From Lady Yukiko's Journal
6/19/1583
On our way to Akita and then Sapporo. I appear to have been given charge of a ship cat with a broken leg; Reiko splinted it and then carried it around with her for a couple of days, but every time she set it down, it came running--well, limping--to me.
It's a very pretty cat, white with patches of striped red. It's only got half a tail, but almost all of the ship cats have tails like that, so I assume it's normal.
6/21/1583There really hasn't been much going on for the last couple of days, other than drilling with Haku and Panda.
Was awoken early this solstice morning by Thomas' voice, rousing Funitsu out of bed. Evidently, there was some sort of disturbance on deck that...had called Funitsu's name? Odd. I dressed swiftly and then came up on deck; the rest of my retinue had also heard the summons and were also up.
On deck, I saw a man lying on the boards, breathing very slowly. Tadaki had gone through his pockets and found a few items of the librarian trade, so to speak--poisoned throwing stars, to be exact. He was dressed in black that had definitely seen better days.
Funitsu said, "There were two of them, the other is dead. They were rowing towards us in that little boat down there. This one's almost dead, but there's no mark on him. I've healed him a bit, but it only served to rouse him a little."
Reiko kneeled by the man, touching his shoulder and then his heart. "He's been drained, his life energy's been pulled from him. It doesn't quite feel like a kitsune feeding, though. He's got a couple of magical things on him--the amulet around his neck and his little fingernail, oddly enough."
I heard Panda mutter, "What the hell..."
The man lying on deck roused and opened his eyes. He looked at Funitsu and said, "My task is done." He then closed his eyes and his chest stilled.
Reiko said, "He's dead." Mistress of the obvious, she is.
Funitsu unfastened the amulet from around the dead man's neck, and an illusion began playing; I recognized the person speaking as Funitsu's brother, Soshi Kaigen. The message, for message it was, was very informative. He made reference to dire trouble happening within the Scorpion Clan, and the same trouble seemed to be occurring in all the clans except Unicorn. Funitsu's father is incapacitated, making his brother head of the family (and head of the clan? Soshi has come up in the world since last I looked). He said that the librarian is our contact with the Black Hand--Panda started at that--and that Funitsu's stepmother had been sent to Yukiko's family in Hokkaido, which Funitsu's brother now thought might have been a mistake.
While we were listening to the message, I saw the librarian remove the magical fingernail from the dead man's hand with the point of a dagger. (Will we never stop mutilating the dead? Ugh.) Tomika attempted to make the corpse of the dead man speak, trying to find out what killed him, but after casting the spell, she looked up, a frustrated look on her face. "There isn't anything to work with. There has to be just a little residual life left in the body to have it speak, and there isn't anything at all."
We retrieved the other body, which Panda had thrown into the ocean. (Rather, Gryphon swam down after it.) The corpse described a killing mist that had drained their life from them--and said that they believed that it had been sent after one of us.
The sun was beginning to rise by this time, and to the south we could see a mist moving faster than the wind was towards us. Reiko, Panda, and Tadaki put their heads together and figured out what it was--a Breathdrinker, one of the number of creatures in the world that live on the life energy of others. The only thing that could really hurt it was fire, or enchanted swords.
We did have a fireball potion, which Reiko used to make the mist back off. We decided to not let it get away. Tadaki and Gryphon flew above the mist, and Tadaki dove through it, pulling out some things that were evidently held within the creature--some potions and a dark-bound book.
Hiroshi and Tadaki created makeshift exploding devices with lamp oil and the black powder that we carry. Funitsu decided that we were not about to let it get away and recover and come back to kill us once it was healed, considering that we'd already spent our last fireball.
Gryphon, Haku, and Tadaki harried the Breathdrinker back to shore with our little makeshift devices, and then Funitsu carved a door in reality with his wakizashi and stepped over to the shore with a torch. Haku followed, and Reiko hesitated but in the end decided to go, muttering something about a surprise.
The rest of the battle took place out of sight of the ship, but from the sound of explosions, I assumed it was going well. Panda stood next to me at the rail, watching the forest intently.
Finally, my retinue returned to the ship. Funitsu was somewhat scorched; evidently, one of those explosions had been Haku dropping a small cask of oil and gunpowder right next to him when the Breathdrinker attacked him. He was not much the worse for wear after Reiko got through with him, though he may need to cut his hair a bit--it's singed on one side.
Since we were all up, we figured we might as well stay up. Panda was looking at the librarian suspiciously, since he had taken the fingernail and hadn't said anything about what it did. I attempted to distract her and allay her worry somewhat; she does do what she can to keep from herself the knowledge of what he is, but I fear the message and the nail were a little *too* obvious. I drew Panda gently away, and over her shoulder I saw Funitsu and the librarian exchange a significant look. I reassured the samurai that I had every confidence that he would tell me all he knew when he found it out, but her demeanor remained stormy for the rest of the day.
From the Breathdrinker, we got a few useful items, including a war fan, a ninja-to, a sai, and five potions that Tomika has volunteered to identify for us. I find myself liking the Crane despite myself. I still don't trust her, but she's generally making herself useful, and I have to admit that I find her sparring with Funitsu to be entertaining.
The Breathdrinker was quite enough excitement for one day. I'm occupying myself, as I have been for the past few days, by learning the art of sailing a ship from Thomas and a few of the other sailors.
6/22/1583
Clear sailing today. Only excitement was Panda insisting that the librarian tell me whatever he knows--it turns out that he hadn't figured out what the nail does yet.
We covered tacking today during sailing lessons. It's suprisingly complicated, with three masts to worry about.
I finally named the cat whose leg Reiko splinted, and who I've been keeping with me ever since. Her name is Miu, though Haku was seriously lobbying for "Gimpy" on account of her leg.
She sleeps by my head, and purrs. And she's soft.
However, she also stares at me when I'm bathing. Most unnerving.
6/23/1583
The kitsune is being annoying. I think she's bored. She's wandering up and down the length of the ship, talking loudly with one or more of her spirits about something.
Still covering tacking. Much, much more complicated than it looks, but there's a logic that underlies all of it that I'm beginning to grasp.
6/24/1583
The librarian's making himself quite scarce today. I wonder what he's up to?
He hs yet to bring to me whatever he knows. He refuses to let me corner him. I finally sent Funitsu to talk to him, and all Funitsu brought back to me was that the librarian hadn't figured out what the fingernail did yet, other than possibly allow contact with Funitsu's brother.
I am beginning to grow suspicious. Panda might be influencing me, but I have not come so far in the world by ignoring my own instincts and that of my samurai. Something is wrong, and until the librarian comes clean with what he knows, i doubt I will sleep soundly.
I don't mind intrigue. I just want to know about it.
Akita tomorrow, thankfully. I spend too much time quiet and I start worrying--about Akechi, the child, our mission, everything.
6/25/1583
It's been a very long time since I've seen a town as badly in need of a good typhoon to level everything as Akita is. It was nothing but bar fights and whores as far as the eye could see. Reiko asked one of the prostitutes where she could find the general of the armies, and was promptly pointed towards a tavern called the Green Dragon, down the street a ways.
The tavern was quite rowdy, but Haku and Panda's forbidding presences allowed us to pass through the crowd unmolested. Tadaki motioned for us to stay back a bit, and went up to a man sitting alone at a table in the back, with several empty sake bottles in front of him.
Tadaki perched on a chair next to him, and said, "Nibori, where that's ten gold you owe me?"
The man looked up with bleary eyes, and asked, "Tadaki? What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were dead."
He shrugged. "Looking for you. And my ten gold. Are you going to pay up, or what?"
Nibori was a solidly built man with that thin-bladed nose so common to Sparrows, who looked to be perhaps ten years older than Tadaki. He might have been a bit younger than that, but either way it looked like the last few years had used him hard. He shrugged and reached into his pocket, handing over money to Tadaki without more than a grumble of protest. Tadaki motioned the rest of us over, and the general rubbed his eyes. "Friends, eh?"
Tadaki cocked his head and said, "Traveling companions. So, you're a general now?"
"Much good as it does me. At least I managed to send the army off in two different directions. The wine drowns out the voices, the town falls farther into disarray." He snagged a passing serving girl. "More sake. Enough for them. And some more for me."
I saw Haku pouring a carefully measured dose of the true source into a cup, which he then offered to the general. "Here, try some of this."
Nibori took it and downed the contents of the cup in one gulp, and then coughed and looked at Haku suspiciously. "Monk? Was that...water?"
Haku shrugged. "Sorry. More sake?"
He shook his head. "No, I...I'll be right back." I could see what looked like sweat and smelled quite a bit like pure alcohol begin to roll down the sides of his face. He stumbled from the table. We waited, and about ten minutes later he returned. "All right, what the hell was in that stuff?"
Nobody spoke. Finally, Panda dropped into the sudden silence, "Freedom, of a sort."
"Who the hell are you people, anyway? And why are you here?"
Panda stood. "This is a discussion better suited for a more private location." Nibori nodded and led us to his rooms, above yet another tavern.
We settled ourselves around his receiving room, and Nibori asked, "All right, could someone please explain what's going on?"
Reiko said, "We're in the employ of Akechi, who's currently a prisoner of Hideyoshi. It was suggested that if we managed to free you, you might be amenable to helping us. We were told that you were not a willing conscript in the army. We need a spy, basically, and thought you might make a decent one."
"And who told you that, pray tell?"
"Hirohito. He was our source, and he's been compromised."
Nibori muttered, "I did always wonder about him."
Reiko smiled at Nibori. She wasn't exactly flirting, but there was something... "You have a piece of crystal embedded in the back of your neck. It holds a piece of the spirit which currently controls Hideyoshi--and it was trying to control you. What we gave you broke that control."
"I know. It's only implanted in those who are rebellious. Rebellious, he says, when he orders atrocities and expects us to carry them out. I was able to resist his commands; that was what all the sake was for. So, if I'm your spy, you'll use what I know to hurt Hideyoshi?"
"To kill him, we hope. Some day soon."
"Then, yes, I agree. My life hasn't been my own for years, and it's his and that damn wu jen's fault."
Tadaki asked about Emi, the wu jen that my brother-in-law had said was my father's advisor. Nibori told us that she was doing something to my father and to all other around her, and noted that she was guarded by a Jade Warrior, a summoned guardian. Tadaki asked, in a low voice, "Do they know you're a Sparrow?"
"They don't have the slightest clue. Hey, did you ever find that sister of mine you had a crush on? If you could find me, maybe you could find her, too."
Tadaki shook his head and said that he hadn't seen her.
Panda broke in. "Nibori, if we are done here, might I have a word? In private?"
What was my much-loved but sometimes very odd samurai up to now? I only hoped it wasn't what I thought...
...except that after about fifteen minutes, Panda and Nibori emerged, Panda looking satisfied with herself and the Sparrow looking as if someone had hit him over the head with something heavy. The samurai asked Funitsu, "shugenja, may we use your services? I and Nibori have agreed to be married."
I reminded myself to shut my mouth, which was hanging open. I was startled, and I had some indication of Panda's worries about her bloodline's continuance. I imagine the rest of my retinue was quite a bit more surprised than I. Funitsu searched for words, and settled on, "Er. Congratulations. Yes, of course."
"Can we perform the ceremony here? I see no reason for delay."
And so Nibori and Panda were married, and we went back to the ship, Panda promising to return to Nibori's rooms that night. On the way back, Reiko fell in walking next to Panda. "You do realize that's not how it's customarily done, right? I imagine you've scared the man out of a year's growth."
She shrugged. "It might not be customary, but i see no reason for complicating something that should be a reasonably straightforward alliance. I need my bloodline to continue, and he seemed to be amenable."
Tadaki broke in. "Besides, that's really much how it works among our people. You build a nice nest, and when you're chosen by a female, she comes along and tears it apart for you. You didn't disarrange his nest, so he's probably rather smitten."
Panda's voice was distant. "I don't need him to be smitten. I just needed him to agree." I could see Reiko shaking her head, muttering to herself.
The librarian, overhearing our conversation, actually blushed. Fancy that, the librarian blushing. Almost as surprising as Panda blushing would be.
We stay here tonight and let the samurai keep her appointment with the general. Tomorrow morning, We'll restock, and then we're off to Hokkaido.
Off for home.
I confess to some nervousness about what I may find there.
6/26/1583
The only comment Panda had about her tryst last night was, "Most educational." I didn't pry, and she didn't volunteer any details.
I rather hope that she doesn't fall pregnant just yet. After all, it would be good for her to discover just how much fun relations between husband and wife can be.
We weighed anchor about noon, and headed north. There's not much wind, which will slow us, so I'm not sure when we'll reach Sapporo.
Yet more sailing lessons today.
6/27/1583
Reiko woke screaming from what was apparently a nightmare early this morning. When Haku and I came into her cabin, Gryphon was butting her with his head, trying to wake her up.
All she would say, after she was finally coherent, was a...name? "Demonbane." Whoever--or whatever--that is. She either wouldn't, or couldn't, explain any more.
Weather holds fair but the winds remain scarce. Perhaps five more days to Sapporo.
Miu has taken to sitting next to my table as I write, occasionally batting at the end of the pen or the brush, whichever I happen to be using at the time. Irritating, but also adorable.
Haku is still calling the cat Gimpy. Of course, that may not be as bad as the fact that Reiko has taken to calling Gryphon "Kittycat".
6/28/1583
So very bored. Bearing up well, if I do say so myself, even if the child is expressing impatience with fists and feet.
I expect this boy to be quite the fighter straight out of the womb, at this rate. He seems to be taking lessons from Haku.
Ah, I miss Akechi badly tonight. The closer we get to the place I grew up, the more I feel that what we will find there is not going to be pleasant.
6/29/1583
Still bored.
The wind is picking up. Perhaps two more days to Sapporo, now.
The librarian is still unforthcoming, the shaman is still acting strangely, Panda is still calm as a forest on a windless day. Statu quo, one and all.
6/30/1583
Rereading the work of Sei Shonagon today. I fear I am but a dabbler in letters, compared to her genius.
We grow near, and I grow more afraid.
"Why so silent?" said Her Majesty. "Say something. It is sad when you do not speak."
"I am gazing into the autumn moon," I replied.
"Ah yes," she remarked. "That is just what you should have said."
7/1/1583
Hokkaido, today. How my heart aches tonight.
Compared to Akita, and compared to my memories of it, Sapporo was sterile and nearly deserted. The few people who were out sand about seemed to be beggars, each of them looking quite mad. Reiko nudged Funitsu and said, "Scorpion, can you see what I see? Tomika?"
He nodded. "Those tendrils...are they feeding on the beggars somehow?"
I whispered my own spell to see magic, and what they were talking about was revealed to me. There were tendrils of magic reaching out from my father's palace, twisting in the streets, diving through the beggars. They seemed to almost be policing the streets. I grew very still, and very afraid.
We walked together to my father's palace, the house I grew up in. But it was so quiet, so strange, so different. We had sent the librarian in the back way, but the rest of us were going to brazen it out--for, after all, it was my house and I belonged there. The guards at the door let us in without argument, looking for all the world as if they were asleep on their feet, and on the second floor I asked directions of some more alert-looking guards, asking them where my father was. I could see that the magic tendrils avoided them, and there was a glow on the sides of their necks, a sigil inscribed there. They told me that my father was in the library.
As we walked down the corridor, Reiko caught my eye--for a moment, with my magical sight, i could see odd designs covering her body. But there was no time for a good look, as we reached the library doors and I burst in.
My father! But how changed, how strange, the vital man I remember from scarcely a year ago now withered and old, as if something were eating him from the inside. He raised his head and looked at me as I dropped to my knees beside his chair. All he said was, "Daughter..."
I put my hand on his, looking into his eyes. Then I stood, my world narrowed down to one thing only. "Emi."
I flew out of the library and back to the guards, demanding in my best Lady voice to see Emi. They pointed up the stairs and then got the hell out of my way as I nearly ran them down in my haste. Ahead of us, I could hear two women talking. Almost at the same time, Tadaki said, "That's Emi" and Funitsu said, "It's Karasuko, my stepmother."
There were another pair of guards at the door, these with no intentions of letting us through. The samurai and Gryphon took care of them without a fuss. We burst in and there was a small woman with light brown hair holding a knife to the throat of a slightly taller woman who looked in equal parts afraid and angry. The Jade Warrior we'd been told about was attacking the librarian, who had come in through the window.
A heartbeat later, Reiko shimmered into view from her invisibility as she attempted to pull the knife away from Karasuko's throat. There was no time to wonder at this sudden display of bravery on the shaman's part, as the Jade Warrior immediately turned and slashed at the kitsune, who howled as the katana connected twice, opening great wounds in her back. The Warrior also slashed at her with his wakizashi, edged with jade, and seemed to miss. But I could hear Reiko screaming a name I'd never heard before. "JIN!"
Emi pulled out a crystal and stepped on it, releasing lightning into the room. I ducked, but the shaman had no chance--and when my eyes were no longer dazzled, I saw her lying on the floor, bleeding onto the wood.
But there was no time for anything but battle, at that point. Gryphon disposed of the Jade Warrior and Panda and Tadaki did the same for Emi. Funitsu healed Reiko enough that she came back to consciousness, and pointed at the wakizashi that the jade Warrior had left behind. "That thing has part of Arenro's spirit in it. And it's got Jin now, too." It turned out that Jin as one of Reiko's spirits, and she was beside herself with worry and making even less sense than usual.
We broke the sword, releasing both the spirits. A moment of silence, and then Reiko sobbed, "He's gone, Jin's gone, he didn't come back to me. He's lost forever."
Panda, her usual comforting self, said, "I would think you'd be happy to be rid of them. don't they make your life miserable?"
The shaman stared at her, those odd eyes of hers grief-stricken. "I love them. All of them. Even Lin, I loved. And they love me--that's why they stay with me. They are my family. Jin was with me for centuries, and now...he's just gone."
Panda just shook her head.
With Emi's death, my father suddenly looked much better, and has been gaining in strength all through the afternoon. We have decided that we will spend the night in Sapporo, on the ship, and decide on the morrow where we are off to next. I believe we may travel to visit the Soshi family, to see what their so dire need may be.
Oddly enough, I caught Reiko staring at my father a few minutes ago. Her eyes were puzzled, but I could see a fear behind the confusion. Why would the kitsune fear my father?
I have made the acquaintance of Karasuko, and have found her to be a most beguiling woman. Funitsu seems to get along well with her, and on the strength of his love for her I find myself predisposed to like her.
Had we arrived a week later...I do not know what we might have found. I am beginning to gain an appreciation for the scope of the forces arrayed against us. If my retinue knew...but they do not. Not yet. And they have no idea how important each of them is.
How do we find those orbs? They are perhaps the most precious things in the world right now, and two of them are in, one assumes, unfriendly hands. Though Hideyoshi must not have the correct one, else my husband would be dead already.
If we are not victorious...
But we will be.
We must be.
Everything depends on it.
I hear voices raised in the next room. I and Haku are going to go investigate.
Quotes:
"Graham is...huffing gingersnaps."
(Laura)
"I like how when you suck on them, they go hard."
(Graham)
"Sometimes, weenie is the better part of valor."
(Laura)
"Gryphon, are you smart?"
"I'm VERY smart! Why are you all laughing?"
(Reiko and Gryphon)
"How rare it is that any of us marry for love."
(Funitsu)