Legend of the Ronin (Legend of the Five Rings)

-Princess Ayako

In the end, given your skills, and association with Princess Ayako's former identity, you volunteer to be her partner. Leaving Izu and Kyoko to make their own way after you. The other woman plays at inspecting some dango seller's food while you wait. With the end of the detailed inspections for Naomh Roberts, it seems that a lot of people are trying to get out of the city at once. Which is good for you, but also means you're taking longer. Ayako motions for you to get the pair of you a pair of dango sticks as you wait.

You're uneasy, this many people, even you're seemingly supernatural abilities can't quite make out the intentions of everyone. Its not that you don't sense the hostility, its just that there are so many, that you can't tell if its you or just everything that they are angry at.

The soft sound of breath behind you has you whirling around about to draw your blade, only to see a small boy a few years younger than your brother looking up at you wide eyed. His hand still reaching for your money pouch.
"I'd suggest you leave" you say.

The boy nods and takes off, dipping and weaving through the crowds.

"Relax Megumi-san" Ayako says.

"...I'm trying" you answer.

"Try harder, while the children and heimin might not sense your aura, I can tell you every samurai and monk is."

You take a deep breath trying to sooth your emotions. It works kind of, but Ayako is still frowning at you.
"Sorry, I'm not going to do better than this right now good Sister."

Ayako sighs.
"Can't be helped then, its time for us to make our way to the gates."

You nod and walk forward through the queue, munching on your dango all the while, the goal is to be a simple ronin escorting a nun outside the city for a spiritual pilgrimage. While it rankles your honour to be so deceitful, putting a giant target of 'hey Sagon come and get it' was in Sora's words. 'So stupid that I would have to assume who ever suggested it was intentional dropped on their heads as a child'

A way with words, your superior officer. You file that thought to the side when you approach the gate guards, and hand over the paperwork. The guards look to each other, and then ask you to come to the side with them, Sister Aya too. You can already sense the trap here, but you have no choice unless you want to make a scene...so you go along with it.

The guards take you inside the guardpost which is eerily quiet. The rough hewn furniture is all pushed to the side. You realize that they were planning this...probably that fucking Tsuchi turning on Sora or someone else in the Scorpion. They let Sora go through, but not you and Ayeka.

Closing your eyes, you reach out with your senses for the two guards beside you. They're reaching for their swords...so that was it, take you in, kill you and claim you had gotten 'violent' then take the princess into custody from which she would mysteriously disappear.

If you didn't care about being found it wasn't a bad plan. There was one problem with it though.
You were faster than they could dream of being. Sakirayumei slides out of her sheathe as you spin around. The first guard doesn't even have a chance to process what's happening before you cut him nearly in two. He collapses to the floor as you continue your arc slashing down on the second guard and driving her to the ground. The third guard, the one locking the door, looks at you with undisguised hatred, taking out his jitte clearly prepared to fight you, right before Ayako sucker punches him and sends the man flying into a heap against the wall.

You kneel down towards the one guard who was still awake.
"Who sent you?" You demand.

"....Lord Sagon will take your head."

You frown, while these guards were all new samurai, they were still Samurai, why were they following a rakshasa?
"Why are you serving Sagon?"

She gives a contemptuous glare.
"Lord Sagon brings truth, Lord Sagon gives hope...you would not understand heathen."

"How many serve Sagon?" You ask.

"Sagon's followers are legion...you will never escape, kill yourself now and the next life---"

Ayako kicked the woman's head in, knocking her out.
"That's enough, we need to get out of here." She says.

You clean your blade and nod.
"I never thought that Sagon's cult would reach so widely."

"The temples are feuding with each other instead of addressing the people, it was...not inevitable, but I suppose it should be expected." Ayako says bitterly.

"...more things to fix eh?" You try for a light hearted tone.

"Yes...come on." Ayako answers.

Carefully keeping the bodies away from the door. You head out of the guard post, and lock the door behind you. While again you feel bad for not doing the right thing, pragmatic necessity trumped that, and orders were orders. Careful to avoid the patrols, you find yourself waiting for several hours and just manage to slip through the gate with a large convoy before you hear the sounds of alarm from behind you.

The pair of you run as hard as you can towards the rendezvous point. You regret skipping leg day now, as you collapse in front of the others. Sora looks slightly unamused. "What happened?" She asks.
You explain everything.

"Well then that changes some things. The plan was to follow the Shield Road and trust Brother Jubei to clear a path for us. But with your departure, we'll face increased scrutiny to go forward....Megumi-san, when you are ready walk with me." Sora says.

After several minutes of gulping in lungfuls of air, you rise and follow after her. A little distance from the group she turns around. "I have appointed you my second in command, and despite the unfortunate results, you have done well. I am currently of a mind to cut across the highland deserts and enter into the Unicorn lands through the mountains. This will leave us isolated and hopefully able to disappear into the anonymous masses again. However, from a supplies stand point it is a challenge. Against my better judgement, I want to know you will support me or not."

[] Agree to cut across the desert highlands
[] No we should stick to the plan. Brother Jubei is waiting for you

Sora gives a non-committal hum, as she direct you back to the party, and surprisingly takes your advice. You set out, aiming to get as much distance as possible from Shiro Enishi. As you travel you decide to make conversation with...

[] Sora
[] Yukiko
[] Kyoko
[] Izu
[] Ayeko

You shrug, she didn't ask for your opinion but your support, so you'll give it. Even if you hate the idea of going across the desert.
"Of course Bayushi-sama." You say.

Sora nods, as if on some level glad that you didn't make a fight of this.
"Thank you, we'll head towards the oasis."

"Hai, how will Brother Jubei know to go over there though?" You ask.

Sora tilts her head, an equivalent of a shrug.
"I presume you have an answer?"

You think for a moment.
"We have two skilled shugenja, granted neither of them are great friends with the Air Kami between the two of them, something should be doable Bayushi-sama."

"Very well"

And with that you begin your track across the hot desert plateau, the heat beating down on you, even Sora eventually for practicality gives up her body suit, revealing the traditionally handsome woman underneath. For your part, you feel like you'll go mad if you don't distract yourself from the heat. You take a sip of water and walk beside Izu, who is of course shirtless and wearing a set of pants, but nothing else.


He looks over to you.
"I see that a bird with untrimmed feathers suffers from the heat."

"Izu-san, you don't need to talk like that around me you know."

"I know, but I like talking like that around people."

"...Are you saying that Ise Zumi talk in nonsense to...get a rise out of people?"

"The humble mouse never tells the cat that there is a hole in the wall until he is inside it."

"So yes"

"I never said that"

"You didn't deny it either."

"True enough, alright for your sake I'll desist. What does Megumi-san wish from this humble mendicant?"

"A distraction if I am being honest, mostly I just wish to talk with my friend is that so wrong?"

"I suppose not, but in truth there is not much to discuss since your revelation, while I doubt we'll be attacked before tomorrow, it remains the truth that we will have to fight attackers coming in until the oasis, and even there we will be assaulted."

"Are you worried?"

"To walk with life is to walk with death, I am not worried, but I am understanding of our position. We all die, the question is how."

"I want us all to come through this and live." You say looking down at the sand.

"We all want that, but that is not in the cards as the fortune tellers say."

"You seem fatalistic."

"On the contrary, I am free"

"...I don't follow."

"Why do you not want to die?"

"Because it means I have failed my duty, it means that I let down everyone, it means I can't do the things I want."

"And yet, if you die, you will be judged as good and given another chance to fulfil your destiny in another life. There is no end, there is no beginning, there is merely the Dance"

"...so because you know you can try until you get it right, you don't mind death?"

"If you want to put it that way, yes."

"You've changed a lot since her..."

"My sensei reached my old self, but if you're asking whether or not I still enjoy women...then yes I do, but I no longer need to fill the empty void with the embrace of a beautiful woman"

"But you still would if one asked?" You ask dryly

"It would be rude not to help a woman in need" He says in response.

With well practised wit you and he begin to tease each other, neither truly meaning it, and the day although still hot passed quicker for it. You opt to spend the next day doing much the same, but sometime in the afternoon as you were about to subtly imply that he was more a cactus flower than a lotus your instincts screamed to get down as people appear on the edge of your vision.

Without thought you drag Izu down, you see a barrage of arrows where you stood, others are also down, Sora standing over the body of Yukiko, and Kyoko collapsing to the ground with arrows pointing out of her every which way.

"Kyoko!" You shout heading over to her.

The arrows haven't hit anything serious, but she can't move. You put your hand on your sword and rise looking around for the attackers...but they're already running away. You see Sora take a knee and shoot twin arrows into the backs of two of them. You concentrate and draw twice, the sand coming in a shower of dust as you cut into two more.

You almost chase after them before Sora yells at you to stop. You grunt and take a position around Kyoko, watching anxiously as Yukiko begins work on the fire shugenja. Izu and Ayeko join you.

"We can't be hit by that again...it was only luck that let us react in time to make sure it wasn't worth" Sora says.

"How did they find us so quickly though?" Ayako wonders.

It was a fair question, given the circumstances, Sagon knowing you had left, but which you went? That should have taken more time. After all Sora had completely changed the plans. For a while you wait for Yukiko to fix Kyoko, who offers her own answer.

"...Long range communication, always had a group in the desert for this...merely directed them based on our tracks."

"So this will happen again unless we move faster."

All eyes look at Yukiko, she's grown in power since your journey from the monastery.

"I may be able to cast a water spell even in this heat...but we'll be running nearly blind, a leader will have to guide us and react in time to avoid any obstacles" she says finally.

"Someone with good perception and some reflexes should do it. Which means Megumi-san or you Iuchi-san" Izu says.

Sora looks torn, on the one hand you are essentially a walking ambush detector, and very vast when you put your mind to it. But you're not as good at seeing things normally as Yukiko is.

"Iuchi-san are there other risks with this spell?"

"It...is powerful enough that I will likely need to rest for a day or so after casting" Yukiko admits.

"I'm not sure I like that." Ayeko says.

"Do you have another idea?" Sora asks, mildly testy.

"They're following our tracks right? Then we need to cut south to the mountains and lose them in one of the valleys."

"That will add weeks to our travel time" Kyoko says instantly doing the math.

"It will, but we will be able to make up time by hugging the Spine of the World, and we can avoid the roads." Ayeko declares.

She might be right.
Sora seems on the fence about it.

[] Volunteer for Yukiko's Spell.
[] We'll make a further detour, support Ayeko's idea.
[] Write in?