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Description
     Not a soul in the western provinces forgets the day the wanderer returned from her wanderings. In the west, the sunset was a spectacle to behold, a symbol of the true prowess of the land. That day, the sky was more than usual suffused with the royal gold of the setting sun, and to those who listened, the wind spoke of the happenings in distant lands.  It was that day, under that setting sun and that golden sky, that the future appeared on the eastern horizon and came knocking at the gates of Kai.

     Her name was Jade, but few knew her name, and many less knew her at all. A girl of only fifteen, she was dressed in rags and wearing a cape of patchwork cloth; thus, all her worldly possessions were well attached to her body. Her long, light hair was carelessly thrown back and her arms dangled lazily at her side. With her head down and her eyes lowered, she looked the way of a country shepherd’s girl who had come to town for the very first time. Those who dared to look would soon find otherwise.

     A month of journeying westward had brought her to the western provinces, and the refuge of Kai. Here, the lands were rich, the peoples were prosperous, and the royal family were more glorious than  any on the face of the earth. Not the great-grandfathers of the ancestors of the men of Kai can remember a time of chaos in the land.

     “Our lord is strong, has always been strong, and always will be strong,” say the men of this land. And indeed, the rule of Kai has never been disputed under the righteous rule of the Kai.

     Fifteen years beforehand, in the thirty-second year of the rule of the benevolent Azanaga Kai, two children were born in a manger, on the exact same night, in the exact same hour, under the same bright shining stars. One child was the daughter of two poor villagers who had been seeking refuge from the night. The other was none other than the grandson of the lord Azanaga. And as humans are one and the same, rich or poor, these two children, born under the same circumstances into the same earth, became the greatest of friends. Seeing the closeness between the two children, the royal family adopted the young girl to be the playmate of the royal grandson, then given the childhood name of Jotaro.

     The two continued to grow closer and closer, and stuck close to each other’s side day by day. Together they laughed, learned, and played, and thus the two were raised.

Azanaga, asked to give his impressions on his grandson, then but six years old, said simply,
“As a lord he will surpass his father and his grandfather. As a warrior he will never be defeated on the field of battle. And as a lover, he will find naught but true love.”

     As the young prince grew up, the prophecy seemed closer and closer to fulfillment. The charismatic young lord spent his days not honing his skills with a spear, or seeking a woman to love, but to simply live life and love life. In the daytime he went out to aid the townspeople, going into the kitchens of housewives and snatching the brooms from their hands so that he could sweep the floors himself. In the nighttime, he lay among the blooming flowers of the royal garden, watching the movements of the stars and inviting all those who would to come and join him. There was not a man, woman, or child in Kai that could say any less than best about the young prince.

     His friend, the girl who had taken her first breath of air alongside of him, remained close. They were sister and brother, friend and friend, lover and lover. As with all royal persons, the prince sometimes felt the need to be not a prince, but simply to be human, and only the young girl understood that. They grew to care for each other and respect each other with a tenderness that was reputable among the surrounding countryside.

     And so it was that, beloved by the peoples and surrounded by love and friendship, Jotaro soon became a young man. Upon his thirteenth birthday, he was given his royal name, Kiyosune Kai, and made worthy of succession. Immediately, his grandfather seceded his rule to Kiyosune’s father, who in turn seceded it to the young lord, for it had already been decided amongst the family that the thirteen-year-old prince would take the reigns of lordship at the first available moment, so charismatic and beloved was he among the people of the land.

     And so it was that, after a year and a half of wandering the countryside and hearing the tidings of the most distant provinces, Jade had returned to visit her childhood friend and to give him the news that would soon carve out the fate of Kai.

Description
     Not a soul in the western provinces forgets the day the wanderer returned from her wanderings. In the west, the sunset was a spectacle to behold, a symbol of the true prowess of the land. That day, the sky was more than usual suffused with the royal gold of the setting sun, and to those who listened, the wind spoke of the happenings in distant lands.  It was that day, under that setting sun and that golden sky, that the future appeared on the eastern horizon and came knocking at the gates of Kai.

     Her name was Jade, but few knew her name, and many less knew her at all. A girl of only fifteen, she was dressed in rags and wearing a cape of patchwork cloth; thus, all her worldly possessions were well attached to her body. Her long, light hair was carelessly thrown back and her arms dangled lazily at her side. With her head down and her eyes lowered, she looked the way of a country shepherd’s girl who had come to town for the very first time. Those who dared to look would soon find otherwise.

     A month of journeying westward had brought her to the western provinces, and the refuge of Kai. Here, the lands were rich, the peoples were prosperous, and the royal family were more glorious than  any on the face of the earth. Not the great-grandfathers of the ancestors of the men of Kai can remember a time of chaos in the land.

     “Our lord is strong, has always been strong, and always will be strong,” say the men of this land. And indeed, the rule of Kai has never been disputed under the righteous rule of the Kai.

     Fifteen years beforehand, in the thirty-second year of the rule of the benevolent Azanaga Kai, two children were born in a manger, on the exact same night, in the exact same hour, under the same bright shining stars. One child was the daughter of two poor villagers who had been seeking refuge from the night. The other was none other than the grandson of the lord Azanaga. And as humans are one and the same, rich or poor, these two children, born under the same circumstances into the same earth, became the greatest of friends. Seeing the closeness between the two children, the royal family adopted the young girl to be the playmate of the royal grandson, then given the childhood name of Jotaro.

     The two continued to grow closer and closer, and stuck close to each other’s side day by day. Together they laughed, learned, and played, and thus the two were raised.

Azanaga, asked to give his impressions on his grandson, then but six years old, said simply,
“As a lord he will surpass his father and his grandfather. As a warrior he will never be defeated on the field of battle. And as a lover, he will find naught but true love.”

     As the young prince grew up, the prophecy seemed closer and closer to fulfillment. The charismatic young lord spent his days not honing his skills with a spear, or seeking a woman to love, but to simply live life and love life. In the daytime he went out to aid the townspeople, going into the kitchens of housewives and snatching the brooms from their hands so that he could sweep the floors himself. In the nighttime, he lay among the blooming flowers of the royal garden, watching the movements of the stars and inviting all those who would to come and join him. There was not a man, woman, or child in Kai that could say any less than best about the young prince.

     His friend, the girl who had taken her first breath of air alongside of him, remained close. They were sister and brother, friend and friend, lover and lover. As with all royal persons, the prince sometimes felt the need to be not a prince, but simply to be human, and only the young girl understood that. They grew to care for each other and respect each other with a tenderness that was reputable among the surrounding countryside.

     And so it was that, beloved by the peoples and surrounded by love and friendship, Jotaro soon became a young man. Upon his thirteenth birthday, he was given his royal name, Kiyosune Kai, and made worthy of succession. Immediately, his grandfather seceded his rule to Kiyosune’s father, who in turn seceded it to the young lord, for it had already been decided amongst the family that the thirteen-year-old prince would take the reigns of lordship at the first available moment, so charismatic and beloved was he among the people of the land.

     And so it was that, after a year and a half of wandering the countryside and hearing the tidings of the most distant provinces, Jade had returned to visit her childhood friend and to give him the news that would soon carve out the fate of Kai.