land of the crane: 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 Tsurukoku, 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 daimyō married a distant cousin of the first Watanabe daimyō. 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 ninja-tō 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 Utsuki, 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?"

land of the crane: 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 shinkan 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 shinkan 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 kidō, 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.[1]'"

"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 Utsuki, the five heroes resumed their pilgrimage to Hizuru, the great spiritual guardian of Tsurukoku.

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!"

---

[1] Kekkaku is the Tsurukokan term for tuberculosis.

land of the crane: takayama and tsumago, part 6

Kidō – 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, kidō 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 kidō, 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 shinkan 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 shinkan 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 shinkan 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 shinkan 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 kidō 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.

land of the crane: 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 hanyō and the straw-haired monk took off into the night, leaving the samurai, the shinkan, 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 ninja-tō.

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 shinkan 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 shinkan's midsection, the hanyō and the bald monk pummeled the leader. Takashi drove his fist into the woman's plexus just in time to see Fukasu slide her ninja-tō 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 ninja-tō 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 ninja-tō, 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!"

land of the crane: 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 daimyō'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 shinkan 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 shinkan 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.