Their story began on a dirt road.
A ronin (masterless samurai) was wandering through the northern provinces of Japan when he came across a peasant girl being attacked by bandits.
He rushed to the girl's aid, skillfully cutting down her attackers one by one.
Although the ronin fought skillfully, he was brought down by one of the bandits, who would have finished him off if not the farm girl, who snuck up from behind the remaining bandit and dispatched him with a hand sycthe.
The farm girl took the injured ronin back to her village and tended to his wounds. When he had recovered, he sought to repay his debt by helping her in the fields.
And in the rice fields, beneath the burning sun, a forbidden love blossomed between Shobei the samurai and Kashira the farm girl.
They planned to run away together and abandon their former lives, living for only each other.
On the night before they were to leave, Kashira and several other villagers were suddenly required to leave on an urgent errand for the village.
Shobei prepared to patiently await Kashira's return, but in her absence he discover her dark secret, and the secret of the whole village.
Kashira returns to the village under cover of night and finds several of the bodies of her kinsmen lying dead on the ground.
The time of secrets and dreams has come to an end . . .