As Risako finished her story with her flight from from the bandit stronghold, Bandithaven, Maya and a reluctant Juzo came to listen. It was from Bandithaven, the bandits would make their war with Daimyo Baiko, and push for power.
"Shimatta!" Keiji swore softly, "Risako, do you happen to remember where Bandithaven was?"
"I could find the name of the original village on a map, if you have one," Risako replied, "Is there a map in this Temple?"
"I carry one from my days as a samurai, you'll find that it has a good marking of the main island and all the villages, small and great." Juzo sighed as he pulled out a heavily creased and ancient map from one of the secret pockets within the sleeves of his robe.
As he handed the map over, he could see distrust in the old man's eyes, even as Risako unfolded the map reverently on the floor before her, and bowed respectfully to him for the contribution. Risako, however, never noticed the old monk's antics as she scanned the map for the name of the village. Its name danced on the edges of her memory, but, it eluded her until her hand stopped above a small village in the southern Hieian mountains.
Triumphantly, she announced, "There it is, the village of Dansha, that is now called Bandithaven. There is the stronghold of Chief Kazuo!"
Everyone present with the exception of Risako, paled, and Maya wavered where she sat, mumbling "It can not be true!" beneath her breath.
"You lie, ninja! How dare you lie in this holy place!" Juzo swore aloud.
Keiji stood, then and grabbed the old man's shoulder as he attempted to yank the map from Risako, "Calm down, Sensei. Your long distrust of ninjas clouds your judgment. It seems that Dansha wasn't completely destroyed that night it was attacked, we were fools, to hole ourselves in this Temple and to never come back to Dansha to see if they were survivors. However, we do have some time before Kazuo makes his assault on the daimyo's castle in Sakan. We can still liberate Dansha, and defeat Kazuo. Am I right, Risako? It must be the survivors of that night who either told you of Dansha or you overheard as you waited to assassinate Kazuo."
"Yes, from the very source of Masake and his stand with the villagers of Dansha. I heard one of the survivors talking about Masake and how he and his band of rebels were grieving Kazuo to the north. I never realized he was dead, nor the man who told me, but I headed north, in the hope of running across him and his rebels. Instead, I found the three of you and this unknown temple. Is it true that many of Kazuo's men have entered this forest never to return?" Risako answered.
Keiji only answered her with a weary smile before saying, "We have seen a few of Kazuo's men, but many people we have stumbled across, were poor wrenches who crossed paths with them before we had a chance to deal with the dogs. It seems to me that it is time to go to the source of this plaque. Lets allow you some time to rest before we leave, agreed, Okaasan?"
Maya knodded in agreement as she rose to leave and was closely followed by Juzo, with the last to leave Risako being Keiji. She smiled weakly at him as he lowered the mat, and then with a relieved sigh, settled back under the blankets, and was soon asleep. Her chest still ached from the black katana's stab, and her mind was tormented by the rising black tower and the ruined grounds beside it. . .
Outside, Keiji scanned his surroundings, searching for Juzo. A motion of movement captured his attention and he turned to see Juzo exiting the main temple, carrying two heavily carved wooden boxes. Realizing the ackward load of the man, Keiji ran over to help. As he steadied the larger of the two, he noticed the gleam of leather armor and looked up questionably at the monk. With a sigh, the monk settled the box onto the ground, and pulled away the lid to reveal armor that was dyed almost a midnight blue, with sliver and gold lining the metal breastplate, guards that protected the arms and legs, and the helm that resembled a dragon breathing a deadly gout of flame that was the wearer's face. Still holding the smaller box that was made of wood and heavily engraved with dragons and the mountains, he slide the lid back to reveal a matching blue katana and its almost black sheath.
"Juzoi?" Keiji asked, baffled by the armor and katana. They were beautiful to be sure, but what were they doing in a holy temple? Juzo wasn't giving up a suit of the holy armor of the gods, was he?
"These are from my days as a samurai, before I discovered this temple and its religon. I wore it when your father and I fought together during the early clan wars. I never knew why I saved this when I first laid down my katana, but now I do know, that some benevolent being urged me to save this for the son of my best friend, and I am grateful that I indeed saved it. It will serve you well against Kazuo. Hundreds of arrows have bounced back form this armor. It is tried and true and I give this to you, young samurai. I have nothing more to teach you. I can see you have your father's intuition, his strength, your mother's compassion, and the wisdom that will make you a worthy samurai. Good luck, Keiji." Juzo explained as he pulled the katana from its box and blew the dust of several decades away.
Astonished, Keiji began to lace the first of the leg and knee guards over his training kimono.
