The legendary annual Shao Temple archery competition is a joyful event that brings villagers together from throughout the Sang-La Mountains and allows the monks to share food, tea, and news from the lands beyond the mountains. Yumi has been dominating the event as the first -- and only -- female kyudoka since she was a small girl, for her natural abilities with the bow quickly surpassed those of her instructor, then her kyudojo, until the Shao Temple became the only place that could harness her true potential. The monks taught her the way of shin-zen-bi, to shoot with truth, goodness, and beauty, so that when she uses her bow and arrow with a good and virtuous spirit toward all things, her archery will become naturally beautiful and true. Skeptical at first, Yumi finally embraced this training and grew to understand its power, and her already amazing skills became unbelievable. Because of the beauty and virtue integral to her archery, she was stunned when the monks first told her it could be used as a weapon. But when they told her of the atrocities happening outside the walls of the temple, of the Hellbourne and their soulless cruelty, she realized the virtuous path was leading her straight into battle with these daemons. Every raise, draw, and release had prepared her for this, and she and her bow would share the beauty of her kyudo with these corrupted fiends one arrow at a time.
Forsaken Archer
