An Ascended's Journey

I awoke drowsily as the hard rain assaulted my ears. I peeked outside my tent to see a torrent of rain on the camp. Outside it smelt fresh and earthly, but I couldn't see anything. The blanket of darkness and water was so thick I could barely spot a distant glow of a lantern.

A low humming sounded through the cacophony of rain. It sounded like some cicada or... a conch. That was impossible, right? I listened for the humming through the heavy rain. It kept repeating a pattern. This was an attack!

I threw on my armor and my helmet and grabbed my naginata. I slid my sandals on and dashed out the tent. Slipping on the mud in front of my tent, I balanced myself and continued rushing forward. 

As I ran past the silhouettes of large trees and fellow tents I screamed out, "Attack! Attack!."

As I ran further and further past the camp, my screams were no more than a whisper in the rain. Soon my feet had stepped onto a harder surface. I wasn't running near the camp anymore, so I stopped my shouts trying to catch my breath.

My torso tightened in from the agony inside my chest. It was like I was doused in flames that the rain couldn't put out. 

For a moment in my run, the world was lit in a blue light. I saw a flash of my surroundings: Cherry Blossom trees, a rocky path, and the shrine. Quickly the light faded and I was left blinder than before. Then a thunderous boom shook the world.

Mud covered my legs and water soaked my clothing. I was sprinting toward where I thought I last heard the conch, but the water was drowning me in its weight. My sprint had slowed down as I neared what I thought was the end of the garden. 

I messily jogged past the large silhouettes of the trees as I came even closer to the front of the Imperial Palace. 

Even in my deprived state I couldn't help but wonder what was going on. Why would there be an attack on the gate? It would have been easier to complete an ambush by going over the walls.

My thoughts were struck from my mind as the world lit up in blue light again. Fear—That's what I felt when I saw the gate. Even in the distance, I could see the many bodies on the ground, let alone the amount of people fighting at the gate. To the side I could see more soldiers rushing out from the main hall, and as the light faded, I looked forward to see the path I could take. A thunderous boom rang out even louder as the light faded away.

Following the silhouette of the river, I made it onto the stone path I had used earlier today to enter the palace. I could hear the muffled screams and tangs of metal at this point. 

As I got closer and closer, the dark outline of the gate almost resembled the start of the Yomotsu Hirasaka(Path to hell/land of dead).

As I neared closer, my jog turned into a walk. All around the ground were the dark shapes of bodies on the ground. I panted as my chest burned. My heart pumped furiously in my chest like the hooves of a horse. 

I readied my weapon as I approached the gate. A brawl was happening in front of me, and I could only see the shadows of the fight. The sounds though: screams, metal, crying. It was horrifying.

As I neared even closer, a man fell near me, and with a quick shadow following. A weapon rose as the shadow tried to slash down at the man below me. 

My naginata lanced forward to ward off the attacker penetrating his lower abdomen. Pulling back out of his stomach, I readied my weapon above my head. The man stepped back before lunging toward the down man. His weapon came down on the man's face as I went so slashed against his neck. 

As I pushed across his skin, he pulled his blade from the man below him. He stood back up for a moment before falling back down on his knees. I could hear him coughing as he gasped for air. I sat in a defensive position, worried he would give some all-out attack. 

He stood there in the rain for a moment before making some movement and before I knew it he had fallen onto his knees. I dashed forward to sink my naginata across his neck. It sank about halfway through before it stopped. Quickly, I pried the weapon from his throat and looked down at the soldier. 

Below me, the soldier had a sword pierced through his body with his own hands on the blade. Even as he tumbled over I could hear gurgling from him as he faded away. He was just a common soldier like me. Moving over, I went to inspect the other body. 

He was dead. Whatever the hit had landed on his face had killed him. 

It was almost a blessing it was so dark. I couldn't bear to see their gruesome fates. 

In the street in front of the gate, more people were fighting, and the fight around the gate had moved more and more into the street outside. Cries rang out with the sounds of steel until I heard a voice at the front of the gate.

"WE MUST HOLD!" a great cry rang out near the gate as the soldiers fought. 

I walked forward scanning for enemies. As I passed the gate, the rain stopped hitting me. Soon I had passed over the gate and the rain was hitting me once again. In the streets, the ringing of metal was even louder, and the blood. I could smell the iron even through the rain. 

In front of me were some kind of spearmen in heavy armor finishing off another soldier. Even in the dark I could tell the outline of the samurai armor.

"GREAT!" I screamed at the samurai.

I kept screaming at him until he looked up at me. He didn't say anything even as I screamed. He was not on our side. The code word was supposed to be Great emperor, but he didn't even attempt to finish it. 

I charged forward with my naginata trying to get some advantage from his earlier distraction, but he was ready. As the blade got close to his chest he swept my naginata out of the way before stepping forward to deliver a kick. 

It seemed he was also using a naginata, and he seemed far more trained than me. 

As he started to kick forward, he slipped backwards onto the road. Taking advantage of the slip, I swept my blade against his ankle, injuring him. In the darkness, his weapon lashed out, cutting through my robe and skin. I reflexively stepped back in pain as the armored samurai picked himself back up. 

I can't win. I can't even hurt him if I tried because all the armor and trading blows for his feet and ankles will kill me. 

I had thought for too long as the samurai was already limping toward me. He held his naginata out offensively while I held a more defensive stance. Swiftly he lunged forward, looking to strike my stomach, and I tried to sweep his blade out of the way only for his attack to be a feint. His blade came back as it struck against my stomach. Pain rippled through me as the blade cut into my stomach, but in my mind, my thoughts were clear. 

I couldn't win and I didn't even want to think about the wound I received, but I could sure as hell bring him down with me. 

Thoughts of my family and living popped through my mind, but I squashed them down as I focused on the current moment. 

I had fallen for his feint, yes, but I had his blade in my stomach. Even if I was going to die, it didn't mean I couldn't bring him down with me. Letting go of my blade, I grabbed onto the pole of his. The samurai pulled on the blade, ripping it from my stomach, sending a scream from me as I pulled myself toward him using the spear. Even with the small momentum of my pull, I tackled him onto the stone floor. His armor clacked against the rock sending bloodied waters into the sky. 

Somewhere behind him his weapon had clacked across the stone, but we wouldn't be using those anymore. 

Near his legs on the ground I locked up his right leg in a knee lock. Even as he kicked at my chest with his other leg, I bent the joint until I finally heard a crack. The samurai grunted as he pushed himself toward me. Grabbing my helmet, he slammed my face into the stone path.

Disoriented, my face lay on the street, hearing the liquids flow by. My blood most likely was in front of me washing away. 

As I awoke from my groggy state, the samurai was trying to lock my neck up. I pushed myself off the street, throwing my elbow back. The samurai let go of my throat as he grabbed the arm I threw. Placing his working knee onto my back, he pushed my back into the street. 

The pressure mounted on my arm as he pulled it back until finally my shoulder snapped like the string of a bow. Pain throbbed through me. Hopelessness flooded through me, but with a force of strength I threw him off back into the street. I turned onto my bag as I looked at the samurai. 

He was tired too. I just needed to keep going. 

He was trying to pull something at his belt so I took off my helmet and threw it with my good arm. The helmet clacked into the samurai's head, stopping him for a moment as I lunged toward him. I grabbed his arm as he tried to reach for his weapon, but with only one arm he sent a punch into my stomach hitting my previous wound. 

The instinct to flex just made it hurt even more. As I doubled, he grabbed my good arm and threw me on my back, sinking in a neck choke. 

I raged against him, trying to break the grip with everything. My right pulled against his hold, trying to get relief, but I was weak and growing much weaker. The pain in my body was fading as a cold death gripped me. 

I was becoming weaker from both the blood loss and the choke. Everything was becoming fuzzy, but there was one idea left. I had to focus on it. I let go of the choke hold, reaching around at his waist. 

He must have had some weapon over here that I could use. 

My hand while shaking finally grasped onto the hilt. I pulled it from the scabbard and tried jamming it in the creases of the armor. It wasn't working. Slowly small lights were filling my vision and the true panic settled in my body. 

My entire body flailed about like a crazed maniac. The sword dropped from my hand in my crazed panic.

I tried to scream, but nothing left my lips. I choked and tried to gasp for air that wouldn't come. 

I SCREAMED in my head for air. I tried to scream for help, anything, ANYONE. 

The agony went on, but soon my struggling stopped and I had a calming realization.

I'm going to die. 

Slowly everything faded away. My vision had started becoming black. The smell of blood and rain disappeared, and the pain and cold filling my body went away.

I was just left with my thoughts.

I thought about everything. I thought about my Mom and Dad and how they had taught me to be great. My only regret to my parents is I'll never get to live up to what they named me. I'm sorry Mom and Dad. 

My brothers. I laughed thinking about how stupid they were. They were always so uptight, but at least I knew they would be taken care of. Kazuo was strong and smart. I'm sure Shiro and him will do just fine. 

Great Amaterasu,

Protect them for me.

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Takeshi Yamana's struggle stopped. Slackened in the grip of the samurai, he grabbed the blade that had fallen from his hand and slid it across his throat. Pushing the body off him, he limped upwards and put his wakizashi away. He limped toward his naginata and looked for his next target.

In the street blood swirled and mixed with the downpour. 

Dead men lay hollow on the ground, common soldiers(ashigaru) or samurai alike. The ones still living just as scarred as the dead. Lightning struck down for a moment illuminating the battlefield.

The broken Tekashi lay down on the street with his helmet off his body, face down in the street. He lay in his soaked kosode with his chestplate gleaming. A man on his knees with a sword in his chest was seen right inside the gate of the imperial palace. His throat was mangled as his head drooped down. He was a warrior of great potential. One in training to become a samurai, but his journey in the Yamana clan was stopped short this night as well. 

Many soldiers marched through the gates even as people fell. Orders rang out as the bloody battle at the gate continued. 

Tonight, there will be blood.