Episode 1: Intro

For as long as I can remember...I’ve always felt alone...

My mother passed away when I was 4, so I don’t remember much about her.

I don’t know my father, due to the fact that he passed away before my birth, but I can vaguely remember her always saying “he was a man of great courage.”

I don’t recall having any other family so I lived alone in the mountains.

I cried myself to sleep every night, just wishing I was born into a better life.

”Why?” “Why do I feel so empty inside?” I asked myself as I lay on the cold, hard rock I call home.

“Why must I go through these hardships?”

Everyday was a battle. From teaching myself how to hunt for food, to finding shelter when I wandered too far off from my rock.

There were times when I couldn’t take it anymore and decided to wander off looking for a way to rid myself from this world.

It’s in those moments, that I can feel my mother’s spirit, urging me to keep living.

”Nori, you must not give up...keep walking the path your heart chooses to follow, and you’ll see that you’re more than what you think of yourself.” She would say.

Dragging the sword my mother had given to me, I would slowly make my way home.

I remember her saying the sword had belonged to my father, and that I should use it to restore peace.

I have no idea what she meant but for some reason I knew that those words had a lot of pain in them...I could almost feel the sorrow and resentment she had.

I couldn’t lift the sword, nonetheless unsheathe it; but I felt something when she set it on my lap.

I felt the souls of 5 different men...but before I could ask her why, she died.

That’s the last thing I remember about her.

It’s been 10 years since then, now I’m 14 and I still don’t know why I felt the souls of those 5 men on 2 different occasions.

The last time I felt them was when I was 6..

Even then I was left with no clues. I began to feel more empty.

The weight of my mother’s words and being alone was starting to take its toll on me.

I was lost, with no one to guide me.

It was then I decided to head into town...but that didn’t work out too well...so I waited

(Later that day around 6pm)

“It’s cold out tonight” I thought as I walked through the mountain.

I spent the last 3 hours setting down traps and collecting water for my journey.

“Growing up here has its payoffs I guess”

As I’m setting the last trap I made with sticks and some cloth linen from my kimono I start to feel something lurking in the shadows.

“Maybe I’m just tired, I should get some sleep”

(Middle of the night)

Im woken up by the sound of my food being caught in the traps I set around my home.

As I’m going out to see what I caught. Immediately I sense something with the intent to kill.

Without thinking, I grabbed my sword and decided to set out tonight instead of the morning; leaving behind my meal and water.

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