The Crane Raid: Part 2

[Kakita Hitoshi]

Quickly and quietly the samurai moved out of the cove, hoping not to awaken the spirit that slumbered beneath the sand. Hitoshi looked about with a mixed sense of wonder and disgust; the alien landscape was unlike anything he had seen in Rokugan. He wondered if this expedition would change his desire to someday stand with the Crab on the Wall and fight against the monstrosities that lived here - he had a strange feeling that it would.

There was a feral cry from nearby, and from the foliage erupted a horde of stunted grey green creatures. "Ambush!" screamed Hitoshi as he drew his blade. He spun and cut, twisted and slashed, but there always seemed to be a fresh foe to take the place of the one he cut down.

Nearby, Asahina Chikaku chanted briefly under her breath. She spoke to the kami only briefly, not wanting to waste her prayers and also being well aware that there were hundreds of kansen waiting for the chance to claim an unwary soul. In her hands sprouted a staff made of pure water, and she began to lay about her with a practised aim. Whilst she was, by nature, a pacifist, she had always found bojutsu both good exercise and an assistance to her meditations, and she put the motions into good practice now.

The weapon span like light in her hands, and goblin after goblin fell with a sharp crack as it connected with vital points. She found herself next to Hitoshi and the pair worked in perfect harmony, complementing each other's attacks and keeping their partner safe. When it was over they both stood breathing heavily, surrounded by dozens of tiny corpses. They shared a moment, a grin, a connection only found between warriors who have fought at each other's side, then Hitoshi broke eye contact and looked around at the rest of the party.

[Usagi Izutsu]

The murky darkness seemed to close on on the group as they made their way from the cove. The silence was deafening, all sounds they made muffled by the heavy air of the Shadowlands, and the sense of oppression was tangible. Izutsu slowed, his eyes narrowed as his hands drifted to his blade. He sprang into action, swiftly drawing Kenno and severing the head of the first goblin to spring out of the bushes at him. "Ambush!"

He moved with an unnatural speed and grace as he danced through the group of bakemono that had chosen him as a target, blood and limbs flying as his eyes burned with fury, killing every one of the foul creatures he set his sights upon. Shinzaru, meanwhile, stood paces away from Mitsouko, his blade cutting down with deadly precision any goblins that thought foolish enough to come near.

The other survivor of Izutsu's party was dealing with the Shadowlands menace in a different way. Zakiyomo stood apart from the rest of the party, almost inviting the goblins to his location, and they were only too happy to oblige. Over a dozen bakemono charged him and he simply stood their in a strange stance, his eyes closed, chanting slowly, waiting for them. All seemed lost, the goblons were closing fast, but he then opened his eyes and threw out his hands. A massive wave of bright flames flew out, engulfing the charging creatures who were instantly burnt to a crisp, their screams of pain echoing across what was now a small, heated battle.

[Doji Naetaru]

Kakita Kodachi had never ever experienced such a turmoilous voyage. But then again the Sea of Shadows were notoriously inhospitable to an unprepared traveller.
As the vessel toppled along the sea waves, with the prospect of capsizing, Kodachi grabbed over to the main mast's railing.
Looking over the side she witnessed sea monsters emerging from the waves pushing people in the waters unexpectedly.
To her side Yasuki O-Tian left her grappling over the railing as she saw a monster lunging at her.
Kodachi didn't know if it was her Utaku blood that made her swing her scimitar over in an arc cutting it in two in an instant, or not.
Turning over she smiled at her as she saw a trio of monsters darting over to the women.
Kakita Kodachi reached for her katana as she slashed it once, twice, thrice only to deliver the killing blows. She however had left the rople she grappled and felt her body getting carried over the deck.
Something had reached for her and kept her steady.
Turning she saw Yasuki O-Tian smiling.
The two of them were safe, in gratitude and in danger.

[Doji Naetaru]

Later that day, the company entered the cove.
Kodachi was already feeling the effects of nausea wearing off.
She had noted that some of them didn't make it through the travel in the sea and was already feeling their loss weighing heavily on her duty.
There was a soft tingling in her and felt her heart pumping more intense.
Was it her illness or her danger sense?
Yasuki Jun standing next to her motioned for everyone to stop.

"Halt!" she was looking at the rocky outlines of the cove. The place was ideal for an ambush, not strange given the location and nature of this place.

In a moment, her whims would prove right as lots of bakemono poured over on the company.
Jun quickly ran over climbing over the outcrop, her blade pushing over bakemonos down the ledge. She tried to exert them as she was decisively moving upper and upper. Her Daidoji training based on attrtition. However it wasn't late as Kodachi saw a main body of boulders moving behind Jun. A small avalanche carried Jun over toppling her along with ten bakemono down over the edge.
A loud rumbling echoed in the cove as Yasuki Jun's body seemed to topple eternally like a soft carpet.
Kodachi couldn't lose time as she had to dispatch her own handful of bakemono. The monsters bent over as Kodachi danced through them.
When it was over, she looked around. The company was intact as Yasuki Jun sacrificed for their own safety.

[Zeure]

[OOC] Apparently Sennosao is a stud...[/OOC]

All warnings to the contrary, Battou moved forward, for various reasons, all of them related to Mitsouko, he could not let the Goblins more forward. His stance was locked and he was ready to kill. His crystalline blue eyes became as ice. The first bakemono fell under his blade with a single slash across the face. It's eyes gone, only moments before the sword came cleanly through the skull. The second fell in half as the slash went from left shoulder to right hip.

Battou was moving with incredible speed. Anyone could tell that he had taken the duelist's art, the kakita technique: "One cut, one kill" to it's very literal application.

However, he could not stop them all, and a few had gotten past him; Sennosao was more than ready to leap to his lady's aid. As the few bakemono were charging for Mitsouko, he and the other guards stepped in front and pushed them back. Sennosao pushed his opponent back with a force so great that the bakemono was knocked up into the air. A few flashes of steel later and it fell in pieces before Mitsouko.

[Kitsune Poxo]

_{OOC: Looks to like the liberal use of boulder to face works greatly.}

When the group set out from the cove Yumi stayed towards the center. She jumped at almost any noise outside of what the group made and would then lock onto the source as best she could before moving on. It came as no surprise when the bakemono came charging at them she was already acting.

A paper ward was produced and slammed onto the ground. With a short prayer to the kami that she had memorized, the ward was charged so that any creature with taint that entered the area would slowly burn from the inside out as their essence burned from the purity. While in the Shadowlands the area of effect was not as large as normal, it was still a ten foot radius.

Ai was one of the first to meet the bakemono. Her heavy armor bore no mon as she was one of the hired ronin but her size and expert use of the tetsubo would have marked her as a crab. She did not flinch as the goblins came hollering over the hill and set to quick work of splitting skulls.

From inside her ward, Yumi seemed to gain a bit more strength as she firmly planted her feet on the ground in a horse stance. She called out to the kami in a prayer then she seemed to have memorized as she did not pull out any scroll. The ground shook around her as it rose to meet her call forming a ring of rocks around her. She fluttered her hands around her body before pushing hard against the air outwards in front of her launching one of the rocks.

[Kakita Hitoshi]

Looking around and seeing that the majority of the samurai had survived, Hitoshi turned back to Chikaku. "For a shugenja you fight extremely well." The Asahina blushed slightly. "I normally do not condone acts of violence, but I make an exception in the case of tainted creatures. I served for a short time in the Jade Magistrates, although I prefer to tend the gardens in the Temples..."

Hitoshi smiled at her. "Well Chikaku-san, I am glad to have you at my back." In the moment of victory, he wanted to embrace her as a celebration of life, but instead he moved closer to Mitsouko. "What now Mitsouko-sama? Which direction are we heading in?"

[Kakita Mitsouko]

“Fine.” Mitsouko cleaned her blade with a serious expression in her face, before sheathing it. “Another delay, another loss… Stupid bakemono…” She had little opportunity to fight, just striking a single bakemono whom passed by her yojimbo; an easy prey for her. The cut was so swift that the blade wasn’t really stained with the goblin’s blood, though she cleaned it anyway. Not used to have men fighting to protect her, she was feeling irritated, useless and could tell about a feeling of frustration building up inside herself. Though, that was the way things must be by now…
For a time they tried to rescue Jun, but it showed to be impossible. She was doubtlessly dead. With a heavy sigh Mitsouko ordered them to have a small rest to recover strength and then, follow. According the map they were near a good shelter for the night…
The posse walked for about one hour on a plateau in tne almost alien landscape, while the scarse natural light was dimming more and more. They should reach this shelter soon, when the scouts ahead returned to tell what they had saw, down the plains.
A small group of Lost seeming to be heading to the same place they were… And for all accounts, they seemed to be making the possible to be tracked by someone else.

[Daigotsu Thrakhath]

A band of robed and lightly-armored men and women charged through the foliage of the Shadowlands. They made no effort to hide their trail, seemingly favoring speed over subtlety. All of them bore markings somewhere on their clothing or armor that marked them as members of the Spider clan, and of the Chuda family. One of them carried a shapeless bag over his shoulder, a bag that none of them seemed to be willing to look at directly. "Shouldn't we at least make an effort to hide our destination?" One of the armored men grunted irritably.

"It matters not if we are followed," one of the robed men replied; incidentally, the one in front. "As long as we reach Saisei before anyone catches up to us, we will be safe."

"Why Saisei, master?" one of the younger robed women said. "I thought that castle was abandoned, how will we be able to defend it with so few?"

"You must trust me, Akihime-san," the older man in front replied. "Saisei is a source of great power." There was a mad glint in his eye as he spoke of it. "No one will be able to stand against us with within those unholy walls." He turned and held a finger to his lips. "Now shush, we must concentrate on reaching our destination. All will be revealed in time."

[Kakita Mitsouko]

Looking through the spyglasses, Mitsouko was able to identify the insignia used by the Spider, though was too much to identify their "families".
Uhn....looks are they are going somewhere with great hurry... and... they don't have idea we are around.Uhn.. we have shugenja, we have bushi... Maybe they know where I can find a fallen Crane... And what are they carrying with so much care?
Should we intercept them? Mitsouko turned to her companions. Plans?

[The Blue Ronin]

Ryumon and his Daidoji scouts were bringing up the rear, doing what they could to conceal the group's passage, although the alien foliage of the Shadowlands made it difficult. Ryumon himself cut a more imposing figure than he would probably have liked to - aside from the discrete Shireikan's chop next to the mon of his armour, it was identical to that of his men. But his massive height, easily the greatest of anybody in the raid at nearly six and a half feet, meant that he easily stood out as a target.

Thankfully his armour was enough to ward off the bakemono's hail of needle like arrows as they fell on the rearguard. A couple penetrated the heavy shoulder plates and horsehair weave of his armour, but only shallowly penetrated the flesh of his shoulder. He bellowed a battle cry and turned to face the charging Shadowlands rabble. The Daidoji wielded yari and katana to lethal effect - the bakemono, they knew, were likely only there to clear the way for more fearsome Shadowlands troops, but that was no reason not to dispense with them quickly and efficiently. Ryumon himself wielded a heavy sasumata which snapped the necks of the Goblins it snared with little effort.

Sadly not all in his retinue were as well prepared as Ryumon himself. The slight, white-haired Asahina Shugenja who had been his companion for the entire journey only had enough time to turn and stare at Ryumon's command before a charcoal-black and filthy goblin arrow tore out his throat. A defensive spell died in a gurgle on his lips as he slumped, his fine silk kimono stained with the ugly grey muck of the Shadowlands.

[The Blue Ronin]

Once the assault was over, Ryumon found himself at Mitsouko's side, tugging goblin arrows from his armour. He frowned as the Kakita Daimyo announced her findings and put the telescope down.

"I am probably going to be in a minority here, but I say we strike them, and interrogate them if we can take any alive. That is a task I am willing to take on myself, with your permission, Lady Kakita" He was still breathing heavily from the exertion of combat. "It's possible they have spotted us, it's possible they haven't, but even if they haven't we are likely to have to face them later, and this way we have the potential advantage of surprise. Something that is going to be a pretty rare commodity, down here" His men had broken out the onigiri and Ryumon accepted one, chewing it with monotone joylessness as he awaited Mitsouko's command.

[Doji Naetaru]

Kodachi was staring sternly, momentarily losing the connection with reality. After a moment she snapped and turned over to Mitsouko.

"Kakita-sama, I say, pursue them. This might be our finest chance."

She dared not question anyone's judgement but her own. The voice inside her died out. Kodachi wasn't sure as of what pushed her forward into this. She felt the seeping influence of what she has been calling, "the voice", surge through her.
The only hope she was hoping was to find solace.

[Zeure]

Battou had followed along behind Mitsouko, bringing up the rear of her honor guard while Sennosao brought up the front with the rest of her bodyguards. As they stopped and surveyed the terrain and the team of lost moving their direction, he listened to her and Ryumon speak, as well as Kodachi.

"Ryumon-san, I could not agree more. While I understand any trepidations that we might have here, we outnumber these.... people, moving forward, as long as we shout our battle cries as we charge them there is no dishonor, and they may indeed have info regarding Alesha's whereabouts; which of course we need. I say we hit them, and hit them hard. If absolutely nothing else, we will have rid the empire of some traitorous lost."

The honor guard nodded in an eerie sort of unison with Battou towards Ryumon. They were clearly VERY in tune with one another.

[Kitsune Poxo]

The little Kitsune woman after the battle was to busy to notice the targets of the discussion. She bounced back and forth between the wounded, tending to their wounds. This seemed to be her well practiced art. From her her supplies she pulled out herbs that the average samurai would have never seen. All the while, she ordered the dead to be put to the torch as soon as possible, so that their allies could not be used as enemies.