Raijin, also known as Kaminari-sama and Raiden-sama, is the Japanese god of thunder, light and storms. He often carry drums and two hammers similarly to the Norse god of thunder, Thor. Raijin flies on a cloud and descends upon nations bringing about mighty storms. This is one of the most feared deities of Japanese culture. In Japan, adults often tell children to cover their belly button when a storm approaches, because Raijin could eat it!
Kaminari sama sits quietly. With little care for the existence of anything but me. I can tell I am easily the most amusing thing that he has come across in a long time. Yes. Amusing. That's the only way to describe how he looks at me.
"Uh oh." Yonah grabs onto my pant leg "Its a Kami." A Kami is a powerful Japanese spirit. They are referred to as gods in Japanese culture. Raijin was born from the decaying body of Izanami, the Japanese goddess of the Underworld. But originally when she lived she was one of two gods of creation.
"Why have you come to my land?" Raijin asks me. Though it's in Japanese and it's as if they were thoughts rather than outspoken words.
"why have you come to the land of the rising sun foreigner? " The land of the rising sun? Isn't that Japan? We're in America though. This guy got his geography twisted.
"That's what I was going to ask you." I began.
"HMM?" His eyes burn a bright electric blue.
"This land isn't Japan." My statement was meant to clear an obvious misunderstanding but instead it infuriated him.
"HALT YOUR LIES SINNER!" The fierce deity stands. As he does a bright flash engulfs the field. "PREPARE YOURSELF SINNER FOR MY BLADE SHALL SEVERE YOUR SOUL!"
"Yeah! How does one prepares himself for that?" Seriously people say some stupid things. Whether they be gods or vegans- my thought is cut short as I am faced with a long stretch of death coming my way. A blue line that seems to sever the earth and set aflame the once gorgeous grass. I barely dodge the incoming attack and suffer a gash in my shoulder.
What the Hell was that. I look up to see two more coming my way. But horizontal slashes rather than vertical. Once again the attack severs but this time it is the air that sets aflame. I flip in a horizontal roll just barely dodging once again, but this time I am successful. My shoulder is in searing pain like I was burned. I look down to see I have indeed been scorched. A burning mark now rest upon my shoulder. This will scar. Yonah jumps onto me and licks my shoulder. My wound heals as if a miracle had been performed. The pain ailed me to a small degree now. Though Yonah healed the burn A scar remained.
Again. What the actual Hell was that technique he just used?
"It was lightning." Yonah's high pitch voice spooked me a little. "Kaminari-sama has the ability to form lightning in any way he see fit. What you saw was a thin stretch of lighting coming from his sword the Lightning Weaver."
"What are you a pokedex?" I ask sarcastically but still in pain.
"I could just let you fight without any info." Yonah punches my face. Though her paw feels like a puff of air.
"Yonah how do I beat him?" I ask this question hoping she has a great answer. Kaminari-sama stands and steps towards me with a hand on one of two swords.
"You should probably pray.."
"YONAH!" I can't get distracted. The god of lightning disappears into sparks of electricity and I know to move. Like lighting- no, faster than lighting he is there in a second. Electrical blades sever and burn the area I had just been. I moved at high speeds towards a tree stump about 20 meters away and i can still feel the heat of the attack. I face him and wait for an opening. He disappears once more this time in front of me.
"Hya!" He brings down his Thunder Weaver and with a side step I evade his attack. Steam and sparks fly by. Yonah instantly increases my dexterity with a "Cha!" I am luckily not singed but the ground explodes. Dirt and burning rock flies everywhere like a granade went off. I recover catching my footing and see him now falling towards me in the air. I roll out of the way and stand. He commits to his attack performing a horizontal slash. I jump back and he steps forward. Using my spirit energy I cloak my body with a protective shield block and performing lightning fast dodges. He stays on me. Its obvious he chooses a form of kenjutsu as his style of attack and yet it's different. Kenjutsu is an umbrella term for all forms of Japanese swordsmanship. I block with one hand and then the other. Each time I block I side step or weave out of the way of attacks. Due to a history of fighting I definitely know my way around a kung Fu fight. That and my spirit master in Tibet refuse to let me leave without know how to fight and defend. That being said the god Raijin is relentless with his barrage of slices that burn the air with every strike.
As if to bring his sword in an upward slash he fakes me out and performs a front kick sending me hurtling what had to be about 50 meters across the prairie I catch myself reeling from the pain that feels like a deep hole in my stomach and see as he brings his sword down on my head. I do the only thing I can do and clasp both hands on the blade. Stopping it. Though that in of itself was no easy feat. The blade is scorching hot and electricity is coursing through my veins. I throw his sword to the side and sweep him. He casually jumps back a good 15 meters and aims his sword at me.
My hands shake as Yonah now licks away the damage.
"You are strong indeed mortal." God Raijin regards me. Though his words are lathered with hate. Why?
"Why are you so angry? Why are you here Raijin!?" I shout. His face remains in anger and stiff with fury.
"Mortals are pitiful are they not?" His question baffles me. "You kill one another and yet I am told not to strike you all dead. You are nothing but sinners. You should all be eradicated from the face of Gaia!" The air heats up as a reaction to his rage. "This is my land. Whether it be Japan or not. That is what she told me." He trails off. Tears fall down his face. The look of grief and sadness. I know it too well. Death has claimed a loved one. At that moment our fight seemed silly. We both feel the same thing. They say when two warriors clash with each other they can understand one another better. I Always thought it was bullshit...because it is. But as I look at him now I see his old armor in need of repair, his face is old, filled with knowledge and yet so confused. I saw this after my parents died. I walked in the restroom and looked myself in the mirror only to see a sad and lonely child.
My parents are dead.....they're never coming back. This is the first time I've been able to grasp this. I bet I look just as rugged as him. This is probably the reason for the strange whether recently, and the rage in him. This is pain.
I understand him. Some worthless piece of shit probably hurt him. It must have been human like me. That's why he's sending his raijin dogs off to kill mortals. I don't know if I'd do the same thing with his power. I don't even know what killed mom and dad. Yeah "Something" had to have killed them. Their death was too supernatural. And though I was there I couldn't do a single thing. Like lightning it was all over before i could even react. Darkness, laughter, and death.
That being said, I can't allow him to just...do this. If he's hurt I should help him. If not I still have family I need to protect. And since he's in my way he has to move.
"I know what your feeling." I say to him. Though our distances is great I know he hears me. Especially after electricity sparks the air.
"You know nothing!" The deity's eyes glow with fury.
"I my parents recently!" I shout as the winds gain strength. "They're dead and there is nothing I can do to change that. But I'm not gonna resort to murder."
"Murder?" God Raijin asked perplexed. "Foolish mortal what makes you think I commit acts of murder."
"Your dogs killed that shaman and ate his spirit earlier." I have a bad feeling about this.
"Foolish mortal. Gods cannot kill. Everything we do is justified in our divine nature. To us you are nothing but fodder. Lesser beings. Therefore if I so desire to purge this land of mortal life I shall."
His words rock my world. I take everything I said back. We are nothing alike. And now he shall feel my righteous fury. Or that's what I want to happen. He begins pulling out his second blade. I move as fast as I can and Yonah says to me "this is definitely happening. Brace Yourself."
I throw a punch followed by the momentum of my quick moment. I connect. I feel his hot cheek trickling like lightning under my knuckles. I smile thinking i manage to do actual damage on him but I soon fall into a state of surprise when i see a huge grin on this monster's face. Leaping back I see him unsheathe his second sword.
"Thunder Weaver." He howls and a thunderclap erupts from the air causing my eardrums to pop. I grasp my ears and look at my hand. I see blood. This isn't good.
"That's the Thunder Weaver. It originally belongs to Raijin's brother Fujin. God of Winds. Watch out for its mighty power." Yonah warns.
"You claim to know how I feel mortal?!" Thunder and Lightning rage on the battlefield. The clouds are pitch-black. Heavy rain is thrashing about. The real battle is about to begin. I use my spiritual power to extend the form of my spirit stick into that of a spirit staff. This doesn't increase the strength of my weapon but the obvious change is the range i can now strike.
"Raijin! I have a family to protect. And your not the only one here willing kill."
Like a burst of lightning we both move in and our weapons begin to clash. Electricity spark off my spirit staff and i kick him with a surge of spiritual power backing my attack. He hurtles across the ground. My attack did damage but I feel damage in my body as if being hit by sonic booms all over. Blood sprays from my lips.
"oh no!!" Yonah begins to heal my internal organs but i don't have time to hesitate. I use my spirit staff to enhance the range of my attack and defending capabilities. He appears behind me trying to get a critical hit, but i slam my staff into ground cause the space around me to erupt into an area of of outward exploding air. He's slowed down. Just what i was aiming for I spin around and hit him with a barrage of attacks of my own. Each attack lands. Slamming my staff into the side of his face i see the rage in his eyes as he is being damaged by this mortal. I retreat seeing as lightning is fired from all points of his body. Blocking and redirecting with my staff I Move in without stopping. He uses his thunder weaver to throw shockwaves in my direction and I'm blasted back. I throw my staff like a javelin with the force of a railgun. The earth rips at the force of my staff's speed. It breaks through his defense and i use that opening to throw a punch, closing the large distance between us within a split second. He catches my fist and I call my staff to me. He moves out of the way of the staff and I catch it. We proceed to clash in a fast paced battle that destroys the once beautiful prairie.
"Hya!" Lighting comes from the sky as he calls it down to vaporize me. But I simply dodge it. More bolts strike down with the intention to kill and i deflect the lightning feeling as my body is becoming more and more fatigued from this epic battle. He then fires out shockwaves. Between that and the lighting I'm reaching my limit.
I spin my staff around closing in the distance once more. I need to get close. That's the only way I'm gonna win this.
Now that I'm on him I attempt to strike put his godly experience trumps my limited one and I'm knocked face in dirt. He brings down his sword into my should and I scream as the blade effortlessly slides into my shoulder and burns me. He calls down lightning and attempt to char me again. I shorten the size of my spirit stick and stop the flow of spiritual energy God Raijin has sent into the lightning making it stop in it's tracks. The look of surprise comes over him like a dark cloud. I got him.
"YONAH!!" I shout out painfully.
Yonah erupts into smoke and her true form is revealed to the god of lightning. A spiritual bear clad in native armor towering over us the size of a mountain. I think she got bigger. or is this her true size.
"Hya!" God Raijin howls as he pulls out his sword from my shoulder to strike Yonah with lightning. I transform my spirit stick into staff form and bring it down on his shoulder with mighty force stopping the flow of spiritual power in him. I leap back as Yonah digs her paw into the ground and bring him up with a large part of the earth. He is sent hurtling into the sky. I use the last bit of spiritual power I can safely mage and toss my spirit stick as him like a catapult. My spirit staff slams into him and the sound of thunder is all i hear. This battle has concluded. And i collapse to the ground blacking out.
I don't know what happens now. I hear Yonah run up towards me in her cub form but her voice changes o that of the young woman. I go in and out. I feels like seconds pass. I think im being carried by a woman...Kim maybe? I open my eyes barely to see brown hair and a smile.
"Don't worry we're almost there." I think it's Yonah.
"Think you Yonah."
"Always and forever.....Spirit Warrior."
Darkness.....