BrokenHelix:Chapter1

Shogun Kenichi’s rise to power over the northern lands of Akatsuki not only went uncontested, but was demanded by it’s people. Kenichi’s teachings and vision of how Akatsuki would best be served by her inhabitants quickly brought him as much fame and power as the Great Rabbit’s adventures had. It was for these reasons that the people spoke and he was placed as ruler of all the northern lands of Akatsuki. The world, as far as they could explore without crossing the great oceans to the east and west, ranged from the cold northern ice lands of what is still called the Arctic Circle (it seems that the earliest Akatsuki scholars had taken a liking to this name) to the hot and arid jungles of the lower provinces located far south of the center lines.

And in all the Shogun’s realm, peace prevailed since animal-kind had first began studying and adhering to his teachings. But as was learned from from the great long-eared samurai, discipline of one’s self and skills keep the samurai upon the path of the straight and righteous. But not everyone across the great expanse of Akatsuki saw the wisdom of the shogun, or the need and love of peace that his realms prospered from. And it would not be long before the Great Wyrm would raise it’s ugly head and begin it’s siege upon animal-kinds glory.

Kenji’s sleep was once again disturbed by this nightmare. A nightmare riddled with war, famine and death. And all that was left from the equation ... was time. Kenji had studied greatly the romantic love of mankind with their beloved religions. All of which were reigned by gods and powers that seemed all but bent around on mankind’s destruction. He knew that in the end, if some belovlent force had indeed not assisted in mankind’s mistake, than it was nothing short of the simplest of all forces which brought about their demise, Chaos.

“Chaos is neither good, nor is it bad.” His words of teaching young Masaru came flooding into his still foggy conscientiousness. “I must meditate upon this,” decided Kenji as he dressed himself and donned his sandals. Soon he found himself sitting upon the bank of his small pond, overlooking the slow flowing water. The sound of it, the soft singing of the early morning bugs and small birds faded to the slow, calm sound of his breathing. He floated within the ocean of the vast aura of Akatsuki herself. He studied the eddies, the flows of the colors, the sounds of her inner heartbeat. He watched as the colors about him shifted, many of them seemed tainted with a darkness he could not comprehend himself.

Takeshi awoke less than refreshed as well. He had spent far too many hours in the past week wandering from scroll to scroll, from book to book in Kenji’s massively libraries. While Masaru had more than proven himself as guide through the murky and disorienting assortment of writings, he had also taken a good toll upon the samurai’s inner chi as well well. So as he watched the young fox begin his apparent assault on the meditating Kenji ... he only smiled. “I wonder what fitting punishment the old turtle would bestow upon child for his disturbance,” wondered the samurai. 

Masaru had begun his assault by removing his own sandals and donning his wooden bokken sword as he disappeared off the porch and into the high vegetation of the garden. The samurai peered through the sleep laden fog that still clouded his vision as he attempted to follow the young scribe’s progress through the field. “Apparently, scholarly wisdom is not the only thing that Kenji has taught the boy,” pondered Takeshi. He had lost all sight of the boy, and he was a trained professional. It was not till the samurai had settled himself completely, cross-legged, on the porch ... when he noticed it. Something. Something was not quite right.

The young fox sprang from the tall grass, but not in the direction of the resting master! Ninja! Using their still sheathed katanas the two feline ninja retaliated on the young fox.

“THUD! SMACK! TWACK! TWA-TWACK! SMACK!” One ninja fell. 

The other locked swords with the young fox and made it a point to bend down to his own level, eye to eye, “Today, you fall small one!”

“I think not!” exclaimed Masaru.

Takeshi barely caught a glance of what happened next, as he freed his own wakizashi with a barely audible “CLICK!” and he was in full sprint to the rescue of Masaru. Masaru jumped in a spin, smacking the feline in the face with his now bristly tail, flipped over the ninja and buried the bokken deep into the ninja’s back.

When the samurai had finally reached the scene of the battle, both ninja were now bowing to Masaru and praising both his skills of stealth and swordsmanship, “Indeed, you have been practicing well, small one! Your skill is more than welcome by our clan whenever you should like to assist us!” Masaru bowed in return, blushing as much as a red-haired fox could muster, “Domo arigato.”

“Well, I see that peace is also not in my plans for today as well,” Kenji proclaimed in a slow gruff voice.

Takeshi, still standing with his sword drawn, was staring at the two feline intruders, ready to strike, a look of puzzlement upon his face, “What is the meaning of this? And what are these? Ninja?”

Masaru took the lead, in an attempt to distract his master from the displeasure of the interruption, “Good morning and Akatsuki be with you, good samurai! Yes, these are indeed ninja. They are our friends and allies from the mountains north of here. I take it that you have never seen ninja before? They are indeed far more than legend.”

“No, I have never personally seen any. They are taught to us in training as legend and powerful enemies. Ones that are not to be trusted,” replied Takeshi.

Kenji re-enters the conversation, “Oh, on the contrary my good friend. Allies are allies, and the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Surely they taught you that bit in school. Even if a ninja’s clan might be bought, they are as honorable as you and I, and will fight for their allies with the ferocity of a thousand tigers each.”

The samurai, still attached to his old teachings, “But why does a warrior hide their face? That is honorable?”

The shortest of the two felines, pointing out their dark camouflaged uniforms, not quite black, as story told, but something much richer in texture and blending, “Ninja are more than just warriors, we are bodyguards, farmers, spies, all hidden within plain sight of the world. Our masks only server to protect our identities when we are not actively engaged in combat.”

Both ninja bowed to the samurai, “Like you, we are honorable warriors, but do so for the people of our lands, as you do your lords.”

“Hmmfph! As well as for ”our“ lords as well,” the samurai replied.

Simultaneously, and without disguising their own amusement, “At times!”

Sensing the growing hostilities of the samurai, “Regardless, the Azami clan are our allies.” Turning to the first of the ninja that Masaru struck down, “And what brings you to our little glade of peacefulness, my friend?”

Bowing, “Yes, my apologies great master scribe, the seer seeks your counsel. It appears she fears the events that you see at night are not far off.”

Kenji sighed audibly, “That is bad news. We will prepare for departure at once. Tell her to expect us with the three next suns.”

“Yes, wise one.”

And with that ... the ninja disappeared into the grasses, no trace, no sound, as if they were never there.

Kenji peered down at his young charge, a stern look upon his face, “Excellent work,” as the sly smile cracked his face.

At first light, all three travelers were packed up for their journey. Kenji had told Takeshi that he need not go, but the stubborn warrior had insisted upon going. He had long heard the inner circles talk of an impending flaw in Akatsuki’s peace. Well, as “inner circle” as a young samurai was privileged to at least. But from all he had learned from his master and his commandants, plus the visions of this great sage, Takeshi wanted to know what was the cause of the turmoil.

“No, wise one, I insist. You have opened your home, your hospitality, and your libraries to an unannounced samurai, offering my services to you and your charge in this travel is the least I can do. Besides, without little Masaru nipping at my heels, I am liable to lose my mind alone in this glade!” pushed Takeshi.

Kenji peered for a long and uncomfortable moment at the samurai, and finally broke into his normal ‘so be it’ attitude, “Very well than, swordsman. It would be an honor to have you accompany us through the ‘Passes of Peril’. Your sword will most likely come in handy, although I doubt you will ever have to actually draw it from it’s sheath.”

Takeshi whispered to Masaru, “What does all that mean?”

“The ‘Passes of Peril’ are inhabited by ... well some creatures you city dwellers are most likely unused to. But they all have met at least one samurai in their lives and your presence will most likely detour any trouble or tolls that we will surely encounter. Ah, here comes our ride now!” exclaimed Masaru. “I will take the lead ostrillich, you the second and master will ride in the third with our gear.”

Takeshi was taken aback as the mounts approached. He knew from the teachings that when the ‘changes’ occurred that not all creatures developed the same. He had seen pictures of what the humans had called an “ostrich”, a tall fast lanky flightless bird, and these were apparently their descendants.

‘Only these are huge in size compared to what we were taught,’ thought the samurai.

The first two were fitted with saddles to ease the ride of the passengers, while the third and forth pulled a small covered cart behind them. There was no one guiding them currently.

“I see,” noted Takeshi aloud, “pack animals.”

He did not notice as the four ostrilliches glanced amongst one another.

After all were aboard and saddled, Masaru noticed Takeshi struggling to find the reigns, “No, they no where we are going. There is no need to guide them. If we should have to speed up, well, faster than usual, just try to hold on with both hands. At least until you are used to them.”

Once underway, Masaru began his constant chatter directed towards the samurai, explaining their locations and landmarks, the history behind them, and the occasional outcropping of debris left in the wake of humans. Time had taken it’s toll on them, as had the tropical weather common in the area now. Mostly there were just huge mounds of rusted, wasted, twisted metal and concrete, but occasionally there were wheeled contraptions that the Council of Ethics had deemed as contraband.

“Even though the use of any of those parts is outlawed, some of the poorer and more remote areas still make use of small pieces of the materials. It is not that they do not wish to follow the rulings of the council, it is just that they simply have no other alternatives in these areas. Some of the contraptions that they have made of the waste are actually quite ingenious and beautiful. for instance, just to the west of here is an elaborate steam powered water wheel which feeds an aqueduct that in turn takes water to four whole villages whom would otherwise have no source of water. It is cases such as these that the council allows the reuse of the material as well as allowing the people some amount of freedom in replicating items similar to that of man. Machines without technology, and with the purpose of feeding the greater good, I think that is the rule of thumb for those cases.”

As the journey wore on, so did Masaru’s constant jabbering. It was not that Takeshi did not enjoy listening to what it was that Masaru was teaching him as they rode through the wooded paths, but between all his talking and with the samurai not being at all used to the stride and pace of the ostrillichs, he was quickly being worn out.

Occasionally, Kenji would poke his head out from his covered wagon, nod at their progress and than retreat back as quickly as he had appeared.

“So what do you think the old one is thinking back there?” inquired Takeshi, ‘accidently’ interrupting Masaru.

“He is sleeping,” replied the small fox. “Our camp tonight will be on the very edge of the the Living Woods. We will need someone to be fully awake or else we might have troubles more than just nightmares.”

Slightly insulted the samurai replied, “One would normally think that would be a job for a samurai, no?”

“We mean you no offense, great samurai. We have seen your skills with your swords and your martial arts as well during your workouts, but ... things beyond the cities are not at all like they are inside. There are creatures which not even your scholars have taught you about. Not all are dangerous, not all act with ill intentions, but there are those who are, do and will. Then ... and the ones that I worry about ... are the ones that are just ... mischievous.“

This statement, coming from this small package of often misguided energy and turmoil, brought out a hearty laugh from Takeshi, ”You! Concerned about something mischievious? The slayer of ninja and bringer of chaos itself? What could possibly have you worried?“

The ... compliments, as Masaru saw them, brought a smile to his face, but the sneering grin that soon replaced it concerned even the skilled samurai, ”Oh, you will see! You will have a great many stories to share with your fellow samurai. As well as many that you would not dare to mention for fear of being labeled insane, samurai.“

Unseen, the listening Kenji once again smiled at his young apprentices words, ”I have indeed taught you well, small one!“

It was not long till daylight would be soon ending and Kenji instructs Masaru that this is as close as he wishes to set camp tonight. Takeshi was again slightly taken aback, although that seemed to be the theme of his whole day thus far. There was still plenty of time to travel before darkness set in upon them. But not wishing to incur another lecture from Masaru, the samurai dismounted his still uncomfortable steed. He was very use to walking long distances, he was use to long rides upon horses, which at least he could converse with as they traveled. This is why he was so thrown aback as his ride looked at him and spoke, "Not too bad for your first time riding on one of my brethren. The soreness will wear off. It is due to the stride. Sleep well, samurai. Not once throughout the day had he heard any of the ostrilliches speak, with the exception of some sort of clicking amongst themselves."

 "And you as well," was the only response that the samurai could muster.

 Kenji, now dismounted from his carriage, approached Takeshi, "As I have said, young samurai, there are many many things which you still do not know or understand of Akatsuki. Your teachers have attempted to guide you as best that they could, but there are things in these areas that not even they know about. For instance ... there is a very good reason as to why they refer the forest before us ... "The Living Woods"

 As Masaru has said, you will see and witness things that will bewilder you. You will think that there is no possible way that they are real. I can assure you, Takeshi, if you see it, if you hear it, it is there. Some are benign, others are not. Be on your guard and keep your blades at your side and ready, but also, as you have been trained many times in the past, be careful with whom or what you draw then upon."

 "I understand," replied Takeshi, forcing a voice and face of confidence.

 "Do you, now?" asked Kenji.

 Takeshi watched as Masaru removed a few satchels of coal from the cart and started to methodically place it in a large spaced out circle around the area in which the group would be camping. He approached the young scribe fox and watched. Studied. "May I assist you, Masaru?"

 Masaru, delighted in the interest that the samurai was showing, "Of course, sir. Please, by all means. Roughly one foot between pieces."

 "What is the purpose of this action," inquired Takeshi?

 "Faeries!" replied Masaru, with an devilish little grin. "They cannot stand the stuff. Can't cross it, well, not in mass anyways."

 Again, the samurai was stunned, and this time in complete disbelief of the fox's response. "Faeries? We might be attacked my mythological tiny creatures as we sleep?"

 Masaru lifted his sleeve revealing a long scar that ran all the way around his wrist, "Yes. No, they do not teach you about them in school, but does that mean that they do not exist? I can promise you, my friend, they do exist. And that poppycock that is written in those fancy children's books should be outlawed. Some are very very nice. Others are just tiny predators seeking food. I would tell you not to worry but truth be told, most are vile treacherous little creatures. Even the nice ones are so mischievous that they are dangerous. But with our little ring of protection, we should be safe enough. Unless they can con something else to move the pieces of coal, that is."

 Soon the circle was done, a diner of rice balls and vegitables was served before Masaru and Takeshi were buttoned up in the carriage for the night. The samurai was amazingly surprised as to how fast the small one simply and quietly fell into a deep sleep. As well as himself.