Tenchu: Storms of Gohda
Disclaimer: Rikimaru, Ayame, Gohda and other significant people and places already in the Tenchu world are not mine. Everything else is though.
Prologue
"This sake's quite good isn't it?"
The two men in the small private room laughed in good spirits. Their serving girl fled the room as one of them tried for a feel. Five bottles of the sharp, clear stuff lay empty on the low table. A sixth sat half empty beside an impressive spread of nigiri and maki sushi rolls.
Both men were fairly built, maybe even handsome to some young women, but each was rotten to the core. The shorter of the two with an eye for women took another drink. The more muscular of them took another wolfish bit out of a rice ball.
"Well do ya think we can get the kodama leaves past the next checkpoint?"
"Don't worry about it. We're three days ahead of schedule and we'll just pay of the guards if they get suspicious. Let's relax tonight and then head out in the morning."
As the two men continued their partying, a pair of socked feet made their way to their room. The young woman kneeled at the shogi, announcing her presence to the men inside. The smaller man walked to the door, expecting another bottle of sake. Instead a sharp gasp escaped his lips as a razor sharp pain pierced his chest. A gleaming blade glinted through the paper door before twisting; rending his heart in the process and retreating back through the door.
As the woman twisted her blade to kill the man, the real serving girl rounded the corner. Her scream never left her lips as a hand covered her face with a scented cloth. Muffled cries of distress and fear died into unconsciousness. The assassin turned from the door as she pulled the sword from the shogi.
The first target's body fell through as his friend yelled in shock. She sheathed her sword and took the unconscious girl from her partner's arms as he stepped toward the room. He gripped the katana at his side as he approached the remaining shogi.
His prey kicked the remnants of the door down as he came to the room. The ring of his sword sang out as he slashed upward, cleaving the man's leg in two at the knee. The force of the blow lifted the man into the air. Their eyes met for an instant before the assassin plunged the weapon down in the falling thrust; pinning him to the floor. A swift twist of the sword finished the man.
Pulling the sword from his body, he drew a white cloth from his kimono and ran it across the blade, wiping it clean of blood. Letting the fabric fall from his hand, he then sheathed the sword and retrieved a note and kunai from his sleeve, pegging the note to the door post with the small weapon. Hearing rapid footsteps approaching, he dashed to the nearby stone wall and vaulted off of it and onto the tiled roof.
Turning in place, his partner waved him over to her across the building. Screams of women and cursing of men could be heard over their silent foot falls as they dashed off into the night, another mission successful.
Two Shadows of Gohda, more specifically of the Tatsumaki Myoji, had struck silent justice for Goda.
The Shadows of Gohda . . . ninjas pledged to serve Lord Gohda under the command of Rikimaru were feared and respected in their arts. Unknown to most outside the clan and Lord Gohda himself were that several families within the clan held certain techniques to themselves. This kept the power of the Gohda Ninja distinct, and well preserved.
The Tatsumaki Myoji, or the Tornado Family of the Gohda Ninja held high prestige within the clan. The first head of the family, Gyobu Zansaku had thought of a style specializing in the concept of one against many; a situation that all shinobi feared.
During the invasion of Gohda, when Rikimaru took over leadership of the clan after Tatsumaru's death, the Tatsumaki Myoji held the village secure as others were ordered out into the country. It was a great honor to be entrusted with the safety of the Clan Village. Two of Lord Mei-Oh's military units managed to find the Ninja village, but none made it inside its walls, nor did any leave alive.
Upon the clan's return, eight members of the Tatsumaki Myoji were being buried in their cemetery. Eighty bodies in two piles of forty burned like bonfires in the distance. There had been thirty shinobi defending the village for that battle. Among those thirty members were the twin great grandchildren of Zansaku; Usugurai Yuki and her brother Kanashii Yugure. It was said by witnesses that their blades had claimed the most blood in the fighting. Since then, the words of the siblings have carried substantial weight for their youth.
A few years later, during the clan's encounter with the shinobi Shigi, the Tatsumaki Twins lost a close cousin when a Kagami Myoji kunoichi tried to rescue him from the enemy. Ever since the family has claimed a personal vendetta against him and the clan he claims allegiance with.
Now, during their relative peace, the siblings go about their nights hunting wretches within Gohda. Their message of Tenchu left with the corpses of their targets.
Glossary of Names and Terms
Tatsumaki: Tornado
Myoji: Family
Usugurai Yuki: Dark Snow
Kanashii Yugure: Sorrowful Nightfall
Kagami: Mirror
Shinobi: roughly translates as ninja, though for this fic, my shinobi will represent both male and female genders.
Kunoichi: FEMALE ninja . . . I will use this term to specifically point out gender differences when needed.