Chapter 14

A White Horse

The bright red sun was slowly rising over the horizon, a fresh chilly breeze kept humming like a bird in the air, leaves were already starting to change colors into beautiful vibrant colors and autumn was slowly and quietly approaching Japan. Ujio always rose with the sun, just like any other disciplined samurai would. Before he'd start his daily routine, which mostly included training, commanding and getting the warriors ready for the upcoming battles, he always mediated at the top of a large hill of the village...again, this was something almost all samurai did. Ujio peacefully closed his eyes, and tried to relax as usual. But for some reason, his mind wouldn't cooperate on this particular morning. The latest events that had recently occurred were still fresh in everyone's minds, and Ujio was no exception. The death of Hirotaro, the seppuku of Hasegawa, the capture of the two gaijin hostages...that shameful woman! What a disgrace! What on earth was she doing in the battle?! What the actual hell!? Ujio always suspected that the westerners were crazy but this was beyond crazy...this was just plain retarded! What kind of a man would allow a woman to participate in the battle...and not just any battle; a battle against Samurai! This was another reason why Ujio so badly wanted to end the American soldier's life. He was apparently not only a loser, shamed in defeat, but also a horrible commander who had allowed a woman to join the battle. Disgraceful!

Every time he thought about it, his eyes fumed with anger. And besides, that barbarian had murdered Hirotaro, the best warrior in the village. Ujio was always fond of the samurai in the crimson armor...they were good friends, so his death affected him in some ways. But at least, Hirotaro died gloriously in the battlefield just like he always wanted.

Ugh, and that foolish woman! He didn't know what to think! Hopefully, Katsumoto would find some information about her from that journal that he had given him the other day. How dare she refuse to tell him her name?! And then she even had nerves to collapse in his arms?! And Ujio, out of all people, had to carry her himself in the house?! What a shame and complete outrage! Thankfully, he was very relieved when Katsumoto appointed Nobutada to guard her. God forbid if he were in the poor young man's place...he'd probably lose his wits. Katsumoto knew that very well, so he took pity on his friend and instead charged his son with the new assignment.

Now, Ujio was getting very annoyed with himself. He was supposed to be meditating and instead here he was devoting his precious time to those barbarians and kept thinking about those two disgraceful and pathetic foreigners! Ujio took a deep breath and decided to close his eyes once more and find himself in a peaceful state...no mind.

At last, everything became still. And Ujio was glad that his mind was finally in tranquil, calm, and restful condition. Quite suddenly, a dream-like vision came to him. A magnificent white horse galloped towards him, rearing up and neighing in protest and anguish at first. But then, it became quiet and stopped. The gentle breeze brushed through its beautiful white mane, and the horse slowly neared Ujio and placed the head on his shoulder. Their eyes met for a while, and Ujio easily touched its nose. The horse let out a sigh of sadness and with a soft nicker, bolted away and vanished instantly.

That's when Ujio opened his eyes in surprise and puzzlement.

Was this a shadow of things yet to come?

Katherine awoke...she didn't really get much sleep that night because of Algren's horrible screams. She felt so sorry and at the same time so scared for him. She wished to find him and comfort him in some way. But how was she planning on doing that? Katherine needed comforting herself. She looked around only to realize that nothing had changed and she was still stuck in that miserable place. Her room was very clean and neat, just like it had been the day before. Everything was pretty much the same but...something caught Katherine's eye suddenly. In front of her bamboo mat, she saw nicely folded fresh clothes. She brushed her fingers in the material and inspected it...it was a dark blue kimono, something like that Japanese woman had been wearing the other day. Was she really expected to wear that?!

Angrily Katherine tossed the clothes away from her, and silently cursed under her breath. She wouldn't be caught dead in the attire of those barbarians and savages. No way! She didn't care that her own dress was in a bad shape, she preferred to stay in that rather than put those ugly things on. If these people were trying to 'fit' her in...well, they had another thing coming cause Katherine was not planning to be one of them. She'd rather jump from a cliff. She detested each and every one of them!

Taka's morning had been quite busy so far. She already took care of her lovely garden, prepared breakfast, cleaned up and now was setting the table for her two boys and Nobutada. Even though, no one could tell by simply looking at her, Taka was very tired. She couldn't sleep last night especially after she heard the blood curling and frightening shouts from the wounded foreigner. He was having nightmares! Could it be karma? Maybe it was getting back at him for murdering her husband. She hoped it was! Taka sighed heavily, as she poured hot tea in three cups. Why? Why did her brother humiliate her like this? This was so painful and hard...she didn't know if she could take it any longer. The shame was so unbearable that she even wished to end her life. She had pride! And lots of it too!

But at the same time, Taka didn't have much choice though; Katsumoto was her brother and a leader and she had to respect him. However, her grief and sadness over the death of Hirotaro always got the best of her. She was determined to appear strong but honestly...Taka was tired of pretending, being obedient, and having to deal with so much. She hated him! That murderer deserved to be killed! She couldn't understand why her brother kept him alive and worse...put him in Taka's care. Instead of nursing him, all she wanted to do...was to avenge her husband. But it wasn't her place and she needed to be strong and brave for her children. She was going to fulfill her duty. No matter how difficult and hard it would be.

Managed to update this chapter! Yes, it's rather small but it's going well so far. Make sure to review and share your thoughts. Thanks again! Much love.