Even a Warrior Must Fall

Chapter I: The Cold-Hearted Assassin

       The quick flashing of a drawn sword immediately caught my attention which had been unknowingly wandering. Along with it came the shouted words of one of my fellow warriors which suddenly brought me back to reality. 

        " Hey, Hajime! You're idling! Have you forgotten what we came here to do?!?!" 

        " Sorry, I lost focus for a moment," I replied.

        " Whatever. Let's finish these bastards off and get the hell out of here," 

        " Okay, no problem," I answered while pulling my katana out of its scabbard.

        The next few minutes passed by quickly, with the lifeless bodies of our enemies soon littering the ground. I wiped the sweat off my brow, getting some blood on my face in the process. While some may find what we do, which is slaughtering people, repulsive it is not a big deal. It's just what I had been trained to do,all a part of a day's work.

        My master gave us, his loyal warriors, an urgent and exacting mission: to eliminate the people sent by a rival landlord to take over a large part of his vast lands. 

       Experts that we are, we finished the job in no time at all; swiftly, efficiently and without hesitation.

       " Good job," I heard our leader address our group. " Our master will surely reward us richly for a successful mission."

      While the group went talking on and on about the rewards and honor that we were going to receive, my thoughts began straying to the times before I even become what I am at present...

        ( 8 Years Ago...)

        Everything around me was in a great blur. Snow was  falling heavily as I fought to haul myself through an open field. My whole body ached and I felt as if I was ready to pass out at any moment...

       No! I silently screamed to myself. The moment I close my eyes would be the moment i die. I will survive, no matter what it takes.

       Using what remaining strength I have, I continued to drag my body to a place I deemed to be relatively safe.

        I did so and as I did, I remembered how I got into this situation... 

        A loud shout startled me from my deep slumber. " Fire!" shouted someone from somewhere in our house. I scrambled out of my futon, only to find our house burning. 

     Smoke was beginning to quickly fill the room where I currently was. Through my terrified eyes, I could see the structure of our house starting to collapse.

      Suddenly, a burning beam of wood fell near the place where I was sitting. So this is it... I am finally going to die. I tried to find an opening where I can escape. There was none.

     Then I heard a voice calling out to me. " Son, where are you?!?" I then saw the face of my kaa-san (mom) and felt her grab me for us to get away from the blazing heat.

      " Kaa-san, we're going to die!" I screamed. 

     " No you're not," she said as she pushed me roughly outside.

      " Kaa-san!" Without any warning, the walls of our house collapsed, burying her and the rest of the household in the smoldering debris.

      Tears started form in my eyes as I realized there was little chance anyone else could have survived the fire...

      There was no way I could stay within this chaos. I started to slowly walk away, with the snow beginning to fall once more.

      I couldn't help but wince as I looked back on that painful memory which happened a few days ago. However, I faced a more pressing problem now. I had sustained serious injuries due to the fire. Furthermore, I couldn't recall who I or my family was.. I can only recall that they perished in the recent fire... The woman who had saved my life was my mother but I had forgotten her name and could barely remember how she looked like...

       Pain started to shoot up my body again as my wounds started to hurt badly. I leaned back on the snow-covered tree to try to ease the pain.

      My ears caught the sound of galloping horse hooves. I looked up only to find a group of men staring at me.

      " Master, do you know this boy?" one of them said.

      " No, I don't but he needs help immediately. Take care of him," replied their master.

     They carefully lifted me in the horse-drawn carriage and started to tend to my wounds. 

    " Do you want to continue on living, boy?" asked the master.

   " Yes I do," I answered weakly.

   " Serve me then, Lord Ashikaga."

   " Whatever you say. Just save me."

   " As you wish. In exchange for your life, you will become one of my warriors and serve me all your life."

  " Very well then. What is your name?" asked Lord Ashikaga.

  " I don't remember. Or rather, I can't remember."

 " What about your family? Do you still have any?"

 I tried my best to see if I once had a family but try as hard as I can, I simply couldn't. 

" It doesn't matter. I will give you a new name and identity. From now, on you will be known as Hajime Tsukiyama."

" H-Hajime Tsukiyama?" I muttered.

( End of Flashback...)

" Hajime! You're spacing out again!" a comrade shouted in my ear, abruptly stopping the flow of my memories.

" Gomenasai ( I'm Sorry) I got lost in my thoughts again."

" Wakarimashita ( I Understand) Now then, let's go. Our master will be waiting for us. You see, he has prepared a homecoming celebration to announce our return."

   We started onward to our master's estate to participate in the celebration of our victory against his enemies. 

I couldn't help but wonder as we began to make our way home. " Is this all there is to my life?To kill, destroy and shed blood?"

(Finally got to start on my new story... Read if you feel like it and have the time... ;-) 

This story will be written exclusively in English... Just wanted to challenge myself a little...

Updates will be every Saturday or Sunday. It could also be on a weekday if I have the free time... )