Burden of the Emerald Empire (A Legend of the Five Rings Tale)

Dragon Heart Plain: Month of the Horse, 15th Day (Early Summer)

You are Kakita Noritoshi, Emerald Champion, you have lived oh fifty years now. Through the chaos of the Spirit Wars, the Four Winds, and the rise of Toturi the Fourth, known as the Blessed even now.

And as you sit on your horse, hands lightly holding the reins, you reflect how ancient you feel. How heavy the armor of the Emerald Champion feels on your frame. You had taken up its mantle fifteen years ago, as the best duelist in the Empire.

Ruefully a small part of you wonders if that remains true. Memories flash back to Daigotsu Megumi, who had taken your eye so many years ago. A lot of that seemed to happen in Toturi III's reign, even the old man himself had lost his eye at some point.

Before you, the Emerald Legion moves in careful position. This time there is no mistake, this time your orders were not intercepted, this time no coordinated crime wave saps you of momentum before you can even start.

Instead, the Emerald Legion, your legion waits for your signal to attack Shiro Morito The home of the Kolat, the true Kolat, so the prisoners the Mirumoto had taken swore. You were not so sure. It was the nature of Kolat to splinter, and keep themselves invisible even to each other. However, you were sure this is where the main base of the greatest Kolat sect was found.

And you would burn it to the ground.

Looking over at the slightly nervous seeming Utaku samurai, you give a small nod. The woman is a battle maiden true, and pushes away her feelings. Of all the Clans, the Unicorn have the most knowledge of the Kolat...and the most reason to hate them, save for the Hare.

For it was the Kolat that made their mother turn her face from around the time you were born. A crime they could not, would forgive.

The Utaku, Zhang-Mei, you vaguely recall raises her bow and shoots a single humming bulb arrow high into the sky across the field, the whistling sound reaching out to the rest of the messengers who in turn shout their arrows, the noise echoing across the Legion.

With the cry of Banzai echoing across the valley, The Emerald Legion moves as one, samurai from every clan charging forward to take the castle before the Ox can truly mount an effective defense.

Your lips curl in a hidden sneer. The Ox, oh so loyally raised by Toturi III had betrayed his son....and wasn't that just the way of the age of chaos, to have loyalty repaid with treachery?

It was time to mark yet another closing page of that epoch.

Zhang Mei hands you the foreign spyglass and you hold up to your eye looking across the castle. A deep part of you despises handling such a heretical object. The more practical part of you, born of long years in the role of the Imperial hand of justice, acknowledges being able to see from afar is probably worth a small heresy.

The first cohort has stalled at the front gate, even as the second and third sweep over the sloped walls like fire with the help of the shugenja embedded within.
The fourth held the rear sally point to keep everything under control. The fifth cohort stayed with you. The net had been sprung and was tightening around the the castle. It would hurt, you could already see good samurai falling to their deaths as the Ox fought desperately to save their treacherous masters.

Ancestors on both sides would be pleased tonight.

Still there's little for you to do but wait and watch when a glimmering catches your eye. You move the spyglass quickly upwards and watch.

The Kolat had foreseen your assault after all. The Ox army, was barreling down the slopes towards the Fourth Cohort.

Damn.

There was nothing for you to do but move to reinforce.

"Send out three arrows Utaku-san, warn the Fourth Cohort, we ride to reinforce!" You bark.

Zheng-Mei does so, more humming bulbs filling the sky in dreadful warning as you begin to ride.

You had never been much for armies truth be told, oh you had fought at the Fall of Otosan Uchi, and other places during the Four Winds....but you were a warrior first not a general.

And yet here you were a general maneuvering to counter trap the Kolat in a battle that would see you live in glory, or die in infamy.

All things considered? You preferred the former.

The pounding of the hooves under you echo as you surge forth the Ox Clan cavalry was after the Unicorn some of the best in the Empire. There was no way you could get there in time.

You heard more than saw the clash of flesh and steel echoing from the rear sally port.

Heard the strange cry of "FOR MAN!" as the Ox fought with the desperate fanaticism of the heretic.

In your minds eye you could see the brutal fighting as Samurai struggled to hold the line against a wall of steel and flesh simply running them down the way you ran down a dog.

You hoped that Soshi Nanjiro got a spear wall up in time, you hoped...but you didn't have much hope for it. So you ride around the castle wall, the rest of the legion trusting that you will save their comrades....or avenge them at least.

The Ox Cavalry had all but annihilated the Fourth Cohort, a small half ring of spear users make a grim last stand against the castle wall. Yet the Ox had stopped pressing to clear out the last of them as they hear you coming.

You raise your sword high and make the last fateful command of the day. After this, all was in the hands of Hachiman-no-kami.

"BANZAI FOR TOTURI! FOR BUSHIDO!" You shout.

Time seems to slow as you near the rapidly turning Ox, they're trying to escape, to get away....but there's no time. You can feel your heart beating in your chest, smell the scent of fear and exhilaration from both sides, and see the snarling faces before you.

Then it all resumes, as the Fifth Cohort slams into the Ox Army like a sword through flesh, cutting down horses, riders in a flurry of movement that sees screams of joy turn to agony, and defeat to victory all in single moments.

Blood stains your blade as you cut down yet another foolish Ox challenging you, a single thrust through the small gap between then neck guard and the mempo, and then you whirl around to catch a spear shaft, cutting in two before riding forward and cutting the samurai's arm off.

Then pain blossoms on your side as you fly off your horse, the noble beast collapsing from the powerful nodachi strike of your attacker.

Your blind spot....coughing blood you stand up and ready your sword, looking at the one who attacked you. Morito, the Master of Steel they said....you would not dignify him with the title of samurai.

"....And here I thought I was getting old...you can't beat me Champion...so lower your sword and live." His voice aged echoes out.

The fighting around you seems to slow as you look up at him, the old master is hale, his body untouched by the battle, mounted. While your arm was going numb, and the blood dripping through your armor was growing thicker by the minute. By any reasonable estimation, your defeat was certain.

But any reasonable estimation forgot, two things
Honour is stronger than steel
And you were Kakita Noritoshi.

"I will offer you the chance to slit your belly Morito and redeem yourself. Otherwise I will take your head hear and now" You say.

"....Well, can't say I didn't try." Morito muses as he rides forth readying his nodachi to kill you.

There should never be a question of whether or not you will hit. The question should be why, if you lack conviction, a weak blade will fail you. If you lack understanding a foolish blade will fail you. To be a master, it is not enough to declare that a cut will happen. You must reach out and take it with every fiber of your being

You had told that to Mai, your successor at the Academy that once. You close one eye and focus, one strike, one cut, one death.

That was the essence of the Kakita Ryu.

Aged joints scream at you, copper fills your mouth, and your eye opens as your body acts even as you determine the out come, both arms putting everything into one cut.

Morito charges by you and brings his nodachi down as your katana comes up.

The horse crashes into the ground as you feel more pain echoing down your shoulder. You look to see the bloody wound opened up. Oh that was going to hurt you.

But behind you, Morito struggles to stand, missing one leg. You turn around, he's already dead, you both know that. But Morito was never one to give up, even with one leg he pulls out a knife and lunges at you.

You spin to the side and draw your wakizashi out and bring it down through the folds of his armor.

"....May your ancestors forgive you Morito, for the Emperor does not" You hiss.

Morito coughs up blood and you look around. The death of their leader takes the fight out of the Ox, they continue to try and fight, but it is with a grim acceptance that this is the end.

The Kolat as they were are now destroyed.

Time for that nap.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Month of the Horse 29th day

You are Toturi IV, and you wish you could focus on this report, wish you could take pleasure in the total destruction of the Hidden Temple.

But your mind is elsewhere as Ayumi has been giving birth for...nearly a day now. You wish you could help her, be with her, but that is not allowed for various reasons. Not the least of which is that she doesn't want you to.

Kana is hovering around the birthing room, although you don't think she and Ayumi precisely get along...neither of them want anything but the best for the children coming.

You read it over again for the fifth time. Noritoshi was badly wounded, it'll be some time before he can fully resume his duties....you should talk to him when he returns. The man is well past retirement age, particularly for a bushi, even if his venerable ancestor Satsume held the post of Emerald Champion for fifty years...him doing so might not be the best.


The sound of movement as you turn, a breathless servant comes in and kowtows.

"My Emperor, the Imperial Physician reports that your children are born and ready to be seen..."

"And my concubine?" you ask.

"She is....unconscious. The Imperial Physician states that it was a hard labor, and she will not recover for some time, but that a full recovery is expected."

"...I see" you say softly as you stand up. "Take me to them immediately." You declare.

The servant nods and leads you through the castle to the Imperial Nursery.
Kana is standing over the foot of crib looking down with a mixture of affection and regret. You can see her stroking something in the crib.

But truth be told you only have eyes for one thing in this room right now.

your children



They were wrapped in cloth, but you could see them, they were real. A healthy boy and girl, looking up at you with big brown eyes.
Kana looks up and withdraws her arm. You reach down and pick them both up carefully nestling the twins in the crooks of your arms as you look from one to the other and can see so much of their mother in them...but their eyes are yours.

"Ayumi-san offers her apologies she could not be here..." Kana says quietly.

"It can't be helped, did she name them?" You ask.

"No she didn't want to presume...it is your decision." she says.

"I will name them"

[] Write in


AN: And so the world turns.