Ninja at the Premises
Moving very carefully Mei glided down into the artificial stream flowing through the gardens of the mansions in the second ward of Dojyu. The small wooden bridges crossing the river in the formal gardens of her mark were guarded, but she anticipated no trouble passing the guards. They were just ordinary bushi, and not anticipating an infiltration through this route. She dove, breathing through a bamboo tube just above the surface. She swam very slowly, counting the distance. She had made an estimation of the length of the swim when she had been strolling the streets with Ketori.
After not too long she glided away from the water, one inch at a time, not making sound. She spared a glance at the bridges, which were situated at the borders of the garden. She had calculated her arrival in the midpoint. The bushi seemed to stand there unmoving and bored like terracotta soldiers. Good, the ground was covered with moss. It hid even the smallest sounds made by her footsteps. She approached the steep wall of the mansion. Had it been a brick wall she would have scaled up using only her toes and fingers, but now she had to use her shinobi equipment. It was spiked gloves and sandals, used for both climbing walls and in close quarter combat. Mei didn't use them for the latter purpose, though. She preferred the more accurate art of finding the vulnerable nervous spots of a human body with her bare hands and feet. Of course, her goal was never to be forced to engage in a close quarter fight in the first place.
That, again, was a 'dishonorable' attitude. It was all very well when you moved large armies. Then you needed different tactics, and still could afford to be 'honorable'. But as Mei saw it, she had a job to do, by any means necessary. Her clients were people without money, prestige, or hope. They could not afford to cling to the outer signs of respectability and the tenets of bushido. Also, it was not as if the daimyos didn't use the stealthy skills also. They had clan ninja, loyal to death, posing as simple bushi, for example. The clan ninja had forfeited their own honor in order to preserve the one of the daimyo. The daimyos also paid the ninja clans, and even some samurai elite troops employed very ninja-like tactics. The Crane family Daidoji, for example, frequently employed sabotage, espionage, sniping and guerilla tactics. Mei didn't see any fault in this. The Crane clan had a small military, almost solely consisting of the Daidoji, and she thought it was only clever of them to use techniques suitable for getting the upper hand in a combat against a foe superior in numbers. Yet, the Daidoji frequently had to defend their way of thinking against the clans with larger military, like the Lion or the Dragon.
Mei shook the wayward thoughts out of her mind and concentrated on the task at hand. The lord's bedroom was in the mid-floor of the mansion. Her plan was to climb to the roof, tie a rope on a chimney or other suitable extension, and, hanging on it, shoot a poisoned dart at the sleeping lord. The dart was coated with bog hag blood and would kill the man in a few seconds. The yojimbo flanked his bed, but they wouldn't probably even notice before she was long gone. She reached the roof with relative ease, and fastened the rope to the chimney. She carefully descended the wall until she was at the window and could see the yojimbo, and the shape of her mark sleeping in the bed.
The yojimbo nearer her was a man in his forties, with brave and seasoned looks. His hairdo told Mei that he was a samurai, and the crest on his armor told that he was a Lion. The other yojimbo resembled this man a lot but was much younger. Probably not even twenty yet, younger than Ketori. It occurred to Mei that he probably was the son of the older yojimbo. It was not uncommon in the samurai families that the parent took a child as their student, if they had a sufficient skill to work as a sensei. The young boy seemed very determined and proud, but there was puppy-like eagerness in his posture, the willingness to prove himself.
Mei digged the blowpipe out of her sash. It was already loaded with the poison dart. She concentrated, and time and noise vanished. There was but her and the target, a straight line between them. A straight line as natural as blood flowing down a vein. With grim determination, she blew. And that was when all Jigoku broke loose.
A dark red light started blinking around the lord of the manor, who uttered a death rattle and started to spasm. The older yojimbo understood immediately and drew his katana.
- "Ganaji, run! Seek help! There's a ninja at the premises!" he shouted. The younger yojimbo hesitated, fear and anger alternating on his childish face.
- "Father..." he started.
-"GO! NOW!" shouted the older man.
He was the more dangerous one. Never hesitating, Mei blew another poison dart at his bared throat. The boy's eyes widened, and just as she was preparing for the third deathly shot, he ran and disappeared from the door.
How could this be? Must be a wu jen ward! Now they would swarm the garden... Mei climbed hastily to the roof. She had a wedge-like tool she used to unfasten a couple of roof tiles. She slid inside the attic of the house and crawled next to a slight crack between the planks of the roof of the sleeping room. She could see the convulsing bodies of the older yojimbo and the lord of the manor. A moment later the younger yojimbo entered the room with three very grim-looking people.
yojimbo = a bodyguard
