cuts down deep... pain remains my dear old friendwe go way back then.in my arm lies a collection of bruises,each representing a tear that found its way down my cheek...in my body --flows black putrid rainthat represents my blood.i am misery come alive.a dream that never turned just right.as i weave my tales and spin my lies,my heart weeps.where do i go now?an experiment gone wrong.welcome to my world,leave your happiness at the door.hope doesn't live here.another glass shatters.i fear -- was it my heart?another heartbreak, promises broken.here i am...another fallen angel. (courtesy of Melanie Mesias)

-------------------------Dedicated to my friends:

I have live my life of despair and remorsea
were hope is a stranger and love is a dream
the whisper of death have always haunts me
but with your guiding light, I strive
with your strenghts, i stand
with your freindship, i endure

Sa Ulan...

*tak*

*Beep* *Beep*

"Tayuman! Tayuman!" sigaw nang barker habang pababa ako nang sinakyan kong dyip. Pupungas pungas pa ako pagkat kagigising ko lamang bago ako bumaba, Hindi naman mahaba yung byahe papuntang Lardizabal o Zabal para sa mga tamad bumangit nang pagkahaba habang pangalan nang isang kalye sa Sampaloc, Manila. Nagkataon lang na maaga ang pasok ko tuwing biernes nang umaga, kaya alas kwatro pa lang ay gising na ako... malayo rin kasi ang byahe mula Meycauayan, Bulacan papunta sa aking Unibersidad sa Sta. Mesa. Malamig ang umagang iyon, kaya madali akong sinaniban nang antok... kaya pala malamig... madilim na naman ang langit at nagbabadya itong bumagsak.

At yun na nga, sa gitna nang kanto nang Vicente Cruz at Lardizabal, bumagsak ang ulan na para bang pinipigilan lang nang isang mahunang kahoy na biglang naputol... Walang sabi sabi... parang isang drum na nagyeyelong tubig ang idinilig na gitna nang kalye... Maiingit sana ako sa mga may payong, ngunit kaalinsabay nang Ulang ang malakas na ihip nang Hangin... tikwas ang mga three-folds na payong at tinangay naman ang mga palda nang mga kasabay kong estudyante nang Tourism sa Jasmin Building ng PUP.

Gusto ko sanang sumilong, ngunit mahuhuli na ako sa klase, bahala na... sinugod ko ang ulang... Tumakbo ako papuntang Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard...

"Hoy!" sigaw nang isang mama na natalsikan nang tubig nang lumanding ang paa ko sa naipong tubig ulan sa butas nang kalye... sa loob loob ko..."Sorry po, nagmamadali lang"

Basang basa ako, sabon na lang ang kulang ay maari nang labhan nag mga sout kong damit...pati na brief.

Malamang mangungulontuy na naman si "tutuy"

Nakuha kong sumilong sa isang overpass... at dun ko muling napansin ang kulay abong langit nang kamaynilaan...nakakatuwang pag masdan ang mga tao na biglang bumibilis sa kanilang pagkilos pag inaabotan nang ulan... parang yung mga langgam na iniihian ko noong bata pa ako, para bang nabibigyan sila nang kakaiabang inerhiya, tuwing papatak ang ulan sa kanilang mga bunbunan at nakalimutan nilang mag bitbit nang payong.

Sa pagbabako sa overpass, upang muling harapin ang ulan... bigla kong naalala yung isa kong nabasa na maganda daw parasa Maynila ang Umulan nag madalas, upang malinis ang mga pulusyon at mawala ang dumi sa hangin...parang salungat sa napapansin ko...

Pag umuulan, madalas ang trapik... ergo...lalong dadami ang usk na ibubuga sa kalye, pag bumabaha (at sa maynila..may umihi lang na isang daang katao ay bumabaha na) lalong dumudumi ang mga kalye...

*tsk*

*tsk*

*tsk*

Tandang tanda ko nung inabutan kami nang Ulan doon sa Mascomm... bumaha sa Sta. Mesa (actually, lumubog ang buong Maynila noong araw na yun) dahil sa pesteng paghihintay sa isa naming kaklase (na nakikipag-sex pala kaya na late) Wala kaming choice, nag hintay kami hanggang alas syete nang gabi (nag simulang umulan nang alas-onse nang umaga). Pero parang Gera ni Bush, ayaw paawat ang ulan... nagpasya kaming magkakaklase na umuwi na lang sa pinakamalapit na bahay nang isa sa aming mga kaklase at doon magpalipas nang magdamag...

-TSARAN-

Dinaig ang Atlantis sa nakita naming sitwasyon nang Maynila... hanggang baywang ang baha, umaagos... nakahinto ang lahat nang sasakyan na ultimo mga Bus ay hindi makatuloy. (Medyo may katankadan ako, yung baywang ko ay dibdib na nang iba kong kaklase.) Para kaming nasa Amzing race sa pagtawid namin sa bawat kalye (Actually pwede rin i-compare sa Fear Factor kasi maykasabay kang Basura ang mga ipis at Daga habang linulusong namin yung baha).

Tulad ngayon, basa rin ang brief ko nun, lahat nang gamit ko... tapes, walkman, notebooks (na puno nang drawings) Libro tunkol sa pag po-photoshop (gayung Masscomm ako) at mga cheat codes at walk-through nang mga paborito kong laro sa PC.

Patay, makikitulog ako sa bahay nang kaklase kong babae, at sa lahat nang mga bsang sisiw namakikituloy sa bahay na yun (labing apat kaming magkakaklase na nagpasyang makituloy muna) ako lang ang lalake...

Syempre, sa labas ako natulog... kawawa naman ako...at dahil walang baong brief... lamig na lamig yung tutuy ko...

Nakakatuwang nakaka pikong yung pangyayaring yun, parang gusto mong isumpa yung mga hayop na nagtatapon nang basura sa mga ilog at kanal...parang gusto kong gilitan nang leeg yung mga opisyal ng gobyerno na nagpabaya sa tungkulin nila... gusto kong ibigti yung nasa Weather agencies dahil hindi nila agad sinabihan ang mga unibersisdad na ideklera na wala nang pasok para hindi na lang kami tumambay sa eskwelahan...

Well... talagang ganun...

Muli akong dinala nag aking mga paa sa kalsada patungo sa aming gusali... tumutulo pa rin ang mga patak nang ulan pababa nang aking mga buhok at damit...

binati ako nang isa kong kaklase. "San ka galing...?" Tanung nya sa akin

"Sa Ulan..."

Ngumiti sya sa pabiro ngunit sarkastiko kong tugon.

"Naku baka magkasakit ka nyan..." paalala nya sa akin.

"Hindi naman siguro..." sambit ko

......................

-

derive from a real experience...

To that Same road

This past few weeks, it seems that everything is going so wrong, everything seems to be falling apart...my family's world falls apart after the death of my dad,then it seems that everything is following, relationship, life and country...everything is falling apart...

You maybe thinking, how you missed those time that someone will call you and ask you if you have eaten your lunch or what time you will be going home, you probably missed the times when ever you watch movies and there is someone there beside you holding your hand or even embracing you...

or those times that when your birthday is coming few days from now, you could expect someone to greet you other than family and friends, and even make you a suprise dinner or things like that.

guess those are the times... bu sometimes, you tend to remember those things, whne you could no longer have them... you remeber the sweetness, after all the bitterness have been poured in... you remeber the laughters when all the tears have been shed.

guess its sad... but life was never meant to be a bed of roses or a walk in the park...and so is love...

guess Friend, im walking to that same road...

really wish i have my directions...

Dragon’ Rage

“Satami. It’s time to get up. You will miss your classes if you don’t get up soon.”
“Yes mother. I’m up.” Satami rose from bed. He haphazardly got dressed and headed to the kitchen. His mother had made some delicious looking pancakes. He quickly gobbled them up. He grabbed some white parchment, said goodbye to his mother and headed out of the house towards his schoolhouse.
As Satami walked to the schoolhouse, he heard a scream. He spun on his feet towards the direction of the scream. He turned to face a man who was severely mangled. The man had been, by the looks of it, attacked and brutally beaten. His clothes were stained with blood and he stood there lifeless. Satami gaped at the man and screamed.
He awoke from the dream drenched in sweat. He was shivering uncontrollably. His wife, who lay beside him, awoke.
“What is the matter dear?”
“I had another dream.”
“Not again, what was it this time.”
“I was 11 years old and heading to school. I heard a scream and when I turned around, he was there.”
“Satami, when are you going to get over this?”
“When my conscience stops pestering me.”
“You have to let it go, that happened years ago.”
“But, it still hurts the same.”
“Listen, you have to forget that time. It was years ago and we have new lives now.”
“LIVES!!!! YOU CALL THIS A LIFE!! Everyday I head out into the rice fields and bust my back tending them. You go clean up the mess that is left by... by... those things. This isn’t a life, its slavery.”
“At least they feed us! They let us live each day, they give us a home and they give us food. What more could you ask?”
“Freedom.”
“Well, we don’t have that luxury. Just remember, you are alive.”
“I would rather be dead than to serve those slave drivers.” Satami got dressed and left the peasant hut. The day was just beginning, which you could hardly tell. Satami couldn’t remember the last time he had seen the sun. The skies were permanently covered with dark, foreboding clouds. It was a depressing site to see and they caused it.
“They” are the Lotus clan. Ever since the fall of the Dragon, the Lotus has ruled. The 10 acres of rice field that Satami and others tended to, was once a happy place. The field was surrounded by luxurious Dragon peasant huts. But now, the huts are dilapidated or burnt. Outside the barrier of peasant huts sit numerous Lotus watchtowers, which are home to Lotus Unclean Ones. If a peasant tried to escape, they would throw their disease towards the escapee and surely kill him or her. But, peasants rarely tried to escape anymore.
To the south lay, at one time, a beautiful grassland. It stretched as far as the eye could see, but also deeper into Lotus territory. To the north lay a forest. The forest laid barrier to the Lotus’ territories. Further north meant heading into dangerous territory. Strange beasts roamed the north and even the Lotus was scared of them. Heading east or west meant heading towards the ocean. The settlement was in a sort of bottleneck in the continent, a prime place to hold a border.
Satami worked his life away in the rice fields. It wasn’t a pleasant job but it kept him alive. He would have quit working by now so the Lotus would execute him, but he had his wife to think of and that drove him to work each day.


That day Satami worked in the rice fields as usual. It was very hard and monotonous job. He was now nearing the age of 40 and the work made him strain. His bones ached as he cut the rice and carried it to the carts. He did not enjoy the work but he knew he had to do it. He also watched in disgust as the Lotus Blade Acolytes and Staff Adepts patrolled the rice fields. They were hideous things to look at and if a peasant was approached by one you could see him cover his nose to mask the stench of them.
The Dragon peasants worked on, that day. They never had to worry about the heat because of the permanent cloud cover. But today was different. As Satami and the peasants worked they noticed a beam of light break through the clouds. The peasants stopped working to watch in marvel as the clouds began to clear. The Lotus patrolmen didn’t even try to get them back to work, as they were also watching the marvel. Satami, who had great knowledge of the Lotus, knew something was wrong in the Lotus hierarchy. Something was wrong, and opportunity was opening.
The Lotus patrolmen got the peasants back to work after a few minutes, but everyone could tell they were unsettled. The peasants were much more happier as they worked and felt they had something to look forward to.
As the sun began to set, Satami was allowed to go home. He met his wife, and she too was much more happy.
“Satami, I can’t remember the last time the sun appeared.”
“Neither can I.”
“Why did the sun show today, though?”
“I don’t know.” Satami lied.
“Well, it sure is a refresher.”
Satami ate his supper and headed off to bed. He had a hard time getting sleep. He couldn’t stop thinking of the possibilities. Was there a successful revolt? Did the Dragon clan mount a successful attack? Or did the castor of the clouds simply die? He kept rolling the possibilities around in his head, when there was a knock at his door. Satami rose from his bed and cautiously made his way to the door. He opened the door and the sight flabbergasted him. This was a sight he hadn’t seen for at least two years. Before him stood a Dragon Spearman.

“Hello. Are you Satami Ryzaan?” asked the Dragon Spearman.
“Who is asking?”
“I am Ryansha Tanki of the Dragon clan.”
“I once knew a Ryansha Tanki, and you are not him.”
“I bear the name of my father, who served under you in the years of Kenji.”
“Come in then, before you are seen.”
Satami motioned Ryansha into his home. He quickly lit a lantern and set it on the small table in the middle of the room. Ryansha looked to be only 14 or 15, which was very young for a Dragon soldier. Was the Dragon army getting that desperate?
“How is it that you managed to get inside this settlement? It has been 2 years since the last Dragon soldier has been seen on this ground, and he was caught by the Lotus.”
“A little while ago, a Dragon scientist discovered a metal that always pointed north, no matter what direction you turned. We used this metal to guide us to this settlement. With the help of the metal, we built an underground tunnel to the center of the rice fields. We used it to enter the settlement.”
“Quite a marvelous metal then. But why must you need me?”
“We need your leadership skills. The Lotus had discovered many of our high commanding officers and executed them. We don’t have anyone to lead our armies anymore. Our people are scared and are ready to surrender to the Lotus. So we are trying to round up as many as the old leaders as we can.”
“I am too old. I could not command an army in my feeble age.”
“Sir, we are desperate. Without your help, we are as good as dead. The Lotus are crafty. You know their ways very well. You knowledge of the Lotus is quite famous among the remaining Dragon people. People look up to you and you could give are armies the spark that they need.”
“But my wife. I could never leave her. And the people of this settlement, they look up to me also, and they search for my wisdom each day. I believe they need me here more.”
“Without you, our armies will crumble under the Lotus. Please come with me. I am not asking, I am begging. I am on my knees pleading.” Ryansha got to his knees and bowed to Satami. Satami couldn’t bear it. The thought of going into battle once again tingled his senses.
“I will go on one condition. There are a few people that I want to take along with me.”
“Anything for you, my great Sir.”
Satami went and woke his wife. He told her to pack some food and clothing. Satami went with Ryansha to a couple of other huts and woke their inhabitants. Satami took his best friend, Banshian, an old war friend, Hyzuki and their wives with him. They exited through the underground tunnel. It took them an hour to reach the tunnel’s exit. They were a mile north of the settlement. The tunnel ended at a river, which was used to flood the tunnel. After it was flooded, they continued north into the forbidden lands. The remains of the Dragon clan managed to survive in the north. It was where their armies resided, that hopefully one day would rid the world of the Lotus for good.
They had been walking for five days. Ryansha promised the group that they would arrive to the first Dragon town within two days. Satami grew restless as they came nearer. He could hardly believe that he would once be part of a true Dragon society again. He didn’t sleep at nights, and when he did sleep, he dreamed of once again, training with soldiers in the Dojo and Archery range. The anticipation of battle was flowing through his veins, and Satami loved it.
“Tomorrow morning we shall reach the first village.” Said Ryansha as he set up a small tent.
“Is it a big village?” asked Satami.
“It is pretty small, but there are bigger ones deeper into the mountains. We are heading to our capital, Dragon Holm, which will take another two days to reach.” Replied Ryansha.
That night, Satami fell asleep quickly. He dreamed he was walking towards a glorious fort. Many soldiers followed him. His general’s talked of finally beating the Lotus clan. But upon the arrival of the fort, there were no Lotus to be seen. Satami dismounted from his horse. He walked to the front door and opened it. He cautiously stepped inside, and before him lay a long hallway. He walked down the hallway for at least ten minutes, until he arrived at another door. He opened it. Inside was a large room, with a small chair sitting in the middle. In the chair was a man. Satami walked up to the man, but before he could reach him, the stood up and dropped his cloak. The man was covered in blood and full of stab wounds. Satami tried to run, but his legs wouldn’t move. The man walked towards Satami and spoke.
“Because of you, my life is gone. You shall never rest in peace.”
Satami woke with a yelp. He didn’t wake anyone, and he was glad he didn’t. Satami took a walk into the surrounding forest to ease his mind, but he knew, the relief he was searching for would not come.

The group reached the first Dragon village before high noon. Satami was excited until he saw the state the village was in. The buildings were barely standing. The dojo was leaning to the south. The archery range had mostly collapsed. And the alchemist hut looked like it had caught fire. It was a very depressing site. It got even more depressing when Satami saw the people. Children ran around without any clothes. The adults walked around with barely any clothes. The trained soldiers didn’t wear any of the traditional clothing of the Dragon Clan. They wore poorly sewn skins and their weapons were poorly crafted. It looked more like a Wolf settlement than anything.
It didn’t get better as they moved on. Each village they encountered was just as bad as the first. Satami began to think of the upcoming battles. The people looked disorganized and appeared they had lost the way of the Dragon, and that was what made the past armies thrive, the knowledge that the Dragon Spirit was forever helping their cause for a better life. But, the Dragon Spirit would never help these people.
Two days after the arrival at the first village, the small group reached Dragon Holm. But, Dragon Holm was nothing more than a poorly placed stack of rocks. It was nothing you could take pride in, nothing like Serpentholm. Serpentholm was worth fighting for, but this…this garbage was not even worth the time. Satami was now thoroughly depressed. How could he lead an army that probably couldn’t even wield their weapons properly? He knew this clan would take some work, but, how much work. It would only be a matter of time before the Lotus would decide to venture into the North and would that time allotment be long enough?

Unaware to Satami, the word of his arrival had reached all of the land of the Dragon by the time he reached Dragon Holm. The people of the Dragon clan knew Satami well. They remembered the ferocity he fought with in the days of Kenji. They remembered his knowledge of the Lotus clan. Most of all, they remembered his survival.
22 years ago, Kenji had already arrived back to the island. His name was well known and the power of the Dragon clan was being restored. Satami was 17 and helped the cause of the Dragon clan by working the rice fields. He took pride in how he was helping the clan, but that all changed. Word spread that Kenji was starting up a lethal battalion of men that were to be well trained in the art of war. Satami took this opportunity to do battle with the Lotus when recruiters visited his village. He decided to join the archer division, as he was a skilled hunter with the bow. The men that showed up were rigorously trained. Before anyone even touched a bow, they were made to run for hours on end, until everyone was a peak physical condition. The trainers finally pulled out the bows after six months of running. Satami quickly caught on and his talent blossomed. The entire camp soon realized Satami’s skill with the bow and was highly looked upon. He was the top archer in the camp and routinely out-shot the instructors.
As time slowly rolled on, the many high ranking personnel at the camp began to notice Satami’s natural ability to lead. They recognized this by making Satami the commander of the archer division. Satami was greatly honored, and he lived up to every expectation that was expected of him. But, Satami grew tired of just practicing with the bow. After a meeting he had with the other commanders for the new battalion, Satami approached the commander for the samurai division. He asked the commander to train him with the samurai’s no dachi. The commander agreed. Now Satami spent the days training with the bow and the nights training with the no dachi. And soon, Satami mastered that weapon.
2 years after Satami’s recruitment, the new battalion was ready for war. The battalion was named “1st Dragon Battalion”. Kenji had decided to give them a real easy battle, so they were able to experience what a battle was like. But, things turned for the worse. The general leading the battalion was green and the troops became unorganized and took heavy casualties. The general decided to take his own life before facing the wraith of Kenji. One thing that Kenji noticed was the almost non-existent casualty list in the archer division. Satami had kept his archers under control and they fought with the ferocity of the Dragon. Kenji immediately promoted Satami to General of the 1st Dragon Battalion. Satami decided the battalion should regroup for six months before heading into battle again. Once the battalion was reorganized, they headed back into battle, and under Satami’s leadership, the battalion ruled the battlefield. Years passed and the 1st Dragon Battalion became very feared among the Lotus. The battalion was now nicknamed “The Dragon’s Rage”, for the ferocity they fought with.
But, those days are now over and Satami is faced with new challenges. His first, bringing the Dragon clan from its barbaric state and back too the honorable traditions of the Dragon.

Satami figured his first step to returning the Dragon clan back to power was first by making the clan, look like a clan. He thought that if he could repair the villages, he could boost the morale of the people. So, he beckoned every stonemason and every carpenter that was available. He ordered all the stonemasons to begin work on repairing Dragon Holm. The carpenters began to repair all of the wooden buildings of the villages. He knew it would take a long time, but he felt it was necessary.
Time slowly slipped by. The days slipped into weeks and the weeks into months. About 18 months later, the repairs were finally finished. The people had worked very hard to rebuild their villages and were feeling much better. Satami could already see the difference in the morale. He could tell they were much happier. Seamstresses had even started to sew new clothing for the soldiers. Children no longer ran around naked. It was a sight to sore eyes, to see the old clan reviving.
Now, Satami had to train the soldiers. He enlisted his friends Banshian and Hyzuki to do the training. They were skilled soldiers and Satami know they were his best bet in teaching them.
And so the training began. The people who enlisted were worked mercilessly. Many of them dropped on the ground from exhaustion. It was cruel but necessary if they wanted any chance at winning the battle. They couldn’t afford to have the weak in their armies. They would simply only be in the way. The weak would be better suited to work the rice fields than to fight. It was a fact of life, which many realized the hard way.


Satami was quite satisfied as he watched the Dragon clan bond. The people started to become one and only if the people worked as a single unit, would victory shower its glory upon them. There was not a single person who did not smile or say hello as the walked past a fellow clansmen. Nobody was a stranger and most of all; everyone was a friend.
The time was nearing. The Dragon clan would have to confront their enemy. Their first target, of course, would be Satami’s home village. It was first settlement in the Lotus territory and therefore, the best starting point. Satami knew it would be an easy battle. He had been sending in spies to scope out the area and the reports showed that the settlement was as well guarded as before, which wasn’t that well. The Lotus had long dismissed the idea of a Dragon attack and only had enough towers and soldiers to keep the peasants in line. A full-scale attack would prove victorious.
“Banshia. Hyzuki. I have called you here to tell you of your duties. You may have well expected this already, but I want both of you to ride by my side as I command this Dragon army. You two are the trustworthiest people I have ever known and I would put my life in your hands.”
“Satami, I would be honored to fight by your side.” Replied Banshia.
“As I would also.” Announced Hyzuki.
“It is settled then. In one month, we shall make our move on the Lotus. Let the people know.”
In the preparations for soon to come battles, Satami took no unnecessary risks. He allowed no one to leave the Dragon lands. They could possibly leak information to the Lotus, ruining the element of surprise. He also figured out a tactic for the attack on the first settlement. He could easily get the settlement surrounded. He would have archers hide in the Northern forests. He would send spearmen and samurai to wait, in ambush, in the Southern grasses. And have everyone else standing either East or West of the encampment. This would ensure no Lotus would escape the encampment to alert his fellow comrades, taking away the only advantage the Dragon had.
The Dragon’s time was coming; Satami could sense it. He would be rid of the Lotus once and for all. It was his only wish.



Satami walked along a path in a forest. It was sunrise. Fog hung five feet in the air. The morning was brisk and cool. Satami walked along the path, until, he reached a clearing. In the clearing was a small cabin. There was smoke billowing from the chimney. Satami decided to find out who lived there. He walked up to the cabin and knocked on the door. The door crept open slowly. Satami stepped inside. There was a figure standing in front of the fire.
“Hello sir. Beautiful morning, isn’t it?” asked Satami. The figure spun on its heels. It was the man covered and in blood and was once again covered with stab wounds. Satami recoiled in horror.
“Satami, it was all your fault. It is your fault the Dragon is weak. It is your fault the Lotus rules this land. And most of all, it is your fault that I am dead.”
Satami woke with a startle. He couldn’t stand the nightmares. It was the third day in a row. His conscience was eating away at him. Satami knew his sanity was slipping. He needed redemption. He needed to avenge his mistakes. He needed to correct what he had made wrong.
The army moved slowly. It was tough moving many soldiers through a mountainous forestland. Many times the men were forced to walk single file, but, if they ever wanted to reach the Lotus, it would have to be necessary. They had left the Dragon lands about 9 days ago. They would reach Satami’s home village in about 3 days. Satami couldn’t help but think about the people he had left behind so long ago. He thought they must have been devastated to see him gone. Many people looked to him for advice and guidance, and he always gave it. All he could think of was the condition of the village. Would it be in ruins, or would it be in better shape. Only in time would he find out.
The 3 days passed. The battle was ready to be fought. Satami decided that the situation should be scouted before they were to fight. Satami and 10 others made there way silently through the forest. They cautiously inched toward the forest line. The village was only a mere 50 feet from the forest and would be quite easy to see what was going on. When they finally reached the forest’s edge, Satami gasped in horror.

The sight that shocked Satami so much didn’t even faze the others with him. They didn’t know what used to stand before them. They didn’t know that the rubble of burnt wood and scattered corpses used be Satami’s home. Satami stepped outside of the protection of the forest and headed towards the fallen village. He fought back tears as he walked past the corpses of people he used to know. Every person he walked past had a single stab wound through the heart. Satami finally had to stop looking at the scattered bodies. He turned to the rubble of the burned village. The ashes still smoldered. The attack must’ve happened the night before. Someone knew the Dragon clan was coming.
They had made camp two miles south of the rubble of his old village. The day before, the men spent their time burying the slain. Satami couldn’t bear to watch the burials. He was already fighting off his emotions. He had taken a walk to the ocean and back. The ocean was only one mile away. It gave Satami time to sort out what was happening. He came to the conclusion that the Lotus knew he was coming. He thought they must’ve burnt his village to break his spirits and to cause him to turn around. But, Satami worked around his emotions. He would not let the Lotus defeat him again. He decided that tomorrow they would hit a Lotus military base.
It was hard to make such a large army inconspicuous. But, they somehow managed to take the base by complete surprise. Archers lit their arrows aflame and they quickly set the Lotus towers ablaze. The melee units quickly moved in. Satami had also joined in the battle. He felt the power resurge in him every time he thrust his trusty no dachi through the body of a Lotus. He loved how the Lotus fell to the ground every time they were struck. He loved how the blood glistened off his blade as he swung it and it caught the sun. He especially loved how his soldiers melded as one and as they swiftly and surely brought the Lotus to their death.
After the battle, Satami read the casualty lists. They had taken 56 casualties in the Spearman squad, 79 in the Kabuki squad, 159 in the Samurai squad and 23 in the Dragon Warrior squad. No other casualties were taken. Satami was quite impressed. It was a medium sized base. There would be easier battles, but much more harder battles too. He decided to work with the Samurai squad in defense against the Lotus. He felt they took too many casualties and needed the training. So, Satami took it upon himself to train them personally.

Satami and his Dragon warriors kept moving on south. They destroyed everything in their path. They burnt the Lotus villages to the ground. They slaughtered every Lotus they could get their hands on, whether they were woman, children or soldiers. And, they liberated other imprisoned Dragon people. But, Satami was being faced with a problem. After every battle, they were less more warriors. At the beginning of the expedition, they were 4000 strong. But now, they were a mere 1500 weak and tired. Satami thought days away on how to solve this problem. Then it just dawned on him, the Wolf clan. In the days before Kenji, the Lotus used the wolf as slaves in their mines. If there were any Wolf people left, they would surely be in the Dugan Mountains. Satami quickly summoned a commander. He told him to take a small contingent of warriors to scout the Dugan Mountains.
Sure enough, the Wolf clan was there. Satami was very excited. He sent the same contingent to go make contact with the Wolf clan. As they would be doing that, he would move 500 warriors into position near the closet mine. The other 1000 would return to the north to protect the people if they did not return. From the reports, the Lotus loosely guarded the mines, so 500 plus the amount of Wolf warriors would be enough. In the days to come, the Wolf agreed to ally with the Dragon, so, Satami sent one final message: Fight for your freedom in the morn of two days ahead when the horn of freedom is sounded. Satami was now quite excited and was hopping with anticipation.
The day before the attack, Satami couldn’t stand sitting anymore. In the night he snuck off, leaving a note with his instructions. He went to the mines. There was a day and night shift in the mines. Satami decided to sneak into one of the shafts to see what was going on. He carefully avoided the Lotus guards and snuck into a shaft. The Lotus didn’t go in the shafts, so, Satami was safe. He made his way deeper into the shaft. The Wolf slaves worked very hard. Even without any Lotus around, they still worked their asses off. Satami finally met up with one of the Wolf leaders. They had a short discussion about the rebellion and then the Wolf warrior set off back to work. Satami decided he would stay and fight alongside the Wolf, so he found a nice corner to rest and fell asleep.
Satami woke to the rush of footsteps. The Wolf slaves were moving quickly to the exit of the cave. Satami could hear the horn. Satami quickly jumped up and moved with the rush. He drew his no dachi as he made his way to the exit. Just as he was exiting the mouth of the shaft, he tripped on a dead Wolf warrior. He quickly got up to find a staff adept standing right in front of him. The adept thrust his staff towards Satami. Satami dodged left and brought his sword above his left shoulder. He swung right and decapitated the adept. Just as the adept fell, a blade acolyte appeared to his right. The acolyte began swinging his twin scythes madly at Satami. Satami dodged each swing, being missed narrowly until he caught a blade on his right arm. Satami stumbled backwards and fell. The acolyte brought his left blade above him. Just as he was about to swing, a giant wooden hammer flew over Satami and caught the acolyte in the head. But, Satami didn’t see the acolyte’s head fly. Then Satami noticed the red stain on the wooden hammer and realized what happened. Satami quickly got up and nodded to the Wolf sledger. The sledger nodded back. Satami rejoined in the battle. He fought flawlessly. He realized that they won, when, unmistakably, the son of Grayback climbed up a ledge of rocks and shouted “Freedom” at the top of his lungs.
The battle was over. Satami was just removing his sword from the chest of the last Lotus warrior. He noticed that the Wolf were already setting fire to the dead Lotus bodies. The black tar that oozed from their dead burned quite easily, so they didn’t even bother moving the corpses. Satami watched the flame a bit and then headed to edge of the forest that surrounded the encampment, where the son of Grayback waited.
“Hello son of Grayback. You are now free.” Said Satami.
“Hello Leader of the Dragon. My name is Bluescar. The Wolf clan is forever in your debt. How can we repay you?” replied the son go Grayback.
“You can repay us by joining our cause to exterminate the Lotus.”
“We shall do that.”
Satami nodded and began to return to other 1000 men he had waiting. Bluescar followed along with the 1250 Wolf warriors that were freed. They were making their way through the forest, when Bluescar stopped. Satami also stopped and looked at Bluescar. Bluescar approached Satami and hugged him. Upon release of the hug, Bluescar uttered a single word, “Brother.” Satami was at first shocked. He then smiled and thrust his hand into Bluescar’s hand and firmly shook it. Then Satami uttered back, “Brother.”



Satami kept is army on the move and the Lotus on the edge. He moved swiftly through the Dugan Mountains rescuing the remaining Wolf slaves. His quick hits were very successful and rarely took high casualties. Soon, the force that was to oppose the Lotus numbered almost 4000 again, which only about 1200 were actual Dragon men and women. But, it didn’t matter to Satami. He controlled all the warriors, whether they were Dragon or Wolf and that is what mattered to him; the people being united as one.
After the last Wolf slave mine was destroyed, a camp was made for the units to rest for four days. In the next week they would be reaching the Lotus capital, Zymetalsalid. It was named in honor of Zymeth for exterminating the Dragon. Although the Dragon weren’t exterminated, the Lotus never felt them as a threat.
“Satami, you come to Wolf ceremony. We honor you and your men for saving us. Please come.” Bluescar had entered Satami’s tent and startled him. Satami agreed to Bluscar’s proposal and followed him to a giant fire. He noticed a few other Wolf warriors sitting around the fire. Bluescar sat on the ground near the fire and so Satami followed his example. Satami noticed Bluescar pulled some leaves out of a pouch. They were picked a while ago, as they were now brown. Bluescar rolled them up into a thin cylinder. He then proceeded to pull a burning stick from the fire and lit the leaves on fire while he held them to his mouth. Bluescar took a puff and the flame extinguished, but it still smoldered. Bluescar handed the smoldering cylinder of leaves to Satami.
“Breath the smoke,” said Bluescar. Satami took a breath of the smoke and immediately started to choke. The other Wolf warriors began to chuckle, but Bluescar immediately silenced them. Bluescar then motioned him to take another puff, Satami did. This time it went into his lungs much easier. He passed the cylinder of leaves along to the next person and then exhaled the smoke. Satami soon began to feel light-headed. His vision began to blur and he began to think a mile a minute. Bluescar stood up and picked up Satami. He then heard some drums to beat. Without instruction from his brain, Satami began to dance. The other Wolf warriors joined in and they all began pound their hands on their chest. They began to move in circles around the fire. Satami felt the beat move through his heart. His light head made him fell like he was jumping ten feet into the air every time he leapt. Then he got the strangest idea. He moved about twenty feet back away from the fire. He took off at full speed and jumped over and through the blazing bonfire. The Wolf warriors cheered as he landed safely on the other side. Then, Satami got the inkling he should sit down.
When he sat down, his eyes immediately went black. When his eyes refocused, he wasn’t around the fire anymore. Instead he was running with some wolves in the forest. But, the weirdest thing for him was that he didn’t feel human anymore. He then looked at his feet and saw wolf paws. This excited Satami. He then began to run at full tilt. He could feel the breeze through his knew long hairy body. He weaved through the trees and for the first time, he felt really alive.
The next morning Satami didn’t feel as good as the night before. He had a splitting headache. But, that was only the beginning of his problems. As he was getting up, he noticed he was naked. He looked around and then saw the Wolf woman. He groaned as he realized what he had done. His thoughts immediately went to that of his wife and how he missed her. He felt terrible. The Wolf woman snorted and then awoke. Satami quickly got some pants on before she got up.
“How is Mr. Big Man this morning?” asked the woman.
“My head is a little sore, and I feel bad for cheating on my wife, but otherwise fine.”
“Well, you sure didn’t move in the bed like you were married.” Satami blushed. It had been a long time since he had a little midnight exercise, and he did fell quite satisfied. The Wolf woman stood up. She was completely bare. She had the long red hair of a druidess. She had very well defined muscle, but yet, appeared to have very soft skin. Satami was checking her out from top to bottom admiring her every curve. The druidess looked over at him and she blushed when she saw him admiring her.
“What is your name?” Satami asked.
“Ariah.”
“Ariah, how would you like to ride beside me?” Once again Ariah blushed as she was doing up some straps on her outfit.
“I would like that.”
Satami pushed the memory of his wife to the back of his mind. Compared to the beauty of Ariah, his wife was a mere slug on the ground. He didn’t fell like he was cheating. Everything with Ariah felt right, unlike with his wife. She accepted the Lotus rule. He didn’t sense the rebellion in his wife, but he could feel the rebellion in Ariah. But now, Satami was waiting until that night so he could remember what a night of passion with Ariah was like.


The time had come. The time for the Dragon and Wolf clans to regain their rightful leadership had finally come. Satami was marching his army towards the Lotus capital. Zymeth’s tower apparated in the distance. It was at least 250 feet tall. Soon, the town surrounding the tower also began to appear. Finally, the Lotus army began appear on what was going to be the battlefield.
“Sledgers, Maulers, Warriors, Spearmen, Hurlers, Cannoneers, Arhcers, Front!” yelled Satami. And as instructed the melee formed in the front and the ranged units formed close behind. “Cover Flank!” The rest of the units positioned themselves to prevent any attacks from the flanks. “Forward March!” The soldiers began to move forward towards the awaiting Lotus army. They were beginning to close in on the Lotus. 500 feet; 400 feet; 300 feet. “Halt!” As commanded, everyone came to halt. Satami could see the Lotus twitch. Satami was about to give the charge command, but before he could, he heard another muffled “charge.” The Lotus sprang to life. “Ranged Ready!” The archers, hurlers and cannoneers positioned their weapons. “FIRE!” They fired. Satami watched as Lotus warriors fell. “Reload! Fire!” More Lotus dropped to the ground. Then, the Lotus reached them. “No Command!” With that, the army sprung to life. Satami drew his no dachi and charged the Lotus on his horse. Slowly but surely the Lotus fell one by one. The Samurai and Kabuki moved in on the Lotus flanks and began to attack from the sides. The Berserkers moved in on the warlocks. They dug their steel claws into the flesh of the warlocks and Satami heard their high-pitched screams ring through the air as they collapsed. But then, Satami watched as warlocks began to fuse as Master Warlocks. They quickly began to call lightning. The lightning struck his men, dropping them to the ground instantly. A lightning bolt narrowly missed Satami. His horse bucked and threw him off. As Satami got back to his feet, he heard screams turn to howls. He then watched, right before his eyes, as a berserker transformed into a werewolf. The wolf immediately sprang towards a Master Warlock. It ripped the warlocks throat clear out. The Master Warlock dropped and transformed into a wolf peasant. The werewolf then transformed back to a human. The berserker was then engulfed in light, which then seemed to allow him to change back into to a werewolf and the process continued.
The war was over as fast as it had begun. The Lotus was defeated. Satami grabbed some Dragon Warriors and Archers that seemed to be in good condition still. He took them with him to Zymeth’s tower. As they walked through the Lotus city, they noticed that no one was around. It seemed that they had all fled. Satami and his soldiers kept their guard up. They reached the tower, but there was no door inside. The tower didn’t even rest on the ground. It was floating 10 feet above the ground. But, under the tower was a small pad. Satami made his way towards it. The few soldiers followed him cautiously; probably thinking the tower would fall on them. Satami stepped on the pad and immediately light swirled around him. Then, it felt like his mind was shot upwards. He felt as if his mind left his body. Everything around was black. Then, a few seconds later he saw the light again, then the light disappeared. Satami blinked. He looked around the room. It was bare except for a spiral staircase. Satami stepped off the pad and then a Dragon Warrior appeared. Soon, all of them were in the room. Satami drew his no dachi and began to scale the staircase. It seemed to climb forever. But, they soon reached a door. Satami opened it, half-expecting to see Zymeth. But, the room was also bare, except for a big swirling pool of light on the farthest wall. Satami walked towards it, but the light faded and then disappeared when he reached it.
“DAMN!” exclaimed Satami.
“What is it, Sir?” asked one of the warriors.
“We just missed Zymeth. He escaped through the pool of light. It is some sort of teleport. He has most likely left this continent. My guess is that he went to the old island, probably back to Serepnthom.”
“Serpentholm? But I thought it was in ruins.”
“It was in ruins, but the Lotus have powerful magic’s that can easily rebuild something as simple as Serpentholm.” Satami began pacing the room. “All of you head back down and help your fellow men clean up the rest of this continent. Send a contingent of 150 back to the North and tell them to migrate throughout the continent. And send my advisors up to meet me.”
The men left and Satami began to explore the room. He knew that this wasn’t the whole of the tower. The Lotus were crafty and they always hid everything. He knew he must find their archives so he could have access to the old maps of the old island. Satami took his no dachi and began tapping the walls with the butt of the sword, until, he found the hollow stone his was looking for. He pushed the stone. The tower seemed to come alive. Chairs, tables, doors and windows began to appear. Satami smiled and headed down the staircase to look for the archives.


Satami sat in the archives scouring the old texts and scrolls of the forgotten island. His advisors sat at various tables looking at their own stack of papers and books. It had been 24 hours since the battle and people had already began to disperse. The Wolf gave their thanks to the Dragon and made their way to the forests. The remaining Dragon soldiers broke into groups and began to round up the straggling Lotus soldiers that remained on the continent. On Satami’s orders, no Lotus was to be held prisoner. All were to be executed.
Satami cursed has received yet another paper cut. He flung the book towards the wall and stormed out of the archives in anger. He made his way done the stone staircase and out of the tower. He decided to head out into in the field of infirmary tents to check on the healing soldiers. He poked in his head into a tent every now and then and saw the same thing in each one; a geisha tending to a wounded soldier. At the seventh tent he checked, the sight inside shocked him. He stepped inside and saw Ariah lying on a bed. A geisha slept softly on a bed across the tent. Satami felt awful that he had completely forgot about Ariah in the heat of the battle. He grabbed a stool and sat beside her. As he sat down on the stool, he accidentally bumped the bed and woke Ariah.
“I’m so sorry I woke you.”
“You arrogant ass. How could you leave me to die?”
“Leave you to die? I had to command my army for the well being of the Dragon. One person cannot be saved at the sacrifice of the whole.”
“I’m talking about when you ignored my cries for help after the lightning struck. The lightning missed you, but it struck me. I cried for your help, but you just ran away to fight your battle.” Satami recoiled in horror at this. He did not recall hearing any cries from help and felt especially awful.
“I’m so sorry. I did not hear…”
“You are a man of blindness.” Ariah interrupted. “You only see what will affect your well being. You do not fight this war for the Dragon, you fight it for yourself. I can see that something troubles you and I can tell that you think that your inner demons will flee if you defeat the Lotus. You are a danger to your people, you will rest at nothing for your personal gain and this will not benefit your people. This why I must deliver you to the gods.” With that, Ariah lifted her arm and set her hand on the back of Satami’s neck. She dug her nails into the skin. Satami’s eyes flashed and then went black.
“Mother, I’m going to join the cause of the Dragon.” “Satami, we are honored to put you in command of our archers.” “General you will become.” “Zymeth, your day of reckoning has come.” “Satami, run. Save yourself. Protect the Dragon.” “The horde, it’s gone.” “We must flee to the north to escape the Lotus. It is our only chance.” “Oh great Dragon Spirit. Protect us from our evils and allow the Dragon to forever live.” “Satami, however noble you attempt to save the Dragon is, you are now nothing more than a common peasant and will work as one in the rice fields.” “Satami, the clouds. They have cleared away.” “Satami, we beg of you, please, help the Dragon return.” “Thank you, you have saved my Wolf brethren.” “Satami, you are a threat to the Dragon cause.”
Satami woke from his dream. The dream was still vivid. He could still see his army fleeing north from the Lotus. He could remember the Dragon spirit appearing before him and preventing the Lotus from moving into the north. He could still remember being enslaved and forced to work the rice fields. By now, his eyes refocused. He was lying on a bed in the tower. A geisha was sitting beside him.
“Help me sit up.” The geisha grabbed his arm and propped him up to rest on the back of the bed.
“What happened?”
“That druidess had put poison underneath her fingernails. The poison was very fast acting. You were lucky another druidess was nearby to help you before you died.”
“What have they done with the druidess, Ariah?”
“She was executed.” Satami’s heart wrenched at the sound of those words. “You should get some more rest, you are still very weak.”
A week later, Satami was ready to get going again. He made his way down to the archives to return to the search of the old maps. The words that Ariah spoke had hurt him deeply, but also made him think. He never thought he was acting selfish, but what Ariah said seemed true enough. Satami reached the archive where his advisors were still sitting. The tables were cleared of books and instead were strewn with maps. Satami’s heart jumped with anticipation.
“Sir Satami, we have found the maps.” Satami rushed over and began looking at them. The memories of the old battle plans began to flood through his mind. He could almost see the pegs that Kenji had used to make his plans. Then, the memories of the land flooded in. He could almost see every river and hill on the map. It was a great feeling. It was just like old times. Then Satami looked to his right where Kenji should’ve been, but he wasn’t there. Satami immediately lost his enthusiasm. Satami tried to hide it, but his advisors knew what was going on. Satami straightened himself out.
“Alright, Zymeth has moved here,” Satami pointed to Serpentholm, “and will most likely sit there until we arrive. We cannot let him sit too much longer or he will rebuild his empire on that island. We must conscript every available man and woman who is available for war and make an immediate rush, trained or not.”
“But, their units are so much more skilled than ours. They would surely destroy us.”
“We outnumber them roughly 20 to 1 though. They may be skilled, but not skilled enough for a single unit to take on 20 semi-skilled units. Begin the building of transports to get across the large channel between the two lands. We have to move in on them within the next month.”



The morning fog hung heavily in the air. The water rippled slightly in the morning breeze. Satami’s horse scoffed as it ate some grass near the water’s edge. Satami sat at the end of the makeshift dock with his feet dangling over the edge and a fishing pole in his hands. Satami couldn’t remember the last time he held a fishing pole. Just sitting at the water’s edge fishing made Satami truly feel free for the first time. Ever since his enslavement, he had never felt like he was free or ever this relaxed until this very moment. To Satami’s left there was a small commotion. Some peasants were working on one of the boats to cross the channel and it appeared that one of them hit their hand with a hammer. The fog prevented Satami seeing the old island across the channel. The channel was only 500 meters wide, but was still wide enough to keep the horde away when it was needed to be done. Just then, there was a tug at Satami’s fishing line and he pulled out a nice sized trout. Ever since the creation of the channel, it had become home to many sea creatures. The Wolf clan had made a very good living from the fish that the channel held. But, the Wolf clan was the only clan daring enough to go near the channel for the other clans feared the horde might be able to harm them there.
Satami was quite enjoying his fishing until one of his advisors showed up and reminded him of the war. “Sir, I have come to update you of the situation.”
“Okay then, what is it?”
“We have been able to conscript 3274 people, bringing our total armed forces up to 3942.” Satami scoffed at the figures.
“Shessh. Less than 500 trained units. This is going to be tough, especially with the remnants of the Serpent clan living on that island. Kenji never did fully exterminate the Serpent. It just hid in the shadows, waiting for its time to strike.”
“How are we going to deal with both the Lotus and Serpent?”
“We break up the army into three. One heads East and follows the coast. One heads West and follows the coast. The other heads straight to Serpentholm. The Lotus is very weak. Their numbers are low and a third of our army should handle them quite easily. The other two thirds makes sure we don’t get surprised by a Serpent attack.”
“Simple, yet, masterful. Our war is nearly to an end.”
“Hmpph. War never comes to an end, it just takes a break for awhile and resurges when the time is right.” With that, Satami pulled his line out of the water and rode off towards his camp.
The oars slid silently into the water. The water was perfectly calm and the island could easily be seen. Only the first third of the army could be transported at once. The boats would return for the other members after the first had landed. Satami watched as the boats slid onto the shore and the men and women began to file out of them. This portion would be heading straight to Serpentholm to confront Zymeth. Satami stepped out of his boat and took a quick look at the moon. He would have only 3 hours to reach the closest plateau to make camp for a couple of days while the other two portions of the army made their way into position.
“Sir, the last group has landed and began to head east.”
“Ah, good,” replied Satami. “In 3 days will break camp and start our march to Serpentholm.”
The three days slipped past and the army readied for departure. Satami gave the command and the army began to march. It would be another 6 days until the reached Serpentholm. As they marched, they passed many Serpent villages. There was no military present though. Only peasants lived in the small villages and were quite willing to let the army pass by. Satami figured that if there were Serpent soldiers, they would all be attacking the other two divisions.
The night was coming. Satami could tell the soldiers were beginning to look weary. He just wanted to march them a few more kilometers to a plateau where they would be able to get a glimpse of Serpentholm for the first time. Satami squirmed in his saddle as he got nearer and nearer to the plateau. He could remember the glory of Serpentholm and just wanted a glimpse of the glory once again before he slept that night. Then it happened. Serpentholm rose before them.


The morning air was crisp. There was a thin layer of snow covering the small plateau. The snow crunched under Satami’s feet as he walked towards his horse. Satami mounted his horse. He watched as his soldiers slowly formed into formation. Satami looked towards Serpentholm and watched as a pathetically small group of Lotus soldiers formed at the edge of a meadow. Satami made a look back to his soldiers and then gave the order to march. Satami’s strategy was to engage the Lotus and pull them away from Serpentholm. He would then take 20 soldiers and charge into the castle after Zymeth.
“Archers ready! Fire!” The archers rained arrows at the Lotus as they foolishly charged towards the awaiting Dragon army. The Lotus fell fast and many. The dragon warriors moved in and quickly cleaned up the rest of the stragglers. The battle didn’t even last 5 minutes. The Lotus barely put up a resistance. Satami quickly advanced on Serpentholm and broke through the gates. Satami dismounted his horse and broke through the doors of the castle. He quickly weaved around corners and through doors. He remembered each hallway as if it was yesterday. They were soon at the door to what should’ve been Zymeth’s quarters. In Kenji’s attack on Serpentholm it was the room Zymeth was in.
Satami advanced on the door but stopped five feet before it. Satami tried to move his legs but they seemed stuck to the ground.
“Hello Satami. I’m glad you could join me”
Satami looked around frantically. He couldn’t see who was talking, but he knew it was Zymeth. Satami knew his soldiers could hear it too as they were looking around also.
“Satami, do you think I would’ve been really that foolish to return to Serpentholm. I thought you would’ve been smarter than that:
“If you aren’t here, then why is your army?”
“A measly sacrifice for you. I know how much you love to do battle. It’s in your blood.
“My blood? I know it is in my blood. I grew up hating the Lotus for the terrible things the Lotus has done to everyone.”
“No, that’s not why. Here are some images to remind you of your heritage.” [\center]
With that, Satami was forced to his knees. He then began to scream uncontrollably as images of pain, horror and disgust flashed before his eyes. His soldiers tried to help him but they couldn’t stop his screaming. Then, Satami fell to the floor unconscious.
“Remember your heritage.”

--------

I could not remember who made this story... i copied it from the Battle Realms Fan Fic Forum...2 years ago

Huling Kita

Hindi ko na wari
Kung ilang panahon na ang lumipas,
Kung hindi ko pa di sinasadya
Makita, syang litrato
Na muling nagbalik
Nang masaya’t mapait
Ngunit di kailanman malilimutan
Na mga alaala

Taong lumipas, tila ay kahapon lang
Nang kasama sa laro at aral
Kwento at away
Taong lumipas, ngunit di ganun katatagal
Upang madaling kalimutan
Ang puyat at kaba
Ang pagod at dusa

….

Naisin mang ibalik,
Daig pa ang suntok sa buwan
Ang pagsasama at damayan
Tuluyan nang alaala na lamang
Pagkat ang mga kasama
Ngaun ay nagsipag asawa na,
Pamilya at anak, at sya nang mahalaga

Hihintayin na meron pang
Paglalamayan
Upang magkaroon nang oras,
Na ikaw ay makita.

…

I made this crap, a few weeks after we manage to bury my father... it really sucks to realize that those people that you once share joy and laughter, tears and sorrow, could only visit you now when and only when... some one died or you perish yourself...

+The Dark Dragon



“Renhiko!” RenGokou called “Renhiko! Where is that boy?” he mumbles to himself. “ I m here brother, Why are you calling?” the Young Man Ask. “Mother have been looking for you. Where have you been?” the Older one Ask. “In the wood! I m picking some dry woods to make some fire” Renhiko explain. “Oh well, goon… mother have been waiting for those woods”. Renhiko left, as he goon his brother cannot help but feel proud for this young man. Even thou he have training in local Dojo… Renhiko still make it an effort to help his mother in the households. He did not wish to be away with his Family but he cannot help it. The Lotus clan had threatened to make an attack to their province. He is aware that soon he will be called to battle those corrupted beings to save their village and to uphold the pride of the once Noble Dragon Clan.

“Ah there you are… where have you been” Shiryu ask his young son. “In the woods, just as you requested…” Renhiko explained. “But how come you took so long… you usually manage to come back after an hour… but this time it took you more than twice that time?” “Well the woods are getting scarce Mother… that’s why I need to venture further…” Renhiko explained. “Well okay… just help me on this…” Shiryu stated while she handed a bowl of hot water to Lad.

“The stars are looking brightly tonight…” Rengokou spoken to his startled brother. “Rengokou… I did not hear you approached… why are you still here… should you be at the Dojo practicing your martial arts?” Renhiko ask. “Well I was hoping to talk to you before I go… Renhiko… you are a young man now… and I know that you will not let me down if ever I don’t come back for a long time… I know you’ll take care about our mother and the land… the war with the Lotus have gone uncontrollably. We are not certain whether we can hold on much longer… I heard that Kenji… the son of the Serpent decided to make an offensive… believing… that the lotus have gone weak due to the battle of Serpenthom… but we cannot be certain. Lord Satami have called all those with training of the arts… masterful or apprentice to be ready for battle… we might go to the front soon…” for the young man, every words that Rengokou spoke of bring chill to his spine… he is not afraid of the incoming battle… nor afraid of the Dark Magic the Lotus posses. He is more afraid of thinking that he would be left alone to tend to their aging mother… more afraid of not be able to keep up to the responsibility that his brother would be giving on to him.


Chapter II: Kin Passing…


“Renhiko! Renhiko!” a voice called making Renhiko turn his head and tries to see who is calling him. “Oh Lei Hane… it is you…why are calling?” “Were are going Renhiko?” the young lay asked. “Into the woods… I need to get some firewood’s for mother… and I would also like to see if I can catch some fish in the river… why…why did you asked?” “Oh nothing… it is getting dull in the village lately… most of the girls are being trained in the bathhouse… I don’t have anyone to talk to…I was hoping I could come along…so I can help you…” “Help me…” Renhiko exclaim. He can’t help but smile. Here he is with a young woman who rather goes with him look for firewoods rather than stays home and helps in the household chores. Many have stated that if ever Lei-Hane wasn’t born a female… she could be the heir to the once title his Father hold. His Father – Lord Yokohama is one of the Greatest Generals in the Lord Oja’s rank.
Lord Yokohama was slain in one of the Battle between the Serpent and barbaric Wolf clan. Lei-hane was born two months later. “You should be returning to the village… it would be getting dark soon…and I don’t want your mother worrying about you and finding out that I have taken you with me in the woods.” The young mad said. Trying to discourage Lei-Hane in accompanying him. “Oh don’t mind mother, and besides how much wood would your mother be using that it would take us until sun down to finish.” “Aren’t you suppose to be among the other girls in the villages… you should be also joining them in the bathhouse so you can lean to become a Geisha” “A Geisha… I am the daughter of the great Yokohama… I will become a great warrior just like my father… I have already talk to uncle Satami to teach me how to use the bow… and I will be the greatest Archer in the Dragon Clan… better than Lord Arah.” Lei-Hane declared. “You know what… you should get out of the sun… I think the heat is getting into your head.” Renhiko kidded the young lady. With that, Lei-Hane strike Renhiko, it is so fast; he wasn’t able to see it. To the naked eye, it would seem to be just a single punch. But Renhiko felt otherwise, it seems like Lei-Hane was able to launch at least four strikes that fell into his chest, back and groin. “Have enough!” Lei-Hane asked while looking mischievously at Renhiko. “I guess… how in the name of the Serpent did you manage to do that…” Renhiko asked still groggy while trying to stand. “I told you… I am the daughter of the Lord Yokohama… come on… your mother would be waiting for those woods.” “Yes... we should be moving…” Renhiko agreed. As they walk, he still can’t believed that this girl, this once playmate back when he is still young. That has now transformed into a well figured woman can deliver such powerful blow that can cripple an untrained peasant. Indeed she is her Fathers daughter, but for him, it would be better for her to learn the arts of the geishas than to be one of the soldiers of the clan. In that way, she would be comparatively be away from harm. For through the years, he does not look at Lei-Hane only as a friend, but more than that. He too is also taking some lessons from the dojo, he is aware that soon. After Rengokou and the others have left, he and others like him would be the one responsible to protect the village from the Lotus and other dark forces.

Chapter III: Dark Reverie

“Do you think we would be sent to the front…just like your brother Rengokou?” Shai-Yuk asks Renhiko while cleaning their weapons that they used in their practice at the Dojo. It have been four agonizing hours of striking, running, meditation, physical balance and other training’s. Renhiko feels like his entire body is protesting, begging for rest and talking seems to be less interesting for him. But he still manages to force some words from his mouth so he would not offend his friend. “Maybe?” “I wonder how does a lotus warrior fight… have you seen any lotus warrior before Renhiko?” “No…” Renhiko answered, but he is lying. He remembers it well, two years ago out in the woods. He is looking for some firewood’s for his mother when he heard a scream and a noise of swordfight, he run to the source of the noises, and there he saw a group of lotus warriors three of them holding one strangely carved crescent sword on each hand. The other four are equipped with a long staff while the two others are holding no weapons but have a strange silvery leaf in their hands and seems to be wearing some short of a crown. Among them is a master warlock. When he arrive, he saw several bodies from at least twenty men, but he cannot be sure. He only see decapitated body parts and some burned corpses. He tries to stay out of sight in fear of being among those lifeless bodies in the ground. But it seems to be that the dark ones have sense him. He tried to run, but before he manage to get far, the three dual sword bearing warriors are in front of him and in his back are the staff holders. The leaf warriors did not try to run for they are aware that their leaf blades can catch him no matter how fast he tries to run. With that very moment he feels like being drown to the ground, as if he is in the middle of quicksand. And as the master warlock get nearer, it seems he lost every will to move. Then he heard a call; it is from another masterwarlock. He called off the warriors, and as they move away, he can still remember how those dark warriors smiled at him. No it is not a smile; it is a grin, and a very fearful grin. He dared not to venture to that part of the forest again. “Oh that’s to bad.” Shai-Yuk muttered. Renhiko was startled, he almost forgot that he is still at the Dojo. “I hear that other than those Bladed, Staff and Leaf warriors, they also have these corrupted creatures that posses a very powerful fighting abilities… I heard that the Unclean one is a disgusting creature that use his vomit to in battles, it seems that his vomit are compose of some short of acidic substance that can burn even ironed armor.” “Really? Renhiko ask while putting their gears in place and fixing himself for home. “Oh yes… and the infested are more gruesome… this creatures are said to be decaying alive and they use this flesh eating maggots at his enemies… I sure don’t want to be near to those guys… in case we are sent to battle… actually I’m shifting to the archery range… I rather take those guys from afar.” The Archery Range, he remember Lei-Hane and wondered how she is faring. He really hoped that if ever they would be sent to battle that Lei-Hane would be in a safe distance and has the option to escape. Or better yet, he wish that she would be stationed in the watchtower in defense not into the front.
“No… I would stay at the dojo and hope to be a Samurai one-day…” Renhiko explained to his friend. “Well suit your self but be sure to let those sumos handle those dark ones before getting yourself into that type of frenzy… for I would really hate seeing Lei-Hane cry knowing that you have been slain by the Lotus scum’s.” And the two bid farewell.





Chapter IV: Brother’s blood

“You should learn to breathe when ever you strike…so you wouldn’t end loosing to much air while fighting. But do it slowly… to avoid wasting too much energy just for breathing…” this are just some of the words that Renhiko is trying to remember from his sensei at the dojo. His master was able to compliment him for those strike and stance that he has been showing from the past few sessions of training. The teacher even kidded him that he might be a samurai one day just like his brother Rengokou, in which have already acquired admiration from the entire battalion and have even been notice by Lord Kenji himself. “So how’s does it feel… being complimented and congratulated by Lord Kenji after you fought those Corrupted ones in the Battle of Tarrant’s Hold?” “I felt what every warrior have felt that day…Thankful… I am thankful that we won the battle…thankful that I have serve the Dragon well and thankful that I am alive… thankful that I was able to be given a chance once more to see mother and to talk with you…” this is not the answers that Renhiko expected, but nevertheless he is happy to what he have heard. “Renhiko, I really wish that you’ll be able to still assist our mother even if your training…she is getting old… and I don’t want her to push herself too much to work.” Rengokou reminded his brother. “Don worry big brother… I will take care of her… is there anything more you want to say?” “Look Renhiko…the trees have bloomed their flowers… isn’t it a beautiful sight… we have trees since we are young…but it seems that it is the first time I was able to admire its beauty… I really wish… by the next spring… I can still have a chance to look at it…” Renhiko was stunned, he suddenly felt that his throat have gone dry. It seems that there is something his brother trying to tell him, but he can’t seem to gather himself to hear the obvious. He wanted to ask his older brother regarding on what are the plans of the Dragon but he decided to remain silent. “Horses!” the two heard a cavalry coming. “Rengokou… we must go now…” one of the Dragon Warriors has said. With that Rengokou stand up, pick up his their Father’s Samurai sword and mounted himself to one of the white stallions that the warriors brought along with them. With one look and a smile, they left the young warrior alone.

Now he is here, still trying to perfect those lessons that he previously learned at the dojo. But while trying to practice the stance and the strike he can’t help thinking on what he and his older brother have talked about, what Rengokou have said to him and what he wish he could tell him. Suddenly he heard a sound, seems to be a sound coming from when you stretch a bow. And then it came, an arrow heading towards him. He barely dodges it, when he looked where did the arrow come. There he sees his friend, Lei-hane- “What do you do that for?” Renhiko ask, “You almost killed me” “Almost! Meaning if I really want to kill you… I would have made it a hit… lighten up Renhiko… I’m just playing with you…” “Playing! You almost killed me” Renhiko protested. “Maybe because your not concentrating well to your practice… I can see that there is some thing bothering you… you seems unfocused and quite distorted in your training… is there something wrong…” Lei-Hane ask her friend “None…everything is just fine…maybe I’m just tired… see you around…” with that the young warrior walks away. But Lei-Hane is certain that there is something bothering his friend.

Chapter V : BackStab

“What was that…” A spearman gets wary to the sounds coming from the forest. “Take it easy boy, the sound of the monkeys in the forest would not kill you… this is your first patrol isn’t it… well things are not that excited here. We are very far from Serpentholm… and if ever the Lotus would attack… they would not consider this Village. So don’t worry your self too much. “ A Veteran Dragon Warrior informed the young Spearman. Easing up the young warrior. “Have you ever fought with the Lotus… “ The Spearman asked “No… not really… but I have fought with the wolf warriors and some bandits… but I do wish that before I retire I can have that opportunity. “Well make your wish come true old man” A voice from nowhere and with that a buzzing noise began to be heard. From the woods a purple light emerge and from the light came out a leaf disciple. Throwing several blades to the unsuspecting guards killing two instantly. “We are under attacked.” The warrior shouted. The guards try to fight-off the lotus warriors that began to emerge from the purple doorway from the woods but they are coming in fast and within seconds, the guards are outnumbered. “Go boy… run to the base and warn them that the dark ones have decided to attack the village” with that. The spearman makes a run for it. Hoping to get enough re-enforcement to save those comrades of his that are left behind. “Renhiko! Renhiko! Were are the others… the Lotus have attacked the eastern gates… and they are coming in fast.” Renhiko cannot believe this. They were assured by Kenji himself that the lotus has lost its footing to the southern province and they have retreated to their stronghold to the north. Why are they here? Why have they attacked the most remote village, a diversion or something else? “Move men!” their commandeered ordered. Renhiko immediately fetch his Spear and dagger and ready himself o battle. When they arrive at the scene, only six of the eight dragon warriors that are among the guards are still able to put up a fight but the spearmen are all-dead. He really admired those Dragon warriors, their training’s have enable them to summon chi force that helps them in their fighting. Renhiko saw one blade acolyte was thrown to the air by the Dragon warrior technique. They charge to help their comrades, but before they manage to drew their swords and ready their spears; a lightning blast came from nowhere. Two warlocks coming from the portal have arrived and among them are sets of corrupted creatures. Renhiko cannot believe his eyes, one of the creatures seems to look like a rotting corpse, infested with maggots. The Infested one take a handful of flesh eating maggots and thrown it to the Renhiko’s platoon. The moment the maggots’ land at the warriors bodies, it immediately penetrated their skins. The result, Renhiko imagined would definitely be painful. And hell it is. The victims instantly fell to their knees and scream for help. Renhiko wishes he could help his fallen comrades, but even Renhiko himself knew he was in danger of being killed by the corrupted ones. Renhiko tried to fight back, everytime the lotus warriors tries to make an attack Renhiko uses his spear to stab if not to block the enemies. “You will die young one!” “Renhiko! Get down.” Someone shouted, even before the lotus leaf disciple manages to strike; an incoming arrow hit it. When Renhiko turns his head, he saw his brother Rengokou with Lei-Hane’s platoon going for their rescue. But rather than feeling relief, he felt a cold shiver in his skin. Something is going to happen, something wrong. The archers hold their ground and launch several arrows to attacking Lotus. The moment the land to the targets, several Lotus warriors feel to the ground, while others manage to fight on. Even with arrival of Rengokou’s cavalry, it seems that they are still at the loosing end. The lotus seems to have plans to back down, more warriors emerge from the portal, and more and more of the Dragon warriors are being slain. Then Renhiko notice one staff holding warriors standing in the middle of the battlefield. It raise it staff and seems to be mumbling some words, with that a magical blanket emerge. Renhiko was uncertain what sorcery is this. Then he notice, arrows coming from Lei-hane’s platoon are not penetrating the lotus cover, and the lotus are further laying waste to his fighting comrades. “Kill the staff adept, kill it!” Renhiko shouted to his comrades, but two infested creatures protect the staff-one, and spearmen are reluctant to approach them. The samurai’s are being held to their ground by those diseased ones and warlocks that have arrived through the portal. Their only hope of winning this battle is maximizing the help coming from their ranged allies. “Lei-Hane! Kill the staff one, the one that’s raising his staff” Renhiko shouted. Lei-hane looks at it and takes an aim, but her arrows did not go through. “Linear strike, attack it from the front, not overhead!” Renhiko instructed. Lei-Hane understood, the magical blanket only effectively protects the lotus from projectile coming overhead. Lei-hone focuses herself and releases the arrow, hitting the staff-adept at the neck, instantly killing it. With it the magical protection were disabled, and archers continued they’re firing. The ranged units became more powerful with arrival of several sums and chemist to the scene. Renhiko is still fighting several leaf disciples along with his brother, who is; engage with infested and diseased creatures. But when a warlock approach Renhiko, Rengokou immediately left his corrupted opponent to help his brother, drawing his sword, Rengokou has separated the warlock’s head from its body. Renhiko was about to thank his brother when it was hit by something. Six master warlocks emerge from the portal, a cast several lightning bolts to the fighting dragon warriors, Rengokou still stand even thou critically wounded in an effort to give his brother a chance to escape. But a blade manages to get near and severely wounded Renhiko’s brother. Before finally falling Rengokou trust his sword to this chest and magical explosion consumed the bladed one along with the other lotus warriors that are approaching Renhiko. With the sight of his now dead brother, Renhiko felt mixed feelings, anger, disbelief, and fear, all in his mind. Rage come to his shaking body, quickly Renhiko picked up his brother’s sword and attacked the enemy. Lei-hane saw everything, no matter how it hurts her seeing the death of Rengokou, she focus herself to insure that Rengokou's sacrifice will not be put in vain, Renhiko will survive this battle. She releases several arrows to kill those dark ones that are staging to strike Renhiko while on his back. She is aware that Renhiko is fully enraged with his brother’s death that concentration is minimal to him. As they continue to fight, a ranking warlock also arrives from the portal and ordered the master warlocks some instruction. And with it, the warlocks cast a spell that summons a blinding light. When Lie-hane regain her sight, she noticed that some of their still living warriors are no longer there along with the master warlocks and lotus warriors. Where they have taken them, why have they taken them? What had happened to Renhiko?


(Two weeks later)

Part VI: Rise of the Black Dragon

“Run! Run for your life!” a Dragon peasant, shouted, the lotuses have been harassing the southern province for the pass twelve days. After the battle at the eastern gates, the numbers of Dragon warriors have since then dwindled. Most of the new warriors are immediately shifted to the northern province to help in the final offensive to the lotus stronghold. Lord Kenji believes that after killing Zymeth, the threat of the Lotus would be neutralize. But this strategy has left other province thinly capable on defending their villages. Pocket groups of the lotus clan have been raiding several villages to capture some villagers, especially young men. It has been heard that the prelate warlock Enimaeth who is dealing with soul possession or mind control has studied a new type of corruption. Enimaeth wanted to utilize the skills of those warriors coming from the other clans for physical corruption has its drawbacks. This type of warriors doesn’t last long. They are indeed powerful but don’t have the will to fight off being totally consumed by their dark powers. “Move! AaaHHH! Nooooo!!!” screamed the villagers. Of all those dark warriors, there is one that they truly dreaded. A warrior that have been given the name "the Dark blade. "The dark blade weald the same crescent blades as a typical blade acolyte but he seems to move a lot faster and can also throw those crescent blade like a boomerang. Once in the air, that blade can be a flying messenger of death. With razor sharpness and durability like no other alloy, it can slice through a huge boulder. And the Dark Blade’s speed is incomparable to the other blade acolyte. It has been believed that the blades used by the Dark blade are identical to the blade once used by the Lotus bladed brother.

“Ah you are back… good … do you have fresh guinea pigs for me” Enimaeth ask the Dark Blade’s group. “Yes my master… but these are untrained peasants… they don’t know how to fight… they don’t even pose a threat even if I don’t yield our blades…” The Dark Blade explained. “ It doesn’t matter… I need to once more unlocked the mystery behind your creation… stupid Serpent Clan! Their raiders were able to destroy all my work…” Enimeath narrated “But I was able to create you…and you my Zharule… you would be the one to help defeat those pathetic clans and help me grab the leadership from Zymeth… he have been our leader for so long but yet we still bow before the Serpents… I would not take it anymore… and even if he possess the Serpent orb…I doubt that it would help him defeat the Dragon clan…” The prelate stated while Zharule the Dark Blade watches and listen. “I would like you train yourself and be the best among my creations… hybrids from the other clans…possessing the fighting skills from your origin and power of the new lotus field of study… Mind and Body corruption… possessing not only the body but also the will of the person corrupted…” basically none of this makes sense to Zharule, he does not care whether he really exist and what will be come of him. For him, his main purpose was to do battle. There is something in his mind that always compelling him to fight, but still there is something also at back of his consciousness a doubting feeling. It seems that he needs to find out some things but still unsure what will be it. “ Zharule!” Xaraz called “Lord Enimeath have sent for you… I think you’ll be once again be sent to the Dragon Village… you seems to be becoming the Lord’s favorite…” Zharule doesn’t want to listen to Xaraz ranting, he does not care what does his comrades think. For him he is only a tool, a living means of killing the pathetic dragon clan and the rivaling Serpent. But there is one thing that he hasn’t mentioned to anyone, even to his master Enimeath. Whenever he ventures to the Dragon’s village, it seems that the voice from his head became stronger. He even sees images that are unknown to him but seems to be too familiar. This vision seems to be following him every time he engages a dragon warrior. He is so affected that he decided he would capture one alive. “Hey I’m talking to you! Are listening?” Xaraz shouted as Zharule walks away. “You summoned me my master?” Zharule greeted his master, “Ah good… you have come… there is something that I need you do for me my bladed warrior


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The Black Dragon is a epic story about a Dragon Clan member that was abducted by the Lotus clan and transformed into a mind controlled fighting machine. I created this story deriving from my views to the upcoming (back then) expansion of Battle Realms - (winter of the Wolf) It was 1st publish in the Battle Realms fan-fic Forum. I never finished it because i became too busy those times and i don't have my own PC back then. I am really hoping to finish this, but i guess before i manage to do that, It will be too old that noone will ever care about the story or even be that familiar with it...:)