Samoorai Yak

Chapter Four

Steal From The Rich

A knock on the barrel cover above me woke me from my sleep, and it was removed to reveal Shiro Kujo. "We are here."

Climbing out of the barrel, I groaned as I felt cramps all over my body. Stretching to try and remove them, I helped Shiro open the covers of my trusted associates' barrels.

As we came up onto the weather decks of Shiro's small junk, I could see that we were in a cave that had been repurposed for the use of the Yakooza.

As Shiro's junk raised anchor to sail away, my trusted associates and I snuck past the sleepy Yak sentries to reach their oyabun, Shingen.

"There he is!" Rena whispered to me, tugging on my sleeve as she pointed from the cover of the shadows. She was pointing to a gray-haired Yak dressed in deep purple robes with many golden dragons stitched into the fabric.

I looked around to see the rest of my trusted associates in the shadows, and on my signal, we stepped out from the shadows like Ninja Pigs, and Oyabun Shingen looked up at us with surprised dark eyes.

"Who are you? How did you get into the middle of my lair?" Oyabun Shingen asked, and I answered. "My name is Matthew Exeter, and these are my trusted were brought here by Shiro Kujo to see Egg Foo Yung."

"Shiro Kujo smuggled you into my lair? I'll take it up with him then, when I see him next. So you want access to my prisoner?" Oyabun Shingen asked, and we nodded.

"To speak to Egg Foo Yung, you must make yourself useful to the Yakooza. Three matters must be dealt with before new business can begin."

"If you think we are mere criminals, you are mistaken! Yakooza are allies to the poor and enemies to any who take from the villagers what little they have."

"Governor Nakamura has levied unfair taxes upon the people of Yagizawa Village. Go there and speak to my lieutenant, Kennosuke. He will tell you what you must do." Oyabun Shingen said as he pointed to the mouth of the cave in the distance.

"Very well then." I said as I turned to leave. The bright sunlight dazzled our eyes as we stepped outside of the darkness of the cave, but our eyes soon adjusted, and taking one of the Yakooza's fishing boats in the nearby village, we soon arrived at Yagizawa Village.

Kennosuke was a gray-haired Yak that lived in a hut on the outskirts of Yagizawa Village, and he looked up at us as we approached him.

"So Oyabun sent you to recover the unfair taxes, eh? Good... you look like you can handle yourselves in a fight!" Kennosuke said as he stood up. "You look incredulous. I assure you, we Yakooza are not mere criminals or bandits - we are champions of the common folk!"

"Seek out Kuga Hidenari. He is an honorable samoorai who has taken up arms against Governor Nakamura. Find his camp, there is much he can tell you." Kennosuke said.

"I admit, I do not like the look of our new allies. But they fight for the innocent - I respect them for that." El Toro whispered to me as we left, and I nodded. "Same here."

As we entered the bamboo forest outside of Yagizawa Village, Bonnie soon found a well-hidden, but beaten trail that led to the camp of Hidenari Kuga, as his name would be said outside of MooShu, with his given name first instead of his surname.

Hidenari wore lacquered armor with a quiver of arrows slung over his back, and he held a hunting bow in his hands as he sat near his campfire. We sat down around his campfire without any resistance, and then I spoke.

"My name is Matthew Exeter, and these are my trusted associates. Kennosuke-san said you could tell us what was going on, Hidenari-san." I said, and Hidenari looked up at me. "When the Emperor fell ill, corruption took hold throughout the provinces quickly."

"I have renounced my station, becoming ronin to oppose the injustice my former master Nakamura has visited upon these lands!"

"Nakamura's so-called taxes must go back to the people! I will lead you to his castle. Beware - he is well guarded by the thugs who do his will!" Hidenari said as he stood up. He broke into a quick jog, and we followed him to the gates of Governor Nakamura's castle.

The castle and its estate was proud and noble, a stark contrast to the humble village just outside its walls, an obvious sign of the corruption and the unequal distribution of wealth here.

But that wasn't important now, and on the count of three, we all kicked down the wooden doors, surprising the samoorai guards wearing lacquered armor inside the courtyard.

"Protect the governor! Take him to the audience chamber! The trespassers must not be allowed to reach him there!" I heard a compound guard shout as he fumbled around for his weapon.

"Fighting waves of guards to reach a crooked tax collector? It is as if I never left home!" El Toro said as he drew his foil.

A samoorai wielding a katana was the first to engage me, and his curved sword clashed against my own sword, and we struggled against each other. He had the strength of a Bull, but he had forgotten the first rule of combat: that there are no rules.

I kicked him in the chest, knocking him down to the ground so I could shoot him in the face with my pistol. An arrow then landed at my feet, and I looked up to see archers up on the rooftops of the compound, and I broke into a run to avoid their arrows.

Quickly opening and closing a sliding door behind me, I sighed as I put my back to the door, but then I heard the sound of katanas being drawn from their scabbards, and I looked to see more samoorai guards in front of me.

Pointing my sword at them, small blue fireballs appeared around the tip of my sword, and I shouted, "Artillery!"

The samoorai were unprepared for the salvo of blue fireballs that was my attack, and I left them groaning on the floor in a daze. "The coward's probably fled upstairs. Let's go get him."

I opened a sliding door to a set of stairs up to the terrace on the roof of Governor Nakamura's castle, where a Goat dressed in a red robes and a tall hat was guarded by more samoorai.

"So, petty bandit, you think you can rob me? No way! No how! Destroy him!" The Goat, presumably Governor Nakamura, shouted as he pointed at me, and drawing their swords, his guards ran to face me.

Shoving my empty pistol into its holster, I drew my other sword, and blunting them both with blue energy, I ran to face my attackers.

One guard lunged with his katana, but I parried it and thrust my other sword into his face, sending him stumbling backwards over the terrace's railings.

I knocked back my other three attackers, and sheathing my swords, I drew two loaded pistols from their holsters behind me and fired them, stunning two of the guards.

The last samoorai recovered and ran towards me with his sword, shouting a battle cry, but I calmly drew my last pistol and shot him, sending him to the floor of the terrace, stunned.

As I approached him with my swords drawn, Governor Nakamura backed away. "I surrender! Take the gold... that's what you came for, isn't it? I'm done with this line of work!"

Tying the governor's hands with his own sash, I led him down to the courtyard, where Hidenari took him away to prison as we searched the compound for the treasury, where we found large bags of gold coins taken from the villagers.

"This money should return to the villagers." Rena said, but the hypocrite was trying to slip some of it into her pocket, a habit from her days in Scrimshaw that hadn't quite been broken yet. I gave her a disapproving look and she reluctantly put the gold coin back in the bag.

We returned to Yagizawa Village, where we started handing out gold to every villager we met, though I noticed Rena and Ratbeard were having an especially difficult time with actually letting the coins out of their hands.

"Here you go, ma'am." I said as I offered some gold coins to a lady Cow dressed in bright green robes, but she shook her hand. "I have no need of money, young one, but may I know the names of our heroes?"

I introduced myself and the others to her, and she in turn introduced herself as Moolinda Wu, a teacher on vacation from a place called Ravenwood. "You're pirates, aren't you? Tell me, have you met one of my students in Skull Island, Nikolai Volkov?"

"Yeah, he's our landlord!" I said, and Moolinda beamed. "When you return to Skull Island, do tell him I said hello."

"Such a waste, seeing all that gold go. Maybe you could hold onto just a wee bit? You've earned it! Think of your crew!" Ratbeard pleaded with me, and Rena nodded in agreement.

"These poor Sheep have more need of the gold than we do. Besides, the happier these folk are, the happier the Yakooza will be." Bonnie answered for me, and they hung their heads in disappointment.

But according to the village elders, we weren't about to go without a reward, and in this case, it was in the form of robes called yukata, made by the village's best seamstresses.

Tying an obi sash around my new blue yukata, I slipped on some wooden sandals called geta as I put my sword in its scabbard and my pistol in between the sash and my yukata.

The others had finished changing, and I even gave Rena, dressed in a bright green yukata similar to Moolinda's with her golden blonde hair in a ponytail, the old once-over.

"Hm... Now what would be a good pump-action shotgun to go with my outfit?" Bonnie wondered aloud as she looked at herself dressed in an orange yukata in the reflection of a nearby pond.

We returned to Oyabun Shingen in the Yakooza's cave, who looked up at us as we approached him. "I have heard from the folk of Yagizawa Village of your efforts on their behalf. You have the friendship of the Yakooza!"

"Furthermore, I give you an imperial writ granting you safe passage within MooShu. You will no longer be attacked out of hand for leaving Hamamitsu Skyway. Do not ask where it has come from... and be careful handling it. The ink may smudge."

I nodded as I took the writ from Oyabun Shingen, and after he had let us go free, I decided to spend the rest of the evening in the hot springs of the local village inn.

I sat near the entrance to the hot springs, pouring buckets of hot water over my head, and I sighed with satisfaction as I leaned backwards against the smooth rock in the middle of the central pool.

Here I am, retracing the steps of Marco Pollo, and Mom too. I thought, closing my eyes as I poured another bucketful of hot water over my head. Mom, Dad, if you could see me now, would you be proud of me? Jack says you would, and I hope that's true.

I was then broken from my train of thought by the sound of the sliding door in front of me opening, and I looked to see Rena with her hair down and only a towel to cover her lean figure, which as a guy, I couldn't help but notice was well-developed.

We were both silent for a second as we stayed frozen to our positions, before Rena's scream pierced the night. "PERVERT!"