A rogue's gallery - unofficial epilogue

[Matsu Inori]

Namabe, a small village on the river of Gold, in no-man's land on the east bank north of Hare territory

The village, as such, had seen better days. Also worse days - for the most part it had a small harbour for fishing boats, fields behind it, the Shinomen less than a day's travel away - and a population who was accustomed to scatter and hide when bandits came through. That happened, sometimes more than once per year. People were poor, hardy and had hidden stashes of food.

They'd learned the hard way.

Still, right now, with another bandit group arrayed before the village square...a few people remained. The Ronin leader grinned as he shouted "Bring out the valuables. And don't even try to cheat us! Any boat that tries to flee will be set on fire!"

He signalled, and behind him two of his men stepped forward, bows in hand. They held arrows wrapped in rags soaked in some fluid. After two lean months this was a big haul, finally, with no less than three fishing boats in, and a river trader's barge. Sometimes a daring or desperate trader still tried to make it through. Fortunes were made that way, but more often than not...there was the grin again.
The band had been forced to go further north by a bold and aggressive stance from the minor Clans. Now that they were running ferries over the river and preparing to build a bridge, a truly ambitious project..he snarled. The upstarts were digging into his territory. And the Scorpion couldn't stop them, or wouldn't. It seemed like they had gotten some of the villages here to pay them taxes in exchange for protection, clearly also to keep the Hare for establishing more of a foothold - But he, Raihou, had shown them what he thought of that. He dismissively threw down a blade he'd taken off an assassin they'd sent for him last night. Four of them, and he'd personally killed on, and his men another before they'd run them off.

"No one will come to help you!" he shouted, and a few peasants cowering in the mud before him flinched. The river trader's captain still stood, not kneeling, in some weak defiance. Fancied herself a Samurai, now, did she? With that Wakizashi in its tawdry, worn and chipped sheath? "Yasuki Mayumi" my ass. He'd enjoy beating the angry glare out of her face.

"I don't like this" one of his lieutenants said, behind Raihou. "Something is wrong with that Yasuki"

Raihou shrugged, and raised his Scimitar. "We have them. Come out, or...."

A group of her sailors came trotting out behind the river captain, and another man, Ujina by his looks, alone but with Daisho at his belt, stepped out of the village headman's house.

There was a hand at Raihou's shoulder, as if to hold him back, but he shrugged it off. "Look at the sailors" the lieutenant behind him said. "Enough to crew a riverboat...but there are more on the barge itself". The bandit chief lost his patience, and yelled "ENOUGH! Draw blades!"

His men did - but so, it seems, did the other side - the grizzled Ujina, but not just them. Oars, their blade detached, suddenly showed gleaming spear points, and a profusion of knives appeared in the hands of the "sailors", as well as Tonfas and clubs. And "Yasuki Mayumi"? Suddenly held a short sword that she had pointed not drawn from her belt, but slipped from a sheath on her forearm.

"You should have listened" she said, her green eyes flashing in anticipation.

And then the arrows came down from the direction of the river boat.

------

It was over a few minutes later, with over a dozen of the bandits dead and some captured. But she had lost four of her men as well, and one of the villagers had caught a stray arrow, too. Victory, yes, but at a cost. But then...she remembered the scout team. Not even trained scouts or Asssassins, these were studenty fresh from their Gempukku who had tried to be spies and couriers. She didn't have to be happy with command's decisions. The captain snarled...then withdrew a gray metal mask in the shape of a foxes head and slipped it over her head.

"Our work here is done" she declared, then turned towards the Ujina, whose eyes had widened and taking on a flinty glare, rich with distrust.

"Give my compliments to old man Kayama in Kudo. Tell him this is the first payment to make good on my debt"

She turned. Then Bayushi Kazari addressed her ragtag band of former Yakuza "Come on guys. Let's head back to the boat"

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

Naishou province

The woman hurried along the road, on foot. She'd lost her steed last winter, and since then was on foot. Hunting. Pursuing. Sometimes the details were blurry, and she had a hard time piecing together the chain of events, but she'd seen no one should have seen. And the shadow, the evil, that vile other woman...

The whole world didn't care, and evil just existed. Preyed on the people, on her, and if she were to do nothing else with what was left of her life she would hunt them down. These faceless abominations who barely felt her arrows. The traitors, the thieves, the murderers. The tracks were still fresh, and she would follow them. Unerrignly picked up the signs. A bent branch here, a track in the mud there. She was a good huntress, and they were not good at hiding their traces. To reliant on their supernatural powers. She had already brought down 3 over the last year, most of the smaller ones were no match for her.

Her? That, too, became increasingly different, harder to remember. Kanae? For a second she flinched. Kanae, yes, that was her name. Used to be?

She shook her head and set off again. If someone had taken a closer look they would have seen that she was haggard and filthy. Had not eaten in two days, and not bathed in a week. No time for such paltry considerations. She was hunting. She had hollowed cheeks, sunken eyes, and in a way her face had taken on an unremarkable quality hard to describe.
More and more in the shadows, and away from major roads. She could trust no one, after all. They had shown time and time again that they were conspiring. Lying, cheating. There was a hidden agenda at play, and Kanae and her friends had just been pawns. Sacrificial cannon fodder at worst.

So when she heard a noise in a clearing nearby she snarled, drew her Katana and dashed for the bushes.

Lion Clan? her rage grew. Remembered the war and destruction they'd wrought, remembered...shame and defeat. Wanting to hurl herself at them in one last charge. They, too, were doing the hidden evil's bidding. Kanae....Kyouka? She was Kyouka, right? Charged the officer, who turned around with horror and surprise in his eyes.
But before she could reach him she felt a sudden impact, something slamming into her side. Heat, and pain. Tried to push further, but then felt a second impact, stumbled, and her legs buckled.

Kyouka fell, twitching as her fingers lost their strength and she dropped the blade. Curled around the...fatal wounds, her blood seeping out. And suddenly, she realized it was okay. She had...she had tried. Had fought. Her hunt was over. Her face relaxed. It was....alright. Kyouka would have to fight no more. She...could rest.

Memories rose again, came bubbling up, suddenly clear again. Memories of another life she could have led, maybe. Tsuma. Her friends - the Isawa, the Crab. The bitter old Doji....and the Daidoji. One tear for the life she might have led. Things could have been different...but they weren't.

At least she'd have peace.

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

A small hillside village in Kawa province, Shosuro lands

Clang.

The hammer struck the metal just so. Shin'ya turned the blade over and inspected it. This should be it. A perfectly servicable blade. Good even, by most standards. Whoever this Bayushi Ogoe was...he'd be content. So he walked over to the oil bath with the glowing blade in his tongs, then quenched it. Over the hissing of the boiling oil he turned to his assistant.

"Bring the hilt. The order is done."

His clan still did not know what to do with him, even now that he was back from his exchange with the Hare clan. They'd ensconced him in a small house with a forge in the hills, and gave him a small stipend and a budget to run his forge, and mostly left him alone safe for occasional deliveries and a short list of orders. He, of course, had quickly made about half of them, then turned his attention to other things - built a small smelter to blend his own iron, set up a small shrine, and just generally did all kinds of things, only half of which he was supposed to do.

But he was fast, sure, and didn't mind. How did he fund it? He found ways to source cheaper materials that were just as good, changed things here and there, and once even forged a sword from scrap metal and too-soft steel, because it amused him. It still came out decently. He'd relished that challenge - and most people could not tell either way.

Eventually, after almost half a year of that, someone DID notice - which was when his apprentice showed up. Apprentice? Understudy? Spy? She was a Scorpion, so probably both. So what did he do? Grinned like a madman and just carried on, taking her precisely at face value. He'd teach her how to forge weapons alright.

It'll take her at least a year or two until I can teach her anything but the basics anyway, he thought And what if she tells them in great detail about all the things I do? What are the gonna do, send me away?

He was too damn useful, and he knew it. And Bayushi Shin'ya, Junshin weirdo though he was, was being a bit of an ass about it - and loving every second.

He walked out into the courtyard, over to a shrouded shape he had placed in front of the small shrine, and pulled off the cloth. This was it, something he'd been working effectively ever since he came here. First by making his own smelter and mixing metal, by refinining his technique, and by gradually planning something ambitious, stretching himself as far as he could. Forged in time he made by faster work on the orders, or by additional days in the forge. It did not look that spectacular at first, unless one took a closer look, but there was a lot of his time, effort and sweat invested in it.
Shin'ya did not have much of a social life, and being a lay priest was not a time-consuming hobby most of these days. But he had this blade now...he held it up. Looked over at the thick bamboo shift, straw mats wrapped around it, that he had effortlessly cut the day before.

It wasn't because he was a great swordsman.

He had an idea, and grinned even wider. Went back into his workshop, looking for appropriate fittings.

----------

A few hours later, when his apprentice had returned from the town, having delivered the order-made Katana and brought back supplies, he turned to her "Oh yeah, could you please give this to Shosuro-san tomorrow? I'm sure they can always use one more arsenal blade"

"Arsenal blade?" she asked back, confused.

"Well, I'm sure we can meet that quality standard" Shin'ya said, grinning like a madman. He wasn't happy most of the time, but right now...

Which is when he noticed the letter on the table.

From the Nakodo, huh? Wonder what they want

Bit of a sore point, really, and it dampened his mood a bit. Marriage had never been one of his big priorities, but there had been time when he at least...considered finding some company. That one Soshi, maybe the Hare....Shin'ya shook his head. Some things were not to be. Question was...what was to be, here?

Has my father finally gotten around to marrying me off to a Yogo?

He frowned, hesitant to read the rest of the letter. Then a throught struck him.

How bad can this really be? If push comes to shove, I can just shave my head and be done with it

The grin was back. Bayushi Shin'ya...he was never going to be a good Scorpion. A social success. A big name. But he would land on his feet. He'd always find something interesting to do. He'd land on his feet.

What were they gonna do, fire him?

Breaking out into laughter he handed the "arsenal blade" over.