The lost path
15:28 Jan 15 2012
Times Read: 689
In a dark forest were the sunlight scatters the ground like bits of broken glass. A small branch of elite warriors find there self at home. A village older then any who live there now can recall, for even with immortality wisdom is something that comes with age. Something a Rachet knew more then he cared to share about,age is. The man had did not look a day past twenty-five, but guessing that would mean you missed the mark by more then a few centuries
Rachet sat in a tree his mind divided.Half on the students training in the forest below him,and half on the past. He had seen many things and watched man rise and fallonly to rise again. "Rebirth, now that's a gift" his mind thought in silence. He hadgrown long tired of his time on earth. Once he new the dream of a soul back when his training was started, but that time had long pasted now was a new age. Were death was a welcome thought to monster that he had become. Sure the people of today did not view vampires the same as they did in the past. No now they were the talk of the town, everyone knew who the elders wereand everyone one wanted to be one. Well they knew who most the elders were.Rachet and his group were different, no branch of the elders knew there names.
and humans only muttered legends of the beings that kept watch.
In the year three thousand two hundred and forty-six a treaty was signed for the brothers of life.comprised of government that for a thousand years had come to expect there legends might be true.Sought out the truth behind the tails of blood sucking nobles, and men who had the power of twelve. Rachet recalled that day well he had scoffed at the thought of coming out of hiding.Were they not the damned and forsaken, and should they not remain so. Rachet could not for see the future but he knew must prepare for the worst. He was use to this life and did not wish to change it. Alive he had been an assassin known though out the lands as the last Hanzo, leader of the ninja and sword crafts men. In death life was much the same
he became even more a legend then ever before. Now he was forced to always do what his training had taught him. To hide in the shadows to never be seen or heard to hold no one close and always look over your shoulder. As the leader of all ninja clans death was nothing new to him the rush of battle was welcomed. As a vampire death was what gave him strength, and battle was one sided. Rachet knew that he could never go back to his clan; for they would see him as a demon and trying to defeat them.
They would force him to kill the very few he had ever felt close to. Or even worse there loyalty to him would cause them all to try to become like him. He would not allow himself to take that from them, there soul.
Ninjas like to tell stories of creatures of the night. They felt closer to them then other beast of legends. Rachets father was no different he told his son many tails of wolf-men, demons and of those who feed on the blood of the living. Cursed by the exchanging of blood with the vampire that wished for what ever reason to turn them. It was said that once cursed your soul would be ripped from the wheel of life, never to return
but your body would remain until it was killed. Many ninja's left to find such beings and steal there power for there own needs most returned, but none returned immortal. Rachet was glad was always glad to see that each ninja had failed. Why would anyone even a ninja want to forfeit
there soul for power? Rachet would lay awake at night pondering this question with images of fanged shadow beast plaguing his mind. Nope he would never be one of those ninja he was perfectly content with living a normal life of a ninja. Some how knowing any moment could be your last brought the young ninja joy and pride.He never dreamed he see the day when horses were traded in for machines that drove on rubber or would have fathomed he would see such a machine take the air.
For many years he lived a split life no one noticed that he hadn't aged. There were none left that knew his face. All that he had known had died in battle his father his mother and all of his teachers.
When his father died he had taken on his role as the masked leader of the ninja. After that he fought for and against the ruling class of Japan. The leaders of the ninja did not sear loyalty to one clan it was there job to preserve there way of life. If a clan progressed to rapidly or held the clans back then they had to be put down. There was a code kept among the ninja and it was the Hanzo clans job to preserve that. Rachet was the strongest Hanzo known to time. The ninja prospered under his rule and the code of silence was kept stronger then ever. When a ninja got to bold Hanzo Rachet was there to humble there minds. This was his new life living hidden from the world as a ninja, and living hidden from the ninja as a vampire.
A war like no other soon came to Japan, one that the ninja could do little to stop.
From the west came new guns and a new way of life. The lords that once ruled the lands had become a thing of the past, and with that the way of the sword no longer held power over the land. With that ninja's became outlaws. Broken groups of killers for higher bound by no code of honor and loyal only to the highest bidder. This was a sad time for Rachet his past lost like a fish in muddy water. Rachet took off his mask and turned away from the path of his father and his father before him. All that had been fell like the mask from his face along with it half the life Rachet lived. With out the Hanzo clan what was he other then a monster. From that point on Rachet lived one life and faded into the past as a nameless phantom. War would turn this life up side down as well but not for many years to come.
"And of course we had a calm before our storm" Rachet chuckled braking the day dream of the past. The students were getting closer he could hear them less then an acre away. Thinking perhaps he had trained them to well, at the very least one of them anyways. Ruki was the youngest and brightest of hi students. There was no doubt in his mind she was the one leading the chase. Rachet had two other students under him both older in age and body
then Ruki. American woman he had fallen in love with during the twenty-second century who had a gift for getting into trouble, Jade. Then there was his son, Lex. A century and a half older the Jade did not take away from the feeling of son and mother love between them. Lex was nineteen the day he mistook Rachet for a lost guy in a new city. No one knew still to this day who had sired the man but Rachet instantly took a liking to the intelligent fledgling. They were Rachets family, a family that was quickly gaining on him.
With a proud smile upon his face he leaped and bound though the trees. His daughter's laughter had reached his hears. The pleasant sound of a young teens laugh" Were getting closer Daddy." Rachet laughed under his breath as the young girl's immortal family chided her on being loud. The prey that they hunted today was going to greet her with a hug and a lesson.
The prey they hunted tomorrow might want to take her head off. Rachet had taken on a new roll of leadership in the past few hundred years. They were the keepers of the old ways. Much like Rachet over saw the ninja of his time, his family were the ones that looked over the laws of the vampire. Before the treaty the laws were kept to keep vampires known only as legends. Now they were kept to keep vampires's hunger for power in check.
Constantly Rachet tested his family making them stronger smarter and more adept at catching there kind. Today was no differnt the test was to catch an elder vampire in the forest, and this forest was Rachets home.
Severl yards away three vampires leaped effortlesly though the trees. The one leading the group was Ruki. Ruki was a young girl in both age and body. Fifteen years old with long jet black hair and bright eyes that shined like emeralds against her pale skin. Pausing to take in what her mother and brother had said about her laughter. Ruki looked down at the ground somtimes training was hard for her. She understood that it must be taken serously but some times got carried away thinking of it as a game she played with the only man she had ever called father. It was fun to her the hunts became a game of hide and seek. The spars with her brother a violent game of tag with stun guns and sticks. And the history leasons with her mom gave her insite to the time her family lived as mortals filling her head with dreams of a normal life. A life that had been robed from the girl at a very young age.
It was not vampires that took Ruki's life away. No she had her own idea of what a monster really was. Born to a happy poor family Ruki knew little of the people that lived in the big houses that her mother worked for. As far as she knew they just really liked guns, and her mommy was the best gun maker there ever was. Rather it threw bullets or stun blast it did not matter each gun was a work of art. A strong indepent woman Ruki's mother never spoke much about her father and Ruki never asked her mommy was all she needed. They would spend hours every day crafting guns together, by the age of eight Ruki could take apart just about any gun and put it back together faster then a trained warrior in the military. Like many young in her time she had heard stories of vampires but couldnt name one that she knew. It was the bad people her mommy warrned her about, the ones that would "try to take mommy away." Ruki did not know why her mother lived in hidding but she would have nightmares of differnt freakishly looking mutants trying to pray her away from her mother and drag her into the darkness. However every day she would wake up to the smell of pancakes and eggs. Letting the little girl know that the monsters had not come, and she would skip happly to breakfast singing songs she heard on the streats and in the hallowgrams. Even with the nightmares of the unkown life was great and nothing would change that till the day of her fifteenth birthday. Ruki was out side shooting cans off a fence line with her new gun her mother had crafted for her. A sleek pistal with red tented metal complete with a lazer sight and a second barel for stun blast. Ruki couldnt be happier with it all in all it was the most beautiful gun she had ever seen, but her mother had worned her of its fire power"although the recoil is very weak, this gun will easly take down a elder." At first she couldnt beleave that such a small weapon would take down a vampire. That was until she took aim at a can she had leaned up against the bottom of the fence, and blew the fence post to splinters. She new she had been caught when she heard her mothers laughter coming from the window. The next targets were set up a bit higher and she made sure they faced the woods. Just in case she missed, though that was becoming something more to talk about then the girl who carried guns all over town. Ruki pulled the trigger at her last target and expected the alloy can to become confetti like all the others but she heard a click. Frustrated with her failure to count the rounds a she fired them. Ruki flipped the switch to stun and found enjoyment in making the can dance into the woods. The she heard the most awful scream she had ever heard in her life still today.
A loud scream from her mother pierced the girls ears like a spear though the heart. Instinctively she checked her batter life on her gun"Damn empty." The gun would take a few minutes to recharge but she did not have a few minutes her mother was hurt. Holstering the weapon she rushed in the back door unconcerned with what ever danger was inside. What she saw was her house in shambles everything was thrown about and a trail of blood lead to the living room. Kicking her way though the broken wood and twisted metal she rushed into the room. Just in time to see a man step out the door, a man she had saw before. Time stood still has the man her mother worked for turned and tossed a lighter like the one she had seen in history books into the room. At that moment she noticed a smell she had not noticed before a smell that was coming from the pile of blood and broken furniture, Gas! Quickly she ran out the back door making it outside just as her house went up in flames. Bullets and oil met with fire turning the once happy home into a nightmarish bomb. An explosion that had taken on a life of its own forced the young girl to the ground. Bullets wood and everything else was thrust outwards as if trying to evade the hellish flames that wish to consume everything they touched. Three of sharp peaces of metal found there home in the back of Ruki as she hit the ground. The young girl closed her eyes for what she thought was going to be the last time, and at that moment she realized two things. Who the bad people were and what was at the bottom of the pile that started the blaze.
With a sad crimson tear and a hand on her pistol Ruki gathered her thoughts. She thought she had heard her fathers laugh though she didn't think that her mother or brother had. quickly she turned to the and motioned for them to catch up. "you two keep going this way im going to split off to the left." Lex tried to stop her but she had already took off bouncing though the trees. He had wanted to ask if she was ok, the stain left by the bloody tear caused him to worry about his little sister, and she knew this giving him no time to ask. Ruki quickly found a clearing and knew her teammates had as well could sense them, the one that she couldn't sense was Rachet."Daddy hiding your presence is almost cheating."she chuckled lightly. Her mothers thoughts broke her mind's focus"The grass my dear" Ruki looked down and sure enough there was a missing patch of grass were just enough earth had been moved to fit her fathers body. With a smirk she jumped and landed on the grass planting a foot right were a head might be and called out as loud as she could."Nope not here!" With in the blink of an eye the lose dirt shot out from under her. She had missed her mark and landed on Rachet's feet. Rachet took advantage of her mistake and sprung up arms out ready for the kill and a smile upon his face. Ruki spun around and in the same second had her pistol drawn and steadily aimed at Rachets face, who quickly threw up his arms in defeat. At that moment the other two walked out of the woods Lex's arms around his mother both laughing."Thought she was going to taze you father." Rachet looked down at his little girl so much had changed seance he first found her. Now she was stronger then she had ever been with skills that were only matched by Rachet himself, yes he was a proud father proud of them all.
COMMENTS
-