L5r - scroll 07 - The Lion Page 5

  As she watched, several of the villagers made their way slowly up the hill toward the Lion encampment.

  "What do you suppose they want?" Yojo asked.

  Tsuko shook her head.

  "I'll go see," he said.

  "I'll go with you," Tsuko replied. The heart of the sleeping camp seemed suddenly even colder to her. She longed for contact with fellow human beings. Even such scum as these villagers would provide a momentary distraction.

  The small band of peasants hiked up the hill, dragging a cart filled with trade goods: blankets, bags of millet and rice, jugs of sake. They trudged solemnly up the snowy path. An older man leaning on a gnarled walking stick led them. Three other men and a doughty, unattractive woman followed behind.

  Yojo and Tsuko met them at the edge of the camp, just past the sentry outposts.

  "What do you want?" Yojo asked, sternly surveying their goods.

  "We've come to offer tribute to our conquerors," said the old man with the stick.

  "That's most. . . generous of you," Yojo said stiffly, trying to ignore the filthy condition of the petitioners.

  The villagers were dressed in little more than rags, and their faces were dark with soot and grime. The woman in the group smiled at the handsome commander, proudly displaying her few teeth.

  "Not at all," the old man said pragmatically. "We know you'll take what you want anyway, so we figure we may as well give it to you and save everyone a lot of trouble."

  Tsuko snorted derisively. "A wise decision."

  "Thank you, Lion-sama," the old man said, bowing his bald head low. "We know that you're far more powerful than we. It is our honor to serve."

  "Yes, yes," Tsuko said impatiently, eyeing the blanket-covered cart. These peasants were filthy, but their goods seemed clean enough. "What is it you've brought us?" the Lion daimyo asked.

  The old man looked around, as if about to convey a message that he didn't want anyone else to hear. He leaned toward Yojo and whispered, "We've brought you ... plague!"

  At the final word, the old man lashed out with his stick, tripping the startled Yojo and sending the young commander stumbling into the bamboo cart. The other villagers fell on Yojo and dragged him down to the muddy, snow-covered ground.

  The old man sprinted forward with surprising speed. The cold morning breeze tugged open the front of his ratty kimono, revealing his scabrous, green-veined skin.

  Startled, Tsuko stepped back and nearly lost her footing in the soft snow. The man raised his stick high, as if to crush her skull with it.

  The Lion daimyo's hand flew to her katana. She drew her sword and, before the man could take another step, cut him from breastbone to hip.

  He wheeled, a look of surprise in his yellow eyes, and toppled backward into the snow. A white cloud of vapor rose up where his spilled guts warmed the morning air. His blackish blood stained the snow a deep crimson.

  "You!" he hissed at Tsuko. "You are responsible for all this. You and your kind brought this plague to our land! Your petty clan feuds have poisoned our soil with blood!" The breath rattled out of him, and he died.

  By this time, Matsu Yojo had freed himself from the scabrous peasants. Three lay dead around his feet, and before Tsuko could come to his aid, he lopped off the head of the last. The woman's grinning, nearly toothless face rolled back down the hill toward the village.

  Yojo grimaced in disgust and shook the blood from his blade in the ancient shiburi movement. Giving the corpses a wide berth, he scrambled quickly back up the hill to where Tsuko stood.

  "I'm sorry, Mistress," he panted. "I should never have let this scum get by my guard. I would die rather than let such as these touch you. I offer my life in recompense."

  "It's my fault," Tsuko said, eyeing the still-steaming body of the old man. "I never should have left the camp's perimeter. Only a cub would make that kind of error. Do you think I'd let one of my best samurai kill himself for a mistake that was my own?"

  Yojo shook his head. "What shall we do now?" he asked, suspiciously eyeing the village below.

  "Burn the town while we pull up camp," Tsuko said. "Motso was right. We should have moved last night."

  "Should I try to salvage anything? Supplies?"

  "No, nothing," she said, shaking her head angrily. "Burn this plague-infested hole to the ground. Take nothing. Leave no one alive."

  Yojo bowed. "Hai, Tsuko-sama."

  xxxxxxxx

  Before the last fires had died down, thick gray clouds rolled in, turning the Crane province into an endless wasteland of featureless sky and bleak snow. Tsuko's army pulled up camp quickly and set a course up the coast, away from the Doji's plague-infested capital and its outlying towns.

  As they moved north, the Lion ran across more diseased villages. On the fourth day, Tsuko looked back down the path they'd laken. Behind the army, smoke from the Lions' cleansing fires danced like black ghosts in the winter wind. The bleak, diseased landscape stretched endlessly before them.

  Sitting astride her steed, Tsuko felt a knot tightening in her guts. There is no joy in this victory, she thought. Is this what jigoku is like for the damned? Gray landscape and sky, the smell of burning bodies and towns, the call of crows echoing in the air, dead trees and poisoned rivers? She could hardly think of anything worse, but she kept riding, kept her troops moving.

  They passed through more murdered towns and wasted fields. None of it was Lion work, and the brutality of it disgusted even Tsuko. Hoturi the Mad had done this to his own people. Tsuko felt queasy at the thought that she and her people were profiting from such dark deeds.

  She longed to see the mountains and fields of her homeland, though they, too, would be snow-covered now. As the midwinter sun set red behind the Spine of the World, Tsuko considered marching from the Crane lands back to her own provinces. Her mind was black with destruction and death.

  Caught in her own thoughts, she almost didn't notice when Matsu Yojo rode up to her. With him came Akodo Kage, the wise Lion Clan teacher—the only man in Rokugan to retain the Akodo name. The sensei's long white hair and pale golden robes danced in the winter wind. He rode a dappled horse with mud-caked legs. The animal whinnied as it approached Tsuko's proud steed.

  Inwardly, Tsuko frowned. Kage had not been traveling with any of her armies. During the wars he remained, as always, in the Lion homeland. What, she wondered, could bring him out in the middle of winter? Despite her trepidation, she greeted the venerable teacher with the warmth and honor due his position.

  "Sensei," she said, bowing slightly in her saddle. "To what do we owe the honor of your visit?"

  Kage returned the bow. His weathered face remained grim. "I bring news of the Crab. Through means of my own, I have learned that a Crab fleet is massing. They intend to sail to Otosan Uchi and take the capital—probably by force of arms."

  Matsu Yojo's mouth dropped open. "Surely Hida Kisada could not be so foolish!"

  "The Great Bear's ambition has overwhelmed his good sense," Kage said. "I fear that he may succeed in his plan, unless we stop him."

  "Of course we'll stop him," Tsuko replied.

  Burning pride gripped her heart. Here was a challenge worthy of the Lion. To protect the emperor was their highest duty, their greatest honor. This would be far better than riding through the blasted plains, counting the bodies of their Crane enemies. The thought scorched away the black depression that had settled on Tsuko's mind. Here was a battle against a real enemy, not an endless fight against shadows and plague.

  She bowed again to Kage. "Thank you, Sensei," she said. "Your warning brings honor to our clan and a chance for glory as well. Yojo, gather our troops. We march to Otosan Uchi to protect the emperor."

  THE ENEMY WITHIN

  Ikoma Bentai frowned at the Black Lion. "I know you're determined to do this, Toturi-sama. I'm not foolish enough to try to talk you out of something once you've made up your mind."

  "Wisdom conies with age, I'm told," Toturi said, a slight smile playing across his l
ips. He crossed to the paper lantern on the other side of his tent and blew out the candle inside.

  The sole remaining lantern, near the doorway, cast warm, flickering light on Bentai's battle-worn face. A winter breeze rippled the tent flaps and caused the flame inside the paper shade to dance and flicker.

  Bentai crossed his gnarled arms over his chest. "I want to tell you, though, that I think this mission is a mistake."

  "It's chancy, I'll admit, but it may be the only way to discover who our foe is," Toturi said. "I didn't cross the mountains only to be hemmed in by my former clan. They've kept one step ahead of us for weeks now. I won't wait any

  longer, and this is the best way to deal with them. With luck, we won't even have to kill anyone. I know this area well. I'm the best man for the job."

  "Hai," said Bentai, "I'll agree with that. But with a mission this dangerous, I can't imagine why you're taking . . . Scorpions with you."

  "I need stealth," Toturi said. "Who better than Scorpions to help me?"

  "You killed their traitorous master," Bentai said sternly. "I'm sure some of them would be happy to stick a tanto in your back."

  "Then I'll be sure to give them a good target," Toturi replied with a grim smile.

  "I'm serious."

  "As am I," Toturi said. "Every ronin here, including you, has joined his or her fortunes to mine in hope that, together, we may regain our lost honor and save the world from Fu Leng. The Scorpion have the most to regain. They didn't lose just name or position, as I did—they lost the right to exist as a clan. In my own way, I played a part in their loss. It is only right that they should redeem themselves with me."

  "They got what they deserved," Bentai said. "Bayushi Shoju needed killing."

  Toturi took a deep breath. An image of the dead Scorpion lord formed in his mind. Shoju stalked the throne room, graceful, catlike, taunting Toturi for his weakness. Toturi knew he should have died then, but Shoju had spared him.

  In the end, the Scorpion had seen something that Toturi did not; he had recognized his own flaws and repented them. That repentance had allowed Toturi to kill the Scorpion Emperor. Perhaps, in dying, Shoju had sought to regain the honor he lost in assassinating Hantei the 38th.

  And if Bayushi Shoju, the proud, the terrible, could attempt to make up for his mistakes, if he could pay for those mistakes with his life, surely Toturi could do no less. By leading an army to free Rokugan from Fu Leng's evil grip, Toturi not only atoned for his own selfish errors, he also redeemed the Scorpion's sacrifice.

  Some Scorpions—like Tetsuo, the usurper's nephew—understood this, even if Bentai did not. Thus, the Black Lion felt at home among the scoundrels and assassins in his troops. Like them, he sought redemption.

  "Indeed," Toturi said softy. "He did need killing. And, as a true samurai, he willingly paid the price for his actions."

  Bentai looked as though he might spit, but then he remembered where he was and swallowed instead; it wouldn't do to spit in his lord's tent.

  "Now, perhaps, Shoju's people can make up for his mistakes."

  "I doubt it," Bentai said. "Not if they worked for a thousand years. Rokugan will never recover from what that usurper did."

  "Be that as it may, I will let them try. They will come with me on this mission."

  Bentai gritted his teeth and breathed out through his nose. "Well, then, let me go with you, as well."

  "No. I need you to stay with the troops. They know I trust you, and they'll obey your orders without question. Someone has to be in charge while I'm gone."

  Bentai growled softly. "If you won't take me, take the boy. I know I can count on him to look out for your best interests— even amid a pack of Scorpions."

  "Toku? Out of the question. He's too brash for this kind of work. Don't worry, old friend. We'll sneak across the river, raid the Lion encampment, kidnap their commander, and be back before you know it. Lions fight battles in a straightforward way; such a plot would never occur to them. Therefore they won't be prepared to defend against it."

  When Bentai looked skeptical, Toturi added, "And I'll choose my companions carefully—for your peace of mind." He extinguished the lamp by the doorway and exited the tent.

  Bentai held the flaps as his master went. Only after the ronin lord had gone did the old general shake his head in disapproval.

  xxxxxxxx

  Toturi slipped silently through the icebound woods at the base of the Spine of the World Mountains. Midwinter had long passed, but spring seemed no nearer than it had a month ago. A wan moon lit the snow-covered hills, its light barely scratching the deep shadows in the forest. The seven samurai with Toturi had been chosen for their stealth. Tetsuo, Shoju's nephew, kept close to the Black Lion's side. Three other Scorpions went with them. Toturi never gave them a second glance.

  The tall pine forests at the mountains' edge embraced the ronin general. In his youth, he had spent many days alone in the wilderness, walking and thinking, contemplating life. He felt more at home with nature than he ever had in the Lion's palaces. Those moments served him in good stead now. He paused and peered into the darkness, but saw nothing out of the ordinary: tall cryptomeria pines; frigid, rushing waters; wet, ice-slick stones.

  The Black Lion knew that his former clanmates were camped somewhere beyond the river. They'd dogged his troops for weeks, but he'd held back, not wanting to slay them. That time was over now. Soon, he would be able to march past these annoying Lions, cross their lands, and aid his friend Doji Hoturi.

  He'd heard disturbing tales of the Crane daimyo lately. Vagabond storytellers said that Hoturi had gone mad and was killing his own people. Toturi felt confident he'd soon know the truth of the matter. All that stood between the ronin and his goal was a small but persistent Lion army. Toturi intended to behead that army tonight.

  At the Black Lion's signal, he and the other spies sneaked across the ice-clogged river. They made it to the far bank without incident; not one samurai slipped into the frigid waters. Toturi smiled; he had chosen his companions well.

  They crept up through the pines to the ridgeline above the river. As they neared the top, they heard the sound of armor clanging in the small defile beyond the ridge. Poking their heads above the snow-topped ground, they saw a man in Lion armor walking below, struggling with a large sack. The sack rattled and quaked with every move the man made as he walked away from the river.

  Tetsuo edged close to Toturi. "Shall I deal with him?" he whispered, his hand on the pommel of his katana.

  Toturi shook his head at the former Scorpion. "No. We don't w.mt to kill anyone if we can help it. Besides, this straggler might provide us with information about the Lion troops."

  Tetsuo nodded. "I understand. Two of us should be able to subdue him easily. Pick someone to go with me."

  Toturi smiled. "I choose myself. Let's go."

  Together, they sneaked down the defile toward the straggler. The man shambled on up the slope, seeming unconcerned with the amount of noise he was making.

  "The Lion camp must be very near for this fellow to be so bold," Tetsuo whispered.

  Toturi nodded his agreement. They crept to a boulder overhanging the game trail the man was following, and when he passed below, they pounced.

  The samurai fought furiously. He swung his heavy sack at Toturi, catching the Black Lion in the midsection. Toturi sprawled back onto the snow-covered ground, the air rushing out of his lungs. He sprang up quickly as the man elbowed Tetsuo in the face.

  Blood leaked from the former Scorpion's nose. Tetsuo's visage contorted in anger, and he reached for his sword. A solemn glance from Toturi kept him from drawing it. Instead, he threw himself at the man's legs as the straggler swung at Toturi once more.

  All three of them collapsed in a heap. Two more of Toturi's spies leapt from their concealment as the Black Lion, Tetsuo, and their quarry rolled downhill toward the riverbank. When the three wrestlers landed in a pile on the shore, the two spies grabbed the Lion by the shoulders and pulled him
to his feet.

  One of the men raised a staff to clout the man on the head, but Toturi hissed, "Stop!"

  Everyone froze, even the Lion.

  Toturi chuckled. In the dim moonlight, the Lion samurai was nearly impossible to recognize. Toturi knew him, though. It was Toku.

  The young samurai looked around at his captors. "Hello," he said. "I was coming to give you a hand, but it looks like you found me first."

  "What are you doing here?" Toturi asked calmly.

  A broad smile broke over Toku's boyish face. "I know you didn't choose me for this mission, but I figured I could lend a hand anyway. I brought you a present."

  He opened the sack he'd been carrying, and two more sets of Lion armor fell out.

  Tetsuo bent down to examine the treasure. "Where did you get these?" he asked.

  "I found some scouts that weren't being too careful about their duties," Toku said. "I persuaded them that they should lend me the armor if I got it back to them by daybreak." He smiled again.

  "Did you kill them?" Toturi asked.

  "No," Toku replied. "I left them tied up and gagged on our side of the river. I hung them up in a tree, so they'd be hard to spot. We can cut them loose in the morning, if you like."

  "When you were having this fun, I don't suppose you asked directions to their camp."

  "Funny thing," Toku said, rubbing a nasty bruise on the side of his face, "we didn't do much talking."

  "This armor makes our job easier," Toturi said. "Tetsuo, find two of our men to wear it. We'll replace the Lion sentries with some of our own."

  Tetsuo hefted the sack. "What about you, Toturi-sama?"

  "I'd rather have a secure way past the perimeter and take my chances being spotted within the camp," Toturi said. "Besides, a black lion is hard to see in the dark."

  "Hai, Toturi-sama," Tetsuo said, smiling. He gathered the other spies and soon had two of them outfitted as Lions.

  As the samurai dressed, Toturi scouted ahead. Toku wanted to go with him, but the ronin lord thought the young samurai would make too much noise. Toturi quickly discovered the Lion encampment and returned to his spies.