Raikou

Sasaki Ganryū

From the journal of Raikou no Sekishūsai: "The war wages on, as does my stress. Tokemi wants to help but she's far too young and would surely die, if not against the might of Lord Ryougi then from a demon. Despite all of this, I must remain strong as leader of the Raikou Clan." He left his study to find his daughter, Tokemi outside the door. "What are you doing here? You should be at home."
"I don't know. I wanted to help and then I was suddenly here. Please don't be mad."
"You are no samurai, Tokemi. You probably couldn't even beat-"
"That's not true! Mommy said I had god blood in me!"
"So does all our clan, we are descended from one after all."

•••••(present day)•••••
It has been many years since then. Her father has died, and so has her mother. She was lost in the middle of nowhere. Raikou eventually ran into a mysterious man meditating on a tree stump. She watched him for a while, intrigued, and noticed a large fox moving in to attack. The fox leaped towards him but was sliced in half, the man was still meditating. Raikou instantly realized what had happened, the man subconsciously and immediately killed the fox and went back to meditating. She decided to approach him cautiously, "Hello." She said.
His eyes opened and he looked at her. "Do you have any food?"
"I have an apple you can have, do you know where the nearest inn is?"
"Thanks, It should be south of here. No, west. Wait actually its east, no I was right it's west. I was at an inn and followed the sun until I found this place."
"Thank you, also can we spar? You seem strong."
The man thought for a moment, "My name is Sasaki Kojirō, son of Sasaki Ganryū and Omitsu. My father was well acquainted with the Fujiwara clan and died protecting our village after the clan fell."
"I am Raikou no Tokemi!"
They got into their stances, Kojirō attacked. Raikou could tell his skill was extraordinary, any normal person would have died there but she was able to parry it. Kojirō was suprised by her speed and strength and lost the fight. "You should become my retainer! I am going to become the next shōgun so a good swordsman would be helpful."
"Next shōgun? Is that why you didn't introduce yourself with your lineage?"
"No... It's actually just a goal of mine i'm not related to anyone like that. I am descended from the wind god though!"
"Didn't that clan fall decades ago?"
"My family is what's left of it, well, I'm what's left of it. Anyway, will you join me?"
"I guess so, we both have big dreams after all."
"What's yours?"
"I want to attain a state known as void, it is also called zero or infinity. It is the ultimate goal for all swordsmen and especially me. I also want to defeat a man who defeated me before, he is probably stronger than you as well."
"Stronger than me?"
"He defeated me instantly, anyone would be able to tell how strong he was. It was incredible, he had yellow eyes like that of a hawk."
"Interesting, well with me I'm sure we can get strong enough to beat even him!"
"I would hope so."
They then went to the inn.

•••••(flashback)•••••
A man can be seen stumbling along the path, another man can be seen approaching him. "Hey! You're a swordsman aren't you? Let's fight!"
He looked at him, "Where's the nearest inn?"
"Down the path, I can't guarantee you will make it there if you accept my challenge though."
"I will fight you."
The challenger rushed to attack, they had an exchange of clashes but eventually the stumbling man prevailed. He continued walking down the path. "Give me some food!" He said as he entered, "Please!"
He sat down and was given the cheapest thing they had. "What happened to you?" The proprietor said as he examined the man's dirty and ragged clothes.
"I had a fight, I was also meditating on a mountain for the past 5 years."
"5 years?!"
"I'm starving. I threw out everything I had except my clothes, even these swords are just magical projections."
"Seems you have it pretty rough, don't worry, I won't make you pay for the food. Just make sure to take better care of yourself."
"Thank you."
"What's your name, swordsman?"
"Hmm, I guess it's Sasaki Ganryū."
"You guess?"
"Uh, it's been quite a while since I had to use it."
"Ah, right. You know, if you're any good with the sword you may be able to find work with the Fujiwara clan just east of here."
"I will keep that in mind, thank you."
Ganryū left the inn in the morning and headed to Sōhō Castle, the fief of the Fujiwara clan.