House Lore

Chapter 1

The Brotherhood of the Sun did not instill fear in most people’s hearts. They were known to be benevolent, fair. As a child I begged for stories of their escapades, reveling in their victories. My Mother usually relented in sharing these stories, wearied by my persistence. She would always preface the tales by looking upon a family portrait from her childhood with such sadness it often confused my young mind. One day I finally asked her why she did this.

“The Brotherhood of the Sun took my brother away,” she replied, her voice catching a bit. Incredulous my mind raced in a million different directions.

“Mama, your brother is Samurai Hinoto?!” I had always thought my Uncle was named Hinoto as an homage. I had never met him and only knew he had been gone for a very long time. My reverie was soon penetrated by tears. “Mama, what is it? Why are you crying?”

“You . . . ” my Mother paused, willing herself to composure, “will meet Uncle Hinoto soon.” She then went on to explain how Uncle Hinoto became the legendary Samurai Hinoto. The Brotherhood of the Sun did not always have their present reputation. They were quite the opposite—pillaging, murdering. One day the chief of the order happened upon my grandfather and Uncle Hinoto who were working in the rice fields. For some reason the chief was alone and yet decided to attack my grandfather and my teenaged Uncle by himself. My Mother paused, new tears threatening to escape from her eyes. She blinked hard once and continued. She stated that chief Kenzo killed my grandfather in that rice field. As Kenzo stood over my grandfather’s body, Hinoto, severely injured himself, was somehow able to grab a nearby kama and decapitate Kenzo.

A realization hit me at this moment. “Mama . . . you were there?” I asked, incredulous. She only nodded in response. Uncle Hinoto knew that my Mother would be the next target after he and my grandfather were gone. As Hinoto dispatched of Kenzo, the rest of brotherhood came upon them. My Mother and Uncle thought for sure they were dead. Incredibly, Kenzo’s second in command, Nijora, bowed to Hinoto. The band of murderers had one code—whoever killed the chief would take his place.

“What?” I responded half in confusion half in wonder.

“Your Uncle Hinoto is coming soon,” my Mother continued. My excitement bubbled over again. “He’s coming to take you…away.” I was confused again. I asked her what she meant. “He needs to train the one who will succeed him.”

Chapter 3

“Samurai Hinoto they have your nephew!” Samurai Kiyoko yelled out. She was a few paces ahead of me. All six of us had quickened our speed when we saw the blaze ignite, our horses grunting with the urgent request. I felt a steel grip around my heart when the dragon materialized above the inferno. Kiyoko reached the cottage first and fired off a succession of arrows towards the dragon that was carrying my nephew away. She was our best archer but it was too late to change the outcome. Tadashi was gone.

I dismounted as soon as the cottage’s front door was in sight. I ran the rest of the way, my right hand firmly gripping the hilt of my sword. Heavy footsteps behind me let me know that the others had all followed suit except one, Samurai Asahi. He sped past me on his horse, eyes trained up towards the disappearing dragon. He looked at me momentarily to nod in silent communication. He would find them.

The fire and most of the smoke had been dissipated by the dragon’s breath but enough smoke hung in the air to burn my throat. A soft cough coming from behind the front door caught my ear. My sister was soon limping out the front door, held up by Kiyoko.

“Natsu!” I shout, rushing forward to help my sister further away from the embers of her home. Without a word, Samurai Daichi covered Natsu with a blanket and handed her a canteen of water. Samurais Nishinoya and Suki stood guard, eyeing the farmland around us. We all waited quietly while Natsu drank the water.

“There was a knock—I thought it was you,” Natsu starts, meeting my gaze with such sadness I could hardly bear it. “The rest . . . was a fog . . . Tadashi saved me.”

“They knew we were headed here,” Kiyoko starts, her voice calm but infused with rage.

“Asahi will send word when he has found them,” I say, pausing before continuing. “It was a grave error for the secret society to come for my family. They were only a whisper before—difficult to track. Now we know they have a fire dragon. Only a few exist since the water dragons came to be. Tadashi will be ok. I know Natsu has trained him well.” My sister frowns in response.

“Tadashi is proficient with the blade and his hand to hand to hand combat is improving,” Natsu begins. “I was just starting to teach him…” at this she trails off, tears peppering the ground below her.

“Forgive me sister,” I plead, kneeling before Natsu.

“If I had not killed Kenzo . . .“ “If you had not killed Kenzo he would have killed us,” Natsu intones. “He had hunted Papa for leaving the order . . . for marrying our mother. It was only when Mama died and her spells faded that the protection was lost and he found us that day. You were meant to do what Papa could not.”

Suddenly a flare momentarily lit the sky miles due north. Asahi.

“If we could see that the others may have too,” Kiyoko starts. “They may know we have a tracker. We must go now.” Suki was already leading out Natsu’s horse to her. Nishinoya handed Natsu a cloth wrapped package.

“This was the only thing in the home that was undamaged,” Nishinoya reports.

“Were you holding that when the fire started,” I ask gesturing to the cottage.

“Yes,” Natsu responds, a tender smile tugging at her lips. “Mama’s spell book is in here. She had always said it was indestructible and it must have given us some protection from the fire. Tadashi had just started to read it and I was packing it for his journey.”

“He can read it?” I ask, attempting to infuse some calm to my voice. All of us understood what this meant. Only the gifted could read spell books. The pages were just blank to everyone else.

“This is why Kenzo killed your parents,” Kiyoko starts. “And why he killed mine. He feared the mixing of Samurai and Magic.”

“Tadashi would be the first in this line,” Natsu says, alighting on to her horse, package secured on her lap.

“He will not be the last,” I say, directing my horse towards Asahi’s flare.

Chapter 5

Five days had passed without any sign from Asahi. His first flare had brought us deep in to the surrounding forest. Two more signals followed but each took longer than the one before it to appear. Worry and my trust in Asahi’s skills were in constant battle, wearying me more with each mile we traveled.

“Is there another plan if your tracker fails,” Natsu asked while we set up camp on the first night, sensing my anxiety.

“Asahi has tracked others with much less to go on,” I responded simply, thinking back to when I first met him soon after joining the order of the sun.

My introduction to the order was under the guidance of Kenzo’s second, Nijora. Mercy was not the fate he had originally intended for me and my sister. But seeing my youth and grief, Nijora calculated an opportunity to ascend to the highest position in the brotherhood without wielding a sword himself. He had been scheming to take control but knew he could not best Kenzo in a fight. I had completed this task for him.

“I will be your second and help teach you our ways,” Nijora had reassured. He had also assured me that the brotherhood would execute me and my sister if I refused to succeed Kenzo. I later came to know this to be a lie but at the time I did not dare challenge it. All contact with Natsu had ceased once my training started and I became desperate to leave. What made the training even more unbearable was how Nijora separated me from the rest of the samurais. I slept in the barn with all the animals and also ate my meals there. He only allowed me to speak to the house peasant, Azumane who by virtue of his position was often in the barn tending to the animals. Although the isolation was taxing I did not mind where I slept and ate. On the small farm that was my home we did everything ourselves—from harvesting the vegetables and rice to tending to the few animals we had. Unaccustomed to being waited upon, I found solace in tending to the animals as well.

“What are you doing Tobio?!” Azumane scolded on the morning of our first meeting. Startled I dropped the egg I had just plucked from under a hen. “Forgive me my Lord I thought you were the other house peasant, Tobio,” Azumane quickly apologized upon realizing who I was, bowing down, his bare arms stretched out before him. Multiple raised scars dotted the skin of his forearms—reminders of past beatings.

“My apologies,” I responded, kneeling down to begin cleaning up my mess. “If you will show me where the mop is stored I can . . .“

“No my Lord!” Azumane responded in a panic, standing up quickly and heading to a nearby bucket and mop. His hands were trembling so hard that he knocked the mop over which in turn caused the bucket to topple over and spill its watery contents over the cracked egg. “I am sorry my Lord!” Azumane lamented, starting to sob. I placed a hand on his shoulder to help calm him some. This only prompted Azumane to convulse away from me, now audibly crying harder. His fear was palpable.

“Please,” I pleaded quietly. “There is no need to be afraid and I can clean this up—it is my mess. I can even help prepare breakfast if you please. You may have noticed I am not used to having someone else cook for me. I cannot believe you manage to prepare three meals every day and tend to everything else for this Samurai house with only one other to assist you.” These words caused Azumane to stop crying and he regarded me with unbelieving eyes.

“Master . . . you are not like the others,” Azumane said quietly as if to himself, busying himself with cleaning up the cracked egg.

“No,” I responded simply. Looking for something else to do I grabbed the milk bucket and started for the cows. Azumane raised a finger in protest and then quickly dropped his hand to his side. He shifted uncomfortably as hurried footsteps approached.

“My Lord . . .“ Azumane started.

“Azumane you lazy rat! Why is Samurai Hinoto doing your work?” Nijora bellowed smacking Azumane across the face. As he was about to land another blow I stepped in between the two and blocked Nijora with my left arm absorbing the blow and knocking the attacker back some. I had already taken many beatings from Nijora in the last few days as our training began. While my Father had trained Natsu and me in all things Samurai I did not want to make my skills or lineage known. Only Kenzo had recognized who my Father was. No one had paid attention to the dead peasant in the field. Only his son who had dispatched of their leader was of any import. I had now just acted on pure protective instinct. Panic set in as I braced for Nijora’s response.

“I am the very best teacher in all the land,” Nijora exclaimed with pride. “I had my doubts about your abilities but the block you just performed is much improved! Come now—we need to begin our training for the day.” Once Nijora had turned away I looked quickly to Azumane who only returned my gaze with slight wonder in his eyes. I continued to awaken early and assist Azumane and Tobio with the house chores. It was the only time I was unsupervised. After a year I made my move to leave.