Of Past and Future

by Rusty Priske

Edited by Fred Wan

Akodo Shigetoshi watched over the training square below him. The Lion samurai drilled, matching formation by formation. They were not yet perfect, but for every flaw that Shigetoshi spotted, the sensei and instructors, who would brook no weakness, found and corrected three.

Shigetoshi would rather be down in the square, drilling the samurai himself, but since he was named Lion Clan Champion, he had been often distracted by his duties. This was not new to him, as the responsibilities of being Akodo Daimyo were also great, but now those were magnified ten-fold.

The guard outside the chamber cleared his throat. Without turning from his vantage point, Shigetoshi said, “Enter.”

The guard closed the screen behind Ikoma Otemi. The former Champion waited and watched the new champion for only a moment. While Shigetoshi had not turned his head, his eyes watched the entrance at an angle and immediately brought his attention to the new arrival.

“Otemi-san. It is always an honor and a privilege. How long have you been back?”

Otemi bowed deeply and the return bow was only slightly perceptibly less deep. “I have returned only this hour, Shigetoshi-sama. I have news that could not wait.”

Shigetoshi raised an eyebrow. Otemi was not a man prone to exaggeration. If he felt strongly, then his news must be important indeed. “By all means, speak.”

“I am here to request an occupying force. I have been shown the way to a new island, not far from the Islands of Silk and Spice, that I wish to claim on behalf of the clan. With your permission, Shigetoshi-sama, I would name it Shima no Quehao.”

Shigetoshi cocked his head. “An island? That is far from our traditional holdings, Otemi-san. What makes this island worth antagonizing the Mantis?”

Otemi paused and then said, “It holds the past.”

•

Earlier…

Imperial ports held ships of all descriptions, but the most unusual sight always came when The Deathless docked. When it berthed, there was always a scramble of activity. The Nezumi who crewed the ship scurried across decks, throwing lines and pulling hawsers. As they stowed sails and sea-gear, sailors cringed at the chaos onboard. They showed no signs of the discipline needed to properly run a sea-going vessel of that size – or any size. Experienced sailors, on the other hand, noted that when the chaos subsided, everything appeared to be in its place, properly ready for their next excursion.

The flurry of activity was not only onboard as those on shore also prepared when the ratlings came to port. Merchants kept extra watch on their goods and posted extra security. While not every person deigned to call them thieves, they all knew that the ratlings had somewhat fluid ideas around ownership and property.

This time, though, there was a different feeling aroundThe Deathless. As they tied up alongside the jetty, only the minimal number of Nezumi required to resupply left the ship. Their captain stood proudly at the gangway, as if waiting for something. As he did, he chattered to one of his crew, who scrambled aft and removed the tattered, patchwork banner that the Nezumi used to signify that The Deathless was their craft. He replaced it with a carefully wrapped, spotless banner marked with the mon of the Lion.

A small group of samurai, also wearing the same mon, approached the gangway and one called up, “Permission to come aboard, Captain I-m’jek?”

The Nezumi called back down. “Yes, yes. Ship is yours, Chief.” He then made an imitation of a samurai bow.

As he reached the top of the gangway, Ikoma Otemi returned the bow. “You are still captain, I-m’jek. I just want to see what made you so excited that you thought to summon me.”

“Yes, yes, Chief. We will be away as soon as supplies return. Then you will-will see island and treasure.”

“Another island full of treasure? That is what led us to this situation in the first place, did it not? When…” Otemi paused before saying, “When I led some Lion to help fight the Skull Tide and we found that island together. Remember?”

“I was just pup. Now I am captain, but you are Chief and you must-must see. This is not shiny treasure.”

Otemi watched the port disappear behind them before he sought out I-m’jek again. “Well captain, I think it is time you told me some more about what you brought me out here for.”

“Yes, yes. We were sailing for no one. No job, when the Peace-Bringer came to us.”

“Peace Bringer?”

“Wikki’thich-hie Ksoo’ma. Transcendant guardian. Peace-bringer. He visit from I’thich where he walks with Kan’ok’ticheck and Tchickchuk. He is the one who show Nezumi and Humans that they no need-need to fight. He is Peace-bringer.”

Otemi pondered for a moment and then said, “Ksoo’ma? Do you mean Hiruma Kazuma? He is the one that turned the Nezumi into Crab allies.”

I-m’jek smiled a toothy, dangerous looking, grin and said, “Ksoo’ma become Nezumi. Save all humans.”

“But Kazuma has been dead for…”

“Yes, yes. When he die, he transcend. Now he came to I-m’jek to tell him about island and great treasure. He show the way, but now I know, and Ksoo’ma gone.”

Otemi looked quizzically, “Back to… I’thich?”

“Maybe. Maybe back to Crab. He not tell I-m’jek.”

“So, where did he lead you, and why?”

“I show. I show.”

•

The path of The Deathless began to worry Otemi. The Mantis ruled the seas, and while they had a grudging respect for The Deathless, it served no purpose to cross their paths if it wasn’t necessary. Now they were sailing a lot closer to the Islands of Silk and Spice than Otemi would have, if given the option. I-m’jek assured him that there was nothing to worry about and that they were going where the ‘green humans’ did not go.

Otemi wondered whether this trip was nothing more than idle fancy. He had faith in the Nezumi aboard The Deathless - he had learned that lesson long ago - but their idea of value did not always coincide with his. Still, he took this opportunity to leave the Lion lands. Akodo Shigetoshi needed time to grow into the role of Lion Champion, and it was not always better to have a former Champion on hand. Shigetoshi was not Yoshino and Otemi’s advice, while well received, was not as needed.

Otemi knew he did not have to worry overmuch about such things. Shigetoshi was a strong man and an experienced daimyo. The Lion would prosper under his reign, just as the Ikoma would prosper under Korin’s. They did not need Otemi underfoot and if he chose to sail with the Nezumi, he would not be missed.

Then Otemi saw the island. He could see why the Mantis had not claimed it, as they were sure to have found it. It appeared to be no more than bare rock, towering over the water. The cliffs looked un-scalable and there was no natural place to build a dock. Otemi saw no coves or inlets so there was also nowhere to hide a ship or boat.

He looked skeptically at I-m’jek but the Nezumi had a grin on his face and a sparkle in his eye. “Here! Here!”

The Nezumi chose a spot, seemingly not at random, though the stone seemed no less sheer that any other spot. They used their anchor to secure themselves, as there was no place to tie off.

The Nezumi called Tek’teki-tek sprang from the deck and scrambled up the wall of stone. He found crevices that Otemi did not spot or were too small for human hands. The creature’s claws found purchase and he moved up the rock with little difficulty. Once he reached a spot twenty feet up the wall, he stopped. Otemi could not make out exactly what he was doing but then he dropped a bundle that he had carried on his back. The bundle unrolled as it fell, leaving a rope ladder, hanging down to the deck of The Deathless.

Otemi’s eyes widened, impressed with the Nezumi’s ingenuity, but when he moved towards the ladder, I-m’jek waved him away. Instead, a second member of the crew scooped up another bundle off the deck, which Otemi now recognized as another rope ladder, and quickly climbed up to Tek’teki-tek. He handed off his package and then climbed back down to the deck. While he did so, Tek’teki-tek continued his upwards ascent, before finding another spot to anchor the next ladder.

The Nezumi continued this operation until there were rope ladders ascending at least a hundred feet up the rock face and I-m’jek motioned for Otemi to start his climb. The ladders did not fill Otemi with confidence, but the Nezumi did. This would not be the first time the former Lion Champion had entrusted his life to them.

He climbed.

They physical exertion felt good. It was far less common now than in his youth when Otemi had the opportunity to engage in such feats of athleticism, and yet each time it was a bitter reminder of what he had lost. He had suffered terrible wounds at the hand of the Unicorn Clan’s Khan, Moto Chagatai, when the barbarian had invaded the Lion lands two winters previously. His body, while healed, would likely never fully regain all that it had lost. Otemi struggled with bitterness over this simple fact, although it was pointless because the Khan was now dead. He had determined that he could but serve to the best of his abilities and try to forget that which was no longer possible.

At the top of the ladder there was a natural crevice that allowed access past the daunting rock face. Tek’teki-tek helped Otemi into the stone break and motioned for him to continue. The crevice was wide enough for a man, though he had to stoop slightly. He could see light at the other end, so he had no need of a light source, which was good because he had no room to carry one. He made his way through thirty feet of the natural stone passage before reaching a sight he had not expected.

The island was once a volcano, which was not unusual as many islands along the coast of Rokugan showed signs of previous volcanic activity. Otemi discovered that the sheer stone walls of this island acted as a shell, hiding a valley within. The land inside was lush and green with a thick forest cover and rampant vegetation, showing no signs of human contact.

The only wildlife Otemi could see were birds, and they were primarily seabirds, which would not be unusual around an island like this, even if there were no secret forest inside.

He stood there, looking out in awe over the vista, until he was interrupted by the arrival of the captain. “See?”

“This… is amazing. Is this the treasure you spoke of?”

I-m’jek laughed. “This? This is just bunch of trees. Treasure down inside trees. You see. You wait.”

Once more Nezumi had made their way up the wall to join I-m’jek and Otemi, the group made their way down a slope of loose black gravel. The Nezumi handled the poor footing with ease, but Otemi had more trouble, occasionally slipping and sliding feet at a time. He tried not to think about how he would get back up it.

He wasn’t worried, as he knew that he had the Nezumi to help him.

Once they reached the tree line, it was Rus’tik’tik, another of the Nezumi crew, who led the way. He moved directly as if following a path that Otemi could not see. His eyes flashed with delight as he wove around tree trunks and over and under fallen logs. More than once I’m’jek called ahead to tell him to slow down or remind him not to take paths that could not be easily traversed by their human ally. At least that was what it seemed I-m’jek had said, since Otemi could not understand the chattering Nezumi language, but Rus’tik’tik’s actions led the Lion to the obvious conclusion.

Otemi tried to keep track of their route but was soon completely lost. One tree looked like the next to him, and the ground was completely obscured by foliage, making backtracking impossible for one not trained in the skill. When the fascinating monotony ended it was because they had reached their destination. Rus’tik’tik stopped and pointed through the leaves and Otemi could see some sort of structure. It appeared to be made of large stone blocks, though how such stones could have been transported through this forest was unclear. As they got closer he could see that the building was quite large but not tall. The tree canopy still kept the structure shrouded in green shadow as light came through it shafts between branches and leaves.

The sides of the building were infested with ivy. Not enough to hide the outline of the blocks, but Otemi could see the rootlets digging into the stone. There was a large entrance, once covered by a large block, which had been pulled away just enough to gain access. Around the entrance were carvings, pictures that reminded Otemi of decorations on buildings back in his own lands.

“Is this a Lion building?” Otemi muttered before turning to I-m’jek. “Was this open when you found it?”

“No. Not open. Ksoo’ma led us here and we open.” I-m’jek looked to Rus’tik’tik. “Yes?”

The other Nezumi nodded vigorously. “We open. Ksoo’ma show us and we open. Come. Come inside. Come.”

Otemi took another look at the carvings and nodded. Rus’tik’tik stepped through the opening and out of sight. Otemi followed next, though the opening was a little tighter for him.

Inside the building was the last thing that Otemi expected to see. The building was a library. There was row after row of shelves filled with scroll tubes. Otemi walked between them in awe and incredulity. He removed one tube from a shelf and carefully opened it. He withdrew the scroll and unrolled it enough to see that it appeared to be a treatise on agriculture. It was written in one language along the right side of the scroll, and then in Rokugani down the left side.

The Rokugani side seemed to be a translation of the right. Whoever wrote this scroll did so in a language not known to Otemi, but they had wanted to translate, as if they knew there was a danger of…

His thought trailed off.

He moved to a different shelf and removed another scroll tube. He unrolled it to find a discussion about mountain erosion, once again in the same two languages.

What was the original text written in?

I-m’jek, looking both happy and impatient, beckoned Otemi to a shelf closer to the far edge of the library. “Look. Look.”

Otemi took the scroll that I-m’jek pointed towards. The tube was marked on the outside with a Rokugani kanji, as well as a label from the unidentified language. The kanji was the one for ‘Nezumi’. The ratlings did not read in general, but Otemi had taught I-m’jek that kanji himself.

Otemi removed the scroll from the case and started reading the Rokugani translation.

The advancement of the Nezumi people is among the greatest leaps of any race known to exist in this world. Their current rule extends for many leagues and several other lesser races are kept, if not under their control, then at least at bay…

Otemi stopped reading and looked at the Nezumi who brought him there. The author of this scroll could not have been speaking of these Nezumi, could they? Could the Nezumi in the scroll truly have been the way it describes before the kami descended to the world? He looked and saw that there were many, at least a hundred, scrolls marked with the Nezumi kanji. Was this their entire history, lost even to themselves?

The author spoke as if he were one of the races that preceded the rise of man. That must be why it was translated. They saw that their race was in decline but wanted to make sure these works passed to the new dominant species.

A thought passed Otemi’s mind, but he tried to shake it. It was something both exciting and terrifying to contemplate. He carefully placed the scroll back on the shelf and took one from a different section. He did not find what he was looking for, so he went to another, then another.

It was the fifth scroll that showed him an article on the feeding and mating habits of lions. Otemi read the reverence in the words of the unknown author. Finally he found a passage that confirmed what he had started to suspect.

The lion are noble creatures, and their connection to we Kitsu is unmistakable.

The Kitsu. The carvings were not placed there by those who took their name from the mighty lion. They were placed there but those who had much more in common with the great cats than humans ever could.

This was a kitsu library. It was left here knowing that the end of their race was imminent. They left the histories for those who were responsible for their fall.

The kitsu.

•

Shigetoshi listened intently to Otemi’s accounting of the contents of the library. He said nothing for a long time. The impact of Otemi’s words was not lost on the new Champion. When he spoke, he did so with emotion hidden behind his simple orders.

“Take this story to Korin. Shima no Quehao is now an Ikoma protectorate on behalf of the Lion clan. You will have all the resources you need. And reward your Nezumi allies well for their services. They like bread, do they not? All they can eat, then.”

Otemi bowed sharply. “If I may, my lord, there is a very slim chance that someone may have discovered it in my absence. The island appears on many maps and while it is of little value to others, it is possible that someone may have seen The Deathless during its brief visits there.”

The Champion nodded. “How likely do you consider such a thing?”

“Extremely unlikely,” Otemi admitted. “However, it bears consideration.”

Shigetoshi considered for a moment. “The library belongs to the Lion clan by right of ancestry,” he answered. “If any attempt to claim it in your absence, or if they attempt to take it after your arrival, defend it at all costs.”

“Of course, my lord.” Otemi turned to leave.

“Otemi,” Shigetoshi added after another moment. The other man turned back to his Champion. “If there are others who attempt to lay claim, send a clear message. Leave none alive.”