Moto Chinua never liked traveling the Shadowlands. Everyday she felt the shadow of her Dark Moto ancestors and in the Shadowlands it was even more of a burden pressing down on her. The loss of their traveling companion, Akodo Tennozan a few days ago was a perfect example of why she loathed this place. He was an honorable samurai that she had fought beside before, but he hadn't understood that the Shadowlands have no respect for honor. The rules that they were all used to in Rokugan just didn't apply in this dead land. The sooner they found the ancient tetsubo they had been asked to retrieve, the sooner they could return to the green lands of Rokugan and she could get back on her horse where she belonged.

When they finally arrived at the City of the Lost it was obvious that there was a war going on, just as they had been told. They were not here to get involved, simply to retrieve the tetsubo and leave. Ha! Like anything was simple in the Shadowlands. As Chinua and her companions made their way to the temple at the center of the city, there was an eerie silence broken only by a single drum that could be heard coming from the Goblin's on the north side of the city.

They reached the temple and entered it without encountering any of the goblins or the lost. In the temple, Moto Chinua and her companions quickly found the tetsubo and turned to leave. "This was too easy," Chinua was thinking as there was a sudden surge of sound coming from outside. She recognized the sound as one she had heard many times before. It was the roar of an army preparing for battle. It seemed that they were not going to be able to just walk out the front door with their prize.

After investigating the temple to locate any exit routes, other than the now "busy" front door, they realized they had two options; over the back wall or through the sewers. The Otomo traveling with them refused to consider the sewers, and Chinua was only too happy to agree with him. At the back of the temple they evaluated the wall blocking their way. Would it have been too much to ask that the Kami provide a door? Chinua knew that she could easily scale the wall but her companions had not shown much skill in this type of thing during their journeys together. She had helped the Isawa shugenja up more than one steep slope and caught him several times on the way down. Fortunately someone had had the foresight to bring a rope and with one end in her hand she scampered up the wall.

As she was tying off the rope she was surprised to suddenly notice an arrow protruding from her leg. In the brief moment it took for her to register this new development, a second arrow struck her in the shoulder. She quickly dropped back into the temple yard where she described the situation to her comrades. "There are three goblins in the streets that can see us on top of the wall. We will be out of their sight once we are over the wall. We will need to move quickly." As the rest of the party used the rope Chinua had affixed to the top of the wall, the Isawa was able to cast a quick spell and heal her minor wounds. Chinua and the Isawa then followed their comrades into the streets.

Once over the wall, as Chinua had predicted they were out of sight and quickly made their way through the streets hoping to avoid any more run-ins with the warring goblins and lost ones. Suddenly two figures appeared from around the corner ahead of them. Chinua's blood ran cold.

These were Moto…or rather they had been Moto at one time. They were Black Guard of the Lost now.

Chinua immediately flashed back in time and remembered the vow she had taken over a simple shrine near the small village of Ichi Mura. She had traveled to this city to provide security for a Go Tournament. During the tournament, Toritake Yamamiya arrived in the village and in his quest to find some writings of his ancestors he accidentally destroyed a nearby shrine. This shrine was part of a ritual that had bound the Dark Moto and Toritake's clumsy destruction of the shrine freed this evil Moto. Chinua swore that she would not rest until this dark stain on the Moto family was once again imprisoned or destroyed.

These may not be true Dark Moto, they may not be here by choice, but they are a disgrace to the Moto name and they must be destroyed. With no thought to her companions or the reason they had come into the Shadowlands, Chinua drew her scimitar and launched herself at the Lost Moto mounted on their OniKage.

As she swung at the first Lost Moto his OniKage sidestepped and deftly avoided her blow. Chinua new her blow would not have been so easily avoided if she had her own horse, but she would not back down now. At the same time the other Black Moto's katana slashed through the air slicing open the back of her armor leaving a deep wound down the length of her back. But Chinua did not even feel the strike as she once more swung her scimitar. This time she struck her foe, but only a glancing blow. Not enough to stop the decent of his katana. As she moved to try and block his blow, she realized that there was no one fighting at her side. The Black Moto's weapon cut across her torso and she felt the blade go through her. She tried to raise her scimitar once more, but it was difficult as the ground seemed to be getting closer.

As she lay on the ground she saw that her companions had fallen back as she attacked. She knew that she would not rise again and soundlessly she willed them to take her head. She had seen what happened to those that died in the Shadowlands and she did not want become one of those she had died fighting to destroy. As her life leaked out into the foul ground she saw her companions struck down one by one.

As her vision blurred and the scene before her began to fade, so did her hope. Her final sight was their Otomo companion slipping away with the tetsubo they had come for and her final thought was sent to her brother and sister, "Find me…do not let me be cursed to live among the Lost".

Afterword:
Chinua blinked as her vision slowly cleared. She was lying on something soft, in a dark room lit by pale candlelight. A lean, handsome man with long black hair sat across from her, watching her awaken with glittering eyes. "Ah, at last you awake to us, beautiful one," he said, in a voice as smooth as fine silk.

Chinua struggled for the strength to rise and flee, but her body was still too weak. She could feel some new strength within her, something she could tap if she truly wished, but her soul recoiled from that. "Who..." She shook her head and forced her eyes to focus. "You are one of the Lost. A Dark Moto. You think to keep me as a prize?"

"Moto?" he chuckled, low and rich. "No, I never claimed that name, even when I still lived within that weak and decadent Empire. I am called Taro. But you, my dear, will soon call me... Master."