Kenson Gakka: The Abduction

Sitting by the practice field, Hida Katsu, Isawa Roshii, and Asako Shitasu were finishing their cups of sake. The three were beginning to leave when they noticed that the commotion around them was more frenzied than the usual festival fever pitch.

Katsu rose from his seat upon hearing the news of Ikare's son. He looked at his two Pheonix companions with a grin. "Looks like I'm gonna get some work out of my axe after all," he said with a slight grin. "Want to go find the others?"

Kadokawa and Nyoko had set out to find Pajaro, and fortunately for them, there was a shortage of giant Falcon bushi at the festival. It took little time at all to find him, and the surprise was even more pleasant for them when they found his companion.

"Why, Pajaro-san," Kitsu Nitsuko said, seeing the two samurai -- and peasant-dressed zokujin -- coming, "it seems that your companions are joining us."

The Dragon seemed utterly nonplussed with jandering down the festival's way in the company of a "rock goblin." If others had a problem, then it was their own. Shinsei said only those who invite trouble in will find it making a home in their house.

"Pajaro," Nyoko nodded to the Falcon. No bow, or even a 'san.' The spirit hunter had much to do if he wished to reclaim respect in her eyes. The Kitsu, however, received a full smile and bow. "Kitsu-san. I am Agasha Nyoko. This is my traveling companion, Doji Kadokawa. Your people's celebration is truly a wonder. I must remind myself in the future to visit Lion festivals more often. You simply don't know whom you'll meet." Her grin was fairly lopsided.

"Konnichi-wa, Nyoko-san," the Lion returned with a bow and an almost girlish grin, "I am Kitsu Nitsuko. I am honored that you are enjoying your stay in my home. I have been having a very interesting conversation with your other companion, Pajaro. Have you come to join us?"

Kadokawa smiled kindly as he approached the Sodan-Senzo. "Kind greetings, Nitsuko-san," he said.

"Nitsuko-san," Nyoko nodded, more for herself. "One can only imagine the sorts of interesting conversations you might have with our Falcon companion and... those around him." Perhaps the Kitsu could translate for the Falcon, and help solve whatever problem Pajaro seemed to have with his grandfather, or more likely, vice versa.

"Hai," she agreed, far more chipper than Nyoko would have expected, "Pajaro has been the source of more than one interesting conversation." The sentiment Nyoko could certainly agree with, if not the tone in which it was delivered. But then again, if there were any living witnesses to Agasha Nyoko being 'chipper,' they preferred to remain silent on the issue.

After a short while of talking, the group was interrupted by yet another set of familiar faces that had easily found the oversized Falcon. This was a benefit that Pajaro had not thought of, but his height was becoming useful for his companions, at any rate, and Katsu, Shitasu, and Roshii were happy for it as they found him.

"And your group is nearly complete," Nitsuko said in a chipper voice as the three samurai walked up. "Greetings, samurai. What news do you bring us?"

"Nitsuko-san," Kadokawa interjected, taking advantage of the lull in conversation, "Nyoko-san and myself wished to have a word with you regaurding our unusual companion," He said, nodding calmly to the zokujin dressed in peasant garb. The three newcomers noticed the diminutive figure for the first time. "It seems our small friend has a problem which we feel you may be able to help us with." Kadokawa looked inquistitively at the sodan-senzo.

Nitsuko leaned down to look at the zokujin. "And how can I help you, small one?"

"Looking for spirit of Great Water," Kakera replied. "It be missing, and many zokujin be hurting because of."

"Great Water?" Nitsuko asked, glancing also at Kadokawa and Nyoko. "Who is that?"

"It is a river underground," Kadokawa replied. "We have been told it is the source of water for your city."

Nitsuko looked sadly at the zokujin. "Then I am afraid I can be of little help. We sodan-senzo train almost exclusively to speak with the spirits of our departed ancestors. I know very little of the spirits of the earth and the waters. Nyoko-san here would be more adept than I, even though her school would teach Fire over Water. Unless the river is somehow... dead. But we still have water, so such a thing cannot be so."

Nyoko's grin was somewhat rueful. "While I would be happy to talk to the spirits of water, it is only because I am always open to new experiences. As of yet, I find myself unable to speak with them properly." She spread her hands in a helpless gesture.

Another thought occured to the Dragon. "Nitsuko-san, would you know any of your more... traditionally trained brethren?"

"I'm certain I could," she repled somewhat hesitantly, "but I'm not certain it would help. If you are trying to speak with a specific spirit, wouldn't you need to know where it was? I'm certain I can find someone to speak with the spirits that are there, but I doubt I know of any that could find a specific spirit if it was missing. Even one as large as a river."

"Nitsuko, my lady," Pajaro offered, "perhaps my grandfather may have the answers we seek? And if he does not, maybe he can help?"

"Somehow, I doubt it, Pajaro-san. The spirits of the dead and the spirits of the elements are two completely different sorts of things, and even among themselves, spirits don't always commune with each other. Besides, Tikao-sama is not here, at the moment. I sense that, after his appearance this morning, he will not be back again today."

The Dragon drummed her fingers on the side of her upper leg, the only visible sign of her puzzlement. Wryly, she thought to herself it was a shame she hadn't been born Kitsuki. One of her cousins would've found already solved the problem by now, she felt sure. Their strange 'evidence' seems to help them, and Yokuni-sama approves of such notions... So...

... Evidence. Hm.

She turned to the zokujin. "When did you last have contact with the spirit?"

"The spirit of Great Water has been quieting for much time. Hard to say when completely left. Has been many... days? Is that right?" Timekeeping was obviously not the strongpoint of the cave dweller.

Nyoko nodded, grimacing inwardly. She looked at Nitsuko. "Have you noticed anything unusual in the last few days?" A pause. "Any trouble with an above ground river?"

"No, I'm afraid there is nothing I can recall. The river that runs below the city begins a mile or so off as a branch of Three Sides River, but there has been nothing unusual about it, either. Not that I have heard, anyway. And that is the ultimate source of the city's water, so if there was anything wrong with it, I'm certain the city would have known by now."

"Very well, Nitsuko-san," the Dragon said. "Nonetheless, thank you for your help."

She turned to Kadokawa and Kakera, and to a lesser degree, Pajaro, Katsu, Roshii, and Shitasu. "Well, shall we look somewhere else?"

The Dragon, the zokujin, and those following them decided to pay a visit to the village hetman. Finding his house was easy enough, but getting him to take the time to talk was nearly impossible on this festival day. Nyoko got the impression that if she weren't samurai, that he wouldn't have stopped his rushing around at all.

"There seems to be some trouble with the river below us and the zokujin living along it. They claim that the spirit of the river is gone. Have you or your people noticed anything strange in the last few weeks about the river?"

Nyoko may have looked like a bushi at first glance, but the hetman of the city was cosmopolitan enough to recognize a scroll satchel and not think her speaking of spirits was too unusual. "Some of my people do see the zokujin sometimes, Dragon-sama. I have heard rumors that they are not well, and some of them speak of poison. But none of the humans in the city have fallen ill -- well, not unnaturally ill for the season; there are still colds this time of year -- so I thought it to be just a rumor."

Akodo Aramoro was walking out of Kenson Gakka's dojo after his workout. Akodo Isamu had been a very challenging sparring partner. Aramoro had no doubt he would be feeling the effects the next morning. But first, he was distracted by more present matters. As he exited into the street, he caught a snippet of conversation as a peasant ran by.

"Yes, kidnapped just now! Miko-sama's crying is endless..."

Frowning, Aramoro gained the attention of the next Lion samauri he saw. "Akodo-san, has something happened to Akodo Ikare?"

The bushi frowned at the interruption. "Not to Ikare-sama, to his son, Yunosemi. He is missing!" With that he raced off, apparently on urgent business.

Aramoro did not know Akodo Ikare or his wife very and felt certain that the general already had a detachment looking for his son. But even so, he felt that he must at least offer his help, so he went back inside the fortress and began to look for Akodo Ikare to offer his assistance.

It took little time to find the general. And that the directions he received all mentioned that Ikare was organizing a search to scour the city, Aramoro was rather sure that he would be useful. When he found the general, he noticed that the pleasant man he had spoken with that morning had been replaced by a worried man working himself to an edge. Aramoro was hardly surprised, given the situation. Ikare was busy shouting orders to his men and dividing the city among their squads.

"...Nisere-san will take his units to cover the northern quarter, and Notapu-san the eastern," he said with a sense of urgency. "Lee-san, your unit will remain on alert in and around the daimyo's castle. Whatever villan would kidnap my son will not stop there. We must be prepared for their next target!"

"Clearly your distress has not clouded your thinking Akodo-sama." Ikare turned on his heels to face Aramoro who bowed low. Lower than usual. The manic glint he caught for a second in Ikare's eye removed the belief he had in his own words. Nonetheless, he continued. "I heard of your crisis and came right away to offer my assistance. I am not a commander of troops but I have two eyes and two ears which I now place under your direction. How can I help you, General?"

The general nodded curtly. "I appreciate your offer Aramoro-san." After seeing the man's eyes, he sounded manic, not urgent. "Please do this for me, go to the well near the south-east gate. You can follow Commander Notapu. I do not want you to search for my son. Dozens of men are already doing that. I want you to look for someone who might have taken him. Don’t ask me what to look for; I have no idea. I can only assure you that whoever it is they are safer in the Shadowlands than in this city!"

"Hai, General!" Aramoro bowed again and hurried after Commander Notapu. Looking around him, he could also tell that the look on the faces of the soldiers he was running with was not solely urgency, either. It was also fear.

The walk was a quiet one, even through the crowded streets. The news of the abduction was taing its time spreading, as the festival was in full swing. The merchants and artisans hawked their wares, the street performers drew their crowds, and small battle recreations and demonstrations were all around, but the soldiers Aramoro ran with did not speak. With a silent gesture, Notapu left half of them at the parade grounds, searching as inconspicuously as two dozen men in full armor can. Most of the revelers seemed to think them a part of the festivities, however, so they made little stir.

Passing behind the parade grounds and into the merchants' area, Commander Notapu signaled his men to begin their search and they broke apart to begin looking though the merchants' stalls. Notapu fell back to speak with Aramoro.

"There is your well," he said, pointing. "May the Fortunes favor your search. Tengoku knows, we need it," he said ominously, then he ran off to scour the craftsmen's stalls.

For several moments, Aramoro merely stood and surveyed the area. He tried not to think about what he saw in Ikare-sama’s eyes. He studied the festival crowd and tried to look at the face of every man and woman there. There were merchants and craftsmen and traders here. There was the noodle house and several old men sat outside playing Shogi. Children played around the well and their mothers watched them; some of them gossiped as if they were in Court. Servants gathered water from the well. As Ikare said, he did not know what he was looking for. Maybe someone unusual or out of place.

Aramoro guessed that the old men had been there for a while so he went to ask them if they had seen the general’s son or anything that might be related to his disappearance.

"All sorts of strange happenings lately," one man replied, nodding somberly and pondering his move. "The Crane in our courts. The copper-goblins in our temples. The general's baby taken. And all during the celebration of the slaughter of those that built this city. Maybe it's the Fortunes getting revenge for the zokujin in their temple. Maybe it's karma for those dead Scorpion. Maybe it's a Crane plot. I don't know. And I ain't seen anything, either. Sorry to disappoint."

Standing near the well and looking for anything out of the ordinary, Aramoro eventually noticed a strange man near the peddlers' stalls. He was an older Ikoma merchant, standing at one stall, arguing rather loudly with one of the merchants. After a little while of this, the merchant apparently came to some sort of agreement with him, because the man quit yelling, and traded the merchant one small package for another.

This, in and of itself, was hardly unusual for a marketplace. But then the man took the small package he received from the first merchant, walked across the row of merchants, and began arguing loudly with a second merchant. Again, after a little while, the man clamed and the merchant traded small packages with him.

Then, the man walked directly back to the first merchant and began arguing loudly with him once more. Aramoro wondered for a moment how long this cycle had been going on. With all the dignity and authority he could muster, the young soldier strode toward the strange interaction. "What is going on here, Ikoma? What have these merchants done to anger you so?"

"What?" the man said, turning to face Aramoro. "Well, it's nothing," he sort of mumbled, adding something too slurred to be coherent. He stopped speaking for a moment, glared briefly at Aramoro, then glared momentarily at the merchant with whom he had been arguing, and then turned with a grunt and walked away.

"Don't mind him, Akodo-sama," said the merchant, turning to Aramoro. "Old Jintsu does that a lot. He's refused to retire to a monastery, but the clan refuses to allow him back into the merchant caravans because of his age. So he comes down here from time to time to try to prove that he can still haggle. We trade between the two of us all day," he says, pointing at the opposite merchant, who waves back in reply, "and after Jintsu's made a little money, he goes home. He's harmless, really."

Otomo Jin had just decided to take his leave of his fiancee to stroll the grounds of the city. As he approached the gates of the palace, he was approached by an Akodo guardsman.

"Otomo Jin-sama, would you desire an escort for your walk?"

To Jin, the guard did not look as he he would qualify to guide tours. "Is an escort necessary within the city walls simply to walk to the parade grounds? I believe I can find my way."

"With the current situation, sama, I felt I should ask."

Jin was caught slightly off guard. Jin did not like being caught off guard. "The situation with the result of the mock battle, you mean?"

"No, sama, the situation with the abduction of Ikare-sama's son from the fortress. It has apparently happened within the last ten minutes."

"Akodo-san, I would rather my beloved have the honour of an escort to help her find her way. I would prefer for you to stay with her for a short while until a replacement can be found, then I will enjoy your company. I shall return for you post haste."

"There is no need, sama. An escort has been prepared for all state visitors, especially Yoroshiku-hime. Although, considering the Seppun in her entourage, I doubt it is necessary. Seppun yojimbo are very good at... finding their way around.

"So, what sights would you like to see today?"

Thinking on the question, Jin began wandering with the guard. The palace lawn was wide and spacious, and on that day it was also host to many entertainments as the festival's performers and actors took advantage of the only large, open area in the city that was not a road. It was obvious to the courtier that Matsu Kioma was trying to keep the festival going, either to slow news of the tragedy or to keep the public's minds off of it. Probably both.

As Jin began making his way through the crowd, he ws stopped suddenly by a blue blur rushing through the throng. Jin took a step back just in time for one of the Crane attending with Daidoji Handen to rush past, bottle of sake in hand and yelling drunkenly. Jin looked at the fleeing man's back with a note of disgust, but not nearly as much as he heard from behind him.

"Crane braggarts," he could hear his escort mumble. He could also hear his escort's katana snap back into its saya. The tension, Jin could easily tell, was quickly coming to a head.

"Akodo-san," Jin says to his escort, "I would like to speak with the lord of the castle. I would appriciate it if you could take me to him."

"Hai, sama, I'm sure he will still be at the parade grounds," the Akodo said, then began showing Jin the way.

Jin and his escort arrived at the parade grounds during the Oriru competition. The crowds cheered loudly over the thundering hoofbeats as sets of contestants repeatedly charged across the field, attempting to dismount each other. Even in such a controlled environment, there were no shortage of samurai sitting beside the field with Kitsu healers tending to their wounds.

Matsu Kioma was sitting in his box seat at the front of the grandstand, watching and presiding over the festivities. Much of the enjoyment that could be seen in his face earlier in the day was gone. He now seemed a determined man. Determined, no doubt, to keep the festival going and the people's spirits raised despite the unfortunate incident that had occurred.

"Matsu Kioma-sama," Jin's escort said, leading him with a nod past the guards and to the daimyo's box, "I have the honor of introducing Otomo Jin-sama. He wishes a word with you."

Kioma turned to Jin and smiled -- the courtier could tell it was forced. "Otomo Jin, it is good to see you. To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure? I trust you and your fiancee are well."

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