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Delicate Negotiations

Shirakawa Mitsuru, second son of the current Daimyo, Go-Shirakawa, who ruled from the fortress at Kiyosa, calmly and efficiently brought his sword around, slicing neatly through the thin neck of the gaki just as it attempted to bite down on his leg.

You had to stay calm when dealing with gaki, otherwise they were virtually invisible. If you panicked, threw a fit, and generally acted like a senseless animal, they'd just kill you, drain your blood, and be off. It took a specific state of mind to be able to keep them in your sight, something a lot of people found difficult to maintain.

They were becoming more of a problem now, especially in mountain passes like this, where they could ambush passersby easily, usually leaping down from cliffs on either side of a passage.

Of course, in this case, their destination was just as dangerous as the mountain pass.

Iga province, home of the Yuzo clan, some of the best assassins and spies in the land. One had to be careful when dealing with such people...not that all of them were technically 'people'.

Mitsuru had instructions to head to a farm house in order to meet with a contact...who presumably was a representative of the Yuzo.

Of course, being assassins and spies, one could not fully trust such people. Which was why he was accompanied by a small retinue. Ten retainers, and his friend, the Kitsune warrior Bent-Ears. The fox-man, or at least the fox who opted to, for the time being, appear as a fox-man, was easily one of the best warriors in the Shirakawa's lands. His name, which annoyed him endlessly, was the direct result of his unusually crooked ears. These gave him a somewhat silly appearance which belied the fact that he had once beheaded a charging warhorse.

Right now, he was finishing off the last gaki, which had turned to flee only to receive a rock in the back of the skull. The sickening crack echoing in the cliffs on either side.

"Well..." Mitsuru raised an eyebrow at Bent-Ears.

"Hate those things." Bent-Ears Japanese was slightly slurred, the product of both a lack of lips and an extra long tongue, "Better off without them."

"Ah. I see...well, if we're done having fun, we have half a day to get to our destination. I suggest we ride hard." The samurai wiped his sword on a downed gaki before re sheathing it, "Or do you want to chase down the rest?"

"Do I look like a dog? Lets go."

The party rode off, now at a fast trot, heading for the little farming village which had just now appeared on the horizon.

Mori Akito was dressed in like a simple farmer in the village. He seemed like a normal villager that was tending the field except for the fact the man did not seem to cast a shadow. He was definitely a man with a secret considering the other villagers kept a distance from him and his property as if afraid to rouse his ire.

He looked up and noticed the approaching party heading at a quick speed towards the village. The sight did not surprise him in the least and he just stood there as the other villagers ran scurrying into their homes as if this were a bandit raid.

Akito smiled as a black raven perched on his shoulder and sighed. It was going to be an interesting meeting but his skills were formidable and his art extremely deadly. He finally talks to his raven, “Tonji, is this the messenger party from the Shirakawa clan?”

The black raven looked at its master and replies, “Yes Master, I watched them as soon as they entered Iga’s borders from Shirakawa’s lands. It seems they have been forced to deal with the dangerous mountain pass..”

Akito smiled and thought about his shadow bird’s synopsis and finally said, “I guess we should greet them considering they mean to deal with us and our clan…”


Akito walks from his farm and heads towards the entrance of the village with the goal of greeting the approaching party. He would be the only villager coming to greet the strangers. The strange bird takes off from his shoulder and heads into the air to survey the surrounding countryside in case the messengers came with more friends or possibly foes that could have followed them..

Bent-Ears' kept a hand on his swords as they entered the village, his sharp eyes surveying all the surrounding houses, taking in the scent of the village and of each house they passed. He paid special attention to the man who greeted them. Standing behind Mitsuru, the Kitsune was easily a head taller than the rest of the party, and made a fairly intimidating presence.

After dismounting, Mitsuru stepped forward, keeping his own hands plainly visible, "Greetings. We are travelers from Owari, seeking the services of skilled individuals for our cause. We were informed that you can direct us to a place where we may find such individuals."

The rest of the party had spread out slightly. A pair of servants descended from the parties cart, proceeding to water and feed the horses while the higher-ups talked. The remaining guards joined Bent-Ears in watching the houses, while the horses focused on their meal.

Akito smiled and replied cryptically, “I think the people you are looking for may already know of your presence. If you entered Iga seeking skilled individuals that only leaves you with one group that you are searching for…”

Akito sighed and then added, “I may be of service to you, if you and your retinue would follow me to my home? I would be more than happy to contact the people you are seeking..”

Akito bowed his head in respect to his noble guest and walked toward his farm and towards the largest hut that served as his home. The hut was much larger than the others in the village and seemed to be large enough to hold several more people. The others in the village were smaller and were only large enough to support their immediate families.

Akito smiled knowingly that if the group was observant he would appear more than he seemed….

***************************************************************

In the air above the village…….

Tonji the shadow raven flew above the village surveying the area. He glanced at Bent-Ears and kept his eye on the Kitsune warrior. He seemed like the largest threat in the group and the shadow raven was not in the mood to be forced to kill anyone at this time.

Tonji finally decided to go back to it’s master and the shadow raven descended upon the shoulder of his master as he headed towards the entrance of his hut….


Akito and Tonji were given the task of serving as contacts to nearby Damiyos and merchants that needed help in dealing with difficult tasks and these people seemed to fit the profile considering they were well armed and seemed well aware of the Yuzo Clan’s ruthless reputation. They had come in with a fox creature that looked like it had seen better days. It was only to show just how seriously the outside world learned to respect the Yuzo clan especially considering the added shadow magic this ninja clan had acquired during the Awakening…

Despite his appearances, the Kitsune was quite content to watch until a threat appeared. His confident bearing made it clear that he was assured that any such threat he encountered could be dealt with swiftly. In such lands as they were known, the Kitsune of the Shirakawa lands had rapidly achieved a reputation as excellent warriors, easily on par with the best human samurai. This, and their generally cold attitude towards humans, is what had brought the Shirakawa's interest in the Kitsune to the point where they now served as the primary source of the clan's professional warriors, in exchange for the Shirakawa clan simply preventing anybody from entering their forest without the leave of their own tribal leadership.

Mitsuru, and the warriors, followed after. The servants, following at a slower pace, came behind, bearing the chests. Mitsuru assumed that the Yuzo would not kill a prospective customer, after all, if they got a reputation for that sort of thing they would find themselves out of work, but it never paid to be incautious. He'd downed as many antidotes as he could get his hands on, and was wearing a neck guard and undershirt, both of which were cleverly disguised steel mesh, designed to foil darts.

Bent-Ears, sparing a glance at the circling bird, giving it a clear 'I can see you' message, followed inside after Mitsuru, while the rest of the guards remained outside, keeping an eye on the chests.

Mitsuru was wise to cautious when dealing with the Yuzo clan. The Iga ninjas would not assassinate potential customers but they did not tolerate fools. Akito noted that the party seemed well equipped and defensible and the Shadow Raven silently informed Akito of the Kitsune that had managed to spot it in the air.

Akito smiled and entered his large hut dwelling leaving the door open for his customers. The room inside was pitch black save for a few candles around the entrance. This was Akito’s own precaution incase this was a trap. The room contained several hidden weapons all of which were coated in various poisons and toxins harmful to humans.

Akito also had several concealed darts hidden up the sleeves of his farming clothes. He could easily flex his wrist and let his weapons go flying at his opponents while moving to his farming instruments the two Karma sickles hanging on the wall behind him.

Akito was an expert in these weapons and had a quickness that could catch most opponents off guard but the matter was business so he led his customers to the central part of the hut and sat on his knees to the main table after removing his shoes. Akito smiled and said, “Would you like to get straight to business? or would you like something to drink?”

Akito waited for Mitsuru’s response while his Shadow Raven watched the group with it’s piercing eye to show that it was making sure no one intended to cut down Akito while he spoke with Mitsuru…

"Business first, I believe." Mitsuru smiled, very slightly, "I hesitate to be direct, but the matter is of some importance, and my father has a keen interest in this proposal." The samurai took a seat himself, carefully placing his swords to his right side as a gesture of goodwill, "You are aware of the clans of the Uesugi and Meiji, yes? Although the Meiji are rather distant. Regardless, the...work we have in mind will involve those two clans as well. It may perhaps be more than a simple assassination as well. I understand the Yuzo take some pride in their work," Misturu dropped the presence now that they were within this mans home, "So I hope you will consider this a worthy challenge. And, of course, worthy challenges come with great rewards."

Akito smiled and replied, “My Master, will want to know who the target or targets of our shinobi will be. We don’t have ties with either of the Uesugi or Meiji clans and as such we have no problems with spying or assassinating them from the shadows. We would also like to know the conditions of the assassination plan or plans. Do you want them to know you are behind this, or do you want us to make it seem like one attacked the other?”

Akito halted his speech and looked at his shadow raven and the creature eyed him back with some inner intellect and squawked out. The shadowy bird began to strech out its black wings and flapped them lazily and sat back down on his perch on Akito’s shoulder…

Akito sighed and added, “The Yuzo clan does indeed take pride in our considerable skill but with such skill comes a price and that price can be hefty considering the assignment or assignments, you want to contract us for…”