I call this a story, but there is a measure of truth in itor perhaps there is truth in all tales. I do not know.
It is only through hindsight that the shape of history is seen. The Ikoma may make a note in their scrolls, that this tale takes place during the beginning of the end of the Clan Wars, but those who experienced the events I shall tell of did not think of them as part of any great chain of events. It was simply one more horror in an Empire gone mad.
Water is strength, resilience, adaptability. It conquers the shore and wears down stone. However, it is also treacherous, and has no lasting power of its own. A man cannot live by Water alone.
The Crab came over the water, in the night. Their ships filled the bay, like a school of feasting sharks. Their sails had been seen, and the Imperial City was ready for them. At the heart of the Palace of Otosan Uchi was the Emperor, Hantei the 39th, said to be dying of the plague. Hida Kisada, the Great Bear, had come for the Hantei, to cast him down and become Emperor. The armies of the Crab were mighty indeed, and dark winds had carried them from the far south. Arrayed on the shore, gleaming in the dawn light, were the Lion, the Emperor's right hand and the only troops in the Empire capable of besting a Crab army in open warfare. At the head of the Lion was the Lady of Lions, Matsu Tsuko. Her beauty was matched only by her warrior heart. The Crab would not get through. The morning tides would run red with Crab blood.
But, as all know, it was not to be. Tsuko-sama was ordered to stand down, and without leadership, the Lions were divided and destroyed. The Crab took the East wall, overrunning the defenders like a tsunami.
Now, in the city at that time were three people our tale is chiefly concerned with. One was a man named Otomo Yasho, a cousin of the Emperor, and commander of the Izanagi, one of the elite guard unit who protect the Imperial Palace.
Another was venerable Kitsuki Iyaku, who had seen sixty-nine winters.. He was a tutor in the Imperial Court, a respected diplomat and famed magistrate. He was the uncle of Daimyo Kitsuki Yasu himself, and Iyaku's voice always spoke in perfect harmony with the Emperor's law. Those of you who never met Iyaku-sensei cannot know the spirit of the man. He had the calm and holy demeanour of an enlightened Monk, the cunning and guile of the wisest Scorpion, and the sense of honour of an Akodo. He was, truly, a great man.
The third person was Iyaku's unworthy student. I am a poor and unimaginative storyteller, so I shall call him Kitsuki Hamesu.
All this is prologue. The tale itself I can tell with a single breath.
[Hamesu takes a long drink of sake. His tongue has been loosened, and he speaks quickly, as if something drives him on.]
The Walls fell. The Crab armies poured through the streets, like floodwater from a breached dam. At the head of their rushing advance were the berserkers, frenzied madmen who had given up their souls to bloodlust. With animal screams, they threw themselves into the retreating defenders of the City.
Iyaku-sensei and his student were making their way to the Imperial Palace. It was Iyaku-sensei's goal to spirit the Emperor away to safety, for he rightly judged that military force could not stop the Crab advance. Then, Otomo Yasho rode up on his horse. He ordered the two Kitsuki magistrates to charge the Crab berserkers, to slow Kisada down.
I - that is to say, Hamesu, said "Master, that is foolishness. Yasho has ordered us to throw away our lives for no reason. Let us go and save the Emperor."
Yasho said, "If you do not charge the Crab now, you are cowards and I will kill you myself."
Iyaku-sensei looked at the Crab hordes, and he looked at Yasho, and he looked at the shadowed Palace which was already besieged, and he looked at me. And he said, "Until men know how to live with honour, they will hold dying with honour to be the highest virtue. Consider this, Hamesu."
And Iyaku-sensei charged the Crab berserkers, and they tore him apart without breaking stride. Otomo Yasho rode off to find more people, and order them to die. Kisada broke into the Imperial Palace, and discovered the awful truth. And Kitsuki Hamesu fled the battle through the back streets.
There is honour in my tale, and great strength. I can feel the strength and resilience of water somewhere in the events and people every time I try to understand who acted honourably, who acted with strength and virtue - understanding falls through my fingerslike water.