------------- The Braxton Expedition – Kenji

The other oriental who joined our party was considerably less pleasant than Yoshi. Here was a man consumed by his dark side if ever there was one. The truth of his soul, however, was more disturbing. As I had mentioned, our party was made up of a strange collection, and Soruku Kenji was likely the strangest. Though it was clear that he was a warrior, and a rogue of sorts, it was not until our first battles in the interior that his true nature slipped out and he transformed. Fearful that we had taken a were-creature into our midst, I soon learned that he was indeed one of the Cabal, but not a Weretiger. Rather, he was one of the shapeshifting animal spirits of the orient, called Hengeyokai by name. Thereafter, he spent as much time in his hybrid form in the wild as in his human form.

It was much later that I learned where he came from, his family roots, and his true profession, that of Yakuza. His skills, alas, were not so keen in lock picking and trap springing as one might expect from the rogue in the party, but in stealth, spying, and martial arts. He was skillful in many things, as it turned out, a necessity of his wanderer’s life style. His association with the Eastern Triads gave him little cause to call any man friend, and there was no place he called home. He was a lazy, lay about, an undisciplined gambler, a liar and a cheat. But in his own strange way, he had a code of honor. In the time he was with us, he never did anything blatantly immoral, and only marginally illegal.

I never discovered where Lord Braxton had met him, but for some strange reason, he trusted the shapeshifter. It was only much later that I discovered the conflict between them. The bounder had been sneaking a look while I bathed as we crossed the interior. Lord Braxton had caught him at it and the two had had words. It had apparently come to blows. The thought of being ogled by the sneaky blackheart was not so disturbing. As I have already mentioned, I am no Avandorian nun, and the furry one did represent a certain exotic fantasy unfulfilled, but I think such wild thoughts would best be kept from Lord Braxton. His image of me seems to that of some dear, innocent thing to be held close and protected. It is just as well, for I am merely a Mystic and not very good at martial pursuits. We had so much farther to go, and so many dangers to face.

------------- Credits

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