1 A Strange Mask
"" are Speech
<> are thoughts
// sound effect
-------- Scene Transition
A young man lay in the ruins of a desolate temple; his clothes tattered and torn, stained with blood. His short brown hair clotted and ruffled with his own.
He sat holding the corpse of an old man; the man's chest ripped open, intestines exposed in a crimson display of repulsiveness. His face... a blank nothingness, devoid of feature and emotion, as if his very soul had been stolen.
Thunder crashed among the darkened clouds; rain fell to the ruined earth as lightning screamed across the sky.
The atmosphere was thick with the smell of death; bodies littered the temple grounds in a grim scene, as if the boy lay at the threshold of Hell.
He cried; his tears mixing with the fresh blood on the man's chest; eyes shot and raw, his mind racing with fear and excitement; body weak and sore, voice scared and silent; he was so frightened, so alone. In the once lively temple, in the place he once called home, his sanctuary. Now a distorted chaos of death and destruction.
He looked up to the black sky, his silent prayers reaching out to whomever may listen.
But his cries were unanswered, forsaken, he had been left to rot in the hell of his own making.
He looked down at the white mask he held in his hand; it was the mask of a man. It's plain expression stained with blood and dirt, staring into him as if mocking him; taunting him for his weakness, his worry, his vain, the mask was a reflection of himself; of the person he hated most.
He clutched the mask looking into it with righteous fury, his existence screaming for redemption, calling out for a second chance.
"I'm so sorry. I'll make things right…I promise. I don't care how long it takes…
Your regret, your grief, your fury; It is my own… I don't care what it takes…
I Will Find "Them"... And I Will Avenge You!"
--------
(Time: 1683 Satsuki, tōka, mokuyōbi (May,10,Thursday) (Hebi province)
(Gogo: Afternoon)
In a small "Japanese" village off the coast of the Pacific Ocean; in a small room in a decaying house, where the floor creaks and the sunshine only came from the holes in the ceiling. Four men sat at a table playing sugo-roku*. (double sixes)*
One of the men who was wearing a amigasa* and mask, spoke. (straw hat)*
"Oh, come on guys~ I still have more to bet; sure, I may be losing, but it's not over until one of us is out of cash."
A man who looked particularly unclean spoke. "You already lost two hundred Dō hansatsu*; What more could you bet?" (copper currency)*
Another man leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. "He's probably just too stupid to realize he's already broke!"
The third seemed to have grown tired; his eyes giving off and annoyed and exhausted gaze. "Ugh… I'm tired of playing this game. Boy! Bring me more Sake!"
He slammed his fist on the rickety table, /Wham!/ shacking it.
A black-haired boy came from the back of the house, carrying a cloth-covered sake bottle. His eyes were turquoise with a sense of longing and sorrow within them.
He looked like he was in his early teens, five foot four; he wore a brown and black yukata that was tattered; he had bruises covering his arms and legs.
"Sorry, h-here's your drink!" The boy squealed.
The man grabbed the bottle. "Finally! Now get out of here!"
He shoved the boy away, causing him to land on his back.
"Ngh…" Groaned the boy.
The masked man looked down at the child, taking pity. "Leave the boy alone. I have one last thing to bet."
One of the men leaned forward, meeting the masked man's gaze.
"Yeah? What would that be?" He asked.
The masked man took out from behind him a naginata, placing it on the table. The men examined the weapon in awe.
<What, a naginata? Why does he have one of these? He's just some guy in a Hyottoko mask and cheap Hakama; only monks wield naginatas...>
The black-haired boy looked at the weapon that the man had so suddenly placed down; it was a long dark wooden pole wrapped with a thread of blue beads near the blade at the end, as well as a long white cloth that lay draped down around the pole.
The blade was like a katana, but bigger and jagged, so it would damage going in and coming out of the body.
Any man could wield such a weapon and be considered dangerous.
The masked man smiled a smug grin from under his mask. "Well, gentlemen?"
One of the men reached out to touch the naginata but the masked man snatched it away before he could get his hands on it. He waved his finger.
"No can do! You have to win it first! Besides, if I bet something, you have too as well. House rules."
They looked at him grumpily. One man placed more money on the table, the other a bag of grain. Finally, the third man searched through his bag and pulled out a peculiar looking mask which he placed on the table.
Its face was purple and had the ears of a wolf but the face of a large feline, with teeth that curved outward and eyes that were small with no pupils.
The masked man looked at the mask and grinned.
One of the men scratched his head, sitting back in his chair. "There, now we can play."
"Alright, alright…" The masked man agreed.
The boy watched as the other men played, which the man with the funny mask seemed to be losing but showed no sign of stress.
/Wham!/ One of the men slammed his fists on the table. "You lost!"
"Hand over your naginata!" Another said.
The masked man tilted his amigasa back. "Awww man… Well shoot. Looks like I'll have to leave...But before I go, I'll be taking this!"
He jumped up on top of the table. Snatching the mask then lunged off, grabbing his naginata.
"Hey, come back!" A man barked.
"Kill him!" Another shouted.
As the three men ran towards masked man, one pulled out a knife and attempted to stab him.
The Masked man noticed his intent and quickly shifted his back out of harm's way, but the man grazed him.
"Argh!" He shouted.
A laceration was made in his shoulder, causing blood to splatter on the face of the mask.
The mask then began to glow and crackle.
"Crap, I thought this was gonna be easy…," Said the Masked man.
He threw the mask outside and faced his back against the wall.
"Hey, come on guys! It was just a joke! How about we just let this go and I can leave?" He pleaded.
"No! You're a dead man, trying to cheat us like that. Do you think we're fools!?
The masked man tilted his head side to side as if he was deciding something.
The boy watched this happen from the back of the house when he heard a weird noise coming from outside.
"Give us the mask along with the naginata; and we might let you leave with a few limbs left!" One of the men demanded.
Suddenly the three men felt a chill up their spines, as if they had made a grave mistake.
"Oh?... You mean this mask?" The masked man asked.
Suddenly the wall to the right of them came down with a crashing scream; the men turned around; sweat dripped from their necks as they stared at it.
The boy gazed at this horrific beast; motionless. It was long with purple fur, six legs, all with large, barbed claws, three tails that cracked like whips.
It breathed out red fumes, making it hard to breathe. The three men were frozen in the face of this beastly terror.
"And I woke thinking today was going to be boring!" Laughed the masked man.
"Huh? What are you saying? What is that thing!?" Demanded one of the men.
"In the name of the Gods, what is going on!?"
The masked man looked back at them.
"Heh...That is a demon, and it was sleeping in that little mask you had, but you just had to wake it up. Damn, and I was really hoping it was one of "those" masks..."
The creature roared as if readying itself to attack, lowering its center of gravity, eyes fixated on the masked warrior.
The boy was awestruck by the killing intent this beast radiated. The funny mask man was sure to be devoured, yet why was he so calm?
The masked man took a stance, waiting for the beast. "Alright, let's get this fight underway."
The creature lunged at him with lightning-fast reflexes; jaw open, teeth exposed.
He slowly took off his mask and pulled out another; the mask looked rather plain, with the shape of a man's face.
But it gave off a feeling of vast, immense strength. He put on the mask, and like that, he vanished. The beast landed, confused and angered.
"What? Where did he go?" Asked the boy.
The man appeared behind him, whispering in his ear. "Shhhh… don't look away. This is the best part."
The boy turned around briskly, yet no one was there. He looked back; the man was now behind the beast. It quickly lashed its tails at him, but he swiftly dodged them.
It slashed with its claws, but he blocked the blows easily, using his naginata he vaulted into the air landing on the demons' back.
"Alright kitty, play time's over!" He shouted.
He took his naginata and stabbed into its spine. It wailed in pain, thrashing about, trying to throw him off. He ran up the side of its back, carving open its innards.
"Haaaah!!"
Then jumped off the head, only to turn around and stab it repeatedly in the eyes. He landed as the demon fell to the ground; in one final dying scream, it stopped; turning into black smoke, leaving only a mask.
He lifted the plain-looking mask; then he walked over to the demon mask, picking it up. He turned to the other men.
"You guys still want your mask back?" He asked looking smug.
"No!" One man shouted.
"Take that horrid thing away!" Another pleaded.
"It's yours just leave us alone!"
"I thought so…" The man grinned.
He crushed the mask into pieces with his hand and tossed them to the ground. He tucked away the plain mask and turned around.
"Sorry about your house guys. See ya!" He said as he waved goodbye.
The thugs looked dumbfounded as he walked away, unable to come to terms with the events that just occurred.
One of the men looked at the bottle of sake he held.
"I need to stop drinking…"
"Shut up!" The other two men shouted.
The boy watched as the man left, walking toward the falling sun, wondering... where he might be going and how he could be so strong as to beat a monster such as that.
He quickly got up and ran down the road after him.
