Tyrants Return [Closed]

[Iskander]

The halls of the Imperial Palace of Daikifuji had not been graced by the Angels of the Yuurei for a very long time. Even before the Holy Empire had thrown off the chains of the mortal world and ascended to be with G-d, the Angels had scorned the vassal states. If Iro'Eru had a choice, they would have continued to ignore the very existence of the heathens; he did not have a choice, though. He needed to gather the bodies of the vassals for consumption. It was only through the feasting that the Hive could be rebuilt, and the gates opened. The Messenger had taught them the rituals and rites, arcane things beyond the full understanding of the Sorcerer-Lords, but they had to undergo them on their own.

Iro'Eru nodded his head once to the mages gathered in the Yuurei citadel. They wove their arcane magics together and tore the air apart; the gate opened in a violent fit of light. The Edija warrior stepped through, covering the hundreds of miles between the desolate capitol of the Yuurei and the palace of Daikifuji. His chitinous feet felt the cold floors beneath them, and his feelers tasted the air around him. It stunk of the heathens, but he had expected that. Iro'Eru stepped aside as his warriors poured through the gate and took up formation around him.

"I will speak with the Emperor of this Vassal State," Iroh'Eru spoke in the Yuurei tongue to the nearest of the people of the Kirin. He had no interest in their protocol, their language, or their courtesy. He wanted only to speak with their Emperor and leave as quickly as he could. He would need to cleanse himself thoroughly to get their smell from his armoured shell, and he was not looking forward to the task.

[Kirin]

What Iro'Eru would walk into was a group of children, playing after their studies. A child, a small girl named Guren, looked up and up and up at Iro'Eru at first in awe. Then he said something and she couldn't understand it. Rather than immediately respond, she shoved a crystallized piece of sugar candy in her mouth, then started to cry something about oni and monsters. A woman came to comfort the child and glanced towards the Yuurei. She bowed once, having heard him as she was coming.

Without many words, she took Guren's hand and walked with shuffling feet through the palace. The woman was one of Teruo's servants. She knew the palace like it was her own home. She knelt down outside of the door to one of Teruo's meeting rooms.

"I will send someone to go inform the Emperor of your presence. Guren-chan, go to Yoshio and inform him of the presence of our esteemed guest. Tell him he requests the presence of the Emperor." She spoke to the girl. "

Would you like any tea or food?" The woman asked Iro'Eru. The woman was in a state of muted hysteria as she opened the door to the meeting room for Iro'Eru to enter.

Guren ran down the hall, knowing exactly where to go. She ran straight into Yoshio, candy shattering against his armor on impact. "There's a monster..He wants to see the Emperor." Guren pointed in the direction where she came.

Yoshio made a face, kneeling down to Guren. "What did it look like?"

Guren described Iro'Eru and Yoshio's face showed a bit of panic. "All right. Come with me, Guren-chan." He took Guren's hand and walked with her towards one of the Emperor's chambers. Yoshio knelt in front of the guards posted at the door. "There is a visitor that requests the presence of the Emperor. I believe he is one of the Yuurei."

The door to the Emperor's chamber slid open and Yoshio bowed even deeper. "I apologize for the grav-"

Teruo appeared displeased, but he had to go see what this visitor wanted. "Lead me to this Yuurei."

Yoshio stood, then grabbed Guren's hand. He and Guren led the Emperor to the meeting room. Yoshio opened the door to the meeting room, kneeling outside of the room. Guren knelt down next to Yoshio, wishing she had more candy.

The Emperor greeted the Yuurei with a bow and knelt down on a mat placed on the floor. "Greetings."

[Iskander]

Iro'Eru was unaware that he had first spoken to a child; in truth, he had no inkling of what human children looked like. To him, Guren was just a stunted member of a stunted species. All humans were short when placed beside the Edija warriors. The child was lucky enough to have an adult nearby, and the quick action of the servant saved Guren's life. Iro'Eru displayed his annoyance in an array of ill-tempered pheromones that his warriors picked up on, but that the humans would not even realize were present. He followed the servant to the meeting room and dismissed her in the middle of her offer.

"We have no need of your food or drink."

The warriors were still standing when Teruo reached the room, and they were still armed. Iro'Eru was the only one without a visible weapon, and his size alone was enough to intimidate most humans. He inclined his head slightly to Teruo, an acknowledgment of the man's presence, but none for his rank.

"The Holy Empire requires the service of this Vassal-State," Iro'Eru began without waiting for any courtesies to be exchanged, "This Vassal-State will provide for the Holy Empire the bodies of all recently deceased, of all species." The body tax was nothing new to the region; the undead of Shen had practiced a body tax since their Emperor ascended his throne in the ancient past, but the Yuurei had never used it for themselves. The demand was as sudden as it was rude.

[Kirin]

Teruo's eye twitched. He glanced at the servant at the door. "Bring me some tea." He tried to not sound irritable. The servant nodded and was gone. Teruo began to relax.

He slowly nodded at Iro'Eru's sudden demand. He was annoyed, but it didn't show until the servant returned with the tea and served it to him. He took the cup in his hands and rather than enjoy it like he normally did, he gulped it down. "A body tax..very well." He didn't have much else to say.

"When would you like to start collecting?" He finished his tea.

[Iskander]

"Kill him where he stands," one of Iro'Eru's warriors spoke to him in the secret tongue of the Edija. The humans would hear only gibberish that their deformed mouths could never hope to pronounce. "Kill him, and we'll wipe this nation from the map. Then we'll have more than enough bodies."

Iro'Eru shook his head, "No. The Council would be unhappy, to say the least, if we started a war like that. If the humans attack us, we can do what we like with them. I, personally, want to rip the marrow from his bones now. Look at him... Pale, weak, disgusting. Why the Messenger allows these Vassal-States to survive is beyond me. He's accepted the tax, and now we can leave. We can go home and wash their stink off." To Teruo he spoke in the common Yuurei tongue, "The Vassal-State's cooperation has been noted. We will return in one week. Fail us and your cities will burn."

He turned and gestured to his men. One warrior ripped open a gate back to Yerushalayim, and the Edija filed through it until Teruo was alone again.

[Kirin]

Teruo bowed once. "Understood." He just watched in silence as they left. His hand gripped the tea cup tightly, squeezing it until cracks began to form. He let the cup go and bowed his head in silence. The idea of giving over dead bodies to the Yuurei bothered him. He felt like a wave of bad karma would come crashing down on him for allowing for something like that to happen.

The servant returned, taking the cracked tea cup and replacing it with a new one. She served him more tea then crept out of the room on her knees.

[Iskander]

"Lord Shichiro," the servant bowed to the fox nervously, "the White Monk has arrived in the capitol." Word had spread of the Yuurei's visit, and their demand, and now the White Monk, Jianyu of Wei, was in the capitol. Jianyu was known to be the spy-master of the Valley of Shen, but he had never once admitted to this. But he had arrived on the heels of the Yuurei, and there were whispers spreading already. His timing, if it was accidental, was terrible.

Jianyu was standing behind the servant, with his hands folded into the large sleeves of his yellow robes. He had prayer beads wrapped around one wrist, and was carefully counting his breath while he waited for Shichiro, or some other Lord of the Twin Countries, to bring him to Teruo.

Four count in, hold, four count out, hold.

He clicked the beads together softly with each cycle of breath. He had suspected that the Yuurei would make demands to the Twin Countries, and the whispers of the servants had confirmed his fears. The Tyrants had come to the Valley, as well, and made the same demands. The Immortal Phoenix Emperor had sent word to him to contact Teruo with an offer; he had already been in the Twin Countries, luckily.

[Kirin]

Shichiro's normal arrogance seemed to move to the wayside. He, too, had heard the rumors, at first through servants, then as the guards whispered it, he held a private meeting with the Emperor. Lord Shichiro was lucky, one of the few who could hold private meetings with the Emperor, due to his status now. His gaze moved towards the monk and he bowed.

"Greetings, White Monk. It's an honor to finally meet you." Shichiro motioned, telling one of the guards to get a couple of horses. "The Tiger Emperor is in the temple in Kuba, not far away from here. I'll take you there as soon as the horses are ready. I'm sorry that we are so terribly unprepared. We have been moving at a frantic pace after the Yuurei have shown up."

The horses were brought to the men. Shichiro glanced at the monk. "Are you adverse to riding a horse?" Shichiro's brother was a monk. He prefered walking to horseback. He figured he would ask first.

[Iskander]

Jianyu arched a bushy eyebrow at Shichiro, "I am to see the Tiger Emperor?! This is an honour, truly!" He bowed deeply to the fox-lord. When he rose, his face was as impartial as it had been when he first arrived.

"There is no need for apology, my Lord. I am but a simple monk, and it is beyond the realm of my experience and knowledge to criticize the preparations of an entire nation." If Shichiro and the Twin Countries knew anything about him, they would know he never admitted to his role in the goings on of the Valley. Even when in the heart of the Valley's capitol, he maintained that he was nothing but a begging monk. If they didn't know him, and were surprised, that was telling.

He waved a servant over to help him climb into the saddle of his mount. "Thank you, Lord Shichiro. When I was a younger man, I would have declined this fine mount, but now I want nothing more than to rest my feet." He paused and clicked his prayer beads together again, "You say the Yuurei have been here? I didn't know that the Tyrants had returned. I thought they had left us in peace for good."

[Kirin]

Shichiro shrugged lazily. "Well, yes. We're going to the temple, so I'd assume that you would see him. He's a very religious man." He mounted his horse, waiting for the guards to also mount their horses.

As the group rode out of town, Shichiro glanced around warily. "Not many of the citizens know, but I'm sure that by nightfall, everyone in the capitol will know. I didn't think they'd come back either. But, to be honest, I figured that it would happen sooner or later. I guess that the return of the Tyrants seems to still have surprised both the Emperor and myself."

The group would ride for a short time, leaving the gates of the capitol. "I'm sure that the Emperor is distraught and rather fearful. After all, the desecration of the dead is something that is a big no-no amongst the gods. Especially if they are going to another empire. They are asking for a body tax." Shichiro sighed. The temple was a mere twenty minute's ride from the capitol.

[Iskander]

"I have heard," Jianyu spoke low, as though sharing a secret, "that the Tyrants have demanded a body tax from the Immortal Phoenix Emperor himself. Times are not well if even the undead must pay the tax!" He enjoyed a small laugh as he nudged his horse forward. Things were much worse than he had thought; the Tyrants had moved faster than expected, and struck both the Valley and the Twin Countries in two days. He wasn't pleased with his next orders.

"It is whispered, by those whose job it is to whisper such things, that the Immortal Phoenix Emperor will declare war on the Tyrants. They say he is already gathering an army to battle them. If it is true, I suspect that an emissary might well visit this nation soon. He would have to be someone who wouldn't draw the attention of the Tyrants though, someone who appeared to be a simple man." Jianyu smiled over at Shichiro.

[Kirin]

Shichiro couldn't help but chuckle nervously. "That is pretty bad. I have to agree with you there."

He rode in silence for a little bit before he acknowledged what the monk had said. "Well, I am sure that the Virtuous Tiger Emperor would help out the Immortal Phoenix Emperor. I am to only aid my Emperor in whatever way I can. I have very little say in the workings of war in this land. I'm but a swordsman."

Nevermind that he taught the Shogun and partially, the Emperor, everything that he knew. Strangely, this monk had humbled Shichiro. They arrived at the gates of the temple. Shichiro and the guards dismounted from their horses and Shichiro gestured for one of the guards to help the monk. The remaining guard spoke with the monk at the gate.

Monks and young apprentices walked out and took the horses once everyone was dismounted.

[Iskander]

"We all have our role to play. What is an Empire without swordsmen to defend it? What good is a throne without men to recognize it?" Jianyu was still smiling. He had never truly respected the rigid society that he had been born into. He didn't care about the undead, or the living. They were people to him, except perhaps the Phoenix Emperor. The Emperor scared him, for he was not mortal at all. His title was more literal than Jianyu cared to admit.

When the guard came to help him, Jianyu accepted gratefully. He climbed off the horse and made sure he had his few items, especially his prayer beads. "Thank you," He murmured to the guard, and bowed his head. He fetched his begging bowl from its place in his robes and began to grin at the monks.

"I greet you, brothers, on behalf of the Brotherhood of the Lotus!" He bowed deeply to the monks, still grinning. "I am glad to be here, in the company of such fine men and women." It was the truth. He'd always enjoyed the Twin Countries, and he liked their temples. They were not as full of life as the temples ruled by the undead orders, but they had a feeling of mortality that was lacking in the jungles of the Valley. Here he felt like men could die and enter the cycle of rebirth, not to be trapped in one life for eternity.

[Kirin]

The monks returned the bow to Jianyu. They were silent with the exception of an elder monk, a fox like Shichiro. The golden-robed fox bowed. "Greetings, brother. I am Kentaro." His gaze drifted to his literal brother. Shichiro bowed to his elder brother, Kentaro. "Brother.."

Shichiro kept his head lowered in Kentaro's presence as a sign of respect. His ears folded back as well. Kentaro glanced at the monk. "How was your journey here?" He asked in a low voice. The temple was quiet, peaceful as a temple should be. The monks were told to not speak unnecessarily, and the only noises heard were the chants from the prayer hall as well as the sounds of feet walking on the various wooden and stone walkways.

Kentaro motioned for the group to follow him. "I will show you around and show you to your quarters, should you choose to stay."

The smell of cooking vegetables caused Shichiro's stomach to turn. Giving up meat for more than a couple of days was something that didn't suit Shichiro's appetite. That, he guessed, is what made Kentaro much stronger of a kitsune than he was.

[Iskander]

Jianyu looked toward the ground and sighed, "The journey was long, and I fear it has left me with a fierce hunger." He could smell the foods that the monks had cooked, and his stomach answered his thought with a long, low, grumble. Wine would have been nice, but he doubted he'd find any here with the monks of the Twin Countries. They were always unlike the Valley monks, always so prim and proper. He wondered what they would have thought if they knew the least of his vices.

His smile returned when he looked up to the monk, "I would be glad to see the rest of your temple. I have heard so many things about the beautiful architecture in the Twin Countries." He'd heard a great deal more than that, but most of it had nothing to do with this monk and his religion.