Temple of Sin and Sorrow

[FluffyFox]

A long time ago, a demon forged two swords, Sin and Sorrow, from the most powerful demon in the worlds bones, Sorrow was able to fell 1000 warriors with a single swipe, and Sin, a 1000 innocents, though if anyone picked up the swords who were not the most pure of beings would die from the corruption of the swords. Now most people believe that it was just a tale told to keep people from lusting after to much power. But not the the Temple of Sin and Sorrow, in the remote Ryuu mountains.


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It was cold, but I had to endure it, spring would come eventually, until then i threw another log on the fire and sat in front of the blood red gem that kept the temple safe from harm. I was seated in front of a large door, as if it's small last protector. Two guards stood at the doorway and many more patrolled the gardens around the temple. I had a hood over my face and my hands were rested on my lap as the door opened letting in the people who came to this temple in the middle of winter to pray that the two swords would never be found.

 

[Sha]

I walked down the snow-laden trail as the sun was rising to my back. My hand moved unwittingly to swat at a fly before I pulled my hood farther down over my face. At this point I was no longer worried of bandits or highwaymen as the cold and remoteness of this place I now walked seemed to protect me. Then I saw it. Through the fog of my breath a temple laden before me. I had been traveling for nearly eight months, from temple to temple and monastery to monastery.


No luck in finding the Temple of Sin and Sorrow nor the swords which legend said laid within. There was something different about this place. As I approached it had guardsman, not monks. They eyed me suspiciously, though, that was to be expected. I must have been the first visitor they had seen in months way out here. The strangest part was they didn't stop me. They didn't check my pack or take from me my sword which could be plainly seen sheathed at my right side.


Then I saw her and removed my hood causing my bright red hair to reflect the sun much like the snow which surround us. A girl who seemed to glow in a violet aura which matched her eyes and contrasted her black hair. She was sitting just outside a great doorway laden with intricate carvings all about it, though I paid them little mind. The snow crunched beneath my feet as I ascended the stone stairs leading to where she sat. I spoke through the piece of cloth which hung loosely around my neck and mouth, "Why is it you sit in the cold? Is there no warmth to be found beyond these doors?"

 

[FluffyFox]

My head raised and I meet his eyes as he approached me sitting there."These door have not been open in a great amount of time, it is my job to guard them, so I must stand watch through, snow, rain, and burning sun." I said as my hands reached out and touched the small red gem before me."Many come to this place to have me tell them their fortunes? Do you want your fortune read?" I ask looking back up at him.


The guard nearest to me let his hand rest on his sword, attached to his left side as another walked off to deeper parts of the temple, as if he was delivering news."Please sit across from me, I am the leader of this temple, you may call me espe. What can I do to help you? You seem to have traveled far."

 

[Sha]

"A guard?" I said with a smile hidden behind the cloth which wrapped around my neck. I wanted to press her further when she asked me if I wanted my fortune read. I scoffed audibly at the notion thinking her to be like the old crow who scams fools for money in the dark alleyways of town. She spoke again.


"Why would you want-" I paused, interrupting myself as I looked at her seated in the cold snow. Curiosity overcame me. "So you're Espe, huh? I'm Shanori. You can just call me Sha, if you want," I said glancing around at the guards once more before taking a seat in the snow in front of the girl. "You're the leader of this temple... And you can tell fortunes?" I said half-sarcastically holding out my left hand while resting my right hand upon my knee.

 

[FluffyFox]

I smile at him my hood firmly over my head as I reached out and took his hand. Keeping one on it, I placed the other on my red crystal. My eyes closed as I looked into his future."I see great power, but you will not control it. I also see prosperity for your home and great compassion." I said quickly drawing my hand back my guard stepped up to me drawing his sword.


"Lady Espe has read your fortune, please leave now, we do not want to have to kick you out." I raise my hand placing it on the guard's arm."He will me fine, he is causing no threat." I turn back to the man,"Isn't that right, Lord Shanori?" I asked as I sat back the guard stepping back wearily to his place next to the door behind me. My tiny body did nothing to guard or hide the door behind me.

 

[Sha]

She closed her eyes and read to me my fortune. It was as I expected, prosperity this and power that. Then one of the guardsman stepped forward asking me to leave after my fortune had been told as though that were the reason for my coming here. "Yea, that's right," I said in response to Espe; shooting a look to the guard while keeping my right hand still, not moving it towards my weapon.


"But I didn't come all this way to have my fortune told. I'm looking for something, and this temple seems to be just the kinda place I can find it." I said with both hands on my crossed legs as I leaned forward pulling the bandana down to reveal a playful grin, "And just what makes you think I'm a Lord?"

 

[FluffyFox]

I looked at him with a smile." I can see the past as well as the future, my lord, I know what you seek and I must warn you, if you pick up the swords they will corrupt you, all you will think about is killing, I would not wish that upon my worst of enemies." I said as my hands were pulled back into my lap with the crystal on it."I saw when the lords crown was placed on your head, and know why you seek them, but it will not end up good for either parties, please leave this ambition behind, it will do no good." My purple eyes meet his and they look at him as if begging him.

 

[Sha]

"How could she know of what I seek?" I thought while still being unable to accept her abilities to foretell the future. It didn't matter either way - she had the swords or at the very least she knew where they were. "At last, after nearly 12 months of searching, way out here upon this mountain, I have found my first solid link to the great swords forged so long ago by the great demon of old."


I couldn't allow this opportunity to pass by but neither did I wish to test the abilities of the temple guards, for all I knew they possessed great power having been chosen to defend these sacred grounds. I thought for a moment, meeting her purple gaze with my mismatched eyes.


"Well if you know why I'm here," I began as I rose to my feet should the guard move to attack, "Then you know I cannot leave without them." I rested my hand upon the hilt of my sword before continuing, shooting a glance towards the guard behind her before returning my gaze to Espe, "For the sake of my clan - my father's people and mine, I will accept the corruption and darkness into my heart if that is the price for my clan's freedom. Even if it is the last decision I should make upon this earth, I am willing." I paused briefly allowing a soft smile to curl my lips, "I must succeed."

 

[FluffyFox]

I stood slowly as my two guards stepped up, the one on my right drew his sword with his left hand and the one of the left drew his sword with his right hand."Yin, Yang, please don't kill him." I said as they attacked and I stepped back up to the gate, holding onto the red gem in my hand which was the key to the gate, along with my blood.


The girl had black hair and was left handed. She charged at him but was defeated when she hit a pillar she had been tossed into. The guy had white hair and was right handed, he was defeated when he was slashed across the back. I wanted to run forward and help them, but If i did I would put them in danger. I looked at the man as he came towards me and I pushed up against the door trying to hide my face with my hood. I couldn't let him see my ears.


My family was descended from forest gods, my trait was my cat ears. I let my head face the ground knowing the rest of the guards wouldn't be here for a few minutes."Please, don't do this, it will not end good."

 

[Sha]

As the two men charged me my smile fell from my face. The first, white haired and baring only a short sword with no shield charged at me but was easily dispatched with a quick slash across his back. "I suppose I overestimated your guardsman," I said calmly as the other swung his sword recklessly towards my neck. I bowed my chest allowing his sword to pass over my head unable to cut even a single strand of crimson hair from my head. He was left open and so I rose, quickly maneuvering my sword to pierce his heart.


I had seen much blood in my past, and suspect I shall in my future, but it always pains me to take the life despite my intentions. My eyes made no indication of this pain but remained placid; stoic. I approached the girl now who had backed herself against the great wooden doors as she clutched the gem which seemed to hold great value, "Is that the key to obtaining the swords?" I wondered. Lowering her eyes to the ground as I approached she repeated her desire for me to stand down.


"I am sorry, Espe," I began as I wiped the blood from my sword with a cloth from my left pocket, "It was never my intention to hurt these men - nor do I wish to harm you." I stopped as I stood before her, she seemed to be hiding something upon her head. A crown, perhaps? With a single stroke of my left hand still holding the bloody cloth I removed her hood and stepped back upon noticing her ears protruding from her black hair; cat-like. "What," I began dropping the blood soaked cloth to the ground, "Who are you?" I whispered in surprise.

 

[FluffyFox]

I yelp lightly as my hood in pulled back, my cat ears popped up and I pressed against the door waiting for the sword to cut off my head. When the sword did not come down I looked up at him."I am descended from forest gods, my powers come from that, it is why i was left in charge of the swords, as only forest god blood can open the door to the swords, and the gem I hold." I say as I look at him tears in my eyes.


"Please you don't know what your doing, if you take those swords the world will end, is it worth the end of the world to get these swords, you can think of many more ways to keep your people safe." I said as I held the red gem to my heart."Please."

 

[Sha]

"A God?" I said sceptically glancing around my shoulder to make sure there were no more guards approaching. "You mean to tell me you are the daughter of the forest Gods?" My scepticism was not yet fully lost but upon seeing her ears and the way in which she coveted the red stone my mind was beginning to believe her. "If these swords are truly the catalyst for armageddon, then I must be the fool to have set on this journey; to have spent nearly a year searching for them."


I let out a sigh and pick up the bloodied cloth as I finished wiping my sword, "What would happen if you alone were to remove the swords?" I asked now sheathing my weapon standing but a foot in front of the girl, "What would be your answer, then, if I should offer to be your protector? If you have the strength to restore my clan then it is we who shall become the new guardians of this evil." I smiled softly as I lay my left hand upon her shoulder, "The swords will be under better guard than this, I promise."

 

[FluffyFox]

I looked at him with wide open eyes."I can pick up these swords, I do so for a ritual once a month where I cleanse them. No one in the temple knows why I can, they think it has to do with the red gem I hold. The only problem is I can't unsheathe the weapons, If I do so I start a battle for control of the swords, i've never won." I said as I looked at his weapon.


"I would not need new guardians if you hadn't killed my last ones, Yin and Yang were very nice, Yin was the one who made the kimono I wear now." I said as tears came to my eyes."They were my only friends, all three of us were born here. If you are born or live here you may never leave."

 

[Sha]

My eyes meandered downward towards the crisp, white snow still packed down from where she ran when she moved to the door. I had killed before and whenever I did my heart would not falter; but the way she spoke of them as her friends and companions since birth caused a sharp pain to pass briefly through my heart. It was gone as quickly as it appeared; it was almost ethereal. My heart had been jaded for so long yet that pain, that sadness, seemed almost familiar to me.


My smile did not leave my lips despite the pain which had struck through my jaded heart so briefly. Tears came to her eyes as she spoke now. My heart had already healed itself, "I am truly sorry for your friends. They should have stayed their blades," I began lowering my hand from her shoulder. "I am sure they were kind, but kindness does not mean strength. A kind heart does not always have the power to defend this great evil which you tell me resides here. If you truly do not wish to accompany me to the land of my clan I shall not force you, nor shall I take the lives of any others here if it can be helped." I paused as I returned my mismatched eyes to her violet ones, "But I will have the swords," I paused allowing my eyebrows to bend downward slightly, "Regardless of whether or not you choose to accompany me."

 

[FluffyFox]

I looked up to him as he removed his hand from my shoulder."If you take the swords I have to go with them, my life is permanently tied to them, if I leave to far away from them I will die." I say as I look at his mismatched eyes. My eyes drift down to the ground as I wipe my eyes clear of tears, flicking them off my hand they land on the white messed up snow.


"I will open the door for you." I said and stood placing the small red gem in the small slot in the doorway. I then took out a small dagger and slit one wrist smearing the blood around the gem before I wrapped my wrist up with my small cloth. I push the door open and remove the gem slipping it into a pocket I cross the room over to a pedestal on which sat two swords, they both had black scabbards with gold inlaid on them and the handle were blood red. I sit down in front of them and smile at him."These are the swords Sin and Sorrow."

 

[Sha]

She used her gemstone key combined with bits of her own blood to unlock the door. We stepped in. The room was surprisingly small; in the center sitting upon a pedestal sat the swords sheathed in black and gold. Their hilts seemed to glow and drip with blood as they sat, motionless in the dark room now made light by the rising sun behind us. I could feel my eyes grow wide as I gazed intently at the masterpieces so prominently displayed, "These are the swords of Sin and Sorrow," She said.


I could hardly hear her as my eyes remained stuck to the weapons which seemed to call to me, "Kill. Kill them all." The thought invaded my mind. The pressure to take them and leave the girl to die was almost overwhelming and had my heart not been already forged shut by the blacksmiths of war I fear I may have kill her then and fled. I approached the weapons and began to reach out a hand to take them, "I can feel it," I whispered half to the girl and half to myself, "The power it-it," I paused as my fingers trembled mildly as they grew closer to the scarlet hilts, "It's destructive. It's beautiful."

 

[FluffyFox]

I watched him as he walked into the room and slowly moved towards me. He reached out to grab the swords and I reached up to him and grabbed his wrist."You can't hold them, you will loose yourself and not be able to control your body." I say as i stand up next to him. I reach out beyond him and pick up the two swords holding them against my chest. I pull my hood back up as I looked at him.


"I guess you are taking me back to your castle? I must warn you, i've never left this temple so I will not be able to travel at the speed you normally travel. Also, people might try to take the swords, I will protect them as best I can, but i'm not very strong." I said and bowed to him.

 

[Sha]

Espe grabbed my wrist just before I could grasp at the swords causing my mind to snap back to reality as though I had been in some sort of trance. "Castle?" I said with a laugh while she clutched the swords to her chest and bowed, "I am a Lord, to be sure, but my house is not made of stone. Do not fret, my new friend," I said turning to leave, "We will be well protected behind the walls, but..." I tapered off waving my hand lazily, "It is not so magnificent as to be called a castle." I turned my head back to her as I walked forward, smiling softly, "Do not worry, my kind hearted friend, I shall protect you; I shall protect the swords."


I continued out of the room beyond the great doors and looked around as my right hand sat upon the hilt of my sword in readiness for any others who sought to stop us from leaving.

 

[FluffyFox]

I looked at him with a smile as I followed him to the door, ten of my guards who patrolled the castle grounds stood there. I looked at them and they looked at me."Lady Espe! Step away from him!" They yelled and I shook my head no."Please leave, I don't want you hurt, i'll be safe with Lord Shanori, please tell Lord Lupine I will not be returning and he can return to the woods around here and live a free life."


I walk forward slowly as they split to let up through. I stay close to Shanori's side as I shook lightly afraid that my men would not listen to me and there would be more death around me. Once we cleared the gates I sighed and looked at Shanori with a smile."Lord Shanori, are you going to lead the way? I've never left the temple grounds."

 

[Sha]

My hand remained firmly grasped around the hilt of my sword as we walked the path which the guards made for us. I said nothing while she and the guardsmen spoke not wanting to antagonize or escalate the situation. Two of their friends had already been slain; their blood still staining the snow around us as we walked. After a few minutes we reached the gates when she asked me if I were to lead the way, "Of course," I responded. "You have lived a sheltered life within your temple walls for so long, how could I expect you to lead us to my lands?"


The snow deepened as we left the temple's courtyard. Bits of red staining beneath where I walked, I must have stepped in the blood of the fallen. I stopped as we stood just beyond the temple gates with guardsman watching us from where the temple ended and the trail began. "Say your farewells, Espe, for I doubt you shall see this place again. With nothing to guard I venture your old home will be covered in vines, empty, and desolate should you ever choose to return here. I shrugged mildly and began to follow the snow laden trail, my footprints still engraved in the snow.


"There is a town at the base of these mountains," I began as we walked in the cold, late morning air, "We should arrive before nightfall." I paused and glanced at the girl, "Do bandits patrol these roads during the daytime? I did not see any on my way to your temple. Perhaps it is the cold which drove them away."

 

[FluffyFox]

I looked back to the temple and wave to my guardsmen. a man had come out, he had a cloth covering his head as well. I smiled and waved the hardest to him, well the best I could without dropping the swords I had in my arms. I turned and looked at Shanori."Lupine scares all the bandits away, they don't like it very much when a large wolf comes barreling into their camps and then turned into a human." I said with a smile as I walked next to him.


"The temple will stay intact, Lupine will make sure of it, he is one of the forest gods that live at them temple, they don't take a stance in affairs of the sword, they aren't effected by them, Lupine was to be the forest god I married if I had stayed at the temple." I said as I looked at Shanori, he was leaving red footsteps, and so was I.

 

[Sha]

I let out a sigh as she finished speaking, "I'm surprised your betrothed isn't trying to stop us," I said with an air of disappointment invading my voice, "I would have liked to spar with him. I have never fought a God before." I looked over to the girl walking at my side with curiosity. I had only just met her and yet she was so quick to accept my offer: To leave her temple, her home, with a stranger. I began to wonder if she was telling the truth about the swords before remembering how they seemed to call to me as we stood in that dark room where they rested.


"Are you planning on carrying those blades like that for the entire trip?" I asked incredulously, "I have a horse stabled in Yuki, the village at the base of this mountain, but we won't arrive until near nightfall."

 

[FluffyFox]

I look at him as she asked me about the swords in my arms."I don't know how else to carry them as I'm not allowed to carry a blade." I said and looked down."I'm sorry if I am being a burden on you, they did not teach me much at the temple, other then the stuff I would need to learn as the leader. They said if I was taught how to use a sword I might be tempted to use Sin and Sorrow. Until you came along I was the only person who has ever been inside that room, I didn't even use the main doorway."


I slowly moved down the steps that lead up to the temple It was very steep so I had to be careful not to slip."Lupine didn't really care for me, he was only doing his duty as a forest god in the area, he would have been free to go do what ever he wanted one I had a child who could take my place if I passed." I said before I took another step.

 

[Sha]

Putting my hands in my pockets as I listened to her I realized just how sheltered her life must have been. It was not common for women to be well-practiced in swordplay, but one not only tasked with guarding such weapons, but also one descended of Gods surely should have been taught to fight - to defend what she was tasked to defend. "Don't worry, you're not a burden. Not yet, anyways."


We continued onward for a few hours in silence. The sun became partially hidden by grey clouds from which soft snow fell as the afternoon dragged on. My footprints from when I had walked towards the temple earlier in the morning were still visible on the trail and began to fill with powder as we continued. "We can rest if you like," I said coarsely, clearing my throat. My voice had not been used much since we left the temple grounds, "Are you hungry? There is still some time before we arrive at the village," I said without stopping, waiting first for her answer.

 

[FluffyFox]

I held the swords against my chest as we walked as if they were made of the most delicate of things. When he said we could stop I smiled."I would love to rest for a moment Lord Shanori." I said and sat down under a branch of a tree which hung over a rock. I leaned against it as I looked to him."I can wait for food, we had small meals up at the temple, especially during winter when it was harder for the village down below to bring goods up, and for us to find our own goods."


I yawn tired from the walking and pressed the swords tighter to my chest. Well we had been walking I had been using my powers to create barriers around the swords, no one would be able to feel the evil power that poured off them, but it would only last so long so I would hope we got to where he lived soon. I would need to hide the swords away when we did.