Gifts of Ryoshun, Part I

Gifts of Ryoshun, Part I
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By Shawn Carman
Edited by Fred Wan

Seven Day Battle Plain, Month of the Ox, year 1170
It had not snowed now for nearly three days, but there was still a sheen of white all across the plain that made it nearly blinding to look upon. Ironically the slate-gray sky was less glaring than the snow itself, but neither were pleasant. Many of the Lion samurai accompanying her were wearing special mempo with only slits for the eyes, a measure to protect their eyesight, but she had no need of such things anymore it seemed.

Matsu Benika glanced over at her pride, the lions that now accompanied her everywhere she went. None of them even seemed to have noticed the cold, and certainly not the blinding effects of the snow. She had worked with great cats all her life, and knew that they were of hardy stock, but this was something different. The bond between them had strengthened, and they seemed not to suffer the effects of the elements at all. Whereas once she would have been very careful to monitor them around the other samurai, men they were not familiar with, she no longer felt the need, and rightfully so; none of the cats seemed even vaguely interested in the others. One had even stroked the largest of the lionesses behind the ear, and she had nearly knocked the man down leaning into the caress. Things were different now. Ever since&

Benika looked down at the jade gauntlet that was her hand. Ever since it had been granted to her, ever since she had been fundamentally changed by the will of the Jade Sun, life was different in ways that were almost imperceptible, and yet that had fundamentally altered everything she knew.

“Commander,” one of the men said quietly.

Benika looked up, and knew that the man was staring at her eyes. They were green now, the same shade as her hand. Or at least they were some of the time. She had identified no rhyme or reason to the changes. “What is it, Hiroshi-san?”

The gunso gestured to the southwest. She followed his gesture and saw an indistinct mass of black moving against the white backdrop. “More than a dozen,” he said. “Twenty, perhaps. It is difficult to say, given the conditions.”

Benika nodded. The man’s vision was better than hers, even after the sharpening of her senses. If the wind had been in her favor, it was possible she could have smelled the men in the distance, but the stench of smoke was too great, even weeks after the fires in the Shinomen had been extinguished. “Can you make out any detail?”

“No, commander,” he answered. “How do you wish to approach?”

“We are Lion,” Benika said without hesitation. “We are honorable warriors of the second Matsu army, seconded to the Shogun. We approach in full sight. They will either face us, or flee. Either way, the result will be the same.”

The distance between the Lion and their quarry was not insignificant, and it took nearly an hour for the samurai to reach them in the sludge and snow. The travelers made no move to flee, and seemed to simply stop and wait once they detected the Lion moving toward them. The vast majority of them were young and carried spears. The way they carried themselves told Benika that they were ashigaru with some degree of martial training, but not enough to pose a real threat. There were nearly two dozen of them, however, and that meant they outnumbered her men two to one. There was a lone figure standing among the ashigaru, tall and dark, with the twin blades of a samurai in his belt. His stance told Benika a very different story, and she resolved to keep track of the stranger at all times.

There was only one another among the group who was distinguishable from the ashigaru, and he wore the thick wrappings of a sohei, a warrior monk. It was this one who stepped forward as the Lion halted a short distance away. “Hail, Lion warrior,” he said flatly. His tone conveyed no concern or emotion whatsoever.

“Hail, travelers,” Hiroshi called out, as Benika had instructed him. “What business brings you to the plains on such a cold day?”

“Business of a personal nature,” the monk responded.

Hiroshi smiled slightly. “I am afraid I will require more information than that, brother monk.”

“That is unfortunate for you,” the monk replied, “as the Lion hold no jurisdiction over this region. I am not beholden to provide you with any information.”

Benika decided that now was not the time for games of any sort. “We are seconded to the forces of the Shogun, Moto Jin-sahn, on orders from Matsu Kenji and Akodo Shigetoshi,” she said. “As such, we act in the name of the Empress. We have the proper documentation, but of course you are not interested in such things.”

“I am not,” the monk agreed.

“You travel from the southwest,” Benika observed. “There are no settlements in that direction.”

“No,” he agreed again.

“You flee the Shinomen, then.”

“We flee from nothing,” the monk answered. “We simply find no purpose in remaining within the forest at the present time.”

“You will stand down,” Benika said. “We will remand you into the custody of the Shogun or, barring that, into the custody of the Imperial magistrates at Ryoko Owari Toshi until such time as your potential affiliation with the so-called Spider Clan can be ascertained.”

“No,” the monk said. “We will not.”

Benika looked past the monk to the others. “This man has defied an order from a representative of the Imperial bureaucracy, and as such he is charged with treason. Stand down, and you will not be held accountable for his crimes.”

The young men looked at one another for a moment, and she could sense uncertainty among them. Then one stepped forward. “Tetsuo led us from the forest. He saved us from the Shogun, who would have killed us, and for what? For making a better life for ourselves with the Spider? No. We will not abandon him.”

“I see,” Benika said. “You understand the enormity of what you are saying?”

“We do.”

“So be it.”

Tetsuo dropped into a martial arts stance as several of the Lion drew their weapons. The ashigaru readied their spears, but the tall, silent samurai took no apparent action. Benika fixed Hiroshi with a pointed gaze, her expression and body language telling him all he needed to know about their opponents.

And then it began.

Benika drew her blade with her jade right hand, wielding it now with a single hand as she had never done before her transformation. She leveled it toward the monk. “I do not wish to kill you.”

“You won’t,” Tetsuo assured her.

The two circled one another for a few precious moments. Benika could hear shouting and the sound of metal on metal as her men engaged the superior numbers of the ashigaru, but she dared not look away; Tetsuo’s eyes were as piercing as those of any opponent she had ever faced. If she looked away even for a moment, he would strike. Finally, she darted in with a strike that was faster than most men would have been able to follow with eyes alone.

Tetsuo evaded the strike, although it ripped through some of the outer garments he wore. He countered with a palm strike that struck the armor plate of her upper arm. The impact did not feel significant, but the plates shattered and fell away. They engaged in a rapid-fire flurry of strikes, each time her preternatural speed missing him by mere inches, and each time his seemingly playful blows tearing holes in her defense. “Submit to me,” he said at one point. “Perhaps I will be merciful.”

Benika did not respond, continuing her assault. There were tiny flecks of red in multiple places across the monk’s wrappings now, and she knew that she had grazed him a handful of times. It was only through his incredible speed and dexterity that he avoided being disemboweled with each blow. In her desire to destroy her enemy, however, she made a crucial mistake, and a back-handed blow from the monk shattered her helmet, leaving her stunned for a brief moment. “Your deific bauble will not bring victory,” Tetsuo said, his tone betraying the barest hint of mockery. He leapt forward with a killing axe hand strike.

Benika blocked the blow with her jade hand, hearing a hiss of pain from the man as his hand impacted its indestructible surface. She followed it up with a vicious unarmed strike to the ribs with her other hand, driving him backward a few feet despite the wrappings. “My strength lies in more than jade,” she said.

“So it seems,” Tetsuo replied. He glanced over. “It hardly seems productive to continue this.”

Benika looked as well, and saw that her men had dispatched the ashigaru without a single loss. The lone samurai stood now, blades drawn, and three of her men were lying dead in the snow around him. The others had encircled him and were waiting for a sign from Hiroshi.

“Yuhmi,” Tetsuo said. “There is nothing left for us here.”

The two men moved faster than the shadows of birds. The one called Yuhmi moved between the Lion like wind and raced to the south, with Tetsuo following close behind. They moved faster than Benika had ever seen any human move, and even then her senses told her that perhaps Yuhmi was holding himself back for the monk’s benefit.

Two of her lionesses began loping after the two at once, but Benika stopped them with a click of her tongue. They could not catch the two fleeing Spider, and if they did, she feared that the lions would not survive.

“Shall we pursue, commander?” Hiroshi asked.

“No,” she said. “They are gone.”

Caring for the dead delayed the Lion unit to the point that they could not return to the settlement from which they had set before nightfall. They made camp as best they could and, as was her custom, Benika remained some distance away from the others. She did not feel uncomfortable in their midst, but she was used to lying with her pride, away from others, and old habits were difficult to break.

Someone was sitting next to her.

The sudden realization that this was the case should have caused Benika’s instincts to take over, but for whatever reason they did not. Perhaps it was because her pride did not react, or perhaps it was simply another aspect of her transformation. Regardless, she found herself largely unsurprised when she saw who it was. “I heard that you were in attendance at the court of the Empress.”

“I am,” the Voice of the Jade Sun replied.

“They will not notice your absence?”

“I am not absent,” he answered without offering explanation. He looked at the other Lion in the distance. “They flourish under your leadership.”

“They are good men,” she replied. “Excellent soldiers.”

“Of course,” the Voice said. “But they are more so because of you. Because of what you carry, but more importantly, because of who you have become.”

Benika held her right hadn up and regarded it strangely. “And what have I become?”

“You are the only mortal soul that bears the full blessing of the Jade Sun, and the ability to harness that blessing for others.”

“Is that my purpose, then? Is that why I was chosen?”

“The Heavens exist in a state of balance,” the Voice explained. “The Jade Sun and Obsidian Moon are ever in opposition to one another. This is the way of the universe. It is only through the actions of mortals that one might gain advantage over the other, and while the Jade Sun does not wish to upset the balance.”

“&the Obsidian Moon might,” Benika finished. “I will not be a pawn in some game, Voice.”

“You are no pawn. Your purpose is to inspire greatness in your fellow men, to encourage valor, honor, and purity. Those who rise to your example will become greater than they might have been, and those who are unequal to the task will be hastened into the next life, that they might find their destiny.”

“You make sending others to their deaths sound so noble,” Benika said. “It is not a sentiment I share.”

“You and your kinsmen celebrate the deaths of warriors in battle for their clan. This is no different.”

Benika considered the matter for a moment. “And what of my& counterpart?”

“She, like you, will pursue the agenda of her patron. It is her nature, now. She cannot avoid it, even if she wished to do so. Much like yourself.”

Benika shook her head. “This is too great a task. How can I serve as an example for an entire Empire?”

“Do not be concerned,” the Voice answered. “There will be others.”

* * *

Shinden Asahina, the Crane provinces
Asahina Beniha put down the brush with which she had been writing and massaged her hand gently, grimacing ever so slightly as she did so. “You know,” she said thoughtfully, “I think tomorrow I will have a scribe handle all of this for me. They are more accustomed to the rigors and can likely work faster than me, would you not agree?” She glanced across the garden to her yojimbo, arching one eyebrow. “Hideshi?”

The warrior turned to face her at once. “My lady?”

“Scribes,” she repeated. “I was saying that I should get scribes to assist me with this.”

“Of course, my lady,” Hideshi said. “You are too concerned with making each document perfect. It slows you down.”

“I was unaware that the critiquing of calligraphy was among your many talents, Hideshi.”

He bowed his head at once. “Forgive me, my lady. I meant no offense.”

Beniha shook her head slightly. “I am not certain, but I think I may have never met anyone so severe as you.”

“As you say, my lady.” He turned back to look to the east, as he had been doing before she had spoken in the first place.

“Is something troubling you, Hideshi?”

The warrior frowned slightly. “Do you hear that sound?”

Beniha stopped and tilted her head to the side slightly, then frowned. “Is it& sort of a whispering noise?”

“It is,” Hideshi said. “It took me some time to distinguish it over the sound of your brush, and then I attributed it to the wind.”

“The wind stopped a few moments ago,” she observed.

“Yes,” he agreed, “but the sound has not.” He rose slowly, his hand near his blade. “Let me take you to your chambers, Beniha-sama. I will investigate once I am certain you are safe.”

“No.”

Hideshi turned and looked at her, his expression showing the faintest hint of surprise. “My lady?”

“I am the lady of the Asahina now,” she retorted. “If there is discord in my house, I wish to know of it.”

“My lady, please,” he began, “allow me to.”

“If I am strong enough to sit here and correspond with that dreadful Naoharu for hours on end,” she said firmly, “then I am certainly bold enough to investigate a strange sound. I could certainly use the distraction. And after all, is my dutiful yojimbo not at my side?”

Hideshi frowned. “If you wish, my lady, but I would much prefer.”

“Very well then,” she said. “Shall we?”

The yojimbo grimaced and began walking to the east, along the path that led from the garden and into one of Shinden Asahina’s larger ancestral shrines.

* * *

Toshi Ranbo, the Imperial City
The view of the Imperial palace was striking from this angle, as the setting sun cast it in a radiant light the likes of which would be difficult to appreciate anywhere else in the entire city. It was simply breathtaking. In all his time spent in the Imperial City, Moto Hotei had never seen anything quite like it.

“Am I boring you, magistrate?”

Hotei shifted his gaze back to the man who had been speaking, and inclined his head respectfully. “Not in the least, my lord. I am merely contemplating how your needs might best be served.”

“Really,” the Imperial Treasurer said dryly. “Perhaps you would care to recount exactly what it is I need of you, then.”

Hotei forced a smile despite the indignity of being forced to prove his attentiveness. The Treasurer was not the sort of man one risked offending. “Of course,” he answered. “Your reorganization of the resources allocated to your office, resources formerly destined for the Emerald Champion and his organization, calls for an end to the large number of discrepancies and questionable reports that have gone uninvestigated for decades due to the inability of the Emerald Champion to properly recognize them as such.” The Unicorn warrior felt uncomfortable speaking such things of the Champion, but he did wish to prove his attention had not wavered. “Lacking as you do the inordinate number of magistrates that the Champion has in his service, it is your desire that the Seppun magistrates will be able to provide the manpower you require for this matter.”

Yoritomo Utemaro smiled. “Well said. I do value those with a gift for being succinct. Yes, my review of the past ten years’ worth of tax reports indicates massive discrepancies that are completely unacceptable. None of the Emerald Champions in living memory have had an adequate grasp of economics to realize such, but that is fortunately at an end.” He looked at Hotei carefully. “I assume your lords among the Seppun instructed you to remind me of their limited numbers?”

“They did,” Hotei confirmed. “However, they also instructed me to inform you that they will begin expanding their ranks immediately in order to better serve you and your organization. However many magistrates you require, you will be provided without question.”

Utemaro raised an eyebrow. “That sounds& delightful. I must admit I was not expecting such easy capitulation. My requests are not insignificant.”

“Your work is important,” Hotei said. “You are a chosen servant of the Empress, and the Seppun family, as well as those of us chosen to work alongside them, are honored to serve you, lord Treasurer.”

The Mantis smiled, although Hotei did not find the expression particularly warm. “I am greatly pleased to hear of such devotion. Please convey my gratitude to your sensei, and inform them that a more detailed list will be forthcoming within three days.”

Hotei bowed. “As you wish, lord Treasurer.”

Hotei was deep in thought as he walked through the streets. Although he had of course been able to supply the Treasurer with the information he requested, the truth was that his thoughts had been wandering. In fact, he had been having difficulty focusing all day, and it was beginning to bother him somewhat. Was it the onset of some illness? The chance to study with the Seppun magistrates was a tremendous honor, and even after more than a year, he stilled feared losing his position if he showed even the faintest hint of weakness in any area. No, it would not do to be addled. Perhaps there was a shugenja at the Unicorn estate who might give him some discreet assistance.

The magistrate stopped short at the entrance to a temple. This was not where he had intended to go. He had intended to return to the dojo, but that was quite some distance in the opposite direction.

The vague concern in the back of Hotei’s mind now leapt to the fore. Had he been afflicted with some brand of madness? This temple was a shrine to those who had lost their lives during the attack of the Khan some years previously, and he worried that it might seem poor form for him to be here given his family affiliation.

And yet&

Despite the growing fear over his condition, despite the concern over appearances, Hotei felt compelled to enter. There was something he needed here, something that required his attention. He did not know how he knew that, but it was unassailable fact, as certain to him as his father’s name.

Moto Hotei entered the temple.

* * *

Kyuden Bayushi, the Scorpion lands
Kakita Kensho-in slid the screen closed to her quarters, savoring the sweet release of privacy. She had learned to enjoy the tension and ruthlessness of Winter Court, but the constant press of people, most of them mindless bureaucrats and lesser attendants. It was only among the truly skilled and dangerous opponents she had encountered since her arrival that she felt comfortable. The others only annoyed her.

In the sudden stillness of her quarters, Kensho-in realized that she was not as alone as she had believed. There was a very faint scent, like nightshade, that she recognized. She grimaced as she flexed the stone-like fingers of her right hand. “I did not think you left the Empress’ presence.”

The Voice of the Obsidian Moon smiled ever so slightly. “I am in her presence even now. Why would I not be?”

“Ah yes,” Kensho-in said. “Powers greater even than those of the Oracles of Light. Is there anything beyond your power?”

“Many things,” the Voice answered, “but that is not important. Tell me, Kensho-in, what became of the young Dragon courtier I have seen you with so often over the past few months?”

“Hikako?” Kensho-in asked. She shook her head and sneered slightly. “It seems some concerns are not nearly as petty as she imagined.”

“I suppose not,” the Voice agreed. “Still, to call debts of honor to be petty concerns, unworthy of attention& a most brazen maneuver when in the presence of the Lion delegation. I must assume that you placed the idea in her mind.”

“Not at all,” Kensho-in said. “I needed information from the Dragon, and to get an answer from the Dragon, one must first listen to no end of inane riddles. I was forced to endure her constant tirade on how the clans paid too much attention to unimportant things. It was quite trying. Finally, I suggested she voice her beliefs.”

“She took great pride in her clan being above it all, then?”

“Very much,” Kensho-in. “I believe she had dreams of shaming the Lion in court over their behavior. Perhaps she imagined that they would be brought to contrition in the presence of the Empress, or even censured by her for their past actions.”

“And of course if she had been successful, they would have become more dependant upon others in court due to their shame, and their allies among the Crane would have benefited.”

Kensho-in shrugged. “Perhaps so.”

The Voice of the Obsidian Moon smiled. “You are truly a worth vassal of the Obsidian Moon. You fan the flames of vice and sin, and those whom you touch are either destroyed or made stronger. Your favor among the Heavens is great, Kakita Kensho-in.”

The Crane warrior shook her head. “I fail to see how the disgrace of a fool in court benefits the Heavens at all.”

“You fail to see the larger picture,” the Voice said. “But in any case, never fear. Your great work is about to be joined.”

TO BE CONTINUED

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