Ariwara's Legacy

By Sir_Smoooty

It is said, by poets and warriors alike, that when a samurai dies their soul becomes a part of their sword. A samurai's kin may inherit their sword for this reason, allowing the samurai to live on in a spiritual form. This is a belief held by many people throughout the Dawn Empire and is especially appreciated by poets.

Ariwara looked on in panic at the fierce orange glow of light peeking over the trees in the night sky. He kicked his horse into a gallop, running towards the light and into the forest. At the end of the small wood, he passed the last of the trees revealing a large burning village.

Halting his horse, he watched in despair. Frustration and sorrow overwhelmed his thoughts. He cleared his throat and steadied his mind. He came searching for something in the village, and he was sure that it did not burn with everything else.

He kicked his horse again to move towards to the village, and the horse reluctantly obeyed. Once he was closer to the village, he stopped again and dismounted. Reaching into his saddlebags, he pulled out his helmet, an Orochi helmet, forged in the Nunki style with a small round ornament depicting a crane encircled by fire. He sat it on the saddle and took out more components of his armor, which he skillfully put on.

After equipping his armor and putting on his helmet, he untied his sword from the saddle, which was tightly wrapped in cloth, and slung it across his back. He pulled up his cloth mask, obscuring his face. The mask was plain black, with no decoration. As it began to rain, he grabbed the horse's reins and lead it toward the burning village.

The village was well-known in the Dawn Empire. It was called Kirishima. Located in the most northern region of the Dawn Empire, Kirishima was founded on flat, fertile lands which were not found in the Myre. They used this land to grow wheat and rice, providing a large portion of the Empire's food, as well as making the village and its inhabitants incredibly wealthy.

There was a down side to this, however. Kirishima sat dangerously close to the Viking lands across the narrow sea. A raid on Kirishima was bound to happen.

The Samurai knew this. The village used its wealth to protect the village from any attackers. They hired the finest smiths to make weapons for their warriors, and even used steel instead of wood to make their armor, a practice that had been abandoned long ago due to the shortage of steel and iron in the Empire.

From these militaristic developments, the head family of Kirishima, the Kita family, formed a powerful clan. The Kita clan quickly became one of the strongest and most respected clans in the entire Empire. The clan produced countless warriors of great skill. Wise Kensei, strong Shugoki, fearsome Nobushi, and skilled Orochi.

Two notable Orochi stood out from the rest. A brother and sister, twins, belonging the Kita family itself. Ariwara and Aruko. They stood out due to their strong bond in training and on the battlefield. The two siblings were inseparable. They were schooled together, and they trained together. On the battlefield, they fought as a team and were strikingly effective.

When Ariwara and Aruko both came of age, their father gifted them each a sword. Two masterfully crafted katana, with unique designs. Ariwara's had a deeply curved blade made of black steel with a square black guard, and a hilt finely wrapped with black cord.

Aruko's had a dark red blade, with an uncolored edge. Along the blade were two thin golden lines, one half as long as the other. Near the tip of the blade was an image of a long swirling gold cloud. The guard was in the shape of an oblong quatrefoil, with a hilt finely wrapped in red cord. Both swords were made to last a lifetime.

The two siblings humbly accepted the weapons and were honored as true Orochi.

The Vikings came, decades later. The village had grown feeble over the years. It was raising weaker warriors and neglected its defenses. The people of Kirishima underestimated the Vikings and thought they may never come. They did, however, with an overwhelming force, and pillaged Kirishima for all it was worth, leaving it to burn.

Ariwara came upon the crumbling wall of the village and let go of the horse's reins. The beast, visibly nervous, trotted slowly away from the fire the moment Ariwara let go of the reins. The Orochi looked back at his horse and let it be. He knew it wouldn't leave him.

Ariwara examined the wall, which was shorter than the last time he saw it. He stepped back and with a quick sprint, jumped at the wall. Using precise foot placement, he found a momentary hold on a small crevice in the wall and propelled himself upward, grabbing the edge of the wall. He slowly pulled himself up and onto the narrow rampart.

From the top of the wall, he surveyed the area. Most of the Vikings had left, but he spotted a small group of four heading toward a large castle-like building in the upper half of the village; Ariwara's birth home, the Kita mansion.

Two of the Vikings were simple captains carrying two-handed swords, much like the ones wielded by the Wardens of Ashfeld. Another was clearly a Berserker. A lightly armored Viking with two one-handed battle axes. The Berserkers were well among the Samurai as harsh and brutal warriors that should be avoided on the battlefield. This one was clearly no exception, with dried blood covering his tunic and axes.

The fourth Viking was of large stature and carried an enormous Dane axe. He wore little armor, with a horned spectacle helm on his head and a large animal pelt draped over his shoulders. Obviously, he was a Raider. Raiders fearless warriors who were viewed as armor-less fools by most of the Samurai.

Ariwara watched the Vikings closely as he crept along the ramparts, moving closer to the mansion. One of the two captains remained outside of the mansion while the other three Vikings entered to search the for loot.

Having observed the situation, Ariwara knelt down and took the sword off of his back, laying it on the ground in front of him. He began to unwrap the cloth that was around the weapon. The sword in its scabbard looked old and worn. The scabbard's black paint was chipped, and the cord wrapped around the sword's hilt was loose. Accompanying the sword was a small pouch containing three kunai, which Ariwara secured at his waste.

Ariwara picked up the sword and partially unsheathed it, inspecting the blade. The blade was made of blackened steel and had an exceptionally deep curve. It was well kept, with the exception of a few notches on the edge. Gazing at the dark blade, Ariwara was filled with remorse and an incredibly painful memory encompassed his mind.

A stern, commanding voice filled the large room of the mansion.

"Kita Aruko,3 your mistakes have led to great failure and have brought shame upon you and your Daimyo.1" It was the voice of the Ariwara's father.

The room was bare, with no decoration. At the center of the room was Aruko, who was sitting on a mat. She was wearing a pure white kimono, unlike the multiple spectators sitting in front of her. One of the spectators was, of course, her father, who sat in front of the other spectators. Another was the lord of the region in which Kirishima was located. Others were other samurai that lived in and guarded Kirishima. Most of these warriors were accompanied their servants, who were standing behind the spectators near the wall.

In front of Aruko laid her red and gold sword, which was finely maintained and looked as if it had been made just the previous day. It laid on a fine cloth, sheathed in its blood red scabbard.

"To atone for your mistakes and retain your honor, you have been allowed to take your own life, which you accepted." He spoke loudly and plainly.

Aruko bowed her head in response. She was stoically silent.

Standing behind her was Ariwara, who was wearing a red kimono and had his black sword sheathed at his side.

With a nod from her father, Aruko picked up a dagger that had been laying at her side. It had a small cloth wrapped around the blade, which is what Aruko held it by.

At the same time, Ariwara drew his sword and held it upright, pointing towards the sky. He stared down at Aruko in silence.

Aruko thrusted the blade into her abdomen and made a long cut from left to right. Her expression did not change, as she endured the pain and bent forward closer to the ground. In response to this, Ariwara let out a brief shout to empower his strike and swiftly cut off Aruko's head.

Ariwara stopped staring at the blade, sheathed it and secured it at his side, held in place by his obi.2 He raised his head and peered over the railing once more. The situation was unchanged, although the captain at the door was now leaning against the wall, and so was his sword. All that remained of the fire now were embers, leaving the village in smoldering, quiet ruin.

Ariwara stood up, although he remained in a crouching position, and leaped over the railing onto the ground. Using the remains of houses, sheds, and a stable as cover, Ariwara cautiously made his way to the mansion.

Once he was closer, Ariwara examined the area around the captain to come up with a plan of attack. The captain was only lightly armored, so he could easily take him with one swift attack. Ariwara moved closer and crouched behind a short stone wall. Now, he was no more than six meters away from the captain. This would be easy.

He slowly made his way to where the wall ended and took a kunai out of its pouch. He had to make sure this kill was swift and silent. While the captain wasn't looking, Ariwara slowly crept past the wall and toward him. He quickly changed his movement into a silent sprint, which was easy to accomplish on the stone floor. Before the captain could react to his presence, Ariwara leapt toward him and grabbed the back of his throat, plunging the kunai's sharp blade deep into the left side of his neck, and swiftly cut to the right. This left the captain unable to make a sound, and he was dead in seconds, nearly decapitated.

Ariwara gently led the captain's limp corpse to the ground. He then grabbed the captain's sword and laid it across his body. With that done, he took a wide cloth, which was hanging from his obi, and wiped the kunai and his hand clean. It was an exceptionally bloody kill. He slot the kunai back in its place inside the pouch.

Ariwara turned to the door. It was a large double door, nearly one meter taller than him. He walked to and cracked it open, listening inside. He heard faint sounds of heavy objects being tossed and light chatter in Norse, a language that he understood very little of. Suddenly he heard a loud thumping sound, following by a shout and a curse. These Vikings were surprisingly incautious.

It was clear that the main room was empty, and the Vikings were further inside the mansion, so he slowly opened the door wide enough for him to examine the room. With his head through the door, Ariwara found the room to be empty, and surprisingly undamaged. The room was not clean, however. Across the floor were three bloody corpses. Two were armored warriors, laying face down with their swords not far from their limp, open hands. They were both Kensei.

The third corpse was that of an unarmored warrior dressed in a red haori. He laid on his back with a wakizashi resting in his open palm. There was a cut across his right cheek and a large bloody gash across his chest. It was evident that the corpses had been laying there for some time, as the blood was beginning to dry.

The room was clear of enemies, so Ariwara stepped inside and softly closed the door behind him. The three corpses laid at the center of the large room. To the right was a staircase leading to the second floor, where the sounds of rummaging came from. To the left was an open doorway, which was overlooked by a large mural depicting three samurai battling an eight headed dragon.

He moved to the stairs and began climbing them slowly, with silent steps, and drew his sword. At the top of the stairs were two doors. One to the left, which was an open doorway and had the sounds of scrounging emanating from it. He wouldn't go that way. The door to the right was a much safer choice. Ariwara knew the layout of the mansion well.

Moving further into the mansion, Ariwara found one of the Vikings. The Vikings was in a weapons room, though most of what remained were wooden swords, staffs and naginata. The Viking was gathering all of the real weapons.

Ariwara was in the adjacent room. He was spying on the Viking through an open doorway. It was the other captain. His sword was hanging from a loop of rope at his waist as he greedily collected the weapons.

With his sword in hand, Ariwara slowly crept into the room. His steps were silent as he swiftly moved across the room. When Ariwara reached the captain, who was still unaware of his presence, he swiftly grabbed him, covering the captain's mouth with his hand and plunged the blade deep into his back. The captain became limp almost instantly. The sword had pierced his heart.

Ariwara pulled out the sword and slowly lead the captain's body to the ground. Turning away, he stopped and listened. He heard footsteps in the adjacent room, accompanied by a few words in Norse and the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground. It sounded like only one person. The footsteps stopped, replaced by the sound of a chest opening.

He moved to the doorway and peered into the room. It was the Berserker. His back was turned to Ariwara and he was crouched, examining the contents of a chest. Ariwara edged into the room and glanced at the open doorway to his right. He saw no sign of the Raider, who was the only Viking so far unaccounted for.

He fixed his attention back to the Berserker, who now had several small items sitting beside him that he had removed from the chest. Ariwara moved closer and slowly raised his sword to strike. The floor creaked.

The Berserker perked his head up and turned around. Seeing Ariwara, he shouted a curse and swiftly drew his axes. Ariwara wasn't close enough to strike the Berserker before he stood up; instead, he dashed forward into a swift pirouette, throwing out a fast, one-handed cut. The Berserker blocked the attack with one axe and threw a cut with the other, which Ariwara swiftly leapt away from. The two warriors stood for a brief moment and took a fighting stance. The Berserker had a nervous expression on his face and made frequent glances at the doorway.

Ariwara quickly dashed forward and threw a swift cut. The Berserker guarded with an axe and ducked away, swinging the other axe at Ariwara's hip. Ariwara swiftly brought down his sword, parried the attack, and kicked the Berserker away. The Viking stumbled backwards and fell to the ground. He leapt back up onto his feet before Ariwara could attack again and threw one of his axes. The axe flew horizontally with incredible speed and struck Ariwara's leg.

The axe sharply cut through his leg and flew past into the corner of the room, where it hit the ground and slid into the wall. Ariwara fell to one knee and reached to cover the wound with his hand. It was bleeding profusely. The Berserker ran forward and threw a heavy strike with his axe. Ariwara quickly stood, ignoring the intense pain in his leg, and agilely avoided the Berserker's strike. The Berserker stumbled forward from the missed axe swing and Ariwara, now behind the Berserker, thrust his sword through the back of the Berserker's neck. The Berserker tried to shout in pain, but all that came out was a gargled scream. Ariwara solemnly pulled the sword out. The Berserker's body slumped heavily to the floor. He let out a sigh of relief and fell to his knees, dropping his sword.

He began to examine his wound. It was still bleeding heavily, of course. Ariwara picked up his sword and took the cloth from his obi and wiped the blade clean of blood. He sat the sword back onto the ground and wrapped the cloth around his wound. He tied it tight, clenching his teeth to help him bear the pain. The bleeding was slowed. He sat there, closed his eyes, and began to rest.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes, grabbed his sword, turned around, and moved to block. He stopped the large axe just in time. He pushed the enemy's weapon away and leapt backwards and onto his feet.

The Raider stood there, breathing heavily in apparent rage. He shouted a few words in Norse. Ariwara understood none of it.

The Raider ran forward and attempted to hit Ariwara with a quick strike from the bottom of his axe's haft. Ariwara dodged away and guarded with his sword in one motion. The wound on his leg seethed with pain when Ariwara put weight on it.

The Raider wheeled around quickly and swung his axe again. The flat side of the axe head collided violently with Ariwara's chest. He was thrown back and lost his footing, falling onto his stomach. Ariwara gasped for air. The blow had taken his breath away, literally. He quickly scrambled back onto his feet and readied his sword for the Raider's next attack. The Raider came running toward Ariwara, shouting as he swung his axe. Ariwara reacted quickly. He ducked down, still breathless, and deflected the Raider's attack. In the same movement, Ariwara used the momentum of the deflect to throw a long, horizontal cut to the Raider's abdomen.

The Raider cried out in pain and collapsed onto the floor. The cut was deep, and the he died in seconds. Ariwara fell onto his hands and knees, dropped his sword, removed his mask and gasped for air again. Finally, he breathed in heavily. The sensation of his breathe returning to him completely distracted Ariwara from the pain in his leg. He sat up straight and breathed slowly. Everything was quiet now. Ariwara sat there for some time, utterly relieved.

Ariwara picked up his sword, sheathed it, and stood up. He moved through the mansion slowly, limping to lessen the pain in his leg. Eventually he made it to the room he was searching for. To his surprise, it was untouched. The Vikings who were ruthlessly searching the mansion had not come across this room. The room that once belonged to Aruko.

The room was now a shrine dedicated to her. The central point of the room was her armor. It was black, with no proper sode4 and a distinct helmet, which was decorated with an iron rabbit ornament. The rest of the room was filled with small personal belongings that were close to Ariwara and her immediate family. Some things present were gifted to the shrine by Ariwara.

Laying in front of Aruko's displayed armor was a long, narrow chest. It was painted red, with gold colored decorations that depicted two dragons encircling a sword. This was what Ariwara had come for.

Within the chest was Aruko's sword. Kneeling down in front of the chest, Ariwara gazed at the sword. He knew what it looked like and knew it would be here, yet he felt incredible shock and nostalgia from its presence. The sword, sheathed in its dark red scabbard, was as clean and well maintained as ever.

Ariwara slowly and carefully removed the sword from the chest. With his off hand, he removed his own sword from his obi and tossed it aside. He slowly unsheathed Aruko's sword and examined the blade. It was perfectly clean, and the edge was finely sharpened.

Ariwara re-sheathed the sword and held it close. Tears began to fill his eyes. Clutching the sword tightly, like you would a loved one, Ariwara cried tears both of sadness and joy.

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