Mazuhatsu Yamamoto



 Mazuhatsu Yamamoto A short auto-biography

            The very first few days I can remember are being cradled in my mother’s arms, nuzzled against her chest… Many of those types of days that all I remember, I remember her singing a song to me, but that’s something I’ll always keep close to my heart. Soon I began to crawl; I remember the joy of exploring the house we lived in… as well as the few times I had managed escape it. It was easy for us Mithrans to move on 4 feet. It goes back to our primal feline instincts, walking on two feet proved a harder skill to master. I remember falling on more than one occasion. Eventually I learned to use my tail for balancing and soon, no longer needed to use it. My mother was teaching me things now, legends and tales of old, how to cook things, read, write, math. My thirst for knowledge did not end there… but there was little left to be learned within the house. When I was old enough I was allowed to play outside with the other kids. Something was immediately apparent to me that there was something my mother had not explained to me. In our circle of friends there were 12 girls and one, just one, other boy. We’d play together every day, tag, keep away, hide and seek, and more often than not we’d rough-house. There were always two adults with us at all times, two female elders, both clad in armor. I had asked them once, during hide-and-seek, why they were always with us, and if they wanted to play, to which they answered, “We’re here to watch all the children, and keep you safe from harm. Besides, it wouldn’t be fair to play against you, I’m far too tall!” I had always known there were more female adults and children, but I hadn’t noticed for the longest time that she actually meant you as in, me specifically. As I got older I was studying more and more while the girls were learning to hunt. It didn’t bother me at first; it’s just how things were in Mithra life. But during my reading I stumbled upon two important things which changed my life forever. And so began the second chapter in my life.

            I had found books on Humans and Samurai. I continued my pursuit of knowledge and found that, much like Mithra combat and their training, Samurai don’t try to increase their strength to make their blows more damaging, but instead, working in ones current state to maximize damage. Humans or Humes, it took me a long time as a child to realize they were the same, had much different gender roles. Though my mother never really taught me what I was supposed to do, the other females did, especially the chieftan. In my young teen years now I began to test my mettle on training dummies while the girls were out hunting. I still had a personal bodyguard of sorts, the chieftain said I was too valuable to be out wandering or left alone. I quickly found out I was not one for bows, though I could strike targets I wasn’t very good at it. I went through a slew of weapons and found that I was quite good with Glaives. They suited my nature and figure well. After training for months I became quite good at using it. I often snuck out of the town at night and headed to a nearby human trading port to get some small quests from travelling merchants who were spending the night. Many involved just clearing roads of varmint or fallen trees, with the few offering rewards for slain monsters. I had collected enough gil this way to purchase something I wanted very much, a Katana. I had put in an order for one as soon as I could and it was forged just for me. On the night when I went to collect new katana, Oborotsuki, my bodyguard, Ryane, confronted me just outside of the trading center. I don’t need to say that she was upset with me, irate. She mentioned she had been following me for the last few trips and that I could have easily gotten killed if it wasn’t for her. I affixed the sword on my hip and it felt right. I placed my palm on the end of the hilt in defiance of her anger and told her that I wasn’t afraid of the world. The katana’s weight felt… right. The soul of the sword sung to me. However, seeing this she drew her sword and sought to teach me a lesson about the world. I wasn’t about to test myself on a new blade so I drew my glaive and fought her. She was far more nimble than I was, but I had managed to put more than a few scrapes on her. Eventually she succeeded in neutralizing me, I remember as I blacked out the feeling of dread that came from the idea of never seeing the world.

            I awoke the next day inside of the chieftain’s tent. I received such a punishment from her. And she forbade me to leave the settlement. Even placed a spell which would warn her should I leave the village. Any cry I had against this was quickly quelled by her or my mother. I looked around the room and saw myself falling into a life of servitude to the greater female portion of my race. Being a breeder for life isn’t so bad, but I couldn’t stand just being in town the whole year round. As I came of age, I fulfilled my duties on many occasions to the very same girls which had gotten out into the world, fought and hunted. I learned many things from them when I could, at least, before they got pregnant. Success came when a boy was born. I have 6 daughters and one son. Their mothers choose their names, except for the boy. I named him after a famous Samurai. Auron Yamamoto was his name. I spend most of these years taking care of my children, upset at the fact that my father had not. It was viewed as odd for me to see them as ‘my children,’ It didn’t matter to me. It’s the way I read about humans, though they usually only had one partner, I was forced to have many. I so wanted life to be like humans, males and females performing all tasks. I couldn’t adventure nor could I hunt. So I stayed back and let the mothers sooner return to these things as I raised our children. I gave them no illusions of what Life was like. I trained to be a Samurai in the breaks between caring. Often I didn’t sleep much; instead I simply meditated the night away. Sitting cross-legged with Oborotsuki between them, resting on my shoulder, these nights of meditation came with visions of the future some times and I often got them when I was actually sleeping. I tried several times to draw out the power of the katana… but failed. I tried and tried for several years but was unable to do it even once. I figured I lacked the spiritual capacity to do such a feat. Saddened by this I focused my training on becoming a Knight rather than a Samurai. I was a Knight with the Bushido code as my guide. The dreams came to me more and more often… that’s why it was no surprise to me when the chieftain took away my children. She says I was raising them improperly and that I was giving them false information about the world. I gave them the truth when they asked, knowledge was given to those who asked, and faith was given to those with hope. Never the less I was devastated. Now I could have children, and never see them, breed and have more and then lose them. This was not the life for me. So on my last night in town I visited all of my children, starting with the girls. I told them all that I loved them more than anything and that I can’t stand that I’ve lost them. To my son, I told him about everything I learned the world and all its glory to be held and that he should treat his mates with respect and love his children even if it is his duty. I told him he can do what he wants no matter what the chieftain says. I left him my book on humans, and samurai. I communicate to my children through letters… I told them all of a hiding spot just out of town, and I pay couriers to go and deliver/pick-up messages. It’s a slow process… But I miss them to much just to leave them. Even then, every year for a month I come back to the town, I get berated by the chieftain for leaving and spend time with my children.

            It’s been a while since then and I’ve had a few more children to the women in town, the age gap between my children isn’t very significant but my second group of children won’t know me as well. I do stop by for a month or more now, the chieftain has stopped trying to keep me there and my need for adventuring is dying down. I’m an accomplished Knight, skilled with Glaive and Katana. I’ve still never mastered true Bushido, but do try daily. I provide for my children and teach them all sorts of things about the world. It’s time for me to go again, I’m glad I thought of writing this all down… It helps to clear my mind about the past.