Sang untitled 1
24 September 2005
by Jamison Leavitt

When Sang witnessed the death of his brother, at the age of ten, he was still known as Toritaka Sanjiro. That was when his life ended, as everything that he loved was murdered by a female assasin. He left that name and hs life for the Brotherhood of Shinsei. He was big then, much bigger than many of his peers, and his sensei thought that he would make a great Bushi for his family. However, he found his new home and a spiritual rebirth amongst the sohei at Shinden Osano-Wo. He does not remeber much from his previous life, except for an image of the assasin holding a bloody blade standing over his brother's dead body. This image is seared in his mind, at times clouding his ability to concentrate and focus clearly.

He spent the rest of his years growing up inside the halls of shinden Osano-Wo. He trained and worked hard as a sohei while he was there. Now he has left the temple to seek further enlightenment where ever the call of Osano-Wo may come from. He has the brands of Osano-Wo on his chest and arms from the urn that blocks the gate of the temple leaving to the outside world. These symbols act as a reminder of who he is and his calling as a monk. But will they help clear his mind when he needs Osano-Wo's help the most?

Sang was sitting by the shrine for this small village. It appeared that it had not been kept for a while. The least he could do was clean up the immediate area around it. He took off tunic that he was wearing so that he could feel the sun on his shoulders as he worked. He was busy all day, and barely noticed the two young women standing across the way from him admiring his largish figure. Once he noticed them his first impulse was to indulge them and really give them something to fawn over him. It had been a long time since he had been around members of the oppositte sex and he was about to go over and rightfully take what was his as any deserving man of his stature would when he saw his arms and the brands that were still red from barely a week ago. He pretended that he didn't even noticed them and went back to work. He put on his tunic and decided to do some gardening around the shrine.

As he was working he couldn't get what just happened to him out of his mind. Maybe if he were to prune the small bonsai trees around the shrine. That way he would appreciate nature's true beauty. He was prunning then,

Snap!

"Dammit! I can't even focus on the simplest of tasks. I have just snapped off a branch of this small bonsai. Now if the fortunes don't bless this village it will be because of me." These were the thoughts going through Sang's mind as he was tending to the bonsai trees. That is when the samurai who were to be his escorts showed up.

The storm was comming up from the coast. He could smell the angry sea air and knew that Osano-Wo was riding this storm in his wrath. This was a time for him to re-align his will and mind with that of his calling in life. He was sitting a ways from the entrance leading into the small inn that his samurai travelling companions were staying at where he felt the sting of the storm against his body. This was what he had longed for since he had left the temple a week ago. In the past week he had felt lost and confused, but now the fury of the storm calmed him into a deep meditative trance.

"Hmmmm! Wait a minute I think I am hungry. Dangit, why can't I focus for even a few minutes. I am always wanting stuff. Oh well I will just go inside now and see if there is anything good to eat."

"They are probbably going to give me a meager portion of rice balls. Ooh and if I am lucky they will give me yesterdays leftover cabbage. What I really want is some salted fish."

The moment was over and these were the thoughts going through his head now.