From Lady Yukiko's Journal
June 4th, 1583
I have not been myself recently. Usually strong and able to make decisions, I can't. The death of my husband weighed on me heavily but now, I found that he could be alive, but in body only. His mind gone from the time that the old emperor tried to kill himself, something changed inside me that day as well. I feel like the child inside is taking on a life of his own. His mind is starting to overwhelm me. I can hear his thoughts, but they are not the thoughts of a child. I sometimes feel like I should find a way to terminate this child but I can't give up a piece of Akechi, not this soon after he was taken from me. For now the child sleeps and I am alone for the first time in awhile with my thoughts.
My mind, as usual, turns to thoughts of Akechi. It was so unusual, to find that the man my family had given me to was a strong and kind one that I could love. And his choices of companions were good, very good. They though are a bit naïve about the world, I fear. Watanabe was bad from the beginning, but they continued to try and keep him alive, even after he threatened to kill them. I like them very much and in time, they will make a formidable fighting force but today was another narrow escape in a world of narrow escapes. I fear also that we may have destroyed our only chance of getting Akechi back again. It drove the spirits from our bodies and freed our minds from the effects of whatever had driven Akechi and Hideyoshi mad. But we destroyed the source of the water that Watanabe brewed into the cure. We may be the only ones destined to free of this.
But, to what happened yesterday and today...
It a fine thing, to go sailing on a ship. I have never been on a merchant vessel before and I found myself enjoying it. When I came from my childhood home in Hokkaido to marry my lord, I was on one of my father's ships, and I was not let out of the hold for the entire four days of the journey. To ride the waves with the salt spray in one's face must be one of the most marvelous things known to humankind.
We spent some time talking to General Yasahiro, who we liberated from the mind control that the General Hideyoshi had placed him under. I am growing more and more cross with Hideyoshi, the more I learn what he has done over the past few weeks. He was never one of my favorites among my husband's compatriots, and now I am glad that I am undertaking both wu jen training and fighting with the sword, so that should I meet Hideyoshi sometime soon I can more competently run him through.
Perhaps this would be awkward while I am still pregnant, however. I grow more ungainly as the days pass, much to my chagrin. Reiko assures me that it is expected, and that every pregnant woman she has known has been heartily tired of being so by the time their child is delivered.
Yasahiro was describing a screaming sound that was happening in his head, and Reiko examined the back of his head to discover that he had a small wound in the back of his neck. She opened the wound and carefully probed with a small knife, exclaiming that there was something in there--and we could all suddenly hear the most hideous screaming noise. She quickly dug what looked to be a shard of crystal out of his neck and threw it overboard, and the screaming abated. Yasahiro said that the screaming was fading from his head, as well, which meant that Reiko had gotten out whatever it was that was causing it. She insisted on bandaging his head, even though he said she should let it bleed.
Yasahiro had only agreed to talk to us on the condition that Panda would be his second at seppuku. Panda agreed, and he told us that Hideyoshi had gathered to him many generals, some we know but most we do not. One we do know is about to lay siege to Akechi's childhood home, Kyoto, with orders to kill every man, woman, and child in the city.
I was shocked. Not only is it dishonorable to simply slaughter an entire city, it goes against everything I know is taught to men who are to become warlords! A populace that knows it will simply be killed will mount a far more passionate defense than when it knows that it will merely have a change of rulership.
The general ordered to attack Kyoto is General Nakasuru. The only other general that Yasahiro knew about was General Omura, who is based in Yokohama, close to Mt. Fuji, where we were traveling to.
We talked Yasahiro out of committing seppuku and instead into attempting to regain his honor by helping defend Kyoto. A death in battle is always a better death, to my mind.
Masumoto, the good merchant who owns the ship we are traveling on, dropped us off about thirty kilometers from the base of Mt. Fuji. Reiko insisted that one of her spirits (a gaijin, she says! She claims that gaijin must be human, since they have spirits. Such blasphemy!) was insisting that she go up Mt. Fuji. On the way, we found a shipwreck, evidently a gaijin vessel. We gathered about twenty-five potions of various kinds and a wakisashi that can cut holes in space. Very useful, that is. (For those who do not travel with samurai, a wakisashi is their secondary sword, shorter than a katana and in some ways more wicked.)
We traveled for a while, until we came to an abandoned monastery and stopped to rest. It appeared that the monastery had been hastily abandoned, for some reason. Griffon said there was nothing there but rats, and offered to bring us some back. Reiko took some time to attempt to explain the subtleties of what humans do and do not eat. I am not certain that Griffon truly understood. He may be good luck, but he is exceedingly uncivilized.
Fortunately, Funitsu took it upon himself to entertain me with stories, seeing that all the rest were distracted. I do like that man, even if I do not quite trust his motives on occasion. The Scorpion clan will greet you with a smile while they are holding a knife behind their backs. But I trust my husband's judgment about people, and so far Funitsu has served us well.
Griffon scented men coming down the mountain, and Panda and I hid while Funitsu and Haku went to greet the men, who were also Scorpion Clan. The leader of the three men was the samurai Muriko, who offered to take us back to the lord who lived on the mountain, named Lord Watanabe. Funitsu, after satisfying himself of the authenticity of this samurai, called the rest of us over. Remembering that I am supposed to be Funitsu's wife, I draped myself on his arm and acted in all ways wifely. I made a silent apology to Akechi, wherever he may be.
We went up to a fortified monastery that was serving as Watanabe's home. The samurai was very gracious when he saw I was pregnant and allowed me to ride on his horse the rest of the way. When we arrived, Muriko said Lord Watanabe was busy and would dine with us, but we would not see him before then. Haku took me down to the arms-yard and we drilled, my sword against his bladed pike. The rest scattered--Funitsu, Griffon, and Reiko went for a walk up the mountain, and Panda and the librarian disappeared somewhere, probably to check on the fortifications. I do not know where Tadaki went. I believe the years he spent with Arenro have destroyed his nerves, poor thing. He was muttering about escape routes as he wandered away. I do not know who is more mad, him or Reiko.
On second thought, Reiko is definitely the more mad of the two.
When we came back together, just before dinner was served, a sobering tale was pieced together from the bits that each person had seen. Reiko and Funitsu said that there had been some steam vents that smelled suspiciously like burning hair, the snow around them stained with what smelled like blood. The librarian said that a man was following Muriko around, one that might be some sort of spy.
Tadaki had by far the most disturbing tale. He told of a cavern in the volcano where gaijin were tied up and treated as cattle, having their throats slit and their bodies used to make a red liquid that was put into small vessels with needles on them...needles that would make wounds such as all of us had on our bodies. While the gaijin are not, precisely, people, it was still a quite frightening thought to think that it was their bodies that might be protecting us from mental commands. He also said that a man in an extravagant Scorpion mask seemed to be in charge, and he assumed it was Lord Watanabe.
Just then we were called in to dinner. Watanabe was not there yet, so Haku volunteered to be the taster and Reiko cast a spell to allow her to detect poison. I had to correct poor Haku on the matter of etiquette before us, telling him that ones does not, even in a Scorpion house, insult one's host by using a taster. Reiko would have to do. Halfway through the meal Watanabe came in, masked with, yes, a fanciful Scorpion mask that hid his whole face. Watanabe seemed to be as mad as Reiko. He came in and told the servants not to serve Tadaki bird's nest soup, and told Reiko that she had altogether too many people in her head. He asked Funitsu what we were doing here, and without waiting for the reply told the librarian, "You won't be able to kill me." Funitsu, a courtier to the bone, told Watanabe a pretty half-truth about why we were here. The Lord said that he thought he recognized Funitsu from Akechi's retinue, and said that Akechi had told him to make a cure for Crane mind control, which is what he was doing living on top of this volcano. He then started saying things that made little sense, like that Akechi had two spirits, one of which was alive and one that was dead, and that Hideyoshi had many, many spirits controlling him. Reiko tried to get more information out of him but made little headway. Watanabe kept saying that he was going to have to kill us all, for we now knew too much. He did not seem to be in any hurry to actually kill us, however.
I recognized the truth of what Watanabe was saying, as confused as he sounded about it. Akechi had indeed been taken over, I could tell from the way he acted. But the question remains, who--or what--has taken him over? And how can we free him from it?
I saw Panda give a little start and glance up into the balcony of the hall. Suddenly, confusion broke out and the librarian pulled me under the table. I saw Griffon slipping up towards Hideyoshi's ankles, and Tadaki's feet as he ran from the room. As Panda and Haku overturned the table I was hiding under and we retreated from the room, I saw that Watanabe had been struck by four darts, certainly poisoned.
Reiko and Tadaki were discussing escape routes, and Reiko said that her gaijin spirit was pointing in the same general direction as the place where Tadaki had said he'd seen them rendering bodies. Since the only other way out was out the front, we opted for the back door.
The rendering cave was a most unpleasant place. I feel ill remembering it, now. But Reiko led us by the fires and down into the mountain, taking twisting passageways, seeming to be very sure of where she was going. She said her spirit was pointing the way. The rest did not seem to believe her, but followed her anyway, perhaps because she was taking twists and turns that would foil any ordinary tracker and give us more time to escape.
We came to the shore of a small lake that smelled a bit like unfermented wine. Reiko said her gaijin spirit was directing her to drink, and so she did. Griffon drank too, and Haku rapped him on the beak, as if he were a puppy that was being bad. The griffon isn't tame, which Haku forgot for a moment, and bit him rather badly in return. Funitsu also drank, seemingly in the spirit of experimentation. All who drank started having red fluid trickle from the puncture mark all of us have had on our arms. We could not decide if that was bad or good.
Just then, Watanabe, Muriko, and a man none of us had seen before arrived. The one we hadn't met was General Omura, which led to some confused speculation as to who, exactly, Watanabe was loyal to.
Watanabe asked, "How did you find this place? Now I really am going to have to kill you. Well, I was going to have to kill you before. But now I'll have to be sure of it."
Reiko said, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Watanabe glowered at her, and she shrugged delicately and said "One of my spirits is a gaijin, and she died here."
"One of your ancestors is a gaijin? You're right, I don't believe you." He put his hand in his pocket, and Muriko drew his sword.
Reiko sighed and said that nobody believed that she had a gaijin ancestor. Then she asked, brightly, as if she didn't have two warriors and a shugenja facing her down, ready to kill her, "Do you speak English, Lord Watanabe?"
The lord seemed a bit taken aback, but said, "A little. Why."
"Zhane keeps on saying something about this place. She's saying a word that sounds like 'sawrsse'. Any idea what that means?"
"Maybe you do have a gaijin ancestor. It means 'source' and it's the thing my operation up there is imitating. We use this water as the base for it, as a matter of fact. Only mine makes you immune to all Crane magic...except my own. Clever, no? I rather liked it." I saw Panda turn pale--paler--and quickly gulp down the flask of late water she'd filled before the men had arrived.
Reiko kept on talking, seeming to try to distract the lord for a while longer. But Watanabe said, "I really am going to have to kill you. You know far too much." He threw a canny look at Funitsu and said, "And did you really believe that I wouldn't recognize the Empress here?" He pulled his hand out of his pocket, and in it was an orb, glowing blue. Griffon launched himself again at Watanabe's ankle, crying "No kill roasty lady!" Watanabe, annoyed, kicked at Griffon.
Then the most extraordinary thing happened. Muriko's sword flashed out and cut Watanabe's arm off, which tumbled trough the air. Tadaki caught the orb and freed it from Watanabe's severed arm. He had a brief conversation with the orb, when he seemed to say something about not having learned how to do something yet. Then he raised his hands and a flash of light traveled from his hands to Watanabe. Muriko screamed at us, "Get out!" and his sword flashed again, Watanabe's head coming away from his shoulders.
Reiko, abandoning her posture of uncaring, grabbed my hand and waded into the water. Haku had been busy opening a hole in the bottom of the lake, and it was swiftly draining. I drank, having seen Panda do so, and then we were being washed down the hillside, turning end over end down the volcano.
After we had picked ourselves up and Reiko had checked me over very carefully and pronounced me and my child sound, Panda told us that Muriko had told her that we should go see Hirohito, in Hiroshima. My heart sank. Hirohito is not one of my favorite people--and I am not one of his. My husband's brother is an isolationist, not particularly pleasant, and I can only hope that he will accept us with open arms and not with closed doors.
Reiko, her hands on my belly, gave me an odd look. "Your child has a very strong spirit. Extraordinarily strong. I do not usually sense the spirits of the living, but this...did you know of this?"
I could only nod. The shaman shook her head, not seeming to know what to make of it.
We traveled back down to the abandoned monastery that we had passed before. The structure is somewhat sound, though there are holes in the roof, and we did find some mostly-intact bedding in the cupboards. And here we will spend the night, and we will meet Masumoto tomorrow and sail to Hiroshima.
And tomorrow, I must once again pretend that the heartache I feel has fallen away. I fear it may be a river that is never ending.
Yukiko
(a slip of paper in a hand that's not Yukiko's, evidently an inventory of some sort
8 cure lights
2 red fire balls
1 speak with dead
2 rain of needles
3 lightning blade
5 yari of air
Later that night...
Reiko woke, shivering. She was curled up in a blanket in the abandoned monastery they'd found on the way down the volcano. The room they were sleeping in, though it was the most intact of the ones they'd found, had holes in the roof that she could see stars through. She wriggled around until she was lying on her stomach, her chin propped on her hand.
Her spirits for once were almost silent, only murmurs coming from them. They seemed to be asleep, as well. She could hear Grandmother Lin snoring gently in the corner and see her fellow travelers as dark lumps in the glow of the embers of the fire. She listened to Panda shift her weight from foot to foot, keeping watch just outside the room. She thought about the last few days, when her life had yet again changed completely without warning. Just like the day she'd been apprenticed to Sar-i, like what she supposed the day had been like when she'd been left on the doorstep of the okiya. She wondered yet again who her real parents were, and why she'd been left. She had probably been a surplus girl child from some poor family, given up when life got difficult. She'd often fancied that her parents were some figures out of myth, perhaps Spirit Folk, perhaps hengeyoki, but she knew that she'd have shown signs of either of those by this time were she one.
Human, that's all. No need for fancies, just a human with ancestors who insist on getting their own way. She had finally managed to make Zhane happy, which meant that her nights might become a little more peaceful without the gaijin's spirit's incomprehensible mutterings.
She wasn't sure about the rest of the people she was with. Of them all, she rather thought she liked the griffon the best. The rest seemed to think she was crazy, just like everyone always did. I really ought to be used to it by now but...it still hurts. Though I'll never let on. She had seen a new look of respect in Panda's eyes after Zhane had led them to the source today, though. Perhaps at least she was starting to believe that her spirits were real.
Funitsu, who was sleeping near her, muttered and turned over in his sleep. Snobby thing. Needs to be taken down three or four pegs, I think. Just because you're born noble doesn't give you the right to look down on the rest of us. You're going to have to get your hands dirty sooner or later, I can't be the only one of us with healing. She thought about this, chewing on her thumbnail. And maybe if I give you enough rope, you'll manage to trip yourself up. Wouldn't that be a fine thing? She smiled at this, the thought warming her briefly. Brrr. Even in the summer, the nights are cold. And while I don't think any of our male companions would mind me curling up with them, somehow...I should probably think before I do that, for once in my life.
She pulled her legs up under her, raising herself to a seated position and pulling her knees to her chest. She rested her chin on her knees and sighed quietly. Another long night. Suppose I ought to go keep Panda company, if I'm not going to sleep. Then she felt the pressure of a gaze on her and lifted her head, looking around.
Griffon was curled up away from the fire, near the wall. His bright black eyes were open and looking at her. He opened his beak and made a soft sound that was halfway between a trill and a purr. It almost seemed to be...an invitation? Griffon tilted his head, regarding her.
She rose to her feet, pulling her blanket around her shoulders, and picked her way over to the griffon, stepping over her slumbering companions. She crouched beside him, hesitantly reaching out a hand. "What do you want?" she asked softly.
He looked up at her and made that odd noise again, and pushed his head against her hand. "Sleep."
Reiko scratched his ruff. "All right, then." She curled up against the griffon, pulling her blanket around her and throwing part of it over him. His warmth spread through her and she breathed in his scent, a combination of dusty bird and musky cat. Her own breath fell in with the rhythm of his as she relaxed against him.
She didn't even notice when she slipped from waking into her dreams, where voices muttered but, mercifully, neither shouted nor screamed this night. And the griffon's eyes drifted closed as well, and he wandered off into dreams filled with wings and air currents and an island floating in the sky.
Quotes:
Laura: "What in the hell?"
Graham: "What? Fish!"
"That's the trouble with Mount Doom. All the goddamned ninjas."
"Maybe it's replacing the stuff made from condensed gaijin with something better."
"Maybe if my Aunt Fujitsu had balls, she'd be my uncle."
"I had a d20, where did it go?"
"You stuck it in my pants. I don't know what happened to it after that."
"I'm missing a couple of d20s, too..."
"Cavity search!"
(Kris meeps)
"I'm quaffing a potion."
"I thought you said you were coiffing a potion. Next thing you know, you'll be jujjing!"
"You are not Watanabe. Who are you?"
"I am your master."
"Ooookay. You've got to be better than dipshit over there. Okay, what are we doing?"
"Getting rid of dipshit!"
"You're going to have to cast a spell."
"Umm...I don't know how..."
"Why not?"
"I haven't learned how yet."
"My new master is...a peon. Great. All right. First level it is..."