Land of the Crane

[carpedavid]

Takayama and Tsumago, Part 1

For ten generations, the twin towns of Takayama and Tsumago have produced the finest sake in Tsurukuni. Samurai and kannushi, noble and peasant, human and kitsune alike have coveted the amakuchi, or sweet sake, of Takayama and the karakuchi, or dry sake, of Tsumago. It was only fitting, then, that a cask of each of Kurosawa's most valuable exports be offered to the fire crane, Tsurukuni's most potent spiritual guardian.

With his uncanny ability to track down sources of alcohol, Kakeru led the group directly to the Takayama brewery, at which point they introduced themselves to Takayama Takezo, the kuramoto.

"Welcome to Takayama Sakagura, Kurosawa-sama" he said as he bowed to the four representatives of his lord. "It brings us great honor to be able to offer our sacred spirit to the fire crane."

"It is our honor to be the ones to deliver this offering," Kakeru replied.

Takayama gestured to a short, elderly man dressed in a tattered headband and sweat-stained peasants' clothes. "Allow me to introduce Kenji-toji[24], our head brewer."

"Please, forgive my appearance, Kurosawa-sama," Kenji said with a wavering voice as he bowed deeply, "It is hot and very humid inside the brewery."

"Think nothing of it."

"Kenji-san has been with us for a very long time," Takayama interjected, "Even before my father ran the brewery."

"Yes, indeed," the old man smiled, "I started as an apprentice when your grandfather was the toji. He was the finest brewer I have ever known."

Takayama took a moment to smile to himself before continuing. "Oh! Perhaps Kenji-san would be so kind as to take you on a tour of the brewery. Would you like to learn about the process of brewing sake?"

"Absolutely!" Kakeru almost blurted out, before catching himself and responding with a considerably more polite, "It would be our honor."

Kenji spent an hour leading the four young travelers though the sake-making process. He began in the mill, where the hard husk of the rice was ground away, leaving only the pure starch center. Then he walked them past the springs, where the residue left from the milling process was washed away. Next, he showed them the shikomi: large wooden tanks where the rice mash fermented for nearly a month. At each point, he spent several minutes discussing the intricacies involved in getting each step just right. While Musashi, Fukasu, and Takashi listened politely, Kakeru hung on every word.

Finally, Kenji ushered the group into a small room that was warmer and far more humid than the rest of the brewery. Stacks of wooden trays lined the walls of the room, and the old toji tottered over to one stack. He deftly lifted the top of the stack and removed one tray from the center. "This," Kenji said with a smile, "is the secret of our sake."

He held out the tray to show the group. Inside was a layer of rice that looked like it was covered in a soft, black fur. "This is koji - rice that we have cultured with a very special mold. This is what is added to the rice and water mash that causes the fermentation."

Musashi looked at the moldy rice with disdain. It looked neither clean nor proper - certainly something a samurai would leave to others to employ.

That's where sake comes from? Takashi thought to himself with alarm.

Cool, thought Fukasu.

"Would it be proper for me to bless the koji?" Kakeru asked.

"Oh, that would be most gracious of you," Kenji replied, then put the tray back in its place in the stack.

Kakeru stepped forward, held his hand out in front of the stacks of koji, took a deep breath, and thought of all the wonderful sake that would eventually be produced. So much sake, he thought to himself. He imagined how long it would take to drink all of that sake, and realized with glee just how very, very drunk he could be the entire time. That could take years. The thought made him giddy.

"Um, Kakeru-kun?" he heard Fukasu say, "You're just standing there with your eyes closed."

The young kannushi snapped out of his reverie. He wondered how long he had been dreaming about the sake, decided it was best not to ask, and cleared his throat, "Great spirits, honorable ancestors, please protect and bless this sakagura, the people in it, and the sake it produces." Especially the sake.

Kenji was delighted. He smiled and clapped his hands. "Thank you Kakeru-sama," he said with a bow, "We can use the protection of the spirits with what's been going on here recently."

Musashi raised an eyebrow, "What's been going on?"

Kenji sighed, "Someone has been salting the rice fields."

Musashi knew little about farming, but he was pretty sure that wasn't good. "What effect does that have?"

"It kills off the rice and prevents the land from being used for a very long time."

"An assault upon these lands is an assault upon Lord Kurosawa himself!" Musashi cried.

"More importantly, an assault upon these lands is an assault upon the sake!" said Kakeru, aghast.

"Yes, I'm afraid so, on both accounts," the old man replied.

Musashi looked askance at Kakeru, and then asked, "Do you have any idea what kind of dishonorable dogs would do something like this?"

"Yes," Kakeru continued, "Who would try to harm the sake?"

Kenji just shrugged, "I can't imagine. Who doesn't like sake?"

With that, the head brewer of Takayama sakagura ended his tour. The four heroes talked to the kurabito, or brewery workers, for another hour before heading to the kuramoto's manor. "Kurosawa-sama," he greeted them, "I trust that you enjoyed your tour. Please join me for dinner."

"I like dinner," Takashi quipped.

Takayama introduced the four heroes to his wife, Keiko, and his teenage son, Ichiro. Both parties exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes before sitting down around a low, round, ebony table. Takayama's servants brought out bowls of steaming-hot rice, plates of pork cutlets, and dozens of wooden bottles of sake.

While Fukasu, Kakeru, and Takashi attacked their dinner with zeal, Musashi simply frowned and pushed the rice from one side of the bowl to the other. Finally, he could hold his tongue no longer. "Takayama-san," he said, "Why are your fields being salted?"

The kuramoto nearly choked on his rice as he looked at Musashi in surprise. "Who told you of this?"

"Kenji-san," Musashi replied, coolly, "He is concerned about the dishonor that this sabotage brings to our lord."

"And to the sake," Kakeru added in between bites of rice.

"Um, well, I" Takayama stammered.

"Do you have any idea who would dishonor our lord like this?" Musashi asked. "Could it be a peasant uprising? Perhaps a rival clan seeks to harm us?"

Takayama's son, Ichiro, slammed his bowl of rice and pork down onto the table. "It's obviously Tsumago-san!" he exclaimed. "That dog seeks to destroy us, I know it!"

"Ichiro! Mind your tongue!" the kuramoto said as he rose to his feet. He grabbed his son and ushered him out of the room. Keiko stood up, bowed politely, and exited the room, sliding the paper screen closed behind her.

The four heroes from Kurosawa looked at each other in confusion, and then they heard the three members of the Takayama family begin screaming at each other. After less than a minute of listening to the argument, Fukasu set her food down. "I don't think I'm hungry any more," she said softly.

Half an hour later, during which time Musashi, Kakeru, Takashi, and Fukasu all sat in uncomfortable silence, Takayama returned to the table. He bowed his head, "I am sorry that you had to witness that. My son believes that Tsumago-san is trying to sabotage us, but that explanation doesn't make sense to me."

"Why is that, Takayama-san?" said Kakeru.

"Tsumago-san and I have been on very good terms for many years, and we're not really in competition."

"Have you set out to catch these criminals?" Musashi asked.

"Well," Takayama looked uncomfortable, "I have asked the farmers to keep a lookout, and to report anything suspicious."

"This is no job for a peasant," Musashi said in disgust.

"Perhaps we can investigate this situation for you, Takayama-san," Kakeru offered. "Earlier, I took the liberty of asking the kurabito where this vandalism was taking place. They said that it was happening in your northern fields."

"That's correct."

"We can stake it out tonight and hope that we get lucky," Fukasu suggested.

"I would greatly appreciate that, but I can't ask you to put yourselves in the way of danger."

"You do not need to ask," Musashi said firmly, "We will do this for the honor of our clan."

"We will do this to protect the sake," Kakeru added. Everyone stopped and turned to look at him, and after a moment, he added, "Err, and to bring honor to the clan."

Later that evening, as the crescent moon reached the apex of its journey through the clear night sky, Fukasu, Musashi, Takashi, and Kakeru took up positions hiding alongside the raised roads of Takayama's northern fields. Each minute seemed to last an hour, as the four travelers strained to see the source of every flickering shadow and every fleeting sound.

Fortunately, they didn't have to wait long. Within an hour, three horse-drawn carts rattled down the road, each piled high with burlap sacks. The carts stopped in the middle of the field, and three black-clad figures descended. After a moment of whispered conversation, they began to unload their cargo. When the first figure sliced into a bag and dumped its contents into the water, the four friends nodded to each other in agreement.

"Fukasu and I have the best chance of surprising them," Takashi whispered. Musashi and Kakeru nodded in agreement, and Fukasu readied her ninjato.

"Ok," the young hanyo ninja whispered back. "Let's go kill the bad guys."

[24] A brief sake glossary.

• Sakagura (also known as a Kura) - a sake brewery. There are hundreds of local sake breweries throughout Tsurukuni, but the breweries in Takayama and Tsumago are among the largest.
• Kuramoto - brewer, head of the kura. He is the noble in charge of the operation of the brewery and the town that supports it.
• Toji - the head brewer. He is responsible for making sure the brewing process is carried out correctly.
• Koji - the rice cultured with mold.

[carpedavid]

Takayama and Tsumago, Part 2

"Wait, Fu-chan," Kakeru suddenly said, "Let me go with Takashi-san." Fukasu looked at him, puzzled, and he replied, "You can fly over there quickly, but it'll take me longer to get there. So I should probably go first."

"Ok, we'll cover you."

Kakeru nodded, and he and Takashi crawled up over the road, down the other side, and began wading slowly through the rice paddy. Every time one of the saboteurs paused, Kakeru and Takashi paused as well. Kakeru could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and his own breathing sounded like a hurricane in his ears. Musashi and Fukasu struggled to control their own breath as he readied his bow and she drew her ninjato.

Takashi closed to within striking distance a moment ahead of Kakeru. He braced himself, took a deep breath, and lunged at the closest black-clad figure. The ninja looked up just in time to dodge out of the way of Takashi's powerful fist. Unfortunately for the young monk, this gave the ninja the perfect opportunity to jab his blade into his opponent's ribs. Uh-oh, Takashi thought, as the ninjato pierced his side.

Now aware that they were under attack, the other two ninja reacted. One identified herself as the leader by barking out orders to the other, who rushed Kakeru. The ninja slashed at the young kannushi, but missed wildly. Emboldened, Kakeru projected his will into the spirit world and beckoned the dancing spirits of flame and fire to come to his aid. He could see them dancing toward him, scurrying across the hazy terrain of the sprit world, when he felt a stabbing pain in his torso.

His vision snapped back to the material world, and he looked down to see a ninjato sticking out of his stomach, right above his navel. The ninja smiled and ripped the blade out, sending a spray of blood out across the water. Kakeru coughed once, spit out a mouthful of blood, and collapsed.

"No!" Fukasu screamed as she launched herself into the air. Her powerful wings sent a spray of water out around her with each beat. Musashi nocked an arrow, drew the bowstring, paused to let his breath synchronize with the beat of Fukasu's wings, and then let fly. The arrow zipped across the water, passing just under the hanyo's right wing, before missing the lead ninja's head by less than an inch.

While the shot missed its target, it provided Takashi with the distraction he needed, and he slammed an open palm into the leader's solar plexus. Even from his position across the water, Musashi could hear the breath burst from her lungs. Should I charge? he wondered for a moment. No, he realized, crossing the water will take too long. I will better serve my friends from here.

The ninja followers tumbled into position to flank Takashi, and were just about to strike when Fukasu swooped in from above. She landed in the middle of the group, which caused the two followers to cower in fear, and then tumbled behind the leader.

The first ninja, who Takashi had jumped, screamed and swung wildly, catching the young monk in the side of the face. "Ow!" Takashi cried as blood poured down over his chin. I can't take many more of those, he thought. The ninja leader swung at Takashi as well, but a well timed gust of wind from Fukasu's wings threw off her aim.

The monk from the Temple of Thunder and Lightning looked to his left to see one of Musashi's arrows pierce the second ninja's neck. The young man collapsed, his arterial blood creating a slick on the surface of the rice paddy. Takashi looked back to see the ninja leader staring at her fallen companion, and he took the opportunity to slam an elbow into her nose, causing her to yelp in pain.

"You die!" she screamed as she swiped at Takashi once again. This time, he easily sidestepped the wild swing, but he ran right into the other ninja's blade. Blood poured out into his robes as the blade was withdrawn, and he began to feel woozy. Concentrate, Takashi, he warned himself.

"You motherless dog!" the lead ninja screamed at Takashi. He raised his arms in an attempt to defend himself against another slash, but watched her face contort in pain instead. She gasped, gurgled, and fell face-forward into the warm, copper-colored water. Fukasu placed her foot on the woman's back and pulled her ninjato from between the corpse's shoulder blades.

The first ninja screamed again as his leader's lifeless body joined that of his friend, and he swung his blade blindly. Takashi tried to move, but the loss of his own blood slowed his reactions, and the blade cut deeply into his chest. Oh, crap, he thought as the world went gray.

Fukasu ignored the half-mad ninja and dove to the ground next to Takashi. She placed her hand against his neck to check for a pulse and found one, albeit weak. Thank you, great ancestors, she thought, for keeping my friend alive. She looked up at the remaining ninja and wondered if she would have to kill him next.

A third arrow from Musashi answered that question. The man cried in pain as the arrow sliced through his thigh. He turned and started to run, screamed in pain again, and hobbled as quickly as he could move. Fukasu turned her attention back to Takashi and Kakeru, and she began ripping off pieces of her robe to bind their wounds.

As she tightened the first of the makeshift bandages, she heard another scream, followed quickly by a splash, and looked up to see Musashi standing over the body of the last ninja, the string on his bow still quivering.

"Fu-chan? Are they still alive?" Musashi yelled as he sprinted toward Fukasu, who he could see was hurriedly bandaging their two fallen companions.

"Yes, but we need to get them back to town."

"Will they make it back?"

"They're stable, at least for now," she said as she picked up the young monk's body and placed it on the first cart. "Help me with Kakeru-kun," she said as she grabbed the young kannushi's feet. Musashi knelt down and grabbed his childhood friend around the shoulders, and then grunted as they lifted his substantial weight.

"We need to burn the bodies," Musashi said, nodding toward the fallen ninja.

"We should probably save one to see if Takayama-san can identify it."

"Good idea," Musashi grunted as they set Kakeru down. "Let's burn the two of them, and then I'll stay here with the remaining one."

"Why not bring it with us?" Fukasu said, puzzled.

"I would not disgrace Takayama-san by bringing the corpse of a criminal into his town," Musashi said, indignant. "Once you get Kakeru-kun and Takashi-san taken care of, you can ride back with him. He may also be able to identify anything out of the ordinary about this area."

"I'm not convinced, but this isn't time to argue," Fukasu shrugged.

The two travelers from Kurosawa pulled the corpses of the ninja onto the road. They poured lamp oil over two of them, and then Fukasu ignited them with a spark from a set of flint and steel. They watched the corpses burn for a minute, hoping that it would be enough to sever the tie between the bodies and Yomi, the realm of the dead.

"Will you be ok?" Fukasu asked as she climbed into the cart with her unconscious friends.

"Yes, Fu-chan," Musashi replied, seemingly without concern, "Just hurry."

***

Fukasu entered Takayama's manor with as much bluster as she could manage. Rice-paper doors slid open all over the house as the young hanyo dragged Kakeru and Takashi's unconscious bodies inside, shouting for Takayama all the while.

"What's going on?" Takayama yelled as he ran toward the group. Various servants crowded the hallway, and it took him a minute to push through. "Oh, great ancestors!" he exclaimed once he saw Fukasu standing over the limp bodies of her companions.

"Do you have anyone that can help?" Fukasu implored.

The kuramoto of Takayama Sakagura stared at the scene mutely for a moment before answering, "What? Oh yes, of course!" He turned to one of his young servants and said, "Go fetch Chuichi-san. Quickly!" The servant ran out into the village, and Takayama knelt down next to the three adventurers. "What happened?"

"We ran into three of the ninja that were salting your fields," Fukasu said.

"Ninja?" Takayama looked shocked.

"Yes, ninja," Fukasu said matter-of-factly, "This is the work of someone dedicated to hurting you."

Takayama stared at the two bloody bodies at his feet and let out a great sigh. "This is unbelievable," he said, shaking his head. "Wait, where's Musashi-sama?"

"He's waiting back in the field. We need you to come back with us to see if you can identify the any of the corpses of the dead ninja."

Takayama looked disgusted, "Why would I know any ninja?"

Fukasu shrugged, "We're just trying to eliminate all possibilities."

After a moment, the servant returned with a middle-aged man dressed in robes similar to Kakeru's. "Chuichi-san," Takayama stood up to greet him. "Fukasu-sama, this is Chuichi-san. He is our town kannushi. Please allow him to help."

Fukasu nodded as Chuichi knelt down next to her. He looked at the bodies of her companions, and then looked over at her and nearly jumped out of his skin. Fukasu sighed, and patted him reassuringly on the shoulder.

"My apologies, Fukasu-sama," the kannushi said as he recomposed himself.

"It's ok - just help my friends."

The kannushi nodded, and Fukasu watched as he summoned the same blue energy that Kakeru had always used to heal her. Less than a minute later, both of her companions were up on their feet. While Fukasu filled them in on the events that had transpired after they had been knocked out, Kakeru looked down at the hole in his robes. He poked one finger through, and gently rubbed his belly. Well, he thought, that didn't work out too well.

***

Musashi leaned against one of the remaining carts. I hope they get back soon, he thought, it's getting cold out here. A chill ran up his spine, and he shivered. He couldn't see anything out in the darkness, and he couldn't hear anything splashing through the field, so he took a deep breath. Get control over yourself, Musashi. Fear is not an option for a samurai.

The wind whipped across the fields, rippling the standing water. The horses snorted nervously, and a low, deep drone, like a tree groaning in the wind, caught his ear. He looked around in alarm. I can't see any trees, he thought. Was that one of the horses? What was that sound? He looked at the cart he was leaning against, at the corpse of the ninja rising to its feet, at the road stretching off into the darkness, at the two horses, and then back at the reanimated corpse... What the? Oh, great ancestors!

[carpedavid]

Takayama and Tsumago, Part 3

Animated by the black fires of Yomi, the corpse of the ninja rose out of the water. In the brief span of time since its death, its skin had turned the color of ash, and its eyes had sunk into dark hollow pits. It groaned again, and then turned its gaze toward Musashi. After a few hesitant steps, it grinned at the young samurai, and charged.

Musashi fumbled for his katana as he stumbled backward. Instead of the broad, powerful slash he had been trained to perform, he barely managed to draw the blade from its scabbard without cutting himself. Within a second, the gaki[25] was upon him, and, as it raked at his flesh, he felt a wave of cold wash over his body, as though he had fallen through ice into a frozen lake. His breath was blasted from his body as every muscle seized up at once. The edges of his vision began to go dark, and he screamed inwardly.

Musashi pulled himself from the dark depths of the frigid abyss through sheer force of will, coughing and gasping for breath as he emerged. "What in Yomi?" he exclaimed. Then, fueled by fear, he swung wildly at the gaki. His katana bit deeply, lopping off part of the creature's face, and forcing it to shuffle back.

Black blood poured from the gaki's missing flesh. It threw back its head, opened its damaged jaw, and let out an unearthly howl. Musashi stepped back out of its reach and shivered in spite of himself. Great ancestors, protect me, he thought.

The gaki shook its head, sending a spray of black ichor everywhere. It growled, then lunged, gnashing at Musashi with its supernaturally sharp teeth. The young samurai felt the wave of paralysis wash over him again, but this time he knew what to expect, and was able to shake it off with ease.

He took a deep breath and raised his katana overhead. Steady, Musashi, he told himself as he stepped forward. Summoning the strength of all the Kurosawa samurai that had come before him, he let out a great shout and slashed downward in a mighty blow. The gaki took one step backward, and then split in two, from its right shoulder to its left hip. The torso toppled off into the dirty water, followed by the collapse of the legs. Both halves twitched for a second before laying still.

Musashi poked at the remains of the gaki with his katana. They didn't move, so he poked them again. Once he was sure that they weren't going to get up and try to eat him, he sheathed his sword and breathed a sigh of relief.

When Kakeru, Fukasu, and Takashi returned with Takayama in tow, they found Musashi sitting in seiza, reflecting upon the lessons he had learned. Fear, he realized, was a powerful force. If I can learn to harness this fear, to make it my ally instead of my enemy, then I will be strong indeed.

Fukasu immediately noticed that the scene had changed significantly since she had left. "Musashi-kun!" she yelled, "Are you ok?"

The young samurai nodded toward the two halves of the fallen gaki. "That one..."

"Yes?"

"It got back up."

Kakeru hopped out of the cart and examined the twice-dead ninja's remains. Hmmm, he thought, it shouldn't have reanimated that fast. Something else must be going on.

"Takayama-san," he beckoned to the kuramoto, "can you come here and look at this?"

The kuramoto climbed down out of the cart, and waded through the water toward Kakeru. When he got within five paces of the body, he turned around and vomited. "Pardon me," he mumbled as he wiped his mouth off on the hem of his kimono.

"Take your time," Kakeru replied.

Takayama spent a moment with his back turned, then took a deep breath, and walked over to the body. He squinted at the face of the young man, and then shook his head. "I'm sorry, I don't know this man."

"He's not from Takayama?"

"No."

"Would you know him if he were from Tsumago?"

Takayama considered the question for a moment, and then shook his head. "I would think so, but I can't be positive."

Kakeru sighed inwardly - things were rapidly becoming complicated. "Thank you, Takayama-san. We should probably return to town."

The kuramoto nodded, "I'll have the farmers take care of these wagons tomorrow." With that, the four travelers from Kurosawa returned to town, took a bath, and promptly fell asleep.

The next morning, after a traditional breakfast of miso soup and natto, the four travelers from Kurosawa set out for the town of Tsumago. "We will find the men responsible for sabotaging your fields," Musashi promised Takayama.

The group had traveled for less than half an hour when they spotted a young man in red monk's robes walking down the road toward them. Each watched the figure warily, but Fukasu was the first to notice that something was odd about him. "Uh, hey, guys," she said.

"What in the world?" whispered Kakeru.

"What in Yomi is that?" Takashi asked no one in particular.

"It's that monk that Kenjiro-san was talking about," said Musashi, for the young man walking toward them did not look at all like a normal Tsurukunan. Instead of the black hair and brown eyes that were characteristic of every human they had ever met, the monk had hair the color of straw and eyes that resembled sapphires.

"Hello," the monk waved cheerily as Kakeru brought the cart to a stop. He bowed to the group, and then smiled, "I'm Kyoji."

[25]Gaki are the reanimated bodies of intelligent creatures that have not been cremated after death. The black, corrupting, tainted energy of Yomi fuels these creatures, and they rise with an insatiable hunger for the flesh of the living.

[carpedavid]

Kyoji, the Monk

Sixteen years ago, in the dead of night, a newborn baby was left outside the front gate of the Temple of the Silent Lake. Upon discovering the crying infant the next morning, the monks of the temple reacted with surprise.

They were not surprised that someone had abandoned a child in the middle of the night – three hundred years of unstable shoguns, constant warfare between rival clans, droughts, plagues, and the hard life of being a peasant all produced enough abandoned children to fill all of Tsurukuni's monasteries twice over. They were not surprised that the child was left without any word of explanation – for none ever were. No, the monks of the temple were surprised by the features of the abandoned child, for he had hair the color of straw, and eyes that resembled sapphires.

The monks took the infant into their care, named him Kyoji, after the legendary shodo[26] master, and raised him alongside the dozens of other abandoned and orphaned children that showed up outside their gate every year. Though the kanju of the temple decreed that the strange-looking infant should be treated no differently than any other child ("He is either blessed by the spirits, or cursed," she said, "It is not up to us to decide which."), Kyoji couldn't help but hear the whispers and feel the stares of the other children as he grew into a monk-in training.

Over the years, he formed close friendships with a select few others who were considered "strange" for one reason or another: Sakio, a girl who could see spirits; Dosan, a boy who never stopped talking; Akiko, a slender girl who was at least a head taller than all the boys by the time she was 8; and Issai, a boy who weighed more than all the other boys combined.

Apart from spending time with his friends, Kyoji poured himself into the study of the Way of the Tortoise and the teachings of Zenigame Kamiko[27], the temple's founder. He practiced the defensive fighting inspired by the tortoise during the day and read from the sacred scrolls that illustrated the danger presented by the tainted forces of Yomi at night.

On the sixteenth anniversary of Kyoji's arrival at the temple, the kanju approached him as he was training with Akiko. "Kyoji-san," she said as she bowed.

"Yes, sensei?" the young monk replied as he, too, bowed.

"It is time."

Kyoji nodded, bowed to his training partner, and then followed the kanju as she turned to walk out of the dojo. They passed statues of the temple's greatest leaders, murals depicting battles between the temple's monks and armies of oni, and a multitude of tortoises that freely wandered the temple's halls, before emerging onto the balcony that overlooked the placid lake for which the temple was named.

The kanju took a moment to look out across the lake. At the far end, a crane clicked its beak, and then splashed around, looking for frogs. "You've been an exemplary student, Kyoji-san," she said.

"Thank you, sensei."

"The time has come for you to embark on your pilgrimage, and I have the highest confidence that you will become a remarkable warrior."

Kyoji blushed, but bowed. "Thank you, sensei."

"The world outside these walls is complex," she said as the crane's head emerged from the water, a struggling frog clamped firmly in its beak, "and the forces of Yomi will conspire against you."

"Yes, sensei," Kyoji watched as the crane tossed back its head and swallowed the frog whole.

"Remember the wisdom of Zenigame as you fight against the spread of taint, Kyoji-san. It is your greatest weapon."

"Yes, sensei."

"Kyoji-san."

"Yes, sensei?"

"As of today, I am no longer your sensei," the kanju of the Temple of the Silent Lake said with a sad smile.

The young monk fell silent for a moment as those words rattled around his brain. He could hear the click-click-click of the crane's beak in the distance, and feel the gentle breeze of the east wind as it danced across the surface of the lake. He wondered when he would hear that sound and feel that breeze again – the thought frightened and excited him simultaneously.

Finally, he took a deep breath, smiled, and bowed deeply, "Thank you, Midori-sama."

On that day, Kyoji bid farewell to his friends, gathered what few items he possessed, and walked out the front gate of the Temple of the Silent Lake. He wandered south, and, after a few weeks, found himself in the sake-producing town of Tsumago. After enjoying the kuramoto's hospitality for a week, he resumed wandering, at which time he encountered a group of fellow travelers.

"I am a disciple of the Way of the Tortoise," he said as he bowed, "and I am on a musha shugyo."

The fat traveler – the one driving the cart – smiled at him and spoke, "We are travelers from Kurosawa. We are on a pilgrimage as well, to take our offering to the great fire crane." He pointed to himself, "I am Kakeru," then to the others in turn. Musashi bowed slightly when Kakeru introduced him. Fukasu smiled, waved, and then bowed.

Takashi shifted his weight rapidly from one foot to the other as he bowed. Fukasu looked over at him, and realized that he was nearly vibrating with excitement. This should be interesting, she thought.

The monk from the Temple of Thunder and Lightning stepped forward, smiled, and said "Want to fight?"

[26]Shodo, the "way of writing," is more commonly known as calligraphy. In Tsurukuni, it is performed with a bamboo and animal hair brush on washi (a paper made from plant fiber that is thicker and tougher than that made from wood pulp). The ink used for shodo is known as sumi, and is produced from charcoal. Shodo masters are considered to be some of the greatest artists in Tsurukuni.

[27]Zenigame Kamiko was born into a samurai family, but took on the life of an ascetic monk on her sixteenth birthday. She abandoned her family name and took on the title of "Zenigame," which means "pond turtle." Over the next 8 decades, she developed the defensive fighting style known as the Way of the Tortoise, authored over two hundred scrolls detailing the most efficient way to defeat the forces of Yomi, and founded the Temple of Silent Lake.

[carpedavid]

Takayama and Tsumago, Part 4

Sweet! Kyoji thought to himself. "Yes, I would very much like that," he replied with a slight bow.

"Takashi-san, Takashi-san, Takashi-san!" Fukasu chanted. Everyone turned toward her, so she gave them an indignant look, "What?"

Kakeru and Musashi took up positions at the corners of an imaginary ring, and the two monks walked to the center. After bowing to each other, they assumed their fighting stances. Like he had done in the fight with the kitsune monk, Takashi held his fists at the level of his shoulders, and shifted his weight from foot to foot, all the while trying to make himself appear as tall as possible.

Kyoji, by contrast, stood extremely still. His feet seemed almost to sink into the earth as he settled his weight into his lower torso. He raised his fists to the same level as Takashi, but held them close to his body.

He's going to be hard to take down, Takashi realized. Defensive posture, strong stance. Oh well, I'm faster.

Kyoji nodded, and the fight began. Takashi moved in quickly, and made a grab for his opponent's robes. Kyoji deflected the grab with his arms, stepped forward, and slammed his shin into Takashi's thigh. Ow, Takashi thought as he took a step backward, his shins are pointy!

The monk from the Temple of Thunder and Lightning decided to press the fight, and attempted a thigh kick of his own. The monk from the Temple of the Silent Lake blocked the kick with his shin. Again with the shins! Then he slammed the side of his hand into Takashi's neck.

Musashi and Kakeru watched Takashi's face contort with pain as Kyoji's ridge-hand strike slammed into the young monk's neck. Takashi backed away and the two monks circled each other for a moment. Takashi bobbed and weaved outside the range of Kyoji's strikes, then darted in with a jab to the head. Kyoji deflected the blow again, and tried to retaliate with a punch of his own, but this time the disciple of the Way of the Storm easily dodged it. The disciple of the Way of the Tortoise advanced, and threw a thigh kick at the same leg that he had hit before.

Oh, no you don't, Takashi thought to himself as he dodged out of the way. The adrenaline coursed through his body, and he was pretty sure that it was the only thing keeping him on his feet at this point. He circled Kyoji for another moment, then decided his best bet was to try to grapple again. He stepped in and reached for his opponent's robes by extending his arms, and, unfortunately, exposing his ribs.

Kyoji saw the opening, stepped forward, deflected the grab attempt, and smashed his fist into Takashi's ribs. The young monk from the Temple of Thunder and Lightning gasped, then dropped to the ground. Kakeru and Musashi looked at each other with surprise, while Fukasu grimaced.

Musashi stared at Kyoji with admiration. He never got touched. He avoided Takashi-san's throws. He smiled to himself, he is powerful indeed. Kakeru strolled over to Takashi, knelt down, and healed the loser of the match – it was a routine that he was becoming accustomed to.

"Kyoji-san," Musashi said as Kakeru helped a groggy Takashi up off the ground, "the pilgrimage that we are undertaking is certain to be filled with great challenges. Perhaps you would be interested in accompanying us? I have no doubt that we will find many warriors for you to hone your skills against."

The straw-haired monk looked around at the group of adventurers. They seem upstanding enough, he thought, perhaps this is what the fates have in store for me. He bowed to Musashi, "Thank you, Kurosawa-sama. That sounds good." And if they turn out to be not upstanding, I can use them for practice.

Takashi looked over at Musashi and frowned, but said nothing.

"Well," Kakeru said, "We're headed to Tsumago to get some sake for our offering."

"Ah," Kyoji replied, "I just came from there. Tsumago-san was nice enough to put me up for a few days. I can introduce you to him, if you want."

"Really?" said Kakeru, "Hmm. We're also investigating the sabotage of Takayama-san's fields by a ninja group of some sort. Have you seen anything suspicious while you were there?"

Kyoji thought for a moment, "Actually, there were a group of mysterious people that kept coming into and out of town."

"Mysterious?"

"Yeah, the other townspeople didn't really talk to them, but they acted like they belonged there."

"Interesting," Kakeru said as his mind began to race.

"Were these people ninja?" Musashi asked, "Did they meet with Tsumago-san?"

"Uhhh," Kyoji paused for a second before answering, "I haven't had much experience with ninja, so I can't really say. But they never talked to Tsumago-san while I was around. He doesn't seem like the type of guy who would associate with ninja."

What's that supposed to mean? Fukasu thought as she stuck her tongue out at the straw-haired monk from behind his back.

Kakeru smiled, and then continued his questioning, "Can you think of anything else out of the ordinary that you might have observed?"

Kyoji contemplated the question for a minute before answering, "Come to think of it, the brewmaster, Mieko-toji, seems to be very taken with Tsumago-san, but he doesn't seem to notice."

"Is he married?" Fukasu asked, and quickly stuck her tongue back in her mouth as Kyoji turned to face her.

"No, he's never taken a wife, from what he said."

"I'll bet a cask of sake she has something to do with it," Kakeru mumbled to himself before turning his attention back to group. "We should go," he said as he walked over and climbed back into the cart, "I'd like to talk with Tsumago-san and this Mieko-toji." And some sake wouldn't hurt either.

"You should really drink less," Kakeru's grandfather scolded him as the group continued on to Tsumago. "Sake may be sacred, but it is still an intoxicant, and capable of causing very dishonorable behavior." Kakeru rolled his eyes and made a mental note to ask Tsumago for an extra cask of sake - he was pretty sure he was going to need it.

***

Twenty minutes later, the group of five adventurers entered the town of Tsumago. In nearly every way, it was the twin of Takayama: small, surrounded by rice fields, a sparse main street with the kuramoto's residence at one end, and a very busy brewery. This time, the group didn't need to rely on Kakeru's keen nose for sake – instead, Kyoji directed them to the brewery.

Kakeru, Fukasu, Musashi, and Takashi looked around suspiciously, but followed Kyoji as he led them into the brewery. They wandered for a minute, before the straw hair monk stopped and bowed to a middle-aged man in a silk kimono, "Hello, Tsumago-san."

The man smiled and returned the bow, "Kyoji-san, to what do I owe the pleasure of your return?"

"I encountered a group of travelers from Kurosawa right after I left," Kyoji replied. Then he turned to the travelers from Kurosawa, "Kakeru-san, Musashi-san, Fukasu-san, Takashi-san, please allow me to introduce the kuramoto, Tsumago Akira."

Tsumago turned to look at the young travelers, and then bowed deeply. "Kurosawa-sama, it is my great honor to welcome you to Tsumago Sakagura."

"Thank you, Tsumago-san," Kakeru said as each of the daimyo's representatives bowed slightly.

"Allow me to take you on a tour of the brewery," he smiled.

Kakeru nodded his assent, and the kuramoto led them through the process of making sake. Almost every part of the process was identical to what they had seen at Takayama, so each of them spent their time watching the brewery workers, hoping to see something suspicious. Tsumago regarded their attention to the surroundings as interest in the brewing process, so he went into great detail at every step.

When they reached the shikomi – the large wooden tanks where the rice mash fermented – Kakeru noticed a stiff, middle-aged woman staring intently at the kuramoto. She followed his every movement with her eyes: every step he took, every hand gesture he made. She even seemed to watch his mouth form each syllable. Kakeru shuddered internally. That's just creepy, he thought.

After a few minutes, Tsumago turned to the woman and beckoned her over. As soon as he turned his attention to her, her countenance became radiant: she smiled and her whole body appeared to relax. She looks ten years younger, Kakeru thought.

"Kurosawa-sama," Tsumago said, "Please allow me to address Mieko-toji, our brewmaster."

Mieko blushed, then placed her hands on the front of her kimono and bowed deeply. "It is a great honor to have our sake offered to the fire crane," she said demurely.

Tsumago nodded, then motioned to the group to continue on. As he led the group away, Kakeru watched the toji out of the corner of his eye. She gazed longingly at him as he walked away, and, once he was out of sight, her face contorted and she turned away. There's definitely something going on there, thought Kakeru.

The kuramoto continued the tour for another half hour, then invited the group to dinner at his manor. "Tsumago-san," Kakeru began, "In addition to collecting the sake for the offering, there is another reason that we are here."

"Have you hired ninja to salt Takayama-san's fields?" Musashi blurted out angrily.

"What?" Tsumago exclaimed.

Kakeru sighed inwardly, "Tsumago-san, someone has been sabotaging Takayama-san's fields, and we're trying to track down the culprits." He smiled beatifically, and interspersed himself between Musashi and the kuramoto before continuing, "Obviously, we do not believe that you would do such a thing..."

"I should hope not. Takayama-san is no rival of mine, and we have always been on good terms."

"Oh, of course," the young kannushi continued. "We're just trying to eliminate all possible suspects." Musashi frowned and turned away from the conversation.

"Ah, I see," Tsumago nodded, "Is there anything I can do to assist you?"

"Well, would you mind if we talked to your workers?"

"You do not need my permission, but of course," Tsumago said, bowing. "Please, take your time. I will arrange for dinner to be ready after sundown." The group returned his bow, at which point the kuramoto took his leave.

The group spent the next couple of hours talking to the brewery workers. From what they could gather, Kyoji's suspicions and Kakeru's own observations about Mieko's feelings for Tsumago were correct: according to nearly everyone, she loves him, and he is oblivious to her affections.

Additionally, several of the kurabito mentioned the strange workers that Kyoji had noticed. No one was sure where they came from, but no one felt that it was their place to ask about them. As well they shouldn't, Musashi thought, peasants shouldn't be questioning their superiors.

On the way to the kuramoto's manor, the group discussed their findings. "So you believe that the saboteur is Mieko-toji?" Musashi asked Kakeru.

"I think so. Do you think she would attack Takayama in order to impress Tsumago-san?"

Fukasu thought about the woman's behavior and shuddered, "Yeah."

"Probably," said Takashi.

"Shall we tell Tsumago-san?" Musashi asked.

"Hmm, no. Not yet, at least. I think we need more proof," Kakeru replied as they arrived at the manor.

***

Tsumago proved a more than able host. The five heroes enjoyed a dinner of yakitori and rice which they washed down with lots and lots of sake. By the end of the meal, each of the travelers had at least ten empty skewers of the sweet, grilled food scattered around his or her plate, and had had at least ten cups of the sweet, sacred intoxicant. Kakeru, Musashi, and Kyoji had gone after the chicken with gusto, while Fukasu and Takashi had filled their bellies mainly with the shiitake mushrooms. Mmmmm, mushrooms, Fukasu thought to herself. After dinner, the group retired for the evening, vowing to investigate further in the morning.

While the other adventurers got ready to soak in the hot baths, Fukasu wandered around her room restlessly; all the activity in the past few days had jangled her nerves, and she felt the need to get out. She slid open the rice paper door to her room and padded out into the hallway. Kakeru emerged from his room at about the same time, and, when he cocked an eyebrow at her, she shrugged. "I'm too wound up right now," she said, "I'm going to go stretch my wings for a bit."

Kakeru nodded, "Be careful, Fu-chan."

"Don't worry, Kakeru-kun," she smiled, "I'll be fine." He always worries about me, she thought.

As the young kannushi turned to walk to the baths, he shook his head. She always worries me, he thought.

Fukasu tiptoed outside, so as not to attract attention, stretched for a minute, and then launched herself into the air. The powerful beat of her wings carried her aloft, and within seconds she was gliding in circles around the kuramoto's manor. As the cool spring air washed over her face, she felt herself beginning to relax. She sighed, and delighted in the feeling of flight; circling town, she swooped down over rooftops, danced upon the air currents, and tumbled over the tops of trees.

After an hour, she felt ready to return to the baths, and winged back toward the manor. As she approached the residence from the rear, she spotted Tsumago outside, talking to a young peasant. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but she did see the kuramoto hand the man several cranes and a sealed letter. The peasant bowed, lit the paper lantern he was carrying, and headed off into town.

Well, well, Fukasu thought to herself, that looks pretty suspicious. Catching an air current, she circled around to follow the peasant. As the man walked through town, she fluttered from rooftop to rooftop, as silent as a leaf on the wind. She followed him until he passed through town and began walking south on the road that led to Takayama.

Oooh, this should be good, she thought, I'd better go get the others.

[carpedavid]

Takayama and Tsumago, Part 5

Fukasu found her companions soaking in the kuramoto's baths. Kakeru had his head tossed back and his sake jug pressed to his lips when she entered the room; Takashi and Musashi were both in a state of deep relaxation; and Kyoji was in the process of putting his robes back on. Everyone turned to look at her when she slid open the rice-paper door.

"Guys, I just saw something suspicious," she began excitedly, "I was out flying around and I saw Tsumago-san..." She stopped, slid the door to the bath shut, and continued in a whisper, "I saw Tsumago-san give a peasant a note or letter of some sort, and then I followed the peasant through town. He's headed south toward Takayama."

Kakeru dropped his sake jug, "That's definitely suspicious."

"We can go catch him," Kyoji said to Fukasu as he knotted his belt. Then he turned to Kakeru, Takashi, and Musashi, "You guys catch up."

The winged hanyo and the straw-haired monk took off into the night, leaving the samurai, the kannushi, and the bald monk to hurriedly fumble with clothing and armor. After a few minutes of running and winging, Kyoji and Fukasu caught sight of the peasant's lantern bobbing in rhythm to his step. They slowed their pursuit, and followed well out of sight as they waited for their companions to arrive.

It didn't take long before they heard the clack-clack-clack of Musashi's armor approaching in the darkness. Once the group was reunited, they rushed the peasant, surrounding him within a few seconds. The man stopped in his tracks, shrieked in fear, and dropped his lantern.

Musashi stepped forward, hand on the handle of his katana, and glared at the peasant. "We are the representatives of our Lord Kurosawa," he growled, "You must do as we command." The peasant cowered before the man who had the power and right to end his life at any moment.

"Give me the letter," barked Musashi. The peasant extended a quivering hand, and Musashi snatched the letter away. He broke the seal and began reading the contents. After half a minute, he stopped, looked at the peasant, and frowned. "It's a love note," he said with disdain as he flipped it over to read the name of the addressee.

"Matsu," he read, and then looked at his companions, who simply shrugged. "Who is Matsu?" he growled as he thrust the letter in the peasant's face.

"I don't know," the peasant quailed.

"How can you not know?" Musashi spat

"I mean...she's just a servant. But I've never actually met her."

A kuramoto having an affair with a servant? How vulgar. Musashi leaned in close, "Then how do you deliver the letter?"

"I...I...I just slide the letter under one of the doors in Takayama's house."

Kakeru sighed and rubbed his head, "I thought we had something."

"I'm sorry, everybody," Fukasu said glumly. Steam rolled out of her mouth and rose into the cool night air as she grumbled to herself.

"It's ok, Fukasu-san," said Takashi, "We all thought this was going to be the big break we needed."

"Unless," Kakeru said, "Mieko-toji knows about the affair, and she's trying to destroy Takayama because she can't get to the woman herself." His speculation was greeted by a round of "Aahs" and "Hmmms," but the group came to no particular consensus.

Musashi refolded the letter and handed it to the peasant, "If anyone asks why the seal is broken, tell them that you were clumsy and that you dropped it."

"Yes, Kurosawa-sama, thank, you."

The group watched the peasant's lantern bob and sway as he hurried down the road. Once the light had shrunk to little more than a pinprick, they began the trek back into town. Kakeru rubbed his head, Musashi watched the fields for signs of movement, and Fukasu kept herself occupied by kicking a small stone down the path.

None of the adventurers felt up to making conversation, so they walked in silence – their only stimuli the cool breeze that blew across the fields, the sound of dirt crunching underfoot, and the rhythmic thunk, thunk, thunk of the stone skipping down the road. After a few minutes, Fukasu inadvertently kicked the stone into another rock, which caused it to skip off into the fields. It made a small splash as it hit the standing water, and then all was quiet again.

As the group continued their slow journey, they approached a small copse of trees that stood just to the side of the road. Musashi stared intently at it, but spotted nothing out of the ordinary. The five heroes had nearly passed the trees when a flurry of movement startled them; four black-clad figures jumped out of the shadows and drew their ninjato.

Kyoji was the first to react. Ninja or not, these were still human beings, and he wasn't willing to commit violence without giving them a chance to surrender. "Lay down your weapons and leave now," he offered, "and we'll spare your lives."

Those who attack my lord gain no quarter from me, Musashi thought as he charged the nearest figure. The combination of his momentum and the speed of his blade sent the ninja's head flying through the night air. A thick gush of arterial blood coated the young samurai's face in the second before the man's body realized that he was dead.

Upon seeing their companion fall, the remaining three ninja sprang into action. The tallest of them revealed herself to be the leader when she pointed to Kakeru and yelled, "Kill the kannushi first!" The two remaining followers tumbled past Fukasu and Takashi, who in turn charged the leader.

Kakeru gasped as the first ninja's sword opened a gash across his belly, then howled in pain as the second one pierced his kidney.

While the ninja took turns shoving their blades into the young kannushi's midsection, the hanyo and the bald monk pummeled the leader. Takashi drove his fist into the woman's plexus just in time to see Fukasu slide her ninjato between the woman's ribs. The assault was too much for the leader, who tumbled backward out of their reach.

Once she was out of their reach, she grabbed a bamboo vial from her belt and gulped down the contents. Kakeru followed suit. He staggered out of his opponents' reach and invoked the healing power of the spirits. A warm blue glow washed over his body, sealing the gash across his torso.

"I gave you a chance to surrender," Kyoji said sadly as he charged the first of Kakeru's attackers. Musashi followed, and the combination of the monk's fist and the samurai's blade sent the man crumpling to the ground.

Takashi closed the distance between himself and the leader, lowered his torso, and rammed his shoulder into her midsection. As his momentum carried him forward, he placed his hands behind her knees and yanked upward. The combination of the two forces jerked her off her feet, and she slammed onto the ground with a loud thud. Takashi landed on top of her, deflecting her weapon hand with one arm, and grinding an elbow in her face with the other.

Fukasu turned to see the remaining ninja face off against Kyoji and Musashi. Realizing that he was distracted, she charged across the dirt road. This is what you get for attacking my cousin, she thought as she buried her ninjato in the man's back.

He yelled in pain as the blade sliced through his chest, and then gasped for air as his lung collapsed. He stumbled forward, pulled out a bamboo vial of his own, and gulped down the healing liquid contained within. Fukasu glared at the man, and lunged again, yelling, "You get away from him!" He screamed again, dropped the vial and ninjato, and clutched at yet another hole in his chest.

Realizing that a blow from his katana could conceivably kill the man, Musashi sheathed his blade, stepped forward, and punched him in the face. The ninja wobbled for a moment, then his eyes rolled back into his head and he crumpled.

Kyoji turned to see Takashi choke out the leader with her own arm, so he took a moment to survey the surroundings for other potential threats. Finding none, he turned back to his companions. "Is everyone ok?" he asked.

"Are you ok, Kakeru-kun?" Fukasu asked worriedly.

"I'm fine!" Kakeru said unsteadily. He bent over, placed his hands on his knees, and vomited. He looked up to see the spirit of his grandfather standing over him with a look of disdain.

"Too much sake!" his grandfather chastised him.

The five heroes bound the two unconscious ninja to a tree, then placed the other two bodies in a pile in front of them. "We've only got one head," Fukasu pointed out as they doused the bodies with oil.

"I found it!" Kyoji said, as he used a branch to fish the missing cranium out of the water. He gently set it down in the pile, and then Kakeru used a minor bit of magic to revive the unconscious saboteurs. A second later, Fukasu ignited the bodies. She found the warmth of the flames to be a welcome, if unexpected comfort.

The two ninja sat - bound to the tree - while they watched their companions slowly turn to ash. After the fires died out, Musashi turned toward them and spent a minute in contemplation. "Who hired you?" he finally asked the woman, confident that, as the leader, she would know more than her companion.

"I can't tell you that," she said defiantly, then spat at his feet. Her companion smiled smugly.

Musashi smacked her across the face with the back of his fist, splitting her lip, then repeated his question, "Who hired you?"

"A Kaga ninja never reveals the secrets of her employer," she said a little less confidently as blood poured down over her chin. Her companion stopped smiling.

Musashi leaned in close and drove his heel into her outstretched ankle. He was pleased to see tears well up in her eyes, so he repeated the action. This time she yelped, but said nothing. He frowned, stood back up, and drew his katana. As he raised it slowly above his head, the woman began to whimper, and her partner began to hyperventilate. As his blade reached the apex of his swing, he was fully prepared to cleave the woman's skull in two, but she finally spoke.

"It was Mieko-toji," she blurted out, then gasped for breath, "the woman from the brewery." She looked up at the young samurai as tears began to run down her cheeks. "Please don't kill me," she said as she began to sob, "Please, please don't kill me." Her partner's breathing was quick and shallow, and he was visibly shaking as he struggled against his bonds. She looked at the five heroes who stood in judgment of her, then looked at her partner before returning her gaze to Musashi, "Oh, gods, please don't kill me!"

"Very well," Musashi said as he lowered his blade. "You will go back to your clan, and you will tell them that the Kaga are not welcome in Kurosawa lands."

Kakeru untied the woman and helped her to her feet. She looked around nervously, then bowed to Musashi. "Thank you, Kurosawa-sama," she said between sobs, "Thank you. Thank you. May the spirits bless you and keep your clan safe." She glanced briefly at her partner, who still sat bound to the tree, then took off running into the cold, dark night.

Musashi paused for a moment as the remaining ninja looked up at him with wide, wild eyes - but only for a moment. A second later, he took the man's head.

"Well, then..." Kakeru said.

"Yeah," Takashi agreed.

The party burned the last body, and then quickly ran back to town. As they approached the kuramoto's manor, they spent several minutes discussing strategy. From what they had observed, Mieko slept in a room on the far side of the manor, and they figured it should be easy to march right in and subdue her.

"So we go in, grab her, and then present our evidence to Tsumago-san?" Takashi asked.

"Yeah, that's the plan," Kakeru replied.

"Ok," said Fukasu, "We just need to make sure that there aren't any more of those ninja she hired hanging around."

"Good point, Fu-chan," Musashi said.

Once they reached the manor, the five heroes became very cautious. Kakeru and Kyoji scoured the surroundings for signs of potential attackers, but found none. With Musashi in the lead, they crept down the hallway, trying to avoid waking anyone who might get in the way. When they reached her room, the party fell into formation. Fukasu and Kyoji flanked the door, Kakeru stood back to the side, and Takashi hovered behind the young samurai, ready to tumble out of danger.

Musashi took a deep breath to steady himself, slid open the door, and charged forward. Though ready for a horde of ninja to jump out of the shadows, he was fully expecting to find the toji slumbering on her futon. Instead, what he saw chilled him to the bone: Mieko was standing on the other side of the room, in between two smoldering braziers. At her feet was an iron bowl that was emitting a sickly green smoke, and in her hand was a dagger.

As the young samurai dashed forward, she sliced open her palm with the dagger. Blood tumbled from her hand, cascading in rivulets toward the iron bowl at her feet. Musashi reached for his sword, but gravity was quicker. Mieko looked up at him and screeched as the braziers on either side of her burst to life, "I won't let you take Akira from me!"

[carpedavid]

Takayama and Tsumago, Part 6

Oni no Majutsu[28] – the oni's magic. Black magic. Forbidden magic. To command the all-consuming, primal forces of Yomi, a practitioner pays a high price, for the negative energy that fuels the magic inexorably corrupts the user, eating away at the body and twisting the soul.

Because it had been outlawed by the Mikado – the penalty for practicing it is death – and because of the deleterious effects caused by its practice, oni no majutsu had always been the province of the evil, of the insane, and of the desperate. Standing before the party with wild eyes and a malevolent grin, blood pouring from the gash in her palm, the lovesick toji of Tsumago Sakagura appeared to be all three.

Fukasu was the first into the room after Musashi. She darted in ahead of Takashi, and, in order to avoid running into the samurai, had to tumble into one of the braziers. As she rolled up to her feet, she reached out to grab the iron plate, but the brazier slipped off the end of her fingertips. The flaming coals spilled out onto the tatami and set the rice paper wall behind Mieko ablaze.

The toji ignored the wall of flame behind her and began chanting in an unknown tongue. The effect, to Musashi, was like the drone of a hundred-thousand flies. The buzzing reverberated inside his head, drowning out the voices shouting around him. At the same time, his field of vision contracted, causing the room and his companions to disappear. The only thing he could hear, the only thing he could see, was Mieko.

"Get out of my head!" the young samurai yelled as he broke free of the woman's hypnotic spell. He stepped forward, drew his katana, and slashed at Mieko, who crumpled under the force of the blow.

"Sprits of water and rain," Kakeru implored as he dashed forward, "come to my aid." A second later, a gush of water burst from his fingertips and smothered the coals and the flames. Only once the last ember had completely faded did Kakeru allow himself to relax.

"Well...that was unexpected," Takashi put words to everyone's thoughts.

"Yeah," Fukasu replied.

"Hmm," Kakeru said, then bent down and checked on Mieko's condition. Her pulse was weak, and her breath shallow, but she seemed stable for the time being. "She's still alive," he said grimly.

"Should we finish her?" asked Fukasu. She looked around at her friends, but nobody volunteered an answer.

"I'll go get Tsumago-san," Kyoji said quietly.

After the straw haired monk returned with the kuramoto, the group spent several minutes relaying their encounter with the ninja and their attempt to confront Mieko, though they specifically avoid mentioning their encounter with the peasant and their subsequent reading of the love note.

"What should we do with Mieko-toji?" asked Musashi.

The kuramoto spent several minutes glaring at the unconscious body of his brewmaster. "She's a witch," he said, finally, "Finish her."

***
The fire burned with the fury of a woman scorned. After Musashi had removed Mieko's head, Tsumago's servants had hastily constructed a pyre in front of the manor. The five heroes had searched her room, finding a diary that chronicled her obsession with Tsumago, a contract with the Kaga ninja clan for the salting of Takayama's fields, a scroll inscribed with the secrets of oni no majutsu, and a sheaf of recipes for brewing poison.

"Well, now we can tell Takayama-san what's going on," Kyoji had said. The other four pilgrims nodded their heads solemnly, then filed outside to join the servants, various kurabito, and curious townspeople to watch Mieko burn.

The blazing fire lit the night and cut the spring chill as it consumed the fallen toji's body. Her hair withered, her skin charred, and the fat in her flesh sizzled when it met the flame. Mieko's body was virtually unrecognizable when Kakeru noticed movement coming from within the pyre. He watched in awe as the woman's spirit emerged. Gaunt, translucent, and wearing the same wild expression that she when she died, Mieko's spirit clawed her way out of her carbonized body.

She screeched and wailed as she emerged, though Kakeru couldn't hear her, and once she was free from her corpse, she began floating up toward the night sky. The young kannushi wasn't sure how to react, since he's never seen this sort of behavior before – indeed, he'd never actually seen a spirit leave its body. Is this because she was tainted? he wondered.

Suddenly, he had his answer, for out of the fire emerged two huge, black-skinned oni. His face blanched as he watched the creatures of the netherworld grab Mieko's spirit and drag it, clawing and screaming, back down into the burning pyre.

Fukasu looked over to see her cousin's ashen face. "Kakeru-kun, what's going on?" she asked.

Kakeru shook his head slowly, "You don't want to know." He grimaced as the woman's spirit disappeared from view, and he looked away.

To his surprise, a small, blue-skinned, childlike spirit stood next to him. He was watching the spectacle, and Kakeru could see that his large, black eyes were filled with tears. What? Oh, it's a house spirit. He leaned over, "Why are you crying, little one?"

The spirit looked up at Kakeru, who was easily twice his height and ten times his weight, and sniffled as a tear ran down his cheek. "It's very sad," he said in a voice like a butterfly whispering.

"Why is it sad?"

"She was very nice to me," he said, bashfully, "She would always feed me some of her natto at breakfast."

"Oh." Kakeru paused for a second as he began to second-guess himself, "Did you know she was using bad magic?"

"Yes," he said as a tear ran down his face, "It was a terrible thing. But it is still very sad."

Fukasu watched Kakeru talk to the empty air and frowned. Is he ok? From what little of the one sided conversation she could overhear, it sounded like he was talking to a spirit. A spirit? She shivered, those spirits are everywhere!

"Yes, it is very sad," the young kannushi reached out and patted the little, blue spirit on the head.

***

The next morning, the five heroes left to return to Takayama. "Welcome, Kurosawa-sama," the kuramoto greeted them from behind the table where they had shared a number of meals. "Forgive me for not standing, but I'm feeling unwell this morning."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Takayama-san," Kakeru said diplomatically as he and his friends took their seats around the table.

In truth, he looked like a different person than the man they had left the previous morning. His face was gaunt, his skin sallow, and his eyes sunken. He turned and coughed violently for a minute into a silk handkerchief, then motioned to Kakeru, "Please, have you found something?"

"Yes," the young kannushi looked over at Musashi, who shrugged, "Well, there's no easy way to say this. It appears that Tsumago-san's brewmaster, Mieko-toji, was the one who hired the ninja."

"Really?" Takayama looked stricken.

"But Tsumago had no knowledge of her activities," Kakeru added quickly.

"I see. Do you know why she might have done this?"

"It appears that she had an extreme infatuation with Tsumago-san, and was doing this to try to improve his station."

"I had no idea."

"Well, neither did Tsumago-san, which was the problem."

The kuramoto launched into another coughing fit, and this time Takashi noticed him wipe a trickle of blood off his lip when he finished. "Are you ok, Takayama-san?" the young monk asked.

"I'm fine, really," he waved off Takashi's concern. Turning back to Kakeru, he asked, "What is to be her fate?"

At this question, everyone fell silent. After a moment, the young kannushi took a deep breath, then exhaled, "Well, it turned out that she was witch. She tried to cast some sort of tainted spell on Musashi-san."

"By the spirits!" Takayama exclaimed.

Musashi entered the conversation, "She was dealt with as the Mikado has commanded all users of oni no majutsu be dealt with."

Takayama nodded soberly, "That's very unfortunate."

"Indeed," said Kakeru. "At least, though, you won't have any more problems with your fields being salted."

"Well, I thank you for that," Takayama half bowed from his sitting position.

"Oh, by the way," Kakeru added as an afterthought, "we discovered that Tsumago-san is having an affair with one of your servants."

"Really?" Takayama raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, he's been paying one of his peasants to deliver love notes to her on a regular basis."

"Well, well," the kuramoto said with a half smile, "that's an interesting, if ironic, bit of gossip." He chuckled to himself, which initiated a bout of coughing, but then continued, "Just out of curiosity, did you find out which servant it is?"

"Matsu, I believe it was," Kakeru looked to Musashi, who nodded in agreement.

Takayama's smile immediately disappeared, "What was that?"

"Matsu."

The kuramoto paused for a long moment before continuing, "Are you certain about that?"

Musashi nodded, "I saw the note myself. Why?"

"Matsu...Matsu...is my wife's childhood nickname," Takayama sputtered as his ashen face turned red. He pounded his fist on the table, and the room fell silent. Kakeru looked at Musashi with eyes wide and mouth agape.

Uh oh, thought Fukasu.

Oh crap, thought Takashi.

After an awkward minute, Takayama stood up from the table. The heroes could see that every muscle in his body was clenched, and though he was shaking with anger, he managed to bow politely. "Excuse me, Kurosawa-sama," he said through clenched teeth, then turned and left the room.

Kakeru held his head in his hands as the sounds of an argument issued forth from the hallway. Fukasu groaned, and slumped onto the floor. Musashi remained stoic, but the two monks simply shook their heads at one another. Takayama, his wife, and his son yelled at each other for nearly half an hour, while the group became progressively more uncomfortable.

Finally, the rice-paper door slid open, and the five heroes composed themselves. Each expected Takayama to re-enter the room, but instead, his wife stormed in. "You have ruined everything!" she screamed as she pulled a tanto from beneath her robe.

"Whoa!" Takashi said as he jumped up from seiza, "There's no need to do anything crazy."

Takayama Keiko, the kuramoto's wife, glared at Takashi and then sliced her palm with the blade. The temperature in the room dropped ten degrees as a crackling, black bolt of energy appeared in her hand. "I will kill you all!" she screamed.

[28] Oni no Majutsu is a Supernatural metamagic feat.

[carpedavid]

Takayama and Tsumago, Part 7

The bolt of black, cracking energy leapt from Takayama Keiko's hand and sailed through the air toward Musashi. The young samurai was too stunned to move, so he watched in horror as the tainted magic arced toward him. He gasped as it narrowly missed his face and then shivered when it slammed into the wall behind him.

Kakeru vaulted the table, scattering teacups, bowls, and chopsticks as he dashed toward Keiko. He slammed down on the tatami on the other side of the table, and used his considerable momentum to smash his fist into her face. Her nose crumpled from the force of his blow, and she tumbled backward, landing unceremoniously on the back of her head.

The young kannushi remained on guard for a moment, though the blood gushing from her nose and her glassy eyes indicated that she was no longer an immediate threat.

"What in Yomi?" Takashi exclaimed, "Are all women evil, magic-using witches?" He looked sidelong at Fukasu, who frowned.

Well, at least I didn't set the house on fire this time, she thought to herself.

Kakeru looked up to see Takayama and his son watching from the hallway; the kuramoto was slumped against the wall, his son was crouched beside him, and each had a look of horror on his face. The young kannushi hurried over to the elder Takayama, and, as he knelt down beside him, realized that the kuramoto appeared to be paralyzed. "Takayama-san?"

"What did she do to him?" Takayama Ichiro implored, "He's cold, and he's not moving."

Kakeru reached out to touch the man's shoulder, and recoiled in horror, for his flesh was nearly as cold as that of a corpse. Paralysis, frigid flesh...it must be hadazawari gaki, the ghoul's touch. The kuramoto's breathing was short and shallow, but he was still alive, for which Kakeru was thankful. "Hang on, Takayama-san," he said as he placed his hand back on the man's shoulder, "the effects of the tainted magic will fade quickly."

Musashi remained sitting in seiza, shocked by what had just occurred. How could I have just sat there? He replayed the scene in his mind a dozen times in the space of a minute. I should have been able to react to that! Why did I just sit there? Damn it!

Finally, the magic keeping Takayama broke, and the kuramoto was free to speak again. "My wife," he stammered, "a witch." A tear rolled down his cheek, and he gasped, "How could I have been so blind."

"She deceived us all, father," Ichiro said bitterly, "It's all Tsumago-san's doing."

"Ichiro!" the kuramoto bellowed, "You are not to take any action against Tsumago-san."

"He brought dishonor on our family!" Ichiro yelled as he rose to his feet.

"No, Ichiro!" the elder Takayama yelled, "Your mother, my wife, brought dishonor on our family!" The animated exchange caused the kuramoto to fall into another fit of coughing, and Kakeru waved the young man off.

Fukasu watched the younger Takayama's eyes blaze with anger as be bowed curtly. He turned and stormed off, without so much as a second glance toward his mother's unconscious body. There's something very strange about him, Fukasu thought.

"Perhaps we should take a look at your wife's belongings," Kakeru said quietly, "while your servants prepare a fire."

Takayama nodded between coughs, and, as Kakeru helped him to his feet, said, "Once you are done, burn whatever you find. I have no more need of it."

While Takayama Keiko's funeral pyre was being constructed, Musashi insured that she would never cast another spell again. The rest of the party searched her room, and found a collection of love notes from Tsumago, scrolls containing the secrets of oni no majutsu, and a diary.

"Hey," Fukasu said quietly as she flipped through the notes, "Did any of you notice something odd about Ichiro-san?"

"Other than the fact that he's crazy?" Takashi replied as he paged through the diary.

"Actually, yeah, there's something bothering me about him, but I can't put my finger on it," Kakeru replied as he gingerly examined the scrolls. "Did you find anything?" he asked the others.

"No," Fukasu replied, tossing her stack of letters on the floor, "It's all pretty lovey-dovey."

"These are as well," said Kyoji, as he dropped the stack of letters he had been riling through on top of Fukasu's.

"Well," Takashi interjected, "How does, 'My poor, innocent Akira-chan. How horrified he would be if he knew what I was up to. All the more reason to love him. He's not like that impotent old fool I had the misfortune to marry. Soon, I will be rid of him, though, and my Akira-chan and I can be together forever. Let's see how he likes a bout of kekkaku[29].'"

"Kekkaku," said Fukasu as she wrinkled her nose, "So that's why Takayama-san is sick?"

"I think so."

"We should go tell him what's going on," said Kyoji.

After explaining to Takayama that his wife had been planning to kill him (an explanation that, considering the circumstances, he took fairly well), the group added the evidence of the affair to the funeral pyre.

The senior Takayama stood behind his son as the fire was lit. The amber flames illuminated the men, and everyone in the party could see the tears in the elder man's eyes, and the hard, bitter stare of the younger man.

What is it about him? Fukasu wondered as she looked at the younger Takayama. She shifted her gaze to his father, and then quickly back to the son. She looked intently at Ichiro's eyes, and then at his father's. Oh no, she thought, as she finally figured out what had been bothering her about the young man. Oh, no, it couldn't be.

She turned to Kakeru, and, by the look on his face, she knew that he had just come to the same realization. Her heart sank, and she turned to whisper her observation to her friends. Kyoji grimaced, Takashi silently cursed, and Musashi simply shook his head in dismay. The five heroes looked at Takayama Ichiro in shocked silence, for each could now see that he looked far more like Tsumago Akira, than like the man who called himself his father.

"I think we should go," Kakeru whispered to the others. "We've done enough damage here."

***

After defeating Takayama Keiko, the group quietly loaded up the sake for the offering and rode to Tsumago, where they filled the kuramoto in on the recent events. He took the news that his love was not only dead, but a practitioner or tainted magic, considerably less well than Takayama. After handing over the sake for the offering, he quietly retired to his room and did not reemerge.

The party availed themselves of Tsumago's hospitality for the evening, and the next morning piled into the cart. On the 17th day of Shigatsu, the five heroes resumed their pilgrimage to Hi no Tsuru, the great spiritual guardian of Tsurukuni.

Rice paddies gave way to fields of wild grasses and flowers as the group neared the northern border of Kurosawa's lands. They followed the winding road through the fields and into a grove of trees. Kakeru was contemplating how long it would take him to drink through the sake they had just picked up when he saw something that caused him to pull hard on Yagi's reins. The cart skidded to an abrupt halt.

A lone samurai, who was easily ten years older than anyone in the cart, was striding down the road toward them. He sneered when he saw the young pilgrims. "You there! Move aside and let me pass," he gestured to the side of the road, "for I am Nakamura Uzumaki!"

[29] Kekkaku is the Tsurukunan term for tuberculosis.

[carpedavid]

Well folks, we're two updates away from where I left off the story hour originally. Is there enough interest out there to justify picking back up the pen (or keyboard, as the case may be) and continuing the tale?

[carpedavid]

Uzumaki

Kakeru groaned. Why Nakamura? Why now?

For over three hundred years, the Nakamura clan has been the largest producer of jade in all of Tsurukuni, controlling nearly fifty percent of the total supply. For just as long, they have coveted the Watanabe clan's tiny, mountainous han, which produces about five percent of the jade in circulation. And, for just as long, Kurosawa has sent troops to aid Watanabe in the defense of its borders.

The Kurosawa dynasty has aided Watanabe for two reasons. Superficially, a loose alliance was formed between the two clans when a distant cousin of the first Kurosawa daimyo married a distant cousin of the first Watanabe daimyo. More important, though, is the fact that the Watanabe lands lie directly between those of Kurosawa and Nakamura. The tiny, mountainous han acts as a very convenient shield against Nakamura's constant warmongering.

"You are not welcome in these lands, Nakamura-san," Musashi said forcefully as he climbed down from the wagon.

Uzumaki scowled at the young samurai, "I do not care if I am welcome or not." He waved toward the side of the road, "Now move aside."

"Nakamura-san," Musashi punctuated each word with a pause, "You are not welcome in these lands." As he closed the distance toward the other samurai, his hand moved toward the hilt of his sword.

"Kurosawa dogs, your very presence insults my ancestors!" Uzumaki spat.

Musashi's face turned bright red. "Enough!" he shouted as he drew his katana and charged. His iron blade shone in the mid-morning sun, but the other samurai was quick, and the edge of his blade glinted as well.

Uzumaki met the young warrior half-way, his own sword raised high above his head. When the two samurai closed within striking distance, Uzumaki dropped his weight into his lower torso, and slammed the katana down into Musashi's shoulder.

The young Kurosawa samurai suppressed a scream as the razor-sharp blade cut into his flesh, but the pain caused him to panic, and he swung reflexively. As a result, the blow glanced harmlessly off of his opponent's armor.

Oh, crap! Takashi thought as the rest of the party tumbled, climbed, and jumped down from the wagon. While the heroes rushed to their friend's aid, Uzumaki once again slammed his blade into Musashi's torso. Takashi crashed through the trees, snapping off branches and catching leaves in his robes as he circled outside the range of Uzumaki's katana. Fukasu used her wings to loft herself into the air, and then tumbled over the older man's head, landing only a few paces behind him.

Kyoji edged past Musashi and threw a roundhouse kick at the Nakamura samurai's head. Uzumaki saw the kick out of the corner of his eye and ducked. While he watched the kick sail over his head, Fukasu took advantage of the distraction, and plunged her ninjato between the tiles of his armor. Takashi burst through the tree line in an explosion of leaves and twigs and slammed his fist into Uzumaki's side. The Nakamura man grunted, but stood fast.

Kakeru dashed up behind Musashi and placed his hands on the center of his back. A bright blue flash of light swirled around the young samurai as the ancestral spirits of Kurosawa restored his vitality. Musashi raised his katana high over his head, let out a great shout, and smashed his blade into his opponent's shoulder.

As Uzumaki thrust his blade toward Musashi's chest, Takashi jabbed him in the ribs. As a result, the blade sliced shallowly, instead of penetrating deeply. Fukasu followed with another precision strike, and then Kyoji stunned the Nakamura samurai with a powerful blow.

Musashi stepped forward, prepared to deliver the killing blow, and then stumbled over a rock. His katana hit nothing but the ground at his feet. Fortunately, Takashi followed his strike with one of his own: a snap kick to the side of Uzumaki's head sent him sprawling to the ground. The young Kurosawa samurai let out another great shout and buried his katana in the unconscious man's chest. With that, Nakamura Uzumaki was dead.

"Burn him," Musashi growled as he yanked his blade out of the corpse.

Hours later, the five heroes from Kurosawa left the lands controlled by their clan. The environment didn't look any different from that with which they were familiar, but it certainly felt different to each of them. Musashi entered a state of hyper-vigilance, nearly flying out of the cart at the movement of every bird and branch. Fukasu fidgeted nervously in her spot in the back of the cart, and occasionally took to the air to stretch her wings. Kakeru's thoughts were consumed by the newly acquired sake, and hoped that no bandits would attempt to steal it.

Over the next few days, the company encountered an ogre, which they dispensed with summarily, and little else. Their time was spent riding, resting, and worrying. On the 20th of Shigatsu, Kakeru reined in Yagi when the came to a fork in the road.

Sitting in the lotus position directly in the middle of the fork was an elderly kitsune. As the cart stopped, he bowed respectfully to the group, and said in a wizened voice, "Welcome travelers."

"Greetings, venerable sir," Kakeru said as he returned the bow from his perch at the front of the wagon, "We are humble travelers from Kurosawa, on our way to deliver an offering to the Fire Crane."

"I am Hanzo," the kitsune answered, "and I am here to offer you guidance."

"Guidance?"

"On which path to take."

"Ah," Kakeru replied as he scratched his head in confusion.

Musashi nervously shifted his weight from one leg to the other, for he could feel an air of extreme power emanating from the old kitsune, despite, and perhaps because of, his serene countenance.

"I act as a guidepost of sorts," the old man grinned.

"Ok," Kakeru replied, "Well, what's down the left path?"

"Ah, to the left is the Valley of Spiders. Very dangerous."

"I see," Kakeru said without any trace of confidence, "I presume that it's filled with lots of spiders?"

"Oh, yes, quite."

"Hmm. And down the right path?"

"To the right is the City of Pillars. Also, very dangerous."

Where have I heard of that? Kakeru thought to himself. It must have been one of Grandfather's speeches, he spent a moment trying to recall what he had only half-paid attention to originally. Oh, he finally remembered, that's right. It's supposed to be filled with undead naga. "That's the place with the undead naga, isn't it?"

"Oh, yes, you are quite correct."

Kakeru sighed inwardly - this wasn't going to be easy.

Musashi took advantage of the lull in the conversation to ask his own questions. "What's to the west of here, off the path?"

The kitsune looked off to his left, "Those are uninhabited lands. Much too dangerous."

"And to the east?"

Hanzo turned and looked off to his right, "Too far that way, and you will encounter the Warlords of Xin. Also, much too dangerous."

"Well, I guess those are out," Musashi said dryly.

"That leaves the Valley of Spiders or the City of Pillars, doesn't it?" Fukasu asked. Kakeru and Musashi nodded grimly.

"So," Takashi asked as he turned to the others, "What flavor of certain death do you prefer?"

[bento]

David - I'm really enjoying your story hour for "Land of the Crane." I hadn't been reading it in installments, picking it up last night for the first time and reading it straight through.

My group started an OA campaign all last Fall and currently taking a hiatus. Reading your story line has given my some really good ideas of how you have structured your encounters and have woven a really tight story so far.

I'm going to post some questions for you about the setting on that part of the forum, but I just wanted to say here - keep up the great work and I look forward to when your setting is published!

-bento

[carpedavid]

David - I'm really enjoying your story hour for "Land of the Crane." I hadn't been reading it in installments, picking it up last night for the first time and reading it straight through.

My group started an OA campaign all last Fall and currently taking a hiatus. Reading your story line has given my some really good ideas of how you have structured your encounters and have woven a really tight story so far.

I'm going to post some questions for you about the setting on that part of the forum, but I just wanted to say here - keep up the great work and I look forward to when your setting is published!

-bento

Thanks, bento! It's been a fun campaign to run - my best so far I think. Everyone is very invested in their characters and in the world, and they helped drive the development of the Land of the Crane setting. If I can answer any questions for anybody, just let me know.

And now, without further ado...

Valley of the Spiders, Part 1

After several minutes of discussion, the party decided that killing spiders sounded easier than killing undead naga. After all, they had each killed spiders before; one swift stomp equals spider goo, right?

They set up camp near the entrance to the valley, and bedded down for the night. The next morning, Kakeru hitched Yagi up to the cart, everyone climbed aboard, and the group pressed on. The fields and forest quickly disappeared as they entered the valley. It's more like a canyon, Kakeru thought as the cart bounced and rattled over the rocky ground. The rocky walls of the valley rose steeply on either side, casting long shadows in front of them.

Musashi examined the terrain. He quickly realized that they were in a strategically poor position. Fukasu would be able to fly out, but the rest of them would be trapped at the bottom of the valley. He suspected that the monks might be able to climb out, but not quickly, from the look of it. Well, if we can't get out that way, he thought, we'll just have to push through.

Directly in front of them, stood two huge, rock outcroppings, and between them, spider silk drifted lazily in the breeze. Kakeru brought the cart to a stop, and Kyoji hopped out. "I'll take a look and see what's ahead," he said stoically.

He was unsure what he might encounter, but he didn't want any of his new friends to accidentally wander into a nest or get jumped on by those little, furry, grey spiders that occasionally fell on him while he slept at the Temple of the Silent Lake. All those eyes and legs and the creepy crawling across your skin – the thought caused him to shiver, but he shook off the feeling as he crept carefully toward the outcroppings.

Suddenly, a ten-foot diameter section of rock and dirt burst open at his feet, and a spider the size of a horse lunged out from below. It narrowly missed his head with its foot-long fangs, which were dripping a thick, amber liquid. "Holy shit!" he screamed as he reflexively punched it in the middle of its eight, black, saucer-sized eyes.

"Ahhhh!" Fukasu screamed, "Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!"

Musashi drew his katana and charged, only to see three more monstrosities appear over the top and sides of the outcroppings. Ancestors, protect us, he thought to himself as he cleaved through the carapace of the trap-door spider. Black ichor sprayed everywhere as the monstrous arachnid twitched on the end of his blade.

"Look out, Musashi-kun!" Fukasu yelled as the spider on the right-hand outcropping turned and pointed its hindquarters at him. The young samurai looked up just in time to see a thick rope of spider silk slam into him. He tried to wriggle free, but the webbing stuck fast, and he quickly realized that his struggles only served to entangle him more.

One of the two spiders on the left outcropping threw its silk at Kyoji, but the young monk was quicker than Musashi, and was able to dodge out of its path. Takashi dashed forward, but stopped short, since all three of the monstrous spiders were well out of his reach.

Kakeru took a deep breath, closed his eyes, envisioned the spiders in front of him, and intoned, "O, great ancestors, please fill our enemies with confusion and doubt. Prevent their fangs from finding purchase and their silk from sticking." He wasn't sure if monstrous spiders had intelligence enough to be confused, but he figured that invoking the spirits of his ancestors couldn't hurt.

Kyoji began to climb the left outcropping, in an effort to reach the nearest spider, but wasn't able to get very far before Fukasu swooped in. She attempted to stab the arachnid with her ninjato, but only succeeded in annoying it enough to move; unfortunately, it had only one place to go - it jumped right onto Kyoji, knocking him to the ground. "Wah! Sorry Kyoji-san!" Fukasu yelled as the spider chomped down on the monk's neck.

Kyoji could feel the poison course through his veins, burning and numbing at the same time. He tried to push the furry creature off of him, but he immediately realized that the venom had sapped his strength.

Musashi gave a great shout and managed to wriggle his arms free enough that he could cut through the webbing with his katana. He was in the process of shoving the sticky silk off of his legs when the second spider on the left outcropping jumped to the ground. It didn't land on him, but it did land close enough to lunge forward and catch him with its fangs. He grimaced as the poison pumped into him, but the large geyser of blood that spurted out of his shoulder when the spider drew back carried the poison right back out.

Takashi and Kakeru both joined the fight. Takashi pushed past Musashi and slammed an elbow into the spider threatening the samurai, while Kakeru slammed a palm into the spider on top of Kyoji. The momentum added by Kakeru's blow was enough to allow Kyoji to push the spider off of him and tumble back up to his feet.

Fukasu fluttered to the ground behind the spider, and managed to slice off one of its legs. Black spider goo spurted out of the wound, but it remained upright. A kick from Kakeru's gata-clad foot finished it off, caving in its carapace and sending it tumbling to the ground.

The remaining two spiders concentrated their efforts on Musashi. He slashed at one and then the other as they repeatedly lunged at him, trying to impale him with their fangs. Takashi ducked and tumbled under the samurai's katana as he, too, attacked both creatures. Sword and fist, fist and sword – the two warriors kept the spiders from advancing.

As Kakeru, Kyoji, and Fukasu moved in to help, the spider that initially entangled Musashi fell to the young samurai's blade. The remaining spider did not go down easily, though. While Musashi hacked at it with his katana, Takashi pounded it with his fists. Fukasu flew over the group and flanked the spider, hoping to distract it, while Kyoji tumbled through the narrow space between the spider and the outcropping in order to get in position from which he could attack.

Kakeru, realizing that spider was flanked front to back by his four companions and side to side by the rock outcroppings, did the only thing he could think of: climb. He scrambled up the side of the rock as the spider once again brutally attacked Musashi.

While the monks, the samurai, and the ninja hit and slashed and jabbed the spider, the young kannushi hefted his bulk up into position on top of the outcropping. The spider bit into Musashi again, and Kakeru knew that his childhood friend wouldn't be able to take much more punishment. He pushed himself up onto his feet, then turned, took a deep breath, and jumped onto the back of the spider.

As he slammed into the creature with his fist, driving his full weight into the creature's abdomen, he was rewarded with a sickening crack. The spider's exoskeleton exploded under his bulk, splattering all of his companions with chitinous shards and a viscous, black goop. Kakeru looked up and smiled.

"Nice," Takashi nodded as he looked at Kakeru with a newfound respect.

"Sweet," Kyoji said, as he offered the young kannushi a hand in climbing out of the dead spider's remains.

"Thank you, Kakeru-kun," Musashi bowed as he sheathed his katana. He wobbled for a moment, and then fell to one knee.

Kakeru rushed to the young samurai's side. He could see that Musashi had sustained numerous wounds, and, despite the coating of spider guts, that he was covered in far too much blood. He placed his hands on Musashi's shoulders and called upon the benevolent spirits of Takama no Hara to heal his friend. A familiar blue glow washed over Musashi, sealing his wounds and renewing his vitality.

"Is anyone else hurt?" Kakeru asked.

Fukasu and Takashi both shook their heads, but Kyoji nodded. "I think that spider poison affected me," he said shakily.

Hmmm, Kakeru thought, I wonder if I can fix that?

As the kannushi meditated on which spirits he would need to call, Fukasu surveyed the scene of the battle. While the one spider was completely destroyed, the legs and mandibles of the others were still twitching. Ugh, how creepy, she thought. Then she looked down at herself. Ewww, I'm all covered in spider guts! She caught the twitching of one carcass out of the corner of her eye, and a chill ran down her spine, so she turned her attention back to her friends.

Several minutes later, Kakeru walked over to Kyoji and placed a hand on his shoulder. He could feel the ground tremble slightly beneath his feet as the spirits of the mountain rose up to renew the young monk.

"Thank you, Kakeru-san," Kyoji said as he felt his strength return.

"Think nothing of it."

With everyone healed, Kakeru retrieved Yagi and the cart, and the party pushed on. As they rumbled away, Fukasu meekly tapped her cousin on the shoulder.

"Kakeru-kun?"

"Yes, Fu-chan?" Kakeru replied.

"Are they still twitching?" she asked, trying to avoid looking back at the spider carcasses.

Kakeru craned his neck to look behind them. "Yep."

"Ewww," she said with a shiver.

The rocky terrain made movement slow, as Kakeru had to be careful to choose the path that would put the least strain on the cart's wheels. Thirty minutes of heightened vigilance later, the five pilgrims from Kurosawa had navigated several twists and turns of the valley, and now stood in front of a natural bridge that spanned a wide chasm.

The five heroes climbed out to survey the scene. Kyoji, Fukasu, and Musashi peered down into the chasm, and collectively gasped in horror. The fifty feet of empty space was filled from wall to wall with gigantic spider webs. Moreover, they could see movement down there – lots of movement, down beneath the dozens of layers of silk.

"How many do you think are down there?" Fukasu said quietly.

"Too many for us to fight," replied Musashi.

Meanwhile, Kakeru and Takashi examined the bridge. Kakeru thought it looked stable enough, but it was barely wide enough for the cart to fit. He would have to be very careful.

"Kakeru-san," Takashi whispered, as he craned his neck to get a better look at the underside of the bridge, "We may have a problem."

Kakeru walked over to where the monk was standing, and immediately saw what Takashi was referring to: hanging underneath the bridge were hundreds upon hundreds of giant egg sacks, each attached by a thin silk thread. He realized that careful was right out – they would have to cross as fast as possible.

The five heroes regrouped and shared their findings. They all agreed that trying to get across as quickly as possible was the best plan. Fukasu would fly, while everyone else would ride in the cart. Kakeru led the cart up to the edge of the bridge, and then leaned down to whisper to his horse, "Okay, Yagi, let's make this quick."

He nodded to Fukasu, who took to the air, and then he snapped the reins. Yagi took off at a full gallop, and the cart raced across the bridge. It bounced and rattled and slammed its occupants against each other as it rumbled over the uneven ground. Kakeru gritted his teeth as he urged Yagi on, hoping to make it across before they were noticed.

Underneath the bridge, however, the vibrations caused by Yagi's gallop and the bouncing cart caused the egg sacks to sway to and fro, stretching the silk used to hold them in place. Strands of spider silk ripped and tore as the sacks were jostled. Then, at just about the point when the cart reached the center of the bridge, the egg sacks began to fall, tumbling briefly through the cool spring air, before slamming into the spider-filled mass of webbing below.

[carpedavid]

Well, I'm fully caught up with where I left off the last version of the Story Hour, so updates will inevitably come more slowly. Also, bear with me as I try to regain my writing skills. It's been a while.

Valley of the Spiders, Part 2

The sound of Yagi's hooves echoed like thunder though the canyon.

Fukasu looked down and saw, to her horror, that a dozen spiders, ranging from the size of a large dog to a large horse, were climbing the sides of the chasm. "They're coming!" she screamed to her companions, "Hurry!"

Kakeru focused on the other side of the bridge, and urged Yagi on, but he knew that they couldn't go any faster without the risking the cart sliding off the bridge. "Get ready," he yelled to his passengers, as the spiders reached the top of the chasm.

Just before they reached the end of the bridge, Kakeru pulled hard on Yagi's reins, and the cart skidded to a halt.

***

When Tsurukokan peasants huddle together in their bamboo huts, trying to keep themselves dry during any of the hundreds of rainstorms that wash over the Land of the Crane each year, their thoughts invariably turn to Lord Inazuma and Lady Raimei – the spirits of Thunder and Lightning.

Though they collectively rule the skies from their floating sanctuary in Castle Raiden, Inazuma and Raimei's marriage is anything but tranquil. Both are possessed of a fiery temper and a fierce disposition, so any discussion ultimately devolves into a furious argument. Their arguments always begin quietly, with a quiet rumble and a brief flash of light. As their tempers rise, the sky explodes with bolts of lightning and great cracks of thunder.

Raimei's sonic fury shakes the air while her husband's anger scorches the earth, while, in their huts, the peasants of Tsurukoku quake and tremble. Silently, they pray for the two great spirits to resolve their differences, and to spare them from the effects of their anger.

Eventually, the spirits of Thunder and Lightning calm themselves and make peace once again. The bolts of lightning become bright flashes of light, which flicker and dim, and then fade altogether. The cacophony of thunder subsides, quieting to a dull rumble before subsiding altogether.

In the clam rain that follows, the peasants relax and thank the spirits for sparing them. Some may offer a bit of sake, while others offer a bowl of rice, in the hope that the next time the two lovers quarrel, they keep it to themselves.

***

Like the spirits of Thunder and Lightning, the swarm of monstrous spiders and the group of heroes collided with a sound and fury that shook the earth and rattled the soul. Kyoji, Takashi, and Musashi leapt out onto the bridge, while Fukasu swooped down from above.

One of the spiders jumped onto Yagi, who reared up and swatted at it with his tail. Kakeru grabbed onto his horse's reins in an attempt to keep him from charging off the bridge. As a result, he was completely defenseless when two others jumped up to attack him. "Ancestors, protect us from...aauugh!" he screamed as both spiders pumped their poison into his veins.

Fukasu and Takashi pounded on one of the smaller arachnids. It bit the young hanyo, who suppressed a shriek, and then retaliated with the point of her blade. Takashi followed up with a kick, cracking open the creature's carapace as it tumbled back off the bridge.

Meanwhile, Kyoji and Musashi had their hands full with spiders of their own. The straw-haired monk and one of the smaller spiders traded wounds. He smashed his first into its mandibles, and the spider slashed open his arm with its fangs.

One of the horse-sized spiders lunged at Musashi, who dodged its attack, and then sliced into it with his katana. It clicked its mandibles angrily, and then lunged again.

Back in the cart, Kakeru flailed his left fist at the two spiders surrounding him, and held on tightly to Yagi's reins with his right. The spiders easily avoided his blows, and darted in and out as they scuttled around him, biting and tearing out chunks of his flesh. He grunted as Yagi strained at the reins, himself trying to shake off a spider.

Kyoji cried out as one of the horse-sized spiders pierced his shoulder with its fangs. "Hang on Kyoji-san!" Fukasu yelled as she vaulted several of the smaller spiders to aid her friend. Jamming her ninja-to into its abdomen provided enough distraction that the spider let go of the monk, and turned its attention toward her.

Blades and fists and fangs flew furiously in the morning sun. As several of the smaller spiders swarmed over Kakeru and Musashi, Fukasu and Kyoji finished off the giant spider between them. Takashi summoned all of the fury of Lord Inazuma and Lady Reimei, and was able to pound another of the giant spiders into a mess of chitin and spider guts.

Kakeru tried to keep Yagi in check, even as his vision began to narrow. Musashi felt himself growing terribly weak, between the effects of the spider venom and the loss of his own blood. I must remain strong, he thought to himself, I must not give in.

The sounds of carapaces cracking and heroes yelping echoed off the cavern walls as the party and the spiders slowly whittled each other down. With the biggest, and most dangerous of the spiders out of the way, the party raced against the poison in their veins.

Fukasu began distracting some of the smaller creatures, which gave Musashi the opportunity to make calculated, powerful strikes. Takashi and Kyoji punched and kicked at the spiders still biting into Kakeru, finally succeeding in freeing their friend from the embrace of the arachnids.

As the last of their strength faded, the party was left with one opponent: a particularly tenacious spider the size of a large dog. It had sunk its fangs into nearly every one of the heroes more than once, and half a dozen times into Kakeru. Fukasu attempted to distract it, while Takashi threw a heel kick. His blow was slowed by the poison, though, and he missed wildly, nearly falling off the stone bridge in the process.

Kyoji followed up with a low roundhouse kick of his own, which the spider dodged easily. Fortunately for Musashi, and unfortunately for the spider, it dodged right into the path of his katana. "Die!" he yelled as he slammed his blade into the arachnid's abdomen. The spider paused for a second, clicked its mandibles, and then slid neatly in half.

"Ho. Lee. Crap." Takashi said between gulps of air, as he stumbled over to the side of the canyon.

"I. Hate. Spiders." Musashi panted as he sheathed his katana, "They. Have. No. Honor."

"Wow. I can't believe we didn't die," Fukasu replied as she dropped to her knees.

"Close. We got very close," Kyoji said as he leaned on the cart, trying not to fall over.

"Very. Close. Indeed," Kakeru gasped, and then promptly collapsed.

[carpedavid]

I think I'm on a biweekly updating basis now, though this one's going to be on the shorter side.

Valley of the Spiders, Part 3

"Kakeru!" Fukasu yelled as she jumped back to her feet and climbed into the cart. She quickly checked for a pulse, and finding one, breathed a sigh of relief. "He's alive, but barely. We need to take shelter."

"There's a large outcropping up ahead," Musashi said as he pointed toward two stone pillars about a hundred yards farther into the valley, where it took a sharp turn to the west.

"We'll check it out," Kyoji said as he motioned to Takashi. The two monks began to scout ahead as Fukasu ripped strips from her kimono to bind her cousin's wounds. I'm going to be naked by the time we get to the fire crane, at this rate, Fukasu thought to herself. She giggled, and Musashi looked up with a start.

Fukasu smiled wanly, "I'm going to need a new robe soon."

The young samurai nodded, then, after a minute, "Is he stable?"

The young ninja tightened the last bandage and then sighed, "He should be ok, though he's not going to be very happy when he wakes up."

Musashi grabbed Yagi's reins, and slowly led them down the valley to where the two monks were waiting. As they creaked along, he remained vigilant. It would be like those dishonorable vermin to take advantage of us while our forces are split.

Just before they passed behind the outcroppings, Musashi looked left and caught a glimpse of the obstacles that still remained in their path. This is not going to get any easier.

***

A few minutes after midnight, Kakeru awoke with a start. "Wha! Spiders!" he yelled as he sat bolt upright. "Is this Yomi?" he asked, panicked.

"It might as well be," Takashi mumbled as he rolled over, trying to get comfortable on the rocky ground.

"Ugh. I obviously need more sake," Kakeru groaned as he lay back down.

"No, you need rest," Fukasu said as she adjusted his blanket.

"Okay, Fu-chan," he said grudgingly.

"Rest well, Kakeru-kun," Musashi whispered, "For we will need your strength tomorrow."

"Tomorrow might be a bit early," Kakeru groaned.

"Well, soon, then," the young samurai replied.

The next day, Kakeru spent most of his time summoning the benevolent spirits of the earth to heal himself and his companions. Musashi kept watch while the two monks sparred and Fukasu fussed over her cousin.

"You're not well, lay down," Fukasu said.

"I'm fine," Kakeru replied weakly.

"No, you're not."

"Okay, I'm not, but I'm still not lying down."

"Kakeru-kun!"

"Okay, fine."

That night, the five heroes rested, preparing themselves for the challenge that lay ahead. As Musashi lay on the hard stone of the valley floor, he envisioned slicing through his enemy, rending limb from body, finding the joints in their exoskeletons, cleaving through their carapaces. He shivered. I'm nervous, he thought, that is unacceptable. He tried to suppress the butterflies in his stomach by clearing his mind and focusing on the task at hand, but after a minute he smiled to himself in the darkness. No, not nervous. Not nervous at all.

Excited.

***

As the sun rose on the 23rd day of Shigatsu, year 337 of the Ito shogunate, the party prepared themselves for the upcoming fight. Kakeru snuck a glimpse of what awaited them and groaned.

"Ok, Takashi-san," the young shinkan said as he tried to figure out what spirits to call, "since we got the worst of it last time, I'm going to ask the spirits for their aid." He projected his will into the ethereal realm where spirits dwell, and called out for the poison-eaters.

Sightless, possessed only of a pair of antennae and very long tongue, and resembling something close to a bright-yellow, foot-long slug, a pair of poison-eaters slithered through the mists toward the group. When they reached the shinkan and the monk, the supernatural gastropods began to climb up their legs toward their abdomens.

Kakeru had never seen the poison-eaters do what they were about to do, but he had read about it in the sacred scrolls, and he was very glad that Takashi would not be able to sense what was happening. When the poison-eaters reached their abdomens, they paused for a second, and then quickly jammed their long tongues into Kakeru and Takashi's navels. Within a second, they had squished themselves through the hole that they had created inside the mortals' spirit bodies.

The young shinkan shook his head. Takashi looked at him quizzically, but Kakeru just smiled and continued to shake his head.

Musashi drew his katana and wakizashi and looked at his companions. "Ready?"

"Let's do it," Takashi replied.

The five heroes from Kurosawa stepped out from behind the giant stone outcropping and began cautiously moving deeper into the valley. The long shadows cast by the morning sun fell over colossal nets of webbing which stretched a hundred feet from one wall of the valley to the other. Thousands of birds and bats flapped and squawked and screeched, having been caught in the nets, and the movement and sound had attracted monstrous spiders by the dozen.

[iwatt]

I just got True20 a couple of weeks ago, and really enjoyed it. I got WoA and the LoC setting immeadiately gripped me. I jst started rewatching the Shogun miniseries so I'm all riled up to run a LoC setting. This SH really closed the deal for me.

Thanx