driftfleet | voice;

In my country we have a lot of stories of famous historical figures - some whose tales have grown as they have become more legend than person.

Take, for example, the Tale of Musashino Benkei. He was a rugged monk and ascetic who grew to a monstrous height. Benkei was famed for his feats of strength and decided to gather 1,000 swords by defeating 1,000 samurai as they crossed a bridge. He fought day after day, defeating famous, feared warrior after warrior and collecting 999 swords.

But then, one day, a young man came across his bridge. Benkei challenged him to a duel as he had with countless braver, bigger men before him. The boy took out a flute and accepted the challenge.

And soundly beat Benkei.

The boy was Minamoto no Yoshitsune, who having been raised by the tengu, was endowed with their skill in the sword. Benkei was so taken in by the young man that he pledged his loyalty to him forever. Benkei and Lord Yoshitsune fought many trials together as they tried to reclaim the Minamoto's birthright.

However, the Lord and his retainer were betrayed by Yoshitsune's older brother, Yoritomo, who feared Yoshitsune's popularity and skill would cost him power. He chased Lord Yoshitsune and Benkei across Japan, cornering them in a mountain castle. Knowing that there was no escape, Yoshitsune retreated to the innermost castle to commit seppuku while Benkei, ever loyal and fierce, guarded the only entrance - a single bridge.

He killed dozens of men trying to cross and take Lord Yoshitsune's head. Defeating each as easily as he had back on that fateful day when he first met his young lord. Lord Yoritomo's forces grew afraid and were ordered to take Benkei down the only way they knew how - with arrows. They loosed flight after flight at him, enough to darken the sky, and yet he still stood, his weapon at his side to protect the bridge.

It wasn't until they ran out of arrows that they realized...

Benkei had died long ago, but his valor and his loyalty had kept him upright, giving Lord Yoshitsune time to commit seppuku rather than be taken by the enemy. His story is still told today, in my time, as a symbol of true loyalty and devotion to a cause a person.

[He takes a deep breath after speaking for so long. It whistles a little in his lungs, but he manages not to cough.]

Do you have any such stories? Famous people or groups? I'd love to hear them. It would be a nice break from all the loud music.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

(⊙ᗜ⊙) Ooh, how scandalous!

pretty much

so after the party juliet is having a moment looking out over her balcony and talking out loud about how great romeo is and how much she likes him even if they're from warring families, and it turns out romeo has been listening below her window this whole time so he comes out to tell her he returns her feelings

there's this friar who wants the fighting to stop also and hopes that these two getting together will help that along so the next day the two of them go to him and they get married in secret

except then juliet's cousin tybalt wants to fight romeo for honor or something. romeo says no, so romeo's friend mercutio fights juliet's cousin and gets killed, and then romeo is really pissed so he kills tybalt

(∩╹□╹∩) That sounds like a terrible way to spend your first days of marriage.

And why was he hiding under her window? That seems a little suspicious.

And creepy.

it was absolutely creepy, this story is weird and dumb tbh

anyways so the prince is like "dude i said no fighting" but he decides to just exile romeo instead of kill him. meanwhile juliet's dad arranges a marriage for her since he obviously doesn't know about she got hitched like yesterday and says he's going to disown her if she says she won't do it. she asks for the ceremony to at least be delayed but her mom tells her no.

It's never easy being the daughter of a prestigious household, I guess.

i'm wondering how you know that but i guess i can ask after i get to the ending

so juliet goes to the friar who helped her get hitched and he says he has a potion that can knock her out for a while and make it seem like she's dead, and he promises to send someone to let romeo know what's going on so he doesn't freak. so she takes the potion the night before she's supposed to be married

except the messenger the friar sent doesn't make it to romeo in time and he finds out that she's "dead" so he goes to where her body is being kept with a bottle of poison. the guy juliet was supposed to marry finds him in the crypt and thinks he's a grave robber so they fight and romeo kills him, then drinks the poison. juliet wakes up and finds him dead and uses his dagger to stab herself

Wow. That ended rather quickly and messily. Why was faking her death her only choice in the beginning?

it wasn't she's just dumb

everyone in this story is dumb

Were they real people? If so, perhaps they felt like they had no other choice.

oh no it's just a play

they weren't real

Oh, then that's good. Maybe there's a meaning to it all then - and that's why they chose such extremes.

i'm pretty sure they were just dumb either way

(♡´艸`)

That is certainly one way to interpret it.

yep

anyways your turn again

My turn, hm?

Well, what sort of story would you like to hear?

idk your pick

Mm, how about a story I heard from a friend then?

Do you know of the rabbits in the moon?

nope

let's hear it

This is the story of two rabbits on the moon.

Long, long ago, there were many rabbits who lived on the moon. They danced and sang all day and all night, but one rabbit could not join them. He was not good at dancing or singing, but he was in love with another rabbit.

The other rabbit often danced and sang with the others, paying little mind to the poor rabbit who could not. So the rabbit thought, he should do something to catch his beloved's eye. He created a mochitsuki, a pounding pot for mochi, and tried to make mochi upon the moon to give to his beloved rabbit.

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