Young Samurai: The Ring of Wind

by Chris Bradford

  ‘Having second thoughts, are you?’ growled Saburo, discarding his pole and unsheathing his katana in a final display of samurai courage.

  On the upper deck of the pirate ship a Wind Demon appeared. Unmasked, he wore a dragon-horned helmet bearing the emblem of a black spider.

  In a voice as deep as the ocean, the pirate captain ordered, ‘Take them … alive!’

  14

  Shark Bait

  The watery light of dawn coloured a cloudless sky as the pirate ship sailed south. Jack and his friends were imprisoned on its main deck, held like animals in a bamboo cage with nine other unfortunate captives. The captain of the Golden Tiger crouched alone in the corner, looking dejected and grief-stricken. His ship, deemed unworthy for salvage by the pirate captain, had been ransacked of its cargo, then set adrift.

  The other prisoners were a mix of Japanese sailors and Korean slaves. Emaciated and with haunted expressions, they regarded the new arrivals warily. All stared at the strange blond-haired, blue-eyed boy in the pilgrim’s outfit and whispered words of a ‘white demon’ and a ‘gaijin devil’.

  Jack ignored them, preferring instead to concentrate on devising an escape plan. The previous night’s stand-off with the Wind Demons had ended when a large net had been thrown over them. Entangled by the webbing, Jack and his friends had quickly been subdued and disarmed. There was shock at discovering Jack’s foreign identity, but the pirate captain had issued orders to cage them all, announcing that he would deal with the rebellious young pilgrims and unexpected gaijin in the morning. But, with the sun rising, they were fast running out of time and still no closer to escape. The cage was solidly built, with a pirate guard posted at the locked gate. All their weapons and belongings, even Miyuki’s hidden ninja utility belt, had been confiscated and they’d had no food, water or sleep for the entire night.

  ‘Even if we got out of this cage,’ whispered Miyuki, her fingers blistered from where she’d tried and failed to loosen the bars’ bindings, ‘there must be at least seventy ninja pirates on-board. Without our weapons, we’d be cut to ribbons.’

  ‘We only need to reach the side,’ replied Jack under his breath.

  ‘What then?’ asked Yori, his face exhausted and drawn. ‘We’re in the middle of the Seto Sea.’

  ‘We time our escape as the ship passes an island … and swim for it.’

  ‘Jack, we don’t have the luxury of waiting for an island,’ said Miyuki. ‘The Wind Demons intend to kill us.’

  ‘Or else make us slaves,’ added Yori, glancing round at the haggard and hollow-eyed men in dirty loincloths.

  Jack realized his friends were right. And jumping ship was a death sentence in itself. They wouldn’t survive long in open water – dying either from hypothermia, drowning, or a shark attack.

  ‘There is some good news,’ said Saburo.

  Jack and the others turned to him expectantly.

  Saburo forced a smile. ‘I don’t feel seasick any more!’

  Jack shook his head in disbelief. The old Saburo was back! But they weren’t likely to enjoy each other’s company much longer. A group of ninja pirates were heading across the main deck to the cage.

  In the light of day the Wind Demons were even more terrifying to behold. Their black shinobi shozoku had been exchanged for a motley array of coarsely woven jackets, tied in at the waist with belts. A gruesome range of swords, knives and battleaxes hung from their hips. Some wore random pieces of samurai armour, spoils of war donned as badges of honour. A few paraded silk shawls, apparently having plundered the Golden Tiger’s hidden stock of fine silks. Most of the pirates went hatless or else tied a bandanna around their dishevelled manes of black hair. And all the men boasted an unkempt beard or drooping moustache.

  But their most distinctive feature was the profusion of tattoos that decorated their bodies. One brawny pirate had a tiger emblazoned across his chest. Another had a pair of swords in the shape of a crucifix on his back. Down the leg of a tall skinny man was a two-headed red snake. Along with their own personal designs, every ninja pirate was branded with a black spider tattoo upon his neck. The man fronting this grisly gang was the most monstrous of the lot. He wore a gold earring, had blackened teeth and a deathly skull tattooed over his entire face.

  ‘They’re going to eat us for breakfast!’ whimpered one of the Golden Tiger’s crew, sniffling as he wiped a hand across his nose.

  The ninja pirate with the skull face leered in through the bars.

  ‘Any of you fishermen?’ he asked.

  No one answered. Jack noted the slaves and Japanese sailors kept their eyes firmly fixed on the deck and their mouths shut.

  ‘You see, we need to catch a shark,’ explained Skullface. ‘Help us and we’ll let you go.’

  At this promise of freedom, the terrified crewmember of the Golden Tiger proclaimed, ‘I’m a fisherman! I’ll help!’

  The ninja pirate grinned, his mouth a gaping black hole in his skull tattoo. ‘Excellent.’

  He indicated to the guard to open the gate. Jack realized this might be their only chance of escape. If he leapt on the guard, the others could make a break for it. But Miyuki laid a hand on Jack’s arm and silently shook her head. The ninja pirates were diligent, two of them held barbed spears pointed at the gate’s entrance. Anyone who attempted to get out would be skewered like a suckling pig.

  The crewman eagerly climbed from the cage and followed the pirates over to the starboard side, where a block and tackle had been rigged. The man gazed at it in bewilderment.

  ‘The sharks in these waters are really BIG!’ explained Skullface.

  Desperate to prove useful, the crewman replied, ‘Then you’ll need squid or … a whole mullet fish to catch one.’

  Skullface pulled thoughtfully at his gold earring as he considered the suggestion. Behind him, his gang had begun to snigger.

  ‘We don’t have a mullet, but …’

  Without warning, Skullface struck the crewman across the jaw. The man went sprawling to the deck. Three ninja pirates pinned his arms and legs, while the tiger-tattooed pirate bound the end of a rope to his ankle. A second later they’d hoisted their prisoner into the air. Dazed and confused, the crewman flailed his arms in an attempt to right himself.

  ‘… we do have you.’

  ‘He’s a frisky one!’ grunted the pirate with the sword crucifix tattoo.

  Skullface pulled out a knife from his belt and slashed its blade across the crewman’s forearm. Blood dripped from the wound on to the deck. ‘That’ll get a feeding frenzy started.’

  As the tiger-tattooed pirate swung their live bait over the side, the crewman started begging for his life. ‘PLEASE! I’ve a wife and child at home! DON’T DO IT!’

  His shouts drew the attention of the other pirates on deck and they stopped what they were doing to watch. Skullface turned to the tiger-tattooed pirate, apparently having a change of heart. ‘All right … let him go.’

  For a brief second, the crewman hung there, breathing out a huge sigh of relief. Then the tiger-tattooed pirate released the rope and the crewman disappeared. There was a splash and all the ninja pirates rushed to the gunwale.

  ‘I can see a fin already!’ cried the two-headed snake pirate.

  For a minute or so, there was intense silence as they followed the progress of the shark through the water. Jack and the other prisoners couldn’t see the grim show – nor did they want to. There was a cry of disappointment as the shark apparently missed the bait. Then came a cheer, followed by a spluttering scream of agony.

  ‘He’s caught it,’ yelled the crucifix pirate with glee. ‘Tiger, pull him up!’

  The tiger-tattooed pirate hauled in the rope. After several strong pulls, the crewman swung before them. His face was pale and his mouth fixed into a howl of pain. His right arm was missing, bitten off at the elbow.

  ‘You let it go!’ exclaimed the two-headed snake pirate in disappointment.

  The ninja pirates laughed heartily at the joke. Jack f
elt sickened to the pit of his stomach.

  ‘Try again,’ ordered Skullface. ‘This time ensure a shark takes a good hold.’

  The bleeding crewman was dumped back into the sea. The water churned and the ninja pirates whooped and hollered in delight as several other sharks appeared. A bloodcurdling scream rent the air. Then all went quiet.

  Tiger tugged on the line. This time it came up easily. At the end of the rope dangled a single ragged leg.

  Skullface cuffed Tiger round the head. ‘Idiot! You lost the bait!’

  15

  Captain Kurogumo

  ‘That’s why the Fuma are more pirate than ninja,’ said Miyuki darkly, as Skullface and his gang left the disembodied leg swinging in the wind, just beyond the reach of the snapping sharks. ‘They lack any spirit of ninniku.’

  Jack understood. Ninniku was the ninja’s equivalent of the samurai code of bushido. As part of their training, a ninja strived to cultivate a pure and compassionate heart, one that didn’t harbour grudges and always sought peace and harmony. In Jack’s eyes, these Wind Demons didn’t even possess a heart.

  ‘But that’s not the only reason why the ninja and Fuma are enemies,’ continued Miyuki, talking to divert their attention away from the grim reminder of their own potential fate. ‘Twenty years ago, the Fuma clashed with the ninja. Grandmaster Soke told me the whole story …’

  Jack, Saburo and Yori gathered closer to listen – anything but think about the crewman’s horrific death.

  ‘The ninja Grandmaster Hattori and his clan were hired by the daimyo of Suo Province to wipe out the Wind Demons, who’d been raiding villages up and down the Seto coastline. Hattori set sail with a fleet of warships. He found the Fuma hiding in Beppu Bay. There was a great battle. Hattori destroyed almost all the Wind Demons’ boats. It seemed victory was assured. But the Fuma sent a fireship into the midst of Hattori’s fleet. Knowing that it could explode at any moment, Hattori gave the command to withdraw. What he didn’t know was that the Fuma had swum beneath their ships and disabled their rudders. With no way to avoid a collision, Hattori ordered his men to jump ship, but to their horror they discovered the whole bay was covered in a slick of oil. Before any of them could swim to safety, the Fuma ignited the trap and the whole clan, including Hattori himself, perished in the flames.’

  ‘That’s a cheery bedtime story,’ said Saburo.

  ‘It’s meant as a warning,’ replied Miyuki. ‘The Fuma are merciless and cunning. That makes them very dangerous. Soke cautioned me to steer clear of them at all costs.’ She gave a resigned sigh. ‘I was never any good at following Soke’s advice.’

  ‘We’re doomed then!’ cried the last crewmember of the Golden Tiger.

  ‘Hey, we did survive the sea dragon at least!’ said Saburo, half-heartedly attempting to lift the man’s spirits. But the reminder of that fearsome beast just turned the crewman into a quivering wreck.

  ‘That’s true …’ said Jack, still doubting his own eyes as to what he actually saw. ‘If that was a dragon, why didn’t it attack the Wind Demons? We might have stood a chance if they’d had to battle a monster too.’

  A lice-ridden slave coughed and shuffled over. His eyes had a crazed look and his bare back showed the scars of numerous whippings.

  ‘The Fuma control the dragon,’ he croaked.

  Jack and his friends regarded the Korean man dubiously.

  ‘No man has such power over wild beasts,’ said Yori.

  The slave cackled. ‘The Wind Demons aren’t men. They’re gods of the Seto Sea! And we’re no more than fish food …’

  He trailed off, a terrified expression on his face as he retreated towards the back of the cage.

  ‘I trust my crew are treating you well?’ enquired a gruff voice.

  Jack and his friends looked up into the intimidating face of the pirate captain. His eyes were snake-like gleams of jet-black, his high cheekbones were sharp and his chin pointed with a long tuft of beard. He still wore the dragon-horned helmet and was robed in a green and black suit of body armour; the breastplate and square shoulder guards were constructed from hundreds of tiny leather scales that gave it the appearance of dragon skin. The pirate captain’s right arm was tattooed with a large spider’s web that stretched all the way from his wrist to his neck, where a black widow spider nestled, the tattoo unsettlingly real.

  Despite the man’s fearsome demeanour, Miyuki was outraged by the question. ‘Treating us well? They just fed one of us to the sharks!’

  ‘Sharks are hungry animals,’ the pirate captain stated matter-of-factly, grinning to reveal a set of teeth filed into razor-sharp points.

  Yori, who was closest, recoiled in horror. The captain laughed at his reaction.

  ‘Captain Kurogumo at your service. Welcome aboard the Black Spider,’ he said, bowing contemptuously. His shark-like grin vanished. ‘Now! Who are you?’

  ‘We’re … just pilgrims returning from Shikoku Island,’ replied Yori, quickly regaining his composure.

  ‘And I’m the Emperor,’ he mocked. ‘It’s evident from your weapons and swords skills that you’re far from pilgrims.’

  ‘We’re samurai,’ said Saburo with pride.

  Captain Kurogumo regarded Saburo for a moment. ‘You may be. But she certainly isn’t.’

  He returned his attention to Miyuki, who stared defiantly back.

  ‘Your weapons and clothes in the bag are of ninja origin. What clan do you belong to?’

  Miyuki stayed tight-lipped.

  ‘No matter. A ninja is a ninja. All traitors.’

  Seeing Miyuki rile at the insult to her honour, Jack had to restrain her. Her fiery temper would get them into even more serious trouble than they already were. And they each needed to keep a level head if they were to have any hope of escape.

  Captain Kurogumo noted Jack’s intervention.

  ‘I’ll deal with the ninja later,’ he promised. ‘But you, gaijin, are of real interest to me. Quite extraordinary – a gaijin samurai!’

  He clicked his fingers and a young boy came running across the deck, carrying a pair of samurai swords. Their distinctive red handles marked them out as Jack’s daishō. The boy, fresh-faced and eager, knelt before the captain and held the weapons out to him. Captain Kurogumo took up the katana and, unsheathing it, examined the blade.

  ‘A Shizu sword!’ he exclaimed in disbelief. ‘Unless I’d witnessed it for myself, I’d have thought anyone a liar who told me you were a samurai … and I’d have cut out their tongue. But your fighting skills are undeniable. You put a number of my men to shame.’

  Captain Kurogumo glanced up to where four pirates hung by their wrists from the yardarm. ‘You can cut them down now,’ he shouted to Skullface. ‘Let’s hope they’ve learnt their lesson and won’t be beaten so easily by a boy next time.’

  The pirate captain took a few practice swings with the katana. He smiled appreciatively at its perfect weight and balance. Then he struck out at the pirate boy. The blade sliced through the air, its tip stopping just short of his throat. The boy swallowed nervously as a single bead of blood welled up from where the steel point had pierced his skin.

  Sheathing the blade with satisfaction, the captain asked Jack, ‘Who gave you these swords?’

  ‘A friend,’ he replied.

  ‘A very special friend indeed, to part with such fine blades.’ With a wave of his hand, the captain ordered the pirate boy to return the swords to his quarters. ‘I’m intrigued – how on earth did a gaijin become a samurai?’

  ‘It wasn’t by choice,’ said Jack coldly. ‘I was a rigging monkey on a trading ship before ninja pirates like you killed my father.’

  ‘Now that is interesting,’ said Captain Kurogumo, raising his eyebrows at the revelation. ‘So, young warriors, the question is what to do with you. As samurai and ninja, you don’t warrant mercy. But it’s not in my nature to slaughter children … without good reason.’

  He gave a flash of his shark teeth.

  ‘Tatsumaki m
ust decide your fate.’

  16

  Fugu

  Exposed on an open deck, the cage offered scant protection from the elements and Jack and his friends were forced to sit in the full glare of the sun. Although Captain Kurogumo had promised food and water, he still hadn’t provided them with either. And Jack didn’t hold out much hope he ever would. The pirates held little concern for the well-being of their captives.

  Jack had to be grateful for small blessings, though. From their conversation with the captain, it seemed he was unaware of Jack’s reputation or the bounty on his head.

  ‘So who’s Tatsumaki?’ asked Jack, his mouth parched.

  ‘Or what?’ corrected Yori. ‘The word means “tornado”.’

  ‘Perhaps the captain’s going to set us adrift in the middle of a storm,’ suggested Saburo, who looked faint from hunger. ‘And let fate decide our lives.’

  ‘Then we might have a chance,’ said Jack. ‘I’ve survived countless tempests at sea.’

  The Korean slave was cackling again.

  ‘Tatsumaki comes out of nowhere … creates havoc … then …’ His gnarled fingers exploded outwards. ‘… disappears into nothingness.’

  His wild eyes stared at the young warriors with amused pity. ‘All that remains is chaos and desolation. For you to pin your hopes on Tatsumaki is like putting your head inside a hungry lion’s mouth!’

  The Korean slave laughed, then broke into a coughing fit. His skeletal body shuddered with the effort. Jack, along with the others, began to feel an overwhelming sense of despair at their situation. Glancing round at the despondent expressions of the other prisoners, it seemed inevitable that death would be their only way out.

  The cage door opened and the pirate boy appeared with a jug of water.

  ‘Compliments of the captain,’ he said, setting it down next to Jack.