[Yamato] Battle Chronicles of a Wanderer

This Chronicle covers some of the events of Yamato after he leaves Hayato. Read the bio in the Human thread for a basic rundown before this point.

CHRONICLE I

It had been the first night after Yamato had abandoned his home. The horse that he stole from Nentsu's family farmstead had resisted Yamato, but Yamato knew the sorts of things Nen had said and done to calm the horse down. When he looked into animal eyes, it was if they knew as if the rumors of who the Hayato Pet Killer was had been known by all living creatures in the town of Hayato.

Nen's favorite horse had been slightly different than the other animals. Perhaps the memories of the horse had of Nen initiating Yamato on how to take care of it clouded its judgment. Yamato was glad; the horse was the only thing left out of the friendship and love he had for Nen, before the girl was developed enough to capture Nen's eye.

"Nen." Yamato uttered. His hand was on his heart, clenched, while the other loosely held the stirrup. "That's right, it's Nenstu now, isn't it? Another stranger." Yamato patted the horse on the neck in approval. "It's just you and me Moonshine, in a world that doesn't know who I am."

Moonshine had been trotting along at a slow pace ever since Yamato left the town, bobbing its head up and down in resignation, sometimes blowing its lips like a sigh.

"You're moving well for your age, don't worry about it. We'll stop soon to rest. I just want to clear some of the countryside before we make camp."

The horse whinnied and snorted.

"I know you miss Nen," Yamato clenched his eyes. "Nentsu, but he was no good for you after what he did to both of us. Abandon us, can you believe that?"

The horse's head swayed side to side.

"Well fine, he took care of you better than me, but was he still your friend after I left?" Yamato took out a straw of hay from the small bale in his front pocket and nibbled on a piece of home. The horse didn't seem to mind nibbling on the grass once in a while, so Yamato's assumption that it would need hay was unwarranted. "Naw, you really can't be friends if it's only a one way feeding relationship. Never asked for anything, but that's what you get when you try to mix people from different ranches, like dirty pigs and chickens with noble horses."

Despite what Yamato had told Moonshine, they really hadn't yet covered as much ground as they should to prevent a pursuit, but it was still long before the roosters had their morning call. Yamato could have ran faster without the horse, but the weight bobbing underneath kept the beating of his heart in check.

He started to remember a song that his father had taught him when he was very young. He had tried to learn English, but only had a fragmented understanding from it. Yamato knew the sound of the english words as if they were part of the melody, but he didn't know the meaning. He wished his grandfather didn't pass away so suddenly, leaving only memories and his rifle behind. The song sounded happy when Yamato whistled Yankee Doodle when he worked in the fields, but as he tried to do the same trotting down a dirt trial, the notes were hollow and sunk low in his chest.

The horse seemed to move slower with every note, despite Yamato's effort to pick up the mood with the compressed air in his chest. Finally, Yamato stopped. Moonshine stopped as well, lowering itself to rest.

"Yeah, why bother trying?"

Yamato leapt off the horse and tumbled towards the checkpoint which marked the farthest he had ever been away from Hayato. It was an old oak tree that Yamato and Nentsu used to go to on horseback, supervised by Nentsu's parents. Yamato always got Moonshine, since it was still the oldest horse even then and wouldn't give as much of a fight if there was a fuss. It only made sense that Moonshine would stop here now; it had been trained by memory to keep him in the bounds of the Hayato countryside.

The young farmer ran his calloused fingers along the greyish bark, faded by age and the change into autumn. Moonshine was now in a deep sleep, front legs tucked in and hind legs resting comfortable to support itself. Yamato's eyes started to droop.

"Maybe I should let Hayato keep me. They'll come with their pitchforks and torches but I'll stay. Nen'll be angry I took his favorite horse for one last ride..."

His fingers bumped over an indent on the smooth plane and his eyes shot open. He hesitated to turn around, for it had been his favorite tree. Yamato saw that it had been carved by a knife, N + C ...

"I should have known that you would stop here."

Yamato knew that gruff, unkind voice, which was like his considering. He remembered after three years because it was so different from the kind voice of his son. Yamato slouched his shoulders and stood up against the bark of the tree, as though trying to protect it.

"I know about the inscription already. I saw Chiri and Nentsu carved it in after they first declared to me their love, right after you left his life, in fact."

Mr. Akai's clothes did not betray his financial 'fatness'. There was an obvious purpose that came with the practicality of thick leather coat and leggings, along with the samurai sword brandished at the man's waist. He looked prim and proper despite his attire, well groomed. He also had an air of nobility, as if he was wearing his Sunday best. This certainly was a best for killing.

"I don't care about Nentsu anymore, not after he couldn't give me the time day away from his new plaything."

"No, it's because I told you that if you ever came near my son again, I would feed you to your own pigs." Akai pointed an accusing finger at Yamato.
"You broke that command when you broke into my ranch to steal one of my horses, and it'll be your last mistake."

"I expected that after three years of not seeing Nen, you would be thankful that I'm finally leaving Hayato for good."

"You have no right using that disgusting nickname in front of me dirt farmer! But you are even worse than that. You are the Hayato Pet Killer, a menace that has plagued the countryside for years." Akai pulled the samurai sword from his sheath. "I won't allow you to live."

When Yamato blinked, Akai had vanished from where he was standing and now the samurai sword was inches from Yamato's neck. Yamato's instincts took over, drawing the hunting knife from his belt in time to parry the strike and then drew his carpenter's hammer with his other hand in order to pummel Akai's face. The hammer did not connect however as Akai dodged at the same time to thrust his sword, but Yamato adapted to use the hammer an improvised hook to redirect the sword off its center, deflecting it just enough to miss his chest, and counter with a knife stab. Akai tumbled out of the way, adding distance between himself and Yamato.

Akai recovered quickly, standing up and establishing a balanced samurai stance with both hand firmly gripping the hilt close to his chest and digging his feet in the ground. Yamato steeled himself to an aggressive stance, hands forward with both of his improvised weapons.

"Playtime's over!" Blue reitsu burst from Akai like a thunderstorm; the gale of wind caused by the burst hit Yamato like a solid punch to the face. Akai easily overwhelmed Yamato with his bull rush charge, swatting away both improvised weapons before slashing at the unarmed, falling Yamato. The slash opened Yamato's upper torso like a cereal box before Yamato's back hit the ground. Yamato's calloused hands caught the blade when it tried to follow through with a downward finishing stab. However, the reitsu force applied to the blade steadily overpowered Yamato's physical strength and dormant reitsu power; the ground itself started to shake like a mini-earthquake and around the blade the ground indented a mini crater around Yamato's body.

"Moonshine..." Yamato whispered, his eyes full of tears, shaking with terror.

"When I'm done with you, there will be nothing left!" Akai yelled. He poured more reitsu into the final strike; the blue reitsu acted like twirling ribbons that funneled thinner towards the sky.

Moonshine had grown in proportion as it quite easily walked through the gale of reitsu like it was nothing. Its eyes were no longer soft, and all the grown muscles burst out until it became a hulking monstrosity. As abruptly as Yamato saw Moonshine's new fanged teeth, Moonshine bit off Akai's entire head.