- kachi – lower samurai (the kachi are subdivided into ranks, and these divisions may vary between clans. The majority of samurai belong to the kachi. Only a minority belong to the higher samurai.)
- kyunin – higher samurai (also further divided into ranks)
- akindo – merchant(s)
Notes
- In this ficverse, Kanbei belongs to the kyunin category since his father and uncle were of the rank of churo (retainers of the first rank, paid not in rice but in land from the daimyo). The woman he was betrothed to in companion fic One Life, One Love was also of kyunin category, but her family ranked above his – her father was of the cabinet of superintendents (higher than the churo and reporting directly to the daimyo). But she did not love Kanbei (their marriage was arranged). Instead she loved a samurai from the kachi category, with tragic results.
- different clans divide their upper samurai and lower samurai differently. The kachi vs kyunin division I use in this ficverse is that of the Okudaira clan as presented in Secrets of the Samurai by Ratti/Westbrook. I'm borrowing elements of the Okudaira organization as well as elements of the Yamanouchi clan organization for the samurai clans' internal divisions in this ficverse.
- In the Retribution ficverse, a samurai's rank in the Confederated Army – Kyuuzou's side – may not be the same as his/her rank in his/her clan of origin. This is due partly to the Feddies' practice of mixing samurai from different clans in even the smallest unit, and their policy of allowing the enlistment of commoners like Kyuuzou, Ayame and Mizuho, as long as they demonstrated the required fighting skills. On the 'losing side' of the Great War, the Allied Forces of which Kanbei was a part tended to transplant clan ranks into the combined army, because smaller units and their officers were comprised of samurai contributed by the same clan. Once in the combined armies, samurai could get promoted beyond their clan ranks.
- The two combined armies that fought against each other in this ficverse had a different ranking system from the contributing clans. In samurai clans, the ranks reflected function, e.g. in the kachi category, accountants ranked above palace guards who in turn ranked above foot soldiers; in the kyunin category, the ministers ranked above the physicians who ranked above the retainers of the first rank, to give an example from the 'real world' Okudaira Clan. But in the Confederated Army of this ficverse, kyunin refers to any officer ranking Major and above, while kachi refers to anyone ranking Captain and below. (So Kyuuzou and Ayame were both in the category of kachi even though Ayame outranked Kyuuzou) The lowest of the kachi were the ashigaru (foot soldiers) - as commoner recruits, Kyuuzou, Ayame and Mizuho all started their military careers as ashigaru of Private rank. A samurai who went into the Confederated Army as part of the troop contribution from a samurai clan (e.g. Haruko) may, depending on his/her clan rank, skip the ashigaru stage and start out as an officer, or at least skip the Private rank and start out as a Specialist or Corporal.
- In this ficverse, each state was ruled by a samurai clan, aka military government, during the Great War. In the post-war years, the state governments on the winning side were mostly left intact (one exception being the situation described in the last chapter of 'Price of Mercy, Cost of Honor', in which power was transferred from the samurai clan that used to rule Tanba State to the merchant corporation running Kougakyo). The samurai clans/state governments on the 'losing side', however, were decimated if not outright eliminated during the Westward March of the Confederated Army.
A strange duo, one dark, one pale, rode up to a highway rest stop in Higashihara State. The taller of the two was a blond of average build, dressed in rather mismatched colors – light purple jacket, loud yellow shirt and maroon pants. He did not carry anything with him other than a small knapsack and a walking stick. The shorter traveler was a swarthy woman with near-black hair. She carried twin swords in pale turquoise scabbards, a short bow, a half-empty quiver and a large backpack. This woman's sharp yellow eyes scanned the rest stop's concrete compound. Observing that the restrooms had plumbing, her stony expression gave way to a quirky smile.
Even the fast turtles had the luxury of piped water in this place. Three fast turtles belonging to other travelers were drinking at a round fountain into which a small stream of running water spouted. The spout was molded in the shape of a land turtle's head and water poured from the stone beast's mouth. Ayame promptly dismounted and brought her fast turtle to water at the concrete fountain.
"Running the water prevents mosquitoes from breeding," Shichiroji thought as he slid off his fast turtle and led the beast to the turtles' drinking fountain. "I would guess the water is probably pumped back up to the spout and recycled. The Higashihara State government must be functioning reasonably well to provide travelers with such amenities on state highways."
According to news brought by travelers to Yukino's inn, governance in the states on the 'winning side' was generally much better than that in the states on the 'losing side' over the last few years. Shichiroji's mind wandered to Akashima State where his young self had entered the service of Kanbei's clan 16 years ago. "I wonder how things are in Akashima Province. I heard there is effectively no government there although there had been talk that the town-based merchant corporations are trying to extend their rule into the countryside. Then I also heard rumors that some survivors of the Aokuma Clan are trying to reorganize…"
The blond samurai's thoughts ran on as he listened to the sound of his land turtle lapping up water. "That S.O.B. Amanushi used the Confederated Army to defeat the samurai clans backing the shogun, but he did not make it a priority to set up functioning provincial governments in their place. I have been told that the Emperor awarded some of the territories of the losing clans to the merchants who financed the court. Other territories were given to favored courtiers, to high-ranking Feddie samurai, and to key clan leaders who supported him. The remaining lands the Amanushi held in his own name – these regions, according to gossip, are in the worst state because little or no effort has been made by the Amanushi to restore the infrastructure destroyed by the war or to maintain public security… It is unfortunate that most of Akashima falls into the latter category, from what I've heard."
"Hey," the double-sword fighter standing next to the former samurai interrupted his mental meanderings. "Thank you for blocking that arrow for me just now."
"Don't bother thanking me. I didn't do it for your sake," came the Allied Forces veteran's caustic reply. "The only reason I am here is because I cannot stand by and let Kyuuzou-dono die a second time, that is, assuming his condition is what you described it to be."
"Thanks for saving my life anyway," the former Confederated Army officer gave him a slightly twisted smile.
"Well, you took down the Nobuseri trying to kill me, so I suppose we're 'even'," Shichiroji answered grudgingly, turning his eyes back to the turtles drinking greedily from the fountain.
"You were pretty good at fighting on turtleback," Ayame remarked. "I'm guessing that you must be a high-ranking samurai?"
"Quite the contrary," Shichiroji replied, loosening up slightly at the compliment. "At the end of the war I was still a captain, ranked among the kachi."
"Oh?" the dark woman said. "Well, your clan must have given even their lower-ranking members a broad training."
"It was not so," The pale man answered. "But my master, Shimada Kanbei, was very kind to disregard rank and train me in the skills which he had learnt as one of the higher samurai. Of course I could never surpass someone like him who was born into a family of high rank and studied these arts since a tender age."
"You regard Kanbei highly, I see." Ayame said as she led her land turtle from the water fountain to the nearby turtle-feeding station.
"Yes," the blond samurai answered the other former warrior as he followed with his land turtle in tow. "Commander Shimada is a generous and magnanimous man."
Approaching the blue-shirted attendant manning the turtle feed counter, Ayame passed the turtle feeder a handful of coins. "Food for two turtles, please?"
The rest stop attendant promptly filled one of the nearby feeding troughs with cut grass and leaves. Ayame led her fast turtle up to the manger and the beast promptly dunked its head into the wooden trough. Shichiroji's land turtle followed eagerly.
For some moments, the two warriors stood watching the turtles chew through the juicy green leaves.
"Can you tell me more about Kanbei's relationship with Kyuuzou?" Ayame asked Shichiroji suddenly.
The man was vaguely uncomfortable at this line of questioning. Although Kanbei had never spoken to Shichiroji about his private feelings towards the scarlet samurai, the former aide was sharp enough to perceive that his commander looked upon the slender warrior with open desire. Shichiroji was not sure of Ayame's relationship with Kyuuzou. Was Kyuuzou's senpai also the scarlet samurai's lover? Did she see Kanbei as a threat and a rival?
At any rate, the blond with the bad hairdo did not wish to discuss his old friend's personal affairs with a near-stranger. Shichiroji focused on the rhythmic sound of turtle jaws crunching vegetation while he considered a diplomatic answer. Then he decided that even if he wanted to answer Ayame's question, he did not have anything of substance to tell her.
"I do not know much beyond the fact that Kyuuzou-dono joined our team after he killed a Raiden threatening Kanbei in the desert." Shichiroji addressed Ayame in a neutral tone. "He went with us to Kanna and fought bravely under Kanbei's leadership. He was killed in the Capital while trying to save Kanbei from some rapid-fire gunner mechas."
"I see," the svelte swordfighter replied.
To change the topic, Shichiroji asked a question in turn. "How did Kyuuzou come back to life, may I inquire? I saw him die with my own eyes."
Ayame fixed her golden eyes on him, She gave a crooked, sarcastic smile that was not exactly pleasant to behold. "Even if I told you how he returned to the world of the living, you would not believe me."
Shichiroji turned his attention back to the two beasts grubbing away greedily at the manger. He changed the topic once more. "You must be a high-ranking samurai," the man remarked, "to be so skilled in equestrian archery."
The woman snorted. "Me? I am not, and had never been, a high-ranking samurai. Like you, I was belonged to the kachi and my rank was Captain at the end of the war."
"You're a samurai of the Northlands, then?" Shichiroji asked. "I've heard that all the Northern samurai are skilled in mounted archery, regardless of rank."
"You guessed right that I'm from the North," Ayame replied. "And it is true that the low-ranking Northlander samurai are formidable equestrian archers surpassing the high-ranking samurai of other regions. This is largely because the northern warriors are part-time nomads who take turns grazing the flocks of their daimyos while not in military training or at war. They grew up on the backs of the fast turtles. But I am not one of them. I was not even born a samurai, nor did I regard myself as a samurai after I was released from the armed forces. I came from the akindo, and have returned to the akindo…"
"She wasn't born a samurai?" Shichiroji said to himself. "Come to think of it, that fact could be easily deduced from her manners…" But Shichiroji was not born a samurai either. His family were tanners – people of a tainted occupation belonging to the class of the outcastes.
His former foe continued. "…So I don't have the Northern samurai's skill in mounted archery. As you probably noticed just now, I missed about as many as I hit. "
"You are being too modest," Shichiroji said courteously.
"No, I'm not being modest," The double-sword fighter gave a bitter smile. After all these years, the memory of the misaimed arrow that cost an innocent life still pained her. Now it was Ayame's turn to change the topic.
"Say," The Hokuhei native asked her traveling companion. "Have you seen a real Northern cavalry samurai in action?"
"No," the blond shook his head. "Though I've heard that in the riding competitions of the North, your samurai can hold their balance while leaning sideways out of the saddle. And from that position, those samurai still manage to shoot speeding targets a hundred yards away. Few if any samurai outside of the Northlands can manage such a feat."
"What you've heard is true," Ayame said. "I have seen some of the riders of the Kuroyama Clan, famed tamers of wild land turtles. 'Proud children of Heaven', we used to call the Northlander cavalry in the old days. They probably deserved the name. I knew a particularly charismatic Kokuryu'an samurai who could charm wild fast turtles into following her will."
The barest hint of smile ghosted across the dark woman's face. For a moment, the flinty look in her topaz eyes was replaced by a light that Shichiroji could not decide was sad or merry. "Maybe that Northern samurai charmed more than just wild fast turtles," The man said to himself. Suddenly the former enemy soldier standing next to him seemed a little more human.
"Hey, shall we get lunch?" The blond asked. "I'll pay for our meal, since you paid for the turtles' feed."
Fortunately for the two travelers, the rest of the journey through Higashihara Prefecture was rather uneventful. On the fourth day after leaving Kougakyo, they crossed the border into Akashima State, the home province of Shimada Kanbei.
--
It was late afternoon in Akashima Province when a somewhat weary but still alert Kanbei approached the burnt ruins of Reiji Castle. The outer court's charred timber gate was still standing though the adjoining walls had crumbled. The ruins of Reiji looked the way they did when Kanbei last saw them 6 years ago, shortly after the fires of war gutted the Aokuma Clan's main castle. But the homecoming samurai saw something there that he did not expect – two fast turtles were sitting in the shadow of the sagging gate. Shimada sensed the ki of yet another two living beings that he could not see. But since he did not detect any killing aura from those unseen presences, he decided to approach the gate cautiously.
The seasoned soldier came within 40 feet of the tall gateposts that stood like scarecrow-like sentinels to the sad remains of his daimyo's castle. Kanbei paused, scrutinizing the seemingly unaccompanied fast turtles resting beside the left gatepost. Just as he was wondering where the animals' owners were, pale Shichiroji emerged from behind the burnt timber pillar like a ghost, his thin purple jacket floating in the evening breeze.
"As careful as always, my friend," The blue-eyed man called out, grinning at Kanbei.
"Shichiroji! What are you doing here?" Shimada exclaimed as he strode forward quickly to meet his friend.
"I thought we could catch up to you on the highway since you were traveling on foot, but I didn't see any sign of you on the road so we came here directly." His former aide explained. "We've been waiting here for nearly a day."
"We?" The dark ronin asked, puzzled. Shichiroji glanced towards his left.
Kanbei followed the direction of his friend's eyes and noticed a seated figure resting against the flank of one of the fast turtles. The bulky body of the kneeling beast had previously shielded the dark-haired woman from Kanbei's view. Ayame raised her head and peered over the fast turtle's hump at the new arrival.
"This is Ayame-dono, Kyuuzou's Third Sister," Shichiroji introduced the svelte swordfighter. "We've all met before in Kougakyo."
Kanbei eyed the shorter warrior warily. "Good lady, what business brings you here?"
Ayame rose to her feet. "Eight days ago, I received a letter from my senpai telling me that Kyuuzou had fallen into a strange sleep for four days and refuses to wake. Three days had passed between the time the letter was written and the time I received it. In the message, my senpai says Kyuuzou wastes away without eating or drinking. All that convinces us that his soul is still in his body is that he speaks the name 'Kanbei' even in his unconscious state. He would have been asleep for 15 days by now."
The white-clad ronin did not answer. Alarm and grief flared within him when he heard of Kyuuzou's failing health, but Shimada told himself it was pointless to be pulled back into caring for someone who did not want him to care. Kanbei masterfully calmed his swirling emotions. The tall man deliberately looked past Ayame, focusing on the crude graves that lay behind her in the shadows of Reiji Castle. Tall, coarse grass had already grown over those hundreds of earthen mounds. His earlier guess was right – the swords that marked the spots where his clan members lay had been removed. Stolen, or taken into safekeeping by survivors of the clan? He did not know.
Ayame's flashing yellow eyes perceived what appeared to be Kanbei's drifting attention. She frowned and raised her voice slightly at the tall samurai. "The fact that Kyuuzou calls your name and not the name of any other causes me to think that perhaps your presence will do him good."
Kanbei was still silent. His eyes were fixed on the distant graves of the Aokuma Clan samurai who fell during the Confederated Army assault. Could he locate his parents' graves among eight hundred heaps of earth? Shimada wondered if he still remembered the path Masao showed him, and realized that he did not. Sorrow washed over him like a numbing flood.
Ayame, seeing that Kanbei did not even bother to look at her as she was speaking, was by now more than a little irritated.
"For a supposedly 'kind' leader, he is rather indifferent towards Kyuuzou's condition, considering that my brother died to save him!" The double-sword fighter thought. "Not to mention that he does not honor my speech at all! This fellow is in all likelihood a high-ranking kyunin snob who despises kachi and commoners, and takes our respect and service for granted! He probably thinks I don't even have the right to talk to him. Or maybe he hates me because I fought for the other side!"
But the former Confederated Army captain suppressed her rising fury for the sake of Kyuuzou. "Kanbei-dono, please come with us and try to wake Kyuuzou," the usually haughty Ayame pleaded. "Or he will die without opening his eyes."
"I am not sure if I can help you," Kanbei finally spoke in a neutral voice without turning to look at Kyuuzou's senpai.
Ayame's previously pleading expression morphed into an angry scowl. "I do not know what transpired you and Kyuuzou! But clearly he is bonded to you in some way since he calls for you. Will you not go to see him, at least?"
"Maybe the one whom Kyuuzou needs is you." Kanbei answered in an unreadable voice.
The golden-eyed akindo woman did not comprehend the veiled meaning behind Kanbei's words. So she responded without irony. "Of course I plan to be at his side as soon as possible."
At that unwavering declaration from the beautiful swordfighter , the dark-haired samurai felt a stinging resentment. Up to now, Kanbei had hoped to leave the memory of Kyuuzou behind, but why was it that he could still feel jealousy on account of the young man? Over the past few weeks, the old ronin had repeatedly told himself it was pointless to love Kyuuzou or even to think of him, but now Shimada realized that he had not truly let Kyuuzou go.
Oblivious to Kanbei's feelings, Ayame continued. "After Kyuuzou died, his spirit called to me from the realm of the dead. That was how I guessed he died. Then I summoned his soul back."
"Why is she even here?" Shimada wondered at this woman who seemed to share a strange bond with Kyuuzou. "All she has to do is go to him, and he will awake." He finally voiced his doubts. "Ayame-dono, it seems you should not delay in going to Kyuuzou-dono."
Ayame broke into a smile, thinking that she had converted the ronin to her point of view. She turned and patted the fast turtle sitting next to her. The leathery beast promptly rose to its feet. "Of course, let us go!" The dreadlocked warrior addressed Kanbei.
"Us?" Kanbei asked. "I don't think Kyuuzou wants me near him! We did not part on good terms! And as you just said, your power is sufficient to bring him back to the world of the living."
"You don't understand, do you?" Kyuuzou's Third Sister finally lost her rather limited patience. "You do not have to spend much time with Kyuuzou to know that no one can truly force him to do something that he does not want to do! Kyuuzou only came back from the dead in response to my call because he WANTED to return. This time, he is not dead – yet. And I did not sense him calling me. Our senpai who is now watching over him says he speaks your name. When my kouhai was a lost soul in the sea of blood in the underworld, he was calling for someone to save him from his torment. I heard him call my name. It might be the 'natural' thing for Kyuuzou to do – I tried my best to protect him when he was young. But this time, I suspect he is not asking for a rescuer. He does not need me! He needs you! I do not know what passed between you two that caused you to decide that the life of a man who once died for you means nothing to you! But I know he is calling for you!"
"No, you are the one who does not understand!" Unspoken words came to Kanbei's mind in response to Ayame's tirade. "You clearly have no knowledge of what lies between me and him! In the Capital, Kyuuzou did not try to save me out of any affection; it was only so that he could kill me himself. And now, he is calling my name probably because he has decided he still wants to kill me."
But Kanbei kept his thoughts to himself.
"Well? Will you come with me or not?" Faced with the wall of Kanbei's unreadable, stony silence, Ayame raised her voice.
The sullen Kanbei continued to look right past Ayame at the silhouette of Reiji Castle's ruins down the road. Ayame's blazing yellow eyes narrowed as her angry gaze bore into the tall samurai. The svelte warrior took a wide step towards Kanbei, directly blocking his way to Reiji Castle.
Ayame's gesture was largely symbolic – the road was wide enough for Kanbei to walk past the shorter fighter if he so wished. But Shichiroji, standing by passively and watching this charged impasse, had a fair idea that Kanbei would not be able to walk away so easily should the double-sword wielder choose to make herself a nuisance.
"Somehow they remind me of flaming spirits confronting each other at the gates of the netherworld, one blocking the way of the other." The blond mused. "Though, in this case, I'm not sure which one is the demon gatekeeper and which one is the soul who seeks a path forward."
Shichiroji turned his eyes towards the distant horizon and saw that the sun was starting to fall below the hills. "Ah, so it is the fading light that has the strange effect of making those two look like scary apparitions," The idle observation came to the sloppily-dressed blond, "The red glow of the sun's dying rays makes an already angry Ayame appear more incensed, and an already haggard Kanbei look more worn and wild. I wonder what they would think if they could see themselves right now."
"Will you see Kyuuzou again or not, you heartless man?" Ayame was now shouting at Kanbei. Her fast turtle stomped its big feet, eager to run again.
Kanbei raised his eyes to the heavens and sighed. What could he do for Kyuuzou? He had already learnt the hard way that effort was not enough, that love was not enough. But maybe if he made his presence felt, Kyuuzou would awake this once just so that he could kill Shimada. Perhaps that was enough reason to go to him.
The former samurai aide, who had been unobtrusively quiet all this while, finally spoke. "Kanbei-sama, Reiji Castle isn't going anywhere. You can always come back later. But if you don't go to Kyuuzou now, you will be asking yourself 'How would events have turned out if I had gone to him?' for the rest of your life. If you go to him and the worst still happens, at least you will know for certain that you have done all that you can."
Shichiroji's gaze shifted to the graves in the shadow of the castle and back to Kanbei. The blond's lips turned up slightly in an odd, understanding smile tinged with sorrow. "Go to him, my friend," The pale man met his friend's dark brown eyes. "The time is now. The dead we will always have with us, but the living are like the flower that fades tomorrow."
Kanbei finally answered his friend's honest gaze. "I will gladly go with Ayame-dono, if only so that I can see Kyuuzou-dono again. Although I do not know if my presence will help him."
The woman with twin swords grinned gratefully at Shichiroji. "How about you two share a fast turtle?" She gestured the other beast sitting under the gate.
"Oh no," Shichiroji interjected. "Kanbei-sama can have that turtle all to himself. I think I'll stay here for a little longer and seek out the surviving members of our clan. I want to see how they are faring in this day and age."
The blond turned to Kanbei. "Perhaps I will still be here when you come back, but if I have to return to Kougakyo before that date, I'll try to leave word for you. At any rate, you two should not delay your journey any longer. Send Kyuuzou my best wishes when you see him."
Kanbei nodded. Then he quickly mounted the fast turtle.
Silhouetted against the setting sun , Shichiroji watched the two riders gallop into the east.
Author's Comments:
- Illustrated Chapters 14 and 15 are up on my site.
- The riding and archery skills of the Northland samurai are inspired by video footage of Tibetan, Mongolian and Kazakh riding competitions.
- the story of Ayame's misaimed arrow is found in Wolf Warriors chapter "The Way of Ashura"
- The charming northern samurai Ayame mentioned is Motofuji Mayumi of the Kuroyama Clan. She was originally conceptualized as a humor/parody character from another of my S7 ficverses (Beyond the Blade) but I will be reusing that character in Mandate of Heaven (which occurs in the Retribution universe).
- In the North of this ficverse, The Northland samurai were descended from nomadic herders, not from peasants like the samurai of other regions. (The bulk of 'real world' samurai were descended from the peasant class) This is why the northern warriors have a stronger tradition of mounted archery.