Freedom Forever!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Saints and Sinners

Civil war ravaged across archaic Japan, leaving destruction and famine in it's wake. Imperialism had come to obsolescence. Insurrection was in progress to overthrow the imperial regime and lead the people to diplomacy. Nothing was to stop the insurgence, and the people longed for freedom. Small villages that suffered the brunt of the violence, though, was less concerned about the rebellion. With supplies of necessities cut off due to the war, the people lived in fear for survival. Adding to their misery was an epidemic outbreak of a mysterious disease...

1.Ambition
The black acrid smoke rises into the already dark, starless night. The young boy barely had wood to form the pyre, only getting enough after hours of chopping logs with the axe he could hardly lift and begging the villagers for leftover firewood. The neighbours, short on supplies themselves, only agreed due to the fear of the disease spreading. "Only fire could purge it", the envoy from the West said. The Westerner lied, of course. Tuberculosis was foreign to Japan and he had no interest in helping the people. All the nautical miles he had travelled just to spread the influence of his Queen would not be for naught.
Admiral Johnson had only one purpose in mind for this journey - Success.
The Queen had sent him to establish trading connections with the Emperor of Japan. It was initially met with suspicion and protests, but it did not take long to impress the Japanese with their advanced weaponry and drugs. They traded their goods for treasures of the East, as part of a ploy to earn the trust of the people. This was only the beginning of their influence over Japan. The Queen had her eye on the country, and what the Queen wanted, she would get. Admiral Johnson was specially selected by her, and in her honour, he would not fail. For his livelihood, though, he couldn't. So, in fear for his life, he could not care less for the lives of others. He directs his second-in-command to throw the sick overboard. The locals could not learn of the source of their illnesses. They cannot know that his people had accidentally brought it with them on their voyage.

He watched on as the last of the flames flickered out. They were the only people who cared for him, but he had to burn their bodies because they were both infected. Neighbours speak of demons that plagued the land, referring to war and famine as divine indication of punishment to the people for their sins. A manic priest who had his family taken by the disease, chants repeatedly of angry Gods and that the land needed to be purified in blood. Yashin remembered how the victims would cough out huge amounts of blood in later stages of the infection. He felt like crying, but his eyes would not oblige. He had been crying since he woke up to see the two lifeless figures lying on the floor of his hut, and it seemed like he had run out of tears. He took a final look at what was left of his parents and and felt an ominous, foreboding feeling of possibly having to share the same fate soon. He composed himself and walked away from all that he knew. He had to be strong, just like that man he met a year ago.
He contemplated on the two paths towards the capital of Kyoto. He could have chosen the safe passage along the merchant trails but it would take an additional four days compared to a shortcut through the dense jungle. Either risk dying from unavoidable starvation on the merchant trails or attacks from wild animals and hazardous terrain in the jungle. He did not have time to waste. He only had enough crumbs and water to last him two days and would have to hunt for food when he ran out. Not much of a choice in the end. Scared as he was, he had to reach the dojo in Kyoto at all costs. Armed with his father's Wakizashi, he ventures into the dark jungle. Destiny beckoned.

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