The last adventure
The old lady lived in the castle complex of Tsurugajo near the port. It was her job to go down to the shore well before sunrise to give the fishermen her predictions.
It was common for the area to be cloaked in a blanket of snow this time of year and this morning was no different. She woke and covered her aging joints in layers before climbing slowly up the staircase of the west tower. From here she could listen and feel the coming of the day's weather. She also received other messages that were unrelated to weather but she kept those to herself. They were meant for her. They were private.
She had been excited for some days prior as she expected the arrival of a red headed girl. This girl would want to speak with her, perhaps learn her skills. The thought of a visitor, one she could talk to about the old ways lifted her spirits. In fact, for a while there she had thought about picking up her swords and running through some basic motions. But she was in her seventies now and the bones were more fragile than she hoped, the muscles hung loosely on her frame and she limped badly from an old injury. Adventure seemed a thing of the past.
But this morning she was anxious. Arriving at the top of the tower staircase she took a moment to catch her breath before opening the crude door. She could feel bad news before she went outside, it seemed to be seeping through every small opening in the door frame.
Being centred and alert was important. The wind would deliver much to her particularly in the first few moments atop the turret. She had to be ready and focus on what she needed. It was very much, she imagined, like a mother who walks into a room full of her children, all yelling at her, pulling at her kimono, demanding that she listen to them and not their brother or sister. Except she had no children of her own.
Once she reached the centre of the small turret, the wind whirling around her head, she closed her eyes to draw her powers to the fore. Opening her eyes they glowed slightly red and she could see the messengers cloaked in smoke racing through the air, some black menacing and wild, others white and joyous. She waited for a moment till she saw it, and opened her arms.... inviting. Several messengers trailing black smoke made vain attempts to crash into her but she was too quick and she slapped them away with a carefully placed movement of her hand. They held what she did not care to hear, the threat of war, the coming of the mongols again. There would be time to know the details before the invasion. A moment later she welcomed the messenger she was looking for, grey smoke passing through her body.
She retreated inside. The girl was not coming, she was fleeing the man who had attacked her. She was stuck in a place and trying to call a stranger to help her. And the worst news, Nakano was trying to find her, and he had picked up her trail, jasmine on the wind.
She sat on the first step trying to make sense of it all. This was bad very bad. She had only been able to do so much to keep Nakano away from the girl. She had convinced him in a dream that he needed to go South to pick up the fees he was owed. That if he didn't war would come and he may never see the money. He must strengthen his ties to the nobility of the South, too much time had passed since his last visit. He had taken too many women, there had been too much pleasure and not enough work. He would pay for this. The God of War would not be happy.
But there was little she knew she could do to stop him once he was hunting the girl. His passion once flamed would not dim till he found her.
But the girl was not ready, not prepared. She was a warrior yes, and she had some natural talents. Like all warrior women she was proud and strong, but she lacked knowledge that would unlock her skills. That is where Tomoe would come in, she would be the girl's teacher. The girl must not die, there were too little of her kind around anymore.
So perhaps she would have to go to the girl. As old and frail as she was, she would need to travel to her and try and teach her the tools she needed, in less time than she would probably need. The question was how was she going to get to her before Nakano did? Perhaps she should break her silence and send the girl a message to warn her somehow.
The daimyo would never let her leave because of the warnings she provided the villagers, but it was not uncommon for her to go out on the boats from time to time. She would use this as her way to escape. She would ask a local fisherman she knew and trusted to take her to the island of Sadogashima where she would have the girl meet her. It was further north for her, but according to the messages she had received was west of the girls location, away from Nakano who was coming from the east. No time to waste.
Getting up as quickly as her tired body would let her, she returned to the turret. Standing in the centre again she drew her concentration inward. Her eyes blazed red, and a mist fell around her. She raised her hands to the sky and the mist turned to rainclouds, the wind increasing in speed her garments billowing around her legs. In a swift motion, her hands came together in a soundless clap and the clouds shot off to the Northeast, racing like thoroughbreds through the sky. Every messenger in it's path cleared the way.
Returning inside she did not pause to rest, but continued down the stairs. With each step the list of questions grew. She wondered where the stranger fit into all this? She wondered if she had the energy for the voyage? But most of all she wondered if her message would reach the girl before Nakano did.
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