Post by Saito Kito on Dec 25, 2014 15:06:45 GMT -5
If you expect this to rhyme you are incorrect, for only this part of the training was put into check. Saito had worked hard, that much was certain, but no one was ready for what hid behind the Curtain. The boys of the crane hadn’t heard of Christmas at all, so while the two slept up the street was a ball. Only miles away from the crane schools front window, a bad guy was lurking and his name was Shindou. Shindou was black with one deep red eye, and from the moment he fell from the sky, the snow melted fast and the children did cry, for if Shindou did stay they all surely would die. But no one had seen him descend from above, all the people still drank and partied and loved. For Christmas was time to be thankful and laugh, no one expected such evil to last. Shindou however was made from their hate that all year round had festered in wait. Johnny from south central was green with greed, and Jane from the west side was spiteful and mean. Hillary laughed at others misfortunes and Jacob was caught sleeping with virgins. All the people that attended the party that night were normally rude and would put up a fight. Shindou was there to remind each and every one, that this time of year isn’t always so fun.
Saito awoke from his dream. Shaking his head he found it difficult to escape from the rhymes his mind had generated. What a strange dream it had been too. What the hell was Christmas and who were all of those people? Sitting up he realized that the rhyming hadn’t been the most disturbing part of the dream. His bed was drenched in a fresh cold sweat. Had Saito been truly afraid of his dream? He could have sworn he still felt the energy that had been so vivid in his mind. He closed his eye trying to see the image again. It was the largest house in the neighborhood and was located several miles up the avenue. Saito had passed it many times and had never met the owners. Actually none of the people in his dream seemed familiar. Perhaps it was the fact that each word had rhymed, and now it seemed Saito hadn’t the time.
“Dammit”
He said, as his thoughts fell back into the same rhyming pattern. Was he going to be at this all night? He would have been more concerned with his verbal rendition had he not suddenly sensed their condition. The power he felt in his dream that night, had literally just bumped and taken flight. One thousand, three thousand, four thousand, five, the numbers did climb and he didn’t know why. None of the people he knew would have been out at this hour, so who could be causing Saito’s dreams to cower.
“Stop it!”
Seriously he couldn’t seem to get the rhyming out of his head. He stood, trying to make sense of everything. The power level in the distance was too much to ignore, and so Saito rose and left out the door. He made just to take his jacket and Katana as well, he certainly didn’t want to be knocked out with the bell. No really this rhyming was getting annoying. He couldn’t see anything from his front porch, and so rather than alarming anyone with flight, he decided to take a short ride on his bike. It roared up the street for several minutes before stopping in front of the house from his dreams. Just as he had seen the house was lit with lights, and tinsel. It was all aglow with festivities that Saito still didn’t understand. And what made the entire situation more confusing was that the power he had sensed seem to disappear. A small sparrow flew from a frosty nearby try and landed on his shoulder. It became clear almost instantly that the Sparrow had been communicating through his dreams. He had seen everything through the Sparrow. Saito rose from his bike and walked up the drive. He tried very hard not to slip and dive.
No, no more rhyming
He thought carefully as he knocked on the door. Kit just wanted to make sure everything was all right. A man answered the door wearing a tacky sweater and smiled back at Saito, whom was now recognizable around the neighborhood as the Crane school master. The man welcomed him in and beckoned his wife who was chopping some walnuts with a long sharp knife. Those walnuts would go in the fudge for the evening, though Saito was still having some trouble seeing. Seeing why he was here, what the sparrow had needed. Why should he care about this Christmas season? He knew nothing about their rituals and customs, if anything this party was strange and…
STOP RHYMING
He begged himself to stop, it was getting confusing. At times he would rhyme and at others he would…what was that sound? He felt it again, that power was around. His own aura flared and the people did surround but were too drunk to see his feet lift off the ground.
His mind was clear as he saw the creature again, the black shindou looked down on him as the wind swirled around him. Saito asked why the creature had come and his sad with a frown that these people were dumb. He asked Saito to listen, so listen he did, and what he heard was a mix of conceit and sin.
“Yeah I tipped the waiter an extra five bucks. I mean he probably can’t even afford another pair of Walmart shoes. I’m such a good person.”
“I just saw Sarah last week, isn’t that hilarious. She thinks that we still want to be seen with her. Sorry sweety but we know the difference between six and seven figure salaries.”
“I mean I like the fuhrer and all, but my father always said that a soldier was meant to stay in the field. I am a third year Vanderdick and I come from a long line of senators. I think it’s time for that bumpkin to leave.”
Saito listened as each party member he arrived to defend spoke ill of the people that they still called their friend. The fuhrer that risked his life for them all, and the girl who had tried to give them a call. The waiter who just couldn’t make ends meet, what a bunch of uncultured creeps. And so Shindou asked, for he had to be certain, where they really worth a fight and misfortune. Saito thought for a moment and then loudly proclaimed, that even the ignorant had to be saved. These people were entitled, nasty and rude, but killing them wasn’t the right thing to do. He would battle with Shindou if that’s what he wanted, but Saito would not let them become the departed.
Shindou was touched by his holiday spirit, though truthfully Saito still couldn’t hear it. What was this Christmas they went on about, why should he care about babies with gout. Shindou explained that baby was Jesus and that he one day died just to save us. Saito was stoic and still unconvinced, did everyone really believe in all this? Growing up in the compound made this sound absurd, but then again he was the one talking to birds. The two did agree that their quarrel had ended, and so Shindou left, no one was beheaded. Saito’s kindness had sent the monster away, and no one needed to be so afraid. But no one had seen the monster come out, and Saito at least had to speak out, for out of their hate and out of their spite, out of their greed, and anger, and might had awoken a monster that they had not seen, that almost had killed them without making a scene. He fell back through the window and landed gently on the ground, he scolded the party goers, he smelled something foul. He told them that what they were doing was wrong, and Christmas was time to be humble and proud. Proud of the people that they often served as docters and lawers, and political currs. Proud to be citizens of their great land, and proud of the earth, the sea and the sand. He scolded their pride in material achievement and told them to please take a moment to lament on the years that had passed without poverty or scorn, and maybe they would feel the spirit once more.
Then Saito left as the room was struck silent. The people were ashamed and the warrior had been right.
Finally the rhymes stopped, at least for the night. Saito slept peacefully and awoke in the morning. He went upstairs to find a terrible sight, there were boxes littering his dojo floor! He ran quickly forward to look out the door and realized he was rhyming again for sure. Then he saw it, a card on the wall, it said Merry Christmas from all of the ball. They had left him their presents, their holiday cheer, for saving them all in a moment unclear. Not just from Shindou and his murderous wrath, but also from themselves for falling from the path. His heart did swell with Holiday cheer, now he knew that Christmas was here. He didn’t understand the religion that much, but he knew that the season was giving and kind.
(Saito of course had no need for these gifts, and sold them promptly so that the dojo could receive the funds. Merry Christmas and remember the moral of the story…ask for the receipt because most of the shitty gifts you got can be returned for at least store credit. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!)
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