Demise of Arrogance
Demise of Arrogance
The young Phoenix, barely 17, sat alone in a small room in an inn far from the meadows and hills of Maryoku Province. The accoutrements of a completed formal tea ceremony rested before her, but the familiar meditations appeared not to have calmed her mind or soul this night. She longed for the meadows of home with a yearning that was almost physical pain, and would not let her rest.
When she left home months before at the word of her Daimyo, the world had seemed bright with adventure. Now, in the darkness of her soul-searching, she wondered where the carefree girl of then had gone.
First, the death of the Empress and trip through the Void. Then another mission, and another – challenging yet not daunting, opening her eyes and her soul to the wide world. And such a world! Wonder aplenty, and good, and light – and a dark side, but not too dark. Giving up her dream of becoming one who Masters the Void – oh, that had been hard, very hard. Still, it was the price of adventure, of being in the world, and as such, accepted, perhaps a little naively, as she was learning just how much of a difference it would make in the life she had wanted.
The Code of Bushido, the Honor of the Phoenix – to follow the code, to uphold her clan’s honor, as easy as breathing. But life in the schools of the Shugenja, while they test the heart and soul and will, are simply not the real world, and never before had the very depths of her soul been plumbed. Not then, and not in her early missions.
Until now.
More precisely – for in considering such things, it is well to be precise – until that awful day when what her grandmother called “arrogance” (she winced, thinking of the many times she’d heard that from her long-dead grandmother), what her teachers called “overconfidence” and what she had simply thought of as “competence” betrayed her into rash behavior, the consequences of which weighed on her even now, and had more long-ranging effects than perhaps any but the wisest could have predicted.
Her mind went back to that day …. It started with the sake house, and the guards, the guards of the man she and the others had been pursuing. Not samurai, they offered mild insult to her and her companion. It had seemed like a good idea then – simply ask the Air Kami to move them away from the door.
She frowns at the memory. She’d cast that spell hundreds of times; *knew* she could judge the effect to a breath, to a hair. But something went wrong. Something that had never happened before, and not happened since. The men were blown aside, yes, but more forcefully than she wanted. And the front screens of the sake house destroyed. And – Kitsune Yamane’s dormouse, left in a cage outside the door, and *not* within her spell! – he was blown, too, and died of a splinter when the cage shattered. That a completely innocent creature should pay the price for her action was like a brand to her soul – she, who preferred peace, and not to kill unless absolutely necessary. Never had she harmed anyone who had not harmed her first. Never.
Until now.
She wanted to cry, to rage, to run back home and hide her shame. But she is Phoenix, and Shugenja, and Samurai, and so she did none of those things. Instead, she stood straight, made the required restitution, and completed her task. But it appears Fate was not yet done with her that day, for in completing that task and apprehending the man she and her companions had been sent to find, he compelled her to graciously and publicly accept the gift of a scroll of great value to the Phoenix and to her. In the attempt to resist his compulsion, she finally won, but it was a near thing.
When she left town that day, it was with the knowledge of the double failure of a spell gone awry, and submission to one undeserving. That day, the self-doubt begin. That day, she started to shed the arrogance and overconfidence. Even her grandmother recognized the change, leaving her to search her soul with no more than a single “I told you thus.”
Her steps turned toward home, in the hopes of seeking wisdom from her teachers. But, on the way, a message from her Daimyo directed her to the Dragon lands to escort a Clan botanist to a conference.
While there, her soul was struck another blow.
While at table with her companions, a Dragon Samurai, one Mirumoto Yamato, held forth nearby with insults small and large against the Phoenix. Mindful of the consequences of responding – both to herself and to her Clan – she tried to ignore them, pretending not to hear. When that could no longer be, she tried to deflect them. Finally, for the Honor of the Phoenix, she must answer them, and the outcome was inevitable. A Challenge was issued and accepted.
Not just any Challenge, but one to the death. She knew that she would lose a Challenge to first blood, and to accept such a Challenge would be to admit to all of the insults Mirumoto-san uttered before they even started the duel. There was no one to duel as her Champion. She could not see a way out, except to offer the duel to the death and pray that the Clan would deem her worthy of helping her find a champion who would uphold Clan Honor.
With a heavy heart, she wrote to her Daimyo, sparing no detail, and adding that Mirumoto’s Daimyo had given permission for the duel. She then accepted her next mission, acting for the Clan in preventing an alliance of the minor Clans. Her success in this endeavor gave her a tiny bit of hope that she had finally learned how to overcome both arrogance and overconfidence, and that she could still be a worthy member of the Phoenix.
Letter to Isawa Toichi, Daimyo of Maryoku Province.
Most esteemed and honorable Isawa-sama, I write in the hope that this missive finds you in good health. I have news of my travels, both bitter and sweet. If I may, the bitter first.
I have, at your direction, traveled to the Dragon lands to escort our Clan botanist, and while there have had a most unfortunate encounter with the Dragon duelist Mirumoto Yamato.
Not wishing to bring down the attention of the Dragon Clan on the Phoenix or myself because of my behavior, I attempted to be circumspect and quiet as I waited for my business there to be concluded. However, as I and several other samurai of my acquaintance sat at table one night, Mirumoto-san sat nearby and spoke of the cowardice of myself and of the Phoenix in general. He spoke in such detail, and at such length, that eventually I felt it necessary to attempt to turn his words. My attempt to do so was greeted with more, and worse, of the same, until it was clear that the Honor of the Phoenix rested on my unworthy shoulders.
I therefore Challenged him.
However, knowing that for me to participate directly would be to simply acknowledge his words since I could not win a duel with one of his skill, and with no one there to take my place, I perforce offered a duel to the death. His Daimyo has since approved such a duel.
And therefore, honored Isawa-sama, I find that I, too, must ask for your permission. But, if it is not too forward of me, I would beg you for two boons. The first is that I may have Clan assistance in finding a champion to fight this duel, for I am young in years and experience, and know not who to ask. The second is that you share your wisdom and experience, if you would be please to do so, and advise how I could have avoided this situation – if that were possible.
And now the sweet. With the help of allies, the threat of alliance between the minor clans has been thwarted. In addition, I have obtained some information that could be used to blackmail the Dragonfly, were that ever to be required. I will ensure that you get that information by trusted and secure means as soon as I may.
Months later, the response came back from Isawa Toichi: “The duel will be to first blood.”
In those months, Kasuma had successfully continued to carry out her daimyo’s missions, with even her Grandmother giving her approval of the way those have been carried out. It seems that the young, brash girl is turning into a woman of which the Phoenix could be proud.
Addendum: The duel was finally fought, with Shiba Tadashi acting as Champion for Isawa Kasuma. For the Honor of the Phoenix, Shiba-san won that duel, and the matter was finally resolved.
