One Man's Courage

One Man's Courage is a short fiction.

Annotated Story


The first Hida had two wives who each bore him a son. The first son, Atarasi, died fighting the Shadowlands. The second, Hida Osano-Wo, was the son of a Kami and a Dragon. Osano-Wo was much like his father, and when Hida finally left his position Osano-Wo was ready to lead.

Osano-Wo's first decision was to attack the Trolls living south of Shiro Hiruma in a campaign so thurough that the little that remained of the entire race of Trolls fled south further into the Shadowlands. Osano-Wo built a castle out of a single mountain, and from steel taken from that mountain he forged an armor for his brother Atarasi, whom he did not believe to be dead. Atarasi's Armor was never wornn but remained in Kyuden Hida, awaiting the day legends said a hero with Atarasi's eyes would claim it.

Osano-Wo married a wealthy Matsu, and had a son with her. When he celebrated the news of his son however, he fell in love with a peasant girl and had a child with her. Osano-Wo acknowledged both as his sons, and they were raised and trained together. They were encouraged to compete with eachother, and the son of the Matsu would alway win. Never by much. As they neared their gempukku all the courts began to wonder who would become the next Crab Clan Champion. On the day of their gempukku, Hida passed the Ancestral Sword of the Crab to the son of the peasant girl. The Matsu, outraged, asked her husband why he would do that. Hida replied that her son, even though he had won all the competitions, did not know the meaning of defeat and to try again. A Crab must know how to survive and fight again and again.

The Matsu was infuriated and the next day she, Hida's son and their servants left Crab lands never to return.

Characters

 * Hida Osano-Wo
 * Osano-Wo's peasant son
 * Osano-Wo's samurai son

Not Present, But Mentioned

 * Hida
 * Hida's first wife
 * Hida Atarasi
 * Hida's second wife, a Dragon.