A Kolat Revealed

By Mike Mullins

As the sun sunk below the horizon, Yokatsu finished penning a letter to Marik. With one duty complete, Yokatsu turns to a more local task. The Shinjo daimyo contemplates the needs of his most recent guests and the threat to Yokatsu’s beloved Rokugan. News from a handful of agents has reached the Unicorn champion, news that indicates a united army of the Shadowlands marching towards Otosan Uchi.

In the path of the Shadowlands army, in their push to slay Toturi I, is the hidden Scorpion stronghold. Where a handful of Shoju’s followers, those not hidden on the Horiuchi estates, continue to work for Shoju’s return to the throne. For a brief moment, Yokatsu’s thoughts drift to Shoan, who had been irate that the Shinjo daimyo would so casually hand over her family’s estates to the Scorpion refugees, but the marriage to Tangen had quieted the shugenja.

Slowly, Yokatsu meditated on the situation and the decision to be made. Was the need to save Shoju’s followers greater than the need to protect the identity of one of Yokatsu’s dearest agents? A cold calculation would lead to the destruction of the secret Scorpion castle and the Scorpion hiding there. Shoju was a friend, and in Yokatsu’s eyes, still the emperor.

Time was short, and the Unicorn champion would only have enough time to warn the Scorpion castle if he used one of his agents whose mind he could touch. Conventional communications would never arrive in time to save the keep. One such agent should be close enough, Yokatsu thought, to deliver the message prior to the castle before the advancing Shadowlands army arrived there.

Using a ritual that Yokatsu had used for over a hundred years, the Shinjo daimyo focused his mind towards his agent and friend, bringing their minds close together, allowing them to share thoughts regardless of the distance that separated them. Memories flooded Yokatsu as he remembered his agent and allowed his mind to embrace the Void and seek out Mukami.

Four years ago.

You have died to the world and must now reinvent yourself. Take a new name, but no family name. Change your fighting style so that none will recognize you.

Master, it will be as you say. I will sheath my katana and learn the bow. And from this day forward, I shall be known as Mukami and never a whisper of my previous life shall escape my lips. With this, Mukami bowed in respect to the lord who had trained him for more than three years.

As Yokatsu’s trance continues, he once again witnesses Mukami’s rebirth completing. As his student masters the bow and learns that the need to survive is greater than a samurai’s honor. Mukami learns to run like the wind and move silently, so much so that Yokatsu begins to worry that Mukami has succumbed to the Shadow. Time, however, shows that the Shinjo daimyo’s worries are unfounded and Mukami becomes the best of Yokatsu’s pupils, never endangering himself except when the situation is most dire to the Kolats.

Less than a year ago and after the hunt for the Crane ended. Mukami joined Tsuruchi’s upstart Wasp clan, allowing the Kolat to track Yoritomo’s movements and the rise of the Mantis clan.

Today, Yokatsu will call for Mukami to risk his life for the Scorpion. Yokatsu is confidant his pupil and friend will succeed. Surely if Mukami dies, Yokatsu’s soul shall forever be burdened with his death.

I hear your thoughts master. I shall not fail you. What task is it that you wish me to undertake? Mukami asked, projecting his thoughts to Yokatsu.

Yokatsu explained the situation with the Scorpion stronghold and the advancing Shadowlands army, and told Mukami that he was needed to save those hiding at the castle. Mukami was to guide them to the Unicorn lands and protect them as best as he could throughout the journey, telling them only as much as he needed to in order for them to listen.

It had been two days since Mukami had shared Yokatsu’s thoughts. Now, the archer needed to find the hidden castle, not to lead the Scorpion there to the Horiuchi estates, but to gain himself some protection from the oni tracking him. Within an hour of his exchange with Yokatsu, an oni had come across Mukami and the archer had been leading the monster on a merry chase ever since.

Mukami had run across a small farming community as he ran from the oni. He had warned the peasants there and then lead the oni away to give them time to reach the Scorpion castle. The peasants also agreed to pass the word on to the other small villages nearby. Two days had passed, and Mukami was growing tired and hungry. Without a single hour of sleep, and little to eat, Mukami finally turned towards the Scorpion castle and began sprinting away from the trail he had left the oni. He hoped he had given the peasants enough time to reach the safety of the castle.

When Mukami arrived, the preparations for the assault of the Shadowlands army had begun. It was too late to leave.

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