We weren't ALWAYS like this. We used to be useless as far as youkai went. A human child could have defeated us back then. No abilities whatsoever. What happened you ask?
There are large tribes...groups....of creatures...not youkai....not ningen....a mix of both...hanyou. These hanyou were thousands of years more advanced than ancient man. They possessed understanding of outstanding quantity. One society of this type resided in an island you may know as Atlantis. Another island, our island, had another tribe....it was not as Sore-Island...Red Island.
Back then, we were prey...guinie pigs...no more to them than pets and lab rats. We would entertain their curiosity as they tested new elixers and chemicals on us to satisfy their scientific and religious whims. Those of us living through the ordeal became labor slaves until the next great experiment.
In one such experiment, we were deprived of water for several days....and starved. When we were finally finished this strange fast...we were given a new elixer...some drug they believed could increase their power. Something they wished to use during religious ceremonies to become closer to their gods.
Out of 175 of the original group exposed to the drug....five died from allergic reactions. The rest os us took ill as the poison seeped into our veins....our our minds...our hearts. Seeing the violent reaction we suffered, the drug was rejected by the council. However, we survived the ordeal...and our powers began to blossom. Our abilities raised our youkai class from Level 10 to what would become the Ruling Class. Some, such as myself, developed powers that were only semi-useful...psychic abilities, or minor manipulation skills. Other developed powerful weaponry skills, able to control or use objects or materials suitabl for artillary and war purposes. The Soreians saw the advantage and bound us tightly...covering our faces with masks and placing slave shackles on our wrists and collars on our necks to dampen our powers and allowing us to be controlled as remote toys. We became HOUNDS. We served in their justice systems and war departments. We entertained the superiors, much like the Romans, as we played the part of savange lions. We'd face off a condemned hanyou and destroy him with our abilities...if we had the ability to do so.
We grew in numbers....our gifts passed through to the next generation. I myself found a young lady in our group as a mate...and together, we had a son...my first and only child. We feared the Soreians would experiment further on the next generation and became a tight inner clan ourselves to protect them.
Like most societies under corrupt rule, the Soreians became lustful for treasures and raped their land of them....mining and blowing away mountains to get at the valuable gems and minerals. Deep in the depths of one mine, the Soreians found a stone imbedded in gold as if placed there by gods. It glowed a bright red and sent out a powerful youki throughout the mine. It was named for the area...the heart of the island...a red stone....Sore-Shin.
Swiftly, the mine became a temple and Sore-Shin was worshipped as an earthly portal...the eye of a god...the heart of the local god of the island....who never was named.
I was the guard of this temple....and Sore-Shin became my life. I knew more about it than anyone and loved it. That is, just as much as my mate...and my son, Ryu. But, like all great civilizations....this one fell as well.
A small group of rebels bombarded the temple. In my ignorance, I chased them, leaving Sore-Shin unguarded. As the decoys led me away, a second group entered the temple and removed Sore-Shin from it's bed.
They were corrupt and dark. They gave in easily to sinful desires and temptations. This impurity poisoned Sore-Shin...turning it black...and giving it the power to make dark minds into earthly gods.
It took several years to fix my mistake. We warred heavily against the small group. Only ONE could harness the power of the stone...which was an advantage to us in a way...making the rest of his army weak. Upon returning the stone, however, it remained black...and let off a new youki...a dark one...evil...tempting. We renamed it Kuro-Shin.
Dark powers are sought more over the powers of virtue and purity and truth. The Soreians became more corrupt and power-hungry, eash seeking to use Kuro-Shin to torture the innocent...and to torture the clan of Artillary, as we were nicknamed.
We rebelled and fell back often. We knew nothing about declaring out own freedom...as we spend hundereds of years as slaves. Our children knew nothing else. However, in our arrogance, 40 children, 3 men and 5 women were killed during a Soreian massacre against the growing inner clan. We knew there was no option to stay behind, or we'd all be killed. We would not let those who died do so in vain.
I myself led the charge when we attacked the Soreians. Ryu was a young man by then and took another group of the inner clan around the other side of the island...meeting in the middle and trapping Kuro- Shin's holder on a cliff. With his developing powers, he was able to send a shock, freeing Kuro-Shin and sending it into MY hands at the base of the cliff. The power was sickening....and consuming to the touch. I perhaps would have been engulfed with its evil temptations had I not peered up in time to see Ryu attacked by the previous holder, injuring him.
I held tight to Kuro-Shin, furious at the attack. Ryu was my son...my life.....everything to me. He was my hope....and my support. I felt the youki of the stone change. It became familiar, but then grew out of porportion. I felt myself become totally numb....and begin to feel as if I was on fire on the inside. The force was uncanny. But, in my state, I barely noticed as I called for Ryu....sending psychic blasts strong enough to kill at the mob surrounding my son.
Such an attack won us the Great War. Kuro-Shin had become Sore-Shin in my hands when I thought of nothing but Ryu...and feared for the lives of my inner clan. It increased my powers and gave me new ones.....that I did not have normally. I never had them again. After the war was won...and we assembled, Sore-Shin faded back into Kuro- Shin and back into a dormancy. It still calls...yet the voice is hard to hear. Once one discovers and uses Sore-Shin in an act of purity and love....Kuro-Shin's calls are nothing by way of tempting or satisfactory. You are always left with the high...the burn scars deep inside your heart from Sore-Shin.
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