Lord Asano

Frantic oxen thunder past on a downhill dirt road, their herders in straw hats and cloaks hurrying to keep up. Dust flies in clouds, adding to the confusion.

"Keep the oxen together!" a man shouts over the frenzy.

Their pursuers charge from the green fields, wielding katanas and arrows. It is a battle between the samurai and the people of Tatara Ba.

The only thing between them and the train of oxen is a thin line of defense. Red paper umbrellas stand crookedly, with musketeers under them. A woman's voice cries out, "Hold your fire! Let them come!" as arrows pierce the paper umbrellas.

The screaming samurai are only a few feet from the defense line before the woman shouts "Fire!" The guns explode with a deafening boom, and when the smoke clears, all that is left is burnt grass, carrion, and the wounded.

"Reload! Quickly!" the burly guard at Eboshi's side yells. Eboshi fires her own gun and shoots down a high-ranking soldier on horseback with a ball of fire. She exchanges her gun with a young woman loading weapons by her side, and shoots another cavalryman down.

The samurai with their colorful flags keep charging, and smoke blocks the sight in front of the line of red umbrellas. Their shouts and the explosions rattle the green valley.

A stout monk crests a green hill, followed by one dressed like him. Jiko-Bou groans as he observes the scene below. "That Eboshi's fighting the wrong enemy!" He turns to the other man by his side. "You go on ahead and hide." The man, with his face hidden behind a piece of cloth, nods and leaves the monk. He descends the hill and gestures to more of his kind, taking cover behind the tall grass. They stand up and take leave.

Below, as the worst of the battle ends, Eboshi leaves, and the oxen are herded away. The musketeers each fire one last time before following the woman. They reach the Tatara Ba, the great wooden fortress covered in red cloth.

"Here they come!" The women standing watch shout excitedly as they spot the train of animals and men on the path.

Jiko-Bou squats on a boulder, watching the oxen pass.

"Chief…" Two men in straw run up to him.

The monk tells them, "Well done. We're moving out. Tell the others." They leave, and Jiko-Bou jumps down from the boulder to walk alongside Eboshi.

"Hello, Jiko-Bou," she says calmly.

"The Emperor presses and you sport with the country samurai," he reprimands her lightly.

"Asano sets them against me," she says grimly. Asano is the lord the people of Tatara Ba had just fought against.

Jiko-Bou muses. "Asano? A powerful man…"

"He wants my iron," Eboshi replies.

"Greedy, isn't he!" The monk laughs. He looks up at her slyly. "But now is no time to fight men. The boars are gathering in the forest.

"Give him the iron," he urges her. "Keep your promise to the Emperor, then smash Asano."

They approach the entrance of the fortress, and the women call out, "Eboshi-sama, quickly! Asano's men are coming!"

The two glances behind them. A man in green robes on a horse is galloping towards the Tatara Ba, flanked by soldiers from the army wielding the colors of Asano.

Jiko-Bou is amused. "Speak of the devil! A messenger."

"A messenger! Remember your manners." Eboshi turns and walks to the fortress. The women reply with a chorus of "Yes, ma'am!"

They enter the gate, where a musketeer is aiming his gun, and the women cheerfully welcome their leader home. The heavy gate slams shut the moment Jiko-Bou walks through the threshold. "Aren't you going to see him?" he asks, dumbfounded.

The messenger arrives at the gate, greeted by women in the watch platform above. "Eboshi, Mistress of the ironworks, you have fought well!" he shouts. "I bring a message from my lord. Open your gates!"

"We hear you fine from there!" one of the women yells back defiantly.

"Eboshi-sama took this mountain from the boars!" another one calls out.

"Now it's worth something and you want it!"

"On your way!"

The man in green below cries, outraged, "You have no respect, woman!"

"No respect?" the ones on the platform ask mockingly, "We haven't had any respect since we were born!" She rolls her head, just for good measure. Then they give the messenger a saucy raspberry in unison. "Blehhh!"

One woman lifts her loaded gun. "You want iron? Have some!" The bullet explodes not a foot from the horses, causing them to neigh in panic. The men ride away as the triumphant women hoot in peals of laughter.

Inside the Tatara Ba, Jiko-Bou laughs as well. "They're really something! Samurai or forest god, they don't care! Eboshi's women don't lack courage." He looks at Eboshi by his side, who is inspecting a piece of paper. They sit under a small shed.

"What good is this paper?" she asks him.

"Well, it helped getting the best hunters and trackers," he answers. "We're after gods, not just beasts." He looks over and sees that she has called over two young women, and is now showing them the document.

"Do you know who this paper is from?" she asks them. "The Mikado," she answers herself.

"Mikado?"

"Who is he?"

"The Emperor," Eboshi tells them.

"The Emperor!" they exclaim with delight.

Jiko-Bou laughs and scratches his head. "They really are something!" Eboshi hands the paper back, and he folds it up carefully. She sends the women off, then turns to the monk.

"As we make iron here, the forest grows weaker. That way costs fewer lives."

He looks at her with a sly grin. "We've wasted too much time and money. We did not send forty riflemen just for the iron. So the Emperor says, at least."

"Surely he doesn't really believe that the Shishi-gami's head grants immortality," Eboshi says, her eyebrow raised.

"I'm not to pry the thoughts of the Emperor." he smiles cheerfully. "Best not be."

Eboshi rises, preparing to leave. "You have my word. The boars will be easier than Moro and her tribe. Call out that shady bunch you've got hidden under the cliff."

Jiko-Bou laughs again. "So I'm found out, am I?

"One more thing," he calls to the woman as she walks away. She turns to him. The monk asks, "Did a young man pass by here? Riding a red elk?"

"He left." Eboshi's answer is simple, and she leaves.

Per Eboshi's orders, the best hunters and trackers descend a steep, rocky hill. They wear cloths over their mouths, concealing everything but their eyes. The men carry swords and various weapons, their eyes dark and hands ready to kill at a moment's notice. A few are dressed in bear disguises.

The men file silently into the Tatara Ba. They eat their meal in a confined circle, never saying a word. A crowd of regular workers gathers around, watching the hunters eat.

"They make my skin crawl!" a woman says quietly. Kohroku, whose arm is still in a sling, mutters disdainfully, "They are not ordinary hunters. They're special scouts."

In the wooden building, Eboshi talks to her followers, a circle of concerned Tatara women, a couple wielding guns.

"Let us go with you!" they beg her. "Don't trust those men!"

"We can't help you from here if anything happens!" one frets.

Another woman tries to convince Eboshi. "We've learned how to shoot," she says.

Their leader looks around at them. "That's the reason I want you here," she explains. "I fear humans more than forest gods.

"With the Shishi-gami dead, things will become clear. Is the Shishi-gami's head all that Emperor really wants? We may have to fight the riflemen, too." She refers to the crowd that Jiko-Bou has supplied.

"We can't trust men. Stay on your toes," she encourages the determined women. Their eyes are set and are ready to do whatever Eboshi says. They nod at her instructions.

"Don't worry about Eboshi-sama. I'll protect her," Gonza, behind her, announces confidently.

A woman by Eboshi's side glances at him unbelievingly. "You will, will you?"

"What?!"

"Maybe if you were a woman…!" She sticks her tongue out at the baffled guard.

Eboshi throws her head back in a roaring laugh as the woman grins in spite of herself.