The thousands of swans flying in from the North to swim across the reflection of Mount Bandai in Lake Inawashiro, the Mirror of Heaven, signaled the inevitable approach of winter. The beauty of the season, however, was lost to one listening intently to the voices of deep-throated bells and the brassy clang of gongs floating up from the city in the valley, proclaiming the impossible possible: someone had escaped the inescapable prisons of the Daimyo of Aizu. High in the hills above the city, a black-cloaked rider on a large black horse, narrowed his amber eyes as he watched samurai scurrying to and fro like ants from a kicked over ant hill searching for the prisoner. A small frown, then a smirk crossed his sharp features as he stood in his stirrups and raised his gauntleted fist to the sky. A golden eagle swooped down from the clouds and neatly back winged to land on the gauntlet. "It seems the gods listen to prayers after all," the man said softly to the bird. "I prayed for a sign that justice for us was at hand, and listen, the very hills echo with their answer."
The eagle looked at the man with expectant brown eyes as a red leather leash was attached to the red tasseled jesses on its feathered legs. "Greedy," the rider chided the bird teasingly as he stroked the brown feathers on the eagle's breast, "you know you ate the last of the rabbit this morning." The eagle squawked indignantly at him as it shook the rucked feathers back into place. "I would tell you to go catch a mouse or something, but it seems that the present Daimyo is as poor a steward of the land as he is a leader of men," the rider sneered, watching as a small figure furtively jump from the back of a hay wagon passing through the unguarded gates. The figure straightened up and began to walk nonchalantly into the countryside of stunted cropland, with the searching soldiers of the city none the wiser. The watcher set the bird on its saddle perch, and wheeled the horse in the direction the escapee was headed. "Let's go pick up our miracle," he said. The eagle chirped its agreement as the man in the black cloak touched his heels to his horse's flanks.
***
The sign at the open-air restaurant read "Akabeko," and the smell of sizzling beef pots that wafted for miles seemed to be lure enough for the numerous hooded, cloaked patrons braving the chilly autumn weather. A small, dirty looking peasant boy, no more than twelve, dressed in clothes that were much too large for him, made his way to an open seat next to a man with a cloth covering his eyes at the communal bench. "Waitress, your best sake!" he ordered, over the murmur of the gathered men, in a voice that had yet to settle into its adult timbre. The pretty waitress took in his dirt and hand-me-down clothes and raised an eyebrow.
"Show me your money," she said in an accent that announced that she was a stranger to this prefect. The boy took a heavy coin purse from under his happi, and shook it at her.
"I think that this will cover it," he said cheekily. "And bring a pot for anyone who will share a toast with me." The crowd quieted at this prospect, and all eyes turned to the boy.
"What's your toast?" the blind man asked, his voice hale and startling.
"We are drinking to a special man, my friends, someone who has been in the dungeons of Aizu and lived to tell the tale."
"Then we are drinking to me, little boy. I've been in those dungeons."
"I'm not a little boy. Maybe you were a stonecutter, or blacksmith, before you lost your sight; but a prisoner, from inside Aizu? I don't think so."
"I never said I was a prisoner," the blind man said as he removed his hooded cloak to reveal the kimono and hakama uniform of the Daimyo's personal guard. All around the open-air café, other cloaks were being discarded, revealing other guards. "You made two mistakes, little thief: one, if you had stayed in the woods, you'd probably still be free; and two, you should have never stolen that purse from old Gein as you came in." The man in question began to frantically pat himself down in search of his purse, much to the laughter of his fellows.
"Ah, damn!" the boy cursed as he dove under the table, and came up on the other side. Pandemonium broke loose. Because the soldiers were reluctant to draw their swords in such a close space, the boy almost escaped them. Being young and agile, he jumped over benches, overturned tables, climbed trellises, ran on top of counters, crawled between legs, and nearly eeled his way over the railing that separated the restaurant from the surrounding fields before being caught by the scruff of his neck by blind captain.
"Well, that was fun, but it's time for you to die, Myojin Yahiko," the blind man nearly purred as he raised his thickheaded spear. "We can't have anyone bragging about escaping the inescapable prisons of Aizu, now can we?" The boy closed his eyes and waited for the deathblow. The hiss of a sword leaving its sheath, and the clang of metal ringing against metal made him open his eyes again.
"Usui, considering how pathetic the guards of Aizu have become, I'm not surprised to see that the new Daimyo made you their captain," said a tall man dressed entirely in black, whose sword blocked the blind man's spear. "Still picking on defenseless children, I see." His voice was warmly mocking, friendly even, but his amber eyes were like ice.
"It's Captain Saitou," several voices around the restaurant whispered, "the Wolf of Mibu has returned." Looks of respect, awe, fear, and loathing swept over the faces of the guards. Usui dropped the condemned prisoner and readied his spear. In the sudden tension that filled the eating area, no one seemed to notice as the prisoner slowly ducked under the rail and slowly made his escape.
"Saitou Hajime. Shigure told me that you had been spotted in the area, and I had his tongue cut out, because I knew that even you weren't that stupid. You owe me a new aide-de-camp."
"I should have killed you a long time ago, Usui," disgust making Saitou's words come out harsh and clipped.
"You are very welcome to try it now, Saitou," Usui growled swinging his spear into his starting stance. Saitou jumped back and whistled between his teeth. His huge black horse jumped the rail causing the guards and Usui to scatter like leaves. Saitou jumped into the saddle without ever taking his eyes off Usui.
"What's the horse's name?" Sano interrupted the story in a thick voice. Saitou raised an eyebrow at the question, and thought it must be a product of the fever.
"Why is that important, Ahou?"
"Because…well, it just is," Sano said, using the logic of a child. Saitou rolled his eyes.
"The horse's name is Horse," he growled, hoping that the young man would shut up. He should have known better.
"Horse?" Sano cried out indignantly, coughing. "Horse? That's terrible!"
"Do you want to tell this story? Or better yet, I can just leave now and go back to my very important work." Sano's hands made a very fast grab at Saitou's pants.
"No, no…go on," he commanded weakly. Saitou smirked down at him.
"Where was I?"
"The hero was jumping on 'Horse's' back…" Sano said, emphasizing the name.
"Oh yes…."
"Hn. Another time, Usui; real soon, I promise. Right now, I've got a boy to catch." And with that the black horse reared and vaulted out of the eating area, again leaving men scattered in its wake. Saitou quickly found the boy untying horses from the hitching post in an effort to steal one. Unfortunately for the boy, he kept spooking the animals into running as he clumsily tried to jump onto their saddles.
"Don't just stand there," Usui screamed at his men, breaking the seeming spell they were under as they watched their former Captain, "go get them!" Yahiko actually squeaked as several men ran from the restaurant drawing their swords. Deciding that the horses were now a waste of his time, he tried to run for the trees. However, he had only run only a few steps when he was lifted up by the back of his overlarge jacket and flung onto the back of the huge black horse like a sack of radishes. From his new perch Yahiko watched as some of the samurai ran after their fleeing horses, while those who had mounts were suddenly attacked by a golden eagle diving into their faces, and causing the now rearing horses to dump their riders to the ground. He was vastly disappointed when the trees at the outskirts of the forest hid the scene from view.
