As the dawn's gentle light seeped into the hollow of the ancient trunk, Kenshiro stirred from a restless slumber, the echoes of his nightmares slowly dissipating. He opened his eyes to a disorienting sight, no longer nestled within the protective embrace of the tree trunk but rather finding himself on a vast, weathered platform known colloquially as 'Kuma no Yuka' - the Bear's Bed.
The name derived from local folklore which spoke of giant beasts that slumbered upon these ancient stones, nestled high in the mist-shrouded mountains. The platform was encircled by towering stone monoliths, their surfaces etched with the tales of ancient beast gods. The air was thick with the scent of mineral and damp foliage, a pungent reminder of the untamed wilderness enveloping him.
Kenshiro's heart lurched as he realized his predicament. Above him, nestled within what appeared to be a mechanical, yet organically flowing scaffolding of rocks and twisted metal, was a sinister contraption: rocks infused with a glowing, molten substance, poised to drip onto where he lay. The heat emanating from them suggested they were meant to melt through anything below—likely intended to make him an easier meal for the creatures that roamed this cursed plateau.
"What the hell…?" Kenshiro commented.
Surrounding the platform were four gargantuan bears, each standing approximately 17 feet tall. These were no ordinary beasts; they were mythical in appearance, covered in blood-red rot that seemed to pulse with a life of its own. Their fur was a matted combination of rusted copper and blackened embers, giving the impression of fur on fire, yet their skin beneath pulsed with the sickening shine of fresh blood and exposed muscle, a grotesque testament to their corrupted nature.
"Hold on..hold on hold on…what kind of ritual is this?"
'I'm definitely screwed. They put a bunch of rocks on top of me, I can feel some heat too. I don't think I have enough strength from yesterday, that Xenn guys slashes seemed to have drained my strength, I gotta wait to recover it all back. I feel so tired, I haven't felt like this in a long time. It's still crazy…Kaimetsu is backing Takeda and Shikorin, and Xenn…he's a disciple of rot. Are all the disciples that strong? They're 100 times stronger than me. Even so, I still have to take down the Nine Tails, which is one of the keys to getting to Takeda's Paradise. But Kiro said I should find the Hidden Temple on the way to the Nine Tails…how would I find it? Kiro must have set that up on purpose, he wanted to go out defying the rot, and he did it. What did he expect me to do? Fight back? Did he think I had a chance? And what really is a Shadow of God? Anyway, yeah I'm kinda screwed right now.'
Each bear's face was elongated, almost wolf-like, with multiple rows of serrated, jagged teeth that glistened ominously in the morning light. Their eyes were hollow, void of life yet burning with a malevolent crimson glow. Twisting horns sprouted from their skulls, weaving back like crowns of thorns. The creatures' paws were oversized, armed with claws that looked capable of tearing through stone and steel with equal ease.
These behemoths roamed the platform with a heavy, thudding grace, their growls resonating through the air, a sound that felt like it could shake the very earth. As they moved, the rot on their bodies dripped onto the stone, sizzling upon contact and leaving behind a trail of decay.
Within his mind, Kenshiro's instincts screamed for action, yet his body betrayed him with its weakness, his muscles trembling from the efforts of the prior night's survival. Externally, he maintained a facade of calm control, understanding that any overt panic might draw the immediate attention of these colossal predators.
'Guess this is it. I had a good run. Why am I giving up so easily?'
As Kenshiro's peril mounted, the air around him became tense, charged with an unstated threat. Suddenly, the timber line burst apart as two figures charged into the clearing: Nori the Sad Puppet and Mei, garbed in her black armor veined with roses.
Kenshiro gasped, "Mei?! Nori?!"
Nori waved, "H-Hello…Kenshiro. We've come to save you, I guess. Not that I'm sad about it or anything. Glad you are..alive."
Kenshiro said, "Hey, yeah I'm in a weird situation here. Kinda weak right now. Thanks."
"No problem..friend."
"Friend huh? I like that."
Kenshiro then looked at Meo, and said, "Me—."
Mei interrupted, "—Do not talk."
Kenshiro thought, 'Is she mad?! What did I do?!'
Nori dashed forward with a blur of motion, his wooden form surprisingly agile. As one of the giant bears turned to face this new threat, Nori slid under its gargantuan paw, blades extending from his forearms to gash deeply across the beast's hind leg. Scarlet marked the ground, the bear roaring in agony. Mei, moving with a dancer's grace, swung her scythe in a wide arc. With each strike against a bear's thick fur, a burst of roses bloomed, their thorns drinking deeply into the beast's flesh, weakening it with every passing second. She flipped back gracefully as the bear swiped at the air where she'd just been.
Nori, rebounding from his roll, flipped onto the bear's back, his blades plunging into the creature's shoulder blades. He pivoted, slicing a grim path along the spine, as wood creaked and steel sang, splintering the silence. Mei, spinning in a pirouette, used the momentum to decimate another bear's face with a direct scythe slash. The contact erupted a rose, blooming grotesquely in the beast's eye socket, sapping further vitality and causing blind confusion and rage.
The third bear retaliated, its massive paw crashing down towards Nori. The puppet twisted his body, the claws grazing him, a splinter of wood flying, but he utilized the close proximity to drive his bladed leg into the bear's wrist, grounding the creature with a bone-jarring thud. Mei's scythe arched beautifully down, scalping a swath of fur and flesh from the largest bear's flank. Her follow through caused several deep-rooted flowers to explode from the wound, entangling and puncturing through the thick hide with barbed, lethal accuracy. Nori sidestepped a lumbering charge, looping adroitly onto the bear's back, driving his forearm blades into the base of its skull. With a forceful jerk, he twisted the head unnaturally, a sickening crack reverberating through the clearing.
A wounded bear lunged at Mei, jaws agape. She threw herself sideways, rolling across the coarse ground, and as she rose, her scythe swept out, decapitating a swath of roses around her. The roots shot out like tendrils, binding the bear's limbs and pulling it down. Nori vaulted from his fallen quarry, intercepting another bear that was aiming for Mei. His body spun horizontally mid-air, blades extending and slashing in a blur, marking the bear with deep crosscuts that wept dark blood. Back to back now, Nori's rapid strikes kept one bear at bay while Mei dealt with the other. Her scythe movements were precise, each slice followed by explosive blooming, the resultant flowers erupting from the earth to cage her adversary in a floral prison.
Kenshiro said to himself as he watched them in action, "They're fighting like they're used to this. Their movements are fluid, especially Mei's. Nori's power may seem basic, but he's incredibly strong. I'm glad they're here. I'm surprised actually."
Nori, flushed from exertion, pushed his wooden body to the limits. He ducked a swinging paw, and using a protruding rock as a springboard, lunged up and forward, embedding his entire forearm blade into the bear's chest, heartwood meeting heart in a fatal dance. Mei, sensing a bear behind her, spun, her scythe tracing a deadly arc. The blade bit deep into the bear's neck, a flower blooming instantly, sapping the beast's life force as it attempted to rise again, only to collapse under the weight of its drained energy. Both warriors synchronized their movements; Nori's punches, embedded with wooden blades, and Mei's sweeping scythe cuts, brought a ballet of death. Each move they made was a chorus of flesh and flora, metal and wood clashing with raw, primal force.
As the last bear weakened, Nori and Mei converged, a whirlwind of lethal precision. Nori's blades immobilized the creature, pinning it against a monolith, while Mei's final scythe strike was a coup de grâce, a majestic, sweeping decapitation accompanied by a burst of blossoming roses. Surveying the aftermath, they moved towards Kenshiro, their bodies marked by the battle but victorious. Mei extended a hand to him, while Nori stood guard, silent but vigilant, the drawn face on the puppet's visage betraying a still sad emotion, yet somehow appearing resolute.
Kenshiro, barely conscious, managed a weak nod of gratitude as the pair helped him up, ready to escape the cursed clearing that was now a garden of grotesque blooms and fallen beasts.
Kenshiro said, "Thank you so much." He stood up fully, continuing, "Those nasty bears were about to eat me in some kind of twisted ritual. Thanks—."
THOOM!
Mei tackled Kenshiro to the ground, hugging him, her cheeks flustered along with Kenshiro.
"Mei..?" Kenshiro asked with a blush to his cheeks.
Mei continued, "I'm..sorry."
"For what? Did you do something?"
"I made you protect the flower. You could've refused…but you didn't. You held onto it, each fight you've been in—."
"You saw me fighting? Oh goodness I got my ass kicked—."
"Shut up. Listen. Because of what you've done, I will tell you what the flower and the rain means."
"Really?!" Kenshiro smiled.
"Don't ruin it."
"Sorry."
….
Deep within the towering shadows of Komorebi Fortress, nestled against the mountainous spine of feudal Japan, an eerie sense of decay lingered in the air. The stronghold, known as one of Commander Takeda's pivotal bases, bore a grim aura, shadowed by the mighty oak trees that seemed to whisper secrets of ancient lore.
Inside the main hall, a scene of solemn assembly unfolded. At the center, surrounded by the intense gaze of his disciples, sat the formidable Samurai Asura. His long, white hair braided into a ponytail threaded with sharp blades, fell against the backdrop of intricate armor that clung to his body like a second skin. The right side of his face bore patches of rot, giving his wrinkly skin a macabre mosaic appearance. His piercing, fragmented eyes gleamed from beneath a straw basket mask, hinting at a world of pain and power. Adorned with an arsenal that included a rifle, two katanas, a large bow, a staff, and a battle axe, Asura was a monument to martial might.
Standing before him, Xenn knelt respectfully. Asura evaluated him with a slight nod before acknowledging his subservience with a gravelly, "I understand, Xenn.
And for all of us disciples, I have a message from Takeda himself."
Asura then shifted his focus, his voice deepening as he spoke of their path, "To be a disciple under Takeda, under the divine affliction of Shikorin, is to embrace the rot—not as decay, but as the foundation of renewal and ascension. It is through perpetual corruption that we reach the zenith of existence."
Around Asura, three other disciples stood fiercely. Kiyomi, with her striking hair cascading in hues of midnight and her eyes like molten silver, wielded a blanket woven from the fibers of rot—an artifact that shimmered with a corrupting energy. Beside her, Sato, a burly figure with a jagged-edged staff, had tattoos of arcane symbols pulsing along his burly arms and face. Had a long braided black beard, and a bald head. The third, a lean scholar named Midori, clutched a book bound in rotting leather, its pages scribbled with eldritch runes, wearing glasses, slick white hair, and dark red eyes.
Asura continued, his tone weaving a tale of a past steeped in battle. "Me, Asura, once faced a formidable warrior named Hayato. His blind subordinate could only listen as we clashed, steel and will, until the brink of death itself. Such closeness to defeat is not acceptable again; we must ascend, grow stronger, and become akin to gods under the guidance of Shikorin and our leader Takeda."
As he spoke, his large white wolf, adorned in red eyes and horn with spiral markings, lay beside him, occasionally letting out a low growl that resonated like a distant storm waiting to be unleashed.
Concluding his dictate, Asura's presence seemed to fill the room, oppressive and dense. "We live and fight not just for victory, but to embody the celestial cycle of death and rebirth. Each moment of decay is a step towards the divine ascension."
With a gesture, the air thick with purpose, each disciple, including Xenn, unsheathed their weapon. In unison, they recited their mantra, a deep, resonant chant that echoed off the stone walls:
"Through decay, we rise. In rot, we find purity. Under Shikorin's grace, and Takeda's will, we shall ascend. To decay is to live, to live is to decay. Our souls, bound by the sacred rot, leap towards the immortality of gods."
The words, fervent and full of conviction, filled the hall, sealing their fate to this dark and ancient path, where the boundaries of life, death, and divine power blurred into the eternal cycle of Shikorin. Their voices carried the weight of their commitment, resonating with a chilling zeal that underscored their devoted following to Takeda, and the profound, corrupting influence of Shikorin.
Kiyomi asked, "Disciple Asura."
Asura responded, "Disciple Kiyomi?"
"About the Nine Tails…shall I tame it?"
"No. The Nine Tails has been fighting off hordes of embodiments of rots for days now. It is not a good time to apprehend him."
Midori explained, "The Nine Tails Chimera Fox limits its power when fighting certain enemies. So when fighting lesser enemies, it limits its strength to match theirs. But when fighting a powerful enemy, it scales its power to the scale of their enemy."
Sota scoffed, "Tch. Why?"
"He is an entity here of wisdom and guidance and governance over the creatures and beings of the forest. It thrives off the well-being and control over its beings he watched over, to make the others feel on par with the strength with the Nine Tails to make them all feel more important."
Asura explained, "That's why fighting it seems useless. The Nine Tails is a powerful being. Takeda…Shikorin explained that in order for us to enter into Paradise with them, we just take the Nine Tails. But defeating the Nine Tails and taming it is a call for concern. Takeda has the power to enhance the power technique of any Battle Art to its max potential, and even for the Nine Tails, he can merge with it and gain all of its abilities. It's important we tame that thing."
Kiyomi stated, "That's why we've sent the embodiments of rot to swarm the Nine Tails for days, to weaken it. But it's fighting off the rot, not allowing itself to be fully conflicted by it."
Sato sighed, "So what are we going to do?"
Asura paused, then said to Xenn, "Xenn. Kiyomi."
Xenn stood, not saying anything.
Asura continued, "Go to the Nine Tails. Take The Bloodhound Wolf with you. While they're fighting, wait for an opening, defeat it."
Xenn nodded, still not saying a word.
The Bloodhound Wolf, right beside Asura, growled, and followed Xenn and Kiyomi out of the room.
Sato asked, "Huh?! What about me?!"
Asura replied, "Quit your babbling. I have another task for you. The Blind Swordsman named Kanbei is out there, that Bloodhound was his. I have no doubt he will be here to reclaim the Bloodhound, it's what I want. Prepare everyone."
Sato grinned, "Hell yeah!"
Midori asked, "What about me, Disciple Asura?"
"You will stay with me. Just in case Xenn and Kiyomi fail, we will be strategizing the future after them. Without the Nine Tails tamed, we will not gain access to Takeda's Paradise.."