Post by yaburu on Jul 21, 2009 15:31:07 GMT -5
Like the rest of the world, Japan had come under siege from the forces of the Death God. And with nearly every other country attempting to fend off their own invasions, Japan was left to its own devices.
One such attack from a group of Shadow Hounds has left one elderly man devastated, and will set off the creation of a powerful defender of the planet. The man’s name is Hiro Yamasagi, and he’s an old mystic who has studied magic his entire life. The Shadow Hounds had cornered a terrified group of humans, and slaughtered them. Among the dead were Hiro’s own son, daughter in law, and two grandchildren.
With his wife having died three years ago, Hiro’s son and his family were all that Hiro had left. Now they were gone, brutally killed and torn to pieces by these demons. Hiro’s will to live was failing him. He felt it slip away in the hours and days after the attack. His own life was null and void now, he knew this. But he still had one thread that kept him bound to our mortal coil.
Revenge.
Before he died, he wanted to do something, anything, to strike back at these evil creatures. For days, Hiro poured through old scrolls that had been handed down to him, desperate to find any magical incantation that might allow him to affect this war.
It was late at night, around 11:30 PM, when he found it. An ancient summoning scroll. It would create and enormous beast with fantastic powers, but at the cost of the caster’s own life. But this didn’t bother Hiro at all. The life of an old man in exchange for a guardian to fight off this evil? A bargain for sure.
Hiro went to bed, knowing he would need to be well rested to perform this ritual, and chuckled at the irony. He’d found a new purpose in life. His reason to live was to die.
Awakening the next morning, Hiro grabbed all the necessary items; the scroll, some incense, a few candles, and headed over to his son’s home. There was something there vital to the ceremony. Using a key that his son had given him for free access to his house, Hiro entered, and began to march towards his son and daughter-in-law’s room. Along the way, he passed the room that his two granddaughters shared, and he choked back tears. How horrible their last moments must have been. Was their death quick? Did they suffer? Were they forced to see their own parents devoured in front of them? Or was it the other way around?
Banishing these negative thoughts from his mind, Hiro pressed on. At last, he came to his son’s room, and saw it; the clay monster. It was something his son had sculpted when he was a young boy, using magical clay that he’d found while snooping around in his father’s room.
At first Hiro was furious with his son for wasting the clay, which was very rare. But the detail of the sculpture astounded him, and he couldn’t bring himself to destroy it. So he kept it, and gave it to his son when he moved in with his wife.
Now that sculpture would be a vital centerpiece in the summoning ceremony of this new creature. It was a humanoid wolf-like monster, with four arms. His son had named it “Musashi” after the legendary Samurai Miyamoto Musashi, the Sword Saint.
Laying the scroll out in front of him in the living room, and surrounding the sculpture with lit candles, Hiro began to chant. There was no turning back now. Each incantation was recited perfectly. The ceremony was being performed just as it needed to be, and Hiro could tell…because he felt his own life leaving him. Soon he would be dead.
As soon as the last incantation left his mouth, Hiro realized he could no longer stay up, and fell over, his body weak as a newborn child’s. But a rumbling from under the ground filled his heart with joy. He’d succeeded!
He watched with tears of happiness as a massive arm broke from the ground outside, then another, and another, and one more still. These arms pushed up against the earth and the rest of the beast followed. But it was different from the sculpture. It still had four arms, and it was still a wolf-like creature, but now it was covered head to toe in Samurai armor!
It walked over to the house, swatted off the roof, and reached in, gently plucking Hiro from the floor and placing him on the ground in front of him. Hiro looked up in wonder and confusion. Why? Why was it adorned in Samurai battle armor?
The creature then got on its knees and placed it’s head to the ground, bowing to him in a gesture of supreme loyalty.
“Master.” The creature spoke, its voice as deep and booming as could be “Speak to me your will, and I will carry it out.”
“W-what?” Hiro wheezed
“I am Miyamoto Musashi. You have bound my soul to this powerful creature. I am now able to walk among the living again, and fight. You have willingly given up your own life to accomplish this task. This is a sacrifice I must honor. Tell me your dying wish, my lord.”
“Go Musashi…go and protect those in need. Destroy the evils that are invading our world!”
“Yes my lord. I will fight until I am dead, or until they all are.”
With a sigh of great relief, and tears in his eyes, Hiro draws his last breath, and dies. Musashi wills the ground to open and take his body, sending him back to the Earth. Then, he stands back up, a leaves the area, concerned only with carrying out the will of his Lord and Master.
One such attack from a group of Shadow Hounds has left one elderly man devastated, and will set off the creation of a powerful defender of the planet. The man’s name is Hiro Yamasagi, and he’s an old mystic who has studied magic his entire life. The Shadow Hounds had cornered a terrified group of humans, and slaughtered them. Among the dead were Hiro’s own son, daughter in law, and two grandchildren.
With his wife having died three years ago, Hiro’s son and his family were all that Hiro had left. Now they were gone, brutally killed and torn to pieces by these demons. Hiro’s will to live was failing him. He felt it slip away in the hours and days after the attack. His own life was null and void now, he knew this. But he still had one thread that kept him bound to our mortal coil.
Revenge.
Before he died, he wanted to do something, anything, to strike back at these evil creatures. For days, Hiro poured through old scrolls that had been handed down to him, desperate to find any magical incantation that might allow him to affect this war.
It was late at night, around 11:30 PM, when he found it. An ancient summoning scroll. It would create and enormous beast with fantastic powers, but at the cost of the caster’s own life. But this didn’t bother Hiro at all. The life of an old man in exchange for a guardian to fight off this evil? A bargain for sure.
Hiro went to bed, knowing he would need to be well rested to perform this ritual, and chuckled at the irony. He’d found a new purpose in life. His reason to live was to die.
Awakening the next morning, Hiro grabbed all the necessary items; the scroll, some incense, a few candles, and headed over to his son’s home. There was something there vital to the ceremony. Using a key that his son had given him for free access to his house, Hiro entered, and began to march towards his son and daughter-in-law’s room. Along the way, he passed the room that his two granddaughters shared, and he choked back tears. How horrible their last moments must have been. Was their death quick? Did they suffer? Were they forced to see their own parents devoured in front of them? Or was it the other way around?
Banishing these negative thoughts from his mind, Hiro pressed on. At last, he came to his son’s room, and saw it; the clay monster. It was something his son had sculpted when he was a young boy, using magical clay that he’d found while snooping around in his father’s room.
At first Hiro was furious with his son for wasting the clay, which was very rare. But the detail of the sculpture astounded him, and he couldn’t bring himself to destroy it. So he kept it, and gave it to his son when he moved in with his wife.
Now that sculpture would be a vital centerpiece in the summoning ceremony of this new creature. It was a humanoid wolf-like monster, with four arms. His son had named it “Musashi” after the legendary Samurai Miyamoto Musashi, the Sword Saint.
Laying the scroll out in front of him in the living room, and surrounding the sculpture with lit candles, Hiro began to chant. There was no turning back now. Each incantation was recited perfectly. The ceremony was being performed just as it needed to be, and Hiro could tell…because he felt his own life leaving him. Soon he would be dead.
As soon as the last incantation left his mouth, Hiro realized he could no longer stay up, and fell over, his body weak as a newborn child’s. But a rumbling from under the ground filled his heart with joy. He’d succeeded!
He watched with tears of happiness as a massive arm broke from the ground outside, then another, and another, and one more still. These arms pushed up against the earth and the rest of the beast followed. But it was different from the sculpture. It still had four arms, and it was still a wolf-like creature, but now it was covered head to toe in Samurai armor!
It walked over to the house, swatted off the roof, and reached in, gently plucking Hiro from the floor and placing him on the ground in front of him. Hiro looked up in wonder and confusion. Why? Why was it adorned in Samurai battle armor?
The creature then got on its knees and placed it’s head to the ground, bowing to him in a gesture of supreme loyalty.
“Master.” The creature spoke, its voice as deep and booming as could be “Speak to me your will, and I will carry it out.”
“W-what?” Hiro wheezed
“I am Miyamoto Musashi. You have bound my soul to this powerful creature. I am now able to walk among the living again, and fight. You have willingly given up your own life to accomplish this task. This is a sacrifice I must honor. Tell me your dying wish, my lord.”
“Go Musashi…go and protect those in need. Destroy the evils that are invading our world!”
“Yes my lord. I will fight until I am dead, or until they all are.”
With a sigh of great relief, and tears in his eyes, Hiro draws his last breath, and dies. Musashi wills the ground to open and take his body, sending him back to the Earth. Then, he stands back up, a leaves the area, concerned only with carrying out the will of his Lord and Master.