Twenty Years Later

Chapter 2 Twenty Years Later

Shua! Shua! The tall grass whistled as it made contact with the wind, and a man's silhouette charged past. The moon's bright rays illuminated the dark, revealing a face contorted by terror. Sweat covered his face, he tried to speak as he turned to face his pursuer, but no sound was made. There was a flash of a blade, and a head flew in the air. The face still petrified by fear.

At this time the WhistleThorn continent was filled with undercurrents and the truly sensitive individuals could almost taste the blood in the air.

Soon it seemed peace would become nothing but a wish upon the stars. One of the reasons for this was the mercenary organization that operated outside the rule of the shogunate, known as the Forbidden Sword. No one knew their origin. They had appeared out of thin air, assassinating important officials, nobles, prominent merchants, bandits and even those great characters of infamy.

Left and right with no rhyme or reason plunging the whole continent into chaos. The sun rose from the east and a messenger hawk flew under the radiance of the rising sun and landed on a tiny ledge by a wall . A rectangular hole large enough to allow a hawk to enter opened up. A hand reached out and brought the hawk inside covering the hole with a wooden plank. A few minutes later the hawk was released with a note tied firmly to it's leg. After some time a young man with dark hair, sharp eyes, and slightly pale skin came out of the house and gazed into the distance. lowering his head he mumbled to himself " A storm is brewing, it seems I'll have to make a trip to the capital."

That night the minister of public affairs was hosting a party to celebrate his daughter's marriage to the Emperor's nephew. One by one officials all over the city came, but not because they cared. It was a widely known fact that the minister of public affairs was petty and vengeful, and would surely commit those who had not attended to memory. It was also a great chance to socialize and form connections as well as sow discord.

The gathering was lively. Beautiful ladies gathered in groups to talk about the latest fashions, the great female writers of their time and of course the talented young nobles who they admired.

"Oh really?"

"Yes I have it from a credible source that Lady Snow Feather's next novel is to be titled The Clever Rabbit Has Three Burrows, The Cunning Wolf Wears Three Faces." A woman with dark hair with a sultry disposition and a provocative body responded. The group of women circling her gathering closely around her eager to hear more.

"Oh, Sounds Intriguing!" One lady remarked.

"I suppose so, supposedly its premise is that of a war of sorts between a gentleman and a lady.

A battle between the two to determine which of them is ensnared by the whims of love."

"Hmph, then it's not that interesting then is it?" A beautiful lady with an orange bow tied to her hair snorted in disdain.

"How so Lady Shonagon?" The sultry woman asked, a small crease forming on her brow.

"Isn't it obvious? the man will always lose, simply because he is not truly in love, instead he loves the illusion you sell him. He will voluntarily fall into this illusion. When the illusion cracks this love disappears and when he becomes bored or disillusioned his love fades." Lady Shonagon's speech immediately soured the mood and the other women present immediately fell silent.

Whereas the ending of the noble ladie's conversation may leave a bitter taste in one's mouth. the men's conversation was akin to swallowing poison. Many of them had fear in their eyes as they whispered in harsh tones.

"Preposterous! Todoroki-San what you are suggesting is no different from high treason. I suggest you rethink your views before you end up on the executioner's platform!"

A middle-aged man with hard eyes spat at the young man in front of him. The youth however seemed not to notice this and smiled leisurely. "Tachibana-senpai you misunderstand me. The emperor is old and has sired no male offspring to inherit the throne. When he dies there will be a void in power which will allow rebels to rise and alien powers to descend. Therefore, it is imperative that the throne is handed over Do you truly believe that those spoiled girls could uphold the empire?"

" Hmph, pretense and lies, do you take everyone as fools? Your words are just cover-ups to give your rebellion a moral high ground so stop speaking nonsense. We all know you're in cahoots with Lord Yamagashi!" Tachibana sputtered his face gloomy with rage, his eyes burning like flames. One could feel the fierce loyalty exuding from his pores. Their conversation caused a huge commotion. Soon everyone's attention had been drawn to their argument so that no one noticed when two new arrivals entered the room. One was a chubby official with a flabby chin and a genteel smile. The other, was the youth with pale skin. They talked in hushed tones while they walked outside and entered the bonsai garden. At the easternmost corner a man was waiting for them. He stood up to greet the chubby official before shooting a nervous glance at the pale youth; the chubby official saw his anxiety and chuckled "Old man Matsuo, no need to be nervous, this is Yami-Kun the one I told you about". The old man sent another furtive glance at the youth and queried "are you sure?"

"don't worry he's real subtle"

"I hope so, the shogun doesn't have much time left."

Suddenly a sound came from the far-right startling the two men while the pale youth put up his guard. His sleeves made a swishing sound and a rain of shuriken flew towards a shadow in front CLANG ! CLANG!! CLANG!!! The sound of metal hitting metal rang out and shuriken covered the ground. A figure walked out of the shadows, it was a lady with her two personal guards coming up from behind. The guards were dressed in standard shinobi attire, their faces covered by a mask. The guard on the right seemed to scrutinize the pale youth before the one on the lady's left spoke. "well if it isn't our dearest younger brother"

"Third Brother" The pale youth said smilingly. His tone was icy, obviously he had nothing but contempt for his elder sibling. "Ooh you've learned to keep your anger in check, well wouldn't mommy be proud." At that instant the temperature in the room dropped and a frigid chill seeped into the bones of everyone present. Unable to Withstand the cold sensation, the chubby official pleaded. "Yami Kun!" The temperature in the room rose and the two elderly men let out a sigh of relief. "My apologies Iwao-dono". Yami replied then he shot a look of disdain at the lady in a flowing obi robe,. He scowled at her porcelain shaped face and amber eyes then snorted in disdain.

" figures, like attracts like eh" then he turned to leave.

" Iwao-dono, Matsuo-san it's late, I will come by tomorrow and we'll discuss in further detail.`` Then with a swish of his robes, he left the garden and joined the party inside.

Later that evening Yami was sleeping in a guest room in official Iwao's home. Suddenly there was a cha sound on the roof. Immediately Yami became alert, his eyes narrowed and he clenched the katana. beside him before gradually relaxing his body and fell back to sleep. Minutes later a shadow appeared on the ceiling. It snaked down the wall then merged with the floor. until it reached Yami, slowly it rose from the floor becoming more solid. Then it stretched out its hand hovering over Yami's face!

Sriiiiip! The futon tore open and a katana flew toward the shadow, The shadow twisted it's head narrowly avoiding decapitation but couldn't avoid the palm strike to it's chest. The shadow was sent flying, spurting out blood from its mouth. Yami rushed to deliver the killing blow but suddenly the shadow yelled out "STOP!!! Taka it's me!! "

Yami stopped just as his finger's were about to gouge the shadow's eyes.

"Mashiro?"Taka queried his bewilderment showing on his face.

" Yes it's me"

"what are you doing here?"

"Your mother sent me so I volunteered to tag along with the third brother as one of lady Biwa's bodyguards"

"How is my mother?" Mashiro evaded Taka's gaze.

"Lady Ran is not doing well. She has been sick and unwell for the past two years. That's why I had to see you. She's holding on but doesn't have much time left. She sent me to find you ....so that you may send her off."

Yami became very silent, then nodded his head, seeing his solemn expression Mashiro excused himself. The sound of wind is the only testament to his departure. Early the next morning Taka arrived at Matsuo's home and was led to the sitting room where Matsuo was waiting.

" Matsuo-san let's be quick! I have things to set in order."

Matsuo's gaze became stern. " patience Yami-san this is a matter of great importance and mustn't be rushed. The shogun had a secret affair long ago and gave birth to a daughter. Now that he has no male heirs and his other daughters are unreliable. His majesty wishes to raise his illegitimate child as empress"

"There is such a secret?.....hmm I suppose you want me to protect her until she secures the throne?"

" It is indeed easier to work with smart individuals." Matsuo said with a smile.

Is Mr.Yami agreeable?"

"You're paying me aren't you?" Taka said, an easy smile playing on his lips. Matsuo let out a sigh of relief. "Then Mr.Yami, please take out the contract". Taka reached into his robes and pulled out a contract, signed his name and handed it to Matsuo.

Who then quickly signed his name and placed it in his robes. Taka raised one eyebrow but said nothing. "Matsuo-san, where is my burden?" Matsuo frowned at his choice of words before calling out "Biwa you're needed!" Footsteps sounded from the other room and a porcelain-faced amber-eyed beauty entered. Doom!! The floor shook as Taka got to his feet, his face contorted with rage. "No absolutely not Matsuo-san anyone but her!"