The ducks flew skyward, flushed by servants beating the reeds, flapping toward the blind where they all stood waiting.
Yabu, Jiro, Saburo, and Junzo stood in the blind holding bows. Beside them stood Somo Chiba, a young scion of the Somo family. Chiba's only other companion was a young man introduced to them only as Heihachiro. Six retainers of the Somo family sat nearby in two groups of three. A seventh man stood nearby with the horses that had brought them to this marsh.
Finding Heihachiro without alerting the Somo family had taken nearly a week of social visits in the town nearby. The samurai had been careful, and with a little luck it would all pay off now.
Yabu glanced around. Jiro, Saburo, and Junzo were waiting for his sign.
Ducks flew up from the reeds. Arrows flew skyward to meet them, some hitting, some missing, as the nobles loosed.
Yabu let his bow drop for a moment, summoning his ki, focussing himself. Then he spun to his left, where the young lord Somo Chiba stood concentrating on the ducks and the shooting.
"KIIIIIIAAAAAAAIIIII!!!!!!" Yabu's unexpected fist strike to Chiba's ribcage threw him down in a heap, unconscious and likely with several cracked ribs. The violence of his attack and shout shocked the six retainers and nearly stunned Heihachiro.
"Treachery! Treachery," the retainers yelled as Saburo and Junzo drew their swords. The suddenness of the onslaught caught them off guard, and Saburo quickly struck one down on his side.
The fastest retainer whipped out his sword and leaped forward to aid his lord, barely dodging Junzo's blade as he passed him. Junzo cursed the miss and left him to Yabu, stepping forward to engage the other pair on that side.
Heihachiro grabbed at his sword, shouting something about dying as befits the chrysanthemum throne, but Jiro grabbed his wrist, stopping his draw.
"Heihachiro-sama, do not draw if you wish to be emperor."
Standing over Chiba's crumpled form, Yabu whipped out his sword against the retainer who had run to challenge him. Yabu's first strike sliced under the man's block, cutting deep into his thigh. As the retainer gasped in pain Yabu's sword moved smoothly into a return and lopped his head off at the neck, sending a spout of crimson skyward.
Junzo's sword clashed once, twice, and he found a weakness and struck down one man. He faded fluidly away from the other's strike, which was close enough to slice open his clothing, then he cut that man down as well.
Saburo had struck his first man down easily, but now found himself fighting the pair that remained and tightly matched. One man was wounded, but Saburo too had taken a deep cut on one leg in the flurry of blows and blocks that followed. Yabu and Junzo ran over to assist him, striking from the sides. Yabu sliced the wounded man through the belly and he fell without a murmur. Saburo and Junzo cut the other man down.
Prince Heihachiro struggled briefly against Jiro's grip, but the young warrior was stronger than the prince, and he could not free his sword. Heihachiro's eyes were wide at the slaughter and blood that surrounded him.
"Heihachiro-sama," Jiro snapped, "Do not struggle, all will be explained!"
The thud of hooves caught the attention of the hunting party. One of the retainers had been left with the horses, and he had mounted and was riding away. "Quick," Yabu shouted, "the bows!"
Light bows and bird-hunting arrows surrounded them. Yabu, Junzo, and Saburo grabbed at them and turned to the fleeing man. He had already gained some distance before they could loose. Yabu's shaft flew wide. Junzo's went close, but Saburo's arrow sank into the man's lower back. The rider shouted in pain and lost control of his horse briefly. Before he could regain control Junzo hit him in the arm, and he fell from the horse. Yabu's arrow flew wide again.
"Junzo -- take him!", Yabu shouted. Junzo nodded curtly and loped towards the wounded samurai.
Yabu glanced around, but no further threat remained. He looked down at the bow in his hands. "It is lucky I have some skill with the spear," he said to Saburo as he threw the bow down, disgusted, "for I am a poor archer."
"It is good to have skill in all weapons, for each has its use." Saburo then grinned and scratched his head. "Myself, I am equally skilled in many weapons. But it could be that fortune plays a bigger role than my skills."
Yabu's scarred face flickered in a smile. "Fortune favours the bold, today."
Yabu and Saburo picked up their swords and paced back to where Jiro stood by prince Heihachiro. Jiro had already bowed in the deep obeisance of submission, and Yabu and Saburo did likewise as Jiro stood.
Speaking rapidly and trying not to stumble over his words, Jiro bowed again to the prince. "Heihachiro-sama, listen to me, for we mean you no harm. My companions and I have come to rescue you from your confinement. If you will allow Yabu-san to approach all will be explained."
Yabu reached inside his kimono and pulled out the folded silk with the print of the imperial order, making Heihachiro the heir to the Emperor. In the distance they heard a despairing cry cut short as Junzo killed the last retainer.
Heihachiro read the piece of silk carefully, his hands shaking only slightly. He read it again, then looked around at the blood-spattered warriors that surrounded him and the circle of dead Somo retainers.
Jiro bowed a third time as Heihachiro looked up from the scroll, "As you can see, I did not lie about your being the next emperor."
Heihachiro gestured at the unconscious form of Somo Chiba. "He was the only one who treated me well," Heihachiro said. "Only bind him tightly, do not kill him." Yabu nodded, and Saburo bent to tie the young Somo lord.
Junzo brought up the horses. "We should be off, Your Highness," Yabu said. "We can explain in more detail as we travel. We have a disguise waiting for you at the shrine nearby; if we can make it through the town without drawing attention, they will not catch us."