From Lady Yukiko's Journal
6/9/1583late evening
Funitsu's engaged.
To Tomika. Yes, the wu jen who is currently our prisoner.
He explained it to me, and though I have to admit that it sounds plausible, it's a twist only a Scorpion would have thought of. It doesn't change the fact that we're keeping her hands bound and her spellbooks away from her.
This way, she gets to live, war between the Crane and the Scorpion becomes less of a probability since she's marrying into his clan and thus becomes officially a Scorpion, and if we have to kill her later it becomes a domestic dispute rather than an act of war.
Very reasonable.
I don't have to like it, however.
Quite put out tonight.
We're crossing the mountains between here and Kyoto on horseback and sending the ship around to meet us in a few days. It'll take less time going overland, and we have a better chance of approaching Kyoto unseen this way.
And, yes, we're taking Tomika with us.
6/10/1583
Uneventful traveling today. We started the morning by destroying Tomika's cache of shadows--Haku was good enough to bleed so he could order them out into the sunlight, where they perished. Reiko was arguing that we could use the shadows to take care of the army approaching Kyoto, but she was vetoed.
Ach, my back aches horribly, and the child has been kicking me in some very tender places. No matter.
I wonder what the matter with Reiko is? She is muttering in her sleep, and clutching her head as if it hurts her. I hope she is not ill; our healer becoming ill is about the last thing we need at the moment.
The librarian sent a boy off to make sure that Yasahiro's in Kyoto; we'll wait here for him to come back, then move into Kyoto tomorrow.
The lands we passed over are untenanted; it appears that crops were planted but nobody has been tending the fields. It pains me, to see the land I love treated so. These are our people, Akechi's and mine. We are the ones who were supposed to keep them safe. And now, war's come yet again.
Hush, child. We'll sleep soon.
6/11/1583
early morning
We're pausing for a moment to rest. There was a scuffle this morning when Griffon alerted the other two on watch to a person who, in his words, "smelled funny". Tadaki, ever paranoid, told Griffon to go eat her, which he did. Well, he bit her, anyway.
After sorting out the scuffle, it turned out that the woman was looking for Tadaki. (And not pleased that she'd been attacked out of the blue, but admitted some paranoia was probably justified on our part.) She then switched to a language I have rarely heard before but recognize as hengeyokai, appearing to spend some minutes on what I can only assume was an eloquent curse, from the tone of her voice. Tadaki appeared to apologize somewhat, and they spent a few more minutes talking.
Tadaki said that the woman's name was Mirayashi, and she was looking for him to invite him, and by extension us, to join their people in a refuge earby, a large cave. Also, he noted, these caves seemed to be quite extensive, running all the way into Kyoto. It might help us avoid what outlying patrols we might otherwise encounter from the army that was sweeping parallel to us towards Kyoto.
We healed the damage we'd done Mirayashi, and she led us to a large cave, filled with sparrows. Because I knew what Tadaki was, this didn't surprise me, but Reiko asked where Mirayashi's people were. She laughed and said, "These are my people!" and then called down one of the sparrows, who transformed into a young man, bowing deeply.
Reiko said, somewhat sharply, "And why didn't you tell us what you were, Tadaki?" He shrugged and replied that the hengeyokai did not want humans to know quite how entangled in their affairs they are.
We discussed sending some of the Sparrows to try and kill Nakasura, the general who is approaching Kyoto with his army, but it was decided that it as more important to kill the wu jen we were after, and going after Nakasura would probably not do much other than get some of Tadaki's people killed.
We're going to rest for another hour and wait for the librarian's runner to return and then move towards Kyoto.
6/10/1583
late evening
Despite the fact that there is an army bearing down on us, Yasahiro insisted that tonight, at least, we sleep in comfort. My hips thank him, a thousand times over. Not that the General needs to know a thing about my hips.
It is so odd--this city is so familiar, my home of the last six years, yet without Akechi here everything is strange. I keep catching myself thinking that Akechi is simply off visiting a neighboring province, and that he'll be home soon.
On our way to Kyoto, we discovered why the cave system was so extensive--there was another town swallowed by an earthquake before Kyoto was built. We passed any number of buildings in varying stage of decay, but when we came upon a temple that was nearly intact, we called a halt for a bit for something to eat and some exploration.
Inside the temple was a large sundial--funny place for a sundial, indeed. There were some dials that indicated a date; March 21st, 1463. Funitsu was playing with the dials, making it read May 27th of this year, and I heard the sound of my lord's voice, spaking with Funitsu. For a few days, I had successfully distracted myself from how much I missed my lord. The reminder was quite painful, compounded by the fact that the child chose that moment to stretch his legs, seemingly straight up into my lungs.
The child's thoughts grow louder. I worry about what will happen once he is born.
Funitsu changed the dials to read tomorrow, and the sounds of a battle rang through the room. Griffon started singing, and for some reason the dials changed themselves to a point three years in the future--July 11th, 1586. And in the room now rang the buzzes and screeches of Griffon speech.
Griffon said, "Grandfather! Telling everyone to leave Sky Home!" Reiko asked him where Sky Home was, and he replied, "Where I'm from!" and promptly burst into tears and ran out of the room.
I had no idea griffons could cry. This one does, at any rate.
Haku played with it, and heard a conversation about a creature being unable to be contained. Reiko asked if she could have a turn, and set the dials to about twenty years ago. A woman's voice, sad and beautiful, said, "We're going to have to give her up, I fear." Reiko looked a bit sad at that, and I remembered that she was a foundling in Edo.
She then set the dials to fifty years ago, and an old woman's voice rang out. "She's done it again, I'm going to have to wipe that memory. Poor Reiko. She never remembers." I glanced at Reiko, and saw that she had gone pale. I chuckled to myself. One more piece of evidence that our little shaman is a kitsune. Reiko set the dials to a century ago. The same old woman's voice. "She's got another lover. I wonder how long this is going to last."
Poor Reiko looked as confused as I've ever seen her, and left off playing with the dials and wandered away.
The librarian used the badge of office that Akechi had given him, and turned the dials to the day that Nobunga died. We listened to Akechi telling Hideyoshi that he was going to have to take his head, and then Hideyoshi's voice, more frightened than I have ever heard him--"My lord, there is something coming out of the body--"
Then the librarian said, "There's something here that's out of place. See?"
It was a piece of metal that was an odd shape, clinging to the metal of the dial by some odd force. The librarian and Funitsu puzzled over it for a while, until Reiko became impatient and pulled it off.
The piece of metal appeared to be a key of some sort, at least the part of a key that one would hold whle turning it. Around the stubby shaft was a piece of paper that had Akechi's seal on it and the words Sky Home. Reiko asked, "Do you know what this means, Lady?" I shook my head; the child's thoughts had suddenly become too loud for me to even think through. Reiko shrugged and dropped the key and the paper into her pocket. My lord had been here, which is why he knew what was coming, I'm assuming.
Two hours later, we were in Kyoto and found Yasahiro. We briefed him on the caverns and the sundial we found, both pieces of information that he seemed to think useful. We also mentioned that the shadow-making wu jen had been neutralized, and we were going to find and kill the one who is turning people into nezumi.
Yasahiro said that there was a man who was from Nakasura's army who had much information about the army approaching Kyoto, but he didn't know if he could be trusted. Panda said she'd had a vision of Nakasura's second-in-command plotting against him, and this seemed to confirm that her vision was indeed true. I'm impressed; I had no idea Panda was a visionary. I do not beleive it is a common gift even among Spirit Folk.
The man's name was Mia, and we requested to see him before we left. We came into the cell where he was being held. He greeted Funitsu with, "Lord," Panda with "Panda," and the librarian with, "Brother." (The librarian explained to Reiko, when she asked, that this person was a fellow archivist. Reiko, I think, almost believed him, but she's starting to catch on. I confess myself amused on occasion by her.) He had for us the news that Saran, Nakasura's second-in-command, has turned his heart against the general. When Kyoto is attacked, half of Nakasura's army will turn on the other half. I have to confess myself much cheered by this news; otherwise, Yasahiro's people were outnumbered almost seven to one.
Saran is planning to betray his lord, kill him, and then take his territory. I wish him much luck in that venture, though I know the odds of him succeeding are quite low.
Away we went to the cabin on the beach where the nezumi-creating wu jen was holed up. We discussed the advantages of stealth against simply walking up and knocking on the door, and since Tomika was Kasa's superior, we decided on the balls-first route, so to speak. Tomika also suggested that Griffon use the exploding coins to put holes in the hulls of the ships in the harbor. She said it was Funitsu's idea, of course, the minx. I find myself growing to like her despite myself. Perhaps she will be a curb on certian of Funitsu's excesses.
Griffon agreed to this plan, and away we walked, bold as anything, towards the cabin door. We were met by a pair of nezumi patrols who immediately gave way, recoginizing Tomika. I stayed outside, but i heard Kasa ask Tomika what she was doing there.
"Nothing. I came to bring these people here, who will now kill you. I'll be outside." And she stepped out, closing the door behind her.
I looked at her, and she was sighing with satisfaction. She said, to nobody in particular, "Do you know how long I've been waiting to tell that filthy peasant that?" We waited together in silence, listneing to the sounds of battle coming from within the cabin.
When the sounds abruptly ceased, Tomika opened the door and peeked inside. There was Kasa, dead, apparently from a massive blow from Haku. All of my retinue were in some disrepair, and Tadaki was unconcious, Funitsu bending over him and using a healing spell. I looked around, realizing that one was missing. "Where's Reiko?"
Panda pointed to a heap of cloth on the floor that resembled the clothing that Reiko had been wearing. The librarian knelt, pulling aside some of the cloth--
--and curled in a circle was a small black fox, the tip of its one tail silver as moonlight. And quite dead.
Kitsune, like hengeyokai, revert to their fox form when they die. And this proved, incontrovertibly, what she was, at the cost of her life.
Discussion broke out, most of the "I always wanted a fur stole" variety. I heard Tomika ask Funitsu, "Do you value her?"
He considered, then shrugged. "She is useful. Was useful. Why?"
"if you still have my ring--it contains three tablets. When placed on the tongue of a dead person or--" and here she glanced down at the fox, "--creature, it will bring them back to life. In fact, Kasa has one, as well. They are standard Crane issue."
Funitsu followed Tomika's instructions, and the fox's form flowed into Reiko's--quite naked, having left her clothing behind when she transformed. She coughed and sat up. "Why am I naked?"
"Well, you were a fox."
"I was a what?"
Tadaki sniffed. "And here you were angry at me for not telling you what I was, when you were carrying the same secret."
"I'm not hengeyokai. Wouldn't I know if I were?"
Panda broke in here. "You're not hengeyokai. You are kitsune. Remember, Hirohito suggested that we were traveling with one? That one is you. We've seen your fox form, now. I think perhaps one of your spirits is tampering with your memory, keeping you from knowing what you are, for some reason. And you might want to put your clothes back on."
Reiko yanked her robes back on, an unreadable expression on her face. Partially disturbed, partially angry. She said, "Why didn't any of you tell me? Lin, you knew-- Come back and let me yell at you! Damnit." She grumbled to herself, something about spirits never sticking around when it was time to pay the players for the dance.
I could see Panda's eyes were wary, and some of the rest, as well--and well they might be. Kistune are essentially vampiric, able to draw life force from their lovers. I am not so certian that this one is in posession of all her faculties, but she's only a one-tail, the least powerful of the kitsune.
Like Tomika, Kasa had a vial implanted in his chest that allowed him to control the nezumi. Reiko cut hersel, and asked for suggestions for one final command to give the nezumi. Funtsu suggested, "Go home and tend your lands", which Reiko gave and then promptly destroyed the vial.
We destroyed the vial once that was done, and made our way back to Kyoto, where we are this evening.
Panda has brought me the key to Reiko's room, where the shaman has been locked in for the night. And a question ocurrs to me. I know she must be hungry; she has not taken any lovers since we have begun traveling, and the griffon told me quietly that she has been ill and in pain during the nights he's been locked in with her.
Perhaps it is time to see if the kitsune can be trusted. Can she control herself enough not to kill who she feeds on, even as hungry as she is?
If she kills, then she no longer belongs with my retinue. But if my faith in her is justified--and I must have faith that Akechi knew what he was doing when he promoted her over Arenro--she will control herself.
The key is on the desk next to me. Waiting for me to make a decision.
quotes:
[after Panda explains that she's been a career girl all of her life, and she never wanted to take the chance of becoming pregnant, so she really doesn't see the point of sex]
"Well, girls can't impregnate you, you know."
"...oh."
[Panda turns red and walks away]
"What about your plan?"
"What plan?"
"The plan you were talking about last night, husband. You know, the one where Griffon takes the exploding coins and plants them in the hulls of the ships in the harbor."
"Oh, that plan."
"Reiko, you might want to put your gown on if you want to do any more crime fighting today."
"I admit to some carpishness."