Divine Wind - Chapter 3

Chapter 3


Kobayashi Sadatsugu was unconscious for hours. The first thing he realized was that he was still alive. The second was that he was moving. The third was that he was tied by strong rope to a wagon.



“Kobayashi…” a distant voice seemed to call. “Kobayashi…”



“Noriko…” he whispered. Getting the words out sent him into a coughing fit that ended by spitting up a small amount of blood onto his bare chest.



“Ah, the warrior awakes.” It was not Noriko but most definitely a female voice. “Don’t worry you haven’t traveled far, you barely outside of the Kyoto area in fact.”



Along with a splitting headache, Kobayashi’s senses came all at once. He was pulled down on a cart, tied at the waist, neck, and limbs. From what he could tell there were two men on horseback traveling behind the cart. He could not see in front as he couldn’t raise his head. The group was moving at a brisk pace making the occupant of the cart feel every bump in the road. A woman clothed in white silk appeared in Kobayashi’s vision. He found it incredible that she could keep up with them with ease. It was almost as if she was hovering above the ground.



“Who are you?” the samurai managed to say.



“Oh, excuse me.” she said. “I am called Kaguyahime.”



As bad as his head hurt he could recall a story he overheard while in Kyoto. Long ago, a woodcutter was chopping bamboo and discovered a strange glow inside a tree. That strange glow became a little girl who the woodcutter and his wife took as their own and named Kaguyahime, “the Shining Princess of the Bamboo”. In no time the girl became a beautiful woman and men from all over Japan asked to marry her. Warriors, merchants, poets, all came for her, and were refused. She could not marry anyone as she was a princess of the moon and on the next full moon she would have to return. And sure enough after saying goodbye to her loving parents on earth a procession came down from the moon and returned her to her celestial palace.



“You can’t be.” Kobayashi said.



The woman sighed. “Okay, fine, I’m not you got whacked on the head and now your hallucinating. Do you like that idea better?”

“I don’t under…”



“Seeing Nobunaga die has driven him mad it seems!” one of the men on horseback laughed. “He’s talking to himself.”



Kaguyahime sighed again. “It’s sad.” She said. “Noriko prayed to the moon last night after speaking with you.” Kobayashi’s eyes snapped into focus. “Oh, now I have your attention.”



“Noriko! Is she alive?” he asked.



“She is in good health. Very shaken up though.” Said the ethereal woman. “Mostly she worried and sad. Worried about her safety, sad about her future. She believes Akechi intends to marry her to a noble as Nobunaga intended.”



“That she is safe is all I need to know.” He said.



“Humph.” Kaguyahime snorted. “She is worried about you, you know. I know you. I know your type. Samurai. There is only one thing going through your mind right now. Revenge.” He averted his eyes from the woman. “Don’t you look away from me. I can see it right now. You kill the general, what’s-his-name, and over his corpse you take a knife and hack at your intestines like a piece of sashimi. And sweet Noriko is left to cry her heart out while living a sham marriage to a cheating prince for the rest of her life, she will.”



Kobayashi tried even harder to not listen to her. “Fine don’t listen to me. You think I didn’t want to marry those men. Oh, sure they came on a little strong but they were good guys the lot of them, they were. The moon is so boring. I would much rather live here on earth, with the trees and the ocean. You have a chance, I don’t have a choice.”



Again she sighed. “Why am I wasting my time. You’re not listening anyway, you’re not. “Besides, what chance do you have. Tied down, surrounded by guards. You and that funny little man.”



“Omo-sahn!” he said.



“That’s his name. He’s probably got a better chance anyway, not being restrained, not much of a threat I suppose. Well, I guess you can’t see him up there. Perhaps I’ve gotten you too excited. It’s best you go back to sleep.” With that Kaguyahime kissed her index finger and placed it on Kobayashi’s lips. “From Noriko.” She whispered, and the samurai descended into a more restful sleep.



*******



“You awake yet?” Omo said. Kobayashi strained to open his eyes.



“Yes.” He said. “I’m awake. What’s going on?”



Omo was traveling in the same cart as the samurai. It was made of unpainted wood and pulled by one horse. The driver was seated in the front of the cart as to steer the horse. The midget sat towards the front facing Kobayashi in the back where some kind of cargo would normally be. The driver and six other men were in full military armor and equipped with many weapons. Though Omo and Kobayashi could not see it there were even more weapons including rifles and gunpowder attached to the underside of the cart by a net. In front leading this whole party was Akechi Mitsuhide’s right hand man, Umetada Masamitsu.



“Are you all right? You were talking to yourself earlier before you passed out again.” He said.



“I’m fine, do you know where we’re going?”



Omo filled him in on everything he knew. That morning Akechi surrounded Kyoto with his army of ten thousand. Not wishing to destroy the city he and his close advisors, along with many highly skilled assassins infiltrated the Honno temple and murdered Nobunaga. With Nobunaga dead Akechi is declaring himself shogun in secret. That was as much as Omo knew.



Kobayashi conjectured that Akechi’s next step is to consolidate his position. He ran over the list of possible contenders to the title in his mind. The list was short. Only two men came to mind that had armies large enough to confront Mitsuhide, Shibata Katsuie and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Katsuie was currently in a struggle with the Uesegi, in Etchu. Hideyoshi was much closer but he was still laying siege to Takamatsu.



A chill went up Kobayashi’s spine as he looked at where the sun was behind the clouds and realized they were heading west, towards Bitchu province and Mori territory. That explained why Akechi hadn’t killed him. Umetada was leading an envoy to the Mori to persuade them to side with Akechi. If this happened Toyotomi Hideyoshi would be surrounded and Akechi’s claim to be shogun would be undisputed. Omo and Kobayashi were being sent as proof of Akechi’s act.



He dared not say his theory to Omo so the guards would not hear. Then, like the day before, it began to rain.



*******



It was a very uncomfortable ride for Kobayashi. It wasn’t until it became too dark to travel anymore did they stop at an inn quite a way off from the main roads. Kaguyahime was right. The whole time escape and revenge occupied the samurai’s thoughts.



The Red Fish Inn, as it was called, is a favorite spot of Umetada Masamitsu. He has frequented it often during his travels. It is also known to serve the highest alcohol content sake in the province. The waitresses are reputed to perform a variety of services for enough of a tip. Umetada had been looking forward to this most of the day.



Upon arriving he dismounted from his white horse and greeted the owner of the Red Fish Inn. The owner was a woman dressed in full geisha dress and make-up. Her age was hard to determine through the make-up but Kobayashi could tell she was several years Umetada’s senior. She greeted the samurai by grabbing him over-excitedly.



A bag of gold traded hands, it seemed that this woman demanded payment up front. Umetada’s men were noticeably excited to be here. Several rude comments were traded back and forth and subsequently one-upped by the next one.



All of the horses were tied up on posts at the doorway to the inn. The cart carrying Kobayashi and Omo was released from its horse. Omo’s belittling appearance only took him so far as he was roped at the neck, as well as having his hands tied, and attached to the cart. The cart itself was left outside for the night, in the rain.



It seemed all of Umetada’s soldiers would be going inside. Before going inside himself Umetada turned down to Kobayashi. “Try to escape,” he said gruffly. “And you will die by your own sword.” With that he pulled just enough of a sword’s hilt out of a scabbard on his waist to reveal writing. Kobayashi was shocked to see the writing was a Buddhist prayer. It was definitely his sword, made by the great master, Masamune. With that Umetada pointed at two of his men and ordered them to remain at the entrance and guard them. They did so begrudgingly.



Almost immediately after the doors shut with Umetada inside, the two guards scampered to a window. They were like children trying to see what was going on. This was Kobayashi’s chance.



“Omo-sahn.” He said. “We’ve got to get out of here.”



“I don’t want to die!” the little man cried.



“We won’t die, not if we stay smart. Can you find any way of cutting our ropes?”



“I don’t see anything.”



Kobayashi glanced at the two guards. They were still occupied in spying on their leader.



“Omo-sahn, check underneath. Maybe you can cut them on a loose…something!”



He jumped down, nearly choked when his roped got caught, and fell in the dirt. Even without trying he couldn’t help but be comical. It took him a second to realize what was stored below.



“By the gods.” He said coldly.



“What is it Omo-sahn?” Kobayashi asked.



“Guns and gunpowder. Lots of it.”



Many new ideas raced through the samurai’s mind.



It took some time for Omo to free himself. He had to take a rifle and position it where the barrel was in his round stomach so he could cut the ropes on his hands with the gun’s copper sight. It was not easy, he slit himself many times and blood poured down his specially made robe. After that it was a simple matter of slicing Kobayashi’s ropes with the same sight.



The samurai was freed but the ropes were left to appear as though they were still tied. Now the time had come to lure the guards near. They could have disappeared right then. But its possible that after realizing what happened that Umetada would begin a massive manhunt. Kobayashi, knowing Akechi, would allow searchers to do anything to find him, including burning down poor farmer’s houses and disturbing sacred lands and temples. Also, the samurai did not flee as he wanted his sword back.



Kobayashi feigned illness and let out a great moan. The two guards heard this and slowly came to investigate. The warrior remained calm though Omo was never more scared in his life. Apparently the men did not even see the need to draw weapons as they checked on him. They did not live long enough to regret it.



After they were right up on the cart Kobayashi, still with his back on the cart, kicked one with such force that it crushed his trachea and broke two of Kobayashi’s toes. As that one fell to the ground the samurai whipped onto his stomach, drew the dying man’s sword with his left hand and in the same motion slashed the neck of the other guard, who was in the process of pulling out his own weapon. Neither one had made a sound, Umetada was completely unaware of what happened.



Kobayashi raced to the window to see what was going on inside. The inn was two stories. The first floor was purely a bar while the second floor was where all of the rooms were. It seems most of the men had retired to the second floor. Only Umetada, two other soldiers, and some various merchants or farmers were still drinking while geisha girls paraded around between the tables. Umetada was drinking from a very large cup of sake while receiving attention from the owner. It would likely be some time before he thought to relieve the two dead men guarding Kobayashi.



********



Umetada Masamitsu was about to get lost in his favorite drink and a woman. In a day he had come from a simple soldier in the shogun’s army, to one of the most powerful men in Japan. All he had left to do was deliver this gift to the Mori and then lead that army to destroy Toyotomi Hideyoshi with Akechi’s army. Then all hell broke loose.



He heard a gunshot from outside and immediately donned his helmet and ran for the door. A second later he was nearly trampled by the horse carrying the prisoner cart. The horse toppled over the tables in the bar and flipped itself and the cart upside down. Seeing underneath the cart he then ran outside for his life.



He was the only one who made it out of the inn. It was when Umetada ran about twenty yards out that a massive fireball erupted from the building pushing him farther and knocking off his helmet.



Kobayashi. Somehow he had escaped and ignited the gunpowder with a fuse. The gunshot was to scare the horse into the inn.



Umetada’s ears were ringing when he pulled himself off the ground. The inn was in flames. A person ran from the blaze screaming with their clothes on fire. It was likely that they were all dead.



Then Umetada saw his silhouette in the fire, standing tall, a rifle in one hand and a katana in the other.



*******



The area was very bright as a result of the flaming building. Kobayashi saw Umetada rise. He was a very large man, easily a head taller than Kobayashi. Being in full armor he seemed far larger. Kobayashi suddenly felt very exposed wearing only pants. More importantly he felt naked without his sword. It was that very weapon that Umetada now drew.



Kobayashi threw aside the rifle and the two stared at each other in the dancing light. Umetada struck first. In a strong blow he attacked at his leg. Kobayashi defended the blade but it still sliced a gash in his thigh. He grunted in pain and counterattacked Umetada though it was blocked.



They traded furious assaults for a while. This was the first time Kobayashi had fought with someone he truly hated. His emotions seemed to give him a rush of energy but he was making too many mistakes and was constantly defending.



He had to concentrate. When Umetada came at him with a downward slash he side stepped out of the way. Umetada was used to using larger weapons and didn’t know the ease that came with a katana. On his downward slash he hit it too hard and the sword got stuck in the ground.



Seeing his chance, Kobayashi used his momentum to push the sword out far to his left and then swung hard right parallel to the ground towards Umetada. The katana hit him hard and without his helmet to protect him it cleaved into his neck and severed the spinal cord, killing him.



Kobayashi kicked Umetada’s body off of his sword then freed it from the ground.