The truth of the world can be found sitting at the riverside. The river never begins, the river never ends. All of life is like the river. Lessons never begin and lessons never end.
- The Tao Of Shinsei
The sunrise spread soft warmth over his face and Ginawa smiled as he scratched at the beard in his chin. He had settled into the canter of his steed and the hot rice from two hours before made his stomach quiet and content. He rubbed his belly and felt his smile grow wider as the sunlight grew warmer.
To his right, Hijiko made a sound of disgust. "Where are your manners?" she asked.
Ginawa laughed. "With my name, samurai-ko. Besides, it is a samurai's skill that keeps him alive, not his manners."
He gaze bore into him. "You are not a ronin today, Ginawa-san. You are a representative of my lord, Ataka. You are also my assistant, yoriki, which means your actions reflect on me. Try to behave." She paused a moment, watching his reaction. "Or we will see if your poor manners have affected your skill more than you know."
Ginawa pulled the reins of his horse and it slowed to a stop. Hijiko followed suit.
"Let's find out," he said.
She smiled. "All right. Let's find out."
Their horses stood tied to a tree in a quiet field. Far away, a single woman picked rice from the fields as thr shadow of a castle fell over her. If the woman knew they were there, she did not show it. Ginawa wondered for a moment what daimyo lived in the castle, but then he turned back to Hijiko and nodded. "I am ready."
"The let's begin," she said, and took three steps back.
The two samurai stood only five paces apart. All about them, the wind waved the flowery branches of the trees. Their katana were placed by the side. Long, shaved willow brnaches would have to do for now. Ginawa felt the impromptu boken's weight and made a mental adjustment. He wouldn't be using the Iuchiban blade, and that would make things different.
He let his gaze focus on the spot where Hijiko's collarbones met just under her chin. Never trust the eyes, he heard his sensei whisper in his ear from across the years. Men can train their eyes to lie. Ginawa almost felt himself nodding in agreement as he settled into his stance.
Across the field, Hijiko's right foot moved behind her and she brought her boken up over her right shoulder. She let it rest there, waiting to see Ginawa's response.
Ginawa ignored the posture. His focus reminaed on her neck and shoulders. He let his breathing fall into a slow, methodical pace, then shifted it and watched Hijiko's response.
She was unmoved.
She knows not to trust my breathing, he thought.Good.
He let his thoughts fall awat, let the moment enter him. He had examined everything. He knew the length of the boken, knew Hijiko's reach, knew the ground about him. He did not know her speed. THat meant he would just have to be faster.
He took one more breath and by the time he took another, it was over.
The duel was like all others. He was only barely aware of the movements. He felt them, but no organ in his bodt commanded them. His thought and motion were one action, no hesitation or doubt hindered him.
He charged two steps forward, further than she suspected he could move. He saw that much in her step back... no, her stance changed in mid-motion and he had to change his movement. He heard the hardword swords sliding as he moved to the left as his boken continued on its deadly path. She pivoted also, bringing her own boken up and about, protecting her right side.
He felt the momentum of her movement and used it. He felt her pushing her boken, stepped aside, and used the momentum of her movement to change his wooden sword's motion, from sliding along hers to slash at the back of her neck. She spun about, swinging low toward his belly. He leapt back, dropping the tip of the boken quickly and watched Hijiko do the same... from five feet away.
"Very impressive," she said. "But you still lost."
Ginawa smiled. "Did I? I wasn't certain."
"You were rushed, Ginawa-san. You are out of breath. You were forced to compensate twice. You lost."
He shrugged. "Perhaps." He turned away and walked towards the horses.
She's right, the voice of his sensei whispered in his ear. You are clumsy. Lazy. You treat discipline like an enemy. Ginawa shrugged again. "Perhaps," he whispered.
"Talking to yourself, eh? Not a good sign."
He jumped at the sound of her voice and she laughed. He turned about and saw she had run to catch up with him. "You shouldn't sneak," he scolded. "Only ninja sneak."
She made an annoyed sound between her teeth. "Ninja? Don't tell me you fall in for peasant supersition, Ginawa-san!"
He tossed aside the tree branch and she did the same. "No, I do notbeleive in superstitions, Hijiko," he dsaid through clenched teeth. "Only what I have seen with my own eyes."
She climbed up into her own saddle. "With your own eyes? You've seen a ninja?"
Ginawa nodded. "Hai," he said, his voice low.
She shook her head. "Must have been a Scorpion trick. No such thing as ninja."
He just turned his horse away, saying nothing. She watched him for a moment, then rushed up next to him. "When?" she said.
"When what?"
"When did you see the ninja?"
The question made his stomach lurch and his breath quicken. "On the night my lord was killed."
He felt Hijiko's slight gasp. "My apologies, Ginawa-san. I did not mean..."
He raised his hand. "It is no matter, Hijiko-san. No matter worth dwelling upon. Come, we must ride. We have one more day until we meet with the magistrates from Lord Shoju's province. We will need all of our wits if qwe are to be dealing with Scorpions."
He urged his horse on and rode ahead. Hijiko swatched him for a moment, then spurred her own horse onward.
THe dream woke him. This time he was barely able to stifle the scream behind his lips. He looked abour, trying to remember where he was. The room was dark and the shadows shifted all around him. His sword was out of its says and into his hands in a heartbeat. Silver moonlight falling from the window glistened off the blade. His eyes darted from corner to corner, but there was nothing. Nothing but the shadows.
He sank back into the corner of the room, his bodt trembling. Sweat dribbled from his brow into his eyes. He wiped them clean, keeping one hand on his katana.
The door slid open and he rose slowly, matching the speed of the door. A robed figure stepped into the dark room, silhouetted by the lanterns outside.
"Ginawa-san?"
"Hijiko-san?"
"Hai. Are you all right? You called out in your sleep."
He paused. "What did I say?"
"You called out for a woman. I didn't quite catch the name."
He nodded. "A dream. I am all right."
She stood silently as thre shadows danced across her. "Very well. Sleep then. We leave early in the morning."
The door slid shut and he slid down the wall back into the corner. Hours later, he watched the sun rise.
Their journey led them to a small well just along the roadside. Ginawa and Hijiko stood by the well washing the sweat from their faces.
"Lady Sun knows my sins," he said as he rubbed his face with the cool, damp rag. "And she is punishing me for them now."
Hijiko laughed. "You are a poet, Ginawa-san. Who would have thought that?"
He smiled. "No. Not a poet. Just a very convincing liar."
She nodded. "Some would say there is no difference."
"Hold!" The command came from beihnd them. They both turned, hands on their katana.
At the mile marker stood four figures. The tallest was armed and armored, his sword at the ready. Kneeling just before the samurai was a smaller man, a long yari in his hands, and a kneeling woman, her eyes intent on a scroll, burning (and yet, not burning) with the fire of an autumn sunset. Only barely visible behind them all was a figure that Ginawa immediately associated with the word "mouse". That thought made him smile.
"Who are you?" asked the woman.
Hijiko spoke. "We are magistrates of my lord Ataka. I assume you are the ones we are to meet?"
They did not move. "Let us see your papers," the woman commanded.
Ginawa stood still as Hijiko moved to the horses. She found their travelling papers and held them above her head. "I am Ashiryo Hijiko, magistrate of my lord Ashiyro Ataka. This is Ginawa, my yoriki."
Ginawa whistled. "They certainly don't look like Scorpions."
Hijiko turned to face him, her eyes on fire with rage. "Mind your tongue, yoriki.!" He shrugged and scratched his beard.
"We are not Scorpions," said the shugenja, rising herself to her feet. "We are magistrates of the Scorpion daimyo, Shoju."
"Scorpion in name, but not in nature," Ginawa's laugh was from deep in his belly. "I wonder how the frog would answer that riddle."
The shugenja's eyes were shadowed with suspicion. "You yoriki doesn't know his manners."
"I know my manners, I just don't get along with them, so I left them behind. If you hurry, you might catch them."
Hijiko only barely managed to stifle her smile and flash Ginawa a sour grimace. "He is uncouth, but he is trustworthy."
The magistrates stood still for a moment longer, then stood at ease. "Ataka-sama must be desperate for men he can trust."
Ginawa shrugged and scratched his beard.
The shugenja bowed to Hijiko and the samurai-ko returned her courtesy. "I am Umabeko." THen she turned to Ginawa and bowed. His flamboyant bow drew a hiss from the mouse hiding behind the armored samurai. Ginawa just smiled - and stuck out his tongue when Hijiko wasn't looking.
The shugenja nodded and thr armored samurai retreived their horses from behind the mile marker and shrubbery.
Ginawa whispered, "You don't trust them, do you?"
She shook her head. "Of course not. But we are under orders, and what do they have to gain from our deaths?" She saw Ginawa's brow curl and she explained, "Whenever you are dealing with Scorpions - or any other Clan for that matter - always ask yourself, 'What do they have to gain?' You will find you can anticipate many motives with that single question."
Ginawa nodded. "Find the advantage," he whispered.
"Hai." Ginawa saw her brow curl and she smiled when she asked, "What about this frog?"
Ginawa's grin spread across his grizzled face. "YOu have never heard the story of the frog and the scorpion?" She shook her head. "I heard it when I was still a child. A small frog is sitting by a river when a scorpion asks him to carry her across the river on his back. The frog tells the scorpion, 'Ladt, I will not, for you will sting me and I will die.' The scorpion answers, 'No, I wil not. For if I do, we will both drown.' The frog sees the logic so he agees, but half way across the river, the scorpion stings him. As the both begin to sink into the river, he asks her, 'Why did you do that? Now we will both drown.' She answers, 'Because it is my nature to do so, silly frog.'"
Ginawa watched her face as he told the story, and when she smiled at the end, he matched it.
"By name, but not by nature, eh?" she said.
"Hai."
The magistrates rode up, the shugenja saying, "It's time to go. Are you ready?"
Ginawa opened his hand, gesturing for Hijiko to go first. "After you, ladt frog. I will follow just in case you find you suddenly cannot swim."
Hijiko almost laughed, and Ginawa watched her eyes shine. She turned her horse toward the south field and rode off, the Scorpions not far behind. The mouse was last and as he passed by Ginawa, slapped his shoulder with his riding crop.
Ginawa's eyes sharpened and his hand fell to hs blade.
The mouse held up his hands, palms out. "No offense, samurai. There was a spider on your shoulder. We wouldn't want you getting stung, now would we?" He smiled and ushered his horse onward. Ginawa cursed and spat at the hindquarters of the man's horse and followed them as the sun sank lower into the western sky, filling its horizon with blood red crimson.