Funeral Rites

Shiroyama

I ran through the morning twilight across a grassy field. The cool air rushed against my face and tousled my white hair. I basked in the wind and the soft sounds of the coming day.

I wore a white kimono meant for the deceased for my coming duty. No dirt or ink would stain its fabric thanks to Kure-sama who resided within the scabbard at my waist. The scabbard was white with a pattern of black flowers upon it.

Kure-sama was a sacred katana that resided in that scabbard. He was a steel blade that glinted black in the light. He provided many blessings thanks to the worship and reverence he received from his many believers. He had been passed down from father to son, until he fell into my hands, forever helping my clan which hung on the boundary of shaping Japan.

Being born into my clan meant a duty higher than life itself. It was for this duty that I came out into the outskirts of Edo.

Up ahead a military compound came into sight. The flags of the oni clan came into view. They dyed their flags red and their symbol of two horns crossed over a fist was colored white. Outside of the fenced compound several soldiers carried muskets with katanas at their sides.

I came full speed towards their front entrance. My feet were silent against the grass but they would see the color of my kimono if they weren’t blind. Soon enough as soon as I was within a hundred meters of the compound the guards became alert of my presence. They looked around in confusion, giving me precious seconds to come closer.

Seventy five meters.

A senior watchman shouted and organized them to show the muzzles of their muskets. The senior watchman held up a sword and flashed it down. Five balls of iron flew towards me. My thumb knocked against Kure-samas’s handguard, launching it forward. I caught the handle in my right hand and his blade flashed in the morning twilight.

One slash of the blade spit two balls of iron. Another slash cut through the third and redirected the fourth harmlessly to the side. I ignored the fifth ball which flew into the ground at my side. Then I slid Kure-sama back into his scabbard.

Fifty meters.

Two of the watchmen began to reload their muskets before the senior man shouted at them again. They affixed bayonets onto their muskets and lowered them towards me. They must have been trained by the Franks if they weren't immediately going for their swords.

Twenty five meters.

The senior man pulled out a flinklock pistol and aimed it at me. If he was experienced, he’d wait until the last second. If he was a good soldier, then he'd wait until he'd see the white of my eyes, however while he was senior and possibly experienced, he wasn't a good soldier. If he had been,he would have had his men fire when I had been closer.

Ten meters.

The experienced watchman fired his flinklock and Kure-sama once again intercepted a ball of metal. Splitting it in two and allowing the remaining pieces to go harmlessly past me. The bayonets shook as the men stood and resided themselves to take out a lone swordsman.

Five meters.

I had heard from my spies that this splinter clan had been trained by the Franks. This information might have been wrong. If they had, they would have more modern weapons. Hard to obtain through the Great Barrier surrounding Japan but not impossible. My spies would have to be punished for this oversight.

I flicked my blade to the side and the tips of the muskets flew off. Without breaking stride I used one of the men to launch myself up into the air. The senior watchman looked up at me, mouth agape. I lightly touched the ground past him and ran on. The heads of the watchmen slowly slid onto the ground in my wake.

The compound itself was a flurry of activity, which was of no fault of my own. They were preparing for their ‘war.’ Only the men closest to the entrance paid attention to me. Raising an alarm in the mess was more difficult than one would expect. Then again, it wasn’t like the man in charge here demanded much discipline from his soldiers. As long as he could fight, he would be satisfied.

Several men came at me with blades in hand. I swung Kure-sama in a two handed grip and scattered the soldiers. Limbs and necks were separated from their bodies and blood wet the air and ground.

To my left would be the camp living quarters while to my right were the airships that were being loaded with supplies. They looked like large warships from English lands that would travel the seas. Except they had metal tubing acting as veins to channel the divine power of an earth god that they’d use as its core. They were set into berths dug into the dirt, so they were just a few feet above ground level. My target would be on the flagship.

I grabbed a small pouch from my sash and flicked the cord sticking out with the back of my blade. The cord had an end similar to a matchstick and it ignited. I threw it into the small sea of tents before running towards the docked ships.

The pouch exploded behind me and more men were alerted to my presence. And that of the fire now consuming their tents. Several men got in my way and were dealt with by a flick of my blade. They weren’t my targets but if they got in my way, they weren’t long for this world.

I lit another pouch and threw it onto a ship that I ran past. As I leapt onto the grandest ship in the docks I sliced through a man who wore a helmet decorated with horns. One of the elite guard.

His partner died in the following breath. The rest of the elites came in three pairs, each pair welding a spear and the other a sword. I drew upon Kure-sams’s power and stepped forward. I swung through the first pair as if they weren’t even there, their limbs falling to the deck in a clatter.

The pouch exploded in the background as I sliced through an elite's neck. His partner died as I stabbed him through the mouth. The last pair tried to make distance but I simply flicked my blade and their heads went flying in the air. I swung Kure-sama once more and the accumulated blood flew off onto the deck. I sheathed him and turned towards the back of the ship.

A failed god sat on a throne with his face curled into a scowl of rage. He wore no armor on his chest, only on his lower body. His skin was a nauseating red with a shock of black hair on top of his head. A pair of horns the same shade as his skin grew out of his forehead.

“My name is Onibashi!” he shouted as he grabbed a large broadsword from the side of his throne. “And you have proved yourself a mighty warrior to cut down my elite! Tell me your name before you die!”

I felt the failure of his rise to godhood coming off him in waves. That was why he had been expelled from the Oni clan and now made to serve a lord greater than him. I planted my feet and whispered to Kure-sama.

“Kure-sama, if you would, please wake from your nap but for a moment.”

Mhmm? Oooh, hello Shiroyama. What is it?

His voice was full of sleep and soothing to listen to. He didn’t speak out loud, instead it was in my mind.

“I request a single fine cut.”

Onibashi decided he had enough waiting and jumped onto the main deck. The ship shook from his weight. He raised his sword high above his head to cut me down.

Just one? Mhmm, alright. One fine cut it is.

“Thank you, Kure-sama.” I flicked him out of his sheath and I was suddenly standing behind the hulking brute. With a quiet ‘ting’ I slid Kure-sama back into his sheath.

Goodnight.

“What, where?” I felt Onibashi turn behind me as I clasped my hands and bowed to the rising sun. I gave thanks to the true gods of the land. Then Onibashi’s body realized what had happened and he fell onto the ship deck in two pieces. I felt the warmth of the fires from the ships and tent against my skin. The screams of the men struggling to put out the fires.

I rose from my bow and ran towards the back of the ship. As I jumped off an explosion rocked the camp after the gunpowder within the ship ignited. I ran though the camp and was soon outside without any pursuers.

Onibashi had been stronger than I expected. He had managed to take two steps before dying from my strike. A failure he was but surprising nonetheless.

I ran towards the city of Edo as I thought about what was to happen next. The troops and samurai under Onibashi would either commit seppuku, become Ronin or find another lord with which to serve. Likely the Kirin clan as that was who he had sworn loyalty to. Which would be one of the clans that I would be meeting with very soon.