Day 6 - Shiro Yogasha (Palace of the Emerald Champion)

Follow the arrows for more! Twelve men ride to the edge of their land, waiting with lifted banners for the traveler they know will arrive. Her journey, sped by destiny, carries her through the Empire even as word of her passing spreads through the land.

At their head, Seppun Toshiken, servant of Toturi and the Emerald Champion of Rokugan, rides a black steed. He waits until she has come within a few paces of his mount, and then bows slowly from the saddle. His men await her command, wondering if they will be called to follow her footsteps, but she is silent and her eyes are quiet.

She returns his bow from the road.

The men wait until she has stepped through them, and then form an honor guard behind. Their proud black banners wave, their mon displaying Toturi's colors. For a day they march through the lands of the Seppun, the heimin and samurai coming out of their houses to watch the lady pass. Through the land, their voices are silent, heads bowed in respect for her deeds.

As they reach the far border of the Emerald Champion's lands, Toshiken can be silent no more. "They say you know the future, as your Kami did before you. Tell me, how will I die, lady of the Dragon?" he says, haunted by the things he has seen in the eyes of his Emperor.

"With honor, Toshiken-sama." she replies. "Always by the side of honor."

He nods, and faint relief spreads across his stoic features. Then she speaks again.

"But first, Champion of the Emperor, you will have to atone for your sins with the blood of your family.

"I will follow my duty," he says.

"Then remember: a son's duty is not the same as one's duty to one's lord. One is a matter of honor, and the other, a matter of the soul. You must understand the cost of another person's honor." Her golden eye glows, and the serpents on her skin move faintly in the bloody light of the sunless sky. "Perhaps it will be enough to save your own."

Source: posted to www.wizards.com/l5r on 1/27/00