| abstract
| - It was very rare for Shokujin Tenchikaimei to visit the surface world, however, if he was to put his plan into motion, he needed to find sources of powerful yoki. He crossed over several hills, reaching a long stretch of river. "There is a large grouping of yoki just over this river." he deduced, as he walked over the water to the other side. Echo stalked furiously through the seaside meadow, covering up his confusion and misery with anger. He had came home to his father's small castle in his hidden forest to see his experimentation chamber was open. Curiosity had overcame him as he entered, seeing for the first time that his father experimented on live demons and humans. Disgusted with his father's work, Echo left in the middle of the night, and honestly had nowhere to go. "Well, well." said a bandit walking out from behind a tree covered area. "What do we have here?" Laughter was heard as other bandits came out from their hiding, circling him with their daggers and swords. Breathing calmly he allowed one to jump at him, sidestepping and elbowing the attacker devastatingly on the crown of his spine, breaking it. He immediately grabbed the fallen man's dagger, sliding under another's legs and slashing his tendons. Shokujin continued walking until he reached the crest of the final hill, looking down upon the woods. He felt the humans about their sinister business, as well as the yokai in the forest. He then felt the ever slight presence of a dormant yokai within the woods, "The yoki of this yokai is so faint. It's as if there is a barrier between it and I." he pondered letting his great speed carry him into the woods. He jumped from tree to tree until he was in view of the humans gathering around the faint source of yoki, "A boy...?" he wondered. Managing to grab a short sword as well, Echo whirled around, slicing the throats of the remaining two combatants. For a moment he was content with himself, until he remembered...he wasn't himself. And frankly, he might not ever be. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his head, more pain than he had ever felt. He gnashed his teeth, dropping on one knee. "Hmph, it would be cruel of me to leave this boy in this type of pain." he sighed, quickly flashing in front of the boy. "I wonder if this boy's dormant yoki is causing this pain...? Only one way to know." he reached down and put his hand on the boy's head and focused his immense yoki into the boy's body in an attempt to cause the pain to retreat. Eventually the pain died, but not before Echo heard the cry of his father ring loud in its wake. He looked up, seeing the strange man above him. "Hello." he mustered. "Hello." he softly replied, "The boy is fine for now. I can no longer feel his yoki...he is indeed an odd one." Shokujin thought to himself, "What is a young human such as yourself, doing in these woods by yourself?" he wondered thoughtfully. Echo stood up. "Where else is one without home or cause to go?" "Ah. So you are an orphan? Nevertheless, this forest is filled with demons. One such as yourself should not be here alone, lest you be taken in by them. You have some skill with a weapon, that much I can see, but alone, this forest would be your deathtrap." he explained. "Now, to answer your question; that would depend on your willingness to find a new home, and to discover your cause." "My father is alive...just a criminal." pointed out Echo. "But you're right, I need to perservere until I find my place." "Fathers can be horrid people." he agreed, remembering his own. "In the meantime, what will you do now? You are alone, without a source of food or water, without proper clothing and without shelter. Aside from that, even you know that the pain you experienced earlier may return, and if it does, what then? Tell me. What do you plan to do once you collect yourself and decide to leave these woods?" "I'm not entirely sure...Perhaps head to a nearby village, my energy is useless, so perhaps they would accept me." wondered Echo aloud. "Hmm, the boy may be useful to me in my time on the surface..." he pondered, "No, considering your age, they would see you as nothing more than a runaway, something not deemed well in the villages of this nation. If you so wish, you may come with me until you find your place. I, being a daiyokai, can protect you from virtually any demon that crosses our path, and most certainly deal with humans." Shokujin offered, continuing to keep his serious and studying expression. As much as he despised admitting his inferiority, he knew his chances of surivial were now an actual possibility with this man, who was rather kind to him actually. "Alright, thank you very much." Echo tipped his head. Shokujin let a small smile creep over his face, a rare thing for him to do. "Very well. With all of that out of the way I will introduce myself. I am Shokujin Tenchikaimei, as I said, I am a daiyokai of the shark species and am the current king of the Sea of Japan." he explained. Echo's eyes widened a bit. "Most impressive...but all my father has ever called me is 'Echo'." Echo had never really known a true name, he believed his father had used an experimental drug on himself to manipulate his fetus before birth, and that "Echo" was the project's name, and thus his. Shokujin's eyes narrowed somewhat, "Echo is it? I see. It is a good name." he replied, looking around. "The darkness is starting to settle. This forest will not be safe for much longer. There is a river about a mile from the edge of the forest. We should be able to make it before night completely sets in if we hurry." he said, "We'll camp there for the night." He then began to walk off into the dense thicket.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)