L5r - scroll 04 - The Phoenix by Stephen D. Sullivan Page B

Brother—especially now. We need to consider how we can best serve the empire."
    "My duty is here," Ishikawa said sternly.
    Kiaku nodded. "Hai. Perhaps, for you, it is." Then he added, "Maybe you could talk to Kaede when she returns. Perhaps you could convince her that the Phoenix should put all their effort into ending this war. After all, they can't hide in their castles forever."
    Ishikawa looked at the sky. A black cloud scudded across the sun. He wondered if the cloud was smoke from some distant battle. "I fear," he said finally, "that the Phoenix will sit in Kyuden Isawa until their library burns down around their ears."
    JOURNEY TO DOOM'S THRESHOLD
    ■in.......Bin.....mi......■mm.......in..............................mm.......mi......in—air
    ]
    f[sawa Tadaka caught a boat south at a port near Kyuden Isawa. The transportation was better suited to his brother Tomo, but Tadaka put up with it. Traveling by ocean meant he could avoid the clashes on the continent. He didn't want to waste any time or energy fighting useless battles. Isawa Uona chanted a fair wind into the ship's sails before Tadaka left.
    The captain of the ship was a Mantis trader named Otomu. Otomu was a tall, burly man who laughed frequently. Lines of tattoos ran up his arms onto his shoulders. His head was shaved bald, though he sported a long, thick mustache, the corners of which drooped past his chin. Though not opposed to profiting from war, his sympathies lay more in supplying aid to the disenfranchised—at a handsome markup. He treated his rowers with respect, and favored the crew with sake and good white rice when he felt they deserved it.
    Otomu's ship skirted the coastline, stopping
    each night—when possible—for supplies and safe harbor.
    During the trip, Tadaka often stood near the prow of the ship, listening to the waves and watching the land drift by. For the most part, the shoreline showed little evidence of the strife on the mainland.
    From sea, the castle in Otosan Uchi still looked like the white-walled palace of fable. Fudotaki, the great waterfall, sprayed a cloud of brilliant haze high into the air. The mist caught the sunlight, ringing the palace with rainbows in the afternoon sun.
    Nearly two years had passed since the Scorpion Coup, and the great city had been largely rebuilt. The walls of the Forbidden City were never breached during the revolt and still stood proud, tall, and impenetrable. Watchers on the ship saw no sign of the illness that held sway inside the palace. Neither the sailors nor Tadaka could have guessed the troubles that plagued the emperor and his wife.
    As they sailed past the lands of the Crane, signs of war became more apparent. Black smoke smudged the sky, and occasionally samurai fought along the shore. Wanting to avoid trouble, Otomu had laid in enough supplies for this portion of the trip. He anchored his ship offshore when his crew needed rest. Even then, they set guards, lest raiders should row out to assault them.
    Those nights were tense, even for Tadaka. Often, he stayed awake until dawn, keeping watch and summoning the power of the earth far below the keel of the ship. Otomu didn't like stopping, either. Some nights, they just sailed on. The crew rowed to supplement Uona's winds—which were flagging now that they'd left Phoenix lands far behind. The crew took the oars in shifts until they could row no more.
    Tadaka's heart sank when he saw Kyuden Doji, at the heart of the Crane provinces. Even distance and fog could not conceal the damage to the mighty Crane palace. Fires burned outside the walls, and Tadaka wondered if the castle lay under siege, or if it had already fallen.
    Beyond the castle lay the Seikitsu sano Yama no Oi, the Spine of the World Mountains. The great peaks tumbled down to meet the ocean, their massive cliffs causing the sea to fly up in towers of spray and foam. Tadaka marveled at the mountains' power and majesty. No matter how often he saw them, he never grew tired of