Prologue

"Run!" The man screamed to the kimono-clad woman as she ran past the cherry blossom tree standing at the edge of the burning estate. A clashing of metal swords is heard as the man turns around to fight a hooded figure. The man dodges beneath a strike from the hooded figure before somersaulting backwards. The hooded figure pressed an advance going for an upper head swing that was swiftly parried by the man, followed by a swift slash at the hood's feet. The hood quickly reacted by jumping over the incoming blade while raising his blade straight to strike down on the man. The man rolled away from the attack and quickly tried to guard but was kicked down by the boot of the hooded man. The man makes a last attempt to slashes at the dark figure's face from below and manages to cut him across the cheek up to his eye. He quickly recovered back to his feet and swung for a decapitating cut, but the hooded figure dodged beneath the steel and delivered a deep cut to the man from his ribs to his shoulder.

Both fall to the ground in exhaustion, the man clearly weaker than the dark figure as evident by the shallow breaths he took. The man takes a final look at his estate, knowing this may be the last time. This home had been given to him by his father, and now it is burnt to the ground, nothing but wooden pillars jolting out of ash from flames. Everything important to the man is destroyed. His war horse, trained to fight, was slaughtered, his poor servants, who served him and his family for the last two decades, beheaded, and all he had left was an amulet gifted to him by his father. He firmly gripped the sword still in his dying hands. It was his family's sword which he had failed to protect.

"You will certainly die here." the hooded figure began in his dark, raspy voice, "you have nothing left so why do you even try to fight?" The hooded figure stood up using his sword to balance before kicking the downed man in the ribs causing the dying soldier to cough up blood. "So, how about you just tell me where it is, and if you do then maybe I will just let your poor family live."

"Shut up," the man coughed between bloodied teeth, "you will never get my family, as long as I live,"

"But that's the thing," the dark figure continued with a laugh, "You won't live... and the second you die your wife and child will be hunted and killed!" He crouched next to the dying man, grabbed him by his hair and lifted his face to see his eyes filled with sorrow and dark memories. He quickly delivered a back hand to the man. He saw a silver chain wrapped around the man's neck and tried to pull it away, but couldn't

"You will never be worthy enough to have it!" The man shouted, spitting blood into the face of the evil monster and grabbing the chain attached to his father's amulet.

The figure stands back up taking his sword and holding it up in front of the glimmering moon, "Well then, I will take it from your dead body!" he roars.

He quickly tore through the air about to reach the neck of the man, prepared to die. However, as soon as the metal was about to touch flesh, the injured man spoke, "terepo!" A bright blue light enveloped the man's chest as his father's amulet disappears into thin air along with the family sword which was in his hand.

"NO!" the figure angrily screams, as he chops the man's head off and into a nearby hay bale in pure horrific anger. He turns to rows of armed soldiers who were now lining up after setting fire to the estate, "Find that amulet and kill anyone who stands in our way!"

…

The woman's feet could be heard splattering the gravel as she ran down the street past the lines of cherry blossom trees. Several soldiers dressed in standard issued red samurai-like armor were following her, but she continued sprinting. She held a rolled up blanket closely to her chest and she had her arms securely wrapped around it to protect whatever might be inside. The soldiers continued to gain ground on her as she began to approach the nearby town. She quickly fled behind the first building she could find at the edge of town and from there she snuck into a crowd of people in the marketplace. The soldiers turned the corner but lost sight of her in the busy stalls of the shopkeepers. The soldiers began pushing through handfuls of citizens, trying to find her, but by the time they combed the area she was already gone. One soldier cursed under his breath and they both reluctantly returned to their superior.

The woman sat on the roof of a nearby building, catching her breath. She took a sigh of relief as she watched the soldiers leave. She had managed to climb there using the crowd as cover and the tarp of a stall to hoist herself up. She witnessed the soldiers push and shove citizens in their frantic search and she saw their bewilderment at her disappearance. 

After the soldiers were gone from her sight and trekking their way back towards the estate, the woman took the bundle away from her chest and in her lap. She opened up part of the cloth to reveal the pale face of a baby ready to sob tears out of its beautiful blue eyes. The baby begins to cry as the woman uses the blanket to wipe its tears.

"Hush, hush little one. Momma is here for you." The woman says with a look of despair on her face, as if every word she had just said was a lie. "I am sorry but we will have to part ways, my baby, Aruka." A tear rolls down the woman's cheek as she says this, rocking her infant child, "Great things will come to you my son"

She picks the bundle back up from her lap and recovers the child's face before crawling down from the roof carefully. The women then ran to a caravan in the busy market street. She sneakily crawls into the back of the caravan, attached to a trader's strong horse. She hides in a pile of hay stored for the trader's customers. As the trader is moving out of the town bringing his hay to the smaller towns down south, she quietly resides in the hay.

….

Many days pass, but eventually she arrives in the town of forutaka, where she finally sneaks away from the caravan after days of hiding and living off of the hay. She brings the child to a blacksmith's shop at the edge of town and knocks on the door.

A burly man about 20 years of age answers the door. He is dark haired with brown eyes, and wears the skin of wolves which he has killed as a status of his strength. He looks at the ragged woman, with the blanket questioningly before finally speaking to her in a deep voice.

"Who are you?'' he says.

"It is Mayatori, your Aunt in need." She whispers toward the man.

His eyes widen as he grabs her by the arm and pulls her into the house.

"I thought you died like Uncle." he says in bewilderment.

"No , I managed to get away from the men, but I cannot stay in hiding forever. The crooked empire will ransack my home if I do not return. I cannot let them kill your father, and so I must return to nasaraki by daylight tomorrow."

"Well then why did you bother coming all the way down here to Forutaka."

"I hate to do this, but I must ask of you, a huge favor, my niece."

"What is it, my Aunt." Says the niece, as he realizes what the task is staring at the blanket in her arms.

"Aruka has a future destined to him that will finally bring down the terrible Empire, but he cannot find his destiny in my bloody and war-filled hands. Please, Etura, I need you to care for him, I need you to raise him until he is of the age to claim his legacy."

"But… Aunt, this is such a momentous task, you cannot expect me to be able to raise a child on my own. Not only that, but a child who will take down the all powerful king!!"

"I know it may seem impossible Etura, but for the sake of our family you must do it."

"Fine, I will accept him as if he were my own, but what are you going to do? Where are you going to go?"

"I heard of a small rebel group in the East, I'm going to join them after I return to Nasaraki and tell your father of my plan. From there, we will work to disrupt the empire in any way possible, and to take down the evil man who killed your Uncle."

"Ok, my Aunt, be safe and may the dragons of our family reside within you."

"They will, Etura, now be safe, and watch over Aruka with your life. Never let your dragons turn.

And with that the woman, mayatori, left, leaving her only son in the hands of her niece. Just like that, a legend of the land would begin in a small blacksmith's shop in what feels like the middle of nowhere.

16 Years Later…

Mayatori walks towards a mat in the center of a small room, where she kneels. She bows and bends over towards a piece of papyrus-like paper, as she begins writing a letter.

My Dear Aruka

It is time for you to rise and return to your birthplace.

You must take up your father's legacy.

You must claim your birthright.

It will not be easy, my son.

But your destiny is at the doorstep,

It's time for you to take the first step.

May the dragons guide you.

Your Mother, Mayatori

Mayatori proceeds to roll up the paper like a scroll, and she ties it with a red silk rope used by the richest of the nobles. She seals it with a wax mark of 2 dragons revolving around a half-sun/half-moon object and hands it to a straw-hat messenger. Who immediately leaves with the scroll.

Mayatori moves towards a window and looks out to see the messenger leaving on horse heading down the road. The beautiful landscape of cherry blossoms and the flat grass plains reminds her of the freedom she had when she was a child, playing in the fields. Now she realizes that soon she will be reunited with her son, who will free her through his destiny, and a tear comes to her eye.