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.