First off, I want to apologize heavily for the updating delay. I guess I have bad luck with this, but I can't help it. I spent the fall semester in Osaka, Japan, and you'll understand if I was a bit distracted for a while. Still, I found time to continue writing in my final moth there. So, what kept me, you ask? A technical accident, that's what. My computer crashed (literally) to the ground when I tripped on a cable, screwing up the screen and damaging the story file (which was open at the time). A good portion of it was lost, and I had to re-write it. Fortunately, it wasn't too hard, and, to make up for lost time, I began writing chapter fifteen ahead of time. I'm now nearly finished with it, so I should be able to post the next chapter within two weeks. Still, I hope those of you tacking on extra reviews can calm down a bit. I'll update when I have the chance, just as I'm doing now, to show you that I still care about this story and your reading of it. Happy Holidays, and enjoy.
Being Alive
Chapter 14
Making one final streak in black ink, Makabe put down his brush, and let out a sigh. Looking down at his work, he slowly read the letter he had just written to his business associate, his eyes passing over every streak of ink in every character on the strip of scroll, making sure he had not made any mistakes. It would hardly seem necessary to another person, considering how much expertise he put into writing each character, but he double-checked them all the same. He demanded perfection in all work he took part in. Many men died because of this, and many others became all the more motivated.
As he finished looking over his work, he heard someone approaching his chamber. "Name," he said.
"Kojo, your loyal assistant," the voice replied.
"Enter."
A smaller man, dressed in the same animal skin the group was known for, entered and bowed.
"State your purpose" the older man inquired.
"My lord," the man began, "our patrol has made new discoveries concerning our work with the Lord Asano."
"What is it this time?" he asked. "Do you have information of a betrayal?"
"No, my lord, nothing like that. As you know, my men and I have been patrolling through the lands leading past the imperial capital. We have made a few discoveries that may interest you."
The older man raised an eyebrow. "Such as?"
Keeping his head in a bowing position, the man continued. "The boy that Asano's forces encountered in the villages outside Kyoto, and who was rumored to have started a rebellion amongst a band of prisoners in custody of the Tanaka clan out east…surely you remember."
Makabe certainly remembered. His men had been spying on the event the whole time when the foreign youth had slaughtered a number of Asano's forces. And they had heard the stories of the Yoshiaki castle rebellion before anyone else had. The sights they had seen were bored deeply into their minds to the point of never forgetting for centuries.
"Of course I remember. Your point?"
The man hesitated before answering. "Well, my lord, we believe we have found a few remnants of the boy's travels and exploits."
Makabe wondered what they could mean by this. When he had first heard of this boy, he had been utterly fascinated. He had been one of the first to experience the new technology of the Chinese fire cannons that had been brought overseas by a small trading group. Only a few of people ever got to purchase the new weapons, and even fewer were still around today. To this day, he was still trying to fully master and understand the technology. Now, with the appearance of this newcomer, a whole new frontier had opened up. He had reluctantly accepted Asano's wishes to let the boy supposedly walk to his death in the forest of the gods, on the advice of the monk who worked with the lord. Now, however, he was having second thoughts.
"Explain what you mean by 'remnants'."
Producing a small pouch, the servant opened it, and poured its contents out onto the floor in front of Makabe. "This is what I mean, my lord."
Makabe's eyes, which never changed in the presence of his subordinates, went slightly wide. On the floor were a few small pieces of a gold-colored metal he didn't recognize, as well as a number of tiny red cylinders, made out of a material he couldn't name.
Standing the metal cylinders up, the servant laid them out in a small line. "These were found at the site of the skirmish with Asano's men" he said, pointing to a number of small metal cylinders about the size pebbles or nuts, which were hallow on the inside, as well as two longer ones, which became smaller at the tips. Alongside the metal pieces, he laid out the wider, longer red cylinders, also hallow inside.
Reaching his hand out, Makabe picked up one of the smaller metal cylinders, and brought it closer to inspect it. Eyeing the hallow interior of the piece, he sniffed it – and immediately recognized a familiar scent.
"Are these all that were found, Kojo?" he asked.
"No, my lord," he responded, producing another pouch. "These were found at the remains of the Yoshiaki village."
Pouring the contents out, a larger number of the longer metal cylinders fell out onto the floor. Makabe rose from his seat for a closer look, before turning back to the letter on his table. "Kojo," he said, "prepare a message for Lord Asano."
"What shall it be, my lord?"
Eyeing the little piece of metal in his hands closely, he answered. "Tell him that we want to renegotiate our contract."
In a small, wooden bathing chamber inside the walls of Tataraba, Dante leaned his head back against the edge of the wooden bathing vessel, soaking in the hot water after his bath. He brought his knees in closer, wrapping his arms around them. His hair was extremely ruffled, looking rather ridiculous after not having been cut in two months. Sinking his face halfway into the water, he sighed an exhausted, depraved sigh.
The bath that Lady Eboshi had ordered him to be given had not gone as he had hoped. This proved to be true for nearly all baths he had taken when not by himself. However, this last one had been worse than the Emishi village, the musician village, and the Kyoto inn put together. He shuddered in anxiety at how persistent the women had been.
As soon as he had been escorted to the bathhouse, he was led into what appeared to be a small changing room. Once inside, he laid out his equipment against the wall, emptied his pockets, and put everything up on a nearby shelf, intending to undress; but, before he could change, he was whisked inside by one of the women. That was when things went to hell. A group of women, including Toki, Koroku's wife, were already waiting for him, towels, soaps and other accessories ready. Before he knew what was going on, the women proceeded to strip him naked (rather forcibly, with smiles on their faces), and lead him to the bath, where he was doused with cold water before being scrubbed with soap-soaked washcloths. Finally, while soaking in the hot water, his hair was shampooed by three women at once, their fingers raking through his hair whilst the other women continued to scrub him down. All the while, the youth's protests were ignored and brushed off; the women were fond of responding to his protests with quotes about his supposed lack of manliness, or claiming that he should be enjoying the 'service' he was receiving. And, despite his strongest protest, the bandage covering the mark on his right arm had been forcibly removed, and the arm scrubbed as thoroughly as the rest of his body. To his surprise, the women didn't seem to notice the marks, or pretended not to.
Their job finished, they left him to soak and finish up by himself. They had seemed to be having the time of their lives during the whole ordeal, laughing to each other when the youth protested or acted embarrassed. Dante, however, had never felt more violated in his life. The ordeal seemed to last forever, and every second of it had been humiliation.
Deciding he had soaked enough, he rose himself out of the tub, taking a quick look around to make sure the girls were surely no longer around. Grabbing a nearby towel, he quickly dried himself off, and made his way to the door to the changing room, where he assumed they had left his clothes.
His mouth fell open in shock when he opened the door: not only were his clothes not there, but every last piece of his equipment was missing also. Dropping the towel, he frantically searched the small shack, looking under all the shelves and slots for clothing. All he found was a small, dark blue kimono, which he assumed they had left for him to use after the bath. Sighing in anger, he snatched the kimono and began to pull it over himself. Where the hell did they take my stuff? he thought.They won't give me my clothes back, but who said they could touch my things? They're probably going through my guns and shit. Hell, they might accidentally set off a grenade for all I know! I gotta get it back!
Just as he was finished putting on the kimono, his eye caught something. Looking back at the top shelf, he saw one of his two 1911 pistols, the one he had left there before the bath. His other one had been in his bag. Also there were the other items he had taken from his pockets, including his harmonica, his last pack of cigarettes, and his lighter. Man, he thought, they must'a missed that. He reached up, grabbed the gun off the shelf, and inspected it. Finding a small, battered pocket in his kimono, he shoved the piece inside, and patted it down.At least I'm not completely unarmed. Grabbing everything else, he shoved that into the pocket as well.
Shaking the remaining water out of his head, he stepped outside. As soon as he did, the familiar stench of the iron works, which had really become apparent when he first stepped into the fortress, returned to his lungs. He felt the stench every time he breathed in. It wasn't suffocating, but was definitely unpleasant. The air was full of the smoke, and, he noticed, the darkening sky wasn't all that clear, either. When he had been outside the fort, it had been rather clear.
The sound of nearby footsteps caught his attention, and he looked back down to see a woman carrying an empty basket, whom he recognized from the group that had bathed him. Walking up to her, he stepped in front of her path, stopping her before she could pass.
"Excuse me-" he began.
"Oh, outlander, I see you're finished with your bath. I do hope you enjoyed our service!"
Dante was left temporarily speechless, looking at the women in a very disturbed way.Were they listening AT ALL to what I was saying during the bath? Shaking it off, he brought his mind back to the topic at hand. "I wanna know where you took my things."
The woman herself donned a confused look. "What was that, guest?"
"My clothes, my equipment, the stuff I left in the changing room that you all took away during the bath!" he said, a hint of irritation in his voice.
"Oh" she said, the realization seeming to dawn on her. "We took all of that to your designated room for tonight. We'll show it to you after your meeting with the Headmistress tonight. There's no need to worry, sir."
As she began to walk away, Dante stopped her once again. "Hold on, wait! Why can't I change now? Why do I have to be separated from my things?"
She gave him a look for a second before responding. "These were orders requested by Lady Eboshi, honored guest. I'm afraid we have no choice but to follow them. No worry, you'll be with them soon enough. Enjoy your time until then," she finished, donning a quick smile before turning to leave again.
Dante watched her go, his mouth hanging open. Having thought of nothing else to say, he threw his head down in frustration, grimacing in anger. I'm liking this place less and less every goddamned second I'm here, he thought. It's no wonder she took my stuff away: she wanted me disarmed for the meeting tonight. Peering down at the hidden pocket of his kimono, he smirked. The joke's on her, I guess. Still, I bet this is exactly what she's gonna try to question me about. Sighing again, he began to walk down the dirt path. I just HAD to show Koroku how to use that shotgun. That's all anyone's gonna try to talk to me about now…
Taking a walk down the dusty path, he gazed at all the buildings and structures within the massive fort. The bathhouse had been on the lover level of the town, which mostly consisted of small cottages and homes, storage barns, and animal pens. The upper-level, which he had yet to venture into, was accessible by a pathway up the hill, with the biggest, most notable structure in the whole fort: one much larger than all the others, big enough to be a factory for the day. He guessed that, if anything, this was where the iron was forged, because the smoke was coming from exactly that direction.
Not long after, he heard the sound of a hammer striking a piece of bamboo: this was the signal for everyone to come back into the fort. Taking a walk back down the path, he saw that the activity had risen. The paths were full of people, all bustling to their jobs to prepare dinner for their perspective families or groups. Looking further ahead, Dante could see the front gate being lowered. His eyes darted downward to the large contraption that reeled the rope in, where the men were releasing it as the final people were making their way inside, just before the gate fell closed with a loud crash.
Looking even more around town, he noticed long lines at one of the storage barns, where dozens upon dozens of wicker rice barrels were stacked. A group of men were opening each basket, and dispensing rations of rice to the people in the crowd, tallying off the amounts given to each group.
The youth sighed again. This meant they would be eating soon. Turning around, he began to walk back to the bathhouse, where they would most likely pick him up for dinner.
Gonza breathed in uneasily as he approached a large, two-story complex in the inner part of the fortress. The house was rather lavish, and probably the closest thing to an imperial structure the town had. Therefore, it belonged to their leader and headmistress. Gonza knew the house inside and out, seeing as how he had helped build it. It was where Eboshi did all of her thinking and planning, and where she had held nearly all of her little conferences with other members of the town, be it the riflemen, the ox-drivers, or the women iron-forgers. At the moment, she was finishing up a long discussion with one ox-driver in particular. Gonza had been present for most of it, but had stepped outside to take care of something, as well as to have a few thoughts to himself.
Nodding to the two guards at the front door as he passed, he stepped inside, making his way to a central room, where Eboshi sat next to an injured Koroku, who was sprawled out on a small bed of cloth. She was in mid-sentence when he stepped in earshot.
"Are you sure this is what you saw, Koroku?"
"Absolutely, Milady. I remember everything from that moment."
Turning to glance at her bodyguard, Eboshi smiled, and turned back to the ox-driver. "Very well, Koroku. You have done well. You will be excused from the oxen train for a few weeks until you heal. Until then, however, you are expected to help with less rigorous tasks."
"Of course, Milady! I won't let you down, I promise!"
"I'm glad to hear it. Now, go get some rest."
With that, two other men waiting outside the room entered, picked up the stretcher Koroku was laid out on, and left the room with him, passing by the bodyguard on the way out. After they were gone, Gonza stepped up to his mistress, who was writing on a number of small wooden tablets.
"Welcome back, Gonza" she said as she made a final mark on a tablet before starting another one. "I trust you've been thinking about dear Koroku's story."
"Indeed I have, Milady."
"It's strange. You don't seem quite as excited as I had hoped."
The guard sighed. "I'm sorry, Milady, but I don't have a good feeling about this outlander. He doesn't seem-"
"What exactly worries you about him, Gonza? The fact that he wears rather strange clothing? That he has lighter skin and red hair? Or that he carries a mass of possessions unknown to us? You probably believe him to be a spy from one of our enemies, if I'm not mistaken."
"Please, Milady. As strange as his appearance may be, I'm not worried about it. I'm worried about the way he was acting amongst our people when he first arrived. He wasn't the most courteous when we approached him-"
"Are you seriously implying that most people from this region would have greeted us any better, Gonza?" she interrupted with a smirk.
"Point taken" he responded. "But there's more than that. Koroku himself said the boy's behavior was strange; the way he talked, the way he acted. He said something about the boy having a violent reaction to something while in the forest…the way he described it reminded me of the way demons sound. The very idea that he was able to pass through the forbidden forest alive, faster than we did, is very disturbing in and of itself. And they way he was looking at you when he first arrived…it didn't look right."
Eboshi held her smirk as she continued on the tablets. "And how would you know, Gonza? He was wearing something over his eyes the whole time, wasn't he?"
"That only makes me wonder more, Milday. Perhaps he uses that to hide something in his eyes-"
"I perfectly understand your concern, Gonza. But I assure you; we need not worry about the boy at the moment. The odds of him being a spy are not frightening, considering his appearance. No lord or daimyo has anyone who looks like that, or wears clothes like that. He has to be a foreigner, and I don't mean from somewhere else in this land; I mean far beyond these lands. And, if this is true, you need to understand just how his presence benefits us. You were here for most of Koroku's story. The things he told us were sounded quite amazing."
Gonza remembered how he reacted when Koroku spoke of the weapon the youth had temporarily lent him, and shown him how to work piece-by-piece. Eboshi had been rather attentive at that point.
"Our weapon technology is said to be ages ahead of everything the strongest daimyos have been able to get their hands on. We were lucky enough to be able to find our guns when we did, Gonza. Now, we are looking at a possible soldier from some foreign country with even greater technology. The best part is that the boy couldn't have possibly told Koroku everything, so there's plenty more to find out. One can only imagine what information he knows. Our luck seems to be getting better all the time."
Donning a slight frown, he nodded. "I understand, Milady. And I apologize for doubting you." He made a motion to kneel into a bow, but the woman stopped him.
"Don't do that, Gonza. It's unnecessary. Your speculations were perfectly warranted. Now, all that matters is convincing the boy to share his knowledge with us."
"How do you plan on doing that, Milady?"
Making another mark on the wooden tablet in her hands, she gave a devious smirk. "We'll find a way; when we find out what it is he's looking for, we'll make him an offer he won't be able to refuse. Everyone can be bought in this day and age, Gonza. And I'm sure the boy won't be different. Now, remember to bring him to me once he has finished eating tonight. And please, Gonza, try to be a bit more courteous than you were earlier today. The boy won't trust us unless we approach him correctly."
Sighing a deep sigh, Gonza nodded again. "I will try, Milady." And, with that, he nodded, and stepped outside.
Dante almost choked when the tiny piece of sticky rice nearly got caught in his throat. Coughing up, he was able to swallow it, letting out a long breath as he let it go down. None of the men around him seemed to notice, all of them being busy stuffing their own face full of rice, brownish daikon radish, and bitter-tasting gruel. There was also no shortage of sake, either, as plenty of the men were already in early stages of intoxication.
The ox-drivers (sans Koroku, who was still recovering) had invited him to eat with them in their stable, and, not seeing any reason to decline, accepted. While the other men were in short stages of laughter and celebration, Dante was still thinking about his fore coming meeting with the headmistress of the town. His gut seemed to be telling him that something bad was going to happen, and he couldn't shake the feeling. Even though she had had his things taken away for the evening without his permission, he still held a weapon that no one knew about, and he only seemed to worry more.
"Where is he?" a voice from outside the barn said.
"Right there? You mean him?"
"Who else do you think I mean? He clearly stands out from the others!"
"Golly, Toki was right! He's not bad-looking at all!"
His back to the voices, Dante turned to see the group of women at the entrance; nearly everyone from the bathhouse, plus several more he didn't know, were all crowded around the small doorway, struggling to get a look at him. He could briefly hear whispers between the women before they broke into uncontrollable laughter.
"Look at him: he's like a beautiful, full-grown tree standing out amongst a bunch of withered, ugly shrubbery!"
"You can say that again!"
"Isn't he a little younger than what we're used to? I mean, he can't be much older than a child!"
"Like age ever stopped you from having a little fun in the past!" another woman piped in as the crowd of women, as well as a few men, burst into another round of laughter.
Some, however, were not enjoying the situation as much as the others. "You all go away! We've had a hard day, and we don't need you annoying us!"
"Yeah! And there's plenty of handsome men in here already!" another man piped up, waving his chopsticks in the air.
"Please, I've seen cattle that look better than you!" a woman retorted.
"Hey, traveler," a taller, slimmer woman called out, "why don't you come and eat at our place? We'll definitely treat you better, and you'll love it much more than this stinking barn!" Another round of laughter from the female crowd resonated.
The man sitting next to Dante, a man named Seiji, turned to face the women with a scowl. "How about watching your mouth, woman! A lot of good men died to bring the rice that you're eating tonight! Show a bit more respect, or next time, we won't be willing to share the spoils!"
The woman retorted with her own scoff. "Like you have a choice! You only got that rice by trading in the iron that we made!"
"We pump those bellows all night, while you pigs are asleep in bed! Let's see you all work for four days straight!"
Chuckling, Seiji turned back to the women. "Four days of labor is nothing! I'd love to see all of you try to take on the wolf god that killed our men! Why do you think she takes us on such a dangerous mission instead of you?"
The women only got rowdier at this. "If it would mean leaving the ironworks in the hands of you morons, it's no question she takes you all out there to get killed!" And they all laughed again.
Seiji could find no retort this time, glumly returning to his food. Dante's mind, however, was moving a mile a minute. Yeesh. And these people live together? Deciding to put an end to the shouting match, he took a deep breath, and turned to face the women. "All right, you've convinced me." Turning away from the men, the women all switched their attention to the outlander. "I'll drop by your place after the meeting with your head mistress…if that's okay."
Their faces lit up so quickly it made the youth cringe. Their reactions were easily predictable. "Really?" "Do you mean it?" "Our first worth-while visit in such a long time!" "We'll have to wear our good kimonos for this." "Forget kimonos, this calls for make-up!" The laughing started up once again, and they started to disperse. "Don't forget now, we'll be waiting for you, traveler!"
Once they were all gone, Dante sighed, and went back to his food. Wonder if I should'a done that. He nearly gagged up a mouthful of rice when he felt a slap on his back. "You really shouldn't pay them any mind, son, you'll just encourage their lousy behavior" Seiji said, gulping down the rest of his gruel. "They get enough of that from Lady Eboshi herself."
"Whadd'ya mean by that?" the youth asked.
A thinner, more well-built man sitting across from him piped up. "Have you ever seen women act like that around men and get away with it? Women like them are a complete disgrace to the ironworks. Their very presence defiles the iron. I'm wondering if it's why we haven't gotten any good deals for it at market lately."
Dante kept staring at the man, still confused at the statement. "What do you mean, 'defile'? How are they that bad?"
"Well, think about it, friend. No offense to our Lady Eboshi or anything, but how can you have an ironworks run entirely by former brothel workers? It's unheard of!"
Again, the soldier almost choked up a mouthful. "Wait a minute…are you serious? A- all of them?"
"Every single one of them, my friend. Why do you think they act like that? They flirt with every single newcomer this town sees. And they're completely shameless. No respect at all for any of us. I honestly don't see what Eboshi-sama sees in all of them."
Dante thought back to the group of girls he had encountered in the few hours since he arrived; Toki, at the gate; the girls in the bath; and, just a few seconds ago, outside the stable; when he thought about it, it all added up. He shuddered, wondering if he should still drop by their place later. "Yikes."
"Oh, don't fill the lad's head with such stories" an older man said as he tried to eat his rice, struggling with what might have been arthritis. "Eboshi-sama is a kind woman, is all. She cares for anyone who may help her."
"You've got some rice on your face, old man," Seiji cut in.
"Yeah, she may make some weird decisions, but you can't argue with her! Especially after all her work and determination to get us where we are today. We owe everything to that woman!"
The youth was so engrossed in the story that he hadn't touched his food for a good few minutes. "All of this was her doing?"
"Yes. Several months ago, there were only a small group of us, less than forty, I'd say. Most of us were farmers or cattle-herders, and we'd lost all our land and cattle to the faction wars. We met each other after abandoning our decimated farms, and decided to stick together. We traveled for weeks, trying to find some land far enough away from the fighting that we could farm in peace. That proved to be a tough task. But then, we found this place. At first, we tried to farm, but found that the ground was full of this dark, thick ore. One of our colleagues was a former blacksmith, and he identified it as iron. And there was lots of it. We knew there was profit to be made from this stuff, so we decided to start an ironworks."
"So, what was the problem?"
"Well, while we knew how to forge iron on a small-scale, we didn't know anything about large-scale production. Plus, in only a couple of months, we'd dug out all of the ore from under this island, the proceeds from which had been enough to keep us alive for that long. We knew there was more under the surrounding forest, but we quickly found out that the forest didn't want us there."
Dante was becoming more attentive with every word. "What do you mean by that?"
"I'll fill this one in" another man said, walking into the group right behind Dante, holding his bowl and hashi. "You see, in order to dig up the ore, we have to clear away the forest. And that pissed off the native tribe of boars faster than we could dig. In a matter of days, they managed to take out all of our camps, and destroy out digging facilities. These boars were unstoppable; they ran us down from out of the darkness, killed quite a few of our men, and drove us back to the island in fear.. And don't get me started on that bastard Nago."
Dante turned to look straight at him. "Nago?"
"A giant, monstrous boar god. One that nearly buried all our hopes of surviving."
Things were slowly starting to fall into place. Although not everything was clear, Dante never imagined he'd stumble onto something this big. You only came across a giant boar god every so often.
"Anyway, it was at this time that Lady Eboshi arrived. She had several people with her: ronin with no master, former blacksmiths, brothel girls, and even some men who were trained to fight with these new weapons they called guns. She saw the potential we had with our iron, and promised us prosperity in return for our loyalty. We were happier than ever to be given a chance, but we weren't sure if she would be able to handle Nago and his pack of bloodthirsty pigs. Boy, were we wrong! She set the forest on fire the night after! Her riflemen slaughtered the boars in droves with their muskets. And, if what I heard was true, she fired the fatal shot herself into that bastard Nago! He ran off into the woods, squealing like a little porker, never to be seen again! After that, we never doubted her."
Happening so suddenly he didn't see it coming, Dante's right hand squeezed his rice bowl so hard, it exploded into splinters, sending rice flying in all directions. A few of the men jumped up in shock, some losing control of their own food. Dante grabbed hold of his arm, which was making a large effort to do something horrendous on its own again. Seiji watched as the youth tried to hide his arm.
"Son, are you all right? Is something wrong with your arm?"
"Nah, nah…it's just a bit sore from an earlier wound, that's all."
Looking at the mess that was Dante's bowl of food, he turned back to the boy. "Do you want me to get another bowl?"
"No, that's fine." Dante quickly stood up, making his way towards the door. "In fact, I've lost my appetite. I need to get some air." Turning back to them, he bowed lightly. "Thanks for the food," he said before stepping out the door. The men all watched him leave, and kept their eyes on the door for a few seconds before going back to their food.
Dante sat on the ground, his back to the barn he had just left, looking at his cursed arm as he gripped it. That was a close one, he thought, finding a few splinters in his hand. But I don't believe what I just heard…how the fuck did all of this happen?
He thought back to the woman whom everyone spoke of, of whom he had just barely gotten a far-off view of back at the gate. Now, he could think of nothing but her…and what he now knew about her and what she had done.
She's the one who did this…she and her henchmen and all those others! They came in, burned down the forest, and killed everything in their paths…and they sent that big fucker on the rampage that gave me this fucking curse! Motherfucker!
He drove his arm to the ground, slamming it so hard, he felt it would have broken had it not been for the curse. That's why she had my stuff taken away…she suspects me! If she finds out just why I have this curse, she'll probably have me killed…hold on. I've got a gun now…do I take her out while I have the chance? No, no way…if I do that, everyone will try to kill me, no matter how many more of them I kill…that'll fuck things up real bad. Shit, I never should'a come here…if I go to meet her, my arm'll try to kill her, and create a fucking disaster. Shit, I need to find my stuff, and bail. This is getting too dangerous, just being here.
He stood up to leave when he found someone already standing in front of him; the captain of the guard, whom he had first met at the gate after bringing Koroku back. Dante knew immediately why he was here, and mentally cursed himself.
"There you are, traveler. I've been looking for you. You must come, now, for your meeting with the head mistress."
Dante struggled to find an excuse that would buy him some time. "Look, I really can't do this now; I'm not feeling good tonight. Tell her to wait until morn-"
Gonza slapped his hand onto the youth's shoulder as he tried to walk away. "Lady Eboshi has ordered that you see her now, traveler. There will be no changes. You are to follow me, no questions asked."
Dante looked back at the hulking man. His eyes were dead serious, and he could see that there was no way he could get out of this. Sighing in defeat, he turned back around. "All right. Lead the way."
Gonza nodded, and turned off to the path. The youth followed him, his head hung low.How can things get any worse?
Again, sorry for the long wait. I hate it when these problems arise, but I can't help it. Anyway, expect the next chapter within two weeks or so. I've already written most of it, and I'll be getting it up faster than usual. I'm back from Japan, and I've finally got a hold of a computer that works. So, have no fear. Happy trails.
Music for Chapter 14:
Evening at the Ironworks, by Joe Hisaishi