"You looked surprised when you saw me. Did you not think that young Himiko's deductions would be that accurate? To be sure, had you come even a few hours earlier or later, you would have missed us."
Takao smiles, but watches Yoshi intently as he replies.
Yoshi averts his eyes when Takao presses him for the details of how he located them within minutes of their arrival here.
"I was surprised," Yoshi says. "Coming here was a most desperate idea. I thought I would have to go back to Himiko-ojou and tell her that I could not do as she asked me to."
Takao can't sense falsehood in what he's saying - nor any hint that Yoshi means him harm - but there's also definitely something important being left out.
Yoshi bows his head to Kichirou. "My lord," he says.
"Uh, hello," Kichirou answers.
"I brought two horses," Yoshi tells Takao. "Take them. I shall find another way."
"You have my thanks, Yoshi. I will make sure that the horses and the blade get restored to you when I have dropped off Kichirou, and I will commend your persistence to Lady Himiko."
Takao smirks. "There is no doubt of your honor and loyalty, Yoshi, but from the day we first met there were always things that you didn't tell me, and I know there's something right now, too. I know that your allegiance is first and foremost to Lord Shira, and you are obliged to keep your lord's confidence, and I respect that." He bows to the older samurai.
"Mount up, Kichirou, we have some distance to travel tonight."
With the prospect of securing their escape, outfits are hastily reassembled and haste is made; Yoshi makes sure to leave some coin for the barkeep, who seems to take the whole episode rather in stride. As they step onto the street, Yoshi looks left and right, but his look lingers on the well-lit bridge leading across the river.
"The horses are on the other side," he says. "It is not safe to cross in the light. Go beneath the bridge, get to the other shore of the river and mount up. Once you are on horseback, ride like the wind - stop for nothing and nobody. Only when you reach Shira-dono's lands will you be safe. Himiko-ojou is awaiting your arrival and will see to you." He sighs. "I will join you there, if the Heavens will it."
"How many of them are there? Did you recognize them?"
Takao thinks a moment, then pulls Yoshi's sword out of his obi and hands it back. "You will need this more than me. I've got this one." He taps the other saya in his belt. No need to tell Yoshi that it's just a practice sword.
Yoshi looks at Takao, standing still while the samurai asks his questions. When Takao holds out the sword for him to take, Yoshi takes a step back, toward the lit bridge.
"Please, Takao-san," he says. "I have said and done what I can."
"TAKAO!"
It is a scream that echoes through what remains of the night, echoing from the bridge. A figure steps into the light at the top of the bridge's arch - the Swordsman! As he walks, something twitches behind him, and after a moment of squinting his eyes, Takao can make out the bloodied body of a man in Killer Bee uniform being dragged by a rope the swordsman has slung over his shoulder. The black-clad nemesis does not attempt to close the distance further; instead, he shrugs the rope off his shoulder and withdraws the scabbard from his obi, holding up his sword to glint in the torchlight. A terrible silence falls over the scene, so quiet that Takao can almost make out the faint moans of pain from RZA.
"TAKAO!" the swordsman calls out again. "Come here and face me, swine!"
"My duty ends here," Yoshi whispers. "Get out now." Then, with a final sigh, he turns around and starts walking towards the swordsman as he draws his wakizashi.
Yoshi nods and grabs Kichirou, dragging him away over his feeble protests while Takao marches up the bridge to face destiny.
"I did not," the swordsman says in answer to Takao's question. "And for the sake of anyone who might be listening, I will not speak it aloud. But...I can give you a hint, can't I?"
He pulls up the portion of the mask that covers his mouth, and the next words out of his mouth are from a completely different voice, deeper and more commanding - and one Takao recognizes in a terrible instant.
"Dost thou recall our last Meeting, Senshi?" Lord Shira asks, then lowers the mask back into place over his mouth, switching back to his "masked swordman" voice. "What a shame that you face me without Mizu. It would have been a great honor to test your father's blade against mine. Yet here you are, with no armor to save you, and just an ordinary sword in your hands. There is a certain pleasing purity about it, don't you think?"
He taps the sword at his side.
"I will see to it that you are remembered for your bravery, Shinmen Takao," Shira says. "Now steel yourself and draw!"
Takao recovers quickly from the shocking revelation.
"The Empire is upon dark days indeed when the proudest and most honorable family becomes the cat's paw of a scheming murderess. What did she promise you? A return to the old days, where firearms will be banished and the samurai and their steel rule supreme? Surely that would be the one thing to tempt you, for what need do you have for titles and lands.
"Yet she forces you to work side by side with Firebolt, who is pretty much the embodiment of all you despise, and the Forge churns out gonnes by the crates and has foreign officer train up militias in their use. Ikishi has no use for the old ways, and once she has attained the power she desires, she will have no use for you, either."
He looks at the sword in his left. "Why don't we complete the purity of this duel and see how much honor the Shira line has left?"
He casts the sword aside undrawn. "Style against style, unblemished by the quality of the weapon."
Shira chuckles at that. "Very well," he says. "It would not do to draw steel against an unarmed opponent...but I can beat you without drawing my blade. Have at thee!"
Takao walks in measured steps towards Shira while carefully observing the man's posture and movements. No need to rush into anything here.
OOC:
Half action: move up to 40 ft toward Shira, not closer than 10 ft.
Half action: Anticipate: d20+26 = 29 works if his BAB is up to +19, in which case Takao's Defense rises to 29
Rushing is exactly what Shira does, though. As soon as Takao seems within range, he dashes forward, drawing his entire sword - sheath and all - from his obi to swing at Takao!
(Shira takes a half action to close the distance, then attacks Takao. Per his Wavebreaker Basics feat, he does not have to ready the weapon, treating its sheathed form like a sap.
Shira's Attack, using the Decisive Swing trick and Effortless Cut ability: 2d20.hi+13+2+1 = 25 MISS!)
Shira uses his first half-action to enter the Turning With The Tide Stance, then makes another attack:
Shira's Attack, using the Decisive Swing trick and Effortless Cut ability: 2d20.hi+13+2+1+1 = 31 HIT!
Shira's Damage, gaining a bonus from his Stance and from Takao's Dodge bonus to Defense: 1d6+2+5+5 = 16 (Subdual)
Takao ducks under the first sweeping blow of Shira's sword, but the master turns away from Takao's counter-strike in turn, thwacking the younger samurai across the back as their dance concludes with the two switching places atop the apex of the bridge.
"You are a keen observer indeed," Shira says. "But it seems it has been a while since you fought without a weapon."
(Leaving this open in case Mike wants to spend an AD
Should note that I forgot to include a +2 bonus to all skill checks Shira makes against Takao due to his Blade Dance ability. This doesn't change the outcome of the first roll but does mean Takao would need to roll a minimum of 5 on his Action Die if he chooses to spend it.
)
Takao quickly proves Shira's words hasty as he busts out his jujutsu moves, first trapping the old master's wrist and then using his own struggling attempt to free himself to wrench the Shooting Star from his hands. Ryusei clatters onto the cobblestones as the two samurai continue to jostle for victory.
Shira is moved to an unoccupied adjacent square - i.e. heaved over the side of the bridge, where he quickly drops into the river below. Oh, and he's sprawled.
Shira repositions as a half action, then tries to Sneak.
Shira's Sneak, at +4 because the water is pitch black: 1d20+15+4 = 35
Takao's Notice: 1d20+16 = 36 CRIT!)
"Impudent boy!" Shira snarls as the two struggle. "Is this how they taught you to duel?"
Maybe not - but it is how they taught Takao to win. A mere moment of inattention on Shira's part is enough for Takao to shift them both closer to the edge, and with a sudden burst of speed and strength, he hurls Shira into the dark waters below. It would be logical to assume that the current rips Shira along with it, but Takao's sharp eyes can still make out his shape in the glint of moonlight, if only faintly: Shira's stuck to the riverbed, presumably with a smaller blade, and is slowly working his way against the current underneath the bridge, presumably to emerge on the other side in the dark and gain the advantage of surprise on Takao.
Takao reverently picks up the mighty sword Ryusei and rushes to the side of the river that he is expecting Shira to emerge from.
"It is an extension of Seishin Dageki. Contemplate the sword, anticipate the sword, become the sword. Just as the great Musashi could defeat armed men with a mere bokken, so could the ancient masters of Seishin Dageki defeat armed samurai with no weapons at all. They believed that victory lies in the motion of the body, not the sword. I think I'm beginning to understand what they meant."
Takao's motion across the bridge is easy to track with him talking, and it makes it clear that he knows where Shira went.
"My entire life I held high the ideals of the samurai. I went on a musha shugyo to determine how to deal with the gonnes, as I saw them a threat to the samurai way of life. If you, Shira, the epitomy of the old ideals, betray them thusly, what is left of the samurai? Doesn't that simply make us thugs with swords? Tell me, why throw in your lot with Ikishi?"
Shira slowly climbs out of the water - his attempt to outfox Takao is for naught, and he knows it. With slow, measured steps, he walks back onto the bridge, with only the water dripping from his clothes onto the cobblestone to accompany his steps. When he stands opposite Takao again, he begins to speak.
"Why does a man do anything?" he asks, then pauses again for a moment. "What would you do for your only child...and her mother?"
Shira lets that sink in for a moment. "Do not mistake my adherence to the old ways for allegiance to their ideals. I cannot claim to be virtuous in that way. In me, only the old styles and forms survive, but I have long ago surrendered bushido. I have withdrawn from many matters of the court precisely because I do not feel that it is my place to advise anyone, and I have allowed Yoshi-kun to assist you in your efforts."
He nods to Takao. "If you will return my sword, then you have my word that I will let you and your friend RZA go in peace, and that you will always find the shelter of my hospitality at your disposal."
Takao inhales sharply. "So that's how she got to you."
Knowing the underhandedness that Lady Ikishi was capable of, it was not impossible that Himiko wasn't even Shira's daughter, Takao thought.
"I would never take from you, Lord Shira, much less a valuable heirloom like Ryusei, and do not think that I do not value the offer you make. But more is at stake here.
"I take it that you know that the Emperor's heir is on his way to the capital, or perhaps even has arrived already? I have known his identity for a good while, and I have pledged my allegiance to him. I do not wear his mon yet, because that was what he requested. The High Lords will have to confirm him as the righteous Emperor. He will need your support, my lord.
"I greatly respect the feelings you have for your daughter. I only met her briefly, and she was one of the brightest presences I have stood in lately. But your loyalty to her mother will be the doom for both of you. Her mother has no problems to use either one of you as pawns in her great game, to be sacrificed when necessary. There is nothing she won't do. I saw the pamphlets, the ones that called the citizens to revolution. She would have a bloodbath in the capital, just to strengthen her own hold. The Emperor's heir will be a more just ruler than that."
Takao grasps Ryusei in both hands and presents the venerable blade to Lord Shira.
"I know that you are still an honorable man, Lord Shira. The bushido is an unforgiving code for the man who values life, and to misstep is easy. But that does not mean that all of your other actions become dishonorable as well. I'm certain that your advice would still be highly valued in court, if you chose to give it."
(Takao's Impress, +4 discretionary because it's a good speech: 1d20+4+4 = 22)
Shira takes the blade from Takao and reseats it in his belt.
"You are a man of honor, Takao-san," Shira says, nodding to him. "I apologize for my earlier rudeness. Your words flatter me...and if I should recover my own worth in the act of standing up for what's right in trade for my life at the tip of Lady Ikishi's blade, that is a price I am willing to accept. But I cannot place my Himiko in such danger." He pauses for a moment. "That is a choice she must make. And to do that, she will need to hear the truth first."
"I humbly ask that you come with me and help tell the tale, Takao-san, so that we can both be sure that my Himiko knows all she needs for this decision."
"Your request honors me, Shira-sama. I will gladly come along, and know that I will do whatever I can to keep Himiko from danger."
"But before we leave, let me check on the ninja."
Takao walks over to the fallen RZA and starts undoing his bonds. He sighs as he helps him get up. "What times are these, in which you can't trust a mercenary ninja to run away and save his own skin, eh? I thought you had long disappeared when Ikishi threatened to capture you. Can you walk?
MikeS
