![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Border Patrol - a story from Rokugan
Matsu Nanako finished waxing her bow string as the first light of dawn emerged along the horizon. Ever careful, she checked her arrows and moved through the dim light. Unicorn patrols remained aggressive, even when they risked provoking the Dragon samurai. Nanako was curious why the Unicorn were testing the Dragon yet avoiding the Lion, it was all very unlike the Moto. She hoped that some clue would reveal itself in the next day or two before she had to return and report to her Taisa.
Nanako missed her steed but the Unicorn would spot a horse. A scout on foot could slip by Unicorn patrols, but they never missed a horse. Slowly, moving cautiously through the sparse wood and scrub, she made her way to the crest of a small hill. Spotting a flash of dark green on the plains below her, Nanako sunk into a crouch. Her trained eye swept over a Dragon patrol, mixed ashigaru and samurai, maybe thirty of the former and twenty of the later. The distance was too great to determine if they were accompanied by a shugenja but she did not see any of the telltale signs of a tattooed monk. “A jingasa and bare arms, tell of a tattooed monk,” as her sensei back at the dojo would say. Nanko slowly began to straiten, the patrol’s path took them south and west, in front of but not toward her current position.
A flash from something near the base of the hill caught Nanako’s attention, she leaned forward slowly raising her hand to shield her eyes. Yes, there it was again. A yari, and one among many, concealed were a force of Unicorn Striders. Obviously the Moto planned some strike against the Dragon. Revenge for the Dragon Clan’s interference in the conflict between the Lion and the Unicorn perhaps? Or maybe the Khan was just testing the Dragon’s will as he had done with the Lion.
Nanako counted twenty one striders, who were concealed from the Dragon forces by a dry stream bed but not from her vantage point. Considering their position, there must be more of them nearby. It was clever of the Unicorn to use their foot soldiers against the Dragon, who would be alert for signs of riders, but more careless when it came to ambushes.
She watched the Dragon forces draw nearer to the trap, the ashigaru were loosely spread out and inattentive, oblivious to the danger they were in. The Dragon samurai were slightly more alert, but she suspected they had patrolled this route several times before and felt confident of their safety. Now they were closer, Nanako saw that there was indeed a shugenja with them, a large man in heavy robes, she could see why she mistook him for a samurai at a distance, he walked with a naginata over one shoulder. Curious. Nanako reached back into her quiver, fingers dancing from arrow to arrow until she found the one she sought.
Nanako smiled as she notched the chosen arrow to her bow string. The Unicorn were not going to find the Dragon such easy targets. The Unicorns tensed, preparing to move. Several of their archers nocked arrows and she thought one of them had one of those gaijin weapons, a crossbow, that could be fired while lying on the ground. With a smooth motion, the Lion samurai-ko rolled to her knee and pulled back her daikyu and released. The signal arrow flew into the air, its screech splitting the still morning. Nanako dropped prone, limited her view, but hopefully hiding her from prying eyes.
The Dragons instantly snapped to full alert, except for three ashigaru who went down pierced by arrows from a ragged volley launched by the Striders. The Unicorns burst from hiding, three groups, perhaps sixty in total, formed the sides of a triangle around the Dragon patrol. Nanako nodded, impressed by the tactical execution of the ambush, the Dragon surely would have perished if the Unicorn had been able to spring their trap as planned.
Arrows and javelins flashed as the Striders rushed to close with the Dragons, who responded by forming a circle around their shugenja. The Dragon ashigaru, spread out and closer to the Striders were almost all cut down. Nanako counted five who managed to survive to join the defensive circle. The Dragon samurai, though, stood as stone, one out of every three with a daikyu, the others with daisho ready as the Striders circled like a pack of wolves. The Striders had more archers and javelins than the Dragons, but they could not match the skill of the green armored samurai. After four of the Unicorn fell to arrows while bringing down only two Dragons, and one of those a luckless ashigaru, the Striders rushed the circle with their yari. A bloodcurdling war cry erupted from the throats of the Unicorn as they charged forward. Two more of the Unicorn went down as arrows punched through their bodies before they struck the Dragon line.
Though outnumbered, the Dragon line held, at first. The flashing blades of the Dragons’ daisho cut through yari shafts and Unicorn soldiers alike, but slowly the weight of numbers began to tell. Nanako nocked an arrow, wondering if she could hit a Strider at the distance. Suddenly, the Unicorn advanced halted and was thrown back. Nanako saw the Dragon shugenja, seeming a dragon in truth, fire pouring from his mouth, his naginada glowing with heat, wade into the Unicorn line. A burning Strider stumbled away from him, only to have his back opened by the shugenja’s naginata. The Dragon samurai counterattacked, taking advantage of the confusion among their enemies.
The Unicorn fell back, leaving their dead behind as another Strider was consumed in flames. Nanako counted twenty nine Striders still moving, less then half who began the attack. While the Dragon were down to less than a third of their initial force, only twelve Dragon remained on theit feet, but one of those was the shugenja. The two forces stared at each other, the Unicorns reorder their line and watched for a few minutes more and then began to withdraw. The remaining Strider archers covering the Dragons and the Unicorns collected those of their wounded who could be helped and slowly left the field.
As the Unicorn withdrew, the Dragons tended to their wounded. Nanako counted their numbers and then slipped away, back the way she had come. In front of her a figure stepped out from of the shadow of a tree, blocking her way. She drew back her bowstring but did not fire. The figure resolved itself into a man, wearing a jingasa, his eyes bright like a cat’s and the taunt muscles of his arms covered with writhing black tattoos.
“Lioness-sama, why did you act to save my clansmen?”
Nanako watched the tattooed man with narrowed eyes. “A better question would be why you did not, Kikage-zumi-san.”
The tattooed man laughed, showing his all-too-white teeth. “Very perceptive, Lioness-sama. The Tamori shugenja with the patrol and I are . . . not friends. I had wished to see if he was as good as he claimed.”
“He saved them.” replied Nanako, “His fire magic turned the tide and saved a dozen or more Dragon samurai from death on Unicorn yari.”
The tattooed man nodded moving between the trees watching Nanako. “Perhaps he is as good as he says but it would have been more . . . exciting if he had been pressed even harder. So, I ask again, why did you warn them? The Dragon and Lion are not friends.”
“And the Unicorn and Lion Clans even less so. I wished to see the Unicorns defeated that is all.” She tracked the tattooed man’s movement as he paced like a wild animal.
The kikage-zumi paused and stared at Nanako. “And I will not get another answer?”
“The Dragon Clan interceded between the Lion and Unicorn out of duty and honor by Imperial request. I have no reason to wish honorable samurai to be slaughtered like dogs. Does that satisfy your curiosity, kikage-zumi-san?”
The tattooed man smiled, “Yes, that answer pleases me. I would have you name, Lioness-sama.”
“I am Matsu Nanako, samurai of the Lion Clan,” she replied, her muscles aching from holding the bowstring taut.
“Matsu-sama, I will see you are welcome at Kyden Hitomi, should ever you wish to visit, on my honor.” With that the tattooed man stepped back into the shadows and was soon lost to sight and he plunged through the woods, heading North, Nanako thought, towards the Dragon lands.
She released the tension on her bow with a sigh of relief. What a strange day this had been and it was not even noon yet . . .
What I did yesterday instead of working on my AEG project.
Nanako missed her steed but the Unicorn would spot a horse. A scout on foot could slip by Unicorn patrols, but they never missed a horse. Slowly, moving cautiously through the sparse wood and scrub, she made her way to the crest of a small hill. Spotting a flash of dark green on the plains below her, Nanako sunk into a crouch. Her trained eye swept over a Dragon patrol, mixed ashigaru and samurai, maybe thirty of the former and twenty of the later. The distance was too great to determine if they were accompanied by a shugenja but she did not see any of the telltale signs of a tattooed monk. “A jingasa and bare arms, tell of a tattooed monk,” as her sensei back at the dojo would say. Nanko slowly began to straiten, the patrol’s path took them south and west, in front of but not toward her current position.
A flash from something near the base of the hill caught Nanako’s attention, she leaned forward slowly raising her hand to shield her eyes. Yes, there it was again. A yari, and one among many, concealed were a force of Unicorn Striders. Obviously the Moto planned some strike against the Dragon. Revenge for the Dragon Clan’s interference in the conflict between the Lion and the Unicorn perhaps? Or maybe the Khan was just testing the Dragon’s will as he had done with the Lion.
Nanako counted twenty one striders, who were concealed from the Dragon forces by a dry stream bed but not from her vantage point. Considering their position, there must be more of them nearby. It was clever of the Unicorn to use their foot soldiers against the Dragon, who would be alert for signs of riders, but more careless when it came to ambushes.
She watched the Dragon forces draw nearer to the trap, the ashigaru were loosely spread out and inattentive, oblivious to the danger they were in. The Dragon samurai were slightly more alert, but she suspected they had patrolled this route several times before and felt confident of their safety. Now they were closer, Nanako saw that there was indeed a shugenja with them, a large man in heavy robes, she could see why she mistook him for a samurai at a distance, he walked with a naginata over one shoulder. Curious. Nanako reached back into her quiver, fingers dancing from arrow to arrow until she found the one she sought.
Nanako smiled as she notched the chosen arrow to her bow string. The Unicorn were not going to find the Dragon such easy targets. The Unicorns tensed, preparing to move. Several of their archers nocked arrows and she thought one of them had one of those gaijin weapons, a crossbow, that could be fired while lying on the ground. With a smooth motion, the Lion samurai-ko rolled to her knee and pulled back her daikyu and released. The signal arrow flew into the air, its screech splitting the still morning. Nanako dropped prone, limited her view, but hopefully hiding her from prying eyes.
The Dragons instantly snapped to full alert, except for three ashigaru who went down pierced by arrows from a ragged volley launched by the Striders. The Unicorns burst from hiding, three groups, perhaps sixty in total, formed the sides of a triangle around the Dragon patrol. Nanako nodded, impressed by the tactical execution of the ambush, the Dragon surely would have perished if the Unicorn had been able to spring their trap as planned.
Arrows and javelins flashed as the Striders rushed to close with the Dragons, who responded by forming a circle around their shugenja. The Dragon ashigaru, spread out and closer to the Striders were almost all cut down. Nanako counted five who managed to survive to join the defensive circle. The Dragon samurai, though, stood as stone, one out of every three with a daikyu, the others with daisho ready as the Striders circled like a pack of wolves. The Striders had more archers and javelins than the Dragons, but they could not match the skill of the green armored samurai. After four of the Unicorn fell to arrows while bringing down only two Dragons, and one of those a luckless ashigaru, the Striders rushed the circle with their yari. A bloodcurdling war cry erupted from the throats of the Unicorn as they charged forward. Two more of the Unicorn went down as arrows punched through their bodies before they struck the Dragon line.
Though outnumbered, the Dragon line held, at first. The flashing blades of the Dragons’ daisho cut through yari shafts and Unicorn soldiers alike, but slowly the weight of numbers began to tell. Nanako nocked an arrow, wondering if she could hit a Strider at the distance. Suddenly, the Unicorn advanced halted and was thrown back. Nanako saw the Dragon shugenja, seeming a dragon in truth, fire pouring from his mouth, his naginada glowing with heat, wade into the Unicorn line. A burning Strider stumbled away from him, only to have his back opened by the shugenja’s naginata. The Dragon samurai counterattacked, taking advantage of the confusion among their enemies.
The Unicorn fell back, leaving their dead behind as another Strider was consumed in flames. Nanako counted twenty nine Striders still moving, less then half who began the attack. While the Dragon were down to less than a third of their initial force, only twelve Dragon remained on theit feet, but one of those was the shugenja. The two forces stared at each other, the Unicorns reorder their line and watched for a few minutes more and then began to withdraw. The remaining Strider archers covering the Dragons and the Unicorns collected those of their wounded who could be helped and slowly left the field.
As the Unicorn withdrew, the Dragons tended to their wounded. Nanako counted their numbers and then slipped away, back the way she had come. In front of her a figure stepped out from of the shadow of a tree, blocking her way. She drew back her bowstring but did not fire. The figure resolved itself into a man, wearing a jingasa, his eyes bright like a cat’s and the taunt muscles of his arms covered with writhing black tattoos.
“Lioness-sama, why did you act to save my clansmen?”
Nanako watched the tattooed man with narrowed eyes. “A better question would be why you did not, Kikage-zumi-san.”
The tattooed man laughed, showing his all-too-white teeth. “Very perceptive, Lioness-sama. The Tamori shugenja with the patrol and I are . . . not friends. I had wished to see if he was as good as he claimed.”
“He saved them.” replied Nanako, “His fire magic turned the tide and saved a dozen or more Dragon samurai from death on Unicorn yari.”
The tattooed man nodded moving between the trees watching Nanako. “Perhaps he is as good as he says but it would have been more . . . exciting if he had been pressed even harder. So, I ask again, why did you warn them? The Dragon and Lion are not friends.”
“And the Unicorn and Lion Clans even less so. I wished to see the Unicorns defeated that is all.” She tracked the tattooed man’s movement as he paced like a wild animal.
The kikage-zumi paused and stared at Nanako. “And I will not get another answer?”
“The Dragon Clan interceded between the Lion and Unicorn out of duty and honor by Imperial request. I have no reason to wish honorable samurai to be slaughtered like dogs. Does that satisfy your curiosity, kikage-zumi-san?”
The tattooed man smiled, “Yes, that answer pleases me. I would have you name, Lioness-sama.”
“I am Matsu Nanako, samurai of the Lion Clan,” she replied, her muscles aching from holding the bowstring taut.
“Matsu-sama, I will see you are welcome at Kyden Hitomi, should ever you wish to visit, on my honor.” With that the tattooed man stepped back into the shadows and was soon lost to sight and he plunged through the woods, heading North, Nanako thought, towards the Dragon lands.
She released the tension on her bow with a sigh of relief. What a strange day this had been and it was not even noon yet . . .
What I did yesterday instead of working on my AEG project.