L5r - scroll 01 - The Scorpion

by Stephen D. Sullivan

  burning death. Another moment that brings us all closer to the destruction of the Emerald Empire." Hatsuko shuddered an acknowledgment. "Come now," Kachiko said. "I need to teach you the path to take back to the geisha house." Slowly, Hatsuko got to her feet.

  xxxxxxxx

  The next morning Bayushi Kachiko turned the role of Aki back over to Yogo Asami. She left instructions that Hatsuko was to be watched carefully. The Scorpion mistress doubted the girl would need any further encouragement to carry out her task, but if she did, Asami would be there to make sure everything went according to plan.

  Akodo Toturi would be dead by the time the Scorpions visited the emperor to celebrate the Fire Festival.

  xxxxxxxx

  In a huff, Toturi cast aside his riding gear and entered Junko's geisha house.

  Junko appeared from an alcove and bowed to the wandering soldier. "It is good to see you, my lord," she said.

  Toturi growled an unintelligible response.

  "When you did not arrive for your last scheduled visit, we feared something might have happened."

  "No," Toturi said. "Just got tied up. Affairs you wouldn't understand."

  Junko bowed again. "Even in peacetime, the work of a soldier is never done," she said. "You look tired. Shall I prepare a bath?"

  Toturi shook his head. "Hatsuko will do it." Then, remembering his manners, he said, "I'd like to see her if I may."

  "Most assuredly, my lord. I shall fetch her at once."

  Toturi waved her off. "No need to. I know the way."

  Junko watched the young general go, wondering for just a moment who he really was. She shook her head and went about her business.

  Without announcing himself, the Lion pushed the screen back.

  Hatsuko jumped at the sudden noise and movement. "Oh!" she cried, pulling her kimono tighter around her.

  "Have no fear, Hatsuko-chan," Toturi said, bowing. "It is only I."

  She rushed to her feet and embraced him. "Toturi-sama," she said softly, pressing her face against his broad chest.

  "I'm sorry I startled you," he said. "But I was anxious to see you. It has been too long."

  "When you did not come," she said, "I feared something had happened to you."

  He shook his head. "No. No need to worry. I just got tied up with some business at court."

  "What kind of business?" she asked shyly.

  Toturi looked at her and. sighed. Something was bothering her, though he couldn't figure out what. "Why do you ask?" he said.

  "Because I missed you," she answered. "It has been nearly a month since our last... appointment and I feared you would not return."

  The Lion laughed, full and hearty. "You need never fear that, my love. I would sooner die than desert you."

  "Would you?" she asked.

  "Of course I would."

  "Then what kept you from my side?"

  Toturi motioned for her to sit. He sat down beside her.

  "Bad luck, I suppose," he said. "Papers—official business— that I had signed were lost. They had to be drawn up and signed again. Then my horse came up lame and needed to be reshod. To make matters worse, several of my people got

  involved in a teahouse brawl in Otosan Uchi. I couldn't leave until I sorted all those things out."

  He put his arm around her. "But, believe me," he continued, "I had no choice. Sometimes I wish 1 had never become a daimyo."

  "I wish . . ." she said,"... I wish you could stay with me always."

  "As do I," he said. He pulled her to him and kissed her passionately. They separated, and he pressed her head against his chest. "I would give the world if I could."

  A shudder ran through her delicate frame.

  "Are you cold, my love?" Toturi asked. "A warm bath will change that. Draw one for us both, will you?"

  Hatsuko nodded and walked toward the shoji screen to the bathhouse that adjoined her room. Then she turned back.

  "Toturi-sama," she said, "if you could have but one wish, what would it be?"

  "One wish?" he said, rubbing his chin. "That's easy." He walked to her side and embraced her. "I would wish that you and I could be together forever."

  "As you told me before? In a small cabin in the woods?" she asked.

  "Yes," he said, smiling down at her. "Together, forever, in our small cabin hidden away in the forest."

  She smiled back at him, but she did not meet his eyes.

  COMING OF AGE

  Shoju welcomed his wife and her people home without the elaborate ceremony Dairu would have wanted. It was a warm welcome nonetheless. Shoju had begun setting the wheels of their plan in motion. Only a few points of business remained before the Scorpions' journey to Otosan Uchi. Foremost among these was the gempuku ceremony for Dairu, the daimyo's heir.

  They held the ritual on the second day after Kachiko's return. Hundreds of Scorpion nobles, retainers, and honored guests assembled in the great hall at Kyuden Bayushi. Shoju and Kachiko, dressed in their finest masks and kimonos, sat on a dais at the front of the hall. The other Scorpions lined the sides of the chamber. The guests wore their best finery. To do otherwise was to risk execution.

  The room itself had been decorated with banners of gold, black, and red. Many of

  these featured the Scorpion mon. Some of the tapestries were inscribed with blessings and spells to speed the initiate on his road to manhood. The center of the room sat empty, reserved for the ceremony itself. At a signal from Shoju, the hall fell silent.

  Bayushi Dairu marched through the great entryway doors and into the hall. He wore a gold kimono and mask, each decorated with red and black filigree. In his left hand he held a katana. In his right, he held a scroll. Two dignitaries escorted the Scorpion heir into the room. On his right strode the priest Mifune. On his left marched the Scorpion swordmaster, Masayuki, a bow and arrows strapped to his back.

  Dairu handed the sword to Masayuki and unrolled the scroll. He read:

  "Leaves tumble swiftly—rivers flowing ever change—even mountains fall." He followed with two more haiku, both by Scorpion poets. He rolled up the scroll and handed it to Mifune.

  Then he recited the verses of Shinsei by heart. Mifune nodded as the boy spoke. Both Shoju and Kachiko felt pride grow within their hearts. Their son had studied well.

  After the recitation, Masayuki removed the bow and arrows from his back and handed them to Dairu. Fusuma side screens slid open and servants brought eleven wooden targets into the room, setting them before the great doors. The targets had been painted with the pictures of animals: deer, pheasants, boar, and others.

  Dairu nocked an arrow to the bow and pulled the string to his ear. Willing his heart and breathing quiet, he concentrated as he had been taught. When he felt the moment of perfect stillness, he let the arrow fly. The first target fell. The crowd remained silent—as was custom. Only when Dairu felled the last target, a lion, did the Scorpion lord nod his approval.

  Dairu bowed to his father. He gave the arrows and bow back to Masayuki. The swordmaster returned Dairu's katana to him.

  Dairu tucked the scabbard into his obi and drew the sword. Uttering a martial arts cry, he stalked to the center of the room and held his sword in front of him.

  At the sound, the side screens opened again and servants rolled in seven practice dummies made of straw. Dairu waited for the moment of inner silence.

  When it came, he moved swiftly about the room, swinging his sword in wide arcs. He cut the arms from the first dummy, the legs from the second. The third he bisected at the waist; the forth he decapitated. The fifth lost both arms and legs, the sixth both middle and head.

  On the last, Dairu removed all the limbs and bisected the middle. He cut off the head as the dummy fell. With a satisfied cry, he resumed his starting position. He glanced at his parents.

  Shoju nodded once more; Kachiko smiled.

  Dairu sheathed his sword and bowed.

  Mifune stepped forward. From within his robe he produced four silken handkerchief
s. He tossed them into the air in front of the boy.

  Using his iajutsu fast-draw skill, Dairu drew his sword and cut the first silk in two before it hit the ground. He did the same to the others, turning four into the lucky number eight. He then resheathed his katana and bowed, first to the priest, then to his parents. Mifune bowed back; the Scorpion lord and lady nodded.

  Two monks stepped forward and handed a piece of rice paper to the priest. Mifune turned and presented it to Dairu. The Scorpion heir took the paper in both hands and held it up over his head for all to see.

  He let go of the paper with his right hand and drew his sword once more. Sweat beaded on Dairu's brow. His heart pounded. He willed himself to concentrate, slowing his heart. He stared intently at the paper, dangling from his left hand by one corner.

  Slowly, he brought the point of the sword to where his fingers pinched the rice paper. Deftly he drew the blade of the sword along the paper's thin edge. In a few moments he had turned the one piece of paper into two. Both pieces were of equal size to the original, though thinner.

  Dairu let out a long breath. With a flourish, he returned his sword to its sheath once more. He bowed to his parents.

  Bayushi Shoju stood and strode toward the center of the hall to his son.

  Dairu knelt before his lord.

  Shoju looked down on the boy. His ornate mask made it impossible to read the Scorpion daimyo's face.

  Dairu bowed his head and waited.

  From a secret place within his robes, Shoju drew forth a wakizashi—the samurai's short sword. He held the sword out to Dairu. "Today," the Scorpion lord said, his voice echoing like thunder in the hall, "you are samurai."

  Dairu took the sword and tucked it into his belt, completing his dai-sho—the mark of a samurai, the mark of a man. He could not help smiling. He stood and bowed to the only father he had ever known.

  As Shoju bowed back, the great hall burst into thunderous applause. The nobles present stood, thrust their fists in the air, and shouted "Banzai!" three times.

  Dairu blinked back the moisture at the corner of his eyes. He could see his mother wiping the tears from her face. He turned to his father.

  Shoju nodded at Dairu. The young man sensed the smile behind his father's mask.

  "Come," the Scorpion said, motioning Dairu to join him on the dais. "Let the celebration begin."

  Father and son turned to Mifune and Masayuki and bowed. The priest and the swordmaster bowed lower in reply. Both of Dairu's tutors smiled proudly at their student. Shoju turned and led his son to the platform at the front of the hall. They seated themselves beside Kachiko, and the feasting began in earnest.

  xxxxxxxx

  By the end of the evening, the castle staff had exhausted themselves. They went to bed knowing they had done their utmost to serve their master, his wife, and his son.

  Most Scorpions slept late the morning after the gempuku ritual. The servants, of course, got to work at their usual times—though no one faulted them if they seemed a bit sleepy.

  When they arose, Shoju and Kachiko set about making the final preparations for the trip to the capital. Dairu was given the task of readying the horses, and Tetsuo helped him.

  Shortly after sunset, Shoju and Kachiko met with their son in the high tower of Kyuden Bayushi's great keep.

  "My son," Shoju began, his face stern behind his mask, "I suspect you've guessed our trip to the capital is not merely to celebrate the Fire Festival."

  Dairu nodded. "It was not my place to ask, Father, but I have wondered, yes."

  "Now that you are a man," said Kachiko, "you must know the true purpose of our visit."

  "You know already," continued Shoju, "that the path of the Scorpion is a difficult one. We are born to do what the other clans cannot... will not do. Our divine mission is to do the bidding of the emperor, no matter what the cost. Nothing is more important than protecting the empire—not life, not family, not honor. Do you understand?"

  "Yes, Father."

  Shoju nodded. "Yosh," he said. "Now our credo will be put to the ultimate test. We will risk all, sacrifice all, for the good of the Emerald Empire, indeed, for Rokugan itself."

  "We have learned," Kachiko said, her eyes dark and somber, "that a catastrophe is about to befall our world. The return of Fu Leng is imminent."

  The young heir to the Scorpion throne gasped. "No!"

  "What your mother says is true," Shoju said. He turned and stalked from where they stood in the center of the room to the edge of the high balcony. "Soon all this," he waved his hand to the lands beyond the castle, "may go up in flames. Our land may be torn, screaming, into the very bowels of Jigoku itself."

  Dairu took a step forward, his hand unconsciously straying to the hilt of his sword. "But this must not be, Father," he said. "We must prevent this disaster—at any cost."

  "We must, we can, and we will," Shoju said grimly, not turning to look at his son.

  "We will, though it may cost us everything," said Kachiko. "The cost to the empire will be terrible as well."

  "No cost is too great to prevent the resurrection of Fu Leng," Dairu said bravely.

  Shoju turned and put his hand on his son's shoulder. "You understand, then," the Scorpion daimyo said. "Good. Now your mother and I must tell you what actions the Scorpion will take to avert this catastrophe."

  "A scroll dictated long ago by Uikku, the Serene Prophet, to a Scorpion retainer warns of how the return of Fu Leng will come to pass," Kachiko said. She held her son's dark eyes with her own as she spoke. "The resurrection of the Evil One will be brought about by the last Hantei emperor."

  "Hantei...!" Dairu gasped.

  "Unless," Shoju said, "we stop him."

  "But, Father, how can we stop the emperor? We serve him—even unto death."

  "We serve him, yes, but we also serve the empire. If the emperor becomes a threat to the empire—" Shoju paused and looked away from his son "—a new emperor is needed."

  "An emperor who is not a Hantei," Kachiko added. "An emperor who will not bring about the return of Fu Leng. Perhaps even a Bayushi emperor."

  Dairu looked from his father to his mother, disbelief showing in his eyes. His small mask could not disguise his shock and horror. "Kill the emperor?" he asked.

  "Would you kill one man to save a hundred? A thousand?

  Ten thousand?" the Scorpion daimyo asked. "If taking the life of the emperor would serve the empire best, how can we not do it? It is our sworn duty."

  "It is what we are bred for," Kachiko said, standing beside her husband and taking his left hand.

  "But, Father," Dairu said, "my first battle ... it should not be against the emperor."

  "Fortune seldom sets us on the path we desire, my son," said Kachiko. "Our cause is just. We need you at our side."

  Dairu crossed to where his parents stood, and he took Shoju's right hand. A twinge of pain flared up the daimyo's shoulder, but he ignored it.

  "Then I am with you," Dairu said. "Tell me how we will accomplish our goals."

  Shoju nodded. "Yosh."

  The three of them sat down simultaneously.

  Kachiko began. "While our retinue travels to the Hantei castle, the real strength of our forces is already in place," she said.

  Shoju continued her thought. "For the last month, our people have infiltrated the capital city, posing as tradesmen and artisans. Our safe houses have supplied them with shelter. No one suspects how many Scorpions now dwell within the capital city."

  "At the same time, Soshi Bantaro and Yogo Junzo have crept into the hills around the city," said Kachiko. "They have used subtle spells and the arts of the ninja to conceal themselves. The great mass of our weapons is with them."

  "But, if our weapons are outside the city... ?"

  "They are outside now," Kachiko said, "but soon they will be within the walls. Our shugenja will use their magic to make the swords and spears appear to be mere sticks, kindling for the upcoming Fire Festival."

  Shoju folded h
is hands on his lap. "At the same time, Yogo Junzo is using subtle magics to weaken the castle defenses."

  "But won't the Hantei shugenja detect this?" Dairu asked.

  "No," his father said, "because Junzo is not working to defeat the castle's spells, merely to alter them, so that we may bring our forces in undetected. The spells of the Crane and Phoenix will remain, but they will have been corrupted to our purpose.

  "When we arrive," Shoju concluded, "the emperor will hold a feast in our honor. During that feast, we shall strike."

  ROKUGAN IN PERIL

  Early the next morning, the host of the Scorpions assembled inside the eastern gate of Kyuden Bayushi. Shoju stood at the front of the retinue, holding the reins of his magnificent Unicorn-bred steed. Dairu and Tetsuo took up positions next to him. Several ranks back, within sight of the Scorpion heir, rode Bayushi Aramoro—the daimyo's half-brother and the heir's watchdog. He blended in nicely with the crowd of retainers, which was exactly what he wanted.

  Kachiko languished in her palanquin, waving an ornate fan to stave off the morning heat. At times like this, she hated the small, lacquered box that custom forced her to ride in. Others in the column may have been discomforted by the torrid weather as well, but no one was ill-mannered enough to show it. Shoju had ordered all of his people to wear their most festive masks, which not only

  suited a visit to the emperor, but also disguised the true nature of their errand.

  Bayushi Yojiro stood beside his daimyo and spoke to the Scorpion lord. "Are you sure you do not want me to come with you, my lord?" Yojiro asked.

  Shoju shook his head. "No. You must stay here," he said. "I entrust our castle and sacred homeland to your care. No one else is worthy of the job."

  Yojiro bowed low. "Thank you, great lord."

  "One other thing," said Shoju. He turned to his horse and from the saddlebag pulled a long, linen-wrapped package. "Here," he said, handing it to the younger man.

  "What is it, great lord?" Yojiro asked.

  Behind his mask, Shoju's face grew grim. "Itsuwari, the sword of my ancestors."