IN RICE CAKES
By Bayushi Shiriko
Black rain poured down over the blackened, rotting tent. Eerie, cold winds blew chills into the bones of many a soldier in the Shadowlands. But today, the soldiers camped beneath the bleak, black skies were not afraid of the rain. They did not fear the horrors of the Fallen One's land. For they were one of the horrors, spoken of with fright and in superstitious whispers. They were the Moto, the fallen unicorns, and their daimyo, Moto Tsume, was a twisted mockery of what he was once. A skeletal frame, with dark energy crackling about him. Glowing red eyes, bespeaking of an evil, wicked soul. For two hundred years or so, the Moto, under the command of he who was their daimyo in life, had raided the fertile fields of Rokugan, killing and burning where they went. And, for many of them, today was a day like any other before a raid.
Moto Tsume looked over the tattered map in his tent. With inhuman glee, he carefully memorized the secret route he would use to bypass the Kaiu Walls and terrorize Rokugan. As he picked up a small knife, he noticed something he didn't before. A small little shrine was nearby. He smiled, and plunged the knife into the map through the temple, burying it deep in the wood of the table below. He stood, and walked out to select which of his troops shall have the honor of accompanying him.
* * *
"Master Shioda! Master Shioda!" The young acolyte Tsuku called out. Unfit to be a samurai, he had been forced to retire early in life, and was now learning the Tao of Shinsei and the way of the elements.
"My son, what may I do to help you?" the old monk Shioda said in his gentle, paternal voice, turning away from lighting a candle. The room they stood in was mostly dark, illuminated by a few windows and, more effectively, by candle-light.
"I do not understand what Shinsei says about his wisdom being found in rice cakes. Forgive me, master, I have meditated upon it, and I simply cannot make any sense of it." the acolyte said, his voice full of shame.
"You'll understand it one day, my child," murmured Shioda. He smiled in the dim light, "Wisdom does not come in a day, a month, a year. Samurai may learn bushido in a school, but Shinsei's wisdom comes from one's own experiences."
"It is as you say, Master, but I still do not--" He was cut off by the old master.
"Hush, my child. You will understand one day."
* * *
The Monks of the Shiboo temple had lived as their forbearers had lived -- as little more than simple farmers and devotees of the Tao of Shinsei. It wasn't so much a place where a samurai went when he retired, but as a place where people who became monks for other reasons went. A quiet setting, in a small area near the Twilight Mountains, they lived with the protection of the Crab clan and the Kaiu Walls. Master Shioda was the accepted head of the temple, simply because he was the most enlightened of the monks. There were only fifteen monks in the whole temple, and they were very poor, depending on every harvest. However, they lived with a special agreement with the Crab daimyo, Hida Kisada. They would report anything they saw of Shadowlands incursion in return for food and protection. It was an agreement they were content with.
* * *
Moto Tsume gathered his ten raiders with a wave of a blackened standard, a mockery of that of the Unicorn banners. From on top of his black horse, he looked every inch a demon knight, striking terror and fear into the hearts of those who dared gaze upon him. His raiders, twisted, tainted mockeries of men, rode with grim eyes and a fiery devotion to their lord. Perhaps it was some twisted Bushido these men followed, but it was enough to compel them to do whatever their lord asked with unflinching, uncorruptable loyalty. On their horses, taken from Crab and Unicorn excursions into the Shadowlands, they, too, looked the part of a retinue of evil. Handing his standard to Moto Sada, his "regiment"'s honorary Battle Standard bearer, the demon knight Tsume waved his men forward. They rode toward their secret passage past the Kaiu Walls, over the Twilight Mountains, and into Rokugan.
* * *
"Master Shioda! I have seen things approaching!" Tsuku's voice carried to the master's ears in the temple of Shinsei.
"From where, my child? Does Kisada bring--"
"The shadowlands are coming!" Tsuku blurted, frightened by the vision of dark horsemen that he saw.
Shioda's voice grew heavy, as if a great burden was set on his shoulders, "Then it was not a simple dream. Gather the others."
* * *
The main room of the temple was awash with candle light as the acolytes of Shinsei gathered. Shioda and Tsuku stood on a little raised dais as the emergency meeting began.
"Tsuku, tell them what you saw." Shioda's voice was still weary, as if he knew a terrible thing which he could not say.
"I..I saw riders from the shadowlands beginning to navigate the mountains, heading through the pass that leads to this temple's grounds!" Tsuku blurted, still frightened by his experience.
The other monks began to murmur among themselves.
"We should tell Kisada!" one of them, Ataki, said.
Shioda nodded, "Yes, we shall. Ataki, you must to go Kyuden Hida and tell Kisada."
"Yes, master." Ataki said, and hurried to do so.
"And what of the rest of us?" another asked.
"We must stay and make a stand, to protect Rokugan and this temple from harm." said Shioda, his voice grave.
The monks nodded agreement, and, at Shioda's words, went to make preparations.
* * *
"I am Moto Tsume. Gaze upon me and know despair, for this is your dying hour!" The voice filled the monk grounds as Tsume's riders brazenly smashed through the wooden gate, and one of Tsume's riders, a tainted shugenja, blasted the torii arch in front of the main temple building to pieces, leaving only a blasted, flaming remnant. Shioda strode out of the temple.
Shioda's words were leveled and metered, even in the face of having the torii arch incinerated, "I am Shioda. Gaze upon me and know despair, for this is your dying hour."
Tsume's laughter filled the air. He motioned with his katana, and three arrows flew through the air.
Shioda smiled, and released his own inner energy. "Calling upon the wind, strike down evil!" His inner energy created a gust of wind, blowing the arrows back at the riders. One of Tsume's band's horses screamed in unholy agony as black blood oozed from the wounds the three arrows mae. It was not long in suffering, for it died quickly. The man on the horse drew his katana and yelled a furious battle cry. The riders galloped around, splitting into two parties of five, with the now dismounted man walking with the intent of murdering any fleeing monks. The monks of the temple stepped out of their bushes, ready to throw their kiho energy and give their lives for Rokugan.
Battle was joined. Monks were being cut down if they were caught. They struck and faded like guerillas, knowing the terrain of the temple grounds expertly. Eventually, however, they had been whittled down to only four -- Tsuku, Master Shioda, a female monk named Ryoga, and a shy monk named Ikudaiu. They made their stand in a rice paddy.
The three remaining Shadowlands raiders were astounded at the determination of the monks. They were resolute in their defense, and not intimidated by them. But no matter, they were trapped in a rice field, and would soon be dead and their temple razed. Tsume and Sada would charge out of the bushes while the third, Moto Taki, remained in the shubbery with a bow.
Tsume's charge caught Shioda unprepared. He was cut down, blood fountaining from th blow to the back of the next by Tsume's katana. Tsume lifted the twiching corpse up, yelled his fury to the heavens, and Sada chopped Shioda's body into three pieces. The remaining three monks felt a twinge of fear, but readied themselves. Sada charged their position, and Ryoga shouted to the Earth, unleashing it's fist, knocking Sada off of his dark steed. Ryoga, however, could not recover from the energy loss needed to create the Kiho, and fell to Tsume's blade. Ikudaiu stepped out of the rice paddy in which he was hiding, and unleashed the wrath of the fortune Osano-wo, incinerating Moto Sada with a bolt of lightning. Sada fell to the ground, more stunned and feigning death, rather than dying. Again, Tsume's blade took a life. All that was left now was Tsuku.
Tsuku took a breath as he laid low in the rice fields. They'd be upon him soon, he knew, and he readied the knife he had for a final strike. He murmured a prayer to Osano-wo, and then, suddenly, he had a flash of insight as he gazed at the rice plant. Everyone was bound together by a force, like the grains of rice on the stalk. When you all work in tandem toward one goal, you are like the rice cake - many grains of rice working together to feed a hungry stomach. He knew that he must not cower here. He stood up, and Tsume's back was to him. He ran at Tsume, yelling a fierce battle cry. Hs knife flashed for Tsume's neck -- and Tsuku was promply shot by Moto Taki's arrow. Blood fountained from the wound to the neck, but still Tsuku pressed, jabbing the knife into Tsume's side. As his life left him, his soul screaming into the Void, he had cut a deep gash into Tsume's side. He also heard the charge of three Crab samurai, sent by Kisada, and he thought he saw his friend Ataki leading them into the fight.
* * *
In the aftermath of the battle, Moto Tsume and Moto Sada had overcome the three Crab, but they knew more were coming. They put the whole temple to the torch, the bodies of the raiders and monks alike being incinerated along with the wisdom of the Shiboo temple. Moto Tsume and Sada rode in return to the Shadowlands, to the wretched camp under dark, evil skies, to formulate another raid through the secret ways into Rokugan, and to recover from their stinging loss to the fifteen monks of the Shiboo temple.
END