The Duty of War
Chapter 5
Summer, 1236 - Oiku, near Toshi Ranbo
They travelled west for a number of day, crossing the Kitani River south of Toshi Ranbo and proceeding north west along the edges of the Kokoro Nezuban Mori. And it was there that they met up with troops from the Lion Clan.
Here they were not far from their target, the town of Oiku which in the past had been a Lion military outpost where troops could quickly defend Toshi Ranbo. Until now, no attempts had been made to hold it though there had been plenty of conflicts to throw the Onyx back from invading the rest of Lion lands.
Now, taking it was one of the more important last steps before Toshi Ranbo.
They made a light camp, sleeping out in the open with only the jinmaku walls for shelter. They trained and drilled alongside the Lion, a friendly sense of competitiveness starting between the Lion and the Imperial Legion troops. But it also drew them together, they had a shared purpose, a common enemy.
The night before the attack on Oiku, Koharu gathered Kyojin Platoon together for their briefing. As always, their role would be to advance on horseback and to take and hold strategic points until they were relieved by infantry. Then she dismissed them, telling everyone to get some rest.
But Harun found he couldn’t, he felt excited. He saw it as his first real battle with the Legion, different from the skirmishes on the Lion border he had been in.
He walked the camp and saw people making preparations. Writing letters, making prayers to ancestors and fortunes, drinking heavily… When he got back to their camp he saw Utaku Kenji, he had a number of hachimaki bandanas he was painting messages on. Harun went closer and saw what they said: Hikahime.
“They’re for us for tomorrow,” he said to Harun. “Hikahime-no-fortune, she is special to the Legion. She was once one of us, so we invoke her name before battle.”
Harun nodded, not exactly sure how to say that he had actually met Hikahime last year when she had come out of Yomi during Zetsubou’s ritual. So, he didn’t say anything about it at all.
Harun woke in the grey morning light, too excited to eat anything more than a few mouthfuls of rice. He watched how the others were a lot calmer, Yoritomo Osu gently ribbing Isawa Kanbei over something, Tsubaru and Koharu arguing over the merits of cooking daikon. It could have been any other morning, but it wasn’t.
Then it was time to gear up, long lines of bushi and ashigaru helping each other getting into their armour started to form. There was a lot of laughter. It was quite undignified, quite the opposite of what Harun had been taught about the proper way for a samurai to get ready for battle. But somehow he didn’t mind it at all.
Then it was time to mount up and form ranks, waiting in their places until it was time to begin. But first, a tremendous shout went up and down the ranks, shouting Hikahime’s name, chanting that she may grant them victory in battle.
When it was over, Harun thought they would be given the signal to go. But they weren’t. He could see just into the town, the Onyx were beginning to stir and come out of the village like angry bees.
What are we waiting for? Harun wondered. And then he saw them.
Lion bushi, white garments beneath white armour, leading the charge against the Onyx with a viscousness and utter disregard for their own lives.
“Deathseekers,” Harun whispered.
Koharu, who was next to Harun on her own horse, nodded.
Harun had heard of them, dishonoured Lion samurai who had nothing left but to die in the glory of battle. Harun didn’t know what they could have done to have such status, and he didn’t have time to wonder. The signal was sounded and they were off.
Kyojin platoon advanced forward on their horses, ahead of them was a line of Lion cavalry. Harun’s heart beat fast, the thunder of their hooves, the shouts among them as they rode. The Onyx came towards them, Harun couldn’t see them, but he could hear them. The shrieks and howls of the onispawn and goblins. The shouts and taunts of the tainted samurai. And then, the rasp and ring of steel and tear of flesh as they clashed.
The Lion cavalry threw the Onyx back, scattering them in different directions. This gave Kyojin enough time to dismount and ready their weapons. And no sooner had they done so that Onyx were on them. Kyoujin platoon fought in a tight formation, slashing with their sword, with their spears, holding that position until the infantry could come to relieve them.
It was confusing, it was messy in all the noise and the blood. And it was easy to lose focus. But Harun thought back to his training, those hours they had spent in the cold light dawn, and kept his head.
“Relief coming, hold firm,” Harun heard Koharu say.
And sure enough, ranks of infantry came forward and engaged the enemy from the other side. Between the two of them, they made short work of the Onyx.
“That’s it, mount up,” Koharu shouted. They ran towards where Yoritomo Osu was guarding the horses, mounted up and advanced forward.
And this was how it went, they would take positions quickly while waiting to be relieved by infantry. Always advancing, taking up key positions in the town so the others could move in. It worked well, until it didn’t.
They were fighting between rows of houses for much longer, it seemed like the relief wasn’t coming. Still they fought, there could be any reason for the delay.
Then Harun smelled smoke, heard a crackle of flames not far from where they were.
“Gunso, we need to move now!” Harun shouted.
“We hold out until we are relieved!” Koharu shouted back, between strokes of her yari.
“This house here is about to go up in flames!” Harun yelled. “We stay, our horses bolt.”
Sure enough, the horses started to whinny and paw at the ground with their hooves.
“Back, Kyoujin, mount up,” Koharu said. “You better be right about this,” she added to Harun.
Harun hoped he wasn’t, as that meant there was something wrong.
They headed back to the courtyard they had taken earlier, smack in the middle was a massive oni that just seemed to devour any that went near it. Several of the squad started forward to help those already there, but Koharu held up a hand to stop them.
“No, no, we can’t all rush in like fools,” she said. “Let me think a moment.” She pointed to Kenji and Harun. “You and you, we’ll take thirds of the squad. Tease it, play with it, then maybe those others there will catch on what we are doing.”
Harun left with his portion with nothing more than a “Hai” in acknowledgement, barely been considering we’d been given his first position of responsibility.
The three groups started taunting the oni, going in to attack him and then withdrawing when one of the others got closer. Then the rest got the idea and joined in, more soldiers started pouring in and soon the massive oni fell.
Before they moved on, Koharu went up to Harun. “You did well there,” she said.
Harun smiled.
Oiku was taken, they moved in to occupy it, but what followed was the more difficult task of defending it from the Onyx raids from Toshi Ranbo. These seemed to Harun like a relentless grind, just throwing back what the Onyx threw at them.
They did their best, but sometimes it wasn’t enough. To Harun, it didn’t seem to matter if he was fast enough or his katana was where it needed to be. Some days their numbers were thinned due to people suffering from wounds, but then there was the sad day that Tsubaru was killed. It wasn’t a brave death, just a mistake on her part when he thought the tainted samurai she had downed had no fight left in him. The camp was quite for a few days after that, Yoritomo Osu finding sleep in the stupor of drunkeness.
One evening, Harun walked through the village to distract himself, passing the various tents and shelters where the Imperial Legion and Lion troops were billeted. Games of chance, drinking as stories and music by the various fires. It was a balm in a way to see life when what he saw every day was death.
Then when he looked at one of the fires, he saw a face he recognised. Akodo Harumasa, the son in law of his mother Yamada’s friend Akodo Kibo. Harun had met him the last winter at the Castle of the Swift Sword. Harun had thought he was a poet yet here he was with a samurai’s daisho.
And an officer, looks like it, Harun thought.
Harun had intended to pass him by, yet Harumasa called out to him. “Kakita-san,” he said. “Come, share the fire a moment.”
Harun went over, more because he couldn’t think of a way to refuse. Hanam introduced him to the others at the fire, Akodo Taruma, Ganou and Komatsu, Harun nodded to them all as he sat down.
“Mina-san, this is who I was telling you about,” said Harumasa. “He was at the ritual with my wife’s uncle when the land was cleansed.”
They looked at Harun with more interest now, seeking confirmation.
“This is true,” said Harun, he felt a twinge of sadness as he always did when he thought of Zetsubou. “I was a witness.”
“A witness?” Akodo Taruma asked. “There were more?”
“Just one more…at least with his soul still in Ningen-Do,” said Harun. “Moto Majid, is was his Void magic that made it all possible.”
“That hardly seems fitting,” said Ganou, with more than a little scorn. “What would a Moto’s gaijin magic do with…”
Harumasa cleared his throat loudly. “Please, no insulting guests, Ganou,” he said. “Where did you leave your manners? Get the tea.” He turned back to Haurn. “I apologise for my men, Kakita-san.”
“No need,” said Harun. “I’ve spent these last months in camp and its hardly where one sees refinement. Tell me, how are you family? I hope they are well.”
“They are, Miraiko is not liking sitting out the push to Toshi Ranbo,” says Harumasa. “She is at home with our son, and writes constantly.”
“It is an important duty, raising children,” said Harun, a perfectly conventional game response.
“My father in law has returned to his duties at the Swift Sword Dojo,” Harumasa continued. “Little Kibo was just starting there when I left, his mother and the rest of the family are staying for the time being.”
The tea arrived. Strong, thick warrior’s tea in plain cups. Harun welcomed its flavour.
“And Koneko?” Harun asked, he had grown closed to the redhaired girl in the short time he had known her.
“She should be continuing her training soon,” said Hanamasu, looking a little uncomfortable. “But I did want to ask about you, did you make it back to Crane lands in time? I know that was troubling you.”
“No, I didn’t,” said Harun, feeling his cheeks colour slightly. “When I got back to Tsuma, she had…it had all ended.”
“She had?” Taruma asked, repeated, raising an eyebrow. “You had a girl waiting for you?” That explains a lot.”
Harun laughed. “I suppose it does,” she said. “Yes, I did. But she’s in Zogeku now, I doubt I’ll see her again.”
“Don’t count your losses so soon,” Taruma said with a grin. “You never know what can happen after this war ends.”
Harun nodded and drank his tea.
Three days later, Harun was fighting in the fringes on the north side of Oiku. Things had gotten a little more manageable, the Onyx numbers seemed to be slacking. Though everyone knew that this was probably due to the Onyx keeping resources in reserve back at Toshi Ranbo. Still, it only made things slightly easier. As in, Harun had more room to swing his sword between the swarms.
Kyoujin were fighting with ranged support from Ranshu platoon, they stayed back at the palisades with their bows. Daidoji Akemi was there, with her gaijin powder taneshagima. Harun did his best to ignore the explosive sounds it was making.
Fortunately, as there was a long gap between Akemi’s shots, Harun found his concentration wasn’t broken too much, he found his rhythm quite well, fighting beside the gunso Koharu. His katana and her yari working in concert together.
Then there was an attack by a tainted samurai that he had to quickly dodge, parrying it overbalanced him and he fell to the ground. The tainted samurai pressed the attack, slicing his blackened blade towards Harun. Then he collapsed, smoke and an acrid smell coming out of the side of his head. Harun stood up, then noticed Daidoji Akemi standing on the other side of the palisade with her smoking weapon in her hand. Harun gave her a nod in acknowledgement and kept fighting.
The Onyx started to rush at them then, in larger groups. But they barely stopped to engage, instead keeping on going. Right into their blades or arrows, in many cases. This was a little confusing, but Harun wasn’t one to question it. At least, not straight away.
“They’re fleeing,” Koharu said.
“What from?” Harun asked.
It wasn’t long until they got their answer though. They could hear the sounds of an approaching army. The thunder of hooves, the ring of steel and the shouts of the soldiers in battle. They came from the northwest, Harun could see them approach. And as they neared, Harun could make out the green and gold laurel banner of the Emerald Champion.
The soldiers of the legion drove the Onyx back like an oncoming storm. And among them Harun could see his father, urging them on with his green sahai baton.
That evening, Karasu and Harun walked around Okiu. Harun was telling his father about the last few weeks, flush with pride of the skill and courage of his comrades, saddening when he talked about Tsubaru’s death.
He’s a soldier, Karasu thought, with a little sting, this was not the path I wanted for him, Kenshin-sensei at the academy said he has it in him to be a Kenshinzen. Well, he's young, there’s still time…
This wasn’t just about Karasu spending time with Harun, it was about being seen by the troops. A morale boost just in case it had been flagging, a reminder that he was in the same fight they were in.
They came to the northern side of Oiku, from there the walls of Toshi Ranbo could be sighted. High, impregnable, but Harun looked towards it eagerly. And he wasn’t the only one.
“Is that next, my lord?” A bushi in Dragon colours asked. “Are we finally going to take the fight to the old capital.”
“We are,” Karasu said. “In a few days we will start making our camp around the city, and the rest of Rokugan will join us.”
Chapter 5
Summer, 1236 - Oiku, near Toshi Ranbo
They travelled west for a number of day, crossing the Kitani River south of Toshi Ranbo and proceeding north west along the edges of the Kokoro Nezuban Mori. And it was there that they met up with troops from the Lion Clan.
Here they were not far from their target, the town of Oiku which in the past had been a Lion military outpost where troops could quickly defend Toshi Ranbo. Until now, no attempts had been made to hold it though there had been plenty of conflicts to throw the Onyx back from invading the rest of Lion lands.
Now, taking it was one of the more important last steps before Toshi Ranbo.
They made a light camp, sleeping out in the open with only the jinmaku walls for shelter. They trained and drilled alongside the Lion, a friendly sense of competitiveness starting between the Lion and the Imperial Legion troops. But it also drew them together, they had a shared purpose, a common enemy.
The night before the attack on Oiku, Koharu gathered Kyojin Platoon together for their briefing. As always, their role would be to advance on horseback and to take and hold strategic points until they were relieved by infantry. Then she dismissed them, telling everyone to get some rest.
But Harun found he couldn’t, he felt excited. He saw it as his first real battle with the Legion, different from the skirmishes on the Lion border he had been in.
He walked the camp and saw people making preparations. Writing letters, making prayers to ancestors and fortunes, drinking heavily… When he got back to their camp he saw Utaku Kenji, he had a number of hachimaki bandanas he was painting messages on. Harun went closer and saw what they said: Hikahime.
“They’re for us for tomorrow,” he said to Harun. “Hikahime-no-fortune, she is special to the Legion. She was once one of us, so we invoke her name before battle.”
Harun nodded, not exactly sure how to say that he had actually met Hikahime last year when she had come out of Yomi during Zetsubou’s ritual. So, he didn’t say anything about it at all.
Harun woke in the grey morning light, too excited to eat anything more than a few mouthfuls of rice. He watched how the others were a lot calmer, Yoritomo Osu gently ribbing Isawa Kanbei over something, Tsubaru and Koharu arguing over the merits of cooking daikon. It could have been any other morning, but it wasn’t.
Then it was time to gear up, long lines of bushi and ashigaru helping each other getting into their armour started to form. There was a lot of laughter. It was quite undignified, quite the opposite of what Harun had been taught about the proper way for a samurai to get ready for battle. But somehow he didn’t mind it at all.
Then it was time to mount up and form ranks, waiting in their places until it was time to begin. But first, a tremendous shout went up and down the ranks, shouting Hikahime’s name, chanting that she may grant them victory in battle.
When it was over, Harun thought they would be given the signal to go. But they weren’t. He could see just into the town, the Onyx were beginning to stir and come out of the village like angry bees.
What are we waiting for? Harun wondered. And then he saw them.
Lion bushi, white garments beneath white armour, leading the charge against the Onyx with a viscousness and utter disregard for their own lives.
“Deathseekers,” Harun whispered.
Koharu, who was next to Harun on her own horse, nodded.
Harun had heard of them, dishonoured Lion samurai who had nothing left but to die in the glory of battle. Harun didn’t know what they could have done to have such status, and he didn’t have time to wonder. The signal was sounded and they were off.
Kyojin platoon advanced forward on their horses, ahead of them was a line of Lion cavalry. Harun’s heart beat fast, the thunder of their hooves, the shouts among them as they rode. The Onyx came towards them, Harun couldn’t see them, but he could hear them. The shrieks and howls of the onispawn and goblins. The shouts and taunts of the tainted samurai. And then, the rasp and ring of steel and tear of flesh as they clashed.
The Lion cavalry threw the Onyx back, scattering them in different directions. This gave Kyojin enough time to dismount and ready their weapons. And no sooner had they done so that Onyx were on them. Kyoujin platoon fought in a tight formation, slashing with their sword, with their spears, holding that position until the infantry could come to relieve them.
It was confusing, it was messy in all the noise and the blood. And it was easy to lose focus. But Harun thought back to his training, those hours they had spent in the cold light dawn, and kept his head.
“Relief coming, hold firm,” Harun heard Koharu say.
And sure enough, ranks of infantry came forward and engaged the enemy from the other side. Between the two of them, they made short work of the Onyx.
“That’s it, mount up,” Koharu shouted. They ran towards where Yoritomo Osu was guarding the horses, mounted up and advanced forward.
And this was how it went, they would take positions quickly while waiting to be relieved by infantry. Always advancing, taking up key positions in the town so the others could move in. It worked well, until it didn’t.
They were fighting between rows of houses for much longer, it seemed like the relief wasn’t coming. Still they fought, there could be any reason for the delay.
Then Harun smelled smoke, heard a crackle of flames not far from where they were.
“Gunso, we need to move now!” Harun shouted.
“We hold out until we are relieved!” Koharu shouted back, between strokes of her yari.
“This house here is about to go up in flames!” Harun yelled. “We stay, our horses bolt.”
Sure enough, the horses started to whinny and paw at the ground with their hooves.
“Back, Kyoujin, mount up,” Koharu said. “You better be right about this,” she added to Harun.
Harun hoped he wasn’t, as that meant there was something wrong.
They headed back to the courtyard they had taken earlier, smack in the middle was a massive oni that just seemed to devour any that went near it. Several of the squad started forward to help those already there, but Koharu held up a hand to stop them.
“No, no, we can’t all rush in like fools,” she said. “Let me think a moment.” She pointed to Kenji and Harun. “You and you, we’ll take thirds of the squad. Tease it, play with it, then maybe those others there will catch on what we are doing.”
Harun left with his portion with nothing more than a “Hai” in acknowledgement, barely been considering we’d been given his first position of responsibility.
The three groups started taunting the oni, going in to attack him and then withdrawing when one of the others got closer. Then the rest got the idea and joined in, more soldiers started pouring in and soon the massive oni fell.
Before they moved on, Koharu went up to Harun. “You did well there,” she said.
Harun smiled.
Oiku was taken, they moved in to occupy it, but what followed was the more difficult task of defending it from the Onyx raids from Toshi Ranbo. These seemed to Harun like a relentless grind, just throwing back what the Onyx threw at them.
They did their best, but sometimes it wasn’t enough. To Harun, it didn’t seem to matter if he was fast enough or his katana was where it needed to be. Some days their numbers were thinned due to people suffering from wounds, but then there was the sad day that Tsubaru was killed. It wasn’t a brave death, just a mistake on her part when he thought the tainted samurai she had downed had no fight left in him. The camp was quite for a few days after that, Yoritomo Osu finding sleep in the stupor of drunkeness.
One evening, Harun walked through the village to distract himself, passing the various tents and shelters where the Imperial Legion and Lion troops were billeted. Games of chance, drinking as stories and music by the various fires. It was a balm in a way to see life when what he saw every day was death.
Then when he looked at one of the fires, he saw a face he recognised. Akodo Harumasa, the son in law of his mother Yamada’s friend Akodo Kibo. Harun had met him the last winter at the Castle of the Swift Sword. Harun had thought he was a poet yet here he was with a samurai’s daisho.
And an officer, looks like it, Harun thought.
Harun had intended to pass him by, yet Harumasa called out to him. “Kakita-san,” he said. “Come, share the fire a moment.”
Harun went over, more because he couldn’t think of a way to refuse. Hanam introduced him to the others at the fire, Akodo Taruma, Ganou and Komatsu, Harun nodded to them all as he sat down.
“Mina-san, this is who I was telling you about,” said Harumasa. “He was at the ritual with my wife’s uncle when the land was cleansed.”
They looked at Harun with more interest now, seeking confirmation.
“This is true,” said Harun, he felt a twinge of sadness as he always did when he thought of Zetsubou. “I was a witness.”
“A witness?” Akodo Taruma asked. “There were more?”
“Just one more…at least with his soul still in Ningen-Do,” said Harun. “Moto Majid, is was his Void magic that made it all possible.”
“That hardly seems fitting,” said Ganou, with more than a little scorn. “What would a Moto’s gaijin magic do with…”
Harumasa cleared his throat loudly. “Please, no insulting guests, Ganou,” he said. “Where did you leave your manners? Get the tea.” He turned back to Haurn. “I apologise for my men, Kakita-san.”
“No need,” said Harun. “I’ve spent these last months in camp and its hardly where one sees refinement. Tell me, how are you family? I hope they are well.”
“They are, Miraiko is not liking sitting out the push to Toshi Ranbo,” says Harumasa. “She is at home with our son, and writes constantly.”
“It is an important duty, raising children,” said Harun, a perfectly conventional game response.
“My father in law has returned to his duties at the Swift Sword Dojo,” Harumasa continued. “Little Kibo was just starting there when I left, his mother and the rest of the family are staying for the time being.”
The tea arrived. Strong, thick warrior’s tea in plain cups. Harun welcomed its flavour.
“And Koneko?” Harun asked, he had grown closed to the redhaired girl in the short time he had known her.
“She should be continuing her training soon,” said Hanamasu, looking a little uncomfortable. “But I did want to ask about you, did you make it back to Crane lands in time? I know that was troubling you.”
“No, I didn’t,” said Harun, feeling his cheeks colour slightly. “When I got back to Tsuma, she had…it had all ended.”
“She had?” Taruma asked, repeated, raising an eyebrow. “You had a girl waiting for you?” That explains a lot.”
Harun laughed. “I suppose it does,” she said. “Yes, I did. But she’s in Zogeku now, I doubt I’ll see her again.”
“Don’t count your losses so soon,” Taruma said with a grin. “You never know what can happen after this war ends.”
Harun nodded and drank his tea.
Three days later, Harun was fighting in the fringes on the north side of Oiku. Things had gotten a little more manageable, the Onyx numbers seemed to be slacking. Though everyone knew that this was probably due to the Onyx keeping resources in reserve back at Toshi Ranbo. Still, it only made things slightly easier. As in, Harun had more room to swing his sword between the swarms.
Kyoujin were fighting with ranged support from Ranshu platoon, they stayed back at the palisades with their bows. Daidoji Akemi was there, with her gaijin powder taneshagima. Harun did his best to ignore the explosive sounds it was making.
Fortunately, as there was a long gap between Akemi’s shots, Harun found his concentration wasn’t broken too much, he found his rhythm quite well, fighting beside the gunso Koharu. His katana and her yari working in concert together.
Then there was an attack by a tainted samurai that he had to quickly dodge, parrying it overbalanced him and he fell to the ground. The tainted samurai pressed the attack, slicing his blackened blade towards Harun. Then he collapsed, smoke and an acrid smell coming out of the side of his head. Harun stood up, then noticed Daidoji Akemi standing on the other side of the palisade with her smoking weapon in her hand. Harun gave her a nod in acknowledgement and kept fighting.
The Onyx started to rush at them then, in larger groups. But they barely stopped to engage, instead keeping on going. Right into their blades or arrows, in many cases. This was a little confusing, but Harun wasn’t one to question it. At least, not straight away.
“They’re fleeing,” Koharu said.
“What from?” Harun asked.
It wasn’t long until they got their answer though. They could hear the sounds of an approaching army. The thunder of hooves, the ring of steel and the shouts of the soldiers in battle. They came from the northwest, Harun could see them approach. And as they neared, Harun could make out the green and gold laurel banner of the Emerald Champion.
The soldiers of the legion drove the Onyx back like an oncoming storm. And among them Harun could see his father, urging them on with his green sahai baton.
That evening, Karasu and Harun walked around Okiu. Harun was telling his father about the last few weeks, flush with pride of the skill and courage of his comrades, saddening when he talked about Tsubaru’s death.
He’s a soldier, Karasu thought, with a little sting, this was not the path I wanted for him, Kenshin-sensei at the academy said he has it in him to be a Kenshinzen. Well, he's young, there’s still time…
This wasn’t just about Karasu spending time with Harun, it was about being seen by the troops. A morale boost just in case it had been flagging, a reminder that he was in the same fight they were in.
They came to the northern side of Oiku, from there the walls of Toshi Ranbo could be sighted. High, impregnable, but Harun looked towards it eagerly. And he wasn’t the only one.
“Is that next, my lord?” A bushi in Dragon colours asked. “Are we finally going to take the fight to the old capital.”
“We are,” Karasu said. “In a few days we will start making our camp around the city, and the rest of Rokugan will join us.”
