From Lady Yukiko's Journal, 7/14/1583 - 7/20/1583: What I Saw On This Journey
7/14/1583
at sea
Sailing for Tokyo today. We have a strong south wind and the sails are belled full; if this keeps up, we'll be at our destination in a day and a half. We're going to moor overland from Tokyo instead of sailing right up the dragon's throat; once we moor, we'll go into the mirror and then Gryphon will fly near to Tokyo. From there, the librarian will take over. He'll get us as close as we can, and then we'll fight in the rest of the way.
If we are successful, we will have my husband back with us by nightfall.
Funitsu saw something in that scrying orb of his that none will tell me about; I don't know if what I can imagine is worse than what is actually happening, but it is indeed cause for fret. I have been absentmindedly petting Miu all day; the cat's marvelously patient, staying on my rapidly disappearing lap. I have become noticeably more unwieldy in the past week or so, and if I thought the child was restless before...
Funitsu is...brooding. I didn't think the Scorpion had any brooding in him, actually. He's not usually moody. Actually, the shaman's somewhat moody as well, but I expect that from her.
But Funitsu? My ever-cheerful shugenja? I wonder what's worrying at him. Perhaps he's just realized exactly what the price of leadership is. We'll see, I suppose.
My entire retinue is worried and silent, actually. It feels as if it is the silence before the storm.
7/15/1583
at sea
An uneventful day at sea, until sunset. Haku spotted a ship flying a pirate flag and heading towards us. Tadaki saw that there were a number of carp hengeyokai swimming towards our ship, obvious intending to foul our rudder and poke holes in our hull. He flew over to the other ship while Gryphon dove into the water to try to eat a carp and Haku dropped a barrel full of black powder over the side. The explosion echoed for miles.
Tadaki went over to the other ship. After some discussion, the captain of the other ship called it off, but not before we killed one of the carp. The captain was another Sparrow, and he flew back over to the ship with Tadaki.
Evidently, there is a General--named Hotaku--who is trying to kill all the hengeyokai in the world. Evidently, there is a prophecy that a hengeyokai will bring down an emperor, and they don't want that to happen. So all of the hengeyokai are banding together to try to avoid getting killed. They thought our ship would be easy pickings, being a gaijin ship.
The hengeyokai ship agreed to draw off the general who was guarding the harbor for us. Lure him out to deep water and eliminate one potential enemy out of the many we'll find there.
Tomorrow, we'll moor near a tiny village called Hasaki, and fly overland. Panda has asked if we can stop on the way and get some pickles. Evidently, she's craving them. I wonder if she's figured out that she's pregnant, yet?
I find myself restless, nervous, unable to sit still for more than a few minutes. I both fear and look forward to what we may find tomorrow.
7/16/1583
sailing south from Tokyo
My mind whirls, my heart is still in my throat. Akechi is back with us! No gift of the kami could be more precious.
But, wait, I will start at the beginning.
Gryphon flew us in, and then the librarian went out and the gryphon and Haku came back into the mirror. They described Tokyo; there was evidently large patches of the city that were totally burned out.
And then, there was nothing to do but wait. In the heart of the enemy's strength we lay, a foxglove in their very garden. Waiting for the opportune moment.
The librarian presented himself at Crane Clan headquarters, the Akazawa complex. He asked for the General who we'd drawn off, and was told tat he'd have to wait a few days for him to return. He quickly scouted the complex; Tomika had given him a good idea of what to look for, and he found the place where Akechi was probably being held soon enough. The building is shaped like a crane--two outspread wings, a tail, and a head. Akechi, he found, was being held near where the eye would have been on a living crane.
Lord Tsuneyasu (Tomika's father, Arenro's brother, who we'd helped before) was in residence, and spied the librarian as he wandered the halls. He conferred with him, away from prying eyes and ears, and mostly confirmed what he already knew.
The librarian waylaid a guard and finagled his way inside. Such a clever man, the librarian. Finally, he called my retinue out, saying that he could go no farther by himself, and we'd have to fight in the rest of the way. Winter told Tadaki to change into sparrow form and he'd chase him down the corridor. Tadaki was uncertain of this plan but, in the end, complied.
(Again, this is compiled from the combined tales of my retinue, who were more or less obliging when I asked them to describe what had happened.)
Half of the twelve guards ran after the cat and the sparrow when they shot past them down the corridor. Then the rest of us, including the Thrykeen, engaged the six who were left, including Yashiro, the General who was in charge of keeping Akechi captive. We had some intelligence saying that Yashiro was being unwillingly controlled, so Haku was going to try to get him to swallow some of the true source.
Things happened very quickly right about then. The Thrykeen were effective in killing the minor guards, Yashiro opened several great wounds on Haku, and then Tadaki and Winter bust through the door at the end of the hallway--
--loosing into the corridor a fireball spell.
Several crisped guards (and singed retinue members) later, Tadaki and Winter were in the room with Akechi. They captured the guards and the wu jen who were in the room--evidently, Winter has some sort of ability to slow down time. So that's how he killed those three oni, a few days ago! A tricky, tricky man, that one.
Reiko, noting that Haku had just told a Thrykeen to open a door we knew for sure was trapped with another fireball, was running flat out towards the room at the end of the hall. She got caught in the outside edge of the next fireball, but ignored it, sliding to a halt in front of Akechi, her red kimono smoking. "Hi, Lord. Let's get out of here, okay?"
"It's good to see you too, Reiko."
Tadaki shouldered the captured wu jen, and they made their way back down the hallway.
Meanwhile, Haku was in the room that Yashiro had been guarding and that the Thrykeen had given his life to open, and was chopping to pieces a wooden table and the body that was suspended under it. I had to dig for details about that; Haku was remarkably unforthcoming. Evidently, they were making a simulacra of Akechi, to try and convince the world that he had joined Arenro and Hideyoshi. I shudder at the thought; the copy was less than a week from being done. What would it have done to us, to think that Akechi had joined the other side?
A near-miss, indeed.
A quick discussion ensued, since Panda had knocked the General unconscious with the flat of her blade and had fed him some of the true source, another portion of Hideyoshi's spirit flying into Tadaki's orb. Panda wanted to remove the crystal, but Reiko pointed out that removing the crystal was a piece of fairly delicate surgery, the crystal lying as it does beside the spine. "I can't do it in a hurry if we want him to be whole, and we don't have time, Panda!"
My samurai shook her head and said, "Fine. We'll leave him and hope for the best. Come on, I hear more guards coming."
Akechi asked, "Panda, where is Yukiko?"
She answered, "Safe, and close by. But, Lord, we must be gone. There will be time for explanations, soon."
Funitsu carved a hole in the air with the two wakizashis, and we all stepped through.
We arrived, a mile away from the palace, in th middle of one of those burned places that we'd seen from the air on our way in. Our luck was running quite typically, because the place we came out was at the feet of ten samurai.
Led by a General whose colors Panda recognized--General Kenichi. Who was, from Funitsu's intelligence, in charge of burning out the resistance in Tokyo itself. He called out, "Halt! Who are you?"
Panda stood straight. White hair scorched, wounded, soot on her face, still she fixed Kenichi with those black, black eyes and with a voice that rang out across the burned earth, proclaimed, "Panda. We have no quarrel with you. We are simply passing through. Let us pass. There is no need for more bloodshed today."
Long moments passed, as Panda and Kenichi's wills battled. And then Kenichi snarled. "Another day, then. Panda." And he reined up his horse and whirled, leading his battalion away.
A cheering rose up behind us. We whirled, and towards us were running a large crowd of peasants, all of them shouting Panda's name.
The samurai looked...remarkably disconcerted.
It turned out that Kenichi had taken his orders to burn out any resistance literally. We had happened upon the end of one of these burnings; they would surround a block with men and set it alight, killing any who tried to escape. A brutal but effective method of quelling rebellion. Haku told them to be on their way, and at that point all except Hiroshi (who had accidentally put himself to sleep with his own dart and had been recovering inside the mirror with me and Karasuko) went into the mirror, so Hiroshi and Gryphon could fly us back to the ship.
Karasuko and I were waiting in the entrance hall for my retinue's return. I had no idea if we'd been successful, and I fear I was pacing the hall. Karasuko's gasp told me to turn around.
And standing in the entrance hall was Akechi.
The world spun around me, and all I could do was stand and stare. And then he smiled, and my paralysis broke, and with a wordless cry I ran to him. Finally, finally back in his arms once more, I wept and laughed at once, my heart full to bursting. We clung to each other, both of us shaking. I murmured, "I thought I would never see you again."
And in a low voice, he answered, "And I thought I was dead for certain. But I am glad I am not." His arms tightened around me, and I looked up and saw that his eyes, too, were shining with tears.
I pressed my mouth to his, kissing him with all the passion of my uncertainty, my sorrow, my joy at seeing him again. And he returned it in kind, and at that moment I have never been so sure of the man I married.
We broke the kiss to find my retinue standing in a half-circle around us. Panda bowed and said, formally, "Lord, your request has been fulfilled."
He nodded. "As always, Panda, you are my most faithful warrior. And the rest of you, too, have evidently discharged your duty most admirably. We will have to discuss what comes next, but for the moment, I need an explanation of where we're going."
Funitsu said, "We're heading back to our ship, which is moored about sixty miles from here. We have much to tell you, Lord, and with luck we will have a few days in which to do it. I believe your good Lady has been keeping a record of our travels, which you may want to read."
He turned to me, eyebrows raised. "I was not aware you were a writer, Yukiko."
The smile on my lips was trembling. "I...found it a comfort."
The nine weeks we have been separated have changed both of us. Akechi looks years older than he did, new lines on his face and grey in his hair that wasn't there the day of the coronation. But the thing that has changed the most are his eyes. There's something different. Not unpleasing. Just different. An awareness of something that wasn't there, before.
We have both become different people in the last two months. But, perhaps, we have both changed for the better.
I can but hope.
Tonight, we sail for Miyazaki, the Clan Scorpion stronghold.
7/17/1583
at sea
We questioned Izumi, the wu jen who we stole from the Crane fortress, today. Evidently, she was assigned to discover the traitor within the Crane clan. "I wasn't very successful," she muttered. "Whoever it was was both well hidden and probably highly placed." I bit my tongue and didn't smile. Tomika's father is safe, at least for a little while longer.
Without the possession of the spirit, she seems to be amenable to helping us. Especially when we pointed out that since she had disappeared at the same time Akechi did, Arenro would assume that we had come for her at the same time, and she was the traitor within the Crane Clan. Which means that her life is likely forfeit, and if she's at all attached to living, she'll place herself under our protection. Plus, Funitsu and Tomika both being her superiors now, she's rather bound to obey them.
She, being a reasonable sort, did so.
We were all together on deck, and discussion turned to parents, for some reason. Someone asked Reiko about hers, and she shrugged. "I've never met my father, as far as I know, and I don't remember my mother. I wouldn't know her if I saw her on the street. I don't even know if she's still alive, she might not be."
Winter coughed. Reiko's eyes narrowed. "Do you know something I don't know?"
He refused to answer. Reiko, being afflicted with the curiosity of the fox, pressed him, and Winter finally told her to ask her "brainchild spirit" more about her sigils.
She rolled her eyes and said, "Tsuyoshi, do you know something you haven't told me, about my sigils?" A pause, her head tilted, listening. "Something about me being connected to the Demonbane?"
Another pause, this one longer. Then her soprano voice, very slow, very controlled. "Are you telling me...that the Demonbane...is my father?" She had gone very pale. "My immortality feeds his, doesn't it? Oh, dear kami." There were tears standing in her amber eyes.
Finally, she realized that we were all standing there, looking at her, and she said, "He has much to answer for." I remembered her story of what had happened to her at Akita and, silently, agreed.
Panda said, her voice wondering, "Doesn't that mean the Lady is your sister? And that you, um, married your brother?"
She blinked. "Half-sister and half-brother, respectively." Panda made a disgusted noise, and she said, "It was five centuries ago. Things were different back then. I didn't know he was my brother until this moment; somehow, it doesn't seem to make much difference. But to know that my most hated enemy is my father..." She was putting on a brave front, but I could see her hands trembling. This wound went to the bone.
Winter said, slowly, "It's worse than you think, kitsune."
"What could be worse?"
"What do kitsune legends say about the Demonbane?" Winter's voice was cracked but, somehow, merciless. I didn't see that he was enjoying this, but, for some reason, he thought it needed to be done.
She frowned in thought. "They say he is the bane of all demons but kitsune in particular. They say he is immune to our charms, and his appearance was once handsome but is now marred with scars, all over his body. The scars are long and straight, very obviously self-inflicted, and all over his arms, legs, and chest, with a few on his back. Each scar represents a kitsune he has killed, and there are several hundred of them. We abhor the idea of deliberately ruining beauty, and thus he becomes even more of a creature out of nightmare."
(I have seen those scars. Not for a moment did I imagine they were self-inflicted. The things I never suspected of my dearly loved father...)
Winter said, "Those scars are self-inflicted, yes. And each symbolizes a life. But it's not immortal lives he's counting, it's mortal ones. The lives of mortals his kitsune daughter has taken. He inflicts the pain she has caused on himself. He pays the price for her actions. She escapes the consequences, so he takes them for her."
Were it possible, I would say that the kitsune went even paler than she had been, all of the blood running out of her face. She swayed, as if in shock. Her wide eyes were fixed upon Winter's, and I could almost watch as her entire world came crashing in on her head.
The only kitsune in history to develop a conscience, and, now, the only one to ever know the pain of guilt. I feel somewhat sorry for her, poor thing. Though, knowing the number of people she has killed over the centuries, not that sorry.
Reiko disappeared, and I haven't seen her all afternoon or evening. I'm not sure where she's hiding herself, but eventually she'll come out of her sulk.
Funitsu, on the other hand, was very much in evidence, and I felt compelled to pull him aside and ask him what on earth he was brooding about. He said, "My sister, Lady. Who is calling herself Minaku, and who is married to our worst enemy."
Ah. I understood. "Perhaps she's not acting of her own free will. Perhaps she, too, is dominated by the spirit that resides in Arenro."
His voice was more bitter than I'd ever heard it before. "She did not appear on the list of those who have a piece of the spirit. I believe she is acting of her own free will. And it may happen that I have to kill her. My favorite sister. Everyone adored her, you know, and we all grieved terribly when she went missing."
I didn't know what you say. I reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Funitsu. It seems...a terrible form of loss."
His expression was distant, eyes scanning the horizon. "Did I tell you, she's making a bid to be Lady Soshi? She's evidently on her way down to try to convince Kaigen to hand his power over to her, since his mind is failing. Izumi told me that's why Arenro wasn't in Tokyo. We're likely to run into her, if we're in time."
I had no words to respond to that.
7/18/1583
at sea
Another day of sailing. We should be at Miyazaki on the 20th. I and Akechi have been immured for most of the day, talking over the events of the past few weeks. Panda has been sitting with us for most of that, adding her own recollections to mine, discussing strategies with Akechi. I realize that I have come to rely on Panda for her tactical mind as well as the strength of her sword; I will miss her sorely when we are parted.
And parted we will be. Akechi and I have decided that it's too dangerous to be wandering the world, now. He and I will shelter in Kyoto, on our ancestral estate. Once our son is born, we'll look at the situation and decide what to do. Perhaps we'll rejoin my--our--retinue. Perhaps some other situation will call us. We cannot know what the next two months will hold.
Oh, but it is good to have Akechi back with me. There has been so much that I haven't known about him, so many stories from his time looking for Skyhome that he hasn't ever told me.
He doesn't speak much of his time kept captive. I will be patient. Eventually, if he decides to tell me what happened...I will be here to hear.
7/19/1583
at sea. still.
As much as I empathize with both of them, the shaman and Funitsu wearing near-identical long faces is starting to grow tiresome. At least the shaman has been scarce today. I'm not sure how she manages to disappear on a ship, but I assume she has her ways. I did see Ito around; evidently, Reiko's trusting him enough to let him wander...or she has become so distracted she has forgotten to keep a close eye on the male kitsune.
I hope it is the first and not the second.
7/20/1583
Miyazaki
An extraordinary day, today.
We discussed how to approach Soshi Castle; Akechi said that he'd hidden the last part of the key to Skyhome in the place where Soshi Badayshi is buried--the prophet whose love letter contained a prophecy about Funitsu and the other clans. We entered the Shadow of the Scorpion, the cave system below the castle, and found Badayushi's grave.
Reiko was happily chattering away to various spirits she was seeing. She told Funitsu, "Badayushi's okay with you getting the key out of his grave. He says hi, by the way."
Funitsu gave the shaman a doubtful look, but opened the barrel that contained Badayushi's remains. The body was remarkably well-preserved, the air within the cave had desiccated the body rather than rotting it. He came up with two things--the third part of the key, and another of the wakizashis that cut holes in space and become tattoos when pressed to flesh.
Reiko now has the whole key to Skyhome. She looked down at it in her hand after the last piece was joined to it, and murmured, "How extraordinary."
The wakizashi was given to the librarian, and we continued upwards. As we approached the great hall, we could hear music--pompous music, in fact.
Coronation music.
As we ran into the hall, Funitsu in the lead, we could hear Kaigen's voice, slow and unsure, ringing out into the Hall. "I hereby transfer my position and power within the clan to--"
He raised his head as Funitsu burst in. Surprise widened his eyes, as he said, "Funitsu!"
Funitsu's heart stopped, just for a beat. His brother had just transferred the position of Lord Soshi. To him.
The scream from Minaku was quite impressive, I hear. Reiko murmured into Gryphon's ear. "You can eat Arenro, if you want." Gryphon, of course, bounded forward, towards Arenro.
Arenro, his face purple with rage at the victory that had just been stolen out from under his nose, snapped, "You are not meant to live--much longer!" And with that, a hole in the air opened behind him, and he and Minaku stepped through, disappearing out from under Gryphon's nose.
And so now our Funitsu is the Lord Soshi. How far we've come from the ragged little retinue we were nine weeks ago; now we have two people who are Lords in their own right, a librarian highly placed in the Black Hand, a Sparrow with extensive connections among the hengeyokai, a gryphon who, as it turns out, really is the Chosen One, and my seven-century-old half-sister. (Though that, honestly, is still surprising. And a little disturbing.)
Funitsu is obviously shaken, both at achieving a rank he never expected, and at seeing his beloved sister arm in arm with Arenro--and looking quite happy to be there.
After we spend a few days here, we'll be going back to Kyoto, where Akechi, Karasuko, Izumi, and I will stay for the time being, in the heart of Yashahiro's armies. So this will be my last entry documenting the adventures of myself and my retinue--for a while, at least. The Wheels of Heaven often turn in ways we do not expect, after all, and I would not be surprised to find myself among them once more, some day.
I find myself both glad that my adventuring days are over for the moment, and unexpectedly melancholy. For though I am glad beyond words to have Akechi back, I find that I will miss my retinue, who will be carrying this fight on without us. Stalwart Panda and brave Haku; Tadaki, a Sparrow to the very bone; my charming Funitsu and his arch yet somehow endearing bride Tomika; our enthusiastic Gryphon and our secretive librarian; even confused little Reiko, I'll miss, my poor torn sister. And I'll even miss the excitement and the danger of the road. I at last become a semi-competent sailor, and I'll be land-bound for the next while.
Haku, Funitsu, Tadaki, Hiroshi, and Gryphon will continue to travel and try to defeat Arenro, each for reasons of their own. Funitsu has asked Akechi if he can borrow Panda, and he's assented. Tomika has declared that she'll follow the retinue--and her husband. And Reiko, though she was torn, has decided to stay with the rest. Her heart is divided against itself, with the news that her most hated enemy is also the father she's never known. Our mutual father, who I always knew carried within him some great grief. But I never expected something like this, this demon child of his who, alone among her tribe, has a conscience. And can feel guilt.
I've told Tomika that she needs to write me on a regular basis to let me know what's going on. Reiko also volunteered herself to write me letters, surprisingly enough. I forget that kitsune are sentimental creatures who get attached to the humans they're around. The transition to thinking of her as my sister has been startlingly easy.
I will continue to keep my own records, though they may not be so interesting as they have been. And, soon, I will have a child to keep me busy; I find myself tired of being pregnant, though I know that the longer the child stays in the womb, the stronger it will be when it emerges.
We shall see, won't we? We shall see, indeed.
Quotes:
"Haku is like a violent Jesus."
(Kris, referring to Haku's habit of walking on water)
"Noooooobody expects the Japanese Inquisition!"
(Laura)
"It's a bird, it's a plane, it's...Mothra?"
(Bryan, during a discussion of whether a griffon flying over Tokyo would be too conspicuous. For some reason, going to Tokyo was the occasion for many bad, bad movie jokes.)
"Why are you prodding that dolphin, Graham?"
"If it didn't want it, it wouldn't be dressed like that."
(Bryan, Laura. Many quotes involving Graham are queries about something odd he's doing.)
"Naked her all you want, just don't take off her bonds!"
(Tadaki, expressing his preference for a tied-up Izumi)
"I'm not that smart, I'm not that stupid--thingie!"
(Laura, tripping over her tongue)
"I'm going to kill you."
"I can run faster than you can."
(Laura and Graham)
(Play date: 8/1/2004)