The Jade Hand

[Hida Togeriso]

Greetings!!!

Another old fic. This one was one of my fastest works. I had an image in my head and I stuck with it as I pounded this story out. If I recall I might have done a cursory edit before posting it. I didn't want to suddenly stop and check myself at every word and was worried that writer's block would hit me.

Again date of writing unknown at the moment.

Please enjoy.

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Fifty Simple Steps: A Tale of the Crab
by Hida Togeriso

It is my first time attending a cha-no-yu, the tea ceremony developed long ago by the Imperial Court and an event of great honour. I did not have the luxury while serving my lord to engage in such activities, but this is expected when one is a samurai of the Hida. Noh, sumiye and even ikebana are replaced with the more valuable arts of kyudo, kenjutsu and other martial skills. There has yet to be an oni that can be slain by sweet words.

The area that I will call the tea garden is small, as it should be. The tea ceremony is not about wealth, grandeur or power. It is the world in miniature, a world where two people may meet for the briefest of moments and share something that can never happen again. I do not mean that a tea ceremony can only be attended once in a lifetime. The harmony of a moment is a new experience that can only happen once. Many other moments of harmony can later occur, but they are not the same as the past moment.

The tea garden I am going to is an expression of this moment of harmony. Surrounded by trees, the small teahouse is contained within a variety of plants and stones. After gazing at the landscape before me, I begin my walk to the teahouse. I tell you of this because it will be the most difficult journey I have ever made.

To reach this teahouse, one must walk along a path of fifty stone steps. Simple enough, but there is a ritual to this act of walking. Samurai who boldly enter will find themselves lying face first on the ground, disturbing the harmony and ruining the occasion. One must place their pride with their swords before taking the first step to the teahouse. The stones, you see, are not smoothed or chiseled to form an even surface, nor are they rough or jutting. They are simply natural, which means that they are somewhat uneven and one who does not watch their step will slip.

The ritual to walk this stone path is a ritual of humility and thoughtfulness. As you begin to walk towards the teahouse, you must gaze down and place your foot down with care. You must do this with each step you take for each step is important. Everything one does before, during and after the cha-no-yu is important, and the steps you take to reach the teahouse prepare you for the importance of the occasion.

As I begin at the first step, I do not think of them as an obstacle or a trick. Instead, I think of them as a focus, a way to calm the mind and soul in preparation for what is to come. Indeed, that is part of the difficulty I have in reaching the teahouse.

As I have said, I am a samurai of the Crab Clan. Every day I stand along the great Kaiu Kabe, the massive wall that prevents all manner of oni and creature from slipping into the Empire of Rokugan. Every day I am ready to fight and die as befitting a samurai, but for those of the Crab Clan, constant battle is a fact of life, not some wishful desire the young and romantic dream of when they speak of bushido to a pretty woman.

I stand on the wall with a tetsubo in my hands, dispatching the goblins and other foul things that clamber up and try to remove me from my duty. It requires a certain rage and detachment to fight these inhuman things, and I have done so for nearly ten years now. I have yet to be wounded so badly that I can only serve my clan as a sensei at the Hida War College, but I have seen many that have. Just as I have seen many, many more fall in ways that I will never wish to describe.

When I do not stand on Kaiu Kabe, I am a member of a war party hunting down the creatures of the Shadowlands that threaten the Empire. And when I am not doing either of these combative things I am resting, training or preparing myself for the next call to battle.

This I have done for ten years, and it is why I am attending this tea ceremony.

I have taken fifteen steps now, and it is a struggle. I should be fighting the minions of Fu Leng, not delicately stepping on rocks. I start my step with a feeling of calmness, but as I begin to set my foot down I want to stomp down in anger. It is a waste of time walking in such a way! I think of how even now there are samurai dying along Kaiu Kabe while I walk like a geisha. Cho-yabe! This is infuriating!

I place my foot down on the stone, secure and with purpose. The anger I feel slips away for a moment, and I chastise myself for being so foolish. It is, after all, just a simple step.

Then I raise my other foot and the cycle begins again, and it continues until I reach the twenty-fifth step.

As I look up and towards the next stone step, my gaze falls to a flower. It does not stand out, but it is placed in such a way that you notice it only when you have reached the twenty-fifth step.

I stop for a moment and look behind me. It takes a few moments, but I see a similar pattern along the pathway. Something insignificant if you are concentrating only on reaching the teahouse, but if you take the time, each step has a small gift to reflect upon. I feel a tinge of sadness that I in my pride have missed these little reflections. I have mentioned the act of leaving your pride with your swords when entering a tea garden. Now I have seen how difficult such a thing truly is.

Another minute passes by. Sadness turns to shame. I have not properly accepted the gifts being given to me. By only concerning myself with the ritual of walking properly I have withdrawn myself from the miniature world that I travel through. I almost turn and walk away but my gaze falls once again on the flower I first noticed. The sadness and shame disappear and I smile for the first time in many years. It is true that I have missed the gifts that are now behind me, but I am only on step twenty-five. There are many more gifts to be seen in the steps ahead. What has happened is now in the past of this small world I walk though.

Casting aside my doubts, I step towards the future and the teahouse.

A flower in the center of carefully raked pebbles. Stone lanterns lighting my way to the teahouse. Water trickling through a piece of bamboo. Each step becomes less difficult as my eyes look up to another wonder. Thirty, thirty-five...I stop counting before I reach forty. It is too much of a distraction from what I see before me as I walk to the teahouse. It is still difficult, each step involving a cycle of calm, anger and a return to calm, but the struggles of my emotions are slowly dispersed. Like my counting steps, my anger does not have a place in this tea garden.

The rest is easy, and I soon find myself standing before the teahouse. It is a simple wooden structure with no markings. The door is designed in such a way that one must bow in order to enter. All are equal within the teahouse. No station or trappings of society matter within the confines of the teahouse. It is a place of harmony.

At one side is a tsukubai, a stone basin filled with water. A bamboo dipper lies along the basin, and I bow low to reach it. Remaining bowed, I use the dipper to wash my hands, a ritual of purification that is performed before entering the teahouse. I walk to the entrance of the teahouse, breathe in, and enter.

"Good evening, Hida Nakane-san. I welcome you to this teahouse and I am glad that you were able to attend my summons."

I bow low in respect to the man sitting before me.

"Is this your first time taking part in the cha-no-yu?" he asks and I nod in silent acknowledgement.

"I felt it best that we begin with something with ritual and ceremony. Like the path you are now on, the tea ceremony is a process that leads to a moment of purity. Throughout the process, you must always be aware or else you lose the moment of purity you have worked on.

"I say this now because this tea ceremony marks the beginning of your own path of purity. Will you remain aware at all times, and never lose focus or resolve?"

I bowed low and then answered his question.

"I was able to walk fifty simple steps to reach this teahouse. In order to do so, I had to be ready."

Kuni Jyono smiled. "Very few of you ever make even the effort to walk down the steps, but fewer still are able to continue on."

In his hands was a small cup. I studied the design that was on the cup and then I took the cup from his hands. I was not surprised that my hands trembled slightly.

"Hida Nakane-san. You have been afflicted with the Taint of Fu Leng. Save your honour, your family and your Clan. Take part in this tea ceremony, and begin your path to purity."

I nodded at his words, uttered a small prayer to the Fortunes, and took my first sip of the Jade Petal tea.

END
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See ya!!!
Hida Togeriso, Crab Clan Lorekeeper
Might have had a hand in this...

I have seen many like you, I have known many like you. You only need to know this about me: should you fall I will remember you and tell your tale. No one is forgotten.