Mermaid Sashimi

In the early ages of feudal Japan, the Shogun were still united underneath the Emperor. The Japanese warriors who served the Shogun were known as Samurai. These Samurai fought for a purified Japan by order of their Shogun. They sought to have a land free of the mythical creatures that inhabited the realm.

The first mythical creatures to find themselves at the end of the Samurai’s sword were the mermaids of Osaka bay. The peasants of Osaka became famished after the nets of the fishermen began to turn up empty. The shiver of mermaids that inhabited those waters were hunting the marine life to extinction. In response to this encroachment on the Japanese food supply, the Emperor ordered the Shogun of Osaka to take to the beaches and the bay to rid the area of these mermaids.

The clan took their best warriors to line the beaches. The fisherman took to their boats with their nets. Right before sunset, the fishermen maneuvered their boats across the bay and threw out their nets with stones attached to them. The nets weighted down by the heavy stones, sunk to the bottom of the bay. Then as the wind blew in towards Osaka, the nets began to corner the mermaids in. The mermaids, who had no where to turn, began to swim towards the beaches. The Samurai were waiting ready with their battle armor and weapons at draw.

As the mermaids were corralled towards the shallows, they began to jump out of the water to find their way around the net wall that was driving them ashore. After jumping to the surface the mermaids had realized the trap they were being led into. They saw the Samurai waiting in their colorful armor on the beaches. If there was going to be a fight, the mermaids were going to take their best chances with the fishermen.

In a turn of events, the shiver began to attack the middle boats. The fishermen were not equipped for such a merciless blood bath. The blood of the fishermen dyed the bay red. It was to the mermaid’s disadvantage. Their eyes were blinded by the blood they had spilt, and they became turned around in the murky red waters. They began to swim back to the shallows. Before they became aware of their error, the Samurai were ready to pull them ashore.

The Samurai drew back on their long black bows. To each arrow drawn back was a rope tied to the arrowhead. With the release of the fingers, a volley of arrows plunged out into the waters. The arrows made contact with the tails and bodies of the mermaids. It took three Samurai to pull ashore just one mermaid. Their tails were stronger in the water than the strength of a mountain trolls swinging arm.

One by one, the Samurai pulled the mermaid up onto the beach. Little time was wasted in gutting the siren ladies like the fish they resembled. A few careless youthful Samurai were claimed by a few of the mermaid, when they let their war thirst lure them a little too far into the waters. One boy’s throat was ripped from his body with his armor. The night would be won by the Samurai of the Osaka Shogun, as only a single lonely mermaid would survive the onslaught.

In their victory, the Samurai celebrated with a feast that night on the beach. They honored the brave dead, the fishermen who lost their lives to the serrated fury of the mermaid shiver. The Samurai would eat first, followed by the families of those lost in the battle. The tails of the mermaids were removed for preparation. Osaka had some of the best “Itamae”, sushi chefs. The town prepared for the first and last time the fabled delicacy of mermaid sashimi. Many who tasted the tail of the mermaid had said that mermaid was the Kobe of the sea.

The men and women drank themselves through the night, filling their bellies with the fatty tail of their mermaid catch. The smell of rice wine matched the smell of the potent morning tide as the sun rose the next morning. This tale of the severed tails was told throughout all of Japan. It sparked the beginning of the feudal period, pitting the Japanese against the mythic. The pride of the Japanese had grown in their victory, and their thirst for ordained dominance over their island grew.

The Emperor of Japan had sent out five orders to the Shogun up and down the island. Kill the savage mythic in your realms and gain favor with the Emperor of Japan. Each Shogun would answer the Emperor’s call. The only question was who would fall first? The mythic, the Shogun, or all of Japan?

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