Fan Fiction ❯ Rakurai & Okibi ❯ Chapters 1-4 ( Chapter 1 )

Rakurai & Okibi

Once, when great warriors still walked this land to paint the earth red with blood, there lived a young samurai named Shiden. His father, Tsukiro Hidetomi, was a powerful daimyo, a king of sorts. During the Saiten-Tsukiro War, Shiden finalized his father's power when he tore through fifty thousand men and their lord and master, Saiten Yorinobu, to save his father. One-eyed Demon was the name the young samurai acquired since he alone took over one hundred heads that day, most of them commanders, plus many more kills unaccounted for. That was five years ago…

Prologue

"Attack me!" Shiden tightened the grip on his bokken as his pupil, Jinsu, stared at him in shock while holding his own razor sharp katana still drawn. The sword was a gift from master to student for completing his training.

That morning, Jinsu had been bragging about the blade to some fellow samurai. Finally, they became fed up with him and made to scare him into silence by drawing their own swords. They did indeed frighten him, into killing one man and cutting the arm of another. As he stared at the terrified youth, bloodied katana in hand, the third samurai ran for help, and Jinsu was put under house arrest. Even though his master was technically Hidetomi-sama, he was Shiden's pupil, and would be punished at his discretion.

When Jinsu entered, Shiden said not a word to him except, "Draw your sword." Thoroughly nervous, though ready to accept whatever punishment his teacher dealt him, he complied. Shiden grabbed a bokken from the rack and joined him in the practice room. Shiden gazed at him, expressionless, his right eye boring into Jinsu's soul, as always, his left eye, or where it would have been, covering by a slip of cloth, as always. That was one thing Jinsu liked about his master, that he never seemed to change. Right now though, the youth was terrified of Shiden as he said in a low, cold voice, "You have defiled your blade with the blood of your comrades. Normally, I would allow you to commit seppuku for your actions. However, you attacked out of fear, not self-defense. Therefore, instead of giving you an honorable death you do not merit, I will assist you in learning from your mistakes."

Lunging towards his student, Shiden beat Jinsu with the ferocity that had earned him his nickname. After less than a minute, the young man collapsed to the floor from the barrage of blows Shiden gave him. Shiden glared at his pupil in disgust and said, "Tch, I figured you for a warrior with a strong will. But, it seems I was wrong, neh?" With that, Shiden snapped the strong bokken in half and flung it at a rack of spears in the far corner, then walked out of the practice hall in silence.

He came upon a contingent of KÅshu samurai that was at the Tsukiro keep to protect their clan's heir, Kakimaru, who had been sent from his father for "negotiations." Since he had been there for about a year, it was obvious that Kakimaru was merely a hostage, sent to the Tsukiro castle to keep his father, a former ally of the hated Saiten clan, from attacking the Tsukiro domain. Kakimaru's guards all knew this, so they spent their days with flasks of sake and their nights with the local brothel girls.

Shiden watched as one of the guards arrogantly yelled at the girl serving him, "Hurry it up, woman, or I'll make sure you're bow-legged for a week! Unless, that idea appeals to you, neh?!" The man slapped the serving girl on the buttocks to get her moving, and then he and his comrades laughed their drunken heads off. Though taught that a bit of sake once in a while is a good thing, Shiden detested public drunkenness.

As he approached the KÅshu samurai, they were still laughing, so he scowled at them in passing. They kept it up until one of them, a middle-aged man, said, "By the gods, its Tsukiro's son, the One-eyed Demon!"

At this outburst, the other guards immediately dropped to their knees, muttering apologies. Shiden barely heard them. He was too busy walking along the castle wall and looking out at the wonderfully vibrant countryside that would one day be his. Directly in front of him, in the east, were small villages, all of them laboring hard in the fields to keep up with the Tsukiro domain's large population. Shiden could hear the working chant of the villagers as they were planting seedlings in the rice paddies.

Stretching from the villages in the east to the wild land in the northeast, mountains dominated the horizon. To the southeast were first flat plains covered in forests and a few green bamboo groves, followed by gently rolling hills all the way to the border of the Tsukiro domain.

Satisfied with the sight before him, Shiden left the wall on which he stood and went inside the castle. He passed through several halls of the castle keep before reaching his private garden. As he gazed at the blood red sun sinking slowly to the west, he thought of one of his father's sayings: `To fully appreciate a beautiful sunset, one must treat as his last.' The scarlet splashes of dying sunlight enveloped him, bringing him immediately back to that day…

Chapter 1-Twenty years ago…

When Shiden was a boy, he would often play at being a warrior, a bamboo stick his sword, and other bunches of bamboo his enemies. But, there was one particular day that would remain forever burned in the back of his mind.

On that day, Shiden-kun was playing by a stream in the bamboo grove near the castle walls. Suddenly, he heard footsteps and looked up to see his guardians walking towards a strange man dressed in equally strange attire. The man wore the armor of the Tsukiro clan's retainers, but had painted it jet-black. The stranger also had Shiden-kun's father's emblem, a chrysanthemum intertwined with a lotus, but the flowers were on fire. "Name yourself!" said one of Shiden-kun's guardians forcefully. The stranger acknowledged none but the boy, his smile kind, his eyes much less so. "Who are you, sir?" asked Shiden-kun. The man replied, "Why, my dear boy, I am your uncle, Tsukiro Hideyugi. As he stepped towards Shiden-kun, his hand went to the katana at his side and, as the guardians prepared to cut him down, rested it on the hilt comfortably.

Suddenly, as the men relaxed their grips on their swords, they and the stranger became a blur of crimson and silver. Then, Shiden-kun saw through the red haze that the man's blade had turned as black as his armor, and glowed, maybe even burned, bright red, as red as the glistening corpses of the guards. Shiden, with his youthful ignorance, attacked the stranger with his bamboo stick. The man yanked the stick from Shiden's hands, snapping it in two and throwing it to the ground. The stranger smiled once more as he said, " I have a message for your father, my brother. Will you please give it to him?" As he said this, Hideyugi threw a shuriken, or small knife, into Shiden-kun's left eye. The poor boy fell upon the ground in agony, his hand clawing at the sightless eye, blood pouring from between his fingers.

Hideyugi scowled at Shiden-kun. "Weak!" he muttered as he made to end the child with a swift blow. In the last instant, Shiden grabbed one of the pieces of his broken bamboo sword, the tip razor-sharp, and plunged it into the man's left eye. He screamed, hacking at the air, desperate to decapitate his child-assailant, who by this time was already running to the castle keep and safety. Hideyugi saw Shiden-kun's escape through the veil of agony permeating from the bloody ruin of his eye and cried out in an indescribable rage, "DAMN YOU BOY!!!"

Two samurai saw Shiden-kun and ran to save him. The younger of them picked up the boy and headed back to the keep while the other, older man stood his ground and shouted arrogantly at Hideyugi, "Come, my blade's thirst must be quenched!" Before the man could blink, Hideyugi was upon him, snapping the man's katana in two and thrusting it through his chest. Hideyugi said to the dying guard with a sneer, "If you love this toy so much, let it drink of your blood!" He twisted the blade quickly, snapping the man's spine. Then, he dropped the twitching body and ran at the front gate of the castle keep. The spearman at the gate raised his wooden shaft defensively, only to have it and his skull savagely split in two.

Hideyugi jumped over the poor soul and ran into the practice yard. As he took a step forward an arrow landed in his path, then another, and another until he looked up to see the dozen archers loosing arrows at him from atop the adjacent wall. In one leap Hideyugi scaled the gray stone of the wall, and cut the men apart with brutal, surgical precision, laughing maniacally the whole time. All of this unfolded before Shiden-kun's eye as he stood next to his father, his wound already tended to.

From atop the tallest tower of the castle, father and son silently watched the carnage below. Hidetomi turned to Shiden-kun and said quietly, "My son, remember this: Amongst the dogs, there will always be wolves lying in wait. Sometimes their thirst for blood can be curbed if you feed them, but eventually they shall all tear out your throat. Wakarimasu ka?" `Do you understand?' Shiden-kun half-nodded, then reluctantly shook his head and replied, "Iyé, wakarimasen." `No, I don't understand.' Hidetomi chuckled at this. "Ah, well, that's fine. You shall learn with time. But, for now-" He stopped in mid-sentence as his brother killed the final guard with a cut to the shoulder. The unfortunate man went down with a scream and a spray of blood.

Standing there, defiant fury burning in his eyes, Hideyugi glared at them from below. "My, my, onii-sama," he said nonchalantly, "Your guards are quite the fanatics, neh?" He took a step closer. "After all, I would have expected most men to run at the sight of ten of their comrades dying in an instant!" To this evil comment Hidetomi shot back, "At least they actually had a sense of duty, unlike you Brother!" "Ha! Duty?!" Hideyugi snarled. "What would you know of duty, leaving me to die in that bastard Saiten Echiyo's prison?!"

(Saiten Echiyo was killed by Hidetomi twelve years prior, after the young samurai escaped his capture. Echiyo's son, the slightly effeminate Yorinaga, vowed revenge, and nearly had it if not for his death. Though he died of old age, his bull-headed son Yorinobu thoroughly believed his father had been poisoned, and set out to avenge him by attacking the Tsukiro clan. Their conflict is known as the Saiten-Tsukiro War, and is just one of many during the Sengoku Period.)

"Damn it, Hideyugi!" exclaimed Hidetomi, "you know as well as I that I wouldn't have been able to come back for you after killing Echiyo!" Head lowered, he whispered, "Forgive me!" and raised his hand.

Hideyugi's mouth fell open in shock as the first arrow pierced his breast with a sickening THUNK. His hand went to the quarrel, still quivering from its flight, and came up covered in red. His body tensed and was flown back as shaft after shaft was loosed into his chest. His screams died in his throat as it was torn apart, giving way to crimson gushing from his mouth. A final arrow in the skull threw him to the ground; all senses dead, nothing but the pain remaining…

Shiden relived his uncle's death as he watched the fiery sun sink slowly below the clouds and out of site. In his mind he saw the blood-drenched, enraged man, enveloped in a bright, but seemingly sinister, red light. He cracked his neck and thought. "Perhaps father could explain this to me." Shiden stood and walked briskly to the conference hall that overlooked the place of his uncle's demise.

Hidetomi, still conversing with his commanding officers, glanced up from a map of his lands and said, "Ah, Shiden-san. One moment, my son." Kunemitsu, a young man with the look of one that is excessively pleased with himself, said, "My lord, please remember that I have spies placed in every major clan in the land. It is quite improbable that any of them would presume to lay waste to our domain, for such efforts would be in vain and surely would be the death of them." To curb Hidetomi's irritation at his smug manner, the youth bowed with modesty that Shiden knew to be false.

Takejiro, a gruff old bear-like veteran of many battles spoke up in a frank voice that told of his long-time friendship and service to his lord. "Hidetomi-sama, surely an old dog's counsel is as favorable as any puppy half his age, unless perhaps the old dog's impatient temperament displeases you." He bowed his head slightly to accent his point. Hidetomi laughed and nodded back as he replied, "Ah, but of course I value the opinion of my oldest and most trusted general. Please, speak as you will."

Takejiro grimaced. "Many thanks to Kunemitsu-san and his spies, but they would not be able to sabotage the smaller, more numerous clans that surround us. For all we know, they have already formed a coalition against us and are preparing for an offensive even now. That is why we MUST prepare for battle!"

Hidetomi nodded his approval and addressed his council. "My generals, as Takejiro has said, the closest clans are small but numerous, and all of them despise me ever since I conquered the only buffer between us and them, the Saiten clan. They WILL attack! Perhaps tonight, perhaps in a year, but I will be ready to counter-attack when they do! To throw their spies off, we shall feign ignorance, but prepare for war nonetheless." He smiled slyly. "Unless, of course, one of you has betrayed me and therefore voids any preparations I might make." Hidetomi gazed at each man in turn and searched for signs of anxiety or over-confidence. Satisfied, he dismissed his council who bowed, stood, and shuffled out quietly single-file.

At last, he turned to his son, nodded, and gestured at the seat next to him. "Now then, what may I do to remedy that impatient look on your face, my son?" Shiden looked abashed for an instant, then recovered and said, "Father, there is something of great import I must discuss with you." Hidetomi's face turned serious. "Of course, speak freely." "Well, father, I wish to learn more of my uncle, Tsukiro Hideyugi."

"No," his father said in a tone that brooked no argument, "you will not speak of him again!" Shiden lowered his head to the tatami mat and replied, "Forgive me my youthful ignorance father. But, may I inquire about the katana he had carried once? Why did it burn with a sinister scarlet light, and what did you do with it after his death?" Hidetomi sighed, and, after a long silence, finally said, "Ahhh, I had vowed to never speak of the blade as long as I live, but I suppose you deserve at least this much from your over-protective father, neh?"

Chapter 2

Hidetomi closed his eyes as if remembering ancient memories as he began his tale. "To tell you of his sword, I must first speak of my own. My sword, forged of special steel, contained the shards of a crystal. That crystal had once been imbedded in my right arm, and could create and control lightning." Shiden's eye widened at this and laughed out loud. "Ha, surely you jest father! Do you say this to make me fearful, or have you been drinking?" "Do not mock me, boy! I speak only truth to you!" Hidetomi said in icy tones. Shiden caught off guard, his father continued the story.

"As I said, the crystal was imbedded in my arm at one time, as it had been since my birth. My brother had one also, but instead of lightning, it controlled fire." His eyes bored into Shiden. "You had one too, in your left eye." Shiden gasped and whispered, "So, that is why he wished to kill me! Why not tell me this, neh?"

His father sighed and replied, "You were too young to understand such things." Shiden snarled sarcastically, "Oh, surely, but I wasn't too young to stab out my assassin's eye!" "Yes, this I know, Shiden-san. And, in doing so, you gave him one more reason to kill you! When you threw a shuriken into his eye, you shattered the crystal inside and caused him unimaginable pain-" Shiden cut him off and said, "But, if his crystal was still inside his eye at the time, how was it that his blade BURNED RED?!"

Hidetomi replied, "Ah yes, I wondered about that for the longest time until I realized, the katana was basically a conductor of sorts for the power emanating from his crystal. When he bloodied the blade, it turned black and burned the flesh as it cut through his enemies. The pain from his shattered crystal must have increased the blade's strength one hundred fold!" Shiden nodded. "Yes, that explains the massacre of our guards."

Just then, Shiden remembered something. "Father, you never told me about WHEN you discovered your crystal!" "Oh yes, I remember it well! I learned of it when I was about fifteen, after my first battle. I had taken a nasty gash in my arm that became infected after a few days. When I allowed the doctor to finally clean the wound with boiled sake, the rotted flesh melted away, revealing a small blue crystal. The moment I removed it, my entire arm began to rot, and eventually had to be amputated. Determined to keep up with my sword practice despite my lost limb, I had the crystal ground into a powder and mixed in with a very strong steel to forge a new katana for myself. When I held it in my hand, it felt heavy and awkward. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my stump of an arm. Then, gradually, my right arm grew back! To this day, I thank the gods for that miracle, even though they probably had nothing to do with it."

"What do you mean they had no part in it?" inquired Shiden. "If regaining one's arm isn't the will of some generous kami, what do you make of our clash with the Saiten clan at Sakata?" Hidetomi half-grinned and said, "That `miraculous victory' as you described it at the time was due to you and your elite troops cutting a vicious, gore-spattered path to reach me. It proved your loyalty to me as a vassal…and as a son."

"You have said this many times before, father, as have many other men who knew more of warfare than I could ever hope to know, and yet all of my appraisers scoffed at my beliefs that I was possessed by a guiding spirit, instead they joked that it was a demon that had possessed me! They mocked me, just because I believed that I was fighting for more than mere revenge or territorial expansion, that I did what I did for the good of the land and its people!

Hidetomi suddenly had an odd expression on his face. "Is that what you think of me, that my little, albeit brutal war with Saiten Yorinobu was about my selfish desires for revenge?! True, Saiten Echiyo forever gained my hatred when he held my mother, brother, and I hostage to stay my father's ruthless hand from the destruction of his lands. Then, in the following year when he denied my father his honor by crucifying him and my mother, I swore revenge at any cost. I had my revenge at twenty-three, with the cost being my only brother's loathing for me driving him mad. Most men would have bided their time until the right opportunity to utterly annihilate all that their enemy holds dear."

He glared at Shiden. "I did not do this. Instead, I worked to better the lives of my people, and to heal the wounds of war that Echiyo had inflicted on them and their homes. When his much more amiable, though decidedly effeminate son Yorinaga learned the identity of his father's killer, he sought revenge, as I once did. As you know, he nearly had it, but then died suddenly. And so, once more it was up to the son to avenge the honor of the dead father. Yorinobu would have had it, had you not been there to cut him down and give his child heir something to live for in the wake of his father's death. All daimyo of this land are forever locked in a struggle for supreme power, or revenge, or territorial expansion, or a million other reasons for men to go to war. The point is, anyone can fight for anything they want as long as they have enough people fooled into thinking right or justice is on their side!"

As he finished, Hidetomi smiled. "So, do you understand now?" Shiden thought for a moment, and then answered, "Well, I understand enough to know that you fought that war for something intangible, something like, morality or, just plain damned good judgment." And Shiden returned his father's smile.

Just then, the silhouette of a man appeared outside the shoji screen. Shiden drew his sword halfway as Hidetomi said, "Green Field." This was the first part of a password designed to discourage assassins. The man outside replied, "Charcoal Sky." Hidetomi countered with, "Crimson Cliffs," referring to the red cliffs of Chang An. Only he and his guard captain knew this part of the password since they had come up with it. The figure behind the shoji replied, "Burning Heaven."

(This referred to the plan that Zhang Liang and Zhou Yu, the strategists of the Shu and Wu kingdoms, respectively, had concocted to remove the fleet of the massive Wei fleet, it's ruler Cao Cao at it's head. A Wu officer, Huang Gai, set fire to one of the ships and then Zhang Liang, apparently, conjured a southeastern wind to decimate the Wei fleet. That battle was just one of many that made up the Three Kingdoms Period, (184-285?) a part of Chinese history that Hidetomi enjoyed reading about frequently.)

Feeling relieved, Hidetomi called out, "Enter," which the man did, but cautiously. When he saw the guard captain kneeling before them, Shiden sheathed his sword. Ueozumi, a middle-aged man of strong repute said to Hidetomi, "My lord, urgent news. Our border patrols have reported banners on the horizon, many hundreds of them, all bearing your standard!"

Hidetomi's eyes narrowed as he said, "Assemble every company that can make it to the patrolmen in time! THESE DOGS WILL NOT CROSS OUR BORDERS!" Ueozumi bowed and hurried away. Shiden, still seething about the surprise attack, turned to his father and asked, "Who could possibly be foolish enough to think that we would just invite them in if they carried our clan's crest?" Hidetomi sighed and replied, "Not a fool, just a very proud and stubborn man!" He nodded to his son, stood, and walked out.

Chapter 3-Earlier that evening…

Tokimasu Kusunoki, a samurai of about thirty years of age, stepped into the tent of his lord and master, Rekka. He kneeled as was customary, and said, "Rekka-sama, you sent for me?" From somewhere in the back of the darkened tent came a reply. "Ah yes, Kusunoki-san, I did indeed. I have always despised long drawn out politeness, you know. An empty courtesy between bitter enemies accomplishes nothing. So, I will come straight to the point. I want to bestow upon you the, `honor,' of commanding the first invasion wave. How does that sound to you?" When Kusunoki didn't answer, Rekka stepped into the light, revealing his face, rewarded with a frightened gasp from his retainer. "Please, do be frank." Kusunoki replied, "Well, I had always figured that I would be the one to get the suicide mission." The Great Dark Lord roared with laughter. "Ha, ha, well, if you actually survive, I shall give you some of my brother's land to live on, how's that?!"

Kusunoki smiled and said, "I believe I can make do with that, my lord." Rekka chuckled again. "Good, good, now get out of my sight!" Knowing that his lord was frequent to sudden, violent mood changes, Kusunoki retreated to his own tent. Once there, he prepared himself for the battle to come.

As he meditated, he burned incense in his helmet so that any opponent who might take his head as a prize would not be offended by the smell of his corpse. His mind now set on a different plane than normally, Kusunoki called his servants to bathe and dress him in his armor.

Fully suited, he began to write a death poem. This was a poem usually reserved for when a samurai was about to commit seppuku, ritual suicide. But, for generations, Kusunoki's family had written death poems before each battle. At the clan's homeland there was a room in their hereditary castle that was filled with the death poems of their ancestors. Their worth in battle was measured in how many death poems they had written in their life; basically, how many battles they had lived through. Kusunoki's grandfather had set the record by participating in over sixty battles. The following battle would be Kusunoki's tenth and, unbeknownst to him, his final battle.

Kusunoki rode out from a province bordering the Tsukiro clan's domain from the west, picking up along the way the various contingents of samurai that would make up the bulk of the first invasion wave, a force ten thousand-strong. As they approached the border, Kusunoki could see the patrolling samurai clearly against the moonlit hills they stood upon. When he noticed them running away to the east to report the massive cavalry force bearing down on them, he decided to attack at once.

He yelled, "All units, attack!" and felt the earth literally shake as his order was carried down the line. He left a token force of five hundred to finish off the patrolmen and continued his headlong rush into the Tsukiro clan's domain. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to him, Shiden was riding hard for his keep, tucked safely away in the Sendai mountain range, barely a mile to the north. Knowing nothing of this though, he spurred his entire force into the low valley where the Tsukiro clan's main keep, and Tsukiro-sama himself, resided. When Kusunoki noticed that there was little opposition he became very anxious. To remove any doubts, he yelled, "All units, TEAR THAT CASTLE TO THE GROUND!"

He was pleased with the roar of approval from his troops and joined their battle cry. Then, he looked to the wall directly ahead. On top of it he saw a line of fire, consisting of three thousand elite Tsukiro archers wielding arrows with explosive tips. He heard the command, "Fire!" faintly and the arrows were loosed into the sky above them. To the cavalrymen, Kusunoki included, they looked like stars twinkling with an unseen force of the gods. The death-comets edged ever closer, time seemingly slowing down. Kusunoki whispered, "Beautiful," as an arrow struck him in the face, and he felt his flesh seer off, and, as his mind plunged into the blackness of death, all he heard were the cries of twenty thousand men and horses being drowned in a sea of flame…

As the last of the flames covering the bodies of the first enemy wave dissipated, the second wave rushed onward to the castle, the site of their fallen comrades spurring them on. When they were within a mile of the castle, Hidetomi's elite unit, consisting of only two hundred men, converged on them. Though greatly outnumbered, the defenders ripped through the enemy ranks as the archers on the wall loosed arrows at the enemy with a vengeance.

Tsukiro Hidetomi watched the writhing mass of leather, horseflesh, and steel from his tower window. Here and there small scenes of desperation on the part of the enemy played out. A cavalryman plunged his lance into the chest of one of the elite samurai, then pulled out his katana and raised it in defiance at the archers, only to have his arm lopped off in a fountain of blood. One man, his armor bristling with broken arrow shafts, tried to whip his horse around to retreat, only to find a half dozen men wielding naginatas and lances blocking his escape. They did not wear the standard armor of the Tsukiro clan's retainers. They were, in fact, local ronin, enlisted in a hurry to seek money, glory, or just plain sport on the battlefield. At the edge of the battle was an enemy commander galloping away from the carnage, his guards in tow. Hidetomi watched the man as he rode about one hundred yards, then suddenly toppled roughly to the ground, horse and all, as if stopped by an invisible wall.

Unbeknownst to Hidetomi, the wall was a hail of bullets from the enemy arquebusiers, or musket men, that made up the third wave of enemy troops. Though only a single-shot weapon, the muskets were more than enough to tear through the AWOL enemy commander and his guards. The captain of the arquebusiers called out to the surviving cavalry of the second wave. "Any man who attempts to desert our lord will be dealt with swiftly!"

This threat spurred the cavalrymen into a massive offensive that beat back the elite samurai, giving the arquebusiers room to advance. The men leveled their muskets at the archers lining the castle walls and opened fire. In one volley, half the archers were decimated, with the remaining half firing wildly into the crowd of men and horses below.

Then, from the ranks of the arquebusiers came large iron cannons, a foreign invention called the "Country Destroyer." The men firing the big guns aimed them over the heads of the cavalrymen and at the large double-door gate of the castle. Hidetomi heard the roar of the cannons, then looked below to see a flood of enemy soldiers pouring through the shattered gates. Knowing the end to be near, he thought to himself, "Shiden, you are now my kamikaze!"(Divine Wind)

As his father's castle was being overrun, a fact unknown to Shiden, he and his cavalry regiment waited impatiently to attack. Unable to stand the screams wafting up from the valley on the western wind, one of Shiden's colonels pleaded, "Sire, can we not disregard orders and help our lord?" "No!" Shiden snapped. "Our lord said there would be at least four invasion waves, and to only attack after the final wave passes us. Those were his orders and we WILL comply!" Shiden shifted his armor and said with finality, "Until then, we are to stay put!" His nearest retainers fidgeted and muttered curses amongst themselves when Shiden spun on them and shouted, "Be silent! Have you no faith in your lord, who destroyed the fearful Saiten clan?! He knows what he is doing!" Even as he said this, Shiden thought to himself, "Father, I certainly hope you know what you are doing."

……….

The commander of the enemy forces, Rekka Yoshiite-sama, surveyed the sack of the Tsukiro castle from a hillside nearly five miles away. He wore his jet-black armor and an evil smirk that spoke of his satisfaction of gaining revenge on his despised rival, Hidetomi. "He shall pay for all that he has done to me!" Rekka thought to himself. As he seethed to himself, a warrior clad in gray armor by the name of Utetsu came forth and kneeled. "My lord," he said, "your escort awaits." Rekka glanced back at the man and said, "Good. Tell that tactless fool Mushizo that his forces will not be needed!" Utetsu nodded, then turned his head quickly as a voice spoke from the shadows. "Of course, my lord, your order shall be obeyed, but…" Rekka snarled a reply. "But what, Gozaimon-san?!" Just then the voice grew louder as it's owner stepped into the light of the blazing castle below. "Well, sire," he said, "I am quite certain that Mushizo-dono will not appreciate being shrugged off so easily and may perhaps retaliate for this, `insult'." Rekka grew impatient. "And?" "And, his men are his own, loyal to only him, as you well know, my lord." Then Gozaimon bowed as a court noble would, then backed off into the shadows once more.

Rekka turned back to Utetsu and said, "Very well, tell Mushizo this: Our troops are losing ground quickly and need immediate reinforcements. Take your men to the field, full charge." Then his scowl broke into a wicked leer. "By the time he realizes the orders are false, he and his men will be too exhausted to attack! Then, we shall cut them down, one by one, as he watches from the cross I will nail him to!" Utetsu stared up at his commander, horrified by his cruelty, and then withdrew gratefully when Rekka dismissed him. He whispered to himself as he rode to Mushizo's position, "I pray that my Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, shall protect me from the evils of that man!" As he prayed, he clutched the golden cross around his neck, hidden under the folds of his kimono.

……….

Since neither Shiden nor Mushizo knew that the castle had fallen, they both rushed to carry out their orders. Mushizo mounted his horse and shouted to his ten thousand cavalrymen, "Our comrades have called for our aid, and we shall give it gladly!" He pulled out his war fan and thrust it toward the valley. "All battalions! Full charge on that goddamned castle!"

As Mushizo's forces started down the hillside, his aide, Takashi, rode beside him and said, "My lord, our scouts have reported back from the Tsukiro castle! They say that the battle is won, that there is no need to charge!" Mushizo's eyes widened as he replied, "Ha! The whisperings of spies, nothing more! We have our orders from Rekka-dono himself! He would never deceive me!" Then he laughed, long and loud, as Takashi shook his head in despair.

"Lord, the fourth wave has arrived!" A scout said to Shiden, who nodded in approval, and then turned to his men and said, "When they pass, we will do to them the same that we did to the Saiten army at Sakata!" Shiden mounted his horse, drew his katana, and pointed it towards the enemy ahead. "Men! To victory!" Then his ten thousand-strong forces raced down the mountainside towards the fourth wave.

Meanwhile, at the head of the fourth wave, the headstrong Mushizo galloped towards the castle, his massive force in tow. Takashi once again rode up and gave him a report, this time telling him of the enemy force pursuing them. Not used to surprises, Mushizo gasped and said, "REALLY, Takashi-kun?! By whom?!" Takashi replied, "By Hidetomi-sama's son, Shiden-dono!" Mushizo's look of shock turned to glee as he said, "Ha! That puppy poses no threat to ME! Don't worry your overly-cautious head, neh?" He made his point clearer by patting the young Takashi on the head. This gesture finally put Takashi over the edge and the youth screamed at his stubborn commander, "YOU DAMN FOOL! SHIDEN-DONO HAS AN ELITE CAVALRY FORCE LARGER THAN OURS BEHIND HIM, AND YOU SAY TO NOT WORRY?! ARE YOU DRUNK OR JUST- "

Takashi was cut off abruptly as Mushizo struck him over the head with his scabbard. "Ah, very well, send a token force of two hundred men to the castle, I'll take the rest and deal with Shiden!" said Mushizo nonchalantly. Takashi, nursing his bruised head, managed to get out a, "Yes, Sire," before riding off.

Uuuuhoooo, Uuuuhoooo, Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuhooooooooooooooo.

From about a mile behind Mushizo, Shiden heard the horn being blown, two short blasts and one long blast, the signal for STOP and ATTACK. "Perfect," he thought, "Just when I thought I would catch him, he decides to stop to take a piss! Oh well, shigata ga nai!" He called to one of his regiment leaders, his cousin of the Kato clan. "Oimaru! Spread the word! Don't give them time to slow down! Tear through them!" Oimaru rode off, while Shiden drew his katana and muttered, "Here I come, old friend."

Shiden rode ahead at breakneck speed towards the enemy cavalry. He gave a loud battle cry and, with a lightning fast motion, cut a diagonal line through the nearest samurai that removed the man's left shoulder, head, and right arm in a spray of blood. One of his comrades noticed his cry and turned around only to be sliced in two at the waist. Shiden galloped ahead a bit, allowing a nearby archer to get a bead on him. The man coolly drew an arrow, nocked it, and fired. Shiden instinctively pulled out his wakisashi to deflect the arrow, snapping it in two.

Riding slightly next to the archer, Shiden made two horizontal cuts, one with each blade. The shocked look frozen on the man's face disappeared as his head fell to the ground speeding by below them, with his torso falling soon also. After wiping the chunk of flesh from his cheek, Shiden tightened his grip on his swords and charged straight into the now stationary main force of the enemy.

Mounted samurai surrounded him to his left and right sides with the ones in front moving aside so as not to be trampled, then moving in behind him to keep his troops at bay. Shiden bypassed the guards and nearly trampled Mushizo as he stood conversing with his aide, Takashi. Shiden jumped off his horse, and rushed at Mushizo, who was unguarded, but he was suddenly beaten back by Takashi. Shiden feinted right, but ran left as Takashi's attack failed. Shiden cut at Takashi's midsection, but missed by inches as Takashi made to cleave Shiden's skull in two. In an instant, Shiden brought up his wakisashi to guard his head and Takashi's katana connected with an earsplitting CLANG.

With both hands on his sword, Takashi was left open to attack, which Shiden could have took advantage of easily, but did not. Seeing this, Mushizo roared with laughter. "Still against unprovoked killing, neh?!" As if in answer, Shiden stabbed the younger Takashi in his left thigh, bringing forth a cry of pain from the youth's lips. Shiden twisted the blade, and then yanked it out, forcing Takashi to his knees. Shiden finally sheathed his wakisashi and faced his new opponent. "Hello, Mushizo."

Chapter 4

Mushizo laughed and said, "Konban wa gozaimasu, Shiden!" `Good Evening!' "It has been far too long! What has it been, five years?!" He said with a smile that turned to a scowl as he said, "Since that day you left me to die?!" Shiden's eye widened at this but shot back, "Well, maybe if you had trained your men more, and spent your money on equipment and weapons for them instead of spending it on brothel girls, they might have survived!" Mushizo stammered, "W-well…" then recovered by saying, "You should have known better than to follow that idiot Tadakatsu's orders!" "So? I was just trading one fool's advice for another's!" Not comprehending this insult, Mushizo said, "You must really love your father, to call him a fool!" Shiden tilted his head and said, "I meant you're a fool, YOU DAMN FOOL!"

Mushizo drew his swords and screamed, "Enough talk! I'll make you pay!" As they crossed swords Shiden said, "You don't listen do you?! That order came from my father, our LEADER!" Mushizo lowered his swords and said with a sneer, "You mean to tell me that the `Great Lord Tsukiro Hidetomi' was the imbecile who forced me and my men to march straight into a superior enemy to die?!" Shiden replied, "Well, he figured you would be alright…considering how you bragged about your men's strength constantly." He pointed his blade at Mushizo. "You know as well as I that if it had not been for my father's order, I would have come to your aid."

Shiden looked away. "As for afterwards, I could not have helped you since the Saiten clan made a last ditch attempt to win the battle by surrounding my father's camp. So I-" Mushizo cut him off. "Yes, you charged through the fifty thousand enemy troops to save your beloved father!" He sneered. "I have heard that tale more times than I ever wanted to, and each time I hear it, you are made more of a hero and I, more of a coward!"

Mushizo raised his swords again and howled, "Even if you did it out of duty, I will never forgive you for killing my men!" He ran at Shiden, swords poised, hatred burning in his eyes. They crossed swords then jumped back and attacked again. They fought back and forth, exchanging dozens of blows, with neither wanting to give in.

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