Whew, after forever, here it is. I'm sorry it's so short in advance, and be aware of possible bad quality as I am highly busy and distracted, and this story really requires a great amount of my concentration to make it come out decently.
Ok, on with the show. Bit of a different poem this time… a renku. A renku is a "unique type of poem with multiple authorship. It normally consists of 36, 50, or 100 verses (stanzas) contributed by a (team) of poets." It is much like a game, and in often written with amusement in the mind of the gathering.
Other notes:
Falconing is a very interesting subject, and I wish I had the means to try it myself. Ninjas did use hawks, and other birds of prey, but I believe that in a city like Edo, such a bird would be inappropriate as to be out of its natural habitat in the heart of the city. Also it is more conspicuous in a city. Although I could very well be wrong.
This is the reason that Farf and Schu use the bird, as they know it will get Weiss' attention. Okay, really moving on this time…
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From the cluster of grass
A frightening creature—a frog
In the evening dusk.
The lady hunting for butterburs
Jerks her lantern, and the light is gone.
--Matsuo Basho et. all
Edo Chapter 16
Yohji was in the middle of a rather intricate story of a mishap that had occurred in a particular tea house in Nara when he heard the faint flapping of a bird's wings. A pigeon landed on the wall above him, cooing and rutting back and forth. While the lanky playboy tried to think of a way to excuse himself from his crowd, a sudden wet 'splat' sounded on his shoulder. Several guards laughed and an older woman with only two sad, browned teeth in her mouth yelled enthusiastically that Yohji'd just been bestowed extraordinary good luck. The brunet tried, valiantly, not to give her a dirty look, and rose gracefully, despite the ugly white and black be-speckled stain now dripping down his chest.
"Ah, if you'll excuse me, I think I'd better clean this good luck up, before it runs too far." he said politely. One of the guards, still laughing, thumped him on the back enthusiastically and gestured within the front gates.
"The outdoor servants' station should be able to help you my friend. Then we must have a drink together, once you look presentable again." the man said warmly. Yohji nodded.
"Ahh yes, a sake would be lovely. You'll be buying of course. After that kind of trauma a man should be treated to something strong." he teased lightly. The guards laughed harder.
"We'll see. Get cleaned up first. The rest of you, go on about your business, there's nothing further here!" grumbling, the crowd slowly dispersed as Yohji made his way into the gates and to the servants' station. The pigeon flew off and met him in the shadows behind the building after a call on the whistle.
"You, my friend, are either very clever or very sloppy." the playboy murmured good-naturedly as he glanced at the contents of the vial. He slipped a grey grain in with the mix to signify he too was ready and waiting, and shrugged out of his fortune-teller's robes, slipping off to the servants' entrance of the castle as he sent the pigeon off again. So far, so good.
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Ran was waiting, sitting in the snow, trying hard to ignore the horrible feeling inside of him, spawned by dissatisfaction when he heard the fluttering of a bird's wings. Pulling out his whistle, he called the animal to him and looked at the remarkably changed contents of the vial.
Ken, his grains each carved with two tiny notches, was waiting and had set out to find Omi. Yohji, whose grains were marked with three grooves, was waiting. Ran nodded to himself and sent the bird off to hopefully find Ken and Omi. He crouched down once more to wait until they had all been found and were ready to move in.
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Omi and Ken had made it to a dark and mostly empty storage closet at the rear of the estate. The youth opened a window and sat out of sight directly near it, listening for the sound of a bird while Ken waited by the door, listening for potential intruders and ready to take action against them.
Omi did not have long to wait. He blew the whistle immediately, and the bird landed on the window sill. Omi pulled it in and checked the contents of the vile. Nodding to himself and passing a look to Ken, both men nodded and Omi emptied the vile, only to put one blood red grain back in. They were moving; now. The youth sent the bird off, and nodding again to each other, he and Ken began the preparations for the destruction of the Takatori estate.
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Yohji heard the fluttering and smirked at the contents of the vile. He sent the animal off with a flick of his wrist and moved into position to help the other two with the preparations.
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Finally, the information made its way to Ran, who slipped back into the room with the dead Takatori to begin his end of the preparations. He found it humorous that no one had bothered to discover what had happened yet. It only proved that greed and power did not necessarily earn you respect or concern. In fact, usually, such traits earned one the opposite. At least he had taken one of those people out of this world.
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Well, Farfie. Everything's in place. the German sniggered mentally to his counterpart. His only response was thrill of anticipation from the Irishman, who turned to the hooded falcon resting on his forearm. Farferello did not wear falconing gloves, and the creature's sharp talons dug deeply into his skin, spilling blood. The Irish man paid it no mind. With a tender grace that belied the psychopath's true nature, he stroked the soft breast lovingly with two pale fingers.
"Now my little Dark Prince, king of birds. Find the kitties." he murmured. He turned to regard Schuldig solemnly. "If anything happens to the Dark Prince, I'll be very upset Schuldig." he said, tone veiling a slight threat. The German laughed.
Now now, Farferello. All he has to do is give a simple message. We only want the Weiss kitties to know they're being set up. It will make things more fun to have the two ninjas hunting each other, don't you think? Farferello only shrugged.
I want to hurt that old man. Someone should show him how to really make God weep. He's a very bad assassin. was the Irishman's response. Schuldig's chuckle echoed off the walls of his skull.
You'll simply have to settle for watching the kitties make a proper job of it. But they can't do that unless you let Dark Prince give them the message. Farferello nodded reluctantly, and stroking the breast of his falcon once more, he removed the hood and sent the formidable creature out the window of the small shack they hid in.
Dark Prince took off into the night with an ominous shriek of warning.
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Ken froze, mid-action, and darted to a window, throwing it open quickly and silently. Omi was at his side in an instant. Ken reached into his sleeve and pulled out the soundless whistle.
The pigeon arrived shortly, from where it had been sitting in a small tree nearby. The ninja pulled a small hood over its head and wrapped a soft cloth securely around its wings, tucking it into his sleeve. The bird was instantly quieted.
"Ken-kun…?" Omi whispered, wondering what on earth Ken was doing. Ken only shook his head, listening again. They sat in silence for several moments, and just as Omi was about to try and inquire as to the problem once more, they both started as they heard the cry of a falcon. Omi wasn't sure what it meant, but if Ken was taking it this seriously, then it had to be significant.
Leaning out the window, the ninja cupped his hands around his mouth and made an astoundingly accurate Falcon's cry himself. The cry from before grew closer, and Ken echoed it again. He pulled the length of cloth from around his face once more and wrapped it securely around his arm just in time to have a magnificent bird of prey fly through the open window and alight on the material.
Omi jumped back hastily, surprised by both the unexpectedness and sheer size of the animal. Who on earth used a bird of that size and conspicuousness in a city like Edo? More to the point, who would risk so fine an animal? Ken stroked its feathers reverently before gently tugging at the scroll attached to its foot. The falcon waited patiently, blinking at Omi in the darkness. The youth tired to ignore the feeling of being scrutinized, by a bird of all things, and turned his attention back to Ken, whose face had grown dark.
"Ken-kun…what is it?" he asked cautiously. Ken crumbled the paper up and put it into his mouth, swallowing it. He grimaced as it slid down his throat and landed heavily into his stomach. Omi blinked at him.
"Yanagi is here. He's planning to stage an ambush on Weiss after we've begun the destruction of the compound." the ninja responded evenly.
"That's what the note said?" Ken nodded.
"Yeah. It was instructions about where he was supposed to wait. Either whoever is behind this is really stupid or…we're being set up." Omi frowned thoughtfully, his own expression darkening.
" Then we'll have to make sure we don't fall for anything stupid." the youth replied. On Ken's arm, the falcon shifted restlessly, tittering softly, the feathers on its head momentarily ruffling. Ken stroked it absently, thinking. After a moment, Omi finally spoke.
"Change positions to the fallout plan. Let's disorient things a little first. We'll send work to Aya and Yohji about what's happened, and keep everyone on the look out for suspicious activities. We can't let this hinder the mission." Ken nodded.
"Fine. I'll keep this guy here so he doesn't intercept our…smaller bird." the ninja replied, pulling the pigeon out with his free hand and handing it to Omi. The hawk shifted, watching them closely. Omi unwrapped the cloth from the pigeon's wings and handed it to Ken, who in turn wrapped it into a make-shift hood around the Falcon's eyes. With a confirmatory glance at Ken, Omi filled the vile with the correct grains and sent it off hurriedly. They waited in the darkness, Omi continuing in preparations while Ken stroked the falcon soothingly so as not to distress it and kept careful watch from the window.
He would not allow Yanagi to escape him again. And if the man thought he could usurp Ken and his comrades twice, he had another thing coming.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
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Argh! Sorry this is so short. Unfortunatley, I'm really busy so this story is going to be coming in smaller segments until I have the time to really put in to it. With preparations for moving back to the US well underway, I've got a lot going on right now. I'm sorry if the quality of any of my work is suffering, and beseech you to please bear with me. Comments and suggestions are welcome, but please no flames. If people start flaming me the story stops.
Thank you again to all my wonderful reviewers, especially those of you who review loyally almost every chapter. You all have a special place in my heart.
Hope to see you all again soon. Ja na,
Elfgoddess
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