A Story to Tell

My new friends wasted no time in making preparations and were ready with a new bunch of soldiers and provisions within ten minutes. They were definitely eager if nothing else. I on the other hand was in the middle of my mind exploding at how fast I was planning the route I would take them on while also coming up with a backstory. I was never good under pressure. On work days I would plan practically everything before I put pen to paper, but no I had neither and surrounded by people I had to convince I was a monk from another world.

"Are you Ready, Mister Oniwa?" Lacey asked, with a wilderness ready Ash with the giant backpack, vest, compass and everything. I rose to my feet from my meditating. "If you are then I am. And you don't need to be so formal, you can just call me Muzashi."

"Okay then, Muzashi." Ash began, "Lead the way."

I nodded and led the group of seven people. Ash, Lacey, three researchers, and two soldiers. I led them to the tree line and turned to them. "Before we go any further, I want to set a few ground rules. One being we cannot stop to rest until we reach the center. Second, be sure to stay close together. It's getting late and when it's dark you might see light's in the forest."

"You mean like that dog lady?" A soldier asked. "Oh no. Hino won't be bothering you or anyone else, but their are more things in this forest than her. One such beings are the wisps. These are the lights I speak of. You must never follow them, because you will get lost and this forest is vast. You will starve to **** looking for the place you started from. Any questions?"

They said nothing. "Then follow me." With that we began our journey to the center of Eden Sky.

Unlike the armies first foray into my home, the trek was far quieter, calmer, and much more easy to traverse. A good hour was spent walking through the forest floor, and the calmness had its effects on everyone. The soldiers let their weapons hang from the strap across their soldiers, the researchers spent as much time taking notes as they did looking at every branch with a child's curiosity. Ash was taking literally thousands of pictures in all directions, but Lacey never took her eyes off the path and more precisely, me. I didn't need to read her mind to know what she was thinking. It comes down to who the fuck is this man and is he a threat. I needed to put out that fire before it grows bigger.

It was growing darker and getting harder for the others to see so I picked up a leaf from the ground and began chanting a made up language and somehow that was enough for the leaf to burst into flame that glowed a bright green. I turned to face Ash whose jaw had dropped at the sight of it. I reached out my hand. "This should serve as a light for you." She slowly placed her hand in the fire and was shocked that she felt nothing and her skin didn't burn. "What is this?" Ash whispered with wonder. "It's called Veil Fire. It's a technique many monks use when candles aren't bright enough, and it doesn't burn anything, as you've seen."

Ash now had the look of a woman bursting with questions. "What was that language?". "It has no exact name, and none truly know it's origin but it goes back thousands of years to the first of my brethren. It's known only as the Elder Tongue." Ash and the researchers were filing down their pens and pencils to stubs with everything they were writing and filling their memory cards with pictures of the veil fire.

I felt I had tortured Lacey enough with me showing off and began fulfilling my end of the bargain. "Ah, right." I pretended to realize. "I was to tell you my story. But I must say again, it's not pretty. Do you truly wish to hear it." the expression I held was of someone hoping they would say no, and I made sure they would notice. (Yeah I make it sound like I'm a psychopath, but this is a special circumstance, don't you think?)

Lacey and the others nodded their heads. I picked up another leaf and made a second veil fire for me to hold, and continued walking.

"I suppose the best place to start is with a little history. You see, the land where I'm from was one of turmoil and war. It seemed that every day the powers that be would tear each other apart. The rich, the entitled, the war mongers, and so on. And while they squabbled, the lands were soaked in so much red, forests slowly disappearing from the world, and people knowing the worst of suffering. And to counter act this chaos, a group was formed, with the values and skills that would bring and keep a lasting peace. The In-Shai Monks. With martial prowess unrivaled, and arts numerous we slowly built a home where those who desired peace might do so. But that was too much to ask for those who would sow only chaos and reap whatever was left behind. And there was one who was cherished that chaos. Some would call him a king, but to those who followed him, he was a god. And when man puts his life in a false gods hands, bad things will follow. And that's where I come in."

"I was raised by the monks. I never knew my mother and father, but I had thousands of brothers and sisters. For half a century I fought, side by side with them. We fought, and we fought, and we fought. But it was never enough. The monks preached and practiced peace longer than I could comprehend, and many would come in search of the same. But we were heretics. We had strength but our enemy had numbers, and before that tide of blood we could not stand. One by one, we were hunted. People I called brothers and sisters. I watched time and time again as the light in their eyes faded, and the hands they begged me to hold slipped away. All memories now."

I remained silent for a time. I felt a tear run down my cheek. Once again, memories I've never had filled my head. I remembered those dying faces, those piles of bodies.

"You have my condolences, Muzashi." Lacey consoled, "I know what that's like to lose brothers and sisters. I know."

"I thought you might. I know a true soldier when I see one, I recognized it the moment I saw you." Lacey and I shared a smile at that. Before they saw me cry I continued my story.

"And like a soldier I was growing tired of fighting. The weight on my heart began being too much to bare. And one day I realized that all my brothers and sisters were gone, dead or missing. At some point I had to admit, I was the last monk, but all the knowledge, all the wisdom that spanned so many centuries, was all that was left of them. So I dedicated my life to protecting it. So I did the impossible. I carved this land from the earth and raised it into the sky, where no one can reach it."

I heard their footsteps stop. I heard them gasp in surprise. "You. . . raised the island?" Ash gasped, and I could tell a thousand more questions raced through her. By now we had reached where the veil of invisibility hid the castle and I stopped right before it, ready to pull back the curtain.

"You said you come from a different land. Where?" Ash asked, quizzical as ever. I of course haven't thought that far. "I'm afraid that is a longer story, and one I shall tell. Another time." Ash was obviously disappointed with my answer.

"For a hundred years I kept watch over our knowledge, and as I promised, I will show you just where it's been."

With the veil fire still in my hand I waved it in front of the veil and it collapsed. The splendor of sunrise castle for all to see. The night full of stars were mixed with the lanterns across the walls and the farmland surrounding it.

"Behold my sanctuary. Once it was the home of countless people who fought for a peaceful world, now it is the burden I happily bear. Behold Sunrise Castle."

I wish I had a camera to take a perfect of shot of my new friends faces. If this was a movie, a symphony would be playing to mark their arrival. I led them to the base of the castle tree, answering all the questions they had as we passed the farms. How was the castle made? How did monks learn all these techniques? and the like. When we finally reached the bridge I was about to give them a tour of the whole castle when something disrupted what I planned. I knew exactly who it was the minute lightning began raining from the sky.

Onimusha planted herself in front of the bridge with sparks dancing all around her with smoke billowing from her mouth. Those demon eyes were staring daggers directly behind me and her fangs were bared, and of course gripping her sword ready to rip everyone who wasn't me to shreds.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?!"

Oh Fuck Me.