"In the midst of cataclysmic events, I was still bound by delusions, a captive to my own foolishness. Oh, if the veil of foresight had fallen on my eyes at the outset! Would it have granted me the solace of an ordinary existence?"
His despairing cries rang out, a rough articulation of remorse for the mistake which had rent his very soul in twain.
Awaking from his slumber, he feels a tremor pass through him. 'Was that a nightmare?' Isshin silently asks himself.
Isshin's house was a mere weathered shack, the meager decor filled with no more than a bed crafted from humble components. With the first light of dawn peeking through the cracks, he awoke from his slumber and stepped outside, embracing the biting grip of dawn.
He washes his face on the bank of the nearby river and visits his mother in the village. "You are up?' she says, smiling warmly on her lips. She invites Isshin to have a plate of food consisting of some potatoes with soup. The quality of the food was poor but that was the best they could manage.
When Isshin finished his plate, his mother's eyes sparkled with a secret. 'I have a surprise for you,' she teasingly said, her voice bearing a whisper of excitement. With a skilled hand, she produced a necklace – not elaborate, but far from plain either. 'Happy birthday, dear,' she reminded him, his name bearing a touch of regret. 'I wish things could have been better but I swear to do better next time.' Isshin's response was instant and genuine. Don't worry, Mom! I really love this necklace. Thanks!" With a grateful heart, he was gone, playtime-ready.
'Before you run off, don't forget to say goodbye to your father,' she called after him. With a hopeful smile, Isshin sought out his father. 'Going hunting, Father?' he inquired, his voice warm with interest. 'Yes, my boy.". Just about to go,' was the reply, a comforting steadiness in his father's voice. But Isshin, unfazed, offered a subtle reminder. 'Don't you think you're forgetting something? ' A cue, thinly disguised in his own birthday.
'I don't think I am, I am going to go now' his father said, oblivious to the day's uniqueness.
In spite of his father's forgetfulness, Isshin's spirit wasn't disturbed.
'Time for me to enjoy myself with my friends,' he thought, joyful in his heart.
Isshin sets off to meet 2 of his friends, who were his age, 5 or 6 years old. This inseparable pair was a brother, Takashi, and his sister, Yui.
"Isshin! Happy Birthday!" Takashi exclaimed, a jolly smile on his face. Isshin thanked Takashi for his kindness. "Happy birthday, Isshin!" Yui chimed.
"Since it's your birthday, I have something exciting in store," Takashi spoke with an air of adventure. Isshin's curiosity was piqued. "Really?! What is it?" he queried. Takashi's eyes shone with anticipation. "We're going to go explore the haunted forest near the village," he announced, an air of adventure and excitement in his tone. Isshin couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "The forest? Is it safe?" he questioned, curiosity evident. "Yeah, it's fine!" Takashi affirmed, confidence unwavering. Yui added her own reassurance in a soft smile. Don't worry there aren't any monsters there." Enticed by the prospect, Isshin considered this wild proposition, attempting to envision what mysteries awaited them in the shadows of the ominous woods. When they enter the forest, they come across various types of adorable innocent animals. They come across waterfalls and so on. They all liked discovering things but Isshin saw a nest on the top of a tree, he climbed up and saw that there was only one egg in it, he was confused because he had never really seen an egg that looked like that one before, so he decided to take it with him. "That's a weird-looking egg," Takashi states. "Doesn't matter I wanna see it hatch!" Isshin says. By that time, it already had been almost dusk. "We should head back home before it's too late," says Yui. Isshin and Takashi both agree and make their way back. All 3 of them decide to wash up in the river alongside the village. "What is all that noise coming from the village?" says Takashi. "We should go check it out" Yui added. "You go ahead first I will wash my egg now," says Isshin.
Isshin was still a child and did not know how things worked.
Though the egg will never hatch since its mother is no longer there, Isshin was too young to know.
Deeper into the forest, they came across a few harmless, cute animals, each a little wonder in itself. Waterfalls singing and the harmony of nature in rhythm. Amidst laughter and amazement, something odd caught Isshin's attention—a nest, perched on a high tree, containing one unknown egg. Its oddness interested him, compelling him to climb the tree and get the egg. "Look at this odd-looking egg," Takashi said, confusion written on his face. Isshin was adamant, however. "I wanna see it hatch!" he says, a fire burning in his eyes. But as time passed, the day came to an end, painting the sky with hues of twilight. Yui, the voice of reason, interrupted softly. "It's getting dark, we must go home." Heeding her advice, they embarked on their journey back, tracing the same path they had cut through the middle of the forest. Their minds still reeling from the wonders they had witnessed. Arriving at the village periphery, they made a slight diversion to bathe in the placid waters of the river, its cool embrace rinsing off their adventures of the day. Then a commotion in the village reached their ears like a distant melody. "Do you hear that noise?" Takashi said, his voice tinged with curiosity.
Yui responded immediately.
"Let's go and find out what it is."
As they quarreled, Isshin's fixation was the mystery egg that he now cradled in his arms. "I'll join you shortly. I have to bathe my egg," he said, his innocence blindfolding him to what the egg was. As they strolled in the direction of the village, Isshin immersed the egg in the river's embrace, his childlike heart full of anticipation.
In fact, the fate of the egg was sealed; it could never hatch in the absence of its mother. But such nuances were lost on Isshin since he was a child.! Isshin got up with a despairing heart, trudging in the village's direction. With the village in sight, disbelief seized him like a vice. A nightmare lay before his eyes – his home, once filled with life, was devastated. The image painted nothing but a color of red, a flame of destruction. The lifeless bodies of his friends, Yui and Takashi, lay still next to him. Isshin was engulfed by numbness, refusing him tears even as shock grasped his heart. He called out for his parents, his desperate voice ringing out in the artificial silence.
He came across his mother in the debris, her life slipping away.
With her dying breath, she pleaded with him to run.
Sorrow and bewilderment mixed inside him, causing a torrent of weeping. Yet even in his distress, danger loomed again. An arrow landed near him, a ghastly prelude to the arrival of two armed attackers. Their voices were icy and lethal, announcing their merciless killers.
Oh? One child remained to be killed "Kill him swiftly that we may go home" one taunted, their voices edged with cruelty. "kill him quickly so we can go home." Their faces denied acquaintance – one a seasoned warrior, the other resembling an orc, both minions of some nameless darkness. Fear propelled Isshin's frail body ahead, his instincts screaming at him to flee. The pursuit by the soldiers was slow, taunting Isshin's physical vulnerability. Laughter trailed behind him as his exhaustion grew. A desperate cry for help ripped from his lips, a scream swallowed up by the silence of his ravaged surroundings. "Help! Somebody!" The cry soared to unexpected heights, reaching the ears of a dragon miles above the ground. Indifference initially marked the dragon's reaction, but guilt gnawed at its conscience. What was that noise? A child crying for help? Well, I do not mind, I have schedules to meet." But he just could not ignore Isshin's screams, Guiltily he decided to go down and check what was happening. "What? 2 sage soldiers?!
Why are they here?! Perplexed at the twist of fate, the dragon's mind was decided – to plummet from the skies and embrace the solid ground below The dragon descended, taking over the body of Isshin. "You are dead kid!" As the orc soldier swung his greatsword against Isshin, a crashing noise interrupting, a cloud of smoke around the area, As the soldiers attacked, a wild fight broke out, the dragon's arrival masked by smoke and fury. One soldier met an abrupt end, and the other's disbelief was palpable. The power of the dragon coursed through Isshin's arms, shattering his limitations.
The weak defense of the soldier collapsed under the touch of a single finger, leaving him stumbling and winded.
The questions spilled out, intermingled with fear, as the soldier's mind was in disarray. Still, Isshin did not say a word, his gaze unflinching. A single punch was delivered, and the soldier went flying into a tree with a sickening thud. The soldier's shaking voice echoed through the tense silence, a cry of disbelief laced with terror.
"There is no way you are the same person… who are you?!" exclaims the soldier in horror.
"I am the thunder king, the embodiment of storms — Raijin."