11-16-2009, 09:15 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-16-2009, 01:08 PM by DragonMasterX.)
Hi! Well, after a couple months of inactivity, I sort of came up with a new idea for a story. Many thanks to Crimson Fox for beta'ing it for me. More will come soon!
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This is an original story fully copyrighted to DragonMasterX and is not to be reproduced and/or redistributed without express consent from the author. Thank you and have a good day.
Author’s Note: This story contains female transformation (morphing), body-expansion and mature-rated scenes. Handle with care.
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It is 1815, the Edo Period in Japan. The story unfolds in the northeastern territory of Torusawa.
“Congratulations on your ascension again, Master Shiburo.” The mature, condensed voice of an old man greeted an oncoming figure down the royal chambers of the Tora Palace. The old man was the emperor’s main servant and the palace’s first-hand sorcerer; he was under the command of Shiburo Tora, the aforementioned emperor. He strode down the halls to his throne centered at the end of the chambers, where he sat down with a smile.
“Much obliged, Theo.” Shiburo, the young emperor of 35 and the military pride of the Torusawa Empire, was the only one of the Tora line alive, his mother having been executed a few months ago for suspected disloyalty issues, and his father mysteriously assassinated by an unknown perpetrator not too long afterwards. The only one remaining, this charming young man had ascended to the throne some years before intended, but thanks to his extensive strategic knowledge little doubt was left concerning his leadership abilities. The old man known as Theo revered his master, and continued.
“Master Shiburo, the examination of the ancient writings we found in the conquered ruins to the northwest has been finished. The translation has been transcribed into a scroll as you ordered, my lord.” The sorcerer informed with his right arm in front of his chest as he bowed forwards in respect.
Shiburo looked pleased, but anxiety forced the obvious inquiry promptly: “And the scroll in question?”
“It is here, Master Shiburo.” Theo rummaged into his garb, producing a pair of scrolls. One of them was new, the other old and poorly taken care of. The new one was handed to the emperor, while the other one was placed beside Shiburo.
Wasting almost no time, Shiburo found himself opening and reading the scripture, a smile drawing in his lips at the words: “Eternal” and “Life”, the warnings detailed in the scroll barely making any impressions on him, yet a certain explanation added by the translator made his hands shake.
Shiburo made sure to read it out-loud to confirm it himself, “…Every thousand years, the miracle of Kagi-Getsuei Ranpu shall be bestowed upon its right heir by the last user’s spirit who shall join the eternal slumber among the dead…” His hands begun shaking once again as he continued, “…The heir is determined by the family line tied to the last user and only the current, eldest family member alive will be able to successfully receive the blessing. Kanji at the bottom reveal the historian’s research to determine the eldest family member alive, their name and family.” Shiburo felt his saliva evaporate from his mouth as his eyes slowly skipped everything to go to the bottom of the scroll, and as expected, his family line was not the next heir’s line, let alone his name appearing on it. He clutched one his arms tightly, almost losing his composure at his wounded pride.
“Sir, if I may,” Theo intercepted, having read the scroll before it had the chance to be delivered and thus understood his lord’s preoccupation, “That last name… If you recall, it is very familiar. More than you may think.”
“What do I care?! It’s not mine!” barked Shiburo, “Kagi-Getsuei Ranpu does not work unless the right heir attends the ceremony!”
“…Precisely.” The reply from the old man made Shiburo forget about his anger and to concentrate his attention on the sorcerer, who found it pertinent to continue: “Getting someone with your resources, my lord, is only a matter of time; yet, no matter how you look at it, the ritual will only work with the right heir to the miracle. What then, if we somehow made YOU the right heir?”
Shiburo’s eyes lightened up, “What then, indeed.” He repeated. This made Theo chuckle.
“Master Shiburo, with my magic, translating someone’s life essence to another is a simple matter of time, as well.” The sorcerer bowed in respect again, “All we need is time to gather everything that is needed… and then, on the night of the Kagi-Getsuei Ranpu, the miracle will indeed be yours.”
A newly confident smirk drew itself across Shiburo’s once rattled image as he looked to the bottom of the ancient writings’ translation. “It appears we will have to make use of our special forces… one last time.” The kanji depicting the Kagi-Getsuei Ranpu’s heir name seemed to glow in Shiburo’s eyes as he plotted.
Deep in the mountain range surrounding the Torusawa Empire…
“You’re open!” A light-blue streak passed across a black-garbed man with a mask. Wood made contact onto the man’s belly, knocking the air out of him.
“Ugh… Lady Misora… that was… too much…” The man was knocked to one knee as he clutched his stomach, gasping for breath.
“Aw, c’mon! Don’t tell me that’s it?” The girl holding a dull, wooden katana over her shoulder blinked her blue eyes in disbelief. The young 17-year old shinobi in light-blue clothes which mostly left little to imagination went by the name of Misora Kaen. She was the only daughter to the shinobi master known as Yuuichiro Kaen and she had learned almost everything from him: From the basic and advanced shinobi skills to his own kenjutsu, the Moui-Ryuu, also known as the Angered Dragon. She helped the weakened man up to his feet.
“You are so incredibly tough and strong,” The male shinobi told her, still recovering from the blow to his stomach. His eyes sized the young girl from toes to head, her long, flexible legs, her shapely hips, trim waist, modestly-sized but pert breasts, her sparkly blue eyes and her crystal-like light-blue hair which was tied into a short, curvy ponytail behind her head. The guy’s eyes went back down to her chest, “To be… a girl…” He finished.
Misora huffed, giving her sparring partner a push on the face, which to the trainee felt like a strong smack due to her superior strength, her light-blue uniform with black streaks around the sides and around the shoulder section lightly fluttering along with her light armguards of similar color-pattern. “Don’t distract yourself. I’m going easy on you until father comes back. You’re the one who hasn’t caught up with training, so you better be grateful to me for this!” She said with a frown, putting her hands on her hips, just below of the belt that hugged her waist. Just a few inches below the end of her pale-blue short skirt one could see that below the line of her thighs ran down tight black stockings until her feet, where her wooden sandals were located.
“Y-yes! Certainly.” The other ninja quickly said, before taking a moment to relax to regain his energy back. In the meantime, he inquired: “Sir Kaen… he’s great, isn’t he?”
“Huh?” blinked Misora as she heard the other guy, who closed his eyes and tried to act out as if he hadn’t said anything. She grinned a bit; after all, it was her father he was praising. “I’ve never met someone so dedicated to his occupation. Ever since my mother passed away… He’s been the only one to take care of me, and to open this school to form his own school for an elite squad of shinobi… It’s impressive it’s been more than a decade since he started it and he’s become the Empire’s Special Forces…” She sighed in content as she slowly spoke, her heart filling with the pride for her father. “That’s why,” she continued, “I’m going to do my best for his sake too, carry every mission out to perfection and make our name reach beyond Japan.” She smiled widely.
To the trainee, Misora looked very pretty with such an innocent smile. He had recovered from the earlier assault, too. “Lady Misora…” He spoke out, “I believe you will be the best shinobi master ever. You surpass everyone here, and not only that, you’ve been able to complete missions on your own as well, with no assistance at all. I… I’m proud that you are the one teaching me!” he revered to Misora, who blinked and blushed slightly. Praise wasn’t something SHE was used to receive.
“I… thank you, Myurin.” Misora softly spoke as she gave him a smile, before allowing herself a childish grin and giving him a rather strong pat on the back, “Don’t think I’m going to go easy on you just because of that little speech, though!” she laughed.
Myurin laughed too, albeit half-heartedly as he stepped slightly away from her to take his distance, “Y-yes… indeed.” He nodded to her, picking his own training sword from the floor. Misora got in a battle stance as well, the pale-red, thick muffler she wore fluttered lightly with the mountain breeze.
“This time, pour your soul in your strikes!” She ordered loud and clear. Both shinobi, trainee and tutor, locked eyes, and lunged against each other.
“Master Yuuichiro!” At the top of the mountains, the shinobi greeted their master. It was late at night, and the shinobi master had apparently been busy and outside for most of the day on a self-appointed mission. “Glad to see you back!” The master’s students greeted happily. Yuuichiro was no less than a father to most of the trainees, their ages varying from 15 to 30, but none of them older than their 49-year-old teacher.
Yuuichiro walked inside his dojo, which had been re-built and upgraded from the ruined shack it had used to be decades before he had decided to move into the mountains. It was a home and a school at the same time. The ninja master stood at an impressive six feet and five inches, dressed in his own shinobi shozoku and wearing his concealing mask. Removing it, the adult shinobi silently strode over to the center of the dojo, surrounded by his students. “My pupils, I trust you have kept up with training.”
“Yes, sir!” The collective voice of the male students filled the room, Misora nowhere to be found.
“Kenjiro,” Yuuichiro addressed to a nearby shinobi, “Where is my daughter?” He asked with concern. “It is almost time for dinner, is it not?”
The one named Kenjiro nodded, “Yes, sir. She had been training the slacker, Myurin, until now. I believe she brought him to the kitchen to cook tonight’s dinner.”
Yuuichiro drowned a grunt at the sentence’s meaning. He certainly was proud about her daughter’s progress as a Shinobi and also how considerate she was with others. Her cooking skills, on the other hand…
“Dinner’s ready, everyone!” Misora cut the silent atmosphere with her cheerful feminine voice as she came in along with Myurin, carrying several trays holding rice bowls and what seemed to be charcoal in the shape of a fish. Her eyes fixed on her father as she smiled towards him “Father! I’m glad you could join us for dinner. I hope you like the fried salmon, it burnt slightly on the sides, but I’m sure it will taste delicious!” she giggled.
“I’m happy to see you well, my daughter.” Yuuichiro, despite the horrendous stench of burnt fish in the room, genuinely expressed his happiness at seeing his daughter. As Misora and his pupil distributed and served dinner among everyone, he thought about how Misora always had resembled her mother. Such a pure and honest nature, yet it was unbelievable how they always seemed to ruin every sort of dish they touched no matter how simple it was. The fact the rice appeared to be well-cooked indicated she must have let Myurin cook it instead. Unfortunately for Misora’s cooking discipline, nobody ever dared to utter disgust at her dishes, yet they were clear that her culinary expertise was too much for them and thus they made her swear she would only cook once a month. Unfortunately for these people, this was that time of the month.
Dinner was quiet as always. Occasionally, somebody would choke or muffle a grunt at the charred dish, but they would immediately cloak it with false praise which apparently was hardly heard, yet it served as distraction so Misora wouldn’t hear. The young girl was happily next to her father, enjoying her own food and chowing down rather vehemently. Apparently either her taste buds weren’t working or food simply tasted indifferent to her.
Once over, everybody left, with tummy aches or not, and only Yuuichiro and his daughter were left in there, by his bidding no less.
Misora was sitting on the front of her legs across from her father, her hands resting on her lap as she stared at him intently, who apparently had his eyes closed. “Father?” She broke the silence.
Yuuichiro, unlike his daughter, was sitting with his legs crossed around each other and his hands on his knees, as if he was in a meditation position. He finally re-opened his eyes to gaze over at his daughter. “Misora, I’m proud of you, my dear child. You have grown into such a fine and beautiful woman.”
Misora’s eyes bulged slightly. It was the second time in the day she had been praised that much. “Father…” she only said.
“You remind me so much of your late mother, Misora.” Yuuichiro begun smiling, “If only I had taught her how to protect herself like I did with you, maybe she would also be here to see you like I am.” His smile became gloomier, yet his fatherly pride was evident.
“Father, it was not your fault. You weren’t here.” Misora tried, she knew it was futile to try to console Yuuichiro. They had visited this issue several times in the past, and it had never ended in a pleasant way, but this time she decided to try to change the subject to avoid such a situation. “Oh yes. You said you wanted to update me on something, is that right?” She quickly said.
The shinobi master stood up slowly, nodding to Misora. “Not only you have matured, Misora, but you have also become a strong shinobi. You have learned my technique, the Moui-Ryuu, which took me years to develop and perfect.” He said, turning around and walked towards the wall, where he pulled a small, almost invisible lever which flipped part of the wall, revealing a hoister for a sheathed sword. Yuuichiro grabbed it by its center, Misora standing up with her fists gripped in anxiety. “Misora, this…” the tall ninja turned around to face his daughter again, “…This is the Mugen Ryu, a sword which has been passed down our family ever since unmemorable times. This is much more than a family heirloom: It’s a weapon given to our family in order to preserve our name and line across the times. This is why, since you’ve proven to be worthy of it, I’m now passing it down to you, my daughter.” The ninja then held the sheathed katana out for Misora to grab it.
“Father, this… this is…” Misora felt herself at a loss for words, she put both her hands under the katana, gripping it firmly as she received it from her father, then she looked up to him with a firm stare. “Master. This is an honor.” She bowed respectfully. “I will forever strive to spread the Kaen name across the world and continue bringing honor to our tradition.” She vowed.
Yuuichiro smiled softly to Misora, her demeanor and her strong will never ceasing to impress him. He walked in front of his first student, no, his daughter, and gave her a firm hug. “I’m sure you will. Someday too, this dojo will be yours, and my students shall follow you everywhere you go,” he nodded to the young girl, “And I suppose you will stop being soft to the newbies by then.” he added with a small chuckle.
“F-father!” Misora blushed a bit, startled at his last comment, “You knew?” She gasped.
“A shinobi must have eyes and ears everywhere.” Yuuichiro lectured, and then put a hand on her daughter’s head to mess her hair slightly. “But they must also learn discipline, and Myurin is one of those.” He laughed a bit.
“Y-yes. Of course.” Misora glanced away, as if she had expected Myurin to be there, laughing at the whole scene. She had always known that extra training was only supposed to be carried out with supervision by the Master, yet she felt concerned about the new recruit, he had joined pretty late compared to all the others, as well.
“And now… I must take my leave again, Misora.” Yuuichiro said, breaking their hug.
“H-uh?” Misora said, caught off guard during her day-dreaming. “You… another mission?” She guessed. Yuuichiro nodded.
“And it’s one of the most important I’ve received ever since we began serving the empire.” The master nodded.
“Allow me to come.” Misora nodded, strapping her new katana on her back. “I have been lax all this time, father. I,”
“No.” Yuuichiro stopped her. Usually, this would never happen. He was always confident about his daughter’s abilities as a shinobi, which had been proved when he inherited the Mugen Ryu to her, and he would allow assisting him since it provided experience to her.
Misora felt a tingling sensation at the center of her chest, that ‘No’ had been too firm for her. “That’s it?” She blinked, “No ‘This is a dangerous Mission.’ Or ‘I may not come back from this one.’?” She teased.
Yuuichiro felt partly guilty at the accusation, “Had I said either of those,” he opted to shift his approach, “You would have been even more insistent, dear.” He laughed softly, putting his concealing mask on as he prepared himself.
“…Fine.” Misora agreed. Although her mind told her otherwise. Somehow, her father had suddenly begun acting strange. As she saw him leave and disappear into the clear night’s dark embrace, she made a mental note to follow him secretly. Slipping her own concealing mask on and preparing herself for possible struggle or conflict, she walked outside.
Misora’s waist belt had tiny satchels strapped to it where she would place tiny but effective throwing weapons, such as kunai or shuriken. Those two different containers were located on her left side, the opposite side of the belt had another couple of satchels, where she would store smoke bombs or any other utility she may have an use for in case of a pickle. Behind it she had a grappling hook and a tight rope for a swift escalating job. Misora was set. Giving the night’s sky one last glance, she leapt off onto the mountain trail, starting to track and follow her father.
Yuuichiro had made his way inside the Tora Palace, his client’s humble home. A juicy tidbit of information about a certain group of criminals Yuuichiro was determined to find apparently was waiting for him and would be delivered by the emperor, no less. He paid little mind to anybody or anything else in the perimeter while inside, his obsessive nature being the one guiding him through the exquisite palace halls Shiburo’s family had built.
Once in front of the main doors to the royal chamber, Yuuichiro took a deep breath. Finally, what he had been waiting for these ten long years: Remuneration money could not compare to. This was the reason behind funding the Shinobi School to start with, information. Yuuichiro’s mind was set on entering, speaking a few words and exiting to pursuit these criminals, the ones who had taken one of the most precious things in his whole life.
The shinobi master entered the chambers slowly, hoping to greet Shiburo Tora, his client, who this time would play the role of broker, but instead of him, Theo made the greetings. The emperor was nowhere to be found. “Sir Theo. Glad to see you,” Yuuichiro subtly greeted, his eyes scanning the place as his patience wore thin, “Forgive my rudeness. Where is his majesty?” He inquired.
The old man was quick to respond, with a bow of respect in addition. “Ah, I’ve been expecting you, Master Kaen. Please follow me to the roof. Master Shiburo is waiting for you there.” His raspy but firm voice said guiding Yuuichiro’s vision to a corner in the room. Yuuichiro found it peculiar he had never seen such a location before, then again, the door which was used to close this passage seemed to part of a wall, which probably meant it was a secret way out. The time wasn’t for thoughts, however, and the tall ninja master made his way over to the passage with Theo following closely behind.
“Hm.” Yuuichiro muttered to himself, suddenly stopping in front of the entrance. He turned around to glance around the room away. Somehow he felt like they were being watched.
“Is there something amiss, Master Kaen?” Theo brushed his face with a sleeve, re-accommodating his glasses after having bumped against Yuuichiro, who had barely felt the thump with his taller and stronger body. Theo made an effort to follow Yuuichiro’s line of vision to see if there really was something wrong.
Yuuichiro shook his head. “Nothing. I might just be tired. Let us continue, Sir Theo.” Both went inside and Theo patted the doorway so it would automatically close as they quickly ascended. The door started to slowly close but it suddenly came to a stop. A single kunai was impaled in the way of the closing door; one hand pushed it softly and removed the kunai from the floor, a figure silently walking in.
“Ah, Kaen Yuuichiro.” Shiburo greeted the shinobi as he entered, followed by his counselor.
Yuuichiro glanced across the room they had come into. It was nothing like he had ever seen before. The walls were decorated by strange-looking flowers and candles were lit along the path they were walking. The candle-lit path came to an end a few feet away from where Shiburo stood waiting. Moonlight poured in from the ceiling through the single opened tile and marked a spot just beneath where the emperor waited. The smell of what he could tell was aromatic incense filled the extensive chamber, which was full of armed guards that practically ruined the peace the decorations presented, he thought. “My liege.” Yuuichiro finally revered to the emperor as he stood in front of Shiburo.
“As always, I’m impressed at the diligence and effectiveness of your shinobi team. I’m quite surprised at the fact you take so many young and inexperienced people and turn them into such fine warriors.” Shiburo praised. Yuuichiro wasn’t in the mood.
“Yes, quite.” The ninja master said, “Now, my lord. I would hate to take your precious time, as I suspect you may be busy. May I receive the information about the assailants of my wife?” he finally asked. A strange smile drawing itself in Shiburo’s face.
The emperor cocked an eyebrow up, although his smirk couldn’t be more evident. “I’m unsure of what you are talking about, Yuuichiro Kaen.”
“Forgive me, your majesty. But it was you that sent this message to me,” Yuuichiro tried, taking out a piece of paper from inside his garb. “I believe it’s your handwriting?”
“Indeed.” Shiburo appeared to chuckle as he ruffled among his black hair, “It precisely says “Come to the Palace for information of utmost importance.”, does it not?” He quoted.
“…What could be of more importance to me than the information about the bandits who stole my wife’s life from her?” The rhetoric question made Shiburo almost laugh.
“To you? Oh, you must have misunderstood, Ninja Master Yuuichiro Kaen.” Shiburo put his hands behind him as he turned his back on a dumbfounded Yuuichiro.
Yuuichiro was about to talk, but all of a sudden he felt a tingle on his side. He looked down, the tingle having intensified to a feeling akin to the sting of a bee. There was Theo, holding what seemed to be a thorn which he had pierced through Yuuichiro’s garb and onto his skin. Yuuichiro felt like stone all of a sudden, frozen in place, unable to move anything below his neck. Theo walked away with a smirk, not uttering a single word. Yuuichiro grunted, and then followed: “Y-your Majesty…?”
“The information of utmost importance… yes. It’s of utmost importance to me.” Shiburo finished, turning again towards Yuuichiro.
Shiburo smiled, starting to walk around Yuuichiro. “I have to disclose something very important, Yuuichiro Kaen. You… are going to help me.”
Yuuichiro felt his tongue succumb to paralysis. Whatever Theo had sedated him with had such a strong effect on him he could only muster up to small groans only. “Do not worry however,” Shiburo continued, “This will be your biggest and most noble contribution to the Torusawa Empire, as your life is expended to make mine infinite.” He said. The word lunatic continued bumping against Yuuichiro’s tongue, but it bounced back as he was unable to utter a word, but only louder and more annoyed groans. He felt his eyes bulge and widen as he saw Shiburo raising an arm, commanding Theo to do something. An incantation was starting. “Do not despair, Yuuichiro Kaen. For you, the rightful heir to the Kagi-Getsuei Ranpu, will soon transfer the rights to the miracle to me.”
“Hold it right there!” a familiar voice to Yuuichiro made him turn his neck as much as he could, only to see the frame of his young daughter standing at the entrance of the hall. “What are you trying to do to my father?!”
“Grr. Interference.” Shiburo grunted. Fortunately, he had anticipated it and commanded the stand-by guards to attack. “Seize that girl! The ritual must not be stopped at all costs! If she resists, kill her!” he yelled.
“Get her!” yelled the guard nearest to Misora. The sound of katana and pikes getting ready in the hands of the small army of six guards in the room alerted her.
“I suppose I won’t be able to talk my way through this,” Misora told herself. She had never in her life expected her first visit to her father’s client’s quarters would be greeted with those weapons pointing at her. Misora readied her stance and prepared to fight. Her resolve: To save her father.
One of the lances approached Misora fast with the intentions of piercing her mid-section. The girl rapidly leapt back and used the momentum to kick the floor, immediately crouching and sliding towards the first assailant to sweep him upwards from under with an arm. Once the guard was in air, Misora stood up, focusing her energy in her right arm, before elbowing the armored male in his mid-section, effectively pounding him to the ground and stunning him. “Next.” She teased.
A blade came this time, attempting to thrust into Misora from behind. Her reflexes kicked in, albeit slower than she would have hoped for. She knew she wasn’t quick enough to completely avoid that surprise attack, and dodged by leaning her upper-body sideways, the blade nearly impaling onto her face, but knocked her ninja mask from her face instead. Misora grunted as a small trickle of blood escaped from a soft cut on her cheek, she had been careless in underestimating these guards. As the mask fell down, so did the second assailant, as Misora took the moment to spin around and deliver a powerful round-house to the second guard’s neck, effectively knocking him out cold. Misora assumed battle stance again, and before she could see, a diamond formation of the remaining four soldiers surrounded her. A pair of katana and pikes pointed her way. She wouldn’t be able to fight them all at once, but she couldn’t flee, not with her father being incapacitated and needing rescuing!
“Incompetent fools, kill her at once!!” Shiburo shouted, starting to growl in annoyance as he saw his two first guards fall. They weren’t dead, the girl didn’t appear to carry murderous intent, but he couldn’t be too careful about protecting his interests for that night. No. He would NOT allow his interests to be belittled anymore. “Start the transfusion already, Theo!”
“B-but, Master Shiburo!” Theo, stuttered, a strange green energy spiraling around him. “The incantation has not been fully,”
“I said NOW!” Shiburo roared.
With no choice left, Theo put a hand in the petrified Yuuichiro’s direction, his opposite hand pointing to Shiburo Tora. “O the powers of the earth and the sky, this soul’s shell will not do. Sever the chains holding them together, and direct them to its new recipient. Yuuichiro Kaen,” Misora’s eyes bulged at hearing this, “You are no more, and your life essence, is to be part of Shiburo Tora.” With those last words, Yuuichiro’s eyes rolled upwards. Theo had sent an eerily green stream towards the immobilized ninja master’s body, causing Yuuichiro’s body to glow in the same shade of green.
“Father!” Misora, forgetting about her enemies, tried rushing towards the scene, but was promptly stopped as two spears put themselves in a cross shape by the pike men to prevent her from advancing. “Out of my way, you lugs!” she growled, the sound of two behind her alerting Misora. She gritted her teeth. No more fooling around.
With renewed and reaffirmed resolve, Misora spun around almost in a flash, holding out her katana in a horizontal fashion in her offhand to block the two other blades. She had fury in her eyes. It was the first time she had actually fought anyone with a sword, and now she not only was using a katana, but THE katana. Mugen Ryu was also known as the Infinite Dragon, a golden dragon demon with many heads. The handle was golden, the hilt decorated with many dragon heads, and the blade curved almost perfectly with the gleam of otherworldly metal coating it. “I said OUT OF MY WAY!” she yelled angrily, suddenly putting all her energy into her off hand’s arm, applying so much pressure she knocked both men away with superior strength, sending their katana flying in the air, both weapons breaking in halves, where the Mugen Ryu had cut. Misora wasted no time and rapidly spun around, slashing both pike men’s weapons before they had a chance to react.
“Wh-what the?! These are steel!” One of the pike men said as the weapons broke, overwhelmed by the woman’s weapon’s sheer strength. Was it the fury of the girl, or was it that demonic-looking sword? “Oof!” he grunted, along with his companion, as they saw Misora somersaulting in their direction, her feet falling on top of their shoulders, kicking hard to send them down to the floor and impulse herself towards the ritual’s area at the same time.
“Father!” Misora pumped her legs as far as they would go to run. It appeared as though she still was on time, but then what she saw coming out of her father made her despair. “No…! Am I too late?!” she gasped, watching as what seemed to be the same stream of green exit his father’s open mouth. As soon as it started travelling back to its sender, it became a hue of blue; her father’s body’s suddenly collapsing to the ground. “Father? Father!” she yelled, tears swelling in her eyes as she knelt down to pick him up. “Father! Please! Answer me! Father!!” She kept repeating. Yuuichiro’s eyes were closed, his mouth closed, and his body apparently wasn’t as stiff as a rock anymore. His body warmth had disappeared, this much could be told by Misora since she was holding his lifeless body. “NO!” she screamed, hugging Yuuichiro’s empty shell.
“Yes, yes! Come to me!” Shiburo’s voice made Misora snap. She remembered who had ordered this, and who was going to get what he wanted. She would do everything in her power to stop it! Misora made sure to place Yuuichiro on the floor softly, she sheathed her sword quickly and then made towards Shiburo. She knew killing him was out of the question. That spiraling energy stream was enveloping the emperor, if per chance that was the key to saving her father’s life; she would not risk any brusque action.
“What?!” Shiburo gasped, seeing Misora approach him as the essence of Yuuichiro Kaen surrounded his body. Misora crashed onto Shiburo with the intentions of ridding him of Yuuichiro’s life stream, tackling him with all her might. Both the emperor and the young girl were sent flying onto the chamber’s spotlight, the two being engulfed by the gleaming moon light that showered from the ceiling.
“Master Shiburo!” Theo yelped, the spell having been interrupted. “No, the Kagi-Getsuei Ranpu can only have one…!” but before he could finish, a blast of light formed in the center of the spotlight, a flash engulfing the room which blinded Theo and everybody else who was conscious for the matter. A cry for help from one of the guards could be heard.
Misora felt light-headed at that moment. She had just crashed onto Shiburo, but had she stopped the evil spell from completing? She could not tell. Everything was white around her. Had she… No, she was still breathing, she could still smell the incense of the room. Her senses, however, suddenly went wild. She felt pierced, as if thousands of little daggers had just embedded themselves into her arms, legs and the rest of her body. Misora tried to yelp in pain as she clutched her stomach, doubling over on the soft floor as she felt heat. It was getting hot, too hot. She was burning! “What’s… happening… to me…?” She thought to herself as the pain clouded her mind. Finally, Misora let a piercing scream of agony out as she arched backwards, spreading her arms back as she felt as if her bones melted and dilated, expanding and contracting, causing her young body began to start to abruptly change from the inside.
Misora could feel it, everywhere in her body. She was changing, fast, and painfully. She felt her tail bone stretching from behind her, making its way out of her back, literally tearing through her uniform, quickly growing into a long tail, her fingers from both her hands and feet grew inches longer and thicker, the ends curling slightly into what seemed to be strong claws. The poor girl’s eyes were shut tightly as she tried to put up with the unbearable agony of her body transforming. She felt her teeth sharpen into fangs, her jaw dislocated as her face turned into what seemed to be an animal’s muzzle. This elicited another scream, but this time, even she could tell she had roared like the beast she was becoming. Misora fell to the floor as she cried from the seemingly endless pain, the sections around her shoulders starting to sport rapidly-growing membrane-covered appendages which developed astonishingly fast, so fast in fact, that in mere seconds, Misora spread two large wings on her back with yet another scream, her suit having had its last strain, and promptly gave out to her new form. Her teary eyes opened up as she tried to recover her composure: This had happened in mere seconds, yet she felt as if it had lasted whole days. She put a clawed hand on her chest, trying to catch her breath, the sight before her making her lose it again. “What?!” she managed to speak out; her arm was red, bloody red. Yet, no blood was in it, she could tell from feeling herself. She touched her arm with her other claw, astonished not at the fact she could confirm she hadn’t bled, but at the fact that her skin wasn’t skin anymore. The red was the new color of her new ‘skin’. She had felt this kind of skin before: Rough, tough and hard. She was coated in scales, crimson red scales, and it apparently wasn’t restricted to her arms only: Her whole body, head to toes, wore an embedded thick curtain of scarlet, sparing her hair that amazingly had remained the same as it had been before her transformation.
Misora tried standing up, but to no avail, she felt heavy now, much heavier than normal. Yet her body felt normal, and in fact, she felt much more relieved than when this horror she had to go through had started. What else had changed? She still had a hand on her chest; she could feel a tingle on it, same around her mid-section. She looked down, her vision being slightly blurry, but she could feel it alright. Her once modest chest was swelling, and not only that, but the pleasurable sensation had also spread around her hips. Her thighs and buttocks had gained size, her pelvic area had widened to support her new shape, and as she returned to feel her chest again, she could now start making out the growing lumps that were her mounds, the two large breasts becoming greater and greater, making her blush, wishing for it to stop as her mind clouded itself with unholy thoughts about herself. Once her chest had gone up two or three sizes, Misora finally could let a sigh of relief. It was then that she realized her whole body had bulked up, and had added thick muscle at determined sections of her frame. She may not have been a muscle-bound freak, but her body had become rather athletic if anything. Her arms, barely divisible before, sported mentionable veins across her foreceps and biceps, her aforementioned enlargened thighs, even her shoulders had broadened and added some extra bulk. She was a rare specimen now, a beautiful one nonetheless, as even if she appeared to be much stronger than an average woman, visibly too, she showed to not only have retained her female perks, but to have improved them. Misora’s head exploded with questions she found no answers to. This shock was too much for her system, and she passed out.
“-ord Shibu-ro…!” The familiar raspy voice of Theo drilled into Misora’s head. She blinked her eyes open, feeling as if she had been asleep for a long time, the dazzling moonlight stinging her unaccustomed eyes, making her look away for a moment. She looked down, gritting her fangs.
“It was no dream…” Misora drowned a sob, checking herself out. She was naked, her uniform having been destroyed during her transformation, yet she couldn’t make out if she could see her nipples on her new, voluptuous chest, yet she felt they were there. As she tried to stand up, it hit her back in the head. “Father!” She suddenly said, clutching both her fists as she turned around to face towards where she had heard Theo. He seemed to be over a black, enormous lump, nudging it and trying to wake whatever creature it was. It then dawned on Misora; Shiburo was nowhere else to be seen.
“This…” Shiburo’s voice, deeper than ever, made Misora’s heart skip a beat, “This is…” the huge creature started standing up, Misora could tell the towering giant Shiburo had become simply by the fact before, she didn’t have to arch her neck backwards to look at him while he stood. “What… IS THIS?!” Shiburo suddenly let out a deafening roar. His physique had changed in the exact same way as Misora’s had, minus the hip and chest enlargements. Shiburo also contrasted Misora’s red with a jet black, not only that, but apparently he had gained much more bulk than she had. She could have sized Shiburo as a commonly-built man, but now he was a tower of sinewy muscle. From his calves behind his legs to the cannon-ball sized biceps on his arms, he had taken the ‘common’ and replaced it with herculean. Vascular as Shiburo now was, he apparently was living the astonishment Misora had already gone through. Theo had taken a couple steps back, truly and indubitably impressed and terrified at the same time. “You…” Shiburo bared his fangs at his counselor, “…This is your fault!” he roared, making the old man almost faint and fall on his butt.
“M-M-Master Shiburo, please wait!” Theo desperately crawled backwards, fearing the wrath of the scaly emperor. “I… the writings! The Kagi-Getsuei Ranpu! The Warnings!” he said in a rapid fashion.
“OUT WITH IT!” Shiburo roared yet again, his muscled feet making thuds against the floor as he stepped closer and closer to Theo.
“The warnings, my lord!” Theo exasperatedly exclaimed, “They… they were clear about it! O-one has to give up on their most prized possession to make it work: their humanity! Mugen Ryu, the thousand-headed dragon demon… He blesses the heir, but also takes their human shape away! Ugh!”
Shiburo had seized the old man by his robe’s collar single-handedly, pulling him up to face the nine foot tall muscle-bound giant. “Explain.”
“Y-you… you have been transformed into a dragon… in exchange for receiving eternal youth and longevity…” Theo finished, and was dropped. Shiburo stood there, unable to speak for a few moments. Misora stood there as well, the shock of revelation unsettling her.
“Heh.”
Misora looked around to ascertain the origin of such a quiet laugh, until she found it was Shiburo who had begun chuckling.
“Heh heh heh.” Shiburo continued, his laughter increasing in volume. “Bwa ha ha ha ha ha!” a thunderous amused voice filled the room “Incredible!” He suddenly flexed one of his arms up in an arc, feeling his hard bicep swell and grow into an enormous mountain of sinewy power. “A dragon… man. I’m a dragon man. I’ve the strength of a dragon, and the intelligence of a human… Not bad.” He the grinned, his pearly-white fangs being the only non-obscure thing about him.
“But… sir… according to the writings, you shouldn’t be able to understand me, neither me you. You also… should be… an animal…” Theo mentioned, although biting his lip at the last sentence. Had he said too much? Apparently not. Shiburo was too absorbed into himself to make any sense of what Theo was babbling about.
Misora still felt appalled at the recent revelation. Yes, she felt a lot more powerful than ever with her own new vascular, although smaller frame. She knew she would sport large lumps of power from her arms if she flexed as Shiburo was doing right now, but what intimidated her weren’t the size of his muscles, but his overall size. Yes, he did look stronger, but he had also become much taller than she had. She was almost 2 and a half feet taller than she used to be as a human, but now, as her dragon self, she was fully eight foot tall. Yet, she never had asked for this, let alone the sacrifice of her own father to attain it. “No.” The word escaped her mouth. Her eyes were fixed on Shiburo again, but this time, not from intimidation.
The two on the opposite side of the moonlight ray turned to look at the red she-dragon. She was impressive, truly beautiful, and above all, her body was a perfect work of art. Shiburo Tora had just made a new decision. “It is quite unfortunate what happened to your father, Lady Kaen.” He suddenly said, his arms hanging instead of flexing now.
Misora snarled, “Don’t dare utter our family’s name, you vermin! You were responsible for my father’s death! You will pay for it!”
Shiburo cocked an eyebrow up, as if doubting Misora’s outburst, “Please, my darling. There is no need for us to fight. You and I… we have evolved. We transcended everyone, your father included.”
“Just what are you implying?!” Misora barked louder, gripping both her hands together, balling them into fists as she bared her fangs.
“Have you not noticed it yet, my dear?” Shiburo smoothly said, walking towards Misora. His magnificent wings occasionally would flutter as magnificently. “We have become dragons. Immortal dragons, no less,” He started grinning, wider and wider. “We are two of a kind.” He finished.
The dragoness snarled yet again “Feh! Is proposing to your sworn enemy a new kind of strategy?! Don’t make me laugh!” she battered at Shiburo, reading her fighting stance, her chest lightly jiggling. “Prepare yourself!” She shouted, intending to begin a one-on-one fight. “Shiburo Tora, Emperor of Torusawa… I shall defeat you and take your life in my father’s name!” she swore, preparing to strike, but instead she winced and bent forwards slightly. She looked behind at the source of pain. A single arrow had struck her wing, piercing it across.
“You imbeciles!” Shiburo roared as he witnessed Misora’s pain. The guards from before had called upon reinforcements, and now no less than ten more men had replaced the former. “Don’t hurt her!” He commanded.
“Sir… Shiburo?” the one responsible for shooting the arrow appeared to be dumbfounded, as with many others save for the ones who had witnessed the transformation of both persons.
Misora, unused to her new form, was unable to sort her pain out, whereas she would have been able to do it had the arrow pierced her shoulder or leg, or any other appendage she was used to have and had trained with, but certainly she had never felt a wing, nor the pain it came from having it damaged. She fell to one knee, trying to catch her wind.
“Bah. Humans after all are useless,” The dragon emperor fumed, walking towards Misora in a concerned manner, “Lady Kaen. Please do forgive these brainless monkeys. I shall treat your, augh!” he groaned before he could finish, Misora had swept him off the floor with a kick. She would have attempted to finish him off right there, but the pain in her wing had somehow numbed the corresponding arm needed for the deathblow. Even if it wasn’t there, she was unsure if with that strong and enormous body, Shiburo would be able to be killed so easily now.
“Don’t… touch me…” Misora threatened, slowly pacing away from the grounded Shiburo as she approached the corpse of her father. The guards, regardless of the earlier command of their boss, surrounded the dragon girl, although they followed the no-harming order. “Grnk!” She almost collapsed next to Yuuichiro’s lifeless body. She couldn’t fight in this condition, much less take her revenge. She didn’t want to die here. She could NOT die here.
“Grrr…” A humiliated Shiburo growled threateningly as he stood up again, not having expected the sweep-kick from Misora before. “I’ll pretend that did not happen.” He firmly said, his reptilian eyes fixing on the crouched Misora, “I must say you are persistent, that is an admirable quality in a woman. I like that, however… My patience is wearing thin. You are surrounded and have no means of escape… except one.”
“Don’t… even… say it…” Misora grunted to Shiburo, trying to hold by her aching wing, but only managing to hold by the corresponding shoulder instead.
“Pledge allegiance to me, and swear that you will be forever loyal to me.” Shiburo said, “I am in quite a generous mood and am willing to allow you to live, not only that, but I can offer you a life of luxury and comforts you otherwise will never have any hopes of finding.” He then grinned, “Not with that aspect.”
Misora winced yet again. Shiburo’s arrogance was getting the better of her, she felt angered, and she felt the guards approaching to seize her. She couldn’t let them! Suddenly, she felt familiar heat rising up in her. She was reminded of when her transformation had just begun, and how she felt like she would burst. Now the needs to let it out filled her. Standing up straight, Misora focused her anger on the situation, her own desire to escape. Her mind had just a single phrase growing bigger and bigger until she finally said it out loud. “Burn it all down.” She arched her head back, then suddenly let out a mighty roar which scared the heck out of all the oncoming guards, and caught even Shiburo off-guard. All of a sudden, Misora’s open maw started gushing piping hot flames out, and she began aiming it towards the guards around her. The way was clear; they had all fled at the first display of fire-breathing. She coughed, obviously unused to the aftermath of using this ability but took the chance her enemies were rattled, and then she swiftly made her decision: Her vengeance would have to wait. She reached down to grab her father’s deceased body, then used all of her energy to begin moving really fast around Shiburo, confusing him as she picked up her belongings, the Mugen Ryu being the most important as it represented her father’s will to her.
As he saw her rapidly move around him, Shiburo growled to Misora. “What do you hope to accomplish, my dragon damsel?! You are only delaying the inevitable! You and I… this night has decided our fates! You cannot kill me! We cannot die! And since we are going to live eternally, is it not better for us to do it together?!”
“Who in their right mind would decide to spend the rest of their days tied to their own father’s murderer?” Misora retorted from next to an opened window, her trim waist now being hugged with the remains of her former clothes, using them to support her sword and her other important things.
“Don’t do this.” Shiburo returned to his firm self, watching her as she appeared ready to jump. “You and I can live together and rule this country, no! The whole world together as an unstoppable force! Become my wife!” Shiburo ordered.
“Do you ever shut up?” Misora snarled, making Shiburo grunt and take a step forwards calmly, attempting to make for her, “…Misora Kaen.”
“Huh?” Shiburo blinked. That’s right. All he knew was her last name from her father. “So that’s your,”
“Remember it.” She interrupted, “For it is the name that will spell your doom. I shall return, and take my revenge!” she shouted, turned around, and then jumped off.
“Misora! Misora Kaen! Return here!” Shiburo roared out, his powerful lungs rattling the place. “RETURN TO ME I SAID!” The dragon emperor roared again, this time, so powerfully, the whole palace and its vicinity heard it.
To be continued…
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Feel free to start flaming for the last sentence. 8D
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This is an original story fully copyrighted to DragonMasterX and is not to be reproduced and/or redistributed without express consent from the author. Thank you and have a good day.
Author’s Note: This story contains female transformation (morphing), body-expansion and mature-rated scenes. Handle with care.
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It is 1815, the Edo Period in Japan. The story unfolds in the northeastern territory of Torusawa.
“Congratulations on your ascension again, Master Shiburo.” The mature, condensed voice of an old man greeted an oncoming figure down the royal chambers of the Tora Palace. The old man was the emperor’s main servant and the palace’s first-hand sorcerer; he was under the command of Shiburo Tora, the aforementioned emperor. He strode down the halls to his throne centered at the end of the chambers, where he sat down with a smile.
“Much obliged, Theo.” Shiburo, the young emperor of 35 and the military pride of the Torusawa Empire, was the only one of the Tora line alive, his mother having been executed a few months ago for suspected disloyalty issues, and his father mysteriously assassinated by an unknown perpetrator not too long afterwards. The only one remaining, this charming young man had ascended to the throne some years before intended, but thanks to his extensive strategic knowledge little doubt was left concerning his leadership abilities. The old man known as Theo revered his master, and continued.
“Master Shiburo, the examination of the ancient writings we found in the conquered ruins to the northwest has been finished. The translation has been transcribed into a scroll as you ordered, my lord.” The sorcerer informed with his right arm in front of his chest as he bowed forwards in respect.
Shiburo looked pleased, but anxiety forced the obvious inquiry promptly: “And the scroll in question?”
“It is here, Master Shiburo.” Theo rummaged into his garb, producing a pair of scrolls. One of them was new, the other old and poorly taken care of. The new one was handed to the emperor, while the other one was placed beside Shiburo.
Wasting almost no time, Shiburo found himself opening and reading the scripture, a smile drawing in his lips at the words: “Eternal” and “Life”, the warnings detailed in the scroll barely making any impressions on him, yet a certain explanation added by the translator made his hands shake.
Shiburo made sure to read it out-loud to confirm it himself, “…Every thousand years, the miracle of Kagi-Getsuei Ranpu shall be bestowed upon its right heir by the last user’s spirit who shall join the eternal slumber among the dead…” His hands begun shaking once again as he continued, “…The heir is determined by the family line tied to the last user and only the current, eldest family member alive will be able to successfully receive the blessing. Kanji at the bottom reveal the historian’s research to determine the eldest family member alive, their name and family.” Shiburo felt his saliva evaporate from his mouth as his eyes slowly skipped everything to go to the bottom of the scroll, and as expected, his family line was not the next heir’s line, let alone his name appearing on it. He clutched one his arms tightly, almost losing his composure at his wounded pride.
“Sir, if I may,” Theo intercepted, having read the scroll before it had the chance to be delivered and thus understood his lord’s preoccupation, “That last name… If you recall, it is very familiar. More than you may think.”
“What do I care?! It’s not mine!” barked Shiburo, “Kagi-Getsuei Ranpu does not work unless the right heir attends the ceremony!”
“…Precisely.” The reply from the old man made Shiburo forget about his anger and to concentrate his attention on the sorcerer, who found it pertinent to continue: “Getting someone with your resources, my lord, is only a matter of time; yet, no matter how you look at it, the ritual will only work with the right heir to the miracle. What then, if we somehow made YOU the right heir?”
Shiburo’s eyes lightened up, “What then, indeed.” He repeated. This made Theo chuckle.
“Master Shiburo, with my magic, translating someone’s life essence to another is a simple matter of time, as well.” The sorcerer bowed in respect again, “All we need is time to gather everything that is needed… and then, on the night of the Kagi-Getsuei Ranpu, the miracle will indeed be yours.”
A newly confident smirk drew itself across Shiburo’s once rattled image as he looked to the bottom of the ancient writings’ translation. “It appears we will have to make use of our special forces… one last time.” The kanji depicting the Kagi-Getsuei Ranpu’s heir name seemed to glow in Shiburo’s eyes as he plotted.
Deep in the mountain range surrounding the Torusawa Empire…
“You’re open!” A light-blue streak passed across a black-garbed man with a mask. Wood made contact onto the man’s belly, knocking the air out of him.
“Ugh… Lady Misora… that was… too much…” The man was knocked to one knee as he clutched his stomach, gasping for breath.
“Aw, c’mon! Don’t tell me that’s it?” The girl holding a dull, wooden katana over her shoulder blinked her blue eyes in disbelief. The young 17-year old shinobi in light-blue clothes which mostly left little to imagination went by the name of Misora Kaen. She was the only daughter to the shinobi master known as Yuuichiro Kaen and she had learned almost everything from him: From the basic and advanced shinobi skills to his own kenjutsu, the Moui-Ryuu, also known as the Angered Dragon. She helped the weakened man up to his feet.
“You are so incredibly tough and strong,” The male shinobi told her, still recovering from the blow to his stomach. His eyes sized the young girl from toes to head, her long, flexible legs, her shapely hips, trim waist, modestly-sized but pert breasts, her sparkly blue eyes and her crystal-like light-blue hair which was tied into a short, curvy ponytail behind her head. The guy’s eyes went back down to her chest, “To be… a girl…” He finished.
Misora huffed, giving her sparring partner a push on the face, which to the trainee felt like a strong smack due to her superior strength, her light-blue uniform with black streaks around the sides and around the shoulder section lightly fluttering along with her light armguards of similar color-pattern. “Don’t distract yourself. I’m going easy on you until father comes back. You’re the one who hasn’t caught up with training, so you better be grateful to me for this!” She said with a frown, putting her hands on her hips, just below of the belt that hugged her waist. Just a few inches below the end of her pale-blue short skirt one could see that below the line of her thighs ran down tight black stockings until her feet, where her wooden sandals were located.
“Y-yes! Certainly.” The other ninja quickly said, before taking a moment to relax to regain his energy back. In the meantime, he inquired: “Sir Kaen… he’s great, isn’t he?”
“Huh?” blinked Misora as she heard the other guy, who closed his eyes and tried to act out as if he hadn’t said anything. She grinned a bit; after all, it was her father he was praising. “I’ve never met someone so dedicated to his occupation. Ever since my mother passed away… He’s been the only one to take care of me, and to open this school to form his own school for an elite squad of shinobi… It’s impressive it’s been more than a decade since he started it and he’s become the Empire’s Special Forces…” She sighed in content as she slowly spoke, her heart filling with the pride for her father. “That’s why,” she continued, “I’m going to do my best for his sake too, carry every mission out to perfection and make our name reach beyond Japan.” She smiled widely.
To the trainee, Misora looked very pretty with such an innocent smile. He had recovered from the earlier assault, too. “Lady Misora…” He spoke out, “I believe you will be the best shinobi master ever. You surpass everyone here, and not only that, you’ve been able to complete missions on your own as well, with no assistance at all. I… I’m proud that you are the one teaching me!” he revered to Misora, who blinked and blushed slightly. Praise wasn’t something SHE was used to receive.
“I… thank you, Myurin.” Misora softly spoke as she gave him a smile, before allowing herself a childish grin and giving him a rather strong pat on the back, “Don’t think I’m going to go easy on you just because of that little speech, though!” she laughed.
Myurin laughed too, albeit half-heartedly as he stepped slightly away from her to take his distance, “Y-yes… indeed.” He nodded to her, picking his own training sword from the floor. Misora got in a battle stance as well, the pale-red, thick muffler she wore fluttered lightly with the mountain breeze.
“This time, pour your soul in your strikes!” She ordered loud and clear. Both shinobi, trainee and tutor, locked eyes, and lunged against each other.
“Master Yuuichiro!” At the top of the mountains, the shinobi greeted their master. It was late at night, and the shinobi master had apparently been busy and outside for most of the day on a self-appointed mission. “Glad to see you back!” The master’s students greeted happily. Yuuichiro was no less than a father to most of the trainees, their ages varying from 15 to 30, but none of them older than their 49-year-old teacher.
Yuuichiro walked inside his dojo, which had been re-built and upgraded from the ruined shack it had used to be decades before he had decided to move into the mountains. It was a home and a school at the same time. The ninja master stood at an impressive six feet and five inches, dressed in his own shinobi shozoku and wearing his concealing mask. Removing it, the adult shinobi silently strode over to the center of the dojo, surrounded by his students. “My pupils, I trust you have kept up with training.”
“Yes, sir!” The collective voice of the male students filled the room, Misora nowhere to be found.
“Kenjiro,” Yuuichiro addressed to a nearby shinobi, “Where is my daughter?” He asked with concern. “It is almost time for dinner, is it not?”
The one named Kenjiro nodded, “Yes, sir. She had been training the slacker, Myurin, until now. I believe she brought him to the kitchen to cook tonight’s dinner.”
Yuuichiro drowned a grunt at the sentence’s meaning. He certainly was proud about her daughter’s progress as a Shinobi and also how considerate she was with others. Her cooking skills, on the other hand…
“Dinner’s ready, everyone!” Misora cut the silent atmosphere with her cheerful feminine voice as she came in along with Myurin, carrying several trays holding rice bowls and what seemed to be charcoal in the shape of a fish. Her eyes fixed on her father as she smiled towards him “Father! I’m glad you could join us for dinner. I hope you like the fried salmon, it burnt slightly on the sides, but I’m sure it will taste delicious!” she giggled.
“I’m happy to see you well, my daughter.” Yuuichiro, despite the horrendous stench of burnt fish in the room, genuinely expressed his happiness at seeing his daughter. As Misora and his pupil distributed and served dinner among everyone, he thought about how Misora always had resembled her mother. Such a pure and honest nature, yet it was unbelievable how they always seemed to ruin every sort of dish they touched no matter how simple it was. The fact the rice appeared to be well-cooked indicated she must have let Myurin cook it instead. Unfortunately for Misora’s cooking discipline, nobody ever dared to utter disgust at her dishes, yet they were clear that her culinary expertise was too much for them and thus they made her swear she would only cook once a month. Unfortunately for these people, this was that time of the month.
Dinner was quiet as always. Occasionally, somebody would choke or muffle a grunt at the charred dish, but they would immediately cloak it with false praise which apparently was hardly heard, yet it served as distraction so Misora wouldn’t hear. The young girl was happily next to her father, enjoying her own food and chowing down rather vehemently. Apparently either her taste buds weren’t working or food simply tasted indifferent to her.
Once over, everybody left, with tummy aches or not, and only Yuuichiro and his daughter were left in there, by his bidding no less.
Misora was sitting on the front of her legs across from her father, her hands resting on her lap as she stared at him intently, who apparently had his eyes closed. “Father?” She broke the silence.
Yuuichiro, unlike his daughter, was sitting with his legs crossed around each other and his hands on his knees, as if he was in a meditation position. He finally re-opened his eyes to gaze over at his daughter. “Misora, I’m proud of you, my dear child. You have grown into such a fine and beautiful woman.”
Misora’s eyes bulged slightly. It was the second time in the day she had been praised that much. “Father…” she only said.
“You remind me so much of your late mother, Misora.” Yuuichiro begun smiling, “If only I had taught her how to protect herself like I did with you, maybe she would also be here to see you like I am.” His smile became gloomier, yet his fatherly pride was evident.
“Father, it was not your fault. You weren’t here.” Misora tried, she knew it was futile to try to console Yuuichiro. They had visited this issue several times in the past, and it had never ended in a pleasant way, but this time she decided to try to change the subject to avoid such a situation. “Oh yes. You said you wanted to update me on something, is that right?” She quickly said.
The shinobi master stood up slowly, nodding to Misora. “Not only you have matured, Misora, but you have also become a strong shinobi. You have learned my technique, the Moui-Ryuu, which took me years to develop and perfect.” He said, turning around and walked towards the wall, where he pulled a small, almost invisible lever which flipped part of the wall, revealing a hoister for a sheathed sword. Yuuichiro grabbed it by its center, Misora standing up with her fists gripped in anxiety. “Misora, this…” the tall ninja turned around to face his daughter again, “…This is the Mugen Ryu, a sword which has been passed down our family ever since unmemorable times. This is much more than a family heirloom: It’s a weapon given to our family in order to preserve our name and line across the times. This is why, since you’ve proven to be worthy of it, I’m now passing it down to you, my daughter.” The ninja then held the sheathed katana out for Misora to grab it.
“Father, this… this is…” Misora felt herself at a loss for words, she put both her hands under the katana, gripping it firmly as she received it from her father, then she looked up to him with a firm stare. “Master. This is an honor.” She bowed respectfully. “I will forever strive to spread the Kaen name across the world and continue bringing honor to our tradition.” She vowed.
Yuuichiro smiled softly to Misora, her demeanor and her strong will never ceasing to impress him. He walked in front of his first student, no, his daughter, and gave her a firm hug. “I’m sure you will. Someday too, this dojo will be yours, and my students shall follow you everywhere you go,” he nodded to the young girl, “And I suppose you will stop being soft to the newbies by then.” he added with a small chuckle.
“F-father!” Misora blushed a bit, startled at his last comment, “You knew?” She gasped.
“A shinobi must have eyes and ears everywhere.” Yuuichiro lectured, and then put a hand on her daughter’s head to mess her hair slightly. “But they must also learn discipline, and Myurin is one of those.” He laughed a bit.
“Y-yes. Of course.” Misora glanced away, as if she had expected Myurin to be there, laughing at the whole scene. She had always known that extra training was only supposed to be carried out with supervision by the Master, yet she felt concerned about the new recruit, he had joined pretty late compared to all the others, as well.
“And now… I must take my leave again, Misora.” Yuuichiro said, breaking their hug.
“H-uh?” Misora said, caught off guard during her day-dreaming. “You… another mission?” She guessed. Yuuichiro nodded.
“And it’s one of the most important I’ve received ever since we began serving the empire.” The master nodded.
“Allow me to come.” Misora nodded, strapping her new katana on her back. “I have been lax all this time, father. I,”
“No.” Yuuichiro stopped her. Usually, this would never happen. He was always confident about his daughter’s abilities as a shinobi, which had been proved when he inherited the Mugen Ryu to her, and he would allow assisting him since it provided experience to her.
Misora felt a tingling sensation at the center of her chest, that ‘No’ had been too firm for her. “That’s it?” She blinked, “No ‘This is a dangerous Mission.’ Or ‘I may not come back from this one.’?” She teased.
Yuuichiro felt partly guilty at the accusation, “Had I said either of those,” he opted to shift his approach, “You would have been even more insistent, dear.” He laughed softly, putting his concealing mask on as he prepared himself.
“…Fine.” Misora agreed. Although her mind told her otherwise. Somehow, her father had suddenly begun acting strange. As she saw him leave and disappear into the clear night’s dark embrace, she made a mental note to follow him secretly. Slipping her own concealing mask on and preparing herself for possible struggle or conflict, she walked outside.
Misora’s waist belt had tiny satchels strapped to it where she would place tiny but effective throwing weapons, such as kunai or shuriken. Those two different containers were located on her left side, the opposite side of the belt had another couple of satchels, where she would store smoke bombs or any other utility she may have an use for in case of a pickle. Behind it she had a grappling hook and a tight rope for a swift escalating job. Misora was set. Giving the night’s sky one last glance, she leapt off onto the mountain trail, starting to track and follow her father.
Yuuichiro had made his way inside the Tora Palace, his client’s humble home. A juicy tidbit of information about a certain group of criminals Yuuichiro was determined to find apparently was waiting for him and would be delivered by the emperor, no less. He paid little mind to anybody or anything else in the perimeter while inside, his obsessive nature being the one guiding him through the exquisite palace halls Shiburo’s family had built.
Once in front of the main doors to the royal chamber, Yuuichiro took a deep breath. Finally, what he had been waiting for these ten long years: Remuneration money could not compare to. This was the reason behind funding the Shinobi School to start with, information. Yuuichiro’s mind was set on entering, speaking a few words and exiting to pursuit these criminals, the ones who had taken one of the most precious things in his whole life.
The shinobi master entered the chambers slowly, hoping to greet Shiburo Tora, his client, who this time would play the role of broker, but instead of him, Theo made the greetings. The emperor was nowhere to be found. “Sir Theo. Glad to see you,” Yuuichiro subtly greeted, his eyes scanning the place as his patience wore thin, “Forgive my rudeness. Where is his majesty?” He inquired.
The old man was quick to respond, with a bow of respect in addition. “Ah, I’ve been expecting you, Master Kaen. Please follow me to the roof. Master Shiburo is waiting for you there.” His raspy but firm voice said guiding Yuuichiro’s vision to a corner in the room. Yuuichiro found it peculiar he had never seen such a location before, then again, the door which was used to close this passage seemed to part of a wall, which probably meant it was a secret way out. The time wasn’t for thoughts, however, and the tall ninja master made his way over to the passage with Theo following closely behind.
“Hm.” Yuuichiro muttered to himself, suddenly stopping in front of the entrance. He turned around to glance around the room away. Somehow he felt like they were being watched.
“Is there something amiss, Master Kaen?” Theo brushed his face with a sleeve, re-accommodating his glasses after having bumped against Yuuichiro, who had barely felt the thump with his taller and stronger body. Theo made an effort to follow Yuuichiro’s line of vision to see if there really was something wrong.
Yuuichiro shook his head. “Nothing. I might just be tired. Let us continue, Sir Theo.” Both went inside and Theo patted the doorway so it would automatically close as they quickly ascended. The door started to slowly close but it suddenly came to a stop. A single kunai was impaled in the way of the closing door; one hand pushed it softly and removed the kunai from the floor, a figure silently walking in.
“Ah, Kaen Yuuichiro.” Shiburo greeted the shinobi as he entered, followed by his counselor.
Yuuichiro glanced across the room they had come into. It was nothing like he had ever seen before. The walls were decorated by strange-looking flowers and candles were lit along the path they were walking. The candle-lit path came to an end a few feet away from where Shiburo stood waiting. Moonlight poured in from the ceiling through the single opened tile and marked a spot just beneath where the emperor waited. The smell of what he could tell was aromatic incense filled the extensive chamber, which was full of armed guards that practically ruined the peace the decorations presented, he thought. “My liege.” Yuuichiro finally revered to the emperor as he stood in front of Shiburo.
“As always, I’m impressed at the diligence and effectiveness of your shinobi team. I’m quite surprised at the fact you take so many young and inexperienced people and turn them into such fine warriors.” Shiburo praised. Yuuichiro wasn’t in the mood.
“Yes, quite.” The ninja master said, “Now, my lord. I would hate to take your precious time, as I suspect you may be busy. May I receive the information about the assailants of my wife?” he finally asked. A strange smile drawing itself in Shiburo’s face.
The emperor cocked an eyebrow up, although his smirk couldn’t be more evident. “I’m unsure of what you are talking about, Yuuichiro Kaen.”
“Forgive me, your majesty. But it was you that sent this message to me,” Yuuichiro tried, taking out a piece of paper from inside his garb. “I believe it’s your handwriting?”
“Indeed.” Shiburo appeared to chuckle as he ruffled among his black hair, “It precisely says “Come to the Palace for information of utmost importance.”, does it not?” He quoted.
“…What could be of more importance to me than the information about the bandits who stole my wife’s life from her?” The rhetoric question made Shiburo almost laugh.
“To you? Oh, you must have misunderstood, Ninja Master Yuuichiro Kaen.” Shiburo put his hands behind him as he turned his back on a dumbfounded Yuuichiro.
Yuuichiro was about to talk, but all of a sudden he felt a tingle on his side. He looked down, the tingle having intensified to a feeling akin to the sting of a bee. There was Theo, holding what seemed to be a thorn which he had pierced through Yuuichiro’s garb and onto his skin. Yuuichiro felt like stone all of a sudden, frozen in place, unable to move anything below his neck. Theo walked away with a smirk, not uttering a single word. Yuuichiro grunted, and then followed: “Y-your Majesty…?”
“The information of utmost importance… yes. It’s of utmost importance to me.” Shiburo finished, turning again towards Yuuichiro.
Shiburo smiled, starting to walk around Yuuichiro. “I have to disclose something very important, Yuuichiro Kaen. You… are going to help me.”
Yuuichiro felt his tongue succumb to paralysis. Whatever Theo had sedated him with had such a strong effect on him he could only muster up to small groans only. “Do not worry however,” Shiburo continued, “This will be your biggest and most noble contribution to the Torusawa Empire, as your life is expended to make mine infinite.” He said. The word lunatic continued bumping against Yuuichiro’s tongue, but it bounced back as he was unable to utter a word, but only louder and more annoyed groans. He felt his eyes bulge and widen as he saw Shiburo raising an arm, commanding Theo to do something. An incantation was starting. “Do not despair, Yuuichiro Kaen. For you, the rightful heir to the Kagi-Getsuei Ranpu, will soon transfer the rights to the miracle to me.”
“Hold it right there!” a familiar voice to Yuuichiro made him turn his neck as much as he could, only to see the frame of his young daughter standing at the entrance of the hall. “What are you trying to do to my father?!”
“Grr. Interference.” Shiburo grunted. Fortunately, he had anticipated it and commanded the stand-by guards to attack. “Seize that girl! The ritual must not be stopped at all costs! If she resists, kill her!” he yelled.
“Get her!” yelled the guard nearest to Misora. The sound of katana and pikes getting ready in the hands of the small army of six guards in the room alerted her.
“I suppose I won’t be able to talk my way through this,” Misora told herself. She had never in her life expected her first visit to her father’s client’s quarters would be greeted with those weapons pointing at her. Misora readied her stance and prepared to fight. Her resolve: To save her father.
One of the lances approached Misora fast with the intentions of piercing her mid-section. The girl rapidly leapt back and used the momentum to kick the floor, immediately crouching and sliding towards the first assailant to sweep him upwards from under with an arm. Once the guard was in air, Misora stood up, focusing her energy in her right arm, before elbowing the armored male in his mid-section, effectively pounding him to the ground and stunning him. “Next.” She teased.
A blade came this time, attempting to thrust into Misora from behind. Her reflexes kicked in, albeit slower than she would have hoped for. She knew she wasn’t quick enough to completely avoid that surprise attack, and dodged by leaning her upper-body sideways, the blade nearly impaling onto her face, but knocked her ninja mask from her face instead. Misora grunted as a small trickle of blood escaped from a soft cut on her cheek, she had been careless in underestimating these guards. As the mask fell down, so did the second assailant, as Misora took the moment to spin around and deliver a powerful round-house to the second guard’s neck, effectively knocking him out cold. Misora assumed battle stance again, and before she could see, a diamond formation of the remaining four soldiers surrounded her. A pair of katana and pikes pointed her way. She wouldn’t be able to fight them all at once, but she couldn’t flee, not with her father being incapacitated and needing rescuing!
“Incompetent fools, kill her at once!!” Shiburo shouted, starting to growl in annoyance as he saw his two first guards fall. They weren’t dead, the girl didn’t appear to carry murderous intent, but he couldn’t be too careful about protecting his interests for that night. No. He would NOT allow his interests to be belittled anymore. “Start the transfusion already, Theo!”
“B-but, Master Shiburo!” Theo, stuttered, a strange green energy spiraling around him. “The incantation has not been fully,”
“I said NOW!” Shiburo roared.
With no choice left, Theo put a hand in the petrified Yuuichiro’s direction, his opposite hand pointing to Shiburo Tora. “O the powers of the earth and the sky, this soul’s shell will not do. Sever the chains holding them together, and direct them to its new recipient. Yuuichiro Kaen,” Misora’s eyes bulged at hearing this, “You are no more, and your life essence, is to be part of Shiburo Tora.” With those last words, Yuuichiro’s eyes rolled upwards. Theo had sent an eerily green stream towards the immobilized ninja master’s body, causing Yuuichiro’s body to glow in the same shade of green.
“Father!” Misora, forgetting about her enemies, tried rushing towards the scene, but was promptly stopped as two spears put themselves in a cross shape by the pike men to prevent her from advancing. “Out of my way, you lugs!” she growled, the sound of two behind her alerting Misora. She gritted her teeth. No more fooling around.
With renewed and reaffirmed resolve, Misora spun around almost in a flash, holding out her katana in a horizontal fashion in her offhand to block the two other blades. She had fury in her eyes. It was the first time she had actually fought anyone with a sword, and now she not only was using a katana, but THE katana. Mugen Ryu was also known as the Infinite Dragon, a golden dragon demon with many heads. The handle was golden, the hilt decorated with many dragon heads, and the blade curved almost perfectly with the gleam of otherworldly metal coating it. “I said OUT OF MY WAY!” she yelled angrily, suddenly putting all her energy into her off hand’s arm, applying so much pressure she knocked both men away with superior strength, sending their katana flying in the air, both weapons breaking in halves, where the Mugen Ryu had cut. Misora wasted no time and rapidly spun around, slashing both pike men’s weapons before they had a chance to react.
“Wh-what the?! These are steel!” One of the pike men said as the weapons broke, overwhelmed by the woman’s weapon’s sheer strength. Was it the fury of the girl, or was it that demonic-looking sword? “Oof!” he grunted, along with his companion, as they saw Misora somersaulting in their direction, her feet falling on top of their shoulders, kicking hard to send them down to the floor and impulse herself towards the ritual’s area at the same time.
“Father!” Misora pumped her legs as far as they would go to run. It appeared as though she still was on time, but then what she saw coming out of her father made her despair. “No…! Am I too late?!” she gasped, watching as what seemed to be the same stream of green exit his father’s open mouth. As soon as it started travelling back to its sender, it became a hue of blue; her father’s body’s suddenly collapsing to the ground. “Father? Father!” she yelled, tears swelling in her eyes as she knelt down to pick him up. “Father! Please! Answer me! Father!!” She kept repeating. Yuuichiro’s eyes were closed, his mouth closed, and his body apparently wasn’t as stiff as a rock anymore. His body warmth had disappeared, this much could be told by Misora since she was holding his lifeless body. “NO!” she screamed, hugging Yuuichiro’s empty shell.
“Yes, yes! Come to me!” Shiburo’s voice made Misora snap. She remembered who had ordered this, and who was going to get what he wanted. She would do everything in her power to stop it! Misora made sure to place Yuuichiro on the floor softly, she sheathed her sword quickly and then made towards Shiburo. She knew killing him was out of the question. That spiraling energy stream was enveloping the emperor, if per chance that was the key to saving her father’s life; she would not risk any brusque action.
“What?!” Shiburo gasped, seeing Misora approach him as the essence of Yuuichiro Kaen surrounded his body. Misora crashed onto Shiburo with the intentions of ridding him of Yuuichiro’s life stream, tackling him with all her might. Both the emperor and the young girl were sent flying onto the chamber’s spotlight, the two being engulfed by the gleaming moon light that showered from the ceiling.
“Master Shiburo!” Theo yelped, the spell having been interrupted. “No, the Kagi-Getsuei Ranpu can only have one…!” but before he could finish, a blast of light formed in the center of the spotlight, a flash engulfing the room which blinded Theo and everybody else who was conscious for the matter. A cry for help from one of the guards could be heard.
Misora felt light-headed at that moment. She had just crashed onto Shiburo, but had she stopped the evil spell from completing? She could not tell. Everything was white around her. Had she… No, she was still breathing, she could still smell the incense of the room. Her senses, however, suddenly went wild. She felt pierced, as if thousands of little daggers had just embedded themselves into her arms, legs and the rest of her body. Misora tried to yelp in pain as she clutched her stomach, doubling over on the soft floor as she felt heat. It was getting hot, too hot. She was burning! “What’s… happening… to me…?” She thought to herself as the pain clouded her mind. Finally, Misora let a piercing scream of agony out as she arched backwards, spreading her arms back as she felt as if her bones melted and dilated, expanding and contracting, causing her young body began to start to abruptly change from the inside.
Misora could feel it, everywhere in her body. She was changing, fast, and painfully. She felt her tail bone stretching from behind her, making its way out of her back, literally tearing through her uniform, quickly growing into a long tail, her fingers from both her hands and feet grew inches longer and thicker, the ends curling slightly into what seemed to be strong claws. The poor girl’s eyes were shut tightly as she tried to put up with the unbearable agony of her body transforming. She felt her teeth sharpen into fangs, her jaw dislocated as her face turned into what seemed to be an animal’s muzzle. This elicited another scream, but this time, even she could tell she had roared like the beast she was becoming. Misora fell to the floor as she cried from the seemingly endless pain, the sections around her shoulders starting to sport rapidly-growing membrane-covered appendages which developed astonishingly fast, so fast in fact, that in mere seconds, Misora spread two large wings on her back with yet another scream, her suit having had its last strain, and promptly gave out to her new form. Her teary eyes opened up as she tried to recover her composure: This had happened in mere seconds, yet she felt as if it had lasted whole days. She put a clawed hand on her chest, trying to catch her breath, the sight before her making her lose it again. “What?!” she managed to speak out; her arm was red, bloody red. Yet, no blood was in it, she could tell from feeling herself. She touched her arm with her other claw, astonished not at the fact she could confirm she hadn’t bled, but at the fact that her skin wasn’t skin anymore. The red was the new color of her new ‘skin’. She had felt this kind of skin before: Rough, tough and hard. She was coated in scales, crimson red scales, and it apparently wasn’t restricted to her arms only: Her whole body, head to toes, wore an embedded thick curtain of scarlet, sparing her hair that amazingly had remained the same as it had been before her transformation.
Misora tried standing up, but to no avail, she felt heavy now, much heavier than normal. Yet her body felt normal, and in fact, she felt much more relieved than when this horror she had to go through had started. What else had changed? She still had a hand on her chest; she could feel a tingle on it, same around her mid-section. She looked down, her vision being slightly blurry, but she could feel it alright. Her once modest chest was swelling, and not only that, but the pleasurable sensation had also spread around her hips. Her thighs and buttocks had gained size, her pelvic area had widened to support her new shape, and as she returned to feel her chest again, she could now start making out the growing lumps that were her mounds, the two large breasts becoming greater and greater, making her blush, wishing for it to stop as her mind clouded itself with unholy thoughts about herself. Once her chest had gone up two or three sizes, Misora finally could let a sigh of relief. It was then that she realized her whole body had bulked up, and had added thick muscle at determined sections of her frame. She may not have been a muscle-bound freak, but her body had become rather athletic if anything. Her arms, barely divisible before, sported mentionable veins across her foreceps and biceps, her aforementioned enlargened thighs, even her shoulders had broadened and added some extra bulk. She was a rare specimen now, a beautiful one nonetheless, as even if she appeared to be much stronger than an average woman, visibly too, she showed to not only have retained her female perks, but to have improved them. Misora’s head exploded with questions she found no answers to. This shock was too much for her system, and she passed out.
“-ord Shibu-ro…!” The familiar raspy voice of Theo drilled into Misora’s head. She blinked her eyes open, feeling as if she had been asleep for a long time, the dazzling moonlight stinging her unaccustomed eyes, making her look away for a moment. She looked down, gritting her fangs.
“It was no dream…” Misora drowned a sob, checking herself out. She was naked, her uniform having been destroyed during her transformation, yet she couldn’t make out if she could see her nipples on her new, voluptuous chest, yet she felt they were there. As she tried to stand up, it hit her back in the head. “Father!” She suddenly said, clutching both her fists as she turned around to face towards where she had heard Theo. He seemed to be over a black, enormous lump, nudging it and trying to wake whatever creature it was. It then dawned on Misora; Shiburo was nowhere else to be seen.
“This…” Shiburo’s voice, deeper than ever, made Misora’s heart skip a beat, “This is…” the huge creature started standing up, Misora could tell the towering giant Shiburo had become simply by the fact before, she didn’t have to arch her neck backwards to look at him while he stood. “What… IS THIS?!” Shiburo suddenly let out a deafening roar. His physique had changed in the exact same way as Misora’s had, minus the hip and chest enlargements. Shiburo also contrasted Misora’s red with a jet black, not only that, but apparently he had gained much more bulk than she had. She could have sized Shiburo as a commonly-built man, but now he was a tower of sinewy muscle. From his calves behind his legs to the cannon-ball sized biceps on his arms, he had taken the ‘common’ and replaced it with herculean. Vascular as Shiburo now was, he apparently was living the astonishment Misora had already gone through. Theo had taken a couple steps back, truly and indubitably impressed and terrified at the same time. “You…” Shiburo bared his fangs at his counselor, “…This is your fault!” he roared, making the old man almost faint and fall on his butt.
“M-M-Master Shiburo, please wait!” Theo desperately crawled backwards, fearing the wrath of the scaly emperor. “I… the writings! The Kagi-Getsuei Ranpu! The Warnings!” he said in a rapid fashion.
“OUT WITH IT!” Shiburo roared yet again, his muscled feet making thuds against the floor as he stepped closer and closer to Theo.
“The warnings, my lord!” Theo exasperatedly exclaimed, “They… they were clear about it! O-one has to give up on their most prized possession to make it work: their humanity! Mugen Ryu, the thousand-headed dragon demon… He blesses the heir, but also takes their human shape away! Ugh!”
Shiburo had seized the old man by his robe’s collar single-handedly, pulling him up to face the nine foot tall muscle-bound giant. “Explain.”
“Y-you… you have been transformed into a dragon… in exchange for receiving eternal youth and longevity…” Theo finished, and was dropped. Shiburo stood there, unable to speak for a few moments. Misora stood there as well, the shock of revelation unsettling her.
“Heh.”
Misora looked around to ascertain the origin of such a quiet laugh, until she found it was Shiburo who had begun chuckling.
“Heh heh heh.” Shiburo continued, his laughter increasing in volume. “Bwa ha ha ha ha ha!” a thunderous amused voice filled the room “Incredible!” He suddenly flexed one of his arms up in an arc, feeling his hard bicep swell and grow into an enormous mountain of sinewy power. “A dragon… man. I’m a dragon man. I’ve the strength of a dragon, and the intelligence of a human… Not bad.” He the grinned, his pearly-white fangs being the only non-obscure thing about him.
“But… sir… according to the writings, you shouldn’t be able to understand me, neither me you. You also… should be… an animal…” Theo mentioned, although biting his lip at the last sentence. Had he said too much? Apparently not. Shiburo was too absorbed into himself to make any sense of what Theo was babbling about.
Misora still felt appalled at the recent revelation. Yes, she felt a lot more powerful than ever with her own new vascular, although smaller frame. She knew she would sport large lumps of power from her arms if she flexed as Shiburo was doing right now, but what intimidated her weren’t the size of his muscles, but his overall size. Yes, he did look stronger, but he had also become much taller than she had. She was almost 2 and a half feet taller than she used to be as a human, but now, as her dragon self, she was fully eight foot tall. Yet, she never had asked for this, let alone the sacrifice of her own father to attain it. “No.” The word escaped her mouth. Her eyes were fixed on Shiburo again, but this time, not from intimidation.
The two on the opposite side of the moonlight ray turned to look at the red she-dragon. She was impressive, truly beautiful, and above all, her body was a perfect work of art. Shiburo Tora had just made a new decision. “It is quite unfortunate what happened to your father, Lady Kaen.” He suddenly said, his arms hanging instead of flexing now.
Misora snarled, “Don’t dare utter our family’s name, you vermin! You were responsible for my father’s death! You will pay for it!”
Shiburo cocked an eyebrow up, as if doubting Misora’s outburst, “Please, my darling. There is no need for us to fight. You and I… we have evolved. We transcended everyone, your father included.”
“Just what are you implying?!” Misora barked louder, gripping both her hands together, balling them into fists as she bared her fangs.
“Have you not noticed it yet, my dear?” Shiburo smoothly said, walking towards Misora. His magnificent wings occasionally would flutter as magnificently. “We have become dragons. Immortal dragons, no less,” He started grinning, wider and wider. “We are two of a kind.” He finished.
The dragoness snarled yet again “Feh! Is proposing to your sworn enemy a new kind of strategy?! Don’t make me laugh!” she battered at Shiburo, reading her fighting stance, her chest lightly jiggling. “Prepare yourself!” She shouted, intending to begin a one-on-one fight. “Shiburo Tora, Emperor of Torusawa… I shall defeat you and take your life in my father’s name!” she swore, preparing to strike, but instead she winced and bent forwards slightly. She looked behind at the source of pain. A single arrow had struck her wing, piercing it across.
“You imbeciles!” Shiburo roared as he witnessed Misora’s pain. The guards from before had called upon reinforcements, and now no less than ten more men had replaced the former. “Don’t hurt her!” He commanded.
“Sir… Shiburo?” the one responsible for shooting the arrow appeared to be dumbfounded, as with many others save for the ones who had witnessed the transformation of both persons.
Misora, unused to her new form, was unable to sort her pain out, whereas she would have been able to do it had the arrow pierced her shoulder or leg, or any other appendage she was used to have and had trained with, but certainly she had never felt a wing, nor the pain it came from having it damaged. She fell to one knee, trying to catch her wind.
“Bah. Humans after all are useless,” The dragon emperor fumed, walking towards Misora in a concerned manner, “Lady Kaen. Please do forgive these brainless monkeys. I shall treat your, augh!” he groaned before he could finish, Misora had swept him off the floor with a kick. She would have attempted to finish him off right there, but the pain in her wing had somehow numbed the corresponding arm needed for the deathblow. Even if it wasn’t there, she was unsure if with that strong and enormous body, Shiburo would be able to be killed so easily now.
“Don’t… touch me…” Misora threatened, slowly pacing away from the grounded Shiburo as she approached the corpse of her father. The guards, regardless of the earlier command of their boss, surrounded the dragon girl, although they followed the no-harming order. “Grnk!” She almost collapsed next to Yuuichiro’s lifeless body. She couldn’t fight in this condition, much less take her revenge. She didn’t want to die here. She could NOT die here.
“Grrr…” A humiliated Shiburo growled threateningly as he stood up again, not having expected the sweep-kick from Misora before. “I’ll pretend that did not happen.” He firmly said, his reptilian eyes fixing on the crouched Misora, “I must say you are persistent, that is an admirable quality in a woman. I like that, however… My patience is wearing thin. You are surrounded and have no means of escape… except one.”
“Don’t… even… say it…” Misora grunted to Shiburo, trying to hold by her aching wing, but only managing to hold by the corresponding shoulder instead.
“Pledge allegiance to me, and swear that you will be forever loyal to me.” Shiburo said, “I am in quite a generous mood and am willing to allow you to live, not only that, but I can offer you a life of luxury and comforts you otherwise will never have any hopes of finding.” He then grinned, “Not with that aspect.”
Misora winced yet again. Shiburo’s arrogance was getting the better of her, she felt angered, and she felt the guards approaching to seize her. She couldn’t let them! Suddenly, she felt familiar heat rising up in her. She was reminded of when her transformation had just begun, and how she felt like she would burst. Now the needs to let it out filled her. Standing up straight, Misora focused her anger on the situation, her own desire to escape. Her mind had just a single phrase growing bigger and bigger until she finally said it out loud. “Burn it all down.” She arched her head back, then suddenly let out a mighty roar which scared the heck out of all the oncoming guards, and caught even Shiburo off-guard. All of a sudden, Misora’s open maw started gushing piping hot flames out, and she began aiming it towards the guards around her. The way was clear; they had all fled at the first display of fire-breathing. She coughed, obviously unused to the aftermath of using this ability but took the chance her enemies were rattled, and then she swiftly made her decision: Her vengeance would have to wait. She reached down to grab her father’s deceased body, then used all of her energy to begin moving really fast around Shiburo, confusing him as she picked up her belongings, the Mugen Ryu being the most important as it represented her father’s will to her.
As he saw her rapidly move around him, Shiburo growled to Misora. “What do you hope to accomplish, my dragon damsel?! You are only delaying the inevitable! You and I… this night has decided our fates! You cannot kill me! We cannot die! And since we are going to live eternally, is it not better for us to do it together?!”
“Who in their right mind would decide to spend the rest of their days tied to their own father’s murderer?” Misora retorted from next to an opened window, her trim waist now being hugged with the remains of her former clothes, using them to support her sword and her other important things.
“Don’t do this.” Shiburo returned to his firm self, watching her as she appeared ready to jump. “You and I can live together and rule this country, no! The whole world together as an unstoppable force! Become my wife!” Shiburo ordered.
“Do you ever shut up?” Misora snarled, making Shiburo grunt and take a step forwards calmly, attempting to make for her, “…Misora Kaen.”
“Huh?” Shiburo blinked. That’s right. All he knew was her last name from her father. “So that’s your,”
“Remember it.” She interrupted, “For it is the name that will spell your doom. I shall return, and take my revenge!” she shouted, turned around, and then jumped off.
“Misora! Misora Kaen! Return here!” Shiburo roared out, his powerful lungs rattling the place. “RETURN TO ME I SAID!” The dragon emperor roared again, this time, so powerfully, the whole palace and its vicinity heard it.
To be continued…
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Feel free to start flaming for the last sentence. 8D
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