Saturday, March 5, 2005

New Sh*t
This segmant starts a length into the story, so here's what you need to know(the setting is feudal japan):

Akechi: A young man, who was prematurely made captain of the town guard. He is very honerable, and was once rivals with his brother Natsume.

Natsume: Older than Akechi, Natsume has no occupation, and now spends his time with an unknown mentor, high in the mountains.

Minister Tsume: The noble, respected leader of the town of Mirlet. Natsume suspects him of corruption, though the reasons behind this accusation remains unknown.

Suke: A girl in the village that sings at the local temple. Some say she and Akechi are lovers.

Also, I've decided to revrt to the old calendar, naming a diety to every day of the week, so you'll hear Sunday, Moonday, Tiw'sDay,Woden'sday,Thor'sday, and Friaday. No real purpose, just a quirk.

I might post this in the anthology, depending on my mood.

Akechi sat on the edge of his chair. He was trying to relax, but he just couldn't. There was nothing presently wrong, except that his brother hadn't come away from his mentor's house in the mountains for over a month. This wasn't too unusual; he hardly came down at all, except to check in on the village once every two weeks or so. But Akechi wasn't on edge over that, he just had a gut feeling that something was wrong. The weather outside his small office was miserable. It was raining hard and the ground had been reduced to muddy puddles. It looked like checking up on Suke wasn't going to be a possibility. Why was he so on edge?

At last he stood up, taking both a rain pancho and sturdy umbrella from the wall. He walked to the door, throwing it open. He wanted to go to the temple; he couldn't stand waiting around, hoping that everything was allright. At the very least, he would make sure Suke was safe.

It was a trecherous walk up the stairs to the temple. A thin layer of slippery mud had covered the steps, which were also very steep. At the top, Akechi found the temple, which was built right into the sheer cliff side. He remembered faintly seeing Natsume climb that cliff, to see his mentor.

There was no light showing from inside the temple. It was Suke's job to keep the candle's lit every night, but sometimes she fell asleep, and let the temple grow dark. None the less, Akechi's stomach tightened.

Akechi pushed open the tall double doors to the temple. He could only see with what light the lightning gave him, a quick flash every few seconds. Akechi found an unlit candle nearby, and lit it with the help of a small, stationary flame at the frontal altar. That flame needed no attendance, for it created its own fuel by magic of the temple.

With a fresh candle in his hand, he looked around the temple, expecting to see Suke bundled up in one of the benches. No such luck. Akechi lowered to his knees, and examined the floor. There were his own soft shoeless footprints, which barely showed up on the floor, along with even lighter, even fainter prints of Suke. She had been pacing this isle about two hours ago. Then he noticed another set, which seemed to be running. Whoever it was didn't have time to take off his shoes, and had tracked mud all the way to the altar, where they stopped. Akechi examened this point meticulously. Suke had been standing before this man when he ran at her, stumbled back, and somehow left the floor. Akechi felt a lump in his throat. The prints then left through another isle, back through the main door. Suke had been kidnapped, he concluded.

Just then he heard a commotion at the door, and three soldiers from the Town Guard burst through. "Akechi-san!" One of them shouted. "Minister Tsume has been kidnapped!" Akechi rose in alarm, but did not answer just yet. Something was wrong. By a crack of lightning, he saw the floor by the door. He saw his own footsteps on their way in, Suke's, and the intruders. None were going the other way.

"The kidnapper is in this temple!" He shouted. Whether it was Minister Tsuke's kidnapper or not, he did not know, but Suke was near. "Fan out and find him!" He shouted. "Do not walk over any footprints!" The soldiers, caught off guard by the sudden response, hesitated, before unsheathing their swords and spreading throughout the temple. Akechi hurriedly followed the footprints, until they dissapeared. Akechi was frantic. It looked like Suke had somehow escaped the man's grasp, and ran towards the altar. Instead of persuing, the kidnapper's footprints dissapeared. "Master Akechi-san!" A soldier shouted. "Footprints by the back wall!" Akechi stood up quickly. "Follow them!" He yelled. "I can't!" Yelled the soldier. "They-they end at the wall!" Akechi ran to the area the soldier was yelling from, and examined the prints. Suke, who had ran here trying to flee, was again hoisted up by the man. The man's footprints then led into a wall.

Akechi's mind raced. You have to help me, Suke. Akechi thought. As he thought it, he noticeda candle-holder on the wall was tilted out. He pulled it down on instinct, and the wall seemingly dissapeared. The prints continued, up another flight of stairs that rose through a tunnel of solid rock. Akechi turned to the soldiers. "Get every available man up here!" He barked. Then he ran to the door to fetch his boots, and ran up the stairway alone.

Akechi ran as fast as he could to the top, the candle in his hand the only light. He came to the end, where something blocked his way. He pushed on it, but it didn't budge. Without thinking, Akechi unsheathed his katana, and with one swipe hacked it in two. Then he kicked it with suprising strength, and the object sluggishly collapsed to the sides of the exit. Akechi came out, to find himself back outside, on the next level on the cliff, above the temple. He was nearing where he had assumed Natsume's mentor lived. The footprints showed up dimly in the thick mud, but they were clear enough to follow. Akechi followed them, kicking up mud as he ran. He guessed the Town Guard would be nearing the temple by now. He slowed his pace slightly, so they could catch up.

The tracks led through a dark wood, before they came at last to a mansion Akechi had never seen before. Was it possible that Natsume was involved? He waited long enough for the Town Guard to arrive before walking steadily into the mansion. He never told them that he had no idea whether or not the minister was there, but was in fact using them to get back a worthless little peasent girl.

"Search every inch of this mansion!" He shouted. They complied, and systematically spread through the mansion. Akechi located the kidnapper's tracks again, and ran after them. Akechi pushed open a door the tracks led through, and found himself outside again, in a clearing behind the mansion. Natsume was there, with his back to Akechi. "Where's Suke?!" He shouted. Natsume grinned at him from over his shoulder, and then leapt into the forest, cape flowing behind him. Akechi ran after him, though he knew after chasing him into the forest that Natsume was much faster. Akechi ran, catching a mere glimpse every couple paces. The mountain sloped down again, the trees giving way to muddy rock, and Akechi saw his brother bounding far ahead. He wasn't running, thought Akechi. He was leading him somewhere.

At last the ground leveled again for a brief second, before sloping again. Akechi saw Natsume standing at the end of the level, before leaping off the edge, to where Akechi couldn't see. Akechi leapt as well, but looked only too late to see the ground was far below him. He fell like a stone, hitting some rocks as he went.

The town guard all gathered in one room of the mansion. There, lit by faint candle light, lay the minister, bound. "Minister Tsuke-san!" One shouted as they approached. His eyes and mouth had been sewn shut, his cheeks bulging from something they knew not. A soldier cradled his limp head. "My god...get a doctor!" He shouted. Then he noticed a trail of black grain leading from the door to Tsume. There was a sound like a firecracker, as the end of that line caught fire. "Gunpowder!" He shouted. The soldier cradling Tsume put it all together. The great Minister was already dead, and his body was buldging with gunpowder.

Akechi woke to the sound of a distant explosion. He had fallen a long way, and had broken a few ribs in the process. He coughed up blood, clutched his side, and stood slowly. There were still tracks to follow. He unsheathed his sword, and followed them cautiously, blood dribbling down his chin. The tracks led to a small clearing, where he at last found Natsume. He didn't speak when he saw Akechi, just stood and looked at him. "Where's Suke?!" He shouted. No response. "I know you have her!" Akechi shreiked. Natsume paused before answering. "This town has been purged of a corrupt government." He said. "For too long, have these imbiciles who run the world made it weak."

"Where's Suke!" Akechi shreiked in response. "Akechi," Natsume said, just above a whisper. "I can't forgive you. You served this...this dog!" Natsume unsheathed his sword, and charged at Akechi. Akechi put his own sword up to block, but Natsume's sword broke it like a twig. He cut deep into his chest, then sheathed his sword. "I shall not stand by idley as fools like you stand to ruin this earth!" He shouted. And with that, he was gone.
Comments (0)