A Bond of Three Warriors: Chapter 0 Part 2:...One of Courage...
#2 of Bond of Three Warriors
All that you need to be warned about has actually been covered in the first part.
And no, I am not hating on any other type of warrior with this title.
And two uploads in one night, what has the world come to?
The breeze lifted the leaves off of the trees and twirled them around in a beautiful pattern over the landscape. Twirling them as if they were nothing into the darkness.
The dirt that made up this land compacted underneath his footsteps, leaving paw-prints in his wake. His purple haori, dull gold accented the purple along the edges, was swept away on every movement and with the breeze, his left arm free of the confines of the haori sleeve. His sheathed nodachi was held over his right shoulder, his right paw lazily draped over it. His wakizashi and his tant? were together at his side on his belt, never to leave unless he was completely safe.
He had to walk away from his lord. He could not stand working under a tyrant any longer, especially since all of his comrades always had an eerily rapid change of heart. And they always came back glassy eyed and proclaimed their allegiance once more.
Like they were brainwashed.
And so, he walked away. If there was one thing that he could stand, it was being a r?nin. He'd still have his courage, his weapons, his dreams, his free will and his life at the expense of his honour. Not like he had any to begin with.
He reached a bamboo thicket, where the very shadows seemed to dance by themselves with the sun high above never moving. As such, he became wary, his tawny tail flicking in anticipation.
Six other anthros jumped out of nowhere, all brandishing exotic weaponry. As such, he hefted the nodachi off his shoulder and clasped the hilt with his right paw. Slowly, he unsheathed it, the steel gleaming in the sunlight. When both of his arms were fully outstretched was when the nodachi was completely unsheathed, and so the scabbard was dropped onto the ground by his feet.
He grasped the bottom of the hilt with his left paw and held the large weapon like it was a paperweight. He stared down each of the assailants, all of them glassy eyed and showed no fear, despite going up against a well trained samurai.
One leapt at him, furled tessens held in both paws. When the assassin landed close by, the fans were unfurled and were swiped at him. The samurai jumped back, still focused on all of the assailants. He swung the nodachi across the dual-tessen wielder's stomach, spilling their insides across the dirt.
He glared back to the rest, all of them more apprehensive to fight him from now on. However, their lord's words must've been running through their dulled minds, since the rest leapt at him.
His courage allowed him never back down and to slay the would-be killers, his nodachi now covered in blood. He placed it onto his right shoulder once more and knelt down to pick up the scabbard, only for a naginata blade to stop at his neck.
"It looks like the cougar has turned into a kitten." A familiar female voice taunted.
The cougar slowly stood, the naginata blade following his movement. He looked over to his newest assailant, a rabbit in black yor?i without the kabut?. Her eyes were also glassy, suggesting that even she was brainwashed.
"Stop this now, Aiko." The cougar warned, glaring.
"The only way that this can end is if you come back, Isamu. Don't make this too hard." Aiko said, smiling evilly.
Isamu only inclined his head further, exposing his neck more.
"And so it begins." He said.
Aiko moved the naginata slightly away from his neck in confusion. All that the lordless samurai needed.
He jumped back, moving his nodachi back into two paws. He immediately swung down and cut the naginata blade right off the haft. He used the kashira (A/N: the pommel-like thing on the bottom of a japanese sword hilt) to hit Aiko's unprotected head. When he was sure that she was unconscious and not dead, he sheathed his nodachi, slung it over his shoulder once more and walked away from the unconscious rabbit.
He realised that he still had the pin of his lord on his haori. So he raised his left paw and pulled it off, throwing it to the ground and digging it into the dirt with his foot. He pulled the left sleeve of his haori into the back of his belt, fully showing his r?nin status.
'Goodbye, Lord Ishotsuke.' He thought, never looking back at the palace.
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That night, Isamu came to a shrine in a woodland far from the palace he walked away from. On the shrine was a yari, his father's truth be told.
With respect, Isamu placed his nodachi onto the ground and took an incense stick and flint out of a pouch he had. He placed the incense onto the shrine just before the yari and struck the flint with his tant?, making sparks fly and light the incense.
He took a step back, sheathing his tant?, placing the flint back into the pouch and sat down, cross-legged with his tail accompanying his left leg. His paws found themselves interlocked, his forearms resting on his upper legs. Soon, the loving fragrance of lavender slowly filled the air.
His father's favourite fragrance.
Isamu took a shaky breath. He always hated talking at his father's shrine. He always felt it as an obligation to remain silent.
"I left him, father. I finally did it. My courage was enough to turn my back on Lord Ishotsuke." Isamu said.
A tear came to his eye. He took yet another shaky breath.
"I knew that mother almost gave up when she heard that you died. And it was her who told me to leave when I had the ability to. She's gone, but not dead. But I will bring her back to reality. Out of Ishotsuke's incantation, or whatever it is."
The wind only blew into his face, caressing the fur on the cougar's face. The smell of lavender became slightly stronger, calming the young cougar.
"I may not come back. I do not know if I will even survive long enough to continue all this. If that happens, then goodbye, father."
Isamu stood and bowed at the waist. He left the incense burning while he picked his nodachi up, slung it over his shoulder once more, and wandered away from the shrine.
The wind blew stronger once more, but a voice without a definite source could be heard.
"I am proud of you, my son."
The wind died down, and the voice along with it.
Isamu never had a word of it reach his ears.