01: Black Rock
Chapter 01
Chapter 02
Chapter 03
Chapter 04
Chapter 05
Chapter 06
Chapter 07
Chapter 08
Chapter 09
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13

The Nagita Army field hospital was a scene of total chaos. Wounded and bloody soldiers were coming from all directions, some on horseback, others being carried by comrades, some dragging themselves along, some too weak to make it dying on the side of the road leaving ghastly directions to the hospital.
The doctors had been given only an hour to setup and before that hour was over the wounded were already starting to arrive. They'd setup in a rural brothel and had enlisted all of the girls to help sort the wounded. The minor wounds the girls cared for, the serious but not deadly wounds were put in order and the severe cases were taken straight in. The dead were piled on the far side of the house to keep them from the other wounded, every hour that pile got bigger and bigger. For the young country boys drafted into the army this must have looked like the end of the world.
Inside Rei Kasanagi was working at a fever pace. She was stripped to the waist, a tight cotton wrap around her healthy chest. Her pale skin was soaked in blood, she had pulled the top of her kimono off hours ago because the blood weighed her down so much. She was desperately trying to tie the arteries of a man whose leg had been severed. He was screaming for the pain to stop, fighting against the two men Rei had with her. He kept screaming and struggling until he went limp as if his plug was pulled and all the life drained out of him at once. Rei shook her head and they carried him out back to be tossed with the rest. Rei didn't cry, she'd seen enough of them to stop caring. Another came up, holding his guts in with his straw sampan hat. Rei looked at him, not screaming, just staring intensely forward as if he was glaring up at heaven, daring the gods to take his life. Rei took the hat and pulled his breast plate off. She began to sow, slowly and with confident hands. The needle pushed through the skin over and over, slowly, extremely slowly the needle reached the end. The thick black thread was holding his guts in. This one would survive to see another battlefield.

Rei and Koji Hatanaka, her traveling partner and friend, had been stopped at the border of Nagita and forced into the army as it desperately tried to defend against the ravaging army of Hokikyo, Nagita's much larger neighbor to the south. They had no choice, well other than be executed as Hokikyo spies. Rei was spared being sent into combat after they found her medicine bag. She hadn't seen Koji in almost two weeks, not since the army started to march again. Every wounded man that appeared on her table she feared would be Koji but so far fate had spared him. Fate, who was she kidding, she had never seen anyone fight like him. She knew he was probably leading the attack himself by now and having the time of his life.

The man was sewn up and carried off for the next to come up. It never seemed to end. The next was hard, barely a teenager was shot with three arrows. He was sobbing from the pain, begging for his mother. Rei told him to be strong, she knew this was fatal. She gave him powerful pain killers, stuff that would make it so he wouldn't know. It was hard for Rei, in the beginning she would spend all night crying after a day like this. She still cried and would occasional vomit but she knew this was her job.
Injured soldier after injured soldier was placed on the rough wooden table before Rei, her nostrils filled with the stench of death, her body soaked in hot blood that ran all the way down to a great puddle around her feet. She worked, over and over, wound after wound until she couldn't remember one wound from another. The sun went down and the lanterns were lit but the wounded just kept coming.
By midnight the wounded were talking of their victory over Hokikyo and how Hokikyo's general had been slain on the field. It was wonderful news, it meant Rei could find Koji and together they could leave this kingdom as fast as possible.

It was well past midnight when the last wounded man was taken off her table. Rei was exhausted, she stumbled out of the house and promptly threw up but having not eaten in two days all she could bring up was stomach acid. A very pretty girl came over and gently draped Rei's blood soaked kimono back over her shoulders and led her towards the baths. The girl practically carried Rei all the way for she was too exhausted to lift her feet.
Rei was stripped of all her bloody clothes and set down in the water, immediately turning is crimson. The other girls in the pool slowly swam over and helped Rei clean herself. They were clearly offering their favors to her tonight for being so brave but Rei was in no mood to even think about that. She had seen too many dying boys who would never enjoy a woman and dying old men who no longer could and it had driven any thoughts of sex from her mind.
Rei's fingers were thoroughly scrubbed, some days Rei wasn't sure if her hands would never be truly clean. Her attention was turned from the three girls to the fourth as she entered with tea and rice cakes. Rei glided through the water and began to attack the food. She ate like she hadn't eaten in two days. Rei finished the second cup of green tea and sank back in the tub. " You are so brave" said one of the girls, " I have never seen a woman with such skill."
" Thank you" said Rei.
" Is there someone out there you are worried about?" she asked, " you seem distant."
" I have a friend on the battlefield" she said, " I hope he is all right."

Koji Hatanaka wiped his blade clean and surveyed the devastation. Death was everywhere, he'd never seen a battle such as this. Bodies lay in heaps, the men both Nagata and Hokikyo were piled together, weapons and arrows sticking all about. The scavengers would have a field day tonight picking this field clean, he could already see a few scattered pin points of torch light bobbing through the field. The battle was barely over and they were already out looking for spoils.
Koji had seen battle before, before he took to the mercenary life he was a bodyguard to Lord Hasagawa in the south. With him he saw several struggles for territory but they were all internal feuds, usually with the Leito Clan. Those battles were minor affairs, a few hundred men on both sides, they fight, a handful die, and one side always took to their heels and fled before it got too bloody. But what he witnessed today was nothing like those little skirmishes. There were thousands on both sides and neither side fled. It only ended when the general of the Hokikyo forces was slain, only then did they flee.
Koji sat on a dead horse and rubbed his sore back. His armour was rubbing his skin raw, and barely hung on in other places. He had to scavenge this motley collection of armour from a dozen dead warriors and none of it fit just right. But it had served him very well, there were a dozen arrows wedged between the lamellar strips but none had gone in. He wanted the armour off in the worst way and he also wanted to head to the rear to look for Rei. He knew she was all right, she was a true wildcat but he wanted to find her so they could get the hell out of Nagata. He wanted to go north spend the winter in the hot springs of Namaguichi or Tottori, and with the money he was going to receive from his service in the army, it should be a very comfortable winter for both of them.
" Hatanaka" came the voice of his commanding officer.
Koji lazily looked over his shoulder at the big man on the white horse, " Yes?"
" The general wants details to go out and search for the wounded and to finish off any more enemy soldiers out there" he said, " take your men and get going."
Koji nodded, he still didn't like officers, that noble bastard wouldn't even get off his horse for fear of messing up his fine sandals in the blood that laid about in deep puddles. He gathered his men up and told them their task to a general groan.

It was messy work, all the men were carrying torches going from corpse to corpse to see if any were alive. They stumbled about in deep puddles of blood that as the night wore on became stickier and colder. They went from corpse to corpse illuminating each with their torches to see if there were any signs of life. Time and time again there was nothing, Koji was about to call it quits and go back to the comfort of the campfire when something grabbed his ankle. Koji looked down, his heart banging against his chest.
A man was buried under several bodies, his fingers were covered in gore from trying to claw his way out from under the hideous mass of flesh. Koji put his shoulder into the pile and rolled it off the man. It was only then that he saw the man's blue rose emblem on his armour. He was a soldier for Hokikyo.
Koji reached down and ripped the cloth marker from the man. He'd killed enough today, there were no longer enemies and allies they were just men. He picked the man up and carried him for the field hospital he knew was just over the hill. The man groaned in pain the entire way but at least he was groaning through Koji, groaning meant he was still alive.

The walk felt like it took forever but finally as Koji's legs began to give way he saw the lights of the hospital. The sight of the tinkling lights gave him the strength to stumble on. He finally came in sight of the hospital and nearly collapsed under the wounded man's weight. Two men came over with a liter and took the man from Koji's back. Koji stumbled around the side of the hospital looking for a kitchen, he was starving.

Rei was coming out of the baths when she saw a disheveled samurai stumbling about. He looked kinda funny, all the arrows sticking out of his armour, he looked like a tired, dirty, rather foul smelling pin cushion. " Can I help you soldier?" asked Rei, approaching the tired soldier.
He looked up, through his filthy tangle of black hair and grinned. " Hello" he said.
" Koji" laughed Rei, " you smell terrible."
" Your nipples look nice" he replied.
Rei looked down at her breasts straining against the cloth wrap, the night's chill had made them more prominent. " We really win?" she asked, tugging her kimono up.
" Yup" he said, " soon as we're paid we can get the hell out of here."
Rei smiled, a broad genuine smile. It felt good for her to smile, a warm wave of joy soaked through her exhausted bones. " By Rupan" she said giving him a big warm hug, " that is the best news I've heard in awhile."
" Absolutely" said Koji, " there any food around here? I'm starved."
Rei nodded and led Koji for the kitchen. She helped him remove the ill-fitting armour and threw it at the pile of armour taken the wounded and the dead. It was a mighty pile, the brothel would make a fortune selling it, probably enough to have the place properly cleaned once the army had left.

Koji ate like a whirlwind, anything in his reach was wolfed down. The girls were fawning over Koji, making sure he had plenty to eat and drink. He had all the looks of a real war hero and the girls were all in awe of him. Rei too was happy to see him, he may be a rogue and a sex hungry wolf but he was her best friend and to see him still in one piece was a great relief. The laughed and talked until nearly dawn until both decided to get some rest.

Neither had been asleep long when a girl came to wake them telling them the general was coming. They met in the hall both looking even more worse for wear than when they went to bed. " I wish I'd known" grumbled Koji, " I would have gone chasing women."
The pair made their way downstairs just in time to see the general and his staff come thundering up. It was a sight to see, twenty men in the most exquisite armour, each custom made to fit the man like second skin, colourful strips woven in with the lamellar to make them stand out, their helmets decorated with horns or bolts of lightning, the face guards were designed with fearsome demon teeth. Their armour was too beautiful to go into battle.
Their standard flapped proudly in the breeze as they rode up. General Kunji rode up and made his horse rear back to make a big entrance. " Welcome" said the madam, a woman past her prime but her vanity wouldn't allow her to give up the trappings of youth, " how may we help our glorious general."
" I'm looking for mercenaries" he said, " their service is complete and I wish to compensate them."
In translation he wanted all the hired soldiers out of his army before their triumphant march through the towns and villages on their way back to the capital, this was a Nagita victory, not the victory of soldiers for hire. " We are the only two here" said Rei.
General Kunji smiled, " I have your pay" he said.
He motioned to one of his adjutants to pay them. The man tossed two small leather sacks towards them, which they easily caught. " You know" General Kunji said, leaning over on his horse, " I could set you up for life, you'd never have to travel again."
" And what would that cost me?" asked Rei.
" Not much" he said, " I am a great hero, my lover will never want again."
" And what would your wife say?" asked Rei, " or your other mistresses?"
General Kunji looked genuinely confused, probably the first time a woman ever said no to him. " Sorry General" she said, " I belong on the road, not under some sweaty general, your wife on the other hand."
Koji snickered, Rei was getting more and more like him every day. The general flushed and rode off with his staff close behind. " So we're free" said Rei, opening her sack, " let's see how we faired."
Horror quickly set in as both looked into their sacks. It had 20 silver taes inside that was barely a week worth of their pay. They'd been in the army for three months and this was all they had to show for it. " Figures" said Koji sinching the bag up, " with this we'll be lucky to get out of Nagita before we're broke."
" So much for this being a gold mine" sighed Rei, " oh well, we best get going. Winter isn't far off anymore."
Koji closed the sack and stowed it in his kimono, " Yah, but how are we going to get all the way north on 40 tae?"
" We could try for the river?" suggest Rei, " we could head for Aikashi, maybe we can get passage cheap?"
Koji shrugged, it sounded like a plan to him. So they set off walking to the east. They passed through the land of Nagita that was ravaged by war. The passed farms that were reduced to charred skeletal frames, and rice paddies filled with blackened bloated corpses that were ruled by swarms of black flies so thick it looked like a solid black mass hanging in the air. They passed pyres of dead bodies stacked ten and fifteen feet high being set alight as monks in their red robes chanted prayers for the burning towers of the dead.
They spent the night in an abandoned inn, most of the villagers hadn't returned to their homes and were still hiding out in the forests. There wasn't a grain of rice to be found in the entire building, not that they didn't try. In the end they munched on the few remaining herbs in Rei's medical bag and drank from the rain barrel.

The next day they crossed the border between Nagita and Keiyo, the most powerful and prosperous kingdom on Itten. By midday they were in the river city of Aikashi.

Aikashi was bustling and alive, as if the horrors of the other side of the border didn't exist despite the fact that you could clearly see the columns of smoke rising every higher in the distance in Nagita. Aikashi was one of the few holdings Keiyo had on the western side of the great Kyokawa River, the longest and largest river in Itten. The Kyokawa was a mighty river, powerful and rushing. It was fed in the mountains of Namaguichi and Tottori far to the north it can all the way to the sea. The river was filled with all manner of boats, from small ferries that took people across to large sailing vessels that navigated up down the river. The pair went straight for the nearest noodle stand, two days of munching on medicine herbs and drinking foul rain water had made them hungry.
After three bowls apiece they released half of their money had been spent. They set out for the docks to find passage north, they were preparing themselves to haggle and barter the ship captains for passage.

The first ship they came across looked like a winner, it was sturdy, the captain and crew looked fit and competent, it wasn't too new. There was a small table next to the jetty where the ship was tied and a man was sitting there advertising passage to anywhere on the Kyokawa on board the Soyokaze Maru. " Greetings" he said, " and where might we take you two?"
" Namaguichi" said Rei, " we want to spend the winter at the hot springs."
" An excellent choice" he replied, " two tickets will cost you 85 tae, which includes three meals a day."
Koji swallowed, they had 20 tae. " Are you sure you can't go any lower?" he asked.
" This isn't a charity" he said, " passenger take up space that could be used for cargo, and cargo doesn't eat, it is 85 or go take a row boat up the river. You'll maybe get there before next year."
" No problem" said Rei, opening her kimono, " I can handle this."
The man at the table swallowed hard as Rei's amazing breasts wrapped securely in a Manami Secret black floral wrap came into view. She gently slipped two fingers under the wrap and slowly drew out a gold ryu. The man was smiling, " Very good" he said, " and here is your 25 tae in change."
" Thank you very much" said Rei, " it will be a pleasure traveling with you."
Koji grinned, he knew 1 gold ryu was worth 100 silver tae. The power of Rei's breasts came through again. Koji followed after her down the jetty onboard the ship that would take them north.