Fall, the year 1500…

The sunlight was blinding as Kyoji opened the door to the House of the Red Blossom, as he did every morning. He stepped out of the door and looked up and down the calm city street. It took a moment for him to notice the small boy leaning up against the wall next to him. When Kyoji did, he kicked him with the toe of his sandal. "Hey, kid, you can't sleep there. This is the House of the Red Blossom, not some peasant hut." The boy looked up at Kyoji towering over him, five feet of muscle compared to his four feet of bone and baby fat, and tipped his jingasa off his head. "My apologies ronin-san, I arrived late in the night and did not wish to disturb anyone," the boy replied. "Ronin-san, boy? No peasant child is my equal." The boy unwrapped the cloak he had laid over himself as a blanket and rose to his feet. The child looked up at him, a stern and offended look on his face, "I am ronin as well, and I carry my swords just as you do. Better men than your masters have placed gifts, and compliments at my feet. My name is Muhi, Topaz Champion and friend to Isawa Joruji-sama. It was he who said I should come here, to speak with the master of this house, and learn."

Several hours later, after waiting for the oka-san of the house and having a discussion with her, the ronin boy was sitting in the kitchen. Kyoji leaned down the stairs and called for another bottle of sake for some guest, and the boy placed his bowl of rice down and ran to get it for the other man. The guard chuckled when the boy brought him the bottle, "You came in high and mighty for someone who is running errands for a geisha house." "Honest work is honest work. Surely you can understand that, Kyoji-san?" "I understand it, Muhi. I don't understand why you've stayed here, you could get another job. What do you want here?" asked Kyoji. The boy thought for a moment, "I came for training, and until I have a better prospect, I still hope to get it. Tell me, Kyoji-san, do you know many of the bushi who come here from the castle?" "Aye, I know them by name and reputation, but I want nothing more than that from them. I am paid to guard the house from drunks and dishonorable men, not to befriend the guests", and with that, Kyoji turned to give the bottle to the servant who had come to see what had held him so long.

Three weeks later…

The older samurai looked at the strange boy for a while, before asking about what he had heard of the child. "My men have told me that you have a strange reason for staying and working in this house. I would hear it." The boy looked up, startled by the question from the only samurai who had said nothing to him in his three weeks with the geisha, and took his time finding the words for his answer. "I met a Phoenix shugenja named Isawa Joruji. During our conversation, I misunderstood Joruji-sama's words. He had joked that I should come here for training, but he was speaking of training in the ways of men, and I wanted training in the ways of the samurai. I have been competing and traveling with samurai from all walks of life, and I long for nothing so much as to be counted among their ranks as someone who knows what it is to be samurai, Shiba Hiroharu-sama." "So, you know my name, do you know who I am?" The boy was hesitant to respond, "I know that you are the ranking officer in one of the garrisons of the city and that your garrison is always stationed at the castle. I have also heard that you personally pick and take over the training of all samurai who join your garrison. The majority of the samurai in this city treat you with great esteem." A slight smile cracked from the corner of the older samurai's mouth. "Are you trying to flatter me, ronin?" asked Hiroharu with a trace of amusement in his voice. "No. I do not try to flatter you Hiroharu-sama, because it would accomplish nothing. Good men know how well they have lived their lives, and the only voice who can flatter them is that of their lord. You asked what I knew of you, and I told you." "An excerpt from Doji Kaseko's book on the courts. Do you know the next line of that passage, Muhi?" The two spoke in unison, "The reason flattery is so effective, given this, is that most men are not truly good." Hiroharu let the small smile he had from earlier spread, and as he rose from his table, he turned to the boy. "The only people in Rokugan better at stealing, sneaking, and lying than the Scorpion are children." The boy's mirth turned to confusion, "I'm not familiar with that line. Whose is it?" "My mother's, Muhi, something she said to me often in my childhood. We will speak later. I have to go."

Two days later...

"The last time we spoke, you mentioned seeking training. Training in the way of the samurai, I believe." said the man in his quiet voice. "Hai, Hiroharu-sama. Since my tenth birthday, I have wandered the empire, looking for myself and my history. Instead of finding either of those, I have seen countless examples of people, be they merchant, peasant, or samurai, in need of someone with a sword to defend them from those dishonorable enough to bring them harm. I have seen children kidnapped, peasants murdered for offering aid to wounded men, and a man's luck mean more than his honor in the eyes of the world. If our world is built on our actions and our honor, then that world is slowly collapsing. I came here for training, hoping to find that there were men of honor who devoted their lives to protecting Rokugan." "I asked about you in the library yesterday. I met a shugenja named Isawa Kosai who says that he has seen you in combat, and he speaks of you as a boy with limitless capability, if not skill. He spoke of your adherence to bushido, and said that though you are a ronin you act as a true samurai should," Hiroharu paused to think for a moment then continued, "You have a full daisho, young man?" "Hai, I have a daisho Hiroharu-sama." "Good. We will talk again later," stated Hiroharu in dismissal.

Two weeks later…

Hiroharu had been coming to the house of the Red Blossom often of late, speaking with and questioning the ronin-boy who worked there. One night, as the day changed into early morning, Hiroharu turned to Muhi and asked him, "Would you be afraid to spar with me, Muhi?" "No Hiroharu-sama. I have sparred, dueled, and fought with men far less honorable than you, men who strike to all but kill with every strike. I was not afraid to fight them, I would not be afraid to fight you." The man let out a slight laugh, "Who of your foes was the most fearsome?" "I once attacked an Oni-no Genso, known to the Crab as the Mocking Oni, for their open and loud disdain of bushido. They fight almost as samurai though, for all their bluster. He was the most fearsome foe I have faced." Hiroharu watched the boy for a moment, "Interesting. You have fought more than men under my command who have twenty years of service over you. I will have my bottle of sake now."

That night, when Hiroharu rose to leave the geisha house, he motioned for Muhi to follow him. They walked in silence to the small clearing behind the building, where the washing was hung and water was drawn from the well. Two bokken and a yari were laying against a step near the servant's door. Shiba Hiroharu took the yari and drove it point down in the soft earth in the center of the yard. "You said you wished to learn to defend the world. For the next hour, that spear is the world. Keep me from it." The next hour was a lesson in futility for the young samurai. An attempt to cut off an advance would result in being caught behind something in the yard and unable to block the next wave of attacks. An attempt to block a swing would leave him vulnerable to another three swings, though the swings never fell upon the boy. The sound of bokken on yari pole had several of the geisha peering into the yard from windows and a handful of the servants standing in the shadows around the square watching the exchange. When Hiroharu finally stopped his lessons, he could tell the boy was unhappy with his performance. "You do not seem pleased with our session, Muhi." The boy paused a second to catch his breath, and replied, "I am not happy with myself. You must have struck the pole a thousand times." The reply was one Shiba himself probably said to his first students. "Consider the number of strikes I could have made on the pole if you hadn't tried to stop me at all."

A week later…

Sore but proud, Muhi walked back into the House of the Red Blossom's kitchen well after the Hour of the Rat had passed. He had managed to get between the pole in the yard and Hiroharu's sword four times today, and he had managed to get his sword between himself and Hiroharu's bokken twice. The Blossom's cook had set out two rice balls and a small bottle of sake. His travel kimono and a clean hakama were laid out over a stool in the corner, cleaned by one of the other servants. After Muhi had a few moments to wash up, change, and start eating, the kitchen quickly filled up with the rest of the workers. Kyoji walked in from the staircase where he loomed when he had nothing else to do. "You're learning. Costing you a bit though," he said, gesturing at the cuts over the right side of Muhi's mouth. "Bokken, blocked too slowly." Hiroharu had warned him, "A bokken can remove flesh if it strikes hard enough. The bamboo strips shift in their bindings, and come back together. Many will say, it's just a bokken. Keep this lesson in mind; anything can be a danger to a yojimbo and his charge. Hairpins, sharpened sticks, and swords alike."

"Muhi-chan, come here." The voice was that of an angel, from the throat of a geisha. Her name was Oroko, and she had slowly taken Muhi in as a brother during his time in the House. She gestured at a stool for him to stand on, and dressed the cuts on his face and shoulder. "There. No point in scars at your age. Keep them clean and stay out of trouble," she admonished him. "Where did you learn to tend cuts?" the boy asked, intrigued by her myriad skills. "Life as a geisha is much more sheltered than life as a ronin, but we are all human in the end. Humans get hurt." She shrugged. "Things are dropped or broken, and occasionally wounded men come for entertainment and relaxation too." She smiled, bowed slightly to the room, and walked for the door. Without turning from her path, she said "Two Imperials arrived while you were in the yard. They asked for you."

The room was arranged almost as beautifully the two imperials who sat waiting at the dimly lit table. Muhi recognized them both as the newly wed Otomo couple; Sukishi and Arishikage. Muhi entered the room, and then bowed to their higher station. "Greetings Otomo-samas. I was told you wished to speak with me," he said. The three spent a short time on small talk before Arishikage brought up the reason for their visit. "Muhi-san, I suppose we should move on to the reason we traveled here to speak with you. Part of forming a family and doing our duty for our clan is insuring that our line will continue." The boy waited a moment, and then replied, "And, Arishikage-sama? I am not sure I see my involvement in this matter." Arishikage continued, a hint of a smile playing across her delicate well formed features. "It is obvious to anyone who knows of you that your blood is far nobler than the position that you hold as a ronin. You extol the virtues of bushido and actually live by them." Arishikage glanced at her husband. Pausing, she bowed and Sukishi continued for his wife, "We would be most pleased if you would consider the, hmm, position." Muhi sat there silent for a moment, thinking before he responded. "What about children, surely you have not given up on producing an heir of your own so soon?" The briefest of grins flashed across Sukishi's face, and Arishikage answered the boy's question. "I am certain that there will be no offspring from this union. If you decide that you would like to be our heir, let us know in the morning. I do not feel it would be fair of us to expect you to answer now. I also feel I should mention that this is entirely your decision, if you say no, we will not hold it against you." As Muhi rose to leave the room, Sukishi added, "But we would be most pleased if you did say yes."

The morning came quickly following a nearly sleepless night. Muhi wandered out of his small servant room and down into the house's common room to find the Imperial couple just arriving. He joined them in the entranceway and said simply, "It feels very strange being responsible for picking my place in the celestial wheel. If it is your desire that I be joined to your family and name, then I agree to your request and will be your heir." "Good," Sukishi said. Sukishi's smile was the smile of a man well pleased with himself. Arishikage's reply was more sincere, "We are happy that you are willing to bind your name and honor to ours." The words had an ominous sound as they fell on idealistic young ears. "The bond works both ways," the boy replied.

2 months after arriving…

Muhi awoke in a sweat, thinking he had dreamt of her scream. As awareness returned, he realized he was crouched on his futon, holding his wakizashi in both hands. Muted, through the walls and window of his little room, the scream returned. Muhi moved to the window, to see Oroko being chased around the well by a man in an unmarked black kimono. Without hesitation the boy opened the window, threw out the sword, and followed it with his body. After landing, he picked up his sword and immediately began to do as Hiroharu had instructed him. He placed himself between the tip of his opponent's weapon and the girl. The man paused for a moment, assessing the new threat, and then began attacking the ronin child in front of him. Relentless, the man attacked, and slowly beat back the child. "Run inside Oroko." The attacks shifted then, back to the geisha, forcing Muhi to take a strike that would have felled her. As the sword bit into Muhi's arm and the blood swelled and poured over the edge of his skin, the black dressed samurai stepped back. A flick of sword and saya and the child faced an unarmed man. The man then removed the mempo he was wearing and Muhi stood facing Hiroharu. Oroko stood smiling slightly in the doorway for a moment, before slipping through it. The phoenix handed the ronin a rolled scroll, and said "In the morning, go back into the world, and use what you've learned. Come back next year." With that, he bowed, turned, and left the field.

The next morning, Muhi did as he was told, told the house matron he was leaving, returned the koku she offered him for the work he had done, and took his leave from the House of the Red Blossom. The scroll he opened once he was an hour or so out of the city.

I looked for you in the libraries. I can find no traces of your life before the year 1500 and the scholars I know cannot place your lineage or find any prominent young children unaccounted for in their records that match your vague memories. I found a reference to a 'boy wolf with no pack' in a scroll of a lesser prophet. The prophecy is vague, but if it is you that it speaks of, I am sorry.

"The boy wolf with no pack; murdered by his father's kin, brought back by his mother's, remembered by neither. He comes from the broken line. He will wander the world, but never find a place. His path ends if he is found…"

There is more, but it becomes even less clear than this piece. Take heed in the warnings of time, if you go looking for your past. Time can be manipulated, bent and used, if you know what you're doing, but rarely can it be changed entirely.

The boy looked over a shoulder, back towards the city, and wondered to himself what exactly Shiba Hiroharu did for the Phoenix.