Sakura
The Life of a Legend

collected by Mindy Sellis-Aquilaine, Grand Master of the Assassin Order of Sakura


Introduction

These are extracts from the memoirs of Sakura, last of the Kitsune, the closest friend of Queen Silvier, founder of Kylarnatia, one of the first of the legendary Black Cobra Assassins, first shaman of the Sylvari, and founder of the Order of the Assassins. She handed her memoirs to me many years ago so I could publish her story, and I have finally found the time to do so. Since Sakura's life spanned multiple centuries, I have spent a long time carefully selecting episodes to publish in this book. What of this is true and what is legend, we shall never know, just as we shall never know what happened to her after her mysterious disappearance. Perhaps she will appear again, many years in the future. Or perhaps her story has ended.

I have taken the liberty of adjusting the dates to our own system. Apart from that, the following words are as they were written by her own hand. I publish these for two reasons. Firstly because I think they are a thrilling, entertaining read. And secondly because I think we all can learn from her experiences. I wish you all an enjoyable read.

							Mindy Sellis-Aquilaine
							Grand Master of the Order of Sakura







Chapter I
The Village of Mino
1120 - 1122 CE


When someone asks me where I was born, I will not be able to give an answer. For the first fourteen years of my life, my mother and I were on the run. My people, the Kitsune, who had for many years been respected and even revered by the people had been declared evil demons by the god of a strange new religion and his warrior-priests in their black robes. Most of us had been killed, but my mother had been able to escape the massacre shortly before I was born. And so, we were refugees, without home, without friends.

But that changed on my fourteenth birthday. We had travelled for five days from a small town where the black god had only just moved in, and found the small mountain village of Mino. We moved into a little house just outside the village, and for the first time, I had a real home. My mother told me that in exchange for the freedom we could never use our powers again, but that was worth it. In Mino, we were safe. In Mino, we were free.

After a few months, my mother had started a school in the village, teaching the children to read and write, and the village was flourishing. The men started training with various weapons, and formed a small militia, in case the black priests attacked, but nobody ever came, apart from more refugees. One year after our arrival, the village had grown to almost twice its original size, and all newcomers were welcomed happily. It was a simple life in our little village, but we were happy, despite all the bad news that arrived from all around the country. The black priests declared they had succeeded in exterminating the "fox-demons", as they called us Kitsune - obviously they did not know about mother and me. The old gods had been replaced by their cruel deity, but we in Mino still followed the old ways, and were happy with it. But that all changed on my sixteenth birthday, two years to the day after our arrival.

I still remember that day as if it was yesterday, even though more than nine hundred years have passed since then. I was roaming through the mountains as I usually did on those warm summer mornings. Yuki, my best friend, had married the day before, and the village was still asleep after the great celebration of the evening before. Even though my mother had forbidden it, I usually became the fox when I roamed the mountains, and it was as a fox that I ran around the hills. I knew my mother would be angry with me, so I collected some mushrooms on the way back, for dinner. But when I crossed the last ridge looking over the village, I immediately knew there was something wrong. Instead of the sounds of village life, there were screams of fear and pain, and the sounds of fighting. As I looked down into the village, I saw a man in black armour set fire to our temple. The black god had found us.

The first thing I saw when I got back down into the village was Shigeru, Yuki's husband, lying on the ground near the gate, impaled on his own spear. He was dead. I tore my eyes away from his body, and ran towards our home. Around me, the screaming got louder and louder as more and more of the people of the village were massacred. When I got home, I found my mother lying near the door, in a puddle of blood. It was her own. I fell to my knees next to my body, and broke into tears. "Sakura..." I looked up, and saw that my mother was looking at me. She was alive, but barely. "Sakura," she said to me, "you need to get away from here. Run!" I shook my head. "I won't leave you!" "You have to, my love. I have seen your destiny. The world needs you. You...are the last of the Kitsune. I don't know how they found us, but I knew they would be coming one day. Go to the south. In a few days, you should reach the sea. Take the first ship you find and leave this country. Never come back." She looked at me, the light fading from her warm brown eyes. "Sakura...the world needs you." She went limp in my arms. For a moment I considered giving up, staying there, dying right next to my mother. But then I heard her voice again, repeating her last words. "The world needs you." That was when I decided to run. I became the fox, and ran through the village, the direction I had come. I did not look back until I reached the hills, where I returned to human form. I sat there for an hour, watching the village burn, watching as the black priests rode off again, their mission seemingly accomplished. As the last of the fires died down, I turned around and left. Once again, I was on the run. And for the first time in my life, I was alone.


Chapter II.
The Journey
1122 CE


I walked until nightfall, and found shelter in a small cave. I had only the mushrooms I had collected earlier, so I ate those, before going to sleep on the cold, hard stone floor. When I woke the next morning, it was raining, and after walking for about an hour, my clothes were soaked. Luckily, I soon reached a small, deserted temple, where I waited until the rain passed. Since I was sure nobody would come along this path, I made a fire, undressed, and hung my clothes over the fire to dry, while becoming the fox and cuddling up in the corner, waiting. When my cloths were finally dry, the rain had stopped, and so I could go out and look for something to eat. I searched for about an hour, but found nothing, and so I decided to continue my journey to the coast. Shortly before nightfall, I entered a small fishing village. With the few coins I had, I bought something to eat and took a room for the night. The next day I would see if I could find passage somewhere, anywhere away from here.

When I woke the next morning, the last clouds had passed, and even better, the innkeeper had already prepared breakfast. While I ate, I asked her if there were any ships leaving the town soon, and got a positive reply. Indeed, a merchant would be leaving that afternoon for faraway lands, so I decided to try and book passage on his ship. When I went to see the ship's captain, he was anxious towards my request, and almost angry at my lack of money. But when I offered to work my passage instead, he cheered up immediately, and agreed.

So, that afternoon, I set out towards a new home, working on that small merchantman as an assistant to the ship's cook. When I did not work, I chatted with the crew, and soon I knew more about sailing a ship than I could ever have imagined. And the crew soon accepted me as one of their own. In my homeland, there was none of that superstition that a woman on board would bring bad luck - indeed, I wasn't the only woman working on the ship.

The journey was long, but rather uneventful. But one morning, I was standing on deck watching the sun rise, a shout from the ship's lookout woke everybody. "Land ho!" I ran to the bow, and looked out to the horizon, where the outline of a coastline was barely visible. We would sail another day until we arrived in a small port town, and unloaded our cargo. When the ship was unloaded, and the crew gone into town for their well-owned day on land, the captain came to find me.

"So, Sakura, this is it. The end of your voyage. We pick up new cargo, and go back. Are you sure you don't want to come back with us?" He looked at me with a kind smile, but my mind was set. I shook my head. "No. My destiny lies in this land, I can feel it. I will stay here." The captain nodded sadly. "I see your mind is set." He reached for a crate in the back of his cabin, and took out a purse. "Here. You have earned your passage, and more. Take this money. It will get you through for a while." I thanked him and smiled as I took the money. When I had stowed it away, he continued. "I don't know much about these lands, but the locals have a reputation of great hospitality. I am sure you will do fine." He held out his hand. "You will be missed here with us. You were a good addition to our crew." With a smile, I took the offered hand. "Thank you, captain. I wish you all the best. May the Gods be with you." "And with you, Sakura."

I felt slightly shaky as I stood on firm ground again after a voyage of many months. But I felt that I was in the right place. Here, I would make myself a new home. When I arrived, I did not know the name of those lands, I did not know the language of the people, I did not know their gods, their customs and their traditions. But I would learn, and in time I would become one of them. After all, I had centuries ahead of me.