Shintaro's soul was weak, resting on the ground and extremely close to death. When the samurai were through with him, they no longer had an interest in the burned down village, and most villagers had already taken the initiative to run away. His body was numbing away slowly, half wondering if taking a quick sleep would let him renew the last bit of energy he had left. Then again, who was he kidding? He was a goner. He tried to accept death as quickly as he could, considering he didn't have much time left. Shintaro let himself think back to his last deed and hoped that most of the villagers were alright. He hoped the samurai had left this place and hoped they wouldn't have to take advantage of another village again, though it was a hopeful thought. All in all, he did what he [i]could[/i] do, and that was all that mattered to him, not that it really mattered at all.

In his last moments of blurry vision and foggy hearing, he felt himself being lifted up and faintly felt something being wrapped around him. Finally, everything came to an end and went dark for him. He had passed away.

And then, alarmingly, his senses came back all at once. Shintaro raced to pull himself out of a pool of water and shivered while on the ground. It was nighttime, and for some reason he was thrown into a lake of some sort. He looked around to see the moon, but gave it a second glance after noticing that it was so huge. That didn't feel right...

“I'm in...” Shintaro mumbled, realizing that he didn't feel in pain and his wounds had seemed to have healed. There couldn't possibly be any place on earth that looked like where he was now. He noticed five unfamiliar people who's garments were of different nations. Was this some sort of afterlife?

[b]“Welcome, pure ones.”[/b]

Shintaro and the others directed their attention to a woman in front of them, explaining something about pure souls and auras. There was another beautiful woman beside her, who looked as heavenly as she could be, who was introduced as the Goddess and the keeper of the moon. From what the guardian had explained, they were pure souls who were chosen to become guardians themselves. It seemed like an incredible honor. Shintaro wondered if he was truly fit for such a thing, he felt so out of place, but at the same time he felt a warming, positive energy within him. He was very happy.

One person stepped up to take the oath first, and by then Shintaro had completely sorted out his thoughts. Shintaro stepped up, and in the most modest way he could, he knelt before the Goddess and repeated the oath. 

“Through bow or blade, through shield or fist, I vow to protect my Lady Goddess. Through blood and soul, through mind and heart, I vow to m' Lady, to do my part.” 

He took a good look at the guardian and the Goddess and smiled. He turned to the Healing Falls to coat his weapon in the water. He looked at his spear and felt a bit nostalgic, and for once he'd actually use his weapon in an honorable way. Upon completion, he gazed into the water deeply, letting his thoughts run free.

For once in his life, Shintaro really felt like he was complete. That was how he felt, after all – he had always wanted to be a protector. A mix of guilt tainted his emotion, though, after realizing that he wasn't such a pure person. Would he be able to change that, or would he have to fight himself from now on? 

Shintaro tried not to think about it, so he sighed looked up, trying not to stare into the water for too long. He noticed the young woman who first took her oath not so far from him, and decided to strike a conversation. After all, many of them would be guardians together, so they might as well get to know each other now. 

“It's very wonderful to see so many different people, isn't it? This is a place like no other.” 

He smiled at the girl and looked back towards the big moon. This afterlife was certainly something else, he almost felt too guilty to be a part of it.