Echoes of a Shattered Age (12 page)

Chapter Seventeen

After traveling the coast for half a day, Kenyatta and Kita came to an old pier where a few small boats bobbed lazily atop the rippling water, their brown rusted motors long since fallen into dysfunction.

“Ages ago ’em use a liquid called gasoline for these things,” Kenyatta said, giving one of the boats a kick. “Now we use blood and sweat, rowing all the way to Japan.”

“Yeah, well in many ways it’s a good thing,” Kita replied.

Kenyatta shrugged. “No complaints outta me. Let’s pick a boat and get to it. I don’t relish the idea of crossin’ the ocean at night.”

“Yeah,” Kita agreed, pulling out a map that had been given to him by Kim, back at Kyu Village. “There’s no telling what’s lurking in the ocean in these times.” They studied the map in silence for a few minutes till Kita found their location. “According to this map, we are on the coast of Pusan.” He slid a finger along the map. “If we head southeast, we will be a bit farther south, but we’ll reach land sooner.”

“South is fine with me,” Kenyatta agreed, “so long as we’re not in the water any longer than need be.” After finding a seaworthy boat, the two friends acquired the best oars they could find with two to spare and turned southeast, toward the coast of Fukuoka, Japan.

* * *

Though the waters were calm, the two friends spoke little as they rowed across the Korean Strait, conserving their energy as much as possible.

“The distance seemed a lot shorter on that map of yours,” Kenyatta said, squinting at the distant Japan.

“Times like this I wish there were still motorboats,” Kita admitted.

“Whoa,” Kenyatta teased. “Not mister ‘in many ways it’s a good ting.’ I thought you were enjoying our little trip.…”

Kita held up his hand and motioned for his rambling friend to look far out to the rear of the boat. Kenyatta strained to see what his friend was pointing at. A few heartbeats passed, then a spiked fin rose about six feet out of the water and gently dipped beneath the surface.

Kenyatta dropped his sandwich and grabbed an oar. “Whatcha still sitting there for?” he asked as he got into position. “Grab your oar. I don’t want to see how big that thing is!”

Kita grabbed his oar and they braced their feet. Once they had timed a rhythm between them, they increased their speed. By now, the ripple of water was steadily closing on them. Kita and Kenyatta gritted their teeth and pulled on the oars with everything they had. The cool sea air blew through Kenyatta’s locks, and the mist from the water covered both men in a soothing spray. But the gentle caress of the ocean breeze was lost on the companions as they raced against the unseen horror that chased them from beneath the waves.

The front of the boat lifted as it climbed over the ripples, and the rear left a streaming wake behind it. Moving inside the wake, however, was the silhouette of a body at least twice the size of the modest boat. “I see … two sets of dorsal fins … that are about eight feet apart from each other,” Kita gasped in between pulls.

“Then row harder and quit talkin’,” Kenyatta growled. The muscles in his chest clenched like steel cords with each pull of the oars.

Eyes squinted closed, teeth clenched, their only concern was to outrun their large pursuer. Kita stole a glance over his shoulder and his eyes lit up. “Ken, the shore is not far, less than half a mile!”

“Oh ya? Good ting I’m not getting
tired
!”

The duo had been rowing at a feverish pace since the halfway point between the two lands without slowing, and now their muscles were on fire.

“Don’t think about it,” Kita said. “We’re almost there!”

“You think I’m gonna give up?” Kenyatta replied. “I got no problem with dying, man. But I got a big problem with being eaten!”

* * *

On Fukuoka Beach, a little girl and her older sister were playing in the sand when she looked out to the ocean and saw a boat riding in on the waves.

“Look! There’s a boat coming this way!”

The older girl came to stand beside her sister. “There is something big following them.” They looked at each other and then back to the scene not far from the shore. The older sister bit her lip. “I hope they make it.”

“Whatever is chasing them looks pretty big,” the younger girl observed.

“Don’t you ever listen?” her sister snapped. “I just said that!”

They watched as the boat neared the shoreline, the waves of the beach aiding its escape from something that they now could see was twice the size of the boat. Having reached shallow waters, the thing slowed and rose slightly above the surface of the water as if to get one last look at the prey that had eluded it. Just as its yellow eyes and huge gray body was visible, it abruptly turned and swam away beneath the surface, its tail slapping the water violently before it too, disappeared beneath the waves.

The boat slid past the watching girls all the way into some nearby rocks. The boat hit the rocks in a loud crack of broken and splintered wood.

***

Chapter Eighteen

Kenjiro gazed at the sky, unable to believe their luck. Not only had the weather held up for the entire day, but on their path, they came upon a running stream that spilled into a lake about thirty feet below, nestled in the center of a sleepy meadow.

Smooth multicolored rocks lined the riverbed, giving it a rich pastel hue. The water in the lake below was so clear, the siblings could see to the bottom.

Akemi knelt beside the stream and tasted the water. After a few sips, she filled her water pouch while her older brother scanned the area. “Why are you so tense?” she asked. “You’ve been uptight for a few days now, ever since we passed through that valley.”

“The world grows more tense,” the samurai responded.

The ninja stood and looked around. “I’ve felt it too.”

“Then you’ve felt the twisted wrongness of it,” Kenjiro replied. “Like something entering this world that doesn’t belong here.”

Akemi arched an eyebrow.

“Demons,” the samurai said.

“Then this will be more fun than we expected!” the ninja responded brightly.

“Speak for yourself, sister,” Kenjiro said.

Akemi walked to the edge of the stream and peeked over the drop, grinning. “This place is perfect for a swim.”

Kenjiro frowned at her. “Has your mind fallen over the edge of that stream? We still are at least two days from Kyokoza and our mission has not even begun. We have much ground to cover and not much time to do it in. We have even less time to waste splashing around in a lake when we have not even reached Toyotomi yet.”

Akemi straightened and eyed her annoyed brother. “Look, we’re going to have to compromise a bit.” She smiled, which brought more than a few worry lines in her brother’s forehead. “OK, I’ll skip the swim and we’ll head straight for Toyotomi now.”

“And?” Kenjiro replied, knowing his sister all too well.

“
And
,” the ninja said with an even bigger smile. “We will spend one full day in Toyotomi and leave for Kyokoza the next day.”

The samurai considered this for a moment, then conceded. “I suppose an extra day will be fine if we are closer to our destination. We will stay in the village for one day only, after which we set out for Kyokoza before morning light and stop only for a brief rest and continue until we reach the city. I accept your terms only if you accept mine.”

Akemi nodded patronizingly through her brother’s terms as he spoke. “Why are you samurai always so uptight?”

Kenjiro narrowed his eyes at his sister, then closed them and took deep breath. “If you were anyone else …”

“I know, I know.” Akemi started away. “If I were anyone else, you would not tolerate my insolence and cut me down, or some such. Lighten up, big brother. Life is already grim enough without you constantly walking around like a samurai in full armor. I must believe that even those of
your
class know how to have fun sometimes.”

Kenjiro just shook his head and made a sound that could have been a snicker. “What karma am I balancing from a past life for the Gods to have given me a ninja sister? Akemi, you are my life’s test.”

Akemi responded with a devious smirk. “You could learn from the Gods, Kenjiro. They have a sense of humor, too.”

* * *

For a long time, Kenyatta and Kita lay in the sand underneath a tree, their broken and splintered boat not far away. Their travels from Kyu Village took most of a day, ending it with a narrow escape from a demon-haunted forest. Now, after having crossed the Korean Strait and barely outpacing some unknown monster, they had finally reached Japan. And here they lay, underneath a beachside tree and wanting very much to sleep.

“Ugh,” Kita groaned, “my whole body is on fire.”

“Mine too,” Kenyatta replied. “My arms most of all. It feel like I’m all tied in knots. I cyan’t relax my arms and my stomach wants to cramp.” He arched a curious eyebrow at two young girls who stood a short distance away. The younger girl bowed and spoke to Kita first.

“
Konnichiwa
,” she chirped hesitantly.

Kita had almost forgotten that they had finally reached Japan. He smiled and returned the greeting. Kenyatta smiled and waited patiently. After a few short words—with the girls keeping their distance—Kita introduced himself and his friend. Kenyatta smiled and greeted the two girls in the common language of the land, which brought surprised smiles to the two bright faces.

For a while they talked, the girls smiling yet keeping a safe distance, and the two travelers making no move to close the space between them.

“How far are we from the nearest city?” Kenyatta asked with a smile, speaking the dialect as if it were his own.

“Our village is near here,” the younger girl quickly responded, after which she received a poke in the back from her sister. The two friends recognized and silently applauded the older girl’s sense of caution. Kita then spoke softly to the older sister.

“We mean not to intrude in your lives or your village. We have come a long way and are looking for the city of Kyokoza. Have you ever heard of such a place?”

The girl nodded. “It is that way,” she answered. “Uncle always takes that path when we go to Kyokoza.”

“Northwest of here,” Kenyatta said, looking in the direction the older sister pointed. “Do you know how far?”

“No,” she responded. “But when we used to ride with Uncle in a caravan, it would take two days. We used to always stop and get Moon Cakes brought from the land of Ba Guo along the way.” Her smile faded. “We don’t go there much anymore. Our parents say that the times are not in favor of a trip so far from home.”

Kita moved a few strands of hair from in front of his eyes. “Your parents are wise and you should listen to them.”

He turned to his friend, who stood looking at their boat. Kenyatta pointed at the craft and looked at the girls. “Did you see what was chasing us?” he asked. Both girls nodded.

“We couldn’t tell until the last minute, but we know it. That fish lives in the sea where you crossed. It usually sinks any smaller boat that travels through there, but you made it. No one has ever beaten it before. Everyone knows not to travel across the water there.”

“How big is that thing?” Kita asked, staring at the thing as though he thought it might jump out of the ocean at them.

“Our father said it is as big as a whale, but with long, sharp teeth. If it would have caught you, it would have eaten you both.”

“I have a feeling it would have done more than eat us,” Kenyatta remarked. That brought a shudder to the two sisters.

The younger girl stepped forward and smiled. “Maybe you can ride horses there. It would be faster that way.” Kenyatta noticed the look of worry on the older sister’s face and smiled.

“You are both very nice, but we could not take anything from your village.”

The older girl noticed twin blades crossed behind the islander’s back, and the small knife tied to his friend’s waist. “Are you two warriors?” she asked.

Kenyatta and Kita smiled at each other and nodded. “I believe you could say that, little one,” Kita answered. “From very far away.” The younger sister lit up with excitement.

“Where are you from? We knew you were not from here. How far did you go to come here?” Kenyatta rocked back as they were barraged by the wave of questions. “I am from Jamaica,” he answered. “A small island that way.”

“And I am from an island called the Philippines,” Kita said. “Actually, my home is not very far from here at all.”

The older sister became a bit more curious. “How can you speak to us? Our mother says that people from other places speak different languages than here.”

Kita smiled at the little girl. “We have been here before.” He glanced down at the cinnamon brown-colored sand, and then back at the inquisitive little girl in front of him. “Probably before you were born.” The older girl stared into the warrior’s eyes, then smiled.

“My name is Aiko,” she said, then indicated her younger girl. “And she is my sister Rimi.”

“Nice to meet you Aiko and Rimi,” both men said.

Kenyatta attempted to help them to pronounce his name, but after seeing the trouble they were having, he just laughed. “You can just call me Ken if it is easier for you.” As it turned out, pronouncing Kenyatta’s name broke the tension in the two girls and Aiko finally agreed with Rimi that the two friends should accompany them to the village.

“Yamada Village is not far from here,” the older girl said eagerly. “We can take you there now and you can meet our parents.

Kenyatta and Kita exchanged concerned looks. They were unsure how the parents of these two girls would react to the generosity of their daughters to two weapon-clad foreigners who just rowed onto the beach.

“Well?” Kenyatta looked at his friend. “The most they can do is run us outta town.”

Kita just shook his head at his friend’s logic, then bowed his head to Aiko. “Lead on.”

* * *

Hours after their stop at the waterfall-fed lake, Kenjiro and Akemi cut a trail through surprisingly dense foliage. Vegetation and wildlife flourished as it never had before, and although they would have to be wary of the lesser demon spirits that were becoming more common, they also remained wary of some of the more dangerous predators that lived higher on the food chain than themselves. When traversing open fields, they hastened their pace, but when they passed through the more thick forested areas, the ninja usually traveled ahead in the trees to get a better look at their surroundings. With fiercer animals populating the lands these days, she felt the trees were still the safest route.

Akemi called for a stop, and made her way to the top of one of the taller trees in the area to get a panoramic view. The woods were not that dense, and they would pass through at a reasonable pace. She slipped a compact spyglass out of her sack to have a closer look at the land outside the woods. Once satisfied, she descended back to her brother.

“I can almost make out a small rural city that I believe is Toyotomi. We should reach it before night.”

Kenjiro nodded at that news. “Then let us leave now.”

“I agree. I’m looking forward to having my first hot bath in so long.” Her older brother merely grunted and turned to move on. Akemi sighed. “I suppose comfort isn’t part of the samurai code,” she muttered.

***