Samurai in the Time Rift 6.3

6.3

Taisa Mori was escorted to meet the Lord of the Nihonzaru, by a standing guards of ten warriors led by a leader named Carin. The samurai was disarmed and only carry a paper fan which he borrowed from Teishin. He was greeted by the sight of several hundreds of these Nihonzaru but some of them are maimed or covered with gray hairs.

"Your people looked weary and ..." Taisa spoke out his observation to the leader of the Nihonzaru welcoming committee.

"A sight which we chose to hide our real strength. Our army of warriors are in the forest and its surrounding hills, but for your pathetic group, our aged and infirmed can handle them without much effort." Leader Carin replied as he gave out his high shrieked of delight sounding to the samurai.

"I saw those, with your adversary Hibagon on the near hills. Surely, they are to battle those Hibagon but to my observation, it was more of invading your forest." Taisa Mori threw back the challenge to the leader and then gave out a deep laugh.

"You mock me, slave..." Leader Carin jumped into the path of the samurai as he placed his hands on the daggers. His warriors around him done the same like the leader.

"Leader Carin, I am unarmed." Taisa spread out his hands to show the non-existence of his weapons. "Surely, you would not killed me without me having a weapon."

Lord Carin would had acted if not the timely arrival of the one named Rini. The newly arrived Nihonzaru approached the leader and whispered a message over.

"Bah! The Lord is a fool." Leader Carin may cursed at his Lord, but he does not dare to disobey the Lord. Not then but sooner he would. He took his hand away from the dagger and waved the warriors to marched on. Soon they reached the root of the tree that housed the Grand Hall. A wooden cage was lowered down for the samurai but he declined.

"I would not travel in the cage like a slave. Give me a vine and I would climb up myself." Taisa Mori declared. He had learned to climb with the others and to a certain extent knew how. It was now a question of how fast can he climbed. A vine was lowered to him and it was knotted in many places to made a hold.

"Use this one, samurai." The one who handed him the vine spoke Nippon and was an older man. He was about the height of Taisa but clad only in his tattered fundoshi. The older man noticed the samurai staring at him.

"We made to do with what we have." The older man smiled. "My name is Sansa. Formerly of Lord Noriake."

Taisa thanked the older man and climbed up with the ease of the knots. As he was climbing, he heard the older man was rattled by the Leader Carin. Soon Taisa found himself on the flooring of the Grand Hall porch as he climbed on. Leader Carin had joined him with ease with the warriors.

"Lord Setra awaits you." That was what the Leader told him. It was then the other Nihonzaru intervened.

"Lord Setra asked me to take him in alone." Rini announced to the leader who was upset at being left out but the other was leading the samurai inside.

Taisa Mori soon find himself in the Grand Hall; a chamber of over fifty feet across and a hundred feet in length with a height of twenty feet. To the samurai, its a medium sized chamber but to the Nihonzaru, it was a large chamber. There was the older Nihonzaru seated at the end of the hall, but he forbid the samurai from approaching too near.

"You may speak from there." Taisa Mori had just stepped in and now was asked to stop there.

"Speak your words." The Lord of the Nihonzaru spoke out. "Make it brief. We don't have a history of talking."

"I came bringing your blood kins, Leno. He was wounded by another of your blood kins; Keo. That one had massed an army to topple you." Taisa Mori advised the Lord. "We come to formed an alliance with you."

"You and how many more?Ten or twenty? Or perhaps a hundred and twenty?" Lord Setra cracked out a long shriek but Taisa defended his numbers.

"We are few but we are worth a thousand of you. You knew that the armor traveled with us. We can help you."

"And for what you need in return?" Lord Setra asked back.

"A chance to live peacefully in your land and maybe freeing the slaves." Those were Lord Noriake' request but the second one was by Taisa.

"And if I refused, you would join Keo. You are pathetic, slave." Lord Setra commented back. It then stood up and told the samurai to go back.

"This is a war which would be fought by Nihonzaru. And only Nihonzaru." Lord Setra told the samurai.

"No, Lord of the Nihonzaru. Its our fight too. We either fight with you or alone." Taisa Mori announced it to the Lord. "We been sent here by something and you imprisoned us as slaves. Not the slaves would fight for their place on his land."

Taisa Mori turned to walked out but the Lord stopped him.

"So be it, slave. We fight together but we would...." Lord Setra was interjected by the samurai.

"We fight together and then when its over, we are your equal. No more the slave and no more the food for the serpent." Taisa Mori told the Lord off.

"Food? Those are Hibagon' preference. We don't eat slaves. We feed them to the Ryu." Lord Setra shriek out in laughter. "You would have Rini as your rep with my warriors. All you need are through Rini."

"Rini, you would take the Second Column." Lord Setra assigned the second best of his warriors to Rini. The Lord have retained the First Column to protect the Hall. Each column have fifty warriors, trained to be the best.

"Your first task would be to clear a escape path for the ones in the city." Lord Setra told the leader of the Second Column.

Rini and the assigned Second Column convened at the edge of the city while Taisa Mori fetched the rest into the city. Meanwhile Rini asked to speak to the current command of Second Column.

"I am Leader Kayo, Second Column." The one who spoke looked like Rini but there was a scar over the left eye. "The column being with me for over three hundred sunrise and we understand each other well."

"Good, Leader Kayo. How would you proposed we run the non-combatants out of the city?" Rini asked the leader.

"Lord Setra knew we are the only Column who knew of the hidden passage. Its not far from here. We can lead the people out to the hidden caves." Kayo explained to Rini. By then the other column of the samurai have arrived. Taisa Mori joined Rini and introduced Lord Noriake and Edo.

"We may be too late. We killed two scouts but before they were killed, they told us the attack was due by the next sunrise." Lord Noriake explained their intelligence findings.

"That would give us time to move the people out." Rini replied to the Lord. "Let us move them out in stages soon."

"Rini, I would like to armed the slaves. They could fight for you in returned for their freedom." Taisa Mori looked at the Nihonzaru. "How many do you have?"

"We have a hundred and fifty only. Most of them died from the previous wars, and in recent times, we have been hit by your group." Rini explained the numbers it held at the City. "But would they fight with us? Or when armed fight us instead."

"Let me and Lord Noriake talked to them. Meanwhile you and your column assisted in moving the people out." Taisa Mori spoke out. Rini singled out a warrior to take the two to meet the slaves.