Chapter 2

Around 1300, the Shogunate was pretty much at its end. The emperor was kept in his castle in Yamashiro; he still had many good troops but could never again take the Offensive.

Power now resided in the warlords, of which there were several in 3 groups. One group were real warriors, samurai to the end served them. Another held vast lands, rich in rice, gold, silver and copper. Lands which were the envy, and in some cases needed by others if they were to grow. The third were weak, without honour but were willing to use foreigners, priests and ninja to become stronger.

By 1530. Lords in the Great War included, Oda, Hojo, Takeda, Uesugi, Imagawa, Mori and Shimazu postured for the final conflicts,

Around 1690, the power of the Samurai was waning. When it was finally broken, much of Japan had two faces, one which adopted the new order, the other keeping alive the warrior spirit. During WWII, that spirit re-emerged, as seen by the futile banzai charges the soldiers made. It may have been that they did not want to face punishment for their gruesome actions in the war.

After the war, Japan turned to gangs such as triads and the Yakuza. Samurai spirit was also now a part of the Ninja and several smaller but even deadlier groups. These exist today but have undergone some changes. A more recent event is mentioned next.

Sandy skipped along the winding path, on her way to the park. It was the very first day of summer break and if any of her friends were there this early, maybe they would go with her to the lake. There she would show off her new swimsuit, what there was of it, it was one of those new bikinis.

As she headed to the park she heard a voice calling out her name, it was her neighbor Mr. Sanderson. She stopped and turned to him, "Sandy" he said,,,, "Sandy" and took her in his arms, "Sandy dear we need to go back, now; they started back to her house. In front was a big black car and several tall men in dark suits. She followed Mr. Sanderson to them, he said "this is Sandy Simpson, she was on the path I had seen her go on. Sandy he said, these men knew your dad they have something to say to you then he walked away."

One of the men stepped forward towards her and bent down, "Sandy dear, you probably don't remember me but I have been over your house a few times since you were born, your dad and I were friends and your mom was my sister. I am sorry that I have not been around very often and I hate to be here now to tell you that your mom and dad were killed this morning by a drunk driver."

"I was in another city when it happened and once the people here told me I flew here to try to help. Sandy, Sandy I am so sorry, words don't mean anything now." Sandy fainted. Sam caught her in his arms, lifted her to the back seat of the car and motioned the two other men towards the house, he then took off with Sandy until they reached the hotel he had reserved a room at, he carried her up and told the driver to call one of the doctors on the list then proceeded to place her gently on the bed brushing the hair from her face and kissed her on the forehead.

Later that day, a doctor and 2 nurses called him into the bedroom and told him that Sandy would be fine, she was still feeling the effects of fainting upon hearing of her parents death, was dehydrated and needed to rest. He had given here a mild sedative and she should sleep for several hours, he gave Sam his private contact information saying several scripts were on the nightstand should Sandy need more meds, one was a vitamin complex that needed to be taken during this week, the other mild sleeping meds and others to calm her nerves and stomach should she need them

Sam thanked the team and stroked Sandy's brow, saying for her to rest, that everything would be all-right. It was early that evening that Sandy awoke, she looked around and saw Sam watching her from a nearby chair, he smiled and said, "How do you feel princess?" "What, how, where am I, Who are you?"

"We are in a hotel downtown, both your parents have been killed in a terrible accident, it is on the tele but I don't think you should watch it now, I have had a copy made and when you are ready you can watch it. As to who I am, that is not easily answered, but I am your uncle. Your mom was my sister but a few years ago she and I had several arguments and we parted ways."

"Your dad and I have been friends for a long time", and, Sandy began to sob, she threw her head back covered her eyes and just kept screaming "No, Noooo it is a dream a very bad dream". Sam left the room, picked up the phone and made just one call. "Kiro," he said "cancel everything I may have planned for the next 3-4 weeks, get the summer house ready and have Sandy and myself picked up here in 2 days, get me a good lawyer here and please have Mei come here to watch over Sandy, we are going to have a 12 year old girl in the family from now on."

Sam had been uncertain of what was going to happen now to Sandy, money was not an issue, God knows he had plenty, but his life had been that of a single person not that of a single parent, but when he saw Sandy crying, he knew he was lost and she was now a part of his life forever.

Mei had taken the plane as soon as Kiro told her to go to Sam, a car met her at the private airport and she was standing next to Sandy's bed 12 hours after Sam had called Kiro. When Sandy awoke again, some light food, soup and a juice was arranged in her room, Mei said, "hello little-one, I am Mei-lie and I will always be by you as your friend and protector. Now eat, rest and freshen up, a change of clothing is in your bathroom, you have a lot of questions I am sure, but from now on remember this, you are now a part of our family, and although your uncle cannot always be with you as you grow up I will never leave you and although your life will change, it will never be dull, this I promise."

"Your uncle, you and I will leave soon for our summer home, all the legal, business and personal things will be taken care of. For the next month we will all be together, papers, pictures, letters etc. will be shown you so that you may know that the people that you will meet and family that you see are truly what they say. I will try to tell you about your uncle and will never lie to you. You will know the good and the not so good things about him, but know this, you are in his heart and soul now, never has he loved anyone nor opened his home heart and life to be and care for anyone as he has you."

The next day, Mei and Sandy were taken to the plane, a private 777 jetliner, Mei said, "our flight will be in 2 parts, your uncle must sign some papers for you and receive several identification forms so that your future travels may not be delayed. He will meet us at the summer home."

"Now", as they boarded the plane, "I shall answer some questions you have as well as tell you about your new family, your new life here and your uncle. Our flight will be almost 9 hours, you will use the bedroom reserved for your uncle, I will be near you and should you need anything while you rest merely call out I or someone will join you. Now, what may you want to know or let me begin with a story of the life your uncle has had these last few years, then ask away."

Mei began how Sam, Kiro. Tasha, Heather, Paccu and Nina met and became a family. Sam was a self-made man, albeit not a nice man, until he met Kiro. The Triad of the Dragon was a powerful group of asian warlords, Sam was hired to clear their way into the Tokyo area, by eliminating several ruling factions, one belonging to the Yakuza, the most feared in Japan except the ninja.(The real power was not widely known.)

Kiro's story It had taken almost 17 months and nearly a billion dollars but Tokyo had been added to the Triad's membership. Outside, one day he observed from his balcony an attack going on. It looked like 1 man was surrounded by a dozen armed men, not good odds he thought. He hurried down to help the man, calling out to several of the men in the suite to join him. When they got to the alley, all he could see were bodies or parts of bodies, in the corner, lying against the stone wall was the man who was the object of the attack, he was badly wounded, 3 arrows sticking from his body and blood flowing from almost his entire body, Sam motioned to his men to raise the man up and to carry him back to the room.

Before they could move, a black cloud of vapor surrounded them, what seemed like eyes hidden in small black faces approached then no more sounds. He and his men slowly regained their senses, they were all reclined upon mats of silk and upon cedarwood, a series of robed servants approached them, bringing steaming towels, and a warm cup of what appeared to be tea. They were all unfettered, their weapons and personal items neatly placed by their side. A young girl entered, she said in perfect English, "Sam-san, if you would please follow me, my father wishes to see you."

I followed the young girl, she opened a sliding panel and we entered a long wood lined hallway, she then slide open another panel. We entered, along either side of a rice paper runner were 100 black garbed and masked guards, she bowed, they all nodded, I too bowed, they too nodded and we began to walk to the end.

When we reached another panel, I could not help to look back onto the paper runner, there were no marks, no tears no sign that either of us left. The girl smiled when I looked at her. She push back on the door then knelt down, I entered, before me lay a raised platform, empty now with 20 men kneeling, all in white on either side of what appeared to be a golden aisle, the door closed behind me I knelt down and waited, soon a door hidden to me opened and the same young girl that had escorted me here led an old man by the arm to sit on a stool in the middle of the platform. She knelt down besides the old man. Then spoke, "my father wishes to thank you for your effort to help his youngest son, Kiro."

I merely nodded, bowed and listened. "He asks that you join him later in our humble home where Kiro and our family currently reside. If you will, you and your men shall be escorted back then later transportation will be provided for you to join us." I accepted. "So that you are more comfortable, I will be your guide this evening and will take you to our home." With that I left, we were then taken back to my suite in a series of Rolls-Royce Limos.

At 7pm there was a knock on the front gate, a beautiful young lady, dressed in what appeared to be A robe made of precious gems(Pearls, Jade and Diamonds) bowed, entered and asked for me to join here to see here family. She further stated that no other security on my part was needed as all had been arranged for my visit.

This seemed risky to me, to trust someone I had just met, but she was so beautiful and so assured that I wanted to be with her. So foolishly I went with her. I followed a few feet, then heard and saw a swarm of men coming towards us, I placed my arm in front of her to try to protect her, crouching to try to block any incoming weapon. She placed her hand to her mouth and giggled, "Sam-san, these are my guard and they will see to it that we arrive at our home quite safely."

Following what seemed an endless procession of men, came a covered divan, a step was lowered the girl entered motioning me to follow where we went ended up by the river, we exited then boarded a golden barge, ahead, behind and on all sides were giant boats each lined with archers and more black garbed guards, I knew these to be ninja but had never seen so many nor so close. We proceeded down river until we reached what appeared to be an island, we debarked and another divan complete with ninja escort attended us until we reached what appeared to be a walled city. We dismounted, entered the opened gate where we immediately were met by a escort of ninja this time wearing a deep red garb then handed off to another group when we reached what seemed like a palace, these ninja were all dressed in deep purple and wore weapons at their sides.

The girl asked if I should need to freshen up, that this was a place that any of my wishes and commands would be obeyed, the staff understood several languages as well as English and that this was a special guard, they were both ninja and samurai and had all pledged to serve me with their life. She could not enter for even she would be killed by my new guard. I would be taken to her in 1 hour.

I entered this sanctuary, several very, very young girls came toward me, all naked their hair flowing down with no adornment that might conceal a weapon. I later learned that a female made the most deadly assassin there could be, hence why young naked girls attended me rather than the traditional servants. It was explained to be that only the special guards and girls under the age of 11 were allowed to be here whenever I was here.

I was bathed, my body massaged with scented oils, a drink provided after being tasted not only by its server but by 2 of my guard. I was shown to a mat, told to rest.

When I was awakened a silk and jeweled robe was fastened around me and my new guard led me thru the palace to another courtyard where my young lady guide awaited me.

My she said, "I almost did not recognize you, for a moment you looked like my brother, whom you will meet tonight". My guard surrounded us then joined the other ninja guard and lead us to another palace, we entered. Words could not describe the place, it was huge, ceilings rose over a hundred feet, all was white and gold trimmed with precious jewels. When we reached the panel at the end everyone stopped, the girl asked me to follow, everyone else was to remain, we entered the room, the door closed and before us sat the old man, to one side a bandaged Kiro and to the other side several very tall and very large men. The young man spoke, as the young girl took her place next to Kiro.

"Sam-san, I am Mitsui, elder son and heir to the Toyo family. We all wish to thank you and your men for coming to help my brother Kiro. So that you know, what you saw was the 3rd attack on him that day, the other 2 having been defended by his personal bodyguard, he had been wounded and poisoned so when the last attack came he was barely able to defend himself. What you also, perhaps do not know is that your timely arrival prevented another attack on him providing enough time for more guards to reach him, not knowing if you were friend or foe all were taken, Kiro was treated and when he informed us of your help, all effort was made to awaken you."

"We still follow the old ways, this home is more than 1,400 years old and those we treat as friends will never want for anything, our enemies also will feel our displeasure, and the wrath of our ninja."

"Sam-san, we know you and why you are neither, the Triad of the Dragon nor the Yakuza are our friends, neither are they foe, for this reason none of our ninja have been part of your activity, should that be your desire it will be done, as our thanks for aiding Kiro, what is your wish."

This was like a dream come true, with ninja behind them the Triad could rule all of Japan, all of Asia even. I glanced over to the platform saw nothing on the face of the old man, nothing from Kiro but a slight look of sadness in the eyes of the young girl who had been my companion this evening, I knew only one thing to say. "Mitsui, you and your family do me great honour, I cannot bring you or them dishonour, if I had only one wish and all else were to be the cost then I would only wish for your friendship and that of your family."