foogarky X loonan
Sunday, July 08, 2007
The Chronicles of Ancient Edo
Haven't we all heard of the legendary Battosai and the infamous vagabond Mugen? While the legends and history of Edo (known in this age as Tokyo) are well documented, the stories of Ancient Edo have been lost in the mists of time. A dark and mysterious realm, Ancient Edo existed before the coming of Man. It lay within the borders of present day Japan, but the world was a different place back then. There were no Nintendos and Gatling guns. A citizen of Ancient Edo was judged only by the swiftness of his katana. The fair elves ruled the land and Ancient Edo was in peace for aeons. However, trouble was brewing in the North and other races cast their greedy eyes on this prosperous and mysterious land. The Time of War had come..
The Last (Elfin) Samurai?
He surveyed the battlefield with tears in his eyes. He could only see his kinsmen as far as his keen eyes could see. Their bodies lay strewn on the ground, felled by the weapons of the Gaijin. Their ethereally pretty faces had only the pale look of death on them.
The message had reached his clan too late. The messenger pigeon barely survived the arrows of the enemy and delivered its message to him with it's last dying breath. foogarky looked at the brave pigeon and wondered if that would be the fate of all his people. The message had pleaded for help; the borderline villages couldn't hold out against the invaders and were falling, one by one, to the ravaging enemy from the north. foogarky did not pause to wonder why his land was being attacked after so many aeons of peace. He summoned his clansmen quietly and rode to the Valley.
It was too late. The Elfin warriors couldn't hold out against superior numbers, but they fought bravely to give just enough time for the women, children and elders to escape (A fact that foogarky was not aware of at that time). All he could see was death. And before he had time to bring his thoughts together, the enemy appeared from the top of the hills.
It was a trap and foogarky cursed himself for being clouded by grief in a battlefield. He drew his Dual Katanas and smirked. This time both of them would taste blood.
The trap was laid by a raiding party of mercenaries. They were undisciplined fighters but superior in number. foogarky charged, his Dual Katanas singing through the air and dismembering whatever came in it's way, be it Gaijin head, arm or leg. The Dual Katanas did not discriminate. As he slew the mercenaries, he could see in the corner of his eye, the flash of a huge sword, seemingly impossible to carry, that cut through dozens of his clansmen. However, he could not afford to be distracted. He was in the midst of battle too and he continued killing whoever or whatever stepped in his way. He could hear the chants of his sister Emina behind him. She had insisted on coming along with him to battle. Knowing very well of her hot-headedness, he grudgingly agreed, knowing that her magickal skills would be very useful. His Dual Katanas now shone with a golden light, endowed with Emina's holy magick.
Hours later, foogarky wiped his brows and winced with pain. The raiding party was almost finished but at what terrible cost? Once again, bodies lay strewn amongst him, but this time it was people he knew. Men and women who looked up to him as a leader and friend. And now they were all dead. This time he could not control his emotions. He collapsed and cried in despair.
There was a flash of light again. Foogarky's keen elfin senses brought him to his feet. He could feel a presence. It was not magickal, or Emina would have sensed it first. It was a warrior of astounding strength. The truth dawned upon him. This was to be a battle of two champions. Two formidable warriors. While foogarky was despatching off the raiders to hell, there was a champion on their side who was doing the same to his clansmen. Now, only the two remained along with Emina, who as a magick user, was able to stay alive by defending herself ably against the melee fighters.
foogarky faced the raider chieftain. It was a Barbarian, who carried a giant sword that looked seemingly impossible to wield. The Barbarian lifted his sword in respect and spoke in a strange tongue. It was Cimmerian. Emina, who was also a scholar, translated his foreign speech for foogarky to understand:
"I respect your prowess in the battlefield, foogarky-taicho. As I felled your clansmen, so did you mine. I would be honoured to fight you fairly. Will you accept?"
"Yes", Emina translated foogarky's Elvish words back to the Barbarian, "I accept. But first, I must have the honour of knowing your name. What are you called, Gaijin?"
"I am called loonan of Cimmeria."
foogarky drew his Dual Katanas once again. Both the blades would be needed against such a formidable foe. He closed his eyes and thought of his Sensei. All the Kenjutsu that he learned in his early years, would it be a fair match for the berserk swordplay of a Barbarian? The Barbarians; a race which his ancestors never faced before in battle. Would the age old Kenjutsu be adapative enough to use against a foreign martial art?
Loonan drew his bastard sword effortlessly. He had a lot of respect for this Elfin Samurai, who slew more than a hundred of his men. But loonan was not afraid. If today was going to be his day of defeat, then so be it. Those were his thoughts before he changed into Berserker mode. After the transformation though, all he could see through his bloody eyes was an elf that stood in his way. His head raised high, screaming the terrible war cry, he charged.
If there are doubts to the origin of Adaptive Kendo, then it could surely be said that it started on this day, when an Elfin Samurai used his keen senses to modify the rigid stances of his Kenjutsu and adapt it to fight against an aggressive swordplay that he found difficult to predict, employed by a Barbarian who was now driven only by his animal instincts. The bastard sword constantly drove towards foogarky looking for openings, but the Adaptive Kendo successfully fended off the attack. Emina watched on, looking at the two evenly matched swords singing through the air.
But it had to end. The unstoppable bastard sword finally penetrated through foogarky's defense and delivered a shattering blow to his chest. His armour crumbled and his lungs struggled to breathe. He collapsed, almost asphyxiated. The Barbarian, though still in berserker mode, calmly raised his sword high in the air to give foogarky a honourable death.
The chants grew louder. Emina knew her brother very well and could see that he was struggling against the Barbarian. She knew that interfering in the fight would mean bringing dishonour to her brother, but she did not care. A white light shone out of her and a faery like creature appeared over foogarky's head. It held his hand and vanished. The Barbarian stared at the empty space where foogarky had collapsed a few minutes ago. He could not believe his eyes. The elf was nowhere to be seen. He turned toward Emina, scowling.
Emina cast an immobility spell on the advancing Barbarian. The light shone on the Barbarian and disappeared immediately, not doing anything. Emina would not know until later that Barbarians were immune to magick because their culture had never experienced or believed in magick, thus nullifying it's effect. However, she was lucky that Barbarians were known to never harm women. That was the reason why she lived that day and ended up as the captive of loonan the Barbarian.
Where is foogarky whisked off to? What strange lands will he go to and what strange people will he meet? And, what of Emina? And finally, is loonan destined to fight against foogarky?
To be continued...
posted by foogarky @ 12:47 PM,
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The Author
foogarky
foogarky is the pseudonym of the fictional construct who battles for supremacy with other constructed personas in the mind of a crazed individual. He describes himself as a man living in a non descript house in Rio De Janiero, Brazil with two dogs and a parakeet.
About This Blog
The Loony Lampoonist serves to parody, spoof and satirize everything that needs to be parodied, spoofed and satirized. Due to the fictional nature of this electronic journal, any anecdotes appearing here ever so often that seem to be personal in nature, would suffer from the effects of conflicting personalities, the creation of fictional events and the inclusion of non existent characters who did not make it to the big league in the author's literary works. Thus, the Loony Lampoonist is also a purgatory for characters and ideas that have missed the limelight.
