Rated: R
Disclamer: don't own, not mine
Authors notes: Well, thank u all for the reviews... They truly mean a great deal... I really don't have much to say this time around.. I am going to try something new I guess, let me know what you think.... Thanks again for the reveiws and here we go.....
( 12 years 7 months before ch.1)
" So did you hear what Raidou did?"
Raidou stood in the woods off to the left of the encampment. He was the devine heir to the throne of the shinobi. According to legend, a god was hurt during a fierce battle with a demon and Raidou's ancestor nursed him back to health. In return for this kindness he gave her three gifts. First he showed her a style of marshal arts that was unlike any before or since. Next he mated with the woman who had kept him and promised her son and her line to be the leaders. This was done with her consent. Finally he swore that, threw her, the entire world would be remade. In any case the weight of this burden rested almost solely on the shoulder of a now 11 year old Raidou and his younger brother.
" They say that he can take on three fully trained warriors. They claim he is the incarnation of the god who blessed us."
The price of his crown was heavy. He had no friends and almost no one to talk to. This was simply because none of them knew how to treat him. He was aloof, but he was aloof by default. HE had had no choice in his place and no choice in his path. It seemed to him that he was merely a wheel of some cart, only rolling where it was told to roll. How could he make them see this? His peers treated him with such an air of awe and respect that he was unapproachable. They all envied him, thye could not understand that this 'power' came with a price.
" The claim he cured a sick man of his illness. I tell you the glory days of yore are not far. All hail Raidou, the chosen one, the usher of a new age."
As for the elders, they paid his problems no heed, simply saying that they were part of growing. They had grown to old and to stupid to relate to the current youth. All they seemed to do was pile on more tasks for him to complete and more studies for him to do. This was the sickest party, in his mind, the harder he worked, the harder they made it. He would complete one scroll in a day and they would expect him to have 3 done the next day. He would practice for 14 hours and they would demand 18. He really had no escape.
" The devine has come again. At last those who have forsaken us will be punished for their territory. The shinoni order will rise again."
His parents were no help either. They were to occupied jamming his fate down his throat. In feudal japan they had been the alpha and the omega. The emperor would bow before their magistrate and pled with him for help. They were the knights of the old dynasty, the ultimate example of samara. They were the best of the best. Then Parry came and everything changed. In what seemed an instant, a mere flash, the May Jin (?) order was born. With it came democracy and the technologies of the west.
" Nothing will stand in his way, he is the agent of destiny. He will lead our armies on and win conquest after conquest."
So the once great shinobi, like the knights Templar, had been reduced to nothing more then legends. Stories of their exploits were dramatized and made into dime store fiction and video games. They were an echo, a cry from a dead era, a distant dream. The only way that they preserved their way of life was through their code of conduct. They cut ties with the outside world, for fear of corruption and, with the exception of a privileged few, never left the forest on which their camp was. This was fine by the outside, the small plot of land they held was basically worthless and every traveler who had ventured in had not returned.
" What are you looking at?"
Raidou's concentration was broken and his mind snapped back into the 'real' world. The sun had gone down about tow hours worth of time since he had begun to meditate on his life, or shame of one. His eyes adjusted to the light and he viewed his surroundings, as if for the first time. The light fell through the trees, leaving some spots dark and others light, giving the scene a dream like feel. The breeze blew, gently, and riding on it was the smell of the forest in spring. The leaves of the woods had just come back from the dead 2 weeks ago, but their were still some late bloomers lining their branches. He stood on a slight hill, next to a fallen log. Even though this tree had died, it still teemed with life. Indeed the very ground he stood on seemed alive and holy. This was what he liked best about the forest, this hope. The elders said that man was like a flower who bloomed many times and died many times. Raidou took some comfort in this, if nothing else.
His tired eyes finally came to rest on the one who had spoken. She looked about his age, perhaps a bit younger, and was just now blooming herself. The traits that were make her 'beautiful' and 'radiant' were just now appearing as 'cute' and 'pretty.' She had the clearest blue eyes Raidou had ever seen and she had lavender hair down to her waist. She held an assortment of flowers in her left hand and wore a crown of them on her head. She wore a 'dress' like garment, which was obviously made at home and whose name had been lost in the years. She seemed genuinely cerous as to why he stood alone, in the deep forest.
" Don't you know who I am?" He asked. There wasn't any hint of elitism in this statement, it was simply that the only one who seemed to talk with him so casually was his brother.
" You're a little boy... Maybe your lost, I will bet that is it isn't it" She said, allowing a smile to form on her lips at this revelation.
" One may say that" Raidou said.
" If your lost, you should ask for help. That is what my mom always said" She said this innocently and would remain such threw the entire conversation.
" And when if no one will help?"
" Then you aren't asking the right question..." She said, simply.
The wisdom within these statements were above her, but Raidou, the great scholar, found them extraordinary, to say the least. They remained quite for several seconds and the girl, obviously uncomfortable with this, said " My name is Ayame... What is yours?"
" You really don't know who I am, do you?" she looked confused. He continued " Names make things much more complex then they need to be. Call me....." He wondered off, trying to think of something to say. Finally " call me friend" He felt that this was too forward of him. That word had never been uttered by him, except in reference to his brother and he immediately wished he could take it back. She seemed content with it.
He spent the rest of the afternoon doing something he had never done before, he was a kid. He played tag and picked flowers and looked at clouds and all sorts of other stuff the elders didn't allow him to do, they said it was a waste of time. He had to know all he could about this girl.
" Have you ever heard of Raidou?" He asked, trying to seem as matter of factly as possible.
" Yes. He is the god man, right? My mom and dad always talk about him...everyone does. I heard that if you look at him, you go blind..." If she was suspicious, she wasn't showing it.
"Who said this?"
" My brother. I am not sure if he was teasing me or not, but I am to sacred to look. Whenever they have a ceremony involving him, I look away. I did look once, but I can't remember him at all... I feel bad for him though, it must be lonely, making it so that everyone who sees you goes blind..."
" You have no idea..." Was all Raidou said....
Disclamer: don't own, not mine
Authors notes: Well, thank u all for the reviews... They truly mean a great deal... I really don't have much to say this time around.. I am going to try something new I guess, let me know what you think.... Thanks again for the reveiws and here we go.....
( 12 years 7 months before ch.1)
" So did you hear what Raidou did?"
Raidou stood in the woods off to the left of the encampment. He was the devine heir to the throne of the shinobi. According to legend, a god was hurt during a fierce battle with a demon and Raidou's ancestor nursed him back to health. In return for this kindness he gave her three gifts. First he showed her a style of marshal arts that was unlike any before or since. Next he mated with the woman who had kept him and promised her son and her line to be the leaders. This was done with her consent. Finally he swore that, threw her, the entire world would be remade. In any case the weight of this burden rested almost solely on the shoulder of a now 11 year old Raidou and his younger brother.
" They say that he can take on three fully trained warriors. They claim he is the incarnation of the god who blessed us."
The price of his crown was heavy. He had no friends and almost no one to talk to. This was simply because none of them knew how to treat him. He was aloof, but he was aloof by default. HE had had no choice in his place and no choice in his path. It seemed to him that he was merely a wheel of some cart, only rolling where it was told to roll. How could he make them see this? His peers treated him with such an air of awe and respect that he was unapproachable. They all envied him, thye could not understand that this 'power' came with a price.
" The claim he cured a sick man of his illness. I tell you the glory days of yore are not far. All hail Raidou, the chosen one, the usher of a new age."
As for the elders, they paid his problems no heed, simply saying that they were part of growing. They had grown to old and to stupid to relate to the current youth. All they seemed to do was pile on more tasks for him to complete and more studies for him to do. This was the sickest party, in his mind, the harder he worked, the harder they made it. He would complete one scroll in a day and they would expect him to have 3 done the next day. He would practice for 14 hours and they would demand 18. He really had no escape.
" The devine has come again. At last those who have forsaken us will be punished for their territory. The shinoni order will rise again."
His parents were no help either. They were to occupied jamming his fate down his throat. In feudal japan they had been the alpha and the omega. The emperor would bow before their magistrate and pled with him for help. They were the knights of the old dynasty, the ultimate example of samara. They were the best of the best. Then Parry came and everything changed. In what seemed an instant, a mere flash, the May Jin (?) order was born. With it came democracy and the technologies of the west.
" Nothing will stand in his way, he is the agent of destiny. He will lead our armies on and win conquest after conquest."
So the once great shinobi, like the knights Templar, had been reduced to nothing more then legends. Stories of their exploits were dramatized and made into dime store fiction and video games. They were an echo, a cry from a dead era, a distant dream. The only way that they preserved their way of life was through their code of conduct. They cut ties with the outside world, for fear of corruption and, with the exception of a privileged few, never left the forest on which their camp was. This was fine by the outside, the small plot of land they held was basically worthless and every traveler who had ventured in had not returned.
" What are you looking at?"
Raidou's concentration was broken and his mind snapped back into the 'real' world. The sun had gone down about tow hours worth of time since he had begun to meditate on his life, or shame of one. His eyes adjusted to the light and he viewed his surroundings, as if for the first time. The light fell through the trees, leaving some spots dark and others light, giving the scene a dream like feel. The breeze blew, gently, and riding on it was the smell of the forest in spring. The leaves of the woods had just come back from the dead 2 weeks ago, but their were still some late bloomers lining their branches. He stood on a slight hill, next to a fallen log. Even though this tree had died, it still teemed with life. Indeed the very ground he stood on seemed alive and holy. This was what he liked best about the forest, this hope. The elders said that man was like a flower who bloomed many times and died many times. Raidou took some comfort in this, if nothing else.
His tired eyes finally came to rest on the one who had spoken. She looked about his age, perhaps a bit younger, and was just now blooming herself. The traits that were make her 'beautiful' and 'radiant' were just now appearing as 'cute' and 'pretty.' She had the clearest blue eyes Raidou had ever seen and she had lavender hair down to her waist. She held an assortment of flowers in her left hand and wore a crown of them on her head. She wore a 'dress' like garment, which was obviously made at home and whose name had been lost in the years. She seemed genuinely cerous as to why he stood alone, in the deep forest.
" Don't you know who I am?" He asked. There wasn't any hint of elitism in this statement, it was simply that the only one who seemed to talk with him so casually was his brother.
" You're a little boy... Maybe your lost, I will bet that is it isn't it" She said, allowing a smile to form on her lips at this revelation.
" One may say that" Raidou said.
" If your lost, you should ask for help. That is what my mom always said" She said this innocently and would remain such threw the entire conversation.
" And when if no one will help?"
" Then you aren't asking the right question..." She said, simply.
The wisdom within these statements were above her, but Raidou, the great scholar, found them extraordinary, to say the least. They remained quite for several seconds and the girl, obviously uncomfortable with this, said " My name is Ayame... What is yours?"
" You really don't know who I am, do you?" she looked confused. He continued " Names make things much more complex then they need to be. Call me....." He wondered off, trying to think of something to say. Finally " call me friend" He felt that this was too forward of him. That word had never been uttered by him, except in reference to his brother and he immediately wished he could take it back. She seemed content with it.
He spent the rest of the afternoon doing something he had never done before, he was a kid. He played tag and picked flowers and looked at clouds and all sorts of other stuff the elders didn't allow him to do, they said it was a waste of time. He had to know all he could about this girl.
" Have you ever heard of Raidou?" He asked, trying to seem as matter of factly as possible.
" Yes. He is the god man, right? My mom and dad always talk about him...everyone does. I heard that if you look at him, you go blind..." If she was suspicious, she wasn't showing it.
"Who said this?"
" My brother. I am not sure if he was teasing me or not, but I am to sacred to look. Whenever they have a ceremony involving him, I look away. I did look once, but I can't remember him at all... I feel bad for him though, it must be lonely, making it so that everyone who sees you goes blind..."
" You have no idea..." Was all Raidou said....
