Arc 1, Session 7, L5R

 Hida Hotaru’s Private Records, August 9th, Continued

Hayata was unsettled by the information he had gained from Kakita Nisobu. While Warai’s performances continued, the cartographer gathered us all towards the back of the audience to discuss this development. We were all convinced Monsho no Rumiko was innocent- at least of anything involving the bride’s affliction.

From here, our band split once more. Yudai was curious where the Dragon & Hare were, both having been absent for most of the past two days. Hayata would seek the Centipede’s assistance in communicating the Furiribi rumored to be in the forest. Finally, Megumi & Kiyuki would attempt to check after both the wedding gifts & the Mantis.

The pair of samurai faced no difficulty in finding the supply room where the gifts were being held. It lay on the ground floor of one of the guest villas: it lacked any floor besides packed earth, & appeared to generally serve as storage for supplies used more frequently than those in the storeroom. Mixed in with these supplies, the duo found wedding gifts from not just the different clans, but many different families therein.

Their search was able to identify that there didn’t appear to be anything unusual amongst the items at present, nor any obvious signs of tampering. Unable to detect much else, they moved to their next task. Kiyuki made her way to the quarters of Monsho no Rumiko. As they had been told, two Imperial Guards stood sentry outside the door to her room. Kiyuki attempted to charm her way past the guards, with no success. They proved just as obstinate at providing information on why they were stationed there in the first place.

Outside, Megumi attempted to throw some pebbles at the Mantis’ window, which garnered no response. The Unicorn left to fetch her owl, while the Scorpion made her way back to the courtyard. Otomo Sorai sat near the front of the audience, with Ruko at his shoulder. Unsurprisingly, many of the nearby seats were vacant.

Kiyuki sat close enough to speak in hushed tones with the spymaster. She has not shared the exact discussion that took place, but her words seemed to provoke the Imperial in some way. At his command, Ruko escorted the courtier to the gardens.

Once out of everyone’s earshot, Ruko conveyed Otomo Sorai’s thanks to all of us for our aid rendered thus far- aid that was no longer needed. Using specific wording, Ruko explained that his lord had found “a culprit”, & considered the matter closed. Unless, of course, Ruko could bring him reason to reconsider his decision. Having spoken his piece, Ruko bid the Scorpion farewell to return to his post.

Megumi’s owl, Sakana, attracted some attention as she made her way across the courtyard. Once more outside Monsho no Rumiko’s window, the bushi began flight exercises with the bird- flight exercises that just so happened to lead Sakana to the Mantis’ windowsill. Even this elicited no response from within.

Kiyuki came upon Megumi at the end of her scouting. The two decided to make one last attempt to gain entry into the room. Using her natural wiles, Megumi approached the guards with a plate of food for their “guest”. Honor was pushed aside momentarily as the Unicorn claimed to be sent on the spymaster’s instructions.

Unfortunately, the Imperial Guards were able to see through this ruse & our friends were sent away. While this was occurring, Hayata surveyed the crowd at the day’s events. As expected, the Fox sat at the Centipede’s side. While Moshi Jukio had been seen explaining the finer points of Hisan-sa’s performance to her youthful companion the day prior, now it was Kitsune Ryosei deciphering the blue comedy on display. Notably, the Moshi Daimyo seemed quite a bit less invested in Warai’s show.

Seizing this advantage, the cartographer politely sat at her other side. She eagerly engaged his quiet inquiries: Hayata spoke of the recent tales he had heard of an anguished spirit lurking in the forest nearby. Though she had been dismissive of the rumors of spirits within Kyuden Amaoto, the details Hayata was able to provide went some way to convincing her that this may be genuine.

She stated a desire for a walk, to help keep her joints from stiffening up amongst the audience. At her request, Hayata gladly agreed to accompany her. The two set out towards the village, leaving the Fox to enjoy the plays.

Yudai’s own tour of the castle grounds did not lead him to either of the missing samurai. He decided to move onto Amaoto Village. Along the way, he & Hayata saw each other at a short distance. Reasoning that their current quest might prove dangerous, Hayata entreated the Centipede about inviting Yudai to join them. After a moment of silence, Moshi Jukio bitterly admitted that “each clan has their strengths”.

A brief explanation later, the duo had become a trio. The trek to the forest took a bit more time than usual, as Moshi Jukio’s age made traversing the path behind the waterfall difficult. Upon reaching the entry to the forest, she closed her eyes for a few moments time. Without a word, she began leading them through the trees.

Each time any of us had visited the forest proper, it was solely to the Southern reaches; Moshi Jukio’s steps guided the way to the Northern edge of the forest. As the group neared the edge of the mountains, she asked the pair to pause. She held her withered hands before their eyes while she recited a brief chant.

When she withdrew, both Yudai & Hayata could tell their vision had been enhanced. Before them, a few feet above the ground, they could see a floating ball of purple flame. Its form flickered as if consuming something, yet no heat could be felt. Unfortunately, the spirit noticed its visitors, & began to rouse in confused anger.

The Centipede told Hayata she would need some time, & began an invocation. Yudai strode to the fore, while Hayata placed himself between the Crab & the Centipede. The Furiribi’s color deepened as it began drifting towards the group. Yudai attempted to command the spirit to halt, but it instead rushed him.

As it passed through his arm, he felt his soul burn. Armor meant nothing to the ghost- but it was thankfully free of the Taint. Doing his best not to further anger the Furiribi, Yudai managed to sidestep its next few passes. Before the spirit could attack for a fourth time, Moshi Jukio finished her invocation.

A hazy dome enveloped the area. Whatever the spell was, it seemed to be calming the forlorn ghost. The vivid purple slowly washed out to a clean white, as the ball of flame gently lowered to the ground. Moshi Jukio was straining both physically & spiritually to maintain her influence. She was able to nod at Hayata, indicating he should attempt to question the ghost. Treading carefully, he & Yudai asked a few simple questions. Their hope was to “ground” the spirit a bit more, before asking how it had died.

The Furiribi’s method of communication was difficult to endure: each time it responded it was with a chorus of wailing moans. The keening sounds caused distorted images to bloom in the minds of the samurai. Remnants of the person’s life showed them being born in Amaoto, & excitement at being drafted to staff the wedding. There was only so much longer they could delay the inevitable. The Centipede was nearing the end of her rope, & they could not spare the feelings of the ghost any longer.

And so, they asked about her death.

Immediately, it was clear that the spirit had not even been entirely certain it was dead. It recalled waking to the noise of someone entering their quarters, before everything went black. At this, Moshi Jukio fainted. The dome disappeared, & the Furiribi began to slowly brighten once more in hue. Yudai gathered up the fallen Daimyo, & made his way back towards the waterfall. Hayata stayed but a moment longer. He left an offering of sake, & promised the spirit that they would attempt to avenge it.

Though he could no longer see it- Moshi Jukio’s gifted sight having failed with her other spell- the Tortoise was able to hear one last echoing scream. He backed away cautiously, noting two final facts about the voice: its last cries had undoubtedly belonged to a woman; its inarticulate moans made him feel as if it had been unable to use words.

By the time Hayata caught up to Yudai, Moshi Jukio had come to. She rested briefly on a boulder by the lake’s shore to recoup her strength. Once she had, she stated in no uncertain terms that she would seek Hayata out after recovering for a full explanation of what she had become involved in. Hayata & Yudai escorted her back to her villa. She thanked Yudai with a hint of bitterness. Before leaving, she let Hayata know she also recalled him stepping in to protect her as well, seeming to indicate there were no hard feelings for the danger.

Exhausted from the spiritual attack he had suffered, Yudai returned to his quarters to rest. At dinner, I spoke briefly with Hayata about Yudai’s absence. After he had explained the broad strokes to me, I made sure to leave dinner early with some food for when Yudai would wake. Kiyuki noted the Falcon & Phoenix engaged in conversation. She seated herself next to Toritaka Ochiyo to join in.

The discussion seemed to go well, until Kiyuki mentioned that she may visit the Castle of the Hare on her trip home. Immediately, Asako Rekai leaned in to whisper to the Falcon, while making eye contact with Kiyuki. Toritaka Ochiyo stiffened, & became much more closed in demeanor. Seeing her presence was unwelcome, Kiyuki left- taking care to cut a bow that made her jade hare necklace was visible. If this level of calculation is indicative of how the Scorpion treats those she merely dislikes, I am curious how she would treat someone she considers an enemy.

When the others had returned from dinner, I woke Yudai. His face had been wan when I first arrived to our quarters, but the sleep had returned him some color. Each of us shared what we had seen & done during the day to get on the same page. With the information gained from the lingering spirit, we were certain the corpse the Imperial Guard had found belonged to Rika.

It was at this point that Ruko entered our communal room. He conveyed that his men had questioned the three servants as requested. All three claimed to have been working on bringing in wedding gifts in the days before the bride took ill. We had not realized that most of the gifts had been sent ahead of the representatives’ arrival.

Ruko asked if Kiyuki had shared news of their earlier conversation. With emphasis, he re-stated his earlier words. As he moved to leave, Yudai asked him for one more moment of his time. Though our services had been dismissed, we had learned much thus far.

Explaining this, Yudai requested that Ruko move to arrest Rika & Shizuko. He explained our reasoning, & there was a hint of relief in Ruko’s eyes. He swore he would bring the matter to Otomo Sorai’s attention. Oddly, Kiyuki told Ruko that he owed her a date, causing him to smile slightly before his departure.

The question now was whether it would be best to wait for Ruko to make his attempt at changing Otomo Sorai’s mind. Given that there was no guarantee of success on that front, the group decided to proceed with further investigation immediately. I knew that I would be nothing but a hinderance in doing so. I stayed in our quarters, as the other four made their way to the servants’ quarters.

Hayata led the way, as he had previously checked in on Shizuko when she fell ill. Megumi & Kiyuki took up position by the window, while Yudai & Hayata braced by the door. Knocking led to no response, so Yudai cautiously opened the door.

The lights within were doused, & no one was present. With how small the room was, there was nowhere anyone could be hidden. The other two samurai came around to the entrance to join the search. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary, but it was clear no one had been in the room for some time: it seemed “Rika” must have fled following the interrogation by the Imperial Guards, realizing her cover was at risk.

Beneath her bed they found a small wooden box, sitting amongst some oilskin wrappings. With what we had learned already, it was a safe guess that this is what had been smuggled within Edakumi Dayu’s stone block.

Inside the box were torn & burnt scraps of paper. Most contained no words, while a few still bore a recognizable phrase or two. Unfortunately, what was left only mentioned retrieving “the item”. A closer examination of the burned edges revealed a remnant of…I do not wish to say. To write it will make it seem truer, somehow.

The Tortoise surprised the rest of us by asking Kiyuki if she could speak to the fire kami of the brazier in the room, to learn more of what had been disposed of. The courtier laid out candles & performed a small ritualistic prayer- there was no response. While this was happening, Megumi’s ears honed in on something that had been bothering her: Rika’s room was not the only one that was unnaturally quiet.

She & Kiyuki approached Shizuko’s quarters, as Hayata went to Hideaki’s. Snoring revealed Hideaki seemed to be present, but there was no sound coming from Shizuko’s. Sure enough, her room proved empty upon inspection as well.

Kiyuki reached beneath the bed while Megumi searched the rest of the space. There was indeed an oddly-shaped lump hidden within the mattress. Cutting it out revealed a wakizashi.

The hilt was decorated with threads, but any possible clan colors they once bore had been worn beyond recognition. The sword was sheathed, & the rust limning the blade was proof it had not been drawn within many, many years. A servant in possession of a wakizashi…whether or not this was related to our pursuit of “Rika”, it was incredibly suspicious.

The group had seen enough. Yudai left without a word, striding directly towards the host’s villa. Everyone else fell in step behind him after a few moments of consideration. Tersely, Yudai explained to the Crane guards on duty that it was of grave importance that one of them fetch the groom. There is something about a giant in armor that lends credibility to such statements: Daidoji Hansha quickly came downstairs in a sleeping robe, with his swords in his belt.

The group explained what they had found, & Yudai stressed that they may be able to track the suspects if they acted quickly. Daidoji Hansha agreed, & gave the guards orders to gather a few men who could be spared. He seemed reluctant to do so, but asked the party if they would join the search. They readily agreed.

The groom gratefully asked them to meet at the castle gates in a few moments time, before leaving to gird himself for the hunt. Megumi, Kiyuki, & Yudai moved to their rooms to prepare as well. I aided Yudai in getting his wargear ready for bear, the most assistance I could provide. The discussion we had has added much weight to my mind, & grappling with those thoughts taxes me more than I would prefer.

Hayata spent the brief amount of time waking Hideaki. He played the drunk, & forced the bleary servant to lead him to the wine in the storeroom. His true reasons were to somewhat verify if Hideaki was also involved in the others’ flight, & see if there were signs anyone had recently used the secret passageway.

Shortly, my friends gathered at the castle gates. Daidoji Hansha was waiting for them, along with three Crane guards. No tracks were found leaving Kyuden Amaoto, & the guards at the gates reported seeing no one use the bridge. The samurai split up to check a few different spots in the village.

Hayata was able to confirm that no one has seemed to leave the village via the main road, while Kiyuki cased out the red light district. Yudai found some tracks at the temple to Benten, but they only seemed to pass by it. As he raised his head to follow them, he saw Megumi waving him down. She had inspected the path leading to the lake: the same tracks Yudai had found led in that direction.

Once the hunters had reconvened, they rushed along the trail. There was only one set of footprints, but they had seen no sign of any split a second suspect could have taken. As to be expected, passing behind the waterfall made the tracks near undetectable: for any normal samurai.

Megumi had spent years following tracks on the plains, & Hayata’s keen eye for detail was able to assist her in her search. They managed to find traces of “Rika’s” passage… leading directly to the face of the mountain. Small, pitted holes showed that their quarry must have used tegaki to ascend the stone.

The group quickly discussed how to proceed. While they did so, Yudai removed his rope from his pack. On a hunch, his eyes moved East from the tegaki holes, in the direction they had earlier found the Furiribi.

There! Barely visible in the moonlight, a sheet of camouflaged paper hung just above a small ledge. It must have been used recently, & in haste: one of its edges was flapping in the wind. In typical conditions, it was unlikely to be spotted unless one knew of its location.

Yudai shirked much of his armor, & scaled his way up to the ledge. Hidden behind the paper was a narrow tunnel. Once he had confirmed no one was waiting in ambush, he attached a piton, & lowered a rope for his comrades.

In a few moments, the rest of the samurai had joined him. Each ensured they were prepared, knowing battle was likely within. Kabuto on, Yudai entered. The entry was tight enough to force the group to move in single-file for several minutes. When it widened enough for two to stand abreast, it shortly ended as it merged into a cavern.

The space had been repurposed into a hideout, occupied by several bandits. The brigands were all gathered at the far end of the cavern, facing away. They appeared to be circled around someone, & were looking down at the ground. Yudai began marching towards them. As the samurai got closer, they could just barely see the masked head of a shinobi crouched before the bandits, writing something in the dust on the floor. Her eyes lifted, & she spotted the party.

The bandits were clearly taken by surprise, but marshalled for battle- they knew there would be no quarter given to any who surrendered. Their lives were now measured by 3’ of steel. Megumi & Hayata readied their bows, while Yudai hefted his tetsubo. Kiyuki lost herself in the scuffle, disappearing from sight.

One of the bandits’ heads exploded beneath a swing from Yudai’s weapon. A couple of the bandits began to ready slings, while the other four hefted swords & yari. The shinobi applied a noxious poison to her strange weapon: a Kusari-gama.

Daidoji Hansha moved ahead of his guards, engaging some of the bandits in a flourish of melee combat. The bandits managed to land a few blows on both Megumi & Yudai. Hayata got off a few shots of his bow, before he was felled by the sling-users. Realizing that the shinobi was the largest threat, both of our bushi exchanged a brief glance. Ignoring the stones being flung her way, Megumi took aim. When her arrow loosed, it pierced directly through the handle of the kusari-gama, skewering it to the ninja’s hand. Before she could react, Yudai caught her in the side with his tetsubo.

Suddenly, Kiyuki appeared amongst the fray, slashing the shinobi’s face with her wakizashi. With a strangled cry, the ninja fell to the ground. Judging by the amount of blood pooling around her, she would not be able to throw herself back into the fray.

By this point, the bandits ranks had been thinned considerably. Demonstrating just how easily he could have killed the last one standing unawares, Yudai instead grabbed him by his collar. On the floor, the shinobi weakly poured a vial of poison into her mouth & began to convulse. A quick search of her belongings showed no trace of an antidote. There were two more vials of poison, though, which Kiyuki attempted to pocket surreptitiously.

Yudai gathered what information he was able from the last bandit. The shinobi, Musei, had not shared much with the men she had hired. They did not know who had bankrolled her operation. Only one piece of information the man offered seemed of real use: he & his compatriots had been hired to help Musei "reclaim" an item from the castle. What the item was, he had not yet been told. The only further detail he possessed was that the item was small enough for a single person to carry.

All that remained was to send the bandit onto Meido for judgement. For this, Yudai granted him the honor of his katana. A mercy he did not deserve. The group examined the contents of the cave, but found little beyond the men's typical living gear. What little belonged to Musei confirmed that she was almost certainly a mercenary shinobi, not beholden to any clan.

Daidoji Hansha spoke at this point. He pointed at Kiyuki, & asked what she had pocketed off of the ninja's body. Called out so publicly, Kiyuki could do nothing but reveal the two vials of poison. She claimed the vials were safer in her hands- so her people could dispose of them properly. With no malignance in his face the Crane merely asked her if this was wise, given her own recent misadventures.

Kiyuki was silent for a brief moment. Such concoctions were illegal in this form. Rather than risk losing any further face, she held them out to the yojimbo on an open palm. There was no hesitation on his part. The flat of his blade struck both bottles from the courtier's hand, to shatter against the wall.

The Scorpion held her tongue- as long as she was able- before remarking that was not the way she would have disposed of them. Sparing her any further embarrassment, the groom requested his guards arrange for the cave to be collapsed & sealed. With that, the group began the walk back to Kyuden Amaoto.

Safe within the castle walls, the samurai breathed a collective sigh of relief. They had all returned without any permanent injury from their nighttime hunt, & put an end to the shinobi that had been lurking in their midst all these many days. True, the bride was still afflicted, but this was a major step forward to resolving the issue.

We knew now that whatever had caused the bride's ailment was a relatively small item. Given that the ninja was tasked to retrieve this item, it was likely to still be somewhere near the bride at this point. There was yet six days for us to ponder this mystery, should we be allowed to continue as such. Not much time, but time we could hopefully spend without looking over our shoulders. (Though Shizuko's thread is still unraveled.)

Daidoji Hansha bowed deeply as he thanked the four samurai. Though his words were clumsy, it was evident they were sincere. He would coordinate further searching for the missing maid come the next day, but sleep would be best for all of them just now.

Thus, he returned to his villa, while my friends did much the same. Before I sleep, I will offer a prayer to the fortunes- that duty can be put aside for the rest of the wedding that the bride's condition may be cured with all due haste.