Yochi bowed to the small maple tree and took a deep breath. Keeping his feet shoulder width he took his fist back and hit the trunk square in the middle. A few seconds passed before he heard a satisfying crack as the tree broke off at the point of impact and crashed to the ground. Bowing again to the fallen tree he said, "Thank you brother for providing me with wood. I will use you honorabley."
He took Tsuchi, his katana, from his belt and placed it on the ground next to his horse, Iriu, who was tethered to a another tree some distance away in the vast forest of Hayashi. Picking up the axe from his bags he returned to the tree and started chopping it into firewood. And as he chopped he remembered Uncle telling him of his mission.
"You are called to war, nephew," Uncle had said. "I agree that you are young for war, but they have called for the Warriors and you must answer their call.”
“Who is this war against?” he asked.
“The Yoijians. I'm sure you would honor your parent's spirits if you fought this war."
Yochi couldn't help it then to remember his parents who were killed by a man. They were walking on a trail just outside the city of Hokubu in the very forest he was in now when large, muscular man appeared before them, demanding their money and his mother. His father would've given the man all his money to protect him and his mother, but he would not let anyone dishonor his wife. So, the man pulled a knife and killed him before turning on his mother, but she fought back and was eventually killed too. That was when the man turned to Yochi and smiled at him evilly.
Yochi remembered every detail of that man as he stared at him. Hair that was as black as the abyss, black bloodshot eyes, there were many scars that covered his face and arms, but the one thing he’ll remember about that man the most was the tattoo on his forearms was a dark green bear’s paw, the symbol of the Bear Warrior. Though he did not know this at the moment.
The man pulled back his arm and just as he was about to plunge his blade into Yochi’s throat a shout had come from behind of him. The man had turned and fled through the trees. Soon after that he learned that the man was the Bear Warrior who had dishonored the Warrior Code, and a few days after that he was informed that the man fled into Yoijian territory. From then on Yochi swore he would become the new Bear Warrior and find the man to avenge his parents.
He wiped the sweat from his brow as he split the last log and set on the small pile of other logs. Leaning the axe against a tree he picked up several logs and set them in a stone circle away previously made away from the trees. With some steel and flint the set fire to the logs and prepared up himself a soup with the vegetables and spices he had brought with him.
While the water boiled he brought the rest of the logs over and fed the fire slowly making it large enough to stay the winter cold. He ate his soup while it was still warm and listened to the sounds of the forest. Finally he resigned himself to taking out his bedroll and sleeping.
***
I would like to clear a few things. First off this will not take place in Japan or China, it will reside in it's own fantasy world. The names for my characters, their blades and som places are Japanese. Here are the translations:
Mizu + Umi: Sea (from Ch.1)
Yochi + Tsuchi: Earth
Hayashi: Forest
Hokubu: North
The other people and places are all fictional names created by me. I hope this cleared some things up on the names. If you have any more questions about the story feel free to pm me. I will check back with you the next time I return.
