Shado: “The way of the samurai is the pursuit of death”
Seeker We-e’s report on an unexpected encounter with Shado.
Shado came to me himself when I spent the night by the fire writing my next report. The samurai silently walked out of the darkness and immediately declared that he had committed the bloodiest massacre in the history of the wasteland and wanted everyone to know about it. In response to my silence, he took out a sack covered with crimson spots from behind his back and threw it on the ground. The bloodied head of the old man rolled out of the bag at my feet.
“It's in your best interest, shark. You are the type of person who loves entertaining stories.
Shado sat down opposite of me, placed his katana in front of him, and continued.
- This is the head of one of my teachers, I cut it off with this sword. We were bound by an oath of allegiance. I am not a perjurer, survivor. Although your opinion does not bother me. You in the Order do not understand what it means to take an oath. Once this man saved Shado from death: when I was weak and young, the raiders destroyed my armoured car, and buried me in the sand. Accidentally bumping into a hand sticking out of the ground, my future master took me to his hangar and nursed me for many months. I was already dead, shark, I saw shadows - since then I have become a part of them.
The samurai took the severed head in his hands:
- Benkei - so he called himself. Master showed me the way of the warrior and taught me to follow it. But when I gave him an oath of allegiance, the master disappeared. For many years I wandered around the wasteland, but I remained a ronin - a samurai without a master. His disappearance was even associated with the Ravagers... Later I found my refuge with the nomads. We fought many glorious battles together until I learned that Benkei was alive.
The warrior sighed heavily, turned to the fire and added several large sticks there.
- He lost his memory, was very weak, but still conscious. It is not known where he was all this time, but the enemies did not forget Benkei. The Raiders found him exhausted in the wasteland and sold him to the Mud turtle clan - the owner once killed the brother of their leader, and he wanted revenge. These lowlifes humiliated the master, burning the skin with a red-hot iron, until my katana, emerging from the shadows, sent them to meet their ancestors. This clan no longer exists. Benkei was free, but his journey came to an end. He could not speak, and I handed him my tanto knife. The master sat down on his knees, and his eyes lit up with clarity, then he ripped his stomach open. At that moment I cut off Benkei’s head. We are both calm now. He went through so many hardships, but died happy. The samurai path, shark, is the pursuit for death.
Shado got to his feet and, slinging his sword to his belt, added:
- Only honor can save this cursed land.
At that moment, he threw the head of his teacher into the fire, where it immediately flared brightly. When the fire calmed down, the samurai had already disappeared into the shadows.
Shado portrait is currently unavailable to players.