Author's Note : Alright, first multi-chapter fic coming up from me, feel free to shout at me if it's bad. Reviews are both welcome and wanted. Enjoy!
Prologue : Our Existence
"It began with the world becoming one, creatures spreading upon its surface fast or slow, with no balance, but with force and reckoning. A Death Cycle begun. The strong survive and rule, while the weak suffer and die. All of these creatures would once walk upon the ground, not scattered, but united. United by a belief, united by a vision. A vision of power, a vision of death and destruction. At those ages, far away back in time was when this occurred.
The eldest of the three sitting around the fire opened his fist, and showed its contents to the two younglings. The two would stare at it without any clue as of what it was, but the elder would smile at them, tossing the contents of his hand on the fire, a big effort to his weak and old bones. The fire would turn blue from red. The younglings would be amazed by what they would see, until something would change. The time and space would be twisted by powers older hen the Cycle itself, and they would be lost hopelessly, left to their own devices to find their belief within the Void. Those who would succeed would live with the memory forever, but those who would never return would be forgotten amongst their own. It is how our clan was born, and the only way it can survive, breeding the strongest of warriors, men and women dedicating their lives to serve Them. Them, who give us power, Them, who bring balance to the World. We shall serve Them, and we shall help Them, should They require our power, body and soul. We would bring balance to the World, until the Cycle would resume, like the sand of time falling in the Hourglass. The Cycle repeats, and we are the ones who bring the balance to it.
And how it began is how it ends. Nothing but ashes and dust scattered in the wind and upon the unholy ground of the ancestors. It would seem the Cycle ended, but upon the face of the world, a new threat would rise and shatter the scale of balance, only to achieve chaos and destruction. This is why we exist.
From where you come
Is where you go
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,
You will become what you must."
The elder of the clan sat in his sacred spot around the fire, while the young listened to him intently, heeding his great words of wisdom, even with ears that were not yet sharp enough to understand to truth and deepness of it. The elder knew that more than anyone, him being one of the young back in time long forgotten.
The old shaman scratched his bald head, and burshed his thumb and index finger through the length of his long white beard, his hands and arms full of scars. However, his face was untouched by whatever power could mark the elder for life. His eyes wore a wisdom of another age, one not known to anyone but him and Them.
The younglings, understanding that the tale has ended, stood themselves off the ground, bowing to the Wise, each leaving the fire. Each and every single one, except his student. That one was still too young, but she understood how the world turned, and how the Hourglass shaped time and space, or how They would maintain the balance of the World.
"I have a question, Elder Wise, if you would listen to words of this young one seeking your wisdom" the girl bowed deeply, her long violet hair almost touching the ground.
"Come now, my child" the elder smiled upon her. "Your words will reach my ears, but will my wisdom reach yours?"
"I seek your knowledge, thus I shall hear it" the girl nodded, understanding the question the elder posed her. Knowledge was never gained through power, it was gained through time, and this was one of the first lessons the young learned in the clan, if not the very first one.
"Then I am listening intently young one" the Wise nodded. "Tell me what bothers you so."
"The last part of the Saying. 'You will become what you must.' What must we become?" the girl eagerly looked at the elder, who, in turn, turned serious and
grabbed his pouch of herbs from under his long, black fur coat. He opened it slowly, his fingers diving eagerly into the pouch, slowly searching for something.
After a moment or two, he pulled out two blue leaves, holding it up for the young girl to see.
"The destiny of one such as yourself is a mistery to everyone but our Dark Gods, who shape the balance and our fate" the elder gave a hard look at the girl.
She was fragile, but he couldn't risk losing the chance to fulfill the fate which the Dark Gods have foreseen for him. "However..."
He took one of the young girl's hand, and burried the blue leaves into her open hand, before closing it to a fist and pushing it slowly away from himself.
"The strength of your heart will strengthen your arms, and you shall vanquish whatever the next Cycle brings" the Wise stared into the girl's warm grey eyes, then smiled at her. "You will see in due time that your worries are unfounded."
With that, the elder stood up, slowly walking towards the North of the camp, leaving the young girl with the unusual herbs at the campfire. With each step, he lifted his cane, his old legs barely able to support him. 'You will see, young Yoruichi. I'm sorry for your future losses.' He entered his tent.
The ground of the tent was covered with a rug made of one, or several black bears' fur, covering the dusty and grainy ground the camp of the clan was settled on. In the middle of the room was a round object on the rug, a few inches behind it was the bedplace. To the right, dozens of potions and herbs of all kinds, while to the left, weaponry and armor of the leader of the clan.
The old shaman sat behind the orb. It started glowing in a green light, with black smoke swirling around in the center of the orb.
"I will do what I must for you, my dear child. Do not forget my sacrifice."
With that, the old Wise touched the orb with both of his hands. The orb glowed with more light, while the elder whispered words in a foreign language. He shook the orb with his old hands, and ended the chanting. His eyes turned white as he fell to the ground, lifeless forever more.
Author's Note: Aaaaand tada. That's our prologue right there! Thanks for reading, drop by a review if you feel like it!
Also, this is just an introduction. If you don't understand things, it's normal. You will... but only later! Bwahhaha.