"I will teach you the Art of Combat. I will show you how to defend yourself and safeguard those you hold dear. By the name of Isshin Ashina, the Sword Saint, I vow to forge you into a protector worthy of standing by my side."
"I thank you for accepting my selfish request, Master Isshin. I shall do my best to and become so strong that no one will be able to hurt or those who I like a lot!" Mio replied, as she knelt on the ground and kowtowed towards him, showing him respect and acknowledging him as her Master.
" Master, I am your disciple now!" Mio said happily, hands in the air, as she jumped around.
"Kuhahaha! I know, little one." Isshin laughed in amusement at her antics.
But Mio suddenly stopped in her tracks, before turning towards him with a serious look, her smile giving way to a serious look as she seemed to make up her mind, as she directed a hesitant look towards Isshin.
"Hm? What is the matter, little one?" he caught onto her change immediately.
"I-I want to tell you. About my past. About why the Village Head and the villagers called me The Child of Disaster..." she spoke, with her head bent low, her voice full of loneliness.
"If you feel such deep sadness before you even speak of your past, you don't have to." Isshin comforted her, noticing her difficulty in remembering her past.
"N-no, I want to tell Master. Master treats me better than anyone else, so I want to tell Master all about me. So please listen to Mio's story."
"Very well." Isshin agreed, sitting on the deck, as he patiently listened to Mio's story.
" When I was born, my mother passed away due to not having enough strength after giving birth to me. That was why when I used to go play with other children in the streets, they used to call me a mother killer."
"But my father was a very nice man, who uses to scold those kids for calling me that, and made them apologise to me, but they still used to call me that when my dad wasn't nearby. But o-one d-day, my father, who worked as a fisherman... his boat had gotten stuck in a storm, and the big and strong waves turned over his boat... The villagers searched for him for many days... but we could never find him, and I did not even have a body to bury next to mom... it was always dad's wish, that when he was old and passed away, h-he wanted to sleep next to mom... but we coul- we couldn't find him..." tears started to fall from her eyes, as she stuttered and hiccuped, trying to speak through her tears, which she tried, and failed to wipe away.
"Th-then, because I was too small to live alone, my father's brother, who was a woodcutter, took me in. He had a wife and son, and we used to play happily everyday. A year passed like that, and I thought that the sad days were over, that only happy days were ahead, b-but, then one day, pirates attacked the village."
"They said that as long as everyone gabe all of their valuables, they would not hurt anyone. They stole all the valuables from everyone, but I had hidden a necklace, with me, and had not given it up. I tried to bury it into the ground, but one of the pirates saw me hiding it, so he got suspicious and threw me aside, picking the necklace off the ground as he pointed a pistol at me, ready to kill me, when my uncle, attacked him from behind with his woodcutting axe, striking him on the head, splitting his head, killing him. But the Pirate captain later found that someone of his crew had been killed, and demanded to know who it was that had killed him, and threatened to kill everyone if they didn't rat him out. My uncle stepped out, and said that he was the one responsible for the pirate's death, when it was actually my fault. He was executed in front of the whole village, shot in the head by the captain's pistol, as a warning to the villagers about what would happen if they dared to oppose them."
"Later, after the pirates looted all that they could and left, I told my aunt the reason why her husband, my uncle had been killed. Because of me, that it was my fault. My aunt was horrified. She called me a devil, a child who brought Disaster to all who touched her, who cared about her. She threw me out of the house and spread what had happened to the entire village. They all hated me, and stayed away from me, so that they wouldn't become the next victim. They pelted me with stones, trying to drive me away." She continued, turning around and pulling the collar of her clothes down a bit, showing black and blue bruises on her back, caused by those very stones.
"They drove me out of the village. They said that I was a plague that killed her own mother and father, and even killed her uncle who cared for her, that I did not deserve to be near others, that I did not deserve to be cared for, to be kind towards, that i deserved to die... I also want to play with other kids... I also want to eat warm, tasty food... I also want to be loved... a-are they right, Master? Is it good that I die? Would everyone finally be happy if I died? But I-I dont want to die...I want to live!..." she finally broke down completely, crying heavily, unable to control her tears, as she was about to fall to her knees, when Isshin caught her, and enveloped her in his arms.
*Whoosh! Crack-boooom!*
A wave of blue energy with black and blue lightning emitted from Isshin, as the sides of the ship cracked and splinters, groaning under the force of his anger, the sky turning dark and stormy, with lightning and thunder lighting up the sky ominously, which startled the villagers, who witnessed the weather turn from a sunny day to a stormy one in a.matter of seconds, and who felt a sort of primal fear from the bottom of their hearts, like their lives were in danger, more so than ever before in their lives, even more so than when pirates pointed guns point blank at their faces. They passed their pants and skirts, as they fainted in Terror, their mouths foaming.