Samurai; Lost in the Time Rift 1.2

1.2

Gunso Mita was the first to wake, his eyes roved on the surrounding while his right hand searched blindly for his yari. He could not believed his eyes, as before, they were on a icy cold seaside road, and now he thinks they are in Yomi ( the underworld ) as it was all dark around with reflective green moss on the wall surface. He got up immediately and prostrate himself on the wet flooring while asking for forgiveness from the deities that may had dwell there. His eyes slowly adjusted to the new surrounding, he soon find that his surrounding was some cavern. The cavern opened with a wide silt-floored room that extend for a long distance into the darkness, with the width far into the dark for without light to measure its end. There was no large or small area rooms, the whole cavern silt up to or very near the ceiling. It was not possible to climb up this dome as there was no steps to show the path to any other upper levels. One the flooring was scattered boulders and hard crusted soiled which had formed into solid rocks of different sizes and shapes.

Gunso could see the others; Hohei and his Taisa, the farmers with the overturned pallenquin. The man who was in there was then sprawled on the wet flooring still unconscious or sleeping. The later may had been sleeping all through this time.

The Gunso walked over to the others and kicked at them to be awakened, including the slaves. At the same time, the farmers also woke up but everyone was too dazed to fight. He said the prayers for the two Hohei who had died, and arranged their bodies in a row. The farmers did the same for their dead; the three farmers by arrows.

He then woke up the Taisa.

"Are we in Yomi, Tana?" The Taisa addressed his aide by the name. If they are in Yomi, then the ranks would be dispelled off and they could be just friends.

"No, Taisa Mori. We are in dark cavern. We are not claimed by Izanagi yet." Gunso spoke up. "We would be if we continue our fight."

Gunso motioned to the congregated farmers who stood at the far end with their leader, Edo. Taisa Mori pulled himself and addressed the farmers.

"We are lost; swept by what and where we do not know." Taisa spoke to the farmers. "I would suggest a truce and let us made sense of our plight."

"We have three deads to your two; I doubt we need to have any truce." The one who held the bo spoke up but Edo intervened.

"The samurai is right. We need to know where are we? Are we still alive for one? I last remembered was the sounds and then darkness." Edo spoke up. He then looked around and then back at the Taisa. "We would looked for the way out. You may need to tend to some wounded."

It was a slap in the face for Taisa and Gunso. Four of his Hohei are injured in the fight while the farmers are without any major injuries. Taisa told Gunso to attend to the wounded while he explored the place.

"Bento, seek some woods or paper from the packs. Make some small fires to light up our dark cavern." The Hohei went on the task assisted by his friend, Sun. Meanwhile the Gunso was stripping the dead Hohei of their weapons and passing it to be stored with the other belongings. It would go back to their families for their memory of these fine sons.

Taisa Mori removed his thick clothings when he felt the atmosphere there was not as cold as the icy road. Beneath his thick clothes were his samurai clothing; shitagi, a short kimono with a button at the neck and a thin attached waist cord (obi) with a pair of trousers hakama; a loose skirting that was cut and sewn like pants. Over these clothes was the Haori; a short jacket worn over the shoulders. His feet are still clad in the geta; wooden slippers. Around his waist was his obi; the long sash in which he tuck in the daisho. He noticed all the Hohei and Gunso have done the same except that his had more motifs than theirs. He saw the slaves have removed their thick clothings to their fundoshi; the loin cloth worn by all. They have carried the Teishin back into the litter while he slept all the time.

"Gunso, where have our farmers fled to?" Taisa asked of the ranked warrior of the seventeen farmers.

"They went that way." Gunso motioned with his right hand, as he held onto the yari with the left hand. True to his words, the farmers can be seen fleeing back with screams of fear and panic. There was only twelve of them and they came running into the camp site pleading for mercy.

"Samurai, protect us from the devils of the cavern. Ito have gone to them and so would the rest." One of farmers prostrated before Taisa for protection. "It took one of us."

"Gunso, keep the camp alert. I would go and check." As the Taisa moved towards the direction from where the farmers came, two Hohei followed him; Bento and Sun with their yari held in their hands.

"May Hachiman protects them." Gunso Mita muttered to himself. Then he kicked out at the farmers to formed a line.

"You are men, so behaved like one. Now you would tell me from each of you what happened there?" Gunso Mita shouted to the farmers. Just as he completed his statement, the sound of a scream was heard in the cavern.

Meanwhile, Taisa Mori had stepped past the cover of some large boulders to shown the sight of two of the farmers holding back what may appeared to be a large serpent; thrice the four times of man and taller than man by two lengths. It was bluish with green stripes over its body. It was not only that frightens the tough warrior of the east, but the serpent was not with one but two heads.

"Edo, I am here to assist." Taisa Mori rushed forth as he drew on his katana. He swung the blade with arc over the head swing and slashed at one of the serpent' head. There was no blood that seeps out but a green mixture which glows on the flooring. Nevertheless with the slash, the serpent still fights on with the open gash.

"Its hard to kill. They can take on wounds and fights on." Edo shouted back to warned the samurai. "I have bleed it in more than three places and yet it fights."

Taisa Mori saw the wounds on the serpent but its not affecting its ferocity in fighting them. He then turned to the Hohei.

"Bento, light up the arrowheads. Use the flame to burned it." Bento understood his leader's words, as he tore off a strip of cloth from his hakama and wrapped it around the arrowhead. Then he grabbed the bottle of sake hidden inside Sun' jacket. He poured on the wine and used his lighted fire stick carried by him to light up the wine. He picked up the arrow and notched it on the bow. He then positioned himself by correcting this posture to raised the bow up. He sighted the desired are of his prey and muttered the prayer for guidance. The arrow found its mark on the left eye of the left head on the serpent. The arrow pierced in deep and burned at the delicate flesh. It was then the serpent took off back into its own hideaway.

"Edo, they are gone." The one who fights with the bo, searched for the dead companions but none was to be seen. "Who could had taken them so fast?"

"Iza, they are dead. Devoured by the serpent. We cannot do anything for them." Edo comforted his friend with a body hug that only warriors can appreciate. "Let us say our prayers and be off to rejoined the others."

Both samurai and warriors stood there to say the prayers to speed the souls of the departed to the celestial world. As they have completed the prayers, they heard the screams again, but this time it was from the camp site. Taisa Mori wasted no time to rushed back with the other following close behind. The sight that behold them was the same serpent have appeared there with the vengeance of killing all of them. Its wounded eye now blackened but does not stopped the serpent from fighting. One farmer and one Hohei was seen on the ground unmoving, while the serpent tries to slithered over their bodies. It was then Taisa Mori saw how the Serpent actually devoured its kill; there were a set of tiny legs that pushed the body towards the joint section of the serpent body where an orifice would swallowed the kills in whole.

"Sun, your sake bottle." Taisa beckon to the Hohei for the bottle which he had stuffed in the fire stick from Bento and tossed it into the open orifice. Once the bottle dropped there, it was pushed in with the dead body. Then the serpent writhed in pain as the fire spread within its body. The tiny legs reacting to the pain would not pulled the serpent back as it agonized over the pain.

"Gunso, the yari." Taisa shouted. "In between the necks."

Gunso Mita saw the spot and hurled in the yari with great force. It struck at the delicate spot and opened a large wound. There the other Hohei rained their arrows at the spot while the farmers used their pitchforks to thrust into the serpent exposed necks. Taisa Mori rushed out and had his katana to slashed at the joint between the necks. Every cut he made increased the pain inflicted on the serpent and finally it dropped dead on the flooring. The green mixture that it bleeds burned at the flooring but then soon caked to become green moss.

"That's wasabi for your sushi." Gunso Mita spoke out. No one dares to reply to his words then. Edo and Iza comforted his own men on the death of the few by this vile creature. As usual, Gunso would collect the dead's weapons to be stored away. He retrieved his yari and found it partly coated with the green moss. He took up the yari and thrust it once more into the dead serpent.

"Take that to Yomi with you. I would get another myself." Gunso walked away with a feeling of sadness on losing his yari.