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There are tales that tell the story of an avatar meant to bring the light to Japan. Every one hundred years a new one is born, raised, and trained to fight the incoming darkness. This battle dictates the coming century, and whether it be of light or dark nature.
The first hero to ever exist lost his battle against the growing darkness. He lacked the training and skill to be able to overcome it, and Japan fell to darkness fated to last one century. A century in which the soul of every inhabitant of the lands would become mortal, and could no longer rebirth with the coming dragon that would come every new year, offering resurrection to all the souls that died that past year.
After the century of darkness, came a new hope. The promise of a new hero sparked the minds of the people of Japan. One that would have the possibility of returning the light to the lands. A fated hero to bring back the immortality of the people of Japan, and bring about the return of the sun. The people waited patiently, and expectantly for the light to return, yet none ever did. As the ages passed by, the people lost hope. Perhaps, the first bringer of light was the last one. Despair filled the lands, brought about a new darkness that was not caused by the curse itself. Sorrow that filled the hearts of men and women. Their wills to live broken and destroyed.
Little did they know, the bringer of light had been born, in a small town, at the foot of a mountain Kikoshiri named Iksan, a young boy named Yamamoto. Bearing the symbols of the hero, markings going up his spine representing the new coming of light; however, the darkness grew ever so eternal. This brought about a spark of fear in the young boy's mother. The fear that every mother has with her children, that her child would be subject to a gruesome fate. That he'd be unable to face the darkness and fall ill, becoming one with the creatures that roamed the sunless lands.
His father, however, did not share the same fear of this darkness. Within him grew a new hope. Being a soldier of the small town, he saw great possibility within the young boy's markings and took it upon himself to train him. Little by little, the father introduced him to the combat arts.
As the years passed, the boy grew slightly more capable of his skills. However, hiding his training with his father behind his mother's back had hindered the speed at which he could train drastically, and before he had the capability to train for much longer, the Oni attacked the town.
The Oni, creatures birthed from the same darkness that had befallen Japan were invisible creatures to those that could not see into the soul realm and ravaged the cities and towns. Only a very select few were capable of seeing these behemoths, let alone fight them. The father- as a protector of the town- took to attempting to fight these invisible creatures. Every soldier fell to the ravaging of the Oni that day, leaving only because they'd been satisfied with the amount of light consumed from the soldiers.
This cast a new determination within Yamamoto. Watching not only his people, but his mother fall into such grief taught him of the darkness the world had fallen to. It taught him of what he was capable to prevent: Destruction, death, grief.
Yamamoto's mother grew ever more fearful of the darkness and protective of the child. He'd lost so much at such a young age, she wished to shield him from further harm. Yielding under the grief, Yamamoto began longing for a brighter world.
At the age of 18, Yamamoto stood at the gates of his town. "No more." He thought to himself, grief fueling the very determination within his soul for a brighter world. If he was meant to save it, he would no longer sit around and hope, beg and wish for the light. He'd go out himself and acquire it.
Yamamoto fled from his home in search of the instructors of the spirit. The teachers were meant to guide him through the spiritual mastery to overcome the darkness ahead. Weeks on end he would travel from town to town, looking for a suitable teacher that would give him the knowledge he required. That would teach him the ways in which he was supposed to save the world, not only through the blade but through spiritual power itself.
Weeks swiftly turned to months, which turned to years. Traveling in the darkened lands was a demand much too great for any sole man. Many days he spent hiding from the fearsome stomps of the Oni. Unable to see them, he'd sense them through the sheer power they generated around themselves. Many nights he'd sleep on the branches of trees, hoping that no Oni would sense his presence, and he'd wake the following day unscathed.
After years of hardships, Yamamoto became the warrior he was meant to be. One last journey, from the north-eastern end of Japan to the center, where a mountain named Líng Hún Sh?n stood tall. This mountain housed at its peak a city unlike any other: One that lived in two forms at once.
Those that chose to undertake the journey of Líng Hún Sh?n on their physical form, would do so at much less strain. At the peak lied only a ghost city. One where doors would open and close. Lights would turn on and off with the coming of the sun.
However, those who took it upon themselves to undertake the burden of the soul could climb the mountain in their spirit form. A task far more difficult. The journey was not a short one, but at the very top lies a gleaming city, a see-through version of the one at the peak with all of its inhabitants. Traders, civilians, soldiers. The city of the dead.
This city houses every being that has ever died and chosen not to resurrect with the coming year. Bustling with people from the light ages, two hundred years ago before the darkness overtook the lands. Before the same darkness stole the immortality of the soul. One, where one avatar was meant to rule over them as king until the fated battle would commence and either bring about an age of light or darkness.
Yamamoto traveled to these lands. Wielding the power of the avatar soul, he didn't suffer from the usual burdens other mortals encountered. Unlike them, who were limited to enter Líng Hún Sh?n only by short periods, lest they wanted their soul to detach from their physical form and be deemed dead under every account, he was already a being living between two realms and could live in the city indefinitely. As the chosen avatar, Líng Hún Sh?n was home to his rightful throne, and he arrived to claim it as such, promising to Japan a century of peace. He swore to the people he'd not fail on his singular task: To bring about the light once more.
Yamamoto sat at the throne of Líng Hún Sh?n at the age of 23. Two short years from his expected battle, he deduced he was not strong enough. He was determined: He could do better, aim higher. He could master the power of life and death itself. His training at the peak of Líng Hún Sh?n became ever more demanding. Strengthening the soul, whilst slowly inviting the powers of darkness to fuse within him. He was determined; if he could achieve the power of balance itself, he could master the strength of life and death.
Two years his rigorous training took. But, slowly he'd balanced the darkness into the light of his soul, and he had now become what he deemed the perfect avatar. He was capable of being powerful enough to use the power of the Oni, whilst using the power of life, creating roots, plants, and flowers brimming with life itself that responded to his every word as any soldier would. He was powerful and confident. His training had been arduous, his grasping of the powers of the avatar nigh impossible by the conditions he was set. Hiding from Oni, traveling the lands attempting to find a suitable trainer, all the while working for coin since the people of Japan had lost hope for a new avatar. It had all been unproductive, harsh. He believed in a future that could better this process for the avatar to come. A future where the avatar doesn't travel by foot from town to town, land to land, looking for a high priest of the avatar to teach the ways of old. His vision was clear, who better to teach an avatar how to harness all of this untapped power, than one that has unlocked it already himself?
Yamamoto's final year was at hand. With the coming age, he would be submitted to the battle that would dictate the fate of Japan, and he was left with a seemingly impossible choice. Fight and win the battle, ensuring one hundred much-needed years of light upon Japan and bringing peace.
Or, surrender the world to one hundred years of darkness more, but be able and ready to become the teacher, the high priest. Ensure that every avatar after him tries as hard as he once did, and in the long term, ensure not one hundred, but one thousand years of light.
Ambition filled the soul of Yamamoto, his very core shaken by the idea. Anxious, scared, there were no words to describe the gut feeling that overcame him as he faced his two choices, and every passing day, the weight grew heavier.
Yamamoto reached an impossible decision. He demanded the gates of the castle be closed, no guard, no servant was allowed within the castle walls, as he knelt in the middle of the throne room, katana at hand. The few for the many, he said to himself, as he dissected and tore apart the avatar soul from within himself. He sacrificed all of his power, all of his strength, and his very soul for the cause. He'd doom Japan to one hundred years of darkness since there was no avatar able to partake in the fated battle. But in turn, he could ensure double, triple, decuple that in years of light.
The screams from the castle could be heard, but under the very rules of the king, none dared enter. Until finally, Yamamoto came out of the castle, weak, frail. His punishment for denying fate and destiny, his whole body had aged to represent that of a 70-year-old man. His bones ached, his muscles did too. A curse to be had, for surrendering the power of the avatar. Gladly, he bore all of the punishments, should it mean the next avatar would never suffer his fate, and Japan never to suffer another century, after the coming one.
Devastated by the king's choice, the people spat at the sound of the old king's name. He became a synonym for coward. None understood his motives, the way he did. The people rose, and one man usurped Yamamoto, kicked him off the mountain for being a traitor, and gave him exile for life. He'd face the hundred years of darkness he bestowed upon Japan, as a punishment for his crime.
And that, he did. Through the one hundred years of exile, Yamamoto trained as he did when he was younger. As much as he could, with his creaking frail body. And through the one hundred years he fled from Oni and hid from the people that would sooner see him dead.
After hiding himself for a hundred years, Yamamoto sought the avatar, hoping that all had but forgotten him. Hiding under a new name, Nakamoto, Yamamoto walked through the lands looking for the new avatar, hoping to train the new prodigy that was to be blessed with his knowledge. But, to no avail. The avatar was nowhere to be seen.
Twenty years he searched before he stumbled upon a young woman, named Kono. A guard for hire for merchants and farmers from the bandits that had overtaken the lands of Japan, that informed him of the whereabouts of the avatar.
Kono told Yamamoto the story of how she'd met the new avatar by sheer coincidence, one drunken night at a tavern, sweet talks were exchanged between the two, and upon having spent the night with the avatar, soon noticed the markings on his back. She retold the story of how he'd mentioned that he'd never train, and would let the coming darkness take him. How he didn't see a reason to save a people so miserable, and filled with bandits and raiders. How he hadn't chosen his destiny, so he wouldn't need to see it through.
Kono chained him to the very bed they laid on and ran seeking help. She intended to go to Líng Hún Sh?n and inform the current King of the whereabouts of the new avatar but had met Yamamoto along the way.
He agreed to go see the self-proclaimed avatar, hoping that his markings on his back would not be a farce. Hoping, that perhaps he could change the mind of the corrupt young man that carried such an important task and power. Yamamoto and Kono traveled across Japan together, hiding from the Oni and exchanging stories of the past. He never intended to reveal his true self to her, for he feared too many would hate him for his choice. They slept on a cavern hiding from Oni, then the following night, on a small hotel just beside a tavern after spending some time drinking and exchanging stories.
The night after that, Kono and Yamamoto arrived at the place where she'd chained the avatar and found him having broken free with a vengeance. He intended to take justice into his own hands and kill whoever came through the door. Kono readied herself to defend Yamamoto from the assault, but soon Yamamoto unsheathed his katana and fought bravely against the new avatar.
His clothes were ripped and torn to shreds in his fierce battle, but he stood victorious. Such was expected of a man that had become the perfect avatar in 7 short years, let alone 100 to train. He stood on the neck of the avatar, his symbols revealed from the battle, Kono now knew who she was dealing with.
However, the corrupt avatar was not done. Determined to die on his own terms, he gripped at his blade and as best he could, stabbed himself through the side. Blood spewed and filled the floor quickly, and Yamamoto stared at the dying avatar. His years of fighting had come to a stop, and he was faced with darkness once more. His soul could no longer undertake the power of the avatar, and soon the soul would seep from the corrupted one and grant the victory to the darkness once again.
However, Kono volunteered herself. She told Yamamoto of how her choices had been nothing but corrupt and wrong her whole life. She'd done not much but indulge into the darkness and benefit from the weakness and desperation of those below her. Having spoken to Yamamoto and learning of his true identity, she saw a possibility within herself that had never been there before. That, if the old man Yamamoto was not all evil for his choices, and if he could see a brighter future through a darker present, she could be better herself, and her opportunity lay right in front of her.
She volunteered to sacrifice her soul and immortality, to bring about a new age of light, trained under Yamamoto. She begged for the possibility, the glimpse of redemption that lay in front of her, in the eyes and blood of a dying man. And, Yamamoto listened to her pleading, doing the ritual of transition unto her soul, ascending it to the power of the avatar, and sacrificing the current one.
Yamamoto's plan flourished to life. And, in front of him lie the new avatar, one that would not need to travel the infested lands in search of a teacher, but have access to one right in front of her. He trained her the way he intended to train every other avatar. Giving her the time to practice and learn, and using the time that would otherwise be spent traveling, honing the skills of the avatar soul.
As Kono grew older, and her time neared, Yamamoto and she had bonded greatly. In her final year, Yamamoto told her, that if he'd been king, he would have granted her the title of queen. And asked her to marry him, if even for the short few days they had left.
The day of a new year came, and Kono's body faded from the realm to fight. Anxiously, Yamamoto looked at the skies and watched, begged, and hoped for the light to return. He stared intently, knowing that if the light were to return, it would mean that his love had won the battle, and light would return for one hundred years. That his goal was achieved and he'd succeed what he had planned, what felt like so long ago.
Through his intent staring, over the horizon, the skies cleared, and light graced the lands of Japan for the first time in two hundred years. With this light, meant his wife's soul had passed onto another. Yamamoto sat silently at the foot of Líng Hún Sh?n, having sacrificed his power, throne, youth, even his wife. Yamamoto sat staring at the skies, afraid they'd turn dark once more. But, understood something new. He wouldn't be the king, or the avatar to Japan through recognition. But he'd be its hidden hero, fated to live in exile for eternity, ensuring the light return every hundred years.
Snowflakes danced around in the sky, it was like ice-white dust, blending in with the trees that were already covered in snow from last night. It was that time of year when Yuki-onna the snow woman came to steal children from their warm homes and eat them.
In the distance, Haru could hear the piercing sounds of women crying throughout the streets of Chichibu, Japan. For as long as Haru remembered, Yuki-onna would take a boy and a girl to feast on, this would happen once every year on the night of the first snowfall
Haru slid open the shoji and made his way down the hallway, he could feel a chill run down his spine when he reached the dark living room where his parents were. He looked around the room and his brother, Jiro, was nowhere to be found. Before his mother could even utter a sound, he knew what she was going to say.
?He's gone,? his mother managed to say while bursting out into tears.
Haru began to cry, and he could feel the tears roll down his cheek, he knew that this was coming sooner or later. Jiro was only 6, a perfect victim for the snow woman.
?Don't worry kaasan, i'll find Jiro, i'll bring him back,? Haru vowed to his parents.
Haru made his way to Sonch3's house in hopes to get a blessing.
?Sonch3!? Haru called out in front of the village leader's door, ?Sonch3!? Haru yelled out again, louder this time.
Sonch3 brought Haru into his house and while sipping green tea, Haru explained the whole story and his vow to his parents. After listening, Sonch3 closed his eyes as if he was communicating with the gods above.
After a while he opened his eyes, now glowing like gold, and said, ?You are the chosen one by Hachiman, god of war, you have his blessing to defeat Yuki-onna. Go to the temple down the river, you will see a red tree, you will know what to do then.?
But before Haru left, Sonch3 gave him one of his most prized possessions, the o katana, to Haru as a blessing.
When Haru reached the red, crimson tree, he touched the bark with his bare hands and felt a pull, like the tree was pulling him into it. He felt dizzy, fighting the urge to close his eyes, he dug his nails into his sweaty palms, stopping himself from falling asleep.
?Seems like you are a brave one, you didn't fall asleep like the other humans,? echoed a voice.
He looked around and saw a shed, but before Haru could even open the shed's door, there was a strong gust of wind.
?AHAHAHAH, seems like you found me little one,? the snow woman said with a wicked grin on her face.
Without hesitation, Haru pulled out the o katana from behind his back, and swung it in the air, aiming for Yuki-onna. He missed by an inch, making the snow women furious. She stretched out her long arms and long fingernails. She threw her arms in the air, the long finger nails slashed Haru's left check leaving an unforgettable scar. Red liquid ran down his cheek, blood, it dipped slowly onto the white snow, melting it in the process. He wasn't going to back down, with the help of Hachiman's power, he swung his sword again, this time piercing his long sword right through the snow woman's stomach, leaving her bleeding on the white snow.
Haru finally opened the shed and saw two children, a boy and a girl.
?Jiro!? Haru yelled in joy as he hugged his brother tightly, not wanting to let go.
The three of them were excited and so glad that after hundreds of years, this was finally going to end. They were eger to let the village people know about their victory? but little did they know what was going to happen.
Haru brought the two children back to the village and everyone cheered and was delighted by the news. Glimmering rays of orange shined throughout the sky and children were now safe without the threat of the snow woman. A snowflake flew from the sky into Haru's mouth, it tasted sweet, he turned back to his family and they walked happily back home, safe and united.
A few more years later and Haru had his own family, his own children and a warm cozy home. He was different now, after the fight with Yuki-onna, he was a completely different person, he started having nightmares and horrible dreams, that one day, she will return. But sometimes, nightmares become reality?
Although he seemed happy on the outside he knew what was going to happen.
?Whats wrong honey?? Haru's wife, Ichika said in a conercing soft voice.
Both of them knew that it wasn't really that simple, common, the same nightmares for years? Both of them knew what was going to happen, so they decided to ask a Tengenjutsu to see what was going to happen.
They bowed their heads when they saw the Tengenjustsu and told her what was in Harus nightmare for the past years.
But before Haru could explain the details, the Tengenjustsu slammed the door shut, so hard it almost knocked both of them to the ground, as if she saw a ghost. Both of them didn't know what was going on, why was the Tengenjustsu so scared to see them, there were a million questions swimming around their heads like fishes in water. The couple deserved answers.
They were going to knock on the door of the Tengenjustsu's house but stopped.
?WAIT, STOP, IM HERE TO HELP!? Sonch3 screamed from behind the couple, we were confused.
?Remember me?? Sonch3 asked Haru while taking in huge gasps for air.
?You? your Sonch3, i remember you gave me a sword to fight the snow woman.? Haru started to say as he was remembering the past.
Sonch3 brought them back to his house and while sipping tea the young couple explain to Sonch3 about the nightmares. But Sonch3 seemed to know about everything, he knew about where the young couple were, why they went to the Tengenjustsu house and why they were siting in front of him.
?What im about to tell you, should never leave this room?? Sonch3 began saying to the couple.
?We are leaving tonight, and you all will remain quiet.? Haru said to his family in a near whisper.
But Ichika and her children were confused as to why they had to leave at night, and why did had to leave quietly. Ichika knew about what the Sonch3 said but was still bewildered. But slowly on the cart ride to their new house, she drifted off to a deep sleep. When she awoke she found herself in a familiar place. It was Haru's former house, the one he lived in as a child, still in the same city.
?Didn't Sonch3 warn us to leave, why are we still here?? Ichika asked her husband in shock.
But Haru knew what he was doing, when Sonch3 invited them to his house, Haru saw the black magic spells on the wall that Sonch3 forgot to hide. Haru knew that the dreams he been having and were all done by Sonch3. He wanted Haru the brave warrior to leave the city, so Sonch3 could rule it once again. Thats why Haru stayed close to watch. As the day went on, Haru sat there observing his own house through the window. He saw Sonch3 and his guards walking in and out of his house.
He brought out the sword that Sonch3 gave him a long time ago, and use the same sword to fight Sonch3 Even though Haru didn't want to fight Sonch3, his village leader, he knew this had to be done. He knew that in order to protect his villagers, and his family, he had to win this fight.
And he did, with his magical sword, swinging back and forth, Sonch3 fell to the ground yelling, ?STOP, I SURRENDER!?
Then Haru brought Sonch3 into an intergation room to ask him questions, regarding the black magic and all that has happened so far.
What Sonch3 said shocked Haru, and everyone.
Haru saved the village once again.
Soon he became the village leader, and you know him, hes just around the corner, protecting us from harm.
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