Chapter I
In the time of samurais and when the
Japanese wolves were still around, Japan was ruled by an emperor, Hisashi
Miyamoto. Emperor Hisashi was an evil man; he taxed his people heavily, he had
people killed, even people who hadn’t done anything wrong, and he was the type
to get anything what he wanted, even if it meant ruining the lives of innocent
people. The people of Japan were frightened of their emperor, especially the
servants of the palace. If a servant had done anything wrong, even just one
tiny slip up, they would be beaten or killed. There was another man in Japan
that the people feared as well. This man was Emperor Hisashi’s general Takeshi
Saitou. General Takeshi was a samurai and was as evil as Emperor Hisashi. General
Takeshi loved his job of slaughtering people. Whether it was an adult or even a
child; General Takeshi had great pleasure of slaughtering people with his
sword.
Under Emperor Hisashi’s reign, the
people of Japan lived in fear. They did all they could not to displease the
emperor or general, because no one wanted to be killed. But there was one hope
for them, and that was Emperor Hisashi’s half-sister, Princess Annika Miyamoto.
Princess Annika disappeared sometime after her older brother took the throne.
Some people suspected that Emperor Hisashi killed her, so that none of her
future children would take the throne from him. Others believed that she ran
away; with an evil brother like that, the people didn’t blame her. It had been
twenty two years since Princess Annika disappeared and she hadn’t been seen or
heard since. But that didn’t stop the people of Japan believing that one day
she would return, dethrone her brother and take the throne as empress.
Of all people in Japan, who hated
Emperor Hisashi and General Takeshi, there was one woman who hated those two
most of all. This woman’s name was Nobuko Okamoto. Nobuko was a servant girl in
the palace; her work was in the kitchens. The reason why she hated the emperor
and the general was because they slaughtered her family, when she was only a
little girl, and ever since that day she swore revenge on them. Nobuko knew
that they were too strong for her to defeat alone, but she knew what to do.
Ever since her family’s death, Nobuko was raised by her father’s friend,
Tetsuya Ronin. Tetsuya was a samurai and he taught Nobuko everything about
being a samurai and also how to fight like one, while she grew up. Tetsuya had
died from old age now, but Nobuko always practiced everything that Tetsuya
taught her.
One day Nobuko put a plan into
action. Her plan was to leave the palace and find someone who could help her
get revenge on the emperor and general. As a servant girl was never allowed to
leave the palace, Nobuko had to disguise herself as a man. She wore a black
kimono, with a black hakama and black haori and straw sandals. To hide her long
black hair, she tied it up and wore a straw hat. The Katana sword she carried
with her was Tetsuya’s sword and she even kept a tanto sword with her. Tetsuya
gave them to her before he died. After dressing herself up, she took a white
horse out of the stables and left the palace grounds. “That’s a relief,” Nobuko
said to herself “no one recognized me, and now I am free from the palace at
last. But when I do come back here again, I will avenge my family’s death, and
Emperor Hisashi and General Takeshi will get what they deserve”.
