PSAS: The Era of Greatness: Nariko Intro

A pink flower moves slightly by a gust of wind, being held down by a pair of hands of a lifeless woman over her stomach. In the middle of a vast ocean covered in a heavenly mist, lies a small boat with a lantern on one end pushing the mist away. In the boat is the body of a warrior resting eternally in her bed of pink roses.

She was a beautiful woman of Asian decent, having a slight tan skin color, and long flowing red hair covering over most of the roses on one half of the boat. She wears white garments covering a few parts of her body, revealing most of her right shoulder, legs, and thigh areas. The garments around her chest have a thick purple lining going diagonally across her breasts and several cloths of the same color around her abdomen. Around her waist, over her undergarment, is a brown leather belt with a long golden buckle containing the purple armor plate over her left hip, with a long grey cloth hanging from underneath. She has a long white sleeve with a purple lining on the end around her left arm; a golden bangle around her right arm, with a thinner bangle around her left leg above her knee; a pair of brown strap-like gloves; white leggings with thick purple stripes on both ends around her lower legs, and brown ancient combat sandals with socks underneath. She lived her entire life cursed by those around her, but saved many lives by bearing the tool that has cursed the world -- Nariko.

Nariko's boat continues to wander along the mysterious waters, with some of the roses drifting along the surface of the ocean.

Meanwhile...

On an elevated stone path, high above the shore, there are several people lined up, holding roses up against their chests. Many people have gathered in the path, with the remaining watching from afar, standing on rooftops, wooden platforms, and on the walkways on a huge, dense wall far in the distance. In the end of the path lies a small shrine, with several bouquets of pink roses in front of its doorstep, glistening from the lit torches on each side. One of the people - wearing a purple cat-ear hat, a grey garb and has white face pain below his eyes - puts a flower down in front of the doorsteps in the center of the rest of them. He gets up, looking down at the flowers with a sad expression. A hand then pats the man on the shoulder, which startles the man as looks over to his left to see another man slightly older than him, smiling softly at him. The man nods gently as he then walks back to the others on the stone path, leaving the older man standing before them.

He wears similar clothing his people wear, with the inclusion of red bangles around his forearms, and a thin red sash around his waist. He is of Asian descent appearing in his 50s, having a slightly tan skin color and long white hair tied in a knot. He is the leader of the clan that is both respected and infamous throughout the land; the man that burdens the task of keeping a dangerous weapon from those that seek power to this very day -- Shen.

"Brothers! Sisters! It has been one year today since Nariko has defeated Bohan's army and stopped his reign of conquest for good." Shen said, looking at his people individually at a time, "Today, we commemorate Nariko for her efforts, her trials, her pain... everything she lived for. Since the day she was born, she was treated as an outcast... a curse to our kind. It wasn't until a year ago that I wish I could have treated her with care. I wish, that even though her hardships have paved the way for the clan's future, I truly regret not treating her as any other daughter with the love she deserves."

The clansmen stay silent, watching Shen close his eyes in grief for a few seconds. He then opens his teary eyes, "We must remember that regardless of how we feel about Nariko, she has given away her life not for the clan, not for the innocents, but for the few things she loved. We are here now thanks to her actions, which we don't deserve. Today, let us pay our respects to our savior; let us show our love for her! Let it be known in future generations that people are not curses; they're just regular people like you and me. Let us not hate each other using tales from the past, and make a future our children can be at peace!" The clansmen raise their arms in joy as Shen waves his hand towards the shrine behind him, "It is within our debt to pay her back! Join me, everyone! Let's pray for Nariko until we exhaust every fiber of our being!"

The people then bow down on their knees as Shen turns towards the shrine to do the same. He puts his hands together and bows his head, silently commemorating her daughter's name in his head. Everyone in the land did the same, not saying a word to each other as time goes by quickly. For many years, this clan has protected a weapon - left by a heavenly warrior that saved the world from evil - from those who seek power. Before their time, many warriors have fallen prey by the heavenly sword, as well as those who wielded it. Nariko, thought to be the warrior to save the clan from their burden, was shunned by her people for being born a woman instead of a man as the prophecy foretold. In the end of her life, she has proved them wrong, but she only did it for her own accord, knowing full well that she wasn't sent from heaven, nor is the bloodthirsty sword.

The clan resides peacefully here in a small fortress, residing near the ocean and high mountains. In the front of the fortress is a huge white wall in the center of two huge cliffs that are more than twice its size. On the cliff walls are several wooden buildings, most of them having a different structure from another. On top of the fortress wall are three shrine-like lookout buildings to observe anyone approaching on the path few miles away. That path itself has a few barricades, as well as destroyed machinery and debris scattered around the path from the dreaded battle a year ago. Within the fortress is several houses and dojos, with many of the people that live their having the experience to fight off several blood-thirsty maniacs by themselves. It has been since the founding of the clan that they have been moving all over the land to escape those who seek the sword, but now that the worst of the bunch has been dealt with, they can finally have a place to call home.

Shen and the clansmen continue to pray for hours, as the sun begins to set over the horizon. With land red from the sun, Shen opens his eyes, slowly raising his head to look at the shrine. His body is stiff from not moving his body since noon, but he ignores it as he smiles before placing his hands over his upper legs. He slowly gets up, cracking parts of his body to relieve the stiffness as he then turns around to see nobody on the stone path. "Hmm..." Shen looks disappointed as he looks back at the shrine, "Sorry, Nariko... I don't think they are that committed yet." Upset, Shen walks away from the shrine. As he tried to relax, he notices something on the shore to his left. His mind is immediately set at ease as he smiles and walks away.

Down at the shore, a little farther away from the shrine, a girl in her teens is collecting a few rocks near the water. She is in her late teens, wearing a ragged blue skirt and top, with a white cloth strapped around her waist, having a long cloth sticking out from the back. She also wears a faded, torn red hat in shape of cat ears, having a set of jewellery in place around her head; a pair of black and blue strap-like gloves; worn sandals of the same colors reaching up to her lower legs; and has white face paint over the upper half of her face, with black stripes diagonally at the side of her eyes. She was the adoptive sister of Nariko, who she loved dearly. Nobody else in the clan has or will ever care about Nariko as much as she does -- Kai.

"Twiddle twiddle twiddle dee dee..." Kai mutters to herself as she moves around the sandy shore in a cat-like manner, holding a few rocks with right arm. She picks one up on a muddy surface, inspecting it from every angle, "Too dirty!" Kai throws it away, and quickly grabs another rock nearby, "Hmm..." She tosses the rock over her shoulder as she then takes a few steps forward, and notices a rock between some bushes and bigger rocks. She rushes over to the rock, and picks it up, "Oh! Perfect!" With a smile on her face, Kai hurries over near a palm tree, and drops her rocks on the sand in front of her. She hums to herself as she draws a big square on the sand. Kai then groups the rocks in the top center of the square, making it look like a small rocky shrine. Kai inspects the rocks as she then takes out a rose from her cloth, and places it in front of the rock placement. Kai laughs happily as she then stands upright on her knees in the square and begins to pray. She mutters a few words out loud, praying in her own unusual way.

Shen then appears on the shore, and sees Kai praying. He smiles as he quietly approaches her from behind. Kai's head perks upon hearing Shen come close, but continues to mumble on as Shen stood a few feet from her.

"I thought I'd see you here on--"

"Shh!" Kai interrupts Shen and continues to mumble her prayer out loud. Shen stays quiet, waiting for her to finish while hearing the nice sound of the tides and wind shaking the leaves of the palm tree. Kai bows her head quietly and roughly places her hands over her knees, catching Shen's attention.

"It's very rude to interrupt someone when they are praying." Kai said while looking at her assortment of rocks, "Especially when it's me praying for Nariko."

Shen laughs softly at the remark, "Ha ha ha! I know, I know. Please forgive me." Kai doesn't respond as Shen lets out a smile, "I know you come here every dawn for Nariko. I am a little surprised that you didn't show up during the ceremony. I figured you would have loved to see everyone pay their respects for Nariko together as a clan."

Kai shakes her head, "I don't care for ceremony. What they did today is not enough; Nariko deserves more recognition. They have no excuse to pray for her every day I like do. YOU don't have good excuse..."

Shen looks down upon hearing that, "... I know that." He then steps into the square with Kai, and sits next to her, wrapping his arms over his knees. They both stare at the red sun quietly, basking in the scenery quietly for a few seconds. "I... understand that I should do more - and I really want to. I want to have the same kind of love you have for my daughter. I just... I just don't think praying is enough. You're right; she deserves much better, but I don't feel like what we are doing is enough for any of us. If only we could see her again, then we can let her know about how we feel. If only she can see how much has changed around here and how people worship her now, not in an amount you and I have, of course, but at least it's something. Every day, I wish she can somehow come back to us. It is the only thing I desire in my life."

Kai looks down, touched by Shen's words. She blinks a few times, and looks at Shen with a sad look, "Do you believe that Nariko will come back to us?"

"I don't know. I want to think so." Shen then smiles as he looks at Kai, "I want to believe that she is looking over us right now, hearing everything we are saying. She knows we care about her." Shen then looks at the sun, with Kai doing the same shortly after, "And even if she isn't listening to us, or that she may even come back at all, the important thing is that we are keeping her name alive. No one is truly gone unless they are completely forgotten. She... will always be in our hearts."

Kai smiles widely as the two continue to watch the sun set halfway over the horizon.