Meditation is the essence of life. It brings inner peace, distributes life, and grants strength. Without meditation, one cannot find himself. Alongside the pond outside my family home, I sat contemplating life. I opened my eyes and saw a lotus flower floating towards me. I scooped it up into my hand and gazed upon its beauty. The delicate pink petals blew gracefully in the wind, reminding me of my mother: graceful and gentle, much like the Takeda clan from which she originated. My thoughts were broken by the rumbling of the peaceful pond, and two men emerged from the gate behind me. They donned Samurai armour and three swords a piece, each wearing an intimidating oni mask: one red, one white, but both with searing, sharp fangs. They wore black and gold, the colors of the Tokugawa clan. I stood up to greet them.
    “Hello, gentlemen,” I told them, “how has this day been treating you?”
    “Fine,” the red one spoke. “We have an order for you direct from the shogun,” he told me, holding out an official document.
    I took it from him and looked it over.
    ‘Tsunaki Go,
By order of the Shogun, it is demanded that you cede your residence to the Shogunate to place a training ground for samurai, effective immediately.
Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu
I looked up in desperation and was only met by the steely glare of the two samurai that brought the doom upon me.
    “You are asked to leave now. Please vacate the residence, or force will be taken to remove you,” said the red one, putting his hand on his katana.
    “Alright. I will go,” I told them and began to walk out. “Send my regards to Shogun Ieyasu.”
    I should’ve been killed for that. The samurai must have been in a good mood because they let me leave with my head still attached to my body. Thinking rationally, as I had vowed to do many years ago when I took up the priests veil, I decided to make the rational choice of any Shinto priest in my position. I took a quick walk to my bedroom and flipped open a hidden cupboard. I pulled my weapons out and quickly shuffled out of the house. I slid the door open and made my exit. With my hand still on the door, I stopped and closed my eyes. This house is sacred to the Takeda clan. It has been used as a place of worship after the now Shogun burned our temple down in one of his vicious raids. And now it was gone. No departure, no farewell, no hope spared. Nothing other than the Tokugawa clan savagely ripping us apart once again. I walked away, without looking back. I didn’t need too; I wouldn’t be gone for long.  Walking down the road, I met my carriage.
    “Greetings, Tsunaki-san,” said my driver and nephew, Takumi. “Going somewhere?”
    “Maruyama-Koen in Kyoto. Do you think you can get me there by nightfall?” I asked him.
He checked the position of the sun. “I believe I can,” he smiled. “Hop in.”
I responded by getting in the carriage, hiding my gear under the left bench, and sitting on the right. After a short moment, we were off.
    “What’s bringing you to Kyoto?” Takumi asked me.
I just sat with my eyes closed,  too busy meditating to hear him. I hope the spirits will forgive me for this action.
    “Tsunaki-san?” pressed Takumi.
My eyes jolted open. “Yes?” I asked him.
    “Kyoto. Any reason you’re going there?” he repeated.
    I closed my eyes again, ending the questions. There was no need to continue, for he already knew.
    When I opened my eyes once again, we were in the streets of Kyoto. It was a beautiful city, fit for a tyrant. The Sakura trees lined the road on which we followed, blowing the magnificent pink petals from left to right. A petal landed on my lap, and I picked it up, analyzing it. I closed my eyes once more.
    ‘Spirits of nature, please forgive me’ I begged of them, silently. I opened my eyes and let the petal go. It blew away in the wind and landed in a geishas hair. She picked it up and smiled, appreciating the unique wonder it possessed.
    We came to a gentle stop.
    “We’ve arrived, Tsunaki-san,” said Takumi. “Would you like me to await your return?”
    “That won't be necessary,” I told him. “Thank you, Takumki-kun.”
He smiled at me and went on his way. I watched him until he disappeared over the horizon. It was time to get to work. The moon was at its peak, and none but a few Samurai paraded the streets.
Finding a concealed spot in the park, I equipped my gear. My orange Takeda robes would be hard to hide, but a ninja never fails to show honor for his clan. I had my katana, shuriken, kunai, talons, and eggs all ready to go. The last step was the mask. I took the orange lion mask and put it on. I was ready.
Dodging behind the park trees and other assorted objects along the way, I made it to Nijo castle, the residence of the Shogun.  It was heavily guarded. I expected no less from the Shogun. I would have to be quiet about this. I sat there, studying the movement patterns of the patrolling guards. I would have about three minutes of concealment once the last guard was out of sight. I awaited him, and watched him come and go like an angry oni guarding his king. Once he was around the bend, I ran and leaped for the wall, grappling onto it with my talons, and quickly began scaling it. The wall a monument in itself, and scaling it in 3 minutes would be impossible. I counted is my head as I climbed.
‘45, 44, 43, 42…’ I counted down and began to panic. There was at least half of the wall left. I needed somewhere to hide. I quickly scanned for hiding places and was graced with a miracle: a sama hole. Fortunately, it was large enough for me to fit in, and I quickly ducked inside when the next guard turned the corner.
Quickly gazing around, I saw skilled Tokugawa samurai marching the perimeter of the castle. They were somewhat clustered, leaving a few spots open for me to sneak through. Acting quickly on this revelation, I grappled down from the wall and ducked behind a bush as some samurai marched by, discussing with each other. One mentioned how his son fled the city, and left a note that he’s heading for the Ainu in the north. Another one mentioned a man with light skin, speaking in a demon tongue and how he offered him a strange plant. I felt a wave of sorrow for these men, hoping I didn’t have to combat them.
Seeing they were gone, I darted across the outskirts and to the castle's side. Readying my talons once again, I began to scale the wall. About one third of the way up, I heard a samurai yell.
I cursed under my breath. I had gotten careless. I had to go. Rapidly finishing my way up the castle, I jumped in the window and was greeted by two angry samurai, katanas drawn. I pulled mine out and prepared for combat. One charged at me, and our weapons collided. He pulled back and swung at me once more, buying me time to duck away and slash his feet out from under him, knocking him over. When I got up, the other samurai was already upon me, swing in full force. I swooped to the side, but not without the blade cutting my arm. Letting out a painful gasp, I staggered to one side.
‘Now is not the time’ I told myself, and trudged along, ignoring the pain. Charging at me, he lashed again, although this time he was met with an opposing katana. We stood, staring each other down, anger fueling the fire raging in his eyes. My feet began to stagger. He was far stronger than me, and I knew I couldn’t hold on for long. I rolled back, restabilizing myself back on my feet. I snatched up three shurikens from my pouch, and flicked them apart in my fingers. I threw the shurikens, hitting his face, and knocked him over. I quickly got up and ran out of the room, beelining for my target down a long, narrow hallway. Part way through, my vision blurred, and I fell alongside the wall, leaning on it with my good arm, grasping my wound on the other one.
‘I need to keep going,’ I thought, ‘The demons have to wait their turn’.
I picked myself back up and kept going. I reached the end of the hallway and ripped the door open with my side, falling through onto the floor. My vision was blurry for a moment, but when it cleared up, Shogun Ieyasu was glaring down at me.
“You foolish ninja,” the Shogun started, “All of you are the same. You get angry about your sorrowed past, and take your anger out on the one who caused your problems”.
I tried to move, but the shooting pain in my arm was far too strong, and I was nearly immobilized. The only movement I could muster was my good arm, which was laying on top of my sideways turned body.
“Well, I’ll tell you what,” Ieyasu said. “All of your problems are for the betterment of Japan! The seizure of your temple isn’t because I feel like my life is lacking excitement! It’s needed to fend off the onslaught of demons pouring onto our shores from the sea! They’re massacring our friends, our loved ones, destroying our livelihood, and here you come in like an angry, selfish toddler in an attempt to murder the one man that’s keeping this nation safe from these savages, all because I took a meaningless piece of land from you!” He was yelling now.
“It was my mother's…” I said quietly.
“I’m sorry, little ninja, could you repeat that, and maybe with a little less water in your eyes this time?” He sneered.
Tears poured down my face. “It was my mothers! It was the Takeda clan's sacred place of worship, after you betrayed them and burned down our temple!” I screamed.
In that moment, I thought I saw his eyes turn a bright red. “I don’t care about your mother! She’s dead, and has no influence in this realm anymore!” He yelled, “You must pay for these damages, you… you greedy child!” He shouted, charging at me with his katana overhead, ready to cut me open like a fresh fish.
I grabbed my kunai and held it out in front of me and closed my eyes once more. I thought of my mother for the last time. Her gentle face, her reassuring smile, and her loyalty and love. Her memory will live on like the changing sakura: it may go out of bloom, but the beautiful pink petals will resurface again, and come back more gorgeous than last time.
I heard the piercing of flesh, and waited for the sounds of life to stop resonating in my ears, but they never did. After at least a minute, I opened my eyes, and saw the Shogun’s throat staked on my kunai, his now lifeless eyes staring into mine, already beginning to cloud over. I pulled my kunai out, and pushed the former Shogun to the side. I gathered all the strength I had and attempted to get up, and slowly rose from the blood stained ground. As I began to move, I heard the charging samurai from the hall. Looking around for a quick option, I saw a window. I knew that this was what I needed to do. I limped towards the window and pulled myself to a perch on the sill. I turned around to see the samurai enter the room. They looked at the dead tyrant, and then at me, faces red like an unforgiving oni.
“Sayonara” I told them, and fell backwards out the window, praying to the spirits that there was something beneath to catch me. I was then met with a coarse yet soft substance enveloping my body.
A wheelbarrow with hay in it, presumably abandoned in the ruckus. Whether It will be carried away by its owner, or I am discovered and killed for my crimes, I found myself at peace. I would be alright with living another day, and I would be content with dying. But for now, in the passing suspense, all I can do is wait. My task is finished, and my spirit may be released.