Concept by Tetsuhiko

Words by Coyote

Read by You.

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“Hu! Hauh! Ho!”

“Hu! Hauh! Ho!”

Matsu Tsuko stood at the head of four columns of training ashigaru listening to their shouts. Each one was ten people across and fifteen deep. They were practicing with yari during this drill. She had spent the first hour, as she normally did, going through the forms with them. Afterwards, the former Matsu Daimyo walked the ranks and corrected what needed to be corrected. She paused to observe the hazy army of Yogen-Sha Toshi, noticing that some differences could be seen beyond gender.

The kiai coming in repetition from 600 soldiers was loud enough that Tsuko did not hear the steps behind her. The person to whom the steps belonged to waited for a few minutes before speaking. While he waited, the man bearing the mon of the Ikoma Family smiled in appreciation in what his Clansman had accomplished.

“I will need to find a new name for them,” Ikoma Akiyama said with a smile. “The Silent Army no longer seems appropriate. I say, it reminds me of summer on the plains.”

The head of that army did not share the newcomers smile. She did allow herself to feel some measure of pride at the new behavior. In months past, they trained without a sound. They would bow and practice and follow orders, but they would not speak. Now, they were as loud and spirited as any ashigaru unit in the southern Lion lands.

“It started a few days ago. They may be indistinguished , but they are acting more Rokugani every month,” Tsuko agreed. “They will need that fighting spirit. But at this rate, I will have disciplinary problems occurring before the end of the next season.”

She turned to look at the older Lion. “Tell me, Ikoma-san. Why is it that I can train these mist-people to be a perfect fighting force, but this place won’t allow them to stay that way?”

“It is one of the many mysteries of Yogen-Sha Toshi I wish to chronicle, Matsu-sama,” he replied deftly. “To that end, I would like to ask again that you allow my scribes to ensure that your memories of Rokugan are preserved.”

This again , she thought. If you are going to annoy me, at least be entertaining about it.

“I would have thought the Fox already had a plan for that. They seem to enjoy acting like a Great Clan,” she said with a hint of disgust.

Akiyama gritted his teeth before responding to the obvious barb. There were downsides to working with Legends. “Most of the members of the Kitsune Family here in Yogen-Sha Toshi are Rangers. However talented those Mantis are at keeping records, they are not Ikoma lore-keepers, nor are any of them the Keeper of Records. I am. Better to have them busy with their own affairs.”

Hoping his heated words satisfied the storied Clan Champion, the poet switched over to a less controversial topic. “Unless my eyes deceive me, your forces have grown.”

Like many Lion, Matsu Tsuko enjoyed having the Ikoma Family express what she was feeling. She also enjoyed that Akiyama had his pride, as well.

“There are. The first two ranks before you are the newest of the….” The Keeper of Armies tried to say, when her words left her.

“Recruits?” the Ikoma offered.

Tsuko nodded her thanks. “When I develop strategies for defending the city that require greater numbers, they come. It has taken me months to learn that the… recruits… will not appear if I am making plans to attack that thing, Tomorrow. Which doesn’t make sense, since the Grey Crane is the Keeper of the Guard. And, no matter how I plan, I don’t have any officers or command staff for this Army.”

She then turned and bellowed out to the assembled ashigaru. “Break For Rest. Then Archery.”

Akiyama found out that Tsuko’s forces were just as noisy at rest as they were during their drills. “Perhaps the City isn’t ready to attack yet. If I can get the Rangers to find officers for you, will you allow my scribes to copy down your memories of Rokugan?” the Keeper of Records asked loudly.

The Keeper of Armies thought for a moment and nodded her assent. “Very well. Do this for me and I’ll even read that Yodotai book you prize so much.”

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A Nezumi female who was once known by the name of Ninube Shiho stood near a group samurai and monks watching the City’s heimin deconstruct a makeshift shrine in the city square. The mist-people of Yogen-Sha Toshi could be heard chatting among themselves and a few of them were even singing work songs. They had just cleared away the rocks and wooden markers form the exterior of the small hut. Now the indistinguished were hauling away scrolls and stacks of paper from within.

“Who ordered them to do this? ” she heard someone ask.

“Iweko-dono did!” a Lion called Raikitsu answered. “A new Shrine to the Remembered is being built outside the City to the west.”

Her whisker’s twitched. Something was not right with the Lion man. She could smell the touch of the painted monk on him. Underneath the bandages that cover the left side of the human’s head. Blood and power mixed like it did with the mad monks of the Spider. A part of her cringed when she thought of the Spider. Her Nezumi skin trapped the taint and the nothing within her. The Place of Fixed form wanted her to become something. She could feel it. She could not stay in the City and remain who she was.

The words of a Dragon woman brought her back to the present. She smiled inwardly at a sudden realization. I am a rememberer.

“The mountains that appeared in the west?” the Dragon asked.

“Leave it to a Dragon to know about Mountains,” a Crane courtier replied dryly.

“If you have more names, leave them with me!” a Builder called out. A Kaiu, she remembered. “Anything else will need to wait until next week.”

“Why will it take so long?” asked another human voice she couldn’t identify.

“So that you’ll have time to work on those words you call poetry,” came a tart reply.

Underneath the loud humans shouting back and forth about names and walls and memorials, her rodent like ears heard quitter voices speaking. These voices sounded troubled and menacing, tinged with pain.

“We have to wait that long?”

“Soon. Then we can strike and use our gifts.”

“Do you ever worry what this may cost us?”

“We’ve already lost. All that matters is making It suffer.”

The ninja that was once of the Nothing and now in the form of a Ratling, could smell the blood and madness on them too.

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Iweko Seiken stood on the raised wooden platform looking out on the assembled people of Yogen-Sha Toshi. The morning sun broke through the mist above the city to shine on him as though he were the Son of Heaven. Kakita Toshimoko, the Grey Crane, stood with him as his Yojimbo. An Honor Guard of city guardsmen, that the Kakita was the Keeper of, stood in front of the platform. All of them looking graceful and glorious. The most polished thing at the ceremony was behind all of them. A vein of black marble that ran for a half mile at the base of the mountain that had fixed itself to the environment outside of the city’s walls. Laborers and engineers had spent the last three weeks cutting and smoothing the ribbon of black white stone until it formed an almost reflective wall.

Three fourths of the Rokugani population of the City of Prophets was present in the crowd. There were even a few of the Ratlings here and there. But there was only one Naga in attendance, the Qolsa. He stood in the back with the other Keepers and the public face of the Rangers, Asako Kaitoko. The snake man was able to use his tail to stand higher and see over the crowd. It also put him at eye level with Seiken, an insult that Seiken silently promised that he would return to the Naga later.

The first born son of the Empress Iweko the First glanced over his shoulder and saw the nod from his yojimbo. He drew a long breath of the cool morning air before he spoke.

“Samurai of Rokugan! We have come together to honor those we have lost. To dedicate this Wall of Remberance,” he began. “This wall stretches for a half mile. Not long enough to hold the memories of all those we hold dear, but it is a good start.”

A cheerful looking man named Kaiu Otogou walked up the steps of the platform, knelt, and handed Iweko Seiken a hammer and chisel. He took the tools with a quiet word of thanks. Without another word, Seiken turned his back to the crowd and hammered away at the marble of the wall. His labors only lasted a few minutes, and he breathed heavily from the exertion. Two names were now carved into the mountainside. His brother, Shibatsu, and that of his sister, Miaka. I will not forget you , he promised them. And I will find Mother. I swear.

Kakita Toshimoko noticed that the moment lasted longer than it should have. Seiken was gripping the chisel so hard that his blood began to drip off its edge. “My Lord….” Toshimoko whispered.

Seiken stepped to the side and turned to see the crowd as they looked upon the names of his siblings. Even in stone, the names appeared to be written with the finest calligraphy hand. He let them enjoy the moment before continuing with his speech.

“The names on this wall are not the end of our action. We must stop this this thing from causing more grief, adding more names to the wall. We must take the fight to Tomorrow!” the Imperial heir shouted.

A group of ten Samurai and Monks gathered in front of Seiken, facing the crowd. Each one of them made a show of unwrapping bandages on their bodies. The most noticeable one was Akodo Raikitsu, who now bore a black tattoo of a creature about to eat his left eye. The dark lines travelled over much of the left side of his head. The nine others with him held up their own tattoos for all to see.

“The Master of Void has confirmed that these tattoos do not carry the Taint. He has also discovered that the taint will not spread in this place,” Seiken paused slightly to allow the news to sink in. “So I have allowed these women and men to receive these gifts from the one called Kokujin so that we may fight. I grant amnesty to all those who fought against my Mother’s Empire, so long as they fight with us against Tomorrow. And we will fight!”

A cheer came from the crowd at the promise of action. The Keepers in the back of the gathering did not applaud.

“With these weapons, we will take back what was taken from us. We will attack the beast before winter comes. We will make Tomorrow a thing of yesterday!” Iweko Seiken proclaimed.

The roar and chanting of the crowd brought him a smile and the feeling of vindication. It also made it impossible for him to see or comprehend the look of shock on several of the Keepers and Asako Kaitoko.

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The Phoenix Inquisitor known as Asako Kaitoko sat down in the dining area of the headquarters of what people were quickly coming to call Kaitoko’s Rangers. She waited for a servant to bring her a meal before speaking.

“You were not at the Dedication this morning.”

The person on the other side of the table continued to eat.

“As far as I or the Qolsa could tell, no one else from our group was in attendance.”

More silence and eating.

“Why do all of you refuse to give names to the Wall?”

“If we put a name in that shrine or on this new wall, it means we are giving up on that person. That they are unmade and can only be remembered as lost. I refuse to give up. Just because we can’t save everyone, does mean we stop trying.” A sigh. “Besides, I have no interest in watching mistakes being repeated.”

“So you heard about Iweko Seiken’s other pronouncements?”

“I did.”

“How will this end?”

“In Fire.”