L5r - scroll 04 - The Phoenix

by Stephen D. Sullivan

  Building sandcastles only reminded Tomo of the castle he was avoiding. Finally, his heart heavy, he walked to a deserted quay and paid for a small skiff. The boat's owner wanted to go with Tomo, to row the Master of Water wherever he wanted to go, but Tomo would have none of it. His mission was too dangerous for peasant fisherman, or even for most heroes.

  To the Master of Water, it would be little trouble. Tomo climbed aboard the small boat, painted blue to match the sky. Probably the fisherman hoped fish wouldn't be able to see the boat that way. Tomo smiled at the conceit.

  Using the oars, he paddled out from the quay and into the open ocean. Sailboats darted about in the distance, chasing fish or perhaps sailing just for pleasure. This trip would be no pleasure for Isawa Tomo.

  It had taken Tomo two days to walk up the coast to this point, and most of this day to work up his courage. The other Elemental Masters would think him silly, no doubt, putting off such a simple task. Certainly Tsuke would. The Master of Fire brooked little nonsense when he led the Council of Five. Fortunately, Tadaka had assumed a greater leadership role recently. The Master of Earth was more forgiving of Tomo's foibles.

  Tomo couldn't whisper wind into the boat's small sails, like his friend Uona could, but he had other means at his disposal. Sitting in the stern of the craft, he began to sing. The song was clear and rhythmic like the waves, and strong, like surf crashing on mighty cliffs. Water rose around the boat and bore her forward.

  Swiftly the she ran, outpacing even the dolphins, who swam near the gunwales to get a look at the Master of Water. "Who are you?" their laughing faces seemed to ask. But when they saw Tomo they asked no more. Instead they jumped high into the air More submerging once more. Tomo smiled.

  Propelled by the heaving of the sea, the Master of Water reached his destination quickly. The sun had barely crept past noon when he slowed his craft. No other boats plied the ocean at this point. No fishermen cast their nets or lines. This spot, the locals knew, was accursed.

  Tomo looked back toward the distant shore. He could just see the outlines of the ancient jetty where it met the surf. A shadow ran below the surface to where Tomo sat in his boat. He changed his song, and the boat anchored itself in the waves.

  long ago, a castle, Umiakari no Shiro—the "Sea Light," occupied this spot. It had been a lighthouse, a beacon to sailors and fishermen. The castle had been erected at the end of a long stone causeway. For years it withstood the assault of storm and sea.

  Two hundred years ago, though, an earthquake cracked the castle's bedrock foundations. The tsunami that followed pushed (he Sea Light beneath the waves, drowning its daimyo and her retainers. Peasants said that the lady and her followers still lived beneath the waves and that the place was haunted. They called (he spot Shiro ga Shizumi Umi—"Sea of the Drowned Castle." That was why no boats sailed her waters.

  Tomo did not fear the castle or its inhabitants. He feared what waited within. He stood in the prow of his tiny boat and chanted a prayer to Amaterasu. Then he jumped, feet first, over the side. The dark waters embraced him.

  The ocean was cold for the time of the year. It nipped at Tomo's ears, toes, and fingertips. He opened his eyes. The world around him was a blue-green dream. Above him, he saw the disc of the Sun Goddess blazing down through the water. The ocean danced and sparkled with her light.

  Tiny silver fish darted to and fro. Fist-sized squid rose from the depths to eat them. When the squid saw Tomo, though, they jetted away into the darkness. In the distance, Tomo heard the cries of whales. The leviathans' mournful songs seemed appropriate to this haunted place.

  As Tomo swam downward, the waters protecting their master, providing him air to breathe. Great kelp beds rose up from the ocean floor below. The fronds tickled Tomo's skin as he swam through them. He laughed, forgetting for a moment the grim nature of his errand.

  Soon, the light thinned, and so did the seaweed. When the last fronds parted, Tomo found himself swimming in an azure void, descending into indigo darkness. Down he went, deeper and deeper. Had he not been the Master of Water, the pressure would have crashed his frail body, but the ocean cherished him. Here he was truly at home.

  It loomed out of the darkness like a white ghost: Shiro ga Shizumi—the "Drowned Castie." The castle listed seaward from the endless tug of waves, but its powerful magic kept the ancient fortress from crumbling. The castle's crooked battlements stretched up toward the light that would forever be denied them. Atop them all thrust the proud tower that had once housed the bonfires so friendly to sailors. Barnacles covered its sides and pale corals added their distinctive touches. Squid and viper-fish swam in and out of the lighthouse's windows, chasing each other in an endless parade.

  His objective lay in the heart of the structure. The tower's top had been completely encrusted by coral and other hard-shelled marine life. The lower part of the structure had no windows. Its sole door stood blocked by tons of fallen masonry. Tomo didn't have time to move those rocks.

  He chose the lowest window, though its was too small even for his lithe body. Tomo summoned an appropriate spell. He pictured the kanji in his mind and made the sinuous motions required. The water embraced him; he became one with it. He reached out and stuck one hand in through the narrow opening.

  The rest of him followed the hand, flowing through the window like the body of a jellyfish. Once inside, the Master of Water resumed his own form. It was pitch black, but Tomo didn't need eyes to see. The ocean whispered its secrets to his mind. To him, the castle was lit by brilliant blue light.

  A stairway spiraled down the middle of the keep. Tomo swam down the central shaft toward the tower's base. At the bottom of the stairway he found a portal. Once a wooden door had sealed the tower against intruders, but the door had long ago succumbed to sea worms. The castle was not without its guardians, though.

  On each side of the door rested a huge Heike crab the size of .1 grown man. Markings that resembled samurai faces glowered on the creatures' carapaced backs. Legend said the crabs were samurai who had drowned in a long-ago sea battle. Looking at the monstrous crustaceans, Tomo could well believe it.

  The creatures spotted him and immediately blocked the doorway with their long, armored legs. They raised their huge claws and snapped menacingly toward the intruder.

  "1 am Isawa Tomo," Tomo said calmly, "Phoenix Master of Water. I come to see your mistress on an errand of utmost importance. You will let me pass."

  The crabs clicked to each other for a minute. Then they moved aside, opening the doorway. Tomo swam through.

  Beyond he found a vast chamber. Seaweed filled the place, hanging in the water like green and brown curtains. How the plants grew without the light of Amaterasu, Tomo could not guess. Weeds danced in the currents like snakes undulating through the water.

  Tomo swam gently through the weeds, making his way to the far side of the room. They parted to reveal a huge chair made of shells and the skeletons of sea creatures.

  In the chair sat the body of a woman, blue from death and shriveled by the ocean's salty depths. A white kimono of seaweed wound about her emaciated form. Her pale hair drifted in the currents. A necklace of pearls hung at her throat. Bracelets of pearls and shells adorned her wrists and ankles.

  Her eyes were closed and her mouth open. She looked ancient. She didn't breathe. She didn't move, save with the room's currents. Across her breast she clutched a scroll case of pure white crystal.

  Tomo swam forward. He reached out to take the scroll. His fingers brushed the case's crystal surface.

  The woman's eyes blinked open.

  Tomo, startled, took away his hand.

  "Isawa Tomo," the drowned lady said, "the waves whispered to me of your coming."

  "Lady Heike," he said, "I did not know you still lived."

  "I exist," she said. "I wait. My castle will rise again at the end of the world. Has that time come?"

  "I pray not," Tomo said. "My brethren seek to postpone that day indefinitely."

  "
So sad," she said. "In the end there will be peace. Peace like there is here, beneath the waves. Have you come to join me, Isawa Tomo?"

  Tomo shook his head. "I cannot. I have a mission to complete."

  "You've come for the scroll," she said.

  Tomo nodded.

  "Will you take it though it will mean your death, Isawa Tomo?"

  "What is my death, compared to the end of the world?"

  "Nothing," she replied, "unless your death hastens the day. When the Mistress of Water gave me the scroll long ago, she told me I would give it up before the world ended and the man who I gave it to would hasten that end."

  "Never!" Tomo said. "I will use the scroll to fight the evil that engulfs Rokugan."

  Lady Heike shook her head, and her white hair billowed out into the water like a halo. "Even the wise cannot see their own face," she said. "In any case, I return the scroll to you that it may quicken the day when my castle rises. Take it if you will."

  Tomo reached out and seized the scroll case in both hands. He pulled. At first, it seemed the drowned lady would not let go. Then her stiff limbs gave way, and her long fingers uncurled. Tomo clutched the scroll to his breast.

  "Stay with me," she whispered to him, her voice as sweet as the ocean's depths.

  "I cannot," Tomo said again.

  "Then begone," she replied. The seaweed drifted between them like a curtain, blocking her from sight.

  Tomo turned and swam back through the castle to the surface. The window was barely large enough to pass the scroll

  through. For just a moment, Tomo wondered if he was doing the right thing. Then he shook the feeling off and rose quickly to his boat.

  Poking his head above water, he put the scroll into the skiff. He climbed aboard and collapsed, gasping for air. Never had an undersea journey affected him this way before.

  As he lay amid the timbers, the sun arced west behind the mountains. Stars peeked out in the sky.

  Tonight, Tomo thought, I will sail back to Kyuden Isawa. If it takes all night, I will not rest until this damnable scroll is safe in the Isawa library.

  Then tomorrow, he thought, I will laugh with children once more. I will build castles in the sand and fly kites on the beach. I will swim with the dolphins until I can swim no longer. Then I will watch the sun set over the mountains and wait for it to rise again out of the sea, like a Phoenix reborn.

  Tomo sat up and chanted until the water did his bidding. Using the stars as his guide, he set course for home and family.

  THE BLACK EARTH

  Tadaka peered at the woman across the short distance that separated them. The manner of her dress told him she was a Kuni witch hunter. The question remained, though: was she a live witch hunter, or one of Fu Leng's undead minions?

  Her mask gave him the answer. Looking closely, he saw that it was made entirely of jade. True, the green stone was pockmarked and scarred with darkness, but it had not yet been destroyed by the Shadowlands taint. No creature of Fu Leng could bear to wear such a mask. The witch hunter remained human.

  Tadaka took his hand from the hilt of his katana.

  "I am Isawa Tadaka," he said. "I mean you no harm."

  "How can I be sure you're not an illusion, or a demon in disguise?" the witch hunter asked.

  Tadaka reached around his neck and pulled out his jade amulet. He touched the green

  stone with his fingers. "The same way," he said, "I can be sure you are what you seem."

  The witch hunter lowered her forked spear. "My pardon, Tadaka-san," she said. "I have journeyed long in shadow, pursuing our enemies. Even with all my skills, it is sometimes difficult to tell truth from deception."

  "You're tired," Tadaka said.

  The face behind the mask nodded.

  "I have pure food and drink if you'd like."

  "Thank you, Tadaka-san," she said. "My provisions ran out yesterday. That is why I abandoned my hunt. It burns my heart to let the creatures escape, but I must return to my own lands for rest and provision."

  "I cannot resupply you, for my own journey may be long," Tadaka said, "but I can offer you this small amount."

  The witch hunter walked toward him. "Any amount is a blessing. Thank you, Tadaka-san."

  The Master of Earth nodded. She, like many Crabs, disdained the formality of refusing a gift three times before accepting it. He reached into his robes and removed a vial of water and a portion of dried fish. He handed them to the woman.

  She took them and lifted the front of her mask, exposing her mouth to partake. Tadaka wondered what she looked like beneath the scarred jade. Her pale, thin lips and pointed chin gave him little hint. Tadaka gestured that they should sit on a flat rock nearby. She nodded, and the two of them sat.

  "Have you been away from home long?" he asked.

  "Short? Long?" she said. "Who can tell? What does time matter in this accursed place? When I left, my son was taking his first steps. By now, he may be helping his grandfather in the rice paddies."

  "The boy's father?"

  She shook her head. "Dead. Killed in our constant war against the Evil One."

  Tadaka nodded in understanding. "The rest of the world does not understand the price the Crab pay every day."

  "It is our honor and duty," the witch hunter said. She adjusted her grip on her double spear. A blackened, fist-sized stone fell from her sleeve and rolled across the dead earth, settling near her sandaled feet.

  "What's that?" Tadaka asked, raising his eyebrows.

  The Kuni picked up the sphere and showed it to him. "Jade lire," she said. "Nearly destroyed by my time in the gray mists. I need my shugenja to replenish its magic before it crumbles to dust. It's a powerful weapon against the Evil One's minions."

  Tadaka nodded. Though he'd never seen the sphere's like before, he understood its purpose.

  "I should go," the witch hunter said. She stood and handed the jade water vial back to Tadaka.

  He took it, tucked it inside his kimono, and stood as well. "Will you return to this cursed place soon?" he asked.

  "As soon as I am able, until the beast I seek is dead."

  "And after that?"

  "I shall join my fellows in the border patrols. Only vigilance can protect the empire." She turned to go.

  A massive form leapt at her out of the fog.

  The witch hunter turned and brought up her spear only just in time. She forced aside the snapping jaws with the shaft of her weapon, but the beast's body struck hers, and the witch hunter toppled to the ground.

  She hit hard, raising clouds of acrid-smelling yellow dust. The beast landed softly on the pads of its six, catlike feet. It spun to face the samurai, its jaws slavering. Tadaka quickly sized up the creature; he had never seen an oni like this before.

  It was bigger than a lion, with the face of a wolf and six spotted legs like those of a leopard. A thick turtlelike carapace covered its body. It had three tails, each of which ended in a ball of thorny barbs. Green, glowing slime dripped from its razor-sharp teeth. The creature made a hideous cackling sound as it crouched, preparing to spring once more.

  Tadaka drew his sword and ran forward. The witch hunter lay on the ground, momentarily stunned. Her left hand groped for her spear, which had been knocked from her hand in the fall. Sensing a new threat, the creature turned from its prey toward Tadaka. It sprang.

  The monster's claws raked at Tadaka's eyes and midsection.

  He parried the blows with his katana. Spinning, he slashed at the back of the creature's neck. His katana hit the creature's shell and skidded off harmlessly.

  The oni wheeled and snapped with its wolf jaws. Tadaka stepped back and brought the pommel of his katana down on the monster's snout. The creature yelped and backed off. It arched its carapaced back, and three barbed tails darted toward Tadaka.

  The Master of Earth leapt back only just in time. Tails raked the fog-shrouded air inches from Tadaka's chest. The creature opened its jaws and cackled.

  The Kuni witch hunter regai
ned her feet. As she came up behind Tadaka, she said, "It seems I have become the prey rather than the predator." She assumed a defensive stance, trying not to hinder his movements.

  "This is the creature you sought?" Tadaka asked. He stepped back beside her so that they could better protect each other.

  "The only one I didn't kill," she said, nodding.

  "We'll rectify that now," he replied grimly.

  The oni circled them. Its padded feet made almost no sound on the hard earth. Its three tails twitched through the air like nervous sickles.

  "I'll take its head," the witch hunter said. "You take the tails. Watch out for its claws—they're tainted." The witch hunter dashed forward, aiming her forked spear at the monster's eyes. The monster reared up, batting at her weapon with its forepaws. For a moment, the two jousted with each other.

  Tadaka sheathed his weapon and ran to the rock where they had sat. It was an arm wide, and as thick as Tadaka's waist. Chanting, he put one hand on each side of it and lifted. Earth power flowed through him, and the rock became light in his hands. He pulled it effortlessly from the ground.

  The oni batted the witch hunter's spear aside, nearly forcing the weapon from her hands. The witch hunter tumbled to her right and regained her grip. She landed on her feet and warded off the monster's claws as it whirled to press its advantage.

  Tadaka ran toward the battle, chanting, holding the rock before him like a shield. Seeing him, the creature lashed out with its three tails. Tadaka interposed the rock between them. The creature's spikes hit the stone, but the stone had become soft, pliant. The barbs stuck in it.

  Before the monster could react, Tadaka dropped the rock, ending his enchantment. The stone returned to its usual weight and consistency. The oni howled as the rock crashed to the ground, tugging on the barbs. It thrashed its tails, but the stone held them fast.

  Tadaka drew his katana and brought the blade down with sudden, deadly force. The weapon cut through the tails, just behind the monster's shell. Dark blood spouted from the wounds. The earth smoked where the blood landed.

  The creature turned to bite the Master of Earth. The Kuni witch hunter charged forward, jabbing her forked spear into the monster's neck. The weapon was not jade and couldn't kill the creature, but the barb stuck.