Kiyo Nakamoto

Spirit Beyond Saga

Supernatural War Arc

“Chapter Forty-Two: The Trees Scream Her Name"

Kiyomi Narrating: As our team traveled through the Emerald Forest, we discovered a cabin. Inside the cabin was this crazy woman who hypnotized us and put us into some crazy mental loop. Aiko was the only one not affected. In an attempt to kill the woman, whom was named Loraine, Aiko ended up finding her teenage daughter Buffy. Buffy is a woman with great pride and big dreams. She's more courageous than most men are. Anyway, Buffy was able to talk Aiko down and in the end all was good between us all. No harm was done. Now we continue to travel the forest with our new companion Buffy.

(The sky is dark and the stars in the sky twinkle brighter than they ever have. Loraine sits in her rocking chair in her front yard and enjoys herself as she smokes one last time. A loud noise can be heard from the side of the house. Loraine remains still and calm.)

Manly voice: What is this, a trap for monkeys?! Why am I upside down hanging from a rope?!

Cool Voice: So like this chick is a fortune teller... (Exhales) Rad.

(Loraine stands about 45 feet away from them and rests her sword over her shoulders.)

Loraine: You mutts are early.

(It is revealed that the men talking are not actually men, but four werewolves and a young cowardly teen avoiding all contact with anyone.)

Loraine: In my vision of the future you weren't supposed to show up until tomorrow morning.

Fat Wolf: You just smelled too delicious, so we had to rush over here for our dinner. (Licks lips)

Loraine: Why don't you just eat that human behind you?

Handsome Wolf: Are you mad, woman? We do not eat our own kind.

Manly Wolf: He just hasn't unlocked his werewolf ability yet! Which is strange because usually all werewolves are born with the ability to transform; at least in our clan there are.

Cool Wolf: Look, babe, (Takes a smoke of his "Cigarette") We're not into pep talks so here's what needs to go down.

Fat: WE'RE GOING TO EAT YOU AND SAVOR EVERY DELICIOUS BITE!

(The manly wolf swings over and knocks the fat wolf down to the ground with his body.)

Manly Wolf: Shut up you tub of lard! Look lady, A few months back, this kid and this old lady use to hunt down wolves and cook them for dinner. We tracked that kid's scent all the way here to this cabin. Now either he's still here or he ran off into the forest. Either way, I'm sure you can lead us to him.

Loraine: So tell me something, dog breath, what do I get in return for this information?

Manly Wolf: (Evil grin) Why, you get your life of course. Tell us where the boy is and we promise to let you keep your limbs.

Loraine: Now, now, let's not start lying to each other, because then I may start lying about the boy's location. Even if I do tell you where he's at, you and your pups here will tear me to shreds regardless, and you know it.

Manly Wolf: Oops, you busted me, now quit stalling and tell us where he is!

Loraine: One thing I learned from my daughter is to always fight for what you believe in, right to the very end. (Equips sword) Therefore, I will fight my hardest to protect her and the boy! I’ve seen the vision of you killing me and I have accepted my fate, but just because I've accepted it, that doesn't mean I still won't go out swinging. So bring it on; I'LL FIGHT YOU ALL TO MY LAST BREATH!

(A powerful strike of lightning flashes and Buffy wakes up in a panic. As she sits up and hyperventilates, sweat drops down from her face and onto the dirt Buffy looks around her surroundings and sees everyone sleeping around a lite campfire inside a cave, except for Kiyo. Kiyo is fueling the fire and burning the logs. Buffy looks outside of the cave and sees there's a terrible rain storm.)

Kiyo: Nightmares, huh?

(Kiyo comes from behind Buffy and hands her a small warm cup of tea. Buffy stares at the cup for a few seconds, and then casually grabs it.)

Buffy: Thank you...

(Kiyo sits criss-cross beside Buffy and crosses his arms.)

Kiyo: I use to suffer from nightmares myself. Back when my days were filled with nothing but muscle aches from everyday training. My sensei's name was Rayna. I recently found out she is actually my aunt. (Lies down and puts hands behind his head.) Yeeep. (Sighs) But anyway, I use to suffer from many different recurring dreams. One dream was about my fight with a very powerful man. But this man wasn't Phantom; he looked like me, but he wasn't me. I always assumed it was my darkside just challenging me to become stronger so one day we could fight. Yeah, one thing about me is I love fighting. Fighting is my passion. It’s how I express myself, you know?

Buffy: Must be Earth.

Kiyo: What?

Buffy: (Nervous) Oh, uh, nothing! (Looks down in her cup and swirls tea around) Maybe one of these days you and I can go a few rounds? (Smiles at Kiyo) What do you say?

Kiyo: (Closes eyes and smiles) I'm not one to reject a challenge. (Opens eyes) I think you have yourself a date there, sister.

Buffy: (Chugs entire cup of tea) Alright! I guess I better start training then. The Nakamoto clan possessed great Spiritual power, so I know I've got a lot of catching up to do if I want even the slightest chance of beating you in a fight. Just because I'm a girl that doesn't mean I don't like it rough. (Winks)

Kiyo: Oh don't worry; I never hold back. When I hit, I hit hard!

(Both Kiyo and Buffy burst out laughing. Jiro wakes up and presses his pillow up against the side of his head.)

Jiro: (Sleepy and tired) Could you BE any louder? Seriously, you guys are like nocturnal or something. Buffy, you might as well be a creature of the night!

Eli: Good, I'm not the only one pretending to be asleep!

Jiro: Actually, I wasn't pretending. Unlike you vampires, I sleep during the night, and if you haven't noticed, IT'S NIGHT!

Eli: (Scared) Yeah and also raining...

(Eli jumps into Jiro's sleeping bag and hides himself.)

Jiro: (Sighs in frustration) I love my group.

Kiyo: (Sits with his legs crossed) Eli, man; what's going on with you; I've never seen you so scared.

Eli: (Pokes head out of covers) Lightning scares me. I know that may seem childish and ironic, but it's true. Please don't make fun of me.

Jiro: No offense, kid, but be scared of lightning somewhere else; you're in my personal space.

(Jiro shoves Eli out of his sleeping bag.)

Eli: Fine, you big meanie; I'll just go hangout with Kiyo and Buffy and make lots of noise to keep you up. (Sticks tongue out)

Jiro: Whatever, bro.

(Eli walks away about 5 feet and an extremely loud thunder roars through the sky. The flash of lightning behind it is blinding. Eli dashes as fast as he possibly can back toward Jiro's bag. He accidentally trips and slams into Jiro's forehead and Jiro passes out. Eli crawls in and shivers under Jiro's sleeping bag.)

Buffy: Aww, the poor kid.

Kiyo: You're fearless; you don't understand what he's going through.

Buffy: Oh yeah, you're right; I don't.

Kiyo: But here in this family, we accept each other always no matter what, even if we do not understand each other. Hey, Eli! Come here, buddy.

(Eli slowly comes out of the sleeping bag and sits right next to Kiyo with his legs crossed. Kiyo sits up, wraps his arm around Eli's shoulders and gives him a pat.)

Kiyo: You've been around lightning before, buddy; it's never bothered you.

Eli: During those times I was in battle. My adrenaline was high.

Kiyo: Hey look, if you need to, you could go ahead and sleep in my sleeping bag tonight.

Eli: (Smiles at Kiyo) Really?! Wow, gee, thanks, Kiyo; but wait... Won't the bag be too small to hold us both in there?

Kiyo: (Chuckles and gives Eli a friendly smile) I didn't say I was gonna be in it too; I just said you could use my sleeping bag to sleep in.

Eli: (Grunts) Don't be mean! I'm only 11 years old!

Kiyo: (Scratches head) Which reminds me- I have a birthday coming up... I'll be Jiro's age.

Eli: Oh yeah, Jiro's the oldest out of all of us. Isn't he like 39 or something?

Kiyo: 39? WH-? Never mind. No, Jiro is 19 years old.

Eli: How come he doesn't remember anything from his past? After Angel destroyed his clan, she said she let Jiro live cause he wasn't a threat and she just reprogramed his mind. But if that were true, why would Jiro still have that legendary sword from his clan?

Kiyo: I think Angel did explain that to us at some point; I just forgot what she was saying. (Shrugs)

Buffy: You should have said something to my mother. She used to be a witch. That's how she was able to put all of you in a trance. She put some kind of spell in your teas. I'm sure if we go back, we could ask my mother to use a memory recovering spell.

(Lightning flashes and thunder lightly roars through the sky. Both Eli and Kiyo look down in silence.)

Buffy: Come on you two; don't get all mopey on me. What did I say wrong?

Eli: I guess it's just that...

Eli and Kiyo: (Both lying) We don't like to back track!

Kiyo: (Smiles) Nice!

(They both look at each other and high five.)

Buffy: Sorry. I guess I just miss my mom is all, you know? But then again, you never had parents now did you?

Kiyo: My parents are actually still alive, I've just never met them. Well... actually I've never met them in their own bodies. You see the first and only time I met my parents was... in my surrogate parent's bodies back when I was fighting Phantom only a few weeks ago.

Buffy: Wait, Phantom?! THE PHANTOM- from the Rogue Empire?!

Kiyo: Yeah him. He wasn't all that strong though. What made him powerful was his ability to never die and to multiply himself.

Buffy: Phantom is a joke. He's not a real bad guy or a good villain. I've always wanted to meet the guy in person but I never had the chance. One thing I do know about him though is where he gets his powers from.

Kiyo: I thought his ghost powers came from his Bloodline Trait? Weren't his people naturally born ghosts?

Buffy: Yes in fact but I don’t think Phantom was ever a part of their clan.

(Visions and flashbacks are shown during the story.)

Buffy: A very long ago, two powerful souls were actually able to make a ghost baby. realizing this, they made themselves an entire clan of ghost babies. which were just as powerful as the parents were. The ghosts tried taking over the world at some point long ago, but the first born ghost baby was older than the rest of the babies, so she grew wise quicker. She grew to become a teenage ghost and when she went through her rebel phase, she mad a very hard impact. Her parents tried telling her to go out and find more living souls to devour around the world like all the other children, but she said she did not want to. She wanted to go her own way in life and live by her own rules. She wanted nothing to do with the destruction of life because she believed in boundaries between the world of the living and the world of the dead. Her parents never knew what to do with her, so they decided punish her in a very cruel way. They killed a living teenage girl, and they sealed their daughter's soul into that body. She was now alive. And her parents made her their human slave. They would starve her for days, hey would rarely let her bathe, she couldn't take care of her own body or even use a proper restroom. She knew the pain of being a human slave, she knew what it was like to feel pain- physical pain, mental pain, and emotional pain. She even fell in love at some point, but her parents found out about it and quickly killed him. So much anger, pain, and hatred grew inside her, but she told herself in her mind that her parents took everything away from her; even her freedom, but one thing they would never take away from her were her beliefs. She believed that the world of dead and alive should be separated and not co-exist with each other. So she told herself that it was now time to fight for what she believed in. She risked everything when she made her move. She took a leap of faith. It was said that she was a believer in this idea she called God, so she did pray to him very often. He told her when the right time was to make her move. So when the time came, she escaped her prison and ran away as far as she possibly could. She stumbled on a pack of witches who were in hiding plotting to overthrow the Ghostly Empire. She told them that she would do anything to help them. The witches realized that this teenage girl's soul was once ghost and is now human. So they were able to cast a spell on her that would allow her soul and body to become one, and by doing so, she was once again able to use her ghostly powers in her human body. So she went back to her old home and she absorbed the souls of all her siblings. She consumed and devoured each and every one of them to obtain more ghostly power. She then had to face her parents. She was exhausted from fighting her siblings so she was not at full strength when she fought them, but she had this “God” on her side and she fought her very hardest to rid the world of this evil she once called mom and dad. They fought to the death, and in the end, the teenage girl won. She consumed her parents' souls and she became an extremely powerful being. She then used her powers to create an even more powerful barrier around the world so that the dead could have less access to the world of the living. She even sealed herself up in an alternate dimension. Now, Phantom was just a cowardly man who became brave after his wife was being attacked by the teenager's ghost siblings. After they killed his wife, he traveled months to get to their lair for revenge. Once he got to their lair, the teenager was fighting with her parents. She consumed their souls and Phantom was a witness to this. The teenager revealed her name to be Jennifer. Jenn and Phatom had a short talk and they made a deal that Phantom would be able to share some of her powers, just as long as he forever becomes a protector of the physical world and used his power for good. He agreed to this. Jennifer then gave Phantom a very small percentage of her power- less than a quarter. Phantom thought he could travel to the other world and bring his wife's soul back, but Jennifer told him that toying with the dead is prohibited and that he should learn to let his wife go. She cried over the death of her parents, and she even forgave them for making her a slave, and she wanted nothing more but to bring her love back to life so they could be together, but she understood that life and death are just that- life and death: Two different worlds which coexist within each other and share the same reality, but do not share the same world. She had to let them all go, so Phantom did the same. Jenn then realized the truth of free will. Freedom is not something someone can take from you. Freedom is having the ability to find peace within your limitations and accepting what you cannot control. After a few hundred years, Phantom lost so many wives, he lost so much, and he just wondered the world unable to die and join those which he loved dearest. So Phantom decided to just go his own way and no longer be a hero of the world. He gave up on life and just wanted to die, so he put himself in a deep sleep which lasted hundreds and hundreds of years. He was then reawakened by the rumbles of a world war. Phantom awoke and watched as the war nearly destroyed the world. Once the war was over, Phantom spent the rest of his time trying to find the Gem of Croy and using it for his own selfish purposes. But during his travels, he was found by a man named Xonox and a woman named Angel. The two of them knew his story and decided to recruit him. He was then a part of the World-wide Clan Massacre; also known as the third war. And that war was when Angel recruited many different individuals and they all had a war with the world's most over powered clans. The Nakamoto Clan, the Izakuga clan, the Senjuki clan. A lot of other clans as well.

Kiyo: The Senjuki clan... I've heard of them somewhere...

Buffy: The Senjuki Clan was the clan which rivaled the Nakamoto clan. Senjuki rivaled Nakamoto during the Second World War which almost destroyed our planet.

Eli: Wait, so Senjuki clan are the possessors of the SainoChokkan, right!

Buffy: Yeah that's right?

Eli: That means Both Minglei and Osmodeus are from the Senjuki, which means I'm from the Senjuki clan! YES! I FINALLY KNOW MY LAST NAME AND WHERE I’M FROM!

Kiyo: So if what you say is true, that means both Eli and I could rival each other if we engaged in a serious battle?

Buffy: No. I can tell by the look in Eli's eyes he doesn't have much fighting experience. Kiyo, you would easily win. Although I doubt either of you know how to use your clan's special powers.

Eli: Our clan has special powers? Well actually, yeah. Osmodeus had a few special powers when we fought.

Buffy: (Extremely excited) Oh, WHAT?! I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT! You fought with Osmodeus and lived?! Please, you have to tell me in details about the whole thing.

(Buffy kneels beside Eli and begs him with her hands together.)

Buffy: Oh please, please, please?!

Eli: Um... okay well, where do I start?

Jiro: (Being smart) How about the beginning?!

Eli: (Smiles) Thanks, Jiro; what would I do without you?

Jiro: I know what I would be doing without all of you here... sleeping! (Slams face into pillow)

(Kiyomi and Aiko are sitting around the fire with their legs crossed. Kiyomi has a big smile on her face.

Kiyo: Since when were you all awake? (Freaking out) When did you get here?!

Kiyomi: (Extremely excited) I am like such a sucker for a historic tale! Did I tell you guys I'm a history freak?!

Buffy: No, I didn't know that. You and I would get along just fine.

Aiko: Come! Sit around the warm fire. You can feel the love coming from the heat of the flames.

Kiyo: I made sure to put in extra love to keep the flame burning for a longer time.

Buffy: Yeah, let's go sit around the fire.

(Everyone sits around the campfire inside the cave and Aiko is feeding Nini crackers.)

Eli: So, the first time I fought Osmodeus, it was the morning after Grandma Ming and I fought a pack of wolves and cooked them for dinner.

Buffy: Wait, did you say Grandma Ming and you both fought and coocked wolves?

Eli: Well, we were in the forest; we had to eat somehow.

Buffy: I remember reading one of my mother's prediction journals the other day. She said that in her dreams, packs of wolves would come after a Senjuki boy and an old Senjuki lady. It also said that these wolves would travel the world seeking the boy, cause the lady would pass away. Eli, what happened to Ming?! Did she die?!

Eli: She did actually. During our first battle with Osmodeus.

Buffy: You never stopped to wonder why so many wolves kept attacking the two of you?

Eli: No I never did actually. I always thought so many came around because they smelled food.

Buffy: They did smell food- you!

Eli: So why would the wolves want to hunt me down and chase me around the world?

Buffy: I don’t know; maybe it’s because you keep eating their kind! My mother's predictions are never wrong. (Gasps) Oh no! What if they smell your scent at my mother's house and they find her instead and eat her?! (Stands up) Come on, we have to go back for her, you guys!

Jiro: (Sighs) Oh boy...

Kiyo: I guess we can't keep this a secret from you too much longer, Buffy.

Buffy: What secret...?

(Back at the cabin, the entire house appears to have completely crumbled. Loraine's bloody body is seen buried under the pieces of the once standing home. All four wolves and the cowardly human are in human form and the middle of the forest.)

Tough Wolf: I smell the kid's scent around here somewhere. We all split up and howl if you find him or any clues leading to his whereabouts.

Handsome: I would rather not get my fur all dirty and wet, so if I do spot him, I am not engaging in any fighting!

Chill Wolf: Hey, bro, just cause your fur is white, that doesn't make you bad. (Takes a smoke)

Fat wolf: (Pokes fingers together nervously) If I see him and I uh... accidentally eat him... Do I get in trouble?

Tough wolf: (Growls angrily in Fat wolf's face) Yes you get in trouble you idiot for brains! We need that boy as a sacrifice to our master so our clan could all obtain the abilities of his family blood trait powers and finally end this feud we have with the Vampyres and the Witches Guild!

(He paces back and forth; looking his pack deep into their eyes one at a time, sounding inspirational and hyping their spirits.)

Tough wolf: We're losing this war. No longer will our kin brothers and sister die in vain by the wretched hands of those abominations! Our family has suffered enough loss, but this war we will claim our victory! Those undead neck biters will feel the wrath of all our fallen family whom have died during battle. Inch by inch we will tear them all limb from limb and as they bleed on the floor begging and pleading for mercy, we will laugh in their face and chew out their guts as the tears of blood fall from their cold, dead, unforgivable eyes! This is war! And in war, we do whatever is necessary to win! You got that?!

(All of them howl in inspiration.)

Tough Wolf: Now! Split up and find that boy so our clan may use his power to win this war FOR OUR FALLEN BROTHERS!

(They all raise their fists up in the air and roar loudly.)

Tough: Now, we split up! Find that boy and make sure to capture him alive. Eat without hesitation, anyone with him who gets in your way! Now! SPLIT UP AND FIND HIM!

(They all run and scatter around the forest; running at high speeds. Back in the cave Buffy has her back turned to Kiyo and his team. She has her back on her back and looks down at the ground trying to desperately hold back her tears.)

Buffy: This is so hard to believe…

Eli: (Saddened) Kiyo... Why didn't any of you tell me about this?

Kiyo: Because, Eli, after Buffy's mother told us about how she predicted the wolves would come and kill her, she told us that they were in the area and they would be looking for you.

Kiyomi: You're a pure soul, Eli; we know how fragile you are and we didn't want you blaming yourself.

Eli: YES I'M BLAMING MYSELF CAUSE IT IS MY FAULT! You're supposed to always be honest with me! How could you keep something so big from me and Buffy?! That's her mother that just died! She didn't even have the chance to say goodbye!

Kiyo: (Angry) ENOUGH, ELI! I don't want to treat you like a child, but I will if I have to! Now you are too young to possibly understand why our team made this decision without you! But it doesn't change the fact that we are a family! Buffy's our family too. (Says compassionately to Buffy) And you know your mother trusted me not to tell you about the sacrifice she made for you, but I let her down by telling you this anyway, Buffy! I regret that I couldn't keep my word to her, but I don't regret keeping her legacy alive. You are her legacy. She wanted you to live a full life and fulfil your dreams.

(Kiyo walks up to Buffy and stands behind her. He gently places one hand on her shoulder.)

Kiyo: Understand that if you would have known about this earlier, you would be making the same stupid decision you are now, by going out there in the cold rain and back to your home, only to get yourself killed and have your mother's death be in vein.

(The lightning softly roars. Tears fall from her eyes harder than the rain itself. She falls down to her knees, but Kiyo catches her so she may break down crying on his shoulder. Eli walks up to them hugs Buffy from the side. The rest of the crew all walk up to them and form a group hug of love. The campfire begins to flare up even higher. The cowardly human is freezing cold but he crawls up a cliff side with his bare hands through the rain. He gets about 30 feet high and sees a ledge right above him. He reaches for the ledge and he pulls himself up and over. He stands up and sees right in front of him, the highly-lite campfire and all of their belongings around it. As soon as he takes one step forward, Jiro appears instantly in a flash behind him with his sword up to his throat.)

Jiro: Look, buddy, it hasn't been a very good night, and I've gotten a few hours shaved off my beauty sleep. So make any sudden move or give me a reason to think you're doing something suspicious and my voice will be the last one you hear, understand?

Coward: (Shaking scared) Yes, yes, I understand!

Jiro: Good, now get in the cave!

(He is thrown on the ground inside the cave terrified for his life. He lays down next to Kiyo's feet. And Kiyo looks down at him with an angry look.)

Kiyo: Look, we're not mean guys... usually, but right now we have reason to suspect that werewolves are tailing us.

(Kiyo kneels down close to his face.)

Kiyo: So you're going to tell us who you are and why you're here.

Fetch: Well, my friends call me Fetch.

Kiyo: Fetch, huh? That sounds pretty suspicious to me.

Fetch: (Squirming scared with eyes clothes) NO, NO, please, I'm just a 17 year old! I've never done anything wrong! (Opens eyes to look at Kiyo) I'm not hunting anybody, I'm just a traveler looking for a warm place to sleep!

Kiyo: Well you can't sleep here, so find your own cave! Go on! GET!

(Fetch cowards in fear and runs outside, only to slip and accidentally fall out of the cave, slip off the cliff, and hit the ground on his back.)

Fetch: Ow. Why am I always the one with the short end of the stick? Why did I have to be the one to find these guys? (Sighs) Oh well. I better get to the others. I guess I better tell them who I've found. Oh boy, what a predicament; it's not fair!

(Aiko stands behind Kiyo inside the cave.)

Aiko: Can everyone come out of hiding now?

Kiyo: Not yet.

Aiko: His breath still lingers. No human's mouth could smell like that, no matter how nervous or scared they are.

Kiyo: I know. He even smelled like a wet dog.

Aiko: So what do we do?

Kiyo: We all rest up for the night and have a watchman on duty.

(Jiro walks past Kiyo.)

Jiro: Not me; I've lost enough sleep already and I am in no rush to stay up any longer than I have to. (Cuddles up in his sleeping bag and gets comfortable)

Kiyo: (Casually talks) Hey, Jiro, you're on night watch!

Jiro: (Pissed off) DARN IT!!!!!!!

TO BE CONTINUED...