Unfinished Business
By Shawn Carman
In the mountains,
time mattered little. The wanderer had remained here for months
without descending from the highest peaks. The temperature, the
seclusion, the lengthy fasting, all of it allowed him to reach
the state of mind necessary to make contact with his benefactor.
Even now, deep in meditation, he could sense the great creature's
spirit reaching out to answer him.
"Greetings,
little one." It was a rich, melodious voice that echoed
through his mind. No doubt it sounded differently to any who
heard it. One might hear a beautiful piece of music, while another
the mighty drums of war. To Mitsu, however, it simply was. "How
does the day find you?"
"Well, great
one." Despite that it was a spiritual communication, the
wanderer was troubled, and spoke his thoughts aloud. "But
my destiny weighs heavily upon me."
The voice chuffed
in what might pass for laughter among the Great Dragons. "You
would prefer to be ignorant of your fate, little one? Then you
cannot be the one who approached me during the creation of the
crater. That human was full of determination and curiosity."
"It is not that,
my liege," the wanderer replied after a moment. "I
do not fear death, nor even the consequences for myself should
I fail. But I do not wish my kinsmen to suffer if I prove unable
to accomplish the fate you have shown me." The man sat in
silence for several minutes. "Each day," he confessed,
"I grow older, one step closer to my death. And each day,
he becomes stronger, darker, more powerful."
"Embrace your
destiny," the voice said simply. "Trust in the fate
that was chosen for you long before you were born."
Before he was able
to respond, the wanderer's meditation was disrupted. His eyes
fluttered open and he sensed the spirit of his patron recede
from the mortal realm. Curious, he focused his senses to determine
what had disturbed him.
There. Very faint,
almost imperceptible. From below, in the mountain pass, there
came the sounds of battle. Nodding to himself, the old man rose
gracefully to his feet from the lotus position. The time for
reflection was over.
Somewhere below him,
his destiny was beginning.
The Lion had appeared
from nowhere. Perhaps the whistling mountain winds had masked
their approach, or perhaps they relied on their magic. Regardless
of how they how they had done it, the Lion had caught the Dragon
patrol completely unaware.
Rosanjin watched
in horror as the young and untested soldiers in his command fell
beneath the blades of the more seasoned Lion one by one. Those
who fell died like samurai, and those who remained betrayed no
fear or sorrow. Even in this darkest of moments, they made Rosanjin
proud. Truly, they were Dragon.
"Mirumoto Rosanjin!"
The commander of the Lion force had freed himself from the combat
to seek out Rosanjin. The two locked eyes. Their men, recognizing
a formal challenge was about to take place, parted before them.
"I am Matsu Tejin. It was I who defeated Mirumoto Ukira
upon the Dragon Heart Plain. As he was allowed to retreat, so
too shall you be. No more of your men need die. Simply withdraw
your men and allow these lands to be claimed by their rightful
owners, the Lion."
Rosanjin ground his
teeth at the thought. Ukira had withdrawn to bring vital intelligence
back to Mirumoto Uso. Rosanjin had no such obligation. His duty
was clear. He assumed a kenjutsu stance and saluted Tejin with
his blade.
Tejin nodded grimly.
"Then you and your men will die. I would that it might be
otherwise." He also took on a battle stance and prepared
to charge his enemy.
From the cliff above
the battle a hearty, robust laughter rang throughout the mountain
pass. Rosanjin and Tejin both halted at the sound, as did their
men. Rosanjin scanned the entire pass for the source of the laughter,
but found nothing.
"I see little
has changed since I was last involved in the ways of war."
The voice came from above. Rosanjin gazed along the cliff walls
before finally finding the source: a lone figure, casually crouched
atop the cliff. The stranger seemed to be glad in the trappings
of an ascetic, but it was difficult to tell for certain at this
distance. "The color of your armor is different, but the
actions are the same. Bluster and bravado, but no sense whatsoever."
The mysterious figure shook his head and laughed again. "I
had hoped the Empire might have found wisdom during my absence."
Even in the shadows, Rosanjin could make out the man's grin.
"But if not, then perhaps an old man like myself might still
have value."
Now it was Matsu
Tejin who gnashed his teeth. Pointing to the mysterious figure
with his blade, he shouted "I will not suffer dishonor from
a coward who hides among the rocks! Face me or be gone, like
the beast you are!"
Rosanjin remained
silent. The man's words from the cliff had sparked a memory within
him, a forgotten tale of heroes from his childhood. Keeping a
wary eye on the Lion, he stood his ground wordlessly. His men
followed suit.
Tejin was not so
patient. With a curt nod from their commander, half a dozen bushi
quickly readied their bows and fired. Each shot was true.
But the target was
no longer there. The man sprang upward from his crouch, allowing
the arrows to fly through the space he had been occupying and
shatter on the rock face behind it. The man's enormous leap brought
him down upon the cliff face, where he sprang effortlessly from
ledge to ledge, each one lower to the ground until he finally
landed gracefully on the rock floor of the pass itself.
Rosanjin's spirit
soared. The man's age was difficult to determine because of his
shaved head and his muscular, athletic form. Tattoos covered
nearly his entire torso, twining around his chest and arms, the
most prominent of which was a great dragon. The man's eyes twinkled,
somehow conveying both wisdom and cheer at the same time. The
lopsided grin remained on his face.
"Togashi Mitsu-sama,"
Rosanjin murmured.
Tejin scoffed. "There
is no such person. He is merely a legend for weak-minded Dragon
children. I will prove it." He turned to his men. "Kill
him," Tejin snarled.
Two Matsu bushi leapt
at Mitsu instantly, both prepared to cut him down at their gunso's
command. Mitsu side-stepped the first easily, catching the flat
of the blade between his open hands. A casual twist of his arms
and the katana was torn from the soldier's grasp, its hilt striking
him squarely in the jaw before being casually tossed over Mitsu's
shoulder to clatter upon the rocks well behind him. The second
soldier launched a blindingly fast strike at the much older monk,
only to find himself flying through the air as Mitsu caught his
sword arm and threw him over his shoulder after the other soldier's
blade.
The Lion were stunned
by this new development. Rosanjin knew opportunity when he encountered
it. "For the Dragon!" he shouted, charging the disoriented
Matsu. His steel tasted the blood of two Lion before the shock
of Mitsu's arrival wore off. The samurai under his command answered
his cry, galvanized as they were by Mitsu's sudden appearance.
Within seconds, the pass was filled with the sounds of battle
and gasps of the dying.
The Dragon's advantage
was short-lived. These Matsu were soldiers, each the veteran
of a dozen skirmishes. The Mirumoto, however, were young, barely
past their gempukku. Although well-trained, they could not stand
for long against Tejin and his men. The Lion quickly retook control
of the fighting as the young Dragon soldiers began to fall like
wheat before the scythe.
"The lives of
the young should not be squandered in battle," Rosanjin
heard Mitsu say. The aged monk stood for a brief moment, assessing
the skirmish, then moved like a wind across the pass. With each
step, he disarmed or disabled a Lion warrior, yet never claimed
their lives. Tejin, freeing his blade from between the armored
plates of a dead Dragon soldier, saw the monk coming through
the ranks and charge to meet him. He hefted his blade, prepared
for the strike that would end Mitsu's life.
Mitsu's arm flashed
out, impossibly fast, the tips of two fingers slipping easily
between the plates of Tejin's armor and lightly touching the
flesh beneath. Tejin's face twisted in pain as if he had been
burned. His katana fell to the ground, clattering upon the stones
as his arm dropped limply to his side. Tejin's off-hand darted
to the hilt of his wakizashi, but a second strike from Mitsu
knocked that blade away as well, sending it spinning lazily across
the rocks.
Eyes ablaze with
fury, Tejin fixed his gaze upon Mitsu. "Finish it,"
he snarled.
The old man shook
his head. "You may not suffer a fool to live, but I will
not consign a fool to death who has not first learned wisdom."
He bowed slightly to the Lion warrior. "Go in peace, Tejin.
We shall meet again."
Tejin glanced at
the chaos of the pass, knowing that he could not overcome the
Dragon now. "Pray we do not, old man." Wordlessly,
he gathered his blades and led his men to the edge of the pass.
At the last moment, he turned back as if to say something further.
Seeing Mirumoto Rosanjin and Togashi Mitsu standing shoulder
to shoulder with the few remaining bushi at the ready, he thought
better of it. The battered Lion patrol and their crippled gunso
left the pass as quietly as they had entered it.
Kneeling, Rosanjin
bowed his head to Mitsu. "I am forever in your debt, great
Mitsu-sama. I learned of your heroism as a child, and now you
have led us to victory."
For the first time
since his sudden appearance, Mitsu's grin faded. "I would
hardly call this a victory, Rosanjin." The monk gestured
at the many fallen Dragon about the pass. "Whenever life
is lost, there can be no victor. We have lost here, as surely
as have the Lion. There is never victory in death."
Rosanjin sat silently,
regarding the remaining men in his command. So few faces now,
so many that he had trained since their gempukku lay dead on
the ground. The enormity of the short conflict settled upon his
soul heavily. "You speak the truth, Mitsu-sama. Often in
war, wisdom is forgotten in favor of anger. It is necessary to
be reminded of such things."
Mitsu nodded. "Death
comes for each of us in turn, Rosanjin. To hasten its journey
is madness. There is but a single soul in this world that is
deserving of an early death." Mitsu gazed to the south.
"And I shall see that it comes swiftly, else all Dragon
pay the price."
Rosanjin furrowed
his brow, following Mitsu's gaze to the lands beyond the Dragon
mountains. "Who is this soul, Mitsu-sama?"
But Mitsu would say
no more.
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
