant tells her that he doesn't know who wanted him to kill the Guardian, but simply that they wanted him dead and for it to be obvious that it was an assassin, so he took the job. The torture continues until he finally confesses that the main attempt is coming in two or three days. Hearing this, I organize the guards and Ritsuko leaves him to me as she goes to ensure that patrols are increased. Lord Toushiro looks at me and nods with a fierce look on his face and he watches as my back turns to the man and moments later, the head of the would-be assassin falls from his neck with a cauterized wound and blackened flesh signaling the cause of death. Getting Lord Toushiro to the Castle, I meet up with Ritsuko to discuss safety options for the Guardian and Sasori tells me that nothing has changed in her patrols.

Two days go by and nothing happens, so Lord Toushiro finally convinces us that he feels safe enough to open his Audience Hall again. It wasn't a good idea to me, but I dare not continue to oppose my Guardian's will on the matter. Instead, I merely follow him over to the Audience Hall to ensure his safety.

To my Lord, maintaining a strong image for the people is very important, but I still don't like this move of reappearing in the audience hall mere days after an attempt on his life. As he walks to his dais to sit, I speak with the guards instructing orders and ensuring that everyone is in clear understanding of their orders. They nod in agreement and disperse. I walk over to the dais and kneel at the side of the Guardian. Keeping a watchful eye as the peasants are allowed to bring their important disputes and tributes before their Lord as well as bring forth children for him to bless. The procession is very inspiring and it begins to make me understand why he has thrown caution to the winds for the sake of his people and their happiness. The look in the eyes of the parents whose children Lord Toushiro kisses gently on the forehead and issues a blessing of good health and good fortune. The majestic aura which covers him as he handles disputes between farmers and merchants, cases of adultery, and theft; it shocks me when he asks me to handle it myself as I know nothing about this, but when the next dispute comes in it's a couple of merchants who have an intense rivalry and one man has slept with the other man's wife. Listening, I tell them to stop early. They both look at me and I give them a blank look.

"You two are complaining back and forth about how the other has done wrong by you, yet both of you have done wrong, so what is your complaint? He has violated your sacred union, yet so has your wife, so why is she not brought before my Lord for judgment? If you wish this matter handled by me, then I will have to execute her for betraying a vow to the Heavens and ancestors. Separate your shops to opposite ends of the Market District immediately. You two are forbidden to go near one another or each other's spouses. Should you violate this order, you will both suffer as the city will seize your shops and all proceeds will be used for city development. So I suggest that you both obey."

Lord Toushiro grins as he has fun watching me handle the disputes. Finally the guards clear out the audience hall before one of the banners begins to flutter rapidly. Turning to Lord Toushiro, "My Lord, we had best get you out of here... Now!" He gets up and nods to me. Calling for the guards to come to help escort him, we hear yells from the entrance as rapid armor moving can be heard as well. Oh great... the Guardian was indeed worried for a reason. He looks at me and tells me that he must go into seclusion for a while if I am to discover the real culprit. I nod to him and call for a guard. We retreat back behind a curtain where Lord Toushiro and the guard exchange clothing and the guard keeps a helmet that masks the majority of his face. Sasori arrives as does Ritsuko and I tell Ritsuko to take the Guard and secure a safe escape route for Lord Toushiro. She grins at me and nods.

Ritsuko: "Come along, soldier. My Lord, fight bravely and kill these traitors."

Lady Hitsugaya takes off with Lord Toushiro while I enter the fray with the decoy Guardian.

Walking slowly in a stalking fashion, I look at the insurgents who dared to attack the Audience Hall of my Lord. They would most certainly be dealt with swiftly. As the first warrior comes to attack me, I debate on whether or not I wish to hurt people first or go ahead and start killing them. Another attacker decides for me as I hop-step backwards drawing his sword from his hands in a spin to my left and I stand to look at my original attacker who suddenly finds himself covered in a crimson mask. Instead of discarding the sword currently dripping with blood, I launch it at the original attacker and watch it lodge in the man’s chest. A moment later, blood spews forth from his mouth as well as he falls towards the ground. Seeing two warriors fall so bloodily, our guards get excited, pushing their will to fight on. Dashing back towards the Decoy, I pull the sword from the downed attacker and send it flying in a direct path into the right lung of one attacker, before spinning in front of the decoy to telekinetically push another assassin after from him and into the path of another assassin’s blade.

Insurgent after insurgent fall to our defensive stance and finally I realize who it is that is leading the attack, a political advisor and a military general who has resented me since I was promoted to the rank of Strategist Warlord instead of him. He is an Elder who feels that when I left from the Capital as a boy that I renounced my birthright to rule over our land or its military forces. It is not my fault that my leadership capabilities have proven to be much better than his, but this is the path he has chosen to take? Fool! Very well then! I shall show him why I was chosen over him. As the political advisor tries to battle against our guards, his bodyguards prove their ability as they fend off our efforts to capture him. That does not last as suddenly I see his entire body tense up and his eyes bulge before his guards fall in a domino effect. Three of the guards in that area seize the traitor as the general tries to retrieve him or perhaps he was trying to kill him, but the mystery attacker stands in his path and it is in fact Sasori. She shows why she is called “Hasu Sasori” when the general attacks her and she vanishes from sight leaving a silhouette of lotus blossoms in her place. When they hit the ground, the general finds himself face to face with me though.

As the insurgents find themselves now getting slaughtered with the drop in morale of their cause with their obvious leader being captured and the military leader squared off against me, things were not looking good for them, especially with Lord Toushiro's decoy still standing strong and fighting. My hands are resting comfortably at my side as I wait for him to make the first move. The general looks at me as I stand in no stance plainly looking at him and watching our guards win this skirmish. I shake my head and turn away from him as I notice Lord Toushiro get stabbed in a non-fatal area. The general lunges for the true Guardian to try and finish him off, which I cannot allow. With an incredible burst of speed, my power is released yet again as two words slip past my lips, "Graceful Falcon." With those words, I press off backwards from my right foot and lightly move from side to side in an almost strafing sort of motion as my “fire whip” slashes deep into his wrist before moving on to painfully cut thru the treacheorous general’s armor repeatedly. After the fifth slash which takes me to my right as blood gushes from his body over me, I dash forward at him as he is positioned to my left burning to the bone of his right side ribcage and putting me behind him. As his pain-racked body begins to descent rapidly, a blade pierces thru his spine and out of his abdomen. As he hits the ground, our guards move to end his suffering, but I stop them. He would die as slow as possible for betraying the Guardian and Kingdom. With one leader captured and the other dead, the insurgents near-instantly surrender. The decoy Guardian is ushered out of the Audience Hall thru a secret passage to be checked out by the doctors. Sasori vanishes from sight after a whisper from me.

:sango:

Subject: Re: The Warring World Within Sun Jun 14, 2009 6:47 am

Emerging from the Audience Hall covered in blood from head to toe. The masses of the city's populace is gathered around. Lady Hitsugaya returns and nods to me. The victorious guards emerge with the captives and the people cheer. What shocks me is that they cheer for me. Listening to chants and exclamations of me being a Guardian and hero and such, I look at Ritsuko and she holds up her bow increasing the intensity of their cheering. I raise my hand to get their attention and quickly they all fall silent.

"Beloved people of our kingdom, I come before you with saddening news, the Guardian, Lord Toushiro, has been wounded in this attempt on his life. The years that I have been here, our Lord has done everything in his power to ensure that the good of the populace is always acted upon. He has provided beauty and learning and culture for all of us as well as protection from all enemies, both foreign invaders as well as our own treacherous dogs. One of the traitors to the Clan has been slain and the other will be kept alive long enough to discover who else may have been involved. With our Lord's life in jeopardy, he'll be resting in seclusion."

The people cry out, "In seclusion, but what about the problems of the city and kingdom that still need to be addressed? We're doomed to see total chaos without the Guardian in our lands."

I really don't know what to say. I mean of course I wanted to help them, but I didn't know how. Lady Hitsugaya steps forward to speak.

Ritsuko: "People of the Neuro Kingdom, listen to me. The Guardian is wounded, but in his absence, he has left orders for his duties to be fulfilled. It has always been his true wish to see the leader of our kingdom returned to the Royal Bloodline. Psyre to lead the Kingdom in his stead as it is his birthright as Crown Prince. Prince Psyre as you can clearly see is drenched in the blood of the traitors, yet still he comes before you in his darkest form. We assure you that your problems will not go unheard. The Prince is in command, so lend him your support and he will strive to improve OUR land as the Guardian has done in his absence. Will you support our young liege in improving our kingdom? Will you stand behind the Strategist Warlord who would give his life for your prosperity and safety? People of Neuro, place your trust in your true sovereign, Prince Psyre, and together we will continue to grow into a kingdom of strength and beauty!"

The gathering populace erupts in chanting cheer of my name and prosperous wishes, so before the majority populace of our people, I am forced to stand and face my destiny now. I had postponed it as long as I could, but now it would seem that I am demanded to ascend. I knew the truth about my Lord and even the decoy who indeed was not wounded, but simply pretending to be so in order to finish pulling off the little rouse of the Guardian's but the result remains the same. Somehow, at the age of 18, I am the ruler of the Neuro Kingdom and all of our assets. I will definitely need the support of the Council to make this work.

"Prince Psyre, a letter has arrived for you."
"From who?"
"The letter is from the young Daijin to the east, Yoshiyuki. He requests that you go and seek an audience with him. To discuss an alliance between our forces and his own."

At the mention of alliance everyone around us who was pretending to not be listening to our conversation, looks over.

Attendant: "He just recently won a battle at Toyama Pass and he did so with ease."

My eyes turn in a piercing look at the servant, "Go away, you sound like a chamber maid after an army returns from battle. Battle... something you know nothing about. I should behead you for reading a letter addressed to me, shouldn't I?"

A commanding female voice speaks from behind me, "Psyre!"

"It has been a long week and I am fatigued from battle. Forgive my harshness, Maiden."

The winged maiden takes the letter and opens it with a grin, "Hmm... go to Ueda and see what the young Lord has to say, Psyre. You will not be able to overtake the Spectre's Dark Fortress without more aid. Nor will you find a sustainable cure. I am familar with Lord Yoshiyuki and the young Master is said to be an honorable warrior who could greatly compliment our... talents."

"Maiden, if I go and the Spectre's forces launch another attack on one of our positions, who will fend it off? You must remain here to defend this castle so that we can maintain control of the passage to the north lands. The western forces are in a deadlock stalemate, so they can lend no aid should we require it without possibly losing lands there. How can I go?"

Maiden: "Psyre, this is not a debate. The coming battle is far too important for you to be restrained here. Go to Ueda and take the Shikaze as your entourage. As you grow in ability they will serve to be your chief officers and trusted bodyguards when you gain more warriors to fight for you. You'll leave in the morning. One more thing, my Prince... no matter how much blood you must shed, remember why you are fighting. You cannot be consumed by the past losses that we have suffered. They are in the Heavens now and you should honor them by ensuring that we do what we must to achieve final victory."

The mention of our fallen comrades and positions that were annihilated by the military forces of the Spectre fills me with both sorrow and anger. Almost as if I was forced to relive the night that I was taken by the demon gang when my security detail was killed, we were forced to retreat from one of our strongholds when reinforcements were cut off from reaching us in time. That day when we forced to leave those people to be tortured, butchered and enslaved, I remember the feeling of my entire world crashing around me. My fist tightens as I think about the bastards who nearly destroyed my life, yet I also thank them because their wanton longing for destruction brought me more allies in this fight. Word spread of their foul deeds after they claimed victory which brought smaller forces from all around to aid in our cause.

"My heart is beyond your repair, Maiden. You have helped me remain as honorable and disciplined as possible while I have traveled on this path somewhere in cloudy area between the survival principles that the shinobi live by and the laws of bushido, but I am not contained to the either of them. My skills are becoming known because no matter what the task given, I have completed it thus far and I shall continue to do so as long as I achieve my objective. If a land of good exists, there is always a necessary evil that exists in order to protect that good. I am becoming that evil, Maiden. I shall heed your advice and travel to meet with the Daijin. If his offer is acceptable then I will join his clan with our kingdom and he will have my allegiance until I am reunited with our fallen brethren. I will do everything in my power to secure this alliance, Maiden. That I swear to you."

Turning to leave, I walk out of the room with the letter in hand and head to the temple. Walking in, I look at the old shinobi that has always been there to help and guide me, Kage Gin. The older shadow warrior is ending his run in battle, but he has been with since the beginning of this, so I cannot turn him away when he offers to travel with me. I whisper to him and we vanish in a flash. I jog for about an hour or so, just trying to clear my mind before I stop and just watch the water flow so freely at a nearby creek. I hear a noise and it's my young friend, Ikizu.

"What are you doing out here, Ikizu?"

Ikizu: "I was looking for you. You are leaving tomorrow for Ueda. I want you to go knowing that I'll take care of any threat that dares threaten these lands while you are gone. I have spoken to my mother regarding this matter and she knows my mind now. With you gone, it is my duty to fight in your stead. So stop worrying about me. You go with the Shikaze and get us the military assistance that we need to finally turn the tide in this whole conflict. Fight many battles so when I go to theater house, the ladies all woo because you have made me known as your younger brother. You should really learn to smile more, Psyre."

I grin at my brother's optimism and nod to him, "I shall try. As long as you are smiling, I don't have to. Just remember that if you ever need me, you need only call upon me and I shall come to your aid. Take care of everyone while I'm gone and don't chase after too many ladies."

Ikizu nods and he mounts his horse before the light whistling of the air and rustling of the nearby grasses suddenly approaches and he notices the Shikaze appear around me. I nod to him before he watches me look at the shinobi and speak. "It seems that we are not the only ones tired of being trapped here at the Castle unable to move for worry of a massive assault, so we're going to Ueda to see about joining forces with the Daijin there. This is our chance to show the Spectre once and for all that there is only one way that this can end and that is with his destruction. We are soon to be unleashed on the battlefield. Shikaze!... tomorrow, the path to the Spectre's demise becomes clear."

Me personally, I couldn't care less about the transition of these weaklings. Not until they make the choice to honor my family which rules over this land. I do not harm them though as it goes against what I have been taught. I simply give no attention to their existence. Arrogant it may seem, but they come and go so often, always seeking ways to be resurrected or reincarnated and some being revived against their will. A common, normal human friend of mine suffered this fate and the result was that he got taken by a demonic spirit, possessed, and forced to fight against my army. Needless to say I killed my own friend b/c he opposed me in battle and I could not afford him mercy because he went against my Guardian. To oppose me alone, I could consider it, but to participate in a battle against my Guardian is an offense that I cannot excuse even for a friend.
After his death, I swore that I would not feel that weakness again and so I kept to my own brethren and gave little to no notice to human males. Even their females though are of little to no consequence to me as their power here is often so meek. I have found sole comfort in the Dark Maiden and her shinobi. Their power still impresses me and it keeps me interested constantly.
I remember one of the female mortals crossed over into the border lands and just so happened to end up in a village that was to be caught in the midst of a battle as it was in the way of two attacking armies. Shortly before the battle was to begin, my scouts brought me a prisoner of incredible worth, the niece of the attacking Vice Commander who sent by the Spectre himself. Such a piece could be easily used to my advantage since it was my army that they were planning to attack. We used a viewing orb of her to show proof of her capture.
A message was attached telling the Vice Commander that if he did not detour their army, I would ensure that his niece died and not by my hand. He thought I was a child who was bluffing and obviously had no idea who I was or what I've been taught, and he advanced until he had to set up camp. On that night, I seduced his niece and several of my soldiers reaped the benefits of my actions while I returned to my war room. The viewing globe did its job. It activated showing my manipulation of the niece and the carnal exploitation that followed. The Vice Commander was completely humiliated in front of his troops. A major strike to enemy morale had been landed.
What the moron didn't know is that the viewing globe worked both ways so I found out their position while weakening their spirits. Realizing the next morning that she had shamed herself, the niece sought to kill herself. I stopped her and we headed out to her uncle's camp. When we got there, the camp had been annihilated. Demonic spawns are perverts and perverts can quickly drop their guard for a good show. I let her walk about the ashes and ruin of the camp as she saw demonic spawns that she knew beheaded and dismembered.
I thanked her personally for her role in this maneuver. She looked at me and I pointed to a viewing globe that was still intact on the ground. I wave my hand at it and it comes on replaying last night's activities. She looks at me with a sense of disbelief. "What? You thought I was actually interested in you? Ha! Though, I have a spirit symbiotically sharing my form, your kind rarely ever satisfy my taste. Why do you think I didn't sleep with you? They got quite a show before they died." She says nothing and just stands looking at me in sorrow and shock.
Suddenly, a blade pierces through her abdomen and I laugh. I knew that would happen. What a predictable moron. The Vice Commander survived as I instructed and I had heard about his ability to teleport and attack enemies, so this worked out just as I had planned it. He gloats telling me that my lover would suffer as his niece suffered. I shake my head and her body falls backwards before him. The Vice Commander looks at what he had just done and the niece looks at him with more pain than I could have ever inflicted.
My guards execute him while he is unable to teleport due to his grief and the entire thing is viewed within the city by the citizens who rejoice seeing that they are safe from attack and my army returns to the city. The woman that had just arrived did not understand how they could cheer after what happened to that girl. She cursed me as a monster and being just like the demons I battle for my despicable ways. Looking at her as she spews forth such disdain for my actions, I remark calmly, "One 'innocent' is dead and a city is saved while my army took very few casualties. Call it what you will, but that is an easy trade for me to make, you ungrateful pest! You will know your place and hold your tongue!"
It is now that I realize how much I really can't stand being called a demon. Opening my eyes, I take in a deep breath and look around cautiously. “It is time I take my leave of this place. Shikaze, let’s move!!” We had saved this village, but there is more to be done and I will not be able to accomplish things if I am laid up in this village. Sure most of the people are ecstatic to have us and my men could easily find companions for the evening, but this is not what we are here for. We must continue to push against the Spectre and his forces if we are to have total victory.

22,685 words

:sango:

Subject: Re: The Warring World Within Sun Jun 14, 2009 8:20 am

Does this even take place on this site?

Subject: Re: The Warring World Within Sat Jun 27, 2009 2:49 am

Returning to the Capital after a successful campaign against the Spectre’s forces, I head to the War Room to join the discussion on the plans for the Final Assault. This is what I have been waiting for. This is the opportunity that I have been yearning to seize. Walking into the room, I am greeted, “My Prince, we are most pleased to see you safely returned to us. The land is looking much better and you seem to have increased in strength yourself.” I smile and nod to the compliment from my advisor. “So what do our latest reports state?”

Advisor: “Your popularity has skyrocketed, my lord. The Spectre and his forces have been trapped at the Dark Fortress and we are preparing for the final siege. Would you like the map brought together so that you can see it?”

I nod to him and they bring the separated blocks together and place them on the table in order. My eyes instantly focus on the dark area in the center of the land where the Spectre is still holed up with a strangehold on that region, but I do not allow myself to get angry. Rather, I find determination and satisfaction that the rest of the land is free from his poison… the rest of the land… I take a step back and float into the air to observe the… map. The advisors all look at me silently as I come to realize just what had happened. I land next to the map and ask them if I am going crazy.

The Dark Maiden appears and shakes her head, “No not crazy. You have a very vivid imagination, my Prince. We are inside of your body. You yourself are merely an image created by your mind. Your mind is the most powerful component of your being and as such it would appear to be you. These noble lords are your organs, major nerve clusters, veins and arteries, and the warriors that you have been commanding for what feels like years are your white blood cells. The Spectre’s forces are the infected cells and his lands have been the regions where the venom had spread. When you first arrived, you were grown as that was your mind’s belief of this matter. That you would just arrive and the poison would be gone, but you learned that it was stronger than you. While you gain the territory of the north to protect the heart of the land, you could not sustain your advance south, so you held your position in the Heart Castle while your meditation took you deeper into your inner sanctum. You relived a created childhood here where you knew that conventional medicines were not available and no matter what it was that the monk forced in here, it wasn’t doing enough, so you took matters into your own hands. The deadly efficiency of that girl enticed you so you took what you’ve seen in entertainment, read in the Realm libraries, not to mention your encounter with the two and created your own society of shinobi here. You are deeply fascinated by them. Shikaze, Psyre… “Death Wind”. You’re one memory of the merchant girl, Taki. There was smoke all around and you could feel the winds pick up as red mists covered the area. The blades of death running on the wind is what you remembered when you last encountered the girl. All of this was simply a very in-depth figment of your imagination that you created to make yourself strong enough to deal with the true problem here and that is the poison that your body is fighting against. The healing spell created me… your most trusted companion… to help guide you thru all of this so that you would be more receptive to its effects. The healing spell from the monk can’t seem to stop the poison by itself.”

I look at the Dark Maiden and the armor and mask is removed and it is indeed an image of Carmina. Nodding to her, she tells me that the forces are all ready to assault the Dark Fortress on my command, but I seem to be the only one who can deal with the root of the problem. I nod to her and tell her to prepare the armies for the final assault. This would be a hard battle, so I need some time to figure out exactly how I want to handle this. I can’t be too hasty or I’ll leave myself open to a damaging counter attack. With everyone gone, I am left alone with the map. I stop and a sadistic grin appears on my face when I start jotting down notes. I move pieces around to simulate the flow of the battle as certain decisions are being made. None of the strategies that I attempt solidify certain victory without actually laying siege to the fortress which can cost us heavy casualties which is something that I cannot allow to occur. There has to be a way to force him out. How would I either get them out or weaken them enough that the siege would result in far less casualties for my side… the old proverb… “Fight poison with poison!” So if I order blockades to the water supply and poison the water supply going to that area, they will drink, bathe, and treat their wounded with water contaminated with poison. Though I am alone, I leave the containment points marked by pieces on the map.

Heading down to my personal meditation room, I make a prayer to the Goddess that she would bless me in this battle. When my eyes open, the Dark Maiden is knelt next to me in a traditional kimono. She bows her head as I come to. I rise to my feet and she moves forward to retrieve my battle garbs. Standing before her silently, she undresses me down to my undershorts. The battle garbs are freshly cleaned and she recites a chant of blessing as I am being dressed. With the undergarments on, she grabs my greaves and kneels before me to attach them. “Let the greaves be light as feathers yet stronger than steel and fire.” The next item is a waistcloak. “Let this mask your movements from your enemies so that they can do you no harm.” She picks up the undercoat with a braced neck guard that clasps in the front making it look like a sleeveless traditional Chinese collar henchman vest with a hardened collar to protect my neck and throat from attack. To go over the undercoat, the Maiden grabs my chest piece, a decorated, yet battle tested cuirass, and puts it on me before securing the connectors and covering them. There is a very ornate design on the chest piece. The chest piece itself is unique as this is a lightweight material but it is either magically protected or a rare material that looks similar to hardened leather, but it is far tougher. Next, she grabs my left bracer and slides it over my hand and onto my forearm. Turning my arm over to align palm up, she tightens all of the straps before doing the same with my right bracer. “Beloved Goddess, hear my plea. Protect our brave Prince. Let your divinity radiate within this armor to keep safe your disciple. Let your knowledge flow freely thru him as he embarks on this final trek to purge the foul darkness from this land. I ask that you bless him.”

We feel a breeze move thru the room and it is refreshing. The Dark Maiden nods and lowers into a traditional bow as I stare at the altar on the other side of the room. Turning and bowing respectfully, I rise back up with my armor covering all of my vital organs. Now, my mind’s focus shifts all frivolous matters out of my mind. I nod to the Dark Maiden and head out. Vanishing from sight, I would appear in the air outside floating. The main aerial army from the castle awaits my commands. I inform them of their orders before sending them ahead to help out at the battle. The Shikaze arrive and their field commander tosses me a map which I look at while the others silently look to me for their next set of orders. After inspecting the map, I turn to address them, “Shikaze, my most loyal guardians and operatives, we have been thru much during our time here. You all know what is at stake here. You know what we are here to do. This land is mine. It is my body and as such, we will damage it in order to rebuild it stronger. We must do whatever is necessary to secure victory in this battle. There is nothing else for us, but victory or death. Shikaze, we move!”

The entire group vanishes from sight as we make our way towards the Dark Fortress and the looming kessen. While flying towards the last refuge of the Spectre, I replay so many of the events that have led to this point. Running away with Laili to the Shikaze Academy, our training there, then leaving to train with the Hermit, going off on my own to get stronger when Laili fell ill, the return and my decision to serve instead of returning right away to claim my throne… so much that I have done that has led to my ascension back to the Throne and to this moment. The first time I tried to assault the Dark Fortress I was not ready. Now I shall not fail.

We arrive at the battle and it is massive and filled with death & carnage. From the sky, the ground though darkened by the taint of the Spectre’s presence, is covered in growing seas of red. A large fireball flies at me and I smirk at the sight before moving out of the way easily. Lowering to the ground, the Shikaze move around me and I tell them to disperse and find the best way for us to enter the fortress. The army would lay siege, but I want to have operatives inside already if I can manage it. They will be charged with aiding in opening the main gate. Moving out, I make my way to the command center for this battle. There are heralds from the other clans fighting from different sides of the fortress waiting for me to arrive.

Before anyone can ask me a question, I call for a report of the situation first and the field commander tells me what is happening. Immediately, I start shifting units around and ordering different tactics. “I told you all what to do before you left, so who gave the order to do anything other than what I had already said?” One of the strategists speaks up and tells me that he thought it would work better if they focus on one side more. “Oh? That’s what you thought, huh? How is it working?” He cowers from me as I approach him and his voice trembles with fear as he tries to respond, “M-m-my Prince… p-p-please forgive my arrogance. I shall not challenge your will again.” My pupils change to flames and he falls onto his butt. Turning back to the map, I inform the commanders that we will force them to make camp when the battle begins to wane. The engineer forces are to prepare a night bombardment that will keep them pinned down and unable to focus on my primary objective. The commanders do not bother inquiring about the primary objective. As important as this battle is, they need only focus on their objectives.

My own personal army receives their guard orders during the evening and the Shikaze makes their way back to my massive tent that night. A group of them provide a perimeter around the tent so that we could talk freely inside of the tent. The siege weapons are prepared and as the sun descends from its throne in the sky, the catapults, long range mages, trebuchets, and “aerial bombers” begin their test fires. The targeting is on point by the time night is officially upon us. The Shikaze and I discuss our plans as the men sing and cheer for the direct shots from the catapults. The aerial bombers that are sent after the fires begin are sent with buckets of oil to magical dust that is meant to help with the spread of fire and poisonous gases. I don’t want them to be able to rest, recover, or make any form of plans to repel our assaults.

Subject: Re: The Warring World Within Sat Jun 27, 2009 2:52 am

Once the meeting is complete, a team of Shikaze shinobi is sent away. The remaining shinobi are kept behind to assist in finding flaws in my strategies for tomorrow. I send a runner to tell the siege assaulters to shift their attacks to the walls around the main gate, but not to strike the main gate. He is told to remain until he can confirm the shift in targeting. When I am informed of the shift, I spread word to the commanders that they will be called upon to unleash hell about the Spectre and his forces when the signal is given. The Shikaze and I head away from the camp using the cover of night and Godspeed to add in our movements. Whenever, we are close to being spotted, Haku comes into play to further conceal our position.

Patrols are eliminated one by one in a systematic fashion instead of first come, first served. Once we reach our target locations, Shikaze with the Transcend ability, move thru the guard door in order to attack the guard room at the west gate. Moving quickly, they eliminate all guards by the door. Once the immediate area is secure, the door is unlocked and the rest of the group moves in. This is done at the east and west gates. The south gate is currently under heavy siege assault from my southern allies as the north gate is trying to endure from my army. I am with the western infiltration team. The team holds position while I relax into a position where I can observe the current section of the castle. A shinobi with strong telepathic powers remains with me to serve as my walkie-talkie headset with the rest of the Shikaze. Once we are ready, I mobilize the unit. With the western patrol out of the way, the Shikaze move to the walls and nearby guard stations to remove exterior wall guards. As they move they extinguish wall torches. Once the main team is in place, the Shikaze teams are called back to their respective hideouts. We would wait now.

Observing the castle’s internal activity and receiving magic messages from the scattered shinobi, the contaminated water supply is being used to treat the wounded in the infirmary making them sicker and also being used for baths and drinking water. After hours, we observe the mass chaos that ensues which allows us to signal the advance of the army. The advance would come maybe an hour before dawn. All sides converge on the fortress at once and we sweep thru eliminating gate guards and breaking the holding chains to open the gates to the approaching armies. Explosive tags and piles of combustible items and debris are placed at the north gate as the army approaches. When the enemy guards approach to try to prevent entrance to the Fortress, an energy blast triggers a massive explosion. We emerge from our concealed positions to move towards the main keep.

With the main forces reaching the fortress walls and flooding in to fight at close quarters, I fly towards the Keep’s large terrace overlooking the main town square. The Spectre appears to face me and we glare at one another. I step to my right side and a would-be assassin is standing behind my previous position with a dagger handle sticking out of the front of their chest while the tip of the blade is protruding out of the back. The Spectre tries to use the distraction to escape but finds that he cannot move. My left hand yanks back towards the ground and the Spectre comes crashing back down. An orb appears in front of him and I curl my left index finger towards me slowly so that he is drawn towards me which also brings him right towards the orb as it begins to activate. As it rips into his flesh, I begin to feel pain as well. The Shikaze look at me and I extend my left hand to my primary bodyguard and tell the others to purify the water supply.

The Spectre looks at me, “So in order to destroy me, you would curse yourself?!” At the mention of a curse, I extend my right hand towards his wounded torso that has just ripped into by the Vortex power and clinch my fist tightly as he gasps for air as I grin sinisterly at him, “Enjoy the pain and suffering. Before you fall, I want you to know the ill will that you have brought upon my land!” The Spectre laughs and tells me that even if I kill him, the effect has already spread. “I am no mere poison, foolish boy. I am the blood of a dark demon. The blood was injected into your body when he stabbed you before you were taken. You can grow stronger. You are not human after all. You are some form of a half-breed hybrid, part demon, yet part mortal. If you can conquer the essence of more demons, you will gain more knowledge from sources extending far beyond your current comprehension. It is in your nature to accomplish this. Do not fear this, young Prince, you will drink the blood of demons again and you will come to enjoy the taste and the fear that it will create within them when they hear of your approach.” There is no way that I have dark demon blood flowing within my veins. I refuse to believe this! My telekinetic grip wraps around the neck of the Spectre as he is lifted into the air. I slam his head into the wall several times out of a growing anger. So overwhelming is the rage that consumes me that I telekinetically draw my bodyguard’s sword and pierce the chest of the Spectre. Maliciously the sword descends cutting thru the Spectre’s body in a downward vertical motion. The body is dropped out of the sky and I stand atop the terrace as the sword is returned to my bodyguard’s sheath. The Spectre’s forces realizing that he is dead, surrender almost instantly.

Victory… it had taken many years, but I had finally achieved what I set out for so long ago. My body is badly weakened as a result though. I hear a voice speak to me, “Rest now, my disciple. You have earned this blessing from me.” The skies illuminate and rumble with the sound of a loud feline roar and my body floats into the air as a large ray of light shines on my body. A piercing shriek shatters my armor sending shards into my flesh. As if I wasn’t wounded enough, if the monk was still observing me, he would notice randomly bleeding. A second shriek convulses a surge of energy to flow thru my body and my eyes shoot open as the shards are pushed out of my flesh. My flesh heals in a matter of seconds as does the underlying damage to tissue and muscles. I could feel the healing taking place as my mind isolates problem areas and focuses on them. I am amazed at the way my mind is able to focus my body on the task of healing itself. It is incredible what an unleashed mind is able to accomplish and I still have more to learn and unlock.
With my body healed, I watch as a third shriek causes the Dark Fortress to implode upon itself. With the newly acquired freedom from darkness, the land begins to show signs of vitality again and the dark barren wasteland that once polluted my kingdom turns green within the fortress first before it begins to spread beyond the walls. The commanders ask me if I wish to retain the Fortress and I tell them to sack and raze this cursed memory. They nod and set their treasure hunting soldiers loose on the place. The Shikaze and I return with my main forces to the Center Palace which has been fortified. The army remains there as I continue north with the Shikaze. We belonged in the Capital and it was time that I returned to where I belong. The other warlords would return to their territories to govern their lands. With the Shikaze with me, I would be establishing my first line of defense against outside attacks and/or infiltrations against the Capital.

When we finally arrive back in the Capital, the Dark Maiden is there waiting for me. She looks at me and bows respectfully. “Your campaign was successful and your victory is complete, my Prince.” I walk silently and dismiss the Shikaze to rest and begin their patrols. My bodyguard remains with me as always. He gives us a few paces and the Dark Maiden asks me if I am worried about the words of the dying Spectre. I look at her and she points to my mind. “You really have to learn how to guard your mind.” I tell her that considering that she is currently inside of it by invitation, she’s cheating and not to change the subject. “Psyre, you are not a dark demon. You are a Seer.” I turn away from her and look out at the garden in the back of the palace. “I am going to meditate. I need to find clarity… to ease my mind so that its defenses are stronger.”

She nods and I continue on by myself. She tells my bodyguard that I must deal with this pain and this confusion on my own. Once I make it to my meditation room, I remove what’s left of my armor and allow myself to fall into a deep calm. I have to get some answers. While I am in my calming trance, I see a figure shrouded in shadows and I approach them from behind and as I get closer, I notice that there are bodies all around them. Their head shifts to the side showing their awareness of my presence. “The path to power and supremacy in battle will take you thru many trials and sacrifices. Your greatest weapon must be kept secure from potential enemies who will try to steal your knowledge from you. You will also need to be mindful of something that you will enjoy… that is power itself. If you allow yourself to be consumed by a quest for more and more power, you will end up here.” The figure turns to the side and a horned demon has its throat slit with a platinum, ruby and diamond encrusted chalice under it being filled with blood. Looking up at the figure, I am shocked to see… me. All of these bodies are spirits, both oni and kami as well as yokai are drained here. How could I have become this… monster?

My body lunges forward like a spring released trap as I gasp for air. I could not believe that I could have fallen so far from my noble path. I look around and find that I am completely awake in the monk’s hut, but he is nowhere to be found. I need to get out of here and get some fresh air. I am pleased that my body feels as if it’s completely healed. Still, I can’t shake that chilling feeling. I must do everything in my power to keep from becoming a monster.

4000 words + 22,685 = 26,685 WC
10 Level Ups = 25,000 words
New Custom = 500 words (-2000 exp)
New Unlock = 1000 words
=26,500 required

EXP = 185
PWC = 26,685
* While it was a hallucination, Psyre was forced to organize units and run a kingdom which gives more insight into running his organization. The different type of units helps him with different types of Neutralizers. He also works as one of the primary Coordinators for the company so having to coordinating different levels of missions as well as getting his hands dirty himself, Psyre has improved his overall ability to run PsiCoven, as long as he doesn't go insane from the whole thing.

Affinity: Seer

Training Level Ups
1) Futeki (Trained) = 144%
2) Capacity (Trained) = 144%
3) Curse (Mastered)
4) Pyro (Perfected)
5) Godspeed (Trained)
6) Haku (Trained)
7) Wisp (Mastered)
8] Cyclone (Perfected)

Unlock Custom: Psychic Healing Factor (Trained)
Curse (Perfected)
Unlock Ability: Defense: Mental Defense (Novice)

Psychic Healing Factor (active/passive)
The near fatal poisoning of Psyre forced his mind to exert strenuous control over his body to sustain his life. The result of this strain is the ability of Psyre's mind to heal his body with minimal effort. Once this power has been triggered, Psyre experiences a momentary spike in body temperature then he normalizes and his body constantly regenerates 9% max health per turn. At Perfected Control Level, the power is always active without the need of a trigger. It is able to work continuously for 10 turns before it has to recharge for the number of posts used.
Drain: Fierce (Novice), Trained (Strong), Honed (Average), Mastered (Weak), Perfected (None)

:sango:

Subject: Re: The Warring World Within Sat Jun 27, 2009 3:17 pm

Updated

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