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The last rays of the sun seemed to turn the distant crest of the Kaiu Wall into a glistening, scarlet river. How very appropriate, thought Kakita Katai. He could not refrain from pulling his horse to a sudden halt at the sight of the massive stone walls of Kyuden Hida, its battlements bathed in red by the setting sun. Every corner of the fortress, every massive stone, and every narrow window seemed carefully chosen with defense in mind. If there were gardens within the walls they could not be seen from here. His gaze was drawn to the massive skull of an oni placed above the gates to the fortress, staring out at the rest of the Empire. This "palace" had as little in common with the beautiful Kyuden of the Crane lands as the poorest fisherman's hut.
Still, he had his duty. He could still feel, faintly, the path the claws of the maho-tsukai had taken as they had cut into his side. He could feel the icy darkness that ran just beneath the scars. If the Crab could draw this poison out of him then he could stomach their boorish ugliness for a time. Perhaps he could even find a suitable opponent for a match of Go...
The guards at the gates were massive in their steel-plated armor, as big as Shinjo Yul. They gave Katai the merest grunt of acknowledgement as he presented his travel papers, and their expressions were unreadable behind their masks. He was surprised at how quickly the bushi moved in his armor as he left to inform the fortress of his arrival. As he waited he glanced up again at the massive bleached skull perched over the gates. It had too many eyes. As the sun set the shadows in its sockets grew darker, and Katai could not escape the feeling that it was watching him.
Finally the guard returned, followed by an unarmored man who wore the black carp mon of the Yasuki family. He bowed to Katai.
"Welcome to Kyuden Hida, Kakita-san. I hope your journey was without incident? I am Yasuki Sikkai. I am pleased to make the acquaintance of another member of the second clan of my master Yasuki Hachi-sama." Sikkai kept up a steady stream of chatter as he helped Katai stable his horse and find his way through the armories and barracks that filled the courtyards of the castle. It was just that, chatter. Katai could see the Yasuki's guard was up. The Yasuki was using the opportunity to observe him carefully, his hand never straying too far from the katana at his side. It was an ugly katana – no styling or ornamentation at all. It was time to change the silks on the grip as well, if they were silk. Katai could see an ugly dark stain on the left side of the grip. It looked like very strong green tea, perhaps. He looked up to see that Sikkai had noticed his appraisal of the weapon, but he gave no sign of it in his speech, which at the moment was all about how happy the Crab were with their current relationship with the Crane.
"Ah, here we are. Please wait here with the others, Katai-san." Katai glanced up to see that they had reached some kind of antechamber. The doors at the other end were unusually massive – made of dark-finished oak. A half-dozen samurai of different clans sat on tatami matts about the room. Some simply meditated, others were writing letters, playing a quiet game of dice, or...Go. Katai quickly walked over to watch a match in progress between a sullen-faced Phoenix bushi and a beautiful golden-haired Lion shugenja. It took him only a few moments to determine that the Phoenix was in trouble. He watched the Lion finish the game quickly with five well-placed, excellent moves. The Phoenix stood without comment and sauntered off into a corner.
Katai bowed to the Lion. "Expertly done. A pity he could not show proper gratitude for a good game. I am Kakita Katai."
The lady bowed her head. "Kitsu Yukiko. Would you care for a game?"
Katai needed no further encouragement.
Yukiko was a worthy opponent indeed, and after he lost the first game he was doing much better in the second. With his position fairly secure, Katai took the time to take in more of the room. Each of the samurai here, with the exception of Yukiko, seemed unusually solemn and subdued. Many looked like they were short on sleep, and some seemed less clean then they should be if they were about to be presented to the daimyo. All wore white ribbons tied around their upper arm. Katai was about to ask about the ribbon when his name was called.
One of the doors at the end of the room had been opened, and the man who stood there had the white-painted face of a Kuni shugenja. Katai bowed briefly to Yukiko and strode into the next room, his bearing everything that could be expected from a Crane.
And stopped in surprise. This could not be the daimyo's audience hall. Near the door stood two bushi in full armor, their tetsubos perched on their shoulders. One wall was dominated by a rack of various-shaped scrolls, with a writing set perched on the table near them. Another had shelves full of flasks and bottles. A massive table with uncertain stains rested in the center of the room, well clear of the shelves, and on one side of the table a dingy white cloth held an assortment of tweezers, picks, and scalpels. Katai turned to see the Kuni close the door behind him, and he could now see the jade badge of the Kuni Witch Hunters that hung at his throat.
"Please strip, Crane-san."
The next half hour was a humiliating one for Katai. The witch hunter, who never introduced himself, poked and prodded at the scars along his side and the rest of his body with several of the cold, sharp instruments. He grunted to himself several times, making short notes on a new scroll. Throughout the procedure the two bushi at the door watched him alertly.
Finally he made a sign to the guards, who relaxed somewhat, and looked Katai in the eye.
"You carry the Taint indeed, Crane-san, but it is very slight as of yet. You may get dressed. Your travel papers say that your daimyo is willing to go to some expense for your treatment." He turned and removed a bag from the shelf of glassware, handing it to Katai as he tied his obi. "This is the Tea of Jade Petals. You are to drink of it every day. When you use the last of it you are to tell your Gunso and he shall come to me for more."
Katai took the offered bag. "Will it cure the Taint?"
"Cure it? No. It will stop it from spreading, however. You should know, Crane-san, that if you fail to drink the tea every day it will be assumed you did so willfully, and you will be burned as one of the Lost. You must wear this." He was handing Katai a white ribbon.
Katai felt the situation spiraling more and more out of his control. "What is this for? I saw the others wearing them."
"That indicates you carry the Taint. Your Gunso will have more to say on the matter."
"My Gunso?" Katai recognized the rank but had no idea what that had to do with anything.
"I'm sorry Crane-san, but I do not have time to answer all of your questions. Remember to drink the tea and wear the ribbon." The witch hunter guided Katai out the door, calling "Kitsu Yukiko."
Katai stood near the door, somewhat dumbfounded, the teabag still in his hand, as the pretty shugenja walked by him into the room. This was not what he had expected. This was obviously all routine to the Crab. They had treated him the same way they had treated hundreds of samurai before, and there had been no word of a cure for the Taint. Just the tea. He tucked the bag in his obi.
Suddenly there was a loud thump from the other room, and a frenzied shrieking began. Without thinking Katai threw the door open. The witch hunter had been hurled atop the scroll shelves and one of the bushi was frantically swinging his jade-studded tetsubo at...at. What had once been Yukiko's face had split down the middle to form a horizontal jaw full of glistening fangs. Her slim form bulged grotesquely with blue-tinged corded muscle that writhed beneath her skin. A horrid laughter came from the place her face had been as she caught the bushi's tetsubo in one hand and snapped it like kindling.
Katai and the witch hunter struck at the same moment. The head of the creature flew from its shoulders even as its torso burned with the green fire of the Jade Strike. Katai stood and watched as the smoking torso twitched away from the second Jade Strike with a horse croaking sound. When the thing finally stopped moving the witch hunter turned to the remaining guard.
"I thought Gesai said I was going to get competent men for this work! Not over-sexed fools thinking with their groins. You were distracted by the first pretty face you saw!" The witch hunter grabbed a scalpel from the table and began cutting at his own arm, where Katai saw he had been scratched by the creature that had been Yukiko. The witch hunter was expertly slicing around the wound, throwing the bits of forearm he cut away swiftly into a bucket that sizzled and smoked with each piece.
Katai could only watch in silence. What had he stumbled into? Had the world gone mad? And where was the other bushi? Looking around Katai finally saw blood dripping on the floor, and looked up...