Mori versus the Oni Part 1 - Chapter 4
A Wind Assails, a Wind Assists, a Wind Asks
Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
Mori woke to a hazy morning. Tired and with blood staining his kimono he rose to soft chanting filling the halls of Unpen Temple. Sadatsugu snored, arms crossed over his chest, his sword beside him. Ano and Kota huddled together in the corner facing the dark. Mori pinched the sleep from his eyes and set his hand on Kota, then Ano. The two startled awake. Mori shushed them. Both yawned and Ano’s face sagged as she remembered where and what was happening.
‘Sadatsugu,’ Mori prodded the man with his scabbard.
The samurai of the Kagawa clan snorted himself awake and half drew his sword. ‘Oh,’ he mumbled sheathing it. He squinted at the morning and rolled over, groaning.
‘Good to see you are alert,’ Mori said sliding his sheathed sword into his belt.
Sadatsugu grunted in reply and sat up. His hair dishevelled and a thick growth showing on his chin. He rubbed his chin, ‘No chance of a shave?’
‘We need to be on the move,’ Mori said.
Sadatsugu grunted climbing to his feet and straightened his kimono. ‘Right. Right. Well, no point staying here any longer than necessary,’ he strode out into the gardens of the temple.
Ano’s stomach grumbled.
‘Food first,’ Mori said.
Sadatsugu rolled his head and clenched his jaw. ‘Alright,’ he exhaled through his nostrils.
The monks chant reached its climax and a gong shattered the morning peace. The haze seemed to clear with the metallic clang of the gong. Enki led the monks out of the main temple hall and into the garden where the men found their gardening tools.
‘Ahh, good morning,’ Enki said with a bow. ‘Food awaits in the eating room. After that I trust you will be on your way.’
Mori bowed back to the ever smiling monk, ‘We will. Which road do we follow to Niocho Nio?’
‘Leave through that gate and follow the road north. It winds down the mountain, along the coast, and to the fishing village. I’d be cautious. If those oni are everywhere then I would avoid built up areas,’ Enki said.
‘We are trying to reach the mainland,’ Kota said.
‘Ohh, and what good will that do?’ Enki tilted his head to one side. Laughed. And began to prune a berry bush.
‘Thank you, Enki,’ Mori bowed. ‘Let’s eat,’ Mori said guiding his two younger siblings towards the eating room.
Sadatsugu had barely spoke since breakfast. His arms folded inside his kimono as he led Mori, Ano, and Kota down the winding path through the forested mountain and towards Niocho Nio. The disgraced samurai kicked pebbles as he walked and twisted long grasses into whips that he cracked on tree trunks and rocks. The man was mourning.
The path twisted leftward and through the trees shimmered the sea. The trees abruptly halted and rolling hills of pampas sloped down to rocky cliffs that dropped into the sea. A salted wind rolled off the sea, hammering the coast and striking Mori across the cheeks like shards of ice. Sadatsugu’s sleeves fluttered in the wind like flags.
The four descended the last of the hill joined a track skirting along the edge of the cliff. Smoke rose in long columns up ahead, the sort from cooking. The sea crashed against the rocks far below turning white and angry.
‘We’re near,’ Sadatsugu said stopping to gaze over the cliff edge. ‘Not sure I want to sail today,’ he shivered.
Mori past him by, ‘I’d rather take my chances with the ocean than a horde of oni.’
‘You’re the one who can make the oni rot away. What are you worried about?’
Mori continued on as the landscape dipped downward towards the fishing village. A sprawl of wooden huts with straw roofs clambered for space with stone buildings in the centre of the village. Streets twisted through the buildings like snakes, all leading to the same place. The harbour. Wooden jetties stuck out into calmer waters. A stone wall curled out from the far west of the town and into the sea to bear the brunt of the waves. Mori squinted and noticed the streets were choked with people. A ship had begun to sail out and sat low in the sea, every surface home to a runaway.
‘What? Going to ignore the thing on your hand?’ Sadatsugu shouted after Mori.
‘He know’s as much as you,’ Kota replied, his own arms crossed inside his kimono like Sadatsugu’s.
Sadatsugu grunted and pushed past Kota. The twelve year old stumbled back into the grass before following, Ano holding a fistful of her brother’s billowing sleeve.
Mori reached the gates of the town. The characters, Niocho Nio, were carved into a thick trunk of wood resting on two pillars. Other pathways in and out of the town lacked any gateways or arches. The gates stood open, redundant, and throngs of people pushed and shoved each other.
‘Where do they all come from?’ Sadatsugu grumbled and unfurled his arms, two fists poked out from his sleeves.
‘At least they aren’t oni,’ Mori said.
‘Yet,’ Sadatsugu drew himself up and marched towards the gibbering crowds. Children’s toys lay in the dirt, crushed by the mindless stamping of hundreds of people. Abandoned clothing sat in wicker baskets against the walls of stone and wood homes and shops. Sadatsugu whistled as he approached the crowd and yelled something about the Lord Kagawa. The crowd fell to silence for a thirty yard strip and began to part. Some nodded and bowed, others fell to their feet, while a few remained in the way. Pulled and admonished by the people around them the unruly fell in line. One remained, a young man with dirty hair and holes in his clothing. Sadatsugu approached him while Mori held Ano and Kota’s hands following in the samurai’s wake.
‘I do not see the Lord. And I see no reason why you should be on a ferry and I shouldn’t,’ the dirty man spat the words at Sadatsugu.
‘Because I can do something about the threat. You only care about your own skin,’ Sadatsugu prodded him in the chest.
The crowd grumbled and protested. Some held babes up as example to their selflessness or requested Sadatsugu and Mori to take them along. ‘So? And what are you going to do? Cut a few down and then get eaten? What good will that do?’
‘I can rally a lord and come back with an army to slay all the oni,’ Sadatsugu snarled and prodded himself in the chest.
The dirty man laughed, ‘No mainland lord will care about us. None.’
‘They will because it is their duty. Step aside,’ Sadatsugu let his hand drift to his uchigatana. The crowd closed in around them. Children pushed to the front, while men rose on their tip toes to see the action. Mutterings of a killing spread. Of a fight.
‘You can’t do anything,’ the dirty man glowered.
Sadatsugu was a blur. His sword flashed out of its’ scabbard and caught the sunlight along its edge. Screams burst from the crowd as the dirty man fell backwards into the mud, screaming. ‘Run along.’
The dirty man scampered on all fours into the crowd without a wound.
Sadatsugu sheathed his clean blade and eyed the crowd, ‘That man’s weakness will not save us. Move aside!’ The crowd quaked and split allowing Sadatsugu, Mori, Kota, and Ano through. Kota’s mouth was slack as he eyes stared in awe of the disgraced samurai.
The four travellers reached the last ferry. The captain argued with a man and woman attempting to board, ‘No more! You’ll sink the ship,’ the captain shoved the man back. He fell and took four others with him, including his wife.
‘Hey! We just want to live,’ another man shouted.
‘Let us on,’ a woman cried.
‘Find another boat,’ the captain tried to close the sliding door at the back of his vessel.
‘No. No. No. There aren’t any more,’ three men pushed their way over the pile of people in the way and grabbed the ferry captain’s arms. A women cried in pain as she trodden on.
‘Let go!’ The ferry captain said.
‘Move aside,’ Sadatsugu said, his voice sounding hoarse.
Everyone looked towards the new voice. ‘And who are you?’ One of the men clinging to the ferry captain snarled.
Sadatsugu reached for his sword. Mori ran ahead dragging Kota and Ano along, ‘Woah. We are looking for passage. How about we stop anymore from boarding?’
The ferry captain regarded Mori wearily. He chewed the idea.
‘Don’t do it!’ A woman cried holding her baby up. ‘Let me on. Let me on,’ she pushed into the crowd but no one moved. Others shoved and the crowd shuddered forward.
‘Deal!’ The ferry captain said.
Sadatsugu surged forward and leapt the barrier of people and wood. He slashed at those grabbing the captain’s arms aiming a sliver to short. The three men fell back fearing for their limbs. Mori passed Ano to the ferry captain while Kota jumped the half closed waist high door. Mori pushed a man back, ‘Get us moving.’
The ferry captain nodded and turned to his boat choked with terrified people. Children cried into their mother’s bosom while fathers held them. Mori gulped as the ferry creaked under the weight of a hundred or so people crammed onto its deck, clinging from the sides, and nestled in the hold. The captain fought his way through and gave the command to the rowers beneath deck. Sails unfurled and caught the wind. The boat lurched forward into the sea.
Sadatsugu and Mori held the crowd at bay. Mori slid the door closed and latched in place.
‘Get rid of the rope!’ The captain shouted.
Mori looked around and found a loop of rope tying the ferry to the jetty. Two men clung upside down to the rope climbing with hands and feet towards the boat. Mori tried to untie the rope but the men where weighing it down making it too tight to shift. He drew his sword and slashed at the rope. There was a crack followed by a splash as the two men dropped into the water. A woman jumped off the edge of the jetty, a baby in her arms. Her head struck the side of the boat, staining it with her blood, and she dropped into the water. Her baby cried laying on her breast as she floated unmoving. A second jumper tried his chances and caught hold of the edge of the ship. Kota slashed at the man’s fingers with his wakizashi. Two half fingers fell to the deck as the man screamed and dropped into the harbour.
‘We’re away,’ the ferry captain said as the boat sailed out into the harbour. The people still on the harbour side pressed forward pushing at least a dozen into the water. Flailing people clung to swimmers dragging both down while children vanished beneath the churn caused by the ferry. Mori looked to Ano clinging to Sadatsugu’s side. The samurai peeled her off and handed her to Mori. Tears streamed her ruddy cheeks. A calmer sight than that of human madness. He stroked her hair and stared at the misery aboard the ferry.
The ferry captain pushed his way through the mass of people on his ship as it reached the edge of the harbour and the wild waters beyond. ‘So what do I call you?’
‘Mori, that’s Sadatsugu. This is Ano and Kota,’ Mori said. ‘And you?’
‘Kenji,’ he scratched his head. ‘Thanks for your help. Unpleasant work.’
‘Necessary.’
Kenji hummed and picked at his nails. ‘We’ll be on the mainland in no time,’ he spun on his heel and pushed his way back through the whimpering mass of humanity clinging to life on his ferry.
The wind turned. The sail creaked westward and trickles of sea were blown across the ferry. Mori squinted and tasted salt water on his lips. He stumbled and staggered to regain his balance. A faint whisper spoke in his ear. He looked down at Ano who he had set on the deck beside him, eyes of white looked up at him.
‘Did you say something?’ Sadatsugu appeared beside Mori.
‘No. Did you?’
Sadatsugu shook his head and wiggled his finger in his ear. ‘Must have been the wind.’
A man midway down the boat shouted at another about some insult. The other swore nothing left his lips.
The whispering returned, ‘Relax and the suffering will be over.’ The calmness of the voice set Mori on edge. A sinister nature to the calm, tight vowels. Kota looked over to Mori, frowning. Mori shook his head. ‘Let go of your pain,’ the voice drifted on the wind and dragged the end of its sentences. The ship had fallen silent and the passengers looked around them, confused, terrified, oblivious. But some stared at the deck, brows twisted in thought. ‘It is so hard. Release your sorrows and bliss awaits.’
Someone hissed and shrieked from the far side of the ferry. A rush of energy rippled through the boat. Screaming people surged towards Mori and Sadatsugu. Mori grabbed Ano and carried her over his shoulder while Kota clung to Sadatsugu’s kimono. People pressed around them, yelling of a monster on board.
Mori pressed through the horde of terrified commoners and broke free at the far side of the ferry. Fans of blood decorated the deck. Three dead men lay on their fronts around a woman swaying from side to side. She brought her head up and the bones of her neck cracked. Dead, black eyes stared at Mori. Long teeth pierced her lips, flesh and blood dripped down her neck. She… it shrieked and lunged for Mori. He twisted his body to shield Ano and braced his right arm. Sadatsugu burst forth, blade in hand, and freed the oni of its arms. Rotten blood oozed from the oni’s stumps as it stumbled back in confused shrieking. Mori looked across to see it wasn’t Sadatsugu but another samurai, older and with the mon of the Chosokabe on his kimono.
‘Unwise to travel with children, ronin,’ the samurai barked.
Mori set Ano down and whispered, ‘Stay close.’ He drew his uchigatana in a slow and measured arc. The oni charged, stumps oozing blood. In a single slash the monster fell to the deck and rotted to dust. The blue mark pulsed on his hand and a stream of energy coursed through his body.
More hissing echoed behind them and the commoners stampeded across the ferry again. The boat tilted to port. Kenji stormed out from the rowers hold, ‘What is going on?’ His face fell when he saw the dead. ‘Oh,’ he gulped and darted back down into the hold and ordered his team to row faster.
Two more oni surged forth and were cut down by Sadatsugu on the starboard side of the boat. Six dead, woman and children, lay in pools of their own blood at the oni’s feet.
‘We can’t wait for everyone to transform,’ the Chosokabe samurai grunted.
‘The whispering has stopped,’ Mori said. ‘No more will transform.’
‘How would you know, ronin?’ the samurai sneered. His eyes fell to Mori’s marked hand.
‘I have a hunch,’ Mori said clenching and unclenching his right hand around his uchigatana.
Kenji popped his head out from the hatch that covered the steps down to the rowers hold, ‘Is it over?’ Bones began to rattle behind Mori and a green and yellow wind whipped around the dead bodies. Mori and the Chosokabe samurai backed away in a defensive stance. Kenji screamed and slammed the hatch closed.
The strange wind dispersed as the ship creaked and dove into a wave washing the deck with swift water. Screams were drowned by the water. People swept into the sea shouted for help. Where the dead had lay now stood a monstrous oni three times the height of a human and with the head of a boar. Enormous tusks chewed as it roared. Three sets of black eyes opened, each one behaving independently of the others. Ragged robes covered its scab covered body of fur and red raw skin. Massive hands unfurled to reveal fat rigid fingers that ended in thick claws. The oni stepped forward with large three toed feet and roared. The boat rocked again. The screaming drowned out the swell of the sea.
Sadatsugu and Kota joined Mori and the Chosokabe samurai. ‘What the hell is that?’ Sadatsugu gasped.
‘Kota, take your sister below deck,’ Mori said. His brother glanced at the demon and to his sister, nodded, and ran with her. He hammered on the hatch until Kenji opened it. The pair argued for a few minutes.
‘I thought Lord Kagawa’s retainers all died,’ the unnamed samurai said.
‘Not quite,’ Sadatsugu said.
‘Catch up later. Drive it into the sea, we can’t kill it,’ Mori said.
‘Speak for yourself,’ the Chosokabe samurai spat and charged sword high in the air. The oni swatted at the samurai. He ducked and buried his blade in the thick skin of it’s leg. The steel lodged.
Mori and Sadatsugu followed. The pair hacked at the newly birthed oni. The beast roared and slammed its fist down into the Chosokabe warrior. Bone crunched against the deck and a star of blood burst across the wood. The samurai groaned. Bones pierced his thigh and one hand was flattened. He spat teeth across the deck and reached for his wakizashi. The oni stamped on his head. Gore exploded. Mori felt nauseous and tasted bile in his mouth. He ran through the oni’s legs, hacking at its thighs, and pressed his marked palm against the bare skin. The oni bellowed with rage and pain as the skin around Mori’s hand blackened and cracked. A hand swiped down towards him. He rolled out of the way and felt a claw scratch his back. Mori fell forward and hit the railing around the side of the ferry.
Sadatsugu plunged his sword into the burn wound Mori had caused. The brittle skin flaked away as the sword pierced deep into the oni’s leg. The monster stumbled backwards and tumbled into the ocean. The ferry bounced on a wave and struck the oni in the head, a tusk snapped and blood filled the ocean. Three thunder claps echoed from beneath the ship. Mori crawled to the front of the boat and peered over. Nothing.
The hatch opened and Kenji ran out screaming, ‘We’re taking on water! What did you do?’
‘You’re welcome,’ Sadatsugu cleaned his uchigatana on a silk cloth from his belt and marched towards the commoners cowering on the rest of the boat. ‘Disaster avoided,’ he announced.
‘I’m going to direct us to that island,’ Kenji pointed to a small island to the east. ‘It’s the closest thing and we’re going down fast.’
Mori squinted into the far distance, ‘I can see the mainland!’
‘Too far. Too far,’ Kenji flung his hands in the air and descended back to the rowers. The ferry lurched to the east as the port side began to sag in the water.
Mori sat against the railing staring at his marked hand. The blue mark was dark. What is this? What am I meant to do with this? He flexed his fist watching the character and spiral pattern move with his skin. The blue squirmed. Gasping he peered closer but the blue was like a rich ink. He pinched his eyes and longed for sleep.
The ferry hit the beach of Takamishima Island. Mori clung to the railing while Kota and Ano clung to him. Sadatsugu rode the movement, legs apart and hands on his hip. ‘Cursed to wander between life and death,’ he muttered and leaped over the side of the boat onto the sand. ‘Deserted. Great place to repair the boat.’
‘You have to help get these people to help,’ Kenji plunged over the side after him.
Mori gazed over the horizon, a tiered pagoda tower rose in distance trying to mimic the trees surrounding it. Someone, or something is here.
Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this story please like and share.