Samurai in the Time Rift 7.3

7.3

Taisa Mori bowed to the Lord and left the tree house. He gathered the servants and the remaining warriors including the freed slaves. He told them that they are to leave. A pallenquin was build for Iza to travel in while he still recovered from his wound. He asked the servants to armed themselves and carry the maximum load on their back with the supplies.

"May I see my father?" Ayuse indicated in signs for permission from Taisa Mori. He nodded and saw Lady Noki had followed the young lady. Taisa also instructed Bento to accompanied her. The group marched off leaving the two behind. Lady Ayuse took to the treehouse and bowed to her father.

"My child, there is nothing I can do for you now. Maybe the Taisa would be kind to find you a suitable match and blessed you with happiness." Lord Noriake smiled at his last surviving daughter. It was then, Bento approached the Lord and bowed.

"Lord Noriake, I would protect her. I would also like to request your permission for me to court her and soon to be my bride." Hohei Bento asked of the Lord.

Lord Noriake nodded and smiled back at his daughter.

"Amaterasu blessed you, child." Lord Noriake spoke up. Then he asked them to leave but Lady Noki refused to budged.

"My Lord, my life belongs to you. I am forever in your debt." Lady Noki told the Lord. She was saved by the Lord and had pledged to served him.

"Lady Noki, I released you from my bond. Please go now before its too late." Lord Noriake told the servant but she still refused to move. Lord Noriake stood up and kicked at her.

"Be gone or I shall have you killed now." But still Lady Noki refused to move. In the end, Lord Noriake told her the new task of his.

"Protect my daughter until she had married. Then you may joined me." With that Lady Noki nodded and left with the young couple.

Lord Noriake looked at the departed trio and then sighed. He moved to the armor unit and pat it on the left arm. He  took out the remote from his tunic and activated it. The armor came to live and followed the old man out of the treehouse. Their journey was not far as they soon descended into the hole in the ground where the other machinations of the previous armor master are kept. Lord Noriake key in the codes and armed the bomb with a set timing for detonation. He then climbed inside the armor and sealed himself in.

Inside the dark armor, he did not activate its power but sat there with his mind remembering the older days when he was still on Nippon Land. He remembered the seven virtues of Bushido;

"Gi" - The Right Decision. Rectitude.

"Yu" - Valor

"Jin" - Benevolence

"Rei" - Respect

"Makoto" - Honesty

"Meiyo" - Honor

"Chugi" - Loyalty

Lord Noriake recalled the words of Minamoto no Yorimasa; a prominent Japanese poet and warrior. In the battle at Uji, he committed suicide when his side was defeated. That ritual was the earliest known instance of a samurai's suicide in the face of defeat. His famous death poem was what Lord Noriake recited.

Like an old tree, From which we gather no blossoms, Sad has been my life, Fated to bear no fruit.