Battle at Fate Gate
There he sat, gazing upon the reflection pool as the armies of the Matsu and Isawa faced one another for a coming battle – a coming battle that would answer a question that many had forgotten, but not Isawa Kaiyoko, the current Master of Water. The Lord General of the Lion, Matsu Uniri, had made a challenge that the imperial shugenja were an unnecessary addition to the Armies of the Emperor. The courtly Isawa argued that their magics were unsurpassed and that an army of soldiers was no match for an army of Isawa shugenja. The Shiba cheered the motion and said that any army of Isawa would surely defeat an army of Matsu. Uniri knew when a challenge was being made. He rose, removed his katana from its saya, and cut his own finger. He quietly uttered the word “Done,” and left the court. The entire assembly knew the meaning of the words and the battle of Matsu and Isawa would be a fierce display of power.
Three months later, Isawa Kaiyoko watched from her sanctuary as eight Shiba prepared to be teleported to the Matsu war room the night before the battle. The Shiba knew that they would never return, but it was their duty to see that the battle between be determined without Matsu leadership. A bold and decisive move for the Isawa, but a necessary act if the Isawa were to be deemed worthy of the Emperor’s aid.
Eight men entered the portal, and Isawa Kaiyoko sat gazing at her pool awaiting the fall of Uniri. When the portal opened and the Shiba emerged they faced the wrath of not one, not two, but three Matsu determined to see them dead. Isawa Kaiyoko had calculated for Uniri and his wife Yunaki, but not for a ten-year-old Matsu Tsuko. The first strike from the first Shiba coming through the portal fell short and he was easily killed. The second Shiba brought her sword down swiftly into the distracted Uniri’s body. Yunaki gathered her katana and swiftly dispatched the Shiba one by one, while her husband destroyed another two Shiba with his last strength. But it was Matsu Tsuko and her boken crushing the windpipe of the last remaining Shiba that sealed the fate of the Isawa army. As the Lion guards rushed into the tent, Kaiyoko’s reflecting pool discerned nothing more…and her fate at the battlefield tomorrow would be left at the hands of an equally fierce General, Matsu Yunaki.
When the Matsu assembled for battle the next day, the war cry of a ten-year-old girl could be heard: “I am Matsu Tsuko, daughter of the great Daimyo Uniri, and I have slain a cowardly Phoenix with a stick and my own honor. How many Phoenix can claim this?” The Matsu roard, and then charged. And the rest is history left for a bard to tell.
Three months later, Isawa Kaiyoko watched from her sanctuary as eight Shiba prepared to be teleported to the Matsu war room the night before the battle. The Shiba knew that they would never return, but it was their duty to see that the battle between be determined without Matsu leadership. A bold and decisive move for the Isawa, but a necessary act if the Isawa were to be deemed worthy of the Emperor’s aid.
Eight men entered the portal, and Isawa Kaiyoko sat gazing at her pool awaiting the fall of Uniri. When the portal opened and the Shiba emerged they faced the wrath of not one, not two, but three Matsu determined to see them dead. Isawa Kaiyoko had calculated for Uniri and his wife Yunaki, but not for a ten-year-old Matsu Tsuko. The first strike from the first Shiba coming through the portal fell short and he was easily killed. The second Shiba brought her sword down swiftly into the distracted Uniri’s body. Yunaki gathered her katana and swiftly dispatched the Shiba one by one, while her husband destroyed another two Shiba with his last strength. But it was Matsu Tsuko and her boken crushing the windpipe of the last remaining Shiba that sealed the fate of the Isawa army. As the Lion guards rushed into the tent, Kaiyoko’s reflecting pool discerned nothing more…and her fate at the battlefield tomorrow would be left at the hands of an equally fierce General, Matsu Yunaki.
When the Matsu assembled for battle the next day, the war cry of a ten-year-old girl could be heard: “I am Matsu Tsuko, daughter of the great Daimyo Uniri, and I have slain a cowardly Phoenix with a stick and my own honor. How many Phoenix can claim this?” The Matsu roard, and then charged. And the rest is history left for a bard to tell.
