Soldiers of Light: "It starts"
 

Tama ran quickly down the dark hall. He had finished dispatching with Zankuro. The demon was a strong opponent, but he had defeated him. He had taken pity on the demon, and instead of destroying him, he bonded him to an oath that if Tama should fail in his quest to destroy Takura, then Zankuro would protect the new Raigaki wielder. He seemed to be an alright demon, he would keep his word. Or burn forever in Demon Hell, whichever one he chose. The sound of Tama's sandals clicking on the rock floor rebounded against the damp walls. He soon found what he was searching for. He entered a large room, and on the opposite side of the room stood a large door. Behind that door would be Takura. Tama stepped forward, and was suddenly confronted by an army of demons. The apparent leader stepped forward.

"Since the general Zankuro was defeated, you shall now face the wrath of Takura's elite army! Die, human!" With a raised hand, the demons charged at Tama. Tama took the Raigaki, and held it before him. The sword began to glow, and Tama began to shake.

"I don't have time for this! RYU-TAMAKANA!" Tama sliced forward, and a storm of energy blades came bursting from his sword. The blades of pure light tore through the advancing army, leaving none spared. As he walked through the room, he did his best to avoid walking on pieces of shredded demon. Before he walked through the door, something grabbed his leg. He looked down, and saw it was the leader of the small group of demons. It hissed out a warning.

"Open that door, and you will never leave. None of fought Takura and lived." Tama smirked, and kicked the hand off of his foot.

"Then no one has ever tried hard enough." And with that, Tama pushed open the doors. The floor was littered with human bones and guts. Sitting on a stone throne with a large sword in his hand was Takura, king of the demons. Takura laughed as he watched Tama enter.

"So, your the gnat that's been irritating me this long. Looks like my minions are powerless against you. So, it's my job to kill you. I haven't had much fun lately, so this is a welcome inconvenience." Takura stood tall. He had dark purple skin, and stood around 10 feet tall. His big hands had claws, and his mouth was full of fangs. His eyes burned like fire, and muscles bulged from his body. Tama entered an offensive position.

"I'm here to destroy you, Takura! You have killed many people close to me, and now you will pay!" Tama leapt out at Takura, and sliced with his sword. The demon king blocked with his own sword, and sliced down at Tama. The blade sliced Tama's side, and he yelled out in pain. Takura then kicked him, and sent Tama flying. Tama heard Takura laughing.

"Pitiful mortal. Did you honestly think you could defeat me? For your mistake, you will die!" Takura roared, and charged at Tama. Tama slowly stood up, and readied his sword.

"I've come too far to die now, Takura! And with this attack, I will end your reign! SAMA-TEMPO!" Tama's sword grew so bright, it blinded Takura. Tama raised his sword up, and swung it down, releasing a large blast of pure light energy. The beam launched forward, and the only thing to be heard was Takura's screams.

Outside, Zankuro was waiting. Tama slowly walked out, and Zankuro stood by him.

"So, you killed him. My job is done, and I'm no longer constrained to the oath you forced me to." Tama smiled.

"No, you still have a job. I sense that I didn't kill Takura with that last attack. His spirit managed to escape before I could kill him. The most I did was seperate his body and his spirit. I did manage to bansih his spirit to limbo, where hopefully he'll never escape." They both looked down at a huge sack that Tama had dragged out.

"I'm going to lock away his body, so that he can never return. And without the body, he won't have full power. But as long as his spirit remains, so does your oath. I'm going to hide the Raigaki, and you'll sense it when the wielder finds it." Tama walked off, carrying the large bag with him.

*One Thousand Years Later*

Kurama was running through the forest. He was following a strange glowing man. Kurama was playing outside like many eight year-olds do, when the man appeared and said that he knew of a great toy. So, Kurama trusted him and went along. They had ran about a mile, when they finally stopped. The man pointed at a large rock, and told Kurama to go over to it. Kurama nodded, and went to the rock. On the rock, he saw an inscription. He couldn't read a few of the words, so he asked the glowing man to do it for him. The man read out loud.

"Here lies the legendary weapon of light. If the ruler of darkness should ever threaten the world, the true wielder shall find a power that's unrivaled." Kurama didn't understand, but that was alright. He put his hands on the rock, and the rock began to shake. Slowly, it moved to the side, revealing the entrance to a cave. Kurama walked in, and got scared. It was dark, and wet. The glowing man made him feel safe, so he went on. They went a few yards, and Kurama found a box. It was covered in symbols that Kurama knew nothing about. The glowing man told him to open the box. He did. Inside was a sword inside a sheath. When Kurama picked up the sword, the blade began to glow. The glowing man smiled.

"It has found it's new owner. Go tell your father, young one." Kurama nodded, and ran out of the cave. He didn't stop running until he got home. He went up to his father, who was upset that Kurama was holding a sword.

"What are you doing with a sword? You hurt yourself cutting meat." Kurama looked past his father, and pointed at the picture.

"The man in that picture gave it to me." Kurama's father turned, and let out a gasp. The picture was a painting of Tama defeating Takura. And Kurama was pointing right at the ancient swordsman himself. His father's eyes widened.

*14 years later*

Kurama walked out of his house, with the Raigaki strapped to his hip. After many years of training, he was finally ready. He walked out of his home, out of his village, and began to journey through the forest. On his journey, he would need the help of his friend Kane. Kane was a mechanic, and loved to build things. He told Kurama to meet him in a clearing, because he had a surprise.

Hoshi was walking along the road. He hadn't bathed in a month. A stubbly beard on his chin. He sensed some one behind him and he turned to see a kid. He took a swig of his sake bottle.

Kurama smiled and waved at the man. He looked homeless, seeing as how he was filthy and unkept. But, Kurama had other things to worry about. Over his years of training, he could use the Raigaki's power for many things. He could use it to attack, and a few other stuff, but most importanly he could sense evil. And it was everywhere. Something was out there, waiting for Kurama.

Hoshi scowled at the naive youth as he contiunued to walk. He had recieved a good lead on his masters killer in the last village.

Jade had been walking down the road, her sword hanging over her shoulder. She wasn't exactly happy about how her day had went. Two men tried to rob her, one tried to hit on her, and yet another actually pinched her behind. Now all of them were either unconscious or missing some kind of limb. "Stupid men, think they can have their way with me," she muttered as she stalked past two other men, not even bothering to look up.

ooc: do you mean us, cause we aren't talking.

OOC: Yea I meant you, oops on the not talking, I'll edit the post

The night before...

It was a hot night in the old town, and in a private room on the second floor of an exclusive inn called Yukishiro, a large white-haired man was lying on a small pile of cushions while a young geisha poured him wine, singing as he did. As she turned to leave, she felt his hand on her rump.

"Ah, Mr. Minazuki..."

The geisha blushed as the man squeezed, the color in her face making her
look even cuter than before.

"Please... we sell conversation and the arts, as you know, nothing more... Ah!"

He put his arm around the geisha and pulled her down to him, crushing her gently to his chest.

"Don't be afraid, Kirie... You know I won't hurt you..."

Suddenly, he froze, head looking up, eyes staring straight ahead. Kirie let out a small scream at the sudden movement, sure that he was going to hit her, the way some of the other drunken patrons did. When he simply stayed that way, she stared at him, puzzled. Eventually her courage and curiosity grew enough for her to tug on his sleeve.

"M...Mr. Minazuki?" she asked timidly.

There was no reply.

"Mr. Minazuki?"

He turned to face her, slowly, blinking rapidly, as though he had seen - or had been forced to see -
a vision of sorts, one that he could not tear his eyes from. Kirie quickly picked up on his condition
and rose swiftly, taking a step towards the door.

"Mr. Minazuki, are you alright? I can get the doc-"

Her reply was interrupted by a hand which planted itself on her foot as he pushed himself up. He
answered this time, completely sober now, with a new, serious edge in his voice.

"No need for that, Kirie. I will be going now."

He turned and grabbed his four foot long katana, then walked to the door and left without another word. As he left, another girl popped in.

"What did you do to him? Did he... you know..."

"Of course not!" Kirie blushed again. "But... something's funny... he left so suddenly... he didn't even try to kiss me..."

"Yes, very odd indeed, this Minazuki Zankuro guy..."

******

Outside, Minazuki let a deep breath out and looked to the baleful eye of the moon in the sky.

"At last... the Swordbearer is here... it would seem my information was correct, after all."

He had felt the summons fourteen years ago, when Raigaki had been drawn again. Of course, that was all he knew - that Raigaki had found its new owner, not where it was. Tama had made sure the link was that way, so that Zankuro wouldn't be tempted to use it in place of his long-lost Zanmato.

Damn Tama... he never really trusted me...

Indeed, when he had sworn the oath to defend the blade's wielder with his life, Tama had fixed it so that his life was bound to the Raigaki's wielder - if he should die any death but a natural one, Zankuro would sufffer a similar fate. And worst of all, if he didn't know where the wielder was, he couldn't protect him effectively. And dying in the arms of a beautiful woman, however good a way to go it might have been, was certainly not how Zankuro wanted to end his days. Hell, Zankuro didn't want them to end at all. He *was* immortal, and would live until killed...

... or until the new idiot holding the sword gets killed.

He spat and continued on. Though he couldn't sense the exact location of Raigaki, he could tell in some vague way which direction it lay in once he was close enough.

******
The next day...

Zankuro yawned. He had been walking the whole night without sleep. Admittedly, he didn't exactly need it, but feigning it for a thousand years had become so natural that he almost felt tired every night. He amused himself by studying the people sharing the road with him.

There was an unkempt middle-age man, probably some kind of ronin judging by the daisho by his side, drunk, and probably for a long time, given the ragged growth on his chin. Zankuro snorted and looked elsewhere.

Then there was a remarkably attractive piece with a sword on one shoulder and a chip on the other, which didn't stop him from entertaining thoughts of chatting her up. Feisty, but he liked feisty women. He liked all women.

And lastly... a man, no, more of a boy. Sure, he was large, but he still looked too young to be carrying a sword...

Wait.

That sword looked familiar. All too familiar.

He flinched again, as the same bolt of realization from the night before hit him.

That is Raigaki! And that kid is holding it!

He paused, then looked again.

What the hell? A kid like that, to kill Takura? The gods must be crazy!

Crazy or not though, Zankuro still had a job to do. He quickened his steps, rapidly approaching the boy.

Kurama turned, and saw a man with long white hair approaching him. He was going to wave, but then he sensed it. He turned full towards the new man, with his hand on the sword.

"You look human, but I sense that there's more to you than meets the eye. You're a demon, and chances are you're here to steal the Raigaki from me."

So... it *is* Raigaki after all. And at least he knows its name...

"The question is, boy, do you even deserve to wield it? There's no point in letting a useless guy hold the blade."

Zankuro cricked his neck, then pointed to a patch of bamboo trees.

"You and me, over there. We'll see how good you are. Otherwise..."

He let the trailing words hang in the air as a threat, while he walked towards the patch he had indicated.