Nobu scooped up his daughter's limp body as blood continued to flow slowly but steadily from her chest.
"This kid's gonna get hurt if she doesn't start taking instructions" Nobu muttered.
He took a sip of his tea and prepared to bring Gwyn to the healing house. What greeted him outside was a surprising pleasure to all his senses.
A few feet from his front door he saw a large pile of board, cut and stacked high in the shape of a pyramid. Next to it was a small bonfire with a creature about six feet long roasting on a spit above the piping hot flames. It had a long, blunt snout, small eyes, and large ears, it also sported small but sharp tusks.
A wild boar.
"Smells good." Nobu smiled. He pulled a small knife seemingly from nowhere, he walked over to it to cut a small piece of the animal to taste.
But before his knife pierced it's skin someone grabbed his wrist.
"Don't touch my meat" Gwyn barely uttered before blacking out again.
"Your half dead and unconscious and food's still on your mind" her father sighed.
"Turning trees into lumber is a time consuming process,especially this type of wood. It needs different tools for each stage. You did it with a defective sword, went hunting and made dinner. Your something else" he continued as he walked on.
11 years later...
Gwyn's training continued, only getting more brutal. She trained from the depths of the earth under intense heat to the peaks of mountains where the thinness of the air made breathing almost impossible. She fought as a samurai for her people, taking her first head at the age 13. Many frowned upon the fact that a woman was allowed to become a warrior, however she gained respect from most of them eventually. She was 20 now and had grown into a fine young warrior and lady, apart from that nothing changed, her mother still hated her and she still wanted to fight.
Gwyn Sat at a large meal with family and her father's closest allies. Nobu was at the head of the table with Hina to his left and his son Nishi to his right. Nishi was about 5ft 11', his eyes were small dark ovals that seemed devoid of life. He had short black hair that he kept in a bowl cut. Nishi looked a lot like his father but was vastly different, he spoke slowly and softly, always seeming uninterested in whatever topic was being discussed. Gwyn was across from her brother who throughout the entire meal didn't break eye contact, his dead eyes piercing into her was quite unsettling.
"Could you stop staring? Sheesh!" Gwyn said, finally breaking the silence at the table and drawing the other's attention.
"Oh, pardon me. It wasn't my intention to make you uncomfortable. Your sitting directly in front of me, you happen to fall in my line of sight and it would take too much effort to look elsewhere." Nishi answered.
"How do you wipe your ass?? " Gwyn asked
"Who says I do? "
His reply may have seemed silly to those who didn't know him but to those who did, it made complete sense. The only thing he ever put effort into was his training.
To Nishi it was simple, he wanted to be the strongest. Not the strongest the Nato clan had ever produced, not Japan's strongest, not the strongest on this side of the world. He wanted to be the strongest being to ever walk the earth. If he was going to achieve this, he couldn't waste time or energy on anything else.
The occupants of the table were Shin, Eiji, his older brother Apo and sara, along with the Nato's. Shin seemed to have gotten even shorter over the years to everyone's disbelief, and just mentioning his height could earn you a swift introduction to his blade. He was about 4ft 7' now. His face appeared a bit older but his hair was exactly as it had been years ago.
"You two argue too much. You should just confess your undying love for each other and get married already." Shin said referring to the Nato siblings.
Everyone looked at him confused and surprised as if he were a gay guy at an anti- LGBT+ rally.
"What?" Eiji and Apo asked in unison. The brothers looked quite similar, both having extremely low hair and large black eyes. The only difference between them was the obvious age gap, Apo looked to be in his early 70s while Eiji was only 52.
"That would be incest... " Sara added, her soft voice seemed to shake a bit. She had short dark hair that she kept in a small knot above her head. Her eyes were light brown and were always full of happiness. She was the woman who took care of Gwyn when she was young, she was part of the family now, Nobu felt indebted to her and would help her however he could.
"What's wrong with a bit o' incest? " Shin asked searching their faces for answers.
Everyone looked even more confused than before, everyone except Nishi, who's facial expression still hadn't changed.
"Point is, there had to have been an origin, or starting or whatever *burrrp*." Shin said fanning away a belch from his mouth.
"So there were at least two first people. They banged and had children, who do you think banged those children? Those children banged those children. Yep, they totally 'clapped' their siblings. Wait... Maybe the parents banged their children too right?! " he continued.
"Firstly we weren't arguing we " Gwyn began
"Enough of this repulsive conversation." Hina said, time had taken its toll on her and her age was definitely showing, her face was wrinkled but still beautiful. Every so often she glanced at Sara cautiously, she often suspected that the kind young lady didn't only play the role of a mother to Gwyn but also that of a wife to Nobu when she wasn't around.
"So Nobu when will Nishi's ceremony take place? Apo asked
" Ceremony? " Nobu inquired. All his hair was now milk white including his eyebrows, creating an amazing contrast with his dark eyes, his face was now wrinkled as well. The only part of him that didn't seem to age was his scar.
"For clan leader" Apo said.
"Oh, Nishi won't necessarily be my successor. " Nobu said between bites.
Gwyn just sat there heaping more food into her mouth not even registering what her father Said.
"What do you mean? " Hina asked.
They were all a bit startled
"Lord Nato, according to the tradition of our clan your son is next in line to become the new shogun and daimyo." Sara added.
"Yes. My firstborn son to be specific. In this case however, they're two separate individuals."
"Firstborn,
Son" he said pointing to Gwyn then Nishi.
"... But Gwyn's a woman. There's never been a female daimyo." Eiji said.
"And men once lived in caves and hit rocks together trying to create fire, they did it for over a hundred years. Eventually they found a better way. Times change"
Gwyn slowly realized that she was being considered to replace her father, that put alot of pressure on her. She didn't like pressure.
Hina snickered.
"He's just saying that to make Gwyn feel like she's being acknowledged, there's no way he'll hand his position to her when Nishi is clearly the better pick."
"Who is chosen is up to me,The Lord of this land and I haven't decided yet"
"Ok fine. Gwyn, if you were chosen what would you do? How would you lead us against all that awaits? " Hina asked, she knew Gwyn didn't like being put on the spot.
"I uh. I'd try to. . . I don't know. I would try to maintain what pa and his predecessors built. Take down all who disrespect our clan while trying not go to all out war as often." She was quick to answer her mother, she always felt like a disappointment for her mom and tried make up for it. It's as if she was desperate to earn her mother's love.
"And you Nishi" his mother urged.
He sighed, he had to think of a way to get across his vision to these simpletons. He also had to speak.
So much meaningless work.
"My first order of business would be to strengthen the clans' army and ensure more samurai are being produced than ever before. Then we go to war. I'll take the neighboring clans, after we outmatch them in combat and seize their land they'll have no choice but to serve us, they will fight alongside us and over time we will become one. Gradually we'll do this with all japan. We won't be clans and warring factions. We'll be a country. A unified Japan under my rule. I won't stop there obviously, many men have conquered nations, but I'll be the first to conquer the world. As far as the seas stretch, wherever the wind blows and the sun shines we'll be feared. And while we'll show mercy to our countrymen foreigners won't get that luxury. Far beyond the reach of our strongest ships and beyond the range of our mightiest bows just whispering our name will be enough to keep our subordinates in check."
"Unified Japan... It's not that easy, your enemy will be just as determined as you, they won't grovel at your feet after losing. They'll never accept their fate. What makes you think men will follow you after you kill their leaders and destroy what they've built? They never will" Nobu said
"Then I'll slaughter them, every last one. I was only being merciful as I explained. I don't need them. I don't need them to take the world. Soon I'll earn the title of strongest from papa. And that's only the begining"
"How are you gonna be Japan's strongest if you're not even the best in the clan?" Gwyn chuckled.
"Who's better? You? That's so funny, I almost feel like sparing the energy to laugh." Nishi said in his usual drab tone.
"You might be smarter or whatever but I NEVER lose when it comes down to fighting." She replied
"That's weird. I remember you walking in on your father and I sparring last week and you lost consciousness when we drew our swords." Shin said
"HEY! That's different, you caught me off guard! "
"Really tho, which of them is stronger Nobu?" Apo asked
"Me" they both answered
"Hmmm... I don't know. They seem about even" Lord Nobu answered."
"Then how will you choose if you don't know who's stronger?" Hina asked
"Simple. We'll have a fight" he said getting up from his seat and wiping his mouth.
"When? " Sara asked.
"Now"
"Where would it take place my Lord?" Eiji inquired
He smiled before answering
"The fallen. No the sunken. The drenched Coliseum . Blood lake... Nah that doesn't make sense it's not a lake. Whatever, it's the old arena"
"Sunken?" Gwyn asked
Her father continued smiling, ignoring the question. He called in a few servants.
"Send word to everyone, throughout the clan. Tell them their Lord has something very interesting for them. Assemble them at the city center"
With that, everyone left. Preparing for what was to come in various ways. An hour later the Nato's, the Lords of the land arrived in the city center, it was a large open area with a ten foot statue of Nobu's grandfather in the centre, he wore a cape and armor, no helmet and was armed with a winding two pointed spear.
"My friends " Nobu began
"As you know I'm getting old, what am I 89? I don't even remember. I won't be here forever but my blood will carry on after I pass. So today I present to you two fierce warriors, and a glimpse into our future, today you watch your future leader battle. Enjoy it. Today legends are made "
The people seemed excited but reluctant, they didn't want to accept the fact that Nobu might not be with them anymore.
"Ok so the rules of the fight are simple. If your back touches the ground you lose. If you yield you lose, if your incapacitated you lose and naturally if you die you lose. Apart from that they can beat the crap out of each other" Nobu said
Torturous heat fell from the sun, they were all sweating and were eager to find shade.
Nobu got off his horse and handed the reins to someone.
"Onwards. When we're almost at the entrance some of my men will assist you, it's not the usual sparring area."
Nobu lead the way, some were a bit confused and wandered a bit in all directions. In the midst of the small moment of confusion Gwyn and Nishi stood eyes locked.
"Sister" he said as he walked forward, he stopped only when his face was a few inches from hers.
"Don't expect to walk away from this alive." He walked to a horse and mounted, he wouldn't wasted valuable energy strolling.