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Requiem of Destruction (1x1 with DarkMudkip)

Jikkah

Jikkah

Cluster
Joined
Jun 3, 2013
Location
U.S.A
Stories told by both word of mouth and books passed down in history tell of a sword, a legendary weapon said to have slain even the most formidable of beasts and even the strongest of warriors. That was all until the blades last owner hid it away before he drew his last breath.
The sword was said to have been lost for decades, until rumors of its location started to surface. Many warriors went to the top of one of the six ancient mountains that made up the Cresent Ridge, and none ever returned.
A woman in elegant robes sat atop a pile of bleach white bones, raven hair cascading down her shoulders and down her back. Her skin was pale and dotted with scales, sharp claws and pointed horns to top it off. Her red eyes, which had cat-like pupils, were closed, resting her chin on the butt of her hand, a sword dull blade covered in rust propped up against her side.

Sanada Genjiro Yukimura was next in line as the leader of the Takeda clan, and even though he was a capible young man of age seventeen, he was still a long way from being ready to lead. He was still naive, and had much more to experience, regardless of his prowess as a warrior.
 
Date Masamune stood at the base of the Crescent Ridge with his retainer, Katakura Kojurou, staring up at the tall mountains with determination gleaming in his azure hued eye. It had long been foretold that the seventeenth head of the Date household would be able to reclaim the legendary blade known as the Dragon's Claw and cement his rule over the land. Masamune would be the seventeenth head and planned to claim the blade mainly to be known as the land's most powerful leader. Nothing would stop him in this goal, and no one really planned to begin with - it was his destiny. He didn't really believe in destiny, but anything that granted him power was ok in his book.

A lone figure sat perched in a tree some feet away, watching Yukimura as he trained. This figure was adorned in a simple black tunic with leggings and a masked cowl that hid his face. His gold eyes never left Yukimura unless a sudden movement or sound not easily noticed alerted him. His name was Sarutobi Sasuke, and he had been friends with Yukimura since the teen was no older than 5 - Sasuke only being six years older. He had trained much differently than Yukimura had, which he didn't mind so much. He didn't like being up close very often, only when he needed to.
 
The scent of a human- no, two humans- was carried on the wind up into the den of the dragon, stirring her from her slumber. Scarlet red eyes slid open, a second lid blinking twice over her eyes to clear her vision as she looked around. They had yet to make it into the cave, or anywhere close to it, but they were close enough to smell. Listening intently, she stared at the entrance of the cave for a few moments before closing her eyes once more, smoke curling from her red lips. The woman looked no older than twenty, and her expensive robes hung off her shoulders, exposing more scale patches on her skin, making it plenty clear she wasn't human.

Yukimura stopped his movements, giving his body a much needed rest as he turned to the direction of his companion. "Sasuke," He called out, lowering his weapons. "I'm going into the village early today, some of those who are sick seem to have worsened overnight." It had been overly apparent that Yukimura's mind was on other things, his heart not into training, and his movements were a bit off. "Will you come with me this time?"
 
"Ready, Kojurou?" Masamune turned his head to his companion, who nodded silently. Masamune grinned and headed up the worn trail up the mountain; the path had been walked so many times that it was more of a pathway to death than glory. Kojurou followed after Masamune, keeping his hand on the hilt of his sword. The mountains were dangerous enough as is, and even though Masamune was well trained in swordplay, he was not one for clear headed fighting.

"If you want me to tag along. Just don't let anyone breathe on you. You don't need to catch what they have." Sasuke replied, moving down from the branch he was sitting in. He checked his herb pouch to make sure it was full; if they stayed in the quarantine too long, he had something to keep the illness at bay at least for a little while.
 
She was used to many warriors coming from all over to try and take the Dragons Claw from her, but no one had ever succeeded to accomplish such a feat in all the years she had possessed the sword. Each person to enter her home however did provide a momentary distraction, but it never kept her sated long. Still lounging on her pile of bones, even when she heard footsteps approaching the cave entrance, all she did was open her eyes and wait.

Yukimura gave a slight nod, turning on his heel and heading to his small bedroom to gather his supplies, before heading off down the long path from the large estate toward the village below that had been plagued with sickness for weeks now. He'd visit everyday, helping out in anyway that he could, be it hunting for food or even, caring for those who weren't sick, but still had no means to care for themselves.
 
Masamune slowly moved into the cave and stopped when he spotted the odd woman sitting on the large pile of bones. "What the hell?" He said aloud, "You're the guardian of the Dragon's Claw?"

Sasuke followed Yukimura silently, keeping as far away from the sick as he could. He felt bad for them, he grew up in this village. But he didn't want to join them in their suffering. "Don't touch anyone, dana." He said gently, out of precaution.
 
Well this reaction certainly wasn't new, but still something about it caught her off guard. Staring at him in silence for a moment, she nodded and stood, the rusty blade in hand. "I am." Her gaze flickered passed him and she made a noise. "You're welcome to both come at me at once, it isn't dishonorable."

Yukimura frowned. "Sasuke.." The look he gave his companion was one of mixed feelings, knowing if he too grew ill, he wouldn't be able to help, but he couldn't do much help from a distance. "I'll be ok." His own moral was growing thin, watching the people he grew up with, loved and cared deeply for slowly dying was taking a heavy toll on him. Even still he persisted, doing anything and everything he could. "Have the mages at the Takeda estate figured out what this plague is yet? How it's spread?"
 
"It is not my place to fight in Masamune-sama's battle this day." Kojurou said and stepped to a safe distance. Masamune unsheathed his claymore and prepared himself. "Whenever you're ready, doll~"

"They believe it began in the grain." Sasuke answered, "Something contaminated the crop this last harvest, or so they say. Everyone began falling ill once the season ended."
 
Smoke curled from the woman's lips as a scowl spread on her face, easily making her way down the massive bone pile toward him. Though many weapons littered the cave, both old and new, she kept her hold on the rusty old blade, advancing on Masamune quickly and attacking.

"So the illness was spread through crops.. but this isn't anything anyone has ever seen, it's not in any textbooks... could it be magic?" He stopped on the pathway, turning to face Sasuke. "Nothing like this has ever happened before, why now?"
 
Masamune gave it a glance as he blocked her attack. Could that be the blade he was destined to own? No way. It was old and ugly, he couldn't rule a kingdom with that. He pushed her back and charged forward, using practiced slashes against her. With his height and thin figure, it didn't look like he could swing such a massive blade; but here he was, waving it around like it was a wooden play sword.

Sasuke shook his head, "Maybe someone wishes to make sure you have no one to govern when you assume the head of the Takeda." He replied.
"Yukimura-sama?" A gentle voice sounded behind him, though it was slightly muffled. A woman in an elegant red and gold gown stood a few feet away, a white cloth covering her mouth and nose; more than likely to keep the plague away. Her skin was milky and fair, her eyes auburn in hue and held a warmth and gentleness that hadn't been seen in a long time. Her black cherry colored hair was done up in a braided crown for convenience, to more than likely keep it out of her face while travelling. Sasuke took a step forward out of caution, reaching for one of his daggers.
 
Even though she didn't seem to have an ounce of muscle on her, her strength easily matched his, able to keep up with his speed, block his attacks and even take a few swings at him. One hit even landed, it was a feint that was followed up by a jab, slicing open Masamune's cheek. That couldn't be, the blade that the Guardian wielded could hardly cut bread, let alone make such a clean and painless cut.

Yukimura instantly put his hand out to stop Sasuke, looking to Akihime with warm regard. "You must be Mage- Priestess?" He looked relieved. "I put out a posting for anyone who could help treat the villagers." He explained to Sasuke. "Am I correct?"
 
Masamune stumbled back and put his fingers to the cut, looking confused when he saw blood on the tips of his fingers. "What the...?" He looked to the woman with a look of anger mixed with confusion, "How?"

She smiled under her cloth and bowed politely, "Akihime desu." She introduced, "I came as quickly as I could, I hope I'm not too late?"
"Dana, can we trust her? I have a bad feeling about her." Sasuke said under his breath.
 
"Who knows?" She shrugged, bringing her blade up to examine it herself. "I might tell you if you can beat me." She took a defensive stance. "But if I win." A dark gleam flashed in her eyes. "You'll be my next meal." Charging at him again, her attacks now came faster than before, slashing and stabbing at the young warrior before her.

"Sasuke, please, she's come to us if her own accord, and to help our ill family no less!" He scolded Sasuke lightly, turning back to Akihime. "Sanada Genjiro Yukimura, and no, you aren't too late, but it's looking grave."
 
Masamune dodged and blocked as best as he could, she was a lot faster than Kojurou was. He kept on the defensive, watching for some kind of opening. He watched her footing, her swings, any and all movement was watched like a hawk before he finally found his opening. Dodging a vertical slash, he swung with all of his weight and dug his claymore into her side.

"Can you take me to where the plague is said to have started?" She asked gently, "I need to determine if it is magical or not." Sasuke grumbled behind his mask, she was way too nice - even for a Priestess.
 
Lurching to a stop, the raven haired woman looked down at the blade that had cut through her side and had stopped right in the middle of her abdomen. She made a noise, dropping the blade, which shattered as soon as it touched the ground. Then she was gone, and so was his claymore. Now in his hands was a sleek, beautifully crafted blade, one of which he'd never seen before. The Dragon's Claw.

"Yes, of course, this way." Yukimura led her down the pathway passed the homes and into the field that once held beautiful crops, but now it was empty, everything having been pulled out and discarded once it was discovered it was the source of the illness. "Here." He motioned to the area.
 
His eye widened as he looked over the blade. "Remarkable..." He muttered. Kojurou moved over slowly and looked over the blade as well, never seeing its equal.
"Who would have guessed that the guardian was the blade. She had no real reason to be here for thousands of years." He noted. Masamune nodded and gave it a few slow swings to test the weight, making a small noise of approval.

Akihime frowned heavily, moving to the barren field and kneeling before the dead earth. "I see..." She said softly, "this plague was not created or caused naturally. This is a type of necromancy and will take time to cure." She stood and turned to Yukimura, "Would you mind if I made residency here until I can completely purge this disease?"
 
The blade was silver and polished finely, the sheath painted with dragons, a dark color black, and the grip was electric blue. It certainly was a striking blade, and much lighter than the claymore, almost like it weighed nothing, making Masamunw able to swing it at incredible speeds. It's beauty wasn't the only thing that was striking about it, the blade seemed alive, a soft hum coming from the blade.

"Of course! You're welcome to stay as long as needed, we've taken the liberty of preparing where you'll be staying, if you don't mind." His face flushed softly. "The Takeda estate has prepared you a room, and will supply you with whatever you may need."
 
"Beautiful.." He muttered to himself. He tied the sheath to his belt and looked to Kojurou, "Let's head home."
"Hai." Kojurou nodded and followed Masamune down the mountain to the Date estate.

Akihime smiled widely under her cloth and bowed deeply. "Arigatou gozaimasu," She said gratefully, "I'll retrieve my things from my carriage and meet you back at the estate."
 
The energy that came from the sword was electric, making Masamune's skin tingle, but it wasn't painful. It was raw power, it energized Masamune, made it feel like he could do anything; this truly was a legendary sword. The energy coursed through Masamune, the only time the feeling disappearing being when he removed the sword from his belt and placed it on his desk back at the estate, but the soft hum could still be heard.

"Please, let me help you with your things!" Yukimura offered, bowing his head. "It would be rude of me if I didn't assist you in anyway that you need!"
 
Masamune smirked proudly, "I guess this destiny thing isn't so bad.." He said to himself, "It's a damn fine blade, after all. I bet I could whoop Sanada with it, too."

"You're very kind, Yukimura-sama." She seemed to radiate in her gratitude. Sasuke was still hesitant around her, not liking the feeling he got off her. Akihime took Yukimura to her carriage and grabbed her alchemy bags, "Thank you so much for allowing me the opportunity to help others."
 
((We can come back to Masa in a bit!))

Many people still prefered to hunt and gather their own food regardless of markets being rather abundant, heading out into deep forests and climbing high mountains. It was in one of those deep forests that many ogres often made their homes, or even claimed certain areas as their own hunting grounds. A large spring trap made to catch bears and boars had been set off, only by neither. A young huntress had been trapped for days, her leg caught in the trap and broken badly; the trap wasn't human made, and required more strength than she had to free herself, so as she slowly starved, she became weaker and weaker, her wound festering and leaving her with a fever that took away her consciousness.

"Thank you for responding so quickly, everyone is at their wits end... we've been working for weeks, but we haven't made any progress to cure this plague." Yukimura helped her carry some of her bags, walking beside her.
 
The ground rumbled as something made its way towards the trap. A giant indigo colored ogre with a wild snow white mane pushed passed the massive oak trees to his trap. Instead of seeing something he could willingly eat, he found a human. He frowned and opened the trap, picking her up gently and taking her to his cave home.

"Well, I vow to do my best to cure the village and any others who need my aid." She replied, smiling brightly under her cloth.
 
The small woman in his hands was warmer than humans usually were, her face flushed and her breathing shallow. She stirred when he picked her up, but didn't wake, limp in his large hands.

Yukimura watched Akihime with a growing blush, quickly looking away and staring at the road ahead of them. "That's a very noble thing of you, Akihime-dono."
 
He brought her to the cave and laid her down in his bed, moving to whip up a poultice with the herbs he had in his cabinet. He kept them around in case a bear tried fighting its way out of the food chain and cut him up pretty good. He cleaned her wound as carefully as he could, his fingers much too big for her tiny human frame, then applied the poultice and wrapped the wound in a cloth he had boiling in hot spring water. He sat back and waited silently, watching her with a worried crinkle in his brow.

She merely nodded and headed into the estate, following Yukimura to her room. She set her bags aside and gave a tired noise, removing the cloth from her mouth, "I'll start the healing first thing tomorrow morning. I'll need to set up my reagents so I know I'll have everything ready." She explained.
 
The woman was small, but clearly a human adult; a dagger hung on her side and she had a quiver full of arrows on her back, but her bow must've been left behind on the forest floor. She was sweating and her face was twisted into a look of pain, but it gradually faded away. Hours after she had been brought to the cave, she woke and looked around, body still flush with fever. Her gray eyes moved slowly around the room until they fell on the massive beast before her, but she didn't scream, or try to run. Her expression remained one of someone too ill and worn out to express much. "Water... please..?" She croaked out.

Yukimura bowed his head to Akihime, his face flushing when she revealed her face, she was quite pretty. "I'll leave you to your own devices, dinner will be by soon."
 
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