Takeo's Chronicles, page 69
“This is Ping Sun,” Eun said, raising his chin. “Finest swordsmen I’ve ever met. He’s even bested his trainers back home.”
Ping’s chest filled with pride, but Takeo just raised his sword and took a readied stance. “That’s a shame to hear,” he said. “If you’re greatest boast is that you’ve beaten paid trainers, than I’m afraid your talents have been wasted, Ping.”
The boy’s chest collapsed. Eun snarled and tapped the boy on the shoulder, then lifted his chin up to whisper again. The boy nodded and Eun did, too, then the old man paced off to join the others.
“Come,” Takeo said, waving forward. “Let’s begin. I don’t have all day.”
Ping approached cautiously, and Takeo watched the boy’s footing, shoulders, and eyes all at once.
Stable footing, nicely done, he critiqued. Shoulders are tense, I see. That will slow his first attack, but then he should loosen properly. He’s watching my shoulders, too. Good, good. I can work with this. He and Kuniko will make good sparing partners, I’ll bet.
When Ping was halfway across the field, Takeo lunged with all his speed, closing the distance between them in a heartbeat. His sword flew down as Ping’s went up, making the first blow deflect off a remarkably strong arm, but Takeo was already onto the next attack, swinging upwards for Ping’s groin, and the boy had to leap back to avoid being split in two. Pint went to counter, but Takeo had already rounded to his opposite side and came with a sweeping strike. Ping threw out a hasty parry, tried to whirl, but Takeo was at him again, yet this time with a powerful strike that caught him off guard. Takeo hammered once, twice, but feinted on the third, and then swept Ping’s feet out from under him.
The boy struck the ground, and Takeo put Kuniko’s sword to his chest.
Excellent, strong parries, Takeo thought. He was clearly just waiting for an opening, or for my rhythm to be interrupted. This boy knows how to predict an enemy’s attacks. I had to trick him and make an unarmed strike to end things quickly. He clearly hasn’t fought any vikings if he fell for that so easily, and yet still, there’s massive potential with this one.
However, for all the praise Takeo sung in his head, he knew this was not the time to utter a word of it. Juatwa and the military in general disproved of such things, seeing it as a sign of weakness, and Takeo could not afford to show any of that.
He removed the sword tip from Ping’s chest and sheathed it.
“Anyone else?” Takeo said, turning on the crowd.
Tiny recoils swept through the throng as he put his eyes on them. Mouths and eyes agape, it was telling to see so many stunned. Even Ping seemed lost, as he did not rise from the ground but instead lay there as if Takeo’s sword was still pressed to his chest.
“Excellent.” Takeo nodded. “Then this announcement is over. Go back to your duties, all of you. Lord Eun?” He looked to the old man. “I’ll need you to bring me up to date on what’s been happening here,” he said, gesturing inside the tent. “Please.”
Eun balked, words faltering on his lips. Takeo was certain he wanted to roar disapproval, but the moment had passed. The fight, coupled with Takeo’s words, had broken the potential spell of anger that could have been sewn over the youth. The crowd was already melting away. As Eun turned for allies, he saw half had left, and then he grew angry and glared at Takeo. The samurai stood with hand extended towards the empty tent. Eun gritted his teeth and stormed inside.
One battle down, countless more to go.
Takeo looked to Gavin and gave him a wink. Gavin sighed but smirked, then took off his pack and began looking for a place to setup. The others followed him, except for Borota, who followed Lord Eun and Takeo into the tent.
The oni was too tall for the structure and had to crawl inside then take a seat. Takeo’s first step was to wander about and open the remaining two sides of the tent to crush the illusion that they were alone. Tent walls had the unfortunate tendency to make those inside think themselves inaudible. He didn’t want Eun or himself to make that mistake.
And yet that didn’t stop Eun from raising his voice.
“This is an outrage,” the old man said, pointing an indignant finger at the ground. “I will not stand for it. The prince will hear of this, I swear it.”
“If that’s the case, then I suggest you leave immediately,” Takeo replied, flat and emotionless. “I can command well enough without you, I’m sure.”
“I refuse to believe—”
Borota took in a huge breath and let it out in a low rumble through his nostrils. Lord Eun and Takeo both swiveled their heads to the oni, and he blinked slowly in response. The creature reached behind him and drew his kanabo, a frightening club the size of a human being with metal studs nailed along its striking end. The favored weapon of these fiendish creatures, it had become of symbol of malevolence in Juatwa, and Borota set it down parallel to his massive girth, just before Eun.
The old man went silent, the wrinkles in his weathered skin deepening as he swallowed. Borota said nothing, looked at no one, and yet the air was filled with his presence. Takeo had to admire the poise, as cheaply earned as it was.
“How would you prefer I address you, Lord Eun?” Takeo said, breaking the silence.
“I’d prefer not to be addressed by a ronin at all,” Eun replied.
“I’ll be sure to inform Lady Zhenzhen when this matter is resolved.” Takeo nodded. “For now, though, and until we hear otherwise, we do as our shogun demands, whoever that shogun may be.”
Eun, who’d still been looking at the oni, snapped his attention back to Takeo. The samurai stared back with his dark eyes, only breaking contact after a single blink.
“Please, sit,” Takeo said.
He led be example and plopped onto the rug. Eun hesitated, but then the fire in his eyes gave way to duty. He took a seat facing Takeo. The warm sunlight tilted the tent’s shadow so they were only just in the shade. About them, the sounds of the camp had resumed, but to a lessened degree. All eyes were still on them, and ears, too, if anyone was close enough. Out of the corner of his eye, Takeo saw Kuniko peeling off and mingling with a group formerly under Eun’s command. She seemed pleased to be back amongst a regular Juatwa troop, and they seemed pleased to welcome her, or perhaps just eager to hear the latest gossip on exactly the kind of man their new leader was.
Takeo hoped the girl wasn’t undermining him too badly.
“Let me start by reiterating what I said before,” Takeo began. “I want out of this forest and away from this unpleasant situation as much as you do. I’m not a political figure here, Lord Eun. I don’t hold title or land, nor do I have any aspirations to do so. I’m nothing more than a weapon, and an extremely efficient one at that. I’ll kill these vikings one by one with my own sword if I have to, because it doesn’t matter to me why they die or to who, only that they do. If you’re looking for rivalry, you’d have a better chance of getting a rise out of that tree over there than you would me. So, let’s start at the beginning.” Takeo leaned forward and rested his chin on top of clasped fingers. “Pretend I’m Lady Zhenzhen or Lord Virote and explain to me precisely why you’ve failed.”
* * *
The trouble started several months ago. A viking ship full of hearty, bloodthirsty warriors from the far north landed in the normally untroubled marshy region of Juatwa's southern end. With few villages and difficult trading routes, the civilians out here rarely dealt with anything other than gashadokuro or roaming komainu. They were caught off guard, to say the least.
And yet, there was nothing to fear. A few villages burned, but word spread faster than the flames, and the many survivors fled in throngs toward the Hanu keep. The problem was brought to Lord Virote's attention who sent out Lord Eun and a force twice the size of the supposed invading vikings, and all was expected to be end well. In fact, based on prior experience with such situations, Eun expected the vikings to have fled by the time he arrived, as was their nature.
He’d been wrong.
They were attacked the first night they set up camp. The vikings came in the dark and slew a half dozen people before the rest could awake. The invaders stole supplies and bolted, taking little more than sacks of potatoes and small kegs of spirits, and yet they left a gracious injury to Eun's pride. He had rotating shifts set up, sentries posted, and conscripted large scouting forces to scour the land and find these savages. Eun wasn't about to be shaken by a bunch of barbarians. He'd snuff them out once he found their camp.
His troops poured out in large groups, crisscrossing the thick forests and burned out villages for any sign of the vikings. Weeks passed and they found nothing, not even when walking the shoreline, looking for the viking ship. Lord Eun had to send word for more supplies to keep his troops fed as they hunted, and for a moment he started to think the vikings had left.
“I realized something was wrong when the first order of supplies never arrived,” Eun explained. “I sent out a force to see if they were held up, or never left at all. My troops only found bodies and raided caravans.”
The vikings had taken to raiding Eun's supply lines, simultaneously strengthening themselves and weakening him. The sheer indecency of it all made the old man crinkle his nose and shake violently.
“Men, women, even children,” Eun recalled. “They killed them and took the supplies, which only forced me to order more and to assign some of my troops to guard the routes. But the routes were too long to reach us, and the vikings find gaps to attack our supplies anyway. So I had to assign more troops to guard the caravans themselves, which severely hampered my ability to hunt for these murdering thieves. As it stands now, with only my rough fifty, I have just enough to guard the camp and the caravans but no more. If I send out groups too small, they'll just be killed. I haven't been able to search for the vikings more than once a week in between making sure our supply lines remain un-harassed, and yet still they find a few to kill. If there were any villages left nearby that could supply us, that'd be one thing, but they've all fled. There's nothing here to raid anymore but us, and yet these savages persist. It’s getting so bad, some merchants are refusing to deliver things to us at all. That's why I sent for more troops, you see? This job simply can't be done by fifty, not without incredible risk and loss. I'm sorry, but you've been sent here to fail as I have, Takeo.”
Throughout the speech, Takeo listened with lips locked. He nodded occasionally but nothing else. In his time abroad and dealing with all sorts of royalty, Takeo found that powerful men loved nothing more than to hear themselves talk, and they tended to reveal far more than they should when confronted by a silent recipient. In this regard, Eun did not disappoint.
In explaining his strategy and pattern of thinking, Takeo realized he'd met men like Eun countless times before. Low level daimyo with short-term memories and plans, they focused on staying alive first and gaining wealth second. They usually started out brash like most youth, but after their first battle, soon realized the luxuries of their well-kept keeps and mansions held much more satisfaction than any brutal battlefield. They quickly grew cautious, putting their faith in numbers and their hopes in well paid guards. Risk was a gamble, and they only gambled with money they could afford to lose, not blood they couldn't afford to spill. So it came as no surprise to Takeo that Eun wanted more men, and that he firmly believed he needed more men. Takeo was quite convinced that Eun was not so much a coward as much as he was lazy.
Yet, the problem was difficult nonetheless.
“Hm,” Takeo muttered, rubbing his chin. “So, when you first arrived, you sent out large scouting parties. What happened to them?”
“Nothing,” Eun replied. “The vikings won't touch large forces. I tried sending out smaller groups to draw the savages out, ones I could reinforce in moments if attacked.”
“You sent out bait,” Takeo corrected.
“Powerful bait,” Eun said, “with specific instructions to retreat. Still nothing. These are the strangest vikings I've ever met. They don't seem interested in fighting us.”
That was strange indeed. Vikings were well known for their love of a good fight. Sending out a scouting party like that was supposed to be like hanging red meat in front of a komainu. Blood would be shed.
If there was one thing Takeo couldn't stand, it was incompetence. Things like ignorance or selfishness he could understand and, at times, sympathize with, but incompetence was not one of them. When any thinking creature was faced with a problem and there was only one solution, he expected that person to act accordingly. To Takeo, the greatest act of cowardice was to ignore a problem simply because the solution wasn't easy. When he'd heard Lord Eun was a withered old man sent to dislodge some vikings, and that he hadn't already succeeded, Takeo could only assume it was because the man was incompetent.
Yet, if everything Eun had said was true, then that wasn't the case at all. It seemed that Eun, although apparently lazy in his command and unwelcoming in attitude, was not a poor commander. This situation was quite the conundrum and, were Takeo anyone else, he'd have called in for reinforcements, too.
But he was an honorless ronin who could take no chances. Lady Ki had been clear on that, and he couldn't take the risk that she was all bark and no bite. The next ninja sent might be for him rather than Lady Zhenzhen.
He was going to have to do this the hard, unpleasant, risky, and unpopular way.
Lucky me.
“Alright, first things first,” Takeo said. “Recall all your troops sent to guard the caravans.”
“What?” Eun stammered. “Why would we do that?”
“Just do it.” Takeo stood up and brushed his clothes off. “Send two men out to tell them to come back and guard the camp. As for the remaining troops here, gather them all up. We're going to make a line shoulder-to-shoulder and march into the forest. I'll be in front, ready to charge into any fight that might start, and also act as head scout. I've had training from ninjas. They'll never hear me coming.”
Lord Eun stood up, blinking and shaking his head. “Have you heard anything I just said?” he asked. “Large groups don't work. I tried that very same strategy for weeks. And what about our supplies? They're just going to attack the carts and steal our food. We won't last two weeks with that strategy.”
“Don’t argue with me,” Takeo replied, then gave the lord a hard stare. “Do it. We leave as soon as everyone's ready, and I do mean everyone.”
Eun gaped. “Everyone? But who will guard the camp?”
Takeo didn't answer. He was already walking out of the tent. Behind him, Borota chuckled.
Chapter 9
There was a lot of confusion that had to be settled before they could leave. It took a second for the troops to understand what Takeo was saying, that even though it was early afternoon and they'd just started cooking their next meal, that he wanted them all armed for war and marching in a line as soon as possible. One young woman had the unfortunate ability to whisper, “is he serious?” and have it heard by everyone, and Nicholas immediately went into action, yelling at the top of his lungs and shoving the first group he could reach with all his muscular build. Worse, Krunk became excited and joined in, roaring and charging the small throng, breaking them like scattered akki hit by a siege weapon.
Takeo couldn't hear any grumbling as his newly acquired troops darted about donning armor and grabbing weapons, but he could imagine it all the same. He'd been in their place more often than not, at the mercy of one man or woman's ultimate rule, to live or die by their command. He remembered feeling contempt whenever an order was given that just didn't make sense, or was simply hard or inconvenient. No one was ever in a hurry to push themselves on behalf of someone they didn't know.
It was a good thing Takeo had long given up on being liked.
The troops filtered out of the tents slowly, trickling as the stragglers who'd thought themselves exempt for being on watch finally came in. Takeo meted out his orders to his entourage, completely ignoring the acting sergeants and surely infuriating even more people. Gavin, Nicholas, and Yeira went down the line, pushing, barking, or asking people to get in line depending on their preference. Takeo had Krunk follow him, which meant Emy followed Krunk, and Lord Eun reluctantly took up the rear. Borota stretched out under a shady tree and snored.
“Stay just like this,” Takeo called out to them. “We'll be marching from now until sunset. Lord Eun here has told me of the first village to be attacked, and that's where we're headed. You're all to stay spread out like this, looking for anything suspicious. If you see something, don't be bashful about it. Yell out.”
He looked down the line, inspecting the various grim faces of discontent and annoyance.
“Let's go,” he said and marched.
They left behind their tents, supplies, food, and water, and went into the forest with less than a half day of light remaining. Takeo took the lead at ten paces ahead, Gavin and the others behind him by five paces and spread out along the line, while the rest tried their hardest to stay together despite the dense trees, shrubs, and streams blocking their way. They made a terrible racket, as some were forced to take the path of most resistance, climbing over boulders, snapping tree limbs, or walking over dried leaves. The whole group had to be stopped more than once to straighten the line back out, which resulted in shouting from one end to other to signal readiness. Their war gear clanked and creaked, filling the forest with their thunderous approach. Takeo made sure he was always in front, looking left and right with chin held high like he was the most important man to grace the world. At the same time, he could feel countless eyes drilling daggers into the back of his head.
If any of these samurai had doubts about Takeo's lack of empathy, they were surely cleared up by now.
Needless to say, it was a long evening. They reached the burned out village later than Takeo expected, which meant they'd be marching back in the dark, and not one soldier found anything worth mentioning to anyone along the way.
