A young man is standing in an open field. He stands at 6 foot 2 inches, with snow white hair. The boy swings one of his two swords with a flawless stance and with complete focus, sweat running down the bare skin of his back. The boy has deep brown eyes that hold a certain light when he trains. He is wearing black pants that hang just over his feet; he is wearing flat, traditional sandals. A white robe hangs from the hilt of a sword stuck into the ground. “Kensei, come in, time for dinner” an old man yells to the boy. The old man appears to be around the age of eighty due to his long beard and cane that he uses to hold himself up. Kensei sheaths his sword and grabs his gear as he begins to walk to the little house that sits on the edge of the field, “right away master” Kensei yells to the old man.
“Kensei, your training has shown great improvements, I must say your skills will rival mine” the old man says pouring soup into a bowl and handing it to Kensei, “no master, I could never reach your caliber so quickly I still have much to learn” he says with a small smile, not making eye contact due to embarrassment. Both begin to eat the meal that lies before them on the table, no words were spoken. After dinner Kensei takes the bowls in to the kitchen to be washed, it was a small kitchen with only a fireplace and a sink and a small window in the corner. “Kensei, I’m heading out, I will be gone for some time, I’m going to play pai sho, so make sure and due your chores and go to bed” the old man says as he grabs a cloak, “yes master” Kensei yells from the kitchen.
The old man wanders down the long, dark street, the only sound is his cane against the hard rock’s scattered across the floor, and fireflies flew through the air looking like dancing little stars. “Who’s there? Show yourself” the old man yelled into the trees in the near distance. He gripped his cane tight, as if it were about to fly from his hands. A shadow emerged from the trees, and it was a man dressed in complete black head to toe, the only thing that was distinguishable was the red cloth that hung from his sword. “So that’s the case is it?” the old man said with a sigh. He pulled the bottom of his cane to reveal a hidden sword, “then I will go down with honor and I will fight till the end”.
Kensei wakes up to the sound of a rooster, signaling the start of a new day. Kensei walks towards the kitchen to start on breakfast, 3 eggs and a side of sausage for his master, and ham for himself, thinking about the meal to come he almost missed the bloody footprints going to his master’s room. “Master, are you alright” Kensei asked through the door, there was no answer. He threw the door open to find his master dead on the ground. Kensei fell to his knees, tears running down his cheek, and gripping his fists so hard that he broke the skin. Kensei began to pick up his master and was stopped by the piece of paper that fell from his master’s robe, it read
“dear Kensei
Happy birthday, you are now 18, that makes you old enough to be a man in most cultures. I’m so proud of the way you have grown. You have reached the peak of your training with me, I can no longer teach you anything, and you may even have surpassed me. But I wrote this just so that you know I love you as if you were my own. Happy birthday
Love, your proud master.”
Kensei felt so many emotions wash over him at once that he didn’t know how to react to the note, it was his birthday today, he finally turned 18 and now he must bury his master.
Kensei stood in the center of the field overlooking his home; a pile of rocks stood in front of him and wedged in the middle of the pile was his master’s sword. Kensei sat on his knees in front of his fallen master’s grave.
