Detective Yuki

8. Kadena

1. Kadena

Sunrise over the East China sea came as a surprise to two unfortunate souls washed up on the shoreline. They had arrived on the island of Okinawa, a large Japanese island closer to the colony of Taiwan than to the home islands but a world in itself. Many of the people here are relaxed and hospitable, which is probably why they live to very old ages. Their home is just one of many islands in the subtropics, with palm trees waving over yellow sand beaches and humid winds blowing over the scrubland forests to the capital of Naha. Hollow grassy cliffs looked out over turquoise coral reefs, and a majestic history as a sovereign kingdom before the empire expanded fifty years back. 

"where are we, Yuki?" a sand covered Aibo asked as he rose from his head down position in the sands.

"I am not sure, but wherever we are, we have probably lost that Ashman" Yuki thought as she made sense of the situation in light of the rising sun to their front.

 "we cannot give up that easy. When I was in training, my commanders told me to never give up unless absolutely necessary, for failure is not an option. The Ashman has to be around here somewhere, so we should head to the nearest town and see if the locals know anything about him" Aibo stood on the beach and marched back and forth across the sand.

 Yuki did not look very hopeful that they could find the Ashman, but she took Aibo's advice anyway, following his lead as they waded over the sands away from the beach and off to their south, eventually finding a paved road close by and following that until they reached the next town. After over an hour of walking along the empty road, Yuki spotted several dab painted street signs point into towards the town of Uruma around three miles away. Aibo, meanwhile, sighted something stranger.

On the outskirts of the surrounding forests, the boy warrior could sight what looked like small children dressed in reeds with wild flocks of red hair scurrying through the trees. Aibo was about to get the attention of his colleague, but the mysterious figures vanished from view like some sort of a mirage. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief, but was stopped by the barring arm of Yuki, who turned her attention to wat had appeared in front of them. Several small beings that Aibo had spotted at the forest edge. These were the Kijimuna, small trickster spirits native to the island, who usually work as fisherman, but also cater in pulling pranks and meddling with humans. 

One of these creatures with a large head and short stature, stood before Yuki and Aibo and proclaimed, "hi there humans, what brings you here?".

 "we were just going into town. We are travellers from very far away" Yuki responded.

"well, I do not suppose travellers like yourselves would have any gold on you" the dwarf coerced while his companions took out small knives, nets and spears, spooking Aibo slightly.

 "we have no gold or money, little boy" Aibo squawked to the dwarf. 

"for one thing, I am one hundred and thirty, and for another, I was not asking your permission" the dwarf raised a hand in the air, allowing the other dwarves to swarm past and attack the duo.

 While Aibo was able to repel the ravenous dwarf with a fallen tree branch, Yuki had been snared in a net and dragged into the treeline by the retreating troop of dwarves. 

"YUKI!!!" he shouted as Yuki cried out for help while being taken into the bush. Deep into the shrub near the town of Kadena, the dwarves dragged Yuki for what seemed like forever, until they arrived at an earthen hole in the ground similar to a small cave.

Yuki could only see the occasional lit alcove and numerous sub tunnels as she was led into a large underground hall with other Kijimuna congregating. Their new guest was laid to rest beside a raised platform in the center of the room. So far, Yuki could not comprehend what had happened. 

"who are you and why have you brought me here?" Yuki demanded to the surrounding dwarves in the torched space, only for one to proclaim, "bow before the king!!". 

From a smaller tunnel behind the platform came a long large serpent, one of the local pit vipers with beady yellow eyes and plaits of brown scales across its body. The snake slithered onto the raised stage and stared closely at the human. 

"I can see the fear in your eyes, human" the snake spoke.

"I am not a big fan of snakes" a shaken Yuki replied to the swerving snake.

 "I am the Snake King, ruler of this land, leader of the dwarves, and you are an intruder onto my lands. By that merit, you will atone for your actions, human" the viper hissed to the whimpering hostage, a fanged mouth wide open but restrained... for now.

 At the same time, at the sparkling Makiminato bay in the suburbs of the capital Naha, there was a special meeting occurring at a secluded country residence. It was attended by someone wielding a mask and bearing the marks of silted ash along with his spritely servant and a bewildering crowd of horrific demons. These creatures of the night had skins that were all colors of the rainbow, with either white, green, yellow or red eyes, and jagged claws with sharp teeth and short tails, all standing at about a human's waist height.

In the courtyard of the estate, interrupted only by the sea wash from the nearby bay, the masked figure shrugged off the last ash flakes off his attire and addressed this satanic audience. 

"my fellows, I have called you forth here from across this rock with a special proposition in mind. To take on the ranks of my new legion to share in the spoils of glory from the completion of my plan. Blood will be shed, lives will be lost, but there has recently been a surge out of Tokyo, meaning that literally all hell is about to break loose. With your help, we will rally our allies and conquer this world after storming the capital of our glorious eternal empire. From Tokyo, we will knock off the emperor and command the people of Japan to our cause, so that in time, we shall bring a destructive war to the east, with a new regime rising from the ashes of Asia and the world" he cackled to his peers. He then led a procession out of the estate and off into the city, towards the red lacquered edifice of Shuri castle.

This impregnable fortress had served the island for over six centuries under protection from local officials and the imperial government, only for sentinels in the guard towers to watch a very odd sight approach the complex gates. 

"we are sorry, the castle is off limits" one of the guards said at the first gateway. 

The masked Ashman needed only to snap his fingers to unleash his hoard of evil on the guards to the palace, allowing him to whisk through to the central throne room and sit in the midst of a bloody massacre to the castle guards. Soon the castle had been invaded and conquered in broad daylight, the guards mangled and murdered, and the Ashman inspecting the grounds with Namida by his side before commencing the next phase of his plan.