Hitokiri of Ashes

Lantern light beneath the falling bloom

Petals drifting through a quiet doom

Shion stood where the shadows crept

Guardian of the souls she kept

Masakari carved with ancient vows

Steel remembers even now

Through the night where yokai roam

She made the battlefield her home

Towering grace, a warrior’s flame

Every village knew her name

Hope was forged in her steady hand

A living shield across the land

Ash falls like snow on my skin

Voices of the lost within

I rise again, I won’t break

For every life I couldn’t save

Through the fire, through the pain

I walk this path again, again

Petals fall, but I remain

Hitokiri born from ash and flame

Blood moon cracked the fragile veil

Oni roars became the wail

Blades met fury, sparks took flight

But she could not win that night

Flames consumed what she swore to guard

Silence fell, the truth hit hard

Kneeling where the embers cried

She felt the ashes breathe inside

Seeping deep beneath her skin

Grief transformed to something grim

Not just sorrow, not just pain

But power born from what remained

Now she walks through fog and lies

A phantom under crimson skies

Beauty veils a fractured mind

Hunter of her own kind

Ash falls like snow on my skin

Voices of the lost within

I rise again, I won’t break

For every life I couldn’t save

Through the fire, through the pain

I walk this path again, again

Petals fall, but I remain

Hitokiri born from ash and flame

(Taiko drums build… distant shamisen… low distorted guitar rumble…)

I get knocked down

Will I let myself drown?

I keep trying and dropping

There is no stopping

This steep decline

I’m running out of time

Should I give it all up, let myself sink?

No, no…

(pause)

Because that’s how losers think!

(whisper)

Rise again… rise again…

Ashen spirits fuel my blade

Every debt will now be paid

Body forged to take the blow

Turning pain to power’s flow

Torii gates in shadowed red

Guide the path where ghosts are led

Every duel beneath the bloom

Echoes of a silent tomb

Am I savior, am I curse?

Every step just makes it worse

Yet I stand, I still remain

Bound to loss, bound to pain

If I fall, I fall as one

Who fought until the end was done

But till then I walk this flame

Shion carved in ash and name

Ash falls like snow on my skin

Voices of the lost within

I rise again, I won’t break

For every life I couldn’t save

Through the fire, through the pain

I walk this path again, again

Petals fall, but I remain

Hitokiri born from ash and flame