Samurai in the Time Rift 4.1

Part 4

The New Friends

4.1

"Welcome to our home away from home." The leader of the rebellion on this new land addressed the newcomers at the hideout in another cavern some distance away from the one which they have just exited. The leader was a bearded man, taller than the Taisa and dressed in a canvas doublet and breeches, knitted caps called Monmouth caps, cotton waistcoats and drawers, stockings, linen shirts and shoes. On his belt waist; hung the two cutlass: short, broad sabre with a slightly curved blade sharpened on the cutting edge, and a hilt of solid cupped shaped guard. In his right boot, there was the short dagger which he normally used to picked his food. A long barrel matchlock leaned next to his high back chair made from wood.

"My name is Captain Rodriquez; formerly of the Portuguese nation, and now a resident of this land." The bearded man  spoke in the language of the Nippon, and yet he was not one. "I was stranded here some time back; probably years ago when the mist claimed my ship and crews. I was not the first, but then came the others."

"There was the other mate of mine; Nyri of the Ainu fishermen fleet." Captain Rodriquez introduced the other who sat next to him. The man was also bearded abut dressed in "birdskin" clothes made of birdskin with feathers of sea gulls. The man there held in his hand; the twin set of Ainu curved sword.

"There is one other; Commander Kito; who once served in Taira No Tomomori fleet", the third who sat there was introduced. He was a dressed in the dressing of the Nippon with his daisho on his obi belt, and the long yari leaning at his seat. The one who sat there have aged with gray hairs and beard, but his stout and firm body sits straight on the high back chair.

"All three of us are allies, in this godforsaken place, but bound by the code of survival. We come from different era of timeline but here that matters not, as all that came are considered as present timeline." Captain Rodriquez paused as he scanned the cavern for the number of men there. "We used to number into the hundreds, and now we are down to just over a hundred. Your men are welcome to stay with us."

"Hajimemashite, Juno Mori desu. Douzo yoroshiku," ( I am Obi Sori-san. Nice to meet you. ) I am a Taisa under Shogun Kakizaki." Taisa Mori introduced himself. "We are aware that we are no more on the land of the Shogun. We too came here with more numbers but that was reduced to the ones you see now."

"Nevertheless, we been successful in killing them. Please joined us in the feast." Te leaders of the alliance called for rejoice in a feast on them defeating the Hibagon at the cavern. The food that was laid out was bare but it was meat and drinks; fermented juice that was sweet. Commander Kito sat with Taisa Mori and discussed on the land of Shogun. The commander related his last memory prior to the transport here.

"It was the battle of Dan-no-ura, we were in command then; the sea worked with us. We were outnumbered, but we understood the tides of that particular area. We had good strategists who knows the area and the sea. We split the fleet into three squadrons, while the enemy arrived en masse,. Our ships were ahead with the archers Our ships abreast, and archers ready; it was the beginning of the battle of long-range archery exchange, before we surrounded them."

"We engaged the Minamoto, and the archery from a distance eventually gave way to hand-to-hand combat with swords and daggers after the crews of the ships boarded each other. However, the tide changed, and the advantage was given back to the Minamoto. They took advantage of our concern for the young Emperor Antoku."

"Soon we were harassed by the enemy on the Emperor well being. It turned our focus and we began losing grounds. Many of the warriors, including Taira no Tomomori, Taira no Tsunemori and Taira no Norimori, as they saw the battle turn against them, threw themselves overboard, committing suicide rather than having to face defeat at the hands of the Minamoto."

"With my men, we did the same but there was a mist that overcome us and we ended here." Commander Kito sighed. "Two hundred and eighty of us arrived here, and now only fifty survived."

"How fare the land of Shogun?" The old samurai asked of the Taisa.

"That was over three hundred years ago; the country seen many changes. The current Emperor Go-Hanazono with the Muromachi era. The Shogun now replaced the Daimyo; he is Ashikaga Yoshiakira." Taisa Mori explained to the Commander.

"Minamoto no Yoritomo era was then short with only a hundred over years. I am pleased." The previous Commander of the Taira naval smiled.  

"The Kamakura era was short, and marred by the barbarians who came from the Han Northern lands; the grass riders. The great wind stopped them but we suffered to prepared for their renewed attack but they never came back."Taisa Mori explained and then changed the subject back to the Commander.

"Commander Kito, please tell me what happened to the men of yours? The new land? The deadly creatures?"

"We woke up to the new land, two hundred and eighty sailors and three commanders. We jumped into water and landed on land. A dark land, but we fought our way out. It took us a long time I think, but we did. I came out with seventy eight of them, and including myself." Commander Kito sighed and took a drink of the fermented drink.

"We fought off serpents, those creatures, even small cats that walked on feet. We came out and found Captain Rodriquez with his men. He had a longer stay fighting off with three ships load of sailors but when we met, he was down to only a hundred. Nyri there a village head who went to searched for his missing boats, ended up here alone as all his fellows died during their stay of two moons. There was another but he died in the last battle; Tekujin of the Khiyad tribes. His son now lead the twenty five fierce warriors. The new leader name is Nuruk of Khiyad."

Taisa saw the young warrior pointed out to him. The warrior was a short, stocky, heavy-set fellow with a large round head and a broad face featuring a wide flat nose, prominent cheekbones, and dark almond-shaped eyes. His skin was a swarthy, almost leathery appearance, even though he smeared his face with a protective coating of oil. He wore a fairly bushy mustache, usually shaved his head except for the straight black hair on the sides of his head which he braided and looped up behind his ears. He wore a tunic which was open from top to bottom, folded over the breast, and fastened on the right side. The tunic was made from a coarse cotton or hemp cloth, stiffened with a glue-like substance to hold its form. His trouser was tucked into stubby felt or leather boots with a calf-length surcoats or long robes split at the sides and gathered in at the waist by a girdle. The chief Mongol weapon was the composite bow, a superbly deadly device used primarily in a charge and in fighting from the saddle at close quarters. This powerful weapon had a draw that approached 165 pounds.

In the hands of a skilled archer, it could reportedly hurl an arrow with deadly accuracy on a flat trajectory at a range of 200 to 300 yards. They also carried a long bow, used for fighting at long range. The sheath for this bow hung from a belt in front of his left thigh. Along with the bow, the typical warrior carried three quivers of about thirty arrows each. Suspended from his belt and hung across the small of his back, each quiver contained different arrows for different ranges and uses. There were armor-penetrating arrows, arrows for use against unprotected troops, and a third type used for arrow grenades and flaming naptha. He also have a light saber on his wist belt.

"He hates us, Nippon." Commander Kito. "He was in the fleet that was to invade our land."

"I don't drink with Mongols!" The voice of the Hohei was resounding above the merry making noises. Taisa Mori turned to looked at the young samurai now confronting the three Mongol warriors. Even before Taisa can move, the group of four samurai including Gunso faced off ten Mongols. Taisa walked over and noticed Edo was backing him with the five farmers.

"Temushin, come back here!" The Chief of the Mongol spoke in the native tongue. The three Mongol warriors backed up to meet their Chief. They were whispering and then they all retreated to the far cavern.

"Gunso, tell the rest to hold their tongue. We are guests here." But unheard by the samurai, Captain Rodriquez whispered to the Ainu leader. They spoke in their Nippon tongue.

"They are a dangerous lot. We may have to be careful with them." Those words were heard by a slave laying at the flooring. His eyes were closed but his ears were all listening.