Zheya Zheya (inside joke)everyone, I know its been a while sinceI posted again, but things happen you know? Anyway I particularly like this chapter, and for those ofyou who didn't realize it by the wayI talked about it,I absolutely HATED the wayI wrote Operation Ghelsba. Oh well, read and review!
History of the Shinsengumi
From the day Amand and the Shinsengumi rescued Vexed from the depths of the fortress of Ghelsba Outpost the two masters of the sword became nearly inseparable. She had heard from the other commanders exactly how he had reacted when he found out that she had been kidnapped, and was quick to show her gratitude. However, Amand for some time feigned indifference toward the whole thing, saying that it was simply business. Gradually, though, his defenses were crumbling and he was opening up to her more and more, until they were spending nearly every spare moment they had together. A new, grand tent had been erected in the camp of the Shinsengumi alongside Amand's, and it was where Vexed resided when she was in the area.
A new fortification had been erected around the entrance to Ghelsba Outpost and the opening itself had been completely sealed off so that none could come or go. Also there were always at least ten guards posted there so that they could not be so easily overwhelmed in the event that the Orcs broke through once more.
Amand's heroic efforts during the war so far were quickly becoming legend around the whole of Vana'diel, his skills with the sword becoming the talk of every town in every corner of the world. However, you could never tell just by looking at Amand, he continued his routine as if he wasn't being glorified to such a degree.
Even now he sat calmly in a remote corner of West Ronfaure, eyes closed in simple meditation, his beloved sword resting comfortably against his shoulder. Aside from the faint rustling of birds and natural monsters, nothing could be heard in this particular area and Amand was free to enjoy the wind whipping through the trees and his long red hair.
"If you think you're sneaking up on me then you're sadly mistaken." He said calmly without opening his eyes.
Vexed slowly rose into view from behind the crumbling remnants of an old stone wall, her trademark blue ninja's headband holding back her hair, which usually hung freely in front of her tanned face, concealing her light brown eyes from view. The same face which now held an expression of almighty exasperation.
"How do you ALWAYS know?" she sighed, putting her hands on her hips and walking over to him.
"Well I WAS trained to sense things like that you know." He said, opening his eyes as she sat down next to him.
"So how are things in Windurst?" he asked after a few moments of silence.
"Not too bad," she answered "the Yagudo are keeping quiet for the most part, but I hear that Castle Oztroja has been giving Jeuno all kinds of hell lately. They seem to be working on the possibility of a full attack. Kiary's up there now sorting that out."
"Interesting." He replied
"What about you and the Shinsengumi?" she asked
"Nothing too bad, and even know we are getting more recruits, all the Samurai that thought the group was a joke are flooding in now as well as newly trained Samurai. Our ranks have grown to well over 2000 now." He said.
"By the way" she said "I've been meaning to ask you something."
"Yes?"
"Actually it's two things. Firstly, where did you train that your swordsmanship is THAT superior to any other Samurai in Vana'diel? The other is where did you come up with the name 'Shinsengumi?'"
Amand smiled at this, as if h had expected the question.
"Well, I hope you're ready to listen to a long story, because both questions will be answered by it." He said.
"I have a feeling it will be a good one, so let's hear it."
"Very well." Amand said, closing his eyes once more
"As you probably know, the Samurai class originated from a place called Norg. What you don't know is that Norg was once a much larger place than what we know it as today. Norg was once a large island that was about the same size as, and existed alongside Elshimo Island.
This island was home to an elite group of warriors called the Samurai. These Samurai were made up almost entirely of Humes, with only a few Mithra, some Elvaan and absolutely no Galka or TaruTaru. These Samurai developed their society quite separately from the rest of Vana'diel, allowing nobody to cross their borders. As a direct result of this, their fighting techniques and sword forging abilities developed very differently from the other civilizations. For example, they never used crystals in the forging of their weapons. The forging of the Katana was developed into an exact art by the swordsmiths of Norg.
The Samurai of Norg waged an almost constant war with the amphibious race of beastmen called Sahagin. The Sahagin would regularly harass the fishing villages on the shores of Norg, but were usually pushed out by the village's Samurai. However, one attack turned out very different, a large number of Sahagin surfaced near a fishing town called Kojiri, and though the Samurai in the area valiantly defended it, they were soundly defeated and Kojiri was razed to the ground.
On that same day, a Samurai by the name of Kissaki Shiraha was at sea near the home of the Sahagin. As he surveyed the area he was horrified by the sight of thousands upon thousands of Sahagin massing there. It was an army built for conquest. Kissaki sped back to Norg as fast as he possibly could to warn the people. When he arrived he heard the news of the attack on Kojiri and knew instantly that the normal methods would no longer be enough to repel the Sahagin.
The Samurai, normally fiercely independent, defending only their own town and people, were amazed to find out that the Sahagin could exist in such large numbers. After some urging from Kissaki, they formed a united force, under the leadership of Kissaki Shiraha and his trusted friend Toshizo Hijigata, donning blue and white robes that came to be called Shinsengumi. The Shinsengumi was strategically deployed around the island to various prime targets for the Sahagin.
Some three days later, it began. The Sahagin began pouring out of the ocean near an inland town in a region called Mekugi. However as the beastmen started their attack they were met by an army of blue-robed warriors and they instantly locked in battle. The Battle of Mekugi was fought fiercely for three days, with new reinforcements coming each day for each side, before the Sahagin retreated back into the ocean, utterly defeated.
However, the story does not end there, for unbeknownst to the denizens of Norg, the Sahagin refused to be defeated so easily. It was then that they began to farm the power from the elemental monsters of the world. Thus they began collecting the power of Fire Clusters, compacted energy of many fire crystals, from the Fire Elementals. Soon they had an unimaginable supply on hand and they began their mission. Every night a select few Sahagin would take one hundred Fire Clusters each to Norg and bury them beneath the ground in five-cluster formations. They would be placed in strategic positions around the island where the people would be unlikely to uncover them. Also, they would plant these same formations all over the rocky foundation of the island, these even greater in number than the ones above. After six months, their devious work was complete.
Exactly six months and one week after the Battle of Mekugi, a massive earthquake began to rock all of Norg. The Sahagin had thrown spears into the largest formation on the foundation of the island, causing their compacted energy to explode, setting off all nearby formations and beginning a chain reaction that would split the island in two.
Explosions were now setting the forests and towns ablaze and huge cracks in the ground were tearing across the landscape. The people were in a panic and everyone was flooding for the ports in an attempt to make it out to sea where it was safe. However, the Sahagin had landed once more and we're cutting off the routes to the ports. Kissaki Shiraha and the rest of the Shinsengumi valiantly held off the Sahagin while the people escaped to the boats. Even then, not many made it to each port.
In the end, the island called Norg sank to the bottom of the ocean and the Shinsengumi members, who had so bravely fought so that the others could survive, along with the Sahagin that were still ashore, sank with it. The people who had escaped the destruction of their island sailed to Elshimo and soon settled a small port town that they gave the same name as their obliterated island. Norg. Very few of the skillful Samurai had survived the destruction of the island and the new Norg and the Samurai class that spread throughout Vana'diel from there was a very different one than what had once existed.
The last of the true Samurai, Kissaki's eldest son Eishin Shiraha was the last of the Samurai that had the skills of their ancestors. Unfortunately he was later killed in a much later battle with the Sahagin, but not before teaching his skills to the younger of Kissaki's sons, Shinogi. From that point on, the traditional techniques were passed down through a line of unbroken succession until this very day. I am the descendant of Kissaki Shiraha himself and I am the last true Samurai."
Vexed sat wide-eyed at most of the story. No history book she had ever read recorded such a thing, but now that she thought about it, Norg did pop up quite suddenly in history, with no real explanation of where it came from or who started the town.
The two fell into a comfortable silence after this story, both sitting watching the trees and sky as the day slowly faded into evening, and then night. The stars of the San d'Orian sky shone brightly that night, and the moon gave the surrounding area a faint celestial glow which seemed to be concentrated around the two fighters.
Slowly as they gazed at the stars high above, Vexed began to lean back to rest against Amand's relaxed form until she was in full recline against his shoulder and chest. A light smile flashed across his face as she slipped her right arm around his waist, holding herself tightly to him and laying her remaining hand on his, until their fingers were grasping each other tightly.
This continued for a short while before Amand's eyes suddenly snapped to his left in the direction of a bush about 100 feet away, but they relaxed slightly and Vexed's eyes followed Amand's hand as it slowly picked up two marble-sized pebbles from the ground around him and with a short snap of his wrist, sent them whipping into the bush.
"ARGH!" yelled Chster and Ziggeraut together as they shot into view from behind the bush.
"Ow ow ow ow ow owwww." Zigg complained "I TOLD you this was a bad idea!" he yelled at his friend.
"Well how was I supposed to know he would try and kill us with rocks!" Chster replied.
"It's your own fault for spying you know." Said Vexed as she and Amand got to their feet.
"It's YOUR fault for not getting a room…" Chster muttered under his breath.
Chster regained consciousness five minutes later…
So what do you think? Good? Bad? Ugly? Some other movie?
