<div style="text-align: center;"><a class="postlink" href="http://media.photobucket.com/user/ryuu1891/media/1235_W_tiger_buttery.jpg.html"></a><a class="postlink" href="http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx121/ryuu1891/1235_W_tiger_buttery.jpg">[ img ]</a></div><br/><span style="font-style: italic"><span style="color: #0080FF">Five thousand year-old legends tell of Byakko or The White Tiger from China. When the tiger reached 500 years old, its tail turned white. Its great spirit, full of wisdom and strength, achieved a higher form and supernatural powers. It was said that the white tiger would only appear when the emperor ruled with absolute virtue, or if there was peace throughout the world. However, it was feared as soon as it was discovered. Locals began hunting Byakko despite its benevolent nature. Not wishing to harm or be harmed, Byakko assumed the form of a young man and boarded a ship from China to Japan. Once there, the legends say, he became a favored companion to Akemi, a daughter of Amaterasu. Taking pity on Byakko, who was alone, Akemi snipped a tuft of his fur. She used this to bring to life Torami, a mate for Byakko. Byakko was overjoyed and thanked his friend profusely. Byakko and Torami lived for a thousand years and had many children. This was the origin of the the Byakko no Ichizoku (White Tiger Clan). Upon his death, Akemi placed Byakko in the heavens to honor his strength, wisdom and prowess.<br/><br/>Three thousand years later, Saidai, descendant of Byakko, was praised as the greatest daiyōkai in all the northern lands and chief of the White Tiger Clan. However, he was aged and preparing to hand his title to his son, Osoroshīdesu. Osoroshīdesu was a renowned warrior and commander. He longed to surpass his father and even Byakko himself. This ambition led him to commission a demon smith known as Kajiya to forge him a mystic suit of armor known as Yōkai-ō no Yoroi or the Demon King Armor. The tale behind its forging is tragic and bloody. Osoroshīdesu gathered lesser demons who were bound to him. Once gathered, the commander slaughtered them and their emotional commitment to him seeped into their flesh and bones. The collected remains were then forged into the pieces of the armor, each endowed with a powerful emotional attachment. Osoroshīdesu’s own blood awakened the aura of each piece, instilling its emotion into any demon nearby.<br/><br/>Once his armor was forged, no demon could resist him. Osoroshīdesu led the White Tiger Clan to be the greatest clan in the region. He increased their lands tenfold. However, when enemies began to grow short, he became a danger to anyone around him.  Drunk with power, he went mad. He no longer stopped at attacking the enemies to the White Tiger Clan. He began to see enemies within as well. Saidai knew he had to be stopped or he would wipe out the Clan. The only two people that Osoroshīdesu did not fear were Saidai and Haruko, his bride. Desperate, Saidai pleaded with Haruko to put a stop to Osoroshīdesu.<br/><br/>Now, Haruko was well-versed with herbs. Despite her father-in-law’s insistence that death was the only way to be sure Osoroshīdesu was stopped, she loved him and didn’t have the heart to kill him. She prepared her husband a meal and seasoned it with a paralyzing herb. Osoroshīdesu suspected nothing until the effects of the herb began to kick in. After he was rendered completely paralyzed, Haruko stripped him of Yōkai-ō no Yoroi and attempted to have it destroyed. The aura of the armor prevented this. Instead, she had it sealed and scattered to the winds. She prayed that it would never be discovered.</span></span><br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">***</div><br/><br/>Young Lord Morimoto Ayumu smirked. He couldn’t believe it. It was laying on a altar surrounded by Seals and purifying candles. His fingers hovered over its iron-like surface. It was warm even from a distance. He could feel the demonic aura even as it lay untapped and repressed.<span style="font-style: italic">This was it.</span>Teishutsu no dō: the Chestplate of Submission. And it was his, forever. His smirk grew wider.<br/><br/>Morimoto turned to face the scene happening around him. His men were well underway in clearing out the monastery. No one would know he was here or even that he had possession of the chestplate. Not yet. It was too soon. He needed more of the Demon King Armor first. A monk escaped the clutches of one of his men and rushed at the purifying altar. He grabbed at Morimoto's robes.<br/><br/>“My lord! You can’t do this! You have no idea what you’re dealing with!”<br/><br/>Morimoto looked at him, disgusted. “Of course I do. It is you that is clueless.”<br/><br/>He pulled out a tanken and stabbed the old monk in the chest. The lord shoved him to one side. He wiped the blade on the monk’s robes. He turned his attention back to the chestplate. He reached for it. A sharp electric shock ran up his arm, leaving the smell of singed hair lingering despite the wax of candles. He scowled and shook his hand to relieve the pain. It was a good thing he’d come prepared. He turned to the only standing monk in the room. Even to the untrained, his spiritual powers were understood. He was a bald, dark-eyed man whose face was empty, too empty. He should feel something for the loss of life and defilement of this place of worship, but he was above those things. He was a strange being. His aura was simultaneously as pure as freshly fallen snow yet it was a dark as a moonless night. Whoever said that a monk’s spiritual power was connected to his purity should have specified that it had to be a purely good.<br/><br/>“Gorou, do your job.”<br/><br/>Ishii Gorou tipped his large bamboo hat slightly. He approached the altar. He laid his shakujō staff down on the floor and presented a large fan. Bowing his head in prayer, he focused his spiritual powers. He suddenly swept the fan sharply to the side, creating a great wind which filled the shrine and instantly put out the candles. The men started to panic a bit in the sudden darkness, though Morimoto stood there calmly. The aura-charged wind systematically stripped the chestplate of its seals. The instant the last seal left the chestplate there was a pulse of demonic power from it. Its aura was so mighty that it exuded an eerie, crimson glow. His smirked returning, Morimoto returned to standing over the Teishutsu no dō. He turned to his gaze to Ishii Gorou.<br/><br/>“Now all we need is the bloodline.”<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">***</div><br/><br/>Matsubara Aikiko hefted the clay jug of water. This was her final chore this morning. Then she could have a little personal time. Several woman of Kumishiri village walked by and greeted her. The priestess smiled and returned their greeting. She took the few steps from the village well to the start of the stone steps to the shrine. She sighed. There were a fair amount of them. This was the least fun part of the job. She plastered a smile on her face and started up the steps.<br/><br/>Aikiko paused halfway up the steps to take a breath. She looked around and sighed. You could see all of Kumishiri from here. There really wasn’t that much to see. Other than the shrine and its outbuildings, there were only maybe twenty small houses and shops gathered around the shrine and its well. There were fields of crops beyond that, but little else. Wiping her brow, Aikiko continued her journey home. The young priestess arrived at the top of the stairs to find her grandmother, Sayuri, impatiently sweeping the grounds. She was ever the perfectionist in search of self-improvement.<br/><br/>“Granddaughter! I could have had five jugs filled and emptied in the time it took you to do one!” She scolded, “Now, hurry up and take that to your mother!”<br/><br/>Aikiko sighed. “Yes, Grandmother.”<br/><br/>The young priestess entered the small home of her family. Her mother, Chou, was hard at work making wards and cooking dinner. Chou looked up at her daughter and smiled. She was a kind, tender soul who felt the call to nurture and heal strongly. Aikiko smiled back and poured the water into the large storage container next to the cooking pot.<br/><br/>“Thanks you, sweetheart. I hope Grandmother didn’t give you a hard time.”<br/><br/>Aikiko snorted and sat down. “She did but that’s Grandmother. Do you need help?”<br/><br/>Chou smiled and handed her some of the uncompleted wards. They sat quietly and worked.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic"><span style="color: #00BFFF">If only Aikiko knew how her life would change. Soon, the lives of four heroes would collide in strange ways. Together they would decide the fate of thousands. To think it would all start in this tiny village</span></span>