(Steve Stachowicz)
gerrek@hotmail.com
(Matthew Frey)
mafrey@charter.net
Webpage: http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/shores/2307
Swords of Destiny Chronicle IX
The Nashimoto Clan
By
Eric Thorsen and Stacko
LEGAL STUFF:
** The characters and concepts used here are the property of those people and
companies holding the copyrights to the respective storylines, series, and
movies. The only exceptions are those created by the demented minds of authors
of this story. The use of this material should be seen as the sign of respect
that it is. Besides, suing either of us would be a waste of time since we don't
have any money to begin with.
**WARNING: This chapter contains graphic violence and events, which may offend some
readers.
* * * * *
Scott was finishing up some paperwork and putting it away when he heard the door
chimes to his shop go off. He checked the security camera’s and saw that it was Hotaru, Chibi-
Usa, and Sasami. Scott smiled as he saw Sasami in a school uniform and liked how easily she
adapted to going to school. The only problem she had was being a friend to Hotaru. The other
classmates started teasing her about being friends with a ‘freak’. Sasami didn’t like what they
were doing and started a fight with the boys. Scott had to explain to the principle what had
happened to Sasami and the principle asked Scott to have a talk with her, so Scott had to talk to
her about fighting. Needless to say, the boys stopped teasing Hotaru, but gave Sasami a wide
berth.
So Scott watched them enter and wave hi to his helper, Hiroshi. They then entered the
back room and found Scott waiting for them.
“What can I help you three with?” Scott asked.
“We were wondering if we can talk with you.” Hotaru said.
“Why am I suddenly getting a deva vu feeling here?” Scott said and the three girls
smiled at him. “Let me guess, another school project?”
“Yes.” Chibi-Usa said.
“What is it this time?” Scott asked.
“We have a history project to do and our teacher approved of us doing a report on the
Nashimoto Clan.” Sasami said.
“If it was on just the Clan, you could have talked to Miyuki.” Scott said.
“Well, it’s not on the Clan, but on a certain person of that Clan.” Hotaru said.
“Let me guess …” Scott started saying.
“The only non-Japanese member of the Clan all the way to present ‘generation’.” Sasami
said.
“Basically, you want my life story.” Scott replied.
“Yep.” All three girls said.
“All right, you three doing anything right now?” Scott asked.
“No.” All three girls replied.
“I have to drop off some paperwork to Miyuki, so you girls want to go to the Shrine?” Scott
asked.
“Yes.” All three of them replied excitedly.
“Okay, I just got to talk to Hiroshi and we will go there.” Scott said.
Scott walked out and talked to Hiroshi and then got the girls loaded in his car. He then
drove to the Nashimoto Shrine and had left the girls in the library before he went to find Miyuki.
After Scott found her and finished the business, he went back to the three girls. He sat down and
looked over at them.
“So what do you three want to know?” Scott asked.
“Your entire life with them.” Chibi-Usa replied.
“That’s 400 years of information and most is quite boring. How about I give you three
just some of the highlights when I was there.” Scott said.
“Okay.” Hotaru said.
“Well, like all things, let’s start at the beginning. It started just after the turn of the
century, around 1301 I think it was. I was going to leave Japan, but a typhoon happened and I
was tossed off the ship. Somewhere something happened and I blacked out. I came to during a
conflict.” Scott started talking.
# # # # #
JAPAN SHORELINE 1301
Scott came to with a sharp breath of air. He looked around and found that he had floated
back to shore. Looking at the landscape and realized he was back in Japan. It was then that he
heard a commotion behind him, so he turned to see what was going on and saw a lone man being
attacked by four men. The lone man looked like he was losing, so Scott decided to help the man.
The four men were surprised at the arrival of Scott, but they fought on. After a bit, the
four men realized that they were out matched and ran away. After the men ran away, Scott turned
to face the man and found the man in a defensive stance.
“Why did you help me?” The man asked carefully.
“I thought it was the right thing to do.” Scott replied.
“It was not your fight.” The man stated.
“I just couldn’t let what I saw happen.” Scott said.
“Yes, I can see that in you.” The man said and put his sword away and started walking
away. “Come with me.”
Scott followed the man back to a large complex. Along the way, Scott found out that the
man’s name was Toshiaki, and he was the head of the Nashimoto Clan. Scott told him what had
happened to him for him being on the shoreline. After they entered the place, Scott was taken to
get a change of clothes. After he was changed, he then had a talk with Toshiaki. He told Scott
that he could stay for a while. Scott thanked him and he was shown about the place.
# # # # #
“Was that how you became a member?” Chibi-Usa asked.
“Not at that time. My first two days there was me learning their way of life, and started
learning some martial arts.” Scott replied.
“How did you become a member?” Hotaru asked.
“It happened on the third day.” Scott said,
“What happened?” Sasami asked.
“We were outside learning some martial arts when I detected someone in the trees. The
person fired an arrow and I realized that the target was Toshiaki. I jumped in its way and took the
arrow. Needless to say, the arrow was poisoned.” Scott said.
“What did you do?” Sasami asked.
“I died.” Scott said simply. “After the arrow was shot, several people jumped out and
one of them thrust a sword through me.”
“What happened to the Nashimoto’s?” Chibi-Usa asked.
“After I died, they started attacking them. When I came to, the fight was still going
strong, but I knew the Nashimoto Clan was losing. I realized that they didn’t notice my revival.
So I pulled the arrow out and grabbed my sword. I found that the attacker’s leader was right in
front of me and I went and killed him. When the attackers noticed that their leader was killed by
a person who should be dead, they quickly ran away. The Nashimoto’s weren’t as well off either.
They knew I died, since I still had the holes in my clothing to prove it. We went back and I told
the elders of the clan all about me.” Scott said.
“Everything?” Hotaru asked.
“Everything.” Scott replied.
“What did they do?” Sasami asked.
“After several hours of waiting, they offered me to become a member of their clan, and
since I was ‘reborn’, they gave me a new name of ‘Taka Nashimoto’. They promised that they
would keep my Immortality a secret. I accepted their offer and they told me I could stay with
them for however long I wanted.” Scott said.
“Wow.” Sasami said impressed.
“That must have been fun.” Chibi-Usa said.
“What else happened?” Hotaru asked.
“Well, there was a rival clan that they had been fighting on and off for several years.
Needless to say, about a couple of decades later, the fight started up again. During one of the
battles, I had gotten separated from my friends.” Scott started talking again.
# # # # #
JAPAN 1327
Taka wandered through the woods in hopes of trying to find what happened to his fellow
comrades. As he continued walking until he heard something nearby, so he went to go check it
out. When he found what the noise was, it was from two people. He saw that the two people
seemed as lost as he was, that one of the people was female and she seemed injured. As he
entered the clearing they were in, the man got into a defensive stance.
“What do you want?” The man asked defensively.
“I’m just lost and came across you.” Taka replied. “Are you all right, your friend seems
injured?”
“We are fine.” The man said.
“Well, all right, but there is a war nearby. You should get out of here.” Taka said.
“I’ve injured my foot.” The woman said.
“Can I check it out?” Taka asked. He waited until the woman nodded her head and he
came over and checked out her foot. “Looks like you just sprained it. If you keep off of it, it
should heal quickly.”
“Thank you.” The woman said.
“You two should get going.” Taka said as he stood up.
“I don’t know if I can make it.” The woman said sadly.
“If your friend will carry you, I’ll help.” Taka said.
After a long pause of the man making a decision, he went and picked the woman up, and
Taka escorted them to a nearby place that he had noticed before. As they were walking, Taka
found out that the two of them were to be married. Taka congratulated them and they came
across a clearing with a drop off at one side, to take a break. Once the woman was set down, the
woman asked for Taka’s name.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m Taka Nashimoto.” Taka said and then noticed the surprised look on
their faces and then anger taking over the man's face. “What?” Then he saw the man pull out his
sword.
“I am Koji Ito.” Koji stated.
Taka was surprised and suddenly had to go on the defensive when Koji started attacking.
The attacks were vicious, but Taka knew he had the over all advantage with his Immortality. The
fight brought them to be near the edge and the woman started to fear for her fiancée’s life and
wanted to stop the fight. So she run up to them, being conscious of her injury, and was yelling at
them to stop. But Koji pushed her out of the way, but the problem with that was he pushed her
towards the cliff edge.
She stumbled backwards and then slipped off the cliff. Her scream caught the attention
of the two men; they both looked and realized what happened. The woman was hanging off a
tree sticking out the side of the cliff. Koji didn’t know what to do, save his fiancée or fight Taka.
Taka made his decision and stuck his sword in the ground and made his way to the cliffs edge.
“Hey, stay away from her.” Koji shouted at Taka while pointed his sword at him.
“You can either fight me or save your fiancée. What will it be?” Taka stated.
Koji didn’t know what to do, but a scream from his fiancée made up his mind and stuck
his sword in the ground and went over to the side of the cliff. He looked down and saw that she
was just out of reach.
“She’s just out of reach, what are we going to do?” Koji asked.
“We use this.” Taka said as he reached into his sub-space pocket and grabbed a length of
rope.
“Where did you get that?” Koji asked.
“Never mind.” Taka said as he lowered the rope, but the woman was too scared to reach
out for it. Taka then brought the rope up and tied the rope around himself. “Lower me down so I
can get her.”
Taka handed the other end of the rope over to Koji and after Koji was braced, he then
went over the side of the cliff. Taka was lowered slowly and when he was within reach, he
grabbed her and held her tightly. Koji pulled them up and when they were back over the ledge,
the woman then ran over and hugged Koji. Once Taka was up and standing, he untied himself
and faced the couple. Koji noticed the look and tensed up. The woman realized what was going
to happen.
“Please don’t fight.” She said quietly.
Koji didn’t want to go against her wishes, but he couldn’t let Taka go.
“There’s been enough blood shed over this ‘blood feud’. Please let it go for now.” She
told her fiancée. Koji looked over at Taka and saw him nod his head, which then made Koji
relent.
“All right.” Koji said.
“Can we put our differences aside until we get to that village?” The woman pleaded.
Both Taka and Koji agreed and they collected their swords and sheathed them, and then
they started heading again to the village. Along the way, Taka found out the woman’s name was
Ayumi Kurusu. Once they were in the village, they sat in a small tavern to get something to eat.
They were sitting down eating, with Taka on the other side of the table, when they suddenly
overheard a startling discovery.
There were a couple of men there drinking heavily, they were talking about how they set
up a blood feud between two clans. The men kept talking on how they set everything up while
Taka and the others listened, because most of what was said happened to their clans. Then before
they were going to give up trying to figure out who the two clans were. Then one of the men said
the two names, they figured out who the Clans were, but didn’t have proof until the men
mentioned them. The two clans were theirs.
So they quickly paid for their meals and walked outside. Once outside, they talked about
what they were going to do, after they found out their clans were set up.
“Ayumi, are you okay with getting horses?” Taka asked.
“Sure, but we don’t have much money.” Ayumi replied.
“Here, take this.” Taka said as he reached into his clothes and pulled out his coin pouch
and tossed it to Ayumi. “Get two of the best horses you can get, while me and Koji collect the
proof we need.”
“Okay.” Ayumi said as she made her way to buy a couple of horses.
While Ayumi went to get the horses, Taka and Koji waited nearby for the men to come
out. After a short wait, the men came out. They followed them for a bit, until they were in a
secluded area and Koji and Taka attacked. Out of the three men, one was killed by Koji; one
slipped on the mud and broke his neck, while the last one was knocked unconscious by Taka.
Just as Taka finished tying up the man, Ayumi showed up with the horses.
Taka loaded the man up on his horse, while Koji got on with Ayumi. They rode out of
the village and rode through the night. According to the men, they had to get to the place where
both clans were having the final showdown. Through out the ride, Taka made sure that the man
didn’t cause them any problems. They reached the ridge that overlooked the battle ground and
saw both clans facing each other. Just as they saw the charge begin, they raced down the ridge
and got in-between the two clans to stop them.
“What is the meaning of this Taka?” Toshiaki demanded, while a similar question was
asked to Koji.
“This blood feud was set up to make us fight each other.” Taka replied.
“What do you mean?” Toshiaki asked confused.
“It means that there is a third clan that wants our clans gone.” Taka replied.
“What proof do you have of this?” Was asked by a lot of people.
“This person right here.” Taka said as he tossed the person on the ground between the
two clans. The person watched in horror as the two clans approached him that he broke down.
“It’s true.” The man said, and then started pleading for his life.
# # # # #
“What happened?” Hotaru asked.
“After the man spilled his guts on who the third party was, he was killed.” Scott replied.
“That wasn’t nice.” Sasami said.
“Wasn’t nice times.” Scott said.
“What happened then?” Hotaru asked.
“Well, both leaders of each clan met at a neutral place and had talks for ending the blood
feud with each other and teamed up to fight the third clan.” Scott replied.
“What happened with Koji and Ayumi?” Chibi-Usa asked.
“After the treaty between the two clans was made, we held their wedding. They lived
happy lives and their first born son they named Taka, for the friend that helped end the feud.”
Scott said.
“How nice.” Chibi-Usa said.
“Who was the third clan?” Sasami asked.
“The Hayashi clan.” Scott replied. “Is that enough story telling or do you guy’s want
another one?”
“Another one.” Hotaru said excitedly.
“I knew you’d want another one Hotaru.” Scott said and messed her hair a little.
“Hey.” Complained Hotaru when Scott did that.
“So do you two want another one?” Scott asked and they nodded their heads. “Okay,
this one takes place several hundred years later, about the 1630’s. During which time I have
taken a new name, Akira, and as you can probably guess, the changes in the Nashimoto clan has
happened over the years. If you really want to know some of them, I’ll show you the clan
records. The big change in my life at that time was there was a woman then that had a big crush
on me since she was very little.
“As she grew older, she was weakening the wall I had created about me of having anything to
do with any kind of a relationship. When she turned 18, she finally broke that wall and we got
engaged.”
“What was her name?” Sasami asked.
“Nagi.” Scott replied.
“Did you two get married?” Chibi-Usa asked and then noticed a sad look in Scott’s eyes.
“No and the story I’m going to tell you is what happened to her and the aftermath. It’s
not a happy tale.” Scott said.
# # # # #
CHINA 1634
Akira was sitting by the fire waiting for Nagi to return. He was here in China for
business dealing with the clan. The clan had told him what he had to do, basically maintain a
trade with the Chinese and the clan. Nagi had basically begged him and the elders to let her go
along. To shut her up, they allowed her to go along. They had finished the business, which was
successful, and were on their way back to Japan.
It was just after sunrise and Akira was waiting for Nagi to return. He was becoming
worried about what was taking so long. Just as he was about to get up to find her, he heard
some shouts and running. He looked in that direction and saw Nagi run out of the tree’s with a
panicked look. To Akira’s horror, he watched as two females were right behind her with
weapons drawn. He watched in slow motion as one of the two females pounced on Nagi and ran
her through with her sword. Akira watched and then drew his sword.
“NO!” Akira shouted in horrific shock.
The two women looked up at Akira as if noticing him for the first time. Akira charged at
the two women. He attacked the one that killed Nagi and the woman didn’t stand a chance, due
to the surprise of him being there. As the woman fell dead, the other woman turned and ran.
Akira let the person go and went over to Nagi.
As he knelt by her body, he could tell that she was all ready dead. He knelt down and
thought about his feelings. As he was thinking about his feelings, he started thinking about how
every person he had real feelings for, died on him. From Meriel all the way to Nagi, had died
before they were married. His depression and anger started to build as he kept thinking about
what had happened. His vision started to take an electric blue hue. It was then that he
remembered that there was another person that was there that helped kill Nagi, so he grabbed his
sword and went after that person.
The trail that he followed led him to a village. As he neared the village, he saw there
were two sentries at the entrance. When he got closer, the sentries noticed him and told him to
stop, but he kept approaching. One of the sentries approached him to try and stop him, but he
thrust his sword through her and killed her instantly. When the other sentry saw what happened,
she quickly sounded an alarm. Before she turned around, Akira was on her and killed her.
Akira then entered the village in search of the one woman. As he entered, he was quickly
faced off against the villagers that were armed. He kept walking in and saw his target. He then
ran in and started fighting the woman. The woman was killed quickly and that caused the rest of
the village to start attacking Akira.
In a manner of moments, the village realized that the person they were fighting was in a
berserk rage. When most of the villagers that surrounded Akira fell to him, or was seriously
injured, they had noticed that the wounds they inflicted on him was healing in a manner on
minutes. When half of the village elders entered the fight, the village knew they were in trouble.
They knew that Akira was slaughtering them, and they started having trouble fighting when the
wind was working against them.
When the Elders entered the fight, they found out that it was Akira that was controlling
the wind somehow. The Elders that entered the fight scored several good hits, but with Akira in a
berserk rage hardly noticed them. When the remaining Elder’s watched in horror as the man took
out the Elders fighting him. They realized that if they stayed and continued fighting, the person
would destroy everyone. It was when almost half the village was dead or injured, that the Elders
called a withdraw from the village. As the able bodies of the village ran, Akira got even angrier
and the few people that saw, could see a black haze form around him with blue lightning dancing
around him. So he started to chase after the fleeing villagers.
As he went outside the village, chasing after the fleeing villagers, he locked on a villager
and chased after her. On an unconscious level, Akira noticed that the woman he was chasing was
very pregnant. It wasn’t long before Akira caught up with the woman. Just as he was about to
thrust his sword through her, the ground under them gave way and they fell into an underground
cavern.
As they landed, Akira lost his grip on his sword and it landed near the woman. The
woman was the first to recover and grabbed his sword. When Akira stood up, the woman thrust
the sword through him. When he fell back down, the woman kept the sword in him until she
knew he was dead. She then collapsed on her knees and cried for her fallen companions and the
luck she had to kill the person who almost wiped out her village. After she did her prayers, she
got up to find her way out and to inform the village that she killed the Berserker.
As she was making her way out, she realized that the light was fading fast. She came
across a ledge that she had to cross to get out. As she started to cross, the ledge crumbled under
her feet and she started to fall down a chasm. She started to scream as she started to fall, but was
stopped when something grabbed her arm. She looked at what stopped her and gasped in
surprised horror as she saw that the thing that caught her was the person that she had killed.
“Give me your other hand if you want to live.” Akira told the woman, but he noticed her
reluctance. “Think about your unborn child.”
The woman looked at her stomach and then gave Akira her other hand. He then pulled
her up from the chasm and helped her to a more stable area. Once Akira let her go, she backed
herself away from him as far as she could while keeping him in sight. They just sat there staring
at each other for several minutes before the woman broke the silence.
“Why did you save me? You were trying to kill me before.” The woman asked.
“I had let my anger and depression rule me, I thank you for waking me out of it.” Akira
replied.
She was about to comment when a sharp pain happened in her stomach. She rolled
herself into a ball as she hissed in pain. It was then that she realized she was going into labor.
She looked over and saw that Akira was approaching her.
“Stay away from me.” She yelled.
“You’re going into labor.” Akira stated.
“None of your business.”
“You will need help.”
“Leave me alone.”
“As you wish.”
Akira then went back to his corner and sat down looking at her. She kept looking at him
as waves of pain washed through her at quicker intervals. It got to the point she knew she needed
help, but she didn’t want it from Akira. When a serious labor pain went through her, her defiance
against letting Akira help crumbled.
“Please help me.” She said quietly.
Akira quickly came over to her and helped her out of her pants and got ready for the
delivery. It took another hour before the woman heard the crying of a baby.
“Congratulations, you have a girl.” Akira said as he wrapped the baby in the woman’s
pants and hands the baby over to the woman.
“Thank you.” She said.
“You’re welcome.”
“I’m going to call her Cologne.”
“Nice name, but I think we better get you to one of your healers to look you over and the
baby.”
“I guess so, but the way is no longer there.”
“Can you travel?”
“Not for a while, I’m very tired.”
“I’ll carry you. I thought I saw another way out.”
Akira then picked the woman up and started down a different trail. As they were walking,
they introduced themselves to each other. Akira found out her name was Potion. Potion’s main
concern was for her daughter as they made their way through the maze of caverns. It took an
hour before they reached an exit to the caverns. When they exited the caverns, they realized that
it was late in the evening as they saw the sun setting. Once Potion got her bearings, she told
Akira where to go to reach the village.
As they reached the village, the sentries there noticed them and sounded an alarm. As
Akira approached the sentries, he just stopped in front of them. He was quickly surrounded by
several Amazons that had their weapons aimed at him. He could tell they were very nervous
being near him.
"She needs to see a healer.” Akira shouted out. After a few minutes a woman walked past
the circle of guards.
“I am the healer.” The healer said.
“She just had a child.” Akira said. The healer looked down at the person he was carrying
and recognized her immediately.
“Potion. Quick you two take her to my hut.” The healer ordered out.
Two guards came over and Akira handed Potion over to them. They quickly hurried her
to the healer’s hut while the healer was right behind them. After that, one of the Elders
approached and told the guards to lock Akira in a cell until they decided what to do. So Akira
was striped of his weapons and placed in a cell until the Elders decided what to do with him.
# # # # #
“You almost took out an entire village.” Sasami said shocked.
“Yes, it’s not one of the things I’m proud I did.” Scott said.
“What did they do to you?” Chibi-Usa asked.
“I faced the Elder’s in a trial about why I attacked them. After several hours of
discussions, it was ruled we were both at fault of what happened. With the two Amazons dead, it
was hard to get the real story. I found out, and everyone figured is what happened, they had a law
where if an outsider female defeats an Amazon, the Amazon must kill that person.” Scott said.
“What!” Exclaimed the three girls in surprise.
“It was their laws. Beside, when they found out she was my fiancée, they had another
law about if a loved one is killed, and the other spouse must seek vengeance.” Scott said.
"If you don't believe me about those laws, you can ask Miyuki, she knows about them."
“What did they do to you?” Hotaru asked.
“We had come to a truce of sorts. Through the talks, they found out about my
Immortality. After the talks were done, the Elders sent Nagi’s body and a letter explaining what
had happened and asked for forgiveness for what they did. As we were waiting for the reply to
the letter, I was to stay at the village and help undo the damage I cause as best as I could. They
also had me train some of their warriors in the ways of sword fighting I knew. The final thing
that happened was since I helped Potion give birth to Cologne, I was declared her godfather.”
Scott said.
“What happened when the reply came?” Sasami asked.
“They forgave the Amazons to a certain point and my punishment the clan offered to me
was I had to stay with them for five years of the day the latter arrived and do what they wanted
me to do, which turned out to be mainly defend them against their enemies. At the end of five
years, I was able to go back to Japan.” Scott said. “Anything else you three want to know?”
“How about when you left the clan?” Sasami said, and then noticed Hotaru and Chibi-
Usa suddenly goes pale. “What’s wrong?”
“They all ready heard that story and it’s not as nice as the last one. Still want to hear it?”
Scott asked.
“Yes.” Sasami stated.
# # # # #
JAPAN 1701, HOKKAIDO ISLAND
Akuji Nashimoto stood watching as the sky darkened into night, and then continued on
his way to check the guards charged with ensuring the safety of his Daimyo. As he neared the
Daimyo's palace, he was reminded by one of the sentries, that it was his brother, Tenchi who was
responsible for the guard tonight. He smiled and nodded as he continued on eager to see his
brother and scare the guard into being especially vigilant tonight. The Daimyo of the Edo
Province had demanded that Lord Shinusuke should swear fealty to him and drive all gaijin from
his lands. Lord Shinusuke had refused and a state of war had been declared between the two
provinces. The shogun had spoken to both lords, and agreed that they had just cause for their
dispute. Some of the clans of the Edo province did not however, wish to come against the armies
of Hokkaido, so it was rumored that they had hired the Nakijima Clan of Ninja, to remove the
present Daimyo, and his family, in favor of his more amenable cousin.
Akuji was smiling as he walked up to his brother and bowed semi-mockingly. His brother
smirked in return, and then called the guard detail to attention. After the inspection they walked
back to their quarters.
"So Akuji, anything new on princess detail," Tenchi said, laughing when his brother
blushed at the mention of his current assignment.
"Not really new, brother, but there is something concerning me about Lady Michiko,"
Akuji replied checking to ensure that no one was listening since he was discussing the Daimyo's
youngest and favorite daughter. "On five separate occasions she has vanished from her rooms
without anyone seeing her leave. On her reappearance from one of these occasions, her elder
sister saw her in the baths, and reported later to their mother that the girl had abrasions on her
breasts and thighs. When her mother examined her she found that the girl was still a virgin, and
on questioning the girl said that the marks had been a trick of the light. Since they were no longer
there, her mother was forced to agree, but the girl's maid has noticed some rather odd behavior.
Lady Michiko has been caught singing in a very strange language, and when questioned denies
that she was singing anything but traditional songs. Finally, the girl has been painting pictures of
some strange land. It looks nothing like the surrounding countryside, or from all my travels,
anywhere in Japan."
"What can be going on in that girl's mind?" Tenchi's grumbling comment struck a cord in
Akuji's mind as he cast back over his memories looking for a possible solution.
"I have a possible idea what is going on here," Akuji said scathingly to his brother as a
possibility struck him. "First, when was the last time she vanished?"
A little surprised Tenchi stuttered, " J-j-just this morning, and she returned from the bath
house not more than ten minutes before I inspected the guard detail," As he looked at his brother's
retreating back he wondered what had struck his brother.
Akuji swore as he hurried to the Laundry area hoping it wasn't too late. As he arrived, he
saw the Princess' maid bring a basket of clothing into the room. Stopping her before she gave the
clothing to one of the washer women Akuji examined all of the clothing. On the undergarments,
he found several suspicious stains but no other evidence. He had almost given up when he noticed
a hair on the hem of the kimono. As he drew the hair off, he knew instantly from the color that
the princess had not been truthful in her denials.
He walked to the women's quarters muttering darkly to himself that it had better not be
what he thought it was, or that girl had endangered his brother's life as well as her own. He
arrived in the gallery level and proceeded to the observation point for Michiko's quarters. As he
watched, the princess came in from the gardens singing softly to her self. Initially the song was
too soft for him to make out the words, but when he finally heard the words she was singing his
blood ran cold. That language was not from Japan or any land near it. He cursed softly as he
quietly left the gallery and hurried back to his brother's quarters with his findings.
When Akuji burst into Tenchi's room, he was gasping a little from the run.
"She's sneaking out to meet with a gaijin, Tenchi," He blurted as he tried to get his breath
back. "The proof of it is right here," Having said this; he waved the incriminating hair at his
brother.
"What is that, a hair?" His brother said in confusion.
"This hair was on the hem of the Kimono that she was wearing this morning," Akuji
replied, showing the strands he had found to his brother. “No man or woman born on this island
has hair this color. Also, I know the language that she was singing in when her maid couldn't
understand her, and it is from a land that is far from here. Based on the stains on her underclothes,
the song, and the color of the hair I found, I'd say little Michiko has gotten herself rather heavily
involved with a gaijin. Now based on her mother's examination, the gaijin may not be male but
even so a gaijin's presence in this province is against the Shogun's edict. If the princess knew this
and she did not report it to her father, her life would be forfeit. With Edo agitating for Lord
Shinusuke's removal I firmly believe that it could result in the loss of the entire family."
Tenchi stared at his brother, stunned at the horrible situation one girl's love life had
caused. Then he jumped from his chair, as the palace alarm rang out signaling an attack.
Grabbing their swords from the racks set aside to hold them, Akuji and Tenchi ran as
they saw smoke rising from the stables, then paused when they saw the black shrouded figures at
the guard entrance. They drew their swords and charged the ninjas, killing two before they could
defend themselves. The other two didn't last much longer and then they were in the palace itself.
They encountered numerous guards and were passing the women's quarter, when they
heard screams from behind the door. Tenchi continued toward the Daimyo's chambers, while
Akuji entered the women's quarter. Several maids lay dead in the passage where the ninjas had
surprised them. Screams could be heard coming from the wives' chambers then cut off suddenly.
He ran toward the princesses' quarters, and just a he reached entrance, he felt a familiar tingling in
his nerves. Glancing around, he heard a muffled argument coming from Michiko's room.
Swearing, he ran to the door and thrust it open to find a ninja, trying to drag Michiko to a
window. The girl was struggling heavily though so it was taking longer than the man had
obviously anticipated. Akuji was about to rush to the princess' rescue when her words finally
registered.
"Ka'van, I must help my sisters," she was shrieking at the man. "I can't just let them be
killed," Saying this she tried to break free once more."
Then the man spoke, as if he had heard her say this before. "Michi, you have to leave
now," the man said in a voice Akuji recognized. "There is nothing you can do for your mother or
sisters. It will be a miracle if we can escape unnoticed just by ourselves. I know you want to help
them, but the best way for you to help anyone, is for you to come with me now and help me to
protect Ryonusuke. If he doesn't survive then there is no hope of your family ever regaining
control of this province. Your cousin Shinji will become the undisputed ruler, and you will have
no hope of living peacefully anywhere in the islands," After he said this, Michiko stopped
struggling, nodded, and then walked to the window and slid down the rope tied there.
The ninja was about to follow when he turned and stared in surprise at Akuji. He then
pulled his mask off revealing a grinning face surrounded by dark red hair.
"Well, well, Scott old friend fancy seeing you here," the man said shaking his head
ruefully. "What have you been doing for the last five centuries or so that you can’t keep in touch
with your friends" Seeing Scott's bare blade his grin faded a little and he drew the sword at his
back.
"You come to my lord's domain and endanger the lives of two entire families, and you
greet me as 'friend'?" Scott raged moving toward the red-haired man cautiously. "Kevin
O'Connell, you shall die for your treachery this day," As he said the last he charged O'Connell
attempting a cut the man's face.
Kevin jumped backward as his friend and mentor tried to remove his nose, then brought
his sword up to block the return strike aimed at his neck. As their swords clashed he jumped back
again just as Scott did the same. Smiling confidently he lowered himself into a guard position and
simply watched his opponent.
Scott muttered under his breath as he realized that he had been stopped by a counter that
he had taught Kevin himself. Then grinned as he remembered that he had learned many new
skills since the Nashimoto had adopted him. He drew his self up and launched into an extremely
intricate sword dance, which would result in decapitation if not halted. But Kevin was no longer
in his path as he reached the ending sequence. Scott spun finding his opponent attempting to
sneak out of the room. With a rush Scott blocked Kevin's escape route, and smiled at his enemy's
disappointment.
Kevin glared at Scott, and then spoke very softly. "If you really want a fight Scott, I'll
give it to you but we need to hurry or someone is going to notice Princess Michiko and her little
brother is missing, and starts searching for them. If I don't get them out of here soon, we may not
escape. So let's get on with this if we must," Having said this he took several steps backward then
sank into a guard position.
Scott sank into his own guard position then advanced, holding his sword before him.
Kevin retreated a little then struck with lightning speed at Scott off-side sweeping his sword
upward, only to be stopped at the last instant by Scott's blade. He then dropped and rolled away
as Scott counter attacked. He got to his feet just as Scott got back with range, and brought his
sword up barely in time to stop the sweeping head cut Scott had aimed at his neck. Kevin then
smiled as their weapons bound, and then as they struggled against each other he leaned in and
gave his friend a kiss on the check then broke away laughing at the look on his friend's face.
Scott glared at his laughing opponent, and then began moving again. As one they both
started a pattern dance that lasted for a number of minutes before both swords flew from their
owners' hands. Scott's landed near the door, while Kevin's landed point first in the floor near the
window. As both men scrambled to retrieve their blades, Scott turned just in time to see Kevin
reach the window, salute him with a grin, and cut the rope performing a perfect dive roll to the
ground below. As Scott watched helplessly from the balcony, Kevin and his two companions, the
princess and her young brother, fled into the cover of the forest at the edge of the clearing.
With a curse Scott returned to the women's quarter which was now filled with the silence
of the dead. Rivulets of blood ran from many of the doorways to the other princesses' rooms and
one of them was lying at her doorway with her Kimono torn from her body. At this Scott ran to
each door then swore in disgust as he saw that all of the Daimyo's daughters down to the
youngest were dead, and all of them had been raped before they were killed. He then proceeded
to the nursery and saw that the three babies had been beheaded, and their mother's lay about the
room gutted. When he finally got to the wives' quarters, he felt sick at the carnage. When he
entered the quarters, he swore in rage at the site before him. The wives had been caught unaware
by their attackers, and had been unable to escape. Each had been tied to her bed, and then
repeatedly raped. After all of their attackers had had their fill, they had been gutted like animals.
All that is with the exception of the Daimyo's wife.
She had killed on of the men who attacked her and taken up his sword, killing several of
them before one had removed her hand at the wrist. They had then cut her breasts from her body
and as she was bleeding to death from her wounds they had taken the sword she had used and run
it into her body through her vagina. At the sight of her mutilated form Scott lost control of his
stomach, stumbled to a corner, and added the contents of his stomach to the blood and gore
covering the floor.
When he finally regained control, he ran back out of the women's quarter, and then
stopped at the sounds he heard. Gone was the sound of fighting, replaced by an eerie silence that
filled him with foreboding. He ran to the Daimyo's room to find it deserted except for the dead. In
one corner near a window he found the Daimyo's decapitated body. A short distance away he
found Tenchi. Both of his hands missing, and he had been mutilated after death. Scott reached up
and closed his brother's eyes then stormed out of the palace, noting the dead guards. When he
came to the guard compound he heard more fighting, and ran to the gate. The ninjas still held the
gate hear, but they were not expecting an assault form behind them, and soon the guards streamed
out of the compound then stopped when they saw Scott.
"Lord Akuji, what is happening up at the palace?" One of the guards demanded noticing the
blood on Scott's clothing. "Where is Lord Shinusuke?"
"Lord Shinusuke and his family are dead except for Lord Ryonusuke and his sister the
lady Michiko who has been captured," Scott responded, then paused to let that statement sink in.
"The Nakijima clan has succeeded in their task and Lord Shinji is now the Daimyo. This can
mean only one thing for all of you and the entire Nashimoto clan. Unless we can recover Lord
Ryonusuke, we are all Ronin and shall be killed by the Edo soldiers as they see fit. We must do so
or all of Lord Shinusuke's work to protect the innocent shall be for nothing. Who will follow me
to rescue the Daimyo and restore him to his rightful place as the heir to Lord Shinusuke?" After
he said this he gazed in surprise as the men glanced around uncomfortably.
"Have you no honor then, that you will not help me?" Scott roared at them. Then one of
the men came forward and glared at Scott.
"It is not a matter of honor, but of possibility, Lord Akuji," The Captain of the Guard said
gruffly. "Why should we fight to recover a boy of three, when his uncle is a man of power? We
shall instead look for the boy and give him to his uncle as a sign of our good faith, and
allegiance,"
Scott stared in horror as the rest of the guard nodded, and then his shoulders slumped in
defeat.
"Very well then, if this is the way you show your allegiance to Lord Shinusuke then I
cannot stop you," Scott said, then raised a hand in warning. "But, remember this well, as long as I
live the Nashimoto shall survive, and no man among you will sleep safely." Having said this
Scott spat at the guard captains feet, walked to the horse paddock, placed his saddle on his black
horse, and rode from the compound, stopping only to throw a flaming torch into the Daimyo's
palace. A short while later the palace burst into flames.
* * * * *
Scott Schwartzstern led his horse up the gangway onto the merchant ship he had booked
passage on. The last of his family had committed seppuku rather than subject them selves to Lord
Shinji's reign. Over the past year since Lord Shinji had been proclaimed Daimyo many things had
occurred in Japan. The remnants of the Nashimoto clan had petitioned the emperor for redress of
the wrongs the Edo troops had committed, but they had been rejected, and in desperation had
launched an assault of their own on Edo Palace. When it failed they had returned to their homes,
and the head of the family had called Scott in and ordered him to depart the country.
# # # # #
“I see what you meant.” Sasami said, looking a little pale herself.
“I hope this will get you three a good start.” Scott said.
“I think so.” Sasami said.
“That’s good.” Scott said and then looked at his watch. “Well, it’s getting late, I’ll take you
three home.”
“Thanks.” The three girls said.
“Let’s go.” Scott said and then took the girls home.
THE END