Samurai ~by Aidan

Keyoko, a thirteen year old boy, lay in bed in a deep, deep sleep. At midnight, a group of four ninja soldiers crept through his open window. Dressed in all black, they blended with the night. Their hoods covered their heads, leaving them only a small slit to see through. They were silent. After making sure the family was sound asleep, they picked Keyoko up, careful they did not wake him up and took him from his bed. Leaping through the open window, they landed on the road and dashed away to Hideyoshi's golden palace.

Keyoko woke up in a bed in a room he didn't recognize. Scared he said, "What is going on? Why am I here?"He was trying to figure out what room he was in. The room was large, unlike his room at his home. He would soon learn he was in Hideyoshi's golden palace.

Suddenly a man entered his room whom he did not recognize. He was trying to figure out who it was. He did not have to wonder long as he realized, it was the grand emperor Hideyoshi. He was an old looking man, about 45-55 years old. Keyoko recognized him from the pictures that were posted in every town. Hideyoshi said, "We have decided that you are going to be the next samurai legend of Japan."

Shocked, Keyoko said, "Why me?"

“Your great grandfather was the hero in battle on the island of Kyushu where he defeated the terrifying Koreans. You will some day take my place as shogun of the Japanese army!" said emperor Hideyoshi.
Keyoko was shocked. He had not known his grandfather was in the battle of Kyushu! Keyoko was frightened, he was wondering how his parents were feeling and how sad and scared they must be. What should his next move toward becoming a samurai be? He wondered at what life had in store for him.


~ Training ~

The next day his training to become a samurai began. He battled other young boys. Four times a week they would go outside with wooden swords and battle each other. And during the winter, they would take long hikes through snowy fields to build their endurance. Slowly, he became better at the skills he practiced. However, he never stopped missing his family, he gradually became accustomed to his new life.

Eight years later, the emperor came to him and said, “Your training is complete. You are ready to become a samurai.”

Keyoko was pleased with what he had just heard! Yet he was also very scared about becoming a samurai. Not knowing what would happen to him, he thought, What shall I do?

Some years later Keyoko was granted the military rank of general for all of his hard work and effort in his training. Then, the emperor asked for Keyoko to visit him. The emperor announced, "Our land is in danger. Tokugawa's army may come to invade Japan. You are our only hope if we are to win the battle against the powerful army.”
Keyoko thought , What am I going to do? Will I survive this horrible battle? Will I be able to defeat Tokugawa the great general? Should I stay to fight or should I go back home and give up? The emperor said I was ready so why should I leave after all the training I have gone through? He quickly dismissed all his self-doubt and said, "I shall I should stay and fight. For if I don’t, we could lose the battle. I will stay to defend my people and my country!”

Every day Keyoko would go to meditate with emperor Hideyoshi. They would do this for half an hour. Meditating would relax them and calm their bodies. Hideyoshi told him that the samurai would do this before every battle to drive away all fear and uneasiness on the battlefield. After each meditation session, Keyoko felt more and more sure of himself.


~ On the Battlefield ~

Keyoko's army was at a huge disadvantage with regard to weaponry. All they had were samurai and swords. The opposing army had soldiers and guns. Keyoko saw men dying all around him. People were being stabbed and shot. He began to fear they may not win. They fell back behind a hill to a little trench in the ground. Then the archers fired a barrage of arrows into the air. Some were even on fire. Soon the archers ran out of arrows, and they all pulled out their swords and led a charge against the enemy.
Keyoko's army had almost won, but they were dangerously low on troops. Keyoko's army had about two hundred and fifty troops, Tokugawa's army has about five hundred troops left. Later, more archers had came with more arrows. With three last shots of arrows, Tokugawa's army had about two hundred troops left, and Keyoko's army had about one hundred troops left. The battle was still raging. Keyoko's army had commenced one final charge; they obliterated about half of Tokugawa's army losing all but twenty of his own men. The odds were at one hundred to eighty troops on the battlefield in favor of Keyoko. Then, one hundred men in Keyoko's army came in with spears. They killed about three-fourths of the enemy army. They ended up defeating the rest of the enemy army, and Tokugawa was forced to surrender. The battle was won.

After the battle, Keyoko won the respect of his country and learned Bushido. Hideyoshi had claimed that Keyoko had indeed learned Bushido. Keyoko was pleased by the news he had heard. He asked Hideyoshi if he could go see his family, and he agreed. But Hideyoshi told him to hurry back because they were going to have a celebratory meal in honor of his bravery and courage on the battle field.

Because he believed in himself, he became shogun of Japanese army and took Hideyoshi's place.

After that had happened, he went home to see his family again. It had been about ten or thirteen years since he had last seen his family. He gave his parents all hugs. His parents were so happy to see him that they were crying in his arms. He told his parents about everything that had happened since he had been gone from his home. He told them about the training he had done. He told them about meeting Hideyoshi, and all the warriors he had met. Then he told them about the battle against Tokugawa's army. He told them about how so many brave men had died trying to defeat his army. But his parents were so proud that he had beaten them. And that he had become shogun of the Japanese army. He invited his parents to come live in the palace with Hideyoshi and himself, and they agreed to live in the palace with their very brave son and the emperor who had found him in the first place. If Hideyoshi had never found him, the battle may not have been won, and Tokugawa would have taken over and all hope would be lost, not just for the army but for everyone. They thanked Hideyoshi for all he had done for their son. They were still a little angry that he had kidnapped their son, but they were just glad that he was alive and safe. Sadly many years later, Emperor Hideyoshi passed away. But then, Keyoko became the Emperor.