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Lore - Zen, the Marine Ronin

Background - Alpha Majoris IIa

Zen's family lived in a small Earth-eastern influenced village among their inferior relatives - the koi fish. The village beside the clear coastlines stood serene and tranquil. All was well until one night, when an unknown entity had overshadowed the village with darkness. A sudden storm raged on the village, leaving a dark silhouette against... it. They called this being "Akuma" or "Aku" for short, for it sent out armoured creatures from the depths, as if prepared a feeding ambush on the fishes. The villagers stood no chance against the overwhelming darkness - the moon hid its face from the tragedy, and no light shone upon the suffering. Zen, eighteen (in human years), was forced by his defending family to swim across the sea, ignoring everything evil and keep patient. Find a sword smith named Murasama, for he will give you the strength you need. For motivation, the family-crested himo (kimono shirt) with the Japanese symbol for serenity, was granted along with their katana, Omega, to Zen. He and the sword became one, and he drove into the sea, looking only once to see his family in grave pain and the koi fish scattering in blood. Nevertheless, he followed what was ordered, and flowed blindly into the sea...

It was already several hours since the escape, and the moonlight returned to Zen's horizon. His weightless clothes were woven out of a special silk that does not absorb the moisture of the sea, which is useful for a hylotl species like him... If only there were survivors... The darkness was still dense in Zen's vision, though he was aware of some tiger sharks below him. Ignore them, he thought, let them leave me in-

He reacted from seeing a moonlit shark blazing straight towards him, by pulling out Omega with his right arm. But it was too late. The shark caught firm hold of his arm, and grinded harshly into the depths of Zen's flesh. Agh!! My arm! The blood... it could attract the attention of other sharks before I'm dead... But he was still holding on to his blade. Suddenly, he began to feel calmer than before. With brute force he unnoticingly thrusted his fist towards the shark's eye, water dynamics flowing through the grooves of his finned arm, converting all streamline areas into concentrated energy. Whap! The shark immediately let go free of his arm, spilling the blood below. Zen spun around once, held his blade with two regained hands, and stabbed the head of the shark. As ironically calm as he remained, he forcefully dragged the sword downwards the face, until leaving the head half cut in two. He kicked the shark corpse below, leaving enough cannibal feast for the rest and time for him to leave out from the area.

The sun began rising at early dawn. The wounds in his arm were very severe, though he expected being unable to control his right arm after this much damage. The pain disappeared gradually, and he had a better grip on the sword than before. Amaterasu is waking me up, I must go find Murasama and find answers!

Zen never did stop wandering about the sea of Alpha Majoris IIa, the closest habitable planet nearest Earth. The ports of other species he bypassed to find traces of Murasama by the locals. The king of the port accepted him for his extraordinary presence among humans. Several times he was invited for guest dinners for the good deeds and companionship. Otherwise, others treated him very fondly for his remarkable martial arts against thiefs and thugs. They offered to fix his shirt, but could not find any alternative to the strange and light black silk and golden thread that could replace the torn pieces. Yet, they added buckled belts to keep his shirt together, including a makeshift scabbard for his blade.

Once, a human scribe told him of uncharted waters beyond the very port they stood on - no man nor frigate had ever returned from sailing beyond the constant fog. This was one of his assumed clues to where Murasama would be, hence he determined to set out into the unknown fog. The humans set up a full-rigged pinnace (sailing boat) in the direction of the fog, Zen chose to come along. Below he noticed several koi fish just like the ones back in the village. This was the beginning of his adventure across the unknown, to search for lost answers on the darkness and Aku, and the ultimate destiny which lies await to be revealed by Zen and the Koi.