First Shot: Final Strike!

[SeifuSnow]

~Prologue to be found in *RolePlaying Character Background Thread* for Human~

Chapter 1. The Glorious City, Amatsu

From the northeast path, the young man entered the traditionally-built, Japanese-style town located on a remote island in the eastern seas. His posture was straight and his face kept about him a distinguished air as he peered out of the corners of his thin brown eyes, through brown bangs that partially covered the left side of his slightly-tanned face, staring from place to place of areas before him; at buildings, bridges and the stream that travelled lively to his side, his eyes searched deeply for anything that would lead him in the direction of the person he sought: The soke* of a specific family whom would aid him in his efforts to find Cougar Gai.

He had never ventured this far beyond the swamp-like fields of the outer-city territory. He had seen few people walk into that area, some to find shelter, others to hunt the beasts that thrived there; everything still felt new to him. The buildings, all hand-built from the trees of the heavily-forested area around and painted in mixtures of oils and dyes, all stood housed together in an area all open to one another, without doors or closed entryways. Everybody that bustled around the small, prosperous city was lively and out-going in anything they did. The children laughed and played, those fairly older helped around the town or were training. The men and women performed separate tasks: the former more so catching fresh fish from the bay or out hunting or drinking, and the latter working around the house, farming or tending to the babies. It all seemed so peaceful to Human, whom had lived in solitude for the first half of his life and with only one for the remainder, with few, generally rather harsh, visitors.

So he continued to meander about the active town, his senses constantly searching, soaking up anything and everything around him and learning from it all. He walked between the open houses and shops with the occasional expected glance from the busy workers inside before they continued in their workings. He peeked inside some shops and was met with smiles, and he smiled back; he was used to this form of greeting with his master every morning. It seemed Human was out of luck. He turned around out of the door he looked through, yet there was something that caught his eye that he hadn't noticed before: It was a large, sparkling white wall standing nearly twenty feet high. Over it, he saw the rooftop of a grand structure which towered well over any other building in the city, yet modeled in a similar manner to the others, with one story more than some of the larger ones with three.

He moved out from between the two shops next to the dirt road and emerged standing before a great gate, bearing under it two men adorning shining red and black iron-plated armor and long spears tipped with a serrated steel blade and a few red feathers. Walking towards the men, he caught their attention and they stood erect, poised and ready with stern expressions plastered across their generally-bland pale faces. Thin lines of sweat glistened across their brows, upon their heads topped thick helmets.

"Hello!" Human called out to the men as he approached them with a smile, his hand in the air, waving to them as he continued walking. One of them slightly grinned and went to lift up his own hand in a returned gesture, but stopped as he caught the glare of the other.

They stood silent until Human was within a general speaking distance, then the one that had stopped the first - he was on the right - spoke in a clear, somewhat young-sounding voice, "This is the house of Amatsu's Daimyo. What business brings you here? If you have no business here, plea-"

He was cut short by the other, younger one to the left interrupting him, "No, no! You're supposed to tell them to leave if they tell you that they have no business!"

The first continued, "That doesn't sound right at all! We should inform them that they should leave in the first place, to sound more assertive!"

"But I thought-"

Human finally interjected, placing his hands in the makeshift pockets of his pants, "Please, please. There is no reason to argue! I am looking to speak to the soke of this home, the Daimyo of Amatsu. Is this where he is?"

The two of them nodded slowly, the first guard's finger on the other's arm, while the second guard's hand was already moving up to push the other away; oth of their mouths were agape, mid-word in argument.

"Yes, yes. Of course. He is on the top floor of this mansion. Please just follow the path." The second one replied, his eyes looking beyond both of them along the path. They parted to let Human through, and he took the young guard's word and started up the path towards the mansion.



Chapter 2. The Young Master

Human walked in short, quick steps towards the mansion, his senses still gathering all forms of information attainable around him. As he approched the short length of stairs leading into the mansion, he stopped for a moment, noticing a young boy of pale features and shoulder-length silver hair slashing with a sharpened wooden blade at the base of a tree that had been modeled after a human.??The boy looked over at Human as the latter passed, his piercing crystal blue eyes seeing into the depths of the young man's soul. The boy stopped mid-slash, his mouth slowly opening to mouth in a silent tongue some words unknown by Human. After that moment, Human continued into the mansion and up the few flights of stairs into the top of the wonderfully modeled abode. Smells of fresh lemon and garlic mingled in the air, the faint odor of different exotic perfumes only coherent upon the third and fourth floors.

Upon reaching the floor he sought, his eyes adjusted to different lighting of each room, separated by only the thin walls of paper-like cloth and stripped wood, the gleaming tatami mats beneath his feet so clean that they were almost slippery. He wound around a few of the rooms, some of them completely empty besides the decorations of swords, spears, and shields upon the walls and them and maybe a seating and prayer table arranged to one side. Finally, Human found the dim room the Daimyo sat within, seated on a comfortable pillow behind a table covered in organized documents, and to his side a small tea table with a delicate wooden cup filled halfway with steaming hot herbal tea.

Human stopped before he entered the room, treating it as a temple: he stopped, sat slowly upon his legs with his feet behind him and together, his hands together before him and he bowed till his forehead touched the cool surface of the tatami mat. The daimyo's assistant clapped softly and Human slowly stood to his feet, though not in full posture, walking into the room and standing twenty feet from the honored one until the assistant clapped again, and Human seated himself upon a clean, velvety pillow. Human was told to never look directly at the Daimyo, but was intrigued by the small form that sat behind the mass of papers. His eyes glanced at the short person, and almost laughed; the Daimyo of Amatsu was but a young boy, at most being twelve years of age. But memory caught up to him and he remembered the young boy in the garden outside the mansion, practicing with the wooden blade.

The young boy, unsmiling and unwavering, spoke clearly and confidently for his age, "What business do you seek with me? I am very busy."

"Uh... err- I am searching for someone, and I thought you might know where I can find him." Human spoke, his voice quiet, though he felt no fear.

The daimyo's piercing eyes searched Human and picked out weaknesses and flaws, not only physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. He looked down for a moment to search through some papers and lifted one, handing it to his assistant who took it graciously. She walked towards Human, sat before him and placed it on the small table before him, then standing and walking back, bowing politely as she walked away. Human lifted the paper and read it silently in the dim light; it gave all information he needed on Cougar Gai and those working with and against him. It gave a brief background and some information about the small organization of ninjas working under the daimyo, headed by Gai.

Human's reaction came faster than his mind could register what had happened, rolling to the side as a thin needle-like blade whizzed past his ear, stabbing through and splintering the wood behind his previously-seated position. Acid dripped from the metal and melted away the wood and floor beneath the blade. Human looked up towards the daimyo, expressionless. A few strands of the young boy's hair floated gently down to the table, and the assistant looked back; the daimyo sat there emotionless, as if nothing had happened. Human had noticed the figure moving behind the thin fabric wall faster than the assistant had and dashed out of the room, the thin blade in hand, acid wiped on the floor for a clean grip. The grotesque features of the assassin disappeared into a shadowy form into the floor, escaping in a flash along the walls.

~To Be Continued in Chapter 3. The Force of Shadows~

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*: Soke - In Japanese culture, it is the head of a family

~*Comments/Questions/Recommendations can be included as replies. If you have a character you want implemented into the story, simply ask and give the name and a small background or direct me to one for the character of your choice. I will try to reply as soon as possible as to how the character will be placed in the story, but recommendations as to their alignment and standpoint in the time of the story wouldn't hurt.

~~*As far as the actual story goes, I only ever write off the top of my head, so anything and everything you read is fresh. I am always looking for new places to bring Human about in the story, so give me somewhere fun to write about!