Toku Countryside

At the personal request of Empress Suzume and the urging of Lord Genji, the Captain of the Guard to Hizashi Mansion - Ashikaga Isao - arrived to accompany the fair Lady of the Sun. The young Ashikaga lordling was free of the indigo yoroi he wore while serving Lord Genji in his official capacity. In its place the youthful samurai wore adequate attire for a ride through the countryside.

From head to heel Isao wore a combination of heavy cottons and silks. His raven black hair was tied up into a formal samurai topknot which bared a youthful visage free of rogue locks. A haori of crimson lined with gold and emblazoned with the Ashikaga family crest was draped over his shoulders. Beneath the samurai wore a short sleeved kosode in a pattern of silk native to the Toku province; a juban of white was worn beneath the silks, the cotton a natural material to allow him to breath as he rode. Pleated black hakama from a heavy cotton were worn as riding pants, a stiff and course material. Tabi socks and straw waraji sandals adorned his feet. A daisho was belted through his hakama ties and a thin men's obi beneath - he struck a relatively casual appearance with no auspicious display of his inherent nobility.

"Good morning, my Empress!"

Isao greeted Suzume with a warm smile as he arrived on horseback - astride a chestnut stallion - alongside six men to compliment the Empress' security detachment. The young man fairly beamed at her, his eyes alight with his smile.

"You truly are as radiant as the sun, my Empress," he would dare. "If you will allow, I will lead our ride."

The heir to the Ashikaga was young, inexperienced in the ways of court, and by all accounts a rustic country samurai with an idealistic streak. However, he was also an accomplished warrior, quite charming and had a good sense of his surroundings. Isao appraised the young Empress and under his dark gaze it did not elude him that she was not a comfortable rider. Her knuckles were white, her poise was off, and her mare could sense her own discomfort. However, Isao would not call attention to this so she would not be shamed in the eyes of the assembled guards. No, he offered subtlety by bringing his steed up beside the Empress.

"It would appear your reins are not properly secured to the bridle," Isao noted, his voice audible.

What he did next was lean aside as if to resecure the Empress' reins. However, what he really did was speak in a much lower voice directly to Suzume yet with averted eyes. "My Empress, please relax," he would ask of her quietly. "Grip the reins as if they were paper - an easy grasp. Sit upright with a sense of pride for you are the pride of Katashima. Do not grip the horse too tightly with your legs. If you relax, so will your lovely steed."

After he spoke he sat upright. "Good! You are safe to ride," he declared. None of the guards seemed the wiser - or none would acknowledge the aide the young Isao offered Suzume. He gave her a smile and gently pulled his stallion ahead into a trot.

"Lord Genji bid I lead ahead. He will join us in due time, I assure you. His Lordship is a busy man but I hope I might entertain you suitably throughout."

In that instant the commander maintained his On with a steel resolve. Her refute to his aide, her surprise at the horse, and her explanation of her poor horsemanship stirred neither a smile or frown. Isao truthfully sought to preserve her dignity throughout so he would look to the mare and smile. In a demonstration of his own familiarity with horses and horsemanship, a carrot was loosed from a satchel hidden under his haori. He whistled to her mare and in disregard of Suzume's discomfort, it followed after Isao once more in pursuit of the carrot. He maintained a subtle regard to accomplishing his task of making the ride bearable for the Empress. Truthfully, Isao conveyed a depth of compassion in the way he regarded the Empress' weakness.

"You might remark upon the beauty of the lands here in Toku," Isao noted as he guided them from the mansion onto the road winding through the mountains. "The sun is spectacular in the early morning - her light is a bounty to the land. Our fields are fertile and plentiful. The mountains are so majestic in dawn and dusk."

He would glance to Suzume as they rode all the while as he found himself wanting to steal glances. "His Lordship is a good man - I truly believe his people love him for he is fair and just," he continued. "His lands prosper because of it.

"Tell me, my Empress, have you heard of the Kakita River? It's a beautiful river that courses the valley here. My Lord father rules the fief along the river. We will surely see my family lands during our ride."

The Captain of the Guard maintained an easy pace - he would ensure he did not move so quickly that she would be too shaken in her saddle. He did not look down on her for her inexperience as he maintained her dignity through all of his actions. While he was oblivious to the ways of court, he was not oblivious to what it meant to be a woman. She was a Lady so he would act a gentleman. How could one dare to humiliate the most powerful woman in Katashima? He could have empathy for her position.

"Unless my Lord Father is attending the Imperial Court, he should be present at our family estate," Isao assured Suzume as they continued their ride through the he countryside. "The seat of the Ashidaka family has a beautiful view of the river. I would be honored to show you my family's castle should you have the time today, my Empress."

He afforded her a nod as they continued along the path. They deviated from the main road that had approached the Hizashi mansion and took to a country road that winded its away along a ridge overlooking the river valley.

The scene was spectacular in its commanding majesty overlooking the river valley. Lush rice paddies dotted the valley and a large river cut below. Forests cut along portions of the river and small villages dotted along the way. Morning birds chirped noisily around them and the sun rose steadily as they made their way into the day. Isao rode with his own sense of ease, proud if not natural in the saddle. Seeing him astride a horse in full armor with a bow or polearm would have been an impressive sight.

"I am sure my father would prepare a fine lunch, if not a dinner, should we visit today. Otherwise Lord Genji will have an exquisite spread this evening," he murmured.

After a time he gave her mare a bite of the carrot and continued to lead her with the rest of the remaining carrot.

"Of course, my Empress," Isao fairly chirped. He echoed her own growing mood: he readily smiled, his eyes were bright and he seemed completely in his element. It would be clear to Suzume that he was naturally suited to the mountainous dominion of the Toku province. By all accounts Isao was a country samurai born of a rustic lifestyle that was quiet, reserved and warm. There was no poison to be found in the lands of Hizashi Genji.

"My Lordship will be most pleased. We can take lunch in perhaps Koizumi if not another village - wherever we find ourselves at any given time." He inclined his head and fed the mare the remainder of he carrot. Suzume for would soon discover that through naturally relaxing she had taken command of the mare. She would be riding the horse on her own volition - the young swordsman had ceased guiding the mount, allowing her to have her own sense of dignity. This made the samurai smile that much more.

They would find a fork in the path and Isao led them down a trail that cut down the ridge into the valley below through a series of switchbacks. "Careful," he warned the Empress. "The path can be dangerous at times. Please, stay close..." He raised his hand and pulled in front of her to make sure if they were to suffer any pitfalls, he would endure the brunt of the danger first.

His face had a harder quality - determination shone in his eyes with a strong sense of duty and loyalty towards her safety.

"The land is as beautiful as it is deadly..."

Ashikaga Isao rode at the head of the column, ahead of the Empress, six Hizashi retainers and the entire detachment of the Imperial Guard. Isao had not expected the road to give way but after the rain it seemed it had a mind of its own - a horse let out fearful sound as soil, rock and roots lost their strength beneath Suzume astride her mount. The earth shifted and immediately the switchback they were traveling down began to slide. The Captain of the Guard snapped his reins around to turn his stallion to the sight of the road failing them. Cries rose up from the armed contingent of samurai as the Empress found her mount tumbling forward over the switchback towards the steep valley below.

Reflexes was all the Ashikaga lordling could rely on so he urged a resident steed forward as dirt and gravel sank towards a growing rift in the path. Then the rest of the switchback began to buckle as the earth itself howled beneath the weight of too many horsemen. As he saw the sight of Suzume falling off of the path with a fearful, flailing horse the samurai did the only thing he could do: he leapt from his saddle.

As the Empress fell over the side with the landslide of flowing earth she would feel a tight hand around her forearm. Her body would snap as the weight of her horse nearly tugged her down with the steed to a pitiful death. Instead, boulders, stones and loose earth cascaded down around them as she found herself suspended in the air.

The young samurai let out a roar of pain as he struggled to hold onto Suzume. With one hand he held her above a steep fall, easily fifty feet down - with the other he gripped a fallen rope loosed from the aged post railing that lined the switchbacks. They swung perilously as the side of the valley collapsed in a rain of debris. The earth continued to sway and soon others fell with them - horses, Hizashi and Imperial samurai alike. Cries were cast out as men fell to their deaths below.

"Hold onto me!"

Isao pulled her up, his teeth grit as they hung dangerously above the switchback below. He would pull her up tight against him and secure her with a tight hold. However, for all his strength the weathered rope broke...

The Empress and Isao fell down the side of the river valley, the samurai holding tightly onto the woman as he braced for certain death. His hand slammed into the side of the valley wall, his fingers searching for any handhold he could during the fall. His body slammed painfully into the face of the valley. Sharp stones shredded his body and they shifted and tumbled. The world quickly rose to greet them and as they down faster and faster he tried to protect the Empress the only way he could: he broke her fall.

With a crash the two slammed into the washed out road below and the world as Isao knew it went dark.

There was a rumbling of voices. It began soft at first, a distant sound but it rose up in volume as piece by piece the world grew to a deafening roar. The painful sear of the very Heavens would cut through fallen rock, stone, gravel and soil as the landslide was cleared away inch by inch. The sounds were touched with fear and a sense of urgency - the earth itself shifted around them until the breath of life was brought against their lips as their bodies were uncovered.

"We found them," one voice told another.

"Quickly, dig them out," spoke the other.

"Bring two stretchers! They yet live!"

In the ever changing consciousness the fall had forced upon their bodies, as pain brought them in and out of focus, someone had dug through the landslide to find Suzume and Isao. Partially buried, among the dead and the gravely injured, the two had fallen to an almost certain doom. Men frantically tore away the earth to free the two. Pain immediately would draw the two awake for but a moment as their bodies were removed from their tombs to be placed on the back of horse drawn litters. However, scratches, cracked bones, dislocated joints and bruises beyond counting would painfully remind them unconsciousness was a far more welcome reprieve than their current state.

The world came into and out of focus as a series of scenes met their eyes.

A tall man astride a black stallion rode beside the two horse drawn stretchers - his face was beyond his middling years full of hard lines that framed the penetrating eyes of eagle. He issued orders with a wave of a lacquered wooden fan. Men rushed up and down the column of soldiers, many unfamiliar to the Empress.

The silhouette of a castle came into view and the sound of rushing water. The clicking of a drawbridge, the thunder of hooves and the cries for opium rose up into a dull roar. Light gave way to darkness as the gatehouse swallowed Suzume whole.

A room of three simple rice paper walls and an opened partition to a garden surrounded Suzume when she awoke. A matronly attendant, several Imperial retainers waited nearby and servants moved around her on the garden veranda beyond. There were chirps, the whisper of the wind through the trees and the entanglement of voices.

"She nearly died, Lord Ashikaga," a firm voice spoke. "Your son will be held accountable for endangering the life of the Divine Empress."

There was an audible scoff.

"If it were not for my son, the Divine Empress would be dead at the bottom of that ravine," a second, deeper voice spoke. "By all accounts you should be thanking my house, not threatening it with disaster."

"The road should have been more thoroughly appraised before the journey. You and Lord Genji will be reprimanded for such poor governance of the Toku province."

"Is that so? I did not think the will of the Heavens so unfairly judged the Earth for its foibles. One cannot reprimand the weather, much less myself or my son, for matters beyond our control."

A third voice interrupted the two arguing.

"Silence. The Empress wakes!"

Suzume would find herself on a futon beneath a layer of blankets. Her injuries would be tended to and neatly bandaged, blood and soil washed away. Samurai stood nearby in observance of her return to the waking world. The matron knelt down to inspect her with a hand pressed to her brow yet no fever availed her. Of the two she had suffered less in the fall, a miracle in and of itself. There was no sign of Isao nearby.

"Easy, your Divine Grace," the matronly servant urged Suzume as she turned to draw a ladle of water from a basin of fresh water. When she returned she pressed the wooden ladle to the Empress’ lips and urged to slowly drink as he helped her sit upright as not to choke. There was no doubt that on her parched tongue the water would be a gracious reprieve from the mild dehydration she suffered. When the Empress had drank enough the ladle was returned to the basin and the matron smiled before rising to step away. What replaced her vision was an older man.

He was no doubt familiar in ways her weary state could not readily discern. He had long black hair tied up in a formal samurai topknot. His features were handsome though refined from four decades of experience. His eyes were sharp like an eagle and entirely scrutinizing in their gaze. His flared kataginu bore the crane heraldry of the Ashikaga family. If the Empress firmly recollected the sight of the man, she might recall his presence in the Imperial Court.

“Are you well, Suzume-heika? My men thought you dead when we rode out to the scene,” Masaru spoke in a quiet tone. “My physicians tell me your health is… Miraculously well, if not without a few injuries you will survive. You are at the Ashikaga Castle, here with my men alongside that of your personal guard and the Hizashi House Guard. I assure you that you are safe here.”

A grave look overtook the man's features as she inquired about her men. The seriousness in his eyes strengthen when she then asked about his son. The Ashikaga lord inhaled a deep breath as his hands tightened within the folds of his hakama. The trained courtier that Suzume was would seen the gravity behind the man's eyes. Masaru straightened his back and looked from her to the garden, if not beyond the courtyard to another room along the veranda.

"Some of your men died or are injured," he spoke in a low, quiet voice.

"As for my son..."

Ashikaga Masaru exhaled to temper his words. "He is likewise injured," he spoke quietly, the tone darker and somber. Quickly he moved to change the subject in a clear indication of an uncomfortable point of discussion.

"The road is being cleared but it will be not passable for some time. When you are strong the main road will be clear for your passage. I have prepared a letter for Lord Genji regarding the incident. I apologize you suffered as much - this is my fault, as lord of the river valley. I hope you find no fault in my son, Suzume-heika."