The wind moves with such subtlety, you do not even notice your own breathing.
Be aware.
Only a fool knows the wind is empty.
- The Tao of Shinsei
He awoke with the rain on his face and aches in his limbs. Wet grass was on the back of his neck. he wiped his eyes clear and licked his lips. The rain was thick and tasted...
His body bolted up faster than he could think. He opened his eyes and looked at the corpses that surrounded him, covered in crimson. He looked down at his own hands and realized that is was not rain on his face or on his hands or in his mouth. At his feet, the Iuchiban sword sat in the wet grass, making a sounds than could only be described as an ecstatic whisper.
He kick away from the blade and he slid across the wet grass into what could only be a body. He turned and saw the fear-frozen face of Umako, her skin as white as porcelain and her lips a pale, pale blue. He shoved the body and it rolled until her face was no longer in sight.
He tried to stand but his body refused. He tried again with greater success, but his legs could not hold him. He held on to a tree and felt a scream build in his chest and escape his lips. A new wetness had found his face: the salty wetness of tears. his eyes treid to avoid the bloody clearing, but he could not peel them away from the bone white corpses. He screamed again and sank to the damp grass just as he heard movement behind him.
He spun about and found he had moved to quickly. His feet skidded on the grass and he fell. A form stepped from the wood with words as soft as pillows.
"Do not fear, my friend. I am here to help."
Ginawa kept moving. "Go away," he said.
"Please," the shadow said. "Please let me help you."
"Go away or I will kill you!"
The figure stopped its advance. From the other side of the clearing, another voice spoke out.
"Ginawa-san?"
He spun about. Hijiko stood at the edge of the bloody mess, her hand on the pommel of her katana and her eyes and mouth open with surprise. "Ginawa-san, what - what happened here?"
"I - I do not..."
"The iuchiban blade is the cause," the hidden figure interrupted. Hijiko's blade was free from its saya in a heartbeat. "Who are you?"
The figure stepped forward into the light. He was tall and his eyes flashed with a dark light. "I am Tadaka, magistrate of my lord Shiba Ujimitsu."
"Phoenix," Hijiko muttered.
"Go away!" Ginawa shouted. His hand reached down for his sword, but he pulled it away as if he were reaching without permission. "Leave me! Go now!"
"He has awakened the spirit of the blade," Tadaka said, stepping toward the sword. "It must be put to rest."
"NO!" Ginawa leapt between Tadaka and the sword "Stay away!" Again, he leaned to the ground to lift the blade, but as the last moment, pulled his own hand away.
"Your soul is in conflict. I can sense that. Let me help you." Tadaka put his hand forward and Ginawa tripped backward, stumbling into the blood-soaked grass. "be calm. Only together can we master the spirit of the blade."
Ginawa's body was shaking beyond his control. He could not move away from Tadaka's touch. He put his palm on Ginawa's forehead and began a long, slow chant that was like thunder in his throat. A soft glow grew around them and Hijiko could almost see the tension flowing from Ginawa's body.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Purifying his spirit. It has been corrupted by the abomination behind me." Tadaka motioned to the sword lying in the bloody grass.
"What is it?"
"Is is an Iuchiban blade. I do not know which of the four it is, but that does not matter. It is a weapon of evil and it has tainted his soul with its powers."
Hijiko watches and the glow grea about them. Flares of red smoke and fire spilled from Ginawa's eyes and mouth and palms and chest as Tadaka continued the chanting. Finally, after many minutes, the samurai's body fell completely limp and Tadaka sighed. He almost fell, but Hijiko caught him.
"I thank you, samurai-ko," he said to her.
"No, I thank you. If what you say is true, you have done me and my yoriki a great service."
He shook his head, "Let me rest a moment, samurai-ko. Then I will tell you what I have done."
The fire was hotter than any Hijiko ever remembered. Tadaka had summoned it up from a branch of wood, and now, they sat before the single branch burning with heat that even the great hearth in her lord's home could not compare to.
"You are a shugenja?" she asked.
"Hai. I am."
"I have never spoken to a shugenaj before."
Tadaka smiled. "Afraid he might turn you into something un pleasant? Like a toad or spider?"
She laughed. "No. I just - well, I mean." She thought about it for a moment, then answered, "Your kind never looks like they're interested in talking."
Tadaka's smile grew. "I can understand that. We can seem a bit distant at time. We're studying."
"Studying what?"
Tadaka settled in, like a storyteller preparing for an all-night tale. "You are familiar with he stories of Lady Sun and Father Moon, are you not?"
She shrugged. "Certainly."
"And the Fortunes?"
She shook her head. "I only know the Seven. And my ancestors."
Tadaka smiled. "I know prayers for one hundred and forty two Fortunes," he said. "And I am also an Acolyte of Earth."
Hijiko frowned. "Acolyte of Earth?"
He nodded. "Certainly you read the Tao of Shinsei while you were in school?"
An embarrassed smile cross her face. "Yes... but I only paid attention to the bushido parts."
"Tsk, tsk," Tadaka scolded, a smile on his lips. "I can recite any chapter from any book, but the one I am most fluent in is the Earth book."
Hijiko's eyes lit up. "Yes! I remember the Earth book. The mountain is immovable and so shall I be."
He nodded. "Very good."
She leaned in a little bit, her curiosity showing in her eyes and voice. "So when you say you are an 'Acolyte' of Earth, what does that mean?"
Tadaka put his palm down and looked her in the eyes. "This," he whispered.
Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to tremble. Hijiko grabbed hold of a nearby tree and looked at Tadaka whose eyes had turned white as a geisha's face. Then, just as suddenly, the trembling ceased and the color of his eyes faded back.
"D - did you...?"
He nodded. "Yes, I did."
She tried to mumble something, but he cut her off. "How?" Hijiko nodded, still trying to find her breath.
"It's simple reall. All you have to do is become aware of your own energies. Of course, that only takes a few years."
She took a deep gasp then flashed a dark look at him. "Don't do that again without warning me," she said sharply.
"Of course," he said, his lips curled into a sideways smile.
There was no sound to warn either of them. He moved like a cat made of shadows, and before Tadaka could move, a wakizashi was at his throat and a rough hand was over his eyes and mouth.
"Don't move, shugenja," Ginawa whispered. "Even a hint of a spell from your lips and your blood will mingle with the blood of Scorpions this night."
"Ginawa-san! Put your weapon away. This man saved your life!"
"His eyes flashed across the darkness. "Did he?"
"Hai! Now do as I say, yoriki."
Ginawa didn't move. His eyes didn't blink. He licked his lips. The edge of the blade touched the shugenja's neck.
In one gesture, he pushed the shugenja away and flung himself down in front of the fire. Tadaka fell forward, but the fire of the branch fell with him as if the flame refused to burn him. He pulled himself up and shook the wrinkles from his kimono.
"You owe me nothing, samurai," Tadaka said, "if that is what you fear."
"There is only one thing in this world I fear, shugenja," Ginawa spat, "and it has nothing to do with you."
Tadaka turned to Hijiko, "You yoriki has a strange way of showing gratitude."
She shot a glance at Ginawa who sat silent, wrapped up in his kimono. "I know, Tadaka-sama."
A moment of silence passed between them, then Tadaka said, "Where are you off to now?"
"Back to my lord to report what has happened here."
Tadaka smiled. "That is precisely where I am headed. Do you mind if we share the road?"
She shook her head. "Not al all, Tadaka-sama." She stared at Ginawa. "I am certain my yoriki has no objections."
"Non that he'd say in public," Ginawa grumbled.
"Good."
"Where is my sword?"
Tadaka and Hijiko looked at Ginawa with frowns. "Wrapped up and tied into its saya," she told him. "I do not think you need to see it again."
Ginawa's eyes grew dark. "We will see," he whispered.
"What did you say?" Hijiko snapped.
He shook his head. "Nothing, Hijiko-san." He sunk deeper into his kimono and shut his eyes. "Nothing at all."