In The Darkness

This unusual way of preparing a meal was very strange to the cooks – as well as for the shinobi that followed Kara everywhere. Most of the time – when she was cooking something, everyone would look closely at the way she did everything and sometimes she would catch curious looks and even some kind of respect.

One day after preparing a meal, Kara took the bowl and walked to one of the few windows that she was allowed to look through. It led to an inner court where various people waited to be received by the shogun.

Kara stood there, slowly eating her food, when suddenly someone grabbed her hand and jerked it outside together with the bowl of food in it.

Hitting the window frame with her shoulder, the young woman grunted from the sheer force she was pulled by someone.

«Ah, my fair lady! We are starving!» she heard and a man in tattered clothes appeared. He was holding her hand very tightly, not allowing her to pull it back. The second man was greedily eating from the bowl.

«Let me go!» Kara hissed at them, hanging on with her free hand on the frame.

Before the men could say anything else, Kara noticed a black shadow run up and a katana fly through the window to one of the men’s throats.

Kara felt the bowl snatched from her fingers, and her hand being released at once. She pulled her hurting arm inside and ran off, feeling the overwhelming pain in her shoulder. She knew exactly what kind of pain it was – the shoulder was dislocated.

«Shit!» she hissed to herself, cradling the arm.

This meant only one thing – she needed to fix it as soon as possible. She felt her shinobi protector touch her back, but threw his hand off.

«Don’t touch me!» she screamed in both – pain and anger.

She stepped up to a pillar and pushed the joint back into the socket, feeling the pain wash over her in waves that made her eyes see darkness.

When she finished, she stepped away, still cradling her arm not to stress the shoulder more. The shinobi tried approaching again, but Kara was so hurt and irritated that she screamed at him again:

«Leave me alone!»

And then she ran off to where she usually stayed only at night – in the cellar, behind the bars of her cage. All she wanted at that moment – was to be left alone. She stayed in the corner for hours – unbothered by anyone, until she finally dozed off into sleep.

But her sleep didn’t last long.

She awakened to a brutal kick in her stomach. When she looked up, trying to catch her breath – she noticed one of the samurai she saw in her first few days. Incapacitated, she was unable to fight off the other two men, who caught her arms and quickly tied them to one of the bars of the cage.

They were talking – but she didn’t understand a word they said. She did understand, however, what was about to happen. Her shoulder was very painful and she was tied, but she still had her legs free, so she started kicking and hitting her attackers. Angry and growling, she tried as best as she could to throw off the men who started tearing apart her haori.

She couldn’t care less if they wanted to rape her just for the sake of it or to get revenge on her for killing their friends and comrades. All she cared about is not letting them do it at all.

But it was an extremely difficult task, since she was hurt and tied. And with each hit she took from her attackers, she was feeling less and less capable of fighting. Feeling her strength leaving her, Kara screamed in anger.

And that’s when the man who was on top of her flew back and crashed into a pile of boxes near the cage.

Kara pulled her legs to her face, covering her body as much as she could. Through the pain and blurry vision she saw how the shinobi beat her attackers with what she could only call true cruelty. One of the men ended up with a broken wrist – he will probably never recover and be able to use that hand again to wield a katana. The other one was beaten senseless by such a long and strong series of punches that he could have died, if the shinobi wouldn’t have stopped at some point. And the last one, who finally got free from the boxes he was thrown into, received a few hits, but was knocked unconscious.

Before letting her consciousness slip away, Kara saw the shinobi walk up and untie her hands.

When she came to her senses again, she was covered by a blanket, her injuries were treated and her shoulder bandaged tightly.

Feeling ashamed and a little broken, she didn’t even want to get up. But she noticed that Ayame was sitting by the cage door.

«I am sorry for what happened last night.» She said to Kara. «This will not happen again.»

Kara remained silent. She would have rolled over to face the wall, but couldn’t because of the sore shoulder. Instead, she simply pulled the blanket over her head and remained in her bed.

To Kara’s surprise, everyone respected her wish not to talk to anyone or be disturbed. Food was brought to her, but she refused to accept it. She took only the herbal teas Ayame provided every day – those made her injuries feel less painful.

But after five days passed her shinobi protector walked into the cage and offered her his hand. She refused to get out of bed, but he shook his head and picked her up instead.

Kara didn’t fight – she finally gave in to the life she was thrown into. She didn’t care anymore – these people could do anything they wanted with her.

The shinobi carried her through the castle and into one of the smaller gardens. Kara couldn’t believe that she was outside and the breath of fresh air gave her some strength back. The man gently set her down on the wooden floor of a tiny teahouse, and a servant brought them a tea set.

Kara kept silent all the way while the shinobi prepared her the fragrant tea. He didn’t say a word, and Kara was grateful that he didn’t. It gave her the possibility to listen to the wind and the birds that surrounded the teahouse.

When the shinobi passed her the cup, she smiled faintly and he bowed.

The tea he made was delicious and warming, but the feeling of the sun on her skin warmed her even more. Whatever she felt for the past few days now seemed far away.

«Thank you.» Kara said to the shinobi.

He bowed again, acknowledging her words.

«Thank you for saving me that night.» Kara said, sipping her tea. «And for today. I needed it.»

The man bowed once more – collected and self-disciplined, as always.

They stayed in the garden for at least a couple of hours before Kara felt her strength returning. When she stood up to take a short walk around the garden, her shinobi stood up as well and followed her – a silent and vigilant guard.

Kara was charmed by the beautiful composition of this garden – it had everything to soothe a troubled mind and help recover from anything that stressed her out. She sat by the small pond filled with koi fish, then breathed in the fantastic scents of various flowers planted all over the garden, and, finally, admired the statues that stood above a tiny rock garden in one of the corners.

«Mariko…» She heard Ayame’s voice and noticed the woman standing by one of the doors. «Master Ryuu wanted to speak to you.»

Kara felt shame that she had to leave such a beautiful and tranquil place, but she knew that if she refused to see the lord commander of this castle – the consequences might be dire. So she nodded and followed Ayame inside.

Ayame took her to one of the halls Kara had never been to before – it was a large, well-lit hall that had various paintings on the walls. On the far side of this hall Kara noticed a luxurious cushion – one of those that were usually used by the shogun in ancient Japan.

On it sat her captor – the lord commander of the castle.

Once he saw her come in, he nodded and offered her to walk up.

Ayame and the shinobi stayed at the doors, while Kara walked up – close enough to hear what the commander had to say, but not too close so that she wouldn’t offend him. She bowed to him, even though it was still hard to do because of her injured shoulder.

The lord commander looked to the side and nodded, and immediately a servant ran out from behind a screen and lay down a small cushion on the floor beneath Kara’s feet. She sat down in the manner people here were used to – on her knees, with her feet under her.

Some why she felt the need to bow again to the lord – only this time – very low, almost touching the floor with her forehead. Usually this meant leaning on both hands, but she had only one – her left arm was wrapped tightly to her torso, so that the dislocated shoulder could heal.

The man in front of her smirked.

«You know our etiquette well, Mariko.» He said.

«I learn quickly.» She replied looking at him.

«Good.» He nodded again. «Now, I have called you here for a number of reasons. First of all, accept my deepest apologies for the attack that happened to you a few days ago. Such behaviour is below a samurai and the men responsible will be punished.»

«Thank you.»

The lord shouted something and the screen doors on one side of this chamber slid open. Kara looked outside and saw a small courtyard, where her three attackers stood kneeling and strapped up by their arms to bamboo poles.

The lord commander stood up and walked up to the doors, gesturing Kara to come too. The woman had some trouble standing up, but when she managed it and approached the lord, he looked at her with a strange expression on his face.

«Inei wanted to execute them at once, but I decided that you should be able to see them being punished for the horrible crime they have committed against you.» The lord said.

Kara looked back and noticed the shinobi nod to her.

«You are here to see the execution and, if you wish, carry it out yourself.» The commander said and Kara looked at him with surprise.

She took a moment to recollect herself.

«I beg your forgiveness, my lord, but I am in no shape to carry out an execution.» She replied.

«Perhaps, you would like to name someone in your stead?»

Kara looked at the shinobi again and noticed his eyes flash with a dark will to do it if it pleased her.

«Inei!» the lord commander shouted and the shinobi ran up to them and knelt.

For a few moments he was looking down, but then looked at Kara and she suddenly noticed something she wasn’t able to see all this time – the shinobi had deep blue eyes.

«Would you be willing to be my hands today?» Kara asked him, and the shinobi nodded and stood up, unsheathing his katana.

Silent as always, he walked out into the courtyard and approached the first prisoner.

Inei stopped for a second, turned to face Kara and his commander, and with a swift move ended the man’s life, chopping his head off. He stepped to the next one and once again raised his sword and swiftly decapitated the man. The third man started begging, but Inei walked up and ended his pleading with one move of his katana.

When the execution was done, Inei bowed to Kara and his commander and walked inside again.

As he was walking past Kara, she caught his arm and he froze mid-step.

«Thank you, Inei.» She said and the man gently freed his arm, turned to her and bowed before walking away to the doors.

«Now that this is done…» the lord commander smiled. «Would you like to join me for dinner tonight? I will be able to answer any questions you have.»

«It would be my honour.» Kara replied, bowing to him.

«Ayame! Please be so kind and find Mariko an appropriate haorihakama for tonight.»

«Yes, Lord Ryuu.» Ayame bowed.

As the lord of the castle left, Kara followed Ayame again. Inei walked behind her and she felt grateful for him being there. He did not only protect her that night, but went even further to help her understand that what those men wanted to do was not tolerated among the samurai living in Lord Ryuu’s employ.

It was a lot to take in, and she now felt a little safer having the shinobi by her side.

«Do you have any preferences to your clothing? Colours, ornaments?» Ayame asked, making Kara dive back to reality from her thoughts.

«Black, red, dark green.» Kara replied, naming her favourite colours. «As for the ornaments… I don’t know. Something without flowers. I don’t do well with flowers on my clothes.»

Ayame glanced at her for a second and smiled mysteriously.

«I think I have a perfect haori for you.» She said.

Kara was taken to the bath again, but this time there was a servant girl who helped Kara undress and bathe, since her shoulder was still injured. And when Kara got out, Ayame was already waiting with her new haorihakama.

At first glance Kara understood that this one was far more exquisite than the one she wore before. It was made from fine silk – plain black hakama and silk black haori with a beautiful tiger on one of the sleeves – with its head on the right shoulder.

Ayame helped Kara to get dressed, and the servant girl tied Kara’s long red hair into a beautiful braid.

Even though Kara had never been dressed, she knew – without help she would have taken forever to get into the clothes, since she still had her arm tied to her torso to let the shoulder heal.

«I found this in your old clothes…» Ayame showed Kara a plain leather string with a sword hanging on it. «I think you should have it back.»

She put it on Kara’s neck and smiled.

«Thank you.» Kara whispered, feeling very relieved that she got this little trinket back.

«Now you are ready, Mariko. Follow me.»

Kara didn’t object and very soon Ayame entered a small hall, where Lord Ryuu was already having a conversation with one of his men. He looked at the women and nodded, then sent the man he was speaking to away and gestured to the table.

«Please…» he said with a faint smile.

Kara watched as Ayame left, closing the door behind her. Feeling a little insecure, the young woman took her place on the opposite side of the table from Lord Ryuu.

«I know that we have started on a…» Lord Ryuu stopped for a moment, trying to find the correct words. «Bad page… is that how you say it? But I want you to know that we took you here not because we needed a captive.»

«Then why?»

«Well…» Lord Ryuu gestured to someone and a couple of servants began serving the table. A few minutes later, as they exited, Lord Ryuu continued, while having a bite of meat. «You see, your realm is lost. It’s broken. It is dying. And we were scouting. But we found you.»

Kara frowned a bit, not understanding his reasons still.

«Usually we kill anyone who attacks us. You, however, are different matter entirely.» Lord Ryuu explained. «You have… potential.»

«So you took me prisoner because I have… potential?!» Kara twitched her eyebrow.

«We took you, yes. Prisoner? No.» the man smiled. «For the moment you are my guest.»

«Who sleeps in a cage, yes.»

For a second she thought that some servant or guard would jump out and strike her down for talking so rude to the lord of the castle. But no one came – and Lord Ryuu started laughing.

«Only because you managed to kill four of my men.» He finally replied. «As I said before – potential. I could not let it go to waste in that graveyard of a world.»

«I still don’t understand why…»

«I am looking for people like you, Mariko. If you get to know my people better, you will find a lot of those who don’t come from this realm. They were stranded, and they were taken – just like you, and they have prospered here. Just like you can. You have skills that can blossom into something great. We can help each other.»

«But how do you travel between worlds?»

Lord Ryuu immediately became collected and serious.

«We do not travel on purpose.» He said. «The gates open once in a while and always lead to different realms. Sometimes we walk through the gates to scout if it is connected to the Dark Realm. On that day the gate took us to your world.»

«And you can’t open them again?»

«People do not open them.»

«Then who does?»

His black eyes pierced Kara to her heart with a cold and long stare before he answered:

«Oni.»

Kara froze – oni were demons in the vilest way they could ever be described. Destroyers and murderers that left nothing but blood and bones. She knew that – because she had seen them. Oni came through her world and kept coming in groups through some of the Shadow Rifts that were left after the dreaded experiment gone wrong.

«How long have you battled the oni?» she asked.

«Generations. Our gates started appearing a long time ago.» Lord Ryuu replied, concentrated on his food. «But we manage as best we can. And we find fighters like you and bring them here from their dying worlds.»

«Inei?» Kara whispered more to herself, but the lord heard her and chuckled.

«Yes, he too was a lost soul a long time ago. But he is now one of the most powerful men in the castle.» The man twitched his eyebrow and gestured towards the food. «Are you not hungry?»

Even though she was too lost in her thoughts, Kara took a little bit of meat and vegetables, but her appetite was very faint. She took a few bites not to insult her host and it gave her a little time to decide on what to ask him next.

«Has anyone tried closing the gates?» she asked.

«Yes. We have a number of capable… mystics who do this for us. But closing the gates is easier than battling the hordes of oni that can come out.» Lord Ryuu looked Kara straight in the eyes again. «You don’t seem to be at all shocked hearing of oni.»

«Yes, I… I have seen them.» Kara said quietly. «And killed a few. Small ones, but still.»

«And you did this all by yourself?»

«Yes. Why?»

A strange expression of acknowledgement and respect appeared on the lord’s face:

«You are much stronger than you appear, Mariko. Others might miss it, but I have an eye for potential and talent. You have both.» He said. «And you understand some things that others might find… barbaric and unacceptable.»

«Like executing three men…»

«Exactly! With all my searching I have come across various people. Most of them are not worthy of saving at all. They are weak, flawed, and either enjoy killing too much, or do not kill at all, even when it is absolutely necessary.» Lord Ryuu fell silent for a couple of moments, studying Kara’s face. «But you do not enjoy violence. You do not kill for the sake of killing. And you fight with honour.»

«I spent too much time surviving on my own. I kill only when threatened. That is why I killed your men – you kidnapped me and I was defending myself.»

«We had no time to persuade you. So I took the risk. And I am sorry to have snatched you from your home.» Lord Ryuu suddenly bowed. «But I could not let you die in that place.»

Kara looked down into her bowl. She knew that even if she could come back – there was nothing to go back to. Her world was dying and Lord Ryuu was right. Perhaps, he did what no one else could do for her – actually saved her from the lonely existence and constant survival that was slowly driving her insane.

«Inei said that you enjoyed my garden?» Lord Ryuu woke Kara from her thoughts, returning her to reality.

«Yes. Thank you. It was very beautiful.»

«I told Inei that he can take you out into all of the gardens within the castle walls. You will be able to see how we live and, perhaps, understand us better?»

«Thank you, Lord Ryuu.»

«I hope I have answered your questions?»

«Yes, quite.»

«Then, perhaps, you can tell me a little bit about yourself – where did you learn to fight like that and what you did back in your home world?»

Kara smirked and took a few bites of food before starting her story. She had nothing to hide and didn’t see any need in doing so. She told him everything he wanted to know.

3

* * *

Lord Ryuu was right about taking strolls in his gardens. Kara learned about the people and their traditions more by looking at how everyone lived – including the simple people, like the gardeners and servants who tended to the needs of people living within the castle walls.

She loved spending time in the gardens, and she didn’t mind her silent guard – the shinobi Inei, who followed her everywhere and never said a single word. She knew that he was watching her and studying her just like she was studying everyone else.

Her shoulder healed and she returned to her training every morning and evening, but she also found that having a little time to meditate in the garden was a pure bliss.

One day, as she was walking on a path she had never taken before, she came across a small pagoda with a drum inside. Intrigued, she walked in and found a monk sitting behind the drum and meditating.

Kara took her time looking at the beautiful carvings and paintings on the massive columns that held up an intricate roof of the pagoda, before the monk stood up and walked up to her, offering her two big drumsticks.

«You are welcome to pray, if you wish.» The monk said with a gentle smile.

Even though he was a young man, he spoke with such confidence and tranquillity that Kara felt a little lost. She glanced back at her shadow – Inei stood at the entrance and slightly nodded at her silent question.

She hesitantly took the drumsticks and stepped up to the drum.

«I’ve never prayed like this…» she said quietly.

«All you have to do is let your soul out and follow it through the beating of the drum.» The monk replied and stepped back, leaving Kara by herself.

She looked at the drumsticks and at the massive drum in front of her, then closed her eyes and sighed. For the weeks that she already spent in the castle there was enough in her soul that needed some way to escape. She raised her arms and two beats sounded, as she gently hit the drum.

Then something inside her opened up, and she began beating a melody that sounded somewhat soothing and familiar. It was as if a giant horse was trotting in the midday sun on a road to somewhere. Then the trotting turned into a gallop and the melody changed into a more powerful, vibrating sound of strength and a sense of purpose.

Kara dissolved in these sounds, creating something insane and magical – something that made her soul sing and cry at the same time. She kept beating and beating, until a scream rose from deep inside and escaped with the last hit she made before falling to her knees – emptied of all the anger, hate and hurt that were living inside her for so long. She felt tired, but free.

When she looked at the monk, she noticed that he was looking outside – at the sudden storm that was rumbling and roaring with thunder above the gardens. Heavy rain was falling from the skies, and Kara stood up and walked out of the pagoda into the rain, soaking in the feeling of its cool embrace and the thousands of fingers that caressed her face.

She had forgotten how it felt – to be free, soaking wet and happy just to be alive. And she started laughing, swirling under the cold rain in a simple and yet captivating dance.

Kara didn’t know how long she was enjoying herself, when suddenly she bumped into Inei – the man caught her mid-step and embraced her gently. She looked into his eyes and smiled – something in his gaze was different. Softer, more intrigued than ever.

He nodded his head in the direction of the castle and she understood that he was asking her to go inside. Maybe, he was worried that she would catch a cold?

Bursting into laughter, Kara nodded. Inei took her hand and they ran off towards the castle, where it was dry and warm.

«I’m sorry.» Kara smiled to her shinobi. «I don’t remember when I felt so… good.»

Even though she couldn’t see his face – she noticed that he was smiling under his mask. And for some reason this made her feel warm inside.

It wasn’t until the evening when the storm started to weaken and Kara found out that it was a very much needed rain – the land was suffering from draught all the time she was there. She even overheard some people talking about someone praying at the pagoda right before the storm broke out. She understood that it was her they spoke about, but she couldn’t understand how her beating the drum would cause for the weather to change so quickly. All she did was dissolve in the music she tried getting out of her heart.

Whatever the case was – she now felt much better and found it in herself to really dive into the life she was now given.

And, most of all, she was grateful to Lord Ryuu for letting her go out into the gardens. She loved this little routine – walking in the morning and evening to set her mind at ease. Sometimes she would even train in the far corners – watched by the shinobi, but never distracted. She began looking at him as her own shadow.