Karasu, Crow wreathed in flame

[River Rogue]

Karasu Uchima


 

Karasu was born far to the east, in Kozakura...

He was raised in a small village, his parents; of clan Uchima, were kind and loving as far as he can remember, the reverence of the nature spirits was commonplace within the village and there were more animal inhabitants than human. He has fond memories of the oxen licking his tuft of hair as a toddler, or the foxes sleeping at the nearby shrine, blessing it with their presence. On the day of his birth an absurd abundance of crows invaded the village, they did not devour the farmers harvest, nor did they terrorise the locals, they simply flew down and gathered around house Uchima as if they were coming to witness the birth of a new herald to their ilk. Thus his mother and father named him Karasu, in honor of the corvids that journeyed to see him arrive unto this world.

Upon his delivery the peculiarities continued, his eyes were as red as blood and wide open, there were no tears shed and no shrieks to echo the halls. The chieftain saw this as a sinister omen, that great evil would befall those close to him and demanded that at once he be sent down the river so that the gods may take him. Father and mother protested, they fought long and hard to change the chieftains mind. Eventually they would soften the chieftain with their pleas, the boy would stay. Though, sown in the minds of the villagers was that his presence would bring calamity to the village. 

One day, an old man was travelling through the village, he came to the chieftain and stated he must take the "Red Eyed Boy" as it was the emperor's own will. And so, the toddler was taken. His mother begged and begged but to no avail, his father looked almost relieved. The old man called himself Gengo. His head was shaved, he had long wispy eyebrows and a smile which never faded. After what felt like an eternity, especially for a child of his age, they entered a valley deep within mountainous crags and within that valley; a temple. Passing through a torii gate, in the centre of the basin was a five storied pagoda connected to several other buildings with hallways. Robed baboons scratch themselves lazily as they observe the newcomers. In the courtyard, a group of around twenty boys and girls all practised some form of martial arts with a multitude of different weaponry. It was a stark difference to the dusty region behind the torii gate, this monastery had a pond and a river, a sakura tree and a population of other children. Gengo turned to speak, arms clasped behind his back and his smile wide "This will be your new home, my little crow."

[River Rogue]

The Training

Several years pass, Karasu, now a child of eight has become accustom to the ways of the monastery. Training in the arts of subterfuge and combat. Even at the age of eight he has become a formidable fighter, like the other children he trained with, the children were assigned in groups of three, one was nearing the end of their training, one in the middle, and one in the beginning. Karasu was the beginner, his team was comprised of Ryu; a small boy for his age of 12, he had dusty brown hair that he liked to spike up and somehow he was always covered in muck. And Yumi one of the oldest pupils, she was 16, her dark black hair pleated into two long braids that would swing down behind her back, Karasu thought they would flail like extra arms when he watched her train.

"Oi, Karasu! Stand up." Ryu bellowed, cupping his hands over his mouth as if to extend the range of his shrieks, watching from the side lines. Karasu looked up, laying on his back, his opponent looming over him eclipsing the sun in the window. A brute of a boy, his head was shaved and he stood tall for an eight year old. Dust motes danced between the rays of sunlight that filtered through the windows high above the training hall. Karasu looked up as his opponent, Tenzo was spinning in the air ready to perform a kick to his chest, he rolled, Tenzo's foot came down hard against the polished wooden floor with a thwack. Karasu took the opportunity and with a twist swept the legs from under the boy. In tandem, as the boy fell, Karasu sprung to his feet with the agility of a black mountain cat. He took the stance of the snake, he had been taught and favoured, this was a defensive form. His hands flat and extended, shifting his feet back and forth, swaying with serpentine grace. Tenzo leapt up with the fury that belied his eight years, ferocious like an enraged calf he lunged at Karasu, seeing the red in his eye catch the light. With little effort and fluidity his blow was parried, Karasu swung him around using the momentum of his charge and glid off his back like a leaf blown away in the wind undisturbed. Tenzo yelled swiftly coming around, his hand curled into a fist, this caught Karasu clean off guard and it hit his stomach like an iron ball. His diaphragm pushed up and evacuated the air from his lungs, he fell back and gasped for air, his hair spilled out from his head like an inky black pool of blood as he lay on the floor once again. 

"Enough." A quiet yet commanding voice called out, it was Gengo Sensei. Age had swooped his back, his jade eyes gleamed and his smile was as prominent as ever. "Tenzo, help Karasu up." The boy complied, the pair exchanging fiery glances. "We must respect our fellow students. Tenzo, you were reckless and attack with little restraint, and your anger shows weakness that your opponent can easily take advantage of. Karasu, take the stance of the snake again for me." Karasu, panting and weary from the spar does as he is told. His palms straighten and he holds them one in front of the other, his feet take a similar position. "Elbows in." Gengo's bamboo walking stick prods at Karasu. "Your neck needs to be higher." He looks him over, grinning. "You both can learn a lot from one another, two sides of the same coin." He nods, and laughs, a laughter that invokes joy in the students. Tenzo holds his hand out for Karasu, they clasp together firmly and they share a nod of respect and appreciation. They then turn to Gengo, bowing deeply "Thank you, Gengo Sensei!".

[River Rogue]

The Mission

Karasu stood in the halls with Ryu and Yumi, they donned different clothes, not the black robes they had worn most of their lives. Normal clothes, they all wore hakama and kosode. Karasu's was deep red and a mite too big for him as the sleeves dangled past his small hands, he was average sized for a ten year old. Ryu was older and he seemed uncomfortable in his brown haori he was at an age where his body took an awkward gangly form. Seeing him wear it and complain made Karasu laugh. Yumi wore a pink kimono, she suited it well, Ryu blushed as he stood beside her. 

The trio stood side by side, at the entrance of Senjō temple at night. The temple grounds were another world at night, the Sakura tree glowed like pale blue moonlight and it's petals would fall and fly like silver fireflies in the night. The moon shone bright, bright enough so that most could be seen without the use lanterns. The peacefulness was perpetuated by the flow of the river under the bridge, where carp swam, the petals like stars on the black glassy water surface. Karasu revelled in it's beauty every day, he loved the hours of darkness here. 

Sensei Abachi stood over them, wearing pale blue robes that also did not fit him for his size was unnatural. He was a lanky man, his limbs and neck seemed much too long for his body and he wore a straw basket helmet that covered his whole head, Karasu could sometimes see the hint of a glint beneath what must've been his eyes and it unsettled him. He blew on his flute looking at the three youngsters before him, the music he played was dissonant and wrong, every note just off-key a smidge. After playing a few notes, he looked the children over and his gaze settled on Yumi. "You will prove yourself with this mission Yumi. Command these youngsters to carry out the plans of the emperor, for we are his arm." Abachi's voice was high and strained as if he struggled to find air under that mask of his. "Your target, Gong Xiao. A noble from Shao Lung, he is travelling with armed guards." He coughs abruptly, you could hear the phlegm gather in his mouth and he swallows hard. "Do not ask questions. Find him travelling the road near the Hiroto region. You are orphans from the war and these are your little brothers." The baskethead turns looking between Ryu and Karasu, then the three of them bow. Up through the mountain path and through the torii gate, they travel by the cover of night as to not draw attention.

After several hours of walking, dawn had come and with it the heat and thick humidity. Yumi had hitched them a ride on the back of a wagon owned by a rice farmer who was transporting his goods which had taken them a good distance by now. Yumi tapped on the back of the farmer. "We will get off here." Her voice was soft and gentle, not like usual. "Here? In the middle of the road?" He angled his head back, his oxen still pulling them along. "Yes, we have an uncle nearby but he is off the beaten path, we thank you for your help." Without hesitation, the wagon halts and the farmer allows them to safely jump off. He handed them each an onigiri wrapped in nori. "Don't want you kids starving to death." He smiles, some of his teeth were missing, with thwack of his bamboo cane the oxen took off.

Yumi handed her onigiri to Ryu, who greedily yanked it and then snapped between the two like a hungry thieving seagull. Having almost finished one he looks down to Karasu. "Oh, sorry Karasu, got a little carried away! Here have this half." Karasu smiles, nibbling on his own. "You've been complaining about your hunger for hours, don't worry, this one's fine for me." His voice was little, but confident around Ryu. They both laughed. "Quiet." Yumi commanded, and so they quietened. "The road east, I see dust gathering. He is coming. Follow my lead." She brushed herself down and sent slender fingers through her hair to neaten it, she had it tied in a bun with a pair of white porcelain chopsticks skewered through it. Karasu watched as a wheelhouse came into view, its wood was of the finest quality and inlaid with golden etchings. It was pulled by two majestic steeds, the pair of them pure as fresh winter snow. Two armoured warriors sat on a seat in the front, one stood with a large guandao on a ledge at the back, it's blade catching the sun giving it a celestial quality. Karasu breathed in deep, a bead of sweat gathered at his brow. 

Yumi walked into the road and waved her hands profusely, feigning fluster. "Excuse me!" She huffs and puffs, the wheelhouse coming to a slow. "Sorry, excuse me! Might we bother you for a lift? We are stranded here, our father fell in the war and we're making our way to our uncle who lives in Hagaromo village!" The guards look her over, with long consideration, the cackle of cicadas taking the stage in the silence between them. "You must clear the road, girl, we are on the official business of the emperor." Karasu looked them over, with curiosity thinking on the emperor. The guard was about to whip the horses when suddenly a knock from behind him emanates from within. The door opens and a man of middle age peeks his head out. He had long black strands swooping down from his upper lip and wore a futou and green silken robes emblazoned with a dragon. Upon seeing Yumi, who is now a woman of eighteen his face softens, and he looks between the two children accompanying her. "We shouldn't leave such a beautiful woman on such an empty road, Kozakura is filled with despicable types." He waves his hand, beckoning them over.

The inside is a far cry from the back of the rice farmers wagon, there were two red silken couches adjacent to each other and fine silk curtains to block out the sweltering heat of the sun. Yumi took the back left, beside the nobleman. "I am Gong Xiao, it is the utmost pleasure to meet you..." His voice trails off as he takes Yumi's slender, pale hand. "I am Aimee, these are my younger brothers --" He kisses her hand and cuts her off. "Ah, you are not native to Kozakura then? A beautiful Shao name." His smile widens and his gaze does not leave her. "Yes, but our uncle moved here. There is new land for farmers to take." Karasu watched her as she released lies as natural as breathing. "Ah, good fertile land." He looks her up and down, reaching underneath the couch in a compartment to reveal a bottle and two cups. "And their Sake. One thing they can get right is alcohol." He pours a cup for himself and Yumi. She takes a sip, and leans into him with a false swoon. Ryu clenches his fist and swallows hard. "We have been cutting a swathe through these lands, did you know even the farmers take up arms against us? Fashioning weapons from their reaping tools." He shakes his head. "Some of their villages lie in ruins because they refused to uphold the laws of the emperor!"

Karasu's rubine eyes followed the treeline out the window, his attention was barely able to hold with the yammering of the drunken noble. That was until something was said and Ryu had lashed out. Karasu hadn't been paying attention and only heard Ryu's growl. It was now for the first time in what seems like hours that Gong had looked upon the boys. Just as he was about to look away his eyes re-trained on Karasu. "My, your eyes! Boy, let me have a look at you." Karasu felt discomfort as the nobleman grabbed his chin and leaned in disturbingly close. "My they're red as blo-" a choked, watery whimper escaped his mouth. "Blood?" Yumi finished the mans sentence as Karasu watched her pull a kunai from the back of his neck. A crimson bloom of blood poured from his gaping maw, the colour matched Karasu's eyes as they were widened at the display. She pushed the blade in deeper, slowly, it broke through the front of his throat like a quill through parchment. He held his hands up to his neck, his eyes filled with horror and Karasu saw the light fade from them. Yumi gently pulled him back with the kunai, and rested him back against the couch. The guards had no idea, through the bustling hum of village life outside. Yumi knew when she had to strike. She knocked on the wall and the wheelhouse came to a stop. She motioned to the boys to exit. Following them, she stumbles as if drunken. "Thank you Lord Xiao!" She bows deeply, giggling and closes the door. She winks to the guards. They all walk into the crowd filled streets, between street vendors and packs of farm animals. Before long, they heard panicked yelling and a woman's blood curdling scream. However, it was too late as the children, like phantoms, vanished under the deft command of Yumi.

Yumi removed her kimono, underneath she wore a top without sleeves, the fabric was folded over the left side, she had her favoured weapon, a tanto tucked into her sash beneath. Her white hakama and tabi were sullied by mud. She stealthily swiped a straw hat from a man walking by and slipped away into an alleyway unnoticed. She placed it onto Karasu's head. Then she removed Ryu's haori, tore it and fashioned it into a headwrap over Ryu's brown mop of hair. Then she plucked the chopsticks from her hair and it fell down, like black velvet curtains, shining and soft. It impressed the boys, they both watched in awe as she had transformed them a matter of moments.  "We will wait again until nightfall, then we return home." She showed no emotion, no remorse for the death of that man. "If that man was on official business by the emperor himself, then why did we have to kill him?" Karasu looked up at Yumi, his red eyes burned for the fire of knowledge. Yumi knelt down, and shuffled them deeper into the alleyway. "We do not ask questions, little crow. We are the divine weapons of the emperor himself. There is no room for curiosity, only our duty." He was about to speak when she pressed her soft finger against his lips, the stomping of feet in mud pass by. Nightfall arrives as the trio waited in silence, rain had began to pour, making their escape even easier. They slipped out of Hagaromo village. "Follow me and run, do not stop until we reach Senjō. And so they did, Karasu had to be carried on Yumi's back when they reached the half way point, her scarred muscular arms rippled in the rain.