Chapter Text
Cage:
The land of Ashina. Conquered by the Sword Saint Isshin Ashina from the previous ruler, the samurai Shuzen Tamura. On the brink of collapse and war from the Interior Ministry of the Fool of Owari, Oda Nobunaga. The Ashina Castle was under siege by a legion of Shinobi from said Interior Ministry, and at the top of the Ashina Estate was a dojo with a duel currently taking place. The duel was between the leader of the siege, previously a shinobi for Ashina, the hulking, yet agile and cunning man known only as Owl, and his son, an orange clad shinobi wielding a prosthetic arm, the retainer to the Divine Heir, Wolf, or as Isshin liked to call him, ‘Sekiro’.
“THREE! Fear is absolute. There is no shame in losing one battle. But you must take revenge by any means necessary! … I wonder if you’ve got it in you; to bring me down.” Owl taunted his son as he watched him resurrect himself. The one armed wolf wasted no time, throwing a shuriken at his father which was quickly deflected before following it up with a quick slash. “Ghh!” Wolf wasted no time in exploiting the opening, relentlessly slashing at his father before he stomped down, releasing smoke everywhere.
SHINK!!
Sekiro deflected a shuriken aimed at him, and prepared to block a strike from Owl, only for him to jump off the sword and throw poison. The orange shinobi back stepped to avoid the toxic substances, and he took note at Owl’s slowing speed and increasingly desperate attacks. The Great Shinobi might still be a force to be reckoned with, but it’s clear that his age is catching up with him. Sekiro took full advantage of his father trying to relax himself, and charged at full force with a spear via his prosthetic arm. Owl could do nothing but take the full brunt of his son’s attack, and by the time he recovered, Wolf disappeared from sight.
“!!!” Owl sensed his son behind him, and went for a powerful strike. Unfortunately the speed was much too slow, and was quickly deflected by Wolf, leaving him open for a crippling blow.
STAB!!
Wolf stabbed his father in the neck, before moving backwards and preparing to finish the fight. Owl attempted to muster the last of his strength and went for a lunging blow at his son, but Sekiro countered by stepping on his blade, before proceeding to do two slashes to his shoulders, rendering his arms useless, ended his father with a stab in the back, just as he did to him 2 years ago at Hirata Estate.
“Death of a shadow… you taught me well.” Wolf pulled out Kusabimaru and watched as his father fell to the ground, but not before he heard his final words.
“Hehe… that’s… my boy…” Owl fell to the ground with a smile on his face. Proud of the shinobi his son had grown up to be, as his body slowly faded away.
忍
殺
Shinobi Execution
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“Hnnng… hmm?” The Great Shinobi woke up in a forest, confused as to why he was in a place of flora instead of Yomi.
“This place… it reeks of spirits, but it isn’t the afterlife. Hmm?”
Owl took notice of his shoulders and his legs. They felt lighter. And not only his limbs, but also his equipment. Did they lose their initial weight? Was something wrong with them? No. It wasn’t that something was wrong with his equipment, in fact his equipment couldn’t be in better condition. Owl could feel strength welling in his body and that’s when he realized he had been returned to his prime. To the true Great Shinobi he was renowned a-
“Unidentified person ahead.”
“Is that the one The Doctor told us about?”
“I hope so. The sooner we get them, the sooner we can get out of this damn forest. This place gives the creeps.”
“Quit your whining, if we get them we can use them to get revenge for Lady Signora.”
Owl turned to the group of voices and was… confused to say the least. The group consisted of a large purple man with a massive hammer, a red man with a hat wielding a rifle, a woman in light blue clothing carrying a lantern, and a hooded man that seemed to carry daggers.
“By the Tsarista he’s tall.”
“Excuse us sir, but we need you to come with us.”
Owl took note of their demeanors, and in particular, noted the inhuman enhancements on the purple one, and the conversation he overheard from them prior to their arrival. Something about a ‘Doctor’. If this Doctor was anything like that vile man Doujun, then they were not to be trusted. Owl unsheathed his massive blade and prepared for confrontation.
“We’re doing this the hard way aren’t we? Well, I don’t think The Doctor will mind if we bring him back in pie-” The Pyro Fatui Agent couldn’t even finish his sentence before Owl disappeared from sight and completely skewered him with his blade.
“!!!”
“When did he-”
“TAKE THIS!!” The rifleman aimed his gun at the shinobi and fired, what he wasn’t expecting was the shinobi to counter the Pyro infused bullet with a shuriken, before dashing at inhuman speeds towards him and cutting him down, the Fatui Agent still skewered on his sword.
“NO!!” The Cryo Cicin Mage summoned tiny bugs from her lantern and encased herself in a shield of ice. The Shinobi merely responded by throwing the corpse on his sword at the Cicin Mage, breaking the shield. “GAHH!!” Dazed from the movement, she looked for the shinobi, unable to find him. “... what’s that sme-”. She didn’t even get to finish her last words before she was bisected from behind with a firecracker infused strike.
“YOU MONSTER!!” The hammer user charged at the man who slaughtered his comrades, and prepared to bring the hammer down on him, only for Owl to disappear in a mist of feathers. “... huh?” Was all the response he could muster before he felt something sharp through his skull. Owl had teleported above him, and proceeded to cleave him in two.
“Hmmph… vermin… unworthy for even a bird.” Owl unsheathed his sword and walked away from the one sided massacre of the masked men.
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“ Inhale… exhale… inhale… exhale… ” In the trees of Chinju Forest was a Shuumatsuban agent trying to catch his breath and not make his presence known, witnessing the slaughter that just unfolded against the Fatui members. This Fatui group was previously under the command of Harbinger #8, La Signora or ‘The Fair Lady’, and were seeking ways to avenge her death at the hands of the Raiden Shogun. They were lost until they received orders from Harbinger #2, Il Dottore or ‘The Doctor’, to retrieve something, or someone, from Chinju Forest that would help them in their quest for revenge. The Shuumatsuban received that intelligence from a mole in that Fatui group, and deployed an agent to trail them. Said agent was in disbelief due to both how quickly the Fatui members were dispatched despite the large man not having a Vision of anysort on him, and the sheer efficiency and speed of said executions. He looked nothing more than an old man, a massive old man, but an old man nonetheless, and the agent was about to step in in order to help him, but that idea was thrown away the moment he saw what the old man did next. “I need to get back to the Yashiro Commission, I need to warn Lord Ayato, this needs to be kno-”
Stab!
“Hu… wha-” The Shuumatsuban agent looked down to see a sword sticking out of his chest before it was quickly pulled out. His vision was fading, and the last thing he heard was the voice of that man.
“Hah! If this was supposed to be a shinobi, then it’s a pitiful excuse for one.” With those words, Owl disappeared from Chinju forest, and where he was heading was something only he knew.
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“My lord… you know I’m happy to do whatever you need… but don’t you think this is a bit too much?”
“Hmm, I thought you were partial to exotic flavors.”
“My lord there’s exotic… and then there’s inedible…” Thoma looked at the… dish… that his lord, Kamisato Ayato made for him. Ayato thought to do something for him as it was his birthday. While Thoma appreciated the gesture, he was sure that if that entered his stomach he’d be seeing the gates of Celestia.
“Brother… Please don’t make Thoma eat it. I don’t want to see him suffer from a stomach ache tomorrow.” Ayaka spoke up, attempting to convince Ayato to not have Thoma eat whatever he made.
“Hmm… seems I’m outvoted. Very well then.” Ayato said with a hint of sadness.
Thoma looked at Ayaka with a face that pretty much shouted, ‘Thank you milady.’ and Ayaka looked back, nonverbally saying ‘I’m sorry for what almost happened.’ The overall atmosphere was lively, with all 3 of them enjoying a hotpot, and Ayato and Ayaka preparing to shower their housekeeper with gifts and presents, before Ayaka spoke a question.
“Strange, I thought for sure The Traveler would have appeared for your birthday Thoma.”
“Oh, he’s currently in Liyue helping the Millelith explore The Chasm. We might not hear from him in a while, but he assured me if it weren’t for that, he would’ve for sure made it here.”
“Ahh… still, I wish he was here.”
“Me too milady.” Thoma and Ayaka sat in silence for a bit, before Ayato used his Hydro Vision to lightly splash the two of them. “!!! My lord?!?”
“Brother?!?”
“Come now you two. Today is a joyous occasion, especially for you Thoma. Me and Ayaka both are forever indebted to you Thoma, and quite honestly, we would’ve never made it this far without you.”
“Agreed Brother. I don’t believe it needs to be said, but Thoma. Always know that we consider you family. Just as you’ve been here for us, we will always be here for you.”
“My lord… milady… thank you.” The three shared a hug, a sweet and tender moment despite Thoma and Ayaka’s now wet clothing, but the moment was cut short by a Shuumatsuban member entering the room.
“Lord Ayato, I ask for your attention please. This is an urgent matter.”
“Understood.” Ayato broke away from the hug, and motioned Thoma and Ayaka to stay in the room while he walked out to talk with the Shuumatsuban member.
“My lord, we received news about that agent we dispatched for the Fatui group headed for Chinju forest… he… didn’t make it.”
Ayato’s eyes widened for a bit before narrowing. His once cheerful expression back in the room was gone, replaced with his usual calm and calculated look, composing himself before asking his subordinate. “Tell me what happened.”