RZA's seen better...well, everything. The only thing that keeps him on his feet after Takao helps him up seems to be raw bloodymindedness and pride.
"Some of your stupid rubbed off on me, sunshine," RZA wheezes. "I was ghost but your stupid mug wasn't showing, so I went back, I went forth, I had a few and then I figured, oi lad, you're a right wallad but you're my blud, so off I go to find you, only they catch me slipping and I get murked." He takes an experimental step and winces. "Don't be getting ideas now, cutter, but I calculate you oughta steady me a bit longer - my legs are proper banged, riding behind the horse will do that."
"The little boat ride was a bit disorienting, so I wasn't sure which side of the city we were on. Let's go, then, and we might even catch up with Yoshi," Takao replies.
The sun already sits high in the morning sky when Takao, RZA and Shira finally reach the High Lord's estate via a surreptitious back entrance. Clothes are switched, servants are fetched to take care of RZA, and Himiko is called away from the stables to a fateful meeting behind closed doors. The first few sentences of Shira's story are met with gasps and whispered questions, but by the time he's done laying out the truth - the identity of her mother, and everything Shira's done for Ikishi - Himiko is openly sobbing into her cupped hands, tears streaming from her unseeing eyes.
"I have made many choices that I am not proud of," Shira concludes. "Some borne of genuine love for your mother, some of conviction in the necessity of her plans to strengthen this country - but as of late, many more for fear of what she might do if I turn on her. You are the one dearest to me, my Himiko, and that places you in grave danger."
"You told me she died," Himiko breathes between sobs. "You told me my mother was dead! All these years you lied to me!"
"Yes, I did," Shira says, hanging his head. "And now I am here to speak the truth. Your forgiveness is not mine to ask, but I beseech you to consider the bigger picture. I cannot order you to become her target, but if you are willing to trust your safety to Takao-san, then I shall be able to follow my honor instead of my fears."
"Let me see her," Himiko says quietly. "I've a right to hear her words for myself before I make a choice."
"That is too dangerous, Himiko," Shira says. "If you confront her..."
"I will tell her that I discovered her identity through my apprenticeship with Ishikawa-dono," Himiko says. "She need not know that you shared your secrets with me. We will meet in a public place, of course. If she is as evil as you claim, and uses this opportunity to harm me...then sho ga nai."
"But we will not be able to protect you," Shira points out. "If Takao-san or I are seen near you, she will know what happened."
"I will go without you," Himiko says.
"You will do no such foolish thing, Himiko!" Shira says.
Himiko wipes her eyes, then turns her head to where she thinks Takao is seated. "What do you think, Takao-san?"
Takao blinks. He hadn't expected to get drawn into the family dispute. "Well, you should obey your father," he begins, but seeing that that doesn't fly well with the young woman, he swiftly recovers to "... says the code of bushido, which, I suppose, you do not necessarily follow.
"I understand that it is very important for you to talk to your mother, even though I think you won't like what she has to say, either. It is very important that you remain safe, though. There is a great struggle for the throne, with your parents on different sides. You must understand that your father loves you more than the rest of the Empire, and if you are in danger, he is not free to do the right thing."
He ponders. "If only Kirika and the ninjas would be here already. They could protect you without being seen. Well, the ninjas could, anyway. If I had my gonnes, I could at least protect you from some distance. I could hide near the appointed meeting place and observe, and if something goes wrong I could be right there."
"Lord Shira, while I was...away... did a young woman with blue tattoos and probably some entourage come to the capital? Her name is Kamura, but she may go by a different name."
"Kirika Kamura," Shira says. "She entered the city yesterday, in fact, accompanying a young lord...and the Shadowguard." He gives Takao a wink when he says 'young lord' - they both know Toshi's secret, but it wouldn't do to speak it before Himiko. "I don't know where they went from there, but I saw her taking off with Ishikawa-dono. Perhaps she could help reunite you."
"...ninjas?" Himiko says. "You brought ninjas with you?"
"I suppose they prefer 'shinobi', but yeah, ninjas are essentially what they are. I didn't bring them with me, but they might be around now."
"I think it would be good to meet up with Lady Ishikawa. If I ride in alone, I won't draw too much attention, and we can make arrangements so that Himiko can safely meet her mother. Lady Ishikawa can send for you when all is set. Do you meet the Lady regularly, Himiko?"
"You should rest up first," Shira cautions. "It'll be dangerous to go during the day anyway. Sumiko - I mean, Lady Ikishi - has her agents looking for you, and you'll be easy to spot riding into town now. Better wait until the afternoon, when the laborers and merchants return to their homes and there is a crowd on the trade road to hide your entrance."
"What if she thinks to look here?" Himiko asks.
"I...I don't know," Shira admits.
Himiko turns to Takao and smiles. "Nobody would dare to enter my quarters," Himiko says. "Or think to search them. I think that as long as you and your shinobi friend remain in there and stay quiet, you will be quite safe from detection. I'll be at the stables during the day anyway."
Himiko ponders Takao's question. "No," she says. "We used to have scheduled lessons, but Ishikawa-dono's work has consumed more and more of her attention. These days, she simply sends a messenger when she has time to attend to my education, and if I feel up to it I go to join her in the day's activities. It has been a while since the last time, so I do not think a summons from her would draw any suspicion."
Come late afternoon, Takao and a somewhat mended RZA find themselves sitting on the back of a cart heading into the city - suitably disguised with dusty cloaks, of course. Injured though he still might be, the sneaking around part is RZA's game and Takao just follows the ninja's lead, getting off the cart with him at the trade post. The day fades to evening at a local watering hole - where it seems that the three harbor guides Ta, Sho and Iromi are just coming off their respective shifts. RZA breaks stealth before Takao has a chance to ponder doing the same, and walks over to sit down at their table.
"Oi," RZA says.
"Hey, man," Iromi says.
"What's good?" Sho adds.
Ta's the only one to look beyond the ninja; her leathery neck almost creaks when she nods to Takao to join them. "Good to see you're still kicking," she says. "What do you guys need?"
"Just a quick check with my old girl from ends," RZA says with a smile. "And a ride."
"Downtown?" Ta asks, her grin growing. "My place?"
"Careful there, ocean pearl," RZA says. "I'm still on the mend. But yeah, I reckon if you could drop my mate off downtown on the way..."
"You think he'll be all right without you?" Ta asks, looking at Takao.
RZA grins and claps Takao on the back. "Well, he's a daft one, but proper nails. You'll be fine, won't you?"
"At least you didn't try to call me 'sunshine'," Takao grumbles.
"Nice to see you again, too, Ta," he adds.
"I need to see Lady Ishikawa. And you wouldn't have happened to have 'recovered' my weapons again, would you? I think I'm ready to flaunt some laws for a while. If I keep going like this, they'll call me a brawler, and not a swordsman."
RZA shakes his head. "Last I checked, Ishikawa's got your blades," he says. "What's new, Ta?"
"Oh, the usual," Ta answers. "Some fancy lord came back from the mainland with a whole army earlier today. The rubberneckers held up traffic for a couple of hours. Bunch of a-holes if you ask me, I mean some of us have work to do."
"The tower!" comes a cry from outside, and the half of the tavern that's still sober enough to raise their heads off the tables turns towards the door, where the shouter shortly shambles inside. "The tower!" he repeats. "The clock tower, it's on fire!"
Given the crowd streaming outside, there's not much choice in being swept along with them, and so RZA and Takao get a good look at the last upright moments of the downtown clock tower, its top a blazing inferno like an oversize torch burning bright against the dark of evening. RZA gasps as the tower finally topples beneath the rest of the skyline, with the sound of its terrible crash finally reaching across the city lagoon to eager ears outside the tavern.
RZA turns to Takao. "Well, cock," he mutters. "Five silver says your friends are in town."
Takao observes the spectacle with a concerned frown.
"From your limited interactions with them, you might find it hard to believe when I tell you that they don't always burn down the house. But I'd say you're right: odds are good that they are involved."
"They've probably left the scene. Let's get to Ishikawa, and quickly. She might know where they lodge."
So, did you know how many strokes of the guide pole it takes to get across the lagoon? A lot. It takes a lot, but Ta sure loves to count them out - at least the ones she's doing, while Takao does his level best on the other side of the barge. It's tough going, but considering the complete and utter chaos raging through the city in the wake of the clocktower's collapse, it probably is actually faster than trying to go by road - and a good deal less likely to be intercepted by Ikishi's men. Takao's arms are good and sore by the time the barge slams into the little dock by the canal next to the Hall of Justice. Takao's work isn't done, though: steadying RZA, he climbs the stairs up to street level, weaving through the crowd of bystanders and the few cops that could be spared to keep the peace here.
"Heh," RZA coughs. "First time I'm using the bloody front door."
The bullpen is eerily empty, save for Lady Ishikawa and a few of her officers standing over a table, discussing how to contain the situation. A mere glance at RZA and Takao is enough to make them both feel the heat of her glare; leaving her officers to fend for herself, she barks at a curt "Evidence room, now!" at the two rogues and leads the way to the back. To her credit, she keeps it together until they're alone and the door is closed behind them, but then...
"You two are going to be the death of me!" Ishikawa barks. "i knew you were bad news, ninja! I thought I told you to leave this city until I summoned you again, but apparently your whole clan does not understay the words 'stay' and 'out' and especially not the two of them together! My men found more than a dozen dead and injured Killer Bees outside Merchant Mura's offices, none of whom are saying anything, and oh, most of Mura's guards were killed by a, and this is an actual quote from the only survivor, a 'shadow thing' that came out of the toilet. Mura's long gone, of course. I've had it up to here with ninjas." Her glare turns to Takao. "And you. I actually started missing you because somehow your friends are even better at throwing this city into chaos than you are, and I'm not sure whether to be impressed or horrified! They brought an army. They've got the Shadowguard on their side and they're fixing to put a new Emperor on the throne. Oh, by the way, the most feared and infamous pirate ship this side of the Empire is now moored in our harbor with a trade envoy from the Hanse, with a shipload of advanced gonnes that is currently sitting in Evidence Room 2 in what I can only assume is some clever scheme to deliver them to me and my men for gods know what purpose."
Ishikawa touches her hand to her forehead.
"When the fire took my face," she says, "it didn't hurt nearly as much as this headache."
Her rant over for the moment, she takes a deep breath, then turns to one of the shelves, opens a locked box and retrieves two very familiar swords, holding them out to Takao. "Worst of all is you're stealing these illegal weapons right from my evidence lockup, aided and abetted by this rogue ninja. Heavens know what else you also stole, considering we won't have time to inventory anything in here for at least another week."
Another deep breath.
"Please tell me you at least learned something relevant about Ikishi's scheme. I don't know if you've picked up on it, but I'm really looking for some good news right now."
"Well, it seems like Kirika already told you most of it. It's obvious that Ikishi is making her own play for the throne, and she's trying to get the High Lords under control through various means. She was holding Lord Hetechi's.. friend.. Kichirou to control him, but I was able to free him and reunite the two, so Hetechi is out from underneath her thumb.
"Lord Shira" - Takao hesitates for a moment and glances over to RZA for a moment -"ah, heck, he seems to be able to find out everything anyway. She bedded Lord Shira and is apparently Himiko's mother. I wouldn't put it beyond Ikishi to have simply found a girl of the right age, but I also think she's driven enough to have Shira father a child on her to control him. Anyway, Lord Shira and I had a.. discussion, and he is now willing to change his ways. But he needs to see his daughter in safety. And you know Himiko yourself: she needs to find out the truth about her mother, and she wants to talk to her. At the same time, we don't want to tip Ikishi off just yet that Shira has changed sides, to make sure nothing happens to her.
"So, do you think between the three of us, we can figure out a way to do that? Have Himiko meet Ikishi while keeping her safe?"
"So they actually brought an army to the capital? And Olaffsen is here, too?" Takao asks as he almost reverently retrieves his blades and shoves them into his obi. "Say, while I'm stealing these illegal weapons from your evidence lockup, do you think it might be possible to steal some of those advanced gonnes that you mentioned?"
"I see," Ishikawa says, her voice softening at the reveal that Kichirou's been returned safe and sound. "Good on you. I hope that's the last of it for Hetechi-dono, gods know he's been through enough."
"Oh, that proud fool," she adds as the topic of Himiko's parentage rolls around. "I'll...we'll think of something, Himiko and me. I hope you understand that I do not wish to see you involved. There is too much risk that Ikishi will see through it."
"Yes, a whole army, currently camped to the south," Ishikawa says. "I shudder to think what the scion of the Kamura line has planned for them, but that's worry for another day. As far as I understand, Olafsen is not captaining the Gungnir - she's flying the Hanse flag now. Still, you understand why having it sit in our harbor is no cause for breathing easy."
The question about the gonnes brings a resigned shrug from Ishikawa. "Help yourself to what you will," she says. "The last few hours have shown me that this city faces much bigger problems than what weapons you carry - and much as it galls me, you and your friends are getting things done faster than I ever could. I just wish you'd leave less of a mess."
"I agree that I should stay away from Himiko, to make sure that Ikishi does not catch any wind of what's up. But I would still like to see Himiko protected well, if not by myself, then perhaps by some ninjas. We've got one right here, even though he's a bit worse for the wear, and Kirika has some in her entourage. Please let me know what you are planning, so we can help to keep her safe.
"Do you know where Kirika is lodging? I think it is high time that we meet up again. We'll do our best to return the city to a state where what weapons people carry will be your biggest concern again. In the mean time... uh.. well, less mess isn't my specialty, either."
After the Lady of the Guard tells him where he might find Kirika, Takao nods to RZA and asks:"You coming along?"
Then he heads off, briefly stopping by Evidence Room 2 to equip himself with enough hand gonnes to put Firebolt to shame, and powder and ball to go with them. "Can't have enough of these these days, it seems."
"...I'll let you know," Ishikawa says, evading Takao's question about the plan for Himiko. "Your friends are staying in a rented house in Park Row - plot 9C, to the best of my knowledge."
Leaving Ishikawa to her 99 problems, RZA and Takao make their way across the hall to Evidence Room 2. Therein are stacks and stacks of crates, marked by one of three words: Sparrow, Eagle and Vulture. The "Sparrow" crates look smallest, and when Takao opens one, he finds it full of smaller wooden boxes, which in turn contain a handgonne, a supply of powder and ball, cleaning tools and a rolled-up scroll. The handgonne is a curious design; it looks like a scaled-up minigonne from Adler's band of thieves, but with a hinged gonne barrel placed in front of the cylinder. Once the eye adjusts to this weirdness, however, the craftsmanship of the weapon becomes obvious, featuring fine details and even an engraving at the side of the receiver reading "Ueki Kogin, Master Weaponsmith".
RZA grabs a scroll and gives it a quick read while Takao inspects the weapon itself.
Thank you, honored customer, for your trust. This letter accompanying your SPARROW model handgonne is to instruct you in its proper use and care.
To LOAD your SPARROW handgonne, first disengage the locking pin below the rear sight. This will allow the front of the gonne to hinge forward. Remove the cylinder and load it with a measure of gonnepowder as well as a ball, using the included measuring cup and ramrod minitool. Once all six chambers have been loaded, insert the cylinder back onto the receiver's central pin and hinge the front of the gonne back into the horizontal position until it clicks into place. The SPARROW's innovative repeating mechanism ensures that a further small measure of gonnepowder is automatically dispensed into the pan at the back of the cylinder when the flint holder is cocked back. Your SPARROW comes pre-loaded with a full reservoir of gonnepowder in the grip good for up to fifty shots. To refill the reservoir, turn the weapon upside down and unscrew the recessed refilling cap in the bottom of the grip.
To FIRE your SPARROW handgonne, it is recommended that you maintain a steady grip on the weapon while you use your weak hand to cock back the flint holder. With practice and once comfortable with the basic operation of the weapon, the flint holder can easily be pulled back by the thumb of your weapon hand, obviating the need to use your off-hand for this purpose. As a further consideration for your comfort and safety, the SPARROW is equipped with a mechanism that will automatically cock the flint holder when the trigger is pulled. This requires greater strength on the pull, but lets you operate the weapon completely one-handed if needed.
To CLEAN your SPARROW handgonne, remove the cylinder as if loading the weapon, empty out the cylinder and then wash it under running cold water, making sure to pat the cylinder dry and give it a light coat of mineral oil inside and out afterwards. The barrel can be similarly rinsed or - if very dirty - cleaned with a silk rag and the ramrod minitool. We also recommend that you empty out the grip reservoir and soak the entire weapon in mineral oil every 500 shots to clean and lubricate the internal mechanisms.
ALL UEKI KOGIN WEAPONS COME WITH A 10-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY. IF YOU ENCOUNTER ANY PARTS FAILURES OR WISH TO ACQUIRE ACCESSORIES, PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT YOUR LOCAL AUTHORIZED DEALER FOR REPAIRS. FURTHER NOTE THAT ALL REPAIRS OR MODIFICATIONS EFFECTED BY PERSONS OTHER THAN OUR AUTHORIZED DEALERS WILL VOID THIS WARRANTY.
Ueki Kogin says: "One sword keeps another in the sheath. But when the blades do flash, the SPARROW will see you victorious. I never leave home without it!"
"Now here's a bloke who gobbles up his own shite," RZA says, putting the scroll down in favor of weighing a handgonne in his left hand. "Proper nice build on those, though. With a spot of luck, they'll even shoot straight."
"Don't read the manual until something breaks," Takao says when RZA starts reading, subconsciously channeling the collective wisdom of engineers and scientists hundreds of years in the future.
He examines a SPARROW as RZA reads on, weighing, working the action, then he stops as RZA get to the gunpowder in the grip. "What?! You mean there's..." His voice trails off as he he unscrews the cap in the bottom of the grip. "No idea how I feel about this: if the gonne misfires, it'll take your hand off for sure. Well, let's take a couple. Perhaps Ueki is here himself, and we can ask him." Takao pockets a pair of the SPARROWs.
"Alright, what's the fastest way to get to Park row, plot 9C?"
"No canals and no rooftop highways, so that leaves a rickshaw, hands down," RZA says. "Assuming we can get through the crowds. I take it you've had it with sneaking about, then? Can't rightly say I blame you, cutter."
Gatac
