NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: Ok, I'm embarking on an epic here. This private RP is to set the background for my Legends characters, namely Arashi Hiyuuki, Shinji Hikurai, and Michiko Hikoori. As I said, this is a private RP, so no joining in. However, feel free to leave OOC comments as long as it's not spam or flames. Okay then, here goes........

IC: It was 10 PM in Atros, at the Dojo of Clan Hiyuuki. Bedtime for 10-year-old Arashi Hiyuuki and his sister Reiko. As they clambered into their straw mats, their father, the Sensei Takeshi Hiyuuki of the Clan tucked them in.

"Good night, my little ones, sleep tight", he said.

"Good night, Daddy", the siblings chimed.

As he turned to walk out, Arashi's uncracked, high voice chimed out. "Daddy?"

"Yes, Arashi?"

"Me and Reiko......we were wondering about something."

He turned back to them, and sat by them with a smile. "What is it?"

"Father........why are we Hiyuuki? What makes us so special that we form a Clan of our own? Why can we shoot flames, and only Michiko from that Hikoori Clan thingy can do so too?"

"You forgot Shinji and his sister Naomi from the Hikurai Clan too, brother." Reiko cut in.

"Ah, whatever. Anyway, Dad, why?"

The Sensei sat back, deep in thought. He knew that this was coming one day.......it was almost like the time he told them about the birds and the bees, the Sensei thought with an inward smile. Well, if they're asking for it, they're ready for it.

"Well, Arashi, Reiko", the Sensei began, "It's a long story. Can you stay up long enough?"

"Sure thing, Dad!", both Arashi and Reiko chimed in unison.

"Very well then", the Sensei said. He cleared his throat, then began,

"The history of Clan Hiyuuki, and Clan Hikurai and Clan Hikoori for that matter, started 3000 years ago........"

IC: "3000 years ago, in the time of Ancient Atros, Atros was made up of a kingdom that spanned the entire island continent nation. The peasants had a simple life then, mostly agricultural in nature, and all was peaceful.

Also, many families were dabbling in martial arts at that time, and these families are the precursors to the Clans of Atros today. Some of these families were more renowned, others less, but they were all respected, and in fact they were treated almost like aristocracy in all walks of life. These families were especially welcomed because of their role in keeping away the brigands from the towns and farmers.

Three in particular stood out for their exceptional skills. One of these three was the Onizuka family, whose skills in fist-fighting and kick-boxing were unrivalled and unparalleled by any other martial artist family in Atros. The most outstanding of that family was a young man named Akira. Akira Onizuka had mastered the family arts at the tender age of 21, and many were saying that he could bring the Onizuka arts to a whole new level.

The second of these was the Akimoto family, whose esoteric skills in claw-fighting and palm techniques makes them one of the most unique families invloved in martial arts. A young man of the Akimoto family named Yusuke was famed for his extraordinary skill at it, having mastered the Akimoto arts at 21 as well.

The last of these three was the Fuyutsuki family, who were especially unique for their usage of martial arts coupled with traditional dance forms. A 21-year-old young woman named Miho, who had mastered sleeve-dancing, fan-dancing, and shawl-dancing battle techniques, was as famous as Akira Onizuka and Yusuke Akimoto, both for her fighting skill and her exceptional grace.

Akira Onizuka. Yusuke Akimoto. Miho Fuyutsuki. These three young prodigies would soon find their fates inextricably linked to each other by destiny, and their names will soon be entered in Atrosian history forevermore.

But not by their original names."

OOC: Well, that's all I can do for tonight. I hope to add on more as I go on. Stay tuned!!!

"It so happens that during this time, a threat unlike any other in memory was looming over Atros. This threat had come in the form of evil green flames, that took residence in the highest point of the island of Atros, Mt. Yamato. No one knows exactly how and when it got there, if not possibly having been there all along, dormant. It was known then only as the Dark Power, and in the reign of King Izzan the IX, the Dark Power awokened.

All those Atrosians who lived around Mt. Yamato noticed flickerings of a green aurora around the mountain, which waxed in strength day by day. Evil feelings and dark thoughts invaded the minds of those who made their living around the mountain, causing many to fall prey to madness. The mountain itself reeked of evil, and none would go near it. Soon, demons and monsters started appearing around the mountain, attacking the towns and villages, causing much loss of life. These monsters were held at bay at first by the martial families who were located near the mountains, but even they could not withstand the mental assault along with the physical dangers for long, and one by one, the people moved away from the mountain into greener pastures. Slowly, the area around Mt. Yamato became a barren wasteland, where demons dwelt, waiting to devour any hapless adventurer who had foolishly decided to brave its dangers.

But the demons did not wait for long. These abominations soon started to invade the outlying regions, which was prior to then relatively safe from attacks. News of demon attacks showed that it has begun to encroach upon the rest of Atros, and military action taken by King Izzan met with defeat after defeat. Such action only served to worsen the situation, for many despaired when they saw that some of the demons were actually the dead bodies of those hapless soldiers sent to combat the threat, irreversibly changed to a grotesque form, and which sapped the morale of Atrosians everywhere, who had to see their sons, their husbands, become the enemy, through no fault of their own. Although the area under demon threat was still small, it was only a matter of time before the demons overwhelmed the resources of the Atrosian monarchy.

At the end of his tether, King Izzan was about ready to abdicate for his failure to protect his people. But just then, a shaman walked into the royal court. No one knew where this shaman came from, who he is, or why he was here, but his advice was taken to heart by the King.

"Behold", he said, "the proud land of Atros is under attack from an enemy with power beyond any you can imagine. This 'Dark Power' is evil, and wishes only to swallow Atros, then the world with it. It cannot be defeated by brute force, for it is a god, and its power is limitless, though at this juncture, it has only just awakened, and it has yet to regain full strength. No army, however strong, will defeat it. No measure within mortal reach will have any bearing on its omnipotence. Who knows when it first started to exist; even with much wisdom as I have, all I know was that its malice was sealed away long ago by the forces of the gods of good. But now, the gods of good have withdrawn their presence from the world a long time ago, and against this entity, growing in power within its shell, there is no godly counter now."

"But then", King Izzan demanded, "How can it be stopped? Are we without hope?"

"Nay, not wholly without hope", replied the shaman, "The gods have long ago left a charm on this world, that when they were no longer able or willing to protect this land again, a three-part artifact wielded by three mortals would unlock a power. A power that is greater than any in our dimension, for it neutralizes all forms of power in this dimension. A power that can only be unlocked by the unquenchable human spirit. That power is called the Charm of the Dimensions, and future generations would refer to as the Ancient Charm. And only the three parts of a special key would unlock this power. This power will defeat the Dark Power irrevocably."

"And just where is this artifact to be found?" demanded King Izzan.

"This artifact.......does not exist in this world yet.", the shaman replied, shocking the King. "However, I have the spell which would bring the artifacts into existence. What I lack however, are the key ingredients for this spell. These key ingredients are hard to find indeed. There are three of them."

"What are they? Tell me, and I shall waste no effort in finding them!" the King proclaimed.

"They are three mortals, but not just mere mortals, oh no. They are the cream of humanity's crop, the champions of mankind who individually hold within themselves the greatest of humanity's virtues, and of which their progeny would hold these same virtues. In short, I am looking for the one who embodies the virtue of Courage, the one who embodies the virtue of Honor, and the one who embodies the virtue of Wisdom. Without them, the artifact cannot come into this world, for they are fated to be the Keepers of the Key, the one responsible for tapping into the Charm, and to save us all."

At that, the King sat back in his chair, with a worried look. "But........they could be anyone! How am I to find them?"

"Ah, my King, that is why I came to you, is it not?", the shaman said with a knowing smile. "Only you have the resources in all of Atros to conduct this search. Now you must listen carefully."

"It is no use going abroad to find these Ones, you would be wasting valuable time and effort. Have them come to us. Host a Tournament in your city, my King. Have the pugilist families of Atros each send a representative to the Tournament, to have the honor of defending the Kingdom of Atros from this scourge of the Dark Power. The Ones will reveal themselves through their mastery of their martial arts over all else, and after that........leave everything to me. And after that......it is all up to them."

The King sat back on his throne, pondering this advice. He had no other alternatives, and was clutching onto any strings of hope.........

"Very well. I shall host this Tournament. May the fates preserve us."

"Now that we have seen just what was happening to Atros 3000 years ago, let's go back to the story of our protagonists. Akira Onizuka, Yusuke Akimoto, and Miho Fuyutsuki............

Now, we change scene to an ancient mansion, flanked by grassland. Ancient Atros, 3000 years ago.......

"Hah!"
"Hee-yah!"
"Hah!"
"Watah!"
"Hah!"
"HAI!!!"

A fist broke through 5 layers of plank, shattering the pile and sending splinters everywhere. The young man who broke the planks stood, sweat dripping all over his brow, his eyes fully concentrated, immobile, recovering himself from his exertion.

"Good! That's all for today!"

Slowly, the young man relaxed, and glanced at his father.

"Not bad, Akira. You are ready for the Tournament."

"Tournament? What Tournament, father?"

"Oh, I forgot. Read this."

Akira took a notice from his father, and read it. Slowly, comprehension dawned.

"You're sending ME to the Tournament? But......"

The old man put a hand on Akira's shoulder.

"Akira, my son, you are more ready than you think you are. I have faith in you. Just treat this as that great big adventure into the world you've always been wishing for, son."

Akira put his hand on his father's, and he nodded.

"Yes, father, I will go then. I will bring fame and glory to the Onizuka family!"

And so he went, not to know that this trip out of the Onizuka home would be his last as a Onizuka.......

And so, Akira Onizuka was set on his way to his destiny. A destiny that would take away his family name of Onizuka.........and give him a name that would last for centuries.

The preparations lasted many days, much of the time taken up by the coming-of-age ceremony held to honor Akira. Every Onizuka was expected to undergo a test of manhood to earn the family name, and the Tournament was seen as that very test of manhood that would elevate Akira to the status of manhood, and initiate him as a true Onizuka warrior of the family. At the end of the 5 days of festivities, Akira was presented with the family's formal haori jacket to wear over his kimono, on which the kanji letters printed at the back read:

鬼
塚

These two kanji letters would be translated as "Onizuka", and would denote Akira as an Onizuka warrior. With provisions to last him on the way, and bringing away nothing more than his family's fighting skills and fond memories, Akira waved goodbye to his ancestral home, not knowing that it would be forevermore........

At that time, ancient Atros was a pretty primitive place, a place as yet untouched what we would call modernity. That extended to its modes of transport, which at this time was no better than ancient Japan, and the fastest way to the capital city of Vanden (present-day City of Darkness) would be by the many dusty highways, which still required much travelling by ox cart.

And so it is that Akira found himself, enduring day after day of a tedious cart ride, to the fork in the road which would bring him the rest of the way to Vanden. The numerous stops at inns on the way to the Southern Highway had depleted Akira's supply of provisions and cash, which were never much to begin with. Therefore, it is understandable that near the end of the journey to the railway, he was left wondering what he would have to do to even afford the costs of Vanden.

Unknown to him, he was about to meet an appointment with fate.

At the last stop before the Highway, Akira jumped off the cart, and stretched to ease his sore bones. He sighed out of ennui.

"Man, sharing a cramped ox cart with a farmer hauling his produce to the city, a family of four trying to make a new life, and an official going back to the Royal Palace to make his agricultural reports, sure isn't fun", he observed. "Well, at least I have a way to get there......what's that?"

He saw a crowd of people huddled together in a circle, facing inwards at.....something. And they were cheering and booing too, just outside the roadside inn where Akira had stopped for the night.

"Hmm, looks interesting. Let's see what that is", Akira thought, and made his way up. He pushed his way through the crowd, muttering "Scuse me"s all the while, and finally managed to get a clear view of what was happening.

What was happening was a fight. Akira stared wide-eyed, but not quite open-mouthed, as he watches a martial arts battle between a hoe-wielding peasant who evidently has some grasp of martial arts, and a young man in a gi and a haori. The young man had jet black hair, had gloves of some sort on his hands, and as Akira watched, the young man dealt one, then two quick blows from hands that were held like claws.

Then Akira saw why. The gloves were actually spiked at the fingertips, and so the young man WAS fighting with claws. The peasant with the hoe clutched at his side, and Akira could see two claw marks spilling blood all over the ground.

"I'm gonna get you for this!!!", the peasant yelled, and charged at the young man, hoe waving madly. The hoe swept down.........

......and the young man merely dodged the blow, before dealing a one-two claw strike before doing a hard-hitting slash, that sent his opponent flying away. The peasant dropped his hoe, tried to sit up........then collapsed.

"Yusuke Akimoto is the winner!" someone announced, and the young man raised his hands in triumph.

"Yusuke Akimoto?", Akira thought to himself, "Isn't that the prodigy from the claw-fighting clan of the Akimotos Father used to talk so much about?"

The young man known as Yusuke Akimoto paraded around the circle of spectators cheering for him, displaying an air of arrogance.

"Yeah! Hyeah! One more bites the dust under the superior arts of the Akimotos!", Yusuke proclaimed. "C'mon! Anybody who can beat me gets all of this!"

He points to a pile of silver taels on the floor, and Akira gasped. There were at least 500 taels in there.......more than enough to last him through his expenses in the city of Vanden. And all he has to do is to defeat an Akimoto......he sighed. This sounded more easy than it was. Still.......

He stepped up, and throwing his remaining taels onto the pile, he shouted, "I, Akira Onizuka, accept your challenge!"

Yusuke whirled around, and gasped, "Did you say Onizuka?" He then saw the kanji letters on Akira's clothing, and sucked in his breath. Then, he grinned.

"Great. Finally someone who has a chance against me! Now I won't be so bored", Yusuke grinned, as he got ready in his fighting stance.

Akira got into his stance himself.......