Yuugi Nocahan had been walking for twenty days on end

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters described in this story. Any of the characters related to anyone either living or dead, in entirely coincidental. There is no money being attained from the making of this story.

                                               

    

     Yuugi Nocahan had been walking for twenty days on end. He had started his long journey in Kobe, a few hundred miles south of Gubi, and it had been his intention to arrive in Akita by late October, and thereby beat the oncoming winter months, but bad weather had slowed him down considerably. Many of the members of his caravan had taken ill, and had to be escorted back to Kobe. Those that were left had to carry the supplies that would have normally been carried by the departed. This slowed them down even further.

     "Master Yuugi?" a servant called from the back.

     Yuugi glanced down from the map he was looking at. "Yes?"

     "Master Yuugi, another caravan! Coming up a few miles south of us- look!" he pointed down the road.

     Sure enough, a caravan much larger than his own could be seen walking across the fields. At the same time, the servant had worked his way up to the front so that he could converse with Yuugi without having to shout.

     "They do not take the path," Yuugi observed.

     "No, sir," the servant bowed. "I thought, however, that perhaps it would be wise for you to know that there are strangers about."

     "And why is that?" Yuugi asked, gazing at the caravan that had almost disappeared into the mountainous wood region by now.

     "Forgive me, sir, but I have heard stories about these parts."

     "Stories?" Yuugi inquired further.

     "Yes, sir, from my childhood. Men have been known to disappear around these areas. I do not wish to jump to conclusions, but…"

     Yuugi nodded. "I understand. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I wouldn't worry about them too much, however. They're heavily stocked, and they're not on the path, as I pointed out. They're probably returning home to their village in these hills."

     "Sir," the servant bowed, and returned to his place in the line.

     Nevertheless, the servant had brought up an interesting point. According to the map, there were no villages nearby.

     Yuugi held up his hand, the signal for the caravan to halt and take a small break. Stroking his chin, thoughtfully, he observed his map some more. Right now, they were near Nagano, still a good few hundred miles south of Akita. Could someone be trying to start a new civilization? Perhaps not a new one…

     If he remembered correctly, a minor lord had tried to capture a small mining town not too long ago. He couldn't recall the exact location of it, but he knew that it was somewhere in the vicinity of Nagano. What was his name? He couldn't remember… Details were a bit unclear, but the lord's entire army had been wiped out, ensuring the mining town's relative safety from greedy Shoguns. Were these people, perhaps, returning to that town?

     If so, then it would be worth pursuing. Rather than re-supplying at Niigala, he could re-supply at this town and maybe save a few days worth of travel!

     "Nae!" Yuugi called.

     "Yes, sir?" came the answer, along with the person to whom it belonged to.

     "Order the caravan to turn around. I would like to speak with those passers by! We will be able to get a fresh stash of food and water from their town." Yuugi commanded.

     "Yes, sir," the man said with a bow, and then began issuing orders.

     Calling for his horse, Yuugi lifted himself up onto the beast, saying: "I will ride ahead to converse with them while you prepare. Do not worry for my safety. If you have not arrived, or I am not back in an hour, then do not wait up for me."

     "Sir!" Nae protested. "You mustn't go alone!"

     "I do not wish to lose them, Nae. These hills are disreputable for their…somewhat misguiding paths. We may not be lucky enough to run into them, again."

     Without waiting for an answer, he rode off after the caravan that had since vanished from sight.

     Judging from the state of his men, it would, more than likely, take them about thirty minutes to gather themselves and arrive at the valley mouth where he was headed. That would give him just enough time to negotiate with the leader.

     Two miles for this steed was laughable. In under three minutes, he had arrived to the place where he saw the group merge with the woods. He could make out the sounds of clanking metal just over the hill.

     Urging his horse on, he quickly cleared the hill, looking on at the multitude of people that were instantly aware of him, and gazed up at him curiously.

     "Greetings!" Yuugi called out. "May I speak with your commanding officer?"

     "We have no commanding officer," came a gruff reply. "But you may converse with me, if you wish."

     Startled, and somewhat irritated at the boldness of the statement, Yuugi turned to see who had uttered it. He saw an unusually tall man, balding, and carrying a large, sheathed katana.

     "My name is Yuugi Nocahan. I am a trader from the south, and am on my way to Akita, to trade my goods before winter arrived. Bad weather and illness have slowed me down so that I fear I will not be able to make it."

     "My condolences," the man said.

     Yuugi couldn't tell if he was being serious, sarcastic, or downright disrespectful. He decided to give the man the benefit of the doubt and continue. "I was hoping that you would be kind enough to allow me access to your town so that I may re-supply there."

     The answer didn't take long to come up with. "It is not my decision to make," the man replied. "As the person qualified to make the decision is not here, I can only say that you may travel with us until we reach Iron Town, at which point you will have to discuss the matter with her further."

     "Her?" Yuugi asked, confused.

     "Yes, her. Lady Eboshi," the man stated.

     Yuugi smiled inwardly. That was a person who'd made a name for themselves. The Lady Eboshi had fought off (and he now recalled the name) Lord Asano without any help. She had also established an apparently thriving, though unmarked on the map, village. Both of those were combined along with the fact that she was a woman in a position of leadership. Of course, the only people who knew these things were in direct contact with the Emperor, himself, so that no layperson would decide to move to this "new economy" that she had set up.

     "So," Yuugi stated, "This is Iron Town. I never imagined that I would see it- ah!" he indicated his men rounding the hill. "As you can see, we're somewhat underemployed at the moment."

     "I'll see to it that they're helped a bit," the man said, nodding to a soldier standing nearby. "Shall we continue?"

     Yuugi bowed, gratefully, and followed the large, burly man.

     "You said that you never thought you'd get to see Iron Town?" the man asked. "Why is that?"

     Yuugi chuckled. "I'm not sure if you realize this or not, way out here, but Iron Town is kept relatively secret from the masses. Those with whom you trade are directly responsible to the Emperor, and they have strict orders to keep contacts with you to a minimum."

     "And why is that?" the man asked.

     "First, tell me your name, so that I may stop addressing you namelessly."

     "My name is Gonza, captain of the guard of Iron Town," the man replied, proudly.

     "I see," Yuugi answered. "Well, then, Gonza, you must understand that these are difficult times for the Shogunate. Because of your relative freedom living under Lady Eboshi, the Emperor is worried that if the people caught scent of it, there'd be an uprising. That is why you are kept a secret."

     "Interesting," Gonza thought out loud. "As long as we're left out of it, I'm sure we don't really care what our methods do to influence others. But if it's kept a secret, then how do you know of Iron Town?"

     Yuugi smiled. "I am a close advisor to the Emperor. My trade market has given me great power in the Imperial Court, though it's merely a shadow of the lesser Lord's powers. People of my stature cannot help but…overhear tidbits of information."

     Gonza seemed to find this terribly funny, as he burst out laughing.

     Yuugi cocked an eyebrow. "What's so funny?" he asked.

     "Forgive me, Yuugi. You must understand that methods of subterfuge have very little use here. I happen to think of that entire situation as terribly comical."

     "Obviously," Yuugi noted, as Gonza burst into another fit of laughter. "How far away are we from your town, now?"

     Gonza glanced at the sun. "About one more hour, or so, I suppose. Can you make it?"
     Yuugi puffed out his chest, slightly. "Unlike the other rubbish," he forcefully stated, "floating around the Imperial Court, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I do not content myself to feeding my mouth and fattening my wallet, at least not all the time. You would do good to know that I am in top physical condition."

     "Forgive me," Gonza said seriously, "if I have offended you, Sir Yuugi. I did not mean to slander your nature."

     "Of course you didn't," Yuugi agreed. "How could you, since you didn't know? Besides, I'm not angry."

     And they continued walking and talking in this manner until they traversed the last hill.

     What Yuugi saw is not what he had expected. Being named Iron Town, he had expected to see large machines and boilers, but he saw none of these. Instead, he saw only what appeared to be a small mining area to the north, and the rest of the area covered in vegetation.

     "Not what you expected is it?" Gonza asked, noticing Yuugi's shocked expression. "Due to…uh, certain difficulties, we had to re-arrange our style of living. We're mostly farmers and livestock herders, though we still mine a small amount of iron."

     "What changed it?" Yuugi asked, still a little confused.

     "I think the correct question is, 'Who?' Who changed it? I think you and Lady Eboshi will have much to talk about tonight. Please wait here a moment."

     Gonza walked ahead and took out a rather large mirror. Using the sun, he flashed out a brief message to the watchtower. He nodded at the response.

     "What'd they say?" Yuugi asked.

     "I inquired about you," Gonza answered. "They are going to ask her right now. I'm sure you will have no trouble, but I still have to abide by the rules."

     A light flashed, briefly, and then died out before flashing two more times in rapid succession.

     "You can enter," Gonza translated. "Welcome to Iron Town! We were just bringing in a new shipment of supplies, ourselves. There'll be much trading tonight," Gonza said approvingly.

     They approached the bridge, to which a giant wall was let down to let them enter the city.

     Yuugi had never known what it was like before, but nevertheless, he was still impressed by what he saw. The streets were clean and the many small houses were kept tidy on the outside, as well as on the inside. "Very impressive," he commented almost to himself. "It all looks so new."

     "That's because it is," Gonza answered. "Again, you will find out all when you speak with Lady Eboshi."

     "This 'who' person you keep talking about? He must be some person to change all of this."

     "As much as I hate to admit it, you're right."

     There was loud scuffle on a rooftop a few houses down, and a voice shouted: "You'll have to run faster than that!"

     Yuugi glanced at Gonza for an explanation.

     "That, my dear Yuugi, is the illustrious 'who'," Gonza said, smiling.

     A young girl, maybe sixteen or seventeen, wearing what appeared to be a white skin of some sort and a simple, purple kimino, jumped from the rooftop above them, to the next one a few yards away. A young man who appeared to be no older than the girl, but perhaps a bit older, was closely following her. As soon as they'd come into sight, they vanished over the next rooftop, though their footsteps could still be heard.

     "That boy was the person who single-handedly changed Iron Town?" Yuugi asked in disbelief.
     "Not all by himself, no," Gonza answered. "Several people have tirelessly worked to make Iron Town what it is today."

     "I don't understand…" Yuugi said, frustrated.

     "You will. Come," Gonza indicated, "Lady Eboshi is waiting in the large house to the north of here. If you will excuse me, I must attend to matters elsewhere. Please feel free to stay as long as you wish." Gonza bowed, and hurried away to take care of whatever it was he was taking about.

     "Master?" one of his servants asked cautiously, "is it safe for you to go all by yourself?"

     "Come, come now!" Yuugi chided. "There's nothing to be afraid of. This is, after all, a legitimate town; very well established and run. Why don't you go and get the supplies ready while I speak with the Lady Eboshi?"

     The servant bowed and scurried off into the host of people. The "large house", as Gonza had stated, turned out to be hardly any bigger than most of the other buildings he saw.

     He stepped up to the door and rapped twice with his hand.