L5r - scroll 05 - The Crab Read Online Free PDF Page B

growled. "It's true, isn't it?"
    Yakamo disliked the tone in the Dragon's voice.
    "What?" was all he said.
    "My bride-to-be tells me that last night you—" Satsu looked around the court, and his cheeks flushed. "Drunk on sake and some misplaced sense of victory after our duel yesterday, you impugned her honor ... hers and that of her handmaidens."
    Yakamo laughed.
    "Dragon women are too delicate for a Crab samurai," he finally said. "And why would I risk your anger, Mirumoto-san, when you so roundly 'beat' me yesterday?"
    "You mock the seriousness of these accusations?" Satsu said incredulously.
    "No," Yakamo answered. "I dismiss the accusations—I mock you."
    "I challenge you!" the Dragon screamed. "Hida Yakamo I challenge you to a duel of honor, if you have any. I will leave you with a scar more permanent than the bruise you placed on my back—and my honor."
    "Very well," said Yakamo. He might have been in a contemplative mood before, but this Mirumoto was now quite annoying. "I will be glad to put an end to your dishonor."
    Only then did Satsu noticed he had no swords tucked into the obi of his kimono. The only weapon he carried was the tremendous tetsubo slung over his shoulder.
    "Someone fetch the Bear Cub's swords," laughed Satsu. "I want everyone to know I beat you in a fair duel, not because you used a weapon too big for you to swing!"
    "This is the only weapon I will wield," Yakamo said calmly. "If you will not face me using this, then we have nothing more to discuss."
    Satsu laughed even louder. "I fear I won't be able to stop myself from killing you if you cannot parry my blows."
    "Then kill me, little Dragon," Yakamo said dismissively. "Kill me or go home. Or is your honor only worth defending when you set the rules?"
    "Very well," Satsu snarled. "I just wanted to give you the chance to save your life—if not your honor."
    Yakamo tossed his half-eaten apple to another Crab student. "I'll want that back when we're done."
    The Dragon and the Crab faced one another. Satsu adopted the same pose he had in their practice duel. Yakamo held the tetsubo with one hand, arm extended straight out to his right side. Satsu shifted his stance so that both hands held his katana parallel to the ground at about chest height. Yakamo did not move.
    Long moments passed.
    Finally, just as he had the day before, Satsu gave a mighty "Kiiii-aiii!" and charged his opponent. This time, instead of trying to strike on a passing run, the Dragon stopped short of Yakamo and swung directly at the tetsubo. Obviously he planned to take advantage of the Crab's one-handed form to knock the weapon free.
    Yakamo stepped into the wind behind Satsu's swing closing the distance between them. He did nothing to block the Dragon's mighty blow. The tetsubo twisted in his hand and appeared as if it were going to fall. At the last instant, Yakamo reversed his grip and pivoted his entire body. He was now standing next to a startled Satsu, who had nothing—not a weapon or even a semblance of armor—between him and the blurred wood-and-iron club. It streaked toward his chest.
    Yakamo's blow hit with the sound of overripe oranges thrown against a stone wall. Satsu flew through the air and landed in a bloody heap fifteen feet from where he'd started. He did not move. No one there had any illusion that he ever would again.
    The students of both clans let out a shocked gasp. The woman who earlier had stood and pointed at Yakamo fainted dead away.
    Yakamo went to his compatriot and retrieved his half-eaten apple.
    "You cheated!" came a cry from the Dragon ranks.
    Yakamo turned to see a girl charge toward him, brandishing a wakizashi.
    "Satsu was my brother, and you cheated!" the girl screamed as she struck at her enemy. "You don't fight duels with tetsubo. Everybody knows that! Now my brother is dead, and it's all your fault."
    Her blow cut Yakamo's kimono but did not bite skin. He wasn't about to let the tiny Dragon have another shot.
    With a flick of his arm, he