(Akira, Koutetsu) Family Affairs

Ashidaka Koutetsu was fast finding himself in the common company of the Emerald Magistrate Kuni Akira. While ancestral enmity had declared he have no love for the Crab or Lion, he found these clans fascinating. However, he agreed with his clan - the Scorpion were liars, murderers and villains who could not be trusted. In their short time together he had invited Akira to his home to use his forge to commune with O-Ka no Kami. Thereafter he had beseeched his aid in an investigation where his sister was kidnapped. Upon their return Koutetsu again sought the aid of the Kuni. This time, however, was that of wise counsel.

On their return to the Imperial City the Crane insisted his sister be brought to his personal estate in the Murabai District, as far away from his sister Ichiko as he could afford. It was there that the younger Crane maiden, suffering from her abduction and abuse, was tended to by Ejio's servant, the former Soshi Ayami. Koutetsu had increased the security of his estate, disguised due to the nature of his work and prestige, to ensure Niko was well cared for. Secretly Koutetsu feared the rogue Bayushi Akedare would strike and he needed as much safety for her as possible.

With Niko resting, dealing with the maladies of a great period of time of forced opium addiction, the Lord Ashidaka had requested the company of the Kuni. The Crane prepared the estate for a guest with fresh White Needle Tea, a small lunch of pickled vegetables and barbecued eel over rice and a tray of candied dumplings as a snack should his guest have a sweet spot. Koutetsu wanted to impress upon the Crab his thanks of the man's aid in rescuing his sister and the investigation leading up to said rescue. By all accounts, the Crane felt indebted to the Crab.

In a small way Koutetsu was thankful to have the Crab in his company, whether Kurotema was suspicious of him or not. In a city where one counted more enemies than allies, every potential friend was a blessing from the Heavens. So, Koutetsu would court the Kuni to cultivate another friendship he desperately needed. The Crane's own disposition had soured drastically since his arrival in the Imperial City. While he had grown to accept the changes to his demeanor, he still feared losing himself. Anger, despair, frustration, pain and remorse became unwelcome companions in his day to day life. The spiritual counsel of a priest would do him and his family good in the times to come.

Most of all he needed to help his sister Niko.

Kuni Akira enjoyed his second trek through the Murabi District far more than he did his first just a month or so ago. Perhaps it was the familiarity, even after just one visit, that made it more agreeable to him. He was not surprised by the invitation by Ashidaka Koutestu, but he was grateful for it. The Crab had come late into the investigation on Ashidaka Niko's disappearance, but he was fortunate to have been present for its conclusion. As much as he liked that Ashidaka Niko had been returned to her household, he couldn't help but feel unsatisfied. No one had been apprehended for the crime.

His companions suspected a Scorpion, Bayushi Akedare. It seems this man had quite the obsession with both Doji Ejio and Ashidaka Koutestu and seemed to exemplify all that was assumed of his Clan. A macabre thought unwittingly overcame the Kuni and he couldn't help but smile. The Crane have found themselves plagued by a mami. How fortunate they have a Crab at their side. He allowed the smile to die. He was almost to Koutestu's abode and it would be unbecoming for anyone to see a Crab smile. Oh, the rumors they would tell.

Akira heard his mother's voice chastising him for his contemptuous thoughts of the citizens of Otosan Uchi. He let those thoughts linger as he presented himself and his chop to a servant of Lord Ashidaka. The shugenja noticed a few more guards than had been present on his previous visit and a few of them didn't seem to appreciate his arrival. I suppose it's a good thing I am not coming by uninvited.

As he waited for the servant to notify Koutestu of his arrival, Akira mused on his relationship with the Crane. In a short time, it seemed the two had forged quite the bond. Akira had no siblings, but he tried to imagine the anguish of not knowing whether or not your sister was dead - or worse - for months on end. Her state of health when Akira and Kinotu found her in that chamber, that was simply unacceptable. So far from the Wall, and yet, too much here reminds me of being back there. If this actor, this Akedare, was truly responsible, Akira had a mind to teach the man a thing or two about what the Kuni do to despicable creatures they catch. Koutestu would have my head as quick as he would Akedare's if I dared rob him of his vengeance.

The Kuni's musing were ended as the servant returned and invited Akira into the house. The magistrate was escorted across the grounds and into the house to see his host. As Akira crossed the threshold, his mind jumped to his last visit when he had spoken with O-Ka no Kami. I never did explain myself to Koutestu-san, did I? I suppose he is still wondering why I threw my wakizashi into his forge. He then considered the obvious purpose of today's meeting. Perhaps now is not the best time to dwell on my idiosyncrasies.

Akira could smell the food just before he entered the room. All these years of cooking to refocus his mind after the hellish scenes it regularly viewed, his nose immediately latched onto the scent of barbecued eel. His mood transformed for the better in a way that only the anticipation of delicious food can do. For better or for worse, food could reorient Akira's mind in a way that few other things in this world could. The shugenja had no doubt he would not be troubled by the usual parade of mental non-sequiturs characteristic of his hyper-active mind.

The Crab bowed to his host. "Ashidaka-sama, I thank you for the invitation to your beautiful home and for the fine food you have prepared. I hope whatever aid I can offer proves worthy of your expectations."

GM Note: Please remind me when this is over so I can review it for the game.

The swordsmith rose to his feet when the servant escorted the Kuni into his estate to the room he had prepared for a meal. The Crab would have noticed the Murabai district abode was well appointed and relatively spartan in appearance. Ashidaka Koutetsu was not a fan of gratuitous displays of wealth and seemed more akin to a Dragon or Lion in his tastes. The halls were very clean and simple scrolls of brushwork lined his walls. Of note the Crab would find many swords on display throughout the estate. The swords were all beautiful works of art, each a unique endeavor. Each belonged to the late Kakita Chi-Yomi and now served as decoration until the swordsmith found a new home for the many blades.

"You honor me with your company, Kuni-san," the swordsmith spoke in a polite and cordial tone. His expression was neautral - impassive as stone. "Please, join me. Have you had rice today?"

Once the Crab had taken a seat he would move to join his guest. He picked up the pot of steaming tea - fresh from the hearth - and poured a cup of White Needle tea for Akira. He carefully passed the cup and proceeded to fill himself a cup. Of note Crane normally did not pour their own cups, a remark on the Ashidaka's mannerisms. In the company of a Crab perhaps he did not observe the old Crane superstition. Of course the man could have merely been a practical sort.

He lifted his cup to his lips and blew gently on the steaming cup. The rising steam danced away from the surface of the tea in a rolling wisp. He held it there as he let the cup cool down enough to properly enjoy while he settled his eyes on the man across from him. Dark eyes scrutinized the appearance of the shugenja; he noted the face paint of the man and wondered about the intriguing ways of the Kuni family. The fleeting thought soon gave way to necessity as he pressed the conversation, though he observed etiquette and offered him the meal.

"You have an affinity for cooking. I hope that this spread is appreciated by a man with a pallette as no doubt refined as your own. Please, enjoy everything. We can discuss matters after we have enjoyed lunch, ne?"

He offered the man a small smile, perhaps a touch force; other emotions seemed to have more sway that might deny the expression as genuine.

The shugenja gave his host a polite nod and began to eat. He noted how the White Needle Tea was an excellent accent to the dishes provided. Though he enjoyed the meal, Akira knew his purpose here was not to feast. He ate enough to be polite and to tide himself over until later, and decided at last to cash in on his Clan's infamous reputation for forgoing the niceties of polite society.

"Koutetsu-san, I thank you for lunch. You are a most gracious host, worthy in my eyes of the Crane Clan in that regard. I am aware, however, that I am not here merely for lunch, and I take you for a man of action, not of pomp." The Kuni eyed the men attending them and looked back at his host. "Perhaps what comes next should be kept between ourselves?"

Akira remained silent while his host dismissed the servants. The Crab was not upset that they had left the remained of the tea on the table. He took the opportunity to refill his own cup and that of his host.

"I know that having your sister returned to you has lifted an enormous weight from your shoulders, but her condition has sadly put a new one in its place." The Crab reached into his robes and withdrew a scroll, rolled and bound. He placed it on the table and gently pushed it toward the Crane. "Detailed within are my instructions for the rehabilitation of your sister. It includes a list of a few herbs that will help ease her compulsion. They are easily found here in Otosan Uchi and require minimal preparation to be blended into her food or tea, as you see fit."

He cradled the cup in his hands and enjoyed the warmth radiating from it but refrained from drinking just yet.

"Her ordeal and her torture will weigh heavy on her soul. These are burdens she cannot carry alone, but as I'm sure you can understand, they are also not ones that she will readily share. As time goes on and her desire for that poison ebbs, it will be important to focus on her mind. I volunteer myself to be a guide to her in these matters, both because I consider us friends and because I feel an obligation toward her given all that transpired to find her. However," he gestured absently to his face, "as an outsider to both your family and your Clan, I do not anticipate she will welcome my assistance. It is most important you find her someone she can trust."

Akira's mind traveled back to similar conversations he had in his previous life amongst his own clan. The horrors and stress of the wall were sometimes too much for even the strongest of Hida. The body mends in a way that sometimes the mind cannot. As he reflected on these past conversations, he let his posture slacken and dropped the pretense that typically surrounded all samurai.

"And, where possible, remove her from circumstances that will remind her of all that has transpired. Locations, images, people. These triggers will no doubt inhibit her path to well-being."

The Kuni took a small sip from his cup and continued.

"I've spoken thus far of my presumptions, but I know I am here because of what is on your mind. Tell me, friend. How can I help?"

Posted on TheDiddler's behalf.

As the two men spoke, a woman writhed and twisted in her own personal hell mere rooms away. Ashidaka Niko felt pain like a snake writhing inside, wrapping itself about her organs and twisting her chi into some unrecognizable thing.

Her body was a factory of sweat. Her room smelled of bile and weakness. In most moments she was as far from lucidity as a dead man, her mind drowned in the endless waste of opium even days after it was purged from her system.

A servant made his way quickly down the corridor to his master, past fine blades and hot fires, past proper decorum and spartan furnishings. Finally, he fell kneeling at the edges of propriety with what appeared to be rolled up tatami in his hands.

“My…my lord, I do not wish to interrupt, but you asked that if she gave any sign of awareness I make it known at once. I found these just now. She must have written them within the past few hours.” The servant held up the sopping straw mats, soaked through with fluids impolite to draw attention to, and he bowed low. “I apologize, my lord, for their state. I did not think you would wish me to copy their contents. I shall excuse myself to be purified as soon as you release me.”

The tatami fell to the floor and the stink of them hit the Crab and Crane with the force of personal desperation. Gibberish was scribbled in nonsensical fashion across the straw, but here and there were words, poems, soft connections of haiku that brought simultaneous hope and pain to Koutetsu’s soul.

She must have written them in her own wasted fluids.

One read simply:

Sleep, I call upon
Stay with me, I beg, I plead
“…infinitely, please!”

Another, scribbled and marred, but coherent for all that:

In my ending know
I blame myself, only me
There is no one else

“And this, my lord…the most recent.” The servant held up the torn remnants of Niko’s own robe upon which she dipped sharp nails lined with some sick from her own form.

This thin thread of hope
Is enough to hang myself
With a long thick rope

The young Crane lordling had fallen into a quiet, somber state as he quietly conversed with the Kuni. His disposition was notably different in recent days. With the growing tensions with the rogue Bayushi Akedare, the frail condition of his dear sister and the rising state of affairs within the Imperial City, he felt calloused to many emotions. The Blade of Execution felt like less of a man - a samurai sworn to the demands of Bushido and honorable duty - and more of a tool to be dispatched to the ends of others. At times a deep, primal hunger welled inside of him as insatiable as a wolf. At other times he felt empty like the Void yet without a true purpose to call his own.

He was a vessel of anger, vengeance and fury that was far too dangerous if left alone.

Koutetsu blinked as a long silence filled the void betweem them before he looked up as if roused from some deep sleep. "Sorry," he murmured, his voice soft and distant as he sipped from his cooling tea cup. "I... Need help. My sister needs safely secured. She needs to be somewhere where she can be properly attended by those who might know her condition best. Perhaps, I think, a temple to the Fortune of Jurojin. However, I know not what to do to mend her body, to mend her mind... She needs to be strong, Akira-san because... I can't be strong for everyone."

The Crane gave the Crab a weak smile.

When the servant arrived his attention snapped to the man and he readily read the vile poetry put before them. Beyond the sense of honor and propriety within him, he was unflinching in his concern for his beloved sister. After all, Koutetsu only had two siblings and they meant the world to him... Even if he did not mean the world to them. A questioning look was shot towards the Kuni before he stood. "Come with me, Kuni-sama, I require your eyes..."

He didn't wait long for the Crab and was quick to attend Niko. He was cautious in his approach, quiet on his feet as he reached her chamber door. It was there he gently rapped before he opened the door by sliding it silently open in its frame.

"Niko-chan... Niko-chan," he fairly cooed. "Are you awake, little sister?"

Ashidaka Niko curled up on the tatami smeared in her own filth and waste. She held her knees tight to her chest in a fetal position, rocking her body to and fro. The liquid beneath her squelched into the straw and the stench from her body was vile.

"You are nothing, Niko. Nothing. You are a face I will wear to speak my intentions. You are a mask, a puppet, a tool."

The girl's whispering tone was desperate, her voice damaged and hoarse. She did not appear to notice the two arrivals at first.

"I am nothing. I belong to nothing. I am weakness in a body for him to use. I am a tool. I am a mask, but behind me there is an empty void. I chase and chase and chase the dragon, but it eludes me until I left exhausted and naked in a waste of my own life."

Niko shuddered. She vomited up bile and spit and tea. She continued retching long after there was nothing left in her belly.

Through tear-stained eyes she looked up at her brother.

"Kou-chan. You're alive?" Her face broke into a beautiful smile, smeared with her own waste. Then, as if hit with a surprise blow, her entire face screwed up into a mask of pain. "I betrayed you! I killed you! I am sorry! I am so..." she sobbed, shook, and broke down into babbling tears.

When Kuni Akira entered the room, his mind flashed back to time spend tending the wounded along the Kaiu Wall. Though it had been over a month since he had arrived in the capital, and several beyond that where he was in an infirmary, the sensations he experienced walking into Ashidaka Niko's room immediately brought him back to those dark times.

Instinctively, Akira moved around and kneeled behind Niko, then began to pray. He uttered words familiar to him after a lifetime of service to the spirits. His first prayer was to the spirits of air. Though he and the air kami did not get along famously, his rapport with them was sufficient for this request. He asked that they stir and blow the putrid air from the room to give a respite to those within its walls.
(Spell Casting (Summon Air))

The Crab looked to his friend. "Hold her a moment. This may startle her."

Next, he spoke to the water kami. The priest summoned water just above the girl's torso. The water fell, splashed, and took with it some of what soiled her. Akira did not relish further frightening the poor girl, but in his experience, she would forget the water hit her as soon as it was over.
(Spell Casting (Summon Water))

"Her clothes. Undress her." His voice was calm, direct. He spoke to both Koutestu and the servant. Akira knew the proper course of action here. Redirecting her mind back to where it needed to be would be far easier if her body were in a similar state. Lying in or wearing clothes soaked in her own filth would not do. "The time for modesty has passed," Akira said, mostly to himself. As the other men handled Niko, the shugenja moved quickly to remove his own kimono. He got it off quickly and held it out in his left hand for one of the others to take as a replacement garment for Niko.

Later that day, Akira would reflect on the peculiar sight he must have been in that room. Standing undressed before these men, face painted like a Crab Wish Doll. In particular, his bare arms and chest told a story that none but Akira had ever heard. The man carried scars from the peculiar weapons, both crafted and "natural", of his opponents in the Shadowlands. Only careful preparation, and not a small helping of luck, had kept him from becoming afflicted with their particular taint. Though free of their corruption, and now separated from them by both time and distance, he knew he would never truly be free of them.

Akira waited until the other men had a handle on Niko, then motioned with his head toward the exit to her room. "Tend to her, but do so gently. I will be along momentarily."

With another quick prayer to the earth spirits, he summoned sand over much of the soiled floor. It would help contain Niko's mess, catch a bit of the water Akira had summoned, and expedite the room's cleanup for the servants who were sure to follow. I wonder what it would feel like to see the Scorpion responsible for this go through the same trials, he mused as he followed along behind the other men.
(Spell Casting (Summon Earth), 3 Called Raises)

All Of The Rolls
14 v 10 // Spell Casting (Summon Air)
31 v 10 // Spell Casting (Summon Water)
37 v 25 // Spell Casting (Summon Earth) // 3 Called Raises (+3 Cubic Feet)

Koutetsu's love for his younger sister would allow him to disregard any sense of impropriety for the sake of mending her broken body and mind. Her wretched state tore heavily at his heartstrings - Koutetsu wanted nothing more than for her to be whole and healthy. So, the Ashidaka lordling followed the instructions of the shugenja and undressed her with the servant so she would be cleansed. The room was foul and in Akira's blessings he began to alleviate the problems at hand. The air kami blew the stench from the room, the earth kami contained her sickness and the water kami cleansed her body. When his rituals were complete he personally carried her away, swaddled in the Kuni's robes, to bathe her.

Akira was not bid to accompany Koutetsu until the pliable Niko was thoroughly scrubbed and her hair washed and brushed. The Crane wanted to restore her dignity, her grace and her resolve; presenting her as a lady worthy of such an appearance was the only way Koutetsu knew how to help her. When she was finally presentable Koutetsu sought to bring her out of the darkness of her room and to the dining room.

She needed sustenance: food and water.

She needed love: family and friends.

She needed strength.

Ashidaka Koutetsu looked as grim as death itself but he attempted to restore some part of his sister. Really, she was the only sister be had left.

Kuni Akira stepped out of Ashidaka Niko's room shortly after the lady and her brother had departed. He walked absently back to the room in which, just moments ago, he had been discussing the young lady over tea. A servant found him and offered him back his robe, which the shugenja silently accepted and donned.

The juxtaposition of this situation held a certain intellectual fascination for Akira. Here he was, living and working in the crown jewel of the Empire, where almost any building in the Ekohikei, and many in the Toshisoto, held more wealth than any five in Crab homes Akira had seen. All this beauty, elegance, and here I stand, not fifty feet from a young woman who was tortured and abused, and for what? These people have no true battles to fight and so they make up their own. The horrors hidden in this city were seemingly without end and the irrationality of its citizens was truly perplexing.

Unconsciously, the shugenja shook his head as though that would help drive away the thoughts. He took a quick breath and refocused his mind on the task at hand. Niko.

The Crab found a servant, the same one who had given him the robe, and delivered instructions. "Inform your master that I will be at the temple just down the road. He is to use his discretion as to whether his sister should join us or remain here, but I would like to speak with him there when matters are settled here."

Akira walked towards the grand home's exit and was out the door before he realized he had once again played into the stereotype of his clan and their poor manners. Though at times a useful crutch, he hated when he did it unintentionally.

The Kuni entered the temple with all proper etiquette and decorum. He requested an audience with the head priest, but offered only his name, not his title, for this was a place of reverence and held no need for pomp. When the two men spoke, Kuni Akira requested permission to use the temple's hojo for a friend who was deeply in need of spiritual healing. He would not divulge more of Ashidaka Niko's condition than the priest might learn on his own from seeing her, but made it clear he would like her to have a comfortable position in which to view the garden and attempt to meditate.

As Akira looked upon the expertly crafted rock garden, his plan crystalized. He requested of the head priest that the Ashidaka be welcomed here for daily meditation and, in time, be allowed to try her hand with the rake and sand. The Kuni offered his services as a shugenja to the other holy man, promising that beyond whatever was requested in return, Akira would visit the temple, as his duties allowed, and would commune with the kami and make requests on behalf of the garden's caretaker.

It is here that he would wait for Ashidaka Koutestu. He hoped that Ashidaka Niko would be fit enough to attend, for Kuni Akira hoped to introduce her to these earth kami. But that could wait for another time, if need be. For now, he would meditate, comforted by the strong presence of the earth around him. He would meditate, and wait for the Crane to join him.