• Scents of cherries and flower petals filled my nostrils as my eyes awoken from a deep meditation. My eyes laid across the scene in front of me. All around the place I know as the Sanctuary Garden there were blossom petals falling gracefully down to the ground. Around the barriers of the garden there were trees, cherry blossom trees to be exact. There was a sliding door in the opposite direction from where I was sitting, and another one to my left. By the door to the left there was a small running brook that lead to who knows where. There was a wooden bridge bending over the brook, so I wouldn’t have to walk through the water. In the center of the room there was a circle lined out with candles with the scent of cherries.
    They were lit each day during time of rest, the scents relax me when my mind is a storm.

    Above me there was a small hole in the ceiling, so the sun would shine its light upon the cherry blossoms, showing their marvelous beauty. I looked up into the hole, through it I could see a raven fly across the sun’s rays. My eyes turned into slits as I tried to see the raven better. Along the raven’s stomach there was a white stripe, one of Master’s messenger birds. He must’ve sent the bird for me.

    Closing my eyes I got up from my spot in the middle of the circle of candles. My black and white fighters kimono stuck to my clothes as I brushed the dirt off of my legs and thighs. As I walked towards the door to my left I pulled untied the string of silk that wound itself around my neck. I pulled my natural grey hair into a clump and tied the silk string around the hair and pulled it into a whip ponytail.

    I crossed the small bridge and slid the door open, revealing the room that Master had provided me with for my stay. In it there were books everywhere, along with candles. For a strange reason I love the scents of many candles put together. Other people find the smell too strong, but I find it relaxing. Other than the bed on the far off corner, there was not much left to the bedroom. Probably because I just arrived to the mansion just a few days ago.

    I was always different, I could tell since the day I could remember moments in my life. Just by looking at my hair, no other kid in the village had grey hair, only the elders. I always got strange stares from those around me, even from my parents. When I had to go to go fetch water with my mom the other kids would point and stare, asking their parents why my hair was like that.

    It wasn’t just my hair that made me different, it was my eyes as well. No one I ever met had purple eyes. The one thing that scared me the most about my eyes was that I could see the name of a person and their life span above their head. I asked over kids to see if they could see it too. They just looked at me weirdly and teased me, so I was never able to have friends. I was always titled as the freaky girl of the village. It made me wonder if I was actually human, so for years I questioned my humanity.

    My answers were soon answered just a few days ago.

    One day when I was preparing bento boxes for my little brothers a man arrived at the doorstep. He told me that I was no ordinary girl, that I was one of a kind. He told me I could become great and have respect from the other villagers. He then told me to live with him at his mansion, I accepted, wanting to have respect from the other members of the village. I wanted to have friends, even if it meant living with this man in his mansion. So off I took, living in this house with him.

    The days with Master were not those of luxury. For hours Master would rill me on fighting stances. If I was even just an inch off he would knock me off my feet and onto my back. It would take me over an hour to get just one stance to perfection. The hard part wasn’t getting the stances to exact perfection, it was trying to stay awake. Master wouldn’t let me sleep until I had each stance perfect. That was only the first day, in which I had not sleep.

    The next day wasn’t as bad. That day Master had me work on the basics of martial arts. Since I had the stances down, I only had to add in a few arm and leg movements to have effect. The only thing that held me back was my tiredness, once again. That day soon went by, and I was able to sleep that night.

    It was body straining work to fit all of that training in just two days. I wondered what fighting had to do with earning respect. I had no idea what he was planning for me, all I know is the path will not be easy.

    I glanced at my desk, there was a silver and white cloak with a note laying beside it. The cloak wasn’t there before, Master must’ve placed it there when I was meditating. I picked up the note.

      “Jinsei,
      This cloak I need for you to wear when meeting me in the dojo. It is not an
      option, it will be your uniform, only take it off when fighting. Other than that, keep the hood up, never show your face unless I give approval. Now, put on the cloak and head off to the dojo. I wish to speak to you.”


    Nothing else was there, so I put the note back down onto the desk. I noticed the cloak was made of fine material as I picked it up in my hands. The material was smooth and silky. It may seem like soft material, but if it were to travel in, it would be all hot and sweaty. Not something I would be looking forward too. I slipped on the cloak, already feeling overheated from the material, probably because I had my fighters kimono underneath. I tried to flip the hood over my head, but there were two holes were the hood should be fastened together. I saw next to the note there was a pin the shape of a star. I placed the pin through the two holes and snapped the pin in. I noticed I accidentally put the star on upside down, but I just shrugged it off and headed out of my bedroom and cherry blossom garden.

    So far I have only seen just a small bit of the mansion. Master has only shown me the garden and dojo. He said that there was more to the mansion but I would see it in dew time. There was a few hallways between the garden and the dojo, and in all of those hallways there were only a few windows. It was too dark for my liking, but it was the Master’s mansion, not my own. I past one of the windows and saw the white-stripped raven once again, it was heading towards the dojo.

    Master had a system to send messages to me. He had a raven that had a stripped stomach. For each message there was a different colored strip. I only know two so far, white and red. White was to meet him in the dojo and red was to prepare for training. He said that there were more ravens, but they would be shown in dew time. I’m starting to hate him keeping secrets for me. If he did say that the secrets would be revealed in dew time, I should hold his word for it and wait.

    After a while of listening to the bottom of my sandals scrape across the wooden floor of the mansion I arrived to a huge wooden door. It was unlike any other door in the mansion, it didn’t slide, it pulled open. I had never seen a door like it before, not until I arrived to this mansion.

    Along the edges of the door there were dragons carved deep into the wood, and there were six symbols all aligned in a circle in the middle of the door. There was an upside down star, just like my hood fastener, an eye, a flame, a lightning cloud, a heart, and a moon. The star looked a lot like my pin. I wonder if this is just a coincidence or if Master had planned this? Shrugging off the feeling I placed my hands on the steel barred handles on the door and pulled it open, inside revealing the fighting arena within.

    The dojo had windows aligned all around the walls, bringing a great amount of light into the room. Around the borders of the walls there was a gold strip running around the room, above that there was a silver strip. On the middle of the wooden floor there was a hard mat, around it there were smaller softer mats. The larger mat was used to fight on, whether it was Master teaching fighting moves, or for sparring. Then the smaller mats were to rest on. I noticed though that there were six smaller mats aligned in a circle with one mat in the middle of it. I was curious on why Master changed the mats around, but it would be answered soon, I could feel it.

    In the center of the fighting mat Master stood. He was average height for a man, but he appeared to be scrawny. It amazed me that he could fight so well, considering his possible weight. His head was covered with graying black hair that was tied back into a ponytail. I wonder how old he is. He must be pretty old with the grey hair and all. One thing that stood out most about him was his bright yellow eyes, they had a stern but warm look in them at all times. However, out of all traits, no matter how hard I tried, I could not see Master’s name or life span above his head. His eyes flicked up towards me as I arrived into the dojo. His gave then flicked to the edge of the mat. I followed his gaze to where his eyes laid. The sight I saw surprised me. At the edge of the mat five other people stood, each draped in a different colored cloak.

    “Welcome young one. Won’t you join us?” Master’s calm voice called out, holding his hand out to where the five others stood. When Master spoke the five others turned their heads in my direction. Their faces were hidden due to their hoods shielding their faces. Just like Master, their names and life spans weren’t above their heads. That’s weird.

    Feeling a wave of awkwardness rush down my spine I walked down and stood next to someone with a blue cloak. I looked over to one dressed in a royal purple robe. The person’s arm was shaking and a slight growling sound was heard.

    “Master,” the person’s voice was husky, signifying he was a guy. “You told me that when I came here I was one of a kind. Now there are others here, they wear cloaks just as I do. How can I be one of a kind if there are others here who are like myself?” Master smiled and closed his eyes in deep thought. His head was hung low, and a small laugh escaped his lips as he heard the boy’s words. The boy just growled angrily and snapped at the Master.

    “What’s so funny?” He glared at Master.

    “You’re ignorance young one,” Master smirked as he raised his head. “It is true that you are one of a kind, you all are.” The boy just looked up in confusion.

    “How is that possible?” The boy asked.

    “I will tell you everything. Now everyone, come with me and sit on the breathing mats.” Master walked over to the circle of smaller mats. He sat down on the mat in the middle of the circle. I soon followed suit and sat on one of the outer mats, the others soon sat on one of the mats as well. When Master saw us all settled down he looked us all in the eyes.

    “I have gathered you all here over the span of the last few weeks. I have told you that each that you were one of a kind, but you can see that there are others as well. All can be explained, and it will be,” Master looked at each of us, seeing past our hoods and looking us in the eyes. He spoke again, “Have any of you heard of the Defenders?” We all shook our heads at his question. Master closed his eyes once more with a sigh.

    “I guess it’s time you learned about your past, young ones,” Master shifted his position.