-LISTEN (A young girl's voice echoes in the back of your mind) (Path of Man Ending)
You stop, who, what? All things being equal there shouldn't be a young girl here. Although you guess it could be Sagon trying to manipulate you----
I'm not Sagon
The voice interrupts your thoughts, your mind shifts to the obvious question
Who are you?
Sakiyarumei
So she, it can hear your thoughts and is apparently your sword?
...What? You ask her.
Sakiyarumei, I've been trying to reach you all this time
This is so very strange to you. Granted you're about to fight a tiger man demon thing, but still.
Reach me? For what?
To save us both
Trying to get a handle on this, you think.
You were forged by a brilliant smith, but you shouldn't be awake yet.
I wouldn't be, if not for you.
What?
You sank deep into the void, deep into me...I, we are one.
How?
Your life is what gives me life, should you perish, I die.
Your confusion doesn't abate
How does that work...and a sword wants to live?
Because I am a sword I exist to kill, and I cannot do that dead.
What is it you want?
I need you to finish awakening me. Only then can I, you, release our full potential.
How do I do that?
Draw on the divine spark in meditation, the rest should follow after that.
You didn't have much time, but the sword, if it is the sword was so insistent. You draw her out, and let yourself sink into the void, your chi overflowing the area as you blanket the sword in it. The ringing of bells in your ears echoes through you. The silent hammering that forged Sakiyarumei, Kakita steel burned away by alchemists fire, and reforged with metal from the stars. There was no way for it not to be fantastic, but it would change and adapt. The alchemical potions making it hungry for the divine energy of it's home. Is that why you had always followed that path? Cultivating your own chi and spiritual energy in order to feed Sakiyarumei?
There was no way to know, but you had, and you had given it blood, and in blood it discovered itself, not fire, to attack blindly, not water to flow around defences, not earth to stand unchanging in all circumstances, not air to sprint around the world, no it was something more. It was all of those things.
You can help but laugh as you remember the name you had given her.
Sakiyarumei, 'Shining Life that Blooms at Night' did some hidden gift of prophecy possess you to name her so? She was life, and she shone in this darkest of nights.
The ringing of the bells ends, as you see the faint sheen blue black steel so familiar, turn white.
There is a deep contentment from your sword. She is whole, and you are ready.
Taking a breath, you can hear the sound of fire meeting earth echoing down below, you can't tell who is winning. Outside you see Izu driving his foe up the trees as they play a dangerous game of cat and mouse. One misstep and the two will fall to their deaths.
Your friends are fighting and dying, you cannot delay any more. Sheathing Sakiyarumei, you push the doors in front of you forward. The creaking wood echoes as the barest hint of the setting sun, leaves the floor bathed in shadows.
In the middle stands...no it can't be. Turning around the face of Kakita no Hida Katsuie faces you. Your lover, your friend, your damnation. He looks older now, but still....
No, it's another trick, Sagon, how dare he? How dare he use the face of the man you love against you!
"SAGON!" You shout.
"Megumi-chan or is it Sakura, no matter." He returns.
"You have no right to that form!" You snarl.
"And you have no right to stop me" Sagon says with a sneer.
"Demons have no rights, except to a swift execution." You say.
Katsuie's face seems so disappointed.
"...Sigh, and here I thought this would be original."
"Change your form Sagon, and let's end this." You demand.
"And why should I do that?" He asks.
"Because you'll need everything you have to defeat me."
"...Please Megumi-chan, you won because you had friends to keep me from focusing on any one of you. Nearly killed the monk anyways. By yourself? You're nothing more than an ugly little duckling. Waiting for me to kill it." Sagon says.
Sakiyarumei emanates bone deep hatred for the man.
"Maybe Sagon, maybe, or maybe, I'm not holding back"
Sagon laughs, a deep bellyful laugh that sounds so much like Katsuie that it hurts. You hate this bastard so much now. He takes out a katana that looks like a replica of a Tsi blade, maybe it's the real thing, you have no idea.
"...Well you've got more spirit than most, I challenge you to a duel Megumi the Ronin. Should I win, you die and I take your sword. Should you win, I die and you take back the princesses arm."
"Why would you offer that?" You ask, eyes narrowing.
That concedes the advantage almost entirely to you, you did almost kill him, you know you did. Why is he so confident.
"They say the Princess is actually a talented duellist. If I'm going to impersonate her, I should be able to play the part neh?" Sagon says.
"You what?"
"Oh, well, it seems like my grand plan to start a war between the Ivory and Emerald Empire has fall apart. So I decided to do something new. I've never impersonated a Rokugani Empress before and driven one of your dynasties to ruin. It's a thing to do" He explains.
There's really only one response.
"...You're mad"
He shrugs.
"Probably, so do you accept my challenge?"
There's still something inherently wrong about this, something that you can't place your finger on. But in the end, a duel is safer for you than an outright fight. The Kakita way is for one strike one kill, a duel will help with that more than a brawl.
"I have no choice but to accept" You say, taking your stance.
"I am Megumi the Ronin, I come for your head"
Sagon's form twists and shudders in front of you, Katsuie's face morphs into that of Princess Ayeko's.
Mimicking her voice all to perfectly.
"I am Iweko Ayeko, daughter of Iweko VII and student of Kakita Natsumi kenshinzen of the Crane"
Sagon takes his own stance all too similar to yours.
You find your anger stoked hot. No calm, calm you need to calm down for this. You take a deep breath studying Sagon. You can see that he's either a very quick study, or spent longer than you'd expect learning how to do this. But, he's as skilled as you are.
But that's not the only thing that matters, you sink into the void, letting your sense pull out. Your spirit fill the area. In response to this, Sagon's own spirit roars out, tiger and hawk seem to duel between you. Him trying to drag you out of the sky, and you refusing to. Pecking and clawing at his back you harry him, how long you two fought like that, spirits dancing in the air between you, you can't say, hours, minutes, seconds, it hardly matters as neither of you can get the upper hand. The sound of fighting below ends.
Finally in frustration he leaps at you. You dodge the leap, your hawk coming behind his tiger and clawing through the beast's neck.
The slight weakness in the air as the miasma dispels, is all you need to charge forward. Your blade coming through the air, as the bells ring again, and Sakiyarumei blooms in full flower. Sagon stops as he sees the sword, his own attempt coming out to cut you down, even as you finish behind him.
He turns around striking at your back, even as your worn armor manages to absorb the worst of the blow. Something inside you ruptures, as you taste blood in your mouth.
The sound of a body collapsing to the ground echoes behind you as you turn. Sagon, missing everything below the chest looks up you with undisguised hate.
"This isn't the end, I don't know what magic that sword is, but I will---"
You stab Sakiyarumei down into the ground through his skull. Sagon struggles to get around it, struggles to not die...but your sword is true, and pure, and it will not suffer a foe to live. Finally Sagon dies, and with it, a demon that has haunted the world for who knows how long? As you walk to pick up the arm, you hope and pray that Sora's team has succeeded, you'd be a bit put out if this had all been for nothing.
Down below ,you see Kyoko, smiling triumphant as half her face is mashed to a pulp, but on the other side of the room. The Yogo is nothing but ash. You smile at her, and the pair of you walk down out of the pagoda. At the bottom, Izu holds a broken arm, but impaled on a tree branch is the Ivindi woman.
"...Kyoko, set this place on fire" You say.
"With pleasure Megumi-san" Kyoko calls up the last of her magic, and the pagoda burns.
You still have to get back to the Empire proper and see what happens. But you know that if your tale was ever told, no one would believe it, ronin become legends, myths for less...heh, you're Megumi the ronin. You're Kakita Sakura, you are both, and you are content with your life.
-----------------------------------------------
2 Months Later
You're in a far too fancy tea house, wearing clothes that would have made you blush from their finery even when you were a proper Crane. In front of you Bayushi Sora sits in front of you. For once not wearing a full face mask. In the background the city is celebrating with the crowning of Iweko VIII, the Princess who Returned, some are calling her.
"So, our Empress is most grateful to us for all that we've done. I'm being promoted to a provincial daimyo, Nezuban Province as it happens. I'm also being given the right to found a vassal family...granted the Main House is always going to be a little unhappy...but I can award you a name Megumi, if you want it."
She looks down at her tea.
"But the Empress also has ordered me to extend a separate offer for you against my wishes. Given your great services to her, and the world at large. She wishes to award you the old Ox Lands in Dragon Heart Plain and name you a Minor Clan Champion in your own right....I'm not going to tell you what to do Megumi-san, for once. This is your choice."
[] Take Sora's offer and become a Bayushi
[] Take the reward and found a Minor Clan (Write in Name)
AN: And this the official finale of Legend of the Ronin. It's been a long time, I know it's had it's ups and downs. But I'd like to thank all of you for reading and participating in this quest. I hope you had fun and it was an entertaining ride most of the time. I will post an epilogue, but if you want to have Megumi's story end here, with her fulfilling all her desires and then some, I don't mind if no one votes.
Again thank you all.
