Do I seek vengeance on my masters' killers?

---

Underneath a moonlit night, a red ghost walks with silent feet.

Trailing wisps' and dripping tails.

Faceless and unknown, it walks alone.

The moon is red. Crying tears of blood, because it can see the rivers that will flow this night.

The ghost claims it is a child.

The world says otherwise.

Two men, standing on either side of an arched gate. Holding spears and shivering, they wished they could have been sleeping. How unlucky they were.

The ghost runs forward, and dodges the reactionary thrust from the man on the right. Grabbing the shaft as it passes, it reverses the spear and stabs its' attacker, then brakes the wood and kills the man on the left.

Looking upward, the ghost sees a man in flowing robes standing on his balcony.

The man, Lord Kuniaki Soda of the Soda clan, takes action immediately.

"Shinobi! To arms, my warriors, to arms!"

---

Sprinting through the doorway, I quickly slash the throats of three groggy men and grab a bow. Notching an arrow and pulling it back, I aim up at the figure on the balcony. He ducks back into the building, and I carefully put the bow back down. I could hurt myself with that thing, since I don't know how to use it. Of course, they didn't know that. But hopefully this would keep them inside the building.

Raising my sword and letting moonlight reflect off its' edge, I signal to the two horsemen that all is clear. When they get in, I explain the plan to them. After all, I just thought it up.

The castle was just a huge pile of dirt, but because of that it was impossible to just burn the whole thing down. The keep on the highest tier of dirt was where the lord resided, and our goal if we were to kill him. The two would light torches and set fire to the southern gate leading to the second tier, while I headed directly to the third and highest tier and assassinate the lord. If all goes well, they say, we will only have to kill one or two other people.

I have to clench my teethe to keep from laughing. Only one or two?

Hah! haha! hahahaha!

Nodding quickly, I head to the wall. I wait for only a minute before the two horsemen ride out of the guardhouse, torches alight and bright. I turn around and begin climbing the dirt wall.

As I make it about half way up, I hear shouts and the sound of many men moving at the south gate, and I hurry my pace. About three feet from the top of the wall, my fingers slip. Dangling from just my left hand, I am left with ample time to reflect on my life.

Deciding that reflecting on my joke of a life would just be masochistic of me, I keep climbing.

At the top, a head pops out in front of me, so I do the natural thing. Coming to a rest beside the now-faceless body, I quickly take his spear and sprint to the next tier. As I do, I hear the shouts and movement growing louder, and I see a bright flare where the horsemen have managed to start a fire.

Passing by the wall, I walk up the ramp leading to the next level. At the top, I am greeted by another questioning head, at which point I find a use for my spear.

Walking under the open gate, I hear the thump, of the overly inquisitive guards' body. Looking up at the massive keep before me, layered in five floors, I have to sigh. Why make so many hypothetical stairs?

Walking up to the front door, I give it a couple knocks. When the man opening the door has a sword, I promptly take it away and return it, pointy end first. Moving further in, I discover more like-wise underservering wielders of swords. Finding it a waste of time to cut them up and then sharpen my sword afterward, I make do with snapping their necks or using my recently "borrowed" knifes to cut them down from a distance.

Like this, I progressed to the second floor. At the top of the stairs, I found an interesting man. He was turned away, sitting on his knees. As he rose, he delivered a speech. "It seems you have come this far. Rejoice! you have the honor of being killed by the great j-"

I passed by his headless corpse. He talked too much. Like this, I progressed to the third floor. On this floor the lights had been dimmed. From behind, below, above, and sometimes even from right beside me, dark clothed individuals rose from their hiding places-

-only to fall back into them, except with a couple holes in them.

Like this, I progressed to the fourth floor.

Here, I was met by another individual. His armor was a gleaming golden, and he wore a full mask in the shape of an angel. His sword was much longer than mine, and I could identify it as a nodachi. Such a weapon was for the foolish and the truly skilled. Drawing my sword, I prepare to challenge this man.

"You must be a warrior of great strength to have progressed this far. But you stop here. Now, come!"

Moving forward, I feint an overhead and swing at his gut. He saw through it and knocks my blade to the side contemptuously, then swings downward.

Like that, the ground beneath my disappears into a dark abyss, straight back to the third floor. Leaping over his head, I reverse my katana and stab him in the back. He grunts, the twists, bringing his sword around with a whistling sound. Leaping upward again, i realize my mistake.

He, expecting me to jump, changed the direction of his massive blade with ease and I see the faint glow of ki around the edge. It nears my face and-

He stops. He grunts, wondering what is wrong. Looking down, he sees the long piece of wood shoved into the joint of his arm, locking it in place. He looks up just in time to take my blade full in the chest. As I fall to the ground on top of him, he gasps for air and his mask falls off. His eyes are blue.

"How...how did you get so good?"

For the first time, I trust myself to speak, even though I am covered in blood.

"It is not that I am good. You are just honorable."

He looks confused, and as his eyes begin to mist I speak words that make him smile.

"I'm not stupid enough to restrict myself when death is on the line."

Pulling my sword out of his corpse, I sheathe my sword.

Then I pick up his nodachi. I hear lots of footsteps upstairs.

---

"Lord Soda! Will your bodyguards really be able to stop the attackers?"

I nod firmly. As a warrior, there are many who are better than I. However, I am the lord, and as such, I must lead my people.

"Remain calm! My greatest warrior has never been defeated! You all know him, he is the great R-"

Creeeeeeak

...What?

Creeeeeeeeak

Are those...footsteps?

Creeeeeeak

But why are they so slow? Is he wounded, or-

With a final squeal of wood, a red figure appears from the top of the stairs. The red kimono is nothing but ripped rags, and the bandages covering its' hands and feet are in similar shape. Even the cloth covering its' mouth has been shredded, and from what I can see of the figures' mouth-

Oh god almighty, we're all dead already, aren't we?

Its' smile seems to widen, as if it can hear me.

---

Bamboo sticks. That's all they are. This room was crowded with warriors, but they are just bamboo. Well, bamboo that squirts red when you cut it open.

Three feet in the door, the blood is splashing my feet. Five feet in the door, I can feel it on the bottom of my feet. Seven feet in, It begins to lap at my toes. Fifteen feet in, it reaches up to my shins. Thirty feet in, I am basically wading through red.

After who-knows how long, my tired arms become still. Moving has become hard, as all the bodies are blocking my way. I''m lucky I don't have to bury all these guys.

Finding which part belonged to who would be a real pain.

Moving forward, I find the lord curled up in the fetal position on the floor in the corner. His face is splashed with blood. Raising the nodachi, I stab deep into his body.

Then, for the first time since I started my quest, I'm tired of killing.

---

Kazuma's late. We were supposed to retreat as soon as we lit a building on fire, but he still isn't back. Tapping my knee worriedly, I look at the keep and see-

A curtain. All down the side, from the top floor, red has painted the side of the keep. I open my mouth, disbelieving at first. Then, I see a red figure standing on the balcony, and I realize the truth. Kazuma hurries up to me, and together we watch, unbelieving, as the figure slides down the roof of the keep, and finally reaches the bottom.

"Koin...is that what I think it is?"

I nod mutely.

"Ah...I see. He's a god, huh?"

"A god? I'd like to see him fight one. Though I'd feel bad for whoever worships that god. They'd soon be left without anyone to worship."

"Hah, but not us."

I turn and look at him in confusion. "Huh?"

Kazuma points at the red figure walking toward us. "I don't need any other god, don't ya think?"

I turn back, and just nod.

A god, indeed. A very short one.

---

No. Even though vengeance is indeed a childish emotion, I do not feel it. Instead, I simply wish to leave the world with as much grief as possible. If everyone is sad, then those who bring happiness will be treasured. At least, that is my hope.