Not so long ago, the children of Osano-wo very nearly went to war. The Crab and Mantis, long time allies and descendants of the Fortune of Fire and Thunder, struggled for control over a secret trade passage through the corrupted region known as the Sea of Shadow. In time, the Crab were victorious, and the Mantis were forbidden from sailing that treacherous span of the sea. Differences were forgotten, and the two clans became allies once more.
Recently, however, the Crab have lost a number of supply vessels near the passage in question. Knowing full well that the Mantis desperately need supplies for their war against the Phoenix, and attempting to stockpile the Crab’s storehouses in preparation for an inevitable war with the Scorpion, Hida Kuon has ordered his vassal Hida Unkei to deal with the matter in his typical fashion: quickly, brutally, and permanently. Unkei has made no secret of his belief that the recent sightings of Mantis vessels near the trade route indicate their guilt, and it is his plan to ensure that the Mantis never again forget who rules the Sea of Shadows.
Tsuruchi Chae is an embittered soldier furious at having been removed from the front lines of her clan’s war with the Phoenix. She desires nothing more than to slay the arrogant fools who have presumed to question the Mantis claim to Great Clan status. Unfortunately, the recent disappearance of a Mantis ship scheduled to return from the Ivory Kingdoms has been left to her to deal with, and deal with it she must. There are rumors that the Crab are active in the area, and looking for Mantis prey. The Crab will find in Chae and her men a prey that no hunter can hope to overcome, and then there will be war for them once again.
Wave after wave crashed against the battered hulls of Crab and Mantis vessels as the two grew closer. Six ships in all, three of each clan, had come together near the border of the Sea of Shadows. The two groups had hunted each other across the water for days, constantly harassing one another, offense and defense changing as quickly as the wind. Now, however, a storm was brewing off to the west. Both crews recognized the peril they faced, and both knew that they could neither turn away from each other, nor stay and bear the brunt of the storm’s fury. And so they came together, arrows flying, weapons drawn, to finish their morbid rivalry once and for all…
Tsuruchi Chae stood firm, never losing her footing despite the pitching of the deck in the violent seas. Her men shouted, running past her with their weapons clenched firmly in hand. The Crab would be upon them in moments, and the Mantis sailors were desperate to repel their charge. Even in the dismal, dark rain and fog, she could see the iron Crab vessel surging to their port, lurching toward them. There was a sickening crunch as the two ships collided, and she saw movement in the fog as the Crab came for them.
Chae drew an arrow and fired, the perfectly practiced motion taking no more than the span of a heartbeat. She fired a second time, then a third. The three arrows struck their target, and one Crab warrior gurgled in fury as he staggered, then fell between the ships. The battering of the two hulls killed the man long before he had a chance to bleed to death or drown. She fired again and again, killing two more Crab in less than a minute, her face a mask of anger and irritation. “The Mantis shall not suffer your thievery!” she shouted above the howling winds. “Come and die!”
“Fool!” a deep, baritone voice roared, audible across the entire deck despite the whistling wind. “The true sons of Osano-Wo need not steal! We have not been abandoned by our ancestors as you have!” A man larger than any Chae had seen leapt across the distance between the two ships. His massive armor was grossly out of place on a sailing ship, yet he did not seem hindered by it. The wood splintered where he landed, and he lashed out in a lighting fast maneuver, crushing the skulls of two men with his tetsubo before they even had turned to face him.
Understanding blossomed in Chae’s mind. “We have both lost ships, then!” she shouted. “We are not the villains here! We have both been played for fools!”
“I have been commanded to destroy you!” Hida Unkei shouted. “I care nothing for guilt or innocence! Only duty!”
“Then you more the fool for it!” She fired a barrage of arrows, every one finding its mark. The massive berserker did not seem to notice. He lurched across the deck and swung his tetsubo at her head with a speed she did not anticipate. She dove to the side, losing her bow and drawing her blade as she did so. His strike shattered the wall of the cabin behind her. He spun toward her, but fast as he was, she was faster.
Chae drove the blade of her wakizashi upward, through the Crab’s chin and out the top of his head. The spray from the wound was warmer than the ocean spray. “Die like a fool,” she spat. “I will see to it your idiocy costs no more lives.”