Seeds of War
by Rich Wulf

Three Months After the Test of the Jade Champion...

The spring blossoms had begun to fall, giving way to the rich greens of summer. Summer - a season of life and beauty, but also of death. The winter snows had long since melted. The spring months had given advance parties time enough to scout enemy fortifications. Already the front lines of the Great Clan armies moved into position, ready to throw the Empire into war.

Far from any obvious lines of conflict, Asahina Sekawa crept through a darkened forest. He dressed strangely for a shugenja, the light armor ashigaru soldiers preferred gleaming beneath his jade mantle. Traditionally shugenja wore no armor, but the months since his ascension to Jade Champion had taught Sekawa that one must not always stand on tradition. A jagged white scar traced a line from his chin to his left ear, a painful reminder of that lesson.

Two younger individuals followed Sekawa, both garbed in green mantles similar to his. One was a tall young woman dressed in the armor of a samurai. The other was a slightly pudgy young man, swathed in the robes of a shugenja. Both had bleached white hair indicating their Crane heritage.

Sekawa had learned from the disastrous battle at Kyuden Nio the value of having good allies. He would not die alone like Kuni Utagu had... or his uncle Tamako. Asahina Keitaro and Daidoji Tae were inexperienced, but loyal. They were his first Jade Magistrates. With luck, they would not be the last.

Sekawa pushed a branch aside and peered carefully through the trees, searching for anything suspicious. A small temple sat in a clearing, a bronze bell echoing rhythmically within. As much as the young Jade Champion studied the temple, the scene remained resolutely innocent. That irritated him all the more. If he'd seen any sign of something awry -bloody fingerprints on the window screens, upturned earth signifying recently dug graves, the lack of natural wildlife -then he would at least know that there was danger and be somewhat in his element. No such luck. The birds were singing, the elements were in balance, and everything was peaceful.

Yet this was definitely the place.

"What do you make of it?" Sekawa whispered.

"I see nothing out of the ordinary," Tae said, squinting her eyes as she studied the small temple. Her hands tightened on the haft of her yari.

"Yet this is the place in the Asahina seers' visions," Keitaro added. "It must be within that temple. I am certain of it."

"As am I," Sekawa replied. "The sight puts my teeth on edge."

Keitaro nodded. "After ten weeks of hunting bloodthirsty tsukai and beating back oni, nothing chills my spine like a quiet temple, Sekawa-sama. You don't suppose they have tea inside, do you?"

Sekawa scowled at the young man.

"A bit of humor, my lord," Keitaro said, bowing his head respectfully. "I only meant that perhaps this once we should take this respite from combat at face value, and embrace a chance at peaceful relaxation."

"The seers warned that what we found here would 'plant the seeds of war and set the Empire ablaze,"' Sekawa hissed. "You will pardon me if I do not take what we see at face value."

"Hai, Sekawa-sama," Keitaro said. "I meant no offense."

"Then wait here and meditate upon the proper place for jest," Sekawa said, fixing the younger shugenja with frosty eyes. Sekawa drew his wakizashi. "Tae and I will investigate. If you hear signs of trouble, summon mists to cover our withdrawal."

"Yes, Sekawa-sama," Keitaro nodded and drew a wellworn scroll from the pouch at his side.

Tae quickly took the lead, moving through the forest without a sound. Sekawa followed. He had no great skill at stealth, but a quick prayer to the air kami saw to it that the sounds of his progress were numbed.

Tae held her spear level across her slim body, prepared to lunge upon any threat that presented itself. Sekawa held an unfurled spell scroll in his free hand. The spells Sekawa's Asahina sensei taught him were not suited for combat. Most relied on the spirits of air, bestowing charm, poise, or good luck upon their recipient. This spell was a gift from an Iuchi he met shortly after the Jade Championship. It was nothing the Asahina would ever teach -a strange mix of fire and water magic that boiled a target's essence from within. Ugly, perhaps, but effective.

Tae held one hand out behind her, gesturing for Sekawa to halt. The Jade Champion paused, focusing his concentration on the temple ahead. Sekawa's vision was not as sharply trained as Tae's, but he had other advantages. He quietly called upon the air spirits to amplify his vision, focusing upon the temple. He could see a shadowy figure moving inside. Even from here, he sensed the spirits swirling about the stranger, like moths around a burning flame.

"Someone is there, Tae-san," Sekawa whispered. "A shugenja. A strong one."

Tae nodded and took two steps to the left, vanishing from the path. Sekawa knew better than to search for her. He would not find a Daidoji who did not wish to be found, not without calling upon more magic and wasting the kami's favor. He would simply trust her to be where she needed to be. He advanced upon the temple, still holding his wakizashi and scroll ready.

"Who are you?" called out a voice.

Sekawa turned quickly, startled. He leveled his blade and began to read the words scribed on the scroll,then quickly ceased when he saw the child standing behind him. The boy was young, perhaps not even three years old. His hair was rumpled and unkempt in the way of children. He wore a loose brown shirt and no shoes, and held a long, forked stick in one hand. At end of the stick a colorful snake hung, twisting helplessly in midair. Sekawa noted the snake's thick body and large triangular head, and let out a sharp gasp.

"Careful, now boy," he said, stepping toward the child as slowly as he could.

Sekawa paused, suddenly noticing that the child's eyes were entirely golden and slit like a cat's.

"What in all the realms..." Sekawa whispered.

The child laughed playfully and flicked the stick, hurling the snake at Sekawa.

"Fortunes!" the Jade Champion swore, slashing at the creature with his wakizashi. A long-stemmed white lily fell to the ground. The Jade Champion's sword had sliced it neatly in two.

"What happened to the viper?" Sekawa asked, staring at the ground. He looked up at the child again. "Who are you?"

"There never was a viper, Asahina," laughed a booming voice from the temple.

Sekawa quickly looked back at the clearing. There was no way someone within the temple could hear him from that distance, but he nodded in understanding as he recognized the dark robed figure that emerged.

"Naka Tokei-sama," Sekawa said, sheathing his sword and bowing to the Grand Master. "It is good to see you again. I never had a chance to properly thank you for your assistance at the Test."

"No thanks are necessary," Tokei said, pausing only long enough to return Sekawa's bow. "I confess I had not expected you to be the one."

"I beg your pardon?" Sekawa replied, somewhat confused. "What are you talking about? Who is this child?"

"That question may take longer than both our lifetimes to answer," Tokei replied, looking down at the youngster. He looked back up at Tokei and smiled broadly. Tokei patted the boy on his head; the child giggled and scampered off, waving his stick. "When he arrived here, a message went to each of the great shugenja families, carried on the breath of eight dragons."

"I thought that there were only seven dragons, Tokei-sama," Sekawa said.

"You are wrong," Tokei corrected, his eyes meeting Sekawa's. The Jade Champion noticed that Tokei's eyes were flat black, with hardly any white around the edges. "The Kitsu, Isawa, Kuni, Moshi, Iuchi, Yogo, Tamori, and Ashura were also sent the message your Asahina seers received. You simply replied first, and fastest. The child is, for lack of a better word, my son. His name is Nizomi."

"Hope?" Sekawa asked. "That is an unusual name."

"He is an unusual child," the Grand Master said.

Sekawa looked through the woods, toward where the boy played alone. "Your son?" he looked at the child, then back at Tokei."Who is his mother?"

"It is not so simple," Tokei said, wincing as if the memory pained him. "I was cast from this realm thirty-one years ago. I spent that time moving through the ten Spirit Realms, from blackest Jigoku to the Celestial Heavens of Tengoku. I saw sights that set my soul free. I saw visions that would crush a mortal's spirit. I have crossed through blood and thunder, until the time came for me to return. The flow of time is different in those... I hesitate to call them places; many of them are more a state of mind or an aspect of consciousness than a physical place. Others are so real they make this world seem a phantom." Tokei paused, his eyes focused on something Sekawa could not see. "The memories are... difficult." Tokei stumbled and Sekawa quickly seized the Grand Master's elbow to steady him. It was then that Sekawa noticed the fine wrinkles around Tokei's eyes, the streaks of gray well hidden among his thick head of hair.

"Will you be all right, Tokei-sama?" Sekawa asked. "Should we return to the temple?"

"I will be fine," Tokei said, gruffly pushing the Jade Champion away. "Though perhaps returning to the temple would be best. Let us talk of more pleasant things."

"Of course," Sekawa bowed his head respectfully. Even the Jade Champion must show reverence to the Grand Master.

Tokei whistled sharply as they made their way to the temple. Nizomi appeared from nowhere, skipping at his father's side. Tokei looked down with a sad smile. The trio ascended the stairs into the temple. A small table was set in the center of the main room with several cups and a single steaming pot. Sekawa arched an eyebrow as he noted that Asahina Keitaro has been correct: there was indeed tea inside. Tokei and Sekawa seated themselves around the table, but Nizomi seemed uninterested in the tea. He continued capering about the room, waving his stick and singing to himself nonsensically.

"The language of children," Sekawa said as he sipped his tea. "Someday perhaps they will reveal its mysteries to us."

"That is not a child's nonsense," Tokei said sharply. "He sings in the language of the seven dragons."

"You said there were eight dragons, Tokei-sama," Sekawa corrected.

"I know what I said." Tokei looked at Sekawa pointedly. "He speaks in the language of seven."

"Tokei-sama, while I appreciate the honor of this visit, I must confess some confusion," Sekawa said, setting his teacup down with a click. "You tell me that you sent the vision the Asahina seers received, yet you do not explain what you want from us or why you sent the message."

"I did not say I sent the message," Tokei said. "I only said that it was sent. I did not summon you here, Jade Champion, esteemed daimyo of the Asahina. My son did. He seeks a protector."

"A protector?" Sekawa replied. "Surely your allies in the Monkey Clan would be more than happy to assist you in that measure. What can they protect him from that you cannot? What can I protect him from that you cannot?"

"Me," Tokei replied. "During my journey from the Spirit Realms, I saw sights that no man was meant to see. The visions I saw were necessary; I had been sent there for a reason. However, in the end the Elemental Dragons saw that I had suffered too much from the experience. They separated my soul into two halves. One half contained all the pain, agony, and darkness that I have experienced. The other contained the hope, wonder, and potential that lies within us all. That child is a part of me. He is the reason that I was called to the Spirit Realms. With what he knows, with what he has seen, he may be the next Uikku."

Sekawa looked across the temple. The child was staring at him intently with his strange golden eyes. "May be?" the Jade Champion asked.

"Indeed," Tokei said.

Sekawa frowned. "The seers said that what we found would Ôplant the seeds of war and set the Empire ablaze."' Sekawa said.

Tokei nodded.

"And you suspect Nizomi may be your darker half, and you may be the light." Sekawa said.

Tokei nodded. "Either the light in one of us is well hidden, or the darkness is adept at playing games. Perhaps I merely cannot bring myself to judge that which is a part of me. I do not know the truth, Sekawa. Not yet. Until I do, I cannot risk his presence near me, lest one of us destroy the other before our message is delivered." Tokei looked at the child, then back at Sekawa. "You are the only one I trust in this, Jade Champion. The Asahina are men of peace. Perhaps if he is the dark creature I fear he may be, your family can still bring him to the light."

"We are not all men of peace," Sekawa said grimly.

"You are close enough," Tokei replied.

"And what of yourself?" Sekawa asked. "Who will insure that you do not fall to the darkness?"

"I have my anchor'" Tokei said simply. "You should leave now, Sekawa-san. The sooner you take my son from here, the better."

Sekawa stepped from the temple, squinting in the bright light of the afternoon. It had been just past dawn when they had arrived. How long had he spent within the temple? His time with the Grand Master seemed blurred, disjointed. The only reality was the child trotting along at his side, waving his forked stick.

"Sekawa-sama!" Daidoji Tae shouted, leaping onto the path with her yari at the ready, prepared for combat.

"Tae-san?" Sekawa said, looking at her curiously.

Asahina Keitaro stood at her side, a scroll clutched in both hands. He looked terrified. "Sekawa-sama, where have you been?"

"I have been inside the temple," Sekawa said, gesturing behind him.

The temple was gone.

Sekawa quickly looked back at the two magistrates. "How long have I been gone?"

"Ten hours," Tae said.

One for each of the Spirit Realms.

"Who is that child?" Tae asked, looking at the boy.

"His name is Nizomi," Sekawa said. "He is..." the Jade Champion paused.

He is the son of the Grand Master. He is the new Uikku. He is the doom of us all.

"He is the reason we have come here," Sekawa said, his tone forceful.

"Hai, Sekawa-sama," the magistrates said. Their curiosity was clearly not satisfied, but they were not about to question their master further.

"Nizomi' are you ready to leave?" Sekawa asked, smiling stiffly at the child.

"You have a cut on your face`" the child said, pointing at Sekawa's chin.

"I had an argument with a bad man," Sekawa said, grinning more broadly.

"Did you win?" Nizomi cocked his head slightly.

"Yes I did," Sekawa said.

"It makes you look funny when you smile," Nizomi concluded.

"I suppose it does," Sekawa said. "Now let us hurry. We must return to town before~it gets dark."

"Will we be going to Crane lands, as father said?" the child asked, reaching for Sekawa's hand.

"Yes, we will," Sekawa said, absently taking the child's hand in his own. "The seers will be eager to meet you, little one."

"I want to meet them, too," Nizomi said as they made their way through the forest. "I have much to teach them..."

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