DJ awoke suddenly with a splitting headache and a damp feeling on his forehead. "Ow… what the heck hit me?" He groaned, pulling the wet cloth off his head and sitting up, looking around. He was in an unfamiliar mat and paper made room with a bucket by his small sheet on the floor where he lay, other than that the room was furniture-less. "Better question… where the hell am I?" He thought for a moment before something clicked.
"That's right, I got into a fight with that bokuto-baka in the bar, he must have knocked me out. That answers one question, but now where am I?" He was answered by the sound of paper sliding back in the doorway to reveal the red-haired woman from the bar, Karen, carrying a fresh bucket of water.
"Oh, you're awake." She gave a faint smile and set the bucket beside the other one. "Gin-sama hit you pretty hard, most people who're hit with his Sugar Rush Slammer are out for a full day, you were only out of it for a few hours."
"Grrr… if I ever see that bastard I'll…"
"You'll what?" The paper door sliding back interrupted him again, revealing Gin standing in the doorway, a lollipop halfway in his mouth.
"Ack! Bokuto-bastard…" DJ looked around for his katana but came up empty handed.
"Hmph, whatever… Your weapon is in the training room if you're still looking for a fight, but I've had my sugar so I'm feeling better." He waved lazily and turned around again.
"What the heck happened?" The speedy swordsman turned back to Karen, looking very puzzled at what just happened.
"Gin-sama gets angry when his sugar-time is ruined, so that's why he beat you up."
"It was a lucky shot!" DJ protested.
"We all felt bad to just leave you there," The waitress continued. "So we took you here to let you rest up. After the thrashing that Gin gave you, it was the least we could do."
"So where exactly is 'here'?" The young swordsman looked around again.
"The Bladeless Dojo. I'm sure Jack-san told you that Gin-sama was the first student ever to graduate from this training dojo, what he didn't tell you is that he is the second."
"Wow… really? Hmm, thought that guy looked sort of mysterious. So he's the one who uses that rectangular blade that he was telling me about. What about you Karen-dono? Are you a student here too?"
"No, I'm not a sword person, I prefer whips." She sighed. "Go ahead, get it out of your system."
"Get what?"
"The perverted jokes about me and whips, Every guy says something about that when I tell them, Gin-sama went on for two hours when I told him."
"I'm not exactly… like other guys." DJ stood up and smiled. "I don't think I could intentionally come up with a perverted joke if I tried."
"Heh, well that's odd, oh well, Sakata-sensei said he wanted to meet you when you woke up, maybe we should go see him."
"Sakata-sensei?"
"He's the dojo master of the Bladeless Dojo. He trained Gin-sama and Jack-san as well as many other dropout students." Karen stood up and walked to the doorway. "Follow me."
--
DJ followed Karen to another nearly empty room where Jack and Gin were knelt before another man who was sitting with his legs crossed in a meditation position. "So, that's Sakata…" He whispered to himself as he looked around at the three sitting samurai. "Aren't there supposed to be seven samurai?" He blinked, earning a quiet laugh from Karen.
The other two turned to look as Karen and DJ walked into the room and took a seat on the floor. Sakata opened his eyes and slowly raised his head, revealing a white cloth tied around his forehead, black hair that ran past his shoulders, and a thin scar that ran from his left cheek down to his chin. DJ felt a chill run down his spine as the master's calm blue eyes set on him, a gentle smile playing across his face. "So you're the one who fought Gin in the bar, I heard you're fairly quick and know your swords." He stood up slowly and walked towards where the musician was sitting. Every step he took seemed to scream experience, he moved very authoritatively and deliberately, as if he was a man much older than his age, and that stare…
"Y-Yes sensei…" DJ stuttered and bowed his head with respect, this man seemed to command it with his very aura.
"There's no reason to be afraid young one. You're a welcome guest here." Sakata's smile cane to his face again.
That last part set him off. "I'm not young!" He protested feebly.
"In the scheme of things, you are very young." He chuckled softly, a warm and gentle laugh for a similar type of person. "You are welcome to stay here as long as you like, even become a student, we can train you and make you much stronger, and we are in need of students, Jack and Gin are the only ones remaining. Please, take a look around, Karen will show you, think of this as a sanctuary for the time being."
"Thank you sensei." DJ bowed his head again and stood quietly, following Karen out of the room again.
--
"Well, you've seen the bedrooms, kitchen, training rooms, I guess this is the only thing left to show." Karen said a short time later, stopping out front of the wooden dojo that overlooked a cliff on the ocean. She pointed to a long piece of paper that hung beside the side of the entrance.
DJ stared at it for a long time. The piece of paper had the characters for "Bladeless Dojo" written on it, as well as a sword with a line scratched through the blade and a pirate-like skull at the bottom. "What is it?" He finally asked.
"This is the most important part of a dojo, this is the marquee for the Bladeless Dojo." Karen smiled broadly and stared at it as well.
"Marquee? What's it do?"
"A marquee is a sign of pride for a dojo, it's like a jolly roger on a pirate ship, it symbolizes the unity and dreams of all those who serve under it, and also the strength of the dojo. If someone issues a challenge to the dojo and manages to defeat the dojo's leaders, they may take that dojo's marquee, a dojo without a marquee is a very shameful thing to have."
"So… if someone takes their marquee, a dojo is shamed because they've been defeated in battle?" DJ blinked.
"Exactly, so far Sakata-sensei has defended the dojo and its marquee very well, even if there aren't many who are a part of it."
"I see… I saw that a lot of the rooms on the tour were empty, and Sakata-sensei said Gin and Jack were the only people left in the dojo, why is that if he's such a good teacher?"
"Many of the students that were here defected to Bato's dojo not too long ago, since they threatened to attack the dojo to get back at my grandfather…"
"Why would they do that? What's your grandfather got to do with anything?"
"He funds the dojo and has some old gambling debts to Kenichi Suskohein, the dojo master of Bato's Dojo. So they want to destroy the Bladeless Dojo to get back at him…" Karen was obviously having trouble containing her anger while addressing the rival dojo.
"I see… the people here are a proud people, people who are of the sword and having problems with other corrupted people…" DJ kept his eyes on the marquee that was flapping in the wind. "Come on, let's go back, I have something I would like to discuss with Sakata-sensei…"
--
The two returned to the training room where Jack and Gin were sparring while Sakata observed them. The two stopped as they entered, sheathing their swords and bokuto and sat down again. "Ah, good, you're back, did you enjoy the tour?" Sakata smiled softly.
"I did, and I've made my decision." DJ bowed his head as he walked up to the dojo master. "I have a dream that I am very determined to accomplish, I promised my sister's spirit that I would become strong enough to protect those I care about, help those that needed my help, and inspire others to follow their dreams. I will make this dream into a reality, no matter what it takes, and if I can get some training in along the way and make some comrades, then all the better." He grinned broadly. "I want to become a member of the Bladeless Dojo."
"Excellent." Sakata smiled brightly as well and clapped his hands, standing up, a little more lively than before. "Welcome to the Bladeless Dojo, DJ Macleod."
--
After a small celebration, Sakata decided to jump right into DJ's training, while Karen and Jack gathered supplies and did some work around the town, Gin, Sakata, and DJ stood around the training room, their weapons on their hips and backs. "Alright DJ-kun, this is a standard awareness training that I go into when I'm training myself in my personal style called 'The Blind Sword'." He took off his white cloth and wrapped it around DJ's head, covering his eyes. Now, try to block the attacks as they come at you based on sound and feel alone. You'll find with your eyesight gone, your other senses will become stronger, awareness with limited sight is a very important quality for a swordsman."
"Can you see anything?" Gin asked, hefting his bokuto over his shoulder.
"No," DJ felt around, unable to see anything at all. "Well, how am I supposed to defend myself if I can't see?"
"Just focus on everything around you, quiet your mind and you should be able to see and dodge Gin's attacks. Since his bokuto won't do as much damage as a sword if he should hold back and it won't cut you so…" He was cut off as DJ screamed loudly in pain.
"What the hell happened!?" The speedy swordsman whimpered as he fell to the ground, curling up, feeling an intense pain in his groin.
"Oh, Gin hit you in the balls, you gotta focus man." Sakata laughed softly.
"Dude! He wasn't even done talking yet! Gin you bastard!" DJ growled, holding himself and slowly standing up.
As the lesson continued, DJ's progress slowly increased, he was soon able to sense things around him without seeing them, even able to seemingly feel Gin's presence as he attacked.
"Not bad Macleod, you're starting to get it!" Gin grinned as DJ dodged yet another blow from his bokuto.
"Yeah, I like using my eyes better, but I feel like I have a sixth sense now, sort of like I can predict when something bad is coming." The speedy musician smirked as he backed out of the way.
"Good." Sakata clapped his hands, signaling them to stop. "That's necessary to be a good swordsman, a sort of intuition to sense other swordsman and when they attack, it will help you a lot in dodging and avoiding sneak attacks. Even with your eyes uncovered, this sense should become subconscious to you as a swordsman; all serious swordsmen have this on some level. That's enough training for today, get some rest you two," He smiled into the setting sun through the open window.
--
"Hey, moocher." Karen tossed DJ a bag. "You any good with kids?"
"Don't call me a moocher." He grumbled, picking up the bag, "Yeah, I'm great with kids." He chuckled, reminiscing to himself.
-Flashback-
(DJM: Wait, a flashback inside a flashback? That makes no sense!
AN: No, it's like the play within a play in Hamlet.
DJM: Hamwhat? I want some ham… give me some damn ham!
AN: Nevermind, just enjoy it, that goes for you too, reader)
"Big brother!" A five-year-old Sirena called, giggling as she ran into the pub where Eleven-year-old DJ and Poika were conversing. "I gots two fishes!" She laughed, holding up her recent catch.
"Nice job!" DJ laughed, looking over the fish. "Where'd you catch these?"
Sirena looked to the side. "Lake Dangerous…"
"Lake Dangerous!? But that place is… well, dangerous!"
"But I wash careful…" Sirena pouted.
"We told you not to go to Lake Dangerous! You could have been hurt!" Poika glared at the little girl.
DJ crouched beside her and smiled warmly. "I appreciate the help with gathering food, but there are big fishies there that love to gobble up cute little girls like you, got that sis?"
"Okays…" Sirena kicked the ground softly. "I got in 'twouble…"
"Yesh yoo did…" DJ chuckled.
"DJ! Use proper grammar when talking to Sirena! How will she learn if we don't speak right to her?"
"Eep! I got in 'twouble…" DJ mimicked Sirena's kick.
The little girl giggled and nodded. "Yesh yoo did."
--
"Why do you ask?" DJ blinked, snapping out of his memories of his sister before he got too upset about what happened.
"The dojo watches some of the town's kids in the evenings so the parents can have time alone or just get some work done, brings in a bit of money and does a little community service, but everyone else is busy. So we figured, why not ask the moocher?"
"I AM NOT A MOOCHER!" DJ growled. "But I don't see why not, I'm sure I can think of something to entertain the kiddies." He grinned.
"Good, because they're already here." Karen pointed to the stream of ankle-biters already rushing into the training room.
"ACK!" DJ blinked in surprise as the kids tugged at his clothes and weapons, he was still sore from training and already felt the pain from his muscles jerking to alert.
One of the kids pulled at his katana. "Hey Mister! Are you a samurai too? Do you have cool sword moves and adventures you can tell us about?"
"Have fun!" Karen ran out of the room before DJ could object. After a few minutes of tugging and eager questions, the swordsman let out a loud whistle.
"Alright kiddies! I got a treat for you all, but you can only get it if you line up quietly and sit down, got it?"
Like ants in a colony, the children rushed into line and sat on the floor, eager for their treat. "Good," DJ pulled out his flute and spun it around, putting his lips to it and playing a soft melody, the kids sat quietly, watching and blinking as the song continued before coming to a stop.
"Um… mister? … That song sucked." One of the kids raised their hands.
DJ facefaulted. "Everyone's a critic… and where does a kid get off using the word sucked?" He sighed. "Alright, how about something we can all sing and dance to then?" He sped off, returning a second (literally) later, holding a guitar from god knows where. "Alright, here's a song I learned from some friends of mine who came to my island a long time ago, they taught me a lot of fun songs and told me some great stories." DJ grinned, remembering the time he spent with the Red-Haired pirates.
He strummed on his guitar lightly, starting to sing. "You can't stop me now, I'm always going… A to Z, I run without stopping. Sometimes I worry I'm not going to make it, but I know that it's just a little farther. The sea is right before us and our cares are behind us. So, let's glance to the sky, what will we find? Come with me, follow the shining sun, watch the horizon, the journey's just begun…" He suddenly picked up the beat with his fingers while singing louder, the kids danced and watched him play.
"I! Will never treat you bad! Even when we fail, It's alright we still can't give up now!
Cause you and I both know, through every high and low,we sail towards tomorrow. So smile! Come back to your friends! Come back to your friends! Come back to your friends! Come back to your friends! Come back to your friends! Come back to your friends! Come back to your friends, yeah!" DJ finished, playing the last note with all the children laughing and dancing. They were all having such a good time that they didn't notice Sakata standing by the door, shaking his head and smiling before he walked away.
--
DJ continued to entertain the children with songs and dances, both on the guitar and on his flute. He shared some of his poetry and told of some of his other journeys, of the pirates he met, of the marines, and of the lovely friendships he had seen others make. He even shared some of the stories that the Red-Haired pirates told him during their stay on Ongaku island. It was soon late and the children wore themselves out dancing and playing and listening, passing out wherever they fell on the dojo floor.
"Wow, nice job." Karen smirked, impressed at how he had handled the children. "You're good at this, you'll make a good father some day." He laughed.
DJ laughed loudly and shook his head. "I'd have to find someone who would put up with me first, you know what kind of woman that would have to be?"
"Clinically insane?"
The swordsman laughed and shook his head, watching the children stir slightly from the noise, motioning for Karen to follow him outside so they wouldn't disturb them. They both walked out the back door of the dojo and sat on the cliff overlooking the ocean, looking at the starry sky.
"Why are you the way you are? You seem so determined to accomplish this promise of yours to your sister, yet you do anything a woman says." She smirked, observing his behavior earlier during the chores and training earlier in the day when she passed by, either he was calm or tired now since he wasn't being absolutely servile. "If you ever run into a woman swordsman, you're dead, you know that, right?"
He laughed softly and shook his head. "I'll find a way, don't worry. I like to think I've even accomplished some part of that dream tonight, even just in inspiring those kids a little to follow whatever dreams they may have. What about you? Do you have any dreams?"
"Not really a dream per se, but I do want to repay my grandfather for all he's done for me, he took me in when my parents died a few years ago…" She choked up, obviously having a difficult time remembering the experience.
"I'm so sorry…" DJ looked down, remembering how real that pain was and still was for him. "It's very difficult losing a family member, I know… but you can't dwell on that, you have to move on and make your life better because of it, make sure that you have something to shoot for afterwards, a future to look forward to."
Karen was silent for a long time after that. "…The stars are beautiful tonight." She finally said, changing the subject.
"Indeed, stars are a lot like people in my opinion." He smiled.
"What? You think people are beautiful?" The red-haired bartender watched him closely.
"Not always, but sometimes I feel like a star, just a twinkle in the dark, but when stars make connections with each other, like friendships among people, they make shapes that are remembered and seen for a long way."
"Constellations." She smiled and looked back to the sky. "Do you know any constellations?"
"I know a few." He pointed to a grouping of stars. "Right there's the sword, it's a grouping of five stars that make a sword shape like a katana."
"What about that one?" She pointed to a large group of stars.
"That… that's the axe, a grouping of twelve stars, six in the blade, four in the hilt, and two in the handle, it's one of the biggest constellations out there."
"I see…" She sighed and shook her head. "Do you think that it's possible to change the way the stars lay? To change the heavens? Do you think that a single person would be able to change the world?"
DJ thought for a moment before standing up and walking to the dojo door. "Goodnight Karen-dono…" He sighed and went off to bed, leaving the girl confused about what she said.
It has to be… it has to be possible for a single person to change the whole world, to inspire everyone to their dreams, to be able to protect those whom he is close to. In my case, it has to be true, for Sirena's sake!
--
Well, there's DJ's first day at the Bladeless Dojo done, hope it wasn't too blah, but I have more plot and character progression coming up next! By the way, Sakata the dojo master is based off Kenshin Himura from Rurouni Kenshin. I'll post profiles for the three samurai later on DA. On to the preview!
Sakata: I have another type of training for you…
Gin: Dang Sakata-sensei, you went a little rough on him, didn't you?
Sakata: You may not like what you see…
Spirit Quest
Jack: Something terrible has happened!