Himiko's Palace
As I exited the temple, I saw smoke leaking across the dawning sky from the commoner's quarters towards Himiko's palace. I followed the blossoming smoke-trail down towards Himiko's palace and heard a great commotion just inside the palace gates. As I drew nearer, I saw a group of people gathered, half were clad in pinks and the others in yellow. Heading the left half was Yatosama, Takeo standing to his right, as well as a fistful of guards. Takara was also surrounded by guards, Iyo by his side. The situation was tense, I could not hear what was being said, but both rulers were in each other's faces, the guards preparing to draw weapons. Takeo's hand anxiously hovered by his sword's handle. Iyo appeared to be trying to talk down the situation but was being ignored by both the king & emperor. It would take more than gentle nudges to make these two see sense.
"What is the meaning of this? The city on fire, miscreants running about the streets? Is this what our poor city has come to under your misguided leadership?" Takara exclaimed, dismayed.
"Why do you think I'm to blame? I ordered no such thing!" Yatosama yelled in return, defending his honor. "How do I know these aren't your men, disguised under my banner to stir anger towards me? Using people as pawns for ambitions is much more your style-"
"Stop!" I howled in a commanding bark, and both leaders turned to look at me, their faces still only inches apart. "Look at yourselves!" I said, snarling, coming up the stairs. "Squabbling in the dirt, like children! You have let yourselves become wrapped up in these rumors, and you so-called rulers never made a single act towards peace with each other." I was so enveloped up in my fury I didn't notice that they couldn't understand my true words, but they seemed to comprehend the gist of what I said. As soon as I thought of it, Hiraku jumped into play, translating for me, echoing my exact tone and words as soon as I spoke.
"Have either of you even sat down with the other to discuss the problems the city is facing? No! Instead, you let this war of silence get to a climax, until it came to real violence." I growled, thrashing my tail. "Would you follow these leaders who would lead you to war over their own struggle for power? Use you as pawns for their own gain?" I shouted, staring at all the soldiers, all of them looked uncertain and turned towards their leaders, Takara looked embarrassed, but the king looked furious. "Akimeterasu! I-"
"I'm not finished with you yet!" I snapped at him, and he stopped talking, looking taken aback, and closed his mouth. "Your men have wreaked havoc upon this city, burning and pillaging property and harassing innocent townsfolk. Whether or not it was by your command, you present yourself a sorry leader either way." I snarled, and I heard a chuckle behind me. "And you!" I said, turning to the emperor, and he cringed at the fire in my eyes. "Why aren't you content with the power you've always had? You never challenged queen Himiko during her reign! You never caused this turmoil before! Why, all of a sudden, is total control over the city so appealing?" My lip curled in accusation, and he fumbled. "Well I… I…" But his words fell away. The two monarchs looked away in shame. Silence fell, until the king finally broke it, his voice calm and apologetic: "…Akimeterasu is right," Yatosama said, resting his hands together gracefully in his robes. "We have been acting childish. It is time for us to set aside our differences, noble emperor, and speak like adults. Figure things out with dignity." Takara bowed his head in turn. "…I agree. A greeting is the deity who turns up providentially, such as this. There is no reason to resort to violence. We can rebuild Sei-an… Together." The two rulers slowly outstretched out their hands, clasped them together, and shook. I let out a sigh of relief, my hackles going down, Iyo looked vindicated, and many of the soldiers on both sides relaxed- save one.
"No!" Takeo snarled, drawing his sword. All those gathered around looked towards him in shock. "Do you think that after all this time, with you leading us on and promising blood and change, that I'm going to back down now?" Several other men moved to stand behind him, glaring at the two rulers. "Takeo-" Yatosama tried to break in but was stopped by the man raising his sword and aiming it squarely at the king's throat. "No, silence! I shall make the change! I will rule Sei-an! You will not make anything happen; you will never lead us Yatosama! You will never be our king! And I shall have my blood!" The rebel leader charged forward, straight towards the king, who was frozen in shock. "NO!" A shout came from Tetsuo as he lunged in front of Yatosama, pushing him back, jumping in the direct path of the blade to defend his king.
The sword sliced through his chest like butter and appeared out of his back, a few inches from the king- whose robes were now splattered with blood. Takeo pulled it back and the man crumpled to the ground. The rebel wore a look of disgust mingled with anger on his face. We stared in collective horror at the samurai, collapsed on the ground, Hiroshi sank to his knees beside his fallen mentor. Takeo wiped his blade as he turned his attention back to Yatosama. His men started to close in, and the royal guards made a protective barrier around us- but we were surrounded by the rebels. I glanced around, there were too many of them! One of the guards shouted: "Get them inside!" Then suddenly the rest of them pushed and herded us up the stairs towards the palace. Two of them picked up General Tetsuo and pulled Hiroshi to his feet. As we escaped further away, I heard yells and the sounds of blades colliding as the guards defended our escape. I wanted to turn around, help fight, but Hiraku shouted at me over the din: "No, Akime, you need to stay and protect the king and the emperor!" I growled, but turned my head, and ran to keep up with the fleeing royals. Instead of running them towards the palace, the guards shepherded them to the right. One of them lifted a huge red, wooden bolt off the door, and ushered us inside. There were yells of pain, and thundering footsteps behind us. The remaining guards were running to join us. When they reached us, they slammed the doors closed, leaving us in darkness. Tetsuo stirred and coughed. "Hiroshi…" He murmured, stretching out his hand. "I'm here, Master," the young samurai said, grabbing his hand. "You have trained hard and well for this moment, and I know… You will do well." Tetsuo coughed, blood appearing in the corner of his mouth. "No, don't say that!" the young Samurai said, wiping away the blood. "I still need you!"
"Nonsense." Tetsuo coughed again. "You are a true warrior. You are ready, you don't need me anymore. Now you must… Protect… Your king…" the man's voice faded, and his eyes grew glazed over. "No! NO!" Hiroshi cried, coddling the elder warrior's head in his arms, rocking back and forth, voice strained by grief. The young man bowed his head and wept. His shoulders wracked with sobs; Hiraku somberly hopped from my head to the young warrior's shoulders. "I know this is hard for you, but now is not the time to grieve. Tetsuo would need you to be strong, for your king. We are still in peril." Hiraku spoke quietly into his ears. Hiroshi's head slowly lifted, his cheeks slick with tears, but there was a hardening steel in his dark eyes- a steel of justice. "I am at your service, my king."
"For now, you serve two masters. I command you to serve Emperor Takara with your life, as well as mine. We will need all the support we can get to quell this rebellion." Yatosama mused, and Takara turned to one of his yellow-clad guards. "Take Iyo with you ahead through the tunnel and leave the city." Takara commanded one of the guards, and the young girl looked bewildered. "I agree, this situation is too dangerous for you." Yatosama stated, for once agreeing with the emperor. Resigned to both leader's wishes, she reluctantly but dutifully bowed her head without protest to follow the guard into the dark tunnel. Before she left the small, cramped room, she said one final thing: "I pray the Shijin will protect us," Iyo implored, looking me directly in the eye as she was guided away. I felt relieved to know one of these mortals would survive, although as many fighters as possible were needed, the girl was used to life in a palace, being a diplomat, and possessed no combat skills. If the city were to survive this, she was needed alive. 'The shijin…' her words rang, repeating in my mind like a gong. 'How can we find them?'
(AN: Wow, long time no see! I've graduated college and moved multiple states, been working on publishing original work, and I've been working 50hr weeks BUT I had a random spur of energy to come back and work on TDO! We're only 3 chapters from the end of this arc, so I've gotta make that happen at least. ?)
