Way Of The Warrior – Loyalty

{ Denise gracefully hosts Six Sentence Stories, where writers unleash their magic under one simple rule: in no more or no less than 6 sentences.
The prompt word is : BOOKMARK }

[The following story unfolds at Japan during the late 1600’s of the Edo period. References and terms are used from various eras of Japan’s history… before any purists out there cut me to pieces…please, keep in mind:
this is a work of fiction…of a brain floating in cosmic debris.

Chapter I of Way Of The Warrior.

 – calligraphy made and katana owned, by Spira –

Arigato gozaimasu ]

 

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WAY OF THE WARRIOR

I

LOYALTY

 

No words…no birds flying frightened from their bamboo trees, no cries of agony… a leather chest plate cut open, a head released from the neck it was resting upon; but not a single word, only the falling of two lifeless bodies like a sigh from the last page of a book marking the end of a story, as the sun through the leaves reflects on a naked blade.

He can hear almost every sound surrounding him – the reluctant farewell of a leaf to its tree, the drop of blood falling from the edge of his katana¹; from the moment he released Kodoku² from its saya³ with an unperceivable move of his left thumb, as he gently pushed the tsuba⁴ forward, to unsheathing his katana & striking in one continuous, fluid movement⁵, the victims of that move had only time to blink.

Yet, in his mind, everything was seen before he even touched his katana, in a hypnotic sequence that foretold his actions; breathing slowly, the samurai known by the name of Naoki performs a chiburui⁶  to clean the blood from his katana, followed – in absolute contrast with what has just happened – by a slow sheathing of the sword back in its scabbard.

Kodoku & Osuru⁷ are united once more; every samurai names his katana in hope of infusing the sword with his warrior spirit – Naoki is, as far as he knows, the only one who has named the saya as well; Solitude² is Embraced⁷ in one undividable being with their samurai.

It seems much longer than 7 days since Naoki began to walk on this path to avenge the assassination of his lord Shigenobu⁸ , the noble head of the Zen Ryȗ⁹ clan, the kind protector who took him under his wing despite not being of noble bloodline, who forged him into the samurai he is; yet he wasn’t by his lord’s side when he was killed as it was Shigenobu’s decision to leave his most trusted samurai behind…the cherry blossom of secret joy upon hearing that decree has now been reduced to a willow’s lament.

“You will be her shadow, at all times – Naoki, during my absence you will serve & protect my sister with the same dedication you have shown to me”…Naoki bowed deeply, with the only words a samurai can utter to his lord: “Hai, wakarimashita ¹⁰ “; as his forehead touched the ground, one name filled every chamber of his soul…Haruko¹¹.

 

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Notes

¹ katana: a Japanese sword used by samurai warriors, with a blade that is curved with a cutting edge.

² kodoku: solitude; the name of Naoki’s katana

³ saya: a scabbard

⁴ tsuba: the round or square guard of a Japanese blade weapon

⁵ Naoki performs what is known as Iaido – a Japanese martial art that emphasizes being aware and capable of quickly drawing the sword and responding to sudden attacks.
* Iaido consists of four main components: the smooth, controlled movements of drawing the katana from its scabbard (or saya), striking or cutting an opponent, shaking blood from the blade, and replacing the katana in the scabbard.

The metaphysical aspects of Iaido have been influenced by several philosophical and religious currents. Iaido blends the ethics of Confucianism, methods of Zen, philosophical Taoism, the purifying rites of Shintoism and aspects of Bushido.

The primary emphasis is in ‘iai‘ , the psychological state of being present. Iaido is a reflection of the morals of the classical warrior and to build a spiritually harmonious person possessed of high intellect, sensitivity, and resolute will. *_{(from Wikipedia)}

⁶ chiburui: the move by which one symbolically removes blood from a katana blade

⁷ osuru: embrace, require; the name of Naoki’s scabbard

⁸ Lord Shigenobu: head of the Zen Ryȗ clan

⁹  Ryȗ: dragon / _also school

¹⁰ Yes, I understand  ^(polite)

¹¹ Lady Haruko: sister of Lord Shigenobu

 

By The Company Of Warriors I Keep
Spira / Nick © July 2022

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