Kagura

Though the Scarlet Shadow bestowed her a name and Hayabusa taught her of peace, the young Kagura remained uncertain of her true path. When she opened her umbrella in contemplation, she beheld not gentle rain but visions of calamity, eternities of regret, and a past seen through her umbrella. At last, Kagura understood: though born from lingering attachments, her path led toward freedom. She would carry both the regrets and hopes of those who had passed to experience the beauty of the mortal realm they were never able to, and embrace the future they were robbed of yet graciously bestowed upon her. center|512px The story of Kagura's origins was sketchy at best. The elderly man who had brought her to the Scarlet Shadow was well past his years, and whenever asked, he would simply repeat the same recollection: on a rainy spring day over a decade ago, he found an abandoned infant under an umbrella and named her Kagura. Nothing more could be gleaned from him. The Shadow Sect sensed a mysterious power within her, and after much deliberation, decided to raise the infant. Yet Kagura was destined to remain distant from them—the power within her rejected their ninjutsu, and she could not understand why these warriors lived and died by their nindo. Only the umbrella, whose origins were equally as mysterious, kept her company, through joy and sorrow. As time went on, Kagura learned to find her own peace within the Scarlet Shadow. She observed the ways of the ninja and cared for those exhausted from training. A young Shadow Sect member named Hayabusa told her they strived tirelessly for honor, and while Kagura nodded in response, she could not grasp the meaning of those words. On spring days, when cherry blossoms fell like rain, Kagura would sit in the trees, watching the people hurrying about below. Everyone had a destination and their steps were hasty yet determined. But not knowing where she came from, she never knew where her destination lay. She could only brush away the fallen petals and drift off to sleep. Kagura had always sensed another world within her umbrella, but despite countless tries, she could never unlock its mysteries. Until one late spring day, when she fell asleep as usual among the blossoms up in a tree. As the spring breeze curled around her fingers and soft petals settled in her hair, her umbrella suddenly felt different. It was a dream unlike any other. Kagura could only watch as things unfolded around her; before her eyes was a young spiritualist who gave off a familiar feeling. He was calling for his sister, with both sorrow and joy so vividly real it was like she was there. However, Kagura could not respond to him. His gaze shot through her, onto a figure in the distance. Kagura looked on as the young man worked on his spirit tools, and soon learned of his name—Seimei, the legendary Spirit Craftsman. The young man aired his sorrows as he toiled in his craft: When the imbalance of Yin and Yang caused widespread calamity across the Cad