The Blazing Tempest

DISCLAIMER: This story is a non-commercial work of fiction based on the anime/manga Samurai 7. Original copyright of Samurai 7 belongs to Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni, MICO, GDH, GONZO. Absolutely no monetary gain has been made with this work.


THE BLAZING TEMPEST
By Rory V. Pascual (Edited by Saiyukihana)
© Original Version 2001; Samurai 7 Version June 21, 2006

Chapter Nine

An anguished cry pierced the desert night air. This was followed by Tessai's angry shout as a robed figure hurried out of the large tent, bearing a small bundle in his hands. Running past the sleeping camels, he made his way towards the servant's area, entering one of the tents.

Shichiroji was bent between the legs of the pregnant female servant Liamina, his right hand massaging her swollen abdomen. Gorobei had the woman supported on his lap, while another servant, her friend Tamar, held her hand. Masamune was busy boiling water.

The Samurai noticed Shinno's entrance out of the corner of his eye. In answer to the whoremaster's unspoken question, he said, "It's not good. She's too weak to push the baby out. I might have to cut her and pull the child out myself. If only I had the instruments..."

Shinno sat down beside the Warrior and opened his precious bundle. "Would these help?"

Shichiroji stared in surprise at the fine knives and surgical instruments. There were also needles and silk threads. Glass vials contained a variety of herbal concoctions.

Raising three vials one by one, Shinno described the uses of each to the Samurai. "This one induces contractions, but given her condition, I think this will do more harm than good. You could probably use this one. It's a pain reliever. This last one controls bleeding."

"Where did you get all these, Shinno?" queried Shichiroji, never expecting such a medical cornucopia in the whoremaster's possession.

"While we were in France," the whoremaster explained, "I met a healer there. She...uh...helps the ladies in the brothel occasionally. She taught me a few things about medicine and healing, and she gave me this."

Shichiroji readily suggested, "Then perhaps you could assist me. We must get the baby out. If we delay this any further, we might lose both of them."

"Yes," said Shinno eagerly, happy to be able to do something useful for a change other than being a man's plaything. "I would like that very much."

Gorobei and Masamune looked on in awe as the two men worked. After boiling the instruments in water, Shinno handed them over to Shichiroji. He then gave Liamina a sip of the pain reliever, so that the Samurai could cut a wider opening. Just as Shichiroji made the incision, the woman cried out as a contraction came on.

"That's it," the Warrior urged her. "Push! Push hard!"

Liamina closed her eyes, sweat trickling from her brow, as she pushed. At once, the baby's head popped out. Gently pressing on her abdomen, Shinno pushed the baby down while Shichiroji eased it out. Emerging, the baby let out a lusty cry.

Cutting the infant's umbilical cord, the Samurai declared with pride, "You have a beautiful baby girl," laying the baby in her mother's arms. Although still very weak, Liamina pressed the child to her breast, to give her those first few precious drops of milk. To their dismay, however, the baby pulled away, wailing, shaking her little fists.

Tamar squeezed her friend's breast and shook her head. "She doesn't have any milk."

There was a moment's hesitation in the whoremaster. From within the pocket of his robes, he produced a vial filled with a green fluid. "Let her drink this, Tamar, three times a day. It should induce the milk to flow. But it might take two to four days before her breasts could actually produce milk."

"What are we going to do in the meantime?" asked Masamune.

"We certainly cannot give this baby camel's milk."

Gorobei added, "And none of the women are wet nurses."

"I've heard there's a small settlement not far from here," Shichiroji put in. "I could go there and buy a goat."

Shinno, who had been strangely silent during their exchange, said softly, "There's no need." He raised his hands to the child. "Give her to me."

Shichiroji knew immediately what the whoremaster was intending to do. "Shinno..."

"Shichiroji, you know that...this...was done to me to satisfy the depraved desires of the Amanushi. Let me use it to save this child."

The Samurai nodded. Turning to the two women, he requested, "Shinno is right. The child would thrive with him in the meantime. Trust him, Liamina."

"I have no reason not to trust my Master." Liamina lifted her daughter to the Warrior, who took the wailing baby in his arms and handed it to the whoremaster.

As everyone looked on, Shinno brushed his long hair aside. He let the sleeve of his robe dip from his left shoulder, baring his chest. With stunned silence, they watched as the whoremaster let the baby suckle from his breast.

Tears misted the eyes of the two women, shocked by this induced capability in their master.

"Our beloved Prince..." Tamar said hesitantly. "What did they do to you?"

"It's the drug." Masamune was the one who replied. "The Amanushi and his adviser have been forcing him to take it, especially when they intend to bed him. They've tapered the dose so that although he produces milk, his chest does not swell up."

Hugging the baby, Shinno whispered, "Forgive me. I...I guess I must disgust you."

"No, Master," Liamina reassured him. "We feel anger towards the men who would commit such depravities upon your person. But, in a way, I am also thankful to them."

"Why do you say that?" Gorobei asked curiously.

"You see, they did it to a good man," the servant explained. "A man who does not hesitate to nurse the child of his sick serving woman, and feels no shame in doing so. Neither does he abhor having a slave's baby feed at his breast. A master, an Amanushi would never do this for a slave."

"Liamina, I am not a master," Shinno reminded her. "I am a slave just like you."

With a smile, the woman, however, countered, "No, dear Master. You are an angel that Allah had sent down from Heaven to help us."

~~~~~~~~~~

After ensuring that Liamina was well, Shichiroji stepped out of the tent, feeling elated.

An angel. That was what the woman described Shinno to be. After witnessing what the whoremaster had done, he had no doubt of it. Shinno's great capacity for unconditional kindness and generosity revealed an indomitable spirit of goodness. It certainly didn't surprise him how much the Amanushi wanted to break him. If he were the man he was before, he would have shared the same impulses with the Amanushi. There was nothing more appealing, and satisfying in the end, than to see the ruin of an innocent. IF he were the man he was before...

But if he wasn't, what was he doing in this God-forsaken place?

"You...you won't hurt me?" Shinno had asked him earlier. Shichiroji had promised that he wouldn't.

So what will happen now to the promise he had made to himself twenty-five years ago?

Shichiroji did not want to lie to himself. The desire for revenge was still strong, and Shinno remained the perfect tool for his vengeance.

The Samurai gazed up into the stars. He was caught between a rock and a hard place. How could he fulfill one promise without breaking the other?

Angry voices brought Shichiroji out of his musings, recognizing the arguers immediately as Tessai and Shinno. At once, Shichiroji remembered that the whoremaster had earlier left the servants' quarters with little Zumillah, intending to keep Liamina's daughter in his safekeeping until her mother could take care of her. Fearing for Shinno, the Warrior hurried in the direction of the voices.

Just as he neared the concubine's tent, Shichiroji stopped dead in his tracks, eyes wide in horror as he beheld Shinno falling to the ground, baby in his arms. Tessai towered above Shinno with whip still raised, ready to bring it down upon the helpless whoremaster and the child.

Before he realized that he was doing it, Shichiroji was running towards them. Going between Shinno and the adviser, he grabbed the whip before it could fall.

"Shichiroji!" Tessai exclaimed in surprise. "Damn you, Samurai! Let go of my hand! I will not allow that you interfere this time!"

"Would you willfully harm a child?" the Samurai demanded in return.

"I told this whore to return the child to its mother. It is not his task to play wet nurse to the infant of a slave."

"I suppose it is his duty to play wet nurse to perverted Amanushis and their advisers, is that it?"

Tessai snatched his whip back. "Do not play the hypocrite, Shichiroji. You yourself have had your pleasure from the Amanushi's concubine."

"I won't deny that," said Shichiroji firmly, "but it's obvious to me that you resent this. Why? Am I to blame for your Master's permissiveness to have other men bed his whores? Can I help it if I'm a much better lover compared to the Amanushi or you?"

Furious, Tessai made to hit the Samurai with the whip. Before the adviser could even blink, Shichiroji's left hand closed around his throat.

"Tessai, get your brain to return to its proper position in your head instead of between your legs," the Samurai advised in all seriousness. "Shinno has taken it upon himself to care for a servant's child, a generous move that has endeared him to all in this caravan. If you should hurt him grievously, what's to stop them from helping the Amanushi's precious whore to escape or, worse, use this as a stepping stone to a full rebellion? Think, Tessai! You stand to lose a lot not only for yourself, but also for your Master, if you dare to harm him."

The Amanushi's adviser hesitated for a moment. Grudgingly, he lowered his hand, letting the whip slap against his thigh. At that gesture of reluctant surrender, Shichiroji slowly released him.

"I will heed your advice for now, Samurai. But I must warn you. Continue to coddle this obstinate whore and he will strike like a viper."

"And like I told you, I can handle him." Shichiroji laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Tessai, leave this to me. Trust me."

Tessai, however, shrugged the Warrior's hand off. Snorting, he said, "I doubt if I could trust you any longer," and stormed off in the direction of the circular tent.

As he glanced down, Shichiroji saw the whoremaster's fallen veil. He picked it up and dropped to one knee before Shinno. The man cowered from him, Zumillah pressed close to his face, both to protect the crying child and his identity.

"Turn around," Shichiroji told the whoremaster, showing him the veil.

Shinno meekly obeyed, letting the Warrior coil the veil loosely over the lower half of his face. Shichiroji grimaced, seeing a hint of a dusky bruise on a high cheekbone.

"Are you all right?" the Samurai asked in concern. "Did he hurt you?"

Shinno shook his head. "You came just in time. He nearly came close to hitting the baby when he struck me in the face."

"Where's Takeru? I don't like the idea of leaving him alone with Tessai when he's in a foul temper."

"I'm sure he's fine. When I left Tessai earlier to help you with Liamina, he was already very angry with me. So I asked Gorobei and Masamune to take Takeru into their tent and protect him."

"Good idea! As for you, don't tell me you were heading back to your tent despite the fact that you know Tessai will be waiting for you there!"

Shinno made a helpless shrug. "I have nowhere else to go."

Shichiroji exhaled in mild exasperation. Taking the whoremaster's hand, he said, "Come on! You two are going to stay with me tonight."

He then led Shinno to his tent, urging him inside as he raised the flap for him. Shinno entered, pausing at the entrance so that the Samurai could light the brazier. As light filled the tent, the whoremaster's eyes fell upon the leather bound journal, charcoal pencils, a quill and a bottle of ink lying on the cushion, not to mention the mess all over the place.

"Why do you need those?" Shinno asked curiously. "Planning to keep a journal?"

Shichiroji replied, "That is for me to know and you to find out."

Shinno scowled darkly at the Samurai, but before he could utter a retort, a cushion flew above his head as Shichiroji struggled to create a semblance of order in his tent. With a smirk, he commented, "For a samurai, you don't know anything about housework, do you?"

Whatever the Warrior was going to say never escaped from his mouth as the whoremaster thrust Zumillah into his arms. As he looked on, Shinno went about setting the tent to rights. He unrolled the mats to their full length. Taking the blankets, Shinno strode towards the opening and shook the sand out. Going back inside, his eyes fell upon the Samurai's boots.

"Take off your shoes," he ordered. Taking Zumillah once more, Shinno slapped a wash cloth at Shichiroji's chest. A smile formed on the Samurai's lips, as he obeyed the unspoken command for him to bathe.

When he had finished his bath a few minutes later, Shichiroji entered the main tent to find Shinno sound asleep on the mat, the infant suckling quietly on his chest. It pleased him to find that the whoremaster had left a space for him on the mat.

For a moment, Shichiroji found himself staring at the journal. However, the enticing image of Shinno lying asleep on his mat was a temptation he found irresistible. Besides, he was very tired himself, and what was the best way to fall into blissful slumber than with the man he cared deeply for. There was no reason to deny it any longer.

Getting down on his hands and knees, Shichiroji carefully crept towards Shinno and lay down that they were face to face. The Samurai stared at the whoremaster for a long time, mesmerized by the sight of those long, curled lashes and a hint of a cheekbone above the silk veil. Slowly, he raised his hand, fingers trembling, aching to pull down that veil and behold at last the face of the whoremaster. Before he could touch the silk, Shichiroji closed his hand. Instead, he laid his arm on that trim waist.

Shinno's eyes fluttered open, sharp and alert. However, seeing that it was the Warrior, those brown eyes softened, shining with a warm glow. With a pleasant sigh, the whoremaster cuddled close to the Samurai, the now sleeping baby between them.

Shichiroji bestowed a tender kiss upon Shinno's brow. For now, he had kept his promise. But still the question remained -- how long could he continue to be a prisoner of two vows? He did not want to think, to be afraid of what tomorrow could bring. For now, his world was at peace. No thoughts of revenge. No memories of betrayal. Just the stillness and contentment. And the trust of a sleeping concubine and a child.


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