Last Samurai Fic
Hey how's everyone doing? I hope you like this fic, it's about one of my favorite movies so I want to do it justice. If you have any questions feel free to message me. Comments are appreciated and flames provide amusement for the writer as well as the general public so if you want to give us all a good laugh be my guest ^.^ So on to the story!
Chapter 1
Moritsugu Katsumoto sat in a field overlooking his son's village; houses and rice patties were situated quaintly amidst rolling hills. When he looked down upon it, it always filled him with pride. His son was caring for the village of his ancestors well, the crops were good and the people were happy even with the threat of the new westernization weighing heavily on their minds. With every passing year he grew more proud of his only son Nobutada. Nobutada was a strong, honorable boy who liked to laugh and learn. He was diligent in his study of the traditional skills of a samurai such as kendo, iaido, calligraphy, and tea ceremony, though he always preferred kyudo to anything else. His son was now an honorable samurai who brought his family great veneration.
As a father, he wished to see his son married so he might have his own sons and continue his families line, but Katsumoto knew how much of a burden that placed on a young man. When he was Nobutada's age he had lived at the Imperial Court with his father and mother and they had arranged a marriage for him to a girl of no small standing. Her father was a great advisor to the previous Emperor and a wealthy man. The day of their wedding ceremony had been their first meeting. Katsumoto had done his duty to his family and then sent her to live in his father's village. The next time he saw her was at the birth of his son nine months later, she had lived only a day longer and then left this world to be with the Buddha. He had not known her well and he regretted that, but he was eternally grateful to his wife for the son she had given him.
"No," he thought, "I will not force my son into marriage; he can stand to wait a little longer yet. There is no need to make things worse for him during this turbulent time". That reminded Katsumoto why he had come to this spot in the first place, so he closed his eyes and let the sound of the lightly swaying pampas grass lull him into a meditative state. He hoped that it might help him to understand all that was happening in Nihon, all the changes that had been taking place in such a short amount of time.
He meditated for hours still as stone, when all the sudden his peace was broken by a vision of a forest clearing in the foggy hours of dawn. A flag with the emblem of a white tiger swayed as it was swept to and fro. Samurai in full armor slashed and stabbed at the incarnation of the pennant a snarling white tiger. It roared and clawed at its oppressors, and then all Katsumoto could see were its eyes. They were startling blue grey, like a turbulent sea and the fire in those eyes was enough to set a blaze the whole of Nihon. Katsumoto came out of his trance with a jerk, his eyes wide and startled. He had never seen such unnatural eyes before. What could this vision mean? He knew that that Buddha had sent him this message for a reason and that, in time, he would know what that reason was.
Nihon-Japan Kyudo-Japanese archery
Kendo-Japanese sword play iaido-to fight with the Japanese short staff
Okay I hope you liked it! I tried to keep Katsumoto as in character as possible. More will be out soon I promise and next time we will get to meet our female lead. Bye-Bye!