This is the second part of Ree's three part tale of a Crane poet, the Lion Champion and the history of the Naga. Part One appeared last issue (Imperial Herald Vol. 1 No. 3 (Part 1)) and Part Three will show up in the next issue. (Imperial Herald Vol. 2 No. 1 (Part 3)

For those of you who missed the first part, Shizue, a crippled Crane poet, was captured by Lion scouts sneaking in and out of Totun's basecamp. Tsuko was about to order her execution, but Shizue's promise to impart her knowledge of the Naga caused the Lady of Lions to stay her hand. Now trapped in the towers of the Matsu Palace, Shizue awaits Tsuko's next visit when she can continue her tale of the history of the Naga ...

The savage blow into her ribcage took Tsuko by surprise, and her weapon flew from her hand as she struggled to regain her balance. The foot-sweep that immediately followed knocked her breathless to the ground, the blade of a weapon at her throat.

She groaned in annoyance as Kage stood over her, his kendo sword still pointed below the strap of her helmet. "Stance," he said gruffly, his eyes thin as dagger-blades, "is still too wide" He stepped back in a swift movement, instinctively wiping the wooden blade against his loosefitting gi. He nodded to Tsuko briskly and she rolled to her feet in a fluid motion.

"Kage, you are the only person I know that can still trample me so easily" Tsuko rubbed her bruises, wincing at the pain, and recovered her weapon.

Kage looked at her for a long moment, then replied, "I do not defeat you, Tsuko-san, you defeat yourself" He pointed a slim finger at her legs, "If you do not have a firm base, then you will always fall. No warrior can stand if they do not know the ground they stand on. Hai?" Instinctively responding to her teacher of many years, Tsuko assented, "Hai!" Then, wincing again, she bowed respectfully to her trusted sensei.

Suddenly a member of the guard rushed into the tatami, his face flushed and his eyes wide. He bowed hastily to both Kage and to the Lady Champion and handed her a scroll, gasping, "From the battle- lines, Matsu-sama"

Tsuko tore open the message, read the hastily scrawled calligraphy, then crumpled it savagely into waste. Snarling in anger, Tsuko's demeanor changed from a mere student to the matriarch of the fiercest Clan in Rokugan. As she crushed the message in her hands she said bitingly, "Cavalry" Then she stormed off of the tatami, her house guard following closely behind her. Kage watched her back silently as she left, the battered wooden sword balanced perfectly in his hand.

The door to Doji Shizue's guarded room within the thick walls of Matsu Keep swung open without warning and Matsu Tsuko stormed inside, her thick plait of black hair swaying heavily behind her. "I thought the Naga had no cavalry" Tsuko thundered, "They have tails like serpents, not legs like warriors, how can they ride horses? And yet these... abominations were seen raiding one of our villages for supplies for that damned ronin horde" Tsuko flung the crumpled piece of paper on the floor near Shizue.

Shizue sat with her hands folded on the windowsill peacefully staring out through the thick steel bars toward the hills surrounding Matsu Keep. "Good morning, Lady," she said mildly, "I trust you slept well?"

Tsuko snorted and strode toward Shizue, her iron-shod boots ringing out across the hard floor like the warning bells in a burning village. "Tell me, cripple. Tell me what magic the Naga have that allows them to sit on a steed with a snake's tail for legs" Tsuko towered over the bench, her hands clenched at her sides.

"Magic, Lady?" Shizue turned her gaze finally from the window and looked at Tsuko's tall form. "No magic. Only a gift."

"A gift?"

Shizue paused. Smiling slightly, she said, "A gift from the Sun Goddess herself, so I am told."

"The Goddess of the Sun has not come down from the sky to raid my villages of rice, Doji."

"No, Matsu-san, but she did come down from the sky once long ago" Shizue looked calmly into Tsuto's violent eyes and continued, "There was once a time when the Naga dominion over the lands we now know as Rokugan was absolute. Their people thrived as one clan, with Qatol their ancient Champion, ruling them wisely. It is said that they knew no war among themselves. They would have lived in peace save for the battles they fought against the evil of the Shadowlands" Shizue looked somber, "This was the time the Naga called the First Burning of the Lands."

"The First Burning? Burning of what?" Tsuko said suspiciously.

"Of the swamps. Of the Shadowlands, and all the evil in it. The Naga have always fought the Shadowlands, Lady, for the Naga have always felt responsible for the its - awakening."

With a victorious smile, Tsuko declared, "I suspected the Naga were at the heart of the evil in the Shadowlands."

Shizue countered, "Your pardon, my Lady, but this story does not begin that way."

Shifting on the hard bench, Shizue's clubbed foot protruded from the hem of her ragged kimono like the paw of a strange beast. As Shizue moved, she skillfully covered it again with her kimono. "You see, the Shadowlands existed long before the Naga."

Matsu Tsuko thought for a second, then commanded, "Continue, Doji." Shizue inclined her head in a graceful nod of assent.

"The Naga once had among them a gentle Lady," Shizue began, "a woman of such rare beauty and spirit that the Sun Goddess shone brighter in her presence. This woman was called by their people, Asigara, and she was the only daughter of Qatol.

"Ashgara's one pleasure was to sit by the river and sing while she wove fans from the green rushes that grew on its banks. She would often sit for hours, weaving and watching the Sun Goddess dance across the sky. One day, while seeking plants for her craft she traveled farther down the river's bed than she had ever been before. There she found a secluded pool away from the swift-flowing current. Strange rushes grew there, colored red as blood and soft to touch but stronger than any she had ever seen before. With her sharp knife she cut many of thern, and the fans she made that day were the most magnificent that had ever been seen.

"The next day, Asigara returned to the pool to see if she could find more of the rushes. To her amazement, the stalks she had cut had returned as thick and strong as before! She praised the strange plants and cut them again to make more fine fans. Returning to the spot the next day as well, Ashgara found they had again grown overnight. She decided that the stalks must be magical and resolved to bring them nearer to the village. It was as she dislodged the plant that she found among its roots a strange pearl, as large as a boy's fist. She gazed at the wondrous pearl, marveling at her good fortune and took the red rushes back to the village to plant by the river near the town.

The next day she went out to the magic rushes. To her surprise, they were brown and dead. She looked at the withered plants and remembered an old tale that spoke of strange pearls that dragons used for their magic. Too late Ashgara realized what she had found, and turned to go back to her father's house. Before she could flee, however, a shadow loomed over her from the riverbank Fearfully, she looked over her shoulder and saw the dragon towering up from the river's waves.

"Fu Leng, for that was the dragon's name, grinned at her, showing teeth as long as swordblades. He said that he would grant her one wish in exchange for the return of the pearl. Ashgara thought for a frightened moment, remembering the times she had watched the Sun Goddess dance in the heavens and how much joy the dance brought to her people. Trembling, she asked the dragon to give her the ability to dance like the Sun Goddess. The dragon's eyes narrowed wickedly, and then his mouth opened wide. Mists, thick and heavy, surrounded her.

"When Ashgara awoke much later, it was night, and the dragon and his pearl had vanished. She tried to pull herself upright but found that the heavy balance of her tail was gone, and fell again to the soft bank Looking down at herself, Ashgara gasped in shock Her beautiful tail had been stolen, and in its place she had two hideous legs! When the Naga found her she was weeping by the river, and they carried her to her father, Qatol.

"Unsure what to do with his daughter, Qatol placed her in her room under a guard of Naga soldiers." Shizue glanced swiftly at Tsuko and her guard, then continued, "She was kept in the palace for many days, unable to face her people with the shame of her legs. Qatol was kind to his daughter but her people would not accept her as she was. They called her "abomination" and "cripple," and tried to convince Qatol to throw her into the far southern swamps. Always, he refused. Many shujenga tried to reverse the evil spell laid on her, but it was no use, and Ashgara grieved at her misfortune.

"Many weeks later a great blight struck the land. The bright midday suddenly turned to a cold ominous night. Darkness reigned, no Sun appeared in the sly, and the land fell into blackness. With the Sun's absence the dark denizens of the Shadowlands spread out from the south, bringing death and disease with them. The Naga shujenga cast many spells, and to their astonishment they discovered the Sun Goddess had been captured and thrown into the darkness of the Underworld by a powerful God. Hearing this, the Naga despaired. At first, many Naga warriors went to rescue the gentle Sun, but all those that went to the Shadowlands died there. Time passed, the lands fell into devastation and ruin, crops withered, and the Naga people began to starve.

"Ashgara mourned for her dying people. She knew there was no future for them unless the Sun was returned to the sky. So, she begged her father to let her go to the Shadowlands and seek her fate there. Qatol at first refused to allow her, but she begged him to let her go, saying that if she should find her death, at least she would die with honor. With a heavy heart, Qatol was forced to concede to his daughter's request. But, as a parting gift, he gave her a choice of the few options left among their people. Realizing that the Naga needed all their weapons to defeat the Oni which wandered the land, she chose only a great obsidian shield which had been carved by Qatol from the very stone that spawned the Naga. "And so the Naga princess traveled into the Shadowlands! The way was dark and treacherous, and she met many evil Mujina there that taunted her and tried to lead her into the deadly quicksands. But always she outran them on her sturdy legs or hid among the dark waters of the swamp until the larger Oni had passed. Finally, deep in the Shadowlands, she found the opening to the Underworld. "The lip of the cave was slippery, and covered in thick vines. Ashgara walked slowly across the treacherous ground, her feet holding firmly to rock that would have been as slick as ice to a Naga's tail. When she reached the opening she peered inside and saw there a darkness so absolute that it hurt her eyes to look upon it. She called into the cave but there was no answer. Only a faint gleam in the darkness reassured her that she had found the prison of the Sun Goddess. But, now, how was she to help her escape? If Ashgara ventured into that darkness, she too would become lost. There was not even wood for a signal fire.

"Ashgara was so deep in thought that she did not notice when a powerful Oni arrived to guard the cave. Its huge claws dripped with poison and its gaping mouth drooled vomit and slime. Tiny red eyes deep within its skull pierced her soul to its core. Ashgara was trapped, with only the darkness of the cave behind her. The huge Oni hissed its pleasure at finding such a morsel for its meal! Eagerly it reached to grip her in its dawed hands.

"Ashgara pleaded for her life and begged to dance for the Oni before he destroyed her. Thinking only of its own amusement, the Oni agreed to allow her to dance. Ashgara pulled the mirrored shield from her arm and began to dance at the mouth of the cave. Her movements were slow rhythmic, and precise, the obsidian in her hands dull and dark. Posing delicately for the Oni, she thought of her people who had died in the Shadowlands. She danced a dance of sorrow, remembering the few Naga left who may be dying in the palaces to the north. Delicately turning the faintly glimmering mirror in her graceful hands, she kept the Oni's eyes on her movements, and danced until she thought she would die from fright and fatigue. The Oni's claws opened and dosed reflexively, awaiting his meal.

As his flickered over her, she shuddered behind the polished stone's soft glow, extending a slim arm in a delicafe gesture of supplication. Drooling in pleasure, it reached out to grasp her as she passed near. Swiftly she passed behind the shining piece of obsidian, evading his grasp in a decorative twirl. Trembling in fear, she came to the end of the dance, the shield gleaming brightly in her hands, an the Oni lunged toward her eagerly..." Shizue paused to allow her words a greater effect.

"...only to be stopped by a burst of light from the woman at the mouth of the cave."

"So the Goddess returned?" said Tsuko, sitting on a chair near the bench and thinking deeply.

"She did. And she seared the darkness out of the lands burning them with her radiance and helping the Naga drive the Oni back to the pits of the southern swamps. That was the First Burning of the Lands. Further, as a gift to remember the brave Ashgara, the Sun Goddess gave all Naga women the ability to change their tails for legs and dance for her. So to this day, the women of the Naga clsange from tail to legs as we change from kimono to armor."

The room fell silent as the Lady of Lions reflected on the strange tale. Then, Tsuko frowned and called to her guards as she arose, "Bring Agetoki to the council rooms. I must speak with him." As she stalked out of Shizue's chamber, she smiled ruefully at the Crane woman, and said to the guard, "Tell him to ready the horses. We fight at dawn."

The door closed behind Tsuko with a dull thud, and Shizue looked again out the window of her cell. Kage, leaving the tatami looked up at the keep as he crossed the ground far below and noted the flash of blue at the window. Narrowing his eyes, he quickened his step and vanished through the keep's inner gates.

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