Tarama's Temper Part 3 – Shisa

The courtyards of Katsuro’s castle bustled with dozens of soldiers and servants who hurried along to fulfill whatever order the Daimyo had thrown their way. Some men carried individual weapons, while others lugged entire crates or barrels in their arms through the fortress grounds.

After dismissing Tetsuya from his throne room earlier, Katsuro ordered Nobuhiro and a dozen other men to head to the giant Shisa statue on the island with several casks of gunpowder. The young Lord had long disliked the massive figure that the native Ryukyuans regarded as a guardian for their islands, and now he planned to rid it from Tarama once and for all. He did not care how or when it was accomplished that day; his only command was to bring the statue down and destroy it.

In the middle of the throng were three people that stood patiently- Tetsuya and the two soldiers accompanying him- all three of which waited for the Daimyo to exit his keep and tell them what he had planned for the elder Ryukyuan. When at last he did, he came storming out of the castle closely followed by Hitoshi, who had tried in vain to talk any sense into the Daimyo ever since he went into his tantrum.

“Alright, old man, this is your last warning,” Katsuro announced over the commotion around him as he advanced towards Tetsuya, “Regardless of what you tell me, I’m sending out my men to annihilate that ridiculous dog-statue. But if were to finally use whatever wisdom may be in that ancient skull of yours, and actually provide me with some answers on how to eliminate the spirits’ presence, you and your people will avoid what punishments I have thought for you.” The elder studied Katsuro’s face for a few moments, and appeared as if he contemplated on taking the Daimyo up on his offer.

“Between yourself and I, this plan of yours to destroy the Shisa is your most foolish idea, yet,” he answered with a toothy grin. Katsuro wore an insincere smile while he exaggerated several nods of his head. It was exactly the kind of response he had come to expect from Tetsuya.

“Very well then, you withered excuse for a human being, I am done letting you toy with me. I gave you more than enough opportunities to respect my rule as Daimyo and aid me in these mysterious circumstances, but if you are that stubborn as to continue ridiculing me with your belief in the island’s spirits, then I will make sure to put an end to it once and for all.” Katsuro reached to his side to pull his katana off his belt, and held the sheathed sword in front of Tetsuya’s complacent face. “In less than an hour, the blade beneath this scabbard will be your fate.”

Whereas the old man barely so much as blinked at his statement, Hitoshi grew visibly distressed. He knew that Katsuro was the type of man to act irrationally at times, but in all the years that he had served the young Daimyo, he had never known him to execute someone with his own hands. That Katsuro was so eager to kill another person, and for such a petty reason, no less, told Hitoshi that his best friend had all but lost his mind.

Katsuro looked up at the ramparts just above, and got the attention of a trio of guards which stood at their post.

“You three, come down here,” he yelled out to them. Even though there were already few soldiers watching from the castle walls, they hustled down the stairs that led to the courtyard floor to join with the Daimyo. “You three are coming with us,” Katsuro straightforwardly explained, “We’re going to make our way to the field just north of the castle, away from everyone here and at the nearby village. There, I’ll deal with the old man myself, but you will all accompany me as a precaution. Understood?” The three guards from the ramparts, as well as the two soldiers who had stood there the whole time, all nodded their heads.

“Yes, my Lord,” they said in unison.

“Good, then let’s head out right away,” Katsuro said, and gave Tetsuya one final glare before the soldiers turned with the old man and began to march with him. Katsuro was just about to follow, but he felt a hand grab his shoulder.

“Lord Katsuro, I implore you to think all of this through more carefully,” Hitoshi warned, and his voice was sullen. He took his hand off the Daimyo once he looked back at him. “You are being far too rash today, and I fear that you will regret it in time.”

“Why do you believe that, Hitoshi?” Katsuro asked resentfully, “Are you doubtful of my judgment?”

“No, my Lord, not at all, but I feel that you are making some very foolish decisions. You are about to waste nearly all of our gunpowder on a mere statue, and worse, you are about to kill a man who has committed no crime, nor any kind of hostility against you. What you are doing is reckless; far too reckless for there to be no consequences afterwards.”

“I hope you are not siding with that old man or anything to do with these islands besides myself, Hitoshi. Because I have absolutely no intention of letting the Ryukyus control me. I am the ruler of these islands, and nothing about them, human or spirit, will dare challenge me any longer.”

“Declaring war on a bunch of ghosts is not going to resolve any of this,” Hitoshi said, nearly gritting his teeth in frustration, “Nor is executing an elderly man and infuriating every Ryukyuan on Tarama.” Katsuro gave him a dubious look.

“Then you truly are against me in this?” Hitoshi wanted to respond more fiercely at the accusation, but the man’s wisdom took over. He sighed, and placed both hands on the Daimyo’s shoulders before looking him in the eye.

“I have, and always will, serve you, loyally. Though I do not always agree with your actions and thoughts, I respect them, and I hold you in great honor as my Daimyo wherever we may travel. I’m not positive myself what to make at all of the strange things that have happened on this island, and because of that, I think that there is more than one way to deal with them. I think that there are other options that must be explored before you act with such spite. I only believe so with your wellbeing in mind, Lord Katsuro, because I never wish for anything ill upon you. You have a great mind and a strong heart, so I believe that if you think all of this through, you can resolve the issue peacefully, and nobody will have to worry about it ever again.” He hoped that a more earnest explanation would reach into Katsuro’s mind, as Hitoshi was, unquestionably, the Daimyo’s most loyal follower, and closest of friends.

However, after staring at his advisor for a brief time, Katsuro lifted his arms to take Hitoshi’s hands off of his shoulders.

“I appreciate the sentiment, Hitoshi, and on any other day, it would perhaps change my mind,” he said bluntly, “But this day, I show these islands that nothing, living or nonliving, mocks Katsuro Ogawa.” Like that, Katsuro turned from his longtime friend and began to make his way out of the castle courtyards, and towards the soldiers who escorted Tetsuya to the nearby field.

Hitoshi could only curse to himself, and run off to follow the Daimyo and the other soldiers.

* * *

A soft breeze followed the waves that licked the shores of Tarama, where the Shisa statue stood guarding the island. Its mouth hung open, showing off a set of terrible fangs, and its red eyes gazed out into the distance unblinking. Just beneath it was the group of soldiers which Katsuro commanded to raze the monument to the ground, setting up the powerful explosives that the Daimyo hoped would shatter the statue’s base.

Further away, Nobuhiro groaned as he took another look at the crudely drawn diagram in his hands. He was given no where near sufficient time to come up with a flawless plan to demolish the Shisa, but even he, who was among Katsuro’s favorite associates, had no choice other than to obey the Daimyo’s order. Regardless of how foolish it was to even try to tear down the gigantic statue, Nobuhiro had been given the command and planned to comply with it.

Any attempt to persuade Katsuro in abandoning one of his absurd ideas would merely fall on deaf ears.

Nobuhiro now used his personal discretion only to determine how the monument could be destroyed with the least likely chance that some, or any, of his men could be injured in the process.

“Captain Nobuhiro!” he heard one of the soldiers call out. He rolled up the paper containing his diagram and looked up to see the soldier running towards him. “We just got every barrel of gunpowder set next to one of the legs on the statue, is the placement correct?” the man asked.

Nobuhiro took a moment to analyze the position of the explosive barrels around the paw of the Shisa; four drums standing in a diamond formation about the base of its front right leg. It was exactly as he had designed, but his reply was delayed as he thought of what a great waste Katsuro made of the gunpowder. Such technology was still not a staple in Japanese weaponry, and the only way the young Daimyo had come upon it was in an expensive deal with Chinese traders who were experts with the volatile powder. To Nobuhiro, the act of using it all simply to destroy a sculpture was senseless.

“Yes, that’s fine,” he said unenthusiastically, “Now tell everyone else to load up the other barrels and get them away from the statue before we set the first grouping off.”

“You’re not going to set them up around both legs of the Shisa at once?”

“No, I’d like to preserve as much of the gunpowder as possible,” Nobuhiro said irritably as he thought of Katsuro, “Lord Ogawa may not care if he blows it all up just to knock down a statue that poses no threat to him, but I’d be a fool not to make some attempt at conserving it, seeing as how we may never come upon it again. If we’re lucky, taking out just one leg on the thing will bring the whole statue down. ” The soldier did not quite understand the severity that Nobuhiro placed upon the gunpowder, but like the captain, had no intention to argue the situation with his superior.

“Al-alright, sir, I’ll let the other men know right away,” the soldier said, and was about to turn and run off before Nobuhiro interrupted him.

“Make sure they get those additional casks entirely clear of the statue,” he explained, with much more emphasis in his tone than before, “There’s a reason why we’re going to have such a long fuse for the blast; we have to make sure that we’re very far away from the thing when the explosion goes off. Because if it works, it’s going to send debris flying everywhere, and we don’t want to be in the way of that.”

“Oh, you mean like splinters on a ship when it gets damaged?” the soldier asked.

“Similar, except it’s going to be shards of burning rock which will come our way,” Nobuhiro answered grimly, “As I’m sure you can imagine, it won’t be hard for that to kill a man, but it’ll be even worse if that strikes one of the barrels- it’ll ignite those and then we’ll be in the middle of the same blast we’re using to destroy a statue the size of a house.” The soldier gulped audibly.

“I-I see…well, that’s something we’ll be sure to avoid, then…”

“You and the others can take as long as you need to. I’m certainly in no rush and as long as we have this done sometime this afternoon, Lord Ogawa won’t bother us about it.”

“Understood, captain, I’ll relay the orders.” The soldier turned and ran back to the other men, who were just about to begin setting up the remaining barrels around the other leg of the Shisa. As they began to haul the heavy casks away from the effigy, Nobuhiro sighed. He stood in the same spot, staring aimlessly at the statue while his mind began to wander, still dwelling over what a waste the Daimyo was making of the gunpowder.

In the middle of his daydream, he became completely oblivious to a sight that made the soldiers freeze. Their faces twisted and their jaws slacked at what an unbelievable transformation that the sculpture suddenly underwent, yet Nobuhiro remained totally unaware.

At last, when one of the soldiers uttered something from afar, he broke out of his trance to see that the Shisa was changing color. The statue, once composed of rich burgundy-hued stone, began to lose the hardness all across its body. Its entire surfaced morphed into brilliant golden fur, which shone brightly in the afternoon sun while the thickest portions of it wafted in the breeze. Most amazingly, the giant eyes on the beast blinked, and its head pointed down at the humans before it. The Shisa’s mouth fell open, and through its glittering fangs came a deep growl.

The statue had come alive.

“Wha-what do we do?” one of the soldiers stammered. Before any of them could answer, the Shisa lifted its paw and swiped away the barrels of gunpowder underneath it, shattering the containers. The monstrous creature then took its first step off of the platform where it originally sat, and shook the ground when its foot touched the earth.

“Run as far as we can, that’s what!” another shouted. The panic-stricken men bolted in all directions, some heading down the beach, some for a nearby glade, even a few into the waters of the ocean.

But Nobuhiro stood mesmerized in the same spot he had stood in that whole time, unable to take his widened eyes off the beast.

“Oh…my…” was all that he could manage to say.

The Shisa’s own eyes narrowed, and turned in the direction of Katsuro’s castle. With a shake of its heavy mane, it let out a bellowing roar that rang across all of Tamara.

* * *

Hitoshi lifted his head as he thought he heard a booming sound sweep across the open field. His eyes surveyed the flat, grassy meadow, but even though he was certain that something echoed from afar, he saw nothing out of the ordinary about him.

A few yards away, Tetsuya was forced to his knees, surrounded by Katsuro and the five soldiers that had escorted him. The Daimyo stood before the elderly man, bearing his katana still, and taunting Tetsuya before he prepared to execute the Ryukyuan.

“So, this is what you choose for it to come to; your death at my hands, and only because of your crazed loyalty to the spirits that haunt this island,” Katsuro said, and beginning to feel a wave of confidence wash over him, something he had not felt in several days since all of the mystical encounters.

“If you think that killing me will free you of the islands’ anger, you are just as mistaken as you have been ever since arriving here,” Tetsuya shot back, showing total poise, “I am not your enemy; it is the spirits themselves that you must contend with. And murdering me will only drive them to punish you further.” Katsuro chuckled.

“For the first time since I’ve laid eyes on your miserable form, I agree with some of what you say. But I understand that your execution will not be the end of my problems, and I am ready to do far more to rid my life of those maddening spirits.” Katsuro gripped the hilt of his katana, and pulled the blade free of its scabbard. “However, silencing you once and for all will be an excellent way to begin things.”

Hitoshi had stayed relatively silent since they left the castle, realizing that there it was all but impossible to get through to the Daimyo any longer, but he spoke one last time simply out of principle.

“Please, Katsuro, do no go through with this, there is nothing that anyone can hope to gain from this man’s death,” he said ominously. Katsuro did not even bother to look over at his longtime friend, and gently touched the blade to Tetsuya’s throat.

“My mind will be much, much clearer without this old fool’s heckling,” Katsuro retorted, though he was so lost in his delusions, that he was not even upset anymore by one of Hitoshi’s warnings, “And when that finally happens, you can believe that our lives here will be far more peaceful than before any of this nonsense began.”

Katsuro was about to pull his katana back and run the blade through Tetsuya’s throat, but suddenly the ground shook and he dropped his weapon. Everyone in the group staggered, and some of them nearly fell clear off their feet. It was only an instantaneous tremor, but it was more than enough to completely baffle all of the men.

“What in the world was tha-,” Katsuro started to say, before a reverberating boom rang out through the area, followed by another tremor. Once again the ground beneath them shuddered and shook them off balance.

“Hey, look out there!” one of the soldiers said, pointing towards a dense forest in the distance. They looked out at the wooded area, which lay past the castle and just before the eastern shore of Tarama. Crowds of birds fluttered out of the canopies, while several land animals came darting out the forest nearly in a stampede. Another boom emanated from the woods and just behind it was yet another tremor which was even more violent than the first two. The chilling sound of trees being snapped in half and toppled reached the men’ ears, and before long they could see several collapsing into the rest of the forest.

“Lord Katsuro…I think I we should leave…now…” Hitoshi managed to say through his fear, dreading that something very terrible was about to happen.

To the astonishment of everyone there, all except Tetsuya, the front of the forest opened up, and the gigantic Shisa emerged from the trees. A mess of dust, dirt and leaves arose from the wreckage as it came out into the open, and the titan released a booming roar which nearly shook the ground just as its thunderous footsteps had.

Katsuro and his men could not believe the enormous beast that they beheld, so much so that they became oblivious to the even more profound quakes beneath their feet as the Shisa continued its advance across the island. It was only when it finally dawned on the Daimyo where the monster was headed that he showed some sign of life.

“Oh…oh no,” he gasped, and his face grew pale with terror.

Before long, the Shisa made its way to Katsuro’s castle while it stomped on all fours and bellowed its menacing cry. The Daimyo could make out dozens of servants, attendants and soldiers racing out of the courtyards and far way from the castle walls in complete panic. He could not know if every last man and woman was retreating, but Katsuro nonetheless realized that his beloved fortress lay completely helpless before the monster.

The Shisa walked straight through the ramparts, breaking the walls clear in half as it effortlessly ambled through solid stone. The rest of the parapet crumbled, and by the time the beast had stepped into the courtyards, the entire wall had fallen to the earth.

Katsuro could only watch on in horror as the Shisa set its eyes on the towering keep before it, glaring and snarling at the citadel as if it were its enemy. The behemoth then lifted itself onto its hind legs, and with a rumbling cry, slammed its entire bulk into the castle.

The whole structure shattered under the monster’s terrifying power, and one by one the multiple levels of the keep came down beneath the Shisa’s weight. The monster decimated them by raking its crystal-like claws across the rubble, and tore them apart before they even touched the island floor.

A cloud of smoke and debris climbed from the devastation, where the Shisa fell back on all fours and bellowed into the afternoon sky. Its booming roars were the loudest that it uttered that day, as though they were cries of victory for the destruction it wrought.

And there was certainly than just the Daimyo’s castle which was destroyed that day. After witnessing his magnificent citadel be obliterated before his eyes, Katsuro collapsed to his knees, while Tetsuya merely stood up and dusted himself off.

“My-my castle…all of my-my fortunes...” Katsuro panted, while his face twisted. In seconds, the Shisa had annihilated an untold wealth of treasures and priceless possessions that the young Daimyo made the very pride of his life. Everything that Katsuro owned, everything that he had attained by means of his noble inheritance or the extortion of the Ryukyus, lay buried under the rubble of his castle.

The Shisa turned away from the destruction, and began to trample back to its resting spot on the island shores. While it marched off, Tetsuya approached Katsuro until he stood just beside him, and they both stared into the distance where the Daimyo’s fortress once stood.

“If the Shisa is anything that we Ryukyuans have believed in for so long, it will not have destroyed your castle with someone still within,” Tetsuya explained, “I would surely imagine then, that all of your soldiers and servants escaped safely.” Tetsuya glanced over at Katsuro, who was bent over, nearly in half, and on the verge of hysteria. “That is, if it actually means anything to you.”

“I-it’s all gone…my wealth, my treasures…everything is gone…” he blubbered. Tetsuya shook his head and sighed.

“You know, I would have hoped that you learned something from all of this, perhaps that one must appreciate life beyond power and riches,” the old man said, and turned around, away from the ravaged citadel. “But I doubt you even deserve that.”

Tetsuya walked off from the group, leaving behind a ruined castle, and a broken Daimyo of Miyako.