Consciousness.

A strange thing, when it is something one has never had before. It comes slowly, bringing first confusion. What is going on? Where am I? Then realization... how can I question these things? What force has given me this ability? And then it brings memories of the past -- memories that the cognizance to consider has never been there before.

Screams and blood. Battle... hundreds of people seeking to bring death to each other. A dragonfly cut in half in an instant.

A warrior's helmet, crowned with the antlers of a large deer. Atop the head of a strong warrior that all but dominates the battlefield. Never taking a single injury, despite wading practically chest deep in enemy soldiers.

And my heart constricts.

...Heart? I have... a heart? I am a weapon. Weapons do not have hearts. We are guided only by the hands that wield us. But this... feeling... Yes, it is a feeling. Weapons do not have feelings, either. But this... this is definitely a feeling. Is it happiness? Sadness? I do not know.

More feelings follow. Sensation. Awareness. Awareness of myself as a being. Even this feels strange, momentarily, before something else takes over. Knowledge. Of myself. Of my body. A true body. Arms, legs, a torso, a head atop a neck. I have never had this before. I am a weapon. Weapons do not master themselves. They cannot. They SHOULD not. But I feel it now... this body is mine. I can move. I can walk. Speak.

And... I can still fight.

Another sensation. More knowledge. I was given awareness, consciousness by someone. The knowledge of that, and the binding of my spirit to a new master settles across my being in a comforting way. Is this what humans feel underneath a heavy blanket in the cold? A comforting weight, the knowledge that I have a master. Not that great man of a hundred battles never wounded. But I can feel the strength. My new master is strong in spirit.

...Warm? I find myself somewhere warm. Not unpleasantly so. My hand closes around something. Something that I instantly recognize. The haft of a weapon. A spear.

Myself.

It's a strange feeling, to be wielding oneself. But gradually it feels less as though being in two places at once, and more the feeling of the weapon being an extension of myself. The spear now feels more a limb or organ... a mere part of the whole that is my 'self'.

Sight... I have eyes I can open. When I do, I see for the first time. The first thing I see? My new master. Regarding me with warmth. An almost delicate-looking thing, but that strength is still there. Along with a shrewdness in those moon-yellow eyes.

Words... something comes to mind. And I speak. "...I am a spear created by Muramasa, my name is Tonbokiri. My name is derived from when a dragonfly landed on the spearhead and was cut in half. I am prepared for battle at any time." I take a knee, to signal my devotion. "...Aruji-sama."

The delicate but shrewd-looking one before me nods, with a warm but distant smile. "Welcome, Tonbokiri. Come and meet your brothers."