To his back stood the great Kaiu Wall, the mighty fortification as old as the Empire itself, and the young Phoenix didn't like the fact he was on the wrong side of it. Another gust of wind prompted Sano out of his contemplation, and he looked around. Silence still, except the quiet rustling of the leaves. The edge of the dark lands didn't appear quite so sinister as the stories would make you think, but Sano knew better.
Sano ran his fingers along the stick of jade he had been given by the Kaiu man at the gate. The group of Crab samurai and artificers there had all given him mirthful looks; a long shugenja travelling out into the Shadowlands was apparently something of a joke ot them. Shiba Sano didn't find it funny.
Sano was the Phoenix Ambassador to the courts of the Fox Clan, and had been so for two years. During that time, the Kitsune Daimyo had grown to trust the Phoenix, and Sano considered himself more of a diplomat to the service of the Fox. Lord Genzo sent him on many errands in the name of the Fox, while Sano heard quite little from his own Clan.
And now, with a stick of jade in his right hand, and his staff in his left, he was on a very serious mission. Genzo had sent Sano to find an samurai of the Crab clan, one Hida Daiken, who was another trsuted ally of the Fox. He was told Daiken was in command of a small detachment of bushi, and owed the Fox a favor. As rumours of an attack by the Hare Clan grew more tangible every day, the Fox Daimyo decided it was time to collect on that favor.
Sano placed the jade in a pouch around his neck, then began walking towards the Shadowlands. He was told that Daiken would be found close to the Kaiu wall, so no escort was needed. The Phoenix took the comment as a backhanded compliment, and made ihs way through the gate.
Shortly after beginning his walk, the breeze stopped, and so did Sano. Ill portents were in this, he thought to himself, and proceeded with more caution. Ten paces more, and he came upon two burned bodies, still smoking, and very obvious signs of a small conflict. He inspected the bodies, and surmised they were human. He couldn't be sure, for his areas of knowledge were the courts and the kami. Again he cursed his "good fortune" to be so trusted by the Fox Daimyo, and kept walking.
The night was silent as he walked, and soon the Phoenix grew irritated. He sat upon the ground and began to meditate. Were he anywhere else, he may have called upon the kami of the air for assistance, but here in the realm of the darkness, his magics would easily be turned against him. To channel the spirits in the Shadowlands was to risk the notice of He Who Must Not Be Named, and he had heard many tales of shugenja like he losing their sould to the foul corruptions of this realm.
A branch broke behind him. Sano stood up quickly and gripped his staff. He turned to see a black-clothed figure nearly ten feet away from him, holding a katana. "You are Sano, of the Phoenix?" He said in whispered tones. The figure held the katana in front of him loosely, but Sano knew that the man had come for him.
"I am," Rumbled Sano. "You are here to kill me?"
The figure nodded, held his katana high, then began walking slowly towards the Phoenix.
"You have been sent to assassinate a simple shugenja in a place so foul, his magics will fail him?" Sano asked in a neutral tone.
"Hai," whispered the figure, now a mere five feet away.
Sano smiled. "You did not find him," was all he said. The Phoenix gripped his staff, and pulled it apart to reveal two small spears. In a spinning motion, Sano attacked the assassin with blinding speed. The figure stepped back and defended himself pitifully as he was quickly overcome by the shugenja's spears.
Sano knocked the man down with the butt of his left spear, and held the right blade at his throat. "Perhaps you will take this lesson with you into the next life..." was the last thing the assassin heard.
The Phoenix wiped the blades on the corpses leg, and returned them to the staff position. Once again, Sano sat and meditated. He was close to the Kaiu wall, and certainly Daiken would return this way.
His meditations were interrupted again, but this time by a quiet movement behind him. Sano turned and looked at the corpse. The Phoenix stood and walked over to the body slowly. As he studied the way the corpse lay, Sano was sure that the assassin had fallen with his left arm pinned under him...
The corpse shot its hand up and clutched Sano's throat, then stood as the Phoenix's eyes grew wide with pain and surprise. Sano choked as the undead continued to squeeze the life from him, and something occured to Sano. As he began to lose conciousness, Sano realized how stupid the corpse looked with it's jaw slacked...
Without knowing how, Sano found himself on the ground, gasping for air, on his hands and knees. He looked up, and through a hazy view he saw a large Crab samurai set fire to the body that was killing him a second ago. Sano caught his breath and said, "Thank you, Crab,"
The samurai just nodded and grunted, "You may call me Daiken, Phoenix." Then helped the shugenja to his feet. "You killed this man, did you not?" The Crab asked.
"Hai, at least I believed I did." The Phoenix muttered as he rubbed his throat.
"Next time, burn the body."
"Hai," Sano repeated. "I am Shiba Sano, agent of Kitsune Genzo, the Fox Daimyo. I am here to find you. He wishes for you to repay an old debt."
Daiken nodded, then muttered, "This way then. Tell Genzo-sama that next time he should not send an ambassador from the court of man into the court of death."
Sano smiled and followed the Hida samurai. "Hai."