The Steel Dragon

[Kitsuki Bareian]

(OOC: I wanted to show what kind of Man my character was in the form of a short story. I'm sorry if I don't write that well, am a noob at this ;D, anyway, to whoever wants to make this an RP situation, feel free to trip over this thread.)

The man wore a peasant outfit that was covered by a thick sack cloth that offered little protection from the deadly cold of the winter season, and on his back he bore gathered dried wood and a pouch of wild berries he had collected along the road.

He was starving and was exhausted from his long journey from the northern steeps, but his duty to his lord had superseded the necessity to fill his empty belly and parched throat. He gripped the scroll case he was carrying even tighter, and hid it beneath his cloth; a message from his Shosuro lord to a man who called himself the Steel Dragon. A message that the peasant judged was of utter importance, else he would not be ordered to deliver this with the order of caution and stealth.

He had already spotted the small houses that populated the destination he was nearing. and as precaution had collected dried firewood and wild berries as a reason to gain access into the village if there were sentries that were patrolling the area at any given time.

Luckily, to his advantage, there were none present when he did enter the gates of Tetsu Kama Mura.

Following the details that he was instructed with, the Peasant directly looked for the residence of the man his master called Mirumoto Katsutoshi, the Steel Dragon.

* * * * * *


Mirumoto Katsutoshi woke from his sleep by one of his servants. He yawned slightly as he stretched his hands.

“What is it?” Katsutoshi bellowed to the servant outside his room.

“I am sorry Katsutoshi-sama…” the woman’s voice hesitantly answered “but there is a messenger here to see you.”

“Let him come back later” Katsutoshi annoyingly replied “I still lack sleep from last night.”

“I already said that my lord but he was insistent on seeing you.” the servant quickly replied.

Katsutoshi sat silently on his bed, trying to re order his thoughts to what had happened the past few weeks. Making up his mind, Katsutoshi stood up, reached down for the black silk robe littered on the floor, his daisho and walked towards the door. Upon opening the door, his face glared at the servant who woke him, and pointed towards the room;

“Clean this room spotless! Do not touch anything that you know I value or I will take your head with out a single hesitation.” Kastsutoshi stated in a calm tone “And tell those Harlots that I don’t want them there when I return.”
The servant nodded in fear and as she watched Katsutoshi walk away she peered into the room to find two naked women sleeping on her master’s sleeping mat.

“Such a mess!” was all she could say.


* * * * * *


The peasant bowed low and on his knees as the man called the Steel Dragon walked into the receiving area where he had been accommodated by one of the lady servants of the house.

“Rise!” the Steel Dragon’s baritone voice commanded “What news do you carry that is so important that I have been woken in my sleep?”

The peasant hurriedly obeyed the Samurai, when his eyes laid upon the man he observed that the man’s face was brutish in comparison to what he expected, The samurai’s facial hair made him more of a Unicorn bushi than Dragon. His body, barely covered by a black silk robe sported tattoos of varying illustration. His eyes were bloodshot and his brows bent in annoyance.

“Well?” Katsutoshi barked “Speak up.”

The peasant bowed low “I have a message from…”

“Of course you do!” Katsutoshi sarcastically interrupted.

The Peasant, suddenly confused, reached out for the scroll in beneath his robes and made a gesture to hand it to Katsutoshi, who grimaced as he watched the peasant with disgust.

“You did wash your hands?” Katsutoshi asked.” No don’t answer! Open it and read it to me. I assume you can read, can you?

The peasant gulped “Yes Samurai-sama, my parents, blessed their souls, taught me to rea—“

“Read.” Katsutoshi commaned.

The peasant nodded and reached out for the scroll, opening it, he looked at the scroll then to Katsutoshi, who signaled once again for him to read. Clearing his throat the peasant spoke aloud;

“Oyabun,

It is with great displeasure that we report to you that the men you sent that we promised to aid in the fight against the Yobanjin have been killed. No known survivors have been reported up to this time. It would be a welcome relief for our part if you yourself oversee the reconnaissance mission which was in truth handed down to you by your Dragon commanders. At this time, I cannot afford to directly help you, for I do have other duties as well.

Your Shosuro Ally!”

The peasant then folded the scroll as he finished the last words, and as he raised his head to wait for a reply from Mirumoto Katsutoshi, the last thing he saw was the flash of steel and the dark wooden floor as he drowned in his own pool of blood.


* * * * * *


Mirumoto Katsutoshi slid the door close while wiping the blood from his katana as he stepped out the room. The scroll neatly tucked in his robes.

“Yuuna!” he shouted “Yuuna!”

“Yes Katsutoshi-sama!” the lady servant ran hurriedly to where the Steel Dragon was and bowed low.

“Yuuna! Prepare my things. I have business to attend to. In the Unicorn lands” He then looked back at the receiving area “and fetch a magistrate after I leave… tell them there was an assassination attempt.”

“Yes my lord.” Yuuna bowed low.

“And one more thing, not just any magistrate, tell them I want Kitsuki Yusashime.” The name of the Kitsuki magistrate made the Steel Dragon smile.

(OOC: If someone can teach me to do this properly, I'am forever grateful ;D)

[Kitsuki Yuushahime]

(ooc: I don't think you need to be taugh anything. Your writing is clear as is its purpose and the story conveyed. You're definately doing it properly. Whether you use *s for actions or just type them as you have done is a convention that isn't yet decided on this forum so basically whatever works at the moment as long as it can be understood. Yours can. Also... was surprised to see you involving Yushahime already. Haha. I'll bite... and make her a magistrate as well. Why not? ^_^)

Yushahime frowned in discontent, rereading the scroll handed to her... the one summoning her to Katsutoshi's residence. She clicked her tongue then rounded on the young messenger.

"Mirumoto Katsutoshi's residence I presume?"

The man nodded eagerly as he kept his head low, eyes fixed on the wall. Another murmur of annoyance escaped her lips before she realised she was being visibly annoyed and corrected herself. She had only woken less than an hour before and had chosen to spend the morning meditating. Needless to say her concentration had been shattered the moment her household servants had announced a guest passing on a message of summons for an investigation.

Disguising her true thoughts ("what is that man thinking, calling for me personally?"), she instructed the messenger that she would be along in all due haste after readying herself and to wait outside. She was half tempted to push the responsibility on to another magistrate or even a yoriki but the dual thoughts of negligence of duty and an interest in having an excuse to probe around the Mirumoto's residence had set her course. Within a half hour she was at the entrance to his surprisingly well kept manor home. Of course she began her investigation immediately and personally.

She questioned the head servant, a tidy looking but otherwise ordinary woman who did not know where to put herself, a lady by the name of Yuuna. She frowned at the lack of witnesses. Why was she even looking for witnesses she wondered. The message sent to her said there had been an assassination attempt on a well ranked and reasonably well respected samurai and he had personally killed the attacker. It was just the vibe she had got from knowing that particular samurai that had made her suspicious. Then again those same vibes would have led her to conclude on any other day that there were those who would try to assassinate this man. Still, she wanted to conduct a thorough investigation. What Katsutoshi said was probably true and that meant it was very likely there was another living criminal out there who was involved; whoever hired the man.

Her findings supported her original suspicion though... the man was not a warrior. She had checked his body and found no weapons (or rather, gave instructions to an eta servant to touch the corpse of the man). His body was well enough developed by not that of a melee fighter; his hands were not calloused from a lifetime of training with the blade for instance. The berries and wood he was carrying would only be desired by a peasant. Furthermore the cut could only have been made when the man was lowered, likely in deference. Most alarmingly there were no signs of struggle and all those who knew of the man said he had an urgent message for Katsutoshi.

Nobody seemed to know him either. How odd a peasant carrying such commodities would not be known; surely he would live nearby? Unless he was here to trade. Yushahime mulled over the possibilities but one truth she had already accepted. Without any witnesses of sufficient rank to challenge Katsutoshi's word and with the limited factual evidence she had it would be pointless to question this "assassination attempt". If he was smart, and she was sure he had some level of cunning, he would later claim he had removed the man's weapon for some reason or another.

Satisfied, she quickly filled out a form verifying that an assassination attempt on Katsutoshi had been successfully thwarted by himself and told the eta present to remove and dispose of the body. She would pass the simplest details of the investigation on to her superiors and colleagues so they could look into the matter further if they wished. Thanking Yuuna for her time and showing her sympathy for the trouble she asked one final question as she prepared to depart. She was surprised to learn Yuuna's master was now on his way to Unicorn lands. She departed the building, now even more unsure of how to view Katsutoshi. Was he going north west to honourably fight again the barbarians invaders? Why now? Had he killed the peasant in cold blood? There were too many questions and not enough answers. Having a passion for the truth as well as information, Yushahime sincerely did not like this.

Walking the now busying streets she pondered what to do next, if anything. Perhaps further meditation would enable her to focus? She set off for the nearest temple to have a change of scenery...

(ooc: if you'd like her to pursue or do something in particular do let me know. If you want to bring other people in you may want to ooc that too ^_^ )

[Kitsuki Bareian]

(OOC: There... Pardon me for my informal sentence constructions. English isn't my primary language. I've left some Character nameless in order for people who wants in on the fun can interact freely. I hope these scenes gets more interesting.)

Northern Steppes, Empire War Tent, Earlier…

“Like ants, the Yobanjin raiders swarmed the village from all sides, never intending to let their enemies survive the onslaught they were about to perform. Bravely, the defenders, an ashigaru unit compromising of twenty to thirty men trained in the spear, and led by a young ronin making a name for him self, died to the last man defending the village. If could be described, there was no battle that day, only massacre. The end result was the village had not been wholly razed to the ground, some women and children were taken captives, but most were killed unfortunately.”

As the scout finished recounting the tale, the people inside the war tent stood silent at the tragic fate that befell the village. Everyone, except the Dragon samurai, Mirumoto Katsutoshi, who was trying to hold a laugh that, was building inside him. He noticed that other officers with him looked devastated at the result of the failed defense of the village.

“A noble yet useless sacrifice…” One Shiba commander commented.

Everyone in the war tent turned to Katsutoshi, their eyes held an accusatory gaze that portended of dire consequence for the Steel Dragon.

“Your plan failed!” A crab commander shouted in rage prompting the others to nod in agreement “You arrogant Dragon.”

The Crab commander’s words struck a chord of truth in Katsutoshi;

It was true that it was his plan to send a unit of warriors to deliver relief goods in the village, even assured the others that the unit he would be sending was capable of dealing with any crisis that came its way. Other commanders had protested his strategy from the start, but he had insisted that scouting reports that the Yobanjin wave was not directly heading to the village, making it almost into a courier run not worthy of any scouting preparation.

Mirumoto Katsutoshi sighed, and made a very apologetic face to hide something he himself seem to know from the others, he bowed to those present and spoke;

“I am sorry then if my decision was based on impulsiveness.” He said in a soft spoken tone “and to prove you of my repentance, I will personally lead my men to charge the Yobanjin in the village as part of restitution to their poor souls.”

Katsutoshi bowed and hurriedly made way for his tent to prepare for an attack.



* * * * * *


The village-turned-Yobanjin camp, later that night…


Few of the Yobanjin had the chance to see what had hit them. Some, those who did not mysteriously fell ill, either ran towards the forest, or died by the hands of Katsutohi’s personal unit he called “Kentetsu no Ryu”.

Some Yobanjin who were too paralyzed to move could only watch in horror to how a single unit consisting of thirty or less men could have easily butchered a hundred men on their side.

Some tried to move, but their senses addled and their inside burning with high fever, none could put a steady effort to run off to the night.

Except for a measly dozen or so who escaped the wrath of the Steel Dragon and his men, the night concluded with the village bathing in crimson Yobanjin blood.


* * * * * *

Katsutoshi finished slicing another Yobanjin’s throat and was already looking for another paralyzed foe when one of his men approached him.

“The fortunes are with us it would seem commander Katsutoshi!” the man greeted “This will prove how courageous you are to the other commanders.”

“Fortunes?” Katsutoshi smiled “Oh I wouldn’t say that. I would allude that to Gluttony.”

The man scratched his head, clueless to what the Steel Dragon was implying,

Katsutoshi sighed deeply, sad, that the man could not understand his humor. Turning away to look for another victim, Katsutoshi called back “Oh and remind the men to burn everything that can be consumed, and not to bring back even a single grain especially from the relief goods that were sent here earlier.”

“Hai! Commander!” the man replied “What about the villagers taken into captive? What do we do with them?”

“What captives?” Katsutoshi sneered “We don’t know about any captives.”

“But sir that would be a meaningless sacrifice…”

“Someone has to die for the empire. Don’t you agree?” Katsutoshi stated plainly and began hacking into another body he had found breathing.


* * * * * *


The lone figure looked on with horrified disgust as Katsutoshi began his bloody murder of the Yobanjin, he did not pity these invaders but these act of atrocious murder was too much for him to bear.

He did not really know what had transpired here, but since Katsutoshi arrived to help in the battle against the Yobanjin, things began to go wrong. Personally, he did not like the Dragon, but he had no proof against a man who seemed to have connection in high places, to accuse him of dastardly deeds.

The man thought deeply, he had to do something to uncover this sham of a samurai. Risking his cover, he hurriedly went back to where the Crane outpost was located.

He and the whole crane army stationed here may not be able to do something, but one kinsman might;

“You better be good at that blasted Kitsuki Method you always brag about cousin or so help me I'll recommend you a guard post at Shiro Daidoji just to see you bore to death” the man, who in the moonlight, can now be described as wearing a Daidoji scout outfit.

(OOC: Hope you have fun. Sorry for being redundant, but i'd appreciate your guidance for RP'ing.)

[Kitsuki Bareian]

HomeComing---


“SHE DID WHAT?”

The young samurai tried hard not to wince as objects from the table flew everywhere. He had been assigned to the Northern Steppes by the Dragon clan leaders as gunso to the Unit sent there a month ago, but due to new developments in the Dragon courts, he had been elevated to the position of “Chui”, given his own battalion, and was asked to replace the current Dragon Commander in the front lines. The young Chui guessed that the transition would have gone smoothly if not for the reason of the other commander’s transfer, who upon hearing the news, went into a fit of rage and decided to throw a tantrum in the Dragon war tent, thus putting the samurai in this current predicament.

“It is as you heard Katsutoshi-san!” the young samurai stressed the suffix as he spoke to remind the other commander that he was in the presence of an equal and not just some foot soldier “You are to pull out from the battlefield, leaving your unit for the meantime at my command.”

“Damn her...” Katsutoshi shouted not noticing the presence of his replacement, he took his daisho, a black biwa, and a sack containing ration, then headed out to where his horse was tied all the while mumbling about a kitsuki girl and her being his death.

As Katsutoshi rode out the encampment, one soldier inquired at the samurai who introduced himself as the new Dragon Chui in the frontlines against the yobanjin;

“Mirumoto-sama…” the soldier asked, his sight following the trail that Katsutoshi left as he headed to the mountains “Where is commander headed?”

“He has been reassigned…Where he can be helpful to the clan.”

[Kitsuki Yuushahime]

Word reached her in time that Katsutoshi-san was heading back again to Dragon lands for his new duties. The two were already off to a rocky start, with some games back and forth. She wondered how he may take this new development. Still, this sudden business of ambassadors had been a useful way of ruining whatever he may have been planning in Unicorn lands and it may allow her to find out more about him. It was her duty to make sure the Dragon weren't committing any criminal acts afterall and she had her suspicions. Either he was a hot headed and slightly arrogant man, not unknown for a Mirumoto, or something far worse and seedier. Perhaps both. She was sure to find out in due time

[Daidoji Hikori]

Almost a week ago in the crane encampment.
=============================================
Two crane samurai are having some ramen in one of the travel ling hats...both have a severe look on their faces.
Finally one breaks the silence:

"That man again...it would seem the fortunes are playing with me cousin"

Six days ago in a burned village
==============================================
The village is silent except from the wind Kami who howl their distaste for the horrible sight.

There is little left. Burned houses and even the bones of the fallen have been probably gleaned by the steppes predators.

The white draped figure darts from burned house to house examining the place...a massacre alright he thinks...but why burn everything...

He continues his search until he finds what he has been looking for

Five days ago somewhere in the mountains surrounding the northern steppes.
==============================================
It had taken him more time than he had thought but he had finally found his pray. A small cave seemed to be the hiding place of one of the survivors. The man Hikori was looking for had tried to hide his tracks for a while but had stopped doing so for some time. His pace had diminished to a crawl probably from exertion.

Hikori drew his tanto and entered the cave using the light of a small lantern to light his way.

There was odor of human excrements, urine and something else...following the source of the smell he reaches what seems more like a sack of potatoes rather than a man. He is lying in a pool of his own excrements. His attire shows that he was a Yobanjin scum.

With caution Hikori draws near keeping away from the disgusting pool that has formed. The man is dead...

After some examination without touching the mans body Hikori notices how the man doesn't have any wound Hikori understands the nature of the other smell...Night silk, this man has been poisoned.

Normally not a lethal poison, in combination with the extreme weather conditions and the lack of food and water it had proved lethal...and then there was that grassy acid smell that couldn't be confused.

After taking some notes he starts gathering wood for the Yobanjin man...even cowardly scum shouldn't be left like this...

Three days ago The Kitsuki provinces, Yushahime's estate
=============================================
The servant waits patiently till Yushahime doesn't offer her attention.
" Letter for you from the front Yushahime sama"

Even though there was no clan symbol on the scroll, Yushahime instantly recognizes the knot used

With evident curiosity she excuses the servant. Hikori why such secrecy?

[Kitsuki Bareian]

Nearby hills of Dark Edge Village, One week ago...


The scenery of the surrounding hills and the variety of bending plants that bowed to where the gust of the east wind was heading made for a beautiful scenery for anyone travelling these parts of the Unicorn lands, and except for the natural sounds that the wilderness emitted, the place was serene, peaceful, and breath taking, especially during this specific time of dusk.

The natural peace was shattered when a sound of colliding steel echoed on one of those hills...

Two figures were back to back, the edge of their swords jutting out from their respective sides, barely piercing both men. The blades of their katana were shaking slightly, as both wielder tried to sense the other's next move.

Both were in a deadlock...

For a moment, everything was still and quiet once again, until one of them. the man who wore a black silk kimono with the markings of the Dragon clan mon, laughed.

"I see you have improved your skill" The man spoke in a humoring tone "I'm quite impressed."

The other man, garbed in a brown simple kimono with green linings on the edge of his sleeves, stood silent, waiting for his opponent's katana to move for the kill.

When no reply came from his foe, the Man in the black Kimono, lunged forward,away from the other man, using his legs by kicking the other man's legs to propel him away to a safe distance out of reach from the enemy's deadly reach.

The brown kimono duelist stumbled from the unexpected move but recovered quickly by using his swords as support to heave himself up fast up from the fall, and turned around in a flash, expecting a quick attack from his opponent.

There was none.

The man in the dark kimono stood unmoving, his face a predatory grin, both katana and wakizashi held like a mantis clan kama, a stance alien to almost any duelist in Rokugan. He was looking at his opponent with a chiding look.

"That was your problem since day one" as if he was lecturing a student in a dojo "you always concentrated on your opponent's sword."

The other man still silent, sheathed his katana in a classic iaijutsu pose, though his other hand still held his wakizashi pointing towards the direction of the Black kimono samurai.

"It ends here Katsutoshi!" the brown garbed man finally spoke.

"Ah so you still can talk!" the man called Katsutoshi laughed "I thought the Kenkus's had pecked your tongue out."

The two men fell silent once again, sizing each other up, trying to sense their movements. It seemed to last forever, until a sound of a twig snapping somewhere signaled both men to charge towards each other.

It happened quickly, in one single pass, both men had struck each other. Both men stood backs facing each other.

Then the man called Mirumoto Katsutoshi fell first. He gasped, unnerved at what had happened. He touched his wound, it was not deep enough to kill him, but it had left him weakened and at the mercy of his enemy.

His enemy, turned around and also looked at Katsutoshi, then to the right side of his ribs. Katsutoshi had also managed to wound him, though not as deep as he had struck at Katsutoshi.

The Brown kimono duelist looked at Katsutoshi with murder in his eyes, and started to move towards the fallen Dragon.

He was ready to finish the job he had started out ten years ago.

Then noises caught his ears, a sound of several feet marching towards them, the sounds of shout of orders, and the name of Mirumoto Katsutoshi being called. The noises where nearing, and not enough time to reach Katsutoshi, who was not that helpless at all, and strike him dead.

"You are one lucky bastard" the Brown kimono Duelist spat" Next time we meet. You are dead!"

Sheathing his weapon, the brown kimono duelist ran quickly away from the sight of the duel. Mirumoto Katsutoshi could only look in anger.

Seconds later, a small unit of about twenty well trained ashigaru spearmen appeared. Finding what they were searching for, one of the Ashigaru helped his commander up.

"Mirumoto Katsutoshi-sama!" the man smiled as he reported happily "I was the one who arrived first, and chased after the ronin who did this to you. I saw his face and he really looked like Y--"

The Sword jutted out the mans throat, an evil glare could be seen in Katsutoshi's face, his men stood silent as he pulled out the blade, and walked away.

His men could only pity their fallen comrade, and continue to fear Katsutoshi's ruthlessness.

Katsutoshi walked away from the scene, his hand touching his wound, he grimaced as he spoke a name.

"Kentei!"