A long time ago, around the Toriyear fifty, a young Tori named Koco934 began to hone her skills in preparation for being accepted into one of the esteemed Toriclans of legend. She trained furiously, and fought constantly, breaking only to meditate and eat. She enjoyed fighting so much that she devoted most of her time to besting the toughest opponents she could find. After training for several years she attempted to join quite a few of the formidable clans; however, she was turned down time and time again. Then one day she was accepted by the clan (Pyro), and for once, she had a place she could call home and train her skills. However, it was not meant to be, as the clan had already begun its decline. After a few weeks of attempting to keep the clan alive, the remaining members decided they had better end it with dignity than keep it flailing about. Koco wondered what she would do without the clan she had come to call home, when she was ambushed by three rouge Tori’s. At that moment, time slowed down for her, her breath slowed and her focus sharpened. She broke into a furious rage, her feet and fists flying everywhere, blurred to all but her, and the attackers fell one after another. After the fight, Koco realized that she had achieved a state of mind that put her far ahead of many other Toris, a state that only the best of the best achieve. She then knew what she had to do. She gathered up what remained of her shattered family and headed off to start a new clan based around the philosophy of ruthless, controlled combat and peace, based around the state of mind that is achieved by only the greatest fighters, which she called the Zone. With her Clan born, Koco focused on gathering others who could achieve this Zen-like state of mind, and opened her dojo for all to come and train, doing all she could to help newcomers she saw promise in. Zone was born, not just as a clan or state of mind, but as a philosophy. It was around the height of Zone’s prosperity that Clans began to war each other for territory, and although Zone was a peaceful clan, they were also reputable fighters, for being consistently fought by other clans kept them ready and wary.

But then everything changed.

Koco934 fell extremely ill, to the point where meditation was the only thing keeping her alive. In the time it took for a new leader to be chosen, the clan had fallen apart. When Ninofshin, a strong, capable leader in his own right took over, the clan was in chaos, and it took all his formidable skill to hold it together. However, in the chaos they had lost many members, and the clan had lost its reputation due to the warring age having ended. He held the clan together even in its deteriorating state for a long time, but his willpower was waning, as keeping the clan alive had tested his limits. A new leader was needed, one who was fresh and had iron willpower as strong as Nin’s.

And that’s where our story starts…