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- Multiple posts per day
- 1-3 posts per day
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- Adaptable
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- Male
Divine Rot
Ashina's time was due-- that was a reality that even the proudest of its citizens could not deny.
Entropy and its claws dig deeper into the weakening land with every passing day; sickness, rot, and death all but common. With the rest of Japan and its clan bending a knee to the Interior Ministry, many gazes turn to this last standing bastion of independence to the far east of Kanagawa and what is to come from its standstill against the force that unified Japan through war.
Isshin the Sword Saint held onto his land with dear force, with the swing of his blade, and his undying nature more than earning his moniker. A war god with a man's flesh. That is-- what many heard through the decades of him. The man who kept Ashina's independence by his very existence.
However, it would foolish to claim Isshin protected Ashina simply out of love and empathy.
Within every dirty and bloodied crevice carved by the Sengoku, even beyond the sea, Ashina's worth would be known. The rejuvenating waters that flowed all through its land are said to be divine of themselves-- said to heal terrible wounds from a man while nurturing nature. Indeed, Isshin protected Ashina for its worth in history and divinity itself, staking his claim to such terrible powers.
That alone invited many, many, many visitors to Ashina. Those who sought not only its waters-- but its deeper mysteries.
... of course. You can figure out what occurred to them; from the nauseating smell in the air, from the bloodied battlefields, from the corpses of soldiers in their shallow graves...
To visit Ashina was to be desperate and greedy. Virtue, even if there, didn't show its face for longer than it needed to.
But...
Somewhere, neighboring Suruga Bay and past Nijima, a ship from beyond the great ocean came. Its objective was not to trade, nor to attack. To put it simply: it would be the first and last voyage this ship would have. It had nothing else but the sole purpose but to bring those seeking something in Ashina. Be it death, be it godhood, be it virtues, be it purpose, be it natural order--
Be it immortality itself-- the enemy of Mujō.
Somewhere, far, far above the clouds: a single rotten blossom allowed itself to bloom.
Ashina's time was due-- that was a reality that even the proudest of its citizens could not deny.
Entropy and its claws dig deeper into the weakening land with every passing day; sickness, rot, and death all but common. With the rest of Japan and its clan bending a knee to the Interior Ministry, many gazes turn to this last standing bastion of independence to the far east of Kanagawa and what is to come from its standstill against the force that unified Japan through war.
Isshin the Sword Saint held onto his land with dear force, with the swing of his blade, and his undying nature more than earning his moniker. A war god with a man's flesh. That is-- what many heard through the decades of him. The man who kept Ashina's independence by his very existence.
However, it would foolish to claim Isshin protected Ashina simply out of love and empathy.
Within every dirty and bloodied crevice carved by the Sengoku, even beyond the sea, Ashina's worth would be known. The rejuvenating waters that flowed all through its land are said to be divine of themselves-- said to heal terrible wounds from a man while nurturing nature. Indeed, Isshin protected Ashina for its worth in history and divinity itself, staking his claim to such terrible powers.
That alone invited many, many, many visitors to Ashina. Those who sought not only its waters-- but its deeper mysteries.
... of course. You can figure out what occurred to them; from the nauseating smell in the air, from the bloodied battlefields, from the corpses of soldiers in their shallow graves...
To visit Ashina was to be desperate and greedy. Virtue, even if there, didn't show its face for longer than it needed to.
But...
Somewhere, neighboring Suruga Bay and past Nijima, a ship from beyond the great ocean came. Its objective was not to trade, nor to attack. To put it simply: it would be the first and last voyage this ship would have. It had nothing else but the sole purpose but to bring those seeking something in Ashina. Be it death, be it godhood, be it virtues, be it purpose, be it natural order--
Be it immortality itself-- the enemy of Mujō.
Somewhere, far, far above the clouds: a single rotten blossom allowed itself to bloom.
A ship with no captain, no crew, and no wind cruised towards land.
Claustrophobic mist hung low as a weight upon their shoulders--
As twelve passengers found themselves here, not even sure why.
Be it from horseback or through space-time-- it mattered not to the ship and their memories, as it surely, forcefully cruised onwards.
Twelve passengers. Twelve strangers to Ashina. Each upon the same compartment, dim light revealing their forms just enough so others could see and gaze upon one another as if rats hiding under damp places.
@Midle1998 as Yasuke (Netflix's Yasuke)
Cruising through uncharted waters in a ship that offered little to no comfort was perhaps an experience that was far too familiar to Yasuke. Even if he wasn't chained here, he could feel their phantom grip around neck and legs alike. The back of his mind reminded him of the disgusting smells he felt in ships such as these... piss and shit, rot and sweat, with him one among many others through that.
Yet just like those 'chains'-- those smells and sounds were nothing but phantoms at the back of his mind. The first thing he noticed was that this place was clean. Grime and death not present for a second. It was a fair change of pace-- even if he knew not what he was here for, what he was...
... ah, that's right.
Just like these people around him, Isaaque-- no, Yasuke, the Obsidian Samurai was heading to Ashina.
... but, Samurai is perhaps asking too much. After all, what is one without their Lord?
@navihime as Mori Calliope (HoloLive)
Calliope was not Buddha. She was not Emma-ō, nor was she the ruler of the Great Beyond. Despite her appearance taking after humanity, she was, naturally, Shinigami. Not an agent of Death, but a force of transience itself. Life and death flowed through opposite ends; as rivers and winds. A natural order that either often repeated itself through samsara, (that is, reincarnation) as old as she could remember. Older than her, even.
Immortality, of course, needed to exist for those to enforce these humans upon those lower than them. Perhaps a cruel cycle-- but humans again and again enlightened themselves of their own suffering and broke free. That was fine. That was acceptable. The natural order was not broken, nature was not at any risk.
But. To give physical immortality, to invite rot and stagnation-- with humanity shedding its ties with itself?
Unacceptable.
She did not know how she arrived. Perhaps something such as the Styx guided her here, but she stood here and now-- in a boat that she somehow knew would bring her to her objective.
And she knew, without seeing she knew-- even before setting foot in the land she needs to arrive-- that Ashina had an overabundance of souls.
@Loveless as Rayda Valence (Non-Fandom OC)
For Rayda, Ashina invited death.
It was an almost seductive thing, what she heard of this place. Death and rot... even if it didn't sing her unto their arms, it was there. So close, just awaiting the correct chance to come and nest itself in her.
Yes. Where others saw the promise of immortality, she saw the quest itself. She saw what was made of soldiers who wanted the land. She saw failure and utter defeat, stagnant as a cycle that was about to break. Immortality-- she knew it well-- was utterly unappealing. She didn't want more of that. She didn't want any of that. She wanted a chance, however small, to die for something that was perhaps worth it. As a hero, or not.
So did this place... this... boat... summon her. To give her a chance to grant her wish, to see what those in Ashina call the 'Great Beyond.'
But perhaps... it was more accurate to say she came here by herself.
@cloaked as Rei (Pokémon Legends: Arceus)
For the second time, Rei found himself in a dark place.
It was not as dark as the void he fell and swam through so long again, nor was it any divine. It was damp and somewhat uncomfortable-- the opposite of where he first found himself on so long ago. Once again, this change came with no form of prior warning, no way he could have prevented it. And unlike the calm, divine presence of the 'almighty Sinnoh' he had come across in that dark ocean-- here he only saw others, not unlike him.
In his hand... a familiar device. The one form of communication between him, and technically speaking, his patron. Golden letters danced through the device, sending the only last, known message:
THE LAND THEE TRAVEL TO POSSESSES A PEAK I CANNOT COME UNTO.
A PLACE BEYOND CREATION. ROT AND DEATH SPELL THE SHAPE OF THE LAND.
TRAVEL FORTH, AND BY MY CREATION-- DOCUMENT IMMORTALITY ITSELF.
... and it was gone, the Arc Phone's going dark as the ocean beneath him crashed violently against the ship. His Pokéballs, containing his companions, still stood comfortably by his side in this trip with people he did not, in yet another land. But he knew and remembered: Ashina is where his objective is, and where immortality itself lays on.
@thatguyinthestore as Norman Osborn (MCU)
Norman was trapped in a labyrinth made of violence and memories.
A labyrinth that every day, he ran against the clock to get out. A labyrinth of televisions and his failures, all shining blinding led light with familiar faces he knew, faces he snuffed out. They yelled in fear and hate towards him, mocking him as he ran across corridors towards an exit that was farther and farther away with every passing day, every passing second.
With every exit, the breath he drew was temporary. With every exit, something underneath his skin ran faster and smartly through that same labyrinth, laughing and mocking him all the same.
Some called him 'Globlin', a demon of his own making. Others, such as the ones in the land he visited, called it violence incarnate. Cruelty-- the act of inciting violence for no reason, getting lost in the way of the war that overtook Japan in its entirety. Indeed, in this land, where this demon of cruelty sought to become God, they called it one thing and one thing only.
The Shadow of Shura.
Now-- both found themselves here, one of them trapped in that labyrinth yet again for now-- in a great ocean towards the objective. That blood of the Gods, what is to be claimed by them.
First to the prize. First to ascension. First to becoming God.
@megar as Mitsuhide (Dragalia Lost)
She heard of Isshin, the Guardian of Ashina, and his particular distaste of rats.
She also heard of the thing hiding in plain sight in his land-- the waters of rejuvenation, the Divine Blood, the Divine Dragon. Indeed, Mitsuhide heard many such things. She was here, after all, to grow old by virtue of another's blood. Dragon's are prideful beings, always taking their due, after all. But it doesn't matter what that is-- just for a chance of living longer, this rat-- her-- would have to take that.
Within this ship that she knew not the name of, small, dirty rats moved about. Behind figures that were not so familiar to her-- before slowly aglomerating around her and her only.
"Mitsuhide-sama, Mitsuhide-sama, Mitsuhide-sama..." they all repeated under their breath, with admiration in their tone. They said nothing of worth, of course: such as how or why she was here, how they knew her name-- or...
... or why there was no crew in this ship. Only rats.
@TheElenaFisher as Ciri (The Witcher)
Ciri traveled through worlds before. Ashina, however, she never went to.
Perhaps it was the neverending war that seemed to plague the nation. Or perhaps it was simply due to her never hearing of it until now. But where she didn't visit, she certainly heard more than enough: monsters, dragons, and immortality itself-- it was a legend packed with culture and history, rumors and violence. Even beyond worlds not this own, those things reached her somewhere, somehow. Maybe in a tavern, spoken by a shady figure-- or from a confused native from there, bloodied and bruised.
It didn't matter-- her eyes were on the prize. Immortality so she could be with her family. Immortality so things didn't need to be sour anymore.
-- but, she knew more than most. Somehow, another word closely accompanied the promise of Immortality whenever Ashina was the topic. And, that was, of course... something not so different from her.
No-- something wasn't right. Someone.
Ciri, for better or for worse, knew the gift of Immortality belonged to someone that could give it, somehow: The Divine Heir, of the Dragon's Heritage.
Now she stood here. Unfamiliar waters and people beyond the eye could see, but somehow all heading to the same place; she somehow, certainly, knew that. In this nameless ship, Ashina was the objective. And the prize of immortality perhaps to become a manhunt.
@Minerva as Yashamaru Kurama (Samurai Showdown)
Tokugawa.
That was the name behind the Interior Ministry-- a name belonging to violent and scared cowards, too afraid of the outside world, but too greedy for their land. Yashamaru, too, like Mitsuhide, heard of Isshin Ashina and his distaste for rats-- but between them, he knew the most. He knew who these rats truly were, he knew of Ashina's last stand as the Tokugawa awaited the death of the sword saint.
And naturally, he knew of the gift of Immortality, of the Dragon that came from the West.
Like Ainu Gold, Ashina had its worth that needed to be protected. Beyond the hands of Tokugawa and any bloodlust enough-- but even that gold was tainted, Dragonrot slowly spreading all through the land. A direct consequence of that very same dragon that drove away Buddha and Gods.
For the masked Tengu, Ashina was a land that hid vices and blessings.
For the masked Tengu, corruption needed to be rooted out.
For the masked tengu, Tokugawa's rats would be in his way.
And in this ship...
... only normal rats stood, thankfully.
@Igloo as Blyeth (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Atone for sins past. Seek it, destroy it-- the 'gift' of the Gods to humanity.
Bloodshed and death only came in response to it, reaching their peak whenever strife came to be. The Dragon's Heritage, and the many other Divine Gifts of Ashina, were no different.
He was, naturally, a foreigner-- but even beyond the great sea, the Interior Ministry closed its gates to, similar stories as the ones here took place. Blyeth's was no different. Perhaps it was for that reason alone he came here unto this boat-- no memory on the why or how and the when or why-- but with the certainty that it would bring him to the place he sought. The Land of Rejuvenating Waters, Ashina-- where yet another 'gift' of the Divine stood.
Many other warriors stood here. Their presences and convictions to achieve what they sought were no different from his own. Even if they were to be perhaps... selfish, or even problematic.
Some of their faces were sad and broken. Others were determined and virtuous, some confused and uncertain. And, deep down, perhaps even seeking the same he wanted-- not to destroy this heritage, of course. But to instead atone for everything up until this moment of their lives.
But here he stood. In a boat leading to where he needed to be, and for once, not alone.
@PlumpyNut as Baiken (Guilty Gear)
She was visiting her homeland after what felt like a long time. An undestroyed Japan, but one that felt pretty close to it regardless, given the period.
The 'Sengoku' era was perhaps the bloodiest era of Japan-- and there are many tales to boot of it. Skeletons rising from shallow graves made for nameless and forgotten soldiers, of forced unification and war against my clans, and the birth of bloodshed and hate all through. But this business of a 'Dragon's Heritage'-- that was new. That was something that did not belong and worsened this already bloody period.
Immortality was unappealing-- perhaps that's why the blade she carried by her side existed. One perfect for the job: to cut away the ties of immortality.
... but...
... she couldn't help but feel that there were many others here with similar purposes, and some not. She could see a black man with a sword that was clearly no native, with a lost and floaty expression, rats, and what appeared to be a woman dressed as the grim reaper herself.
It was obvious: Ashina invited many odd figures.
@marc122 as Yume Moto (Non-Fandom OC)
Why was she here, if not for immortality? What could one possibly seek that wasn't what others wanted?
It was perhaps oddly simple to some-- to leave a message to oneself here, in the past. While the 'avatar' that is Yume Moto did not exist in this distant period of the past, one day, there's a possibility, however small, that 'she' will be born. And for that purpose, that is enough to come here in this land of strife.
Five hundred years and more from now, a message could be left and received all the same. A chance to do better.
Of course-- such a self-focused objective isn't shared by most here, perhaps for the better. In this quest of bloodshed and longevity, of war and campaigns, 'she' alone sought to better 'herself' through leaving something for the far future.
... the how, though. That 'she' wouldn't know how to do. But the answer would come in time-- as soon as this boat stopped.
@udon as The Twelfth Doctor (Doctor Who)
The last passenger, and funnily enough, the twelfth, would have found himself separated from the Tardis.
The ship he found himself on was not the same he was so used to but somehow felt no different. A place that-- no, that's not right. A thing that broke through the veil between worlds, edging on manipulating what is possible and what isn't. Those here were very much alive-- but it likely did not matter if they were dead before this. This ship, created for their very convenience, would stop at nothing until it reached Ashina. Until all passengers here were in.
They were all quiet for now, only the waves and crashing sounds of water against wood breaking that silence-- it made for a rudimentary form of travel. Certainly would make his objective a bit harder.
At the very least though? He still had the keys.
Twelve passengers with their objectives here approach the land.
Twelve fates intertwined as either allies or enemies.
Ashina will fall by the end of the day.
There are a few minutes until the boat arrives on Ashina.
There are six years until the Sengoku Period ends.
And an eternity available for those who claim the Dragon's Blood.
Shadows Die Twice.
