The First Training

Chapter 4

"I didn't realize the Emperor would want to see us this soon!" Simon spoke excitingly, obviously overwhelmed with the turn of events. He had just returned from the palace, and was still under the impression of the young ruler of Japan. Mr. Omura had called for Colonel Bagley, Captain Algren, and Simon Graham to stand before the Emperor that morning.

"That's nice." Kitty said plainly, ignoring her father's excitement and eagerness. Sure, being in the presence of the country's ruler would've been interesting. But not that exciting...after all, the Emperor Meiji was a mere boy, too young to make his own decisions. Probably Mr. Omura and his other advisors dictated his every move and action.

"That's all you have to say?" Simon asked his daughter stunned. "Your father has seen the Emperor of Japan! Do you realize how fortunate I am? For 2000 years, no emperor was seen by a commoner. You understand what kind of honor this is for me?"

"Yes, papa!" Katherine laughed heartily at her father's remarks. "Hopefully, he was worth it."

"Oh, he's young and very inexperienced." Simon spoke up. "Seemed most interested in Captain Algren and his wars with the redskins."

"I'm very curious about that myself." Kitty replied in fascination.

"Well, sorry to disappoint you my girl. But the Captain isn't very talkative when it comes to those stories. He didn't even give the Emperor a fulfilling answer." Simon stated confidently, recalling Algren's small answer when the Emperor asked about the Indians.

"What did he say?" Katherine questioned with interest.

"That they were very brave."

There's was a knock on the door that interrupted father and daughter's conversation. It was a young Japanese boy who served in the hotel. He informed Simon that the American Officers had left to train the Imperial Army and his services as the translator were greatly needed.

"Goodness gracious!" Simon exclaimed in alarm, after the boy delivered the message in Japanese. "I completely forgot! Today is the first day of the training!"

"I shall come with you, father." Kitty made up her mind confidently. "I'm terribly bored here... alone all day."

"You must translate those ancient books, my dear." Her father reminded her. "Captain Algren depends on it." Deep down, he didn't want his precious girl in such a place. It wasn't a safe zone for a young lady. But then again, Kitty was hardly an incapable damsel in distress. She knew how to behave even in those kinds of situations.

"And I will." Katherine answered brightly, grabbing the scrolls and ancient books that she had to translate. "I'll bring them with me." Staying alone in her hotel room in a completely strange and unusual country was not an appealing idea to her...even though she did speak their language.

Seeing that his daughter had her mind set on following her father at the training session, Simon gave up and allowed her to join him. Hopefully, the other males would've been open to the idea of having a woman there.

"Ahh finally...we're here." Simon spoke up, as the carriage came around the corner of the large hill. Katherine tried to sit taller as she peered around the thinning forest to see where they had arrived. At the bottom of the hill was a field that was lined with uniformed people...People who Katherine couldn't help but assume were all men. They were slightly disorganized and other superior soldiers were screaming at them in a circus of languages.

The father and daughter made their way towards the troops where Captain Algren and Sergeant Gant stood before them. They were yelling out orders in English. "Right, you little bastards!" Gant exclaimed with his thick Scottish accent. "You will stand up straight, or I will personally shit-kick every far eastern butt-hock that appears before my eyes!"

The so-called soldiers started moving back and forth clumsily trying to obey the orders which they obviously didn't understand. "Mr. Graham! You're late!" Colonel Bagley appeared, walking closer towards Simon. However, his annoyed expression changed when he saw Katherine and her sparking sea green eyes. Before anyone could answer, another voice was heard.

"Colonel, I'll take it from here." Captain Algren joined in, quite irritated with Bagley's bossy tone. "I believe you have other duties to attend to."

Colonel Bagley shot Algren a dirty look and left without another word, angrily marching towards Mr. Omura and other Japanese officers. "Don't mind him." Captain Algren said after a while. "He's still upset that the Emperor didn't show interest in his accomplishments."

"No worries. I'm ready to assist you, Captain." Simon waved his comment away cheerfully, eager to get down to business.

"Miss Katherine, I don't believe this is a right place for you."

"My place is where my father is." Katherine responded confidently at Algren's statement.

Her sharp response caused the Captain to smirk while Simon was beaming with pride. "I respect your decision, Miss."

The trio started walking back to the open field where the disorganized troops stood with their rifles over their arms. At a raised platform stood an elderly looking man with a frost colored hair. "That's General Hasegawa!" Simon exclaimed after recognising the honorable officer. "I'd like to introduce him to you, Captain."

Algren nodded and glanced at Katherine who looked lost in her own world. He wondered what she was thinking about...definitely not about the army and training. What Algren didn't know was that her mind was occupied with the thoughts of him. She had a hard time understanding the Captain. On one hand, he looked drunk, depressed, and annoyed and on the other, he was kind, honest and warm. Kitty had a good idea what Bagley, Mr. Omura, and Gant were like. Colonel Bagley was an unpleasant, sneaky and greedy man. Mr. Omura was a businessman who had his own agenda, while Gant was a typically Scottish soldier. The men that surrounded her were all doing their job for money and personal gain. But this Captain Nathan Algren was different! He didn't enjoy whatever he was doing...it was obvious. He hated Colonel Bagley, and for some reason, he looked like a man who had given up on life. This interested Katherine...she wanted to know more about this strange man. Why was he so upset? What had he done? Why didn't he talk about the wars he participated in against the Red Indians?

"General Hasegawa, this is Captain Algren, and this here is my daughter Katherine." Simon greeted the honorable man in his language and introduced the other two to him. The General nodded in respect at both Algren and Katherine.

"Ask him what kind of training they've had." Captain Algren told Simon, obviously talking about the poor troops that were struggling to respond to the commands of the officers.

Simon quickly translated it to General Hasegawa, his response caused Katherine to giggle softly. Algren looked at them completely clueless.

"He says we have trained them not to shoot their...asses off." Simon said trying hard not to laugh.

"The problem is they're peasants." Simon continued translating the General's words to Captain. "They have never had this sort of responsibility or power."

Katherine couldn't help but feel sad for the poor conscripts. After all, sooner or later they were expected to face the Samurai army. Most of them would probably never make it alive. According to the books she had read about the ancient warriors, they were fearless and had no word for retreat. How on earth would they suppose to win? Hopefully, Algren would teach them well. Or they'd be all doomed as her father predicted earlier when they were on the ship.

"Ask him if they have a flag." Algren spoke calmly.

"No flag." Simon translated bluntly.

"They need a flag." Algren said in determination walking over to help one of the peasants who couldn't even hold a gun properly. Simon followed him instantly while Katherine stayed behind with the stoic General. She figured she'd ask him couple of questions about Katsumoto and his army. She needed to gather all sorts of information about him in order to translate the books properly for the Captain.

Katherine politely bowed to General Hasegawa and spoke softly. "General, I'd greatly appreciate if you could share some details about the samurai, Katsumoto. You see, I'm translating the book for Captain Algren. And your knowledge will be of great use to me. You seem to know quite a lot about him and his rebellion."

The elderly man looked very impressed and pleasantly surprised when he heard Katherine's fluent and soft-spoken Japanese. He answered her right away. "Katsumoto Moritsugu is an extremely charismatic leader. To those who honor the old ways, he is a hero. His force is estimated at about five hundred and growing by the day. All samurai.

"What kind of man is he?" Katherine questioned, very intrigued with what she was hearing so far.

"Katsumoto has no fear. He has no pity. He is kotsutai. -The soul of Japan."

Katherine listened to the General in awe, she didn't realize how strong and empowering her enemies were. She had some kind of an idea, thanks to her father. But hearing these words coming from the General himself was trembling.

Before she could say anything else, Mr. Omura and Colonel Bagley were walking side by side and they called for General Hasegawa, who politely bowed to Katherine and excused himself. Katherine thanked the man for the valuable information and bowed to him in respect, as he walked over to fulfill his duties. Soon afterwards, she was again approached by Captain Algren and her father.

"Miss Katherine, your father said that you'll be translating the books for me."

"Yes, I've already started." Kitty answered gently, turning her attention towards him.

"You were speaking with Hasegawa?" The Captain raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"One must gather all details while translating a book in another language." Katherine replied with a small smile and glanced at her father, who was nodding his head in approval.

Algren couldn't help but admire her cleverness, bright, and fresh personality. She had so much life in her. Part of him was worried for her. After all, in some way she was part of this inevitable war and he knew very well what kind of psychological scars the battles left on one's mind especially, on a young girl.

"I see," Algren paused for a while. "Mr. Graham, you and your daughter are a great help-" As he was still speaking suddenly, Simon started to cough hysterically, he tried to cover his mouth with a small handkerchief. To Katherine's horror, she soon noticed that her father was spitting out blood. "Mr. Graham! Are you alright?" Algren questioned urgently.

"Papa!" Katherine exclaimed terrified. "Papa, what's wrong?!"

"I'm fine...I'm-" And just like that, all of a sudden, Mr. Graham lost control and collapsed on the ground. Katherine cried out frantically as she rushed towards her father, while Algren yelled on top of his lungs for help.

Mr. Omura, Colonel Bagley, General Hasegawa, Sergeant Gant, and the other Japanese officers ran up to them after they heard the shouting.

Katherine tried to wake her father up, but all in vain. She was starting to panic, Mr. Omura gave orders to seek out a doctor. However, all Katherine could think about was her father, she couldn't hear anything...everything was like a blur to her. She had lost her mother...she couldn't lose her dear father as well. She simply wouldn't be able to cope with that!

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