I have excused myself from the others, for now.
I write as I sit on the roof of the cabin, able to stand my watch, and to be left alone with my thoughts. I thought to sit down and try to paint, but I've no supplies. I can send for some. Perhaps doing something for each of the others will help my understanding of them. They still puzzle me.
Moira-san seems to believe that being throw out of a window by the Great Enemy's spawn was all part of a clever scheme. Something in me doubts this. But it does not matter, come the end. It did not take long for us to surround the cabin, both the girl and her troops still inside. After Alanna-san managed to disable a trap laid at the back door, we all moved in to assault the entrances. The enemy did not really stand much of a chance. The common rabble were dispatched with frightening ease as soon as the girl was disabled.
Alanna-san was right. It was worse, this time. I excused myself after cleaning my naginata's blade to check the perimiter. I'm sure she realized the excuse. She has a sharp eye. And tact enough to let me tend to my own troubles. But I have been taught that the fear is always there. All that matters is how it is confronted. In time, I will be able to properly hold it at bay and deal with it in my own time. For now, solitude is the solution.
I may bring this up quietly with Alanna-san, but Aren-san may need training. I have no wish to shame her, but I do not wish to see anyone hurt because she was unable to fight. I will have to think on this some more. Perhaps I should talk to her alone? We shall see. There is little that can be done now. Patience is as much a weapon or shield as valor.
Moira-san is calling. It seems she's prepared a meal. There has been no sign of further intrusion. I will have to trust to my instincts for now, and worry less.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
At Dawn of the Fifth Day
The soldiers of the enemy were slain.
There is little to say of the battle, even if most of it weren't a blur of half-formed memories. The only clear moments were at the end, when I brought my naginata's blade down on the neck of what the others called a Fomorian. It is strange, there was almost no resistance at all when I landed that one solid blow. The other strikes had only really wounded the beast. Is death simply a whisper as the old poems say? Even for a beast of the Great Enemy?
All else I recall was just the outright terror. I do not think any of the others but Alanna-san noticed. She told me that the first time was hard, and that the second would be worse because I would be thinking about how terrifying the first was. I suspect she is correct in that. In either case, I must work on control. Even the slightest hint must remain hidden so that whatever I face cannot exploit it.
There was what seemed to be a survivor of the devastation inside the pit the beasts had crawled from. The beasts had taken an eye from the girl. With little other choice, Moira-san went ahead with her to the cabin while the girl called someone to take her to a hospital. We had been intending to follow the tracks we had found in hopes of finding more clues. But Moira-san called over the radio, using code Alanna-san recognized to mean that there was trouble. As we began to run back, she explained that the girl had, in fact, been a 'Bright One', a sort of general for the Fomorians.
And Moira-san was alone with her, and there were other beasts on the way. Aren-san had to be carried by Alanna-san, she just couldn't keep up with the strange Irish woman or myself. When we finally arrived at the cabin, it was in time to see Moira-san be thrown out of one of the windows. If we were to be tested again so swiftly, then I saw little point in trying to avoid it. I would face them head on, and let the kami decide my fate.
There is little to say of the battle, even if most of it weren't a blur of half-formed memories. The only clear moments were at the end, when I brought my naginata's blade down on the neck of what the others called a Fomorian. It is strange, there was almost no resistance at all when I landed that one solid blow. The other strikes had only really wounded the beast. Is death simply a whisper as the old poems say? Even for a beast of the Great Enemy?
All else I recall was just the outright terror. I do not think any of the others but Alanna-san noticed. She told me that the first time was hard, and that the second would be worse because I would be thinking about how terrifying the first was. I suspect she is correct in that. In either case, I must work on control. Even the slightest hint must remain hidden so that whatever I face cannot exploit it.
There was what seemed to be a survivor of the devastation inside the pit the beasts had crawled from. The beasts had taken an eye from the girl. With little other choice, Moira-san went ahead with her to the cabin while the girl called someone to take her to a hospital. We had been intending to follow the tracks we had found in hopes of finding more clues. But Moira-san called over the radio, using code Alanna-san recognized to mean that there was trouble. As we began to run back, she explained that the girl had, in fact, been a 'Bright One', a sort of general for the Fomorians.
And Moira-san was alone with her, and there were other beasts on the way. Aren-san had to be carried by Alanna-san, she just couldn't keep up with the strange Irish woman or myself. When we finally arrived at the cabin, it was in time to see Moira-san be thrown out of one of the windows. If we were to be tested again so swiftly, then I saw little point in trying to avoid it. I would face them head on, and let the kami decide my fate.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Day One
The book itself appears to be a simple, black leather bound diary. It is the lock that's unusual. There's no obvious keyhole.
The world is strange.
Some might have said this was abundantly obvious, but things never seemed that way. The first sign should have been the shrine, for no obvious reason, taking on the land and tax bills for my family's home after father died. But that things seemed so stable after that, who would have argued the point? I certainly did not. They even agreed to take me on to work there without most of their standard checks. I was accepted far too fast. And I still did not question.
Perhaps I should.
But hindsight is perfect. I discovered, one day, the truth behind the absence of my mother. I was summoned, one afternoon, to the inner shrine buildings - to the very building dedicated to Amaterasu. There, I finally met my mother. Should I have wondered more at this woman, claiming to be great Sun Goddess herself? Who could have? The very idea was too ludicrous to make up, and even then there was something unearthly about her. She explained the simple truths of my life, and my heritage. She gave me the information I needed and artifacts to help, and then...
I understand why I am sitting here now in a cabin in a remote part of America. There is too much that demands their own attention, so the great kami send their children to discover what is taking towns, down to the last nail. I just wish...Aren-san is not so bad, I suppose. The others, Alanna and Moira, are...loud. And certainly spirited. It is like I am trapped living with drunken tourists with no sense of shame, sometimes. But I have only known them for a few days. Perhaps I have missed something.
After settling into this cabin, our small group headed down to the town we were to start our investigation in. There was nothing there. The whole area just wiped clean. At least, that was before one of the Great Enemy's soldiers attacked us.
The world is strange.
Some might have said this was abundantly obvious, but things never seemed that way. The first sign should have been the shrine, for no obvious reason, taking on the land and tax bills for my family's home after father died. But that things seemed so stable after that, who would have argued the point? I certainly did not. They even agreed to take me on to work there without most of their standard checks. I was accepted far too fast. And I still did not question.
Perhaps I should.
But hindsight is perfect. I discovered, one day, the truth behind the absence of my mother. I was summoned, one afternoon, to the inner shrine buildings - to the very building dedicated to Amaterasu. There, I finally met my mother. Should I have wondered more at this woman, claiming to be great Sun Goddess herself? Who could have? The very idea was too ludicrous to make up, and even then there was something unearthly about her. She explained the simple truths of my life, and my heritage. She gave me the information I needed and artifacts to help, and then...
I understand why I am sitting here now in a cabin in a remote part of America. There is too much that demands their own attention, so the great kami send their children to discover what is taking towns, down to the last nail. I just wish...Aren-san is not so bad, I suppose. The others, Alanna and Moira, are...loud. And certainly spirited. It is like I am trapped living with drunken tourists with no sense of shame, sometimes. But I have only known them for a few days. Perhaps I have missed something.
After settling into this cabin, our small group headed down to the town we were to start our investigation in. There was nothing there. The whole area just wiped clean. At least, that was before one of the Great Enemy's soldiers attacked us.
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