From Lady Yukiko's Journal
6/7/1583I have not decided if the pleasure of landing on shore is greater or lesser than the pleasure of the sea voyage itself. I have to admit that it is quite a fine thing, to come off the rocking ship onto land that does not move under one's feet. Fortunately, I have more sea voyages yet to ponder these two pleasures, and the contrast between them.
I must admit to having my doubts about our shaman. Evidently, while the rest of us were sleeping last night, Reiko went for a walk around the deck of the ship--stark naked, raving in that tongue she claims one of her spirits speaks. Funitsu said that he stopped her from throwing herself off the ship. She was, evidently, walking in her sleep--but who shouts in a language they claim not to understand in their sleep?
Today, she refused to answer gentle questioning about the incident. She was even quite rude to me, looking angry and stalking off when I tried to work my way around to the subject. Childish, very childish. I suspect that she was the pet of the okiya that she was raised in, and thus never quite learned proper manners.
Captain Masumoto has now taken to locking Reiko in her cabin at night, and the griffin has agreed to be her chaperone in case she attempts to harm herself again. And she seems to be somewhat snappish around Funitsu; I have been assured that he conducted himself as an utmost gentleman, in accordance with his station, but the shaman appears to be offended that he touched her at all, even to save her life. That's odd, knowing what I know about her habits. I'd expected her to seduce one of her companions already, or even one of the crew of the ship, but she is keeping strictly to herself.
We landed in the early evening today in Hiroshima, and were met by an honor guard sent by my brother-in-law, Lord Hirohito. We were puzzled as to how he had known we were coming, given that we were traveling incognito, but it as later explained that there had been messengers sent once Hideyoshi had discerned which ship had left and not come back after the confusion during the coup.
Ah, the child is restless tonight. I have tried singing to him, in case he can hear me, but I can feel his attention turned elsewhere. When I have my mind to myself, I sometimes shiver at the thought of what I might be carrying within me. He drums his feet restlessly, and as the days pass I have less and less peace.
I and my company were escorted to Hirohito's palace, very pleasingly built in the Imperial style. I have never been here; Hirohito never encouraged visitors to his home, and the few times I have met him he traveled to see us. We were bathed and dressed in fresh clothing; what a wonder it is to feel clean after so many days of not having any chance to bathe! I have never appreciated a bath quite so much, even on the days when I was practicing with the sword.
Panda, of course, accompanied me, never leaving my side. What a comfort this warrior is to me. Of course I feel affection for Haku, but he is quite excitable (and the shaman often needles him into argument, along with Tadaki). Panda's cool head has carried her far in my Lord's service, and will carry her farther still in mine, should the gods be willing.
After bathing and resting, and having all of our weapons peace-bonded, we joined Hirohito for tea. Afterwards, he invited us out into his gardens, telling us he would speak to us of our current dilemma after he had shown us something.
In the center of his garden was a dead cherry tree; the sort of thing that is promptly removed in any well-tended garden. The Lord put down a small stone and warned us not to stray too far from it, lest our conversation be overheard. He said, "This tree died at the beginning of spring. Ordinarily, it would have been removed, but about that time I learned of some of Hideyoshi's plotting, and ordered it kept. I have named the tree Hideyoshi, and each branch represents a task that must be accomplished to bring him down. This is what I present to you. You would not so much be entering my service as working towards the same goals as I."
We asked many questions, and Hirohito was forthcoming with answers--too forthcoming, I feel. I know he has secrets; the easy way he told us truths makes me suspicious that there is much he is not telling us.
My husband is still alive, for one! There were three spirits that were released with Nobunga's death, all of them seem to be in opposition somehow to the other two. It is thought that in one body, the spirits kept each other in balance, but now that they are residing in Akechi, Hideyoshi, and Arenro, they are no longer in balance and wish to destroy each other.
The spirit that resides in Akechi has split in two, and one half resides within our child. That is why Hideyoshi has not killed my Lord; were he to kill Akechi, the spirit that resides within him would merely join its other half and nothing at all would be accomplished. He must destroy both halves if he is to accomplish his goals.
And this is why Hideyoshi has ordered every person of my husband's family to be killed, down to the last babe. He wishes to take no chances that the spirit could flee to another member of his family.
And, so, we are to stop, or at least slow down, the takeover of Kyoto, and get as many members of my family to safety as we can.
He also knows more about us than he ought, including information that among us only I am privy to. He mentioned that the nonhumans among us should seek out allies among our races, if we can--he named Spirit Folk, hengeyokai, kitsune, and griffons, in particular. I know Panda is spirit folk and Tadaki is hengeyokai (though no others know, and it's harmless enough), and Griffon is obvious. But the news that one among us is a kitsune is, though not exactly startling, interesting news indeed.
Kitsune are the spirit foxes, who take the form of beautiful women. They are very seductive, capricious, and make very good friends and very, very bad enemies. They are both admired and feared. They are fond of physical pleasure, and to be the lover of a kitsune is, supposedly, more intense than many can handle. I believe this is what Reiko is, though she seems to be entirely ignorant of it. It matches her behavior so long as I've known her almost exactly. I am keeping this suspicion to myself, as I do not think she would believe me if I told her. I overheard a conversation between her and Hirohito's shaman that gave me more fuel for my suspicions.
Poor Panda. When honor and loyalty collide, she'll have to make a decision--which action is the most correct one? Funitsu, being a Scorpion, knows the ways and means of gathering information that have been my domains ever since I was very small, learning the art of knowing everything that's going around you at my mother's knee.
Tomorrow, we sail for Kyoto. Tadaki suggested that we travel, when we're on land, as a theater troupe; everyone seemed to think that this would be the least conspicuous way for a group as widely varies as ours to travel. Hirohito will provide us with a fast ship, one that is in the gaijin style, and that is less known than the flying Dragon, Masumoto's ship. He'll also give us equipment and money, which is needed as we fled the palace with not much more than the clothes on our backs. The librarian has borrowed some books on English, in an attempt to learn to speak the tongue of the spirit that seems to be taking Reiko over while she sleeps.
I must think on what I have learned. Surely, somehow, there is a way to get my husband back! Now I know for certain that he is alive, I have stopped grieving him and simply miss him terribly.
Soon, says the child within me. Soon.
6/8/1583
Hirohito showed us how to get in and out of his palace without being seen--a key that gives the holder and whatever she is holding on to the ability to move into another plane for a few minutes, passing through solid walls as if they were not there. The cherry tree that had died was tended by a dryad, and when she died (a peaceful death, it sounds like; simply old age) the key was found on her body, thus explaining how she got in and out of the palace to tend her cherry tree.
He gave us each a pouch containing enough money to keep us a while, and Panda some extra. He told us that the ship he had outfitted for us was waiting in the harbor, and the korobokuru Thomas (outlandish name, so difficult to pronounce properly!) would be waiting for us, as our guide. We decided, amongst ourselves, that on the ship Panda would be the captain and Funitsu the first mate; it seems that we all have much to learn about ships. Including myself--I am determined to do my share of what needs to be done, as I can.
There was a tunnel beneath the cherry tree that led to a secluded section of the harbor, where the ship was waiting. The ship itself looks very odd to my eyes--it is something called a three-masted sloop, called, in English, the Benevolent.
As we met Thomas and he told us this, Reiko was standing with an odd look on her face. The librarian nudged her. She shook her head and said, "Zhane just started laughing and laughing...I'm not sure why."
Thomas showed us downstairs, to a place where an nezumi--a ratfolk--was being kept in a cage. He evidently had looked a lot more human three days before, when they had rescued him from somewhere around Kyoto. On a hunch, we gave him a drink of the water from the source that we still have with us, and he turned back into a human.
Thomas said that there are two wu jen who are working in Kyoto. One is sitting at a mountain pass, and turning dead souls into shadows, spirits who are neither alive nor dead but somewhere in between, mindless and forever hungry. The other is at the north, near the beach, turning people into ratfolk like the poor soul on this ship. Both are minor Crane nobles. If we unblocked the pass, people could flee the city on foot, and if we freed the beach, they could leave in boats.
We chose the pass, as it was a day closer. So to Kyoto we sail, making good headway. We should be there tomorrow.
The korobokuru is proving to be most entertaining. Such stories! I must write some of them down.
6/9/1583
Excitement this morning in the form of being attacked by shadows as we rose from our beds. Reiko affixed them with a stern look and some fled from her, and the rest were relatively quickly dispatched by the warriors among us. We searched the ship but didn't find anything; a look through our spyglass revealed a slight magical glow on the beach behind us.
I believe Panda has discovered that Tadaki is hengeyokai. She went to investigate why he wasn't in his room even though it wasn't locked from the inside, and found that he'd collected magical coins that exploded when darkness covered them from the place where we'd seen the glow and from several more places down the beach. He said that there were pots arranged around the coins that seemed to contain shadows; and when darkness fell, they exploded and the shadows were released. It was a trap meant to delay or slaughter the occupants of all of the boats who came along this way, it seemed.
Griffon swam to the beach and destroyed all the pots and their contents, catching up with us a few miles down the coastline.
When Panda returned to me, she asked me quietly, "Did you know that Tadaki has another form?"
"My husband told me, though I have not seen it myself. They often choose not to reveal themselves, the shapeshifters. When he grows more comfortable with us, perhaps he will not be so secretive."
"It is a tactical advantage, to have a Winged One among us."
"Particularly a spellcaster. Which is why Hirohito wouldn't allow us to leave him behind. We will need him, I think. As we will need the rest."
"Even an archivist?"
"Did you not see how he fights? Think on that, Panda, and think that not all warriors wear armor."
She looked at me with those dark eyes that are thinking, always thinking, but spoke no more.
We landed and began walking. Haku saw something lurking behind a rock--more ratfolk. After a short but fierce battle in which Funitsu was most useful, we had one badly wounded ratfolk and one asleep, which we tied securely. The librarian went off somewhere, and Funitsu attempted to bandage the wounded one's wounds--and only succeeded in making things worse.
Reiko took over, grumbling something about "Useless, you see? Completely useless. Stop bugging me. I said, stop!" She is a strange girl.
We turned the sleeping ratfolk back into a human by using the source water. She had been a local farmer who had been captured and turned into nezumi by the wu jen who lives here. they were told to explore the tunnels inside the mountain. They had found this exit, and were guarding it, reluctant to go back inside.
She told us about the wu jen, who is named Tomika. After describing her daily routine, the former ratling told us about a tunnel that the rats were forbidden to go, as it was on the verge of collapse. In her opinion, however, it looked sturdy enough.
We looked in the tunnel and the librarian strolled out. He'd been off exploring, and told us that the tunnels were relatively clear, this far down.
We elected to go look at the place Tomika had forbidden, as it was there we hoped to learn some of her secrets.
Through the tunnels we went, to a place that did, indeed, appear as if it were falling down. Through there, to a door, which had the symbols for flame, water, iron, and steel on it. Griffon told us that there was only one person who had come through here recently, and it was female. We assumed it was the wu jen.
A bit of puzzlement and the correct symbols were touched--iron, water, steel--and the door did not so much open as rust away. And in we went.
It seemed to be an old korobokuru workshop, abandoned with works half-finished. There were statues of strange gods standing along the walls, and in the back, a door.
Behind that door was a subtle nightmare.
Thousands of the same sorts of pots we'd seen on the beaches were stacked against the walls--as well as a large number of those exploding coins that Tadaki had found. Reiko could spend no more than a few seconds in the room before stumbling out, her hands over her ears, listening to screaming none of the rest of us could hear. We removed the coins from the room and closed and wedged shut the door, as if the wu jen caught us in here, we did not wish her to be able to use the shadows against us.
Thousands of souls, thousands of people turned into shadows. The child within me could feel them, I believe, and I could feel an anger rising in him as he turned somersaults within me.
We lay an ambush for the wu jen, who we knew would return sooner or later. The fight, once she arrived, was brief but decisive. I am pleased with how well my retinue is beginning to work together on the battlefield. They are coming along as a fighting unit.
We rendered Tomiko unconscious, and Reiko exclaimed that she had something magical embedded in her right breast. She unwrapped a small, very sharp knife, opening a small, well-healed scar, as I and some of the others shuddered in disgust. She retrieved from the wound a small glass vial, capped at both ends, with swirling darkness within it. "Shadows."
After Tomiko was revived, the first thing she did was to look at Funitsu and say, "If you kill me, there will be clan war. I am a noble of the Crane house. If I die, my clan will know who did it, and they will hunt down and exterminate every single Scorpion, down to the last."
Funitsu asked, "And how will they know, then?"
"Each one of us is trained from childhood to be able to send small messages with our minds. My family already knows that I have fallen into Scorpion hands. My dying thought will be of you, and then open war shall be declared. Kill me and your family will fall into ruin."
Funitsu stood, thinking about this. Reiko asked her about the vial, and confirmed that it allowed her to control the shadows--but only if it was implanted in her body.
The shaman looked at the bloody vial in her hand, considering. "It would be useful to have one of us be able to control the shadows..."
Funitsu raised an eyebrow. "And who's going to volunteer? You?"
"I will, if nobody else."
"You couldn't stand being in the same room with the shadows. How could you deal with having them inside of you?"
Her yellow eyes narrowed. "I can deal with more than you think--ow, ow, hey ow! Stop!" She batted at something invisible near her head. Then she hung her head as if she were a small child being scolded. "All right, Grandmother. All right. No, I'm not volunteering."
We elected to lay aside the question of both the Crane and the vial for the moment, while we destroyed the shadows in the sunlight. Now we're done with that, and have returned to the ship, Tomika our prisoner in the hold. I don't like the looks that Panda is throwing her. My samurai would never do anything rash, but if she thinks this wu jen is a danger to me, she will not hesitate to kill her and doom most of Funitsu's family to die. We are discussing our next move, but have not yet come to any conclusions.
There is one more wu jen out there. Without their sorcerers, perhaps the army attacking Kyoto will feel the need to withdraw for a bit. We can only hope.
quotes:
"Tadaki is a geek!"
"I'm a wu jen. That's what we do!"
"Does your sorcerer need an apprentice? We have one to spare. This one doesn't like adventures."
"No. "
"Do you have a red shirt you can equip him with?"