Sky Scavenger

Eien Akagawa

I rubbed at my lower lip with my thumb softly. I stood at the railing of my small airship, overlooking a battlefield being fought in the air, under a vast blue sky. It had started about a half hour ago, the careful tactics to position their warships had slowly been overridden by the chaos of the fighting. Cannons blew holes in the sides of ships. While other ships became entangled in boarding actions.

My ragged cloak flapped in the wind, exposing my equally ragged kimono. I didn't want to wear anything that could be tracked back to me. These would be burned after today. I did not want to be recognized for looting from a battlefield. It was frowned upon in all circles, hell even I hated it, but sometimes, a guy has got to eat and this was the quickest way to get some coin.

I winced as one of the Kirin clan's ships was hammered on two sides. I wasn't a fan of any of the clans but I did technically live under their rule. Right now they were defending territory from the Eye-borrower clan. Which were not as kind rulers as the Kirin, at least from what I had heard. Like the name implies, they liked to ‘borrow’ eyes from people. Not that those people would ever get those eyes back.

From what information flowed on the streets of Edo, this battle was for some fields outside the city. So it wouldn’t directly impact us common folk immediately. In the long term? Commerce would probably suffer which could impact my work.

I made my living as a sort of contractor. I did odd jobs around the city of Edo such as finding lost cats. Or at the higher end of things, solving a murder mystery. I didn’t perform assassinations. There have been people who asked me to get rid of rivals or simply because they had a grudge. You’d think near the end of the nineteenth century that we’d have made some progress on getting along but our natures never changed.

For some of my jobs, I sometimes did have to kill people in self-defense. Which is why I usually had a katana, revolver and a jitte at my side. But as I wanted to be incognito, I only had the katana.

Due to some of my past exploits, the city police force, the Shinsengumi, didn't like me much. They tolerated me since I took on some of the jobs they couldn’t touch. And mostly because of a favor that I did them a year or two ago.

Not that they would have tolerated me stealing from the battlefields. And if I had any say in the matter they would. I lightly touched the mask hanging from the other side of my waist, opposite the katana and revolver. It was a myriad of different creatures all mixed together. It was rather ugly but I suppose that was the point. They’d pay more attention to the mask and ignore the man underneath.

I focused back on the sky around me. There were a few other scavengers in the sky waiting for an opening. We all knew what we were here for and mostly ignored each other. We would all jump on downing ships given half a chance. Most of us would stay away from claimed ships but sometimes fights did happen.

Stop daydreaming.

A childish sounding voice echoed through my head. Childish but at the same time, it had the tone of an adult.

Hurry up and pick one already so we can get out of here.

I turned around in the small airship to look at its power source. Inside the small plain wooden cabin was the engine structure. In the middle of the engine structure was a glowing golden orb the size of two watermelons. It floated on top of a small shrine. Floating inside the orb was a small child who wore a red kimono with a white flower pattern. Her long black hair floated around her. Slowly her face turned to face me. Underneath her bangs that ended just above her eyebrows, she stared at me with a mighty scowl.

I hate it when we have to go to battlefields and loot the dead and dying. I want to go back home as quickly as possible.

“I know Iroha, I know,” I said soothingly to the child god. “I want to be here as much as you do. Unfortunately, it’s not like we have much of a choice. Jobs just haven’t been coming our way.”

Maybe you should find a new occupation?

“Like anyone is going to hire me. I’m not a samurai, although with my skill I suppose I could get some work being a guard. The problem is that the better paying jobs are all awful.

And what about the Shinsengumi?

“We have… ideological differences, remember?” I looked back out over the battlefield. There was a ship nearby that was listing from the Eye-borrower clan. It was one of their flagships so it was large. Built in the English style, it had four masts. The flag on its central mast was tattered and its troops were on the deck scrambling around.

It has to be better than what you’re doing now.

“Touché, but there is something I will not compromise on.” One of the Kirin’s forces made a strafing run and put several more holes in the Eye-borrower ship that I had been eyeing. Pun not intended. “I will not bow down to the clans like they do.”

And you’re making a difference this way?

“Sometimes.” I fingered the mask while staring at the Eye-borrower ship. The troops were evacuating onto the longboats. "I have helped people hurt by the clans. Even if it does come with a price. I have to eat somehow.”

She huffed loudly and stopped talking. I grinned faintly at the thought of her sulking face but I didn’t turn around. This was no real fight. She had helped take care of me since I had been born, around twenty-four years now. She was many things to me but most of all, a true friend.

“Drop the ship,” I said to her as I saw the last of the troops pile onto the longboats. “Head for the ship due northeast." I pulled the mask off of my belt. I lifted it to my face and tied the thick heavy robe behind my head.

My stomach dropped at the sudden change in direction. I gripped the railing of my ship with one hand tightly and the hand gripped some rope tied to the single small mast I had. We fell in a vertical angle towards the sinking Eye-borrower ship. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two other scavengers dive after us. It’d be a race to see who’d get there first.