Chapter Thirteen: Kakusa re ta
"Yes...let us talk," Lord Fernando agreed. The Praetor was still in a mild state of surprise at the Ainu Shogun actually being alive, but he pushed past those emotions and got down to the matter at hand. Centralia needed the help of the Ainu, and it occurred to the Praetor that the Shogun would be his best bet for completing this objective.
Best not to be disrespectful to him. Though Fernando could also sense that the Shogun needed him as well…for what, exactly, the Praetor did not know. But definitely for something. He supposed he was about to find out what.
"I am sure you have many questions," the Shogun said, his Commonspeak distorted by his accent, but still more easily understood than many of his fellow Ainu. "I will endeavor to answer as many of them as I can. Will you walk with me?"
The Shogun led the way out of the temple, beckoning for the Praetor to follow him. Niten followed as well, but remained further back. As the Shogun's chief lieutenant and advisor, he accompanied the Ainu military leader almost everywhere, but he had also mastered the skill of becoming invisible in a conversation. The Praetor would easily forget the samurai was there until he looked back and actually saw him.
"Kakusa re ta..." Lord Fernando murmured as he looked all around, peering pas the rolling fields and into the woods beyond. A flock of gulls crossed by overhead and settled into the canopies of those trees. The caldera that the town was situated in wasn't huge, but it was large enough to suit the needs of a staging ground, which is what Fernando had assumed this place to be.
There was a small town built in the center of the caldera. The Shogun showed Fernando around the place, giving a quick tour of the facilities. Lieutenant Althos and his marines were already getting situated—setting up tents and campfires outside the village. A few of the veteran marines had even opted to practice their swordsmanship against several of the samurai warriors who lived in the town.
"This is where the rebellion I've been hearing so much about is centered, yes?" Lord Fernando asked as the Shogun took him onto a path that led away from the village and into the fields beyond, where individual samurai and groups of common Ainu soldiers could be seen drilling or meditating.
"We are not a rebellion," the Shogun corrected. "We would never betray our Emperor."
Again, the Praetor did not want to disrespect the Shogun, but this last remark was not one that he could simply ignore. "How would you not classify yourselves as rebels? You are fighting against the Sun Emperor's loyal forces. We killed his men when Niten freed me from the palace."
"Casualties borne of necessity," Niten sighed. His voice was layered with a small measure of sadness, but not regret. "They died well."
"My lieutenant is correct," the Shogun agreed. "What separates the warriors who follow me from those who remain at the Sun Emperor's side is not a division of opinion, but a limitation of perception. I do not think I need to explain to you, of all people, but I'm sure you have noticed that the Sun Emperor seemed…" the Shogun frowned, searching for an appropriate word in Commonspeak to convey his intent. Unable to find one, he simply spoke the last word in Kurigana, which Fernando understood just as well. "Yogoreta."
"Abnormal," Lord Fernando translated. "Tainted."
"Tainted, yes," the Shogun nodded. "His mind has been overthrown by the Dark One."
"I thought as much," Lord Fernando murmured. "Zamorak is brutal and evil, but he is a cunning foe… Even now, he sows chaos and havoc in your lands. You Ainu are killing each other right now when you should be mobilizing to assist your allies."
The Shogun turned off the path and started walking through a patch of woods, closing his eyes frequently and savoring the smell of fresh pine. The trickle of a flowing creek filled what otherwise would have been a complete absence of sound.
"This did not happen overnight," the Shogun went on after a few minutes of silence. "It all started several years ago, when he began to have the dreams…ever since then, the Emperor has become more and more…tainted. Taken over. Stolen. The Dark One's hold over him is very strong, now. After bringing attention to this blasphemy, a full winter ago, I was exiled from this empire."
"It would appear that you did not listen," the Praetor grinned.
"If I desert this place, I desert my Emperor," the Shogun declared. "Even on pain of death, that is something I cannot do."
"I've been in Kātayō," Lord Fernando said to the older Ainu military commander. "I've seen the layout of the city and the palace…your men could easily take the capital if you launched a two-pronged ground and sea assault. Why have you not done this, already? I'm sure your shamans could have neutralized Zamorak's mental hold over-"
"No," the Shogun stopped abruptly, holding up a hand. He took a deep breath and said, more calmly, "No. We do not fight against the Sun Emperor; we fight to free him…but you must understand; we will not, we cannot attack the Emperor. He is a living god, a part of the line of Sun Emperors descended directly from Izanagi the Sun God; you know him by the name of Tumeken. To raise a hand against him…it cannot be done."
"But…" Lord Fernando frowned again, the facts not quite adding up for him. "How can you justify fighting to free the Sun Emperor by leading a breakaway military force in battle against soldiers still loyal to him…but you cannot justify attacking the palace to throw off Zamorak's mindlock? Are they not the same thing?"
"To me, and to those here who have put their faith in me, they are not. And that is, putting it quite simply, the way it is," the Shogun replied flatly, turning back forward and resuming his walk. "Another thing you must understand about myself and those who I have the great honor to command here is that we have not formally faced the loyalist army in battle, yet."
That surprised the Praetor. "Is that so?" Fernando asked. "From what I've been hearing, your force has really been causing trouble, lately."
"Not in battle, no," Niten said from behind, overhearing the turn in the conversation. "We raid imperial supply ships on occasion to keep us fed and equipped. The Itoans keep us from starving, but we do our best to help ourselves; we cannot be the Ainu people's salvation and burden at the same time. We also capture Imperial Navy vessels which stray too close to Ito; in all of these cases, the crews of those vessels ended up joining my cause."
"We have also attacked and…discouraged the loyalists from setting up outposts on any of the islands near this one," the Shogun continued. "My point is that we have yet to unleash our full strength. And when we do, it will only be at the right time…with your help. Or rather, your mage's help."
"Cicero?" Lord Fernando arched an eyebrow. "What do you need with him?"
Before the Ainu warleader answered the Praetor's last question, the three men emerged into a clearing situated on top of a small hill. The ground was covered with spongy moss and clovers. A fallen tree was decomposing on one side of the clearing. The edges of the mossy clearing were rimmed with violets, dandelions, lilacs, and a few flowers native to Ainuido that Fernando wasn't familiar with.
In the center of the clearing was a small willow tree. The Shogun wandered towards it, pushing aside some of the green strands that hung down to the ground and walking under the tree's arching branches. "This is my favorite meditating spot," the Shogun smiled, placing a gentle hand on the trunk of the willow tree. "I have reached the Ondr many times under its shade."
Niten took a deep breath through his nose, releasing it through his mouth. He, too, seemed to feel some sort of connection to this place. Fernando did not attempt to understand their deep connection to nature and their love of meditation; they were nothing like Centralians. Instead, he waited patiently for the Shogun to get back to the matter at hand.
"There are many ways to fight an enemy," the Shogun said to Fernando, his hand still on the willow tree. "Some adopt an offensive strategy, hoping to crush an enemy under the weight or speed of their strikes. Others adopt a defensive strategy; turning all of the enemy's attacks against the opponent. But we have adopted a different strategy."
Fernando remained silent, now even more interested in what the Shogun had to say.
"We wait," Niten stated.
"Hai," the Shogun nodded. "Yes. We wait. We fight only to preserve ourselves, but otherwise we wait. We wait for the right time…and when the right time comes, we strike," he brought his fist down into his other hand. "And we strike hard."
"Like an ocean snake," the Praetor suggested.
"Like an ocean snake, hai," Niten echoed in the affirmative.
The Shogun leaned back against the willow and fell silent once more. Lord Fernando wasn't sure if he was meditating or simply taking a break to listen to the creatures of the woods. Either way, the Praetor once again decided to remain patient and not interrupt. Niten stood still as a statue off to the side.
After a few minutes, Lord Fernando began to listen, too. Though he knew he would never hear it and interpret it at the same depth and level as the two Ainu warriors with him, the Praetor found the sounds of the woods to be somewhat calming. Peaceful, in a way.
After listening to the rhythmic chirruping of a nearby bird for that quiet handful of minutes, the Shogun opened his eyes, got back up to his feet, and stepped away from the willow. "You are right, Gin-Shita," he said, using the Kurigana name that Niten's samurai had started calling Lord Fernando during their time on the Silver Arrow. The Praetor had yet to get a translation for it. "We could have easily taken the capital long ago, but we could not have attacked the Sun Emperor. Now do you see why we need the help of gaijin, of foreigners? To free the Sun Emperor requires attacking him directly, which we cannot do…but you—and more importantly, your mage—can."
"So assisting us in attacking the Emperor is acceptable by your standards?" Lord Fernando frowned. The Praetor knew that he would never understand the Ainu samurai and their ironclad, ramrod-straight senses of honor, their unwillingness to bend the rules…
"Gin-Shita, Praetor," the Shogun sighed, finally seeming to tire of the Centralian politician's needling of the mindset of his people, "Our belief that helping foreigners to purge the Emperor's mind is not the same thing as actually attacking him; this is the one thing that allows me and my followers to fight at all. If you want the Ainu to help you in your war, you would do well to stop trying to pick holes in our logic."
Lord Fernando closed his mouth abruptly, biting back a harsh retort. He was quick to see the Shogun's logic as well as his own folly, and even quicker to put a stop to it.
"Very well," the Preator ceded to the Shogun's argument. "Enough on the matter of your loyalties, then. Correct me if I am wrong, now; you are going to attack your capital, but leave storming the palace and freeing the Emperor to my men? The marines are good soldiers, and they'll do what needs to be done, but I would rather not have them go on a suicide mission."
"You are right, but only to a point," the Shogun pointed out before pausing to shake his head momentarily. He couldn't understand the Centralians and their death grips on their own lives. He believed it to be a great honor to die in battle serving his lord. He who values his life dies a dog's death; why couldn't the light-skinned, round-eyed gaijin understand that?
"My men will be alongside your men the whole time," the Shogun explained. "We shall take the palace together. The only task which your warriors must undertake alone is subduing the Emperor himself. Once your mage gets a mental hold on the Emperor, our own shamans will be able to bolster him. We will be with your men every step of the way."
Lord Fernando was silent for several minutes. He examined one of the willow tree's leafy strands, twirling it around his fingers. Finally, he let the strands fall, turning back to face the Ainu leader and his subordinate. "I have it on your honor and the honor of the empire which you serve that you will aid Centralia if I agree to this?"
The Shogun nodded. "When our Emperor's mind is healed, Zamorak's hordes shall know what it is like to feel the cold bites of the gladius and the katana at the same time."
"I do hope you know what you are doing, Shogun," Lord Fernando sighed. He then straightened up, and extended a hand. "When you march on the Emperor's palace, my men shall march with you."
A corner of the Shogun's mouth curved upwards in a faint grin, but he said nothing. Though protocol usually called for a bow, he decided to adopt the Centralian form of agreement for this occasion. Wordlessly, he grasped the Centralian Praetor's hand and shook it.
Author's Note
If anyone is still actually reading this, I know it's been a couple of months since my last update. I've been on a writing splurge with my Halo story, lately (86 chapters and counting) and I just haven't had the drive to continue this one. A ton of people read my Halo story, but not many read this one, so I'm biased towards Halo at the moment. But the drive is starting to come back. Once my Halo story is finished, I'll be able to start writing this one full time.
But for now, enjoy!
-TheAmateur