In a separate realm, Japan is divided into Kingdoms – Earth, Wind, Water and Ice, Fire, Lightening and Shadow. Each Kingdom is ruled by a powerful Lord or Lady with exceptional combat skills.

Years have passed since the peace treaty which was established in a war called the Millennium War but now, the new Lord of the Kingdom of Shadow is declaring war on each Kingdom in hopes to achieve his dream of a unified Japan under his rule in order to avenge his father's murder.

What I am asking of you is this, read the entire chapter and become familiar with each Lord/Lady. Your submitted/accepted characters will serve as mercenaries under the Lord/Lady of your choice. Of course, there will be romance, drama and overall action! So don't miss your chance to submit a character! The application will be at the bottom of this chapter, just to ensure that you have actually somewhat read it.

I will post the first chapter as soon as I have everything ready! ALL APPLICATIONS MUST BE SENT THROUGH A PRIVATE MESSAGE. REVIEWS WILL BE DELETED, AND NOT ACCEPTED!

"Where is Lady Chiharu?" A young messenger frantically entered the stone palace, holding out a scrunched yellow scroll in her pale hand. "I have an urgent letter!"

The royal guards looked at her in disgust, frowning at the dreary locks of brown hair sticking to her sweaty face and the dirt that marred her sickly, sullen cheeks. With their spears, they pointed to the doors that lead to the back of the castle. "In the garden, of course."

The messenger gulped, desperation refusing to leave her trembling eyes. "She's not going to like this… not one bit." Running to the heavy iron doors, she pushed them open to reveal a bright, flourishing garden – a stark contrast to the social conditions of the kingdom during the time. She swallowed her fear and stepped into the moist air of the princess's garden, being careful to avoid stepping on even the smallest of insect.

"What is it?" a flute-like voice rang through the leaves of the large trees that surrounded the young girl. "Haven't I told you already that you are not to bring political poison into this innocent haven?"

A petite woman dressed in a long brown kimono stepped out from the wall of exotic flowers. Her garment was lined with pink silk and silver flowers that were embroidered along the side of her robe. She approached the messenger with her hands tucked into her excessively long sleeves that reached her feet. Her hair was golden blonde and straight down to her shoulders while her bangs started short on both sides of her forehead, but tapered down to a point in the center of her face, stopping just above her large, deep brown eyes. But the strangest feature of all were the elf-like, pointed ears.

"Lady Chiharu, you don't understand—"

"The world is an ugly place, my dear," Chiharu interrupted. As she spoke, her small features refused to move, giving her a seemingly expressionless demeanour. "That is why this garden is so special… because it's the only place that makes me happy."

"Very well, my Lady," the messenger stood firmly before her strange lord. "But this is too important to wait. Please," she handed the scroll to Chiharu and stepped back instantly.
Chiharu's small, slender hands hesitantly tore the wax sealing off and slowly unravelled the crinkled paper. As her eyes scanned the writing on the page, they grew wider, and then closed completely until she threw it aside and turned from her frightened messenger. The symbol for 'Earth' that was printed on the back of her silk robe glistened in the sun as she walked away.

"My Lady…"

"Like I said before," Chiharu whispered with disappointment. "The world is an ugly place." There was a moment of silence before the great ruler spoke once more. "If this war is to become a reality, there is no telling what kind of evils will manifest itself in our Kingdom of Earth. Am I right?"

"Well, yes…"

"And although war is unnecessary, we need to defend ourselves from certain evils that reside in the South." Chiharu began to disappear into her garden until the messenger could only assume her presence. "Tell my men to polish my bow and sharpen my arrows, child. Allow me to finish watering my precious ferns first."

"This is completely illogical!" An elderly man pounded his worn fist against the yellow scroll, rattling the legs of the wooden desk before him. He furrowed his large, thick black brows in frustration and tore off the large spectacles from his face. Rubbing the long scar that started at his left eyebrow and down to his chin, he gripped the dark, rough beard on his chin. A loose, cream coloured shirt covered his scrawny arms and a navy, war-like vest with proud gold buttons clung tightly to his weathered chest. On his legs he wore matching cream, baggy pants and brown sandals revealed his wrinkled toes. "Completely irrational and ludicrous!"

He pulled a small, circular, blue paper fan from his pocket and held it by the polished wooden handle, staring at the golden symbol for 'wind' printed elegantly on its surface. Bringing it up to his angered face, he fanned himself cool and reached for a calligraphy brush and scrolls.

"Lord Tadashi?" A guard called from outside of the ancient study. "Please, pardon my asking, but is everything alright?"

After waiting for a few moments, the guard gulped at the silence and reached out to slide the door open. However, before he could, Load Tadashi thrust it aside and shoved a new scroll into his hands. "You, take this to the man who sent you that abominable scroll and tell him that the Kingdom of Wind refuses his selfish declaration!"

"I, but..."

"And tell him that I will not allow this land into a state of war unless there logical reasoning behind it! The winds of time has granted us such moral progression… there is no need to throw all these advancements away because of something insignificant that happened in the past. Do you understand me?"

The guard briskly nodded and bowed before the elder. "Right, my Lord."

Tadashi growled as he watched the man stumble away and out of the door to the Wind palace. "These children… calling themselves wise Lords and Ladies of their Kingdoms! I won't have it! I've lived too long and know too much to fall for their traps. Do you hear me!"

"Oh, Daichi!" a pretty maid giggled, fondling the buttons of her young lord's tight, white kimono-like shirt. "Do you really mean that?"

"Anything for you, Kai," the eccentric man smirked handsomely. His skin was as pale as paper, but his eyes were the color of deep emeralds, decorated with bright red eye makeup and thick black eyeliner curving at the ends to form a mischievous cat-eye effect. He batted incredibly long, thick lashes and underneath his eyes were painted three, horizontally lined golden dots. His hair was jet black with red tips and it flowed down to his mid-back while straight bangs covered his entire forehead and fell short of his eyelashes. Lifting his bandaged arms, he caressed the young maid's face and ran his red-painted nails along her cheeks.

"My name isn't Kai," she blinked with genuine confusion and stood at the sound of vigorous knocking at the palace door.

"Where are you going, my pretty little flower?" he grinned, crossing his legs which were covered by black ninja pants and bandages up to his knees. "Your Lord commands you to stay a little longer—"

The palace doors burst open to reveal three enraged advisors, pushing past the promiscuous woman and looming over the careless lord who slouched in his golden throne. "Daichi!" A large man growled, holding out the yellow scroll before him. "Care to explain why something this important was tossed into the trash?"

Daichi raised a perfectly sculpted brow up and examined the document, scratching his cheek with guilt. "Well you see, I had a date with this beautiful creature." He winked at the maid and laughed heartily, tossing a grape into his mouth.

"Take her away," the same advisor growled. "Daichi, you are… unfortunately… the Lord of this Kingdom of Fire! You need to take your duties seriously. This is a declaration of war imposed on us by the Kingdom of Shadow!"

"And…" Daichi dusted off his hands and stood, cracking his knuckles. "Why should I care?"
"Unless you heed to the Shadow Lord's demands of a unified country, he's going to kill all of our citizens!" a quieter advisor shrieked.

"Well, give them some guns then!" Daichi scoffed. "Or better yet," he continued into his satin-like voice. "Let's just listen to the scary man and unite!"

"They'll kill you too," the first advisor growled. "As your advisors, and your brain, we cannot agree to unification and therefore, you need to gather your strongest mercenaries and fight for the Fire's independence!"

"You're making it hard on yourselves, I'm telling you," Daichi shrugged. "I guess it doesn't matter though… as long as I don't have to fight."

Just then, three servants appeared through the door carrying an impressively long, doubled headed scythe. The staff was made of a type of black metal and the curved blades were crafted out of pure, red ruby. Before each blade, which curved in opposite directions, was a golden band that held tufts of fur to the staff. The men struggled to lift it towards their Lord, who took it from them with ease in one hand. "I haven't seen this thing in years," Daichi breathed with awe.

The aggressive advisor grabbed Daichi's golden pendant which read 'Fire' that hung from the Lord's neck and pulled his face towards his own. "Smarten up, Daichi. Or else you're going to throw not only this Kingdom, but others into chaos."

"Make way for Lady Kumiko!" an announcer cried out, pushing past the workers of the palace. "Move it!"

A strikingly beautiful young woman walked through the crowd with hard, golden eyes and dark purple, serious brows. Her hair was the color of lavender and pulled back into a high ponytail which was held together by a long golden band, flowing down to her lower back and slightly curling near the end. She wore a mesh top with a tight, black breastplate covering her chest, as well as armoured, thigh-high boots. Her mesh top was long sleeved, covering most of her hands but hooking over her middle fingers with black rings. She walked with a proud demeanour and the symbol for 'Lightening' was tattooed behind her slender neck.

"Wait, my Lady! There has been a letter waiting for your return!" a messenger presented her with the yellow scroll, bowed his head, and scurried off.

"What's this?" Kumiko slammed her weapon down, a large, black, flat blade with two semi-circles carved out on each opposite side, and stroked the lion's head on the hilt of the enormous sword. Tearing the scroll open, she read the words on the page and frowned, anger shaking through her entire body and rattling her armour. "That fool! How dare he declare war on our Kingdom?"

"A war, my Lady?" the announcer gulped. "Why would anyone want to wage war against us?"

"Years ago, in the Millennium War, the Kingdom of Lightening and the Kingdom of Water and Ice were victorious against the Shadow and Wind. Now, the idiot who rules the Shadow is saying that it was unjust and that peace can only be achieved through unification of this country under his rule."

"But why attack the Fire and Earth? They had nothing to do with this…"

"He wants as many allies as he can get. A land cannot be unified without every Kingdom." Kumiko pried the large blade out of the ground and threw it against the wall once more. "That fool!"

"Lady Kumiko…"

"I need mercenaries," she hissed. "Round up my three best in this Kingdom!"

"But wouldn't it be wiser to try and—"

"Now!"

"Wind, Water, Fire, Earth, Lightening and Shadow… This is undoubtedly going to be even worse than the war my father fought." Lord Kurashin sighed and leaned against the railing, looking out at the sun setting over his peaceful Kingdom of Water and Ice. He closed his dark blue eyes and ran a strong hand through medium length, white hair that stuck out in every direction, framing his sharp bone structure and handsome face. Kurashin wore a humble outfit of a sleeveless, brown leather vest and dark blue/black pants that tucked into fitting, brown leather boots. His skin was tanned, and his arms perfectly toned while the symbol for 'Water' was scarred into his right, muscular arm.

He turned away from the high balcony of his palace and crossed his arms, smirking at the thought of every Kingdom's reaction to this unexpected declaration of war. Ever since he was appointed as the Lord of the Kingdom, he had taken copious amounts of time trying to maintain the peace that the Millennium War had established between lands. But with the recent death of the Shadow's former Lord, Kurashin found himself wondering what kind of character this new, presumably young, Lord really was.

"My Lord?" A soft female voice came from outside of his room. "What are the orders? I am here at your service."

"Right," Kurashin firmly nodded and fastened his two, long, straight-edged swords to his back. "There is no need for you to exert yourself. I will go out myself in search of strong warriors."

"But my Lord, it is my duty to assist you!"

Kurashin smiled and shook his head, tying his boots. "My orders are clear. Go and enjoy your evening. Tell my advisors and council not to panic… I'll be back by tomorrow around this time."

Name: (Japanese- First, Last)
Kingdom: (Chiharu of the Earth, Tadashi of the Wind, Daichi of the Fire, Kumiko of the Lightening, Kurashin of the Water and Ice)
Physical Appearance: (hair color, eye color, skin color, outfit, etc.)
Personality: (including habits, hobbies, beliefs, etc.)
Weapon: (please be CREATIVE! This will determine whether or not you get accepted. Ultimately, your weapon will incorporate the element you choose)
Character History: (please keep it brief)

*Only one character with an internal demon will be accepted, as well, try to refrain from having your character have a pet/creature unless it is necessary for combat)

ANTAGONIST APPLICATION (all characters submitted will be assumed as working for the Shadow Kingdom)

Name: (Japanese- First, Last)
Kingdom: Shadow
Physical Appearance: (hair color, eye color, skin color, outfit, etc.)
Personality: (including habits, hobbies, beliefs, etc.)
Weapon: (please be CREATIVE! This will determine whether or not you get accepted. Members of the Shadow Kingdom are required weapons that allow them to manipulate shadows/darkness… again, be creative!)
Character History: (please keep it brief)