[Senkumo Saga: Book of Betrayal]: Coffin Birth

With the moon high in the sky and the smell of blood rising from the corpse-littered ground, Tsukiakari and Taeko dragged their feet around the village, slowly walking around as their troops gathered up the bodies of the slain villagers. The war goddess felt like a lifeless puppet as her mind was haunted by the image of Noriko dying before she could even see her child.

The blood in her wrists and stomach pricked as if it was biting away at her flesh, and her eyes were circled with some sort of strange darkness, as if she hadn’t slept in years. Taeko, leading the corpse disposal operation, remained as pragmatic as possible, focusing only on the dreadful task at hand.

She had tied her hair into a messy ponytail, making no effort to hide her face from the soldiers she trained. A suffocating miasma of shame surrounded every one of the Senkumo as they cleaned up after their own mistake. Each one, young and old, had to look into the faces of the slain men, women, and children, and accept that their lives were taken in the name of the Senkumo clan.

Much of the cleanup crew personnel were lightly armored women, some of them just young teenagers, others well into their thirties. Just like the men, the gleam of shock and horror broke through their clouded eyes.

“They’re all silent,” Tsukiakari noted.

“Of course they are. It’s not really a mystery, is it? Even you can feel it," Taeko dryly responded. She stopped in her tracks, her eyes aimlessly focused on the ground. “Bound by our duties in the war, we all found solace in this one thing — this banner of ours. Senkumo is the name of our family. Many of us, especially the young ones, thought that horrors like this only existed outside of the clan. All of their misconceptions have been shattered.”

The two stopped before one of the razed houses, surveying the extent of the chaos that engulfed the village.

“Though we don’t necessarily have any rules against killing noncombatants, we make our money and spread Bishamon’s influence by allying with certain clans during their campaigns," Taeko explained. “That means that their rules regarding civilians become our rules. We’ll risk compromising our relationship with the Ashikaga if they know that our own troops were responsible for this. Goddess or not, Yoshihisa will want your head. We should take every step necessary to conceal what happened here.”

For Tsukiakari, that was a bitter pill to swallow, but one that must be swallowed nonetheless. “I understand. Do what you must. I don’t know how the others will take it, though.”

“It doesn’t matter how. They’re just going to have to take it.” Taeko said.

Their slow walk took them to the village center, a bleak shell of its lively and colorful phantom. A massive, dead tree stood in the very center of the village square, it’s twisted, black branches sprawling towards the super moon.

From its wicked branches hung the dying perpetrators of the crime, Tsukiakari’s own men. A small team of Senkumo shinobi oversaw their deaths, sitting in silence until all of them had passed from this world.

“They were out on their regular trip to the other Senkumo mansions, sharing intelligence and checking the condition of the other branches. Their convoy was ambushed along the hillside road to the south. The attackers were unseen," Taeko explained.

“A ranged ambush," Tsukiakari questioned.

Taeko elaborated further. “ Ayadachi was among them, critically wounded during the ambush. The men and their horses were covered in arrows. Feathered, serrated steel tip, and quality, wooden bodies. Definitely not the kind of arrows you would see a village militia using. We think it’s either an organized military, or perhaps a band of brigands that deserted their own. As for how they knew...”

“When we return, prepare a few teams to scout the areas around the roads," Tsukiakari commanded. “I won’t stop sending out our convoys, but we will reinforce them with extra troops. If the attacks continue on the other roads, we’ll be prepared for them.”

Taeko nodded as she looked on at the swinging bodies of their own troops, shafts of moonlight dazzling between the branches of the black tree. “We’re all going to feel it, you know. Every single one of us.”

By the time the sun broke first light through the sky, the village was cleaned of any signs of a massacre. The bodies were gone, their blood washed away from the ground. One final thing remained — a coffin containing Noriko’s body.

The troops surrounded it in silence as Mayumi hammered in the nails to seal it shut, her shadow elongated across the ground as the sun rose over the hills. Tsukiakari and Taeko approached from behind as the final nail was secured, the three of them standing before the result of their mistake.

Mayumi sighed. “It’s finished.”

“I can find a nice place for her, Gekko. Somewhere nice with…” Taeko suddenly cut herself off, much to the confusion of her comrades. She got onto her knees and put her ear against the coffin, gasping in shock.

“Taeko? What’s wrong," Mayumi asked.

“Don’t you hear that? Something is moving inside the coffin!”

The others hushed themselves, and they too heard some sort of thud and light banging in the coffin.

“Gekko, open it," Taeko urged.

Tsukiakari drew her blade, slashing it across the nails. As soon as the nails were cleared, Taeko lifted off the coffin’s top. Their faint hopes that something might still be alive within those tiny, wooden confines of the coffin before them were met with a crushing, disgusting sight.

In death, the baby they had failed to deliver was pushed out from Noriko’s body, lying between her legs face down and lifeless. Noriko’s decay produced enough gasses in her abdomen to expel her deceased baby from her dead body.

Many of the women around the coffin shrieked in horror, breaking down into guilty tears and frustrated screams. Tsukiakari’s heart boomed and thundered inside of her tightened chest, her breath sapped right from her lungs. Mayumi walked away with tears in her sunken eyes as the men re-sealed the coffin, their hands shaking from what they saw.

Taeko laid a hand of comfort upon Tsukiakari’s shoulder, but was unable to look her or anyone in the eyes.

Tsukiakari’s lips trembled. “What happened?”

Taeko replied with two words. “Coffin birth.”

Tsukiakari turned her head to Taeko, knowing full well what kind of grief shadowed over her own face. Taeko too walked away, letting down her black hair from its ponytail. Now she was desperate to hide her face despite her earlier, pragmatic resolve. That day, everyone bore witness to the kind of atrocities the Senkumo were capable of.

They witnessed their own capacity for blind hatred. And because they were forced to conceal what their comrades had done, the image of that village, and all of the death therein, was guaranteed to live with them for the rest of their lives. Once the village was scrubbed, Tsukiakari ordered the bodies to be dumped into the Katsura River, some ten miles away from the village. Taeko handled the deed. Ever since Ebina’s death, she often volunteered for such heavy tasks.

Shaken by what they saw, Tsukiakari and the Senkumo troops marched home in silence. The first drops of rain began to pour from the cloud-veiled sky, as if the heavens were weeping for the lives lost in the village. The small forced stopped at the gates of the Senkumo base, many of them wearing expressions as lifeless as glass.

“Open the gates!” shouted the guards upon Tsukiakari’s arrival.

Obeying the thundering shout of the tower guard, the two soldiers posted at the entrance parted open the wooden gate, their boots splashing around in the mud as they pulled with all of their might.

It was almost night, and the torches around the mansion had already been lit aflame, their light sparkling across the glossy mud and dirty puddles scattered about. Oppressive, dark clouds remained fixed above the area after a long day of hard rain.

The walls of the women’s quarters were trembling with whispers and gasps as the inhabitants peered out of their windows to watch their comrades come home. Their friends and their goddess had left in such a hurry, and their return seemed just as abrupt. In one particular room, the girls inside couldn’t be any less interested in the return of their lord.

“Chiharu, what is that?” one of the girls squeaked from behind the sliding door.

“I’m pretty sure pets are against the rules. You can get in trouble for this, you know,” chimed a second girl.

“I know that, but come on! He’s so cute! There’s a spot behind this building where we can keep him safe. Sayu showed me earlier before she left. We’ll just keep him there and give him some food from time to time. That way, we won’t have to stress about keeping him in our room!”

“Chiharu, that’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard you say” the second girl replied.

“Do you have a better plan? Just come help me hide Momo!”

The three girls stealthily dragged their sliding door open, peering out into the candle-lit halls. Holding a small blanket to her chest, Chiharu tiptoed her way into the hall with her two friends, Shizuka and Sora in tow. While Shizuka was the worry wort, Chiharu was the thrill-seeker. Sora, on the other hand, thought that all of Chiharu’s schemes and adventures were stupid.

Unfortunately, Chiharu had to walk around the mansion with a short, wooden cane. Her right foot was tightly wrapped in bloodstained bandages, an injury received from falling off of her horse during training. Her shadowy black hair only reached down to her collarbones, but it curled and twisted all around in its voluminous glory.

“Are you sure you’re okay to walk, Chiharu?” Shizuka asked.

“I’m fine. We’re just going downstairs. Come on.”

While the mischievous trio continued to sneak behind the women’s quarters, Tsukiakari, Taeko, and Mayumi rushed inside with their small troops, their faces, hands, and robes dirtied by the rain. All of them looked like walking corpses, as if their souls had left their bodies.

Their eyes were the most downtrodden and mournful they had ever been. The men were silent. Many of the younger girls cried into the arms of their older peers. Tsukiakari and Mayumi dismounted their horses, still having important duties to tend to.

“It won't be long. Yoshihisa Ashikaga will most likely catch wind of the massacre," Taeko predicted. “When he does, we'll be his primary suspects. Everyone here knows we're the monsters in this situation.”

“The last thing I wanted was to incur the shogun's wrath," Tsukiakari sighed. “Looks like we no longer have a choice in the matter. Taeko, get everyone washed and rested. Let’s have our men ready for when Yoshihisa finds out.”

“Right away," Taeko nodded. “Let’s move, everyone. It’s over now. It’s all over.”

Tsukiakari and Mayumi jogged across the muddy, silent mansion to the medical barracks, leaving their boots by the entrance as not to track filth inside. The facility was much like the living quarters, with each patient resting in a small bedroom, tended to by nurses and surgeons should they need it. It was warm inside, the smell of incense floating in the air. But such a relaxing energy did not dispel the worry and chaos in Tsukiakari’s burdened mind. Yet another great battle could very well have been on the horizon.

“They said she’s down here, in this room," Mayumi said as they marched down the hall.

Tsukiakari opened the sliding door to one of the rooms without hesitation, stopping dead in her tracks as she saw the state of girl she was looking for. Ayadachi lied in her futon, writhing in pain, wearing only a thin white sash around her breasts that exposed her stomach and black, cotton shorts.

Her left arm was gone, cut to half its length with what remained tightly bandaged up. And finally, those beautiful, hazel eyes were veiled behind a black blindfold, her face partially covered by her wet, brown hair. The two slowly approached her, their hearts breaking even more the closer they got.

Tsukiakari fought back tears upon seeing her. “I had no idea...she was hurt this badly.”

“Ayadachi, can you hear us, sweetheart," Mayumi asked.

Straining herself just to talk, her dry lips parted open as she drew breath and spoke. “Mayumi? Gekko?”

“We heard the horse-drawn caravan was attacked on the way to one of the other bases," Tsukiakari explained. “We sprang into action as soon as we could, but...”

“Poison arrows...we were bombarded with them.” Ayadachi groaned. “My arm...it was the only way. The surgeons amputated it. And my eyes...slashed by an enemy sword.”

“Your vision? Is it healing," Tsukiakari asked.

“I’m afraid not, Gekko. I...can’t see a thing.”

Tsukiakari and Mayumi locked eyes for just a few seconds before turning back towards Ayadachi.

“The troops...they suspected a nearby village may have given our travel route to a local enemy," Mayumi began. “While you were being hauled away, they...”

“They massacred the residents," Tsukiakari finished. “We had to execute them, and dispose of the evidence of our involvement.”

Ayadachi found it hard to swallow. Her ears wouldn’t stop ringing. She began to shiver and ache, her left arm especially throbbing in vicious, blood-biting pain. She attempted to hold her left arm, the area she felt the most pain in. But alas, the limb was gone.

“Ayadachi? What’s wrong," Mayumi questioned, panicked.

“No, it’s nothing! They said this would happen! It still feels like my arm and eyes are there, still aching and hurting!”

Tsukiakari seemed puzzled. “I don’t understand...”

“Phantom pain," Taeko suddenly interrupted. Her entrance startled them, but as the head of the medical division, they trusted she had the answers. She approached Ayadachi, gently laying her hands on her stub of an arm as she explained.

“It’s not uncommon for amputees to describe sensations of pain in their missing limbs. She’s also been experiencing it in her missing eyes. The medics say she might start having hallucinations as well. We don’t currently have anything to treat this since we haven’t had that many cases of it. We’re running low on medicinal supplies too, mainly medications. The yield of plants and herbs we need to make medicines are dropping, both due to terrible weather and raging Daimyo in the area.”

“I’ll see what I can procure," Mayumi assured. “We should shrink the size of our deployed forces, Gekko. We can’t afford to have too many wounded until we get more supplies.”

“All right. I’ll shift the groupings around," Tsukiakari nodded.

“Gekko...you won’t...get rid of me, right?” Ayadachi asked with quivering lips.

“I…” Tsukiakari paused, unsure of what to say. She hated that she didn’t have the right response. She hated to think that Ebina’s death created an aura of fear among her own troops.

“You won’t. I absolutely will not allow it," Taeko assured. “I’m sure you’re thinking of Ebina, aren’t you? Then you shouldn’t be asking Gekko that question anyway. I’m the one that killed her, not Gekko.”

A heavy silence settled in the room.

Thinking of Ebina, and how hard that must have been for Taeko, Ayadachi sighed. “I’m so sorry, Taeko.”

“Don’t you worry about me. Just focus on getting better. We’ll find a place for you somehow. Gekko, we’re just about finished handling the bodies. Let’s leave Ayadachi to rest.”

Tsukiakari took gentle hold of Ayadachi’s right hand as she stood up to leave, wearing a saddened smile she could never see. “Rest well, okay? Let me know if you need anything.”

“Get well, Ayadachi," Mayumi tearfully cheered, trying desperately to stay optimistic.

“Thank you, everyone. And goodnight, Gekko.”