Shoukaittou:
Song of the Sword
Chapter 2
Blood Oath
By:
Night~Mare
With many thanks going out
to:
Akai_Kitsune
Shinta threw the feed out for the chickens absently. It had been
two weeks now and he hadn’t seen or heard from Shoninne. He hoped he’d made it
home all right. Shoninne was safe though he was sure of it. Somehow he knew
that if his best friend were in danger, he’d realize it. Still, he was worried
about him. Shoninne had acted really strange when he’d gone home that night. It
was almost like he was hiding something.
Maybe he was sick. Well, sick or not, Shinta had something to give
him. He stopped throwing the feed and touched the two smooth sticks tucked into
his belt. He hoped Shoninne liked it. He’d made these swords himself. Hopefully
they would be more durable then the sticks they found in the forest.
Shinta sensed someone behind him and turned. His father was
standing there, towering over him. His hands were on his hips and he was
smiling.
“No matter what I do, I just can’t sneak up on you anymore.”
“I can hear you walk,” Shinta said, smiling. His father reached
down and ruffled his hair.
“You’re very observant,” Father said, a pride in his voice. Shinta
basked in his father’s approval as he threw out the rest of the feed to the
birds. Then he turned toward the man and put on his best kawaii
face.
“Father, when I’m done with my chores, can I go down to the town
and see Shoninne?”
“Well, it just happens I need to go down to Iro’s store today to get some supplies. Would you
like to come with me?”
“Yes! I really would!”
By
Not many people were out on this
humid afternoon and he was somewhat disappointed to not see Shoninne playing in
the street like he usually did. Inside the store it was dark and cool. The cool
floor felt good under his bare feet. He wiggled his toes a bit as he gazed at
all the merchandise all over the store. The Iro’s sold anything anyone could need. From hats to
harnesses. One thing he didn’t see in the mess of the shop however was his best
friend.
“Konnichiwa, welcome to our store,” said a familiar voice near his
ear. He grinned and turned.
“Sho-” he started. Then he blinked.
“Oro?”
Instead of his friend, a girl in a violet kimono stood there. She
had long black hair that fell to the middle of her back. Behind her long bangs
he could see dark green eyes, which looked away when he tried to meet them. A blush
reddened the girl’s cheeks.
“What are you doing here Rice-head?” she muttered.
“Sho…Shoninne? Is that you?”
“No. It’s the emperor. Who do I look like?”
“You’re…you’re… a girl?”
“Yes! I’m a girl!” she shouted, tears welling in her eyes. “I
don’t care what you think Shinta! I don’t! I’m a girl and I’m going to be a
Samurai and I don’t care if you make fun of me!”
“So that’s it,” he thought aloud. That was the secret she’d been
hiding.
“You know, if you don’t want to be my
friend anymore. I understand,” Shoninne said, looking down at the floor. Shinta
blinked.
“Oro? Why wouldn’t I want to be your friend? And I still think
you’d be a great Samurai, that I do. So don’t cry.” He
couldn’t help but smile as the girl hastily wiped the tears from her eyes.
“I wasn’t crying!” she said. Shinta decided not to comment.
“I’ve got something for you,” he said. “
“What? Did you find the sword tree?” Shoninne said, brightening.
Shinta laughed.
“No. I didn’t. But I made you this.” He pulled one of the smooth
sticks from his belt and held it out to her. He had carved her name on it and
wrapped the top of it in spare cloth his mother had to make it look like a
sword. Shoninne’s eyes shined as she took the stick-sword in her hand.
“Ooh! Thank you Shinta! This is great! I can’t wait to practice…”
Her face dropped again and she looked at her father who was talking to his
father. “But… But I’m not supposed to leave the store.”
“Well, when can you leave?”
“Mother says I can’t leave until my husband comes and gets me. And
since I don’t know who he is yet, I guess I have to stay here.” Shinta
looked down and kicked at the floor. Then an idea hit him and he brightened.
“Maybe I can be your husband. That way your mother can’t be mad.”
“No, she’s already said that she didn’t want you to be my husband
and I don’t want to get married anyway.”
“But if you don’t, then you’ll never get to leave.”
“So I’ll just sneak out when no one’s looking,” she said in a
whisper. She looked in the direction of the two men. Shinta looked as well.
They were haggling over something and distracted. Shoninne tugged on his sleeve
and with one last glance back at the adults; Shinta followed her.
“I don’t know if you should have just walked out like that,”
Shinta said, as they walked along the road toward the forest. “Won’t you get
into a lot of trouble?”
“I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me Shinta…” she said with a
careless shrug of her shoulders. She stepped in front of him, her green eyes sparkling
with mischief.
“Oro?” he said, blinking. She held her stick-sword in both hands
and swung it at his legs. He jumped over it, drew his own stick-sword and
tapped her lightly on the head.
“I killed you this time, that I did!” he
said cheerfully. She glared at him, wrinkling her nose. He grinned.
“I’m going to attack you with my special final secret technique!”
“
“You can’t. You’re dead. Did you forget?” Shinta asked, tapping
her on the head with his sword again.
“Yeah? Well…well…I’m the dead Samurai’s identical twin sister
who’s come to take revenge! Prepare to die
Shinta!”
“How dishonorable to be killed by a turtle,” Shinta said, and
began to run.
“Baka!” Shoninne yelled. He laughed. So she was a girl. Well…that
didn’t matter. Boy or girl she would always be Shoninne, his best friend and
nothing would ever change that.
---
Shoninne watched the clouds pass across the surface of the sky. A
slight breeze brushed against her face, cooling it. She looked over at Shinta
who was lying beside her. His eyes were closed and his mouth was slightly open.
“
“You asleep Shinta?” she asked softly.
“No, just thinking. Shoninne?”
“Yes?”
“Why do you want to be a samurai? I mean; they have to kill
people. Why do you want to do that?”
“They only kill the bad and dishonorable people. The Samurai
uphold the honor in
“But what exactly is honor?” Shoninne folded her arms behind her
head and turned her attention back to the sky, thinking a bit.
“Honor…honor is keeping your promises and protecting the weak and
innocent. Honor is making sure things are as fair as they can be. Honor is
following the commands of your shougun no matter
what.”
“But what if your shougun wants you to
kill an innocent, weaker man?”
“That’s dumb. A shougun wouldn’t do
that.”
“Well, my father says that the shougun
don’t like people with big mouths. What if your shougun
orders you to kill a man that voices other ideas but is otherwise innocent?”
“If he has other ideas then that makes him bad…so of course I’d
kill him.”
“But I don’t always share your ideas…does that make me bad?”
“No, but that’s different.”
“Why?” he asked, rolling on his side and fixing her with an even
gaze. Shoninne stared at him. She knew there was a good answer to that. At the
moment though, she was finding it hard to think of one.
“Because…because…you’re my friend. You’re allowed to.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. I’m just like anybody else. Don’t
you think it’s unfair?”
“But… Well… I…I mean… Oh just shut up Rice-head! What do you
know?” she snapped. Shinta laughed.
“I don't know much, that I don't. But you
don't seem to know anything either.”
“You just ask hard questions,” she grumbled. They fell into
silence for a while. Shoninne let herself relax, tucking her hands behind her
head. It was past
“Shoninne…do you smell that?” Shoninne opened her eyes to see
Shinta sitting up. She sat up as well and sniffed the air. It was a woody smell
that stung her nose.
“Smoke. It’s probably from your house…”
“No. The wind’s blowing the wrong way. It’s coming from the other
side of the mountain.”
“Maybe it’s just travelers…”
“Maybe. I just have a bad feeling, that I
do.”
“Yes… I’m starting to feel it too… Maybe I’m just worried about my
mother though.” She stood. The wind pushed her hair out of her eyes. Shinta was
looking up at her, concern in his face.
“What do you think will happen to you?”
“I don’t know. I’ll sneak out again though. Don’t worry. There’s
nothing she can say to stop me from seeing you.”
“I think you should stop doing that, sneaking out. Maybe if you
talked to your mother about it-”
“I’ve already talked to her. She doesn’t understand. She wants me
to be a girl, Shinta.”
“You are a girl.”
“She wants me to do girlish things. I wouldn’t mind doing that
except I want to do the things I like to do too…” She stood and tried to brush
the dirt from her kimono. It was a futile effort. Shinta stood as well,
clutching his sword.
“Are you leaving now?”
“Yes. What time is your father going to come back to the store?”
“Mid-autumn…if things go well.” Mid-autumn? That meant she’d have
to spend an entire summer without Shinta and even more. Well, next time he came
to the store. She’d sneak out no matter what her mother said.
“All right then…Sayonara.”
“Sayonara…” he said. She turned and began to run down the hill.
“Shoninne!” he called. She stopped and turned. He stared at her
for a long moment, as if trying to think of what to say. Finally his shoulders
lifted a little in a shrug.
“Be careful.”
“Why do you always say that Shinta? If anyone would need to be careful, it
would be you. I can take care of myself.”
“Yes…but…just be careful. If anything happens…I’m here.” He sounded
anxious as if he really thought something bad would happen. She shook her bangs
out of her eyes and walked up to him. Then she bit her thumb until she could
taste blood. Shinta blinked at her.
“Bite yours,” she said. This order only induced more blinking and a little sweatdrop on the side of his face.
“Why?”
“Stop being a baby Rice-head! Just bite it!” He shrugged and did so. Shoninne
held out her thumb.
“I, Shoninne of Himura Village, vow on my blood to
always be with you and protect you forever and ever.”
“Thanks!” he said with a grin.
“Shinta! This is serious!”
“Sorry, Sorry. I, Shinta of Himura Village, vow on my
blood to always be with you and protect you for ever and ever…that I do.” They
pressed their thumbs together, sealing the pact. Now nothing would ever be able
to come between them. They had vowed on their blood…their honor. And she would
die before becoming dishonored like a real Samurai.
“You’d better go home now Shoninne. Your mother is going to be
really upset.”
“Yeah.” She waved to him and flew down the hill, running so fast
she nearly tripped a few times. She wouldn’t see Shinta for a long while, but
she wouldn’t be sad. She would just think of mid-autumn and make herself be
happy.
When she got home, her mother didn’t say a word to her. The woman
didn’t even look in her direction. Something seemed to be hanging in the air
around the house. Something heavy, that sunk her energy to the floor. Something
bad was going to happen really soon…she could just feel it.
---
There was smoke everywhere. Thick, black, choking. Shoninne ran
through it, trying to see through the heavy smoke. She couldn’t see
anything, but she could hear the fire roaring around her. It was getting
closer.
“Shinta!” she cried. The smoke ate her voice so it didn’t go much
farther then her face. She tried calling his name again, but this time she
couldn’t even speak. Coughing, she wiped the tears from her stinging eyes. She
had to go to him. She had to help him. Shinta was in danger!
Suddenly the smoke rolled away and she could see a silhouette
standing there, fire roaring up behind him. She wanted to ask who it was, but
her voice was still stuck deep inside her throat. Metal chimed as the figure
drew out the gleaming blade of a sword. She could see herself reflected in it,
eyes wide, face pale and dirty. He lifted the sword in
the air and she had a glimpse of his terrible, yellow eyes before he swung it
at her head.
Shoninne sat up, breathing hard.
Sweat rolled down her face. That dream…. It was terrible. She shook her head,
trying to clear her mind of the evil thoughts and unclenched her fingers from
her blanket. She wiped her forehead with her trembling hand. That dream…it had
been so scary. Did it mean something?
“Be easy on her, she’s just a child.” Shoninne looked up as
her father’s voice drifted into the room.
“Be easy on her? She insists on going out and ‘playing’ with that
farm boy. I can’t have that,” her mother said, in an annoyed tone.
“Let her have her fun. It’s a shame to see a child grow up so
soon. Let her do what she wants. Perhaps she will grow into a lady if you give
her some time outside.”
“I don’t think it’s good for her. She has to understand that she
can’t be a boy. She has to be a girl. How do you think she’ll attract a proper
husband? What man would want to marry a ruffian?” Shoninne wrinkled her nose.
She wasn’t going to marry so it didn’t matter. Why didn’t her mother understand
that?
“Well let her have one last year then. This last year to do what
she wants. Don’t make her stop acting like she has all her life so suddenly.
It’s not fair to her.”
“You don’t understand. This is a critical age for a girl. This is
when she starts to learn how to take on the responsibility of a wife. You’re a
good father…but raise your son, not my daughters. You are a man, how could you
understand what a girl needs to grow into a proper young lady?” Mother said in
a calm soothing voice.
“I’ve given you my decision.” Father said in a hard voice.
“Listen to me,” Mother’s voice had grown anxious. “If she becomes
a lady we can look for someone outside the village to marry her. Someone rich.
It would mean a better life for her…and for us. Wouldn’t you like to live in
luxury as we once did?”
“No.” End of discussion.
Shoninne curled deeper into her futon, triumph lifting her heart. Now she could
play with Shinta whenever she wanted. That dream had meant nothing at all.
“Whatever you say,” Mother said. There was a chill in her voice
that made the girl shiver. Dread settled around her heart again. Something bad
was going to happen. Something really bad. There was no doubt about it now.