The man and The demon

forgiveness and the new bloom

Kata eyes wide open and starts running all over the building ,searching for clues but only finding blood and destroyed statues and paintings,after hours of searching with no results he goes out from the building and down to the rumbling of the city and ita once black mighty structures,Kata run like never before in an aimless Direction,he run past the vast field of the rumblings of the buildings and now running in an open field as long as the eye can see with only black rocks and volcanos,higher than any mountain he know,Kata stamina slowly fades away and he starts walking slowly,after he regain his stamina he start running again with the same thing repeating over and over,many days pass with Kata with no sense of time,with no moon ever showing in the sky to indicate the day and night circle and only three bright red sun's with each of them coming from the east and leaving from the west and then the next one coming,the suns come and go but Kata feel no diziness from so much exposure on them ,Kata slowly starts getting hungry and thirsty but he could not find anything other than rocks and volcanos,much more time pass and Kata weak to run any longer feel his stomach empty and his tongue dry,feeling no saliva on his mouth and his throat, a fear starts growing inside him that he will die from starvation and thirst before freeing his kind and his loved ones,many days still pass with Katas stomach screaming for food and his throat feeling dry and a small pain in it, more and more suns come and go and Katas fear for death from thirst and starvation fades away,feeling that he should have been dead days before,but he knew something in this world wasn't right,Kata fear of dying fade completely but the starvation and thirst grow more and more feeling weak to move on on his feet and starts crawling,feeling his armor too heavy,throwing it on the ground and continue crawling with his upper body completely naked,Kata then lost track of the passing of the suns,feeling his head a burden to try and tilt it up,time passes and Kata start feeling his body getting weakened and older with grey hairs falling from his head, his pain growing even more by every second that pass ,Kata continues feeling he covered all this realm,feeling his muscles hurting,he shake his body to move but it doesn't respond,he try again and again with only a small scream coming from his throat,he then left paralysed for hours just looking at the hard solid rock,his eyes start feeling heavy,Kata eyes halfway close and then memories start playing in his mind,everyone who loves and care his good times with Kazuya,Arata,Yui,Ryou,his time with the divine warriors and with Nozomi,Sakura ,the people that sent them to the dessert to rot,Kata then eyes open wide his muscles harden and adrenaline rush to his body, he continue crawling with memories and people playing in his mind with no end,after hours he start feeling again his body ready to collapse again, he tilt his head up searching for a sign,he saw in the distance a crater and crawls with even more willfulness reaching the crater ,Kata falls down to the crater hitting on its sharp rocks and wounding him, he move a bit more and take his blade on its hands,cutting the body and placing his mouth wide open above the wound,drinking it's blood,scenes come to his mind,seeing from the sky small figures in a dessert shooting at him with arrows that light through the day,bringing him down to the ground surrounding by two legged figures with their back curving making it seem like a half circle and plates of black armor all over their bodies and three eyes attached to everyone, staring at him and then killing him with spears and swords,Kata snaps out from it with one sentence being sculpted in his mind "i hope you all die ungrateful insects " Kata suddenly felt his starvation going away with all the pain,feeling younger like before and stronger than ever,he then looks one more time at his swords and throws them behind, looking at his hands,creating a light ,thinking in his mind the
afterlife,kazuya,Arata,Ryou,Yui,
Nozomi ,Toyotomi,Yua,Ahmya
Miyamoto,Hina, his family ,his fallen comrades and the light flashes before his eyes,the light fades and Kata sees clear, looking at an empty place with a single tree and a rock beside each other and a yellow small flower in between them,out of nowhere Kata feel a chill in his spine,souls start appearing from the ground,From behind him Kazuya came lightly hitting Katas back, saying "finally my friend we are all back together" Kazuya turns Kata and sees Kazuya,Arata,Ryou and Yui, his eyes filled with tears "im sorry,I was a coward and left you to die" Yui goes in front of him with a smile cleaning with her thumb his tears "it's alright,we never hated you for leaving us" Katas eyes filled with even more tears and Yui and the others hugged Kata,he close his eyes and a warmth flow through his body, he then open his eyes and sees in front of him seeing Yua and Ahmya holding hands and smiley waving at him,with many men and women doing the same behind her then Hina and Miyamoto looking at him too,Kata then take his arms from the others saying "i have to go,but I'm going to be back at you soon" Kata walk among the souls seeing the faces of happy,sad and angry men and women,Kata then sees a man approaching him, with long hairs left to fall in his shoulder and a masculine face with a wide short beard saying "finally you freed us" Kata says with wonder "and who are you?" The man's blue eyes lock on Katas face "Sorry about this sudden action, im Asahi Shigen, the one that gave your family the sword to kill the divine" "i am not from the Shoguns family,that lineage is over" Asahi face change showing a mix of anger,confusion and wonder "how did that happen?" "I killed them because they couldn't get back the afterlife " Asahi face calm "then if it's for taking back our afterlife i can let it slip,otherwise if you let them die in the dessert i would be the first to kill you" Katas calm stay on his face and Asahi grabs his shoulder 'tell me your name warrior" "it's Kata" "Kata come one day and sit with me ,I would like to hear stories from you" both men oars ways and they continue,Kata
sees a large group of them coming to him,a woman holding with white skin and wide eyes and and a very slim figure that seems like she is starving ,holding a child and come together with man with wide back and long hair comes to in front of him and says "i cannot belive you've done it,you saved us all" Kata look at him and the women from head to toe and then lock his eyes on the man's smile "Nozomi?" Nozomi carved a smile reaching his ears "Yes Kata it's me" Nozomi give His hand to Kata and he looks at him with confusion and says with hesitation "i killed you,all for you,don't you hate me because of that?" Hina goes in front of Nozomi and with a light voice says "Yes you killed us, but you bring us to the afterlife,you free us all and now in this place,there is no reason for us to fight each other anymore" a teenage boys walks behind Hina and Nozomi,stopping beside them and looking at Kata,screaming with his eyes glistening "sir im so sorry,I killed your wife and brought you so much pain,im sorry,I'm do not deserve to look at you in the eyes"
"I will forgive only if you forgive me back" the boys eyes stop glistening "i forgive you" Kata smile at him and continues onward,Kata continue meeting the divine warriors and his fellow comrades from the war bowing at thrm and then bowing back at him and continue his search in the endless sea of the souls,he look from all directions but he doesn't see her,he then raise his hands and the light comes out again bringing him Sakura infront of him, Kata hugs Sakura and her heart skips a beat,Kata then lay his head on her shoulder and her eyes wide open, grabbing his arms tight enough that could slightly pierce a body,Sakura then turn and kiss him,leaving his hug in an instant and lowering her eyes "my love what is wrong?" Sakura turn her head slightly to the right still looking down and saying "i just feel guilty,i promised you i will always be on your side keeping you away from the same horrified things we experience in Korea"
Kata hugs her again saying "these times are in the past now,here we can be together happy forever,just wait for me to end some things and I'm going to be back" Kata leaves her from his hug and she asks "my love,where are you going?" "I have to fix some thing back on our world,but do not worry I will be back for you" Kata raise his hands and bring Tomoe ,Toyotomi and some people behind him and some kneeling to him,he gets first close to Tomoe grabbing her shoulder but before he says anything Tomoe whispers "where is our God? " "Tomoe she wanted to kill us all,it is only right for you to move on about this" "i hate her Kata,i cannot forgive her,she manipulated me" Kata grabs her shoulder and says "then i will let time do his thing" Kata raise his hands again and Toyotomi his friends and three people kneeling to him,Toyotomi kneel before them and they all get up,he then go to his friends and notice Kata behind them,Toyotomi run with his friends towards him saying "Kata where are we? Is this the afterlife?" "Yes Toyotomi, here you will be together with your loved ones forever" Toyotomi looks around him and whispers "if only we could see Seppuku one last time" "maybe you can see him" "really?" A smile shines over Toyotomi and his friends "maybe just let me try"Kata raise his hands again but he stops,seeing a figure looking at him,the figure walk towards him and Kata says "father" his father replies with a shout "do not Call me like that,you are not deserve to have the name of the yukimuras" Kata answers with a calm and slow voice "i did what I thought was right" "only a coward like you think this was right" Kata exhales "maybe one day we could be a family again,father" his sanada spit on Katas face and turn back leaving,Toyotomi says "maybe it's not the right time to ask you a favour" Kata clean his face,still calm and says "no let's go" Kata raise his hands and with Toyotomi and the others they go in a small shelter in the woods,Kata looks at Toyotomi and everyone else, then he steps inside the woods ,Toyotomi and the others inhale and go forward knocking the door,and an old man with grey thin hair and wrinkles under his eyes and mouth,holding a small sword shows up ,the man's jaw dropped like his sword, his eyes glistening and and says loud with his deep voice "children? " Toyotomi curved a smile reaching its ears " Yes Seppuku it's us"Seppuku tears could not be hold any longer,tears of joy fall down and he hugs them shouting "you are back,you are finally back my children " Seppuku and the others hugged tight and after a while Seppuku asks "my children why did you left back then? I was so worried I search almost everywhere for you" Murako respond "We went back to get revenge for our families, but with time we came to an ease with the loss of our parents and we start our way back and on our way we found a lost member of my family teaching us how to become merchants and now we travelled the lands selling and living a peaceful life all together " a silence occurs and then Toyotomi says "please forgive us for leaving you alone without saying a goodbye" Seppuku smirk "why should i forgive you?,you forge your own paths and found a very honorable job,somethig that i could never offer you even in one thousand years" Toyotomi and the others smile and then they say with sadness "we have to leave now,but one day we will be together again " Seppuku drop one last tear and farewells ,
Everyone leave and walk away meeting with Kata saying "now
we are ready to go back" Kata raise his hands and transports them in the afterlife,he then raise his hands again and and teleports in the castle,now a large graveyard with only Takeda standing above all of them,he looks at the horizon of the dead bodies and the red sky,his heart start beating faster,feeling his breathe been taken away ,he throws his weapons to the ground and screams,falling to his knees and hitting the ground with his fist hard enough to other make them bleed,suddenly a scream off a girl is heard and Take day raise his look up and runs towards it,upon walking in the dead bodies he find Uesugi with wounds still in his body and his bohiya scoping at two soldiers,one small girl and a boy between her and Uesugis bohiya,both in Takeda standing and Uesugis age ,Takeda gets close grabbing Uesugi bohiya,screaming "Uesugi that's enough" Uesugi looks at him like an enrage animal and screams "enough? They took our mother our father and you are just gonna let them live? After all they've done?" Takeda look at the boy and the girl and says "Uesugi look around you" Uesugi takes his look for a while looking at the bodies "one more reason to kill them" Takeda shakes Uesugi and make him look to the kids"Uesugi look at them,they are not the enemy,they are humans that passed through the same hell as us,do you really want to continue it?" Uesugi lower his bohiya and make a sign for the kids to leave,he then respond with tears falling like the rain that starts "they have taken our parents from us Takeda" "i know, but we can't bring more pain to others,it's wrong" Takeda drop his weapon Uesugi mimics him and clean hia face from tears with Takeda whispering "now we can finally live like normal people" a voice is heard in the back Both of them look behind and see Kata,Takeda and Uesugi walking to him saying "it's finally over" Kata respond "no its not over" Takedas eyebrows lift up without getting attached screaming "what do you mean it's not over? Everyone here is dead,the shogun is dead and the divine left,there is nothing we have to fight for" "Takeda,we can now change the world to the better" "and what do you have in your mind? Take a sword and declare war and suffer for your ideologies? " Kata raise his hands and the light comes out vanishing Takedas and Uesugis wounds and the rain, Uesugi asks "how?" " this is the power of the divine, they betrayed us and I kill them and took their power" Takeda interputs him "the gods that we fought for betrayed us?" "In the end they wanted to reach their own ends "i cannot belive it,the gods that we fought for wanted to kill us,we fought for nothing " Kata grabs his shoulder saying "no Takeda,now we are free from them and we can form this world in a better place,not with swords and blood but with an understanding of each other and unity,are you on my side in all of these? " Takeda look at Uesugi that shake his head affirmative and replies "yes Kata but it will not be easy ,even with these powers people would continue their wars and their selfish schemes" "i know,but i have an eternity to change the world,and will not use any form of violence again" "then we will follow you until the end of our lifes" Kata hands light again and they go back to the palace,taking Sakura with her,
Gozen wakes up seeing Sakura looking at her and hugs her,getting up and looking at Kata ,Uesugi and Takeda "is it over? Did we won?" "Yes Gozen" "finally,I can now live without fear" she looks at Sakura and then Kata says "Gozen,we will start a new war but with no swords or spears" Kata hands light again and Gozen looks at shock "with this power we will make the world better,making it one with no violence " "i have so many questions" "i will answer everything but first I want to know your choice" Gozen look at Katas hand for a while and then says "if it means making a better world for our people I will follow you" Kata smile and walks out from the door "let's go gather the warriors" Kata gathers them outside the palace and Takeda opposite to all of the others,say out loud "warriors the war is over,our people sacrifice their lives for us to see the dawn of a new day" the warriors scream from hapiness
"I dont not have something else to say to you, as now a previous member of the warriors" whispers heard all over the warriors,Bohan looks with suprise and then Takeda continues "the warrior Kata Yokimura will speak with you" Kata steps from behind Takeda and shouts "warriors,the war has come to its end and now you can live as you like, but before you take your decisions I want you to ask you something,Japan is left with no one to lead the country and the people are still filled with hate for us,i want to change this and the whole world,with this power that I took from the divine" Kata arms light and then stop,the warrior fall to their knees except one asking "how did you took that power?"Kata look at him and answers "i killed them" the warriors swiftly get up and pull their sword,Gozen look with suprise and Takeda and Uesugi go in front of Kata saying "please,let him talk" Kata push both of them and go close to the warriors "i know that right now you think i killed a god that cared about you but it's wrong ,the divine didnt cared about us instead they wanted to kill us and not only us, the horrors were humans that they wanted to kill the divine because they transformed them and betray them" the same warrior asks with an enrage face "do you have any proof for this or are you just trying to convince us to belive your lies?" Kata hands light again and a soul comes beside him "this is Nozomi,the horror that stayed with us before leaving us and taking his life with my sword" "lies,it can be just an illusion" Nozomi look around him and says "hello again warriors,Bohan,Takeda,Uesugi and Gozen,it is true i was the horror that lived with you,the horror that the divine made me and the other horrors" the warriors start believing Nozomi,the warrior then says "it to still don't believe it,you are showing us illusions" "then touch him to see if it is really and illusion" the warrior touch Nozomi and suddenly his eyes lower and take his hands quickly from Nozomi "i cannot describe it but it felt it,i felt his life and some of his emotions,he's real" the warrior bow deep,his head reaching the ground and says "we are sorry,we saw you as a monster and your people,please forgive us" Nozomi smile and lifts the warrior up "i hold no anger against you,you saw your mistakes even if it's late but now you can change,be better" the warriors get up and Kata look at Nozomi, sending him back "now you know the truth,and now I want to ask you everyone to help me making Japan and the world a better place for everyone" the warriors all draw their swords and kneel to Kata saying "Yes our god" Kata shouts with anger "throw your weapons" the warriors drop them "get up" the warriors get up "i am no lord or god,im still am a human like every one of you,you do not need to follow me without question me or my actions,do you understand?" The warriors shake their head affirmative and Kata continues "now let's start again who wants to follow me" Takeda Uesugi and Gozen go first beside him and all the others come "now let's go to the capital" the warriors travel inside the capital and it's rumblings with their horses, people that came from different places look aggressively at them,they continue onward looking at the people rebuilding the houses and the walls,people giving food or clothes to some survivors with worn clothes that their skin turned black from the fires,men with guards talking to the people to join their cause, everyone stops what they are doing and start to follow the warriors,they continue and slowly a crowd of people surrounds them,the warriors stay still and Kata leave his horse and the warriors go in front of him guarding him,but Kata wave his hand back and the warriors step back and says "please we do not need violence to end this" the crowd takes knifes out of their clothes and slash Kata with no effect on him,while Kata protect the warriors with his light,the people step back looking with fear and Kata falls to one of his knees and says "people of Japan,we know we brought you terrible misery and death,we destroyed your houses and we killed the people that you cared about ,but now we want to make things right, we came now to devote our lives in you and help you rebuild what you lost," the crowd holds their weapons tighter and scream "you are just like the demons" or "i hope you suffer for an eternity together with the demons that you brought" the people start again attacking ,Kata then vanish for a blink of an eye and comes back with a spear and throws it on the ground and fall to his knees "if you want me to suffer and pay for what weve done then kill me right here,I will not resist" a man grabs the spear with rage and swiftly thrust it on Kata,the divine run to stop it but the man stops it right in Katas eye,saying " my daughter was killed because of your assault on the city,I wanted to kill you for her but I just can't, everyday I saw demons and people killing each other,im tired of this life " the man turns the spear towards him and thrust it,but Kata stops it and throws it saying "we are the same,tired of death and pain" "then show if you really want to help us find an end to stop the pain" "i cannot stop it alone,I am just a man that can help you but you are the only one who can change yourself" the man points with his hand at the rumblings "then tell me,how can I change myself when everything is destroyed?" "That's why I am going to help you" Kata ands light and building appappear and walls like before the attack and the sun rays hit the people and shine the city,the people look at him with their eyebrows lift up, Kata then stop and says "with my power i can change many things,but alone I cannot change yourselves,i need every one of you to work with me for a better future,only then most of the lifes pain will vanish" the man says " then maybe we can make a new start" and the others follow and slowly a new age for humans will start.