The Story of Ryujin

There was an opening that Tatsu saw. Kiyoshi's blade missed hitting him. Even though Tatsu very narrowly got hit and pulled his stomach back, he saw that Kiyoshi needed a split second to stop swinging his blade and pull back. He was wide open for a counterattack. Tatsu pulled his waist forward and threw his foot directly to Kiyoshi's stomach. With one powerful kick, his foot slammed into Kiyoshi's waist, and he flew backward a couple of feet into the grass and sand.

Kiyoshi still had air in his stomach as he gasped for air. He was in the ground and in pain. The kick was surprisingly effective as Tatsu dropped the broken remains of his bokken on the ground, and ran up to grab his other bokken stabbed into the dirt.

"Ah....son of a....How?" Kiyoshi coughed. The villagers were watching the scene well. Everyone had their own opinion and were amazed by the tall man's abilities.

"Kiyoshi....." Noritaka called out to him. "Let him go!"

Kiyoshi looked at the man for a split second. He picked up his katana as he struggled to get up. Tatsu held his other bokken in the air and swung it before he held it firmly with his left hand switching it up and giving his right arm freedom to be close to his waist.

"You are trying....." Kiyoshi gasped again, ".....To cheat this fight by grabbing another sword? I said one sword!"

"That is because you broke his sword! Kiyoshi!" Noritaka stated the obvious.

"Ugh...." Kiyoshi said as he got up from the ground. He put his hand to his stomach as he carried his katana with the other. "I won't give up! I would lose my honor!"

"This has nothing to do with honor...." Noritaka said. "He went and rescued my daughter. You yourself gave the go-ahead for him to be in this village. Think clearly."

"I am supposed to be married to your daughter! He is here to steal her from me!"

Noritaka shook his head.

Tatsu was ready for Kiyoshi to charge at him again. He held his stance as he did before, but he knew that his bokken was simply no match against Kiyoshi's sword. He had an idea.

Kiyoshi charged at Tatsu once again. He closed the distance quickly as he did before. This time Kiyoshi pulled his sword, getting ready for a diagonal slash against Tatsu.

Tatsu made sure that he never got that chance. With a loud shout, he pulled his bokken back and flung it forward at Kiyohsi's face. The loud sound from Tatsu's spirit shout along with the thrown wooden blade caught Kiyoshi by surprise. He staggered as he swung his blade to knock the flying sword from hitting him. Once again, he left himself open as Tatsu jumped at him and managed to grab Kiyoshi's hands that gripped his katana before he had a chance to see what was happening.

"Dah!......" Kiyoshi struggled to yank the blade away from Tatsu. The tall man's grip on his katana was unending, though, and there was nothing he could do.

Standing over Kiyoshi, Tatsu pulled his head back and did a head butt on Kiyoshi. The stun of the hit caused Kiyoshi to fall back and let go of his sword.

Tatsu had successfully disarmed Kiyoshi. His bokken had crashed to the grass and dirt. There was nothing he could do. Tatsu held Kiyoshi's sword as he pointed it to his throat. Kiyoshi was in such a daze again that he struggled to get his senses back in order. By the time he had some sense left, he was looking at the pointed blade of his sword aimed at his face.

"What are you waiting for? Fucking do it!" Kiyoshi told him.

There was a pause in his face as Tatsu looked at the man. He had blood trickling down where he head-butted him. There was a bruise on the side of his face as well. He had clearly won the fight now, but it was not his goal to kill him.

"Stop!" yelled another voice not far from them. It was a familiar female voice again.

Coming from the door of the house struggling to stand with her cane, Haru was braced at the door. She was in obvious pain as she was panting to keep herself up.

Kiyoshi turned his head to look at the direction. Tatsu himself lowered the sword and also looked at Haru. The rest of the villagers responded as well.

"Kiyoshi!... I don't want you......I never did," Haru said as she explained to him. "I don't want to marry you! Father....I am sorry."

Noritaka looked at Kiyoshi and his daughter. Some of the villagers started to leave to give the scene some privacy for them. They knew the fight was over and wanted to continue working. Tatsu simply watched the scene unveil as it played before him.

"Haru, go back inside. You are not well. You are struggling just to stand," Noritaka commanded her.

"Father.....I am like this.....because I choose to do this.....I was trying to run away from this village. I didn't want to marry Kiyoshi."

Kiyoshi looked down as he remained quiet.

"I was doing this for your benefit, Haru," her father told her. "I know you need a husband."

"I ran away because....I didn't want to be a part of it anymore. I love you father, but it would have been dishonorable to ignore your wishes."

"So you choose to run away? It didn't go the way you wanted it now, did you? Now you are hurt and most likely going to lose a leg as a result."

"Kiyoshi...." Haru looked at him. "I know you have had your eye on Yua for awhile. She loves you. You are only doing all this because you feel that you have to marry the daughter of the richest man in the village other than yourself. My father had this arranged, and you agreed to it. I know in your heart that isn't how you feel about me."

"Yua....." Tatsu noted as he asked Kiyoshi. "The woman that called out your name. Was that Yua?"

There was a pause as he thought about it. "Yes.....that was her."

"Kiyoshi," Haru continued. "Please let me go. Father, if I have disgraced you or the family name, then let me go, and I will never return. Please....."

Nortitaka watched as the rest of the villagers except one other woman leave to continue working on the fields or take care of their choirs. He looked back at his daughter as he then looked at Tatsu.

"You rescued my daughter.....you bring gifts to her. I see her standing using the cane you gave to her. You made that for her. Do you love my daughter, Tatsu?"

Tatsu was still trying to understand his emotions, let alone understand himself. He thought about it for a second. The scene forced a partial answer out of him. He nodded his head but was truthful with the answer.

"I am still trying to make sense of my past," Tatsu explained. "I feel deep down inside me. There is something that I feel towards your daughter. I mean no disrespect towards you and her. It has only been a couple of days. All I ask is that you give me a chance."

"If you think that you love her, then you love her," Noritaka stated. "That is how I felt towards your mother, Haru. We got married, and that was a time I will never forget. Tatsu....you are welcome to stay at my home. If you are going to stay in this village, then I do ask that you build a home of your own though that my daughter can live in peacefully."

Kiyoshi began to walk away. He felt he had heard enough.

"Kiyoshi...." Tatsu called out to him. "Your sword....take your sword."

Kiyoshi looked at Haru, and then he looked at the woman that was still watching the scene. Yua had a tear running down her face. Kiyoshi gave a small nod to Tatsu.

"Keep the sword," Kiyoshi said. "It is only fitting for me destroying your sword and me trying to cut you down that I give you one of my own in turn. It is yours. You will need to replace the other wooden sword eventually, though, if you are going to be fighting using Niten Ichi-ryū. He is near here, isn't he.....the great Kensei?"

"Yes...." Tatsu answered honestly.

"Keep training then. If you learn from him, you will never lose a fight," Kiyoshi said as he bowed to him and turned to walk to Yua.

Tatsu bowed as he looked at the katana. He took the sword and sheathed it into one of his two sheathes available. He then walked over and grabbed the other bokken and put it in his separate sheath.

Peace seemed to return to the village once again. It was as if the duel never existed in the first place. Tatsu walked to the home as he saw Haru struggle to continue standing. Her body buckled under the weight of the cane, and Noritaka ran up to get to her. Tatsu tried to reach her as well, but he was too late. She replied in pain as her body crumbled to the front door and mat of the home. Her cane flew from her hand as Tatsu reached her first.

"Ah.....ah....." Haru cried. "My leg is......I feel it burning."

Tatsu took a knee as Noritaka stood over both of them. Tatsu had to take a look at the bandages and splint she wore.

The scene was not good. As Tatsu took a look underneath it, the signs were not encouraging. The leg was changing color. It was dying. With no blood flow going to the leg, it would eventually rot and fall off. Medicine simply made such access to this sort of treatment impossible.

"Haru, I am sorry," her father told her. "You will lose the leg even if you try to keep it. I fight stronger than anyone I ever knew, but your leg is too badly damaged. I have seen this once long ago.....and I don't want you to go through what they did. We will have to amputate it."

"No.....no....," she begged. "I don't want to lose it....please."

"I am sorry. Tatsu, if you care, even you have to understand this. No matter what, the damage is too severe. She could get sick with more infection and die if this isn't done."

Tatsu looked away as he had to acknowledge the truth. "I am sorry, Haru."

Haru slapped her hand to the ground. She paused for a while as she finally accepted the truth. She grabbed Tatsu's arm and held it hard.

"Tatsu....you will take my leg. I understand if you don't wish to do it. I want you to do it....you are strong both physically and spiritually even if you don't feel that way."

There wasn't much hesitation on Tatsu's face. He was prepared, though. He went and gestured to her that he was going to pick her up. Doing as he did in the past, he carefully picked her up as the cane fell to the ground.

"I will go and get some help on this," Noritaka stated as he pointed to the same building a few days ago. "Take her there. We will do it in there."

"I understand," Tatsu said. He carried her as she dangled on her arms.

"I suppose....you will be used to this," Haru said. "I hate this, but at least I have you to help me."

"I still don't know about.....us. I was truthful to what I told your father."

"It is alright. I understand.....maybe if we have a little more time, we can figure it out together. Maybe your memories will return by then too."

They walked into the building as before. Haru began to tense up as she gripped his arm hard.

"I am scared," she said as she was rested on the table. Her body lay comfortably on the table.

She closed her eyes as she breathed hard. "This is my price.....for doing what I did. I brought shame to my family for leaving and not facing my father earlier."

"You wanted freedom."

"I wanted to get away from all of it. In the end, I found you. In the end.....my freedom is having you instead of Kiyoshi."

"Why did you not want to be with him?" he asked her.

"He did not love me. I could see it in him. He even felt forced to it when Yua's father was against it. Yua herself wanted to be with him, and even Kiyoshi wanted to be with her in turn. With the father against it, my father arranged for me to marry him instead."

"Against your wishes?"

She nodded as they could hear activity from outside. People were gathering the necessary materials needed for the procedure.

"Yes," she told him. "I wanted Kiyoshi to be happy. He did have some feelings for me still, and it was not far from the truth that he would marry me and get part of what my father owned to add to what he already had. I just....didn't love him."

"He seemed happy in some way to be done with the fight."

She nodded again. "He was doing what he could to preserve his honor. He saw you as a way to resolve all of the issues of the marriage. If he failed to win the duel, then he would still act courageously in the face of others. If he failed, then he would have Yua in the end."

"I still don't understand how he could have had her instead of you."

"Yua's father passed away a month ago. With that, Kiyoshi was in a better position to marry her now. The catch was he was still arranged to marry me. I would be unfortunate and honest to say that we pulled you into this mess. You came to see me, and it was an excuse for him to fight you. He would win either way in the end. Him losing the duel with you was a better situation for him in the end. I am happy as a result."

"Next time, try to find a way that does not involve a person swinging a sword at me," he commented.

"Tatsu...." She cried. "I am so sorry I did that to you. I assure you I had no idea it would have gone the way it did just now. I wasn't trying to see that turn into a fight! It was supposed to be peaceful.....all I needed was a chance to talk to him and absolve the arranged marriage peacefully. I just.....I just didn't know he would try to kill you. Kiyoshi......"

Tatsu placed his hand on the grip of the sword that Kiyoshi gave him. It was his first actual katana that he had in his possession.

"Those swords......the katanas.....they are hard to make," Haru remarked. "Only the rich or samurai can afford them. To have one in your possession is a wonderful trade for ensuring you didn't kill him. I am grateful for everyone that you didn't do it. Even when I saw you disarm him, you had no anger in your face. Thank you."

Tatsu nodded. He paused for a little bit as he thought long and hard about it. He made his decision. "Haru, there is something that I am holding back on telling you. I am seeing a man that is teaching me how to fight. His skills are well made, and I go to see him have him teach me as I await my memories to return. There is another reason why I left the village as well, and that was....."

Two individuals entered the room of the tool building. They carried a large cutting tool along with bandages, buckets of water, and towels.

She began to whimper a little bit. A tear ran down her face as more and more reality was setting in for her.

"I am s..s..scared Tatsu. Hold my hand, please...."

One of the men had a leather bite for her to bite onto ready for her to use. The pain was going to be immense, and she needed to prepare for the shock of it. It would protect her teeth. Tatsu gripped her hand tightly as she shook in her place. One of the other men began to wrap a towel to put pressure on her leg as they began to undo the splint. Slowly but surely, they managed to work off the wooden planks and various cloth and herb bandages that were put on her leg.

The leg was in clear view. The damage was apparent, and it was turning a dark color. One of the men successfully tied the bandage tightly on her leg. It was a fair distance from her knee. She was going to lose everything from the knee and below it.

"The pain is not that bad.....but it's going to be difficult to walk," she commented.

"I will get that cane cut down to a better size. I will make every cane you can use to help you walk again. Today you were overcoming the ability to walk without one."

One of the men gave her some herbal tea, perhaps something to maybe deaden the pain or knock her out a little bit. One of the men looked at Haru to see if she would give them the signal to do it. Tatsu himself watched as she was fully awake in which she was.

"I don't want you to do it," Haru gestured to the man as he prepared a saw blade. "Tatsu, it must be you to take my leg. Use the sword. It is sharp enough.....one good swing, maybe."

Everything was set. The other men backed up as Tatsu let go of her hand. "Are you sure of this?"

She shook her head. "No....I...I.....do it before I change my mind."

Tatsu took and gripped the handle of the blade of the katana. He unsheathed it as he looked at the sword. The katana's edge was insanely sharp. With his strength, he could clearly do it. One swing was all he needed.

"Tatsu.....," she asked him.

His eyes focused on her.

"Make a home here; I want you to be here close to me. I want to see you every day. I want to learn more about you. Promise me that," she said as a tear fell down her face.

"I promise...." He said as he paused. The other men gathered away to give Tatsu room to swing. It would be the one time as he gripped the sword's handle with both hands. He wanted to make sure he had the best aim and strike he could deliver.

"Ready?" he asked with reluctance as one of the men rushed over and gave her the bite to clamp her mouth and teeth. Her leg was positioned away from her other one to give him the room to swing down on it.

She nodded her head, unable to answer the question with a mouth full. It was time. She closed her eyes.

Tatsu took the sword and lifted the blade high above his head. His aim was true. He shook a little bit in reluctance to the situation. He didn't want to think any more than he had to. He swung hard in a downward strike onto the damaged leg...........

Chapter 6: June 12th, 1645

Time passes as it always does. It is a stream that never stops and will always continue until the end of the universe. Even if it was over a month that passed, it seemed like a week went by. Nonetheless, it seemed that many things occurred and happened naturally.

For Tatsu, it was a routine event traveling back and forth to the village. Most nights, he would spend his time at the village finishing the construction of a new home with due thanks to the villagers and their knowledge of house construction. Using the vast supply of lumber in the nearby forest, he would go deep into the foliage and slice a tree up to be converted to the home. The home was finally completed at the beginning of the fourth week. The timing couldn't be any better than he could imagine. Things were going according to schedule, and things were closer to the special day planned.

It was near night again after returning back from Musashi's cave. It was another day of training. Now with both bokken and an actual katana in his scabbards, Tatsu's combat capability was slowly improving as each day passes.

Something had started to bother Tatsu, though, as each day got closer to the event planned. He was not so much nervous about it, but it was something he felt needed to be done for this to work.

"I never had the chance to tell her yet," he said as he walked closer to the middle of the village. "Perhaps I am afraid of losing her?" He stopped as he sighed to himself. "I still don't know who I was....only nightmares and brief flashbacks have been my friend besides Haru. If she knew I was a dragon....would she accept me? Yet tomorrow......tomorrow......it will be too late. She wants this to happen as much as I do, but she may never do it if she knows."

He closed his eyes as he really thought about it. His heart raced as he thought more about it. He feared the moment she knew, he would have no choice but leave the village quickly. The humans were still unpredictable. They were helpful, but only because they knew he was human. Would she truly accept him for what he really was?

He opened his eyes as he continued his walk. "I will tell her....today I will tell her."

Tatsu stepped to his house. It was small, made of a simple sizeable wooden floor for a living room, a kitchen like an area, and a bedroom. The main door could be slid open and closed with ease. It was a lovely home, nonetheless. He now had a place of refuge to be able to revert back and forth to his true form without anyone seeing it. No longer did he have to go to the forest during his travels to do it. Some furniture made from a fellow neighbor was to be brought in as the days continued to pass. It was a mad dash to do it. The place was spacious without much inside it. The first night at his new home, he practiced swinging his swords, trying to continue honing in his skills as he trained with Musashi in his cave. A small candle in the corner provided his illumination.