“But, we need to see the general!”
The guard at the front gate of the fortress eyed the two scruffy looking boys and rubbed his chin, then he shook his head.
“I told ya already, I ain’t lettin’ you in!” He said, clearly getting annoyed.
“But…but…!” Masato protested. “This is the second son of our lord!”
“Oh yeah?” Said the guard, studying Taro for a moment. “Prove it!”
“You’re going to be sorry about this! Masato said angrily, and gestured at the guard as he looked over at Taro. “Young Master, please show him your letter!”
But Taro shook his head. “I’m sorry, Masato-kun, I can’t.”
“What?” Masato cried. “Why not?”
“My brother took it.”
Masato looked at him dumbfounded, “Y-you must have something in that bag you can show him, right?”
Again the younger boy shook his head sadly. “These are my writing instruments and letters, I don’t have anything that can prove who I am.”
“Oh.” Said Masato, feeling the wind drop from his sails. Then he looked at the guard.
“Get!” Said the guard through gritted teeth, shaking the shaft of his spear threateningly.
The boys quickly got.
A short distance from the fortress, they paused beneath a shady tree to rest.
Once Masato had accepted the loss of his master, the choice had been obvious- he had needed to find an army base as quickly as possible. It was his responsibility to get the young master to safety, and to warn the Inuyama clan that Lord Inuyama was going to be walking into a trap. So, the pair had spent the morning journeying down into the valley to find the nearest outpost and warn them of the impending danger.
Now, with the guards having turned them away, there was little he and Taro could do. They had no horses, no money, and little food, and the only people who would recognize them were on the other end of the clan holdings, a walk of several days. Several days that Lord Inuyama likely didn’t have.
Masato tried to think. It seemed all so easy when his master did this- his master seemed to have bags and bags filled with plans in his head, and was always ready with one whenever the need arose. Masato sometimes wondered how his master had gotten so smart, but when he’d asked his master had always said- “Live long enough, Lad, and you’ll find out.”
Masato sniffed and tried to hold back the tears as he thought about his master, he still couldn’t believe what had happened. So many people would need to be told- his lord (who would probably give the master a new title) and the other students (who would probably blame Masato), oh, and Shiroi-san, who…
Masato’s brain suddenly ground to a halt.
He jumped to his feet, and peered around, trying to remember the way.
Taro, startled, looked up at him.
“Masato-kun?” He asked. “What’s wrong?”
“C’mon, young master. We’ve got to go!”
“Go? Go where?”
“To the Inn of a Thousand Lanterns.”
* * *
Shinpei the Tengu was dozing on the tatami mat of his hut when the ninja came for him.
His hut was located in the middle of a small stockade he and the other bandits had set up in the foothills, it had once been a remote farm, but after the farmer’s sons had died in a war, and the old farmer had passed on, it had become empty. The bandits had put up a fence, built stables, a still and a few shanties and called it home, with Shinpei getting the old farmer’s hut since he was the boss.
And as the boss, nobody dared to disturb his nap.
Except the ninja.
Shinpei hated ninja.
This one woke him with a rock to the forehead, a small rock, but enough to startle him and wake him from a pleasant dream. Ninjas were always doing things like this, which was why Shinpei hated them.
Shinpei’s first instinct as he woke was to grab his sword, which he always kept next to him, even when sleeping, and to look around for someone to use it on.
“You must be very tired,” said the mocking voice from somewhere in the dark space above him. “Working so hard as you do.”
Shinpei looked up, but not seeing anything except shadows and straw he relaxed and decided to sit back down.
“What do you want?” Shinpei said as he checked to see if he had any sake left in a nearby jar.
“I am here for a report on the two samurai who went to the Kurokawa to fetch the lord’s sons.”
Finding nothing to drink, Shinpei’s already bad mood became worse.
Art by Brushmen
“There’s nothing to tell,” he told the ninja. “If there was, I would have sent word to your master. My men are watching all the gates, they’ll let me know if those two make it back. But, if you ask me…”
“Which I did not.”
“…But if you ask me,” Shinpei repeated, not particularly caring whether the ninja wanted to hear it or not. “There’s no way they’ll make it back alive. The Kurokawa are just too thorough.”
“You will still keep the guard in place.” It was an order, not a question.
“Yeah, yeah.” Said Shinpei, stretching, and then, as he’d decided it was too hot to go fetch something, he laid back down on the mat and closed his eyes. “We’ll keep ’em there as long as the lord wants. But I still say ain’t nobody coming home.”
“Fine,” said the voice. And the tone made Shinpei smile, as he could hear the ninja was unhappy, but there was little the arrogant spy could do about it. Served him right.
Just then, there was a commotion in the yard, and Shinpei heard a horse brought to bay near the hut. Hurried footsteps followed, and then a man ran around to the hut’s open side where Shinpei lay.
“Boss! Boss!” Shouted Kano, one of Shinpei’s couriers. “They’re back! They came back!”
Shinpei looked up at the sweaty, excited man. “Who’s back?”
“Big Retsu saw one of those samurai we were chasing the other day, and he’s got a kid with him!”
Somewhere in the darkness above him, Shinpei heard the soft sound a person makes when they’ve just been proven right.
Shinpei hated ninja, he really did.
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