Reclaimed – Chapter 37

We leave the grassy sands of the transition between the Nogusa-hara and the Kōbuchi late in the morning the next day. I separate from our team in the leeway of a large dune, crawl up the side of it at an angle, and stand to gaze out across the wide expanse of sand. I’ve always loved the desert, the clean, fine sand, and the waves of dunes into the distance. Blurring my eyes, I remember the time I spent in the desert recovering from injuries after I killed Tadao Matsuda and survived the earthquake. The long days I stared out the window, slept, or cried, destroyed a section of hope I kept hidden in my soul for emergencies. I was never the same after that.

Deep blue sky, dunes, passive face.

I can’t believe how young and naive I was. I can’t believe how old I’ve become in the last year and hibernation years across space. It should be illegal to age so quickly. I kick at the sand and the tiny particles swirl into a dusty wind.

Kentaro hikes up next to me. “What do you see out there?”

“My past.” I open a water bottle to sip and replace the fluids I’ve sweat out the past few days. “The last time I was in the desert, I believed I still had friends who missed me. I thought I was building a family. I thought I had a whole lot to live for.” I cap the bottle and slip it into the side pocket of my backpack. “Turns out I was wrong on all accounts.”

“You’re so down lately, Sanaa. Anyone ever tell you that you need to be more positive?”

I laugh, drawing my wrist to my mouth to keep the sound from traveling too far. “Don’t you know me at all? I’m a realist. I don’t like to put a happy face on things just to make other people more comfortable. I tell it like it is.” I grab his hand and squeeze. “I live for each day. I show the people I love that I love them because tomorrow I may not be here. Just like this dune. Tomorrow, the winds will change and it’ll be gone, just like me.”

Kentaro’s lip curls. “I’d rather you fight for your life than let someone come along and take it away like the wind.”

“No worries.” I let go of his hand and pat Kazenoho strapped to my bag. “I have every intention of fighting to my death. If I go, I’m taking a lot of my enemies with me.”

The time has come to stoke the dragon awake for a battle.

Shielding my eyes from the glare of the sun, I can barely glimpse the solar farm in the distance. We skirted the area to the south, hoping to avoid the outcast clans. We don’t have any business to do with them so it seems prudent to stay out of their way. Someday, though, I’d like to visit the farm. I bet it’s a marvel of modern engineering.

In the valley of this dune, the men and Kumo wait for me while the lions catch up to us, their tongues hanging out of their mouths. If they stayed in the dunes, no one would ever see them. Their coats are the same shade of yellow-orange the sand is.

We walk out of the desert to the foothills of the mountains. Here, away from the plains, there are no forests to shelter the mountains from the northern wastelands. Rocks crunch under my feet, an easier terrain to navigate than slippery sand. I glance over my shoulder a few times to keep track of the lion pride following us at a close distance. They seem at home amongst the long grass and wildflowers, but on the sand, they slip, tumble, and roar at each other. Back on the rocky ground, their heads lift and shoulders relax.

Namika guides us through an engineered path in the mountains. I stomp my boot on the cement in surprise. I figured the way through would be a valley between two mountains we’d have to climb for a day, but the road turns and leads us straight to a tunnel with a solid-wood gate across it.

“Here we are.” Namika waves at the giant door, her voice echoing off the stone around us. “We have to unlatch the door and pull it shut behind us until we hear the click. The only way to reopen the door is if someone unlatches it from this side.”

Sakai and Arata walk to the door and press their ears against the thick wood. “Seems quiet,” Sakai says.

“Yeah. No one uses it but the outcast clans. This is how they get goods in from the rest of the continent.”

“What’s that?” I ask, pointing to a smaller door in the rock to the right of us.

“Ah. That’s the well. We should fill up our water bottles before we leave.”

“Not so fast!” A voice calls from behind us.

Jiro and I spin around in time to meet a band of twelve men and women who approach us from the desert, fenced in by lions. Shishi and his pride sit at the entrance, and the men and women throw cautious glances over their shoulders. Kumo shouts to watch out as I draw Kazenoho. Himitsu, woken from sleep in my bag, starts screeching incoherently.

“Whoa,” the man in the front of the group says, his hands out. “Namika, I didn’t see you there.”

“Takeshi.” Namika nods at him. He’s perhaps Sakai’s age but the rest of the people with him are younger, in their twenties. I glance between them with my sword out. They all wear light colored and loose clothing. Most of their heads are wrapped to keep the sun from baking their brains, and only a few are armed.

“It’s been a while since we saw you or your father, but since our contract is far from expiring, we were curious as to why anyone would be traveling out here. Thought we’d come check it out.” Takeshi folds his arms over his chest. His keen eyes drift across each one of us. “Any reason why you’re accompanied by strangers and lions?”

“We just need passage to Tsūka. We’ll leave and not be a bother.” Namika shoves Kentaro inside the door to the well.

“You’d take our water without paying us?” he asks, and she rolls her eyes.

“Don’t forget who drilled the well in the first place.”

“With our labor force.”

“It was a joint venture which is why both of our seals are on the door.” She waves at the door, and the Oda Clan kamon is branded over a clan kamon I don’t recognize, a leaf in a circle.

“We still demand payment.” He leans forward so he’s only a few centimeters from her face. She backs up.

“Fine. Add it to our bill.”

Namika stands strong against Takeshi, but I feel the same tense behavior from her she displayed while talking of Osamu the other day. Deep inside, she’s terrified of this man.

“It’s too bad Ishi isn’t here to greet you,” he says, and the puzzle pieces fall into place. Namika has a suitor, or maybe worse, amongst the outcast clans.

“Yes. Too bad,” she says, obviously not disappointed one bit.

It’s a good thing Kentaro is in the well room right now because I’m sure his instincts would be pricking up like mine. Namika holds her ground, though. She doesn’t need anyone’s help.

Shishi, probably bored with these humans conversing, roars in short bursts three times before stalking around the band of outcasts. Several of the men and women clump together, keeping their eyes on the deadly beasts.

I clear my throat as I drop Kazenoho into a more relaxed state. “We don’t plan on returning this way. We’ll be through and out of here in no time.”

“And who are you?” Takeshi asks, turning towards me.

“I’m no one of importance.” I smile even as his eyes narrow in on my sword. “We just need to get to Tsūka.”

Takeshi unfolds his arms. “We hear things are in upheaval in Tsūka. Some new warlord has entered the town with a small army. I’ve even heard this man is an off-worlder which would explain the new satellites in orbit and the ships we spotted a few months ago. Off-worlders who ally with lions are the kind of people I might want to know.”

I’m tempted to delay and negotiate with him. Takeshi’s eyes are warm but firm, and his people don’t interrupt him or posture. They keep a respectful distance, their eyes trained on us and the lions.

Unfortunately, though, we don’t have the time. Kazuo and Julia wait for us outside of Tsūka, and war could break out at any moment. Besides, I’ve had a bad track record lately of making friends into enemies. I’m sure I will only screw this up if I try.

Kentaro exits the well room and lifts six heavy bottles of water giving two each to Sakai and Arata.

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” I laugh and turn away from Takeshi. “We’ll be on our way now.”

I strain my ears to detect if they’re following us to the gate but not even Kumo turns around. Namika runs ahead and frees a long rope on the gate attached to a lever. She jumps up, grabs hold, and uses her body weight to pull the lever. A loud click echoes off the stone walls around us and the gate swings open with the clanking of heavy metal gears. A long, dark tunnel with rails stretches into the mountain. On this end, a platform waits empty.

We crank the door closed after the lions are through, slowly losing our light source, and cutting off contact with Takeshi and his people standing in the passage beyond. They didn’t move, didn’t try hard to stop us. What can a few people do against lions? Not much. Will they open the door and follow us to Tsūka? I press my right eye to a crack in the door. Takeshi and his team whisper to each other before they head back towards the desert.

“They want nothing to do with us, Sanaa. It’s okay.” Namika’s hand shakes as she touches my arm.

“Who’s Ishi?” I whisper to her.

“Someone I never want to see again.”

I keep my back to the door and wait for my eyes to adjust to the blackness. I can’t see anything, and my heart starts beating when I think about the deadly animals I share space with. They can probably see in the dark better than I can.

Namika walks away from me, her feet shuffling amongst the gravel. “Just a second… just a second.” Her voice softens as she moves farther away from me. “Ah! Here it is. Glad they put a little light on it.”

The tunnel fades into view around me, soft ceiling lights illuminating the tracks into the distance every fifty meters or so. The lions are already making their way down the tunnel in front of us.

“They’ll probably bill me for use of the lights too, but, eh. Fuck them.”

Kentaro laughs, and Arata and Sakai smile.

“Do they have some sort of freight train?” I point at the tracks.

“Yeah, but it must be at the other end, which means they have people in Tsūka right now. I hope we don’t run into any of them. Let’s go.”

We walk in silence for forty minutes, Kumo running ahead and back several times before I clear my throat. “So, um, have we given any thought as to how we’re going to stop Miura and his army, plus the possibility of a Fujiwara army too? We’re six people. I don’t foresee this ending well for us.”

Sakai hikes his backpack up. “We’re not just six people, remember. We have lions and animals now. Julia and her team will be on the other side and don’t forget Kazuo. Last communique from him said he had explosives.”

“Great. Let’s just blow them all up and head home.”

“If only it were that easy,” Jiro says. “I have a few ideas. We’ll have to assess the situation when we get there.”

We chew on protein bars and drink water along the way through the tunnel, using this time to recoup and reenergize even though we’re still on the move. Fans whir around us at several junctions cycling in outdoor air, but our surroundings are quiet. I flip through possible strategies in my head, wondering about best approaches.

“I think maybe I’d like to contact the foxes first when we get there. Foxes, cats, and dogs will be our biggest assets besides the lions. Bears seem like a good idea too, if they’re available. I’m also hoping Himi can encourage birds to join the fight. I’m not sure how effective rabbits would be, but it would be better to have them than not, right?”

Jiro laughs. “If they can launch themselves at our enemies’ necks and take them out one-by-one, they would be awesome.”

Kentaro bursts into a huge chuckle, startling Namika, and mumbles something about hand grenades, but I have no idea what he’s saying. Jiro wipes a tear from his eye as he calms down his chuckling.

“This must be an inside joke.” I kick a piece of gravel and send it shooting in front of me.

“It’s right up there with not knowing what a pirate alarm is,” Jiro says, chuffing me on the shoulder.

“Hmmm.” More old movies I know nothing about. If only I had more time for fun things.

After an hour of walking, we come to the exit. I can’t imagine how long it took to carve out this tunnel or put in the air shafts or even how long the damned thing is, but I’m sure the whole project was a massive undertaking. It’s a pity the tunnel doesn’t get much use.

Another platform waits with a train engine, cold and unpowered, next to it. I don’t recognize the design, so it must be something completely new to this world. I peek underneath the carriage and the machine is docked to the platform, power cables running to and from the undercarriage. That would explain why neither of the tracks is electrified.

The lions sit and wait off to the side. Shishi grunts at me, so I slowly approach him.

“On the other side is Tsūka, a town we know to be taken over by a man named Tomio Miura. We brought him here from Earth with us, and he’s the head of Clan Taira. I always hoped we could be allies but he hates everything about me, and well…” I sigh and look into the deep yellow eyes of my companion. “He’s an evil man. Kidnapped me and gave me to Fujiwara, and I only just got away from him. My hope is we can kill him and free the town, then continue on to Tengoku where I will challenge Fujiwara for the throne.”

I make eye contact with each one of the lions turned my way. Their soulful eyes seem sad but strong.

“I don’t know how effective we’ll be, but we’ll try. Are we together?”

Shishi bobs his head. I smile, lift my hand out to him, and he lets me touch his face and the furry space between his eyes.

“Okay then. Let’s go.”

I turn back to my human companions. Namika’s mouth is wide open, but the rest wait patiently.

“I’m amazed, Sanaa,” Sakai says, holding his arms open to me, and I gratefully step into his embrace “Your mother would be astounded by this. It’s the kind of stuff legends are made of.”

“Ugh. Please, Mark,” I say, pulling away. “Don’t you dare tell anyone about this. The last thing I want is to be legendary.”

“You can’t help what others say about you. I’m sure that’s the first thing you understood about all of this.”

I take a moment to remember the weeks we spent together in Ku 1, the hours we pored over video in Theater 3B, and how he brought me to this point, believing in me the entire way. Not one day has passed where he hasn’t wanted the best for me, even with the terrible decisions I have made. Yūsei has been a new life for him as well. A married man now, he stands to have a happy life in retirement. We pause, our eyes locked on each other, and he shakes his head.

“It’s not how we expected it to be,” he whispers.

“It never is.”

Namika grabs the rope attached to a lever in the giant door, she pulls, and the lock clicks open, the doors swinging wide. Kazuo’s shoes step into view first with Julia at his side and their team waiting at the tree line, but my eyes are drawn to the sky.

A cloud of smoke hangs solid and dark over the tree tops.

Tsūka is on fire.