The first leg of the trip was silent as the grave. Kyuzo was deep in thought trying to figure out what to do with the new friend of theirs. She obviously was coming to town with them, but after that, what would they do? And why was she out in the woods? And even further, what was she doing awake? The Naga were supposed to be sleeping, at least, that’s what he believed. Yet here one was, being hunted by her kinsmen, triumphing, and now attached to his side and following them back to the city he was running. Not to mention whatever happened in the woods with the spirit that turned her Naga friends against her. That was also something he would have to worry about. First, what he was going to do with her needed to be worked out.
“We…” Shiba was the first to say something in over an hour, “Should probably not be walking into town with a… Naga.”
Her timid voice floated effortlessly across the space between them. She was behind Daigotsu, who was behind the Naga, which was behind him, and Tsuruchi took the lead.
“Honestly, I’ve thought about that, and the thing is… I don’t want to…” How could he say this in a way that others could understand? “For lack of better words, I don’t want to hurt her feelings because I don’t want to make her mad.”
“We…” Shiba was the first to say something in over an hour, “Should probably not be walking into town with a… Naga.”
Her timid voice floated effortlessly across the space between them. She was behind Daigotsu, who was behind the Naga, which was behind him, and Tsuruchi took the lead.
“Honestly, I’ve thought about that, and the thing is… I don’t want to…” How could he say this in a way that others could understand? “For lack of better words, I don’t want to hurt her feelings because I don’t want to make her mad.”
The Naga had already proven to be dangerous if she misunderstood something, the scene with Shiba being threatened was the first example that came to mind. What would happen if Kyuzo angered her? Maybe she’d go on some sort of killing spree, or find other Naga and tell them that he was the one that shunned her. He didn’t even want to consider the things she was capable of with her pearl magic and her ability to explode heads and take out three Naga simultaneously.
“If Asahina-sama wants to bring a Naga into town, who is really going to stop him?” Tsuruchi reasoned.
“Yeah.” It was a good point. Kyuzo was the leader of the town; if he wanted to bring her there, no one had any place to object.
“Especially a wounded one,” Tsuruchi added. That was another good point. Kyuzo had saved her life, or tried to at least. Honestly, her anatomy was so vastly different he had no idea if he even helped. It appeared he had, but he couldn’t really say.
“Perhaps, after all the unfortunate events that have taken place, this could be seen as a sign of good luck and prosperity for the town,” Kyuzo remarked.
Daigotsu scoffed. Kyuzo shot her an annoyed look, which he was nearly certain she didn’t catch. The Naga, however, was holding out something small and fuzzy to Daigotsu. He peered over his shoulder and realized, as Daigotsu accepted it, it was a rat. Kyuzo shook his head and returned his attention to the path before him.
“We can’t have her stay outside of town after her troop has just been murdered and she’s wounded and we have no idea what is going on,” Tsuruchi attested.
“I agree. Perhaps she can live in the temple,” Kyuzo suggested.
“I don’t think that will be the best choice,” Daigotsu gave her input.
“Yeah, I have to disagree with that as well,” said Tsuruchi. “She has no idea what is going on, and if you have her living in the temple, she doesn’t know what is sacred and might cause an issue.”
“Isn’t she somewhat sacred? Naga are mythical creatures, I mean, I don’t know what to do with her otherwise and that seems the most fitting place.”
“Asahina-san,” Daigotsu interjected, “The Temple worships Fu Leng. It would be prudent to keep her away from there.”
“Fine, we’ll build her her own hovel, or whatever it is Naga live in.” Kyuzo was getting irritated there was even a debate about where she would stay. It’s true he didn’t know where to put her, but everyone was questioning his decision, not just questioning, they were outright disagreeing with it.
“Why not the barracks?” Daigotsu and Tsuruchi chimed precisely at the same moment.
“It’s okay for her to stay in the barracks and not the temple?”
“Do you know any samurai who live in the temple?” Tsuruchi asked.
“No, not personally. But I would think the people in the temple would be more welcoming to a savior of-”
“It is not the people in the temple I am worried about being welcoming,” Daigotsu interrupted.
“I think it’s the Naga in the temple she is worried about,” concluded Shiba.
That’s it, Kyuzo thought. He threw his hands up in the air. This was getting ridiculous. It wasn’t his job to find a place for someone to sleep that he couldn’t even talk to. She followed them to the town; she could do it on her own.
“I’m not a babysitter. I feel she can take care of herself. Yes, she was wounded, but there were three down and she was still standing. I don’t know what to do. I mean, I just bandaged her side, I didn’t actually knit anything back together.”
“Why don’t we get her to the barracks, find her a place, then go talk to the Phoenix and see if they have someone versed in Naga, their culture, language, or anything related to them?” Tsuruchi calmly offered. He was talking to Kyuzo like he was a child who needed to be soothed into accepting someone else’s decision.
“I’m going to talk to Kitsuki-san about this whole situation,” Kyuzo declared. “As far as I’m concerned, she can stay in our house until we figure things out. If anyone has a problem with that, they can take it up with her.”
“Sounds good,” Tsuruchi nodded. No one else said anything. Good, Kyuzo thought, that’s the way it should be.
***
The geisha house turned out to be a bust for finding out any of the embarrassments of those samurai in town. As soon as Anjin had started asking about others, the geisha politely pretended like he hadn’t said anything at all. No matter which approach Anjin took, he couldn’t break those women. It went to show how well they had been trained in their art, being emotional connections that samurai often didn’t find with their family, and keeping everything close to their hearts as if it were their own secrets.
After that, he had visited the brothel to see if they knew anything about Asahina’s dirty exploits. Those working in the brothel hadn’t been made aware of whatever Yasuki had been told about Asahina either. Moreover, with them, coin did all the talking, so Anjin was certain there was nothing to tell if they had nothing to say. That would probably be the last time he traded words with a Crab.
He had decided to make one last go with the peasant folk who worked in that section of town. Maybe Asahina took to liking the lower classed citizens, maybe that power of being the lord of the town went to his head and it was some sort of dominating deal. Anjin wasn’t sure why he couldn’t let it go and accept that there was nothing behind what Yasuki said. Maybe it was because courtiers usually weren’t so far off the charts, or at least the ones that Anjin usually talked to weren’t. There had to be something to it.
“So you haven’t heard of inappropriate behavior between a samurai and a heimin? I assure you, I’m here to protect the people and anything you say will not be brought back to you.”
The peasant shook his head and adjusted the wood he was carrying in his arms. “I…”
His mouth fell open and his arms went slack, spilling his woodpile to the ground. He was staring behind Anjin, which caused a demanding need for Anjin to turn and witness whatever it was that caused such a shock. Anjin spun and started as well. Asahina and Tsuruchi were trudging into town, and behind Asahina slithered a seven foot tall Naga. A real Naga. Scales, ten-foot long tail, armored and armed, and it came in with Asahina and Tsuruchi as if it belonged here as much as they did.
“You’ll have to excuse me,” Anjin quickly hobbled over to devour whatever knowledge the creature was willing to share. The peasant didn’t nod, didn’t bow, and didn’t even blink. Anjin was pretty sure the peasant didn’t even hear him.
As swiftly as he could, he approached the group. This was fascinating; they went on a hunt and brought back a hunter. He couldn’t wait to uncover a few of the Naga’s secrets, know a little history that most people couldn’t even dream of possessing. Before he could open his mouth and even greet the creature, it turned on it. It moved so quickly, she was behind Asahina one moment, then in front of him in the blink of an eye, her bow drawn and an arrow notched. Her hair flared out, much like a cobra hood would, and her eyes narrowed and shone yellow. Anjin felt his heart stop. He knew in this moment that he was going to die. There was absolutely nothing he could do to save himself.
“Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.” Tsuruchi threw his hands up and rounded the Naga.
“Hey, hey, hey. No, no, no. Stop. No. He’s okay,” Asahina stepped between Anjin and the thing that was surely going to skewer him. “He’s okay.”
She slowly lowered her weapon, her hair also laying flat again. Her eyes, however, took longer to return to what they were before, the yellow slits glaring at Anjin.
“So… uh, so this is happening,” Asahina nervously said while rubbing his neck.
“Yes it is…” Anjin refused to take his eyes off the thing that nearly took his life. “Can you tell me what, exactly?”
“We found her wounded in the forest, when we were out hunting this morning. I bandaged her, as you can see,” Asahina waved a hand at the wrapping around her side. “And then she just started following us. We found what injured her; it was three of her kinsmen who had been infected with a spirit. And we couldn’t just leave her out there, not that we had much of a choice, so she came back to town with us. I wasn’t sure what else to do. I was hoping you would have some sort of insight you could shed on this situation. They don’t want me to put her in the temple, and I don’t think she would do well in the barracks, personally. So… Yeah. That’s happening.” Asahina rubbed his neck again and shrugged.
“That’s… interesting. So what’s the plan from here?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what to do. I’m basically going to play it by ear because this is kind of-”
“We were going to talk to the Phoenix and see if they know of someone who can communicate with it properly,” Tsuruchi disclosed.
“Yeah, and I thought you could tell us what you know, being that you read a lot. Maybe you can at least tell us how to talk to her, we’re having a hard time with that,” Asahina glanced at the snake who was still watching Anjin carefully.
“I don’t know a whole lot, I’m sorry to say,” Anjin began, combing through the recesses of his mind and trying to recall any information that he had ever read on the Naga. “No one knows much, they’re difficult to communicate with because they speak in an entirely different way, besides the obvious language barrier, it’s something about being connected to each other and perceiving thoughts that relays part of what they’re trying to convey. It is the main reason you will never see a Naga go into the Burning Sands of their own volition. Something happens to them there, they become disconnected from the hive, and unable to hear each other anymore, but they don’t actually stop sending their feelings to the brood. You can imagine this is all rather painful for all parties.
“They worship Akasha, their creator of all things. And they believe themselves to be the sons and daughters of the sun and moon, completely discounting our Kami as the children of the Sun and Moon. They seem to hold beliefs similar to ours, besides the celestial order, like reincarnation. However, in their cycle they retain memories of past lives when they are reborn, allowing them to continue to grow and gain knowledge beyond our capabilities.
“Besides all of this, which seems like a vast well of information even though it is only a minute piece of their culture; as I said, we don’t know much; the Naga race, as a whole, went into a Great Sleep, a hibernation if you choose to refer to it that way. I don’t fully understand it, and scholars haven’t determined why, but they woke before the Second Day of Thunder to help us defeat Fu Leng, and then simply went back to sleep. It was as if they roused for that specific purpose and went back into hibernation until we needed their help again. This, I’m hoping, isn’t now…
“Now that I think about it, I recall hearing of a recently known Naga who took the form of a human. This wasn’t too long ago. She goes by the name Akasha, and might very well be the same Akasha as their creator, if the stories of their reincarnation are to be believed.”
Anjin looked over the Naga before him; she was of the Cobra Bloodline, that much was obvious from her reaction when she believed she was threatened. However, she was huge for her bloodline. The Cobra were smaller, much smaller, even small compared to human standards, and she was at least twice the length they were known to be. He also judged her to be young, a child along their timeline. That would explain her sudden defensive posturing; she hadn’t yet learned what to trust and what not to trust. With a nod, he turned back to Asahina who stood there with a dazed expression on his face. Maybe Anjin had offloaded too much information at one time.
Asahina slowly nodded his head. “Okay,” he said.
“Shall we go to the Phoenix now?” Tsuruchi asked.
“I’ll follow,” Anjin informed them. He wanted very much to be a part of this history in the making, but he didn’t want the snake behind him. He honestly didn’t trust it enough not to get an arrow to the back of his head.
After that, he had visited the brothel to see if they knew anything about Asahina’s dirty exploits. Those working in the brothel hadn’t been made aware of whatever Yasuki had been told about Asahina either. Moreover, with them, coin did all the talking, so Anjin was certain there was nothing to tell if they had nothing to say. That would probably be the last time he traded words with a Crab.
He had decided to make one last go with the peasant folk who worked in that section of town. Maybe Asahina took to liking the lower classed citizens, maybe that power of being the lord of the town went to his head and it was some sort of dominating deal. Anjin wasn’t sure why he couldn’t let it go and accept that there was nothing behind what Yasuki said. Maybe it was because courtiers usually weren’t so far off the charts, or at least the ones that Anjin usually talked to weren’t. There had to be something to it.
“So you haven’t heard of inappropriate behavior between a samurai and a heimin? I assure you, I’m here to protect the people and anything you say will not be brought back to you.”
The peasant shook his head and adjusted the wood he was carrying in his arms. “I…”
His mouth fell open and his arms went slack, spilling his woodpile to the ground. He was staring behind Anjin, which caused a demanding need for Anjin to turn and witness whatever it was that caused such a shock. Anjin spun and started as well. Asahina and Tsuruchi were trudging into town, and behind Asahina slithered a seven foot tall Naga. A real Naga. Scales, ten-foot long tail, armored and armed, and it came in with Asahina and Tsuruchi as if it belonged here as much as they did.
“You’ll have to excuse me,” Anjin quickly hobbled over to devour whatever knowledge the creature was willing to share. The peasant didn’t nod, didn’t bow, and didn’t even blink. Anjin was pretty sure the peasant didn’t even hear him.
As swiftly as he could, he approached the group. This was fascinating; they went on a hunt and brought back a hunter. He couldn’t wait to uncover a few of the Naga’s secrets, know a little history that most people couldn’t even dream of possessing. Before he could open his mouth and even greet the creature, it turned on it. It moved so quickly, she was behind Asahina one moment, then in front of him in the blink of an eye, her bow drawn and an arrow notched. Her hair flared out, much like a cobra hood would, and her eyes narrowed and shone yellow. Anjin felt his heart stop. He knew in this moment that he was going to die. There was absolutely nothing he could do to save himself.
“Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.” Tsuruchi threw his hands up and rounded the Naga.
“Hey, hey, hey. No, no, no. Stop. No. He’s okay,” Asahina stepped between Anjin and the thing that was surely going to skewer him. “He’s okay.”
She slowly lowered her weapon, her hair also laying flat again. Her eyes, however, took longer to return to what they were before, the yellow slits glaring at Anjin.
“So… uh, so this is happening,” Asahina nervously said while rubbing his neck.
“Yes it is…” Anjin refused to take his eyes off the thing that nearly took his life. “Can you tell me what, exactly?”
“We found her wounded in the forest, when we were out hunting this morning. I bandaged her, as you can see,” Asahina waved a hand at the wrapping around her side. “And then she just started following us. We found what injured her; it was three of her kinsmen who had been infected with a spirit. And we couldn’t just leave her out there, not that we had much of a choice, so she came back to town with us. I wasn’t sure what else to do. I was hoping you would have some sort of insight you could shed on this situation. They don’t want me to put her in the temple, and I don’t think she would do well in the barracks, personally. So… Yeah. That’s happening.” Asahina rubbed his neck again and shrugged.
“That’s… interesting. So what’s the plan from here?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what to do. I’m basically going to play it by ear because this is kind of-”
“We were going to talk to the Phoenix and see if they know of someone who can communicate with it properly,” Tsuruchi disclosed.
“Yeah, and I thought you could tell us what you know, being that you read a lot. Maybe you can at least tell us how to talk to her, we’re having a hard time with that,” Asahina glanced at the snake who was still watching Anjin carefully.
“I don’t know a whole lot, I’m sorry to say,” Anjin began, combing through the recesses of his mind and trying to recall any information that he had ever read on the Naga. “No one knows much, they’re difficult to communicate with because they speak in an entirely different way, besides the obvious language barrier, it’s something about being connected to each other and perceiving thoughts that relays part of what they’re trying to convey. It is the main reason you will never see a Naga go into the Burning Sands of their own volition. Something happens to them there, they become disconnected from the hive, and unable to hear each other anymore, but they don’t actually stop sending their feelings to the brood. You can imagine this is all rather painful for all parties.
“They worship Akasha, their creator of all things. And they believe themselves to be the sons and daughters of the sun and moon, completely discounting our Kami as the children of the Sun and Moon. They seem to hold beliefs similar to ours, besides the celestial order, like reincarnation. However, in their cycle they retain memories of past lives when they are reborn, allowing them to continue to grow and gain knowledge beyond our capabilities.
“Besides all of this, which seems like a vast well of information even though it is only a minute piece of their culture; as I said, we don’t know much; the Naga race, as a whole, went into a Great Sleep, a hibernation if you choose to refer to it that way. I don’t fully understand it, and scholars haven’t determined why, but they woke before the Second Day of Thunder to help us defeat Fu Leng, and then simply went back to sleep. It was as if they roused for that specific purpose and went back into hibernation until we needed their help again. This, I’m hoping, isn’t now…
“Now that I think about it, I recall hearing of a recently known Naga who took the form of a human. This wasn’t too long ago. She goes by the name Akasha, and might very well be the same Akasha as their creator, if the stories of their reincarnation are to be believed.”
Anjin looked over the Naga before him; she was of the Cobra Bloodline, that much was obvious from her reaction when she believed she was threatened. However, she was huge for her bloodline. The Cobra were smaller, much smaller, even small compared to human standards, and she was at least twice the length they were known to be. He also judged her to be young, a child along their timeline. That would explain her sudden defensive posturing; she hadn’t yet learned what to trust and what not to trust. With a nod, he turned back to Asahina who stood there with a dazed expression on his face. Maybe Anjin had offloaded too much information at one time.
Asahina slowly nodded his head. “Okay,” he said.
“Shall we go to the Phoenix now?” Tsuruchi asked.
“I’ll follow,” Anjin informed them. He wanted very much to be a part of this history in the making, but he didn’t want the snake behind him. He honestly didn’t trust it enough not to get an arrow to the back of his head.
***
As soon as they breached the forest, Katsumi picked up the pace and made a straight line for Negisa’s house, leaving all but Shiba behind. Shiba had decided somewhere in her mind that Katsumi was the one to tag along with today. Maybe it was Katsumi’s indifference towards most things Shiba did. She shrugged, whatever it was it really didn’t matter. What mattered was that Katsumi had to speak to Negisa right away about what they found in the forest today, and Shiba just happened to be following along. This was way out of Katsumi’s realm of knowledge. She knew little about the Naga to begin with, and tainted Naga were even further removed from that tiny bit of information she possessed. To compound things further, the Spider weren’t aiming to spread taint within the Empire, at least not this close to their first settlement. It didn’t take knowledge from the higher ups to figure out this was not of their doing, which made this a very big problem.
Katsumi threw open the door, forgetting her composure. It only took a moment to right herself after she noticed Matsu standing inside the house with Negisa. Matsu wasn’t family yet, and allowing Katsumi’s emotions to get away from her would reflect poorly not only on herself, but also on the family.
“Dear Sister,” Negisa smiled coldly. Katsumi caught the name right away. That was the name Negisa used when there was going to be Jigoku to pay and Katsumi was going to be the one to pay up. In most cases, once she heard that name from Negisa’s lips she would have found a reason to turn, to get out as fast as possible until whatever caused the upset in Negisa’s life had rolled by. But it didn’t matter today. Today there was more important business to attend to and if it required facing off with Negisa when she was in a foul mood, so be it.
“Katsumi-chan!” Matsu gushed.
“Matsu-san,” Katsumi gave a nod in her direction. “Negisa, I need to speak to you.”
“Of course, Dear Sister. Shiba, it’s a pleasure to see you.”
Katsumi quickly crossed the room and stepped inside one of the offshoot rooms, waiting inside the doorway for Negisa to join her. Negisa took her sweet time; her leisurely pace gave Shiba enough time to step into the room as well.
“Uh uh,” Katsumi swept a finger from Shiba to the door, indicating she should remove herself from the room.
“Katsumi,” Negisa held up her left hand to note that Shiba was promised something. Whatever it was could wait; this was not for Shiba to hear.
“I don’t care,” Katsumi snapped. She was sorry as soon as she had let it escape. Negisa’s glare crumpled Katsumi’s resolve. “I mean…” She muttered, “Could you ask her to leave, please? This is family business.”
Negisa offered a polite smile to Shiba. “Shiba, please excuse us.”
“Of course.” Shiba ducked out the door that Negisa promptly closed behind her.
“We were in the forest and there were some Naga who are dead and they were tainted,” the thought streamed from Katsumi’s mouth without hesitation. Negisa blinked. She looked shocked. Negisa didn’t get surprised. This wasn’t good.
“Are you sure they were tainted?” Negisa demanded.
“Positive.”
Negisa shook her head, “Naga can’t get tainted.”
“I’m telling you, they were tinged black and had red eyes. I know where I’ve seen that before, Negisa.”
“This doesn’t make sense,” Negisa mumbled.
“That’s why I came to you as soon as I got back to town.”
“Are you sure they were tainted?”
Katsumi nodded. “There’s a live one that seems to have taken a liking to Asahina-”
“That could be useful,” Negisa said thoughtfully, “Do you know anyone that speaks Naga? Why am I asking? Of course you don’t.”
“When I burned the bodies, the Naga had the same idea. So I assume she also knew they were tainted.” Katsumi finished her previous thought that Negisa had interrupted.
“Unfortunately, if you already burned the bodies, then there are no bodies for us to investigate to see if they actually were tainted.”
“I thought it would be for the best,” Katsumi said defensively. She couldn’t just leave them out there for anyone to see.
“It probably was… For a change, I actually agree with you.”
Katsumi was taken aback. Negisa never agreed with her on anything. Even the simple things in life Negisa nearly always took the opposite opinion just for the fun of fighting. There was a reason Katsumi repressed any desire she had to share her views on anything.
“There was another thing,” Katsumi recalled. “Some…thing affected them so they turned on the one that survived. I don’t know what it was, but it was a bigger, serpent-like creature. That’s what I saw in their death song during their funeral pyre.”
Negisa pressed her lips, processing it all. “Remind me to slap you later for the way you talked to me.”
Katsumi nodded slowly, “Very well.”
“Go find Yanagi; I have some things to read.”
“Understood.” Katsumi took a breath and brought back her collected exterior as Negisa slide the bedroom door open.
Katsumi threw open the door, forgetting her composure. It only took a moment to right herself after she noticed Matsu standing inside the house with Negisa. Matsu wasn’t family yet, and allowing Katsumi’s emotions to get away from her would reflect poorly not only on herself, but also on the family.
“Dear Sister,” Negisa smiled coldly. Katsumi caught the name right away. That was the name Negisa used when there was going to be Jigoku to pay and Katsumi was going to be the one to pay up. In most cases, once she heard that name from Negisa’s lips she would have found a reason to turn, to get out as fast as possible until whatever caused the upset in Negisa’s life had rolled by. But it didn’t matter today. Today there was more important business to attend to and if it required facing off with Negisa when she was in a foul mood, so be it.
“Katsumi-chan!” Matsu gushed.
“Matsu-san,” Katsumi gave a nod in her direction. “Negisa, I need to speak to you.”
“Of course, Dear Sister. Shiba, it’s a pleasure to see you.”
Katsumi quickly crossed the room and stepped inside one of the offshoot rooms, waiting inside the doorway for Negisa to join her. Negisa took her sweet time; her leisurely pace gave Shiba enough time to step into the room as well.
“Uh uh,” Katsumi swept a finger from Shiba to the door, indicating she should remove herself from the room.
“Katsumi,” Negisa held up her left hand to note that Shiba was promised something. Whatever it was could wait; this was not for Shiba to hear.
“I don’t care,” Katsumi snapped. She was sorry as soon as she had let it escape. Negisa’s glare crumpled Katsumi’s resolve. “I mean…” She muttered, “Could you ask her to leave, please? This is family business.”
Negisa offered a polite smile to Shiba. “Shiba, please excuse us.”
“Of course.” Shiba ducked out the door that Negisa promptly closed behind her.
“We were in the forest and there were some Naga who are dead and they were tainted,” the thought streamed from Katsumi’s mouth without hesitation. Negisa blinked. She looked shocked. Negisa didn’t get surprised. This wasn’t good.
“Are you sure they were tainted?” Negisa demanded.
“Positive.”
Negisa shook her head, “Naga can’t get tainted.”
“I’m telling you, they were tinged black and had red eyes. I know where I’ve seen that before, Negisa.”
“This doesn’t make sense,” Negisa mumbled.
“That’s why I came to you as soon as I got back to town.”
“Are you sure they were tainted?”
Katsumi nodded. “There’s a live one that seems to have taken a liking to Asahina-”
“That could be useful,” Negisa said thoughtfully, “Do you know anyone that speaks Naga? Why am I asking? Of course you don’t.”
“When I burned the bodies, the Naga had the same idea. So I assume she also knew they were tainted.” Katsumi finished her previous thought that Negisa had interrupted.
“Unfortunately, if you already burned the bodies, then there are no bodies for us to investigate to see if they actually were tainted.”
“I thought it would be for the best,” Katsumi said defensively. She couldn’t just leave them out there for anyone to see.
“It probably was… For a change, I actually agree with you.”
Katsumi was taken aback. Negisa never agreed with her on anything. Even the simple things in life Negisa nearly always took the opposite opinion just for the fun of fighting. There was a reason Katsumi repressed any desire she had to share her views on anything.
“There was another thing,” Katsumi recalled. “Some…thing affected them so they turned on the one that survived. I don’t know what it was, but it was a bigger, serpent-like creature. That’s what I saw in their death song during their funeral pyre.”
Negisa pressed her lips, processing it all. “Remind me to slap you later for the way you talked to me.”
Katsumi nodded slowly, “Very well.”
“Go find Yanagi; I have some things to read.”
“Understood.” Katsumi took a breath and brought back her collected exterior as Negisa slide the bedroom door open.
***
Morasahi shuffled across the room to where Matsu was standing. She had believed she made the right choice in joining Negisa for her conversation. Negisa usually had her sit in, why would this one be any different? She shook her head, not understanding the situation, resigning that it wasn’t something she was supposed to comprehend. Now she stood next to Matsu, but why she gravitated towards her, Morasahi had no clue. Maybe it was just this house. Morasahi was always next to Negisa when in this house, it just felt right to be next to someone while here.
“Um, Hello Matsu-san.”
“Hello Shiba-san.”
Morasahi looked Matsu over. She was wearing white, a lot of it. The thoughts of funeral robes and people in mourning came to mind; white was the color of death after all.
“You…um, look dead.” For some reason Morasahi couldn’t keep it to herself. It just sort of slipped out. If Matsu was offended, she didn’t show it.
“Did you enjoy your hunting trip today?”
“Yes, thank you. It turned out to be a little more than I bargained for, but yes.”
Matsu tilted her head, “How so?”
Morasahi took in a breath, how was she going to explain everything that took place? How would she explain that they found a Naga, or that it had tried to kill her? What about that it instantly became friends with Asahina, or even that it had killed three other Naga with little difficulty.
“Well… um. Asahina-san has a new infatuation.” Yeah, that was a good way to put it. He had taken a liking to the snake the moment he saw it, Morasahi was sure of it. He hadn’t tried to stop it from killing her, and he allowed it to follow him everywhere, even back into town. It only made sense.
“I don’t understand…” Matsu furrowed her brow.
“Well, it’s a Naga,” She began, but before she could elaborate, the bedroom door slid open and Negisa flew across the house.
“Shiba, take care of Matsu. Make sure she does all the rituals and all the things reserved for the week of her wedding. If you have any questions, get with one of the other Spider, they’ll help you when you have something specific to ask.”
She was out the door before Morasahi could even utter her confusion with a, “Huh?”
“Katsumi-chan, what’s a Naga?” Matsu called to Daigotsu who was creeping towards the door as well.
“I have something I must attend to, so I’ll explain it later.” Daigotsu bowed and slipped outside leaving Morasahi and Matsu standing in a house that wasn’t theirs, alone.
“Okay…” Matsu pouted. They stood, both staring at the door as if waiting for one of the Daigotsu sisters to return. At least that’s what Morasahi was doing, hoping to will someone into existence.
“So… Shiba-san, do you know any of what we have to do?”
Morasahi shrugged. She knew a little, but had no idea where Negisa left off, or even if they did the same sort of rituals. This was not something she was comfortable taking care of.
“Um, Hello Matsu-san.”
“Hello Shiba-san.”
Morasahi looked Matsu over. She was wearing white, a lot of it. The thoughts of funeral robes and people in mourning came to mind; white was the color of death after all.
“You…um, look dead.” For some reason Morasahi couldn’t keep it to herself. It just sort of slipped out. If Matsu was offended, she didn’t show it.
“Did you enjoy your hunting trip today?”
“Yes, thank you. It turned out to be a little more than I bargained for, but yes.”
Matsu tilted her head, “How so?”
Morasahi took in a breath, how was she going to explain everything that took place? How would she explain that they found a Naga, or that it had tried to kill her? What about that it instantly became friends with Asahina, or even that it had killed three other Naga with little difficulty.
“Well… um. Asahina-san has a new infatuation.” Yeah, that was a good way to put it. He had taken a liking to the snake the moment he saw it, Morasahi was sure of it. He hadn’t tried to stop it from killing her, and he allowed it to follow him everywhere, even back into town. It only made sense.
“I don’t understand…” Matsu furrowed her brow.
“Well, it’s a Naga,” She began, but before she could elaborate, the bedroom door slid open and Negisa flew across the house.
“Shiba, take care of Matsu. Make sure she does all the rituals and all the things reserved for the week of her wedding. If you have any questions, get with one of the other Spider, they’ll help you when you have something specific to ask.”
She was out the door before Morasahi could even utter her confusion with a, “Huh?”
“Katsumi-chan, what’s a Naga?” Matsu called to Daigotsu who was creeping towards the door as well.
“I have something I must attend to, so I’ll explain it later.” Daigotsu bowed and slipped outside leaving Morasahi and Matsu standing in a house that wasn’t theirs, alone.
“Okay…” Matsu pouted. They stood, both staring at the door as if waiting for one of the Daigotsu sisters to return. At least that’s what Morasahi was doing, hoping to will someone into existence.
“So… Shiba-san, do you know any of what we have to do?”
Morasahi shrugged. She knew a little, but had no idea where Negisa left off, or even if they did the same sort of rituals. This was not something she was comfortable taking care of.
***
Peasants fled as Kyuzo, Tsuruchi, Kitsuki and the Naga passed by. Kyuzo was well aware it was because a twenty-foot long snake was slithering through town. She truly looked like a monster, no matter what sort of demeanor she possessed people often didn’t see past appearances. Granted, she wasn’t exactly a delicate flower either. He had seen the three Naga she killed on her own, and she had drawn her weapon on his own friends on two separate occasions now. She had a lot to learn about civilized society and the way difference were handled in a humane way.
Amongst the buzzing crowds that parted and then encircled their small group, Asako Yuji appeared and calmly dared to approach Kyuzo and his monster. Asako’s eyes lit up the closer he got, obviously marveling at their new acquaintance, the Naga. He bowed to Kyuzo and with a perfectly balanced voice greeted him. “Lord Asahina, it seems there are some interesting developments that have come to light recently.”
“Yes,” Kyuzo said, “We were hoping for as much help as you could provide.”
“I have already scattered people to see if someone speaks Naga.” Kyuzo knew there was a reason the Phoenix were the right people to go to. Besides the fact that they held the largest libraries and the most knowledge in all of Rokugan, they were helpful and a step ahead of you when it came to anything that interested them.
“Is it even possible?” Kyuzo prodded. From what Kitsuki had just told him, they didn’t really talk like the rest of Rokugan.
“Well, no, not in the strictest sense,” Asako gave a half shrug and pressed his thumb to his lip as if considering something, “Imagine having a conversation without being able to speak, that‘s what talking to the Naga is like.”
“Yeah, we’ve already been exposed to that,” Kyuzo groaned. “We’ve attempted to get by with a little bit of pantomime.”
“I can only imagine that didn’t go over very well.”
“Well…” Kyuzo rubbed his neck. He didn’t feel like explaining the whole story again, no matter how much he shortened it, it still was too long to repeat to every new delegate that asked. “I did end up bandaging her. Now she’s… um… Now she’s…” He didn’t even know what to call it. Following him around? Taken a liking to? Both? Kyuzo shook his head.
“Oh,” Asako glanced between Kyuzo and the Naga towering over him. “Um, you know how the Lion are… er, honor bound to… hm, basically to return the favor of someone saving their life?”
“Yeah,” Kyuzo knew where this was headed and he didn’t really want the conversation to continue but Asako was the only one who seemed to know what was going on so he had to allow it to proceed.
“That’s sort of what is happening here. You bandaged a wound she thought would be lethal.”
“It was pretty bad…” Kyuzo admitted.
“And now she’s yours,” Tsuruchi reasoned.
“No, not like that,” Asako quickly corrected Tsuruchi. “Not anything like that.”
“Oh, I misunderstood what you were saying,” Tsuruchi professed.
“As I said, it’s also not exactly like the honor bound Lion either.”
“It seems like it’s going to be a bad thing,” Kyuzo imagined having to deal with the Naga drawing on anyone who came close to him. The thought of constantly preventing her from destroying the lives of non-threatening citizens exhausted him.
“I’m not sure it’s going to be bad, but it’s definitely going to be interesting for you,” Asako smiled encouragingly.
“Okay, so what do you mean ‘like that but different?’”
“Their society is very different than ours. I’m not openly versed on it, but on the crash course I was just given, their society is driven by deeds instead of bloodlines or anything like that. They don’t serve honor, and they don’t follow Bushido.” Asako shook his head, again offering a half-shrug. It was obvious even he couldn’t give Kyuzo all the answers.
“So, if I get wounded and she saves me then this is over with?”
“Well,” Asako visibly weighed the question, “She will probably massacre whatever did it to you.”
“That’s just perfect,” Kyuzo grumbled.
“And it still wouldn’t make you even,” Asako finished.
“I didn’t think so.” Kyuzo took a breath and held it for a moment before blowing it out. This was turning into a much bigger problem than he anticipated. “What makes it even?”
“I… er, we don’t know. They can’t explain it in a way we can understand it in our language, and we can’t understand theirs enough to get a full answer either.”
“Right, I did something for nothing, and now she has to do something to make it up to me.” Kyuzo threw his hands up. “I can’t have any girls over - How am I going to go to the geisha house?”
“I don’t see how that has relevance since she has no idea what you are trying to say,” Tsuruchi piped up as if his opinion really mattered at the moment.
“Are you trying to find a way to get rid of her?” Kitsuki finally stepped into the conversation.
Was Kitsuki kidding? Of course he was trying to find a way he could continue with a normal life free from preventing the untimely deaths of anyone who attempted to get near him. This was simply the worst possible outcome for someone who was running a town, and for him in general even if he wasn‘t running a town.
Kyuzo spun on Kitsuki. “Frankly, I have the equivalent of a wild tiger following me around and I don’t really know if that’s a safe bet. I have to go to sleep eventually and until she falls asleep, I don’t know if I’ll be safe - I don’t even know if I can protect myself when she’s awake.”
“It seems perfectly safe to you. She’s honor bound to you,” Kitsuki tried to reason with Kyuzo, but reason wouldn’t find him. All Kyuzo could imagine was every scenario where the Naga was there. Where she was aggressively there.
“Yeah, but say I’m enjoying a glass of sake. Maybe she decides I’m harming myself because I’ve had too much in her opinion. Is she going to cut my arm off to protect me?” He was yelling now, but he couldn’t help himself. Kitsuki stared back silently, nothing coming from that smart mouth of his.
“Exactly!” Kyuzo threw his arms up again. That’s when he noticed the Naga was pointing an arrow at Kitsuki again, puffing up and adding to his frustration because she was doing exactly what he was worried she would do.
“Whoa. Whoa,” Tsuruchi held up his hands for the Naga to stop. “You need to find a way to explain that if we arm up, she should arm up.”
“You need to find a way to explain that she should not shoot me,” Kitsuki squeaked.
Kyuzo took a breath and shook his finger at the Naga. “Okay, I’ll handle this.”
“My life is very important to me,” Kitsuki added.
Kyuzo went for a short walk, removing himself from the crowd, from any possible threat or interruption. As he thought she would, the Naga followed him. He turned to her trying to think of how to explain this. Slowly he drew his katana while the Naga just stared. He put it away. She watched him diligently. Again, he pulled his sword from its sheath, this time she drew an arrow and readied it. Kyuzo returned his weapon again with a nod.
“When I touch this,” he pointed at his sword, “You touch that.” Kyuzo then pointed to her bow. “Just calm down.”
The Naga put her arrow away and extended her bow to Kyuzo.
He shook his head with a sigh, “No. No. Okay, I’ll tell you what, I’ll hold this.” Kyuzo snatched the bow from her hand, an action she attempted to repeat from Kyuzo.
“No, no, no. You don’t need it. You don’t need it.” Kyuzo pulled the weapon back from her. He had enough of her threatening people with it. Shaking his head he walked away and came back to the group, of course, she was right behind him.
Amongst the buzzing crowds that parted and then encircled their small group, Asako Yuji appeared and calmly dared to approach Kyuzo and his monster. Asako’s eyes lit up the closer he got, obviously marveling at their new acquaintance, the Naga. He bowed to Kyuzo and with a perfectly balanced voice greeted him. “Lord Asahina, it seems there are some interesting developments that have come to light recently.”
“Yes,” Kyuzo said, “We were hoping for as much help as you could provide.”
“I have already scattered people to see if someone speaks Naga.” Kyuzo knew there was a reason the Phoenix were the right people to go to. Besides the fact that they held the largest libraries and the most knowledge in all of Rokugan, they were helpful and a step ahead of you when it came to anything that interested them.
“Is it even possible?” Kyuzo prodded. From what Kitsuki had just told him, they didn’t really talk like the rest of Rokugan.
“Well, no, not in the strictest sense,” Asako gave a half shrug and pressed his thumb to his lip as if considering something, “Imagine having a conversation without being able to speak, that‘s what talking to the Naga is like.”
“Yeah, we’ve already been exposed to that,” Kyuzo groaned. “We’ve attempted to get by with a little bit of pantomime.”
“I can only imagine that didn’t go over very well.”
“Well…” Kyuzo rubbed his neck. He didn’t feel like explaining the whole story again, no matter how much he shortened it, it still was too long to repeat to every new delegate that asked. “I did end up bandaging her. Now she’s… um… Now she’s…” He didn’t even know what to call it. Following him around? Taken a liking to? Both? Kyuzo shook his head.
“Oh,” Asako glanced between Kyuzo and the Naga towering over him. “Um, you know how the Lion are… er, honor bound to… hm, basically to return the favor of someone saving their life?”
“Yeah,” Kyuzo knew where this was headed and he didn’t really want the conversation to continue but Asako was the only one who seemed to know what was going on so he had to allow it to proceed.
“That’s sort of what is happening here. You bandaged a wound she thought would be lethal.”
“It was pretty bad…” Kyuzo admitted.
“And now she’s yours,” Tsuruchi reasoned.
“No, not like that,” Asako quickly corrected Tsuruchi. “Not anything like that.”
“Oh, I misunderstood what you were saying,” Tsuruchi professed.
“As I said, it’s also not exactly like the honor bound Lion either.”
“It seems like it’s going to be a bad thing,” Kyuzo imagined having to deal with the Naga drawing on anyone who came close to him. The thought of constantly preventing her from destroying the lives of non-threatening citizens exhausted him.
“I’m not sure it’s going to be bad, but it’s definitely going to be interesting for you,” Asako smiled encouragingly.
“Okay, so what do you mean ‘like that but different?’”
“Their society is very different than ours. I’m not openly versed on it, but on the crash course I was just given, their society is driven by deeds instead of bloodlines or anything like that. They don’t serve honor, and they don’t follow Bushido.” Asako shook his head, again offering a half-shrug. It was obvious even he couldn’t give Kyuzo all the answers.
“So, if I get wounded and she saves me then this is over with?”
“Well,” Asako visibly weighed the question, “She will probably massacre whatever did it to you.”
“That’s just perfect,” Kyuzo grumbled.
“And it still wouldn’t make you even,” Asako finished.
“I didn’t think so.” Kyuzo took a breath and held it for a moment before blowing it out. This was turning into a much bigger problem than he anticipated. “What makes it even?”
“I… er, we don’t know. They can’t explain it in a way we can understand it in our language, and we can’t understand theirs enough to get a full answer either.”
“Right, I did something for nothing, and now she has to do something to make it up to me.” Kyuzo threw his hands up. “I can’t have any girls over - How am I going to go to the geisha house?”
“I don’t see how that has relevance since she has no idea what you are trying to say,” Tsuruchi piped up as if his opinion really mattered at the moment.
“Are you trying to find a way to get rid of her?” Kitsuki finally stepped into the conversation.
Was Kitsuki kidding? Of course he was trying to find a way he could continue with a normal life free from preventing the untimely deaths of anyone who attempted to get near him. This was simply the worst possible outcome for someone who was running a town, and for him in general even if he wasn‘t running a town.
Kyuzo spun on Kitsuki. “Frankly, I have the equivalent of a wild tiger following me around and I don’t really know if that’s a safe bet. I have to go to sleep eventually and until she falls asleep, I don’t know if I’ll be safe - I don’t even know if I can protect myself when she’s awake.”
“It seems perfectly safe to you. She’s honor bound to you,” Kitsuki tried to reason with Kyuzo, but reason wouldn’t find him. All Kyuzo could imagine was every scenario where the Naga was there. Where she was aggressively there.
“Yeah, but say I’m enjoying a glass of sake. Maybe she decides I’m harming myself because I’ve had too much in her opinion. Is she going to cut my arm off to protect me?” He was yelling now, but he couldn’t help himself. Kitsuki stared back silently, nothing coming from that smart mouth of his.
“Exactly!” Kyuzo threw his arms up again. That’s when he noticed the Naga was pointing an arrow at Kitsuki again, puffing up and adding to his frustration because she was doing exactly what he was worried she would do.
“Whoa. Whoa,” Tsuruchi held up his hands for the Naga to stop. “You need to find a way to explain that if we arm up, she should arm up.”
“You need to find a way to explain that she should not shoot me,” Kitsuki squeaked.
Kyuzo took a breath and shook his finger at the Naga. “Okay, I’ll handle this.”
“My life is very important to me,” Kitsuki added.
Kyuzo went for a short walk, removing himself from the crowd, from any possible threat or interruption. As he thought she would, the Naga followed him. He turned to her trying to think of how to explain this. Slowly he drew his katana while the Naga just stared. He put it away. She watched him diligently. Again, he pulled his sword from its sheath, this time she drew an arrow and readied it. Kyuzo returned his weapon again with a nod.
“When I touch this,” he pointed at his sword, “You touch that.” Kyuzo then pointed to her bow. “Just calm down.”
The Naga put her arrow away and extended her bow to Kyuzo.
He shook his head with a sigh, “No. No. Okay, I’ll tell you what, I’ll hold this.” Kyuzo snatched the bow from her hand, an action she attempted to repeat from Kyuzo.
“No, no, no. You don’t need it. You don’t need it.” Kyuzo pulled the weapon back from her. He had enough of her threatening people with it. Shaking his head he walked away and came back to the group, of course, she was right behind him.
***
Meintaro watched Asahina walk away with the Naga in tow. He nudged closer to Kitsuki and whispered, “You think it’s going to work?”
“I’m not entirely sure what he’s doing,” Kitsuki responded.
Meintaro couldn’t help by give him a disparaging stare. How could someone be so dense? Obviously, Asahina was attempting to keep the Naga from drawing whenever she felt like it. That’s what he would have done, but he would have done it much earlier, like before they came back into town. After the first time, Meintaro would have started laying out the rules. Why Asahina let it go on twice more was beyond him. But then again, sometimes people didn’t understand the way you needed to handle those with violence in their hearts. He watched as Asahina did a few draws of his sword, eventually just taking the Naga’s bow from her before stomping back to Meintaro, Kitsuki, and Asako.
“I feel that was not very successful,” Meintaro commented.
“I’ll be holding these,” Asahina retorted.
“Right… I think she can still beat Kitsuki,” Meintaro eyed the cripple. “With one arm, even. Let me give it a shot.”
Meintaro pointed at Asahina’s weapon, than at his, then at the Naga’s bow. He pulled his bow off his back and pretended to draw an arrow, having none in his hand. He then nodded at the Naga. She promptly provided him with an arrow. Meintaro shook his head.
“Right. This is not working. At all.” Meintaro put his bow back on his back.
“Asahina, give her her bow,” Kitsuki directed. It seemed Kitsuki was going to try his hand at it. This should prove to be interesting. Asahina provided the Naga with her bow.
“Okay, now pull out an arrow and arm your bow,” Kitsuki watched the Naga intently. Asahina did as he was told. The Naga also did so. “Lower it.” Both Asahina and the Naga repeated the same action.
“Okay, put it away. Now pull your sword.” Meintaro watched as Asahina drew his katana and the Naga drew an arrow. She was actually getting the concept.
“Put it away,” Kitsuki said. Asahina sheathed his weapon; the Naga mirrored him. “Now just touch it.” It was amazing; suddenly she was repeating every action Asahina was doing when it came to his weapon.
“I’m not sure if that worked, but it seems promising,” Kitsuki smiled nervously.
“Well done,” Asahina clapped.
There was a rattle and Meintaro noticed the Naga was now holding a tambourine, shaking it in response to Asahina’s clapping. It would have been ridiculous, but everything the Naga had done since they first came across her was just as much so, so this one really didn’t seem out of character for her. However, when Asahina pulled out his flute and began playing, and the two took time to create a small musical number, that was ridiculous. Asako stood quietly. Kitsuki just watched; he actually looked like he was enjoying the scene. While Meintaro shifted uncomfortably. He was still wearing his hunting attire, which suddenly dawned on him with the lack of anything else to focus on. Now he was just… waiting for Asahina and the Naga to stop their little bonding session before he could excuse himself and clean up. Finally they finished, which probably was only ten minutes, but long enough for Meintaro to run through a long list of other things he would rather be doing.
“What will it take to clear her debt to you?” Kitsuki asked. Apparently, he was off in some other place in his head when Asako had told all of them.
“We don’t know,” Meintaro answered. He had this covered.
“We don’t know either,” Asako reiterated, “The Naga are different.”
“Well, when you find someone knowledgeable, can you just send them our way?” requested Meintaro. There was no need for Kitsuki to solve this problem too, he could handle it.
“The biggest problem is that the Naga are very secretive about themselves, we don’t just have-”
“Tell me where to send for the most knowledgeable. A lore master, or at least someone available,” Asahina demanded.
Asako blinked at Asahina’s rude manner. “That would probably be Kyuden Isawa.”
“Then send a courier. I need someone to come here with some knowledge to help us with this situation.”
“Of course,” Asako assured Asahina, “We were going to ask your permission to send for someone anyways. There hasn’t been a Naga seen for several years, not since Akasha.”
“Who?” Asahina asked. Kitsuki had said something about Akasha, Meintaro recalled. Something about the creator or something else pretty important.
“Akasha. She was the human born of a Naga,” Upon receiving the blank stare from both Asahina and himself, Asako continued. “Right. Um. She hatched from a Naga egg. She was basically a human child. She assimilated herself into the Imperial City and attempted to teach us about the Naga. Assumedly, it was some sort of bridge between our races.”
“Right,” Meintaro nodded. “That would help. If she’s going to be a bridge between us and the Naga, it seems like we have the perfect reason for her to visit.”
“I would imagine that eventually she would make her way here, however, it would be very similar to demanding the Emperor to show up, she’s very important to her people.” What a snotty guy Asako was turning out to be.
“That’s not what I was saying. I just wanted her informed. You know, brought to her attention,” Meintaro explained. He wasn’t demanding anyone to do anything.
“Of course, that is part of our intentions,” Asako smiled. A rather smug smile if you asked Meintaro.
“I’m not entirely sure what he’s doing,” Kitsuki responded.
Meintaro couldn’t help by give him a disparaging stare. How could someone be so dense? Obviously, Asahina was attempting to keep the Naga from drawing whenever she felt like it. That’s what he would have done, but he would have done it much earlier, like before they came back into town. After the first time, Meintaro would have started laying out the rules. Why Asahina let it go on twice more was beyond him. But then again, sometimes people didn’t understand the way you needed to handle those with violence in their hearts. He watched as Asahina did a few draws of his sword, eventually just taking the Naga’s bow from her before stomping back to Meintaro, Kitsuki, and Asako.
“I feel that was not very successful,” Meintaro commented.
“I’ll be holding these,” Asahina retorted.
“Right… I think she can still beat Kitsuki,” Meintaro eyed the cripple. “With one arm, even. Let me give it a shot.”
Meintaro pointed at Asahina’s weapon, than at his, then at the Naga’s bow. He pulled his bow off his back and pretended to draw an arrow, having none in his hand. He then nodded at the Naga. She promptly provided him with an arrow. Meintaro shook his head.
“Right. This is not working. At all.” Meintaro put his bow back on his back.
“Asahina, give her her bow,” Kitsuki directed. It seemed Kitsuki was going to try his hand at it. This should prove to be interesting. Asahina provided the Naga with her bow.
“Okay, now pull out an arrow and arm your bow,” Kitsuki watched the Naga intently. Asahina did as he was told. The Naga also did so. “Lower it.” Both Asahina and the Naga repeated the same action.
“Okay, put it away. Now pull your sword.” Meintaro watched as Asahina drew his katana and the Naga drew an arrow. She was actually getting the concept.
“Put it away,” Kitsuki said. Asahina sheathed his weapon; the Naga mirrored him. “Now just touch it.” It was amazing; suddenly she was repeating every action Asahina was doing when it came to his weapon.
“I’m not sure if that worked, but it seems promising,” Kitsuki smiled nervously.
“Well done,” Asahina clapped.
There was a rattle and Meintaro noticed the Naga was now holding a tambourine, shaking it in response to Asahina’s clapping. It would have been ridiculous, but everything the Naga had done since they first came across her was just as much so, so this one really didn’t seem out of character for her. However, when Asahina pulled out his flute and began playing, and the two took time to create a small musical number, that was ridiculous. Asako stood quietly. Kitsuki just watched; he actually looked like he was enjoying the scene. While Meintaro shifted uncomfortably. He was still wearing his hunting attire, which suddenly dawned on him with the lack of anything else to focus on. Now he was just… waiting for Asahina and the Naga to stop their little bonding session before he could excuse himself and clean up. Finally they finished, which probably was only ten minutes, but long enough for Meintaro to run through a long list of other things he would rather be doing.
“What will it take to clear her debt to you?” Kitsuki asked. Apparently, he was off in some other place in his head when Asako had told all of them.
“We don’t know,” Meintaro answered. He had this covered.
“We don’t know either,” Asako reiterated, “The Naga are different.”
“Well, when you find someone knowledgeable, can you just send them our way?” requested Meintaro. There was no need for Kitsuki to solve this problem too, he could handle it.
“The biggest problem is that the Naga are very secretive about themselves, we don’t just have-”
“Tell me where to send for the most knowledgeable. A lore master, or at least someone available,” Asahina demanded.
Asako blinked at Asahina’s rude manner. “That would probably be Kyuden Isawa.”
“Then send a courier. I need someone to come here with some knowledge to help us with this situation.”
“Of course,” Asako assured Asahina, “We were going to ask your permission to send for someone anyways. There hasn’t been a Naga seen for several years, not since Akasha.”
“Who?” Asahina asked. Kitsuki had said something about Akasha, Meintaro recalled. Something about the creator or something else pretty important.
“Akasha. She was the human born of a Naga,” Upon receiving the blank stare from both Asahina and himself, Asako continued. “Right. Um. She hatched from a Naga egg. She was basically a human child. She assimilated herself into the Imperial City and attempted to teach us about the Naga. Assumedly, it was some sort of bridge between our races.”
“Right,” Meintaro nodded. “That would help. If she’s going to be a bridge between us and the Naga, it seems like we have the perfect reason for her to visit.”
“I would imagine that eventually she would make her way here, however, it would be very similar to demanding the Emperor to show up, she’s very important to her people.” What a snotty guy Asako was turning out to be.
“That’s not what I was saying. I just wanted her informed. You know, brought to her attention,” Meintaro explained. He wasn’t demanding anyone to do anything.
“Of course, that is part of our intentions,” Asako smiled. A rather smug smile if you asked Meintaro.
***
Katsumi dropped her bones into the bowl, savoring the sound as she always did. It calmed her mind, it was her center, and it pushed out all the uncertainties. When she was young and saw visions in bowls of water, and whispers spoke to her from tealeaves at the bottom of cups, it was that sound of the bones that promised to keep it at bay. It was her control over the sometimes-frightening answers to questions she had not asked. And every time she dropped the bones into her bowl, she was reminded about how confusing life was, and how it would all be all right.
She set the bowl down and opened the pouch she had brought back from the woods. After the conversation with Negisa, Katsumi had decided she needed more answers to the questions that still remained at large. So she had trekked back through the forest to where they had burned the bodies of the tainted Naga, grabbed a handful of ash from under the skeletal remains, and came back to see what the Realm would offer. Katsumi dumped the dust on top of her bones, she was hoping for any sort of information really. Where this taint came from? How it affected the Naga that Negisa swore couldn’t be tainted? Who was behind it? Anything that could shed some sort of light on what they were working against out here.
She shook the bowl and stirred the contents waiting for that feeling, that click inside her soul that allowed for sudden clarity. There was a puff, an overwhelming feeling of something powerful and Katsumi opened her eyes to see the ash had stirred up a cloud that grew and darkened, taking shape unnaturally.
She dropped the bowl as the smoke reached a foot high and coalesced into something smooth, not the way smoke usually rose. Then two red slits blinked into existence and Katsumi pulled back. Whatever it was, it wasn’t something she had ever encountered before. The thing turned from side to side, as if looking around, and then it spun on her and stared right into Katsumi’s very being. She felt those glowing eyes piercing into her.
Quickly, Katsumi overturned the bowl, closing the shadow demon below it. It leaked around the edges, like a candle that had been snuffed out, its smoke curling along the sides before fading into nothing. She sat there attempting to comprehend what had just happened. There wasn’t an answer. There was nothing from the Realm besides this thing she had conjured up. Katsumi shook her head and opened her mouth, trying to find some answer to give herself. There was nothing.
She had to tell Negisa.
***
Now that the Naga seemed to understand Anjin wasn’t to be skewered on sight for no reason at all, he was free to speak on other matters that were pressing. Like the threat from the spirit in the forest. It obviously did something to the other three Naga, and may have even done something to this one as well, with how quickly she resorted to the threat of violence. However, for now, Asahina seemed to accept this Naga’s presence and may have even learned how to control her tendencies for quick and deadly action. That meant the other issue had to be addressed.
“Asahina-sama, I’d like to have a word with you alone if I may?” Anjin turned without waiting for an answer, he knew Asahina would follow. Asahina wasn’t going to tell him no. They walked about fifteen feet from Tsuruchi and Asako where Asahina crossed his arms and waited for Anjin to begin.
“I’m very concerned with the threat in the forest. I’m not satisfied with the resolution, simply because I don’t believe one was really made. We’ve just come across four extremely rare, almost unknown creatures-”
“Oh, this is obvious,” Asahina nodded.
“Of course,” Anjin agreed, realizing he was about to reiterate what has already been said at least twice already. Once by him, and once by Asako.
“This can’t be a good thing, whatever happened in the woods,” Asahina shook his head. “But what can we do about it? We searched for tracks of something tangible and there wasn’t anything.”
“We need to consider a course of action. We have a serious threat within a day’s journey of our town. I don’t yet know what to do about it, but it’s clear we should come up with something.”
Asahina rubbed his neck and shifted. It was obvious to Anjin that he didn’t know what to do either. However, this was the burden that came with being the lord of the town; this was his decision to make on how to proceed now.
“I don’t know… I can’t really think right now, with everything that has happened in the last few hours. I think doing something that will clear my mind might help me better formulate a plan. What do you say to a tea ceremony?”
“That would be delightful,” Anjin smiled. He could also use something to relax and center himself. He had had a trying day as well and made even more so by the Naga who was still towering over Asahina, watching Anjin.
Asahina sat without choosing a more private location, simply deciding the middle of the road was a suitable place to have tea, and began unpacking his tea kit. Anjin took a seat and waited for Asahina to set up. It became rather apparent, rather quickly, that this was probably one of the worse ideas either of them had had to calm their nerves over the situation. First, the Naga picked up the teacup Asahina put down while unpacking the kit. She put it back, but that wasn’t the point. Every item he placed she picked up, examined, and returned it somewhere it wasn’t previously occupying. Every item, every dish, everything that Asahina touched, which was everything, the Naga also touched. Needless to say, the ceremony didn’t really help to clear their minds.
***
Katsumi hurried into the temple where she had been directed Negisa was last seen, finding Negisa in a backroom with various scrolls and tomes spread across a table. The Spider had an extensive collection on information not usually found inside the Empire. They also had an extensive collection of information that used to belong to the Empire, items taken from Otosan Uchi after they had driven the Empire from their seat of power. Katsumi hesitated in the doorway. On one hand, this was something that should probably be shared, seeing as how it dealt with the same sort of subject that she knew Negisa was researching; on the other hand, Negisa was reading, and on something rather important as well, she really didn’t want to poke the hornet’s nest.
“Negisa-san,” Katsumi gulped, deciding this wasn’t something that could really wait. What if whatever that thing was was still there? Yeah, it was worth the glare of Negisa.
“Katsumi,” Negisa responded without looking up.
“I… um, I decided to consult the bones and something looked at me.”
Negisa sat up and tilted her head quizzically. “Explain,” she commanded.
“I thought the Realm might be able to give us something we were missing, so I went back to the location of the pyre and gathered some ash as a focus. I rolled the bones and felt something… different. It turned into a puff of smoke and… it looked at me.”
“Take me there, now.”
Katsumi slid open her door and Negisa pushed past her into Katsumi’s room. The bowl was still there, upside down, and surrounded by a small pile of ash completely encircling the dish.
“I covered it,” Katsumi said, as if it wasn’t already obvious. Katsumi kept her distance, sticking to the doorway.
Negisa cautiously paced around the bowl, watching it. She bent down and flipped the bowl right side up. There was nothing there save a small mound of ash. Larger than the handful Katsumi had placed to begin with, but no smoky being grew, no red eyes scanning the room. Just ash.
“There appears to be nothing there now,” Negisa observed. “I thought you said you were casting bones?”
Katsumi inhaled sharply, she had also noticed that nothing besides ash lay under the bowl. “Yeah… they were there.”
“Well, that doesn’t bode well.”
Katsumi sighed, “What’s going on?”
“Well,” Negisa began, rising to her feet but keeping her eyes on the pile, “Like you said, something was trying to watch you.”
“Yeah… I got that much.”
“Hopefully it didn’t figure out where you are.”
“Oh.” That was all Katsumi could say. The thought hadn’t really occurred to her that something may be trying to find her. She had simply believed that something was crossing through one of the realms, or at least trying to find a place to squeeze through, but she had stopped it. Now, though, Negisa had expressed that it was more targeted and not so random.
“Katsumi, you’ll be staying with me tonight,” Negisa instructed handing the bowl to Katsumi as she passed through the doorway.
“Understood.”
Katsumi looked at the bowl, and then sighed as she watched the unmoving and rather unspectacular pile of ash on the floor. The pain of losing her bones stabbed at her chest. As silly as it sounded, those bones were one of the very few things she held dear in life. They were crafted by her own hand. They were special. Carefully she swept the ash up into the bowl and found a place in the backyard to bury the remains of her bones.
***
Meintaro watched Asahina and Kitsuki attempt a tea ceremony. It was somewhat amusing to see the Naga interrupt every aspect of the ritual. She was definitely going to be a handful for Asahina, whom they had learned she was bound to. He tried to imagine what his life would have been like if she had understood Meintaro first. Probably a very complicated one like Asahina’s was turning out to be. Secretly, Meintaro was happy Asahina was the first to communicate with it. After a time, it looked like Asahina gave up on even trying to keep the Naga from touching anything, just sitting there with a perturbed look on his face. Well, since there was nothing more to interrupt, Meintaro decided it was as good of time as any to wrap this Naga business up. Perhaps they could find something out in the woods that they hadn’t today. They did sort of turn back home once the trail went cold at the Naga’s campsite.
“Maybe we should go eat some dinner,” Meintaro suggested. “We can set up a hunting party for tomorrow.”
“If she even lets us eat dinner,” Asahina grumbled. Yep, he was definitely irritated by the Naga’s presence.
“Maybe we shouldn’t be concerned with hunting right now,” Kitsuki said with such a condescending tone that Meintaro couldn’t help but narrow his eyes at him.
“Well, what is she going to eat?” Asahina turned on Kitsuki.
“She had boar out there. She obviously eats food.” Meintaro had to diffuse this situation, and what better way than with logic? Besides, when did this become a discussion on dietary habits? He had just suggested they return home to eat and tomorrow they could do some scouting again.
“I don’t know,” Asahina demurred, “I would feel that would be the main reason for hunting. She needs to eat too.”
“We are stocked with meat,” Kitsuki noted. Meintaro began to salivate at the thought of a kitchen filled with meat.
“We are stocked with meat,” Asahina agreed. “But… I don’t know, I don’t know if she’ll eat that.”
“Right, so I don’t think we have to worry about what to feed her, ‘cause she can feed herself,” Meintaro didn’t want to dwell on the subject any longer, lest he start drooling at his unfortunate taste for the forbidden flesh of animals.
“Yeah, as long as she isn’t feeding off our servants,” Asahina sardonically sneered.
“I don’t think they eat people, or we probably wouldn’t be here right now.” Plus, Meintaro thought, there were no human remains at the campsite.
“Yeah,” conceded Asahina.
“But, besides dinner, I was saying we should head back out tomorrow morning. Something did happen out there, and maybe we can find more like her,” Meintaro cocked his head towards the Naga. “Well, more alive who aren’t trying to kill her.”
“I agree,” Kitsuki nodded, “Maybe we should get a party together and see if we can trace the source of whatever it was that happened out there. I’ll join you.”
Meintaro shook his head. He didn’t want a cripple slowing them down and making a ruckus out in the brush. Asahina was bad enough, and Shiba too, but Kitsuki would be much worse. What if all the noise scared off all the other Naga and they would be stuck with this one forever? He almost shuddered at the thought.
“I think we’ll be fine, we don’t want to have to be watching out for you while taking care of this.”
“I’ll have my yojimbo with me; you won’t have to worry about my safety.”
That wasn’t the point to Meintaro, but then again, he had implied that to be polite. Perhaps he should have just outright said Kitsuki would be an unnecessary hindrance he didn’t want to bother with. Besides, what use would a scholar be out in the wilderness? Kitsuki had spent nearly every waking hour in his office, as Daigotsu had referred to it, since Meintaro arrived. Was he going to tell them about the history of every plant, or how boar came to live in this area of Rokugan? Probably. And even worse, he wanted to bring his yojimbo, which meant another set of noisy feet to tramp around in the woods with him.
“Yeah, Kitsuki should be fine,” Asahina broke in.
Meintaro sighed. “If you think so, Asahina-sama.”
***
It wasn’t hard for Katsumi to find Kitsuki since he was with Asahina, and the Naga. They stuck out like a sore thumb; she was close to twenty-feet long from head to tail, and made even more obvious by the people that stood a healthy distance away and gawked at her. The group was in the Phoenix section of town, where she had expected to find them anyways since they had spoken about it on the way back. She just hadn’t expected them to still be there.
“Kitsuki-san?” Katsumi tapped Kitsuki’s arm, he flinched, obviously not expecting her to appear beside him.
“Yes?” He said.
“I haven’t seen you at all today,” Katsumi remarked. It had suddenly hit her that she hadn’t, and after weeks of checking on him multiple times a day, it was just strange knowing this was the first time they were speaking and it was nearly dinner time. Kitsuki must have thought it odd too because he looked at her perplexed.
“I have heard about your journey. Quite interesting. Would you like to tell me about it?”
Katsumi glanced to the Naga. “Not particularly. I can see you’ve already been caught up. I was just going to inform you that I won’t be around for the rest of the evening.”
“Oh? Why is that?” Kitsuki was always so nosy; Katsumi really despised that trait of his, more so than his ability to somehow know when she was keeping something from him.
“I have things to attend to.”
“Such as?”
Katsumi stared at Kitsuki. Who the Jigoku did he think he was questioning her on her business? She didn’t answer to him; he was not anyway superior to her. Katsumi’s blood began to boil. Obviously, this Naga thing had brought out a side of Kitsuki she hadn’t seen before, and a side that would quickly bring him into deep water that he clearly wouldn’t be able to get out of. She clenched her fist instinctively.
“I was hoping you’d stay around,” confessed Kitsuki. “Our new friend doesn’t seem to particularly like me.”
That was a different story, if he had said that in the first place she probably wouldn’t have felt that hot wave of rage. Katsumi pressed her lips. If Kitsuki was worried about the Naga harming him, as he was indicating, she should probably keep a closer eye on him, but she wasn’t supposed to stay at the house tonight, in fact, she was specifically supposed to stay with Negisa, and there was no way she was going to tell Negisa that plans had changed. She debated on the subject, the only resolution would be for Kitsuki to stay with her and Negisa, otherwise she was failing at keeping her word to one or the other.
“You can stay with me. But not at the house,” Katsumi declared.
“Where then?”
“I’ll take you there.” Katsumi didn’t want to explain how to get to Negisa’s house from here, or even their place. It would just be much easier to show him.
“Oh, okay.”
“Shall we?” Katsumi took a step back, ready to leave. She had no reason to continue standing around, plus, there was something else she wanted to do on the way.
“Right now?”
“How else would you find it?” This Kitsuki also seemed kind of lost and confused. Nosy and confused, not a good combination.
“Very well.” Kitsuki turned back to Asahina and Tsuruchi, and the Naga. “When shall we set out tomorrow?”
“Crack of dawn,” Asahina answered.
Katsumi raised a brow curiously, not that anyone would be able to tell. She wasn’t going to ask, as it wasn’t her business, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t interested in where Kitsuki would be. She did have to check on him after all.
***
“I don’t see why we’d go any later,” Meintaro commented. Dawn was an okay time, but if they had a lot of ground to cover, as it seemed they would, then dawn was the absolute latest he would want to head out.
“I suppose we should start preparing tonight,” Asahina sighed eyeing up the Naga. Meintaro also looked at her; she was just standing there, watching Kitsuki and Daigotsu who were currently talking amongst themselves. She seemed to be rather interested in whatever it was. He wondered if she was going to draw her weapon on Kitsuki again. She hadn’t seemed to take her eyes off him since he arrived. She was a handful, that much was certain. Perhaps suggesting an earlier time would be the better choice.
“Crack of dawn is probably too late, but I guess we can start then.”
“I’ll put you in charge of the group, since you are the one who will be leading us. You tell us what time to start,” Asahina said.
“Right, we’ll get out about five.” Meintaro didn’t even have to think about it. Five was the perfect time, not too early that it would be dark for long and not too late so that they’d lose daylight while just getting to the woods. Speaking of woods, Meintaro was still in his hunting outfit and every time he had suggested they wrap this up, someone interrupted and found a reason for them to continue standing around. He was also getting hungry, but more than anything, he wanted to take a bath. “I’ve got to go change.”
***
Daigotsu glanced between Asahina and Anjin, seeming to be looking for an answer for their dawn meet up. It was then that Anjin realized she hadn’t been privy to the rest of the conversation and had no idea they were returning to the forest tomorrow. He, of course, wanted her there because he was still nervous about the Naga deciding he was some sort of threat and perhaps turning on him once they were in the seclusion of the woods. Things happened all the time, and having someone who was willing to take an arrow for him comforted Anjin a little.
“We’re going to head back to forest first thing tomorrow morning,” Anjin informed Daigotsu.
“Is there a reason for that?”
“Yes,” Anjin watched Daigotsu suspiciously. She may believe she hides her emotions behind that mask of hers, but Anjin could read her as easy as any scroll when it came to her body language. Earlier when she mentioned she had business to attend to, he knew she was keeping something from him. Her stony stare and silence only confirmed his suspicions. “It seems clear that the threat persists. Moreover, it seems unwise to let an unknown threat linger so close to the city. So we’d like to explore further if only to understand the nature of the danger.”
“That seems like a good course of action,” Daigotsu nodded after a moment, “I suppose I’ll be accompanying you?”
“I had hoped you would.” Anjin once again looked at the Naga. He trusted Asahina’s control over her as much as he trusted Daigotsu silence. Both were questionable.
“All you have to do is ask, Kitsuki-san.”
She had never said anything like that before. It was strange the way she was indenturing herself to him. When he first met her, she barely took her side of the agreement seriously, constantly disappearing and never saying a word. However, as time progressed she was forcing herself into his life more and more. Even checking on him in shorter and shorter intervals.
“Tsuruchi-san, Asahina-san, Kitsuki and I will see you tomorrow morning,” Daigotsu said to the two, interrupting the conversation between them. “Kitsuki, ready to go?”
“Yes,” Anjin answered. He actually got to answer. She wasn’t telling him, she posed a question and gave him a choice. Daigotsu was indeed acting strange.
***
The ache inside Katsumi grew as afternoon wore onto evening. She had scoured the town almost feverishly, looking for a set of replacement bones. Of course she had no luck in finding any, this was inside the Empire and no respectful samurai would handle bones or raw meat, or anything that they considered dirty. Then again, it wasn’t as if someone could easily find a set of fortune bones in the Shadowlands either. Her first set was given to her, but someone had made them expressly for her. She had made her second set once she understood what it was that specifically worked for her. Her third set was better crafted, being that she was older and more experienced with a knife by that time, and that had been the one she buried this afternoon. She had used that set for near four years, and now without it, she felt incomplete and on edge. It wasn’t just a tool for telling fortunes; it was a symbol of control for Katsumi. Now that piece was missing, like a string on a suit of armor, without it everything could come undone.
She grumbled as she rummaged the kitchen in their shared house, Kitsuki watching her, having been silent the entire trip to the several stores and then here. He probably was politely ignoring the fact that she wanted a set of bones; that was something people just didn’t talk about here. They didn’t talk about a lot, so many topics were taboo, it amazed Katsumi that there was anything to even speak about inside the Empire.
Katsumi set out the odds and ends she found. Chicken, pork, beef, she could use this but animal bones weren’t the only thing a set required. These were all unintelligent work animals, they created a part of a set, but she needed something more intelligent to be included.
“Kitsuki-san?” Katsumi asked as she set to work deftly cutting the bones from the meat without much thought.
“Yeah?” Kitsuki responded.
“Have you been keeping up with any mortalities in the area?” Katsumi pried. If she were lucky, there would be a death or two within the last week. Funeral customs allowed for a body to be mourned by friends and family for seven days before they lit the pyre; that allowed for a very small window for Katsumi to get what she required if one had recently met their end.
“Nothing out of the ordinary has happened recently, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“No. But you’re saying there has been one within the last week?”
“Yes…” Kitsuki said cautiously.
“Where at?” Katsumi glanced at Kitsuki as she gathered up the six bones she had just removed stuffing them into a small bag.
“They were all peasants. An old man passed maybe five days ago from age, a woman from sickness, and there was one that died in their sleep, but his heart was weak.”
That was all she needed to know. Peasants lived in a very small area of town now that so many samurai had come in and taken over, it wouldn’t be difficult to find what house from there. Obvious signs of mourning usually accompanied peasant funerals, especially ones who lived under the Scorpion, the most superstitious clan in the Empire.
“Thank you, Kitsuki-san,” Katsumi smiled as she finished cleaning up.
“Why?” Kitsuki finally asked. She knew it was coming, he could never allow something to go unanswered.
“Curiosity,” Katsumi put simply.
“Seems like a strange thing to be curious about…” Katsumi heard Kitsuki mutter as she passed him and exited the kitchen, politely ignoring his opinion on the matter.
***
Mikoto sat in the courtyard watching Shiba trim her bonsai tree. They had finished practically everything dealing with her wedding and she had come back to the shared house hoping to see Katsumi. Katsumi had promised to explain the Naga to her later, but Katsumi wasn’t there, no one was there except Shiba and only because Shiba came with her back home. That left very little to actually do besides watch Shiba fuss over her little tree. She had contemplated going out to find Katsumi but figured she would have to come home eventually, so Mikoto simply waited; waited to see Katsumi again.
A noise coming from the front of the house instantly lifted her spirits. Mikoto heard the door open and the footsteps of people, but from her spot in the courtyard she couldn’t actually see who came in. That is, until Tsuruchi rounded the corner to his room, dressed in the most peculiar fashion, he was covered in paint and had feathers in his hair. Whatever, she thought, Tsuruchi wasn’t a concern for her no matter what way he dressed. He could be wearing geisha paint for all she cared, he still wasn’t Katsumi. Next to come into view was Asahina, who looked haggard, and right behind him was something intriguing. A woman, but not a woman, taller than Asahina by as much as Asahina was taller than Mikoto, nearly a foot, and her lower half was that of a serpent. It was quite an astonishing sight; Mikoto couldn’t take her eyes off the creature as it followed Asahina towards his room.
“That’s a Naga,” Shiba said, pointing at the thing.
“I see,” proclaimed Mikoto. She had never seen anything like it and was instantly curious on everything dealing with this thing. The Naga’s skin was shiny, not metallic, but gleamed as if it was glossy, if it was even skin, that is. The color was very wrong. She wondered what it felt like.
“I think we want to… keep it,” Shiba commented in her usual uncertainty.
“I think we have no choice,” Asahina grumbled stopping in the courtyard before reaching the stairs to his room.
“It’s not a pet,” Tsuruchi said in passing as he walked out the backdoor, a bucket of bath supplies in his hand.
Mikoto touched a hand to Hikaru, and put one on Hinata as well. They had become rather agitated once the thing entered the house and she didn’t want either of them to attack this rare creature. It could turn out badly if her lions killed a Naga, especially since Shiba had told her that they haven’t really been seen for twenty years. Slowly she approached the Naga, examining her. Mikoto had an affinity to animals, and although this one was clearly part snake, she didn’t seem to give off the same body language Mikoto was used to interpreting. Then again, Mikoto had never watched a snake and tried communicating with it.
Once Mikoto was within reach, the thing stretched her arm at and began flipping Mikoto’s hair. Perhaps that was some sort of greeting these things did, or maybe she was showing that she liked her; how did snakes show people they liked them? Her lions rubbed on people, Mikoto thought, perhaps that was something she should try. Rubbing was universal; it meant you liked someone no matter what species you were. It was worth a shot, and she was really interested in the texture of this Naga’s skin.
Mikoto extended her hand and gently brushed the Naga’s right side then watched for a negative reaction. The snake just looked at her. Okay, so far so good, she began petting the Naga. Her skin felt very similar to her own skin. It was soft, velvety even, but so very smooth, and when Mikoto’s fingers touched the Naga’s hip, the texture flowed into something as smooth as glass but soft and flexible where the snake took over and scales formed. The next thing Mikoto knew, Asahina stepped next to her and began petting her, running his hand down her shoulder and arm. Mikoto growled inside at his touch, she wasn’t fond of him getting friendly with her since that night and the results of it, meaning her pregnancy that was clearly his fault. However, she kept it to herself, understanding that he was doing so as an example to the Naga, who seemed confused at what was going on. Mikoto bit her tongue and patted Asahina as well, trying to be as impersonal as she could and resisting the urge to outright hit him. Something must have clicked in the Naga because she began petting both Mikoto and Asahina in return. Good, they were getting it across to her, Mikoto thought excitedly. She knew friendly touching could break any barrier, it’s how she always showed animals she wasn’t a threat. Apparently, Naga weren’t much different from Hikaru and Hinata.
The Naga peered towards Shiba, and without much warning, and much quicker than Mikoto thought something of her size could move, she was coiling around Shiba and Shiba’s bonsai tree, inspecting the tree more than Shiba.
“You don’t understand art at all, do you?” Asahina asked.
Mikoto stared, wide-eyed. He asked the Naga a question, she had no idea it could speak. Shiba hadn’t said anything to her about the Naga speaking or not, and here she assumed it was more snake than it was human without even considering that it could communicate with more than just body language. The Naga, however, didn’t respond. Instead, she began patting Shiba, who visibly withdrew, pulling her shoulders in and curling up, behavior that indicated she was extremely uncomfortable with this situation. People weren’t much different from animals either, though they were much less honest, which did make understanding them harder when they weren’t visibly acting like Shiba did.
“Come on,” Asahina shouted, clapping his hands to get the Naga’s attention. “Stop that. Stop that.”
At his request, the Naga stopped touching Shiba and pulled out a tambourine, shaking it towards Asahina. How interesting, Mikoto thought. The thing couldn’t talk, but could understand them. And what was this tambourine thing about? Maybe she was talking with it. Whatever the case was, Asahina had decided to fill the air with his flute playing that the Naga seemed to enjoy very much, shaking her tambourine in rhythm and she did some sort of weaving, slithering, dancing around the courtyard. It was kind of mesmerizing. Then again, the Naga was probably the most interesting thing Mikoto had ever laid eyes on, so it was all kind of mesmerizing, not just the dancing.
After four or five songs, Tsuruchi returned to the courtyard, looking much more normal. He had cleaned up and wore his usual attire, feathers and paint no longer accessorizing his outfit. The Naga lost interest in playing and dancing as soon as he entered the open-air room, zoomed to Tsuruchi and began stroking his head.
Tsuruchi’s hands flew up as he shuffled backwards. “Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.”
Mikoto knew a way to fix this; she quickly joined the two and stuck the Naga’s hand on her head, allowing the snake to pet her again. This seemed to please not just the Naga, but Tsuruchi as well, who promptly entered the dining area giving Mikoto and her new friend a wide berth. Apparently not everyone got along with animals as well as she did.
***
Kyuzo watched the Naga pet Mikoto again, it obviously didn’t bother Mikoto, but it bothered Tsuruchi. It bothered Shiba too, and honestly, he didn’t want the petting to continue because he didn’t want to have to apologize to every person he met from now until… Kyuzo sighed, until she repaid her debt to him, the thought miserably. He brought her into the town, and now he was basically her keeper, which was more of a hindrance than anyone seemed to realize. Yes, she was talented in battle, at least that’s the way it appeared since she had taken out three other Naga and they had only wounded her. However, that didn’t matter when it came to his honor, and the honor of others. She couldn’t go around touching everyone. She’d get herself into trouble, and worse, she’d get him into trouble. He had to think of some way to teach her to keep her hands to herself. For now, it seemed music kept her too busy to pet others, with all that tambourine shaking and dancing she was doing she didn‘t have time to touch anyone else.
He put his flute to his lips and began another song, hoping to bring her back to entertaining herself. It did stop her from touching Mikoto, and Shiba and Tsuruchi had already left the courtyard, but she wasn’t playing along like she had before. Instead, she placed herself right in front of Kyuzo and snatched his flute away. Alright, he thought, she isn’t interested in music anymore. Then she handed him her tambourine. He shook it with a smile, pretending to show how fun it was to shake it; in reality, Kyuzo wasn’t having fun at all. The Naga examined his flute and blew into it, emitting a short, high-pitched screech from too much force in her breath. She shook her head and stole her tambourine back from him, placing his flute back in Kyuzo’s hand. That was something else he was going to have to teach her, he thought with yet another sigh. She couldn’t take other people’s items.
Kyuzo stared at her, running through the multitude of responsibilities that saving her life had thrust him into when she pointed to the next room where Shiba and Tsuruchi were eating.
“Bring her some food, someone. Get a Spider cook to bring her something. Just anything. A side of beef or… whatever,” He called, putting his flute away. He still wasn’t sure what she needed to eat, or how much, but meat sounded like the best thing since there was boar at her camp, as Tsuruchi had pointed out. It was past time for him to eat as well, so he joined everyone in the dining room.
A loud squawking and clucking did nothing to ease Kyuzo’s frustrated night, as he realized, only too late, the Spider cook was carrying in two very angry, very live chickens, right into their dining room, since the Naga, of course, was right behind him as she had been since he bandaged her.
“Why are there live chickens in the house?” Tsuruchi asked. The answer became incredibly apparent when the Spider cook handed both chickens to the Naga who watched the birds fight and flutter trying to get free from her grasp. She was looking to Kyuzo, as if she needed permission to eat. He desperately hoped that wouldn’t be the case every time.
“Go ahead,” Kyuzo said, turning his back on the Naga. This wasn’t something he wanted to see. However she was going to eat them was probably a gruesome scene to behold. He only hoped that she didn’t tear them apart, leaving a mess to clean up afterwards.
The clucking of the chickens slowly died down, Kyuzo could hear their wings cease their flapping, and then he heard Tsuruchi say, “I don’t think I want any more fish.”
It was done. When he turned back around there stood the Naga, empty handed and not a feather to clean up. Good enough, Kyuzo thought. Apparently, that wasn’t the case as the Naga began playing with Shiba’s rice. She sniffed it and poked at it, then tasted it, much like she had done with Kyuzo’s tea from his tea set earlier in the day. In fact, she made a disgusted face exactly the same as she had with the tea, but this time continued to eat the rice, slowly choking down small handfuls.
“I thought they were intelligent enough to know what tools were,” Tsuruchi sarcastically said. Honestly, Kyuzo hadn’t given much thought to what the Naga ate with, he didn’t really want to give it much thought, and he didn’t want to think about them eating at all. The sound of the chickens slowly dying replayed in his head. Yep, he didn’t want to know at all.
“Wait, wait,” Matsu hurried into the dining room with something Kyuzo had seen Daigotsu eating from time to time. It was some sort of brown colored rice, whatever was mixed with it had changed it to that color. If Daigotsu ate it, it had to be something the rest of them shouldn’t be eating, which was good in a way. It meant that it was something the Naga probably would eat. Matsu handed the Naga the plate of square, brown, rice cakes, taking one off the plate herself. In an over exaggerated attempt at eating, which Kyuzo had to shake his head at since the Naga wasn’t stupid, Matsu bit into the rice cake and made an “mmmm” sound. The Naga repeated the process, sniffing, poking, and tasting. This time it was to her liking. She shoved Shiba’s rice back towards Shiba and finished off what was left of Daigotsu’s food in a matter of seconds. Shiba looked horrified, though she wasn’t looking at that Naga; she was staring at Matsu who was finishing off her piece as well. Kyuzo’s stomach knotted realizing Matsu freely consumed whatever it was that both the Naga and Daigotsu found so appetizing, having an inkling as to what it might be.
***
Morasahi wasn’t feeling very hungry anymore. First, the Naga had come into the place she was eating to kill and swallow two chickens whole, then her and Matsu finished off a plate of Daigotsu’s blood cake. The Naga eating it was bad enough. Daigotsu eating it was bad enough. Matsu eating it was what caused her stomach to churn, yet again, knowing very well that Matsu was also aware it was made with blood. She stared horrified at Matsu, then glanced in the same manner at her bowl of rice that had been touched and tasted by the Naga. Yep, she was done. If she took another bite, her dinner might force itself out of her.
“Shiba-san,” Tsuruchi’s voice was dripping with annoyance. “We’re going hunting tomorrow morning-”
“So you can bring home another one?!” Morasahi nearly shouted. This one was horrid enough; she couldn’t imagine having to deal with two. And what if there were more than just two? She was almost panicking at the thought of a house full of Naga, patting, touching, threatening, and eating whole chickens. She shuddered.
“Or,” Tsuruchi said calmly, “So we can leave this one where we found it. That would be a great blessing on us all. We’re leaving at five, so have an early breakfast.”
“Okay,” Morasahi nodded. She could accept that. If they just put it back out in the woods, it could find the rest of those like her and they could be rid of it.
“No one give her any sake,” instructed Tsuruchi as a servant brought out a bottle for him. Sake sounded like a good idea right now. Morasahi could use a drink, or two, or three. She closed her eyes and tried to pretend this wasn’t happening to her, that Asahina didn’t bring this thing into the house to spite her.
“Whoa. Whoa. Whoa!” Tsuruchi began yelling, shattering any chance Morasahi had at pretending life was better. She opened her eyes to see Tsuruchi wrestling with the Naga for the bottle of sake. She looked around the table at the others. Matsu seemed to be completely enthralled with it since it crawled in the house. And Asahina just watched; he was a hard one to read.
“At least if she goes to sleep, I can paint her,” Asahina said wistfully.
“You want to paint her, Asahina-sama?” Questioned Matsu.
“I just… You know, how often do you have a chance to have a subject like this?” His pensive tone changing to something resembling hopeful curiosity.
Morasahi didn’t want to hear any more. She didn’t want to be around this thing anymore. She was ready to call it a night and hopefully tomorrow they could put that thing back in the woods and be rid of the insane antics it had brought into their lives.
“Bring me a bottle of shochu,” She instructed the closest servant. “Bring it to my room. I’m done here.”
***
The Naga finally let go of the sake bottle she had been trying to take from Tsuruchi. Half of it spilling on the table and the floor before the fight was over. If the Naga was thirsty, who was Tsuruchi to prevent her from drinking something? Granted, Mikoto didn’t like the taste of sake, but that wasn’t her decision to make for the snake. Whatever the case was, Mikoto wanted to make sure the Naga had had its fill before Asahina carted it off to his room to paint it. She rubbed her belly and nodded to the snake, “Full?” She asked.
Apparently, the Naga didn’t understand Rokugani as well as Mikoto had believed, because instead of nodding or rubbing its belly, it put a hand on Mikoto’s. It was only there for a second before the Naga pulled away from her, looked at Mikoto, then at her belly and pressed its hand to it again. This time the snake shot a glance from Mikoto to Asahina, then down at Mikoto’s belly, back to Asahina and back to her belly-
“No!” Mikoto snapped jerking away from the Naga who tried to touch her belly again and glanced at Asahina. “No.” Mikoto pushed her hand away. “No,” Mikoto said slowly touching at her own stomach.
“No,” the Naga responded putting a hand on her belly. Mikoto blinked, it just spoke, it hadn’t said a single thing since it arrived and now it just spoke. She was so stunned she didn’t realize the Naga pressed a hand to Mikoto’s stomach until the Naga again said, “No.”
Mikoto cupped the Naga’s hand putting pressure on her stomach, “No,” Mikoto shook her head. Then she moved the Naga’s hand to her head and nodded, “Yes.” She repeated the action, “No,” on the belly, “Yes,” on the head.
The Naga took its hand back and touched her own head. “Yesss.”
This was amazing, it was speaking! Mikoto was so excited. She was teaching it where appropriate touching was, you could touch someone’s head, but don’t touch their belly. She had always had a way with animals.
“No,” the Naga touched her own belly, and then she moved her hand to her head again and said, “Yesss.”
“Yes,” Matsu nodded.
The Naga put her hand on Tsuruchi’s head, “Yesss.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Tsuruchi ducked out of the way holding is hands up as if to push the Naga away.
“Whoa,” the Naga said pointing to her own hand, indicating stop as Tsuruchi had. This thing was so intelligent, it was learning so fast.
Mikoto pointed to Asahina. “Asahina,” She said slowly. She then pointed to herself, “Mikoto.” Lastly, she pointed at the Naga and waited.
“Sssara.”
“Good,” Mikoto smiled.
Sara withdrew her tambourine from her belt and shook it. “Unnatra. Unnatra.”
Mikoto didn’t actually understand what she wanted, did she want to play music, or was she trying to say the tambourine was called an un… she already forgot the word.
Sara shook the tambourine again, this time saying the word slowly, “Un na tra.”
“Un-na-tra,” Mikoto mimicked. Sara shook her tambourine in response. Mikoto was communicating with it!
“Well, we have an early day tomorrow,” Asahina said, interrupting Mikoto’s fun.
They were apparently going hunting again tomorrow. She wondered if that meant Katsumi would go with them again, or if she would stay here since she hadn’t been part of the conversation over dinner. She was starting to miss Katsumi, as strange as it sounded. She hadn’t really seen her for three days, only in passing and those were just hellos and goodbyes for the most part. Things had been a whirlwind of activity since Yanagi got back into town. Mikoto took in a deep breath; she was getting married in two days. It was a concept she thought was far off, but now she was being rushed into it in order to cover-up her illicit evening with Asahina. Another deep breath as she swallowed down the nervousness and anger that came with both getting married so quickly and the thought of Asahina. It was all his fault.
***
Kyuzo stretched as he walked to his room, Sara following behind him, as he expected. She wasn’t going to leave him alone for an instant, what was he going to do during his bath, or what about other women? She was going to be watching; that was the best-case scenario, she might even try to hurt the girl, whoever it would be. He groaned at the thought that began a cascading string of all the things Sara might end up doing in any situation. She was going to be more of a challenge than this town had so far. In fact, in one day she had been more work than this town had for the last six weeks.
He sat down at his paint set, pulling out his brushes. Since tea ceremonies were out of the question, maybe he could paint to relax, that is, if she didn’t try to smell and taste everything he was going to be using. Carefully he set up, watching her watch him. She didn’t touch anything. Good, at least she had some sort of respect for art. Then she did something completely unexpected. Sara pulled out a leather case, and once she opened it, an assortment of brushes greeted Kyuzo. Granted, her brushes were made with bone handles, but it was still an art set. It was more than that. It was a painting set. Along with the brushes, she presented an ink set much like the one he used for calligraphy. She set herself up and began painting on his wall.
“Uh,” Kyuzo was going to protest to her using his wall for painting, but it was already too late. Besides, how was he going to convince her when she had already proven to find his teaching to be difficult to understand? Matsu, on the other hand, said three things and Sara suddenly comprehended everything. Granted, it was not the right sort of teaching, with the petting and naming her head yes, while her stomach is no.
Kyuzo shook his head and set to work painting Sara while she painted his walls.
“This and this are variations of each other,” Negisa pointed to the first and second picture. The second picture was much like the first, except the woman legs were pulled to her chest with her feet near the man’s shoulders; the man was more inclined using his arms for balance. “We’ll start there.”
***
Katsumi sat cross-legged in the family room of Negisa’s house, silently waiting for the time to pass. Kitsuki sat across from her, not so rigid; he was lounging but also silent. He never seemed to have much to say to Katsumi, but that was alright, she didn’t like talking much and preferred if he didn’t hold a one-sided conversation. Not that she had known Kitsuki ever to hold a one-sided conversation. Besides, she wasn’t much in the mood for conversation either, all the things that had happened today, the things that no one should know outside of her family, those would be the things brought up by Kitsuki, and he wasn’t family. So, they sat with only Negisa’s shuffling around the house to fill the air.
He was looking at her, she knew even though her eyes were downcast. The way Kitsuki looked at her when he believed her to be lying. She knew the look because she could feel the weight of his gaze. It amused Katsumi at times because she hadn’t lied to Kitsuki since the one time in his tent, the morning after he learned about her curse, and he had caught her in it. Since then, it seemed like there was no point to lie. She wasn’t good at lying in the first place, and the fact that Kitsuki had seen through her first and only lie to him proved it was futile. There was a reason Katsumi didn’t enjoy conversation, besides being a bore most of the time, she didn’t trust herself to answer delicate questions in a matter that was acceptable to others, others like Kitsuki.
It was good that he was watching her, Katsumi thought to herself. It was keeping him from watching Negisa. That strangling grip that accompanied Negisa’s presence whenever Katsumi was near her tightened its hold. It was too late to take back her offer to keep Kitsuki here, but all Katsumi wanted now was to shove him out and keep him from discovering Negisa’s hidden talent. Negisa was warding the house, which was meant to keep Katsumi safe for the night, but the manner in which she was doing it made Katsumi feel farther from safety than if she were sitting in her own room where that thing had looked at her. She was using maho. A magic that was forbidden inside the Empire a long time ago; a magic that the Spider knew quite well; and a magic that used blood to call on the kansin, the dark and twisted kami who inhabited the world. If Kitsuki learned Negisa was practicing it inside the Empire - Katsumi inhaled sharply, she didn’t want to think of the consequences that would surely come.
Katsumi mentally thanked Fu Leng when Negisa finished her warding. Kitsuki hadn’t said a thing, which meant he probably hadn’t noticed. He was much better at reading people than taking in his surroundings. Locking himself in a library for the countless years before they met, and the last month since they met, had surely given him a false sense of security, disjointing him from the dangers that life held outside his safe little walls.
“What happened to your legs?” Negisa stood over Kitsuki.
“I was born this way,” Kitsuki answered timidly. Katsumi wanted to laugh at his reaction. Kitsuki was never timid. Negisa brought it out in people, she brought many emotions out in people, and Kitsuki like this was darkly funny.
“I could probably fix that,” Negisa offered. Katsumi clenched her jaw. You don’t accept favors from Negisa; Negisa always collects.
“How?” Kitsuki asked.
“We have ways,” Negisa joined them on the floor. “The Spider have been in some very unfortunate places in our times, we have found ways to heal just about everything.”
It was true, in a way. There were some amazing feats the Spider had accomplished with a power only they possessed, but it wasn‘t exact. They knew ways to defeat old age, to maintain beauty; they knew ways to be unseen in the middle of the day that would put the Scorpion to shame; they even knew ways to cheat death in a multitude of gifts, whether from magic or from Fu Leng’s blessing. The problem was, sometimes those ways cost them dearly in another way, and even worse, those who weren’t part of the Spider sometimes didn’t get the results they desired because their souls were too weak to accept the power Fu Leng could grant.
“Other unfortunate clans have tried their mystical ways also,” Kitsuki said unimpressed.
“Have other unfortunate clans figured out ways to cleans the taint?” Negisa smiled.
Also true.
“This isn’t caused by taint,” Kitsuki countered.
“It doesn’t matter. The point is we have the ability to heal things others believe to be unhealable.”
There was a pause; long enough for Katsumi to guess what was going to come next. No one refused after considering something for that length of time. The person had already decided, they just didn’t want to admit it, and for the sake of their own conscience they pause and pretend to wrestle with the possibility of saying no, knowing it will not come.
“What do you have in mind?” Kitsuki asked.
“I have to look at the legs first to determine that. So strip,” Negisa ordered.
That was Katsumi’s cue to turn around. She wasn’t embarrassed to see a naked man; it was more because it was Kitsuki. She wanted to offer him the semblance of privacy for his sake, so he wouldn’t feel awkward or develop any ideas about Katsumi that didn’t ring true.
“Katsumi,” Negisa said sweetly, “Go find Shiba.”
Katsumi turned to Kitsuki, who had only just begun untying his obi. “If it is okay with you, Kitsuki-san?”
“I’ll be fine,” Kitsuki nodded.
Katsumi was thankful for the excuse to leave the house. Dutifully she headed to her own home to fetch Shiba as Negisa had requested.
***
Anjin resumed his anxious undressing. All his life he had been burdened with this ailment, and most of his life he had been exposed to various procedures to correct his issue; none had succeeded as was obvious. However, for some reason he believed this time would be different. Maybe it was the claim that they had figured out how to heal the taint from someone’s body, a claim that may not have any validity, but it was a lofty claim and people didn’t normally throw something like that around. Maybe it was because Negisa was so straightforward about his problem and her belief she could do something to help; she was very steadfast in offering help. Maybe it was just that she was a Spider. They were the first people in a very long time who spoke to him candidly without forcing him to second-guess every word from their mouths. They had accepted him and his affliction, not accepted him and politely ignored his lameness.
“What have you been doing to my little sister?” Negisa glowered at Anjin.
“What do you mean?” Anjin was confused as to where the question even came from. Perhaps this whole offer to help him was just a ruse after all.
“She usually jumps whenever I tell her to do anything. This time she asked you for permission to do something I told her to do. What have you done to my little sister?”
“She is very protective of me. I can’t say I fully understand why,” Anjin tried to explain. He hadn’t done anything to Daigotsu, though now that Negisa had said something, Anjin could see the subtle change from when they first met to tonight. Obviously, he wasn’t the only one who noticed she was acting unusual.
“I don’t even fully understand why. Anyways,” Negisa’s voice lost the steely edge she had adopted after Daigotsu had left the house, “continue stripping.”
Anjin removed everything but his fundoshi while Negisa circled him, examining his body which including poking and touching when she wanted to. It was somewhat uncomfortable, having a beautiful woman inspecting his unsightly and unspeakable deformity. He wasn’t a gargoyle, but with a twisted spine and low functioning legs, he wasn’t exactly pretty in body, either.
“Sit,” Negisa instructed.
Anjin followed. That was when things became even more uncomfortable. Negisa straddled his shin and wrapped her hands around his thigh so her thumbs were pointed towards his torso; she applied pressure and ran her hands from Anjin’s knee to where his leg met his crotch and hip, then back down to his knee. She stroked his muscles and the most curious thing happened, he felt the muscles react. He didn’t feel much in his legs, that was part of his affliction, and he felt this. They crawled under his skin, and although it then brought on a whole knew experience of knotted and tight soreness, he felt it, that’s all that mattered. He marveled at the talent Negisa had as she repeated the process on Anjin’s other leg, with the same results.
He was stunned. Of all the things he had been put through; all the many different tortures and tonics and years of his father trying to fix him; this woman rubbed his legs and made improvements where none had been made before. It was amazing.
“What did you do?” Anjin breathed.
“The Spider have their ways,” she smiled coyly at him.
“Can you tell me more?” Anjin asked, trying to hide his desperation.
“It’s possible. It depends.”
“On what?”
“A lot. Mostly you.”
“What about me?” Anjin wasn’t sure where this was going. If she was going to ask him to join the Spider in order to keep whatever healing secrets they had within the clan, that was out of the question. However, if it was simply what he was willing to pay, he had many things he could offer, a wealth of knowledge and the ability to move people with his words; he could pay whatever it was.
“I need to know what it is that drives you. This technique isn’t something that is freely shared outside the Spider, and it is my job to keep it that way. So, tell me, Kitsuki, what do you want in life?”
He didn’t have to think on the question to know the answer. “I want balance to return,” He said. He wanted to be whole, to not need something else to make him complete, to be as balanced in body as he felt in mind.
“It’s obtainable, but to be balanced don’t you think there needs to be a restructuring first? Nothing can continue on as it was before with the same decisions and expect different results.”
“It depends on the cause of the imbalance,” He answered.
“With the way the celestial cycle sits right now, I think there is imbalance in Rokugan. I believe there is imbalance in the way many live their lives, and because of that there is imbalance in the people, including you.”
“The celestial cycle is not for me to question.”
“And there we have our first issue,” Negisa said pointedly. “Everything is for you to question; otherwise one would grow stagnant and weak. One would become imbalanced in mind, and eventually body. Would you not say the first Hantai deserved to be emperor?”
Negisa was treading through some very deep water. Anjin knew she was pontificating on some blasphemous topics, ones that, if anyone knew she and Anjin were talking about, would cause them to meet an end very quickly. In a way he wanted to stop the conversation, he wanted to stay where he had, within the laws of Rokugan, but that meant he would also stay the way he was. If talking about such ideas could lead to being a better person, there wasn’t much harm in it, as long as it didn’t go past that, Anjin reasoned.
“I don’t believe any man is deserving,” Anjin answered.
“But Hantai was not a man,” Negisa countered, “He was a Kami. He fell from heaven along with his brothers and sisters to establish the clans.”
How could he say it in a different way so it proved the same point? It wasn‘t for him, or anyone besides the Kami to decide who was deserving. Moreover, if one were to follow the rule of Hantai, the Kami who ruled the Empire, then one followed through faith.
“I don’t believe we live based on merit, but faith. Whether or not we deserve something is irrelevant. The Celestial Heavens decide what we are given.” That was a decent way to put it, Anjin thought to himself.
“And yet we have decided to maneuver the Heavens into our belief of what should be. The Spider have only just been recognized by Rokugani law as a great clan, and yet we are the descendants of a Kami as well, a brother of Hantai. It took 1200 years for man to allow us our rightful place, a place they would deny us if it were not for the Celestial Heavens speaking through Iwako who had made it so. The blood of Hantai runs through the veins of the son of our Dark Lord Daigotsu. Would not the blood of the Emperor deserve the right to the throne?”
“Sure,” Anjin agreed.
“So we should return the Emperor to his rightful seat, as is just and right. Would that not return balance?”
“Of course.” Anjin had never thought of it that way. It was known that Empress Iwako was chosen to be the voice of the Celestial Heavens by the Heavens itself, and it was she who declared the Spider a part of the Empire. However, he found it hard to believe that law had strayed so far from the path the Heavens wished. There was a reason the children of Fu Leng were denied entry into the Empire for so long, but now he wasn’t sure if it was by choice of man or the Kami. “But justice isn’t about working out imbalance. It’s about working out the best way for things to work out.”
“And what is the best way to balance things?” Negisa asked, leading Anjin into questioning the way Rokugan had been running.
“I don’t know… I know I’m not interested in putting blind faith into something as simple as the letter of law.”
“And so, what is it you want most?”
“Like I said, balance.”
“If you are true to what you have said, that you are ready to follow the path our Kami have forged for us without blindly accepting the law man has imposed, I can show you how to heal your legs. Is that the choice you are ready to make?”
Anjin swallowed hard. He wanted to walk. He believed the things she was saying, that somehow the Spider followed the will of the Kami closer than others did. It had been a very long time since any Kami but Fu Leng walked the earth, which meant it had been a very long time for men to impose their own beliefs into the system. He saw no flaw in her logic.
“Yes, very much,” Anjin whispered. “What is it that will return my balance?”
Negisa mouthed the word, she didn’t even breathe the sounds but Anjin heard those two syllables as if she had shouted it. They shot through his mind, and brought fear into his soul. Just knowing what she offered put his life in jeopardy, and he had agreed to learn, which promised him a swift, dishonorable death if anyone were to learn of it. He sat in stunned silence while Negisa pleasantly smiled. That word reverberating through his very soul. That word echoing in his ears. Maho.
***
Morasahi contemplated her next move. Her opponent was an intelligent and tricky one; she had no inkling as to what the next move would entail. Carefully she tapped her white stone on a junction trying to determine if the placement would bring about her loss or her victory. Her opponent was silent giving away nothing. She left the stone there and took another drink of shochu before shuffling to the other side of the Go board and picking up a black stone, spending just as much time as she had before factoring the best route to besting herself.
“Shiba-san?”
Morasahi twisted around to see Daigotsu standing in her doorway. She hadn’t even heard the door open and there Daigotsu was, staring at her. Staring at her like she always did. Probably judging and laughing at her behind that mask of hers. Morasahi hated that mask. Morasahi didn’t care for Daigotsu much either, but that mask… that was a terrible piece of clothing. Who would really put a uniform together with a mask?
“Yush?” Morasahi slurred. She had been drinking for some time, though, now that she thought about it, she didn’t exactly know what time it was, or how much she had had to drink.
“Negisa requests your presence,” Daigotsu said plainly.
“Why?” Morasahi was in the middle of a very challenging game of Go. If it wasn’t important, she would rather be left alone.
“If I knew, she probably wouldn’t have had a need for you in the first place.”
What did that even mean? Was Daigotsu trying to say that she was better at doing whatever task it was Negisa wanted her to do better than she was? Daigotsu didn’t make sense. She rarely made sense. She spoke a bunch of nonsense all the time. Like that Naga. Morasahi shuddered thinking about it waiting out there for her. And Asahina would just smile while it skewered her. Asahina liked weird things like that Naga. Asahina like making Morasahi’s job hard. She was certain he liked to see her struggle.
Speaking of struggling, Morasahi realized she was walking with Daigotsu’s arm linked with hers. When did that happen? Daigotsu was dragging her through the streets. It was dark outside. The air smelled sharp. It must be late. Was it even night still or had it rounded the hour to morning before the sun rose? There was something she was supposed to do when the sun rose… eat an early breakfast, that’s what Tsuruchi had said.
“Wharewe go’n’?”
“Why don’t you show me?”
Daigotsu stopped dragging her and allowed Morasahi to lead the way. Morasahi didn’t know where they were supposed to be going, but she knew it was to the left. Obviously, she was right because Daigotsu allowed her to stumble that way. She was often right; people just didn’t listen to her. And what was with the ground? It was so uneven she had a hard time not tripping and falling. If Daigotsu weren’t holding her, she would have easily fallen from the terribly uneven road. Maybe Daigotsu was leading her to every pit and bump on the road just so Morasahi would look silly. People liked to make Morasahi look silly, but that wasn’t Daigotsu. No, Daigotsu was worse than that. Daigotsu didn’t even acknowledge the follies of others, like she didn’t even notice. Like everyone was below her, or she didn’t care. She should care. Morasahi was worth caring about.
They rounded a corner Morasahi didn’t intend to go around and came face to face with a familiar door. Did all doors like this similar? Naw, that wouldn’t make sense. Every door was unique, like every kimono. Like her kimono that Daigotsu had ruined and burned. Who said anything about a kimono? Morasahi slowly blinked as the light blinded her from inside the building. Daigotsu was taking off Morasahi’s shoes, holding her up. In the room sat two people. One was nearly nude. Whoa, what did she walk into? Was this some sort of trick Daigotsu was playing on her? And the other…
“Heeey Neg’sa,” Morasahi waved and felt herself losing balance, tilting to the left but a hand grabbed her right arm. Daigotsu was still standing there. Didn’t she leave? Morasahi pulled her arm away and stumbled backwards.
“Shiba,” the nude man said to her. That voice was familiar, too. Morasahi squinted her eyes. Oh, it was Kitsuki. This had suddenly become much more awkward than just some random man with Negisa. She knew Kitsuki. She didn’t want to see Kitsuki in his underwear.
“Little Sister, it seems I have two students now,” Negisa said in her sugary voice. Morasahi was a little sister, but not Negisa’s. Did Negisa know that?
“You will all be staying here. I like to protect my students and my family, for the most part…” Negisa kept talking but Morasahi stopped listening. She liked to protect people too. Negisa was like a taller, bustier, and much prettier version of herself. Morasahi could be pretty too, but not in those clothes. They were all weird and that was just not something she wanted to wear. She liked her kimono. The one that had burned was one of her favorites. Why did they burn it again?
Negisa led her to an empty room and began undressing her. Apparently, Negisa wanted to help her go to bed. Morasahi wasn’t sure how she felt about this. She could undress herself but didn’t really feel like it, so Negisa doing it wasn’t a problem. That was until she started touching Morasahi. Negisa’s warm mouth engulfed Morasahi’s nipple, and for a moment, Morasahi swam in her drunken haze not sure if this was some strange dream or if this was really happening.
Negisa pushed Morasahi down onto the futon and forced her knee between Morasahi’s. She was above Morasahi, her arms like bars on either side of Morasahi’s shoulders, and her legs pinning down one of Morasahi’s. It was a little frightening and brought on a moment of understanding that this wasn’t a dream and Negisa was about to ravage her. She pushed Negisa with as much effort as she could muster, which wasn’t much since Negisa didn’t budge while Morasahi was pushing at her. However, the message must have gotten across because Negisa rolled to Morasahi’s side and covered the both of them with the blanket.
This was okay, Morasahi thought. Negisa actually felt nice. She was warm and soft and wrapped her arms around Morasahi.
***
Meintaro enjoyed the silence the morning before dawn brought. He enjoyed his breakfast. He enjoyed the quiet company of Asahina. Then he was reminded why he was up before the city began stirring by the agonizing scream of a cow, and he wasn’t enjoying the day any longer. Needless to say, the fact that Kitsuki, Shiba, and Daigotsu all were not in their rooms, and hadn’t shown for breakfast also put a damper on his morning. They were supposed to leave by five, yet not one of them was even there to leave. Meintaro shook his head; it was their loss in the end.
“Right, let’s go. I don’t know where anyone else is,” He said to Asahina.
“Yeah,” Asahina agreed. “We don’t have time to track them down. We have to head out.”
***
Katsumi nudged Kitsuki with her foot. It baffled her that he was still sound asleep even after she had come into his room to wake him. Normally, whomever Katsumi was attempting to rouse would have opened their eyes as soon as the door made any sound at all, but not Kitsuki. Now, however, with her nudging him, Kitsuki rolled and made some sort of groaning sound as if to say he wasn’t ready to get up yet.
“Kitsuki, get up. It’s time to go,” Katsumi pushed.
“Where?” Kitsuki sounded groggy and didn’t even open his eyes when he asked.
“Do you not remember? We’re going into the woods. You wanted to investigate the Naga.”
“Oh,” Kitsuki said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. “Yeah. I forgot,” He yawned loudly, “About that. I’m feeling kind of tired.”
Katsumi could tell. Though she hadn’t ever seen Kitsuki in the early morning, believing he was like Matsu and woke later when the sun had already risen. Agreeing to a dawn departure was probably the worst choice he could have made for his little adventure into the woods, Katsumi thought to herself.
“Get dressed,” She said, “We’re supposed to leave at dawn, and it’s already dawn.”
Katsumi promptly left the room and allowed him to dress in private, which took less time than she believed he would have taken. He was surprisingly quick for someone with his condition. She then indicated it was time to go and they sneaked out of the house, leaving Shiba and Negisa to sleep the early morning away in the other closed-off room. The walk to their joint home was a short one, but at Kitsuki’s slower than usual pace it took them more time than Katsumi had scheduled out in order for them to meet with Tsuruchi and Asahina. They were already late, but Katsumi couldn’t imagine the others wouldn’t wait, surely they understood that Kitsuki wasn’t the fastest of travelers especially with his obvious fatigue. Why was he so tired after all?
Katsumi hadn’t been afforded a room last night, which wasn’t a problem, she had slept in worse places than the living area of a house; it was actually pretty comfortable. But staying there had given her the opportunity to steal away in the night and procure a few more bones she needed for her new set. It had also made it easy to monitor the rest of those inside the house, since they would have to pass by her before leaving. So, she was certain Kitsuki hadn’t left his room, which made his sluggishness more curious than the easy explanation of a long night with company.
“I trust you had an interesting night,” Katsumi prodded without actually asking him about it.
“Very,” Kitsuki said slowly, “Your sister is a very interesting person.”
“Yeah…” Katsumi agreed, eyeing Kitsuki. That wasn’t the way most people describe Negisa, even in polite terms interesting wasn’t the first thing that came to Katsumi’s mind.
“I had the strangest dreams last night,” Kitsuki recalled, “Then there was something else that I could only believe to be a dream because it was well beyond the realm of possibility. But this morning…” Kitsuki trailed off.
Katsumi could only guess what sort of deal was struck between Negisa and Kitsuki last night. She had called him her student, which meant she was teaching him something. Unfortunately, Negisa knew a great many things, more than Katsumi could even comprehend, so the pool to choose from was near limitless.
“Was all of last night a dream?” Kitsuki asked absently.
Katsumi shrugged, “I can’t tell you if it was or not since you haven’t yet told me what you are referring to.”
Kitsuki scanned the area as if he were making sure no one could possibly hear this conversation, and then he whispered, “Maho.”
Katsumi stopped in her tracks. Of all the things Negisa could share, she chose to share maho with Kitsuki. This was very dangerous for both of them. Kitsuki had no idea the power Negisa held with her blood magic, but Katsumi did. She had seen it in action, even experienced it herself when Negisa felt the need to prove a point. It was not something to be taken lightly, and not a power that just anyone could handle. What Kitsuki could do with it, if he could even handle it without going mad as so many others had before him, scared Katsumi. And then there was the price of it all. This was not going to come cheap. Kitsuki had just indebted more than his life to Negisa and somehow believed it was a good idea.
“I don’t think you realize what you have gotten yourself into, Kitsuki.”
“I don’t think I do either,” Kitsuki confessed.
Katsumi shook her head slowly. There was nothing that could be done now. “I can’t help you,” She said and began walking again.
She wanted to leave the conversation there; she wanted to leave Kitsuki there. He had now made it impossible for her to keep him safe. Maho was a dangerous magic that required harming oneself in order to appease the kansin. Kitsuki had made the choice to offer up his life, and if he were to try to change his mind now, his life would be forfeit to Negisa. He was on his own now. Katsumi lacked the capability to protect him from himself.
***
Morasahi opened her eyes to a room that was not her own. The door was on the wrong side of her bed. The walls were also not the same, but that detail came to her later. The most obvious of a give-away was that someone was behind her, naked, with an arm draped over her waist. Morasahi prayed it wasn’t who she thought it was, only remembering bits of Daigotsu linking arms with her through her spotty drunken memory. Whoever it was stirred. This was it, Morasahi thought; this is what Daigotsu had gotten her into by dragging her out of the house last night. The woman leaned over Morasahi’s shoulder, and although it wasn’t Daigotsu Katsumi, she didn’t actually feel relief.
Negisa smiled and kissed Morasahi on the cheek. “Good morning, Sweetheart,” Negisa purred.
Morasahi didn’t move. It wasn’t fear that held her, simply the hope that she would wake up in a moment with this all being a dream. She closed her eyes and willed the scene away. The sound of Negisa’s movement promised her that whatever happened last night actually happened. There was no getting out of this.
She blew out her breath, not realizing that since Negisa had kissed her she had been holding it. Morasahi opened her eyes and watched Negisa walk through the bedroom door into the bright living area. It was very bright outside, much brighter than it usually was when she woke up, which wasn’t surprising since she had obviously drank herself past good judgment. But there was something about the daylight that tugged at her, she was supposed to be somewhere, she recollected foggily.
Morasahi scrambled to her feet. She was supposed to accompany Asahina and Tsuruchi on their hunt today! They were leaving at five, a time that had long since passed by the amount of light in the house. She rushed to get dressed and sprinted out the door without saying a thing to Negisa. Into her shared home she ran, noting that Asahina and the Naga had departed, indicating that Tsuruchi had probably also left. She had to catch up to them.
Morasahi dashed back out of the house and towards the woods. To be honest, she had no idea where they had headed, but she believed she could retrace the path they had come form yesterday. Hopefully she would run into them somewhere along the way.
***
Mikoto woke to an empty house. She knew Asahina, Tsuruchi and Shiba were headed out to go hunting again. It appeared that Sara had joined them, to her dismay. She wanted to play with her some more, Sara was so interesting. After investigating Katsumi’s room, it was clear she hadn’t returned during the night, leaving Mikoto alone save for Hikaru and Hinata. Despairingly, Mikoto walked back to her room. She wasn’t feeling so well, something that had started recently in the mornings, so she decided she’d return to bed until either she felt better or Katsumi came home, whichever was first.
Sliding her door open, she jumped at the presence of someone else in her room. Mikoto had only scouted the house looking for Katsumi, so she hadn’t been gone more than a matter of minutes. Apparently, that was enough time for Negisa to sneak in the house and make herself at home in Mikoto’s room. She had a series of scrolls with her, laid out on the floor, and smiled, bright-eyed at Mikoto when Mikoto opened the door.
“Come on in, Matsu,” Negisa gestured for her to sit on the futon, “We have only your duties as a wife to go over today, then everything will be complete.”
Mikoto sighed inwardly. She had listened to Negisa talk half the day away yesterday, about everything she needed to know about the clan. Now she imagined this would be just as boring and she really couldn’t stand another round of one-sided conversation, even if Negisa did have a honeyed voice. Grudgingly, she sat next to Negisa reminding herself that this was it, there was no more after this and then she could spend time with Katsumi.
Negisa untied a scroll and unwound it across the floor. Mikoto blinked. There were naked people on it. Naked people that were twisted together in some unbelievable designs. What kind of wifely duties - and then it clicked. Negisa meant those kinds of wifely duties. She took a deep breath wondering if this really was part of the pre-wedding rituals, but didn’t want to question Negisa, who was dedicating her time and concern to Mikoto.
“The first thing you need to know are the basics of sex,” Negisa began.
Lightening crashed in Mikoto’s mind as flashbacks to Katsumi’s first medical lesson came to mind. Katsumi had said precisely the same thing just replacing the word sex with life.
“I know you understand sex, I was there with Asahina and I know my brother, so he as probably bedded you by now. We can skip the boring talk of what goes where under normal circumstances and begin on the more advanced sections. Come look at this,” Negisa pointed to the unraveled scroll.
Mikoto leaned closer to better see. The woman in the painting was on her back with her legs in the air. The man was on his knees between the woman’s legs, leaning over her.
“This and this are variations of each other,” Negisa pointed to the first and second picture. The second picture was much like the first, except the woman legs were pulled to her chest with her feet near the man’s shoulders; the man was more inclined using his arms for balance. “We’ll start there.”
Negisa turned to Mikoto and waited. Mikoto glanced from Negisa to the scroll, confused on what was going on. She thought they were looking at pictures and Negisa was going to teach her about - Oh.
“You want us to…” Mikoto pointed towards the scroll.
“Yes,” Negisa said bluntly. “Lay down.”
Mikoto laid on her back while Negisa loosened Mikoto’s obi. She didn’t remove any clothes, which was a relief to Mikoto, but she did position herself between Mikoto’s legs as the man in the picture had been posed between the woman’s legs. Negisa pressed her pelvis against Mikoto’s and angled Mikoto’s legs precisely, aligning everything as had been pictured.
“This is the Yawning Position; it is less about pleasure and more about enticement.” Negisa then hooked her shoulders under Mikoto’s ankles and slid close to her chest, rolling Mikoto’s hips to the air. “This is the Variant Yawning. It allows for deeper penetration while keeping the erotic element of your legs being in the air.”
Negisa pulled back and put Mikoto’s feet back on the ground. Negisa was positioning her while only giving few instructions on how to move, while pausing once the arrangement had been completed so she could explain the name and the benefit of each pose. Mikoto couldn’t help but feel like the way Negisa was instructing her was almost identical to the way Katsumi had run her lessons. It made her miss Katsumi, especially since she would rather be learning from Katsumi with this type of hands-on approach that the sisters seemed to share.
***
Katsumi rolled her neck while Kitsuki spent his time looking over the ash pile and surrounding site of the fight. She had offered to help but Kitsuki had stubbornly turned her down. He had been brooding and pensive all morning, starting with the talk they had and being left behind by Asahina and Tsuruchi only further drove him into his silence. She watched him stumble around the small clearing; his crutches not made to go off the beaten path. He made several circles, retracing his steps on more than one occasion, and closely examined the trees near the bodies. She could have told him what had taken place but decided it was best to allow him to figure it out on his own, since he had been more than a little snippy when she offered her help.
Katsumi sifted through the ash while Kitsuki did his thing, plucking out a rib and a vertebrate from the remains and sliding them into her pouch for later use. Kitsuki also poked at the ash, but he seemed to be looking at the skull of the one whose head had been decimated. Katsumi sighed at the waste of it all. It would have been easier for her to explain what happened from what she had found yesterday, but Kitsuki seemed to believe anyone but him would be wrong when identifying what had taken place in the area. She shrugged to herself, listening to the wildlife in the surrounding forest and hearing the patter of someone running, staggering through the woods from the way they had come.
Katsumi turned and squinted her eyes, attempting to see who or what was coming towards them. That’s when Shiba’s red and exhausted face came into view, and Katsumi couldn’t help her smile. Apparently Shiba had wanted to follow, but being Shiba, hadn’t said a thing about it. When she realized everyone had gone, she probably chased after them so she wouldn’t be left behind with only Matsu to tail. Katsumi was pretty sure that Shiba and Matsu didn’t like each other very much. They never really said a nice word between the two of them.
“Shiba-san, you’re looking lively today,” Katsumi smirked when Shiba finally made it to the clearing, panting heavily. Shiba just waved a hand in response.
That’s about when Kitsuki started explaining how each Naga had died and his theory on the fight. It was much of what Katsumi already knew, and Kitsuki was long-winded so she only pretended to pay attention while he spouted each piece of evidence he found and what it entailed. He probably needed to feel like he was contributing, but explaining how the Naga died did nothing to solve the problem that had occurred in the forest. They already knew that the Naga they had found alive was the one that brought on the deaths of the other three. However, whatever it was that tainted them still remained at large, and Katsumi had a feeling they wouldn’t find anything more than what they had already discovered yesterday.
“So, do you see any tracks?” Kitsuki asked.
Katsumi blinked and looked around. There were lots of tracks. “Besides… what exactly?”
“Besides the Naga,” Kitsuki huffed. He probably figured out she wasn’t listening…
“Oh. No. There’s nothing new from yesterday, except that Asahina and his pet came through here.”
“I suppose we should follow,” Kitsuki suggested, throwing the idea out there. Katsumi didn’t care if they did or not, this was all a waste of time anyways. However, Kitsuki wanted to follow the others, so Katsumi led the way based on Asahina, Tsuruchi, and the Naga’s new tracks.
***
Sara had led them directly back to the campsite her previous band had been residing at, that is, before she killed them all, Meintaro thought. The last part was pretty important, seeing as how he wanted to be rid of this one and hoped there were others around somewhere. Others that Sara could join up with and leave the town in peace. This was as good a spot as any, Meintaro shrugged. Maybe she’d be able to retrace her steps from this camp back to where the four of them had come from.
He waved his hand to get her attention and began to go through a series of movements to express that they were looking for more Naga. Perhaps he was getting better at this, or she was learning how to better interpret, but it seemed to work the first time through without the need for Asahina to join in. Sara pulled an arrow from her pack and fired it at a tree to the southwest.
“Think we should go that way?” Meintaro asked Asahina. Asahina was in charge of this scouting party after all.
“Yeah,” Asahina nodded.
I wonder… Meintaro thought to himself, wondering if he could split Sara’s arrow from the distance they were. He shifted his feet and notched an arrow, attempting to strike the same spot Sara had. He let loose and watched proudly as his arrow sunk right next to hers. Unfortunately, it didn’t touch hers, but being only a hair off was still nothing to shake a stick at.
He watched as Sara slithered to the tree and withdrew both arrows, inspecting them. Meintaro joined her; curious to see what she was up to and he also wanted to see how close he had been to splitting hers. As he thought, the tips had punctured nearly the same spot, a little more to the left and he would have nailed it. She handed him an arrow that was most obviously hers and not his, and then quickly continued down the path by the tree, out of sight.
Meintaro didn’t understand the point of being given an arrow that wasn’t his. It had already been used and it wasn’t as if he didn’t have many more where that came from, more of his own. He tossed the arrow to the ground and before he could take a step to follow the path Sara had gone down, she was there, in front of him, snatching the arrow back up and putting it back in his hand.
“Sssarata,” Sara demanded. Whatever the significance was, it was obvious it meant much more to Sara than Meintaro understood. He smiled and put the arrow in his quiver, Sara waiting for him to let go before turning back around and following the trail once again.
“Right, we should probably follow her now,” Meintaro said to Asahina as she stepped off into the woods.
***
Daigotsu led Anjin to an abandoned campsite. It hadn’t been abandoned for long, there was boar encased in something, some sort of preservation method the Naga must use. They had obviously intended to come back here. It was here that all four of them must have lived for some time due to the large amount of animal waste that was piled in a pit they had dug. There was also a large fire pit, as well as several racks for stretching leather. The last part Anjin had only figured out because there were skins pulled across two of them. Besides the fact that the group had left in a hurry, there really wasn’t much to deduce from this area.
“Did you see this place yesterday?” Anjin asked Daigotsu and Shiba.
“Yeah,” Daigotsu answered, standing by the edge of the campsite as if waiting to move on.
“Is anything different?”
“No. But they went this way,” Daigotsu titled her head towards a small path she was next to.
Anjin shrugged. There really wasn’t much to see here, and if they could catch up with Asahina and Tsuruchi before long, he could figure out what they were up to. They kept going deeper and deeper into the woods, and this trail took them even further from the city. There must be something out there, he thought to himself.
The slow movement of amber caught his eye just as he was about to step past the edge of the clearing. Anjin stared at the tree, not sure exactly what he had seen, but he knew something was off. As he neared it he noticed it was weeping, two small punctures dotted the tree, looking the same size and shape as arrows and obviously fresh since the tree hadn’t scarred yet. There weren’t any arrows around, so whoever it was had removed them before moving on. This was kind of like the Naga in the last area whose head had been smashed in. With no tracks indicating someone else had been there, but an obvious second assailant on the scene since the manner of death was so drastically different from the other two Naga.
Anjin shot a curious look at Daigotsu, “Why do you think they’d be firing arrows here?”
Daigotsu shrugged and tossed her bisento from one hand to the next, then back again. “They weren’t attempting to hit anything besides the tree, so I’d have to assume… fun?”
Daigotsu was being no help at all. Maybe there was something that had been there, something that could move about without leaving tracks. Maybe the group had missed and gone after it. The possibilities were endless when it came to why they had loosed arrows at a tree, and then removed them before continuing on. Possibilities he hoped to figure out before they met with the same strange circumstances that both the Naga and his forward party seemed to be facing.
***
Meintaro couldn’t believe something like this was so close to their town. Granted, close was being generous since it had taken them all morning to reach where they now stood, a good six hours since they first set out. However, six hours wasn’t that far, if he wanted to go back to town right now, he could easily make it before nightfall. But it was still something to behold. Stacks of ancient rocks dotted the wide clearing, trees had taken root around them, some inside the semi-circle formation, but very few. They were at the site of some ruined… whatever it was, but it was something someone made, that was clearly defined by the stones which had been cut into shape. Normal wear wouldn’t have made their faces so flat and their corners so sharp.
Sara began darting in and out of the forest, piling up firewood at the edge of the circle. Meintaro glanced at the sun, it was only noon, either they were stopping for lunch or she wanted them to stay there for the night. The later sounded more reasonable judging from the location and whatever this formation was.
“I think we’re supposed to stay here,” He informed Asahina who had been silent most of the trip.
Asahina took a seat by the fire pit Sara was creating. “Interested in lunch?”
Meintaro was very interested in lunch. He was ready to go hunting and bring back a prize for Asahina and him to share, and of course, Sara would probably eat it as well. However, before he could express his excitement, he heard the familiar sound of an animal bleating its final cry. And almost instantly, Sara returned with a dead deer, literally dropping it on Meintaro’s lap. He sighed and dragged it over to a tree, hanging it to begin bleeding it before he skinned and butchered the thing.
“Tell no one you saw this,” Meintaro demanded of Asahina who threw his hands up and shook his head as if to say he saw nothing at all.
He then proceeded to clean the deer for supper, it wouldn’t be ready before lunch, and an animal of this size took some time to skin correctly. Sara joined him, but not to help, instead she tore strips from the removed skin and began tying sticks together, creating some sort of frame. She quickly became as messy as Meintaro, his hands now covered with the deer’s blood and small pieces of sinew.
Meintaro was probably halfway through the ordeal when Sara dropped her sticks and sprung into an offensive posture. She snatched her bow and notched an arrow, staring into the woods from the same direction he and Asahina had come to reach this place. Sara must have been having a hard time finding whatever it was that spooked her, because she never aimed, nor fired her arrow. Instead, she started almost dancing, swaying from side to side watching the woods.
Meintaro scanned the tree line. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. What did we learn yesterday?” He dropped his knife and moved in front of Sara, blocking her view from the Phoenix, Spider, and Dragon he saw waiting in the forest. She had almost shot his friends… again.
Sara returned her arrow to her quiver and pointed at her palm. “Whoa.”
“Right,” he responded, happy she was starting to understand that an open hand meant for her to stop. Meintaro flashed Sara a thumbs up, indicating a good job, which meant to her that she should look up. He sighed heavily, “Please, let us find some Naga soon.”
***
Mikoto skulked around the house. Katsumi hadn’t come back yet. No one had come back yet. She was still alone in a house that was supposed to be full of people. She was going to be getting married tomorrow, and her supposed friends had all abandoned her to go hunting again. At least that’s where Shiba, Asahina, and Tsuruchi were. Katsumi, though, Katsumi was just gone. She was starting to believe that Katsumi was avoiding her. Maybe this whole marriage to Katsumi’s brother was more of a big deal than she previously believed. It didn’t seem to have mattered when they were betrothed, that’s when Katsumi snuck into her room and spent those wonderful nights with Mikoto. But now, now since Yanagi had returned, she hadn’t seen Katsumi for more than a few minutes at a time. She hadn’t come into Mikoto’s room, and hadn’t even come home last night.
This wasn’t going to go on any longer, she decided marching to Katsumi’s room. Once entering she began shuffling through Katsumi’s clothes, she was bound to have susoyoke somewhere, which would be perfect for Mikoto’s intended use. Strangely, she didn’t find any. Mikoto stepped back and furrowed her brow. Come to think of it, she had never seen Katsumi undress, she was always just naked to begin with, or already wearing her sleeping robe, which was simply that, a sheer kimono. She shuffled through Katsumi’s clothes once again, pulling out a few white folds of cloth. Maybe this was Katsumi’s shozoku, which would work just as well, she decided and skipped back to her room.
“Hikaru, Hinata, smell,” Mikoto ordered as she held out the cloth to her lions. They took in the scent, Hikaru even attempted to rub against it. Mikoto frowned. That lion…
“Find Katsumi,” She smiled as Hikaru began prowling around the house. Obviously checking every corner that Katsumi had been in inside. Hinata, on the other hand, just waited by the door until Hikaru joined her and off they went through town.
Why hadn’t she thought of this before? All those times she had wandered around looking for Katsumi, and the whole time she could have had Hikaru do it for her. Now that she had two lions, it would prove to be twice as easy. She was going to find Katsumi, and they were going to have a talk about what the wedding meant for the two of them.
***
Kyuzo stood to greet the rest of the group as they entered the outcropping of ruins after Tsuruchi had disarmed Sara. Now, it seemed, Sara was more than happy to see the three walking towards their camp, even though yesterday she had threatened to kill two of the three.
Sara zipped to Shiba hissing, “Harasssnada,” and began patting her on the head without regard to the cleanliness, or lack thereof, of her hands.
“Hey guys, what’s going on?” Tsuruchi waved to everyone before returning to the deer.
“Good afternoon,” Kitsuki grumbled.
“Make her stop… please,” Shiba pleaded.
“Glad you guys could find us,” Kyuzo said, still annoyed that they didn’t show for this morning’s departure. They must have not been far behind, though, seeing as how he and Tsuruchi had only been here for an hour or so.
“It wasn’t difficult; Daigotsu is quite a capable tracker. Have you guys found anything?” Kitsuki inquired, but Kyuzo was busying watching Sara. He’d let Tsuruchi answer this one, since there wasn’t much to report on. Sara had moved from Shiba and attempted to touch Daigotsu on the head, an action that Daigotsu didn’t seem to want. Daigotsu had ducked away and leaned back, she was shaking her head at Sara with a hand outstretched to prevent Sara from touching her.
“Hey, Sara, calm down,” Kyuzo called weakly. He didn’t get much sleep last night, and continuously correcting her was beyond tiring.
“Yeah, we’re supposed to stay here,” Tsuruchi answered.
“Why?” Kitsuki scoffed.
“I don’t know. She tried to sit us down. She’s either making a camp here, or something is coming,” Tsuruchi shrugged only giving Kitsuki glances over his shoulder between his carving of the deer.
Sara began pointing at Daigotsu, trying to convey something. She pointed at Shiba, then Daigotsu, and then reached for Daigotsu again.
“I don’t know,” Kyuzo waved his hand for her to come to him, “She’s okay. Just leave her alone.”
“We found two arrow marks in the trees a while back, what was that from?” Kitsuki asked. Nothing got past him, it seemed, though it was a strange thing to focus on, Kyuzo thought.
“It’s their means of communicating. Pantomiming directions,” Kyuzo explained.
Sara held up her hand towards Daigotsu, she obviously wasn’t interested in leaving her alone. “Whoa,” Sara said as she pointed at her own hand, and then put it on her head, “Yesss.”
“Close enough,” Tsuruchi commented.
“I see you’ve been teaching it to talk,” Daigotsu said not taking her eyes off Sara.
“No, that was Matsu-san,” Asahina shook his head.
“Whoa. Yesss,” Sara began petting Shiba on the head.
“Make her stop?” Shiba whimpered, shrinking away from Sara who actually stopped petting Shiba on her own accord.
Kyuzo was beginning to think that things were easier when it was just Tsuruchi and him with Sara. He was glad the rest of the group showed up, but at the same time, Sara had begun to exhibit behavior she hadn’t when it was just him and Tsuruchi. Kyuzo wasn’t going to be able to keep her from constantly touching Shiba, and constantly trying to touch Daigotsu. That was a headache waiting to happen. Daigotsu didn’t seem to fear what Sara was capable of doing, which meant that both Sara and Daigotsu were unpredictable and allowing them to interact with each other was very dangerous. For now, Sara kept her distance from Daigotsu, watching her, perhaps even studying her. Kyuzo could relate, he didn’t understand Daigotsu either.
“So, Kitsuki,” Kyuzo beckoned now that he didn’t have to prevent Sara from inappropriate touching, “What do you make of all these stones, and this structure?” Kyuzo pointed at the semicircle around them and the manufactured stone that stuck out of the overgrown grass.
“Let me see…” Kitsuki drawled as he hobbled towards the blocks. He spent a good amount of time inspecting one, and then another, sometimes running his fingers over an edge thoughtfully. “It looks like a very long time ago there was writing on these stones. But now it’s almost impossible to make out.”
That didn’t help decipher what the area was used for, or why they were waiting there. They were exactly where they had started; sitting in the ruins of something, in the middle of the day, and with no clue as to what was going to come next. Tsuruchi had asked Sara to bring them where there were more Naga, but there weren’t any Naga here. It was just… empty. Kyuzo was starting to believe she was alone out here, the other three Naga being the only other ones awake, and now they were ashes and dust.
“Daigotsu-san, could you help me by starting a fire to cook this thing?” Tsuruchi called.
Daigotsu was kicking around the edge of the forest and waved a hand in response. Kyuzo watched her attempt to light the large woodpile Sara had stacked on the edge of the semi-circle. Sara, of course, pushed her away.
“I think she expects us to eat this raw,” Daigotsu deduced. Apparently she didn’t understand snakes, Sara needed that pile to keep herself warm when night fell.
“What? She won’t let you light the fire?” Tsuruchi looked over his shoulder.
“She’s going to use this to keep her warm tonight,” Kyuzo explained.
“Why are we stopping so early?” Daigotsu finally asked.
“I don’t know.” Kyuzo was tired of not knowing.
“She wants us to stay here,” Tsuruchi turned, done with his part in dealing with the dead animal.
“I think we need to be here tonight,” Kitsuki added. Daigotsu looked from one to the next, as if considering their answers then walked to the edge of the circle and took a seat.
“I feel like this has some kind of celestial significance. What other purpose do stone structures have?” Kyuzo tried to reason why they were spending the rest of the day in the remains of the old ruins.
“That’s a good point,” Kitsuki chimed in.
“They’re not oriented in any sort of cardinal direction, maybe they line up with the stars or something,” Kyuzo shrugged. Whatever was here, it wasn’t here while the sun was up. Maybe it was a map to more Naga.
“Do you know someone in town who might know ancient languages?” Kitsuki inquired. They had already taken care of that.
“Someone from the Phoenix, perhaps. But we already sent for the most knowledgeable of the Naga linguists,” Kyuzo explained.
“And that was last night,” Tsuruchi added.
“We don’t know that it’s Naga,” argued Kitsuki.
“What else could it be?” If a Naga brought them to a place and there was old writing on old blocks, it was pretty much guaranteed it was Naga.
“Well, we did ask her to bring us to someplace where there were more Naga. I don’t know whose this is, but it is not her stone circle in the middle of the woods,” Tsuruchi voiced what Kyuzo was thinking. That ended that conversation. It was still strange, though. Kitsuki was supposed to be this intelligent investigator, and he couldn’t see what was right in front of him.
***
Meintaro finally got a fire started, no thanks to Daigotsu who sat idly by while he gathered the wood himself. She was carving something. Apparently, the Spider were more like the Crane than he had thought, at least when it came to art. Whatever she was whittling could have waited until the food was set up. It would take a while for the deer to cook, and having to do the cleaning and setting up was just a terrible use of his time. It wasn’t until he had managed to set the deer up on a spit that Daigotsu did show to help, but everything had been taken care of by that point. All that was left to do was watch it cook, a job apparently she wanted to do. Of course, she didn’t do any of the labor, just wanted to sit around, and now she was doing the same thing. She wasn’t making a good impression on Meintaro.
Meintaro’s disapproving look was interrupted by Sara jostling him. She started pushing him from the cooking fire rather forcefully. He threw up his hands and backed up.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Meintaro cautioned. He had been trying to get it through to her over the last day that aggression was not the first line of communicating. Drawing bows on people, pushing people, neither of those were needed in order for her to get her point across. Granted, she wasn’t exactly clear when she communicated through other means, but it was better than shooting someone.
“Whoa,” Sara said raising one hand.
“Whoa,” Meintaro repeated, holding both hands up. He wanted to see if she could transition from one hand, as she had been using, to two, as he had since he first met her.
“Whoa,” she continued without adding her second hand.
Meintaro took a step forward and nudged Sara with his open hands, not even enough to move her, then he took a step back, holding his hands up, and again said, “Whoa.”
It didn’t occur to him that it was a bad idea to touch the Naga. It didn’t occur to him that she might not understand what he had been indicating in the first place. It didn’t even occur to him that she was unaware of her own strength compared to humans until she shoved him with such force he was knocked off his feet and flew a short distance before falling to the ground hearing Sara repeating, “Whoa.”
Meintaro rose, he deserved that, he supposed. After dusting himself off, he vowed never to touch her again in order to explain something. He was going to keep his hands to himself, which he now raised and indicated for her to cease and desist by saying, “Whoa.”
Wrong choice of words.
With lightening speed, Sara coiled around him, grabbing his arm and squeezing his body. Meintaro struggled to break free. She must have thought it was some sort of game, because the more he struggled, the more he felt her entwine him. He was going to die wrestling with a Naga because he tried to teach her how to not touch people. Perfect. Then she let up. She just let go of him and lifted Meintaro out of her coiled prison as if he were no heavier than a doll, gently setting him down on the ground.
Meintaro eyed her, unsure of what just happened. She could have accidentally murdered him with ease, but she stopped and he was none the worse for wear. Sara withdrew a dead rat from a satchel on her waist and held it out to Meintaro like some sort of apology gift. That… was not something he wanted.
“No,” he declined her gift.
“No,” Sara mimicked, pointing at her belly.
Meintaro sighed and walked away. He hoped with every fiber in his being that they would find some Naga tonight; that they were staying here because it would be some sort of Naga meeting ground; and that he never, ever, had to have the pleasure of wrestling with one again.
***
The sounds of the fire, the sizzling of the deer, Tsuruchi reprimanding the Naga, all of it barely pierced Morasahi’s consciousness. She was meditating, shutting out the world around her and focusing on the here and the now. Finding the emptiness of the Void and escaping into the place of nothing. After the last twenty-four hours, she needed to find her center again. Starting with the hunt yesterday and their new guest, things had just continued downhill. However, now that she had time to just sit and forgive those that had done her wrong, hope had returned to her and the understanding that things were going to work out when all was said and done. Then there were hands touching her, hands unbraiding her hair. Morasahi lost that inner peace she had just obtained as she opened her eyes to see Sara coiled around her and shaking out Morasahi’s hair, letting it fall loose.
“Yes?” Morasahi tried to pull away from Sara but there was nowhere to go.
“Yesss,” Sara responded and began brushing Morasahi’s hair with a beautiful coral comb. It was horseshoe-shaped, pearlescent in color, and had a small shell placed at the top of it. Too fancy for Morasahi’s taste, but it worked all the same.
Sara brushed her hair, picking out the dried blood she had matted into it earlier. Sara brushed until Morasahi’s hair shone like silk. It was actually rather nice, Morasahi thought. When Sara had interrupted her meditation, Morasahi had first believed something dreadfully uncomfortable was about to take place, as always did when Sara was near her, so this was a nice change of pace. No one brushed Morasahi’s hair for her.
“It’s a good bonding experience getting your hair combed by a snake,” Tsuruchi mocked. Morasahi didn’t pay him any attention; he wasn’t going to ruin her enjoyment of Sara’s company for the first time since they met.
Next Sara began braiding, but not the usual maiden’s braid Morasahi wore. It was a series of several small braids that Sara began weaving together, pinning up Morasahi’s hair in an ornate style. Braid after braid, hairpin after hairpin, she was certain that by the time Sara was done she would have the fanciest hairstyle she had ever seen. Probably the fanciest anyone there had ever seen.
A small smile brushed her lips. Sara hadn’t done this to anyone else since she arrived. Morasahi was the first to spend time with her like this, and Sara had chosen her. She glanced at Asahina who was watching the two of them, charcoal in his hand working on the paper he had brought. Even Asahina knew this was a momentous occasion; he was drawing Sara and her so it had to be a sight he hadn’t expected.
***
Sara pinned Shiba’s hair again, adding another braid to the woven cluster on top of her head. It was beginning to look like Shiba belonged in a court rather than guarding someone; all that hair pinned up like that was bound to get in the way. Katsumi shook her head as she turned back to the deer roasting over the fire. It was silly to do something like that out here. Granted, they seemed safe enough, but all it would take is one low branch to get caught up in it and then you’d have a tangled mess on your hands. Not worth it.
Sara peered around Katsumi’s shoulder, circling her a few times to coil her tail around her. Apparently, Shiba was done being groomed by the Naga and now it was staring at Katsumi.
“Uh uh,” Katsumi said, understanding what was going to come next. She shook her head and ducked out of the way, taking a step over Sara’s long body. “Not happening.”
The Naga switched her gaze between Katsumi and Shiba who was standing behind her as if to say it was Katsumi’s turn. Katsumi slowly shook her head. There was no way Sara was going to make up her hair into some inconvenient style, let alone touch her hair. No, there was too much of a risk on her part, trusting someone she had only met, that was not going to happen.
Sara tried offering Katsumi the comb. Not happening. She even tried bribing Katsumi by tossing a rat at the ground near her feet. Still not happening. Lastly, Sara brushed a few strokes in her own hair in an attempt to explain what her intentions were. Katsumi didn’t care, it wasn’t going to happen. However, it was beginning to look like she wasn’t going to get out of this without offering something else for the Naga to entertain herself with.
“He has lots of hair,” Katsumi whispered as she pointed to Asahina with a nod. Sara just stared in response so Katsumi ran her fingers through her hair and pointed again at Asahina. The Naga picked up the rat and slithered to Asahina. It actually worked, Katsumi thought. Brilliant.
She watched as Sara grabbed Tsuruchi’s hand and placed the comb in it, and then pushed him towards Asahina. Tsuruchi, completely missing what the Naga had intended, handed the comb to Asahina. She snatched it back and forced it in Tsuruchi’s hand again, this time raising Tsuruchi’s arm and trying to get him to brush Asahina’s hair.
A steady “No,” came from Tsuruchi while he held the comb out to Sara. Sara pointed to her belly. Katsumi raised a brow. What was that supposed to be? Whatever it was must not have been important because Sara took the comb and raced to Kitsuki, offering it to him. Kitsuki took it without thinking and was quickly pushed towards Asahina. He almost fell over from Sara’s nudging, confusion painted on his face.
“She wants you to brush Asahina’s hair,” Katsumi explained to him, “Didn’t you say she wasn’t very fond of you?”
“Maybe she changed her mind. This is strange,” Kitsuki hurried his step towards Asahina to keep Sara from knocking him over.
“Why do you think she’s not very fond of you?” Asahina asked.
“It might be because she drew a bow on him,” Tsuruchi grunted.
“She draws a bow on everyone,” Asahina lamented.
“Right,” Tsuruchi agreed. “I hate to admit I was wrong, but we should have never brought her.”
Katsumi smirked to herself. Sara wasn’t so hard to deal with. That was the third time now that she had convinced the Naga to do something other than its original intent. You just had to control the situation through will and strength. That was what made them different from her; she didn’t fold under the desires of Sara.
Katsumi poked at the deer, it was perfect.
“Dinner is ready,” She called to the others, giving them a break from the Naga’s overpowering demands.
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