When you are the son of a city governor, it is only natural to take great care in your personal appearance. Trained in the courtly arts by the Crane as he was, Meiyuu was more acutely aware than most of his kin of the knowledge that could be gleaned from examining another's attire. He himself had emerged as the victor at a moon viewing party three years earlier as the direct result of alluding to the Unicorn ambassador's fur-trimmed kimono in his poem regarding respect for one's ancestors. Most others in polite society would have avoided discussing something as taboo as animal flesh, but Meiyuu took the risk and bested the other poets with his unorthodox imagery; he also earned himself a friend in the Unicorn embassy at a young age.

The young samurai had also witnessed the abrupt dismissal of a few ambassadorial aides-especially at the Scorpion embassy-due to sloppy attire, as there was little room for error in a Great Clan's court.

The importance of looking one's best aside, Meiyuu also knew that time could potentially be of the essence, and so his training clothes were dropped in an unkempt heap only a few seconds after the lone rice paper door to his quarters had closed behind him. He rushed past the low table in the middle of the receiving room where his writing implements lay, brushes neatly organised along one side based on thickness and quality of the horse hair used. Several were still drying, but otherwise there was nothing to suggest that the governor's son had utilised the space today.

Meiyuu dashed behind the antique shoji screen depicting a battle in a forest between a pride of ferocious lionesses and a single flying phoenix; the flames of the latter flooded the landscape, enveloping the outstretched claws of the former. Somehow, the trees and leaves of this forest appeared unharmed. Meiyuu had always considered the concept of the piece particularly arrogant, but it had been painted by his ancestor Asako Kazen, a Nikesake governor in his own time, and the technical brushwork was truly exquisite.

Behind the shoji screen was an open entrance into a small storage room lined with shelves, probably designed by the original architect of the castle to house extra weapons or provisions. The room currently contained all of Meiyuu's clothing, each garment folded with care. Unlike his sister, Meiyuu had not utilised the privilege of his position to acquire a personal servant, instead seeing to his needs himself, although he did frequently rely on the servants who roamed Nikesake castle. He had categorised his attire according to various criteria, from colour schemes to gaudiness, even how complicated the garment was to don. The shelving nearest the doorway was where Meiyuu kept his simple clothes, and he hurriedly grabbed a sunrise orange kimono and its matching yellow obi sash before putting it on, deciding there was probably too little time for an under-kimono.

It took only a few minutes, but in his haste Meiyuu had wrapped his sash too tightly around his waist, and as he stepped further into the wardrobe to claim his crimson red haori jacket, adorned on the back with his family's mon so he would be recognised on the streets, he found himself unable to lift his arms up enough to put the haori on over his kimono.

"This isn't working out too well," he muttered before beginning to fix up his obi. "I am probably wasting valuable time at this point."

It took only a handful of seconds to get everything sorted, although it felt like too many minutes to Meiyuu. He walked back into his receiving room, inspected himself with the small hand-mirror that was almost as venerable as the shoji screen, and then nodded in approval. "I shouldn't shame my family going out in public like this," he observed, smiling, but just as quickly as the smile had appeared it was gone again, as Meiyuu remembered what he had forgotten in the wardrobe. He ran into the back of the room to claim his hat before rushing out of his quarters, leaving his door slightly open.


Asako Meiyuu had been under the impression that he had gotten to the drawbridge of Nikesake castle with some measure of swiftness, but when he arrived he found the two guards he had sent for already waiting for him. Shiba Kenji was ten years Meiyuu's senior, and much wiser, having served two Nikesake governors and earned great glory in the war of Dark Fire some years earlier. He was garbed in orange armour, complete with a mempo in the shape of a phoenix beak; the iron war mask adequately covered the scarring Kenji had sustained fighting against the Dark Fire Oracle's immolated servants, whilst also providing him with an intimidating air of authority, which was well warranted considering his position as deputy commander of the Provincial Guard. At his side he held a traditional naginata polearm, and the staff appeared as polished as the steel blade embedded at its head. He bowed low but stiffly at Meiyuu's approach.

"Meiyuu-sama," he grunted.

The other samurai who had answered Meiyuu's summons was the man who had almost ended his life earlier that day, Kakita Shigeaki. Whilst a member of the elite Provincial Guard defending the Phoenix Clan's southernmost holding and its environs, Shigeaki, as the only samurai to ever be inducted who was not a member of the Phoenix Clan, was adorned as he always was when on duty: in his sky blue and white lacquered armour embossed with the mon of the Crane Clan. Unlike Shiba Kenji, Shigeaki wore no helmet or mempo, and did not wield a naginata, even though the polearm was often considered the core weapon of the Provincial Guard. Instead, his bleached white hair flowed behind his head in a simple ponytail, and as for weaponry he relied solely on his daisho, having trained in the art of iaijutsu with the Kakita sensei renowned for their skill with the katana.

"Asako-sama," Shigeaki almost whispered, bowing. Meiyuu noticed him glance at his hand, checking for signs of the injury he had caused only hours before. It made Meiyuu realise what a precarious position Shigeaki must have felt himself in, causing harm to a person it was his duty to protect.

Meiyuu bowed, though not as low the other two did. "Kenji-san, Kakita-san, I am glad you were both not fulfilling duties elsewhere. I need an escort to the Blue Tiled Room, my cousin has asked for my father and the Guard to see him." He knew there would be no questions despite the mysterious summons and it was not just because the samurai of the Provincial Guard were expected to obey any order from a member of the governor's family; Kenji and Shigeaki were both intelligent samurai and would have likewise wondered what right a philosopher's son had to summon not only the governor but also the Guard. Meiyuu turned and walked along the drawbridge, over the moat protecting the castle.

"Hai," both guardsmen responded as they moved to follow, each falling into step on one side of their charge.

Meiyuu strolled out onto the wide main road of Nikesake. Since the city's founding eight centuries earlier, the other Great Clans had slowly invested resources in acquiring favours and land along this road, each establishing an embassy in the vicinity of Nikesake castle. Usually when he walked along Friendship Street, Meiyuu gazed at each of the estates erected by the other clans, but he had no time for that today.

"Asako-sama, good day!"

Meiyuu's attention was drawn to an elderly woman who was hobbling down the misshapen rock formation that comprised the entrance stairway to the Silver Dragon Embassy. Her back had bent as a sheaf of barley with age, and she supported herself with a walking stick that was a handspan too short for her needs, but Meiyuu had never witnessed anything other than a smile on Kitsuki Haname's face in all the time he had known her. Even now her eyes had crinkled closed in an expression of joy. Meiyuu gestured for his two bodyguards to stop, and then bowed to the approaching woman. "May Hotei-sama continue to grant his blessing of contentment on you, Kitsuki-san. You are well?" As he asked this question, he wondered how long this conversation would take, knowing he could not be discourteous to an ambassador.

Kitsuki Haname had been the resident Dragon Clan ambassador in Nikesake for just over thirty years, a statistic unheard of in almost any city in the whole of Rokugan, but she was well suited for life here. She had taken to the local custom of outrageous headgear with zeal, and today her head was adorned with a particularly unique hat made entirely of various sized bells, some as large as a ripe plum, all sewn onto a wicker frame that spiralled two feet toward the sky. "I am all the better for seeing you, young lord. I actually wanted to invite you inside for some tea, but I see that you are busy. Another time?"

Meiyuu managed to resist sighing with relief, instead bowing low to hide the smile threatening to break out on his lips. "It would be my pleasure, Kitsuki-san."

Haname's eyes crinkled with joy once again. "It is settled then. Off you go, now, Asako-sama, I am certain duty awaits!" Conversation concluded, the elderly Dragon turned around and began the slow, steady task of climbing back up the crooked stairs with the aid of her stunted walking stick.

Meiyuu picked up the pace from here, and as his two companions matched their strides with his, Shigeaki whispered, "That could have gone for hours, I am convinced she is part Sparrow."

Meiyuu politely ignored the jest, but he could feel the disapproving glance that Shiba Kenji shot across him, aimed at his junior.


"Meiyuu-sama, what a surprise to find you here!" An Asako scholar-Meiyuu had met him once but forgotten his name-stood outside the entrance to the Blue Tiled Room, his eyes squinting from having spent too much time reading by candlelight.

"It shouldn't be," Meiyuu retorted, "my cousin sent for me. Why is he not here to greet me himself?" More importantly, considering Kazuo would have been expecting the arrival of the city governor and the commander of the Provincial Guard, why would he have risked the consequences of not waiting for them personally?

The scholar bowed apologetically. "Yes, well, circumstances inside are not...ideal. We have had to close off access to everyone since this morning. Of course, you and the Guard are welcome. I believe you will find Kazuo-san in his father's study." Unsure of what else to say, the scholar bowed yet again, and then moved to intercept a monk who approached to enter the renowned academy of knowledge and debate.

Kenji stepped forward. "I will enter first, Meiyuu-sama. Shige-kun, watch the young lord's back." The deputy commander entered the building, leaving Meiyuu and and Shigeaki no time to respond. They fell into line behind Kenji, and a wary silence fell upon all three samurai.

The Blue Tiled Room was the largest library in the southern Phoenix provinces, having been established by the second governor of Nikesake and carried on by the bloodline of his nephew. Shortly after Meiyuu was born his uncle Soden married the last scion of that lineage, bonding the bloodlines once more. His cousin Kazuo arrived in the world two years later.

As he walked along the narrow corridors that led to inner courtyards, to debating theatres and, of course, to multi-storeyed rooms housing the largest collections of gaijin scrolls in all of the empire, Meiyuu felt uneasy. This was the first time in his entire life that the lanterns in the hallways had ever been unlit, and the echoes of philosophers arguing vehemently in a distant chamber were not present. What had changed since Meiyuu's last visit two weeks earlier? What had been able to inflict such evil chi upon a structure famous for its welcoming and inquisitive atmosphere? He fervently hoped that he would be an adequate substitute for his father in this matter, but he felt uncertain.

Once they arrived at the north wing of the complex, the private residential area of the caretaker's family, Meiyuu finally saw his first glimpse of candlelight ahead, but as he followed Shiba Kenji into the receiving room of his uncle, he inhaled what tasted like ash-ridden air. He coughed lightly, not wanting to lose face in front of his two bodyguards, but the foul taste remained, lingering in his mouth and nose. Had Soden's wife Chiyo made a mistake in her cooking recently?

No one was in the receiving room. Kenji turned to glance at the young lord and then grunted, "Still nobody greets us, Meiyuu-sama. If you will, I ask that you stay here under Kakita-san's protection while I see why our host has forgotten his manners." His mempo covered much of his facial expression, but Meiyuu noted the furrow of concern in Kenji's eyebrows. "Shige-kun, be ready," he added quietly, before moving over to the rice paper door leading into Asako Soden's study.

"Yes sir," the Crane replied without pause, unsheathing his katana with silent ease from its scabbard and taking a defensive stance in front of Meiyuu. The self-confidence in those two words made Meiyuu realise for the first time that this Crane samurai was prepared to give his life for a younger samurai from another clan, and the privilege of that was humbling.

Kenji snapped the door open, but after a moment's glance he lowered his naginata to a resting position, blade pointing downwards. He cleared his throat before looking back at his two companions. "Meiyuu-sama?"

From his current position Meiyuu couldn't see through the doorway into the study, but in the seconds since the door had been opened the specks of ash in the air seemed much thicker. He tried to stifle another short cough, and felt tickling phlegm catching at the back of his throat.

A strained voice called out from within the study, "Meiyuu?"

It was a familiar voice, and yet it was alien at the same time; Meiyuu had never heard anything but optimism in his cousin's tone before. Fearing all manner of things, Meiyuu approached the doorway, steadied his bearing, and then entered.