The storm clouds over head did not bode well for pleasant weather, and neither did the fires that burned on the opposite ridge from him. Taiyo had come here as aid, his own special little blend of aid, to the burning forests of Mount paozu. Slowly the wanderer walked, his foot falls echoing through the many different views this wonderful place had to offer. It wasn't till Taiyo reached around a particularly sharp turn that when he rounded it, his journey felt not so far away now. In front of him was a small village built on the side of a mountain on a path leading upwards. 

Many shelves of houses could be seen and the people that came out to greet him as a stranger was remarkably varied. He didn't know this village, or anything about it. He had simply stumbled upon it by chance through reading a tossed aside news paper. The village was unremarkable, and its only fascinating perk was that it was built in such a strange spot, anyone would wonder why even settle here? Taiyo on the other hand simply walked along, casually strolling as greeted the many different faces that set about to see who he was.

When however, a distressed woman came crying into the arms of some man did Taiyo's attention suddenly shift from the multitude of faces to the now duo who spoke in desperate tones. She begged him to assist her, that her child needed his aid, but the man brushed her away. Repeatedly did he state that his own family came first, and that even if she was his sister, he had to make sure his family was taken care of during this tragic event.

Taiyo upon hearing this and being the not so polite adventuring type who just wanted to help, walked up to discuss this problem. 

"Y-You want to help?"

The woman asked as she looked him up and down. His garments did not do him justice as his homeless appearance sank into her opinion of him. Her eyes twisting with contempt and anger at having a stranger, a homeless man who was probably no more useful than being just a simple pair of hands, was offering to rescue someone's daughter. A private affair he should never stick his nose into, and yet he had. The woman was furious in her onslaught of insults and peppering him with blows to the face. Taiyo was taken a back by her sudden aggression but when she was gotten under control he went back to his relaxed posture.

"I am sorry for her words stranger, she is just under a lot of stress."

Taiyo simply looked at the man before giving a casual and carefree wave in return.

"No problem. I don't blame her."

With that little awkward bit of dialogue left to pollute the air, the man would continue with hesitation.

"Yeeees, right well... You take care now. And I dunno why i am saying this but... if you DO find yourself on the opposite valley and able to help... please save her daughter. There is a wild beast here, the forest spirit who dwells here. Those fires were man made... The spirit will not be pleased for humans like us to be near it. So... please be careful."

The man said before heading off while leaving Taiyo watching him go with a straight face. A young lady in a forest fire with a spirit that might wanna klller her cuz the fire was man made and he might have to deal with that... Sounds like just another wednesday to Taiyo. With a roll of his shoulder to adjust his backpack, the sword monk walked through the small crowds and out into the wilds once more. His journey into the forest was muchly unremarkable. Nothing of true interest happening besides the silence that follows catastrophe. 

Life was scarred, its barren and charred marks eventually surfacing as the damage done revealed itself through a thicket of branches. Taiyo stood amongst the broken branches and the ashen lands while he stared off at the destroyed carcass that was once a forest. Death hung to the air thickly, and the devastation brought sadness to his heart. Yet his desire for good will and hope still shone his empathy through. He pressed on, walking up the hill, fighting steep hills and fatigue to reach the top.

His reward for braving the burned lands was burning forest, the raging sound of fire burning as it consumed the life that had once been vibrant green. The crackling deafening to all things beyond its roaring demand for attention. The forest was scarred on his end, but on the other end of the fire, Taiyo could see beautiful green. Slowly walking forward, Taiyo unsheathed Yugure before slicing broadly vertically so that the ice split the fire right down the middle.

His blade quickly sheathed, Taiyo ventured further within. He quickly crossed over into the green of the forest, turning over his shoulder to look at the burning forest as he crumbled the ice by melting it and smashing it using the weight of the trees. Soon nothing was left of it save a memory. Continuing up the hill, the burning sounds following him. Taiyo was greeted with a scream, his eyes snapping to the left at the sound. 

Swift as the wind, Taiyo rushed to the scene. His smile gone, seriousness etched into his features. The scream continued as Taiyo entered a dark tunnel of foliage. At the end of the tunnel of darkness another scream. In the break of light upon exiting the tunnel, a large creature could be seen. Its blue hide reflecting the waters bright surface, the yellow reflections the sun beams that somehow managed to appear massive on the surface of water.

The beast is hulking, blue skinned like a fantasy monster. Bear like, rough features on its skin and fur on its face then along its back. Clearly not a typical bear, it roared its anger while one small body huddled together in fear. Shaking in terror, the tiny child like being was not prepared to defend itself against an attack let alone escape. As the bear's claw closed in, its talons met steel. Their clash sending sparks into the air where they disappeared. Taiyo flexed his muscles as he tried to hold the back the might of an ancient beast of raw primal fury.

Hina's edge scraped ominously but ultimately held its ground. The little bundle would unfold itself to reveal it was the young girl they had been looking for. She was the spitting image of her mother and Taiyo silent thanked the heavens she was ok. With one final roar, the bear offered a strike lethal even to Taiyo. The sword monk was quick to grab the girl after deflecting the first blow and managed to leap away. The bear's blow striking the ground and causing the area to erupt into debris. 

Taiyo now standing to the right of the bear further inland slowly set the girl down before letting out a long drawn out sigh. It was then his eyes spotted it, a startled gasp from his lips as he realized just what he was seeing. The dead baby of this animal laying about... blooded by some form of weapon. Not a claw mark or any object a small child could possess... His thoughts were interrupted as the bear came for him once more. 

He rushed forward, preventing the bear from closing the gap on the child any further and stopped its advance with his own brute strength. The two clashed, stone erupting from the ground like a shower of confetti. The sparks of their weapons clashing, the growls and grunts of effort as they push against one another. Measuring strength by effort of pushing done. Their weapons of choice screech out in agony of abuse by their owners, but they old like sturdy partners of battle. 

Eventually Taiyo does manage to evade beyond the bear by letting it push forward onto its own momentum of force. Taiyo isn't there to support its full force, it loses its balanced~. Now was the chance as the bear stumbled, Taiyo twirling about in the air to unleash a brutal kick to the side of the bears head. Yet the thick hide of the bear cushioned against it and he was swiftly met with a paw of fury. His blade Yugure suffering the brunt of the blow this time. 

The ice created by her shattering but softening the blow. Taiyo grunted in effort as he came to a sliding stop some distance away. The man felt his blood pumping in his veins. His heart beat fast but he kept the casual airs as always, even relaxing his stance a little but it was still a pretty solid defense... even against beasts. 

"I see... So someone murdered your young then this young one got the blame... I doubt you'd stop if I asked nicely huh."

With that the bear roared its justifiable anger at Taiyo and unleashing a barrage of strikes that housed the fury of a grieving parent. A pain so saturated in love that it burns like the brightest of torches upon the claws of an animal who probably considered human's friends. Probably embraced them into the forest only to have greedy people try their hand at a quick buck. Taiyo felt his eyes set and his frown burrow into his expression.

It was as if on queue that two men came out from hiding behind the bear. The blows of the bear causing raging sounds of steel upon solid matter strong enough to resist breaking. The sharp sound of rasping steel upon steel, while Taiyo struggled to remain standing under that onslaught. The duo of poachers working together as they nearly brought a knife to the neck of the baby bear. Taiyo's blood vessel becoming visible as he felt the ground beneath his feet crack. His muscles flexed, bulging strangely as a power filled them.

He could hear behind him a small voice, tender in age and pure with innocence.

"Kujo no..."

The voice of the girl hit his ears a millisecond before he could act. In that moment of sparking realization, Taiyo shifted his previous plan by the smallest of margins. Instead of grabbing one blade the right way, he grabbed Hina in refuse grip. The bear roared one final time, raising an arm to strike and finish the fight. Taiyo on the other hand had other plans, and in a motion that of a force of nature that could be wielded on the thinnest of grass blades, Taiyo surged forwards. 

Within the scope of a second, Taiyo crossed the gap between himself and the poachers. His feet finding purchase upon the ground softly, and gently. No shocking force was demonstrated, no rupturing powers, and no flashy lights. A simple thread of light followed by silence. The poachers soon falling over as blood began to appear across their chest. The bear on the other hand suddenly receiving a very deep imprint on the side of its neck. The bear jostled a bit would wobble a moment on one foot only to fall over and unconscious the next.

Taiyo didn't smile, he didn't laugh, or find joy in this moment. He simply turned around before walking back to the most important thing in the room. The child. Taiyo crouched down then, gently resting a hand on their shoulder before asking if they were ok. The child was about to respond only to gasp in shock and Taiyo looked up just in time to receive a rather nasty stab into his ribs and followed by being launched along with the girl across the open gap in the forest they were in. Taiyo coughed blood as he was soon assaulted by the bear, the beast rushing to end the fight as quickly as possible.

Thankfully a tiny voice rang out that caught the bears attention.

"Kujo please! Don't kill him! Don't kill anyone, please! You'll never stop Kujo... You'll never <sniff> stop...."

The girl began to cry, but the bear only stared in anger with Taiyo's hair firmly in its mouth. The poor wondering samurai had seen better days, his outfit was ruined, his wounds were deep but not fatal... yet. His breathing was regular from pain and being mauled by a bear. His ribs sure hurt like hell and blood poured from his wound. He didn't have much time left he supposed. Unfortunately he had missed his chance to end this quickly and avoid this whole mess... now look at him.



"Damn it kid..."

Taiyo stated as he quickly smirked his amusement at the boy's desire to keep everyone pure. But some pains were to deep to avoid the unfortunate reality that lead to pain and suffering. He doubted a beast could reason out logically not to kill every human it saw. It was going to slay them all. With a roar, Taiyo punched the beast in the head with enough force it let him go. The sword monk creating distance while the bear recovered its senses. Once recovered it roared its fury at Taiyo once more.

The human could only smirk sadly as his wounds were not looking the greatest. His upper torso was bare, but at least his lower clothing such as pants and shoes weren't COMPLETELY ruined. The moment of playing was over, the decision had been cast... the next few moments would decide the outcome of it all. Getting into his stance, the beast stood firmly in place. Its instincts granting it a clarity no one else understood. Taiyo was a fantastically dangerous opponent if on even level. 

Taiyo was more than even level with the bear in this moment. It could sense Death in every approach it thought of to Taiyo. Yet its rage of the dead young was not to be dispelled by such a thing as fear. Looking to get revenge on the girl then the bear turned to her, It was then that Taiyo's smile faded as he got low. His air grew heavy, the very ground beneath him crunching before giving way as a small dent in the earth below him. Arms at his side the next few moments were over within an almost instant. Taiyo went from being behind them to suddenly being in front of them. The bear could only for a brief moment realize it was seeing its previous foe when it suddenly blanked out.

Its blank stare continuing till it fell down backwards away from the girl. Taiyo would slowly stand up before sheathing his blades. Blood squirting out of his wound as his heart rate tried to slow down. Taiyo on the other hand had already turned, sat down and was praying at the body of the bear so it might rest easy in the after life. The girl quickly came to his aid of course and the two of them made a great escape. Though Taiyo did suffer a major blow, it was nothing damaging long term. He eventually healed from it but it wasn't till a time later... He found he got a mail with materials from the ancient bear monster known as Kujo. 

WC: 2550