The drow walked north for many days, thinking and analyzing his battle with
Wu Fei. His shadow partner did all the fighting for him, allowing him to go
on the defensive much easier, but how did the infernal shadow move so
quickly around him? He looked up from the road and found himself in a
forest. The small dirt road had disappeared beneath his feet, now replaced
by the fall leaves. He looked to a tree, its bare branches towering toward
the sky. He didn't notice the arrows trained on him from other places, as
the tengu approached.
The birdman silently moved behind the silver haired monk. His voice crackled, "Welcome to the Crane lands monk."
The drow whirled to see the unarmored chest of the tengu, and jumped back, his hands on his hooked swords. An outstretched hand, silenced him
"Speak your name alone," he smiled at his next words "unless you can deflect twenty arrows." He lowered his hand as slowly the elf's.
"My name is Kaio-Shin Tao of the Dragon Clan. I simply wish to pass through this area in search of knowledge to avenge my sensei's death."
The forest was quiet for a moment, until twenty light-blue and silver clad samurai and five grey and light-blue trimmed robed shuginja emerged from the underbrush and leaves below. One emerged just five feet from the drow. He looked in bewilderment at the Tengu, "Only twenty?"
"That was how many arrows were trained on you." The crackling voice laughed. "Please come with us to our home in Kyuden Pagoda." He bade the monk, "We wish to here about your travels and your sensei." The elf, seeing no way out of his predicament through stealth, he only nodded his head.
The road to Kyuden Pagoda took three days, one of which the group had been ambushed by a tribe of bakemono, goblins tainted by what was left of the evil in the Shadowlands. On the third day they had broken camp early, hoping to get home sooner, the regiment of ashigaru, the tengu samurai and the drow monk had made a mistake in interpreting the scout they had sent and walked into a trap. They came from all sides wielding ninja-to, kamas, sickles, and nunchaku. There were thirty in all; each seemed to have combat experience for it took about a minute for the drow to defeat just one of the blasted goblins. He looked over to see the tengu, his black feathers glistening in the reds and purples of the sunrise, passing by a group of bakemono one instant and a bloody heap the next. How fast is that cut, he thought as he finished another goblin. His moral was low to begin with but with this new knowledge of the tengu he gained confidence, his jade-silver blades whirling in the morning sky, they swished like the wind when they cut goblin after goblin. Soon there were no more.
The tengu landed and walked to the drow. His crackling voice became serious, "The scout should have found this ambush, he was one of the finest trackers in all Rokugan." He looked to his troops, all of them friends, men he respected and loved for their dedication for the empire. Many of them were being treated for injury, "Daidoji Tokemitsu!" the tengu yelled, his shout rang over the small forest opening and seemed to reverberate through the forest.
Soon, a navy blue clad boy of about sixteen summers was kneeling before the samurai. His voice was soft and romantic, "Hai, Mori-sama." He flew back against a tree from the tengu's kick. His voice was a harsh whisper "Master"
"Do you see all the wounded, my student?" He bellowed, pointing at the five wounded samurai and the one wounded shuginja. He was upon him in a split second, forcing his eyes to see what his report had caused, "Had your report been accurate, we might not have had so many wounded."
"I was returning from my scouting when you bellowed master."
The birdman silently moved behind the silver haired monk. His voice crackled, "Welcome to the Crane lands monk."
The drow whirled to see the unarmored chest of the tengu, and jumped back, his hands on his hooked swords. An outstretched hand, silenced him
"Speak your name alone," he smiled at his next words "unless you can deflect twenty arrows." He lowered his hand as slowly the elf's.
"My name is Kaio-Shin Tao of the Dragon Clan. I simply wish to pass through this area in search of knowledge to avenge my sensei's death."
The forest was quiet for a moment, until twenty light-blue and silver clad samurai and five grey and light-blue trimmed robed shuginja emerged from the underbrush and leaves below. One emerged just five feet from the drow. He looked in bewilderment at the Tengu, "Only twenty?"
"That was how many arrows were trained on you." The crackling voice laughed. "Please come with us to our home in Kyuden Pagoda." He bade the monk, "We wish to here about your travels and your sensei." The elf, seeing no way out of his predicament through stealth, he only nodded his head.
The road to Kyuden Pagoda took three days, one of which the group had been ambushed by a tribe of bakemono, goblins tainted by what was left of the evil in the Shadowlands. On the third day they had broken camp early, hoping to get home sooner, the regiment of ashigaru, the tengu samurai and the drow monk had made a mistake in interpreting the scout they had sent and walked into a trap. They came from all sides wielding ninja-to, kamas, sickles, and nunchaku. There were thirty in all; each seemed to have combat experience for it took about a minute for the drow to defeat just one of the blasted goblins. He looked over to see the tengu, his black feathers glistening in the reds and purples of the sunrise, passing by a group of bakemono one instant and a bloody heap the next. How fast is that cut, he thought as he finished another goblin. His moral was low to begin with but with this new knowledge of the tengu he gained confidence, his jade-silver blades whirling in the morning sky, they swished like the wind when they cut goblin after goblin. Soon there were no more.
The tengu landed and walked to the drow. His crackling voice became serious, "The scout should have found this ambush, he was one of the finest trackers in all Rokugan." He looked to his troops, all of them friends, men he respected and loved for their dedication for the empire. Many of them were being treated for injury, "Daidoji Tokemitsu!" the tengu yelled, his shout rang over the small forest opening and seemed to reverberate through the forest.
Soon, a navy blue clad boy of about sixteen summers was kneeling before the samurai. His voice was soft and romantic, "Hai, Mori-sama." He flew back against a tree from the tengu's kick. His voice was a harsh whisper "Master"
"Do you see all the wounded, my student?" He bellowed, pointing at the five wounded samurai and the one wounded shuginja. He was upon him in a split second, forcing his eyes to see what his report had caused, "Had your report been accurate, we might not have had so many wounded."
"I was returning from my scouting when you bellowed master."