Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn From: rudnick@cfatrw.harvard.edu (Bret Rudnick) Subject: [VampQ] Dreams Message-ID: Date: Sun, 2 Jan 1994 15:44:17 GMT ============================================================ [VAMPQ] Dreams Admin [The cast of characters for the [VampQ] thread: Character Created/Managed by --------------------------------------------------------- Ja'nis arsmith@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Alan Smith) Bluestar Dreamer (in absentia) Gemini (Feline familiar of Bluestar Dreamer) Moria Runecaster Master Hawk Rathan Barbar Morning Reaper Ah (Blood spider created by Rathan) Turion "Mr. Sinister..." a salamander (Turion's Travelling Companion) Billy the Torch JGE103@PSUVM.PSU.EDU Matte Kudasai Matt Hebert Tomonobu Fujiwara rudnick@cfatrw.harvard.edu (Bret R. Rudnick) Synopsis: While escaping from the castle of the vampire Pericles, Tomonobu is rendered unconscious. While in that state, he is having a flashback dream. The time is before he came to Generica, in Tokugawa-era Japan, the place is the mountainous province of Echizen. Admin [As always, comments/questions welcome.] ============================================================ Although still summer, the air cooled quickly after sunset. Down in the plains the heat and humidity would be oppressive, but here in the mountains, the air was crisp and clear. The last rays of the sun were slipping behind the mountains as Tomonobu knelt in the soft ground where marshlands ambled down to meet the wide, slow-moving river at the mouth of a large mountain lake. The warrior removed a brush and inkwell from the pack of belongings he had set aside. He carefully inscribed a different name on each of three white toro (ADMIN: A toro is a votive lantern set afloat on a river or lake to commemorate the souls of the dead on certain festival days. Traditionally, white lanterns are used for those who died within the last year, while coloured lanterns are for older spirits. For those who have seen it, it is a moving spectacle.) He wrote "Masako", "Senju", and "Kage", then lit the lanterns and carefully pushed them into the current that would carry them to the lake. From this vantage point he could see many lanterns drifting toward the lake centre. "So many white lights this year," he sighed. He watched the lanterns he set adrift until he could no longer distinguish them. "Farewell," he waved. A tear came to his eye in contrast to his stern countenance and voice. "Wait for me." Before he turned around to get his pack and renew his journey he heard a voice whisper loudly behind him. "Kashira!" Tomonobu stiffened. The term was one used by the gangster Yakuza or assassin Ninja, and was a term of respect meaning roughly "boss" or "chief". Tomonobu instantly knew what this was about. "You have mistaken me for someone else," he said without turning around. Tomonobu knew that even if he did turn around, he would see nothing. The voice would be well hidden among the reeds in the marsh. He needed more information before he could determine the location of the speaker. "I am Tomonobu. Until its abolition, I was the heir to the Fujiwara clan. Now I am but a ronin, as free as the ocean waves." "You are Tomisaburo, of the Iga clan," the voice declared. [Got it,] Tomonobu thought. "I am Tomonobu of the clan Fujiwara. That was the name given to me by the family who adopted me. The name you mentioned was that of a boy sold by his parents into the service of others. That name died years ago." "You know our ways," the voice continued. "You are an Iga. You were sent into the Fujiwara clan to gain rank and privilege, gather information, and further Iga ambitions. The old clan chief is dead and you are the heir." In a flash of motion barely visible to the naked eye, Tomonobu drew his sword in a flourish of iaijutsu and struck behind him. With a single strike of the palm of his hand to the hilt of his sword every drop of blood on the blade fell to the ground. He then smoothly returned the weapon to the scabbard. There was a cry of pain in the reeds behind him, and Tomonobu now turned to see a man writhing in agony, the man's hands tight against his head. "If you keep the pressure on what's left of your ears, you won't bleed to death," Tomonobu said flatly. "It also has the advantage of keeping you from throwing something unpleasant at me. The only reason you are not dead at this moment is because you will carry this message back to the ninja dogs who sent you. Tell them my life is my own. Since the murder of MY adoptive family MY clan has been abolished and I am ronin. I travel the road to Meifumado (ADMIN: The Dark Realm of Hell). The Iga abandoned me when they sold a seven year-old boy for gold. By the grace of the gods I found a family who needed an heir, treated me with respect, and showed me the true meaning of loyalty. When I've avenged them, the Iga can take their petty squabbles up with me, if they haven't killed each other off with their convoluted plots by then." "You cannot escape your fate," the man moaned. "Indeed. My fate does not involve the Iga ninja. I shall destroy the wizard responsible for the abolition of my clan and the death of my family. And if the Iga entertain notions of misguided vengeance upon me, then let them send their assassins one by one, by ten, or by the hundred. I shall send them floating to Hell on a river of their own blood!" Tomonobu turned away and slipped into the deepening twilight. His path was noted only by a passing fox, but that kitsune spirit had other concerns that night. It smiled, and went about its business, listening to the growing din of the frogs, and watching the fireflies in the bright moonlight. -- |--------------------------------------------------------------------| | On the edge of Oblivion, all the world is Babylon, And all the | | lovers and everyone, a ship of fools, sailing on -- Wang Chung | |--------------------------------------------------------------------|