Figure at the Wall

The Crab Wall, 1st Night of the Topaz Championship 1198,

“Ho, Hokishi! did you hear that?”

“No.”

“Hokishi, I really did hear something!”

“No, you didn’t, and this is why we don’t like having other clans on the wall with us.” Grumbled Hida Hokishi. He had been saddled with the dubiously honourable duty of leading a patrol of various Great Clan bushi on a patrol of a stretch of the Wall. He looked around at the group and was stoically disappointed. “Shiba Yuriko-sama, the Wall is constantly noisy, there are always noises. Some can kill you. The one you didn’t hear will not.” He turned his back and spat over the wall into the darkness.

Behind him, the various samurai shivered with cold, or fear or cold and fear. He felt the cold, but it was not bitter. He knew no fear for he was Crab. Their watch would end with the dawn and the dawn always came. He was not bothered.

“Hida Hokishi-sama, I really must insist that we investigate that noise. My Phoenix colleague heard a noise.”

“Alright Dragon-sama, keep your jingasa on. You want to investigate so badly? We’ll investigate.” Hokishi swore under his breath. “These fools will be the death of me.”

He shouldered his massive tetsubo and moved back to the group. With exaggerated care, he asked “And what exactly did you hear Phoenix-sama?”

Shiba Yuriko was cold. Not the temperature cold, she had spent time in the mountains to the north and this was warmer than that and yet she could not seem to get warm. “It sounded like something was climbing the wall.” She stood her ground in the face of the glowering, ill tempered Crab.

“Well that’s not just impossible, it’s also nonsense.” The burly Crab dismissed her assertion with a wave of his meaty and questionably clean hand.

“I am a member of the Shiba Bushi school. We are trained to be aware of our surroundings to protect our charges Crab-sama and I tell you I heard something!” Yuriko raised her chin defiantly. Hokishi guffawed but relented “Alright Yuriko-sama, you win. You win. We will go and investigate what is climbing up the wall.”

The group huddled together behind the Crab and the Phoenix like a gaggle of baby chicks. They went down a series of short flights of steps until they were standing on an observation point which jutted out over the edge of the wall. They were surrounded by darkness as the nearest watch fires were too far away to do more than reduce visibility.

Yuriko shivered. She looked back at the squad. The all looked to her and Hokishi with scared, drawn faces.

“See? Nothing to be concerned about!” chuckled Hokishi. Silence greeted him. “What?” He looked at Yuriko and saw in her eyes abject terror. She was pointing at something behind him. He turned, almost in slow motion.

In the corner furthest from any light hunched a robed, figure.

“Who is that?” whispered Yuriko, tears in her eyes.

“Nothing that will live to get beyond the wall” shouted Hokishi as he charged.

…

Cold, grey dawn light shone on Yuriko’s face. She was confused. The back of her head hurt. She was being dragged by her feet.

Her mind was scattered, befuddled. She tried to piece together her memories but her thoughts were jarred apart every few seconds as her head bumped along the ground.

She tried to look up. Her gaze slowly clearing. The hunched, filthy robed figure, it’s dessicated, bony hand wrapped around her ankle. She began to struggle violently, trying to free her foot.

The figure stopped shuffling forward and turned “Ahhhhh, you’re awake. Now I can begin” as it turned to face her, Yuriko saw what lay beneath the hood and recognised it. Then she began to scream…