Beneath the City, Part 1

 

by Shawn Carman

Edited by Fred Wan

 

 

Mirumoto Ichizo shifted the weight of the heavy travel pack he carried from his left shoulder to his right. He had changed it roughly every five minutes for the past few hours on the premise that doing so would prevent his shoulders from becoming overly fatigued. The gambit had failed utterly, and now he was equally tired on both sides. He longed for a rest, but feared he might not be able to do so for quite some time. The wait to get into the city had been nearly two hours, and the scrutiny he and the others had been placed under was enough to have made him very uncomfortable. It was not that he had guilt over the nature of their activities; he certainly did not. Rather, it was that there might be reason for them to be so closely supervised.

“This city is filled to the brim with refugees from plague-infested provinces,” Yoritomo Saburo said next to him, as if reading his thoughts. “The Scorpion must be mad not to realize what a terrible danger they have created here.”

“What could they have done?” Ichizo found himself asking. “Turned their own people away? Compassion is a tenet of bushido, after all.”

“Some days I am convinced that foolishness is the final tenet of bushido,” Saburo muttered under his breath.

“Such thinking is counter to a proper samurai’s devotion to duty,” Akodo Shunori said, his tone reproving.

“The greatest tool a samurai can utilize toward his duty is practicality,” Saburo replied. “I would not expect you to understand that, Shunori-san, but perhaps one day you will understand my point of view.” He gestured to the city around them. “Let me give you an example. I said that allowing all these refugees into the city was foolish. However, what if the Scorpion did so exclusively so they could eliminate the risk of infection all at once? Kill them all in one fell swoop? Practical, but horrifying to most, wouldn’t you agree?

The Lion warrior looked as if he doubted Saburo’s philosophies, but did not press the point. “Where is the estate in question?” he asked. “Kyoko needs to rest soon.”

Saburo glanced back over his shoulder where the Phoenix maiden rode. Her color was pale, and she was flanked by Kakita Hideo and Bayushi Kurumi. Hideo was watching her carefully, looking after her as Saburo had asked, and Kurumi… well, she at least looked concerned, although the Mantis warrior seriously doubted the she had any genuine feelings toward any member of their group. The monk Furumaro had disappeared into one of the city’s many temples shortly after their arrival. “It is just ahead, if the description we were given is correct.”

Shunori looked at Kyoko with a frown. “The… item… seems to be affecting her. If we had secured proper traveling papers, we could have come through the gates much faster. She needs time to rest in a proper estate. The road has not been kind to her.”

“Our papers were signed by an assistant to one of the lieutenants of the Emerald Champion,” Saburo explained. “That draws much less attention. What do you think would have happened if we had presented papers signed by the Divine Empress herself, or by her Voice?”

“I suppose that would have attracted quite a bit of attention,” Ichizo observed. “Do you think it will be difficult to open the estate? It is a magistrate’s station, is it not?”

“A magistrate’s estate, yes, but not a station,” Saburo said. “Ideally that will already have been taken care of.”

“It is,” Kyoko said softly. “I sent word to the others and they have already arrived, as we discussed.”

Saburo nodded and smiled, mentally taking note that Kyoko either had excellent hearing, or used the kami to eavesdrop. He hoped it was the former. “Then we should be able to rest in just a moment.”

 “Kohana!” Shunonri said brightly as they rounded a corner and the estate came into sight. His smile disappeared quickly. “Who is that with her?”

“Should they have gotten here ahead of us?” Ichizo asked quietly, his eyes narrow.

Saburo sighed. “She’s a Unicorn,” he reminded the Dragon. “Hail, Utaku-san!”

“Hail,” Kohana returned colorlessly. “May I present Hiruma Akio?”

“Hiruma… Akio?” Saburo asked.

“Yes,” Kohana answered. “Aki’s sister.”

“I see,” Saburo nodded. “Well, we need to unload and let Kyoko rest, but I imagine there are a great many things we should discuss.”

“Indeed,” Akio said darkly.

 

 

It was late in the evening when the knock on the door came. Most of the group was still awake, and the sound brought them to sharp attention. More than anything, at this point, they feared discovery by the Scorpion. Saburo grimaced at the thought of the clan of secrets discovering that they possessed an item of incredible power that the clan had taken great pains to keep secret, and that did not even take into account that the Scorpion samurai protecting it had been slaughtered. They had not committed the heinous act, but convincing anyone of that would be impossible. As he approached the door, Saburo glanced over his shoulder and nodded to Shunori and Ichizo, and placed his kama close at hand. Not for the first time, he wished that they had kept the sole surviving Scorpion guardian with them, but Kyoko had insisted his wounds were too severe, and that he could not be transported all the way to Ryoko Owari. The Mantis hoped the man had survived with the herbalist where they had left him. He might be their only means of avoiding execution.

The door slid open, and Saburo stood facing a man he had never seen before. He bore no obvious markings or heraldry, and something about the intensity of his gaze made Saburo very slightly uncomfortable. There was a young woman lurking in the dim light somewhere behind him. “May we come in?” the man asked quietly.

“Who are you?” Saburo demanded.

“We are probably being watched,” the man repeated. “You need to let us in.”

The two men locked eyes for several moments. Finally, it was the absolute certainty in the stranger’s voice that caused Saburo to step aside and let the two of them enter. He shared a knowing glance with the other two men in the foyer, both of whom nodded to him almost imperceptibly. “Who might be watching us?” Saburo asked.

“Does it matter?” the stranger replied. “Your first question was not ‘why,’ but ‘who.’ That alone says that you have your own reasons for avoiding detection, as do we.”

“You dissemble nicely, but we have little patience for such things,” Shunori said quietly. “Ichizo here lived in the Dragon mountains, so he has heard vastly more enigmatic statements than yours.”

“Mediocre at best,” Ichizo agreed.

“My name is Gahseng,” the stranger said. “I am a wave man in service to… a merchant patron within the city.”

“Fascinating,” Saburo said. “If you have bargains to discuss you really should come back in the morning.”

“That duty is nothing but a cover,” Gahseng said, ignoring the Mantis’ barbs. “My colleagues and traveled to this city to fulfill a duty to another lord. It is a duty of great importance, and I fear that time is slipping away from us.”

“Whom do you serve?” Shunori asked.

“I have given my word of honor that I will not speak his name,” Gahseng answered. “He does not wish for his deeds to be known, only that they be performed so that the Empire will be protected. He is a great and powerful man, and one possessed of a tremendous sense of honor. I can say no more about it.”

“I find such claims questionable,” Shunori said with a frown. “What need would an honorable man have to hide his intentions and actions?”

“I care nothing for your concerns,” Gahseng said with a slight sneer. “What I do care about is that there is a terrible blight in this city, a horrific evil that must be stopped. I suspect you already know of what I speak.”

Ichizo glanced at Saburo. Earlier in the day, Kyoko had informed them that the power emanating from the scroll they had secured was resonating with something within the city, something similar to the scroll itself, although obviously less powerful. The entire incident had left Saburo feeling very cold, as it had reminded him somewhat of the prophecies he had witnessed in the Kitsune lands. “I am afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“There is a poison in the heart of this city,” Gahseng said. “And I do not mean the normal vice that threatens to strangle it under normal circumstances. This is something different. Something sinister. Blasphemous.”

“You realize this entire story is preposterous, do you not?” Saburo said.

“Oh?” Gahseng replied. “And why? Because I do not disclose sensitive information to those I have only just met. What is your business in the city, friend?”

“We are simple travelers,” the Mantis replied.

“Of course you are,” Gahseng said. “How… convenient.”

“This is ridiculous,” Shunori broke in. “This is some sort of deception. How else would you even come to find us? Your charade is pitiable.”

Finally Gahseng glanced down, frowning. For the first time, he seemed to struggle for words. “It is… difficult to explain,” he began.

“He dreamed of you,” the young woman spoke for the first time. “And again during his temple meditations.”

“Setsuko!” Gahseng snarled. “Be silent!”

Ichizo stared at the ronin cautiously. “You dreamed of us?”

Gahseng was clearly furious, but after a moment, despite his clenching jaw, he nodded. “I did,” he admitted. “I prayed to the Fortunes for the strength and courage to face an impossible foe, and in return they gave me a vision of your arrival. We have been watching the gates for three days.”

Saburo shook his head slowly. “I do not trust that which cannot be proven.”

“Destiny works in ways we cannot comprehend,” Ichizo replied calmly.

“I have faith that the Fortunes would not guide me to this path if it were not possible to walk it,” Gahseng insisted. “I believe you know of what I speak, or at least that you know something is amiss. Lie to me if you must, but do not lie to yourselves.”

“Lunacy,” Shunori muttered. “What do you propose, in any event? An all out assault upon the city itself in hopes of ferreting out this threat you claim exists?”

“We have spent months scouting the city,” Gahseng said. “The evil that we seek grows and thrives in the Leatherworker’s Quarter. The time has come for a reckoning,” here he hesitated, clearly annoyed at what he was about to say. “But we cannot do it alone, and destiny has provided an opportunity. Why you should wish involvement in this affair I cannot say, but I can see that you do.” He fixed Saburo with a glare. “What do you say?”

The Mantis frowned. “I need to speak with my companions. Return tomorrow and we shall speak again.”

“Time is of the essence,” Gahseng said, “but one day we can afford to you.”

The three men stood together for some time after the ronin left, none of them speaking. All drank of the tea that had been prepared earlier, not noticing that it had cooled. Finally it was Ichizo who broke the silence. “I believe that we must trust them.”

“Never,” Shunori said. “The man’s words were fraught with lies and half-truths. Whatever his purpose, I do not trust it in the slightest.”

“Could it be some elaborate ruse by the Scorpion to recapture that which we possess?” Saburo mused aloud. “It seems so needlessly complex, if so.”

Kurumi appeared in chamber suddenly, clad in a heavy and uncharacteristically concealing robe. “Most of what the ronin said was true,” she said. “He was concealing certain things, of course, but if he was lying more than is normal then he is without question one of the finest liars I have ever met.” She smiled wanly as she sipped at the cold tea. “And I know something about that.”

“Whatever troubles Kyoko must be related to this Gahseng’s threat,” Ichizo said. “There can be no question of it. Coincidence such as this does not exist.”

Saburo glanced at Shunori and saw his own regret mirrored in the Lion’s eyes. He did not trust the ronin, and suspected there was something dangerously wrong about the ronin. Still, Furumaro had not reappeared, and the group needed to do something. “We took it upon ourselves to conceal a danger once before, and it cost many men their lives, regardless of its ultimate success or failure,” he said slowly. “This time, we must act sooner. We will speak with the ronin again tomorrow, and see what develops.”

 

 

Shunori glanced cautiously from the front of the second house where they had secured their lodging, careful not to present too clear a profile to anyone who might be watching. He caught sight of Kurumi’s form as it blended into the foot traffic. As much as it was possible for someone like Kurumi to blend in, of course. She was heading toward the eastern boundary of the quarter. He frowned.

“Do you trust her?”

The prematurely older Lion warrior glanced over his shoulder. “Not particularly.”

Saburo nodded. “Nor I. Perhaps she might benefit from a chaperone?”

Shunori grinned ever so slightly. “I had a similar thought.”

“You should reconsider,” another voice broke in. “Shunori-san will probably only get her to sacrifice herself, after all.”

The Lion turned in toward the main chamber. “Is there something you wish to say to me, Hideo?” he said, his voice quiet and even.

“That won’t be necessary,” Saburo interrupted. He grabbed Hideo by the arm and stormed out the door. “Hideo and I have something to discuss.” He half-shoved and half-drug the Crane warrior through the crowded street and onto the walk on the other size before letting go.

Hideo’s eyes blazed. “Do not ever put your hand on me again.”

“I would not have had to in the first place if you weren’t being a damned fool,” Saburo countered.

Hideo’s eyes widened, and his hand strayed near his sword. Saburo stepped closer, the two men’s chests only inches apart. “You are faster than me, of that I have no question,” the Mantis said quietly. “But I am inside your swing, and my knife can be drawn much quicker than a sword. Think about that for just a moment before you decide what you wish to do.”

The Crane warrior said nothing for a moment. Finally, he shook his head slightly. “I think there might be something wrong with you. Something potentially serious.”

“It’s possible,” Saburo admitted. “Right now the thing that troubles me most is your attitude toward Shunori.”

“That is not your concern.”

“The Great Sea Spider take me if it isn’t!” Saburo insisted. “We have something important to do here, a duty set before us by the Empress herself, after a fashion, and you risk the entire matter because of some petty feud. Is that what Taiko would want?”

Hideo sneered. “Do not say that,” he said darkly. “Do not try that gambit with me, Mantis.”

“I care nothing for gambits,” Saburo insisted. “I ask you a legitimate question. Is this what Taiko would want? Is this how you would behave if she were here?”

“No,” Hideo admitted after a moment.

“Shunori is an honorable man,” Saburo continued. “A bit boring, if you ask me, but that does not matter. Your problems with him are on a ramshackle kobune adrift in the Sea of I Do Not Care.” He jabbed at Hideo’s chest with his finger. “If what Kyoko is suggesting is true, then I will need the both of you. Get past whatever your problem is, or at least put it away until this matter is concluded.” He turned back toward the house, shaking his head. Hideo thought he heard the man mutter “Crane,” under his breath, but then the Mantis stopped and looked back over his shoulder.

“Are you going after Kurumi or not?”

 

 

Kurumi smiled as she stepped inside the battered little message house. The man behind the low counter smiled bowed quickly, his forehead very nearly rapping against the counter in the process. “Greetings, beautiful lady!” he said in a lowly accented tone. “You wish to send a message, yes?”

Her smile brightened. “I do, yes.” She produced a small scrap of paper. “It’s a short little note. Just something I need delivered to my family so that they will know where I am. I fear I had to relocate recently and I do not wish to cause them worry.”

“Oh yes,” he said with a vigorous nod. “My daughter is your age, I think, although not as beautiful. A parent always worries! You are a dutiful daughter, and honor  your parents.”

“You are so kind,” she said. She handed the scrap of paper to the man and waited as he patiently and laboriously began copying it. “I am so sorry that it is in such poor state. I’m afraid I have been traveling and I had to jot things down on the road. You know how such things are, I’m sure.”

“Oh yes!” he said again, but Kurumi was quite sure he did not.

“I am so excited to be back in Ryoko Owari!” she said. “My favorite restaurant in all of Rokugan is just down the street!”

“Oh?” the man asked. “Which one?”

“Natsuo’s,” she answered. “It’s a simple little place, of course, but the noodles there are unlike anything I have ever tasted. I have tried to get them to tell me the spices they use, but of course they won’t.”

“Not even for a pretty lady like you?” the little man cackled. “Crazy!”

“Perhaps,” Kurumi smiled. She placed a silver coin on the counter. “Will this cover the cost? With something extra for you, of course!”

“Yes!” the little man almost shouted. “You are as generous as you are beautiful, my lady. Thank you!”

“Thank you,” she said nodding and smiling. “I am going to go get some noodles, I think!” She turned to leave and found Hideo standing in the doorway. Her smile turned to an annoyed smirk at once. “Following me? Is that not a bit… pedestrian?”

“I could not find a view I enjoyed more in this wretched city,” Hideo said, a smile tugging at his lips. “I thought perhaps I might enjoy a nice meal with wonderful company.”

“How flattering,” she said. “How could I refuse?”

“Outstanding,” Hideo said. “Natsuo’s, you said?”

“You have added eavesdropping to your repertoire,” she said. “This is a most educational journey for you, I think.”

“Would you wish me to think that your message was more than it appeared?” He nodded to the little man now busily scribing away and trying very hard to ignore them. “I am quite sure your friend could be convinced to leave the message. Coin works that way in this city, or so I am told.”

Here Kurumi finally frowned. “My message is exactly what it appears, and if you’d like, we can walk down the street to Natsuo’s and I will prove it. But if it makes you feel better, by all means take my letter to my family and dispose of it. After all I only left the Imperial Court unexpectedly. I am quite certain there will be no curiosity or concern among my family.” Her expression was stormy now. “I am only a Scorpion after all.”

Hideo smiled ever so slightly. “Let us start with the noodles, and see how things go.”

 

 

A slight rap at the screen distracted Bayushi Sihaken from his paperwork. He glanced up in mild annoyance, noting that the time was growing perilously close for his daily prayers in the temple. All of his staff were aware of his devotion to the Fortunes, and to interrupt him so close to his daily meditations, the matter must be severe indeed. Or, if it were not, he would soon make it so. “Enter.”

The screen slid open with a whisper and the lithe form of one of his chief assistants glided through it. “Forgive the intrusion, my lord,” she said softly. “I am of course aware of the time, but this is something you must be made aware of immediately.”

Sihaken nodded. Yoshihara was among his most capable assistants, and for a shugenja he had found her to be remarkably practical and grounded. That she would find something of importance enough to disturb him was concerning. “Proceed, please.”

The young Soshi lifted a piece of parchment and held it before him. “This was dropped at one of our secure locations. The individual leaving it made all the appropriate phrases to indicate that this was of singular importance.”

“Do we know who this person is?” Sihaken asked.

“The ciphered phrases she used indicated the western provinces, and one assigned to the Imperial Court.” Yoshihara placed it on his desk with a respectful bow. “How do you wish the matter dealt with?”

Sihaken picked up the letter and read it. It was very brief, and seemed to be nothing more than a piece of personal correspondence. With the knowledge that the woman who had sent it had used essential words and phrases when requesting its delivery, however, the content took on a whole new meaning. Hundreds of Scorpion in important positions all throughout the Empire knew different coded phrases, most tailored to readily indicate their position should this manner of communication be necessary. “She mentions her grandmother’s necklace,” Sihaken muttered.

“Yes, my lord,” Yoshihara confirmed. “She and those she travels with carry something of great importance to the clan.” She nodded toward the letter. “The phrasing of her discussion regarding the necklace is not a specific code, but it seems to indicate that the item is something that the clan lost.”

“This bit about the dreams,” Sihaken said with a frown, “she fears a hidden threat, is that correct? I have not seen that phrasing before.”

“A hidden threat close to home, yes,” the priestess confirmed.

Sihaken tapped his fingers against the desk. “With whom does this woman travel?”

“I ordered first stage surveillance after finding the letter, my lord, in anticipation of your questions. I hope I did not overstep.” Seeing him wave the comment away, she continued. “The woman, one Bayushi Kurumi, travels with an assortment of samurai of different clans. One each from the Lion, Mantis, Crab, Unicorn, Crane, Dragon, and Phoenix. A monk seems to be accompanying them as well.”

“One each from so many clans, and a monk?” Sihaken asked. “Are they staging some sort of traveling play?”

“No, my lord. They have met at least once that we know of with the three ronin who recently were retained by the Otomo daimyo.”

Sihaken had been reclining somewhat, but now he sat bolt upright. “The ronin?” he repeated. “The three we have been looking into? What news of them?”

“Very little,” she admitted. “They keep very much to themselves and have been cautious to avoid scrutiny. I suspect they know we are observing them. One of our agents is gravely concerned about the third ronin, one named Asagi, and has requested permission to consult the Kuroiban.”

“What?” Sahiken stood. “Why was I not informed?”

“This particular agent has made similar requests in the past, and all have ultimately come to nothing,” Yoshihara answered. “Thus, the request was made low priority. It is on your desk at the moment, my lord, but you have had much more pressing matters.”

“What have these samurai and the ronin been doing?”

She glanced at a scroll from her belt. “Saka reports that they have moved their lodgings from the Noble Quarter to the Leatherworker’s Quarter, my lord. It may not be worth mentioning, but the ronin had lodging prior to their conscription by the Otomo daimyo.”

Sihaken folded his fingers together. “Why would noble men and women of means deliberately relocate to such a hovel as the Leatherworker’s Quarter,” he mused aloud. “They perceive a hidden danger, close to home, and may have something of value.” He frowned. “Soshi Idaurin was recently conducting an important transfer in the southern regions, was she not? Has she returned to the city yet?”

“She has not,” Yoshihara said. “She has business at the Soshi ancestral estate and is not slated for return for several more weeks.”

Sihaken cursed, which was atypical for him, perhaps due to his awareness that his time at the temple was at hand. He despised being distracted from his routines. “What is the current state of our manpower?”

Yoshihara frowned, her first real expression. “It is not good, my lord. We are desperately short-handed due to the increased operations against the plague, and most of the men we do have are stationed on gate duty. They are working a minimum of twelve hours at a time and many are close to exhaustion.”

“Can we mount an armed intervention against these unknowns?”

She shook her head slowly. “Not without compromising the city’s borders, my lord.”

He restrained the urge to swear again. “Very well, then. How many men can you gather that you trust, assuming that the city borders must not be compromised?”

She calculated for a moment. “Six, perhaps. Not enough to ensure victory without risk of alerting them and allowing their flight.”

“I do not wish them attacked,” Sihaken said. “If we cannot be certain of victory through strength of arms, then we must be prepared to sacrifice.”

Yoshihara frowned again, deeper this time. “My lord?”

“Keep Saka watching them in the Leatherworker’s Quarter,” Sihaken ordered. “They will seek out whatever threat they believe is here. When they do, assuming they are victorious, they will be weakened enough for us to detain them.”

“What if they are not victorious?”

“Keep your men at the gates to the Leatherworker’s Quarter,” Sihaken said. “If it appears that this alleged threat is something legitimate, then we will deal with it accordingly.”

“How so, my lord?”

Sihaken walked toward the door. “We burn it. All of it.”