The Pull of Destiny
Somewhere in the center of Rokugan: Summer IC 1143
The horse snorted vehemently, to which his rider could only agree. “Hai Taishou, I didn’t expect to be here either,” Kitsuki Ketsumei mused out loud as he patted his steed’s neck. “Still after being turned away from the castle, we couldn’t stay there.”
Taishou snorted again, his opinion clear that anywhere was better than here. Silently Ketsumei agreed as he wiped the sweat from his brow, but the Dragon didn’t have a better alternative: his invitation to the Otomo’s summer court was cancelled suddenly for unknown reasons, so Ketsumei was heading back home for further instructions. Unfortunately for him the direct route went through the Dragon Heart Plain, which was now a war-zone following the joint Crab-Phoenix invasion. Therefore Ketsumei and his horse were traversing a lesser-used road to try to make up for lost time.
As rider and mount approached a way station alongside the road Ketsumei noticed someone was already there seated in the lotus position. With the shaven head and saffron robes, the young man was easily identifiable as a monk, and he gave a friendly wave as Ketsumei approached before reaching toward a stone bowl on the ground. “Something to slake your thirst, Dragon-san?”
“Thank you brother” Ketsumei said without hesitation, glad for something to drink on this hot summer day. He took a gulp of the offered water before handing back to the monk. “How fares you this fine day?”
“A fine question,” the monk said with a sad smile. “However a better one is how are you? You have the bearing of a man with a troubled mind.”
“Hai, that I do,” Ketsumei said simply. “Rokugan is divided against itself, my clan is besieged in the courts and on the battlefield, and I have drawn the ire of one of the most powerful men in our land.”
“And there is more…” the monk said and waited.
Ketsumei sighed deeply. “Even my own home is divided,” he said softly “It is a troubling time for the Empire, and there is only so much that I as one man can do.”
“In dark times such as these, I find solace in the Tao.” The monk smiled again, this time playfully. “Then again, I am a monk so that is to be expected.” Despite the gloom he felt, Ketsumei could not help but laugh.
“My favorite quote is one you have definitely heard before Kitsuki-san: Fortune favors the mortal man,” the monk said. “Sometimes we forget that Shinsei said man not men. There is nothing an individual cannot accomplish if his soul is pure and his actions honorable.”
The monk locked his eyes on Ketsumei’s. “Many tales have been told about you: although you were not trained for battle you do not hide from it when it finds you. You have taken action against great foes, and have endured great pain so that others would not. You even took a stance against an ally when she betrayed her honor and ambushed that Imperial…”
Ketsumei looked as if he was going to interject but the monk cut him off. “That man’s death is not on your fault. You wanted to see him have an honorable death, as all samurai should, not cut down in an act of treachery. You are a man of honor Kitsuki Ketsumei: both in word and in deed.”
If Ketsumei was surprised that the monk knew his name, he didn’t show it. “It seems you were waiting for me,” the courtier said simply.
The monk smiled sadly. “Hai, that I was. We have much to talk about...”
Elsewhere…
“What do you mean Kitsuki Ketsumei isn’t here?” Seppun Biransei said with a scowl.
The Otomo blanched at the question, his normally impeccable On wavering under the gaze of the Imperial Kaishakunin. “After what happened at the Imperial General’s home I cancelled his invitation. I didn’t want someone that uttered such names in open court in my lord’s castle.”
Biransei stepped closed to the courtier. “That was not your decision to make. That Kitsuki is the most active courtier in the Dragon Clan, so he was expected to be here. I was sent here to deal with him.”
The Otomo didn’t think the Seppun’s eyes could get any colder: he was wrong. “Guess you will do in his stead.”
Due to the detour, Ketsumei arrived at Shiro Kitsuki nearly a week later than he expected. The extra time away was a blessing actually, for the conversation with that young monk still weighed heavily on his mind. Even though the exact words were fleeting, Ketsumei understood their profound nature and he felt like a changed man.
Changed or not, he was not prepared for the storm of activity that assailed him when he made it into the city surrounding the castle. He had barely got Taishou situated in the stables when a servant told Ketsumei he was needed in the keep immediately. As undignified as it was, the courtier quickly pulled a spare kimono out of his travel bag and changed out of his travel kimono there in the stable before heading off to the castle.
Ketsumei was one of the last to arrive at the impromptu court session, and it turned out the change of clothing was unnecessary. He noticed several others in attendance looked almost as badly as he thought he did when the messenger found him. Immediately Ketsumei was able to pick up that something had happened in the Dragon Heart Plain, but all conversation was cut off when Kitsuki Mizuochi, daimyo of the Kitsuki Family entered the room from a side chamber.
“As most of you, the city of Mukui Toshi has been besieged by the forces of the Crab and Phoenix for nearly a month,” Mizuochi began without preamble. This was news to Ketsumei: while he knew about the invasion he didn’t realize they had progressed so far so quickly to have surrounded the city for that long.
“We have just received word that the Dragon relief force arrived in time to secure the city…” A few of the younger samurai in attendance let out a cheer of relief, yet Ketsumei noticed by his daimyo’s expression there was much more going on. Mizuochi frowned at the interruption, then raised his voice in obvious irritation. “The city was saved only after the defensive forces under the command of Mirumoto Ukyo allied with the Crab and Phoenix to defend it from a third army that arrived to seize the city for itself.”
The room was stunned into silence as the daimyo continued. “This army flew banners showing support from daimyo from EVERY Great Clan was led by a man calling himself the Black Lion, who claimed to be the lost son of Emperor Toturi...”
Any other words Mizuochi said were lost in the explosion of outrage and questions over that last statement. Ketsumei was silently dismayed to watch the scene quickly dissolve into verbal chaos. Everything was falling apart around him… then he noticed something weighing on his neck.
He looked down to see the netsuke he was wearing: a small golden dragon with crystal eyes. The eyes were staring upward at Ketsumei, and with a flash of insight he understood that this was the moment that his Champion Togashi Hoshi had warned him about during Winter Court at Shiro Chuda: a war that could be worse than the Clan War, one that could destroy the Empire forever.
One man can change the Empire. Those words echoed in the voice of the monk, a snippet from their conversation days earlier. With a deep breathe Ketsumei stepped forward toward the center of the room with a confident stride and certainty in his heart. “The time for discussion is over,” he said simply, his clear voice cutting through the den and silencing those gathered. “The conflict between the Emerald Champion and the Imperial Regent must end, for it has damaged Rokugan to the point that someone else has decided they can seize the Empire for themselves. We can thank the Fortunes that they did not succeed at Mukui Toshi, for if they had it would of given this ‘Black Lion’ a stronghold less than two days march from Otosan Uchi.”
Ketsumei noticed the eyes of Mizuochi-sama upon him, and the daimyo gave an almost imperceptible nod as if to say continue. “Still, the fact that he even tried speaks volumes. Rokugan must be unified before it is usurped by another.”
“Unified behind the Emerald Champion,” someone in the gathering said out loud.
“Unified behind the Empress,” Ketsumei retorted. “The time of her gempukku is approaching, and if we do not act there will not be an Empire for her to rule.”
Kitsuki Mizuochi stepped down from his dais, cutting off any further discussion. “We all serve the Empress: even those that support the Regent will say as much. Ketsumei-san is correct, it is a time for action. Fighting in the Dragon Heart Plain has halted for now, and preparations must be made for the future, both near and far.”
“Ketsumei-san, you will be the clan’s voice in the courts,” Mizuouchi continued. “Ascertain the disposition of the clans following the revelation of this new player on the battlefield, and do what you can to ease the tensions. As for the rest of you, we need information about where this other army came from, how much support does it really have, and where are they heading next. You are all dismissed.”
As the others started to file out of the audience chamber, Ketsumei noticed a small motion from his daimyo. “You know the Imperial Regent will not work with you,” Mizuochi said quietly. “His enmity toward you has been noticed by more than just me.”
“Not willingly, no,” Ketsumei conceded. “But with this “Black Lion” on the loose, he may not have a choice. I will do what I can….”
One man can change the Empire. I pray to the Fortunes it will be enough.
