MikefromStockton

Birth of the Six Paths
One thousand four hundred years ago, between the borders of what is now known as the Fire Country and Hidden Sound village, it is early summer and a battle has just ended . A lone samurai Miko, desperately clinging to life, is the lone survivor of his squad that has just been decimated by a rival clan. His sword is broken and most of his armor has been ripped and tattered. Multiple puncture wounds from arrows and swords rivet his body. Most are surface hits but two attacks have gone deep into his organs and drain life every second. He has a good half hour ahead of the scouts searching the area for any survivors but they just found his tracks! How much time does he have left now? Miko is headed up a steep mountain rage that separates his clan, the Yamamoto and the enemy Yagato clan. In this portion of the country resources have always been scarce and the two factions have been at war for generations each trying to gain control and ensure their own survival. Today will mark a turning point in this war, future wars and change countries as they know it.
Miko splatters his blood and scent in different directions in an attempt to throw off his pursuers. He knows he needs to make it back in time to warn his village of the impending attack. A sick feeling sets deep within his stomach,” I’m not going to make it in time!” He’s too hurt and is dying. He stops quickly scouring the surrounding area to find a place to hide. Miko notices a cave about twenty minutes to the east. “I can make it! I have to!” The assassins have quickened the pace and are moving in on his location. Miko gathers any strength he has within himself and races for the cave. Blood is streaming from his wounds now leaving a clear trail to his whereabouts but he’s hoping the distraction he left will give him more minutes so he can think of a new strategy while he’s in the cave. His life continues to slip. It is all that he has left. He’s completely unfamiliar with this terrain and the thin mountain is taking its toll as well as he is starting to lose consciousness. He’s made it to the cave.
As warm as the weather is, it’s exceptionally hot in the cave and black as night. The Yagato clan will catch him in fifteen minutes. Miko is stumbling now through the back of the cave looking for an exit on the other side, he’ll be dead if there is none. But he’s dying anyway and there is no assurance he will even be alive by the time the enemy finds him. What he finds is a large boulder with a circle and a picture of a fire carved within. His eyes widen as the same sickness has returned with greater fear and anger that he couldn’t make it further. Miko begins to cry and wipes his face with his hands as the blood streaks his cheeks. He slams his open hand on the symbol as his emotions take control….then it happens.
The fire has come to life. A fire like no other he has seen is burning with different colors that aren’t supposed to be there. There is red, yellow and orange but green, blue, white and other colors have merged into this flame. Miko is fixed on the flame, ignoring all the days events that have just passed. The flame has no heat and now the circle surrounding the flame is glowing bright white filling the once dark cave with tremendous light. He’s barely noticed that he is no longer in the cave but a room (he’s not sure it’s a room) of pure white and at the center a ten-tailed dragon looks directly at him.
This massive dragon easily spans the area of two large mountain sides. The top side of his body is a deep emerald green with large armored scales covering every inch. While his underbelly reveals a deep crimson red. Around the edges of his mouth his scales have tethered into fine whiskers that run bright yellow. They match the fins of large pointed scales that run along his back and around his legs. The tips of every tail burn with a bright orange flame that blackens along the edges as though they ashen the very air itself. His eyes are light green like new grass in spring are changing. They have turned pure white with black circles that pulse from the black pupils. They are still staring directly at Miko and now into him. He can now feel this huge ten-tailed dragon poking into his mind and then almost a tip-toe through all his memories. He can do nothing to stop it, he is paralyzed. The dragon’s eyes return to green and within seconds the dragon has seen Miko’s life. He now speaks.

End of part one MfS