[insert witty title here]

The curtain raises.

“Oh, Mary-Anne!”
“Oh, L’rlauarr!”

On the left was a humanoid being, though to call it humanoid would be a blasphemy of the human form–tentacles and stretched limbs adorned his entire apparel, marking him one of the hellspawned unspeakables known as The Deep Ones. His form was thankfully hidden underneath a dapper gentleman Victorian suit and top hat lowered upon his misshapen head, with thousands of beady eyes peering underneath the brim. He was lowered down upon one knee as he flung his hand out to a beautiful lady in a prim white suit and soft features complimented with curly blonde hair, sending white flower petals scattering upon the air to her. The lady gasped as several touched her and lifted up her hands to timidly clutch at her heart.
“Can we not break the shackles of this oppressive life and the needless torments that shackle us down? Our hearts are the fragments of the keys, if only we united we could break the locks and soar into the heavens with our wings!” L’rlauarr groaned in a voice both gutteral and grating to the ear, every syllable strained by an alien tongue forcing itself to contort to the human language. His eyes glittered at her, the numerous possibilities of futures etched into his soft smile, each curve of his tentacles a photograph of the years they could spend together.
“L’rlauarr, if only life was so easy…” Mary-Anne choked on every single word, turning away from him and looking up at the sky, extending her hand to grasp at the air. “You and I share a troubled history, and only a tumultuous future awaits us if we dare to unite in such forbidden matrimony!”
L’rlauarr stood up and slithered ever-so-closer to her to leaving trails upon trails of slime across the stage, holding his multi-jointed spiked arms out to her. “Mary-Anne, must your negative adjectives weigh down the nouns of your message? We share a history indeed, and yes, a future awaits us if only we unite! Troubled, tumultuous, and forbidden are harsh words unbefitting your beauty and the happily-ever-after that you so deserve!”
Mary-Anne choked once more and flung herself into L’rlauarr’s arms, wrapping them tight around his waist, who responded in kind by interlocking his own as well as his tentacles around her back.
L’rlauarr continued, “Don’t you see how easily you sling yourself into the comforting grasp of your beloved? Don’t you feel your heart pulling you to your destiny with the only man who can love you in the way you love him?”
“L’rlauarr, can you truly be the water to my blossoming flower? I’m wilting from my heart’s starvation, the harsh sun’s beating rays pounding down leave me to rot!”
“I will be your water and so much more, Mary-Anne. I will fulfill you like nothing else ever has…and together, we will build a bright and shining future cemented with every brick hand-crafted by our hearts.”
The two come together in a kiss, which brings up a lot of questions best left unanswered.

The curtain falls, and the audience applauses.

YEAR: 1054
AREA: Mount Tokachi, Hokkaido, Japan

There had been bloody activity at the mountain lately.
The time was one of conflict and war, with the Chrysanthemum Throne being constantly fought over to determine who would be the emperor of Japan. The Imperial Family struggled against other clans, several of which contained great power. Samurai and soldiers alike clashed daily, with corpses littering every battlefield. This level of violence was on the level of massacre, and it had been going on for almost three hundred years…with no end in sight.
And yet, something about this mountain was even more violent. Battles had been started here, but all of them ended the exact same way: Upon nightfall, every single soldier collapsed dead, with only the ones that had retreated from the battle site living to tell the tale. They reported unearthly screams, entire streams of blood gushing like fountains, and bodies dissected to mere skeletons within seconds. No less than ten attempts at war had been waged there and no less than ten thousand soldiers had been needlessly wasted before both sides had an unofficial “truce” to never set foot even remotely near the mountain. Something clearly didn’t want them to fight, there.
But Hinosuke’s lord wasn’t happy with simply knowing “You can’t do this”. He wanted to know the why.
And when a lord wants something, the samurai WILL provide.

Sunlight glinted off the red armor that protected his form as he steadily made his way forth. There were no birds chirping, no animals rustling leaves, no insects making noises—only the rattle of his armor, bow, arrows, and daisho gave any announcement of life in the environment. His head tilted as he stared up at the behemoth of a mountain that lay before him. His destination, and the only reason he was out here in the first place.
Mount Tokachi. Mount Tokachi! The essence of Kagutsuchi!
A smile came to his face as his steps quickened. Kagutsuchi was the god of fire in their worship ceremonies—his birth had caused the death of the mother Izanami, burning her to ash from the head to feet. His father Izanagi was overcome by her wails and screams, and upon her death, he…snapped. He took his katana and beheaded Kagutsuchi, then cut his body into eight pieces and scattered them all across the earth to form different mountains. From year to year Kagutsuchi awoke to scream in agony at his death, spewing fiery tears all across the lands from his wounds.
Thankfully, no towns were nearby to bear the brunt of his pain. The only creatures that suffered at Kagutsuchi’s flailing were the trees and animals. And, right now, him.
But he had a purpose for being there. And he, Hinosuke Kimura, would not fear any god. If Kagutsuchi would pick now to cry, then Hinosuke would cut through his very flames!

Night had fallen, and Hinosuke sat at his little camp on the mountainside. He stared at his katana as he draw a rock gently across the edge, sharpening the blade. He’d restring his bow, feathered his arrows, and sharpened his wakizashi, now he was on his katana. His thoughts were focused on none of these, though.
He had made decent trek today, starting early in the morning and hauling up a few miles alongside the mountain before nightfall. Shot a deer, made a fire, had some dinner, etc, etc. It would probably take a week or so to trek entirely up the mountain, and he would have to consider the myriad of threats the entire way. The sun was blaring hot, and he was in heavy armor. The creatures around here were fierce. There were often bandits traveling trails. Kagutsuchi could take offense to his presence. The mountain itself wasn’t quite stable, he could slip and fall. And plus, there was the…whatever it was…that came around nightfall. How would he know when and where it would start? How would he know if he came too close to it? What if it was a living being?
He bit down on a deer calf as he closed his eyes.
Swallow. “Kuso baka yarou”, he snarled to himself. What was he doing, getting scared? He was a samurai! A soldier of his lord! There was no greater honor than to protect the civilians under his rule, and to protect the leader himself! He was a guardian—a guardian! Whatever the dangers were, he would overcome them, no matter what!
He grunted as he tossed away the bone.
CLANG.
Hinosuke blinked. Clang? What was the sound of something hard…hitting…metal?
Hinosuke lunged up from his sitting position, grabbing his bow/arrows with one hand and his wakizashi/katana with the other.
Something was out there.