The shugenja marvelled much at the auspiciousness of the omens, for another one had been born only recently with all the signs of a great destiny. That one was a boy named Ouchi, of the Rakkarouzeki sept of the great Hida family. With great excitement, the shugenja pored over the star charts mapping the Ouchi and Shinobu's birth skies. There was no doubt: the two great fates of these infants were intertwined.
"It is clear that they are to achieve greatness together," said Kuromizu. "Let us make the arrangements, for they must one day be wedded. Our daughter will do her husband's family great honour; she must learn the gentle arts required of a noble-born wife." At this, Matsumi nodded, as she kept scrutinising the charts. "It is as thou sayest," she agreed, bowing low before her lord, "but there is more. Seest thou these lines? Our daughter must learn these things, but she must also learn more, for she will have to face the evil of dark sorcery crossing her path."
Kuromizu looked at the charts, and saw that Matsumi was right. So Shinobu was raised in the ways of girei, or etiquette, and bugaku, or courtly dancing. But when she was five, Kuromizo said: "Thou wert right, wife, to say that our daughter must be prepared to face evil. Let us send her to receive her proper training as a shugenja, so that she can recognise the taint of the Shadowlands and of Maho-tsukai and fight them." But Matsumi bowed low to her husband and spoke. "Forgive the words of this lowly one, o learned husband, but there is more, as thou canst see in the stars. Our daughter must learn these things, but she must also learn more, for there is steel in her destiny."
Kuromizu frowned, but he had great faith in his wife's wisdom, and so he looked at the charts once more and finally nodded. So Shinobu was taught about the Shadowlands and about maho-tsukai, and she was also trained with the edged weapon of the noblewoman, the naginata, and the art of bouei, or defense. And when she was seven, Kuromizu said: "Thine words openeth my eyes, wife, for it is true that our daughter is fated to fight the Darkness with steel. So let us apprentice her with the Hida Bushi school so that she may do her Clan honour." But once again Matsuko spoke, bowing low. "It is right that she should learn the ways of war, o husband, but seest thou here, there is more. Our daughter's path lies further. Since the Fortunes have plans for her, they will show her the Way."
Kuromizu sighed, but acquiesced once again to his wife's words. He hired the best instructors to teach her, but did not send Shinobu away to the Hida school. And so Shinobu learned the Way of the Bushido, kenjutsu, and kyujutsu, or archery. During all those years, Shinobu knew that her fate was written for her but did not know what was written, except that she must one day wed Ouchi. She was pious and respectful of her elders, but she loved the freedom almost always denied her with a passion; her spirit was strong and she longed to be a bushi. When she was ten, without thinking about the dishonour she would bring to her family, she packed all her most precious possessions, which were small and few, and left her father's house in the middle of the night, thinking to become a ronin and win glory on a path of her own.
Alas, ten-year old ronin still have a lot to learn. Shinobu started walking towards the Kaiu Wall, thinking that this was the quickest path to glory, for she had complete faith in the great destiny promised her. The full moon lit her way as she walked bravely. Surely the Fortunes would protect her and she would slay many oni, earning great glory. But before she had walked a ri, she met with a strange little man dressed like a peasant yet carrying two swords. He was so short and small he was barely half a head taller than Shinobu (who was, it is true, far taller than most girls her age), but he seemed old and wiry like the old black pine in her mother's private courtyard.
The little man's eyes glittered strangely in the moonlight. He placed himself squarely in Shinobu's path, grinning at her as she tried to walk around him. Seeing that he was not going to let her by, Shinobu stopped and bowed to him. "O honoured elder, I am but a wayfarer on the road," she said with great politeness. "I pray thee, let me through for my task awaits me."
"Oya!" exclaimed the little man, amused. "It is very late for you to be out, Fortune-child," he mocked her. "I may be a demon! What wilt thou do to prevent me from carrying thee off to the Shadowlands and devouring thee there?"
But Shinobu smiled, despite the thunder-beat of her heart, and shook her head. "Thou art not a demon or a dark sorcerer," she answered. "What else thou may be I do not know, and I know that one need not be an oni to be wicked, but I pray thee, let me by. If thou intend me any harm, I shall have to defend myself with steel."
But the little man only laughed at these words. Now, this was taking place soon after the spring floods (Shinobu had waited until the rivers were low and the roads were passable again), so the river by which the road ran had left much mud and silt everywhere. It mixed with the soil and fertilised the fields, and its pungent smell was the smell of new planting in the spring. This thick mud was everywhere around, except in the center of the road where the passing of feet had beaten it to a hard crust. The little man with two swords bent down, and scooped a large handful of the rich mud, grinning at Shinobu. Then, with the speed and nimbleness of a monkey, he threw the mud at Shinobu, sending it all splattering over her face, hair, and clothes, so that everything she had on her was besmirched, even her mon and weapons.
Shinobu sputtered with rage, drawing her naginata and waving it at the man, but he only shrugged, stepping out of the way. "Why art thou so angry, Kuni Shinobu?" he asked. "Surely thou art destined to a great fate; what matters a little mud on thy face?" At these words, Shinobu forgot her outrage and became pensive, for she understood what the man meant: the shame she was bringing to her family by running away from duty was like the mud on her face. She looked up at the man and said: "Thou art right, stranger, and I had not seen the mud already there. But tell me this: how dost thee know my name?"
"I was on my way to thy family's estate to meet with thee, Shinobu of the headtrong ways," the man said. "I did not fancy thou wouldst come and meet such a lowly one as myself to escort me there; I thank thee greatly for thy courtesy to this unspeakable one." He bowed to her. Shinobu nodded, and after scraping off as much of the mud as she could, started back towards her family's domain, the stranger in step with her. "I thank thee for the lesson, o honourable one," she said.
The little man laughed again, and drew a small object out of his sleeve. Deftly, he tossed it at Shinobu, who caught it, surprised. The object was a small disk of the purest white jade, bearing the mon of the Crab. As she held it, she felt a jolt as if someone had shaken her bodily.
"Thou art to be apprenticed to the Kuni Witch Hunters, for they have chosen thee to join their ranks," the man said. "I am Kuni Shigemon, of the Hunters, and I have come to teach you the Path."
And so it was; Shigemon accompanied Shinobu back to her family's estate, where neither of them mentioned the girl's wanderings of the night. Shigemon had a long conversation with Kuromizu and Matsumi, at the end of which it was annouced that Shinobu would accompany the Witch Hunter to receive training. So Shinobu didn't have to unpack her gear, only to clean it, and she polished her family mon and her weapons until they shone.
The hunters are trained on the road by their sensei, and so Shinobu walked the roads of Rokugan for six years with Shigemon, learning the secrets of the herbs, the art of the hunt, and how to ferret out maho-tsukai, as well as perfecting her skills with the two swords. She saw much darkness under the Hunter's guidance, and was an apt pupil, yet still she retained her love of freedom and her joy of living. She worked hard to tame her temper and make it her servant rather than her master.
When she reached the age of sixteen, Shigemon sent her beyond the Wall into the Shadowlands for her gempukku ceremony. It is there, finally, that her resolve hardened to steel and that she truly became a tsukai-sagasu. What she brought back from her trip beyond Kaiu Kabe, almost no one could recognise but the oldest shugenja of the Clan, and they whispered about it among themselves. Kuromizu celebrated by gifting her with a beautiful daisho.
Two more years Shinobu spent as a Hunter, doing her family proud, until the day appointed for her wedding to Ouchi drew at hand. Shinobu had met Ouchi as their family introduced the two youths properly, but she thought very seldom about the young man. She feared the time where she would have to put down her weapons, abandon her travels and take her place in her husband's household, for she felt it went against her other duties. Still, she kept her misgivings to herself and prepared herself to fulfill this duty like the others.
When the day of her wedding came, her mother helped her dress herself, laying out the kimonos for Shinobu. Gravely, Matsumi looked at her daughter, and finally spoke. "Daughter, thou hast ever done us proud, but the signs indicate that thou hast not yet even started to meet thy fate. Thou knowest that this day is of great importance, as thy destiny has been entwined by the Fortunes with that of Ouchi. Yet, I beg thee to always remember that love has no place in a samurai's heart. Honour thy husband, keep his name and house from shame by upholding thy duty towards him, but seek not what the poets call love, for it will deal thy heart wounds far crueler than any other."
Shinobu looked at her mother with surprise, for she had no thought of love, and especially none of seeking it with Ouchi; there, only duty existed. She bowed to Matsomi. "Honoured parent, thy words are received with respect, but there is no need to trouble thyself: my heart holds no place for love, save for my duty, my family, my clan, and Rokugan."
Matsumi sighed and embraced her daughter, then departed the room with slow footsteps.
Since this wedding had been accompanied by important omens, and since the wizard-priests had identified a spot on the Kaiu Wall near a Crane contingent's post as the proper location for the ceremony, everything was prepared with as much pomp as the Crab Clan can muster. Ouchi stood, tall and proud but otherwise displaying no sign of his feelings; Shinobu stood, swathed in layers of kimonos and quiet as a statue; the guests wore their finest garments for the auspicious day; the shugenja spoke the ritual words, binding man and woman.
And as they all stood, came the clamour of a distant army: the Dark legions were attacking. The guests promptly forgot he ceremony, and everyone who could stand and hold a weapon or unleash a spell gathered to defend the Wall, for this is the Crab's duty. Shinobu and Ouchi found weapons and stood in their wedding finery against the onslaught of the Shadowlands. The nearby Crane troops assigned to defend this section of the wall stood with the Crab guests.
All day and through the night, the legions of Fu Leng kept coming, and the Clans of the Crab and Crane stood against them. But then the Cranes' leader, Doji Tsuyoshi, determined that the position had become untenable. He ordered his troups to retreat, but the Crabs refused to do the same. As one, they battled against the inhuman enemy, determined that it would not be allowed into Rokugan by the Crabs' failure to fulfill their duty. The legions of Fu Leng took advantage of the Cranes' departure to gain a foothold on the Wall, but the Crabs fought toe to toe with them. Through the rest of the night, and all the next day, the battle raged on. Shinobu and Ouchi, without thinking, without exchanging a word, had taken to fighting back to back as if they had practiced together all their lives.
At last the sun started to set, bleeding its last life onto the battlements. The few dozen remaining Crabs were steadily being beaten back, and no reinforcements were forthcoming. It became apparent that the defenders could not last through another night of fighting. Something then seemed to descend over Ouchi, for his countenance changed from that of a a skillful and methodical warrior to that of a madman, and he let out a bellowing cry. His eyes became dead as that of berserker, but a deep, rolling laugh came pouring out of his throat. With a fury never seen before, he started hacking at the Shadowland creatures with renewed strength, and still his laughter rung. With a great cry, he hurled himself from a watch tower onto the portion of battlement held by Fu Leng's legions below. Still roaring with laughter, he effortlessly ripped a no-dachi from a bakemono's hands, and slew the demon with its own blade. Around him, the creatures of Shadow hesitated for a moment, frightened by the insane laughter and strength of this enemy.
Seeing the man who was now her husband nearly surrounded, and entirely oblivious to his own safety, Shinobu could do nothing but jump down to fight at his back. Wielding her naginata like a flail, she cut down the demons who would have struck Ouchi from behind. From this moment, the tide of battle turned; Ouchi's supernatural strength and fury frightened the ennemy into retreat, although it took several more hours to clear the Wall. By the end, only a few Crabs remained, all of them lacerated with wounds.
Even then, the defenders could not leave, for they had to stand watch over their fallen comrades to strike them down when they rose back as Shadowland creatures. Everyone had to strike down the parody of a loved one, a parent, a son, a sister. The grim duty was only finished when Amaterasu returned as the morning sun's first rays. By then, the defenders had stood on the wall for two days and two nights. Staggering, they retreated from the battlements.
Shinobu, exhausted and her wedding silks stiffened with blood, hardly felt like talking, but it was nothing like the deadness that had fallen over Ouchi. On the battlefield, she had barely been able to stop him from jumping after the retreating foe; but through the death watch, the battle fury left him, his laughter had disappeared, and he had sat unmoving as a stone. When his parents had risen as undead puppets, he had cut them down wordlessly, his face an expressionless mask, but tears rolling down his cheeks. Now, he was as dead to the world, unquestioningly following Shinobu's murmured instructions.
In this way, she guided him to a house abandoned nearby, whose inhabitants had apparently died at the the Shadows' hands. Gently, Shinobu heated some water, helped her husband out of his ruined clothes, and made him take a bath. Then she unrolled futon and quilts for him and put him to bed, before cleaning herself of the battle's grime. Finally, she came to the bed and slipped under the quilts with Ouchi. His sleep was taught and tense, as if he had to keep on fighting through his dreams. Through the day they slept, with Shinobu rising only long enough to put a meager meal together and force some tea onto the unresponsive Ouchi. The young man said nothing, reacted to nothing but obeyed gentle coaxing. But in the middle of the night, Shinobu found his arms wrapped tightly around her, as he sobbed without waking up.
The next day, Ouchi started speaking again, although only when he had to. It became apparent that he was not the same man who had stoodwith Shinobu to be married. He said he was a spirit of the Void, or perhaps something else; but Shinobu believed that he was at least free from the taint of the Shadowlands. Together, they walked back to the Crab lands to speak to the Hida daimyo. Shinobu contracted an obligation to the daimyo, convincing him that Ouchi is not a danger to the Clan's honour and should be allowed to walk free. She assured Lord Hida Kisada that she would personally warrant Ouchi sanity and honour, and keep an eye on him at all times until the daimyo was entirely convinced.
Since then, Shinobu has started practicing with a no-dachi so she can
fight best at Ouchi's back, but this is largely for symbolic reasons and
her weapon of choice remains the naginata.