Collaborative Writing Project: The Fading Light: A Tale of Zan

Welcome to The Masters of Animanga: A Wikia Collaborative Writing Project! Join with legendary icons of anime and manga to create three exciting, original stories based on their character designs and outlines.

We've written Red Bat, and TAO! - Rize of the Ying-Yang. Now, join with other co-authors from the Wikia community to pen an exciting samurai-themed story that crosses the boundaries of space and time.

The inspiration for our third tale, Fading Light: A Tale of Zan, is provided by legendary artist Yoshitaka Amano (Vampire Hunter D, Final Fantasy) in the form of an iconic samurai character who first appeared in Amano's graphic novel Deva Zan. The story is executive produced by Kazuo Koike (Lone Wolf and Cub, Lady Snowblood).

We want YOU to co-write this story! And you're also welcome to post any original artwork to illustrate it. Just take a few moments to read the rules, familiarize yourself with the world and characters, then edit this page to begin creating.

THE RULES
1. This page has been locked from anonymous editing. In order to contribute to the story, you must login to your Wikia account.
 * If you do not have one, you can create an account here.
 * To edit this page to contribute, do not post your contribution in the comments.
 * Start editing below the previous contributions of another user by clicking "Edit" at the top left.
 * The story will end September 21.
 * By contributing to the story as a signed in user, you acknowledge your acceptance of the following rules, terms, and conditions.

2. Each user is allowed to contribute one paragraph (up to six sentences max) at a time.

3. Do not edit again until at least THREE new users have contributed. In other words, there must be three paragraphs between contributions from any one user.

4. Contribute to the story in a linear fashion.

5. Only add to the story section of this page – do not alter the “characters,” “world,” or “rules” sections.

6. You must leave your signature at the end of your contribution.

7. Do not revert, delete, edit or alter an entry entered by another user -- respect the work of your fellow Wikia community members.

8. Your story must focus only on the original characters and world created by the Masters of Animanga for this particular project. No other pre-existing characters or universes can be referenced, anime or otherwise. That said, you may create a wholly original character specifically for this story.

9. Wikia Staff has the final say on edits. While we will not alter your work lightly, if rules are broken, we reserve the right to change your story/contribution.

10. Be aware that edit conflicts may occur. Before publishing, please save your work so that it will not get lost in case someone else is contributing to the page!

11. Your contributions to the Masters of Animanga Collaborative Writing Project are governed by the Wikia Terms of Use and by the CC-by-NC license.

12. If you contribute to the Masters of Animanga Collaborative Writing Project and your contribution is used, you acknowledge that if/when the story is published or released in any manner, you will be given attribution for your participation in the project, and that any such attribution is your sole consideration for participating in the project.

If any user is found to be in violation of these rules, we reserve the right to rollback/remove your contribution.

THE WORLD
A samurai warrior with no memory of his past, Zan has the power to travel through all of time and space while riding atop Panther, his animal companion.

The many adventures of Zan could never be chronicled in a single volume. In this story, we follow our hero from feudal Japan to Victorian-era England (and beyond) as he meets a beautiful woman who changes him forever, and faces an adversary unlike any he has encountered before.

THE CHARACTERS

 * Zan, our hero, is a samurai warrior who has no memory of his past. He is on a quest to restore order to existence, which will ultimately lead him to the discovery of his own mysterious origin. While riding atop Panther, his faithful animal companion, Zan has the power to travel anywhere in space and time.


 * Lord Chataway, the villain of the story, is encountered by Zan when he is transported to 1870s England. Lord Chataway is a British noble who may be more than who he first seems to be.


 * Virginia, the beautiful daughter of Lord Chataway. She is fiercely independent, but finds herself strangely drawn to the mysterious Zan.

THE STORY
It wasn't a memory -- more like a dream. As the silent warrior hid in the shadows, waiting to strike, he couldn't shake the sense that he'd been here before. But he could not dwell on that feeling right now. His sensei had been killed by an assassin from the Shadow Clan, and he was there for a reckoning. Zan lurked on a rooftop near the Shadow lair. He would wait there until the Shadow Master came into view and then exact his revenge. Minutes passed, and then hours… but the Shadow Master did not appear. Surely, they hadn't been made aware of his presence. Or had they?

Calling to Panther, his animal companion -- a black cat-like creature with otherworldly features -- who had been lurking nearby in the dark, Zan climbed on to the big cat, and the pair leaped from the rooftop and into the pathway in front of the temple below. At that moment, Zan knew he was in trouble. He sensed a dark presence, but before he could act, he was surrounded by twelve Shadow Clan warriors. "I can take them," he thought. But just then another two dozen fighters from the Shadow Clan emerged from the darkness.

Zan was wise enough to know he couldn't win. And he knew there was only one way out. He leaned forward to whisper a command into Panther's ear, and suddenly the cat leapt into the air towards the surrounding warriors. There was a blinding flash of light -- Zan and Panther had vanished. --Brian 17:49, September 23, 2013 (UTC)

"Good Heavens!" He woke up to the cry of a woman who sounded like a noblewoman. Opening his eyes, Zan got up, and found himself in the middle of the street of a strange city that he had not been to, with Panther beside him, surrounding by a crowd of people. Judging from their clothes, they looked like a mixture of nobility, merchants, civil servants, commoners and beggars, yet they all looked frightened at the sight of him since they had likely never seen someone quite like him or his companion before, especially coming out of nowhere as he did! Hoping to take cover somewhere before he caused more of a disturbance, Zan got on top of Panther and began to ride. "YOU, STOP RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!" Shouted a man with a club that Zan could only guess was a law enforcer. (Anonymius (talk) 17:14, September 23, 2013 (UTC))

In the dark basement of a Victorian mansion, an old man named Lord Amadeus Chataway, looked upon a statue of a great fish. It had long, sharp teeth, and a lure-like thing on top of its head, like a deep-sea fish. "I am quite impressed with this," said Amadeus, "Before long, I-" Before he could finish, his daughter was knocking on the door. --ScorpionTail (talk) 17:20, September 23, 2013 (UTC)

Elsewhere, there was a small village home to many farmers where there was a teenage boy named Ryuunosuke Kageyama who, unlike the others at his age, he ditched the farm work and went to train with duel katanas for he wanted to become a samurai instead of staying as a farmer. As he was on his way back home from training he heard a voice which appeared to be weakly asking for help. Rushing towards the source of the voice, he found a beautiful girl about his age leaning on a tree and he asked, "Are you okay!?! What's your name?" "My name is Virginia," the girl replied, "Please, help me find a man named Zan. He's the only hope left for this world." When she lost consciousness, Ryuunosuke carried her back to his village wondering what was happening. Forest Dragon Slayer (talk) 17:23, September 23, 2013 (UTC)

Little did he know, the girl Virginia had just escaped from a terrible fight with her father, Lord Amadaeus Chataway. Angry that her father seemed to be losing his mind and ignoring her words of advice, she had stormed off but was attacked by thugs looking for an easy target. Unfortunately for them, Virginia was a fierce fighter thanks to her old friend and butler, Charles. She was able to fight most of them off until one attacked her from behind, and the last thing she remembered seeing was a strange man on top of a panther... Grace (profile)•(talk) 17:35, September 23, 2013 (UTC)

Zan sped off onto top of Panther, who had leaped over the gasping (And he couldn't help but think impressed) crowd of spectators, running away from the law enforcers, using some kind of artifacts as if to get his attention. It would take too long to explain. Heck he wasn't even sure if he could explain it! Besides he was certain that he hadn't broken any alien law! At least he thought he hadn't. Panther leaped onto a nearby building, and scuttled up the wall to the top, before running and leaping off of several buildings to get away. (Anonymius (talk) 17:44, September 23, 2013 (UTC))

Suddenly the world fell apart and light came from everywhere as Zan fell from his panther. Plummeting to the ground, the light and sky changed, and, within a blink of an eye, he was surrounded by huge metal temples with blinking lights. Machines filled the air, whizzing past him, but, before hitting the ground, hundreds of paper origami cranes flocked toward him and carried him to safety. Zan looked at the floating mass of paper cranes that was ascending him to safety with curiosity. The cranes landed Zan on the highest building in Tokyo. The origami paper cranes began to unfold and transformed into his Panther. (Christina Coffaro (talk) --Christina Coffaro (talk) 17:56, September 23, 2013 (UTC)

"Master Mar'riana, Lord of the Seas of Time," said Lord Amadeus Chataway, "I managed to keep my eldest daughter Virginia away for now, so that we can speak about the plan." In that instant, a phantom-like creature that resembled a viperfish or some other deep-sea fish appeared in front of Lord Chataway, the fish's bioluminescent body being the sole glimmer of light in the room. "Lord Chataway," said Mar'riana, "you have done well, but the legends are true, for the hero of the ages has surfaced..." --ScorpionTail (talk) 18:05, September 23, 2013 (UTC)

At Ryuunosuke's house, Virginia began to wake up from her sleep, and she got up in a panic thinking that she was still on the run but she was surprised to see herself in a soft bed. "So you finally woke up, huh, Virginia," Ryuunosuke said causing the girl to panic at the stranger. "Who are you and how do you know my name!?!" "My name's Ryuunosuke and I know your name because you told me yesterday before you lost conscious. Don't worry, I won't let anything hurt you." "Are you trying to flirt with me using those lines!?!" Virginia exclaimed as Ryuunosuke had a nervous smile on his face because flirting was not his intention. Forest Dragon Slayer (talk) 18:29, September 23, 2013 (UTC)

Zan opened his eyes and found himself still on his companion where he was before, before that vision. Having traveled so many times to so many places throughout time he couldn't keep a track of where he's been, and sometimes he has visions or dreams of places he's never quite sure if he's been there before or yet. He looked around and wondered where he was. It definitely looked like a city, but unlike cities he was used to (that were made of wood). This one was entirely made of stone, and was much bigger, and filthier as well. Eventually, once he was certain that he had lost those law enforcers, Panther leaped down into an alleyway where he grabbed a large rag and threw it over himself to cover his appearance. (Anonymius (talk) 18:33, September 23, 2013 (UTC))

The nameless Panther, his ancient companion and the only constant in the tumult of space-time travel that had become his life, stepped forward as his paws shrank to the size of those of a housecat, advancing and decreasing until it was only a black cat, eyes a burning white, leaping away far beyond Zan, who shuffled awkwardly in the rag he had hastily cast over himself, as the hapless samurai took stock of his surroundings. The alley was filthy, strewn with garbage and feces and the corpses of dead animals, but was given a crawling life by the impoverished who sat in drunken or opium-induced stupors and the children who rummaged amongst the trash in search of cast away treasures. "Sah, sah. sah, sah!" cried one child, a cripple with a dead eye that lolled blindly and teared in its corners, groping with his tiny hands as he begged alms from the strange newcomer. In his travels, Zan had encountered and mastered many languages, but such vernacular was unfamiliar to him. The samurai, taking the plea as an entreaty for money, produced from a pouch hanging at his side a dull golden coin. Whether it would have value in this strange world, Zan could not know, but he wordlessly placed it in the young invalid's outstretched palm and closed his fingers around it. Jottie22 (talk) 19:54, September 23, 2013 (UTC)Jottie22