The Passing of The Torch

[Morinya]

The shogun kneeled calmly in front of the Empress His swords sheathed
and layed out in front of him. He had been through tea ceremonies many
times before, but this was different. The Empress had a different look
on her face, a look of understanding. Each sipped on their own cups of
tea. Before the Empress spoke.

"I am aware that you do not remember where you came from. But the road
of your life has taken you to this very nation. I tell you now, I have
spoken with my mentor, Rahz Zalinto."

The spoken name of the former samurai shogun caught the new shogun's
interest. Through his short reigns as shogun, once to nayoko, and now
to Mydia. He followed the path of the old shogun. The mere fact that
Rahz knew of Bosh, and even spoke about him, truely gave his pride an
extra boost.

"You may not remember now, but we have more in common than you know."
She produced a small dark red vial from under her Imperial garb. "Add
this to your tea, and you shall remember all of your past."

Bosh hesitated for a moment, but did as told by the Empress. He could
not disobey her, for disobeying his masters ment dishonor, something
that would cause a warrior of his stature to commit hari kari. He
popped the lid off of the vial, and poured it into the tea. "The smell
of blood comes from this, what sort of potion is this?"

The Empress scowled at the Shogun, and he bit his lip. Upsetting the
Empress at a Tea Ceremony which he was invited to, was certainly not a
good way to impress her. He stirred the mixture, and then slowly
sipped.

In an instant, thousands of memories, feelings, and pains rushed into
him. He remembered who he was, for the first time in so many years! He
was a Zalinto, he was the destined leader of samurai! He remembered
now, and he grinned at the new discovery, and looked at the Empress.

The Empress' eyes widened a bit at this maniacal look on her Shogun's
face. But she did not flinch, her lips curled up to a smile as she
spoke in declaration. "Shogun Bosh Zalinto, leader of the Samurai
Empire!" She produced a rolled up royal parchment with the Imperial
Zalinto seal. "This is the will of the Zalinto family, you will know
what to do. Read this tonight before you sleep, and awaken tomorrow as
the new leader of our people!"

The shogun took the scroll from the Empress, and slipped it into his
robes. "It will be done, now is the time for Zalinto once again!" They
each bowed, the shogun took his respectful three steps back, facing the
Empress, and then turned and left the home.

A swirl of fog rushed through the room as the doors slid shut, and the
ghostly form of Rahz Zalinto appeared in the center of the room facing
the Empress. "And now, our little game begins, my apprentice." Rahz
grined menicingly at the Empress, and she returned the grin.

"At long last, mentor, we shall have our revenge on those who brought
our family name dishonor!" A soft, but quite sinister cackle erupted
from the two.

The time for vengence was at hand.