Living Legacy

A nightmare playing over a thousand times within his head, with him screaming, with him crying, with him begging, and demanding for it to end. Yet, this nightmare, an all too vivid reminder of his failings that will never go away, and as he relives it almost every night he can't help, but feel that his very life is spiraling out of control. How much longer can he keep the facade of a normal life up before finally he is forced to rip down the barricades holding back these visions of his horrible failures so that the whole world can see what he truly is?

A failure of a hero.

It's not like he wanted to be a failure, hell far from it. He had wanted for the longest time to just be what the temple had wanted him to be. He had followed their guidance like a loyal lamb without a care in the world until that fateful night. On that night he was forced to make a choice, a choice that continues to rip at his conscious, and play petty games with his emotions and state of mind. He had to choose between who would live and die. And who was he to make that sort of decision?

He was just a god damn kid, but at an early age he had to choose between his sister, and his parents. A choice that to this very day still has him waking up in cold sweats wishing that it was nothing more than a vivid nightmare created by his subconscious to remind him of the fickle force of life that the human race has. So as he lay there in his simple bed, he dreamed, and as he dreamed he remembers the horrors of that night.

An eleven year old standing on the steps of a temple near the city, the lights of said city a beautiful contrast to the darkness that had befallen the temple on this night. As that eleven year old looks up the steps, steps covered in the blood of would be defenders of the temple, he spots the fire and smoke that will stick with him for a very long time. That child, struggles to make his way up the steps, his mind reeling with thoughts of what could have happened in his moment of absence. He makes it to the top, a pile of corpses discarded on top of one of the shrines lays as a precursor to the events that are about to transpire. The kid takes a deep breath and begins to move forward, he is eleven years old, but he has been trained for moments like this.

Hah!

Trained, what a foolish thing for an eleven year old to think at a time like this. Like an eleven year old can cope with the sight of his mother hanging from a lamp post bleeding out while whimpering to him to close his eyes and run away. Or can rationalize the horror painted on his father's face as he stares at you with dread in his heart because he knows soon he will be dead, and that he will have died in front of his first born son. Yet, the boy believes his training will steel his nerves, and make him what he was meant to be.

A weapon. No, to the boy he is meant to be a hero and that is what he is trying to be.

So as he staggers up the steps and sees his mom, hanging from a lamp post, he almost breaks instantly. No one is prepared for that, no one can steel themselves against that, not a damn single human being in the universe can say "I'm ready to see this", and be honest about it. So as he sees his mom, he almost breaks down, but he doesn't. Which is surprising as he is visibly shaking as he looks at the man he can not identify, holding his father by his throat, and looking back at you with his glowing eyes. The boy can't move, he doesn't know what to do, but the training he has had is screaming for him to attack.

But what can an eleven year old do against something this powerful? Against something so vile that is can do this much damage without even trying?

The man has destroyed the guards and is now licking his chops at the fact that he can decimate your family. He doesn't care that the boy is shaking in fear and is clenching his fists up. He doesn't care because he doesn't have that shred of humanity which allows him to feel sympathy for a child who is about to make a decision. The creature, for this is no man, emits a chuckle that will haunt the thoughts of the boy for years to come, and then points at the little girl, no older than three, looking at the events unfolding. She would be lucky, she wouldn't remember the pain, she is too young to remember much. The creature asks calmly in the direction of the little boy:

"Either the little girl or this man gets to die...make your pick."

The boy is struck with fear, he shivers, and then looks back and forth between his father and sister. He doesn't want to pick. He wants to tell the creature to shove it and destroy him, but who is he to do that? He is a boy, no older than eleven, he is unarmed, and has nothing truly special or powerful about him. He is just a kid and already he is making decisions of this caliber. If he had the powers that the temple had been telling him he had, maybe he could make a difference, maybe he wouldn't have to choose then, maybe just maybe he could save them both. But this boy has no powers, he is a weakling who can't even control his own spiritual energy.

The boy looks at his father for guidance and with a sinful nod the father tells his only son one final thing:

"Take care of your sister, Katsuo."

With that, the man forces the choice, and in a second the father's neck is snapped clear off. Blood splatters everywhere, but the boy's sister won't see it. The boy has done the only sensible thing, he has stepped in front of her vision. He will not allow her to see their father like this and better yet, will not allow her to see the horrible creature as it lets out a laugh. No, not a laugh, a hiss. The boy looks behind him to see the creature is gone, all that is left is the beheaded corpse of his father, shortly after his mother dies from blood loss, and leaves behind two children in a world where they would most likely be eaten up and spat back out.

The boy murmurs to himself, falling to his knees, and bringing the only family he has left in this world closer to his chest in a family embrace:

"If only I was strong...if only I was as strong as they said I was, then maybe..."



Katsuo wakes up, sweating from every pour in his body as he sits straight up in his bed while visibly shaking from the nightmare that he has just had. He lets out a deep sigh, realizing that he has yet to fully get over the horrors of that night, and that more than likely he will be having this nightmare for the rest of his life. Or at least until he make things right by bringing justice on to the creature that had taken his father and mother from him. But how can one normal every day man do that?

Is it even possible to dream of bringing a creature with that sort of power and sinister intent to justice with mere fists and knowledge alone? More than likely the answer is no and though those that survived the incident still believe him to be the reincarnation of their weapon, he doesn't believe it. If he were their legendary weapon then he should have been able to save his parents, he should have been able to beat that creature without breaking a sweat, but instead here he was. Laying in bed, sweating more than a pubescent teenager looking at the first nudy picture he has ever seen, and silently cursing his own weakness.

That is not how a legendary weapon acts. That is how a man who has lost quite a deal acts. A man, just a man. Not a hero, not a weapon, and surely not a saint either. Just Katsuo Shugoshin, brother to Yuki Shugoshin, and one of the few survivors of the forest temple tragedy that happened over seven years ago. A tragedy that has nearly been completely forgotten by everyone around these parts and a tragedy that will forever be shrouded in secrecy.

A knock on his bedroom door causes him to jump a bit, but the familiar voice of his kid sister causes him to ease up a bit.

"Katsuo, are you up? You promised to make me pancakes.", she whines, causing a grin to come across his face. She is lucky to not remember what he remembered, lucky to not be haunted by the visions of their parents being slowly killed. To her, their parents died in a fire during the tragedy, and that is how he intended to keep it. There is no reason to shatter her reality and force her into the same situation he was in. She deserves to be normal, she deserves to be free from the shackles that continuously bind him to that night. "Katsuo!", she shouts as he stands up, and make his way to the bedroom door.

"Hold your horses.", he replies calmly as he opens the door to the bedroom revealing his kid sister. He smiles at her and pat her on the head. "Let's go make you some pancakes.", he say as he walks past her.