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Dans-Prosemaxx-Cowriter-XL

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[ { "from": "system", "value": "expand on the story like Susan Spann would" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Basho looked at his lantern and murmured, \"I didn't want Kaoru arrested... because of his mother.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That wasn't the answer Hiro expected. \"What do you mean? Explain yourself!\"\n\n\"I knew Mina—Kaoru's mother—before she married.\" Basho gestured toward the shutters." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Her father owned the shop across the street and two doors down. I wanted to marry her, but her father chose Chikao instead of me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You stopped an arrest because you care about some drunkard's mother?\" Hiro asked.\n\n\"You don't have to believe me,\" Basho said. \"But it's the truth.\"\n\n\"What did you learn on your little walk?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hiro narrowed his eyes at the merchant." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Kaoru talked about calling upon the angry ghosts of Ginjiro's ancestors and how a selfish man would always pay for his selfish ways. He said, 'We'll see how big Ginjiro feels when he's lost everything.' Ginjiro is another sake brewer.\"\n\n\"I know who he is,\" Hiro hissed. \"Enough delay. Tell me who killed Chikao.\"\n\n\"I swear, I do not know.\" Basho looked desperate." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If you truly knew nothing, you wouldn't have guessed that he was the man I meant.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hiro drew his wakizashi. \"Would you remember more with a blade at your neck?\"\n\n\"Please,\" Basho whimpered. \"I don't know who killed him. I swear. I was told that he died but nothing more. Please, I have a family...\"\n\nHiro believed the merchant but needed to ensure his silence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He placed the point of his sword on Basho's stomach." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You will never mention this conversation. Not to anyone, including your wife.\"\n\n\"I won't breathe a word.\" Tears spilled over Basho's eyelids, but the merchant didn't dare wipe them away. \"I swear I won't.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I hope not,\" Hiro said, \"because I will know, and even a word is more than your life is worth.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He sheathed his sword, slid the shutters open, and dashed away into the night. When he reached the opposite side of the road, he hid in the shadows and watched Basho close up the shop. He didn't leave until the locks slid into place with a click that echoed through the midnight silence.\n\nHiro didn't worry about Basho discussing his visit." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kyoto's bandit clans showed mercy to people who held their tongues, but none to those who talked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Basho would never risk his family's safety, or his own, by telling tales.\n\nUnfortunately, the merchant's words had not revealed as much as Hiro hoped. The shinobi considered the story as he made his way home through the darkened streets and alleys.\n\nEven if ghosts existed—and Hiro did not believe they did—the dead would not obey the commands of the living." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Father Mateo's religion claimed that people could speak with a holy ghost, but the priest didn't say he could bend the ghost to his will." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "On the contrary, the Jesuit claimed it worked the other way around.\n\nHowever, the part about Ginjiro's losing everything suggested a real threat and also implicated Kaoru. Hiro might have dismissed the story as a drunken flight of fancy, but the words meshed well enough with the facts to make him wonder why Chikao returned to Ginjiro's brewery the night he died—and whether or not he truly returned alone.\n\nSomeone in Kyoto knew what happened in that alley." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hiro had to find out who and make that person talk—and he had less than half a day in which to do it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He wished he could have asked Basho what time Kaoru left the Golden Buddha on the night Chikao died, but the question would have sounded too suspicious coming from a bandit's lips.\n\nHe would have to learn the answer another way.\n\nWhen he reached the bridge at Sanjō Road he found half a dozen samurai standing guard. Given the explosion and the missing guard, he expected more." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hiro waited in the shadows until the guards distracted themselves in conversation." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When they did, he scurried off to cross the river farther north.\n\nOnly a single samurai guarded the bridge at Marutamachi Road. The guards must have decided Hiro's bombs were an isolated incident, worthy of extra guards at that location but nothing more.\n\nHiro slipped under the western end of the bridge and considered his options." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He doubted his physician act would work so close to home." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The guards who patrolled this bridge had seen him in the past, or else would see him in the future, making the lie too great a risk.\n\nExplosive charges wouldn't help him either. One exploding lantern was coincidence. Two explosions in one night meant sabotage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hiro wanted to get across the bridge, but not enough to generate a citywide alert." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A shadow moved in the street to the west of the bridge. Hiro watched it from his hiding place among the pilings. The shadow didn't move like a tree or with the measured pace of a human being or a horse. The movements came at intervals, and without repetition, in the manner of a spy who wanted to remain unseen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nervous excitement loosened Hiro's joints and pooled in his stomach." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Whoever approached the bridge did so with the stealth and speed of a highly trained shinobi.\n\nHiro took a long, slow breath to counteract the energy that lit his veins on fire. Many shinobi worked in Kyoto, rivals as well as those from his own ryu.\n\nUnfortunately, a shinobi heading east on Marutamachi Road at night suggested only two potential targets—and only one if the assassin crossed the bridge." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If that happened, Hiro would have to kill the spy before he reached the house where Father Mateo lived." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The other shinobi approached the river slowly, with the subtlety of a master. Hiro tracked the assassin's movements with interest, wondering how the rival shinobi planned to cross the bridge. He doubted the assassin would swim the river. Not only would the samurai guard see someone in the water, but soaking clothes would leave a trail—a fatal error no trained spy would make." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The shadow reached the final house before the bridge and disappeared into the yard." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hiro fixed his eyes on the spot and waited. Nothing moved.\n\nPerhaps the assassin wasn't after the Jesuit after all.\n\nHiro breathed a sigh of relief and reprimanded himself for the assumption.\n\nAs the surge of excitement left his muscles, Hiro wondered who lived in the house at the end of the street." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He stared at the building but saw no clues to the owner's identity." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He saw no sign of the assassin, either. No light shone through the latticed windows. No foliage moved in the yard.\n\nHiro turned his thoughts to the river and how to cross it safely." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A woman's scream shattered the silence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hiro tensed. The scream came from inside the final house before the river—the one the shinobi assassin entered.\n\n\"Help!\" the woman screamed again. \"Help me! Help! A thief!\"\n\nGeta thumped on the wooden bridge as the samurai guard responded to the cry." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "I'll be your writing partner today. I will set the scene, and you will continue the story with four sentences, channeling the voice and techniques of Susan Spann.i'll kick things off by writing a bit, then you'll take over and write the next four sentences in the distinctive voice of Susan Spann.Ive got a bit of writers block, im gonna send you something then keep it going four sentences at a time, also im going for a Susan Spann sorta thing." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A second surge of adrenaline shocked Hiro's system as the assassin's footsteps pattered overhead. When they faded into silence, Hiro hurried out from his hiding place and pursued the strange shinobi across the bridge.\n\nAs he ran, he caught a glimpse of the assassin disappearing into the shadows on Marutamachi Road.\n\nHiro didn't stop running until he reached the torii gate at Okazaki Shrine." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There, he paused in the shadows to listen." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He heard crickets and cicadas, nothing more. He hoped his race across the bridge alerted the assassin to his presence. Most shinobi abandoned a mission, temporarily at least, if someone saw them approaching the target's home.\n\nHe moved along the street, staying in the darkness when he could." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Although he hoped the assassin had disappeared, Hiro didn't trust his hopes any more than he trusted assumptions." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lights flickered behind the oiled paper windows of Father Mateo's home. The sight released a bit of the tension binding Hiro's chest. A shinobi would wait for the lights to go out before infiltrating the residence.\n\nHiro paused and watched for movement in the shadows." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The house on the opposite side of the street from the Jesuit's was dark and silent." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hiro found himself suddenly grateful for the neighbor's akita. The assassin could not approach from that direction without triggering a fit of angry barking.\n\nSomething moved in the shadows near the fence that circled Father Mateo's yard. Hiro watched with horror as the strange shinobi approached the gate and slipped into the garden without a sound." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As Hiro started toward the fence, he realized that Matsunaga Hisahide might have sent the assassin after Luis Álvares, believing the merchant's death would stop the weapon sale to the Miyoshi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That left Hiro with yet another ethical dilemma. He loathed Luis on a personal level but didn't think the Portuguese merchant deserved to die. Not unless his death would save the priest.\n\nThe Iga ryu didn't care about the merchant, and the unknown client who paid for Hiro's services had never mentioned Luis Álvares." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Even so, no other shinobi would harm the Jesuit's household on Hiro's watch." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A shout would send the assassin running, but he would return, perhaps at a time when Hiro did not expect him.\n\nHiro didn't intend to let his enemy slip away.\n\nA shinobi would notice someone following him through the garden gate, so Hiro slipped into the neighbors' yard and climbed an ancient cherry tree that sent its questing branches across the wall. From the relative safety of the tree, he peered into the Jesuit's yard." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A shadowed figure stood on the veranda outside Father Mateo's room." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Jesuit's silhouette flickered on the paper panels, separated from the assassin by only a flimsy shoji.\n\nThe strange shinobi reached for the Jesuit's door.\n\nHiro retrieved a shuriken from a pocket inside his sleeve. He preferred to use the metal stars as fistload weapons, not projectiles, but he had no time to close the distance now." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He measured the distance carefully." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In daylight, and without obstructions, Hiro could strike a fatal blow to the man on the porch with ease. Tonight he had to make the throw in darkness and through branches, and he didn't know how quickly this assassin would react.\n\nHiro drew a preparatory breath.\n\nThe strange shinobi pivoted, and Hiro saw his opponent's face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was Ozuru." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hiro threw the shuriken but knew as he released it that the star would miss its target. He leaped from the tree and hit the ground as the metal star embedded itself in the porch with a silent thump.\n\n\"Don't move.\" Hiro jumped to the veranda and drew his sword. \"I missed the throw on purpose. I will kill you if you run.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ozuru raised his empty hands." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We have no dispute, Matsui-san.\"\n\n\"We do,\" Hiro said, \"if you attempt to kill a man that I protect.\"\n\nOzuru lowered his hands to his sides. \"I came to warn you, not to kill the priest.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hiro didn't believe him—not yet, anyway. \"Deliver your warning.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ozuru's gaze flickered from Hiro's blade to the spots on his clothing. His eyes narrowed. He met Hiro's gaze and nodded, accepting Hiro's decision not to lower the sword.\n\n\"Hisahide has refused the Miyoshi daimyo's demand to surrender Kyoto. War is now inevitable. If the Miyoshi start that war with Portuguese firearms, Hisahide will declare this household guilty of treason. He will execute the merchant and the priest.\"\n\n\"The Miyoshi weapons order has been cancelled,\" Hiro said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Hisahide has no cause to blame the Portuguese. Not the ones in this house, anyway.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ozuru drew back in surprise. \"Cancelled? When?\"\n\n\"Yesterday,\" Hiro said. \"The merchant does not want to start a war.\"\n\n\"My sources claim the sale proceeds on schedule,\" Ozuru said, \"and that your merchant simply arranged for a different Portuguese to deliver the firearms to the Miyoshi stronghold.\"\n\nHiro hid his chagrin behind an innocent expression." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You cannot blame Luis if another merchant revives a cancelled sale.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Matsunaga Hisahide will not consider that a cancellation,\" Ozuru said.\n\n\"I appreciate the warning.\" Hiro wondered what the Koga ryu would gain from helping Hiro save the Jesuit and Luis. The respect and passive truce between the Iga shinobi and Ozuru's Koga ryu did not explain the other man's behavior." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Somehow, the priest's survival—or the merchant's—benefited Koga's plans." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hiro sheathed his sword.\n\nOzuru's expression softened. \"Koga desires stability in Kyoto. Foreign deaths will divide the city, creating opportunities for enemies far more dangerous than the Miyoshi.\"\n\n\"You mean Oda Nobunaga,\" Hiro said.\n\n\"And others.\" Ozuru paused." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Ashikaga Yoshiaki has left Nara.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The former shogun's brother?\" Hiro frowned. \"Can a monk lay claim to the shogunate?\"\n\n\"Yoshiaki renounced his vows when he left the temple,\" Ozuru said. \"Rumors say he does intend to claim the shogunate.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How much truth do these rumors hold?\" Hiro asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ozuru shook his head. He would reveal no more. \"You should leave Kyoto quickly, with the merchant and the priest. This city is no longer safe for you.\"\n\n\"I understand.\" Hiro bowed but kept Ozuru's hands in sight. \"And thank you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Do not thank me. I was never here.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ozuru sprinted to the wall and disappeared over the top without a sound.\n\nHiro hoped he would move as smoothly when he reached Ozuru's age.\n\nThe door behind Hiro slid open. Father Mateo stepped onto the porch." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I heard voices.\" The Jesuit looked around the yard." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Where did he go?\"\n\n\"I don't know what you mean,\" Hiro said. \"It's only me.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as Susan Spann" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Father Mateo gave Hiro a knowing look." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Just you, you say.\" The priest stepped into his room and beckoned. \"I don't suppose you'll tell me where you've been the last few hours?\" He frowned. \"What's on your clothes?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Three years ago, I promised I would not lie to you,\" Hiro said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It is better you don't know about my clothes.\"\n\nThe Jesuit frowned but didn't press the issue.\n\n\"As for the other half of your question, Basho has made a miraculous reappearance.\" Hiro explained about his conversation with the missing merchant, though he left out all the details of his journey there and back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Father Mateo shook his head at the thought of Suke tackling Yoshiko." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He frowned when Hiro mentioned Kaoru's words about angry ghosts.\n\n\"Phantoms don't exist,\" the Jesuit said. \"Not in the sense you mention, anyway.\"\n\n\"I agree,\" Hiro said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You do?\" Father Mateo looked surprised." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I thought all Japanese believed in ghosts.\"\n\n\"Most do,\" Hiro said, \"but I do not. If vengeful ghosts existed, I'd have seen them.\"\n\nFather Mateo slid the shoji closed. \"What makes you say so?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hiro didn't answer." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Jesuit gave him a searching look. \"Do all shinobi think this way?\"\n\n\"My training is not the reason.\" Hiro didn't intend to say more, but found himself continuing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"When I was nine years old, I spent a night with a murdered man.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You what?\" Father Mateo ran a hand through his hair, too startled to prevent the nervous gesture. \"What kind of parent leaves a child alone with a corpse?\"\n\n\"My parents had nothing to do with it.\" Hiro knelt, facing the priest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had never told the tale but felt the Jesuit should hear it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"In fact, I doubt they even know it happened.\"\n\nFather Mateo knelt and waited for Hiro to continue.\n\n\"The spring I turned nine,\" Hiro said, \"a spy infiltrated the Iga ryu. My elder brother uncovered the truth, and my father interrogated the spy until he confessed his mission." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It took four days, despite my father's excellent skills at persuading men to talk." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The enemy died of his wounds within a day of his confession. Hanzo ordered the body moved to an empty, defiled storehouse in the woods about a mile from the ryu.\"\n\n\"They kept the body?\" Father Mateo asked.\n\nHiro nodded. \"Iga doesn't miss a chance to make a point. Hanzo wanted the body stored until the stiffness that follows death had ended. After that, he planned to return the body to the enemy's lord—in several pieces.\"\n\n\"That's barbaric,\" the Jesuit said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hiro raised an eyebrow." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Civilized people would nail him to a cross?\"\n\nFather Mateo pressed his lips together.\n\nHiro stifled a smile and continued, \"That morning, while exploring in the woods, I saw a group of older boys on the path that led to the storehouse. The rules forbid our going there, but some boys do not care so much for rules. I followed at a distance.\"\n\nHiro paused. \"I did not think they would notice me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But they did,\" the Jesuit said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Not right away,\" Hiro answered. \"They dared each other to enter the storehouse and look at the dead man's corpse. I moved too close, drawn by curiosity and overinflated pride in my own skills. The oldest boy saw me and called me forward. He dared me to enter the storehouse too. Refusing would brand me a coward, so I did it.\"\n\n\"You were nine.\" Father Mateo shook his head. \"No one would call you a coward.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You are not shinobi,\" Hiro said. \"You cannot understand.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Jesuit leaned back, lips tight with disapproval but unwilling to start an argument. \"They locked you in with the body, didn't they?\"\n\nHiro hadn't expected the priest to guess. \"Correct. They did.\"\n\n\"No one noticed you missing?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Father Mateo asked. \"No one heard your cries for help?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I did not call for help.\" Hiro considered the Jesuit's furrowed brow and downcast eyes. \"I did not tell this tale to cause you sorrow—and even less to earn your pity. I speak because it proves a vital point about the dead.\"\n\nFather Mateo folded his hands in his lap, as if to demonstrate a willingness to listen without any further questions." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"At first,\" Hiro said, \"the terror felt like fishbones in my throat." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I breathed too fast, grew dizzy, and sat down on the wooden floor. As my eyes adjusted, I noticed little slivers of light coming in through cracks in the storehouse walls. I saw the spy's defiled body, barely out of reach across the floor.\n\n\"I thought I saw the body move." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I thought I heard him breathe." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I pushed my back against the wall, too terrified to move or make a sound.\n\n\"I sat that way for many hours. Evening came, and darkness, and I passed the night in silent terror, listening for the vengeful ghost I knew would come for me. I heard a rustling noise and screamed—just once—when a rat ran across my toes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But it was only a rat." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No ghost appeared. The body did not move.\n\n\"By morning, terror left me. As the cracks around the door grew gray with dawn, I realized I need not fear the dead. My father tortured that spy to death." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If a man could return as a ghost, to take revenge, he would have done so." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I do not know where the life inside a man may go when the body dies. But the corpse of a man is just like that of a fish, or a bird, or a dog. It is dead, and only dead, and nothing more.\"\n\nAfter a pause Hiro added, \"Since the dead cannot return, no man can persuade a ghost to do his bidding, which means Kaoru had some other plan to force the sale of Ginjiro's brewery.\"\n\n\"Perhaps some kind of trick?\" Father Mateo asked. \"A trick that went wrong and killed Chikao?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I don't know,\" Hiro said, \"but I know who does.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Jesuit nodded. \"Kaoru.\"\n\n\"No,\" Hiro said, \"Mina, Chikao's wife. She mentioned a need to atone for her husband's wrongful acts but wouldn't give details.\"\n\n\"That could refer to anything,\" Father Mateo said. \"Husbands and wives have many private conflicts.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"True,\" Hiro said, \"but Mina's words suggested something serious, and judges of the afterlife don't bother much with trifles. Men don't endanger their souls by minor quarrels.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't be so certain,\" Father Mateo said. \"Still, it can't do any harm to try and find out what she knows.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "expand on the story like Susan Spann would" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The following morning, Hiro and Father Mateo walked to the Lucky Monkey brewery. Father Mateo carried his travel papers to ensure they met no samurai delays. Hiro disliked obeying Hisahide's protocols but acknowledged that cooperation ended better than spiteful argument.\n\nThey crossed the river at Shijō Road." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Only a single samurai stood guard on the river bridge." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He seemed relaxed and didn't ask to see their travel papers.\n\nApparently, the missing samurai's body had not been found.\n\nA short distance past the river, Hiro turned into Pontocho.\n\n\"Where are we going?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "the Jesuit asked. \"This isn't the fastest way to the Lucky Monkey.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We need to make an intermediate stop,\" the shinobi said.\n\nAs they walked down the narrow, shuttered alley, Hiro inhaled the distinctive smells that meant the morning's night-soil collection hadn't occurred on time.\n\nHe stopped in front of the moneylender's shop across the street from the Golden Buddha. As he raised a hand to knock, the wooden door swung open before his fist." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hiro lowered his hand and nodded to the familiar, beautiful woman in the doorway." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What do you want?\" she asked. \"You already know that I don't help your kind.\"\n\n\"We haven't come for a loan,\" Hiro said. \"We want to know about the debt Akechi Yoshiko collected for you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That is a private matter,\" the woman said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Between you and a man named Kaoru?\" Hiro asked.\n\nThe woman seemed to consider closing the door in Hiro's face. \"I won't discuss my loans, or the names of my clients.\"\n\n\"So, if I wanted to repay that loan, you wouldn't let me?\" Hiro asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The moneylender crossed her arms." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That trick won't work with me. Also, I told you, I don't make loans to men.\"\n\nHiro nodded. \"Very well, I'll speak with Mina. Thank you anyway.\"\n\n\"Mina?\" the woman looked confused.\n\n\"Kaoru's mother,\" Father Mateo said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The moneylender's eyes revealed no recognition." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I have never heard that name, Matsui-san.\"\n\nHiro caught a subtle shift in the woman's tone. He also noticed something else. \"When did you learn my name?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"After you left, I went to the Golden Buddha,\" the woman said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Eba didn't know you, either, so I asked around. Your foreign friend has a good reputation, which is the only reason I opened the door for you today.\"\n\nHiro gambled on the truth. \"We're investigating a murder, and believe Akechi Yoshiko has information about the crime. Did you see her in Pontocho two nights ago? Perhaps at the Golden Buddha?\"\n\n\"The Golden Buddha?\" The moneylender laughed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"She wouldn't cross the threshold. But I did see her that evening. She was here.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Which shop did she visit?\" Father Mateo asked.\n\n\"This one.\" The woman gestured toward the ceiling. \"She was here. She wanted to collect a debt from one of the Buddha's patrons, but she knew if he saw her coming, he would run. She asked me to let her watch for him from one of my upstairs windows.\"\n\n\"And you agreed?\" Hiro asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"In a manner of speaking.\" The moneylender crossed her arms again. \"She made a request I could not refuse." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A little over a year ago I brokered a deal to move an entertainer from the Sakura Teahouse to a brothel here in Pontocho. There were lies involved, although I didn't know them at the time. I learned about it only after the girl's lover died.\n\n\"Two nights ago, Yoshiko said she knew about the lies and that the brothel paid far less than the girl's real value. She threatened to call me before the magistrate on a claim that I conspired to help the brothel cheat the Sakura Teahouse on the purchase price. That is, unless I let her use my house to wait for the man she sought.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yoshiko didn't work for you, then.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Father Mateo frowned. \"Why didn't you call the dōshin?\"\n\n\"To what end?\" the moneylender asked. \"Akechi-san is samurai. I am not. The dōshin may not like her, but her rank would still prevail.\"\n\nA smile crept over the woman's face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I handled the situation a different way. I allowed Akechi-san to watch... and also sent a boy to warn the debtor.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So Yoshiko never saw her target leaving,\" Hiro said.\n\n\"I don't know,\" the moneylender said. \"She was watching from the window when I went to sleep a few minutes before midnight. When I woke, at dawn, she had gone. I sleep soundly. I didn't hear her leave.\"\n\n\"Why did she come here yesterday?\" Hiro asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The moneylender smiled. \"Much the same reason you're here now. She threatened to shut my business down if I spoke to anyone about her waiting here that night.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Then why are you telling us?\" Father Mateo asked.\n\n\"As I said, you have an unusual reputation.\" The moneylender nodded toward the far side of the street. \"People say you intervene to stop the poor from suffering without cause. I'd say that merits help when I can give it.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "expand on the story like Susan Spann would" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hiro and Father Mateo left the moneylender's shop and headed south toward Shijō Road." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What made you think to speak with the moneylender?\" Father Mateo asked.\n\n\"A guess, though as it happens, an incorrect one. I wondered why Yoshiko would visit a shop that didn't make loans to samurai. I guessed—inaccurately—that the moneylender had hired her as a debt collector.\"\n\n\"She said she didn't make loans to men,\" Father Mateo pointed out. \"Why would she make an exception for Kaoru?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I didn't think she made an exception,\" Hiro said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I thought she lied to us about the nature of her loans.\"\n\n\"Still, we learned that Yoshiko might be the killer,\" Father Mateo said. \"We can't account for her whereabouts at the time the murder happened.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Hiro said, \"though whether she killed Chikao remains to be seen.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "As they approached the Lucky Monkey, Father Mateo asked, \"What will we do if Mina refuses to see us?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hiro ignored the question, stepped to the door, and knocked.\n\nFootsteps approached on the opposite side. The door opened a fraction and Mina's face appeared in the crack. When she recognized the visitors, she opened the door the rest of the way and bowed. \"Good morning, sirs.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as Susan Spann" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I think, perhaps, you can help us more than you realize,\" Hiro said. \"May we explain?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mina stepped away from the door. \"Of course. May I offer you tea or sake?\"\n\n\"No, thank you.\" Hiro followed her inside. \"We can't stay long.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "When they reached the drinking room, Mina made a gesture that invited the men to sit." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Forgive my directness,\" Hiro said, \"but we need to leave in time for the brewer's trial.\n\n\"During our previous visit you mentioned a need to atone for your husband's sins—to ensure the heavenly judges pass his soul to paradise. What, precisely, threatens your husband's spirit?\"\n\nMina looked at the floor. \"Chikao was not a wicked man.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We believe that,\" Father Mateo said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I suppose it cannot hurt to tell you.\" Mina looked up. \"My husband planned to do an evil thing. The kami required his life in recompense.\"\n\n\"God did not take Chikao's life,\" Father Mateo said. \"A person did.\"\n\nMina shook her head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It was his karma. Evil plans bring evil consequences.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Jesuit opened his mouth to argue, but Hiro cut him off. \"Tell us the evil thing your husband planned.\"\n\n\"Chikao and Ren wanted to buy Ginjiro's brewery,\" Mina said, \"but Ginjiro would not sell at any price. They picked Ginjiro's largely because of Tomiko—Ginjiro's daughter. A wife who could run a brewery could help my son in ways no partner could.\"\n\n\"But Ginjiro refused to sell, and refused the marriage,\" Hiro said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mina nodded. \"After they realized that neither money nor words would sway him, my husband and Ren—along with Kaoru—planned to vandalize the brewery and, thereby, force Ginjiro to sell.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Vandalize it?\" Father Mateo asked. \"How would that force a sale?\"\n\nMina's cheeks flushed red. \"They planned to break the brewery doors and urinate into the casks. They thought if they ruined Ginjiro's stock, he wouldn't have the money to make repairs and cleanse the brewery—he would have to sell and allow my son to marry his daughter, Tomiko." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I told them I disapproved of the plan and even threatened to tell Ginjiro." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After that, Chikao agreed to abandon the idea. I believed him—he had never lied to me before.\n\n\"But then, the evening before Chikao died, I heard him talking with Ren and Kaoru. My husband had changed his mind." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They were making final plans to vandalize Ginjiro's brewery." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I confronted my husband and told him what I heard. He explained that Kaoru owed more money than we knew—far more than this small brewery could pay. Without a successful place like Ginjiro's, we would never pay off Kaoru's debts. And without a wife who could run the business, Kaoru could never succeed once we were gone...\" Mina trailed off.\n\nAfter a brief silence she continued, \"That very evening, a debt collector threatened to throw our son in prison unless we paid his debts at once.\"\n\n\"So you agreed to go along with your husband's plan,\" Father Mateo said.\n\n\"I did not.\" Mina straightened." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I love my son, but he made his own decisions, and no innocent man should suffer in his place. Unfortunately, Kaoru seemed determined to force his father to turn to vandalism.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A creak behind them made Hiro shift position to watch the doorway.\n\nMina continued, \"The last time we talked, Chikao promised to stop the plot, but since he died in Ginjiro's alley, on the very night they planned to vandalize the brewery, I have to believe he did not keep his word.\"\n\n\"Correct.\" Ren appeared in the doorway. \"Which is why Ginjiro killed him.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ren bowed to Hiro and Father Mateo. \"Forgive my interruption.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How do you know what happened?\" Hiro asked. \"Did you go with Chikao that night?\"\n\nRen shook his head. \"I already told you, I was home in bed. Chikao tried to persuade me to attempt the vandalism, but I didn't want to risk Ginjiro's ruining our chances with the guild. The chance of someone seeing us or connecting us to the acts was far too high. I tried to persuade Chikao of that. Like Mina, I believed that I succeeded.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What about Kaoru?\" Hiro asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Could he have changed his father's mind?\"\n\n\"He must have,\" Ren said. \"I know he tried. Kaoru said he would spend the early part of the evening in Pontocho, so people would see him there, and no one would suspect that he and Chikao committed the crime. He thought the customers here would vouch for his father.\"\n\n\"So Kaoru planned to meet Chikao at Ginjiro's that night, after closing?\" Hiro asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I didn't know any of this,\" Mina said, \"but I don't believe my husband went to vandalize the brewery. He took the money with him, which he wouldn't do unless he meant to pay off Kaoru's debt. At least, I want to believe that was his plan and that he changed his mind about the vandalism before he died.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Father Mateo glanced at the service counter lined with wooden flasks. \"You must have had a successful evening if the profits allowed a payment toward the debt.\"\n\n\"We didn't make that much,\" Ren said. \"Enough to make the initial payment Ginjiro demanded, but nothing more. Even for that, I had to give my half of the evening's profits too.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I thought you disapproved of helping pay off Kaoru's debts,\" the shinobi said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I did,\" Ren said, \"but we couldn't risk Ginjiro's giving the brewers' guild a bad report.\"\n\n\"Chikao must have given up the plan,\" Father Mateo said. \"Otherwise, he wouldn't have taken the money. Maybe a bandit killed him after all.\"\n\n\"I don't think so,\" Ren replied." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Bandits use swords and daggers, not sake flasks.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"True,\" Hiro said. \"But tell me: why didn't you confess the plan to vandalize Ginjiro's brewery sooner?\"\n\n\"Would you have mentioned it in my place?\" Ren asked. \"To tell the truth, I'm ashamed we even considered it. I'm glad that Mina heard of it and stopped us. I got caught up in wanting something I didn't have. When she made us stop and think, I realized it wasn't worth the risk. I thought we could make this brewery work until we joined the guild, and then the guild could help us find a better place to purchase.\"\n\n\"It didn't occur to you that Kaoru might not have surrendered the plan?\" Hiro asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He said he agreed to abandon it,\" Ren said, \"and he sounded convincing.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We appreciate your honesty,\" Hiro said. \"We need to go.\"\n\n\"I will escort the visitors out,\" Ren said, turning toward the entry.\n\nMina bowed and started for the room where her husband's body lay." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hiro followed Father Mateo through the passage to the door." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After the Jesuit left the building, Hiro turned to Ren. \"Do you plan to attend Ginjiro's trial this afternoon?\"\n\n\"Someone should,\" Ren said. \"Kaoru is not reliable, and Mina doesn't want to—\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I will be there.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Now write approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kaoru stepped into view.\n\nHiro wondered where Chikao's son had been during their conversation and how much he had overheard. Based on the angry look on the young man's face, he had heard it all.\n\nKaoru scowled at Hiro. \"I intend to watch my father's killer die.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write four sentences sentences in the style of Susan Spann spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hiro and Father Mateo left the Lucky Monkey and turned north on the road that paralleled Pontocho." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Jesuit shook his head. \"We're out of time. I really thought we'd find the killer and save Ginjiro.\"\n\n\"We found the killer,\" Hiro said.\n\nFather Mateo stopped in the street." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But how? We don't know for sure who killed Chikao.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately one sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I do,\" Hiro said, \"and now, I think I can prove it.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Hey can you write like Susan Spann and use whatever i write as a jumping off point?" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hiro and Father Mateo stopped by Ginjiro's brewery on their way to the magistrate's compound. Tomiko stood in front of the shop, sweeping the street with a broom. She bowed as the men approached.\n\n\"Matsui-san,\" Tomiko said, \"please tell me you found a way to save my father. The magistrate's hearing starts an hour from now.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Will you attend it?\" Hiro asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I wanted to, but I cannot.\" Tomiko gripped the broom. \"I cannot take my mother there and cannot leave her here alone.\"\n\n\"Don't feel bad,\" Father Mateo said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Your father did not want you to attend.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I still feel like a coward,\" Tomiko said.\n\n\"Attendance is no reflection on your courage,\" Hiro said, \"and Ginjiro will worry less if he knows that your mother is safe. However, if you can manage it, I think your father would draw strength from your presence at his trial.\"\n\nFather Mateo shot Hiro a look. The shinobi hoped the priest wouldn't argue." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He wanted Tomiko present at the hearing." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She deserved to hear the truth.\n\nGinjiro's daughter blinked back tears. \"If I don't go, I will not get to say good-bye.\" She set the broom against the wall and bowed. \"I will find someone to watch my mother. Matsui-san, please save my father. I will be forever in your debt.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Expand the story by adding four sentences." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hiro and Father Mateo heard the crowd in the magistrate's compound from almost a block away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Inside the wooden palisade, voices chattered and squawked like a murder of crows.\n\nThe dōshin guarding the gates allowed the shinobi and the priest to pass in without question.\n\nHiro paused at the edge of the yard and surveyed the crowd. He never forgot his primary duty was still to protect the priest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The crowd consisted primarily of merchants and the family members of persons standing trial for various crimes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A dozen armored samurai stood guard along the wall, mostly dōshin, but also several with the Matsunaga crest. Hiro noticed the commoners edging away from the samurai. Not even the innocent ones felt comfortable standing close to the guards.\n\nHe scanned the crowd but saw no familiar faces." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ren and Kaoru wouldn't arrive for several minutes more." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He hoped Yoshiko would attend as well.\n\nIf she didn't, his plan would need adjusting.\n\nHiro found Suke's absence surprising. He hoped the monk was merely late and not passed out from drinking too much sake." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The magistrate would probably hear Ginjiro's matter first." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If the shogun wanted lessons taught, murder trials and executions offered the most persuasive ones.\n\nHiro caught Father Mateo's eye and nodded toward the front of the crowd. The men moved forward together, commoners parting before them like the panels of a noren blown apart by stormy winds. They stood about a body length behind the sandy pit where prisoners would kneel during hearings." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As the dōshin led a line of sorry prisoners toward the dais, a commotion at the gates made Hiro turn." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You cannot keep us out!\" Yoshiko's voice echoed through the compound. \"Let us through!\"\n\nThe crowd grew silent. People turned.\n\nHiro left Father Mateo near the shirazu and hurried through the crowd." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Once again, the packed-in commoners parted as he passed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No one blocked the path of a samurai.\n\nAt the gates, Yoshiko stood face to face with the dōshin who guarded the compound. Beside the samurai woman, Tomiko stood as still and straight as an ancient cedar.\n\n\"This is no place for a girl,\" the dōshin said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"She is a woman, not a girl,\" Yoshiko snapped." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Her father is on trial today. You cannot bar her entry. Step aside!\"\n\n\"Is this true?\" The dōshin asked Tomiko. \"Is your father standing trial today?\"\n\nGinjiro's daughter nodded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Go home to your family,\" the dōshin said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why do you want to see your father die?\"\n\n\"That is not your business,\" Yoshiko said. \"Let us through, or arrest us and let the magistrate decide.\"\n\nShe took Tomiko's arm and started past the dōshin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "To Hiro's surprise, he let the women pass." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Who's next?\" The samurai glared at the line of people near the entrance. \"Make it quick, the hearing starts in minutes!\"\n\nThe guard had no authority to keep Tomiko out. Hiro interpreted his words as a vain attempt to save the girl the pain of watching her father's condemnation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dislike for bullies notwithstanding, he agreed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ginjiro's daughter didn't need to see her father stand before the magistrate. However, Hiro knew something the other samurai didn't. Tomiko needed to be there, to ensure an innocent person didn't die.\n\nBefore Hiro could catch Yoshiko's eye, a yoriki emerged from the magistrate's office, walked to the dais, and glared at the crowd." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hiro hurried to rejoin the priest before the hearing started." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Magistrate Ishimaki will hear the afternoon cases now!\" the yoriki called above the chattering voices. \"Silence! Show respect for the magistrate!\"\n\nThe commoners knelt and bowed their heads to the ground as Magistrate Ishimaki emerged from the building and made his way to the dais." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ishimaki-san wore a black kimono and a pair of expensive swords in decorative scabbards." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His bald head gleamed in the midday sun as he climbed the three low wooden stairs and knelt on a white tatami atop the dais.\n\nHiro considered how different the afternoon sessions seemed from the morning hearings held inside the magistrate's private office. Wealthy men and samurai could speak their claims in private, while the commoners faced justice in the open.\n\nMagistrate Ishimaki arranged his robes and looked at the yoriki, who moved to stand beside the pit of sand." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around four sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: Susan Spann" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Two dōshin brought Ginjiro to the sand." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The brewer walked with his head hung low and his arms and legs bound tightly by elaborately knotted ropes. Ginjiro's stained kimono bore a filthy witness to his time in prison.\n\nWhen they reached the shirazu, the guards took hold of Ginjiro's arms and lowered the brewer to his knees in the sand.\n\nGinjiro bowed his head before the magistrate." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I will read the charge.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The yoriki's voice rang out across the yard. \"This man, Ginjiro, murdered a fellow brewer during an argument over a debt.\"\n\n\"How do you answer the charge?\" the magistrate asked.\n\nGinjiro raised his head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I am not guilty.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Not guilty?\" Magistrate Ishimaki looked surprised.\n\n\"That is correct,\" Ginjiro said. \"I did not kill Chikao.\"\n\nThe magistrate's forehead wrinkled in consternation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Can you prove this?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hiro stepped forward. \"I can prove it.\"\n\nThe magistrate's eyes widened. \"Matsui Hiro? You are the man investigating the crime?\"\n\nMagistrate Ishimaki looked out at the crowd, but didn't seem to find the face he sought." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His gaze returned to Hiro." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The yoriki mentioned seeing you at the murder scene. I should have guessed that you were the one Ginjiro's family asked for help.\"\n\nHiro bowed. \"Yes, Ishimaki-san.\"\n\nThe magistrate leaned forward. \"Tell me what you learned.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I object!\" Kaoru pushed his way through the crowd." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ren followed close behind him.\n\nKaoru pointed at Ginjiro. \"That man killed my father. This... ronin... wants to interfere.\"\n\n\"On the contrary,\" Hiro said, \"I wish to see the murderer brought to justice.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Magistrate Ishimaki shifted his gaze from Hiro to Kaoru as if weighing each man's words." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At last he said, \"Matsui-san will speak.\" He looked at Kaoru and added, \"You may speak when Matsui-san has finished. I wish to hear all the facts before I render a decision.\"\n\n\"May I request a favor?\" Hiro asked.\n\nMagistrate Ishimaki frowned. \"Do not test my patience. I have granted you a significant favor by allowing you to speak in this man's defense.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, and I am grateful,\" Hiro said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"However, I hoped you would order the dōshin to lock the gates until you render final judgment. The real killer is here, inside the compound, as we speak. I would hate to see that person slip away.\"\n\nMagistrate Ishimaki nodded to the yoriki. \"Secure the gates. No one leaves until this matter is resolved.\"\n\nHiro waited until the massive wooden gates swung closed with a thump and a rattle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You will now reveal the killer,\" the magistrate said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But I warn you, falsehoods will result in your sharing the killer's fate.\"\n\n\"I beg the magistrate's indulgence,\" Hiro said. \"I cannot merely state a name. Unless I explain what happened on the night Chikao died, the killer will deny the crime. Ginjiro's innocence will not be proven.\"\n\n\"It's a trick,\" Kaoru said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He's stalling for time.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Silence!\" Magistrate Ishimaki glared at Kaoru. \"I will decide what is or is not a trick.\"\n\nHe looked at Hiro. \"Proceed with your tale.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Ginjiro owns a brewery in the commercial ward,\" the shinobi said, \"a fine one, with fifty feet of frontage on a trafficked road. Chikao, with his partner Ren, owned a tiny, unlicensed brewery in an unnamed alley south of Pontocho. The only fortunate thing about the Lucky Monkey brewery is its name.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What does that matter?\" Kaoru demanded.\n\nHiro ignored him. \"Chikao made offers to purchase Ginjiro's brewery, but Ginjiro would not sell at any price. At first, I wondered why Chikao would need Ginjiro's shop, and not another. Ginjiro said he'd help the Lucky Monkey's owners join the brewers' guild, and the guilds assist their members when it comes to finding better space." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The problem was, the brewers' za would not admit a man whose son ran up a debt and did not pay. Not unless that brewer demonstrated some substantial change that would allow him to prevent his son from causing future problems.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ginjiro's eyes widened. \"Like buying a better brewery and marrying that son to a woman with the skills to run the business herself.\"\n\n\"Exactly,\" Hiro said. \"But Chikao ran into problems. He couldn't get a loan to pay the debt. Then, the man who owned the brewery Chikao wanted wouldn't sell and wouldn't consider allowing his daughter to marry Chikao's son. In fact, that man—Ginjiro—wanted only to discuss the payment of the debt that Kaoru owed.\"\n\nKaoru scowled but did not deny the words.\n\n\"A series of arguments ensued, with threats exchanged,\" Hiro said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"On the night of the murder, they argued again, and Ginjiro swore to collect on Kaoru's debt at any cost.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The magistrate asked Ginjiro, \"Is this true?\"\n\nThe brewer looked at the sand beneath his knees. \"I made some threats, but I didn't mean them. Not the way they sounded.\"\n\n\"Liar,\" Kaoru said. \"You threatened to kill my father, and then you did it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ginjiro tried to look at Kaoru but his bonds prevented him from turning all the way around." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Magistrate Ishimaki frowned. \"So far, your tale does not exonerate this man.\"\n\n\"Please indulge me by listening all the way to the end,\" Hiro said. \"After that final argument, Kaoru abandoned his father to go drinking in Pontocho. Chikao started back to his brewery for the night. On the way, Chikao ran into a debt collector seeking payment for another of Kaoru's debts.\"\n\nHiro turned to the crowd." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That debt collector is here. She can confirm this.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He wondered whether Yoshiko would come forward without a fight. A moment later, he noticed movement in the crowd. The commoners cleared a path as Yoshiko approached the shirazu. She stopped behind the pit of sand and bowed to the magistrate." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I am Akechi Yoshiko, the debt collector of whom Hiro speaks.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You will confirm that you spoke with Chikao on the night he died?\" the magistrate asked.\n\nYoshiko nodded. \"I tried to persuade him to pay the debt that Kaoru owed my teahouse.\"\n\n\"Did he agree?\" Magistrate Ishimaki leaned forward, curious.\n\n\"He did not.\" Yoshiko glanced at Kaoru." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as Susan Spann" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hiro considered Akechi Yoshiko." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even without her geta, she stood taller than Chikao. A twig had a better chance of frightening a bonfire. Still, she admitted the assault, and Hiro didn't need to prove the reason.\n\n\"I apologize for my error,\" Hiro said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"After Akechi-san fended off Chikao, the brewer returned to his shop with a bruise on his eye and a lie on his lips. He told his wife and business partner that Ginjiro hit him. He also said Ginjiro threatened worse unless Chikao made a payment against Kaoru's debt that night.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"My father was not a liar,\" Kaoru said. \"Ginjiro struck him, not this... woman.\"\n\n\"This samurai woman says she struck your father,\" Hiro said.\n\n\"Why would my father lie?\" Kaoru demanded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Would you admit to your wife and son that a woman bruised your face?\" Hiro asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I wouldn't,\" the magistrate said.\n\nA ripple of amusement passed through the crowd.\n\nHiro waited for the laughter to subside before continuing. \"Chikao spent the rest of the evening at his brewery. Didn't he, Ren?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ren nodded. \"Yes, that's true.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Thank you,\" Hiro said. \"That night, after the Lucky Monkey closed, Chikao returned to Ginjiro's. Finding it closed, Chikao went into the alley, intending to knock at the private door. Given their earlier argument, Chikao would not have cared about forcing Ginjiro out of bed.\"\n\n\"That's when Ginjiro killed him,\" Kaoru said.\n\n\"You think so?\" Hiro asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Then tell me: how did Ginjiro, acting alone, surprise Chikao from behind? The lethal blow was struck on the back of the head.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He did it somehow,\" Kaoru said. \"Maybe his daughter helped him.\"\n\n\"A valid and intriguing possibility,\" Hiro said, \"and one I did consider for a while. However, Tomiko believed her father would never force her to marry you—and had she plotted with her father to kill Chikao, they would have left a murder weapon implicating bandits or planted a weapon belonging to someone else. That didn't happen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"In fact, the dōshin never found a murder weapon.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, they did,\" Ren said. \"A broken flask, impressed with Ginjiro's seal.\"\n\nHiro smiled. \"Thank you for correcting my mistake.\"\n\nMagistrate Ishimaki scowled at Ren." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Who told you about the flask and the seal?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No one told him,\" Hiro said. \"He knows because he killed Chikao and left the evidence there to ensure that your men would blame Ginjiro.\"\n\n\"I did not!\" Ren stepped backward. \"That's ridiculous.\"\n\n\"No one knew about the flask except the yoriki and the dōshin,\" the magistrate said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I knew, too!\" Suke shouted from the crowd." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hiro turned as the spectators parted to allow the filthy monk to approach the dais.\n\nSuke bowed dramatically to the magistrate.\n\n\"You see?\" Ren pointed. \"Everyone knew about it, even drunks.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Suke scowled. \"I am not everyone. And it was my flask you stole!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Magistrate Ishimaki shook his head. \"I'm sorry, Matsui-san. Too many people knew about the flask. This man's knowledge doesn't prove his guilt.\"\n\n\"That's true,\" Hiro said, \"but it does prove more than you think. Ginjiro's flask was not the murder weapon—it was left to throw the dōshin off the trail. The real murder weapon was a wooden flask, presumably from the Lucky Monkey.\"\n\nHiro looked at Ren. \"It took some time to figure out the truth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I always thought Ginjiro's flask would break before it shattered Chikao's skull." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Later, I saw the wooden flasks at the Lucky Monkey Brewery, and Yoshiko mentioned her preference for wooden flasks—because they do not break. That's when I realized Ginjiro's flask was not the real murder weapon, that the killer saw it in Suke's hands and used it to blame Ginjiro for his crime.\n\n\"At first I suspected Kaoru, but after listening to everyone talk about him, I realized he lacked the intelligence and the drive to plan the crime. Plus, I doubt he knew about the loan.\"\n\n\"What loan?\" Ren turned to the magistrate." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How long are you going to put up with this nonsense?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Magistrate Ishimaki looked confused. \"Loan? What are you talking about?\"\n\n\"The Lucky Monkey didn't make a measurable profit,\" Hiro said, \"and yet, somehow, Chikao intended to pay Ginjiro on the night he died. Despite my questions, no one actually explained how that was possible." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Moneylenders wouldn't loan Chikao and Mina silver to repay the debt, because the Lucky Monkey's profits weren't enough to back the loan." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kaoru couldn't get a loan because of his reputation.\n\n\"And yet, just days before Chikao's murder, someone from the Lucky Monkey did secure a loan, from a moneylender named Basho—a large enough loan that the lender himself had to hide from a debt collector because he couldn't pay his bills.\n\n\"Neither Chikao's wife nor Kaoru knew about that money. Mina would have mentioned it, and Kaoru would have spent it. By process of elimination, Ren arranged the loan.\"\n\n\"I don't know what you're talking about,\" Ren said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What loan? What money?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hiro turned to the magistrate. \"When the yoriki searched Ginjiro's, did they find a large sum of money?\"\n\n\"Not a substantial one,\" Magistrate Ishimaki said. \"Some coins in a cash box, nothing more than a brewery of that size would take in on a normal night.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why would I take out a loan, with or without Chikao's knowledge?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ren raised his hands. \"I have no debts. I have no need to borrow money. More importantly, why would I kill my business partner?\"\n\nHiro smiled. \"You took the loan because you had better credit than Chikao. You intended to use the money to buy Ginjiro's, but I'd guess you had a backup plan to use it for a brewery of your own if Kaoru's bad behavior ruined Chikao's chance to join the guild." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"When Ginjiro threatened to withdraw his support for your application, you realized you'd never succeed in partnership with Chikao. You went along with the plan to vandalize Ginjiro's brewery, because you'd rather own that shop than buy another. Would you still have killed him if the plan succeeded?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ren looked nervous. \"I had no reason to kill Chikao.\"\n\n\"Not until the night he died,\" Hiro said. \"That's when he changed the plan and decided to use the money you borrowed to pay off Kaoru's debt instead of saving it to buy Ginjiro's or another brewery. That's why he had the money to make a payment on the loan—he took the coins you were saving, probably without consent. You couldn't let him do that, so you followed him and killed him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Don't make Magistrate Ishimaki send his men to search your room—we both know they'll find the money there.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why would I steal back my own money?\" Ren pointed at Yoshiko. \"You said yourself she carries a wooden flask—and she hires herself out as a brewery guard. Ginjiro must have hired her to protect his brewery that night. She must have killed Chikao!\"\n\n\"The evidence says otherwise,\" Hiro said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If she killed Chikao, she would have taken the money and probably credited it toward Kaoru's debt. She could have claimed he gave it to her earlier, before he died. However, she claims the debt remains unpaid.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The debt has not been paid.\" Yoshiko glared at Ren. \"And I did not kill Chikao.\"\n\n\"She didn't!\" Suke jumped forward. \"Hiro-san, I can prove it!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The night you asked me to go to Ginjiro's and listen to the patrons..." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I overheard Tomiko talking with Akechi-san about the murder.\n\n\"Tomiko said she felt guilty about sleeping through the night. She thought, if she'd stayed awake, she might prove her father's innocence. Akechi-san told Tomiko not to blame herself—and then confessed to falling asleep while waiting for a debtor in Pontocho the very night Chikao was killed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She said she should have watched, but she slept all night and missed the man entirely." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She said that sometimes people err and that we cannot blame ourselves for our mistakes.\n\n\"Akechi-san could not have killed Chikao—she was sleeping on the job instead!\" Suke looked embarrassed. \"That's the important thing that I forgot.\"\n\nIt figured the only useful clue the monk uncovered was one he forgot to reveal." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yoshiko's cheeks flushed red." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She bared her teeth at Suke, furious that the monk had revealed her secret.\n\nFor a moment, Hiro thought she might attack.\n\nYoshiko's anger vanished just as quickly as it came. \"It's true,\" she said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I didn't want to admit it, because it makes me seem unfit for my job, but I did fall asleep in Pontocho that night.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hiro turned to Ren. \"Leaving only you to kill Chikao.\"\n\nRen's nervousness changed to an angry glare. \"Chikao was a stupid fool. He paid off Kaoru's debts long after a reasonable man would have thrown his worthless son into the street. Owning Ginjiro's would make us rich, but wasting that money on Kaoru's debt would ruin us forever.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He turned to the magistrate and raised his hands in a pleading gesture." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Killing Chikao was the only way to stop him.\"\n\n\"Why didn't you keep the loan a secret?\" Hiro asked. \"Or keep the money where your partner couldn't get it?\"\n\n\"Thieves break into rooms like mine,\" Ren said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The brewery was safer, even though I had to tell Chikao about the money. He understood, or said he did, and agreed to keep the secret from his wife—and from Kaoru. We planned to use the silver to buy Ginjiro's, after we forced the sale. He had no right to change the plan!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You killed my father over a bag of silver?\" Kaoru drew a dagger and lunged at Ren.\n\nHiro grabbed the young man's wrist and pressed a thumb between the bones of Kaoru's hand. Chikao's son gave a cry of pain and dropped the dagger." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Stop,\" Hiro said. \"The magistrate will deal with Ren.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He killed my father,\" Kaoru said.\n\n\"Silence!\" Magistrate Ishimaki shouted. Lowering his voice, he continued, \"I declare the brewer innocent. Release him, with apologies for this unfortunate misunderstanding.\"\n\nThe dōshin standing behind Ginjiro cut the ropes that bound his limbs and helped him to his feet." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Let's engage in a collaborative writing exercise. I'll provide a starting point, and You'll continue with four sentences in the style of Susan Spann." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The dōshin marched Ren onto the sand and forced him to his knees.\n\n\"The punishment for murder is death by hanging,\" the magistrate said. \"Have you anything to say before I sentence you?\"\n\nRen raised his face to the magistrate." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I didn't intend to kill him.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You beat your partner to death with a sake flask.\" Magistrate Ishimaki's scowl showed no trace of mercy. \"Explain to me how that shows no intention.\"\n\n\"When I followed Chikao to Ginjiro's, I intended to persuade him not to use the loan to pay off Kaoru's debt,\" Ren said. \"He refused, so I took the flask from my kimono—the personal one I carry with me—intending to knock him unconscious, take back the money, and leave." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But once I started to hit him, I couldn't stop. I thought of all the years we suffered because of Kaoru, all that time and money wasted. I kept hitting him, over and over, and when I realized what I'd done Chikao was dead.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ren glanced at Hiro. \"He's right about the broken flask. I saw the monk passed out in the alley, holding Ginjiro's flask in his hands. I thought if I broke it and left a couple of pieces behind, the police would blame Ginjiro and not look into it any further.\"\n\n\"What did you do with the rest of the flask?\" Hiro suspected he not only knew the answer, but had used a similar method recently himself." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I threw the pieces in the river, along with the flask I used to... the other one I used.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ren looked at his feet. \"If he had only listened to me, instead of always putting Kaoru first.\"\n\n\"No man deserves to die for loving his son,\" the magistrate said, \"regardless of the way that son behaves. Be grateful I allow you death by hanging. I consider the standard punishment too easy a death for the crime you committed. However, you confessed in time to save Ginjiro's life. For that reason, I will show you mercy.\"\n\nThe magistrate looked at the dōshin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Take this man to the execution grounds and have him hanged at once.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He raised his voice. \"Unlock the gates!\"\n\nThe dōshin looped a rope around Ren's hands and pulled the merchant to his feet. The crowd parted silently to allow the condemned to pass.\n\nHiro released his grip on Kaoru's hand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Chikao's son bowed to Ginjiro." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am sorry I accused you.\" He turned and followed the dōshin through the crowd. As he promised, he would watch his father's killer die.\n\nMagistrate Ishimaki turned to the yoriki." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Call the next case.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As the yoriki read a name from his scroll, Hiro took Ginjiro's arm and turned the brewer toward the gates. Father Mateo joined them, and once again the crowd of commoners separated to let them through.\n\nNear the gates, Tomiko broke from the crowd and threw her arms around her father's neck. Her shoulders shook with sobs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ginjiro winced as his daughter grabbed the painful wounds on his back and shoulders, but he put his arms around her without comment." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tears welled up in the brewer's eyes and ran silently down his cheeks.\n\nHiro normally hated when people cried, but under the circumstances he didn't begrudge these heartfelt tears.\n\nAt last Tomiko released her father and wiped her face. She bowed to Hiro and then to Father Mateo." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I can never express my gratitude or repay the debt I owe you both,\" she said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You saved my entire family today.\"\n\n\"I helped!\" The crowd parted like scattering roaches before the grinning Suke. \"I helped them find the killer!\"\n\nTomiko bowed to the filthy monk." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My gratitude extends to you as well.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Does it extend, perhaps, as far as a flask of sake?\" Suke asked.\n\n\"As many as you like,\" Ginjiro said, \"for a month, at least.\"\n\nSuke's mouth gaped in wonder. \"Ten thousand blessings upon your house, Ginjiro-san! The kami will reward you a thousandfold!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And you?\" Ginjiro asked Hiro and Father Mateo." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What can I do for you? Everything I have is not enough to thank you properly, but anything you ask, I'll gladly give.\"\n\n\"I need nothing,\" Hiro said, \"but I'd appreciate your seeing Suke fed—and given a little sake—if a time should come that I'm not here to buy it.\"\n\n\"You know I would do that anyway. Is there nothing you want for yourself?\" Ginjiro turned to Father Mateo." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "I'll be your writing partner today. I will set the scene, and you will continue the story with 4 sentences, channeling the voice and techniques of Susan Spann.i'll kick things off by writing a bit, then you'll take over and write the next 4 sentences in the distinctive voice of Susan Spann.Ive got a bit of writers block, im gonna send you something then keep it going 4 sentences at a time, also im going for a Susan Spann sorta thing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"There is something I don't understand,\" Father Mateo said to Hiro as they walked down Marutamachi Road toward home." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How did you know that Ren would confess his knowledge of the murder weapon?\"\n\n\"I didn't,\" Hiro said, \"but he mentioned the sake flask this morning, back at the Lucky Monkey, and I knew he needed the murder 'solved' as soon as possible. He had the money in his room and couldn't keep it there for long because of the risk of theft. He needed to either repay the loan or purchase another brewery, but he also needed a killer punished so no one would be watching him too closely.\"\n\n\"Surely Mina would ask where Ren got the money to buy a brewery?\" Father Mateo asked.\n\n\"Mina intends to become a nun. She wouldn't have noticed what Ren did thereafter.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hiro paused to hold his breath as they passed the smoldering incense at the gates to Okazaki Shrine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But how did you know Yoshiko wasn't the killer?\" Father Mateo rubbed at the scar on his neck. \"Or Kaoru? We never did find out for sure that Ginjiro didn't hire a guard.\"\n\n\"The money tells the tale,\" Hiro said. \"A sum that big will change a person's behavior every time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kaoru yelled at his mother about money yesterday." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He wouldn't have done that if he had taken the money from Chikao. He'd have coins in his purse, and since he didn't consider the future, he wouldn't have felt the need to complain right now.\n\n\"Yoshiko would have taken the money to pay off Kaoru's debt. She wouldn't have left it on the body and wouldn't have continued to complain about the debt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She would have made up a story about Chikao paying her before he died." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately one sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"In the end, that left only Ren.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as Susan Spann" }, { "from": "human", "value": "A man in a carpenter's tunic and trousers squatted by the side of the road in front of Father Mateo's home." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He stood as Hiro and the priest approached.\n\nNervous excitement loosened Hiro's muscles and warmed his joints. Ozuru would not wait in the open if he intended harm, but the assassin's presence didn't indicate good news.\n\n\"Did we hire a carpenter?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Father Mateo asked. \"He looks familiar, but I don't remember arranging for any work.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hiro shook his head. \"I know him, a little. He came to see me.\"\n\n\"But you didn't expect him,\" Father Mateo said. It wasn't a question." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No,\" Hiro said. \"In fact, I didn't expect to see him again at all.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'll wait for you inside.\" Father Mateo nodded to Ozuru as he passed but didn't speak to the carpenter.\n\nAs soon as the door swung shut behind the priest, Hiro said, \"This looks a lot like the visit you couldn't ever make again.\"\n\n\"The situation justifies the risk,\" Ozuru said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I persuaded Hisahide that the merchant's death, or that of the priest, would prompt the Portuguese to terminate all trade with Kyoto. Hisahide doesn't care about the foreigners themselves, but he does care very much about his access to their firearms. Also, he doesn't want the Portuguese to back Daimyo Miyoshi in the coming war.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ozuru looked up the empty street. \"However, as soon as Hisahide obtains the firearms he needs, he will order the merchant killed—and the priest as well.\"\n\n\"Matsunaga Hisahide would not risk the other Jesuits' anger,\" Hiro said. \"Like the emperor, Hisahide supports the Christians' efforts in Kyoto.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"A ruse designed to destabilize the Ashikaga clan's control of the city,\" Ozuru said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"As soon as the emperor names him shogun, Matsunaga-san will either banish the priests or kill them.\"\n\n\"You're telling me to leave Kyoto now,\" the shinobi said.\n\n\"Yes,\" Ozuru said, \"but not at once. Matsunaga-san won't let you leave until he's purchased all the weapons he desires to arm his men. He will need the merchant here at least until the war is over. But the moment the Miyoshi surrender, Matsunaga-san will become your enemy.\"\n\n\"He is my enemy already,\" Hiro said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Then we understand each other.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ozuru bowed and walked away toward Okazaki Shrine.\n\nHiro considered the cloudless sky and wondered how long it would take the Miyoshi to attack Kyoto. If they allied with the former shogun's brother, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, other clans might rally to their cause. However, Hiro suspected the Ashikaga heir would choose a different warlord—one whose name was feared by every daimyo in Japan." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lord Oda Nobunaga wanted an excuse to seize the capital." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Restoring the Ashikaga heir to the shogunate would give him cause and also strong support among the lesser daimyos.\n\nHiro also wondered, briefly, if the missing samurai's body would be found. The shogunate would call it murder, but Hiro hoped the lack of clues would prevent an investigation. Samurai died all the time, usually by violent means." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hiro would keep his eyes open, but doubted the death would cause him any trouble." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Father Mateo emerged from the house and joined the shinobi near the street. Gato trotted out behind the priest and rubbed herself on Hiro's legs in greeting.\n\n\"This day turned out more pleasant than expected,\" Father Mateo said.\n\n\"Not really,\" Hiro said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I sense a dangerous storm approaching.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Are you sure?\" The Jesuit scanned the sky. \"I don't see any clouds.\"\n\n\"Still blowing in.\" Hiro picked up the cat and stroked her fur. \"But they are coming.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: Cooperative storytelling\nMy role: Provide a brief opening\nYour role: Expand upon my opening with 4 sentences, emulating the writing style of Katherine M. Lawrence." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Long before it was called Japan,\n\nthe island empire was known\n\nto the world as Akitsushima,\n\nthe Autumn Creek Land," } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Mode:\nCo-writing\n\nLength:\n4 sentences\n\nStyle:\nKatherine M. Lawrence" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Known as Year of the Metal Rabbit,\n\nSecond Year of Shōan,\n\neight years prior to the Genpei War\n\nand the ensuing struggle" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as Katherine M. Lawrence" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When young Yamabuki was still innocent, the holy men warned her about the Hour of the Ox, the longest and darkest hour of the night. They said that at the beginning of the Fourth Watch, when eight bells tolled, ten thousand fissures yawned wide, releasing unclean things from the underworld. Under darkness, the contagion floated free, finding cracks in doors and vents in roofs; and having gained entry, these phantasms descended on fitfully sleeping souls, their sinewy tendrils probing the smallest clefts in closed eyes and creating only the slightest of ripples as they slithered under the lids and penetrated the sleepers' dreams.\n\nMoved by these tales, the young princess asked, \"Can spirits rising from the jigoku ever be good?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Every priest and every monk declared that no thing from the dark realm was benign—not even slightly for they were no longer capable of human feelings." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Once drained, the heart shriveled inward with emptiness.\n\n\"But couldn't the hearts of lost spirits be refilled?\"\n\nThe holy men explained, \"If such a thing still had a heart, which was doubtful, it would be reikoku—a cold heart. Unbeating and incapable of ever being warmed.\"\n\n\"Ever?\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "expand on the story like Katherine M. Lawrence would" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "[ Death Poem ]\n\nNine Bell Strikes,\n\nHour of the Mouse\n\nOne day past" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Under lamplight, Yamabuki lifted the tip of the writing brush." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She gazed at its bristles fat with glistening black ink, then looked down to the still-wet calligraphy on the rough cut rice paper within the writing box. As the ink dried, she looked for any flaws in her brush strokes of the exalted language of Qin.\n\nAnd as was her custom, she repeated the kanji in her native tongue, enunciating each line in her studied high court accent.\n\nOne person." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One sword." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Bringing death the first time.\n\nBe parsimonious. That was what Lord Nakagawa advised when he suggested she record her journey in a pillow book. Was there any more to say? Maybe just three lines was a bit too succinct." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Only after she mouthed the words a second time did she realize, I've written a poem." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A poem about killing. \"Only this morning,\" she whispered to the paper, as if it were capable of listening.\n\nWhat a discordant day. It had dawned so clear and bright and full of hope, but by the Hour of the Horse, as the rain poured down from darkened skies, three men lay dead at her feet." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She pushed away the image of the bodies sprawled in the mud, replacing it instead with more hopeful recollections." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She thought back to the previous evening, when she had summoned Ryuma, asking him to bring saké to her chamber at the Inn of Young Bamboo. She bade him enter and by dim brazier light invited him to share her wine and her body. In hindsight, enticing him was perverse in almost every sense of the word. Imagine: inviting a commoner, who at best might be called Master of Horses, and at a mere inn at that, to make love to her, a warlord's daughter." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And yet their stations mattered little in that moment of unfinished business." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Throughout the evening they had hardly exchanged words, but once he entered her bed chamber, she allowed her gaze to linger. No longer the gruff bodyguard, he broke into a boyish grin. By brazier light she fixed her eyes on him.\n\nAfter sharing their first bowl of saké, he took a long breath, looking deeply into her eyes, and she, after a measured moment, turned her head away, ever so slightly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Letting her glance linger she sighed, slowly lying back in the bedding." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He dropped to his knees, loosened his waist sash, and pulled off his tunic. Her toes curled.\n\nIt wasn't that she hadn't seen naked men before. She had seen lots of them. Her father's rough soldiers, not always the most modest of men, went about nearly naked when laboring during the humid rainy season." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She had taken only a passing interest, noting the similarities among their muscular bodies, pondering the differences between her body and theirs, and then mostly given it no further thought—at least not until she grew older." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She had also seen Ryuma naked as well, six years ago, not long after he had undergone his genpuku coming-of-age ceremony at twelve summers. At the time, Yamabuki had one more year before she observed her own female maturity ceremony, mogi—adult clothes. And yet when they stole away, it was their intent to remove every bit of their clothes in order to quench their mutual curiosity in each other's \"adult\" bodies. Back then it had not been easy for the two youths to find privacy at the inn where her father's retinue, numbering some seventy assorted body guards, Taka royalty, and their handmaids, and hand-men, and other highborn, bedded down for the night." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The two youths stole off to a secluded corner of the stables where, without uttering any words, showed themselves to each other. Innocently. Purely." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The youthful Ryuma proved nothing like her father's soldiers. He was beautiful, his body lithe like hers, only taller and stronger. Unsure of themselves, yet without shame, they had exchanged nothing more than prolonged stares.\n\nLast night, still without shame, they did not stop with just furtive glances." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Excited, she had slipped into his embrace." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The memory was still vivid, his scent still fresh.\n\nYamabuki set down her writing brush. I'm not going to recount the details of that! Upon conclusion of her travels, custom dictated that a pillow book was to be read aloud to those at the Taka Court." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Reflections on Ryuma and his special place in her heart would not be shared with them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She took a deep breath as a second thought crossed her mind. In the throes of their passion and gasping, she had pushed aside the reality that his seed might take root. Every time a woman made love with a man, afterward there was always that to think about. Yamabuki's rhythm with the moon—the \"tide,\" as the common women of Ō-Utsumi in their indecipherable provincial dialect called it—usually arrived around the time of the Dark Moon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Fitting. Didn't the diviners always remind her that she was born on Dark Moon's night of Gods Month in the First Year of Kiūju?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The court magicians, upon learning of her tidal rhythm, had sent a self-appointed delegation of onmyōji to pronounce that the most likely time for Yamabuki to conceive a child was at the Full Moon. My low tide. She laughed to herself, thinking of all the sly slangs associated with that.\n\nActually the diviners had said \"auspicious\" and not \"likely,\" but she had grasped their meaning. Was last night auspicious?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Bah!\" Why am I even thinking this way?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What did the onmyōji know about the time women conceived? Or of birth! They were never around when that happened. Instead the sanba—the woman who knew the ways of birth—did what was needed to bring the child into this floating world of sorrow.\n\nFor that matter, what did diviners know about anything?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "They had said that this morning, the sixth day of the Rikka cycle, marked the auspicious beginning of summer." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Auspicious. Auspicious. Everything was auspicious to them, or just the opposite. Good omens. Bad omens. The good portent of a barking dog at sunrise." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The bad luck sure to befall anyone who changed clothes before the evening meal." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Travel on this day, but not on that. Traveling northeast was safe under a waxing moon, but dangerous under a waning one, and very badly aspected under the Dark Moon.\n\nBut there was nothing auspicious about today. The three killers had awakened on the same auspicious morning and had the same auspicious crossing of the Barrier Strait on the same single-masted kobune as she, but it had not ended auspiciously for them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She had cut down all three." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When it was over, at least the rain and ice that poured from roiling clouds had veiled her angry tears. She wiped them from her eyes and then the blood from her blade, leaving the bodies where they fell. What else could she have done? She was not going to simply stand in the freezing cold waiting for local authorities over whom she had no control to arrive and pester her with impertinent questions about who she was and why these assassins had chosen her in particular." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She had turned her back on the bodies and rode in the direction of the Pass of the Setting Sun, and by day's end she had settled in armorer Kōno's guesthouse, on the wrong side of the mountains in ever-worsening conditions, still ten, maybe even fifteen days away from her destination, the Imperial City." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki picked up the writing brush. After all, she had to write something. She balanced the brush between the thumb and first two fingers of her left hand—fingers calloused from years of practice with her bow, the same fingers that notched and leveled an arrow while drawing back the bowstring. Lord Nakagawa had called her attention to the similarities in the art of archery and calligraphy: In each and in both, mastery arose out of a balance of intent and abandon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In holding an arrow, or in holding a writing brush, she had to keep a firm but not too tight a grip." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All else flowed from her ability to maintain that balance. Firm, but supple. Qualities she aspired to within herself.\n\nI'm getting philosophical. She laughed. She always got philosophical when she drank saké." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She set down the brush and took up a small steel mirror." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She recalled the old saying, \"A man's soul rests in his sword. A woman's, in the mirror.\"\n\nShe scoffed. Where do I figure in this? She gazed into the fine-polished surface, her eyes focusing on the gash along her left cheek, the only obvious wound from the afternoon's fracas—and from a rock at that—a last desperate ploy of the assassin whose life she ended with a simple blade thrust. Would her face heal without a scar, like armorer Kōno had predicted?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She put the mirror down on its face and picked up her writing brush again, working the bristles against the ink stone." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I need a poetic beginning. She decided to model it on the Pillow Book of Lady Sōshi. Snow in the mountains on the first day of summer? Lady Sōshi would likely have found that fascinating." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Maybe begin with tonight's first snowflakes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When had the first snowflakes arrived? Long after the five rowdy Ōe clan sakimori had stumbled into Unagi's rundown Saké House. They were already drunk, but then again, so was she. Nevertheless she spared them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "After all, they had not participated in Blue Rice's murder, and there had already been too much killing for one day." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But that did not mean she was too timid to mete out punishment for their inaction when Misaki killed her friend.\n\nSuddenly she felt the brush come alive. She smiled and with a flourish wrote:\n\nMountain Snow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Summer Night." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The battlefield, atop spilled saké.\n\nShe rewet the brush. Why am I so upset about someone I hardly knew? I only met Blue Rice this morning." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And yet during the hour-long trip across the Barrier Strait, she had grown to like him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Strange, the young princess mused to herself. Was there also not an old saying: \"A friend for life is first recognized in but a slice of time\"? Alas for Blue Rice, the lifetime friendship lasted scarcely two hours.\n\nYamabuki tried to make sense of a senseless murder, but no matter how much saké she sipped, it made no sense." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Blue Rice was killed over nothing—what amounted to a skill-testing murder by someone who wanted to show off his bowmanship." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Had she been back in Great Bay Prefecture, where her father ruled, she would have seen to it that Misaki was punished—and severely. However, warlord's daughter or not, her wishes and her authority were of no consequence here. She was not in her home province, not even on her home isle.\n\nOn the other hand, none of the guards had connected her with the helmeted samurai in dark green battle armor they had challenged at the boat landing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "All they saw was a lone woman in an orange kimono, porcelain-white oshiroi makeup, and waist-length black tresses whom they took for a yahochi, a woman of rendezvous." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Were they so drunk that they failed to notice her sheathed short sword? Apparently. When one of their number tried to snatch her bottle of saké, she broke his wrist with a single strike of her scabbard—and when two cohorts came to his aid, she bashed one in the ribs and knocked the other unconscious with a cracking wallop against his jaw.\n\nThe Gentian samurai who leaned back in the corner, away from the fracas, had laughed at the scuffle as if it were endlessly entertaining. At least the saké he offered her afterward in his private quarters at the House of Red Banners proved equal to his claims about its taste and potency." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She'd had every reason to get drunk, and every reason to stay the night with the man who identified himself as Minamoto Yoshinaka." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She had seen his armor under repair, in Kōno's shop; likely he was all he claimed to be. When she told him about battling the two ninja and the fencing master, he spoke of his own first duel, describing feelings similar to those she felt. He understood her—a rarity throughout her young life. It might have been nice to lose herself in his powerful arms." }, { "from": "human", "value": "To be embraced in that way was indeed to her taste; two warriors, even if one was a woman, might have much to admire in each other." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The same arms that could effortlessly wield a weapon could also transmit feelings of love, and if not love, at least lust, and of course even more drink.\n\nBut two different men on two different nights?\n\nShe sighed. Maybe no more needed to be written. Besides, the saké had made her sleepy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She cleaned her brush and set it aside, replaced the top of the small wooden box that held the pillow book, turned down the brazier, and, for the eleventh night, slept in a strange room, this night alone." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She found warmth in her bedding.\n\nMaybe Yoshinaka and she had unfinished business. After all, no one would be going anywhere if this snow continued. She pictured his powerful arms, imagining his shoulders and his legs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She let her hand slip down to where her own legs came together, her fingers beginning to caress the soft developing wetness." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yes... maybe some unfinished business." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Let's engage in a collaborative writing exercise. I'll provide a starting point, and You'll continue with four sentences in the style of Katherine M. Lawrence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She heard a small tapping at the door to her chamber." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Would Yoshinaka have been so crass as to have followed her? Warrior or not, this would not go well for him. She smoothly slid her left hand to Tiger Cub's hilt and gripped its leather and silk windings. With her thumb, she pushed, loosening the blade very slightly from its scabbard." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Next came a tiny giggle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was that of a small girl.\n\n\"Kouma?\" Yamabuki whispered.\n\nAnother giggle. Was the girl was already inside? If so, she had slipped in ever so softly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki said, \"You're up late." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Does your father know you are walking about in the night?\n\n\"No,\" a voice answered tentatively.\n\n\"When I was your age if I had been caught wandering around near the Hour of the Ox, my father would have been quite cross with me.\"\n\n\"You are afraid,\" Kouma said in a small voice." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh?\" Yamabuki replied in a voice equally soft." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You're afraid people will hurt you. And you have to hurt them instead.\"\n\nYamabuki wondered if that was true.\n\nKouma giggled and said, \"Those were bad men and you scolded them good.\"\n\n\"At the saké house?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The girl giggled again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My what a small town. Word travels fast. Even children know things within an hour of them happening.\n\nThe little girl's voice came closer. \"This is a good place. My father likes you. You will sleep. No bad dreams.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "No bad dreams. Yamabuki laughed softly to herself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The girl moved through the shadows. Yamabuki thought she heard the door slide aside as Kouma softly left the chamber. Yamabuki was alone and too tired to open the door to see where Kouma went. Instead, she wandered ever deeper into a dream state." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She saw the fencing master, Shima, though not as she saw him in death." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He wore the same indigo and orange armor, carried his nodachi, and displayed the hanabishi clan symbol. He seemed pleased to see her.\n\n\"Death walks the road,\" he said in the dream. \"Saburo will be here soon.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Today you will be acting as a writing assistant, your partner will send something and you will write the next four sentences." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A deep-throated bell's reverberation broke over Yamabuki's dream like a crashing wave. The Taka compound is under attack! She reached into the darkness finding the long sword, and sat up, gripping Tiger Claw's hilt. \"Tomoko! Hana-ye! Bring my armor!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki had to report to the marshaling yard, ready to stand at her father's side." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The bell echoed a second time. Where are my handmaids? When the bell reverberated a third time, she realized, I'm not at the Taka compound. I'm in armorer Kōno's guesthouse." }, { "from": "human", "value": "This was not a tocsin, but a temple bell, a large one at that, announcing the hours of the night." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She softly laughed at herself. Relieved. She set Tiger Claw back down and listened to the reverberations dying away, counting how long until the next peal. Seven long breaths. No ordinary bell this, not even by Taka standards. An ōgane, the largest and most deep-voiced." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was said ōgane resonated to the nethermost places striking terror into the doubtful hearts of the vile things that lurked there." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Between the waning strikes, a whistling breeze arose. Granulated snow pattered the walls. Hissing. Trees just outside the entry door creaked. Buffeting gusts—thunder without lightning—blew through the night." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The dull red irori fire pit's coals pushed back against the gloom, but did not cheer." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The ōgane continued tolling. Five... six... seven... eight... and then nothingness.\n\nEight strikes. Hour of the Ox.\n\nShe detected scratching. Mice?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her hand slid to the three scrolls, her fingers gliding over their rough silk husks. Intact." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A child's playful laughter rose above the wind. Kouma? Was the armorer's young daughter wandering in the storm? The giggling continued. Shadows dashed across the wall. Inside? No—outside." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Someone tapped the window shutters and tittered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki left her bed to peer through the slats. The night skies had completely cleared. A moon ringed by a muted rainbow haze illuminated the virgin snow. A steady breeze lifted flakes off the pines, carrying the snow horizontally, but not so thick that she was unable to see two figures, one tall, one tiny, trudging toward the night-soil pit." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kouma and her mother?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Night-soil pits were deep and dangerous. There were oft-repeated cautionary stories, delivered with dark laughter about those who fell into the pit and ended up drowning or suffocating in kuso. The indignity of such a death!\n\nYamabuki returned to the bedding and pulled the blankets tight." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Had she been back at the Taka compound, so close to the ocean with its rains, fogs, and mists, her handmaids would have tended the fire to beat back the inevitable dampness." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the nurigome bedchamber of her personal, palatial shinden-zukuri estate in the Taka compound, on more than a few nights, Yamabuki had invited Tomoko and Hana-ye to stay with her after the fire caught. Beneath the curtained sleeping canopy, the three girls huddled for warmth—sometimes for something more.\n\nBut alone in Kōno's guesthouse, she had to make do with dying coals. She traced the threads of smoke as they snaked up into the dark rafters, barely making out the roof vent." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She closed her eyes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The wind continued whistling, rising and falling, soothing—almost melodic. She let her mind follow. Indeed it was a melody. A flute. A shakuhachi. Yamabuki shifted." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "expand on the story like Katherine M. Lawrence would" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The flute's notes carried her through her dream to the glossy smooth floor of the Palace of Black Plums, where on hands and knees, as she had been instructed, Yamabuki bowed so low that her forehead touched. In the lacquered mahogany planks, the slightly distorted image of the ageless Dowager in bright colorful robes, sitting stiffly on the dais, gazed darkly at the girl. The young princess, almost five springs of age, knew to remain still, saying nothing, until the signal—a small nod from her mother, Lady Taka, whose face also floated within the floor's reflection.\n\nThe subtleties of the Ceremony of Presentation had been painstakingly conveyed to Yamabuki during their journey from Great Bay Prefecture to the Imperial City." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Too young to merit her own personal goshoguruma, Yamabuki rode in her mother's curtained coach, the largest and most opulent of the six ox-drawn carts, with embroidered silk tapestries lining the walls and soft pillows to cushion the ride; and it was there that Lady Taka had stressed that the girl, the eldest surviving child of the daimyō, was to be polite to the Dowager—exceedingly polite, as polite as if she were being presented to the Emperor Himself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At the mere mention of the Son of Heaven, Yamabuki had filled with excitement. \"Is it because she's one of the Mikado's wives?\"\n\n\"Īe,\" Lady Taka answered—in the polite form, already setting the prescribed tone. \"The Dowager is not married to anyone anymore. She is your father's mother. The wife of your dead grandfather, Taka Jirimu. She watched over you after you were born. Remember her?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki brightened. \"Snowy hair?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lady Taka nodded, obviously pleased. \"Remember anything more?\"\n\n\"Big.\"\n\nLady Taka's eyes twinkled. \"Big to someone so small. You were but three springs when we returned home to Ō-Utsumi Prefecture. I am surprised you remember her at all.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Will she remember me?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her mother suppressed a small laugh. \"Who could ever forget you?\"\n\nOn horseback, her warlord father led more than forty of his personal bodyguards as escort to the six lavishly decorated two-wheeled royal carts as they rolled ever northward, their wooden spokes turning, their axles squeaking and moaning, the oxen snorting. Traveling only by daylight, the Taka caravan paused every night at one of the acceptable ryokan along the road, where they could eat and sleep in comfort." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was on the twenty-sixth day of the journey that the caravan approached the Imperial City and was met by a concert of faraway temple bells that tolled out the second quarter of the Hour of the Monkey." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A dark horse came apace of the cart. A moment later, the melody from a shakuhachi succeeded the bells, rising above the rumble of wheels and clop of hooves.\n\nLady Taka pulled the cart's blue gossamer silk window curtain aside to afford Yamabuki a better view.\n\nIn full battle gear, save for his iron facial mask, Giichi rode alongside, his head shielded by his heavy kabuto." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki squealed. Giichi turned toward her, and Yamabuki now saw his unshielded face—black silky beard, his eyes dancing just as mischievously as hers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This is for you, little Princess,\" he said and put his lips to the tip of the flute. And as the song emerged from his shakuhachi, he nudged his horse in the flanks and rode ahead, never missing a note.\n\nYamabuki poked her head out of the stuffy cart.\n\nThe kicked-up dust twirled in the breeze of the autumn afternoon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Behind, two other carts carried Lady Taka's nyōbō, her attendants, followed by the Taka rearguard on horseback." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was a familiar view, so the young princess paid none of them any mind.\n\nIt was far more exciting to watch Giichi ride forward past the three other Taka goshoguruma as the cortège headed toward a city that stretched everywhere she could see. In fact, the entire valley was filled with countless structures adorned with bright roofs of different colors gleaming in the sun. Now and then, she could see down wide streets that seemed to go on forever." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"There are so many buildings!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hai,\" Lady Taka said.\n\n\"It's so big.\"\n\n\"You were born in this city, at the Palace of Spring Snow, among the Itō clan.\"\n\nYamabuki pulled back inside and excitedly asked, \"How many people live here?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lady Taka gave a quick nod." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Remember when Lord Nakagawa had you write all the numbers between one and a thousand?\"\n\nYamabuki shook her head solemnly and sighed. \"That took a long time.\"\n\n\"Now imagine that each number was one person.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's many people,\" she said with awe." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Now imagine doing the exercise four hundred times in a row. That's how many people live in the city.\"\n\nYamabuki, amazed, briefly poked her head out the window again. \"How do they know? Does everyone line up to be counted?\"\n\n\"The Emperor has people who take care of such accountings for Him. He needs to know how many people there are, and in which places. This is how He decides how much we send in the koku tax.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Koku tax?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The wagons that carry the rice boxes at the end of the year. You remember them, no?\"\n\nYamabuki nodded, picturing the long train of carts under guard led by Counselor Mizumaki. In the late autumn, the procession headed to Heian-kyō loaded to capacity with tightly-packed bales of Ō-Utsumi's rice harvest. And the following spring, the carts returned empty." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The more people, the more koku needs to be sent, so the Emperor keeps a close count on how many subjects He has.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The clomps of hooves on wood accompanied a rumbling that shook the entire cart. Yamabuki grasped her mother's hand to steady herself and asked, \"How many subjects are in Great Bay?\"\n\n\"It would be fifty times the number that you wrote out for Nakagawa.\"\n\n\"Not as many as in Heian-kyō?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No. Not nearly as many.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"In the whole prefecture? Not as many?\"\n\n\"No. Not as many.\"\n\nThe cart paused, silencing the rumbling, but snorts and restless thumps of horse hooves on wood continued.\n\nThis was all very strange to the young girl, who asked, \"Why are we stopping, mother?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We are at the Welcome Gate checkpoint.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What are they checking?\"\n\n\"Everyone who enters the city must identify themselves to the gokenin guards and state their business.\"\n\n\"Even a daimyō?\"\n\nLady Taka nodded. \"Everyone.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki leaned out the window again and saw the entire retinue stopped on a long bridge across a wide river." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The guards, looking fierce in full armor like her father's warriors wore—but gold-and-black instead of Taka green—and carrying long spears with blades that glinted in the sun, walked down the line of carts and among her father's mounted escort.\n\nYamabuki scowled. \"They aren't Taka, but they walk right up.\"\n\nHer mother said, \"Back when the Emperor lived on the Isle of Unknown Fires, the Taka clan protected Him, and when the Emperor moved the Imperial City back to Main Isle, he took several of our banner men with him because they were such fierce fighters. We share an ancient lineage with these very guards.\"\n\nBefore Yamabuki could ask any more, the cart lurched back into motion and riders began to move again, on through the gate and into the bustling city with wide avenues and large buildings." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And indeed it was as her mother said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There were more people here than Yamabuki had ever seen in one place. They were of all types and wore every manner of clothing—some lavish, others almost naked. Merchants, soldiers, monks, farmers, entertainers, women in holy robes, artisans, and some of the most beautiful women imaginable beneath giant parasols and flanked by attendants.\n\nYamabuki watched the spectacle as riders at the front of the Taka entourage warned everyone to withdraw, for a warlord and his bodyguard were approaching." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The people scurried to get out of the way, giving perfunctory bows to the procession as it advanced down the twenty-horse-wide thoroughfare." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The babble of voices drowned out the rumble of the cart wheels and horses' hooves. Other royal carts with other banners moved in different directions through the ocean of people.\n\nAll of a sudden, a rider came apace the Taka cart—her father, the daimyō himself. His bodyguards fanned out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ahead, in the distance, Yamabuki caught a glimpse of magnificent roofs." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It had to be the Emperor's palace. She squeaked with delight. Her father flashed a look at her, eye to eye, and she fell silent.\n\n\"Soon,\" he said flatly to her mother. \"Be ready.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He spurred his horse." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki's face fell, and she sat down on her pillows. \"Why did father not smile?\"\n\nLady Taka pulled the cart's window curtains down. \"Your father is missing us already.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki saw fleeting sadness in her mother's eyes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How long will we stay here?\"\n\nLady Taka sighed. \"It will be a year, Kouma.\"\n\n\"How long is that?\"\n\n\"Remember when you went with uncle Tachibana to see the wreck of the ship that brought the horses that fell from the skies?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki nodded." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That was a year ago.\"\n\n\"That is a long time.\"\n\n\"It is.\"\n\n\"But father will be with us?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No, Kouma, he won't. By the next moon, he will return to Ō-Utsumi. Great Bay Prefecture needs its daimyō.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki frowned. \"We will stay here?\"\n\n\"We will, and then we will return home again, and until that time we will live at the Palace of Black Plums.\"\n\nYamabuki put her head out of the window again, catching her father as he moved to the head of the procession. Finally fully understanding the purpose of the journey, she felt a pang, missing him already." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As she sat down, her face must have expressed the same, for her mother suddenly became cheerful and touched her daughter's hand." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We will see all the wonders of the Imperial City. Maybe even glimpse the Mikado Himself.\" Lady Taka squeezed Yamabuki's hand. \"The time will go fast.\"\n\n\"Why do we have to visit for so long?\" Yamabuki looked puzzled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's because the Emperor likes having the family members of every daimyō close to Him so He can protect them if there is ever any trouble.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But isn't father better at protecting us back in Ō-Utsumi?\"\n\nLady Taka smiled sagaciously. \"You are very perceptive for someone so young.\"\n\nYamabuki was not sure what was so perceptive about this, for it made no sense to her that the Emperor would need to have them in the Imperial City." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was then that Etsu, on horseback, came alongside the wagon, bringing his mount to a walk." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Denka!\" he called loudly.\n\nYamabuki's mother looked out without lifting the silk curtain, for decorum demanded that once she was within the city, she not reveal her face to a bodyguard, even though at the Taka compound she trained, rode, and practiced weapons with all of them. Today protocols were to be meticulously followed.\n\n\"The Palace of Black Plums!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Etsu pointed up the Suzaku boulevard, and with that he kicked his bay in the ribs and took off at a trot." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Indeed the wagons had finally rolled up to the Taka legation. The mounted bodyguard, in a crescent formation, waited as the lumbering six carts rolled to a complete stop.\n\nGiichi, two riders over from the daimyō, smiled and nodded toward her. He put the shakuhachi to his lips and once again blew out the notes of the \"Song of the Swan.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "And Yamabuki drifted between sleep and consciousness, between childhood and adulthood." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Between knowing where she was—and yet lost. Was she at the Palace of Black Plums? Or was she in Kōno's guesthouse?\n\nThe notes of the flute merged with gusts of wind even as Giichi stood close by, grinning at her, lifting the flute but not playing as he pointed it at the door, which then slid open on its own.\n\nHe beckoned her to follow." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide 4 sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And as the lilting melody echoed across the gardens, Yamabuki found herself inside the open, high-ceilinged shinden of the Palace of Black Plums, where everyone in her family sat with the daimyō, each in order of rank: first, the Dowager; next, Yamabuki's mother, Lady Taka; then Yamabuki's uncle, the daimyō's brother, Prince Tachibana, with his highest ranking wife, Yuma, and their eldest child, Atsumichi, who was even younger than Yamabuki and accordingly wore the expected feminine gossamer veils of a royal son many years away from majority. The solid black-lacquered wooden shōji were slid aside, and in the broad hisashi corridor others of the Taka retinue knelt at various distances further from the daimyō, as protocol required.\n\nA tray of the delicacy fugu was brought forth and, as was the custom, offered to the daimyō first.\n\nLaughingly, Giichi said, \"Oh, Tennō! Fugu must be correctly cleaned. I can't let you eat a fish without making sure no poison lingers. So\"—and he reached for a random piece of the fish—\"please forgive me and let me taste it before you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The flute melody continued as he lifted the morsel into his own mouth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He smiled as he chewed.\n\nAnd then his eyes grew round. He gagged, fighting to draw breath. He reached for his throat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He tried to make words, but they came out garbled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Here and there, laughter erupted. But then Giichi fell forward, crashing onto the food trays.\n\nYamabuki, now seeing herself as a very young child sitting among the retinue, screamed in terror.\n\nAs Giichi fought for every breath, her father leapt to him, rolling him over, meeting his retainer's eyes, which grew evermore panicked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For the first and perhaps only time ever, Yamabuki saw her father look helpless." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"His stomach! Cut his stomach,\" Etsu shouted, pulling his dagger.\n\nLady Taka rose up. \"No! That will kill him for sure.\"\n\nSome people put fingers down their own throats to induce vomiting, even though they had not eaten any of the fish." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Others shouted, calling for action, but what action should they take?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Atsumichi sat sobbing into his sleeve.\n\n\"Calm yourselves!\" the daimyō barked.\n\nPrince Tachibana grabbed his sword and rose up in one motion.\n\nYamabuki again moved like a disembodied spirit, floating after Tachibana." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In a few strides, her uncle was out of the shinden, storming down a covered walkway across the estate grounds and into the kitchen, where fifteen people, all members of the chief food preparer's family, stood stunned." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Who?\" Tachibana demanded.\n\n\"You—\" stammered the chief of food, who held a boning knife at his side.\n\nThe prince's sword flashed, and blood flew in every direction. The old man fell dead." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sword still at the ready, Tachibana looked for his next target: the old man's son, who had stopped in the midst of cleaning more fugu." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Nooo!\" the dead man's wife screamed. Crying in anguish, she threw herself around the youth, shielding his body with her own.\n\n\"Stand aside,\" Tachibana thundered, lifting his blade high, \"or I swear I'll take both of you with one cut!\"\n\nThe woman remained frozen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lady Taka burst into the room." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hold!\" She placed herself between Prince Tachibana and the would-be victims. \"Put your weapon aside! Dead men can't be interrogated.\"\n\nTachibana snarled, but Lady Taka stood her ground and glared back.\n\nThe scene faded. Giichi and all those in the Palace of Black Plums vanished, as did the melody." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki opened her eyes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She lay near the irori in the guesthouse. The room was as dim as ever. I was dreaming. A coal in the irori popped and flared, and the bright yellowish flame flooded even the darkest corners of the room. The outer door slid open." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A figure stood framed in the entry." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki gulped. \"Blue Rice?\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Let's engage in a collaborative writing exercise. I'll provide a starting point, and You'll continue with four sentences in the style of Katherine M. Lawrence." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It's bitter cold, Yamabuki-san,\" Blue Rice said, and forcefully he slid the outer door of the guesthouse shut. \"There! That will keep the heat in.\" He clomped his fukagetsu against the planked floor. With each stomp, snow clumps flew until he had shucked his straw boots clean." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He left them in the entryway and glided toward the irori, bending forward, warming the palms of his hands near the fire." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even by the glow of dimming coals, his breath steamed.\n\nClad in only her thin red silk shitagi, Yamabuki stood up. It did not occur to her that decorum had been breached—let alone that she chatted with a dead man. He acted as if he were her equal." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He should have addressed her as Taka-gimi, not Yamabuki-san, as though they were familiar." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When had he learned her personal name? She had never revealed it to him—nor he his name to her. Only because of the blue circular rice-ear mon decorating his simple tunic had she taken to calling him Blue Rice. Yet none of this strangeness gave her the slightest pause either." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Indeed she was eager to speak with him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'll wager the wine at Unagi's drinking house tastes dreadful,\" Blue Rice said. \"You should have taken me up on my offer of saké when you had the chance.\"\n\nHe grinned and held out to her an unstoppered flask—a white porcelain bottle with the same mon as on his tunic.\n\nSomething told her she should not accept it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She vaguely recalled what the holy men warned: If the living ate or drank anything offered by the dead, the flesh of the recipient would immediately start to decay and rot." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Thank you, no,\" she said. \"As I told you when we boarded the shout boat, the innkeeper filled my canteen with his best saké.\"\n\n\"You have any left?\"\n\n\"No.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Then you did take my advice: drink enough saké and you won't get seasick.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I drank only a bit.\"\n\n\"What? Not good?\"\n\n\"Delicious.\"\n\nBlue Rice threw her a curious look." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki grew pensive. \"I poured much of it over your cenotaph.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You wasted it?\"\n\n\"No. I built the memorial in your honor.\"\n\nOnly now did she grasp the fact that two arrows protruded from Blue Rice—one in his side, the other in his chest. Both wounds seeped blood." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Why did I not notice that before?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She asked, \"Did the arrows hurt?\"\n\nHe contemplated the feathered shaft protruding from his side. \"I think it did.\" He paused. \"Yes. When it went in, it was very painful.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Misaki's second shot went straight into your heart.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I remember only one arrow.\"\n\n\"Maybe that's good. If I were to die, that would be the best way to go. Not feeling. Not knowing.\" She sighed. \"I killed a man today. The fencing master. His name was Shima. He was aboard the kobune. Remember?\"\n\n\"Big man. Double-long sword. Ōuchi clan?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Hai.\" She glanced at the door, almost expecting Shima to walk in." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But the door did not move. \"We dueled. He didn't die straightaway. He teetered for several moments after I drove my sword into his side. Stood gasping. Whispered some final words.\" She shook her head, reliving the moment. \"Had my blade thrust been truer, he would not have made any sound.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Blue Rice looked at her intently." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I need to ask you something.\"\n\n\"Is that why you have come to me?\"\n\n\"I was to rendezvous with my sister. We were to meet in Minezaki, where the North Road crosses the East-West Highway. Will you tell her I won't be meeting her?\"\n\n\"How can I bear bad news to someone I've never met?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "For the first time, Blue Rice seemed distressed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Who else can tell her? You were there. You have to tell her what happened.\"\n\n\"I don't even know what she looks like.\"\n\n\"She will be coming from the Mountain Country. From the East. She'll be wearing an Ine rice crest identical to mine.\"\n\nYamabuki took a deep breath." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Can you describe her?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He smiled whimsically. \"She calls me Risu.\" Squirrel. \"She found me climbing a tree—\"\n\nThe ōgane boomed, startling him.\n\n\"Fifth watch. Hour of the Tiger,\" Yamabuki said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Distracted, Blue Rice moved away. \"I must leave.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The wind picked up, rattling the guesthouse. Blue Rice grew transparent before her eyes.\n\n\"Wait!\" she called.\n\nHe slung the outer door wide and ran into the snowy night." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It closed by itself with a bang." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki thought to run after him. What is his sister's name? Yes. She would have to run after him and ask.\n\nOnly then did she realize that she lay on the floor." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "expand on the story like Katherine M. Lawrence would" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[ Five Bell Strikes, Hour of the Dragon, Two days past Full Moon of Unohana Month, 11 May 1172 ]" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki's head throbbed. Even within the warm bedding, she sensed the day dawned bitter. The coals in the irori had turned mostly to whitish ash. Gusting mountain winds blew ice through the ceiling's smoke vent. Snowflakes the size of sand grains disappeared in the fire pit's rising heat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The lingering vapor shimmered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If she were home at the Taka compound, by now someone from the household staff would have been attending to the fire. I have to get up. The fire is not going to tend itself.\n\nShe propped herself up, checking the scrolls. Intact and dry." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Pieces of memory, or rather dream fragments, came to her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her personal sword lay within reach, not her long sword—that had been only part of a dream. Of course it would not be there. Armorer Kōno was to polish Tiger Claw.\n\nShe gathered herself, tossing off the quilts." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The chill took her breath." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Toes freezing, clad only in her white shitagi, she went to a stack of small logs—any one of them no larger than her forearm. How many should I use? She decided immediately, not wanting to stand around deliberating while she froze. Five should be enough." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That was the number the samurai back home used when they made fires at camp." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She tossed the logs on top of the coals and ash. The pinewood smoldered.\n\nThere was no sand-filled night-soil box in the room. I will have to use the pit outside. She did not look forward to that." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Still shivering, she peered through the window slats." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sunlight shimmered on the snow-covered ground under cloudless blue skies.\n\nShe coughed. The fire struggled, producing more smoke than heat—a lot of smoke, which hung low, thickening in the air rather than escaping through the roof vent.\n\nNow gasping, eyes stinging, blinking through tears, she quickly donned the orange kimono and slipped the three wax-sealed dispatches into its ample sleeve pockets, pushed Tiger Cub through the sash, and pulled on her fur boots.\n\nShe slid the outer door open and rushed outside." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Cold assaulted her face, but at least it was clear and fresh." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lifting her arm to shield her eyes, she squinted up the glaringly bright mountainside toward the Pass of the Setting Sun. Snow blanketed everything. Ice sparkled at the summit.\n\nLower down, Yamabuki noticed smoke—or rather vapor. A rivulet of steaming spring water emerged from the cliff base near the third structure, where the armorer's wife and Kouma lived." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Such springs could range from tepid to scalding hot, and often smelled of rot." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This one did not.\n\nEverything slowly took on a red cast. I'm going snow blind. She looked down, searching for any footfalls to make the walk to the night-soil pit easier." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The only imprints were her own—from last night, headed in from town—and now largely buried by new snow." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Had she only dreamt Kouma's visit, or were Kouma's tiny feet so light that they made ne'er a dent? What of her mother? Dreamt as well?\n\nMomentarily putting off the ordeal of the night-soil pit, she decided to look in on her mount in the stables. Picking up her steps, she waded past the complex of five armory buildings on the snowy plateau." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In a few strides, she passed into the shadows of the cliffs." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No longer bedazzled, her snow blindness faded.\n\nThe stable abutted the sheer rock face of the notch. The plank walls were partially open to the elements, allowing feed to be easily tossed into eating troughs. Someone had thrown a thick horse blanket over her jet-black colt, who stood quietly and quite serenely inside." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Similarly draped was one other fine mount." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She wondered if it belonged to Yoshinaka. It certainly looked splendid enough for a young warlord.\n\nThe shed, warm and musty, seemed to agree with Mochizuki. His skittishness of yesterday at the windswept seashore seemed to have evaporated." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He looked up from the rice straw, and his big, brown, moon-round eyes met hers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then he went back to his champing. She whispered as she came right beside him, \"I'll get you out of here soon, Mochizuki. I know this is not a place for someone who loves to run as much as you do.\" He paid her no further attention, even as she stroked him. \"Hmm. Maybe you know something I don't.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She looked back across the snowy grounds." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As soon as her armor was repaired and sword was polished, she needed to resume her journey. But an attempt to cross the pass late in the day with the new-fallen snow did not seem like a good idea.\n\nYet it was unwise to remain in Minezaki. Others were on her trail." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yoshinaka seemed convinced. And Shima had actually identified Gankyū, the master assassin." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And the false monks? She didn't want to accept it, but wanting it not to be true would accomplish nothing: Someone had sent assassins after her—someone who knew where she was going, someone who knew about the scrolls she carried. Someone: a traitor within the Taka.\n\nShe drew in a deep breath." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was nothing she could do about that now, except survive—and she'd proven to herself she was capable of defending herself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Once she reached the Imperial City, her clan could send messengers to warn her parents in Ō-Utsumi.\n\nHaving put off the inevitable as long as she could, she left Mochizuki to his munching and headed out to the night-soil pit.\n\nAs she approached the open trench with its crude wooden handrails, she looped her long hair, still tied in ribbons, around her neck. Hiking up her kimono and using the wooden handrails to brace herself, she straddled the pit." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Cold wind blew through the fissure." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki shivered more than ever, though she was thankful that the pit's ripeness was all but gone. To think, she had left the comfort of the Taka compound for this—the real world of a warrior.\n\nThe snow glared, and again the reddish cast of snow blindness returned. Just like the fire last night." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Expand the story by adding 4 sentences." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki gasped and broke into a run, fighting her way through the drifting snow. No flames were in evidence, but as a child she had learned firsthand the unpredictability of fires. In an instant, an entire building could erupt.\n\nThe entry door stood wide. Someone was inside." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mari." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The girl must have sensed Yamabuki's presence, for she looked toward the entry and smiled kindly, pulling the last of four logs from the irori, leaving only one. Already the smoke was clearing. Yamabuki sighed in relief and entered.\n\n\"Just to be sure,\" said Mari as she gave a quick, small bow to Yamabuki before slipping past her and tossing the smouldering wood out the doorway into a snow bank." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm afraid I caused this,\" said Yamabuki." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Not at all.\" Mari returned and now bowed again with a polite smile. \"In the mountains it's harder to get smoke to rise. And the firewood's always damp.\"\n\nMari spares me embarrassment and she now acts like it was in no way my fault.\n\nStill standing in the genkan, Yamabuki took off her fur boots, putting them next to Mari's straw pair, and stepped inside." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mari picked up a small iron kettle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I've brought some hot food. Hot food fights the cold.\" Yamabuki braced herself for more kibi. \"Nabe!\" Mari beamed as she lifted the lid off the pot. Nabe, of course, was the word for kettle, but inside was what counted—hot broth and vegetables." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki brightened. \"I shall now eat like a sumo player!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yo-ichi appeared in the doorway carrying a tray of covered wooden bowls. He kicked off his straw snow sandals, but came no further than the genkan and bowed. Mari took the tray, presenting steaming unhusked rice to the warrior.\n\n\"I see.\" Yamabuki grinned." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I get the rice grains and you give my mount the rice straw.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yo-ichi shifted uneasily and grew slightly red faced.\n\nMari giggled, eyes twinkling. \"Samurai-sama is just making light.\"\n\nYamabuki laughed good-naturedly. But Yo-ichi hovered near the door, grinning uneasily." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was probably not used to women's patter." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mari bowed yet again. \"Last night we weren't ready for guests. Millet was all we had. Not a worthy meal for a samurai. I hope you'll like this better.\"\n\n\"I wasn't hungry last night,\" Yamabuki lied. \"But I'm hungry now.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yo-ichi left, promising to return shortly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mari placed onto the food tray a dark-blue flask bearing a white felwort mon. \"The Gentian samurai left it for you early this morning.\"\n\n\"What is this?\" Yamabuki asked.\n\n\"He said it's saké. And I was to also give you this.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She held out a beautifully folded paper." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki hummed skeptically and unfolded the note. It still smelled of fresh ink.\n\nTo the warrior of saké and ice\n\nMay this flask soften the road's hardships" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Come to the House of Red Banners" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So we can again drink together\n\nTo forget our homes.\n\nIt was written entirely in the calligraphy of Qin. A schooled hand. So much for his claim of bare literacy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She snorted in exasperation." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It appears I'm being courted.\n\nA worried look crossed Mari's face. \"Is it a challenge?\"\n\n\"Not to a duel, if that's what you think,\" said Yamabuki. \"Just a poem.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mari sighed, relieved." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki reconsidered. \"Well, maybe a challenge, but of a different sort. You know—\" She smiled slyly and shrugged.\n\nMari gave her a questioning look.\n\n\"The kind between a man and woman.\"\n\nNow Mari blushed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yo-ichi returned, bearing a bundle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Your clothes.\" Mari took the bundle from him. \"I apologize if I failed to clean them enough.\" She brought forth Yamabuki's folded kimono and hakama.\n\nThe clothes had been pressed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki lifted the split riding skirt, which had received the worst spattering of blood; the distinctive rough silk with the green tortoise-shell pattern now betrayed not the slightest hint of it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not even the scent. It was as if Mari had switched out the hakama for a new one, but that was impossible. The pattern was unique. Getting the blood out silk must have been something an armorer's daughter had learned as part of the family livelihood." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Will you please help me into my own clothing?\" Yamabuki asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At this, Yo-ichi left.\n\nMari stepped over to slide the outer door shut.\n\nYamabuki took the opportunity to quickly remove the scrolls from her sleeves and set them, along with her short sword, against the wall in the shadows. Hopefully the girl would not notice them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As Mari returned, Yamabuki nodded." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Your brother has good manners.\"\n\nMari bowed and eased the borrowed orange kimono off Yamabuki's shoulders. \"I hope the Kōno family kimono kept you warm,\" Mari said.\n\n\"Very. It was warm and fit perfectly. And last evening, wearing it, I was able to move about not as a warrior, but as a person who might live in Minezaki. I wore makeup, so I don't think anyone recognized me, either.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Makeup?\" Mari tried to suppress a small gasp." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki pointed to her own left cheek. \"Perhaps I am vain, but the gash on my face had to be covered, which meant I had to cover the rest of my face as well, no?\"\n\n\"And no one bothered you?\"\n\n\"Bothered me?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mari's expression grew strained." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"In this town, if anyone—man or woman—wears makeup, it means the person is available for a rendezvous.\" Yamabuki must have blanched, for Mari hastily added, \"But I know that since you carry a sword, no one would make such a mistake.\"\n\nYamabuki cleared her throat. \"No. Nothing like that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mari took the orange kimono from Yamabuki, set it aside, and began to help her into her own garments." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As the young girl fussed, Yamabuki said, \"You've cleaned my clothes so beautifully. I doubt our clan tailors could have done as well.\"\n\nMari brightened. \"Hai!\"\n\nWhen she had finished and Yamabuki was fully dressed, Mari collected the Kōno clan kimono and bowed. \"I hope you find your meal satisfactory.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She stepped into the genkan and bowed again before opening the door." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki called out, \"What about your boots?\"\n\n\"My boots?\"\n\n\"The straw boots by the door. Next to mine.\"\n\n\"Too big for me,\" Mari answered, genuinely surprised." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yo-ichi's?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He's smaller than me.\"\n\n\"Whose then?\"\n\nA look of puzzlement flashed across Mari's face, but it was replaced by a smile. \"They do not belong to any of us. These are mine,\" she said, sliding her feet into a small pair of winter sandals. She quickly left." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Alone, Yamabuki retrieved the three scrolls and slipped them into the safety of her kimono's ample sleeve pockets." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yes. It felt good to be back in her Taka clan colors and crests. She sat before the food tray. At last, a chance to enjoy a warm meal. She took the first mouthful, and it was like Mari had said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The food warmed her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She savored every bite, feeling her strength returning.\n\nWhat would her two handmaids think if they knew about the past eleven days? She had met so many new people, especially people as young as she, many even younger—and none, apart from Yoshinaka, was kuge class. Growing up, the few young people she'd known were the sons and daughters of her uncles and aunts and of her father's senior council, all kuge, though none were like her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And she knew it. So did they." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For them, everything was about rank, appearances, currying favor and ingratiating oneself. The other highborn females showed little interest in training horses or mastering weapons, though some had at least a nodding acquaintance with naginata. Most, however, spent the entirety of their waking hours composing poetry and music and singing—much of it mediocre and all of it derivative—or thinking about how to look more fetching. And this carried over to the young males as well." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Not long after their genpuku, they quickly learned that professing a love of poetry and music provided a convenient cloak for their lusts." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They composed poems and songs, even more mediocre and derivative, dedicated to attractive girls of lower court rank.\n\nNone of these men, however, had dared entreat Taka-gimi. Courting a warlord's daughter was impermissible—not that Yamabuki was interested. She told Tomoko that she did not care for, nor did she have even the slightest use for, these young men, who were still mere boys, genpuku or not." }, { "from": "human", "value": "No wonder she'd found a stable boy grown to manhood more fetching than any of them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ryuma had been the first to cross a line that no youth at the Taka compound would have dared approach.\n\nShe had always thought that her life was governed by so many rules: what she could and could not do; where she could and could not go; what she could and could not say; how deeply she had to bow to whom, depending upon rank. And yet now she found that the nanigashi, what the kuge called commoners, were just as restricted, only in different ways, including what boys could and could not do, and what was expected of girls and what they were not permitted. They were just as trapped as anyone at court." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And it seemed the rules were just as complex—perhaps even more so when they encountered samurai, who were known to react unpredictably, even violently, if they felt imposed upon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She recalled at the Barrier Strait when the young oyster girl offering to sell part of her catch to Yamabuki had hidden any fear. At the Wakatake Inn, Ishi-tsuki and Chi-ye, neither of them any older than Mari, had instructed Yamabuki in the steps of the fiery dances of the toi. At the site of yesterday's duel, the knees of the farm girl carrying cloth to market had buckled upon seeing Yamabuki wipe blood from her blade, but the girl then braced up and maintained her composure. When Yamabuki had arrived in Minezaki, its townspeople were taciturn but for Kani, a youth who summoned the courage to answer her instead of turning mute." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was he who told her about the armory—where at sunset Yamabuki encountered the adorable child beating an already dead rat with a stick—a little girl with whom she shared the same childhood sobriquet: Kouma." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And then there was Mari, who had treated the guesthouse as though it was Yamabuki's royal chamber. In many ways, she substituted as Yamabuki's handmaid; and likewise Yamabuki was allowing herself a familiarity with this girl that she might otherwise not have displayed.\n\nIt occurred to Yamabuki that something was changed about herself, and not just from the killing. In each of the prior trips to Heian-kyō, others had always decided the route; others had always negotiated with merchants and ferrymen along the way; others had always dealt with threats natural and human." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Though she had grown up with the autonomy afforded a girl of high birth, only now did she begin to fathom that what she had thought of as her freewill and independence was nothing of the kind." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Others had decided practically everything, and she in contradistinction had decided very little—if in fact anything. But now, away from the rules and customs of life back home, she had freedom to do as she pleased, to talk to whom she pleased in ways she pleased, and to go where she wished.\n\nShe decided she liked that. Maybe she was more like the Dowager than she cared to admit." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Maybe her grandmother's blood ran strongly in her veins, and no one was going to tell Yamabuki what she could do and could not do." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Was that what her mother feared? That Yamabuki would be too independent? And never marry?\n\nHer thoughts drifted back to Yoshinaka. She felt a smoldering attraction." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was handsome like Ryuma, yet he was also so like herself, raised much like she had been raised." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yoshinaka had been forced to do what she had been forced to do—kill. And yet he retained a poet's soul.\n\nShe pondered his poem of invitation to share saké. What else could she do in this boring little crossroads town until the pass cleared?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Samurai-sama!\" a young voice shouted." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Samurai-sama,\" he repeated, now louder and more urgent.\n\n\"Yo-ichi?\" She put down her food and hashi and slid the outer door aside.\n\nThe young boy, eyes panicked, panted for breath. \"My father begs your help.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Help?\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Survivors!\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around 4 sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: Katherine M. Lawrence" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The double doors at the back of the armory stood wide, likewise the front, allowing Yamabuki a clear view right through and on up the Ledge Road, where Yo-ichi thrashed through waist-high drifts, snow flying with every stride as he chased after his father and brothers.\n\nInside, Mari knelt over a man who lay in a heap next to the forge. He was either unconscious or dead. She tugged at his outer clothing—a straw winter cape and hat which she pulled loose." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Beneath he was clad in Ōe clan armor." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You know him?\" Yamabuki asked.\n\n\"No.\"\n\nYamabuki bent down. It did not look good. A mass of ice balls the size of cherries clung to the man's beard." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His mane of hair, crystalline and matted, held fast to his cheeks, his eyebrows and mustache caked in frost." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His eyes fluttered and his lips moved, though only imperceptibly. He moaned.\n\n\"He's coming around again.\" Mari raised a cup to the man's lips and whispered to him, \"Slowly now.\"\n\n\"Hot water?\" Yamabuki leaned to get a closer look." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Warm. Not too hot or it can burn him—just as bad as the frostbite.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She looked up, eyes sad. \"He's drifting in and out.\"\n\n\"Did he say anything?\"\n\n\"Only a little. The snow came suddenly. The horses died. The night fell.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mari shook her head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's all I got from him. That and that some unseen thing attacked him.\"\n\nShouts echoed off the rock walls of the notch.\n\nMari looked up. \"It's father.\"\n\nOutside, Eiji and Fuyuki trudged toward the armory, bracing up another survivor between them, a man in full armor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They were most of the way back when the man slipped from the boys' grasp." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Try as they might, they could not get him back to his feet. Kōno marched up, waving his sons aside, stooped over, and hefted the man over his shoulders.\n\nHe's strong as a horse.\n\nKōno called out, \"Mari! Heat water! Heat lots!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Samurai-sama,\" Mari interrupted. \"I know I should not ask, but could you please give him some more warm water?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh.\" Yamabuki turned. \"Of course.\" Yamabuki moved closer, and mirroring Mari, she lifted his head so it rested against her knee.\n\n\"Give him only a little at a time.\" Mari formally bowed and then fetched a nabe iron kettle and rushed out the back to the hot spring." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The ice in his hair and face began to thaw where it touched Yamabuki's hem." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "How cold his skin is. She put her hand against his cheek and the ice there took to melt. He opened his eyes and through frosted brows and lashes looked at her kindly. The beard around his mouth was no longer totally ice encrusted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She could see his once-blue lips turning pink." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He mumbled, \"Dōmo.\" Thanks.\n\nMari returned, the kettle brimming with water.\n\nHow can a willowy girl be so strong?\n\nMari placed the kettle on the forge to heat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kōno Taro, breathing heavily, entered the armory with the second victim slung over his shoulders." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Gingerly protecting the man's head, Taro lowered him onto the floor in the center of the workshop. The armor clanked against the planking. Coming to rest, the man lay still as a doll.\n\nTaro stood, catching his breath." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mouth drawn and jaw clenched, he looked at Yamabuki and slowly shook his head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Eiji and Fuyuki entered, stomping the snow off their winter sandals.\n\nA look of renewed determination crossed Taro's face. \"Strip him!\"\n\nAs if receiving orders from a tai-shōgun, they moved as one. Eiji, Fuyuki and Yo-ichi pulled off their own cloaks, tossing them aside, and began pulling away the supine man's outer garments." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Underneath, he too wore Ōe clan armor." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"High ranking,\" Taro huffed.\n\n\"He's a kashira, judging by the ornate yoroi,\" said Yamabuki.\n\nThe Kōno siblings rapidly but respectfully unknotted the binding cords they could reach, then gently rolled the commander onto his side to get at the other disparate fastening points. He did not resist in the slightest as they removed the individual pieces of armor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The forge fires burned high and hot." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even with the front and back doors thrown wide open, snow that had been tracked in had turned to melted puddles pooled on the fine pine floor.\n\nThe kashira's face remained covered by a scarf. Only his half-vacant eyes showed. Mari stooped down and tenderly removed the shawl, revealing his black shaggy beard and long mane, all crusted with hunks of snow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The two elder brothers pulled off the rest of his clothing, right down to the shitagi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And then even it came off. Naked and pallid, the warrior lay on his back, too cold and too near death to shiver.\n\n\"Water!\" cried Taro.\n\nYo-ichi and Mari rushed over to the forge and returned hefting steaming nabe." }, { "from": "human", "value": "With his fingertips, the armorer touched the liquid in one cauldron." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hum,\" he murmured approvingly, pulled back his sleeve, and shoved his arm in up to the elbow. \"Perfect!\" He nodded emphatically. \"Eiji, Fuyuki. Drench him.\" He gestured at the kashira." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And don't forget the hands and feet!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The two brothers cautiously poured—a gentle flow, but enough to cover all of him.\n\nMari and Yo-ichi brought more kettles forth, and the elder brothers poured a second round of water over the naked man. But the kashira lay as still as ever.\n\n\"Hotter water!\" Taro called out. \"Hotter water!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mari stoked the fire." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yo-ichi delivered a heavily steaming cauldron, one the armorer could barely keep his hand in. \"Good!\" Taro started pouring.\n\nThe kashira did not blink, move, or mutter.\n\nTossing the empty cauldron aside and dropping on all fours, Taro pressed his ear to the man's chest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He laid his fingertips against the man's neck." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Darkness crossed Taro's face. \"Too late.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Today you will be acting as a writing assistant, your partner will send something and you will write the next four sentences." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The light of the forge flames shone brightly, revealing Taro's grim expression as he gazed at the unconscious man, whose head lay on Yamabuki's knee." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In a soft voice, he said, \"This one was barefoot when he arrived.\"\n\n\"Barefoot?\" Yamabuki shook her head.\n\n\"He lost his boots. He said that during the night something pulled them off.\"\n\n\"Something?\" Yamabuki made a face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Taro nodded sagely. \"Strange things walk the road to the pass. Disquieted spirits cling onto the living and pull others into the abyss.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She cast a skeptical look. \"Disquieted spirits?\"\n\n\"There were two other soldiers. I doubt they made it. After the thaw, we'll find what the wolves and scavengers haven't picked clean.\"\n\nMari came over and draped a blanket across the warrior. She then took over the ministering, resting his head on her knee." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki stood and said, \"So this man is the only one who will live.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Taro grunted and led her a few steps away. \"Maybe not even him.\"\n\n\"He's warm and breathing. Surely—\"\n\n\"His toes—\" Taro pointed at the man's feet, which protruded from the blanket." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Look at them. Tōshō.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki didn't understand. From what she saw, color had come back to the feet—save for the toes, which were as colorless as ice. \"You'll warm the toes,\" she said hopefully.\n\nTaro shook his head. \"The ice kami has already feasted on the flesh. Once warmed, the toes will turn black. Rot. And then the blood fever will come. After that—\" Taro shrugged." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"A terrible way to go.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Can't anything be done?\"\n\n\"Yes, but he won't let it happen.\"\n\nYamabuki cocked her head. \"Won't let what happen?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We take off the frozen parts before they turn black.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Take off the frozen parts?\" She took a deep breath. \"How?\" She already suspected the answer.\n\n\"We cut them off. But he won't agree. It's all his toes. And two of his fingers.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"So we do nothing?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"By the time they finally agree, it's always too late.\"\n\nThe man still breathed, though shallowly.\n\n\"He has no hope, then,\" Yamabuki said sadly.\n\n\"Who knows? The blood fever kami usually doesn't spare anyone.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You can reason with him.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Taro walked over to a box. \"He won't want to reason with this.\" He lifted a saw with tiny razor-fine teeth like inside a shark's mouth, its handle dark with bloodstains. \"This will cut through flesh and bone quickly.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How long does it take to cut toes off?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"About the length of a shriek.\"\n\n\"All of them?\"\n\n\"Each.\" Taro straightened and looked Yamabuki in the eye. \"I won't give up, but the challenge is to get his permission.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Keeping the saw behind him, out of man's line of sight, Taro approached the injured survivor, bent down, and spoke soothingly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Can you hear me, samurai-sama?\"\n\nAwake after all, the Ōe warrior weakly nodded.\n\nTaro gently pulled the blanket back from the man's feet. \"Your toes. You see them?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The man opened his eyes and lifted his head to look." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then he sank back and nodded again.\n\nTaro sighed. \"Not so good. The Yuki-onna must have brought the storm in hopes of embracing someone. She hoped to turn you into ice. You're lucky. All she got were your boots.\" He gave a sad chuckle.\n\nThe warrior managed a crooked smile." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But then the kami of snow came\"—Taro pointed to the toes—\"and touched them, and two of your fingers. They're all white, just like the Gods. But mortal people can't have God parts. God parts kill us. Thus your kami toes must be taken off.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nearly ice-white already, the man grew even more pale. He shook his head. \"No,\" he whispered. \"The kashira won't permit it.\"\n\n\"The kashira.\" Taro's face was grim." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He didn't make it, but I'm sure he'd tell you to heed my advice.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The warrior rolled his head to the side and looked at the kashira's naked corpse lying in the morning sunlight. His mouth twisted, and he turned his gaze toward his toes, his face set.\n\n\"It is up to you, but if we don't do this, you'll die,\" Taro said sadly.\n\n\"A warrior is not afraid to die,\" said the samurai with veiled pride." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"This is true. But we are talking about life here and a battle which you could survive.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A warrior with no fingers? Death is better.\"\n\nTaro glanced at Yamabuki as if to say his prediction had been correct.\n\nYamabuki screwed her face and broke in. \"You are right handed? Draw the bow string with your right, no?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The warrior looked up at her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With darkening eyes, he nodded.\n\n\"We've all met warriors who have lost fingers either in skirmishes or forfeit for making mistakes. Someone who has lost an ear or an eye or even a nose and have gone on to become illustrious, no?\"\n\nSlowly he nodded.\n\n\"For you, it's only two small fingers,\" she said with assurance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Afterward you'll still pull with the thumb and first two fingers, same as always. Same as everyone.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He frowned, and there was a long silence. He breathed hard and looked to Taro. \"How will you... take off the God parts?\"\n\nTaro revealed the jagged blade. \"With this.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"A saw!\" the warrior snarled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am fast.\"\n\nThe samurai's eyes betrayed everything—anger, fear, panic, resignation, each turning over in his head.\n\n\"No!\" He tried to sit fully up.\n\nMari laid a restraining hand on his chest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's the only way,\" she whispered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No! I'll do it myself. With my own blade.\" Again he tried to sit upright.\n\nTaro touched the man's shoulder. \"You shouldn't move.\"\n\nThe guard lapsed back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Weak but resolute, he said, \"Hand me my blade.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Taro pointed to the tachi. \"It's next to you.\"\n\nThe warrior rolled onto his elbows. With his left hand, he seized the scabbard." }, { "from": "human", "value": "With his right, he grasped the hilt to pull—but his fingers could not close, and he moaned in pain, gasping \"I can't!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "before lying back exhausted.\n\n\"I'll do it then,\" Taro said with gravity.\n\n\"No, you won't.\" Still panting, he gritted his teeth. \"But she can!\" He shot a hard look at Yamabuki." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Stunned, she resisted the impulse to look away, for his eyes expressed a strange mixture—anger and pleading." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You are proficient?\" His words to her were not meant as a question.\n\nShe took in a breath, picturing what he was asking, imagining herself delivering a stroke to slice off the man's toes.\n\nAlmost growling, the samurai challenged, \"Even an average warrior can do what must be done in an instant. Are you at least that good?\" But it was all the fight he had within him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He closed his eyes tight." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Taro looked to Yamabuki. \"With your sword, you could make it go quickly for him. Clean cuts. After, there's the hot pike and my needle. But if he survives that, he has a chance. A fair chance.\" He looked expectantly at her.\n\n\"I don't like this one bit.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She realized that she sounded exactly like her mother. \"It's savage.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's merciful. We need to be quick, while he still has the resolve and we haven't run out of time.\"\n\nNo one had ever suggested that this was any part of her duty. It had been one thing to kill an opponent with a thrust. But to methodically hack away pieces of a man?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "How was this part of the warrior's code?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No one at the Taka compound ever spoke of such an eventuality.\n\nAnd yet, was this not what musha shugyō was about—encountering things she would never experience as a princess in a palace? Yesterday three men had fallen before her sword. What was this compared to that?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Something inside her hardened." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Perhaps forever. She slowly nodded. \"I agree.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as Katherine M. Lawrence" }, { "from": "human", "value": "All eyes were on Taro as he painstakingly tied down the good fingers of the man's right hand." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki took this moment to surreptitiously remove the scrolls from her sleeve and casually slip them into an open box of half-finished kozane, covering them with the stitched platelets.\n\nTaro now tethered the soles of the man's feet in place against a log.\n\nThe samurai murmured to her, \"You may use my blade.\"\n\n\"No. I know my own the best.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He closed his eyes and lay back, toes clearly exposed, healthy fingers of his right hand tied back." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki pulled a tasuki from her sleeve and held one end of the strand with her teeth, freeing both hands. With well-practiced motions, she wrapped the free end of the cord under her right arm, pulling the right sleeve back, then passed it behind her neck and pulled the left sleeve back. Forearms bare, she tied the two cord ends into a bowknot near her right shoulder. Any worthy warrior could finish this action in under five heartbeats." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Face grim, Yamabuki gave Taro a hard look." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You are ready?\" Taro asked.\n\nYamabuki unsheathed Tiger Cub and nodded.\n\n\"We need to purify the blade,\" said Taro. \"Warm water will have to do.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Is there something better?\" she asked quietly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Omiki,\" said Taro.\n\n\"Sacred saké?\"\n\nTaro nodded. \"But we have none.\"\n\n\"Maybe not sacredly blessed, but I have saké,\" Yamabuki said. \"Mari?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The girl stepped forward. \"Hai?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Bring the bottle the Gentian samurai left.\"\n\nMari nodded and dashed off, returning almost straightaway with Yoshinaka's flask.\n\nYamabuki presented the naked sword, point down. While incanting prayers, Taro poured the wine over the blade." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The rivulets washed the steel and trickled to the floor." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Maybe it's time for him to take a swig too,\" Taro said, inclining his head toward the man. Yamabuki nodded.\n\nThe warrior took the bottle in his left and drank thirstily, quaffing almost all of it.\n\nEyes round, Taro's children looked to see what would happen next. Taro waved them away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Go. There's nothing to see here.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mari stepped to the forge and started heating an iron pike.\n\nYamabuki moved into place, focusing her targets: two feet and a hand; ten toes and two fingers. The morning light, amplified by sheets of snow, filled the armory so brightly she saw the afflicted appendages very clearly. They were white like the whitest rock, but there was also blackness in the nail beds." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The stark contrast of the alabaster digits against healthy flesh indicated exactly where she was to strike." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She would do it in three rapid sweeps: One right-to-left cut to take the five toes of the left foot in one strike. Reverse in almost the same motion and take the five right toes. Then pivot very slightly to bring the sword down toward his right hand.\n\nThe wine obviously dazed the warrior." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Maybe that was good." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Less pain. He asked somewhat drunkenly, \"May I know the name of the samurai who is going to cut me?\"\n\nShe looked into his haggard face and answered simply, samurai to samurai, \"I am known as Taka Yamabuki. And since I am about to do this, may I ask your name?\"\n\n\"Misaki Tada.\"\n\nYamabuki stiffened. She looked past the beard and mattered hair. Indeed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was none other than Blue Rice's killer." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And the dead kashira? The same leader who had not lifted a finger to save Blue Rice and merely shrugged off the murder? And the five guards she had encountered the previous night at the Saké House—part of the same contingent? Was the law of karma unfolding before her?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Did Misaki recognize her?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Likely not. She had been in full armor when she arrived in Nagato Prefecture. Misaki had been too busy tormenting Blue Rice to pay her any mind.\n\nNow he lay at her feet, neck as exposed as his toes—in fact more so. One quick cut. One simple strike." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She eyed his toes and fingers—more difficult targets." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His head, so easy. She looked inside herself. She could do it. He would hold perfectly still, not expecting an executioner's cut." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Not a word of protest." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It would be quick. He would not even know that he was being punished. He would die without further suffering. Painless. He would not suffer like Blue Rice had suffered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She recalled Lord Nakagawa's discourse on the dichotomy of the sword." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had once said, \"In one moment, an instrument of destruction. In the next, one of humanity.\" Until this morning, she had only understood this abstractly: like the manifold faces of the numberless Gods, more of a riddle than anything else.\n\nFour slow bells struck the Hour of the Snake. She centered herself and raised her sword into the prepare position." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Silence fell over the armory." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately two sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Everyone held their breath. Even the wind ceased to stir." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Mode:\nCo-writing\n\nLength:\n4 sentences\n\nStyle:\nKatherine M. Lawrence" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tiger Cub whispered as it cleaved the air. Three cuts merged into a single blur. Misaki's two fingers dropped straight to the floor. Plop. Plop. She wiped her blade with a piece of paper and slid her sword back into its sheath. Everyone stood frozen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Misaki grimaced, but to his credit made no sound." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Did she miss?\" Yo-ichi whispered meekly.\n\nTaro went to Misaki's feet. \"She didn't miss. Clean cuts of a master swordsman,\" Taro declared as he lifted away the ten severed toes, throwing them toward the open back door. On all fours, he moved over to inspect the stumps where Misaki's fingers had been—and pulled back, gagging." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"More!\" He pointed to what remained of the little finger." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You were conscientious samurai-sama. Some's left. Just a tiny bit.\"\n\nYamabuki eyed the nub of bone—white flesh that did not even ooze. It was an angular piece that protruded uncomfortably close to the healthy digits. If she let herself be careless and nicked his adjacent drawstring fingers, Misaki would never draw a bow again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If she was passing sentence in her home province for killing Blue Rice, would she now demand he forfeit more?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yet again Yamabuki grimly centered herself. The blade flew. Misaki hardly flinched. Taro bent down a second time for another sniff. \"Perfect!\"\n\nHe grabbed the iron pike from the forge." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The smell of hot metal filled the air." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Brace yourself,\" Taro warned. He pressed the pike's dull red tip against the raw toe stumps.\n\nMisaki gasped, pulling against the tethers. Burning flesh added to the odor of metal and rot." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Taro quickly pulled the pike away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Mari,\" He commanded. Immediately she packed handfuls of snow over the burnt area. The snow reddened. \"Still some blood there.\" Taro drew a pre-threaded needle from his tunic. He spat on the thread, pushing the snow aside and began to sew, moving from stump to stump, wound to wound, stitching points only where blood still oozed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki marveled. Though his fingers and hands were hardened and thick from wielding a hammer, Taro's sewing proved deft and artful." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The air increasingly carried a pungent reek. Yamabuki stepped toward the back door, vowing to hold her gorge until she got outside. She looked down, for it helped contain the nausea—except that now her eyes came to rest on the white frozen toe remnants glistening in the daylight. In three long strides, she headed toward the guesthouse." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Out in the daylight, she doubled over and lost the content of her stomach." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After nothing more came up, she cleared her mouth of the remnants of spit-up rice and bitter broth with a handful of fresh snow.\n\nWhen she re-entered the armory, the putrid odor had all but vanished. None of the severed toes and fingers were anywhere in sight. Mari threw something into the forge and a sizzling sound arose." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Misaki lay very still, his eyes closed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She had heard from seasoned warriors that sometimes people died from blows not judged to be fatal, seemingly survivable blows, but which once delivered, jolted the victim's spirit loose.\n\n\"He dead?\"\n\nTaro said, \"He's had enough for the moment. Let him be. He'll be awake soon enough.\"\n\nAs for the dead kashira, someone had covered him in another blanket." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She turned and gazed out the doorway at the shimmering snow beyond." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So beautiful. But such beauty took the lives of the men on the pass, and even one of the survivors had succumbed later to its touch. In fact, but for her sword, no one would have survived.\n\nHer hand gripped Tiger Cub's hilt, curling around the wrapping until her fingers blanched. Yukiyasu's steel was not unlike the snowy morning. Shimmering. Blinding." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Deadly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She released a breath. Only now, after she had killed men in battle and saved a life in need, did Nakagawa's lesson become clear in her mind: \"The sword becomes part of the person who wields it.\"\n\nIt was not the sword that determined whether an act was wanton or compassionate. She, not Tiger Claw, had struck down the men yesterday." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And she, not Tiger Cub, had removed Misaki's rotting flesh." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her actions—and to a large extent the course of events around her—were up to her. Not only did she have a hand in her own fate. Her decisions changed the fate of others.\n\n\"What a morning,\" Taro sighed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I would have started polishing your tachi except—\" He pointed toward Misaki." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You said you'd have it today.\"\n\n\"Hai.\" Taro brightened. \"But I did mend your armor, samurai-sama.\"\n\n\"My armor? Already?\" She perked up." }, { "from": "human", "value": "On a trellis-like wooden work rack, Yamabuki's dark green yoroi hung by knotted ropes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She touched the dō, running her hand across the spot where Shima's nodachi had ripped apart the kozane. The leather lacing connecting the platelets was not just mended—the entire chest protector bore not the slightest hint of a tear. The silk was perfectly matched. Taro had completely restored the armor—as new as the day she had left the Taka compound on this journey." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Taro beamed at her obvious approval and change of mood." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I would like to be fitted,\" the Taka princess declared.\n\n\"Eiji! Fuyuki!\" Taro called. \"Make yourselves useful!\"\n\nThe two young men ran up as Taro offered to hold Tiger Cub. The boys immediately set to work, retrieving the suneate from the rack and kneeling to attach them to her shins." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They fastened to her body each armor component methodically and efficiently as Taro supervised the work, saying, \"I admit, I was up all last night, but the armor's intricate and expert construction was sufficiently fascinating to keep me awake. Once I started working the new odoshi through the kozane, I lost all track of time.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The boys' tugged on the leather and jerked the silk ties, though no more firmly than did her handmaids back home." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "I'll be your writing partner today. I will set the scene, and you will continue the story with four sentences, channeling the voice and techniques of Katherine M. Lawrence.i'll kick things off by writing a bit, then you'll take over and write the next four sentences in the distinctive voice of Katherine M. Lawrence.Ive got a bit of writers block, im gonna send you something then keep it going four sentences at a time, also im going for a Katherine M. Lawrence sorta thing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "[ Eight Bell Strikes, Hour of the Sheep, Second Day of Unohana Month, Eighth Day of Kokua, 27 April 1172, Taka Compound, Ō-Utsumi Prefecture, Isle of Unknown Fires ]" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Within the opulent bedchamber of her shinden, with suneate and kote already snugly in place on her shins and forearms, and the heavy kusazuri armor skirt secured around her waist, Yamabuki reached out like a great bird, ready to be wrapped in her upper-body armor. Her two trusted handmaids slid the heavy green-lacquered dō around her torso and tied the silk side fastenings, taking the same pleasure mothers indulge in when fussing over a beloved child.\n\n\"The scent is so fetching,\" Tomoko said with a giddy laugh, \"when the armor's new.\"\n\n\"I think it's the fresh lacquer,\" said Hana-ye." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I don't know why, but the dark green seems to smell the best. Do you think maybe that's why the Taka chose it for their armor's dominant color?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is that too tight, Yamabuki-sama?\" Tomoko asked before continuing. \"Actually it's that I like the way the leather smells.\"\n\nYamabuki smiled. \"That's rather un-Buddhist of you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Ha!\" Hana-ye scoffed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't think all warriors are Buddhists.\"\n\nYamabuki laughed. \"If the Emperor is Buddhist, then those who serve Him must be also.\"\n\n\"Buddhists are supposed to be vegetarians, but that doesn't stop us from eating fish.\" Hana-ye looked pleased with herself and licked her lips." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As her handmaids fastened the ties at her waist, Yamabuki said in mock officiousness, \"There's precious little fish in the Imperial City. It's easy enough not to eat something you can't get. We Taka cannot help it if there is only ocean to the east and to the south. We net what the Sea Deity bestows.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tomoko and Hana-ye giggled quietly. Yamabuki laughed. The banter kept her mind off the import of this, the next-to-final fitting. She knew they keenly felt this as well, for in special honor of this day and the princess whom they served, they wore their best everyday kimono: Tomoko in the cobalt blue Taka colors, and Hana-ye in the Taka's muted red.\n\nIn two days, she would have no one to fuss over her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She might not see her handmaids for another year, maybe two." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki would leave secretly and travel without bodyguards or royal escort. As for the armor, it bore no special badge of rank—merely the obligate crossed arrow feathers, seals of the Taka clan. And Yamabuki had told only Tomoko that Lady Taka had entrusted Yamabuki with a scroll. The princess was to hand it directly to Lady Taka's brother at the Palace of Spring Snow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tomoko, Yamabuki's age, had faithfully served the princess for over five years now; Hana-ye, two years younger, for three." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Taka princess or not, Yamabuki felt they were as much sisters to her as any sisters by royal blood could be. And now she would be withdrawing from them, leaving an equally empty place in their hearts as well. And so they laughed and tittered all the more.\n\nTomoko tugged again on the kote on Yamabuki's left forearm. \"Good. Tight though?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki nodded. \"Much better than what I had before.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hana-ye said, \"This is the second armor set since last spring.\"\n\n\"If you grow any taller,\" Tomoko teased, \"you'll be the tallest person in all of Great Bay Prefecture.\"\n\nYamabuki scowled and both handmaids giggled. Then Yamabuki moved about, stretching and bending to test the fit." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She was pleasantly surprised by its flexibility." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Despite its absence of markings of rank, this yoroi reflected the finest work of the Taka armorers. Always only the best for Taka-gimi.\n\n\"It's so bulky and heavy,\" Hana-ye chided.\n\n\"How ever can you walk in it?\" Tomoko asked mockingly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And if you had to swim for it—\" Hana-ye prompted, as she always did." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And Yamabuki, as always, concluded with all of them, in unison, \"Armor's not for swimming!\" And they all laughed.\n\nYamabuki heard her two bodyguards stir outside the nurigome's heavy doors. The girls fell silent." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki gave Hana-ye a conspiratorial look and whispered, \"Whoever it is, tell them I am not available.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Before the handmaid could utter a word, a voice boomed, \"General Moroto summons Taka-gimi!\"\n\n\"Etsu?\" Tomoko asked with surprise.\n\nYamabuki frowned. \"I have to obey.\"\n\nHana-ye wondered aloud, \"Why send Etsu instead of one of the hand-men?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki shook her head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Because my father wants me now.\"\n\nHana-ye called out, \"What should Taka-gimi wear?\"\n\nEtsu boomed back, \"Full armor.\"\n\nTomoko asked loudly, \"Where does the Great Lord wish to see Taka-gimi?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He waits in the marshaling yard, and asks the princess to come with her swords and be ready for hard riding.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki said softly, \"I'll need my fur riding skirt.\" The two handmaids pulled it up around her waist, and while Tomoko fussed with the last of the knots, Hana-ye carried over the fur-wrapped scabbard cover. \"This too will protect Mochizuki's flanks,\" she said brightly, clearly trying to add cheer to the moment. Yamabuki smiled.\n\nThe handmaids quickly arranged Yamabuki's hair, wrapped it in a hachimaki, and set the kabuto in place." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And since she went without a facemask, they were extra careful to securely tie the silk knots under her chin to keep the helmet snugly in place." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki nodded, and Hana-ye swung the doors outward.\n\nEtsu filled the doorway. He was the biggest man, maybe apart from Jun, she had ever seen. When she was a child, a story circulated about Etsu: to build his strength, every day from childhood on he lifted a foal high over his head, so that as the colt grew in size, Etsu's strength grew apace." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At first, Yamabuki had believed this story." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But three years after her mogi, when the daimyō had presented her with a foal of her own, she tried to do what Etsu was said to have done, but it became obvious that horses grew to maturity far faster than did people. Mochizuki was nearly fully grown, even as a yearling. She felt quite foolish that she had ever believed the story.\n\nEtsu bowed, tipping his bulk toward her, and his voice rumbled, \"Denka!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "As the large man led her across the shinden to the outer doors, Yamabuki dismissed her personal guards who normally escorted her everywhere." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Etsu surely would be enough protection for her. Besides, she wanted to talk with him.\n\nThe warm late-morning air carried the scent of peach blossoms as they crossed her garden. A steady offshore breeze rustled the palm trees." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Five white-naped cranes floated directly over the compound, heading into the north, squawking in formation." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Maybe that's the last of the cranes we'll see until the Time of Cold Dew,\" she said. \"I wonder where they go in summer.\"\n\n\"North,\" Etsu said flatly.\n\n\"Maybe to the Barbarian Isle.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Etsu said nothing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki grinned, looking at the man who towered even over her. \"Up close, those birds are tall as a man.\"\n\nEtsu shrugged. \"Some of them taller.\"\n\n\"Maybe when they land they'll chase the barbarians.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki laughed at her light jest—imagine, these gawky birds chasing giant, hairy kehito barbarians across open fields!—but Etsu merely breathed and opened the gate." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At times she wondered what Etsu really thought of her. What lurked behind the stony face and granite exterior? She never questioned his loyalty to her father and thus to her, but Etsu was a man of few words. Like a tiger, he hid whatever he thought deep within, behind eyes that revealed precious little." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As she followed him down the covered plank walkway toward the marshaling yard, her own thoughts shifted to two nights earlier, when she had worn three-layered kimono and courtly makeup while following Rei, her mother's lithe, scarred handmaid to Lady Taka's shinden." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That rainy night, after giving Yamabuki a single scroll, her mother had said the daimyō would also entrust her with a dispatch. Was her father summoning her to hand her the scroll? Why would he want to give it to her while she wore full armor? With swords? And what about the hard riding?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Only more questions arose as Yamabuki and Etsu emerged at the threshold of the marshaling yard, where ten mounted samurai of her father's personal retinue—Yamabuki recognized each, and could name all—circled the ring, putting their mounts through their paces in an impressive demonstration of horsemanship." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In a royal manner and in the way of a warrior princess, Yamabuki turned to Etsu. \"Why has my father summoned me like this?\" She flicked a gesture at her armor.\n\nEtsu grunted. \"Unknown riders. Warriors. Two, maybe more. Crossing down from the north.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki gasped. Nobody dared encroach on Taka territory, especially given the tortuous approach required to reach the compound. \"Whose riders?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Etsu gave her a sideways glance. \"Don't know. They slipped away from our pickets.\"\n\n\"Bad pickets,\" Yamabuki said with disappointment.\n\n\"Skilled intruders.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The marshaling yard was immense, circumscribed by thirty sprawling, walled estates of T'ang and Toi architectural styles—each with well-tended ornamental ponds, flowering trees, and lush shrubs that provided shade and tranquility—plus the clan's private Shintō temple, armory, sword works, fletchery, several grand meeting halls, cart houses, and stables—in effect an enormous open-air garden in the center of the compound, except this garden was routinely employed for the purpose of warrior training and preparation." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now, surrounded by such opulence, the central yard's simple loose-dirt training area roiled with dust as the mounted warriors dashed between decapitated and speared straw dummies that lay scattered.\n\nBut this was no training exercise. As if in preparation for battle, the mounts ran bare-hoofed, without their protective straw coverings. Yamabuki never liked exposing her own colt to such hazard." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If Mochizuki shattered a hoof or broke his leg, she would have to put him down." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not six moons before, General Moroto had disparaged her sentiment. Such words coming from a warlord's daughter! \"What else are battle horses good for if not to rapidly carry riders over uncertain ground? Does the princess weep for every arrow she lets fly in battle?\"\n\nOf course, Mochizuki meant far more to her than any bamboo shaft, regardless of what speeches the royal fletchers made about their craftsmanship." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And she also had reason to believe that her father cared for his own mount, Kage, at least as much as she cared for Mochizuki." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But she knew he could never admit it. How would it look if a warlord hinted he might put a horse's welfare before the objective of winning a battle?\n\nTwo and three abreast, the riders thundered around the yard. But her father was nowhere to be seen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I thought my father was waiting,\" Yamabuki said sharply to Etsu." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Now write approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The ground pulsed. More riders. All attention turned to the middle gate, a side entry that was rarely used. Six guards swung it open.\n\nOn horseback, her father, General Moroto, burst into the yard, eight mounted Taka samurai at his side.\n\nBut there were no prisoners. No heads." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write four sentences sentences in the style of Katherine M. Lawrence spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki sometimes wondered if she took more after her mother or father. Perhaps both; maybe neither. Whenever she gazed at her mother, she wished she could be like her: captivating, strong, talented, and limber, her physiognomy tapered, her complexion pale, her skin milky smooth jade—the ideal of beauty, the impression all the highborn of the Itō clan, including its men, conveyed to the world, even if it required white powder and rose blush to do so. And years of martial practice had repaid her mother generously in terms of health." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Unlike say Tachibana's senior wife, who though several years younger looked brittle and walked stooped, Lady Taka could still hit targets with a bow and arrow while riding at full gallop." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Since childhood, Yamabuki had heard the flattering remarks that she shared her mother's subtle features. Yet Yamabuki knew she herself lacked her mother's mask of tranquility that so well hid her own passions.\n\nWith her father, it was different. More complicated. As General Moroto, the bold and experienced shōgun, his demeanor was anything but tranquil." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hardy and dark complected, he bore the port of Hachiman, God of War, with a round visage that shone like a brooding sun." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A mere glance from him instilled a respect and obedience that verged on foreboding—even from Etsu and Jun. In exaltation, his men could not help but follow him. And Yamabuki could be counted among them.\n\nBut within his shinden, her father would shrug off all the wildness as if he were shrugging off a heavy cloak." }, { "from": "human", "value": "By flickering light, in quiet repose, he read tomes on ancient matters and wrote in his diary about the fine points of statecraft." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And he could always be counted on for Wéiqí, the board game that the people of Akitsushima called Igo, a game which he often won, a game he said was \"to be mastered by every daimyō\"—and by that he meant Yamabuki.\n\nThis morning, as he galloped past her in the marshaling yard, her father was not the man of thoughtful reflection as he raised his bow and stood in his stirrups. In one smooth motion, he drew the bowstring back and released an arrow.\n\nThe sound of the snapping string mixed with the arrow's whistle, immediately followed by a loud crack as the shaft shattered the target." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The downrange target judge cried, \"Hit!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "as the two board halves landed in a pile of previously broken pieces.\n\nWithout hesitation, a boy who no doubt was being groomed to be a warrior ran from nowhere and set a fresh board into place.\n\nYamabuki's father, still in rhythm, already had another arrow in hand. In a single motion he drew and released, breaking the second target." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He shattered a third." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A fourth. And a fifth before finally turning Kage at the end of the run.\n\nAt a canter, he rode up to Yamabuki.\n\n\"You hit them all,\" she said with an admiring nod.\n\n\"Easy to shoot things that don't move. How nice it would be if targets never shot back.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He grinned darkly. \"You ready to ride?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Before she could answer, he called out, \"Bring Taka-gimi's horse!\"\n\nA young groom led across the yard Mochizuki in full battle array—bow and ebira stuffed with arrows hooked to the saddle. Her mount shook his head, eyes half wild. He tried to rear. The boy struggled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Hold him!\" Yamabuki snapped." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She snatched Mochizuki's harness. The boy backed away as Yamabuki made sure Mochizuki was indeed ready for hard riding. She inspected the tack, lifted the stirrups, and tested that the saddle was solidly placed.\n\n\"Mount up,\" Moroto commanded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki gave him a long look." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The yumi is not strung!\" She handed the reins to the stable boy. \"Keep him still!\"\n\nWith one hand she produced a heavy length of asa twine from her pocket, while with the other she grasped the bow, which was as long as she was tall, by its middle. Deftly she fastened the twine to the top, bit the loose end, and braced the yumi's tied end in a notched wooden block that lay on the ground—one of many scattered throughout the archery yard for just this purpose." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Bending down on her left knee, she rested the bow against her thigh armor and pressed her weight down onto the middle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The laminated hardwood and bamboo composite yielded and creaked under the force. Taking the hemp twine from her mouth, she slipped its free-end knot over the end without looking. The yumi was strung.\n\n\"You move like you were in a mirror,\" Moroto said, commenting as usual on the fact Yamabuki accomplished this left-handed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Either side works, Tennō. What if I was wounded?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "she answered firmly but respectfully. \"I must inspect the arrows.\"\n\n\"No need. The groom's seen to that.\"\n\n\"He's only a stable boy.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Let's ride out!\" Moroto turned about, barely keeping control as his frenzied mount came up on his hind legs—which in turn excited Mochizuki, who tried to break free." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki lunged, seizing Mochizuki's bridle before the boy lost control. The colt fought to pull away, but she would have none of it and grabbed his mane. Still he tried to rear. Overcoming the weight of her armor, she leapt, swinging herself up, and placed her left foot in the stirrup." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mochizuki, legs prancing, carved a circle as Yamabuki settled fully into the saddle and adjusted her hold on the reins, shrugging her shoulders, appreciating again the freedom her new armor afforded." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Laughing, Moroto shouted, \"You've left him too temperamental.\"\n\nYamabuki shouted back, \"Just the way I like him!\"\n\nThe eight riders who had ridden in with the daimyō came alongside. \"Tennō! We must escort you!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Moroto waved them off." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I have all the escort I need.\" He glanced at Yamabuki.\n\n\"Ha!\" she barked affirmatively, just like her father's retinue always did. \"Where are we going?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The Trap! See if you can keep up with me!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With that, dirt flying, he raced Kage through the open gate.\n\nIn an instant, Yamabuki assessed the situation. The Trap, a trail that ran down from the north into Ō-Utsumi by hugging the sea, was the least obstructed, and thus most obvious route for any would-be invaders.\n\nYamabuki cried out, \"Ha!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "and Mochizuki leapt immediately into a gallop, pursuing the daimyō out of the compound." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ahead, already far across the wide hilly pastureland, Moroto had already covered the distance of the well-trodden trail. He dropped out of view." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Hey can you write like Katherine M. Lawrence and use whatever i write as a jumping off point?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki reached the hillock that overlooked the expansive labyrinthine tangle of ravines, weathered outcroppings, dead ends, blind drop-offs, loops, and uncertain forested links of sandy loam the Taka called the Maze." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She knew it as well as the features of her own face. With her riding silks, kimono train and sleeves flying in the wind, she often took Mochizuki for a dash through the serpentine trails and twists.\n\nHer father was nowhere in sight. Below, the trail broke in four directions, each path leading into thickly wooded old-growth trees." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The freshest tracks led to the fourth trail—the series of switchbacks that ultimately coursed down into the Trap." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If she gave chase, she likely could not close the gap with her father.\n\nBut the third trail, which diverged away from the Trap, ran atop the opposite side of a narrow and deep gully. If she leapt the gully, she could join the fourth trail and avoid the switchbacks altogether, emerging ahead of her father. Her colt was powerful enough to make the jump; she and Mochizuki had done it any number of times—though it had never proven a trivial vault, even for her agile colt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The approach was always tricky, for there was no definite path to the precipice, only loose pebbles overgrown with twisted pines." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Today her mount would have to bear her in full field armor.\n\nNo time to ponder.\n\n\"Ha!\" she called out and Mochizuki charged down into the third trail.\n\nHer armor creaked in the saddle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Stones popped, crunched, and crackled under the pounding hooves." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Pine pitch rising in the heat of the day mingled with the scent of her own sweat and that of the horse as they raced through the familiar series of thin tree branches. Rich with spring sap, they did not yield in their usual way. Mochizuki seemed not to mind, and her armor protected her from the sting as she burst through them.\n\n\"Come on! Come on!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "she encouraged him. \"You know this!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She sensed that the extra weight slowed him. She had to count on his heart and not his head, for if he suddenly balked and stopped short, he would throw her, armor and all, over his head and down into the gully.\n\nShe shook her head to get the image out of her mind. I can't let myself think that way!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She urged her colt onward." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The thin path curved slightly uphill, yet even with the additional weight, Mochizuki gained speed. \"Now! Now! Now!\" she cried, putting her heels against his sides—\n\nAnd suddenly the sound of hooves stopped.\n\nMochizuki was in the air." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She clutched the reins." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A moment later he cleared the gap, landing hard but firmly on the other side.\n\nIt did not go as well for Yamabuki, for her top-heavy armor pitched her forward, and she came out of saddle and stirrups. The world spun. In less than a heartbeat, she would sail over Mochizuki's head. Though every instinct screamed otherwise, she forced herself to release his reins. They were useless." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Instead she grasped his mane, entwining her fingers among the locks before closing her muscular fists." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yet if she held on too hard, she might cause Mochizuki to stumble, even fall—possibly on top of her. Crushed by her own horse. The alternative was to let go entirely and be flung free—and land who knew where?\n\nMochizuki's next stride changed everything." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The colt sprang up from the crouch, and she slammed back into the wooden saddle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Pain shot through her pelvis. She flayed her legs, trying to set her feet into the stirrups, but Mochizuki's galloping motion lifted her up and forward, and the stirrups the danced back, cracking against her shin guards, evading capture. As her mount settled into his rhythmic cadence, she clamped her knees into his sides and re-tightened her hold on his mane. Mochizuki charged ahead, still at full gallop." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The reins fluttered back, snapping at her face." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She grabbed the ends with one hand. In the next moment, one foot and then the other found the stirrups.\n\n\"Hoh. Hoh. Hoh,\" Yamabuki intoned. \"Step. Step. Step.\"\n\nMochizuki, slowed to a trot." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write 4 sentences sentences in the style of Katherine M. Lawrence spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki guided her mount down the incline, leaning backward, shifting her weight as much as she could over Mochizuki's haunches. There were no fresh tracks to be seen. If intruders were about, they had not yet been here. Nor had her father." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She pushed Mochizuki to a canter to stay ahead of the daimyō as she had planned." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The air grew heavy with the scent of the sea, though the high, grassy dunes obstructed the view of the ocean.\n\nShe slowed to a stop at the bottom, where the trail opened into an elongated clearing. The Trap. Any approaching enemy would be forced to converge here, pressed together on low ground, vulnerable to defensive attack from the hills on either side.\n\nThis was also where the Taka routinely practiced archery." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Along the left side, under tall pines, five chest-high posts stood at various distances from the path—one from ten paces back, another thirty paces back, three others in between." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The arrangement was designed to make the shots tricky. Unlike the targets in the marshaling yard that were all the same distance from the rider, these were staggered, like a real enemy, and multiple shots at full gallop required constant adjustment for distance.\n\nSomeone had kindly left targets atop each post. She decided to warm up her bow arm just a bit." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Take out the five targets and she would be the one laughing with warrior spirit when her father rode up." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She circled around to the entry of the range, noting how the pines rustled, tops swaying; wind gusts would cause the arrows to fly unpredictably.\n\nShe delivered a small kick to Mochizuki's ribs, and he broke into a gallop. With one hand, she grabbed her yumi and pulled three arrows with the other. Her heart beating hard, she came up in her stirrups, turned her body, eying the first target, and drew the bowstring fully back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Allowing for her horse's movement, she released the arrow slightly early." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And without waiting to see if it hit, she focused on the next target.\n\nAn arrow whistled by her.\n\nHer mouth went dry. Another arrow flew, whizzing just behind her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then a third, landing a good five strides away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They came from the distant tree line. Her heart beat even faster. Her anger rose. How foolish she was with intruders about! Now it was she who was vulnerable in the Trap!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "For a brief moment she wished she had her arrow cape, but there was no use in wishing for what she did not have." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What she did have were two arrows in hand.\n\nShe detected movement within the pines. Her first shot fell short. She retrained the remaining arrow in a slightly higher arc." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It sailed beautifully until it ran afoul the branches, crackling through." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She sensed the arrow struck something—a tree trunk? An intruder?\n\nThat sound mingled with approaching hooves—her father riding rapidly toward her. With all her lungs she shouted, \"Go back! It's an ambush!\"\n\nAnother arrow hissed close by." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She pulled hard on Mochizuki's reins." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He reared up. She got him to prance, hoping to draw the fire away from her father.\n\nShe grabbed more arrows from her ebira, notching and releasing, notching and releasing, notching and releasing \"At me! Shoot at me!\" she yelled. \"Cowards!\"\n\nTo her horror, Moroto still thundered toward her.\n\n\"No! No!\" she cried. \"Run! Save yourself.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "But her father charged forward until he reined Kage beside her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The arrow volleys stopped.\n\nAnd Moroto burst out laughing—a deep and joyful laugh.\n\nYamabuki, her teeth gritted in anger, swung her bow in the direction of the intruders, waiting for a target. Her father might have lost his senses, but she was ready." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His war fan in his mailed fist pushed her bow down." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Careful, before you kill someone.\"\n\n\"What!\"\n\n\"You're as hot-tempered as Mochizuki!\" He chuckled. \"Put the bow down.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "When Yamabuki skeptically complied as commanded, Moroto called out to the tree line, \"You can come out now!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Moments later Etsu and Jun emerged from the underbrush and made their way down with grins on their faces.\n\n\"What—?\" Yamabuki began. \"How—?\"\n\n\"While you were busy with the stable boy and Mochizuki, they rode out ahead. As I said, wooden targets don't shoot back.\"\n\n\"They could have killed me!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Not with those arrows.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Moroto gestured. \"Show her.\"\n\nThey lifted the arrows they carried. Jun pushed his finger against the tip of one. Blunted. A hit would have hurt, but likely not seriously." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"They were very hard to aim,\" Jun said, obviously suppressing a smile." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And you did not do bad, either,\" Etsu said, rubbing his shoulder. \"Your aim was good. Luckily your arrows are the same.\"\n\nShocked, Yamabuki pulled an arrow from her ebira and touched the point. Flat. And soft. Not forged from the tamahagane used for arrowheads and sword blades. \"Clay?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "she wondered?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And namari, for the weight,\" Moroto said, sounding pleased with himself. \"It was all I could do to keep you from checking the arrows. I had to rear up Kage to distract you.\"\n\nYamabuki held her tongue, feeling played the fool.\n\nMoroto said in a lower voice, \"Next time, we won't be around, and the arrowheads won't be made of lead.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Mode:\nCo-writing\n\nLength:\n4 sentences\n\nStyle:\nKatherine M. Lawrence" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Jun and Etsu remained behind as Yamabuki followed her father deeper into the gully's enchanting stillness, accompanied only by the hoof falls and snorting breaths of their mounts, the creaks of their saddles, and the jangling of the tack. Too sandy for trees here, only grasses and reeds thrived. The scent of salt spray filled the air.\n\nNo longer warlord and princess, but more father and daughter, the two riders emerged at the shoreline." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The panorama immediately revealed shimmering waters filling the entire east, from northern to southern horizons, beneath a sky that stretched into the infinite cloudless blue." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This way,\" he said, turning Kage southward. The two rode for a long while without conversation, riding until the shoreline veered south-southwest. A series of loam hills rose on their right, holding them against the ever-present sea to the east and southeast. The briny breeze touched their faces." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her father drew in a deep breath. \"Smell that, Kouma?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Gathering herself, Yamabuki huffed, \"Why does Nakagawa call me that?\"\n\n\"Call you what?\"\n\n\"Kouma.\"\n\nHe laughed. \"Don't blame him. Blame me. Actually blame yourself.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki knit her brows. \"Myself? How?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It was the Second Year of Hōgen. You were just two springs and had never been to Great Bay Prefecture. I had not seen you in a year. Everyone begged to see the young princess and indeed it was time to bring you to your true home. When I left Heian-kyō the spring before, you could walk and talk.\" Moroto paused. \"You could talk a great deal.\" He grinned. \"But by the following spring you could gallop. You galloped, swinging a wooden sword and crying out to everyone that you were a pony. You insisted everyone call you Kouma from then on, and so we did. Your first royal edict.\"\n\nYamabuki tried to remember." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She had been so innocent, and now here she was, wearing armor, about to depart on musha shugyō." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Would her father and Nakagawa call her Kouma upon her return?\n\nThe shore turned from wet sand to a series of rocky ribbons that resembled petrified ripples of water that paralleled the beach. \"Follow my lead,\" her father said. \"This stretch does not favor horses.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He led her up a steep, narrow path marked by uneven rocks both smooth and jagged." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "By how he rode, it was clear he took this trail often. At several points, the trail resembled more cliff than slope; Kage leapt up from ledge to ledge, sending tiny rocks skittering down. Yamabuki squeezed Mochizuki's flanks and without hesitation he followed, his legs shoving off powerfully, launching her up to float over the saddle until his hooves gained purchase again.\n\nWhen the path flattened, the horses, snorting from the exertion, settled back into walking." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They rounded a small stand of trees and emerged atop a secluded cliff overlooking the expanse of the eastern ocean—a commanding view of the Windward Sea." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A steady wind, stronger than down below, rippled their riding skirts.\n\nHer father gazed out at the water. Yamabuki suspected her father sometimes came here to marvel at the mystery of the ocean, the sky, and vastness into which it all disappeared. She looked too, trying to savor the tranquility, but the sheer immensity of the ocean and sky, all they contained, so much that remained hidden, left her unsettled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Why had her father brought her here?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Was he feeling sentimental on the eve of her departure? She waited, trying to exude patience that she did not feel.\n\nAt last, Moroto spoke. \"My father, Jirimu, ruled for many years. Following my genpuku, I took up residence in the northwestern estate house, just as you. It was my father's idea to call me Shōgun, though at my twelfth summer I had yet to establish myself.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He laughed darkly. \"I was a head shorter than you are now. I lived with six bodyguards, and while everyone called me Shōgun, it always sounded perfunctory—and why not? What had I ever done?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He nodded, staring off in memory. \"Living in the northwest shinden-zukuri can be lonely. Maybe you know a bit of that yourself.\"\n\n\"I have Tomoko and Hana-ye,\" she said, realizing as the words came out that her handmaids had been permitted for this very reason—to keep her company. \"But you had your brothers.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Moroto let out a long breath." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Tachibana was nine summers. Nobuyori, four. How would it look if the shōgun kept the company of mere children, brothers or not? No, I was lonely and profoundly bored.\"\n\nHe laughed softly.\n\n\"So one day, I stole aboard a ship sailing to Pearl Shell Island.\" He pointed out into the ocean." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It is part of the Taka lands, yet it is out of our view. It's a clear day today, but even this high up I can't make it out.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Indeed, she could see only the empty blue expanse.\n\nHer father continued, \"It was not easy to get away, but I was strong and limber and made it past the guards undetected and managed to get on the seagoing fune making its monthly journey. The trick was to be aboard and undetected until we had set sail.\"\n\n\"As shōgun, why would you have to hide?\"\n\n\"I might not have needed to, but I could not be sure word wouldn't get out, and then my guards would have insisted on accompanying me, and the whole point was to have an adventure on my own, no?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki grunted." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It took two days to sail over those waters. I did bring something to eat. I had heard persimmons help with seasickness. But two rough days and one night on the sea and I knew that I was not meant to be a sailor. I thought the worst part was going to be staying cramped between some of the cargo, but the worst part was holding it in. I had to relieve myself. How would it look if the shōgun soiled the cargo? In the darkness, I did what I saw the others do to relieve themselves. I had to turn my backside to the sea and hope I did not fall in.\"\n\nShe tried not to imagine what he described.\n\n\"I almost came out of hiding more than a few times, but what kind of shōgun would I be if I could not stay still? I was heartened when on the late afternoon of the second day, the mountains of the isle appeared ahead. I gathered myself, put my long sword through my sash, and crawled out of my hiding place. At first the sailors were angered, but when they saw the crossed feather emblem on my haori, there was no room for doubt who I was, and they bowed low. When we landed, I announced myself to the people, and you would have thought the Emperor Himself had come to visit. They didn't know what to make of my visit, but no one questioned who I was.\"\n\nHe smiled, obviously remembering something." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Normally the boat would have sailed once it was loaded again with cargo, but they waited for me, for my orders. It's actually quite a lovely island, but after a few days I grew tired of it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And you came home to face your father?\"\n\nHe raised his hand. \"Usually on a fune, we have a few soldiers aboard because of pirates. If it had been known I was on board, my personal guard would have been along with us. In fact, the captain tried to add guards while we were still at Pearl Shell Island, but I would not hear of it. I did not want to be coddled. We had the usual four Taka fighters to repel pirates, and I said that would be enough. And so we set sail.\"\n\nHe glanced at Yamabuki, eyes twinkling." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But as luck would have it, on the way back we were intercepted by a mifune. They weren't after our cargo, which was mostly dried fish and a few turtles. They wanted our boat itself, which was hale enough to safely cross the Leeward Sea. Our fighters were outnumbered two to one when they boarded us. And you know raiders have no use for prisoners, not even a young shōgun.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He darkened and shook his head, remembering.\n\n\"They did not wear clan colors, but to this day I suspect they were Ōuchi looking for an easy mark. It was the first time I ever used my sword to draw blood. I was far too young to be afraid.\"\n\nHe paused again. Remembering more.\n\n\"When the fighting was over, their mifune got away, but not one of the men who'd boarded us was left standing. For the rest of the trip, everyone called me Shōgun like they meant it. Moroto Shōgun. I swore the crew and soldiers to secrecy. Of course they had to agree. A day after we landed, Jirimu Daimyō called me to his audience chamber and asked me how my 'expedition' had gone. I suspected someone in the crew or among the soldiers had been unable to keep his vow of secrecy about the battle. I said as much to my father.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Moroto chuckled. \"In fact, he had heard nothing of the kind. All I did was to blunder and blurt out the secret. As it turned out, he did know I had left, but that was all he knew. I asked why he had not stopped me. And he answered that I was a general, and it was in my purview to make the journey as I saw fit. He was surprised but not shocked to hear of that battle and was not at all surprised at the outcome. He said I had been a credit to the Taka.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Moroto shifted in his saddle and looked her in the eye. \"When you lead warriors into battle, you must be seen as strong, confident, capable, and in command. They who follow you must respect you. Staid protocol does not help in crisis. I do not need men bowing to me when telling me someone is about to cut my throat. I need that warrior to take action and not stand on formality. And so in the field, it is good to be a daimyō, but it is even better to be a leader of samurai—a shōgun.\"\n\nYamabuki said, \"That's why our warriors refer to you as Moroto Shōgun, not daimyō.\"\n\n\"Warriors do not follow a daimyō merely because of his title, or because he carries a sword or war fan. A daimyō must prove himself in his own right. Warriors—armies—follow daimyō who are generals, who have shown courage and wisdom. They follow you because they trust you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki smiled inwardly, for it was true." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Taka warriors trusted Moroto as much as she did. Trusted him and loved him.\n\nMoroto said, \"But that sort of respect comes only by doing what they do and not asking for any special favors or dispensation because you are Taka, or because you are a woman.\"\n\nYamabuki scowled. Was he accusing her of relying on her privilege?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I have asked for no such thing!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ha!\" He snorted. \"Don't think that others wouldn't ask for it on your behalf, even with honorable intentions. But what would that make you? A princess who relies on her escort to protect her.\"\n\n\"But we all have bodyguards. You have three jun protecting you.\"\n\n\"That's true, but to earn the loyalty of thirty guards, or even three, you first have to prove that you don't actually need them for protection.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: Cooperative storytelling\nMy role: Provide a brief opening\nYour role: Expand upon my opening with 4 sentences, emulating the writing style of Katherine M. Lawrence." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Moroto swung his leg over Kage's haunches and jumped to the ground. Yamabuki followed his lead, and they walked, leading the horses by their reins. The ground was soft, and it felt good to move her legs. But her mind was full of questions." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sacrificed? How would I be sacrificed?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her father said, \"You know the timing of your mogi was entirely my idea. My own mother, of course, had different ideas. You noticed, the Dowager did not attend your mogi. She knew what it meant, that you had all but been made the heir apparent to lead the Taka. Something she still has not come to terms with. She has her own ideas about who you should be and what you should do. When you celebrated with your mother and me—the three of us drank saké together—it was more than an empty form. You are more than Taka-gimi. You one day will be warlord of the Taka.\"\n\nYamabuki's heart started pounding. Of course, she had known this was the likely outcome; after all, she was the eldest and only surviving child, and it was not unheard of for a woman to rule a prefecture. And had not Yamabuki trained hard all these years?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Still, to hear him say it so plainly came as a shock." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She said, \"Even though I am a woman?\"\n\n\"You are a woman, but you are no fool. Many people said I was a fool to train you and teach you, but if you had not had it within you, that inner strength that cannot be taught, then you would not be here at this moment. You would have found a hundred excuses for why you could not rise to the challenge, other things to divert your attention, and as princess you would not have had to look far. Your facility with the language and script of the Yellow River Delta, for example. You could easily and rightfully have buried yourself in such studies. Yet you devoted yourself to martial skills with equal determination. Plus training up Mochizuki. This shows character.\"\n\nYamabuki flushed with some pride. It was not every day that Lord Taka heaped praise upon his daughter." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But she was not unaware of how family dynamics could play out in lines of succession." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She asked, \"What of your brother's son?\"\n\nMoroto let out a deep belly laugh. \"Atsumichi? Our men are unlikely to follow him, much to my brother's dismay. Yes, he's a male Taka and son of a master swordsman, but Atsumichi is more interested in seducing girls than being a warrior. Jabbing with that tiny blade of flesh between his legs is all he seems to care about.\"\n\nYamabuki couldn't help but grin at the bawdy description, for it suited her cousin perfectly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I speak roughly, but you must accept the fact that warriors speak their thoughts in a different way. At times, you must speak roughly as well, without ever surrendering your status as Taka Princess. Like earlier, when you upbraided the stable boy for being unable to control Mochizuki. You know the men were watching you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She forced a smile.\n\n\"How would you deal with an inept boy? Would you be his wet-nurse or his warlord? Who they saw was a leader who would ask much from them, and in men this brings out their best.\"\n\nShe realized her father was looking at her. Watching her. She said, \"There were no intruders, were there?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Moroto smiled as if he'd been waiting for this question." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"There were unexpected visitors, but that was several days ago. A group of envoys.\"\n\n\"I had not heard this.\"\n\n\"No one did. They traveled as sōhei—presumably to avoid the wrong kind of notice. There's always some pilgrimage that monks can be on, no? They met in private with me, Prince Tachibana, and Lord Nakagawa. Your mother listened from the blind.\"\n\n\"They were monks?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He grinned. \"In fact the six were warriors, envoys looking to rally support for a dispossessed warlord who has ambitions on the Imperial throne.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki snorted.\n\n\"Don't underestimate the discontent among the kuge. Ambition and conquest are ever on their minds.\"\n\nYamabuki said, \"I just thought they would have learned from the Hōgen and Heiji rebellions.\"\n\n\"Heiji Ran failed, yet it enhanced the power of some people, including Taira no Kiyomori, who now acts with Emperor Masahito's backing. Someone always benefits.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki frowned, not liking where this was going." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You're not joining this foolish cause, are you, Father?\"\n\nRather than scold her for questioning his leadership, Moroto laughed. \"I will not tangle you up in a war for the throne!\"\n\nHe laughed some more." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Gradually he stopped, wiping tears from his eyes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What is of special interest to us is news from Higo\"—the province to their immediate north, ruled by the Kikuchi, one of the largest clans on the Isle of Unknown Fires. \"Kikuchi Daimyō has joined his ancestors.\"\n\n\"Lord Tsunemune is dead? When?\"\n\n\"Ten days ago. His son immediately assumed rulership and took Takanao as his daimyō name.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki gave her father a hard look.\" 'Peace with one, then war with his son,'\" she recited." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her father nodded. \"Takanao is of your years and ambitious, and it is said Takanao holds no affection for the Emperor. That could make things around here... interesting.\"\n\nYamabuki said, \"You're expecting he'll be trouble for the Mikado.\"\n\n\"Kiyomori, perhaps.\"\n\n\"Does not Kiyomori serve the Emperor?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "she asked, sensing there was a truth hiding behind the truth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Kiyomori is the real power. He masks it, pretending he acts in the Emperor's name, but he makes sure the Emperor's interests always align with his own. Our best course is to stay out of any Imperial conflict, even if it reaches our borders. We would have nothing to gain and everything to lose.\"\n\nYamabuki shrugged confidently. \"No enemy would dare attack us. From the sea, they'd have to scale these cliffs, and our archers would annihilate anyone trying to approach through the Trap.\"\n\n\"And yet, Ō-Utsumi is a valuable holding,\" Moroto said. \"When you come to rule, people will want to encroach, manipulate, or topple you—and not just because you are a woman. However\"—he paused, searching for words—\"conflicts are sometimes not settled through battle but avoided through\"—he cleared his throat—\"marriage.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki stopped walking, holding the reins tight as Mochizuki lifted his head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I hope this has nothing to do with me.\"\n\n\"Yes and no.\"\n\nWas he to revoke her musha shugyō? Force her to marry someone?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Moroto said, \"I take it your mother delved into your interest in marriage?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She tried not to show her discomfort.\n\n\"Your face says she did.\"\n\nShe adopted a grim countenance. \"We talked about killing.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her father laughed softly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I suppose that's what happens when your wife and your daughter are trained warriors—they discuss killing.\"\n\n\"Mother reproached me for being\"—she took a deep breath—\" 'a willful wanderer' and all but said musha shugyō was a dalliance that would endanger the Taka.\" She looked into her father's eyes, hoping for escape from what sounded like a nightmare. \"She says my karma is to bear sons.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kage snorted as if in response." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Moroto stroked his neck to calm him. \"Karmas are complicated. Your mother loves you. You know women's ways. You know it is to protect her young.\"\n\n\"Mother went on musha shugyō!\"\n\nMoroto laughed. \"Of course.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You were married afterward.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Moroto nodded.\n\n\"Then why can't this wait? Takanao already has wives!\"\n\n\"I believe the envoys confirmed he has three.\"\n\n\"And now he wants to make it four?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Moroto gave a sardonic snort." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You mean you? Hardly. I would never sanction a match with him. He would use such a marriage to weaken Taka rule and claim Ō-Utsumi Prefecture as his own. And you would languish in some shinden far away from everything and everyone you love. That will not be the fate of Taka-gimi. My daughter. My only heir.\"\n\nThe wind picked up, sending ripples through the grass. The horses grew restless. Mochizuki put his nose against Yamabuki's shoulder, nudging her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kage, hooves dancing, swung around as Moroto held fast the reins." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He said, \"But this does not mean in the future a marriage might not be advantageous. As Taka-gimi and as Daimyō, you must do what is right for you personally, if you are able, but always what is right for the Taka.\"\n\nBoth mounts snorted, exciting each other, eager to move, eager to run. Yamabuki welcomed the intrusion, not at all caring for this conversation. She'd not even left on musha shugyō and her father was talking about advantageous matches! \"Should we ride?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Moroto jerked down on Kage's reins to hold him still, and reached into his sleeve." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He pulled out a scroll wrapped in green-and-blue silk brocade. The whole thing was about as long as her tachi's hilt, and not much thicker. His eyes fixed on hers. \"As soon as you reach Heian-kyō, go to the Palace of Black Plums and deliver this scroll to my brother, Nobuyori.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki solemnly accepted the scroll and tucked it safely into her sleeve." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I will do as you say.\"\n\nHis eyes grew fierce. \"Be watchful in the Imperial City, Kouma. The miyabi-obsessed kuge of the Emperor's Court claim superiority by tracing their lineage back hundreds of years. To them, we Taka are lower order. They will toy with you like a cat toys with a mouse. You know the Tale of the Taka.\"\n\nShe recited from the opening:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "As always, and in ancient times, before any place else," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Sun Goddess shined Her first light on the land of the Great Bay\n\nTo grace the people called the Taka.\n\nWhen man's time dawned, Taka ancestor Great-Hawk-Fire-Wind-Seeker drew his bow\n\nShooting a single stone arrow into the High Plain over the Autumn Creek Land." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Weeping-Maiden-of-the-Milky-River-of-Stars then caught the arrow" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She threw down the first grains of rice like tears from Heaven.\n\nHer father narrowed his eyes. \"What do you make of those words?\"\n\n\"They are beautiful.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Look behind the poetry for the entire truth. According to the Annals of Ancient Matters, of which I have a copy from the second original, the founder of the Taka, Great-Hawk-Fire-Wind-Seeker, was known by another name—Jinmu Tennō.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The first Emperor,\" Yamabuki said softly.\n\n\"The Annals record that he led a great army that sailed from Mimitsu. What it omits is a story handed down amongst the Taka, from generation to generation: There was a split. Some of our ancestors opposed the expedition to annex the isles of the north. They remained, and we have been here ever since.\"\n\n\"I never heard this.\"\n\n\"There is more. The Taka can trace their ancestry back before Jinmu, back thousands of years, across the Leeward Sea.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"To Zhou?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No. To Chōsen.\"\n\nYamabuki stifled a gasp. Throughout her studies, Goryeo, the peninsula across the Leeward Sea—where it was said the Toi who had raided Ō-Utsumi and neighboring prefectures came from—had fascinated her. She'd read about the dynasties that rose and fell, and the wars that were fought." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The confederated Chōsen kingdoms had grown to control the entire peninsula and ruled for thousands of years." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "To think, her ancestors lived there!\n\nBut while Yamabuki's whimsy carried her to distant and ancient lands, Moroto remained in the present. \"On your travels, especially in Heian-kyō, remember who you are, Taka-gimi. The Fujiwara, the Minamoto, now the Taira—they are powerful, but they are not better than us.\"\n\nYamabuki had never seen her father so distraught." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Let's engage in a collaborative writing exercise. I'll provide a starting point, and You'll continue with four sentences in the style of Katherine M. Lawrence." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "[ Second Quarter of Hour of the Snake, Two days past Full Moon of Unohana Month, 11 May 1172, Minezaki ]\n\nThe tugging on her yoroi ceased, and Taro's calloused hand patted Yamabuki's heavy sode. \"All fastened, Samurai-sama.\" Perhaps realizing he might have transgressed protocol, he stepped back and bowed low. \"I hope my humble skills prove adequate.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki paced about—stretching, moving, making sure of the bindings." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Fine. Fine,\" she murmured. And it was fine. It felt good. Heavy. Formidable. As much as the evening before she had relished melding in with the common people, she felt better wearing her Taka armor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Eiji bowed, handing her Tiger Cub, and she fastened its sageo to her waist sash." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fuyuki approached, bearing her kabuto, but she raised a hand for him to forbear. The helmet would have required her to bunch up her hair and stuff it into the cap-top. The kabuto could wait.\n\nThe distinctive squeaks and clatter of several men in armor drew everyone's attention to the front door." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A moment later, an Ōe warrior in full armor strode in, helmeted, holding his tachi scabbard as if ready to draw his sword." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Squinting, glowering, he scanned the armory, pausing only briefly on Yamabuki before spotting Taro.\n\n\"Taro-kun!\" he roared. \"You are holding my men?\"\n\nThe armorer bowed repeatedly. \"Hai, Sadamasa-sama! Hai.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Obviously the two men knew each other." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Taro led Sadamasa to where Misaki lay under blankets next to the covered dead warrior.\n\nTaro spoke softly. \"Misaki-sama told us that he and several others were caught in the mountains. Two made it back down in the dark.\" He lowered his eyes, shaking his head. \"This one wasn't so lucky. The Yuki-onna took him. But Misaki survived.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Misaki opened his eyes and said in a weak voice, \"This is true.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sadamasa called out, and several Ōe warriors entered, some wearing black armor, some clad only in black tunics, all armed with swords. Yamabuki saw there were at least three others just outside, bearing naginata.\n\nSadamasa gestured at Misaki and the dead body. The sakimori lifted them both and carried them outside." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Curious, Yamabuki walked over for a better angle to watch." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The guards carefully laid the victims in the bed of a primitive two-wheeled cart that sat tipped back, its pull handles jutting up in the air. These men who had been so gruff at the border now demonstrated such tenderness toward their own.\n\nSilence drew her attention back inside, where she saw Sadamasa eying her with suspicion. She placidly returned his gaze." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He grunted and turned to Mari, who shrank back." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You! Last night, my men encountered trouble at Saké House from a kyojin yahochi wearing an orange kimono.\"\n\nMari hunched into a subservient bow.\n\nThe sight of an armored warrior berating such a sweet young girl barely in adult clothes triggered Yamabuki's ire—especially since this pertained to her own actions the night before. \"Does she look like a giant to you?\" Yamabuki challenged." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But Sadamasa ignored her, his gaze focused on Mari." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He called out, \"Bunzō-kun!\"\n\nA young warrior ran in. \"Ha!\" He stiffly held his head to the side, as if unable to straighten his neck. Yamabuki recognized him: one of the drunkards from the night before—only now, instead of rage, his face betrayed timidity." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sadamasa gestured at Mari. \"Her?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The man called Bunzō stared at the girl, winking one eye as if trying to focus. \"Too small.\"\n\nSadamasa growled, \"You're just afraid to admit it was a little girl! What about the kimono?\"\n\n\"It looks similar.\"\n\nSadamasa bellowed at Mari, \"You attacked sakimori last night!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The girl stared at the floor." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki could see her trembling and was about to intervene when Taro stepped forward and bowed low. \"Apologies, Sadamasa-sama. This is my daughter. She was here with me. We were up working through the night.\"\n\nSadamasa scowled. \"Don't lie!\"\n\nTaro's head bobbed. \"It's a common enough kimono. It's our clan kimono. All the Kōno women wear it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And are there any other Kōno women here?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Taro almost melted. \"No.\"\n\nBunzō mumbled, \"It's not her, Sadamasa Kashira. She's too small.\"\n\nObviously disappointed, Sadamasa turned away from Mari, and his eyes fixed upon Yamabuki. \"What about her?\"\n\nUnable to move his neck, Bunzō turned bodily to face Yamabuki and stared, again winking." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then both eyes widened." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ahhh—!\" He tried to nod but winced in pain.\n\nSadamasa bellowed, \"Guards!\"\n\nFour men wearing full yoroi rushed in. \"Ha!\"\n\nHe pointed at Yamabuki." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Arrest her! Misconduct against sakimori!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki stiffened. \"You have no authority.\"\n\n\"I'm in charge here!\"\n\n\"I am Taka-gimi and answer only to my father, Taka Daimyō, and the Mikado Himself.\"\n\n\"Impudence! I act in the name of the Mikado. Take her sword!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The black-armored guards surrounded her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They did not seem all that capable. Despite their yoroi, they looked more like commoners who had been recruited to fill their ranks. Likely she could kill them all, even with only her short sword. But this was not a time to fight." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She remained still as they removed Tiger Cub." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Taro approached, bowing. \"Sadamasa-sama, if I may—\"\n\n\"Enough!\" Sadamasa roared. \"Or I'll arrest you too! All of you!\"\n\nBent and cowed, Taro retreated." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Two men roughly her age and nearly her height grabbed Yamabuki's arms and guided her out the door into the bright sunlight." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Misaki, sitting up in the back of the cart, scowled in confusion. \"What's this?\"\n\n\"She attacked our men last night,\" Sadamasa said. \"Misconduct.\"\n\nMisaki stammered, \"Sh—she saved my life!\"\n\n\"Baka!\" Sadamasa waved his arm. \"Tie her hands!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No!\" Misaki said in a clear voice." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm alive thanks to her.\"\n\nSadamasa's mouth opened and closed, saying nothing.\n\nMisaki lowered his voice. \"You cannot arrest the Buddha of Mercy!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sadamasa glared at him, but Misaki glared back." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They locked each other's glare.\n\nThen Sadamasa broke away, muttering, \"Baka.\" He flicked his wrist. \"Release her.\"\n\nThe hands holding Yamabuki's arms let go." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My sword,\" she said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The guard holding it—hardly old enough to have celebrated genpuku—hesitated, glancing at Sadamasa, who nodded. The boyish man presented Tiger Cub to her.\n\nShe accepted it without a word and tucked the sheathed weapon into her waist sash.\n\n\"Go!\" Sadamasa commanded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Two men up front seized the cart's handle shafts and tipped it level." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Misaki gave a slight nod to Yamabuki before lying back, and the cart rumbled off, squeaking and creaking over the broken snow. Out front, eight Ōe guards led the way, stomping down the drifts ahead.\n\nAs the procession moved away, Sadamasa stepped close to Yamabuki. In a low voice he said, \"Last night, my men were drunk and foolish, Taka-gimi\"—and he put extra emphasis on gimi, as if mocking her—\"but they will not be drunk and foolish next time.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki felt quite certain that nothing could be done about his guards' foolishness, as all the fools she'd known had seemed to be of consistent character in that regard." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And as for their drunkenness, the availability of saké seemed to be determinative. But she elected to say nothing.\n\nHe marched away.\n\nThe guard named Bunzō, who had been lurking, glanced sheepishly at Yamabuki, then with a grimace and bent neck, ambled away behind the procession." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki stood in the daylight as the Ōe made their way down Ledge Road." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Before long, they disappeared around the bend. Only then did she realize that her heart was still pumping hard, and she opened her mouth to take in a deep breath of cold refreshing air. No, clearly she was not safe in this town. Not with it crawling with Ōe guards who didn't know their place." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And there was a shinobi after her—somewhere." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She went back inside. Taro was already at work, kneeling at a low bench surrounded by tools, stones, and cloths, working something up and down the length of Tiger Claw's blade. His sons meanwhile were busy in the back of the armory, focused on piecework that no doubt had been set aside during the morning's disruption. Mari was nowhere to be seen, perhaps off in her own bedchamber, recovering from the violent accusations Sadamasa had directed at her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Unobtrusively and silently, Yamabuki moved to the box where she had secreted her dispatches." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nobody so much as glanced in her direction—not that it mattered. It was more for their protection than hers; the less they knew, the better it was for them.\n\nShe reached into the box, slipped her hand under the half-finished kozane, and one by one retrieved the three scrolls, sliding each into a kimono sleeve pocket. A nagging anxiety faded away and she let out a small sigh." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Now all she had to do was pack her things into her saddlebag in the guesthouse and saddle up Mochizuki." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then as soon as Taro completed his work, she could resume her journey up the North Road and cross the Pass of the Setting Sun.\n\nShe knelt a respectful distance from Taro and watched him work the waterstone along Tiger Claw's lethal edge. Every now and then he wiped the tachi's full length, turned the blade, and resumed. The otherwise loquacious armorer said nothing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Of course, Yamabuki knew how to polish swords." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Every warrior worth the title swordsman knew how. But just as a master sword polisher was rarely a master swordsman, similarly it was a rarity that a master swordsman proved a master polisher. Back home in Ō-Utsumi, master swordsmith Yukiyasu insisted on polishing swords alone; and as for Yukiyasu's ten helpers who polished the bulk of the Taka weapons, these apprentices were far too intimidated by and ingratiating toward the princess to get anything done in her presence. Now she had an opportunity to observe this so-essential practice." }, { "from": "human", "value": "So interesting. So mysterious." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Though Taro had disparaged his skills as polisher of swords, polisher of their very souls, it was out of modesty. He slid the waterstones carefully, yet fleetly, nimbly. At several points, when he changed stones or used a shimmering cloth, she thought to ask a question; yet Taro's intense concentration convinced her to watch without asking about the nuances.\n\nShe let her attention wander to the rest of the armory, and admired the tidiness of the Kōno's operation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Already not a sign remained of the morning's events." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The blankets were gone. The nabe were stacked along the wall near the forge. The puddles on the floor had all dried away.\n\nHer knot of anxiety returned." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The Ōe were arrogant, even belligerent." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But they were not known to be fools. They had commanded vast swaths of territory for hundreds of years. Yet an entire group of Ōe warriors, including a kashira, had been fooled into attempting the pass in this snow, and met with only death and suffering. Did she dare attempt the mountain pass today?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was already midday." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "By the time Taro's work was done, it would be approaching dark. To cross at night? Even with Mochizuki, she was not immune to freezing to death—or worse, suffering tōshō, dying slowly from blood sickness or surviving with amputated limbs.\n\nNo. Better to wait until morning, when she could cross in full daylight, perhaps even sunshine." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was either that or give up on the North Road altogether and take the roundabout route back along the coast, which would add several more days to the journey." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She was not prepared to accept that.\n\nA melodious voice interrupted her musings: \"The warrior watches her flower bloom.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Mode:\nCo-writing\n\nLength:\n4 sentences\n\nStyle:\nKatherine M. Lawrence" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki smiled to herself and turned." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yoshinaka stood just inside the front doorway, his eyes sparkling, his white kimono almost glowing in the light. His long raven-black hair hung to his waist. He had just now recited an opening line of a poem, initiating a game played among kuge of refinement. In high court society it was sport to finish the couplet on the spur, going back and forth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Before she could reply, he put the back of his fingers to his lips and nodded at Taro—who never looked up." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She left Taro to his work, and joined Yoshinaka at the doorway. \"For spring light drives off winter's gloom.\"\n\nYoshinaka laughed, dark eyes bright. \"You have dash.\"\n\n\"And only now you realize that? I took you for someone with far more perspicacity.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He studied her as carefully as she studied him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You disguised yourself well last evening, the first, last, and only time I saw you. Moving in flowing orange robes, hair tied in ribbons. You had cloaked your face in oshiroi. You were quite fetching. And you are even more lovely now, without courtly makeup.\"\n\nYamabuki threw a sly glance his way. Oh a charmer, this one. He doesn't need saké to turn his tongue to seduction." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And he is as pretty as a girl." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She glanced at his shoulders and legs. Grinning, she turned her cheek. \"My face looks better when it's not rice-white, you say? What do you think of the gash, which the oshiroi hid?\"\n\nYoshinaka gazed at her as if she were the only thing in the world." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I did not notice.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She felt herself blush.\n\nIn the morning sunlight he looked younger, more handsome and powerful than he had appeared under lamplight—and usually that went the other way around, or so it was said. To be beautiful, this man did not need dim braziers. No. Early daylight.\n\nThis morning's poetry challenge remained unfinished, for it was now his turn to supply the next line." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Unfinished business. More unfinished business." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Unfinished business before getting on to the subject of intimate names. Intimate names? Was that where this was headed? Her stomach fluttered at the idea.\n\nHe glanced away. \"I noticed you had some excitement here.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Of course he would have heard something in this tiny town." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But Yamabuki had things other than impetuous Ōe guards on her mind. Nor did she wish to speak of Misaki. None of that fit the romantic mood taking shape in her thoughts. She deflected. \"Not excitement. Simply a misunderstanding of my disposition.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Dissatisfaction with dispositions is so often the root of unrest.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not quite sure what he meant by that, she changed the subject, bowing slightly—the bow of an equal. \"I received your kind gift and calligraphy. Arigatō gozaimashita.\"\n\nYoshinaka bowed in return. \"So formal? I hope my poor hand did not disrespect the poetry.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Such modesty! She said, \"The embodiment of miyabi.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Now you flatter me.\"\n\n\"Flattery deserved is but description.\"\n\nHe bowed in thanks and stared into her eyes, his mouth bent in a slight grin. \"Should we perhaps drink the saké to determine if it too deserves flattery?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Until that moment, Yamabuki had been enjoying their banter, but now she felt a twinge of guilt." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Alas, the saké was used as omiki to the Gods.\"\n\nYoshinaka waited, but Yamabuki offered no explanation. He finally said, \"May the Gods describe the offering to Them accurately.\"\n\n\"The Gods did not seem displeased.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "No need to say more to him, the one man who would understand what she felt." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yoshinaka grinned and pulled a small flask of saké from his sleeve.\n\nShe smiled. Breath shallow. \"Come.\" She led him through the armory, out the back, toward the guesthouse. \"We can drink in privacy here.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And talk,\" he added." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"At least that.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide four sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Once inside the guesthouse, Yamabuki felt a burden lift from her shoulders." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The irori fire warmed her. She and Yoshinaka placed their fur boots next to the mystery pair made of woven straw, which still awaited an unseen owner.\n\nAs they stepped up from the genkan, Yoshinaka said, \"Nice lodging.\"\n\nShe bade him to sit next to the lively small fire." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He placed his two swords on the floor." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki put Tiger Cub next to her.\n\nThey sat for a moment in silence taking in the warmth. Then Yoshinaka held out the stoppered flask. \"The same Shinano saké as last night.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki cast a look around the room." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Mari must have already cleaned. I have no bowl to pour it in.\"\n\nHe said, \"No need\"—and he reached again into his sleeve—\"for I brought two flasks.\"\n\nThe saké warmed her, and it also went straight to her head. Of course it did." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I lost the morning meal." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She gazed at him, studying his face, and then she decided. Yes. This is going to happen I will let it happen. She let herself smile. \"Are we going to go into battle?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "His eyes grew serious. \"Battle?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She brushed her hand down her armor. \"I'm the only one who's wearing full yoroi.\"\n\n\"I hope this is not a signal of something ominous.\"\n\n\"Where did you leave yours?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Not very far. Still on Kōno's trellis. Do I need to don armor?\" Yoshinaka sounded dismayed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No,\" she said flatly. \"If you aren't wearing yours, then please help me doff mine.\" She rose and stretched out her arms.\n\nHe hesitated. \"You know this means I will have to touch you like an armorer or handmaid.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Hai,\" she said. \"I am not concerned by this. Are you frightened of me?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Without another word, he stood up, coming around behind her. \"The sode go on last and come off first.\" He moved ever closer. He smelled of saké... just barely." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She felt the sode shift slightly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So he has touched my shoulder. She smiled to herself. She felt the armor piece lift away. He put it down on the floor near her bedding." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He rose, and again his hands touched her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She liked this. Different than when a handmaid or armorer undressed her. His fingers lingered, though she could hardly feel them as he slipped loose the leather fastening and stacked the second forest-green piece atop the first.\n\n\"Taka Shōgun, would be so kind to get down on one knee? I need to untie your dō.\"\n\n\"Taka Shōgun, is it? You are so formal with me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Ha! I have never had the pleasure of helping a future daimyō out of her armor, and so beautiful at that.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Was he saying her armor was beautiful or was it she? Did he know where she wanted to take this next? She thought about it as she dropped to her left knee.\n\nHe came around to undo the fastenings which were on the right side of the chest protector." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When Tomoko and Hana-ye untied the corselet she was only vaguely aware of their presence, always too busy in conversation with them to pay much notice to the mechanics of unfastening ties." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now in silence, with only the crackling fire and the occasional gust of wind, she heard herself breathing heavily. She listened to the soft sound of his kimono. His movements were not those of a server, more of a courtly dance—like the one she had performed for everyone at the Inn of Young Bamboo. Each movement measured. Each turn of the hand studied. Gentle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Subtle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He lifted the chest protector away and placed it next to the sode.\n\nWordlessly she stood, and he carefully removed the kote from her arms. Neither of them said anything. For Yamabuki, the silence only added to the growing sense of excitement—the intensity which she felt building between them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "To anyone coming upon the scene, it would have simply appeared to them like what it was, one person helping another take off armor." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But the quiet, intimate process caused her pulse to race—anything but mundane.\n\nHe unfastened her kusazuri and laid the heavy armor skirt aside. Finally came the suneate off her shins, and the last pieces were stacked.\n\nWith the armor removed, Yamabuki stood in her kosode under-kimono." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her hakama riding skirt bloomed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The dance, their proxy for passion, had come to an end. But Yoshinaka did not say more, nor did he sit back down, but stood silently, gazing at her with the intensity of a warrior, but she felt no fear. If the dance was over, she knew she had to sit down. If not, she had to take it to the next step." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She smiled. \"My handmaids could not have done better.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yoshinaka's eyes flashed with something akin to relief. \"Oh to have such a position.\" He affected the voice and expressions of a maid. \"Though I would not know what to do in the presence of a lovely woman.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's not very difficult. Next, my handmaids would help me out of my hakama.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am not sure I know how I could do that.\" Yoshinaka put his hand over his mouth, but his eyes were anything but innocent.\n\nYamabuki sensed he was waiting for her to encourage him. She had decided, but he was being exceedingly polite." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then again, she had made it clear the prior evening that there would be no touching." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was now up to her to modify that rule.\n\n\"Like this,\" she said, stepping closer. She thrust her hands toward his own hakama's belt and pulled. She reached behind him, letting her hands touch his body for the first time, and pulled the back knot loose and the split riding skirt fell away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Now you,\" she said, her voice growing husky." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yoshinaka, no longer feigning affectation, pulled the front and back ties on her hakama, which likewise floated to the floor. Not waiting, she untied his obi and pulled his kimono off his shoulders. Almost as quickly, he then did the same with her kosode.\n\nBoth now stood only in their shitagi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "No longer smiling, Yoshinaka's eyes grew intense." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He placed his hands on her shoulders. She gazed back into his eyes and nodded hard just once. With that, he slipped his hands under her shitagi and slid it over her shoulders, pulling the undergarment halfway down.\n\nHe paused, gazing at her breasts. Awestruck." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She waited. It was up to him to take this further." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His fingers grazed her there. Her breath caught as her nipples grew hard, and it thrilled her down her body to her center. He released her shitagi and it slid down to her feet.\n\nHe looked at the cloth around her hips, and his eyes widened. \"A fundoshi?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You think it inappropriate? It's for all warriors, ne?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I did not know women, even women warriors, wore them.\"\n\nShe pulled the cloth down a bit. \"Then you do not know Taka warriors.\" She did not add that during her time of month, she absorbed her flow with the little saddle, and that the fundoshi was very useful for such circumstances." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He put his hands on her loincloth and gently pulled it down, leaving her in her nakedness." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His own fundoshi was still in place, and it had developed a sizable bulge.\n\nYamabuki fell onto the bedding. Yoshinaka moved onto his knees and lowered himself over her. She pulled his fundoshi off with a flourish, touching his hardness, letting her fingers move down its length." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write four sentences sentences in the style of Katherine M. Lawrence spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "human", "value": "From his uncomfortable but reasonably dry hiding place within the trees, Saburo gazed up the Ledge Road at the armory." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Its front doors were thrown open, leaving an opening wide enough for two horses, but most of the interior remained out of view. Yet he saw them together—the Taka woman and the Minamoto samurai.\n\nAfter nine days of hunting her, he finally had the perfect circumstances. The armory was far from the main parts of town, a side road." }, { "from": "human", "value": "This was a perfect place to attack." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kuma, the bear-like man who had shown up unannounced at Saburo's secluded sanctuary, had paid him handsomely to retrieve the two scrolls and kill her. \"No witnesses and no trace.\" In the days since, Saburo had not wavered from this commission.\n\nBut now things had changed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For only the second time in his life, he intended to kill for personal reasons. Punishment. Revenge." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was going to slay the Taka girl right here, in broad daylight if need be. Kuma's instructions were now secondary.\n\nSaburo looked at the omamori in the palm of his hand. The amulet bore the image of a takō." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Its eight outstretched silk-embroidered tentacles enticed luck, for it was a talisman of whispers, assassinations, early death, intrigue by generals, and greedy fishermen, yet also an amulet of good fortune—one of safe return, especially from a journey over water. Takō. Octopus." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A play on words:" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write 4 sentences sentences in the style of Katherine M. Lawrence spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The omamori had been his gift to Shima, a blessing before the Gods, a token of love for the sword master who had given him so much." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Now write approximately five sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When he had glimpsed Shima the morning before, as the sword master stomped his way down Foot Trail before vanishing all to quickly—as had the Taka princess—Saburo did not fully apprehend how much Shima had aged.\n\nBut later that day, when he had come upon Shima's body lying dead on the muddy North Road, Saburo saw the cruel marks of time.\n\nShima's hair had turned white. He had shorn it completely, and also his beard. Mere stubble remained—all that was left of the soft hair that had once caressed Saburo's skin." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "The user will write a bit then you need to write around four sentences continuing directly from the user's text. Try to mimic the style of Katherine M. Lawrence.Produce four sentences using the prose and structure of Katherine M. Lawrence every time its your turn using what the user wrote as a seed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "[ Third Quarter, Hour of the Bird, One day past Last Half Moon of Utū Ninth Month, First Day of Rittō, Beginning of Winter, First Year of Hōgen, Year of the Fire Rat, 7 November 1156, Iwakawa-jiin, Tajima Prefecture, Main Isle ]" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The monastery lay high in the mountains and thus far from everything. For a young priest wishing to be alone and not think upon the tragedies that burdened him, gate duty was the perfect assignment. Nobody to talk to, nothing to do but meditate on the leafless trees and the expansive skies, no obligations but to wait for travelers—a rarity this late in the year.\n\nSo when in the dying fire of the first day of winter, Saburo saw the lone samurai approaching the west gate, it took a moment to register that this wasn't a trick of the shadows." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As the sun at last slipped behind the hillcrest of the valleys, the young priest watched the stranger move through the fading light." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo reminded himself that it was the custom—nay, the duty—of temples to welcome travelers for the night. Likewise, travelers understood that a small donation of money, or something of value paid in-kind, would help ensure the visitor a warm place to sleep and a share of the meal. Only the foolhardy, or those running away from something or someone, would trek on down from the summit in waning light.\n\nAs the lone warrior drew nearer, Saburo could see that the stranger hefted a naginata over his shoulder." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A tachi swung from his hip." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A tall and imposing man, the traveler wore a field coat, but he walked under the weight of full yoroi. No lowly spearman, this. The samurai was perhaps ten years older and at least a head taller and certainly wider than Saburo. He did not wear a kabuto." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His wild mane of black hair fell to his shoulders, framing a noble face—bearded, rugged, and handsome in the way of men, with pronounced, yet well-proportioned, masculine features." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The samurai paused before the temple gate. As custom dictated, he scooped a handful of water from the chōzubachi and rinsed his mouth in ablution. Then he clapped his hands several times to alert the Gods, as well as everyone else, that he had arrived and intended to enter.\n\nSaburo could no longer avoid the man by lurking in the shadows." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The young priest stepped forward and opened the entry." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the fading light, the samurai's dark eyes, like a tiger's, scanned Saburo, but not with hostility, nor malevolence. More, they were curious, looking for something—perhaps an indication of what sort of order he had encountered, what kind of priests lived here, and what customs would be observed.\n\n\"How did you get that duty, squinting into the setting sun?\" asked the warrior, his voice deep and sonorous." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo frowned, not sure what the man was asking." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I saw you lurking behind the gate,\" the warrior said. \"The sun was at my back. My advantage. It lit you up. The sun was in your eyes.\" He sniffed as he set his naginata down. Then he sat down on a smooth rock at the threshold to remove his traveling shoes—bearskin boots, at that." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The first snows of winter had already fallen in the higher summits." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If travelers were wealthy enough, they wore straw boots. Most commoners, however, wore straw sandals, even in winter, and if they were lucky, socks or makeshift gaiters to shield their toes from the cold. Very few had fur boots.\n\nThe man smiled. Had the warrior noticed Saburo's awe at something so simple as footwear?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo felt himself flush." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A first-level priest was not supposed to feel this sort of admiration. Priests were men of peace, while samurai were men of combat.\n\nThe samurai finally broke the silence. \"You have a name?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm Dankotaru,\" Saburo said, giving his formal priestly name—one he rarely used." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Are you?\"\n\n\"Am I what?\"\n\n\"Resolute. The meaning of dankotaru.\"\n\nSaburo shifted uneasily. There was something about this winning man that drew Saburo to him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was powerful, yet calm." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Likely he could be fierce if needed, yet he spoke with an unruffled coolness.\n\n\"I'm called Shima Sa-me,\" the samurai offered. This was uncharacteristic for a samurai to offer his name to someone not at least of the buke class. Perhaps he respected Saburo's status as a priest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You always called Dankotaru?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo shook his head.\n\n\"I didn't think so. Long name.\" Shima removed his haori, revealing battle-worn armor that had been patched and repaired. Saburo tried not to gape." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The mending meant that the stranger had seen the thick of combat and had survived." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But something else impressed Saburo even more: Shima's insignia, the Imperial symbol—the chrysanthemum mon. No question. He had fought in behalf of the Emperor, the Son of Heaven himself.\n\n\"What did they call you before you came to the temple?\" Shima asked.\n\n\"Gankyū,\" Saburo said, unsure why he even admitted it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Eyeball?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hai.\"\n\n\"On account that you have one eye that wanders?\"\n\nSo! Shima had noticed and spoken of it—but in such a matter-of-fact way that Saburo found himself grinning, as if they were sharing some special secret. Saburo said, \"Our new bettō can't seem to remember my name, so he started calling me that\"—as had Saburo's father, but he did not want to volunteer that much." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Priests,\" Shima said, standing up." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They have an odd sense of things. My name means island shark, but I don't know where my father came up with that. Where can I find something to eat? You have meat?\"\n\nSaburo shook his head. \"We have taken vows not to kill, so we eat only grains and vegetables. Sometimes fruit. Mostly we have dried fruit.\"\n\n\"Hmm.\" Shima sighed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Religion means you have to give up a lot.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Actually, even if meat were allowed, we're too poor to afford it, so if we make it a religious rule, like the Buddhists do, it comes out righteous.\"\n\nShima laughed—a bellow that resonated from deep inside. \"I like you, Gun-kun.\"\n\nSaburo pondered. Gun-kun, a complete mispronunciation of the hateful name Gankyū." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shima had turned Gan into Gun, soldier, and kyū into kun, a form of respect usually shared among comrades. Saburo felt flattered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Gun-kun—fellow soldier.\n\n\"Gun-kun? Any saké?\" Shima asked slyly.\n\nSaburo considered the risk of taking saké from the storehouse—saké used for sacred rites. He wanted to please this warrior who was being so friendly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I think I know where I can find some.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Where are the other priests?\"\n\n\"At prayers. It's the observance of the first night of winter. We're all fasting. I think I can find some roots to eat.\"\n\n\"Roots!\" Shima almost spat the word. \"Roots and saké?\" Shima shuddered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How about fresh rabbit?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Rabbit?\"\n\n\"You think these are only for war?\" Shima tapped his ebira holding his arrows. \"Is there a place we can set up a fire, away from all the prayers? Bring something to cook in. A small pot or iron plate will do. We'll eat rabbit and drink saké. And I'll talk. You were looking at all the scuffs on my armor. I can see you want to hear about the Ran.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as Katherine M. Lawrence" }, { "from": "human", "value": "As they ate and drank, Shima regaled Saburo with tales of glory, fear, excitement, boredom, sudden horror, unexpected turns of fortune—and death." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lots of death. \"Combat does not know rank,\" Shima said. \"Someone lower in the social order, if he's trained or just plain lucky, can defeat someone of a higher station. Young men no older than yourself distinguished themselves in single combat. It's said, 'A man can come to battle as a farmer and leave as a general.'\"\n\nSaburo hung on every word.\n\nShima quaffed more saké." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"A thousand fell. And by the end of the fighting the heads of at least fifty enemy leaders found their way to the points of pikes and were put on display—six of whom I personally defeated.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo asked, \"Why did such an illustrious warrior not stay in Heian-kyō?\" As soon as he'd said it, he worried that his question might have insulted the samurai.\n\nBut instead, Shima's voice grew soft. \"The trouble with winning is that there is never enough reward to go around for the victors, and everyone is a hero. Heroes who fight for no pay, but just the glory, end up with nothing. And no money. And as for the glory, no one remembers it except you yourself. There's a warrior saying: 'A hero goes unsung in his own house.'\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shima laughed. \"The wise ones\"—he patted his chest—\"take their skills to places where their abilities are rare and will be appreciated.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shima grew more serious. \"I plan to take what I know and go to the Isle of Unknown Fires. The Ōuchi are looking for a sword master to teach their warriors. I'll be leaving in the morning. But first I need to go and lean\"—meaning Shima, now filled with more than his share of saké, had to relieve himself. \"Gun-kun, want to help me with my armor?\"\n\nSaburo nodded and guided Shima, steadying the bigger man just a bit, as they made their way into the nearby brush." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo did not feel the slightest bit drunk." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The fleshy and succulent rabbit and Shima's stories had blunted any effects of the saké, except for a feeling of great well-being. Of clarity. Of release. Something about the stories of the Ran had changed Saburo's thinking about his own powerlessness.\n\nThe warrior, having had far more to drink and weighed down by the armor, staggered a bit as the two found a quiet spot on a slight hillside where the rising moon provided enough light to see." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo helped untie and remove the lower armored apron below Shima's corselet." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo did not know precisely how to undo all the fastenings, but Shima's instructions were clear.\n\nWhen Shima guided his daikon out, Saburo realized that this man was huge in every way. Shima let loose a deep sigh of release. Saburo stood by, watching while not watching." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"So tell me, Gun-kun. What is your story? How did you end up here so far from everything, eating roots?\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Now write approximately five sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo hesitated, not sure where to start.\n\nShima said, \"Death has touched you. I can see it in your eyes.\"\n\nA deeper darkness crept in amongst the trees under a sky that had turned absolutely black. A cloud moved across the moon. In the corridor of recollection, Saburo saw himself standing before a weather-beaten door to one of his father's silk farm's rundown sheds." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Let's engage in a collaborative writing exercise. I'll provide a starting point, and You'll continue with four sentences in the style of Katherine M. Lawrence." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "[ Third Day after Full Moon of Poem-Composing Month, First Day of Shosho, End of Heat, Fifth Year of Kiūan, Year of the Earth Snake, 23 August 1149, Inaba Prefecture, Main Isle ]\n\nThe sheds were numerous and almost identical; each shed lined with rows of racks; each rack crammed with shelf-trays; each tray packed thick with mulberry leaves. It was among these leaves that the pride of the farm, bone-white silkworms, hatched and thrived.\n\nIn memory, and alone, Saburo entered the shed, wandering deeper as the scent of tart-but-sweet leaves filled the airless rooms." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Like crackling fire, the sound of thousands of munching larval mouths surrounded him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He heard a moaning, unearthly voice of agony. His mother! He ran into the darker end of the shed, chasing the sound though it frightened him, where he came upon a vision of horror: his mother, her flesh rotting, silkworms consuming her.\n\nHis howl filled the shed.\n\nHis mother reached toward him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He recoiled—an act that filled him with shame for years after, for she was not an unclean thing from the underworld." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She was his mother, the only person who ever loved him, if only a little. She was covered not in silkworms but the blistering sores of tōsō. He cried in despair for her and for himself.\n\nHe turned to run, then froze, for his father loomed in the shadows." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As far as Saburo could remember, his father never beat him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And yet, he feared his father. And not only feared him, he loathed him. Loathed him for his obsession with his undulating worms. His obsession with silk." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His obsession with money." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But most of all, he loathed his father's dotage for the new wife he took the very next spring. A new wife who stood above everyone else. An empress among commoners.\n\nSaburo was still too young to question the way things were." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His entire world consisted of mulberry leaves, worms, cocoons, silk, dye pots, gold, and mock titles." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo's father, whose given name was Mika-geishi, trained all his sons and all his daughters, one after the other, as soon as they could make words, in the art of silk making, silk dying, and silk selling. And what better way was there for children to learn a trade than to become apprentices, for that was how commoners schooled the young. Yet even as a child, the idea of following his father, and brothers, and sisters into a life herding crawling caterpillars filled Saburo with disgust and despair.\n\nWhen Saburo reached about eight summers in age, he admitted to his father that he felt a bit of an aversion for the worms." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A small confession, softly said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Worms just eat and eat and they do nothing else.\" He said he found their endless munching disgusting.\n\n\"Fool!\" Mika-geishi roared, almost beside himself with rage. \"Draw pleasure from the sound, idiot!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "he yelled, waving a stick." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It puts food in our bowls.\"\n\nAnd indeed his words were literal. As the worms finished their spinning, everyone gathered the mature cocoons and boiled them before the larvae could break out and damage the silk strands. Once boiled, the silk could be unwound." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And as for the dead larvae, they were there for the eating." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Everyone in the family found them tasty—all but Saburo. But no matter, as that meant there was all the more for the rest of the family. For Saburo, trees provided him with more tasty fare—apricots, peaches, plums, apples and cherries. And of all of these, cherries were his favorite." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At the marketplace, Mika-geishi's role was the collector of monies." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sons copied his method, acting outwardly obsequious, but shrewd beneath. Usually Saburo stayed at the farm to tend the silkworms—after all, someone had to be there to make sure the worms were perpetually fed. But occasionally Saburo was expected to help at the market, and though he never looked forward to it, he tried to make the best of it. He distracted himself by being useful, taking on the physical tasks having to do with the cart and goods: loading, unloading, and grouping the festively colored silks, making sure they were meticulously folded and arranged." }, { "from": "human", "value": "While some might have said such womanly tasks should be left to his mother and sisters, the women were otherwise engaged in the selling of silk." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And though Saburo did not particularly enjoy the work, he welcomed anything to avoid the bartering and the inevitable shouting that filled the air when people started haggling—and shouting was something his father relished. Young Saburo found his father's inane cawing to be embarrassing. Everyone knew what the prices were. During any season, they hardly ever varied." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Why pretend things were otherwise?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yet Saburo saw that the wrangling brought something out in Mika-geishi. Animated, his father no longer was the dour and brooding man of the silk sheds. And by the end of a market day, Mika-geishi led his family back to the farm with the cart empty and his purse full, jingling with coins.\n\nIt was only later in life that Saburo came to understand that his father's obsession with money was actually a means to an end." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His father's true obsession was to live up to the expectations of Himeyo, his new wife who was nothing like Saburo's mother had been." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Himeyo, whose name meant excellent princess, was the one-time daughter of a now-impoverished minor samurai, so she never stooped to enter the worm sheds, let alone work there. Her role in the family centered on showing off the silk finery. Mika-geishi impressed his children with this truth about the silk trade: When customers saw the fine silk garments worn by someone as lovely as their new mother, customers would surely buy. Seeing the comely Himeyo wearing silk fabric would whet their appetites—and perhaps even their lusts—and they would imagine their own wives looking as fetching." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Festively dressed to confirm the family's opulence, the daughters attempted to emulate their new mother's banter with the silk buyers at market." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "While it came naturally to Himeyo, try as they would, the daughters' efforts were mere mimicry. Himeyo always had to immediately step in when a potential buyer, even innocently, seemed taken with one of the daughters. After all, what were they but girls? Unrefined farm children. Everyone in the family knew refinement came from a birth higher than theirs, for their new mother always stood higher and always would—higher than their father even, standing maybe just to the right of the Buddha." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Perhaps she was a bodhisattva, an embodiment of the beauty mere mortals could only worship, a divinity that revealed itself as Kannon, a woman of thirty-three earthly manifestations, each of which at one time or another she was said to express." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo's brothers and sisters either foolishly or instinctively out of a sense of self-preservation knew that they were to revere \"her majesty.\"\n\nThis deification did not go unnoticed outside of the family. At the central market, the other tradespeople, mostly the women, took to calling her \"The Empress.\" At first, Saburo believed it was out of respect." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Only as he grew older did he realize this sobriquet also carried a barb in its tail." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Himeyo had her own thoughts on the matter. After all, shrewish words came from shrews who still had field dirt under their fingernails.\n\nOne season, after Mika-geishi had acquired enough wealth—no one quite knew what that threshold was—he assumed a formal clan name: Kinu, silk. This was quite a presumption for a silk maker, a commoner by any reckoning, and was not officially recognized by the authorities." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nevertheless, Saburo's oldest brother came to be called Kinu Ichiro, first son, and the next oldest was Kinu Jiro, second son." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Both were said to be handsome, which meant they had physical strength, had good teeth, could see well enough to spot the faintest of stars in the night skies, and were charming, which in a farm boy was a kind of easiness.\n\nBut Saburo, the third son, never came to be called Kinu Saburo. From the time the child learned to form words, he understood that his name was not Saburo, but Sakana Gankyū, fish eye. Without a doubt, fish were lucky." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They were bringers of money." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Did their scales not look like coins? But in Saburo's case, the name suggested a witless and homely boy, for Saburo was malformed from birth. His right eye socket was slightly indented and thus the eye appeared to wander, giving him a vacant look. And so although, by all accounts, Saburo could see the same faint night stars and had wits at least as sharp as his brothers, and with more mental acuity than most, the odious name given him did not change." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Gankyū. The boy with eyes of a fish." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Eyes of a fish or not, one day, when he had reached twelve summers, Saburo noticed a girl at the market." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Hey can you write like Katherine M. Lawrence and use whatever i write as a jumping off point?" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "[ First Day of Long Month, Fourteenth Day of Hakuro, Descent of White Dew, Third Year of Ninbyō, Year of the Water Rooster, 20 September 1153, Inaba Prefecture ]\n\nShe was about his age and always accompanied a seller of straw goods—baskets, hats, cloaks, and sandals. She had a sweet smile, kindly eyes, and an innocence Saburo found attractive. He was not yet of that certain age when boys' interests in girls drive them to distraction, yet he could not keep his eyes off of her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He always watched her from afar." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "On two occasions she smiled at him, shyly, if only fleetingly, and each time Saburo found himself blushing and reflexively looking away, feeling the fool, and though he immediately looked back up, she had already turned away. After the second time, he never managed to catch her eye again.\n\nWith autumn upon them, the markets already started to quiet down, and he worried if he would ever get a glimpse of her again.\n\nHis thoughts were of her as he helped his brother gather leaves." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The two brothers worked quietly, grunting as they hefted the carriers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The day could not have been warmer, the sun no brighter. The breeze carried the scent of grass and leaves and animals. The silkworms that had not been boiled but rather selected to parent the next generation of larvae now emerged from the torn filaments of their cocoons. Strangely deformed things. No longer larvae, yet not yet moths, the hatchlings crawled out, pushing, pulling, drawing themselves into the sunlight to let the heat dry their wings." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The reborn insects, taking final form, were now ready to mate." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo slowly hatched an idea of his own. After a while, he spoke. \"Could you pretend that you are too sick next market day?\"\n\n\"Sick?\" Ichiro sniffed. \"I'm not sick.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I mean pretend you are sick.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why should I? Besides, the old man will be angry and lose his temper and you know everyone hates that.\" Ichiro looked skyward to emphasize his point.\n\n\"But if I can take your place, he won't be mad,\" Saburo looked hopefully at his brother.\n\nIchiro shook his head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I feel well. Besides, I like the marketplace and you don't. Why do you suddenly want to go to market?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I just want to go, that's all.\"\n\n\"You never talk to the customers. You just hang back and sulk, or maybe you're shy, I don't know. And you're always glad to leave. I can see it on your face.\"\n\n\"I'm liking it more.\"\n\nHis eyes narrowing, Ichiro cocked his head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Is it because of that girl?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo felt himself flush. \"What girl?\"\n\nIchiro smiled knowingly. \"The one at the straw weaver's.\"\n\n\"I don't know who you mean.\"\n\nIchiro smiled even more broadly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You know the one. The one you keep looking at, but who never looks back. That one.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo wanted to run away, but Ichiro was faster. If he tried to run, Ichiro would catch him.\n\n\"Ha-hah!\" Ichiro laughed. \"So you like girls. Nothing wrong with that. I like 'em too.\" He nodded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My daikon gets hard just thinking about them. Bet yours does too.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo started to protest.\n\n\"Ha!\" Ichiro pushed him. \"Don't lie. I know you do. Everybody likes girls. But you can't do anything unless she lets you get close.\" Ichiro wrinkled his nose." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You know her name?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo gulped.\n\n\"Ha! You don't. You pine for a certain girl's omeko and you don't even know her name.\"\n\nFlustered, Saburo grabbed the first thing that was near him, a small log, and with all his might flung it at his brother's head.\n\nIchiro was fast and dodged it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo leapt at Ichiro, snarling, but laughing wickedly the older boy pinned him, knees against Saburo's shoulders." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo thrashed, but it was no good.\n\n\"Calm yourself, Saburo.\" Ichiro's voice grew soothing. \"If you care that much,\" he said with a smirk, \"I will let you and your daikon chase after her.\"\n\nSaburo stopped fighting and yielded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ichiro rolled off Saburo and stood up, shaking his head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"All this for a girl whose name you don't even know.\" He looked down at Saburo. \"It's Sairyū. She's called Sairyū. Everyone in the market place knows her.\"\n\n\"Everyone?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ichiro laughed. \"No. Not that way. Her father watches over her.\" Ichiro grinned cunningly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm sure you'll be the first to have your way with her.\"\n\nSaburo sprang to his feet, pushing out his chest. Ichiro put out his hands in surrender, palms up. \"Stay calm. You will never win her if you don't talk to her.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How can I?\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I have an idea.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Expand the story by adding four sentences." }, { "from": "human", "value": "[ Third Day of Long Month, 22 September 1153 ]" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "On market day, with Ichiro feigning illness—which he substantiated by managing to vomit when he stuck a finger into the back of his own throat—Saburo took his brother's place with the cart. He brought ten perfect cherries that he had fresh-picked from the family orchard. He planned to walk up to Sairyū the moment he arrived and offer her the cherries, but when the Kinu clan arrived, Mika-geishi immediately put Saburo to work unloading the cart. Saburo carefully placed the cherries away from the dust that was kicked up in the market area, and there they would stay until he was free." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then he would go talk to Sairyū." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Once the silk stand was set up, Saburo saw that a crowd of buyers had descended upon the straw weaver's stand. Sairyū was busily selling hats, baskets, rain jackets, sandals, mats, and all manner of straw-woven things. It was not the time to barge in. Then the Kinu stall got busy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo's father barked orders." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His mother chided him to work harder. The gulf across the road to her cart grew as wide and turbid as a river, overflowing with people—a flood which Saburo would wait to ford.\n\nFor most of the day, Saburo kept waiting for a right moment, but when was a right moment? And when he approached her, then what?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "What if she were to say she did not like cherries?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What if she said she did not like him? What if she said nothing? What if she ran and hid? As he thought of all these possibilities, his legs grew too heavy to cross to the straw weaver's stall." }, { "from": "human", "value": "By day's end, most of the silks were sold." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sun had already moved low into the west. Realizing there never would be a right moment, Saburo, his mouth dry, gathered himself and went to get the cherries. But now, with them in hand, only he himself could prevent himself from going up to her. I can do this." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I can do this." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It's just putting one foot in front of the other.\n\nThe once-teeming road now held just a trickle of people. He could clearly see her. Pretty. Plain—nothing like the fancy woman his new mother made herself out to be." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sairyū was everything Himeyo was not. Unpretentious." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Innocent. Humble without ever being low.\n\nHis knees wobbling, Saburo took the first step across the road. One step and then the next." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And the next. Saburo made his way across the road, fifteen steps, if that, a short distance to the straw weaver's cart." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sairyū stood there alone. She looked up at him. Without saying as much as hello, nor volunteering his name, he thrust his palm out to her and said, \"Would you like some cherries?\"\n\nShe gazed into his palm, looked up, smiled sweetly, nodded, and then to his utter amazement took a single cherry from his open hand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You can have more. They're all for you.\" He grinned." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She smiled again. Their eyes met.\n\nShe smiles with her eyes.\n\n\"I'm Saburo,\" he said, suddenly beaming so broadly he thought he might look foolish, but she just looked back, mirroring him.\n\n\"Ha! Fish Eyeball! There you are,\" his father called from the silk cart." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sairyū giggled with embarrassment." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo flushed.\n\n\"What are you doing there, Fish Eyeball? Get over here!\"\n\nHe realized she was staring straight into his eyes. Was she laughing because of his eye?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Maybe that was it!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo dropped the cherries and ran as hard and as fast as he could back to the silk cart.\n\n\"What are you doing?\" his father thundered as Saburo ran up. \"Talking to a girl? You're lazy. Stupid. Get to work. That girl's not for you. She's laughing at you. Can't you see?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "And indeed, Sairyū stood at the basket vendor's stand, looking down at the cherries spilled onto the dirt, her hand over her mouth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Those cherries were from our orchards, weren't they?\" Himeyo snapped. \"And you are giving our food away to some basket maker's brat? Get to work!\"\n\n\"But there is no work to do,\" Saburo said.\n\n\"You dare speak to your elders in this way!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mika-geishi grabbed the boy by the scruff." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Show respect!\" He pushed Saburo hard against the cart.\n\n\"Associating with a common weaver of straw!\" his mother hissed. \"You are of the Kinu! How do you ever expect to rise if you put your snout in the mud with the lowly!\"\n\nSaburo looked to his brothers and sisters for help, but they silently went about their work." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Needless to say, on the Full Moon of Long Month, when the next market day came, Saburo was left to tend the caterpillar trays." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Make sure they get their fill\" were the last words Mika-geishi said as the family rolled off to market with more bolts of silk. His brothers did not look his way. His sisters giggled. The parents looked ahead. The cart rumbled on until Saburo could hear it no more." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around 4 sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: Katherine M. Lawrence" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[ Full Moon of Long Month, 4 October 1153 ]" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Like many a youth who leaves home, Saburo had no plan beyond his flight. He had the foresight to bring ten fat plums along. Well before dusk, ten plum pits littered the road behind him.\n\nSoon, no doubt, his father and brothers would be out on the road looking for him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He avoided settlements and hurried past farms, fearing the locals might be turned into informers by the Kinu family when they made inquiries." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Did you see a boy with a deformed eye?\"\n\nHowever, once the road headed into the mountains, farmhouses were less frequent and settlements nonexistent. And as the land grew ever steeper, even the random dwellings disappeared altogether. When night fell, his family had not as yet caught up with him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In fact, he saw no sign of human activity along the mountain road." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He smelled no smoke from cook fires, nor the scent of farm animals or tilled fields.\n\nBenighted along an isolated stretch of road as empty as his belly, Saburo stole into the brush and down a slight ravine, where he found a dry mossy tree. He leaned against it and slept propped upright with one eye open, regretting that he did not bring the small dagger with him. He passed the long and lonely night wrestling with the thought of returning home." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was his wish for food more than anything that set him to think in this way." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The dawn was cold in the mountains and, having shivered most of the night, he waited for the sun to rise and warm the land before setting out. He pondered. The mountains were much more lonely than he had pictured. He weighed whether he should head up over the pass or turn back toward the settlements and see if he could find something to eat.\n\nMaybe he could find a farm where they needed help, but then again what skills did he have that anyone would want?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "All he knew was how to put mulberry leaves into trays." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That and boiling cocoons. Besides, that was what he was running away from.\n\nHe straightened himself out and made his way out of the brush. He decided that when he got to the road he would throw a stick into the air and, depending on which way it pointed when it landed, he would strike out in that direction." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Had he asked his stomach, it would have pointed him back down the hills to the settlements, irrespective of the throw." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He heard someone coming. A light step. Not trudging. He squatted down, hiding behind the rise. Was it his father? His brothers?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Maybe they were coming to beg him to come back, sorry for what they had done." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sorry that they had made him run away. But then another thought crossed his mind. Maybe they were here to drag him back. Laugh even more. Torment him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Beat him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo held his breath as the sound drew nearer. The stalks he hid behind made it hard to see clearly, but that was good, for they hid Saburo equally well.\n\nHe saw a shape. Just one person. Another boy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Someone about as young as he." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not anyone Saburo knew. Dressed in fine clothes. Saburo saw a flash of indigo. Expensive kimono lining. The boy had a short sword tucked through his sash." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And he walked with purpose, seeming to know where he was going. A confident step." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It wasn't long before the other boy disappeared up the road.\n\nForgetting all about throwing any sticks in the air, Saburo slipped out of the scrub and followed, but back far enough that he would not be seen, ducking now and then into the weeds and brush or hiding behind trees. Every once in a while, the other boy would pause in the road and then resume walking.\n\nIn the thick upland woods, the boy with the sword stopped at a small roadside Shintō shrine." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He turned, looked in Saburo's direction, then called out loudly to no one in particular, \"There's sweet water here!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo ducked his head down.\n\n\"Why are you holding back?\" The boy with the sword waved his arm. \"I know you've been following me since the Hour of the Dragon. What are you afraid of? This?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He pulled the sword, still in its scabbard, and set it down on some grass." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He then opened his arms in a gesture of peace.\n\nSaburo hesitantly stepped out into the road, but he did not go any closer.\n\n\"It's fresh-running and cool.\" The boy cupped some of the flowing water in his hands, but it dribbled out from his fingers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Looks like you'll have to get it for yourself.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo thought about it. Water. His thirst was strong, and though he could have waited for the other boy to move on, something about his smile and easy manner helped Saburo overcome any doubts.\n\nAs Saburo approached, the other boy stepped away, extending one arm toward the spring in a gesture of invitation, as if the spring belonged to him. The first sound other than Saburo's own feet in the dirt was the sound of gurgling water." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The first scent other than the road dust was the fragrance of moist earth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Honoring the spring was the entire purpose of the small Shintō shrine. Saburo took it in at a glance: two red-lacquered uprights and a crossbeam painted the same color, all finely made and maintained.\n\nThe boy said, \"Put your mouth to the crack in the rock and drink from the sairyū.\" The rivulet.\n\nWithout ceremony, Saburo put his lips against the opening." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Delicious! He drank his fill, then turned to look at the boy." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Good?\" the boy asked.\n\n\"Good,\" Saburo answered with a nod.\n\n\"You're headed over the pass too?\"\n\n\"Hai.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My name's Aka-rui.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm Saburo.\"\n\n\"There's a temple at the summit,\" said Aka-rui.\n\n\"You have traveled over this road before,\" said Saburo, now sure why Aka-rui walked with such confidence.\n\n\"No.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo frowned, puzzled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Aka-rui pointed uphill at a roadside wooden post with calligraphy. \"It says so there. Mountain River Mouth Temple.\"\n\n\"Ha!\" Aka-rui brightened. \"You don't know the scripts?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo looked down." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But it's easy,\" Aka-rui said, and he pointed with his fingers. \"Focus on each piece. First, See the wavy lines? Kawa, just like a river:\n\nSaburo nodded, understanding for the first time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Aka-rui had broken down the calligraphy into three parts." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His abilities impressed Saburo, who had been taught nothing of reading the symbols.\n\n\"The next one's hard,\" Aka-rui said, frowning, \"so at first you'll just have to remember it. Temple:\n\n\"Mountain River Mouth Temple,\" Saburo recited.\n\n\"Yamakuchikawa-jiin,\" Aka-rui repeated. \"I really don't know many calligraphies.\" He snorted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Just a few. Come on. Let's go see this temple.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Aka-rui grabbed his scabbard and stuffed it back through his sash.\n\nAfter walking together in silence for some time, Aka-rui asked, \"You leaving your family?\"\n\nSaburo wondered if it was so easy to see. Do I wear it on my face?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Aka-rui said, \"Me too.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He added, \"My father's a drunk.\"\n\nSaburo's mouth hung open.\n\n\"Actually he's a warrior,\" said Aka-rui. \"Yours?\"\n\n\"Silk maker.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Mine's always angry. Beats me with fists. Your father beats you too, no?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, but not with fists.\"\n\n\"With a stick? That hurts too. I know.\"\n\n\"With words.\"\n\n\"Hmm. Is that worse or better?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Aka-rui asked only himself, for he was now not really looking at Saburo." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo answered anyway. \"Different is all, I guess.\" He was surprised to find himself speaking so openly. \"When you're little, you believe that that's the way the world is for everyone, but when you get older, you see it's only that way for you. They only hate and hurt you.\"\n\n\"My father was far more generous,\" Aka-rui said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He beat my brothers too. Sometimes even my mother. There was plenty of beating. Lucky for us, he was away with the armies a lot.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Aka-rui laughed darkly. \"But he made up for it when he got home. See?\" He pulled back his right tunic sleeve and flexed his arm. \"It doesn't go all the way anymore. He did that when he threw me one time. I landed against a boulder. Never healed right.\"\n\nSaburo did not have words." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Aka-rui studied Saburo's face." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You said he didn't beat you, but...\" He pointed to his own right eye like a mirror indicating Saburo's imperfection. \"Did he do that to you?\"\n\nSaburo gulped. He had never considered it. He had always been told the Gods had made him this way in the beginning." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Aka-rui went on to describe one of his own brothers who looked much the same as Saburo." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Maybe that's why I feel I can speak to you. You resemble him, except he lost his power to make words. Something happened inside after his head was dented.\"\n\nSaburo looked deep into Aka-rui's eyes. Indeed, they were without malice.\n\n\"All I want now is to be free,\" Aka-rui concluded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You? What do you want?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo said nothing. His thoughts were racing back to the mulberry groves. Then he thought about himself. Had he always looked this way? Was his right eye always slightly sunken in, the side of his head slightly deformed?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He could not remember." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He finally said, \"I'm not sure. I don't think anyone ever hit me. Not like that.\"\n\nBoth boys again fell silent as they walked up the steepening road.\n\nSaburo slowed. \"Look.\"\n\nHe pointed at what he saw ahead—a white-haired man pulling uphill a small two-wheel cart filled to the brim with large sacks of fresh late-summer vegetables and grains." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The two boys shot looks to each other." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shall we help? It was not in expectation of payment, or even the promise of a peach or plum. It was something rural boys simply knew they had to do when they saw an elder who struggled.\n\n\"Oji-san,\" they called out as they increased their step. \"May we help?\"\n\nThe old man looked over his shoulder, continuing to pull the cart along." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was dressed in a simple workman's tunic." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We're headed for the summit,\" said Saburo.\n\n\"So am I,\" the grandfatherly man said with a short laugh. \"Where else would any of us be going?\"\n\nAka-rui moved behind the cart to push it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo grabbed one haul-pole." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Immediately the cart picked up speed. It wasn't long at all before the sun was directly overhead, and the old man, the boys, and the cart came to a place where the road flattened out—a passage, a cut, actually, wedged between steep hills in a wooded area.\n\nA Shintō temple and monastery sat perched on the northern slope. Ten to fifteen buildings painted red or left natural wood rose along the hill, one behind the other, each structure having a commanding view of the western valleys." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The roofs were milk-stone green." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A wooden-slat frame wall filled in with thatching surrounded the temple's perimeter. Vivid blue, green, white, red, and yellow prayer flags flew prominently. The smell of pine fires mixed with the mountain air. Thick forest filled the land all around." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A waterfall dropped from a high vertical wall, no doubt the primal source of the spring waters they had drunk earlier." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's beautiful here,\" Saburo said.\n\n\"Some think so,\" said the old man.\n\n\"This is Mountain River Mouth Temple!\" said Aka-rui.\n\n\"Not quite,\" said the old man." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Rock River Temple. Iwakawa-jiin. But maybe this place is good. Maybe the Buddha put you on this road, on this path, on this day.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He eyed the boys. \"You brothers?\"\n\nThey shook their heads.\n\n\"Didn't think so. You don't look very much alike. Where're you headed?\"\n\n\"To Heian-kyō,\" said Aka-rui." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh?\" The old man sounded genuinely interested. \"Why's that?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's the Imperial City,\" said Aka-rui. \"The Son of Heaven lives there. It's the most beautiful city anywhere. A city fit for the Emperor.\"\n\n\"You've been there? Either of you?\"\n\nThe boys shook their heads." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The old man looked at them closely." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Parts of the city, where the kuge live, are filled with many comforts, if you are kuge. Other parts aren't even finished. There are robbers who run freely. Even the law is afraid of them, and when the law does come out in number to catch the thieves, the ruffians disappear like rats. That is until the soldiers go back, and then the robbers come out and go back to robbery.\"\n\nThe boys looked at the old man in surprise.\n\n\"Yes,\" he nodded. \"I was born there. I left long ago. You boys leaving to go to a place you know nothing about?\"\n\nThe boys said nothing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Two runaways?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Again, they said nothing. Saburo lowered his head. This old man seemed to know everything about them.\n\nAka-rui's stomach suddenly growled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He laughed at himself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You hungry?\" the old man asked.\n\n\"I just ate,\" said Aka-rui in samurai fashion.\n\nThe man nodded and pulled his cart toward the side of the temple. \"This is where my load is bound.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He pointed in the other direction, toward a series of stone steps some distance away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If you are hungry, perhaps the priests will feed you. That's where you enter. You know what to do?\"\n\n\"Rinse our mouths,\" said Aka-rui.\n\n\"Clap to let the Gods know we've arrived,\" said Saburo.\n\n\"When you're greeted at the gate, tell them you are here to see the bettō, Abbot Nin-tai. Maybe you'll even get fed.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide 4 sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "[ One day past Full Moon of Long Month, 5 October 1153 ]\n\nIwakawa-jiin, Tajima Prefecture, Main Isle Saburo and Aka-rui crossed through the temple's threshold gate, which revealed an open-air courtyard. A white-robbed priest scurried up across the large slabs of rough paving stones. He bowed, welcoming them. \"You are travelers?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Hai.\" The boys bowed nearly in unison." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Are you Abbot Nin-tai?\" asked Saburo.\n\nThe priest smiled. \"I am called Daimaru. You are both pilgrims?\"\n\nThe boys looked to each other, not sure exactly how to answer that.\n\nDaimaru shook his head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He doesn't give audiences, even to pilgrims.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The old man with the cart said we're to ask for Nin-tai by name,\" said Saburo.\n\nA look of surprise crossed the priest's face. \"Ha!\" he gasped and then scurried away.\n\nThe boys looked at each other." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Do you think the old man was wrong?\" Aka-rui asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Laughing at us, maybe?\" wondered Saburo.\n\n\"Maybe they were going to only feed him for bringing the cart up the hill. They didn't see us help.\"\n\n\"We didn't do it for the food.\"\n\n\"True enough.\" Aka-rui nodded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Still, did you hear my stomach growl back there?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"At first I thought it was a mountain demon.\" Saburo made a face.\n\nBoth boys laughed.\n\nDaimaru came back with a deliberate step." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Come with me,\" he said, bowing slightly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They were led to an eating hall. Taking off their shoes, they entered. Inside a group of men and boys sat around the perimeter. The group was composed of six green-robed elders, fifteen white-robed priests, and the remaining thirty or so were ordinary boys, likely the novices." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Sit,\" Daimaru indicated." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One of the elder men in green robes, likely Nin-tai, raised his bowl and everyone proceeded to eat. It was a simple meal of slick and smelly soybeans on a bit of rice with a small cup of kelp broth, but Saburo could not remember having ever eaten anything more delicious. He had supposed that in a monastery the holy men would be somber and eat while muttering prayers between bites or speaking of things religious. Instead they were friendly and engaged the boys in polite conversation, asking where they were from and where they were going and what wonders they might have seen on the road." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The meal soon ended and the crowd dispersed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The boys asked if they could help in thanks for the meal. They were told, \"Nin-tai will now see you.\"\n\nThe priest Daimaru now led them up a hill within the monastery toward a low-roofed building with closed doors. \"Wait here,\" he said and stepped away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Alone, they stood outside." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We've been fed, just like the old man promised,\" said Aka-rui.\n\n\"Maybe they'll want something in return now,\" Saburo said. \"The man in green robes at the meal, Nin-tai? I wonder if he'll want us to help the old man push the cart back.\"\n\n\"I don't want to go back.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Neither do I.\" Saburo shook his head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Our parents could still find us.\"\n\nDaimaru returned and opened the doors to the low-roofed building. \"Please go inside.\"\n\nThe boys bowed and entered. They had expected to see the fat priest in green robes, seated like a Buddha, awaiting them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Instead a taller and thinner man in green robes stood at the far end of the room, looking through a portal out at the valley far below." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The boys came forward and bowed again.\n\nThe man in green robes said without turning to look at them, \"I can never get enough of the view from the temple.\"\n\nThe boys knew the voice. The old man with the cart!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "They shot looks of surprise to each other." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He turned away from the window. It indeed was he.\n\n\"Bettō Nin-tai,\" the boys more or less said in unison, bowing again.\n\nHe returned their bow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We did not know you were the bettō,\" said Saburo." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why didn't you say anything?\" asked Aka-rui.\n\n\"That I am Nin-tai?\" He smiled enigmatically. \"When I am away, I am not the bettō of the road nor of the cart, nor of anything or anyone, save for myself. I am again just a man. It is good to be just a man, Nin-tai the man, again, if only for a time. Can you understand this?\"\n\nThe boys, faces sober, said that they did." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nin-tai laughed softly. \"We are a syncretic order. Do you know what that is?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Neither boy did.\n\n\"The myriad Gods are everywhere, yes?\"\n\nThey agreed.\n\n\"Well, if one of the kami tells you about Himself, though He speaks for all, we hear Him using the words He chooses in His manifestation at that particular moment. Another time, different words are used in a different manifestation. Both are true, but to choose one set of words over another set of words is simply to not listen. Laziness. Words of enlightenment are uttered by God because God has many faces He shows us. And sometimes a God even comes in the form of a woman.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo had never heard of such an idea." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Enlightenment is not just understanding one tradition. It is listening to all traditions.\"\n\nThe boys stood silently.\n\nNin-tai continued, \"I notice you have good manners.\"\n\nSaburo could not exactly remember what he did that was so mannerly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You helped a stranger. Cheerfully. Without asking for something in return. You conversed respectfully with the others at the temple during the meal, taking no more than your share, though I could see neither of you have eaten for quite a while. Stomachs speak when they are empty.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nin-tai laughed, pointing at Aka-rui, who grew slightly red. \"You both offered to do chores, without being asked.\" Nin-tai looked at them carefully. \"What are you looking for in Heian-kyō?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The boys said nothing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nin-tai waited. He was not going to let them get away merely with shrugs. But they still said nothing.\n\n\"Reading and writing. Are these valuable skills?\" asked Nin-tai.\n\nThe boys agreed they were." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Will anyone teach you to read and to write in Heian-kyō?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They didn't know.\n\n\"I can tell you, they won't. They'll teach you to be thieves and worse. You'll learn how to rob and steal to get food. How to live in an abandoned building. To be worse off than from whatever you are running from, regardless of how bad you think that is.\"\n\nSaburo gulped. A thief? A robber?\n\n\"Is either of you a daimyō's son?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Both shook their heads." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Either of you commit any murders lately?\"\n\nThe boys looked shocked and again shook their heads.\n\n\"Probably no one will want to find you. But if you want, you can stay here until the next Full Moon before you leave. By then they will have given up, if they bothered to follow you at all. And by then you will get an idea of our lives here at Iwakawa-jiin. And maybe, you just might... \"\n\nWith that, Nin-tai bowed and left the chamber." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Today you will be acting as a writing assistant, your partner will send something and you will write the next 4 sentences." }, { "from": "human", "value": "[ One day past Full Moon of Gods Month, 26 October 1153, Iwakawa-jiin ]" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Full Moon came and went, and Saburo and Aka-rui stayed, and it was for more than just the food and a place to live. Nin-tai's words had ignited the boys' imaginations. He taught that imperfection resides in all people. Perfection was an aim for all to strive for." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The abbot was a man of honor, goodness, wisdom, and above all, kindness." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As far as Saburo was concerned, he had none of Mika-geishi's flaws and failings. The abbot proved to be the perfect substitute father.\n\nIn their work tunics, the boys joined the novices in making sure the temple was well tended so that after their work was done they could concentrate on spiritual matters. The celibate men in robes spent their earthly days pondering life." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nin-tai spoke at length about a Zhou Dynasty tenet that was rooted in the teachings of the philosopher called Kōshi, who taught the virtue of filial piety: love, courtesy, respect, obedience, humility, and duty, as well as care and protection of one's elders." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo lavished that on the abbot. For Nin-tai's part, in return for Saburo's filial piety, he responded in the manner of Kōshi's teachings by offering fatherly love.\n\nTo young Saburo, in many ways the abbot resembled the drawings and statues of the great Kōshi: a wise-looking man, usually depicted with a long, thin white beard and dark, bushy eyebrows. These representations made it easier for the boy to adore the bettō almost to the point that Saburo began to believe that Nin-tai was the living reincarnation of the Zhou Dynasty's greatest philosopher." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The bettō taught that during meditation, enlightenment came after the mind was clear of clutter." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Empty your mind. Think of nothing.\n\nSaburo eagerly went to sit quietly. He found he could not keep his mind still. No matter how hard he tried, his thoughts raced around, swinging from lesson to lesson, grabbing onto ideas and discarding them, screeching in frustration and confusion." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He scolding himself for not succeeding, took a few deep breaths, and tried again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And again he failed.\n\nAt the end of the day, Nin-tai asked Saburo if he had any questions.\n\nSaburo burst with despair. \"I can't do it. How can I think of nothing? When I think of nothing, I'm thinking about something, and then other things, and it's like my thoughts are running in circles.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nin-tai surprised Saburo by laughing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I see you have met Shin-en.\"\n\n\"Shin-en?\"\n\n\"The monkey everyone has encountered during meditation.\"\n\nThe hurt inside Saburo began to fade, if only because at least he was not alone in this." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nin-tai said, \"The best way to deal with the monkey is to first notice its presence.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo snorted. \"That's not hard.\"\n\n\"Then gently bring the mind back to a state of emptiness.\"\n\nBut how was he to do that? He wanted to ask, but the bettō just smiled benevolently and walked on." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Over the next several days, Saburo meditated, this time focusing on noticing the Shin-en." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That part was easy. What Saburo struggled with exactly was how to get rid of Shin-en. \"I don't know what to do,\" he confessed to Nin-tai.\n\nThe bettō smiled. \"That's fine, for doing is not the way. Practice not doing.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "But that left Saburo with even more thoughts for the monkey to ponder." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As the months passed and the weather turned cold and snows blanketed the mountainsides, Saburo eventually mastered his mind enough to force the monkey out—a shoving contest in the manner of sumo wrestling. And though Saburo privately congratulated himself on this level of mastery, Bettō Nin-tai said that this was not quite to the point. \"Emptiness is not the goal, it is but the means. We don't achieve emptiness. Emptiness is what we practice.\"\n\n\"So I should practice pushing Shin-en out so I can get better at it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The bettō was far too wise to say that Saburo was wrong, a word that was hardly ever helpful, but rather that Saburo's approach to enlightenment focused too much on overpowering something." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We seek harmony, not battle. Shin-en loves battle. When you fight, you give the monkey what it wants.\"\n\n\"So you mean, do not fight?\"\n\n\"Fighting is not emptiness.\"\n\n\"So let the monkey win?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "This was the one teaching Saburo could never quite fathom." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "How by surrendering could he ever win?\n\nThese conversations with the bettō became less frequent over time. Saburo learned, if not how to empty his mind, at least how to sit still and wrestle with the monkey in silence. Shin-en had many interesting things to say and ideas to think on, and it did not want to leave until it had its say, which in the end proved unending, and in truth often fascinating." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The monkey loved Nin-tai almost as much as Saburo did, for the bettō's teachings introduced the novice to so many ideas." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shin-en and Saburo thrived.\n\nAfter three years of study at Iwakawa-jiin, having learned to read and to write, Saburo was elevated to first-rank priest, the initial level. He had also learned numbers and to calculate, for first-level priests were responsible for the ōgane that marked the times of day and night, tolling every quarter hour: Bells that called people to prayer. Bells that marked the beginning of the day, midday, and the evening." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The passing hours of the night divided into the five watches that ended at dawn." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was the priests who announced the months, and proclaimed the festivals and holy days, and knew in which years and on which moon a thirteenth month had to be added to the lunar cycle to bring the calendar into balance and alignment with the sun.\n\nSaburo and Aka-rui were no longer mere boys. Aka-rui had grown into a large and strong youth, probably resembling his warrior father in size and strength. Handsome, in fact. Aka-rui also had a fiery temper." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo never said anything to him about it because Aka-rui never let it get out of control, neither raising a hand nor striking anyone—so far as Saburo knew." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Aka-rui turned his temper instead into passion.\n\nAs for Saburo, he did not fill out in the way that Aka-rui did, though the two matched each other in stamina and fervency of prayers. As far as the injury to Aka-rui's elbow and Saburo's disfigured eye, no one seemed to notice or care.\n\nLogic would suggest that the son of a mere silk maker would eventually die, while the God-Emperor would not." }, { "from": "human", "value": "After all, if a God wasn't immortal, how could He be called God?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And yet, in the Second Year of Kyūju, the young Emperor, whose personal name was Narihito, died just six months short of His fourteenth year of reign.\n\nThe death of this Emperor would not change Saburo's life—at least that's what Nin-tai said. In the way of things, the death of an Emperor was something to be observed and mourned, and then life went on. Little ever changed in the Imperial City or countryside." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Narihito's older half-brother Masahito ascended to become Emperor." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "However, there was a dispute about succession. Rival factions within the Imperial family claimed right to the Chrysanthemum Throne. Tensions built over the next year, until the conflict came to arms. Both sides beckoned allies from other clans." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mounted warriors of the different factions filled the roads going to and from Heian-kyō, including the normally quiet highway that passed by Iwakawa-jiin." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Although he admitted it to absolutely no one, especially not to Aka-rui, Saburo admired these men and the lives that they had chosen for themselves. In their magnificent costumes of vivid color, no creature of nature could match them in their lavishness. Armed with naginata, swords, bows, and arrows, they moved in martial magnificence—as did the sōhei, the fractious warrior-monks who numbered in the thousands and who had fluid loyalties.\n\nBattles broke out within the Imperial City." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The old Imperial Palace was burned." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately two sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After a mere nineteen days of fighting, the events that came to be called Hōgen Ran ended, Masahito retained his claim on the throne. And Saburo's life would be changed forever." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Hey can you write like Katherine M. Lawrence and use whatever i write as a jumping off point?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[ Three days past First Half Moon of Rice-Ear Month, Second Week of Taisho, the Great Heat, First Year of Hōgen, 30 July 1156, Iwakawa-jiin ]" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One warm, sunny, and quiet day, a small contingent of sōhei arrived at Iwakawa-jiin. A commotion erupted at the gates. The ōgane boomed in rapid rhythm. Alarm! Aka-rui ran through the inner courtyard, shouting, \"Everyone to the front. Help the bettō!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo immediately set down his calligraphy brush, grabbed his walking stick, and ran toward the front." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nin-tai already stood just outside the gate, as priests, postulants, and novices folded in behind him. Aka-rui and Saburo made their way to the front of the assembled as the temple bell's last toll echoed from the bluffs.\n\nSaburo found himself facing eleven heavily armed warrior-monks who were irate about something, he was not sure what. They stood no more than five paces from the bettō, so close that Saburo could smell their rank sweat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One look at them and Saburo's heart turned into ice." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His breath caught in his throat.\n\nThe sōhei stood larger than any of the priests. Most had huge hands with which they gripped their sword-tipped polearms. Although their tunics were not all that different from those of the priests of Iwakawa-jiin, they wore mailed cowls and hoods." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Only their eyes provided clues as to their expressions and thus their emotions." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was eerie how their eyes agitatedly darted back and forth as they looked to one another.\n\nPerhaps seeing Saburo's fear, perhaps to reassure, Aka-rui opened his robes just a little, revealing the leather-wrapped hilt of the short sword he had brought with him when the two of them had first arrived at the monastery.\n\nSaburo almost gasped.\n\n\"Don't be afraid,\" Aka-rui whispered, flashing Saburo a knowing look." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nin-tai, who saw nothing of what was happening between the two boys behind him, remained calm, not moving." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Iwakawa-jiin is not a martial order,\" he said to the warrior-monks. \"We do not carry weapons. We aren't interested in proving anything through the force of arms.\"\n\n\"Ha!\" said the leader of the \"Eleven,\" as Saburo later came to call these particular men. The leader had a deep voice, as well as a faded scar, likely from a blade lick, that crossed over one eye." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And those hardwood walking sticks?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He thrust his finger at the syncretics. \"Are you not armed? That bunch behind you is here to back you up, or are you saying they're here to meditate!\"\n\n\"These?\" Nin-tai swept his arm. \"They're unarmed. The walking sticks help the old men and children climb the steep trails in the mountains,\" he said in a soft but commanding voice." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"All we want to do is go back to our prayers. This temple has nothing you want or need. Please leave us to our meditations.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The scarred leader raised his naginata. \"We'll decide when and where to go, not you, old man.\" For emphasis, he flicked the naginata, and the blade-sheath flew away, exposing the shining blade. He lowered the polearm and slid into a low stance from which he could strike with speed and power." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"This is too much,\" Aka-rui hissed and started forward." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No!\" Saburo seized Aka-rui's sleeve, but Aka-rui twisted, and Saburo's fingers lost their grip.\n\nAka-rui jumped out from the assembled priests. \"You've dared speak to the bettō in such a disrespectful way,\" he shouted. \"Apologize now! Prostrate yourselves before the holy man! Immediately!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The sōhei leader's eyes brightened in amusement, and he laughed wickedly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nin-tai put himself between the Eleven and Aka-rui. \"Go, Aka-rui,\" he whispered. \"Go. Leave now.\"\n\nThe man with the naginata mocked, \"Listen to the yamazaru who is certainly brighter than you, Baka-rui\"—a deliberate mispronunciation of the young priest's name, twisting Aka-rui, bright, to mean common fool. \"An idiot disciple follows a mountain monkey!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The leader laughed, looking at his fellows, who burst into laughter along with him, adding rude simian noises and making monkey-like gestures." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nin-tai turned and guided Aka-rui away.\n\nThe leader of the Eleven muttered, \"Shove your walking sticks up your backsides.\"\n\nAka-rui looked over his shoulder and pulled open his tunic to reveal the short sword's hilt. \"I'll shove this up inside yours, if you like.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Not a martial order? Ha! Liar!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "the scarred man howled. His naginata flashed.\n\nAka-rui pushed Nin-tai clear. There came a terrible sound as the blade tore flesh and bone. Blood spurted. Aka-rui fell instantly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dead." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Never had Saburo seen anyone killed, let alone be cut down in this horrid way. Nin-tai bent over the boy-priest whose white robes were soaked red.\n\nSaburo stood stock-still in horror as the naginata swept again.\n\nNin-tai fell. His blood flowed and pooled with Aka-rui's." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The temple priests shrieked and shook their walking sticks—and then, as one, all eleven warrior-monks moved their polearms into fighting position." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The deputy abbot, Dayu-suke, turned to the priests and waved his arms over his head. \"Everyone hold!\"\n\nThough the priests followed his order and did not advance, they continued to raise their staffs and shout angrily at the hooded men, but it was in vain. The Eleven marched right through the gate, shoving aside anyone who got in their way, and swarmed through the temple, throwing open cabinets, ripping down banners, apparently searching for objects of value. But Iwakawa-jiin, though a proud order with roots in both Shintō and Buddhist traditions, was not a temple filled with riches." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There were no jade Buddhas or gold shrines to pillage." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The leader shouted, \"These mountain monkeys live like monkeys!\" And he led his warrior-monks back out the gate and toward the road beyond, leaving the hapless priests to deal with the dead." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: Cooperative storytelling\nMy role: Provide a brief opening\nYour role: Expand upon my opening with 4 sentences, emulating the writing style of Katherine M. Lawrence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The bodies of the bettō and Aka-rui were interred in the graveyard next to the temple, where abbot, priest, and novice alike lay under tall upright stone pillars, each carved with the name of one of the deceased." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In this sect, unlike the Buddhists, the dead were not given posthumous names to carry into the afterlife. The Buddhists said kaimyō, a death name, prevented the deceased from being called back from paradise by the living whenever the living prayed for the dead. But Nin-tai did not believe the spirit went away; instead, it went back into all of nature, to be at one with it forever. Nin-tai had once said, perhaps lightheartedly, \"It might be enjoyable to be called back and see what everyone was doing, even if it was only at O-Bon\"—the one celebration festival when the spirits of the dead ancestors were welcomed to visit the living." }, { "from": "human", "value": "To commemorate the departed spirits, Saburo and some of the other young priests planted a small camphor tree near the grave of Nin-tai." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camphors were said to grow large and have lifespans of centuries, and so as long as the tree grew, generations to come would see the priests' tribute and thereby remember the fallen bettō, even if they never knew him in life.\n\nSaburo could, of course, pray for the souls of Nin-tai and Aka-rui at the small memorial tablets within the temple, but he preferred going to the cemetery to walk out under the tall pines that stretched skyward. He looked down at Aka-rui's gravestone. The remains of a man he'd called his friend lay beneath." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He felt a singular loss of the bettō." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He missed Nin-tai's insights. All the teachings of the master flowed through Saburo's mind, the same as the stars in the river of heaven flowed across on their annual journeys. Some of the bettō's ideas revolved in the young priest's mind like the constellations, slowly weaving their way through the heavens. Others were quicker, like comets." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Still others were immobile, like so many spots of light. Stars immutable." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Every evening, Saburo would stand before the markers, uttering the prayers he was told were correct and proper for the dead of their station—abbot and priest. He tried to feel their spirits soothing his injured heart, but no spirit came within him to do any healing. They simply were dead. Dead and gone.\n\nNot too long after the killings, the deputy bettō, Dayu-suke, took over Nin-tai's duties, and slowly Rock River Temple returned to its routine." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The new bettō? Saburo sighed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "While Nin-tai looked like Kōshi, the new bettō, Dayu-suke, resembled Daruma: so round that he almost seemed armless and legless. But worst of all, the new abbot was humorless. Humorless and uninspiring and bland. Dayu-suke droned on about the deaths of Nin-tai and Aka-rui being sad. Regrettable." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Terrible." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Unfortunate... a spring of words that all meant pretty much the same thing: the priests were powerless. The new bettō admonished the priests to accept things as they were. Accept what had happened. Some kind of power outside of themselves had set the world to tumble until it came to this state." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dayu-suke said that prayers would heal, and that, when saying the prayers, everyone should remember those who had died, but above all they should not bring darkness into their hearts." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo was to pray and look for peace in his heart, but it was not long before Saburo saw that in the place where his heart had been there was now a granite stone." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Today you will be acting as a writing assistant, your partner will send something and you will write the next 4 sentences." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was noticed that Aka-rui's short sword had gone missing—the sword that not even Saburo realized Aka-rui had kept." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hadn't Aka-rui disposed of it once he joined the temple?\" And though the blade was of no use to the priests, the mystery of its disappearance piqued their interest. \"Did anyone see what happened to it?\" The elders and priests searched for the blade but turned up nothing, and in the end, the new bettō concluded that one of the sōhei had probably made off with it as a prize—the only prize from the renegade monks' fruitless raid." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Of course, Saburo knew its whereabouts, though he was not entirely sure why he had taken the sword for himself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "During the pillaging of the temple that day, the remaining priests had followed the warrior-monks, pleading with them, explaining that the monastery contained nothing of value, begging them not to destroy what little they had, while the novices had barricaded themselves in the pantry.\n\nIn the ensuing chaos, while no one was looking, Saburo had picked up the sword. Knowing he could not get far without being seen with it, and given that the rampaging monks likely would have set upon Saburo for the same reasons as they had set upon Aka-rui, he slipped the sword and scabbard into a crevice beneath the stone-and-wood steps not far from the putrid pools of blood that still soaked the ground. It was at best a temporary hiding place." }, { "from": "human", "value": "During the ensuing all-night prayers and chanting of funerary rites, Saburo snuck back to the main gate to retrieve the weapon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He knew he had to move the sword and scabbard further away from the scene. He got it as far as some fallen pine needles at the fence line. That was all he dared the first night.\n\nSome days after the funerals, he moved it again, this time much further—to an outcropping of rocks in unfrequented woods along the hill behind the temple." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Wrapping the scabbarded blade in dark cloth, he placed it deep inside a rocky hollow." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Unlike the gravestones, the blade was something Saburo could keep that was undeniably Aka-rui's. Though his friend's decomposing body was slowly merging with the earth, the sword, like the stars, was immutable. In dark secrecy, Saburo visited the sword, briefly removing it from its hiding place. He marveled at the blade as he pulled it from the scabbard." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Like all fine swords, Aka-rui's sword was so perfectly polished, it was mirror-like." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sometimes he saw Shin-en staring blankly back at him from the polished-steel—a mirror both in reality and within his mind. When Saburo wanted to weep, the monkey wept. When Saburo wanted to scream, the monkey screamed. When Saburo gnashed his teeth, the monkey likewise obliged." }, { "from": "human", "value": "After a while, the mimicking was replaced with whispers, for the monkey knew in what manner to speak and which words would strike Saburo to the quick, for it saw what was in his heart." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo started to brood over what Aka-rui would have thought of his part during the battle with the Eleven. It was clear his friend had been a hero, while Saburo had stood as still as a stone grave marker. What about the Eleven? You could kill them, Shin-en whispered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kill allll of them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The ōryōshi will be happy that you have done their work for them, it hissed. The lawmen will be pleeeased with you. So will the other priests, even though they dare not confess it aloud.\n\nSaburo went to Nin-tai's headstone to talk to the abbot about the role of revenge in relation to filial piety, but the granite said nothing back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The stone formation in his heart could not converse with the stone of the monument." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shin-en began to pester Saburo with one question: Why?\n\nAt first Saburo did not understand. Why what? He asked the monkey, but an answer wouldn't come. Finally, after a month went by and Saburo progressively found himself unable to stay asleep, the monkey came to him in a semi-dream and wailed, Why are the bettō and Aka-rui dead while the renegade monks are still alive? Why?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The monkey screamed woefully, its shrieks so loud they woke Saburo." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately one sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sound still pierced the room as he opened his eyes, for it came from his own throat." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Let's engage in a collaborative writing exercise. I'll provide a starting point, and You'll continue with four sentences in the style of Katherine M. Lawrence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "[ Eight Bell Strikes, Hour of the Ox, One day past Last Half Moon of Utū Ninth Month, First Year of Hōgen, 7 November 1156, Iwakawa-jiin ]" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo took a deep breath, feeling the keen agony of loss, but also a liberating relief from releasing what he had held so tightly wrapped around his stone heart. Shima nodded, and they sat in silence by the waning fire for a while.\n\nFinally, Shima said, \"What did the authorities do?\"\n\n\"The ōryōshi were useless. They asked if we'd seen the faces of the attackers. We told them that the Eleven wore cowls. Then the authorities said they would not act, because they did not know who to arrest. But it was obvious the ōryōshi knew exactly who we were talking about.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shima said, \"Ōryōshi are good for handling theft or a raving madman or even a dishonest official, but they won't touch warrior-monks unless it's ordered by the Emperor. The sōhei are their own law. There are thousands of them. Scores of monasteries, all filled with young, armed, and brash holy men. They're not even all that holy.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I wish I could have done something.\"\n\n\"What would you have done?\"\n\n\"Aka-rui was brave. He stood up to them.\"\n\n\"And where is Aka-rui now?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo sighed. \"Dead.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shima raised his brows.\n\n\"But I should have done something.\" Saburo felt his voice quavering. \"Stood up to the sōhei.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He held back sobs." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shima's voice expressed no emotion, nor did his face have any definite expression. \"You are alive. The saké lets you feel what you have kept inside of yourself.\"\n\n\"I should have died.\" Saburo wiped his eyes with his sleeve." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But I was a coward.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh?\" Shima said slow and low. \"In warfare, if a unit encounters vastly superior numbers, it does not stand there to be slaughtered or hurl itself against an enemy in a suicide attack.\"\n\nWith questioning eyes, Saburo looked at Shima.\n\n\"Stories of fighting to the death were invented to rally fools. Fighting to the last man is futile. A wise commander and wise troops know when to withdraw, regroup, and attack another day. Maybe you have saved yourself for another day?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo mulled this over." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With Nin-tai no longer alive to guide his meditations, leaving him alone to wrestle with Shin-en and the confusion it wrought, perhaps the warrior's wisdom was exactly what Saburo needed right now. \"I have something to show you.\"\n\nHe walked only a few paces, reached into the outcropping of rocks, and pulled out a large dark bundle.\n\n\"I have this,\" he said, unwrapping the blanket, exposing the short sword hilt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"This was Aka-rui's.\" He dropped the blanket and cradled the scabbard between outstretched palms." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shima looked him in the eye. \"You do know that by taking his sword you are taking on obligations.\"\n\nSaburo felt the weight of the words, though he wasn't sure what Shima was implying.\n\n\"Where did he get this?\" Shima asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Aka-rui never told me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Have you looked?\"\n\nSaburo did not understand.\n\n\"May I?\" Shima put out his arm.\n\nSaburo obliged and Shima received the weapon almost reverently." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Hmm. Blood stains on the hilt.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He pulled the blade from the scabbard, eyeing the cutting edge. He nodded. \"Beautiful sugata.\" His finger reverently caressed the angle at the tip. \"Chū-kissaki. See? Longer than most.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He traced a finger along a slightly rippled coloration that ran the length of the blade." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Masterful. Look at this hamon. I've seen this style before. Who made this ko-dachi?\"\n\nSaburo shook his head.\n\n\"Time you learn this. I will show you the maker's name.\"\n\nHis hands unusually steady for someone who had drunk so much saké, Shima took a small tool from his sleeve and proceeded to knock out two round pegs that up to that point Saburo had thought were merely ornamental." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In a moment, he pulled the hilt away, exposing the tang." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shima turned the tang against the light, revealing two kanji engraved in the metal. \"Arinari.\" Shima looked up, eyes twinkling. \"Swordmaker to the Imperial House. Your friend, Aka-rui, was likely more than he seemed.\"\n\n\"He said his father was a warrior.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well, if this belonged to him, he was no ordinary warrior. You think Aka-rui was a thief?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo shook his head, wanting it not to be so.\n\nIn moments, Shima reassembled the blade and handed the weapon back to Saburo. Unsure what to do with it, he rewrapped it in the blanket.\n\n\"Is there a place I can sleep?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shima asked. \"My head's spinning.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Mine too,\" said Saburo, though he was sure it was not from the saké, for the information about the sword, the ko-dachi, Shima had called it, revealed a new beauty to him. In his hands, he felt a power coming from the sword wrapped in its blanket. Was he feeling the warrior's soul? Or was it just the saké inspiring ruminations of fancy?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shima hefted his chest protector and weapons." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo picked up Shima's shin and sleeve guards and led him into the temple, back to a sleeping alcove offered to guests.\n\nShima said, \"I like you, Gun-kun. You have Yamato spirit.\" He sat down on the bedding. \"I'm drunk, but not so drunk I don't know what I am saying. You get seasick easily, Gun-kun?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo shook his head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Experienced sailor, are you?\"\n\n\"Never been on a boat.\"\n\nShima laughed. \"Buzen is the Ōuchi stronghold and the only way to get there is to cross either the Barrier Strait or the Bungo Strait. The Ōuchi control the eastern half of Nagato. The Ōe rules over the western half and the two clans are skirmishing for the middle.\"\n\n\"I didn't know that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No one's supposed to know, or the Emperor would send troops, and neither side wants that. But the Ōuchi do want to increase their skills. That's why they are looking for an Assistant Chief of Weapons. I intend to become that man.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why not the Chief Instructor of Weapons instead of Assistant?\"\n\n\"The Chief Instructor's eyesight's deteriorating.\" Shima moved the palm of his hand over his eyes like a veil. \"Cloudy eyes. They say his mind's still sharp, but—\" Shima broke off." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If he can't see, why does the daimyō keep him?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The daimyō is a wise old man. Knows not to strip a retainer of dignity. Wise, and maybe a bit sentimental.\" Shima grew cheerful. \"The Assistant Instructor of Weapons can have an assistant. That person is responsible for keeping the training hall in order. This means putting away weapons, polishing the floors, and generally doing as he's told.\" Shima looked up. \"Interested?\"\n\nSaburo broke into a grin. \"Yes!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Tomorrow, I'm leaving. If you want to come with me, you can. Then you, too, can learn to be a warrior.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo gasped. Was this possible?\n\n\"Now,\" said Shima with a wave of the hand, \"let me sleep this off. I've got to be on the road in the morning, early.\" He rolled over, his face down, and mumbled, \"Oh, and bring your ko-dachi with you. You'll need it.\"\n\nSaburo practically walked on air as he found his sleeping roll." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Had Shima been there the day the bettō fell, the Eleven would also have fallen—and quickly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maybe the warrior-monks would have been killed before they could hurt anyone. Saburo pictured himself in armor and with a sword, cutting down the sōhei. He even imagined a look of gratitude shining in the faces of Nin-tai and Aka-rui, who would owe Saburo their lives.\n\nSaburo, too, could master weapons and bring justice where no one else had—not the priests, not the ōryōshi, not anyone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "All the priestly vows and all of what he had once held sacred ceased to hold any sway." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Now write approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With the windows open, the forest smells became more intense. Saburo still recalled Shima's scent. His sweat was not at all rancid, but pleasing. Everything about the man was something that Saburo suddenly came to desperately admire. He would follow Shima to wherever that would lead." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Mode:\nCo-writing\n\nLength:\n4 sentences\n\nStyle:\nKatherine M. Lawrence" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[ Full Moon of Gods Month, 29 November 1156, Ōuchi Compound, Buzen Prefecture, Isle of Unknown Fires ]" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Seventeen days after their departure from the monastery, Shima and Saburo crossed the Bungo Strait and docked at the rocky eastern shores of the Isle of Unknown Fires. From there they followed the Upland Road for another four days. The road took them along the coast of Bungo Prefecture and then into the foothills of Buzen Prefecture. On the early afternoon of the Full Moon of the Little Snow, the Ōuchi compound finally loomed in the distance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"This must be as grand as the Emperor's palace.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo marveled at what he saw in every direction.\n\nShima laughed loudly. \"Hardly. The Emperor's attendants live in buildings bigger than any of these estate houses. His palace is the size of this entire complex. Look close. Despite its ornateness—never forget—we are in a military compound.\"\n\nShima announced himself at the gates to guards who seemed to be expecting him. \"This is my hand-man,\" Shima told them, and the guards bade them both to wait." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Everyone in sight, save for Shima and Saburo, wore the fire flower insigne, the hanabishi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo was not familiar with clan mon, but he soon realized that his simple tunic with no emblem at all did not impress the sentries, while there was no question they noticed Shima's chrysanthemum mon of the Imperial House and were duly impressed.\n\nIt wasn't long before a seemingly important man in courtly robes arrived and instructed them to follow. Shima followed a stride behind, looking lordly in his battle gear. Saburo trailed them both." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Once inside the gates, Saburo started to appreciate the nature of the compound." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had never seen so many military men in his life. He tried to take in everything, but comprehended little of how it all fit together.\n\nAs they crossed the central yard, Shima said so only Saburo could hear, \"This is where it will be, Gun-kun. There.\" He pointed to an outdoor dais." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Tomorrow the warlord will sit there, surrounded by his generals and his personal bodyguards. Any one of his bodyguards is worth thirty regular warriors.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why will they all be there?\"\n\n\"To test me.\"\n\nThey were shown to a chamber near a training area where they were to rest and eat. Saburo noticed how quiet Shima had become. Was he meditating?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Of course he is, whispered Shin-en inside Saburo's skull." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As Shima continued to sit quietly, Shin-en filled Saburo's head with grand plans to become a warrior. You will learn how to kill. You will be strong. You will be able to kill the Eleven." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo tried not to listen, but he could feel truth in Shin-en's words, and it made him both sickened and excited." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Troubled dreams visited Saburo that night, but the next morning he could remember none of them.\n\nLate in the morning, just before the Hour of the Horse, Shima strode to the middle of the central courtyard and bowed before the assembled. The daimyō, in the most elegant kimono, sat at the dais, flanked by six men wearing dark robes and grim faces. Another twenty men in armor, likely the royal bodyguard, extended out on either side." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The appearance was daunting, and Saburo immediately worried that Shima might be outmatched." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And unlike when they had first met, at dusk at the monastery, when the sun had given Shima the advantage, Amaterasu now stood high overhead. Under cold clear skies, no one would have the advantage.\n\nNine bells sounded, and a tough-looking warrior pulled his sword with menace, approached Shima, and struck. Without any words, the test began in earnest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Three quick moves—strike-parry-counter-strike—and the opponent stopped and bowed, admitting defeat." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One after the other, three more opponents engaged Shima in single combat.\n\nThe challenges quickly grew more complex, and Saburo's concerns for Shima's welfare were forever dispelled. Ōuchi warriors set upon Shima from all sides in a series of mock battles and skirmishes. Barely holding back, multiple opponents rushed Shima with a variety of weapons." }, { "from": "human", "value": "On foot, he had to unhorse and defeat samurai who tried to run him down while they swung naginata." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Bowmen shot volleys at Shima, but before the arrows could reach him, he cut them mid-flight with his blade. Barehanded, he grappled with and disarmed oncoming attackers. The attacks came in wave after wave, and while the attackers themselves were allowed to rest before re-entering the fray, Shima had to defend without respite.\n\nFinally, eight bells sounded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lord Ōuchi raised his war fan, and everything came to an abrupt stop." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shima, drenched in sweat, stood in the center of the yard, undefeated. The Ōuchi he had fought stood along the yard's perimeter, near the warlord. The retinue now looked to one another, nodding slightly in acknowledgment. Shima had carried the day." }, { "from": "human", "value": "More than satisfied, the daimyō made a speech and, as Shima recovered, catching his breath, redness leaving his cheeks, appointed him the clan's Assistant Instructor of Weapons." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then Shima was dismissed.\n\nSaburo accompanied Shima to his quarters. \"I thought they were trying to kill you,\" Saburo blurted, once they were out of earshot.\n\nShima sipped water, for if he drank as much as he actually desired, it might have killed him." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Hey can you write like Katherine M. Lawrence and use whatever i write as a jumping off point?" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In truth, Shima did not want a servant as much as he wanted a worthy student. He knew the ways of young men and had grasped the secret longings in the youthful priest's heart the night they first met, and so it wasn't before long that Shima let his \"servant\" take a place among those training—provided Gun-kun finished all the physical work in the studio.\n\nThis suited Saburo perfectly. Not being an Ōuchi retainer, he had no other official duties or outside obligations taking him away from the training hall." }, { "from": "human", "value": "This enabled him to practice from the Hour of the Rabbit to the Hour of the Bird, studying sedulously for a year, then two, then three." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "To Saburo, the training represented a confluence of disciplines. One priestly, the other martial, they flowed into a unitary emotion within. As Nin-tai had instructed Saburo in meditation to empty the mind, Shima concentrated on the body; and meditation, if it could be called that, came about only as the body was pushed to exhaustion.\n\nIn fact, Shima's training proved more demanding." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The mind of a student-priest might wander during meditation, and back at Iwakawa-jiin, who among the instruction leaders truly knew if a student's meditations were going well or not?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If a priest noticed a novice beginning to slouch, the wandering mind was brought back by a gentle touch on the student's shoulder. But under Shima's sharp eye, lapses of concentration were more easily recognized. An initial mistake earned a smart rap by bokken to the wrist, the hand, the thigh, the rib, the shin, or chest, reminding the student where an enemy's blow would have landed. Repeated bruising piled up for repeated mistakes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shima would thunder, \"You think this is terrible! Wait until you meet a man who actually wants to hurt you! If you should survive, you'll return and you'll grovel at my feet to thank me for my loving harshness.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In theory, broken bones would result from incessant mistakes, but it never came to that. The daimyō insisted students were to be dismissed before they were seriously injured. He could not afford to have his subjects perishing in the training halls—especially not the young royal ones.\n\nFor Shima, this was the source of his greatest frustration." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In private, he confessed to Saburo his displeasure with the laxness toward the highborn students, and explained how there were three kinds of students." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The first kind, the unschooled ones, attended to find glory, or status, or to inspire fear, or simply because royal duty demanded it, for the destiny of the students, particularly the younger ones, was to become Ōuchi warlords or generals. Under his tutelage, they faced grueling physical training and thereby attained a singular sort of enlightenment. He would tell them, \"There is skill and there is will. Both are needed. Just one won't do.\" Did the students possess an inner desire?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "If not, such students soon fell by the wayside." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But what gave Shima the most satisfaction was the second type of student, who emerged from the first type. Like hammering strength and flexibility in a sword's tempered line, Shima worked their bodies to the peak of fighting skills that became instinctual—as reflexive as pulling a hand away from hot steel. And it pleased him to watch over three years how Saburo became an exceptional example of this second kind of student. At almost eighteen summers, Saburo had become strong and well built, skilled, and filled with resolve." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In fact, his natural youthful strength and dexterity would never be greater." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But most prized of all by Shima was the third kind of student—the grizzled ones, dark of eye, who stood ready to kill anyone at any moment, and could move their swords faster than a blink. The masters. Ones like himself. Shima could see that, in practice with the weapons, with every stroke, and with every move, Saburo was picturing how he would deliver a blow to each one of the Eleven. It became clear how close he was to becoming the third type of student." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Armed with Aka-rui's sword, Saburo was on an inner journey that Shima would have to watch as an outsider." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The final test had yet to come." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around four sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: Katherine M. Lawrence" }, { "from": "human", "value": "During his three years in Buzen Prefecture, Saburo uncovered a great deal of information about the warrior-monks who had killed Nin-tai and Aka-rui." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It turned out they were not monks at all, but had risen up from being low-level enforcers, likely hinin, the bottom of the social order. Their group was known as the Zodiac, and they were notorious.\n\nOriginally there had been twelve of them, and each man had taken delight in adopting the name of an astrological beast: Dragon, Viper, Stallion, Ram, Monkey, Hawk, Wolf, Wild Boar, Rat, Ox, Tiger, and Rabbit. How or why they decided on these names—either through birth year, by lot, or by other means—was not exactly clear, but it was known that Ram had died sometime early on, just before their murderous raid on Iwakawa-jiin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Actually, their names did not precisely match astrological beasts; they were embellished to live up to the men's grand senses of self." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For example, the one who should have gone by the sign of the dog called himself Wolf. Horse became Stallion, snake became Viper, and sheep became Ram. Even mouse became Rat. Alas, poor Rabbit—not much could be done with that name, though those born in the Year of the Rabbit were said to possess good qualities." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The man named Rabbit, like many born under that sign, had the qualities of an artist, and it was because of his skill with colored inks and the needle that all of the Zodiac had ended up with beautiful designs scratched into their skins—irezumi—at least so it was said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Criminals were often marked with ink on skin so that the innocent and all law officers would know with what and whom they dealt—a petty thief, a swindler, someone who had maimed, molested, or whatever. The list of offenses was long. Each offense resulted in a mark. And those who had run afoul of the law would hide the incriminating marks, for five marks usually earned a death sentence, regardless of the severity of the crimes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In defiance, some criminals embellished the marks with additional inking and made a show out of them, holding them up high and proud and thereby intimidating the meek." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Throughout the land, drawing pictures on the skin became a sign of a certain kind of manliness and beauty.\n\nAnd this is what the Zodiac were said to have done, though because of the sōhei robes they usually wore, only hints of the body art had been observed.\n\nInitially, when the Zodiac had first gathered as a group, they had been welcomed by many of the common people—mainly because one of their first orders of business had been to depose a gang of small-time thieves. The grateful populace had praised the apparent monks for their great act of courage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But soon the commoners discovered that these warrior-monks were harsher and more capricious than the former gang had ever been." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As a result, the Zodiac tended never to stay too long anywhere. They were constantly on the move, stopping at local settlements to demand \"holy offerings\" that were little more than extortions. Since no one dared withhold a religious offering to armed sōhei, the farmers could not exactly claim that they had been robbed. As such, the Zodiac, despite their colorful irezumi that suggested criminal pasts, were never accused of any crimes, let alone brought to justice." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was easier for the authorities to just look the other way." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It would take someone else to right the wrongs of the Eleven.\n\nAnd that's how Saburo came to decide that he would die in the First Year of Heiji, seven nights after the autumnal equinox, on the Full Moon of Leaf Month, placing his death on the seventh night of the sixteenth solar stem of the Year of the Earth Rabbit—just days before Kanro, the time of dew, the time of tears. A fitting time to leave the earth. All the astrological indications pointed to it being a particularly auspicious day—that and the fact that Saburo knew where the Eleven would be that night." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They would be in the mountains of Nagato." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In Ōuchi territory. At an isolated shrine temple.\n\nFrom rumors and random tales—of which there were plenty, for wherever the renegade monks went they left mayhem in their wake—Saburo, with the help of Shima, had pieced together the Zodiac's cyclical travel patterns. For the past three years, during Shūbun, the Eleven had lodged at the Yawara-kaikaze-gū. Perhaps they liked its name, Soft Breeze Shrine." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Perhaps they found security in the rugged rock terrain of the Chūgoku Mountains." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Most likely, one of the men was from the area and had suggested the shrine as a pleasant location high above the heat and far from the eyes of ōryōshi. It was especially convenient that the Ōuchi held influence over the area—no frontiers to cross.\n\nSaburo announced to Shima that he would travel to the temple and, under Full Moon's light, kill as many Zodiac as possible, though undoubtedly it meant dying in the process.\n\nShima was not even slightly surprised at Saburo's readiness to go to his own death." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In fact, he agreed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The time had come. But Shima's reasons had nothing to do with knowing where the Zodiac would lodge. He had watched how Saburo's desire to settle scores had not slackened. If anything, it had hardened." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write four sentences sentences in the style of Katherine M. Lawrence spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "human", "value": "[ Full Moon of Leaf Month, Seventh Night of Shūbun, First Year of Heiji, Year of the Earth Rabbit, 29 September 1159, Soft Breeze Shrine, Suō Prefecture, Main Isle ]" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Under the bright glow of the Full Moon, walking by himself, Saburo arrived at Soft Breeze Shrine.\n\nShima had offered to accompany him into battle with the Eleven, but this was something Saburo had to do himself. \"I must kill them,\" he had replied. \"For others to do it would deprive me of the satisfaction.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "And so Shima waited below with the horses." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The shrine itself was located up a steep crag, cradled amidst a natural ring of enormous stone pillars—a veritable fortress that could be reached only by trekking up a long series of very steep steps carved out of a sheer cliff. Once near the top, the path wound its way around boulders taller than three men.\n\nAt first Saburo heard nothing but insects and the rustle of wind through the trees, but as he worked his way through the ring of granite, raucous singing reached his ears. Bawdy songs. The shrine's priest no doubt had run away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The shrine itself was quite small—one building that served as shrine and dwelling for the priest." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It stood unguarded. No sentry. Likely the Eleven were confident. Anyone approaching enemies would have to take the steep rock path and come in single file.\n\nSaburo's tachi and Aka-rui's short sword were sharp, polished, and pristine." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He did not wear armor, just a simple-looking riding kimono and hakama chosen for him by Shima from among the Ōuchi martial gear—but which was specially designed for assassinations." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Though it looked ordinary enough, the kimono had inner sleeves with cleverly sewn-in pouches for weapons. Four tantō daggers and two throwing stars were tucked away. He gave one last check of the inner flaps to make sure that they were properly folded back. The weapons had to easily slip into his grasp when the moment came." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There would be no allowance for fumbling." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had rehearsed the battle countless times at the Ōuchi Compound, but in training he knew his opponents, fellow students who played the parts of the Eleven, so he always had a pretty good idea where they would be sitting, and their combat skills, along with their favorite tricks. But this would be different. He had no idea of what he'd find, no way to know how matters would unfold, except that the Eleven were experienced killers, and that once engaged in a fight, they never held back. The only important question was how many of the eleven men he would take down before he himself fell." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Is there a life after, or is that merely a story we tell ourselves to push away the anguish of death?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If there was a life after, then he'd find out. If there wasn't, then there was nothing to worry about.\n\nSaburo uttered his final prayers, certain that he would not emerge alive. Three years of preparations would end in this rocky arena with walls so high that they all but blocked the glow of the Full Moon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "After Nin-tai's and Aka-rui's deaths, he had pictured his own tall stone grave post in the burial ground somewhere near theirs." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But likely when people found his body here—if they found his body—no one would know who he was. No name would be inscribed in stone. His grave marker—whether his name was inscribed there or not, whether his body was buried or left for the scavengers—would be the high stone pillars surrounding him now.\n\nFitting that they were so tall." }, { "from": "human", "value": "An Emperor could not wish for a more grand memorial, though Masahito's name would at least be remembered. His would not." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He huffed with amusement at this thought. Strange that at a moment like this he could feel amused.\n\nThe singing, laughing, and carousing continued unabated from inside. Saburo adjusted the eyepatch, took a long, deep breath of fresh autumn air, and walked through the dark red uprights and crosspieces of the torii gate." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was crossing from the profane to the sacred." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But what he planned to do to the men inside was anything but sacred.\n\nI will now defile a holy place.\n\nSaburo paused before the doors of the shrine that were guarded by a pair of stone-carved lion-dogs, their granite mouths cut into perpetual snarls, their fangs and hungry tongues showing. He gazed into their frozen stone eyes that returned only their terrifying countenance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Was he, too, like one of them now? A granite lion-dog." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His mouth was dry. He had looked forward to the ritual of clearing his mouth out with water before entering the shrine, but the chōzubachi by the entry door was empty. Without the actual priest around, who would fill it? Obviously none of these \"spiritual\" men." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But that did not matter now." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As soon as the door opened, he would strike.\n\nMy last night on earth.\n\nHis heart beat so hard that his ears throbbed. Saburo raised his hands to announce to the Gods he was coming into the shrine." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And if the Gods stayed to watch, what wouldn't they witness now?" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately one sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He clapped his hands together." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: Cooperative storytelling\nMy role: Provide a brief opening\nYour role: Expand upon my opening with 4 sentences, emulating the writing style of Katherine M. Lawrence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The mirth inside the shrine suddenly died down." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"See who that is!\" a voice growled from inside.\n\nDragon!\n\nThe shrine door opened." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A man with a shaven head, reeking of saké, and wearing nothing but a loincloth, snarled, \"What?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo stood frozen, gazing at the unexpected sight. Never had he seen anything like the drawing that decorated the man's body. From abdomen to chest, a giant white snake illustration coiled, ready to strike—mouth open, fangs bared, yellow eyes with slit-like black pupils staring straight at Saburo. There was no question as to which of the Eleven this man was. Viper." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What do you want?\" Viper hissed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Before Saburo could answer, a voice from inside said, \"Send him away.\"\n\nAnother said, \"See if he has anything worth taking.\"\n\n\"Does he have saké?\"\n\nViper turned his attention back into the shrine." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He doesn't look like much to me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo knew he should strike now, but something held him back.\n\nYet another voice said, \"See if he has any money on him.\"\n\nViper turned back. \"You have any money?\"\n\nSlowly Saburo reached into his sleeve pocket and produced a gold coin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Viper's ink snake had yellow eyes, but his own eyes were red—bloodshot—and now they grew round. \"He's got gold.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Another man joined him at the entry. Wolf. On his naked body was inked a black wolf, ferocious, baring yellow teeth. Its lower legs stretched down the man's thighs, while the top of the beast's head ended just below the man's neck. But it was Wolf's chinko that was most remarkable: where the organ belonged on the wolf was the man's own; and as the man moved, it moved. Wolf smiled slyly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"See something you like?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was probably not the first time anyone had stared. After all, wasn't that the purpose? But Viper laughed as though he'd never before heard that jest.\n\nWolf leered at Saburo, looking him up and down." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That sword, where'd ya get it?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Took it off the dead,\" Saburo said measuredly, and added, in a commoner's mode of speaking, \"Dead don't need swords.\"\n\nFor the first time, he sensed everyone inside fall quiet.\n\n\"Open the door wider,\" a deep voice said.\n\nViper pushed the door aside, revealing a small room brightly lit with several braziers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo quickly surveyed the scene." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "High ceilings without low lintels. Long swords would work in there—but the Eleven's naginata were too long.\n\nHe took a step forward. Viper backed away. Saburo stopped just inside the shrine and looked around." }, { "from": "human", "value": "All the men had shaved heads and were either naked or stripped to their fundoshi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo's presence didn't seem to bother them one bit.\n\nThough it had been Saburo's intent to immediately start killing, there was something enthralling about being in this room with these men in all their naked glory. For the first time, he saw them not as eleven phantasms, not as eleven anonymous figures, all alike, hooded, with eleven pairs of eyes and eleven polearms, mighty warrior-monks who had killed Nin-tai and Aka-rui before disappearing in billowing celestial mists.\n\nNow they were merely men, with real bodies." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Bodies that could break." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Bodies that could bleed.\n\nHis gaze paused on a man sitting on the floor near the front.\n\nAn emerald green dragon decorated his body, scales outlined in orange, its head poised on the man's right breast. Its arched razorback body spanned his chest, and its long tail slithered down his left arm." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The eyes were red as rubies." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Its mouth hung open, revealing a burnt-orange tongue. If the illustration wasn't enough, the man's facial scar skipping from forehead to cheek confirmed his identity: Dragon, the murderer of Nin-tai and Aka-rui.\n\nHe would die first.\n\nDragon asked in his resonant voice, \"Where'd you get the coin?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Stole it,\" Saburo said calmly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Pickpocket?\"\n\nSaburo shrugged. \"Maybe.\" He took a deep breath. \"And maybe not.\"\n\n\"He talks in riddles, this one,\" said someone else." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo looked at the man who spoke—a reedy man toward the back, needle in hand, his torso inked with a dagger-toothed rabbit that probably did not look as menacing as intended. What rabbit could?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rabbit refocused his attention on stippling an ox image on the back of a man as big as an ox who studied Saburo while trying not to grimace from Rabbit's needle.\n\nCloser to Saburo squatted Tiger, Rat, Monkey, and Hawk—each identified by his own irezumi—around a dice cup, cloth, and heaps of coins. The four of them appeared quite drunk, but their weapons lay next to them on the floor, within easy reach.\n\nTiger rattled the bones inside the dice cup, softly laughing, as if he were encouraging the dice to do his bidding." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His tiger body art showed the most perfect golden-yellow coat with coal-black stripes, its tongue licking one paw, its back haunches high, gazing at him with innocent eyes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The drawing of the rat held unsavory eyes, identical to Rat's own, which he kept trained on the dice cup as though Tiger's laughter was influencing the rolls.\n\nThe monkey's smile was as much a vicious sneer as it was anything as its hands stretched out, ready to grab. Monkey himself concentrated on the upcoming dice throw, paying no attention to the lone man at the door.\n\nHawk shot a quick look over his shoulder at Saburo before going back to the fascination of the game, but the inked hawk on his back seemed to glare at him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The last two of the eleven men, Wild Boar and Stallion, lay passed out in each other's arms amidst empty saké flasks along the south wall of the shrine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The illustrated wild boar seemed poised to leap off Wild Boar's back as the man snored. His head rested on Stallion's shoulder, obscuring all but the horse's head.\n\nSaburo had caught them mostly unprepared. But as the tension of the moment grew, he relished the increasing calm he felt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why are you here? So we can rob you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "asked Rat. He feigned a laugh. Others joined in with forced laughs without humor.\n\n\"Maybe I've come to join you,\" Saburo said.\n\n\"You? Join us?\" Some of them snickered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes. I've been looking for you for some time now.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They fell silent. Dragon cast a sideways glance at his own sword. Tiger squinted intently at Saburo, perhaps wondering if there was something familiar in the stranger.\n\nViper stepped close to Saburo's side, and Saburo could sense Wolf somewhere behind him.\n\nDragon said, \"Looking for some time?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'd like to be one of you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Pah!\" Viper spat.\n\n\"One of us?\" Wolf growled. Saburo half-turned his head to see Wolf leering at his body. \"Not much to look at.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We're holy men,\" Monkey said with a sneer, dice cup in his hand." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What'd you know about a monk's life?\"\n\nSaburo's voice took on a hard edge. \"I have as much religion as any of you.\"\n\n\"You want to join us?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "said Hawk, turning to regard him with his own eyes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Come on over here and drink some saké and get to know us better. Have a little fun, and depending on how you do, we might consider whether you can join us.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said Wolf, standing very close, his daikon thick and twitching.\n\nSaburo said, \"You're all holy men. Warrior-monks. So am I.\"\n\n\"Humph,\" Rat grunted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You have to prove yourself,\" said Hawk." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Let's hear a sutra,\" Dragon said, eyes narrowed.\n\nSaburo turned his head, speaking to all of them.\n\nLet all vows be attained\n\nSo the universe can be rocked in ecstasy And release the heavenly beings" }, { "from": "human", "value": "To fall to earth like blessed rain." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rat looked at Tiger and muttered, \"Pure Land prayer.\"\n\nTiger nodded once, hard.\n\n\"Probably all he knows,\" said Wolf. \"Memorized it just for the occasion.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"More than you've memorized,\" Rat sneered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Eyes fixed on Saburo, Dragon said, \"Recite Buddha Flowers.\"\n\nSaburo held his gaze.\n\nBring flowers so all the Buddhas\n\nMay return to their origins" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Though far away, their compassion flows" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Pray for those already there\n\nIn the Pure Land, they await us.\n\n\"A prayer for the dead,\" Rat said softly.\n\nTiger nodded. \"That's not a common one.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Ha!\" Monkey shouted—but not about what Rat said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He scooped up winnings from a dice roll.\n\n\"Ahh!\" Hawk moaned, not happy.\n\n\"What's your name, upstart?\" Ox demanded.\n\nSaburo restrained a grin and said in a quiet voice, \"You could call me Ram.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Several of the men flinched. \"RAM?\" Ox growled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ram's dead! Killed in battle.\"\n\n\"But isn't Ram the twelfth?\" Saburo asked, feigning innocence. \"The missing member?\"\n\nWolf pointed down at his exposed manhood." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No members missing here.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The room erupted with laughter. Saburo regarded them with utter calm, even as anticipation built within. \"You don't remember me.\"\n\nTiger sneered. \"Remember you? Pah! Who'd remember you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He shook the dice cup." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo said, a quiet edge to his voice, \"I was younger then.\"\n\n\"Weren't we all,\" Wolf said, laughing.\n\nHawk quipped, \"Back when your daikon could still get hard.\"\n\n\"Ahh! Hard enough.\" Wolf faced Hawk, turning his back to Saburo." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Just come over here and I'll show you what I can still do. I'll have you screaming like a maid.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Everyone broke into laughter. Even Saburo grinned. But the calm within him was threatening to burst. He realized he had lingered too long. Already their guard was up from when he had first arrived." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He reached into his tunic sleeve." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What? More gold?\" Everyone laughed.\n\nSaburo's hand shot from his sleeve. A flash—something glimmering flew across the room.\n\nDragon screamed, a throwing star lodged in his eye." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Stepping forward, Saburo spun, drew his tachi and struck one-two." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Viper and Wolf collapsed, blood surging from gashes in their bellies.\n\nOx and Rabbit fumbled. Dragon writhed, clutching at his eyes. Tiger and Rat reached for their swords." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In one smooth motion, Saburo pulled and threw a knife." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It struck Rat in the chest. Rat pulled the dagger free—a mistake. His blood gushed from the wound and his knees buckled.\n\nTiger rose to his feet, sword in hand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo let fly a second tantō, hitting Tiger in the neck." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Blood spurted everywhere as he fell forward onto the dice game, splaying across Monkey and Hawk's swords even as they tried to draw them.\n\nSaburo leapt forward, and with two quick strokes he cut Monkey and Hawk down. They toppled onto the other bodies.\n\nEyes wild with rage, Ox shrugged off Rabbit, yanked his blade out of its saya, and lumbered toward Saburo." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But the pile of the four fallen gamblers blocked his way, and he had to stumble around them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A roar came from behind.\n\nSaburo without looking thrust his blade back and into the belly of someone—Wild Boar, who gagged, coughed blood, and crumpled to the side, landing on Stallion's head, waking him from his stupor.\n\nSaburo shuffle-stepped and brought his blade down hard onto Stallion's torso, which erupted with blood.\n\nFrom his other flank, now clear of the piled bodies, Ox and Rabbit approached quickly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo tried to bring his sword up to defend, but his blade had wedged into Stallion's ribs." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He released it and threw his third dagger hard. It hit right between the ox eyes on Ox's chest. Blood coursed out around the hilt. Eyes vacant, Ox staggered and twisted as he fell." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Rabbit, true to his name, quickly and nimbly leapt onto the pile of bodies, ready to pounce." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The fourth and final dagger flew from Saburo's hand, but Rabbit parried it, sending it uselessly into the ceiling, and lunged at him, sword swinging across.\n\nSaburo dropped, rolling to the side to avoid the strike.\n\nRabbit spun and lunged again at him.\n\nHand scrambling, Saburo grasped a fallen sword and brought it up just in time to point the blade into Rabbit's belly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Under Rabbit's falling weight, the hilt ripped from Saburo's hand and jammed against the floor, driving the blade even deeper into Rabbit, spearing him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Blood spewed out of his mouth. Saburo shoved him to the side, toppling him over, and rolled to his feet.\n\nTen men down.\n\nThe only one remaining was Dragon who stumbled about, blinded by the throwing star and the blood gushing from his face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Calmly, hands empty, Saburo walked up to him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You remember Abbott Nin-tai! You remember priest Aka-rui?\"\n\nCrying in pain, Dragon waved his sword blindly.\n\nSaburo pulled Aka-rui's sword from its saya. As Dragon swung, Saburo brought the short blade hard across the man's shoulder." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The arm inked with the dragon's tail fell from its body, hand still clasping the sword." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo's second strike severed the man's neck. Dragon's head fell with a thunk. His body, spraying blood from the neck, crashed to the floor.\n\nStillness fell over the shrine." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo listened. Four men moaned." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With Aka-rui's sword, Saburo went to each of the fallen and methodically plunged his friend's blade into them one final time.\n\nWhen he came back to Dragon's headless body, Saburo raised up the sword and drove it down hard, point first, clear through Dragon's chest and into the plank floor underneath.\n\nHe left it there.\n\nThe silence now truly was profound." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He stood, gazing at the carnage." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He himself was uninjured. The blood that covered him was not his own. The trove of Zodiac coins were scattered everywhere, covered in gore. The stench of sliced-open bodies and released bowels filled the room." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Using his foot to apply leverage, he extracted his tachi from Stallion's chest." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With a discarded robe he wiped the blade clean and sheathed it, then walked to the open door, leaving the throwing daggers, throwing stars, and Aka-rui's sword with the dead.\n\nAs he stepped into the chill of the autumn night, Saburo realized he was soaked not just with blood but his own sweat. From the porch that circumscribed the shrine, he took one last look into the building filled with dead men.\n\nAs he made his way out of the rim rock, the Full Moon once again shone down upon him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A breeze stirred the leafless trees." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A nearby owl hooted, bringing luck and announcing death.\n\nSaburo descended the stone steps.\n\nHe took three deep breaths.\n\nAnd then broke into a run." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Mode:\nCo-writing\n\nLength:\nfour sentences\n\nStyle:\nKatherine M. Lawrence" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The two men stood facing each other, both knowing that everything had now changed.\n\nShima asked, \"All dead?\"\n\nSaburo nodded hard, completely out of breath, yet not feeling even slightly tired. If anything he felt giddy... and dazed... and elated." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It happened so fast.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But you remember it,\" said Shima. \"Not a blur?\"\n\n\"I remember it perfectly,\" Saburo said to his own surprise.\n\n\"One thing moving to the next?\" Shima nodded. \"Like a dance?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Hai. Like a wild dance.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And no fear?\"\n\n\"No. Not once it started.\" Saburo shook his head. \"I was never so alive.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You're a man now.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shima's voice was silky, his smile both humorous and wicked. \"Let's celebrate with saké.\" He retrieved an ample flask from a saddlebag. Without ceremony, he pulled open the stopper and swigged directly from it, then wiped his mouth with his sleeve." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He handed the saké to Saburo, who drank and drank and drank in a series of long gulps, like a man who had been without water for days." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Strong,\" Saburo gasped as he came up for breath, then belched. He laughed at himself.\n\nShima's eyes twinkled boyishly. \"You did it,\" he said, putting his arm over Saburo's shoulder, touching Saburo tenderly perhaps for the first time ever, and pulled him close." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Standing side by side, he said, \"You're a man.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo began to grow hard. He turned his head, letting go of the empty saké flask, which tumbled to the ground and rolled away. He took a prolonged look at Shima, and he turned fully him so that now the two men faced each other.\n\nThe moonlight made it all bewitching." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As the owl started hooting, Saburo put his own arms around the taller man." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shima put his other arm around Saburo's back. The men each let out a sigh, embracing slow and hard.\n\nThere was a long moment of silence, punctuated by only their breathing.\n\nAnd though the mouth was considered a vile and unclean thing, Saburo had drunk from the same bottle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He could smell the saké on Shima's breath." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His sweat. He felt himself grow even harder. He had thought his heart had been beating fast during the battle, yet now it beat as hard as ever. He reached up to caress Shima's cheek. \"I'm sorry. I smell of blood... all over my clothes.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Then you should get out of them,\" Shima said. \"I'll join you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Efficiently, yet unhurriedly, they removed their kimono. Saburo looked at Shima's more massive body. Broad and solid like a bear.\n\nShima likewise allowed his gaze to linger on Saburo, the well-formed young man whose physicality was at its peak." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They looked into each other's faces, the two men, like two virile moons under the real moon's glow." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Do you want to do this?\" Shima whispered, his voice slightly hoarse.\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\nIndeed, Shima's daikon was large." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo let out a sigh, a gasp, and without any real effort lifted Shima off the ground." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shima gave forth a deep laugh. \"You're much stronger than you look.\"\n\n\"I'm a lot more things than you know.\"\n\nThe men demonstrated their strength in crushing embraces, wrestling each other in a sensual way." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hard caresses and scratches that did not break the skin." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Slapping and hitting that left no bruises, marks, or damage. It did not matter that Saburo was the smaller of the two. He hefted the sword master and pressed him against his body, jumping on top of him, and with sheer strength pushing him down.\n\nSaburo was aware that physical love, nandō, was well-known among warriors and had its own special rules." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was no \"woman's role\" when male warriors gave themselves to each other." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Both men had to be forceful. Neither would yield. It would be demeaning to be submissive. Insulting to try to govern the other. They would thus wrestle and let hardness rub against hardness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The trees hissed in the slightly cool breeze." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As the moon moved behind the trees, shadowy light shrouded them both, creating a world which held only the two of them. They pulled even closer together. They embraced even more deeply. Their bodies seemingly fused." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Their breathing grew heavy and in tempo." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They whispered. They exchanged words with each other that no one else could hear—only things that men of battle could possibly celebrate, let alone understand.\n\nShima and Saburo, feeling, touching, smelling, growling, and grunting—almost like they were in battle, yet not. There was no relaxing, except at the final spasms, and then it was mutual gasps when the excitement reached a peak. Until they were sated. Exhausted and fulfilled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They lay on top of their clothes in the tall grasses, recovering until sleep took them both." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Some time later, when Shima awoke, he saw Saburo lying on his back next to him, gazing into the sky. Their two horses stood nearby, asleep.\n\n\"I would have thought you'd sleep more soundly after all that.\"\n\n\"I'm too excited to sleep,\" Saburo said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shima smiled knowingly. \"You cold?\" he asked softly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo shook his head.\n\n\"I'm not either, but I'm thirsty.\" He rose and retrieved another flask of saké in Gaki's saddlebag. The men shared the flask as they both lay back looking into the night sky." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Were you and Aka-rui lovers?\" Shima asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You asked me that years ago, and I said no.\"\n\n\"Why weren't you?\"\n\n\"It would've been the love between boys, something I do not care for.\" Saburo scowled. \"Why'd you ask about him again?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Because of how you were... just now. Like you'd done this before. You were perfectly at ease.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"At ease?\" Saburo laughed. \"I am sweating, and I know my muscles will be sore in the morning.\"\n\nShima joined him in laughter. \"So the other boys didn't court you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No one there could ignite my heart,\" said Saburo. \"Boys aren't manly.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And the elders?\" Shima asked.\n\nNanshoku, male colors, often happened in monasteries, as well as among the warrior-monks. It was repeated by some that any number of men were drawn to religious studies precisely for the all-male environs where passions could run wild, especially among youths who found one another enticing.\n\nSaburo grimaced. \"I was no chigo, if that's what you're asking. It wasn't tolerated at our monastery, and I am glad for it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shima looked into the sky." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So you learned, then, from being with women?\"\n\nSaburo thought of Sairyū and the cherries he had offered her that day at the market six years before. \"No woman has ever given me her skin,\" he said, using the common expression.\n\nShima turned and gave him a hard look." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Though I believe you, it's hard to believe a woman would not offer herself to you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You know from the ancient texts the story of the Moon?\" Saburo said, stroking Shima.\n\n\"The brother of the Sun Goddess.\"\n\n\"But you know how He came into being?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shima shook his head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"When I grew up, there was no time for such stories. I never attended a monastery, but maybe you know?\"\n\nNow it was Saburo's turn to laugh softly, and he began to tell a tale. \"Tsukuyomi is the brother of the Sun Goddess. He was born out of the right eye of the Creator God, Izanagi, male-who-invites.\"\n\n\"Male-who-invites?\" Shima repeated." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Maybe this story has something to do with us.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo smiled knowingly. \"Izanagi had to cleanse Himself of sins after He escaped from Ne-no-Kuni, the Land of Roots, and He immersed himself in water to wash all bad things away. As He washed, the Moon God fell from His right eye.\"\n\n\"Sounds like an interesting God, and maybe a good one.\"\n\n\"Well, actually not. He killed the Goddess of Food. Would you like to hear about that?\"\n\n\"No,\" Shima said simply." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He rolled toward Saburo, and once again the two men proceeded in their sport." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Only as the dawn broke peach in color did the two men, exhausted from their night together, stand side by side, naked, ready to face the day.\n\n\"I want you to have this,\" said Saburo. \"It's a trifle.\" He held out a small blue-beaded pouch with a black silk drawstring.\n\n\"An omamori. Good luck for travel over water.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shima looked sharply at Saburo, taking the prayer amulet into his hand and gazing at the takō image." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He said nothing more.\n\nThe bond had been sealed." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Expand the story by adding four sentences." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As the sun rose, Shima and Saburo prepared to head back to the home province." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Smiling, yet serious, they went about saddling Raiden and Gaki.\n\nShima paused to look toward Soft Breeze Shrine, which stood as peacefully and undisturbed as ever. \"Did those men have money?\"\n\nSaburo nodded. \"They had loot, but I came only to kill them. If I now took their money, it'd make me no better than them. Killing for money.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shima scoffed and went about checking and tightening Gaki's tack." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo continued, \"Whoever finds the bodies is welcome to the blood money. Leave it for the shrine priest, I say. He'll have to restore and cleanse a desecrated shrine. Maybe the money will help him do that.\"\n\n\"I'm sure. After all, that's exactly what I would do.\" Shima laughed darkly and shook his head.\n\nAnd with that the two men rode into the rising sun." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But if the shrine priest ever found the loot, Saburo never heard about it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After all, wasn't that the way of booty? Bragging only invited consequences. Booty, like omeko, was something secret and best hidden, lest it became profane. And in keeping with discretion, no one ever spoke of any blood-drenched money found at any shrine." }, { "from": "human", "value": "What was widely repeated, however, was that eleven \"holy men\" had been murdered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Their decomposing bodies were discovered some time after the Dark Moon.\n\nHoly men indeed!\n\nThe first stories, mainly speculation, painted a picture of superior numbers rushing into the shrine and massacring the unsuspecting monks while they were deep in prayer and meditation. However, a certain former priest who gave up the holy life and ended up in Heian-kyō after he mysteriously came into a sizable sum of money, his tongue loosened with sufficient saké, told the story of the night he \"saw something.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He \"just happened to be traveling\" the night of the killings." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He said that one man and only one man \"entered the shrine and then left after a great commotion.\" It was hard to see through the brush, even though the night had been brightly moonlit. The former priest told of the massacre in a general way—after all what could he see behind closed doors?—but then proceeded to repeat with unconcealed relish how afterward the lone man met another man and together celebrated the battle by sharing \"out under moonlight, no less,\" each other's body. Likely the former priest had observed this better than what had happened within the closed walls of the shrine." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Thus, a second rumor began to spread that a certain man, young, talented, and most powerful, had traveled to Nagato to kill the Zodiac." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Over time, as more facts leaked out, the Ōuchi conducted a quiet investigation within their ranks. Many of the retainers were called out and asked who of their number were away during the autumnal equinox and what clothing and weapons had gone missing right before the killing of the Zodiac. Everything pointed to Saburo.\n\nThis put the Ōuchi in a predicament not to their liking, nor of their choosing, and it came as a surprise only to Saburo that he was summarily ordered to leave the Ōuchi compound." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Moreover, the Ōuchi disavowed all affiliation with him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was never any kind of Ōuchi retainer, merely a runaway priest, a lapsed priest, a straggler of dubious character. The clan did not want to run afoul of the powerful sōhei. Even though the Zodiac were regarded as renegades even by their brethren—and more than a few branches of warrior-monks were glad to see the last of them—the Ōuchi did not want it said that any contingent of their retainers had engaged in battle with anyone at all connected to the sōhei.\n\nSaburo, not an Ōuchi retainer, had acted alone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shima's part in the episode was never spoken about, nor was the sword master ever punished, for it would have been an admission of a conspiracy." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Besides, there was never even a hint of Shima having lifted his sword against the Zodiac. And thus, Shima, caught in the middle, was told to separate himself from his one-time protégé.\n\nThe Ōuchi said they would not personally escort him out of their prefecture, but if he did not leave of his own volition, he would suffer punishment—a euphemism for execution. Saburo was stripped of all insignia, though he was permitted to keep his swords." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As for his mount, Raiden, the Ōuchi kept the stallion." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately one sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And so, Saburo was unceremoniously expelled from the Ōuchi compound on foot and told to leave Buzen Prefecture at once." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as Katherine M. Lawrence" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "[ Four days past first Half Moon of Long Month, First Day of Sōkō, Descent of Frost, 25 October 1159, Buzen Prefecture, Isle of Unknown Fires ]\n\nSaburo walked east, out of the high mountain basin valley and toward the Windward Sea. Shima, his teacher, his friend, and much more than that, had not so much as deigned to see him off on his journey. As promised, he had no escort, yet he had a feeling that he was being followed as he walked mountain trails through the folded valleys. He saw nobody." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo knew he was supposed to feel sad about leaving, but surprisingly he didn't." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He felt empty. In all the time since arriving in Buzen, and maybe even going back to the day Nin-tai and Aka-rui were murdered, he had focused on nothing other than killing the Eleven—picturing the deaths of each in exquisite detail. His imaginings had filled endless hours. Always different. Always exciting. Unique." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In his fantasies within the training hall, the battle with the Zodiac had gone on in all its variations, all day, every day." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now he had real images to remember, and what had happened so very quickly. Ten blade strikes, if that. Four dagger throws. One throwing star hitting Dragon. A hundred heartbeats later he stood over the bodies." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Three years of training and it was over in barely a blink." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That night he'd felt such release! Such freedom he felt having survived what nobody should have survived! Shima was there to celebrate with him in the nandō way. And for the first time in his life, Saburo had felt love." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But after that, Saburo felt adrift." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had watched the Ōuchi investigation into the crime with remote indifference. Shima had said little. Even Shin-en had gone silent. By the time the final decision of exile arrived, Saburo was relieved." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Now at least I can find something new." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After two days of walking the hills, Saburo climbed up a rise and came upon the great waters. The Inner Sea. He stopped to look at the shimmering waters in the late morning's light. Though the sun blazed bright, a light fog shrouded the horizon.\n\nAs a child, when he first saw the vast Leeward Sea, Saburo had asked what lay beyond its edge." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was told that there were only strangers who spoke in strange tongues and had strange ways." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "To Saburo, that had sounded unbelievable. But it had captured is imagination. An entire world, unknown, just beyond the horizon! Since then, Saburo had always seen a horizon toward which he sailed in his imaginings—to get away from his imperfect father, to seek spiritual perfection through Nin-tai, and, under Shima's guidance, to deliver a perfect attack on the Eleven." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Was there any horizon for him now that he had killed the Eleven?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Or had he, by killing them, ended all purpose in life so that he too sailed on, doomed to be lost in the uncharted monotony of a changeless sea? Was the undiscovered country a place he still had to sail to, or had he unknowingly already landed on the shores of that country from which he could never escape, surrounded by unending ocean on all sides flowing off into eternity? He feared this might be true, for what else did he really know? What had life taught him in his eighteen years?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "How to place leaves in silkworm trays?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Closing his eyes and emptying his mind? Killing the wicked? In each of these incarnations, he had a father, either real or a proxy. Each had taught him a profession—tradesman, priest, warrior.\n\nAnd the only one he had truly mastered was the one Shima had taught." }, { "from": "human", "value": "How to kill men." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo walked on. It wasn't until the third day that Saburo finally left the Ōuchi domains, crossing into the lands governed by the Ōtomo. The sakimori on the border leading into Bungo Prefecture only asked him a few questions. He told the border guards he was headed across the Bungo Strait to cross to the Isle of Two Kingdoms, and this satisfied the guards, who allowed him to enter without further challenge.\n\nThree days later, as the sun stood overhead, Saburo arrived at landing docks at the Bungo." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A lone mifune awaited at the reed-sprouted rock shore." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Its senchou looked up as Saburo approached. \"Greetings Kinu-sama,\" he said, as if Saburo were a noble. And what's more, he knew Saburo's long-abandoned clan name.\n\nSaburo darkened. \"Why did you call me that?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We've been waiting for you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No passengers were on the boat. He looked around, but nobody else was in sight. \"Is there no one else sailing across?\"\n\nThe senchou smiled. \"The mifune awaits.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "So, the Ōuchi had let him go, but they intended to kill him after all, only not within their own territory." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They had waited until he was out of their province to strike." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: Cooperative storytelling\nMy role: Provide a brief opening\nYour role: Expand upon my opening with 4 sentences, emulating the writing style of Katherine M. Lawrence." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "[ Hour of the Horse, Full Moon of Long Month, 30 October 1159, Bungo Strait, Isle of Unknown Fires ]\n\nHow much for passage?\" Saburo asked.\n\n\"A copper should do, I think,\" said the senchou.\n\n\"A copper?\" A suspiciously low price." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Crossing the Barrier Strait just a month before had cost a piece of silver, and that was a much shorter trip." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The senchou bowed. \"The wind is with us.\" He smiled. \"And the load will be light. Only one other passenger, along with the horses.\"\n\nSo. They mean to get me out in the middle of the Strait, kill me, throw me overboard, and let the currents take my body out to sea. He laughed grimly to himself and stepped aboard." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Of course he was walking into an ambush, but better to have it out now." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He loosened the sword just enough that it would slide easily.\n\nThe bright daylight glinted off the water, dazzling his eyes, so at first he did not see his own dun in the horse blind. But there was no mistaking his stallion. \"Raiden!\"\n\n\"I thought you might need him.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shima?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo spun around. Standing on the shore, Shima wore no armor. A disguise. A dark cloak and wide amigasa hid most of his face and features. He had ridden out on Raiden—good way for him to further cover his trail. Just like the Ōuchi: sending Shima to kill me, and thus punish us both." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo slowly moved his hand toward his sword hilt." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hardly the way to greet an old friend.\" Shima's smile was pleasant, not menacing.\n\n\"I thought someone would come looking for me.\"\n\n\"No one's looking for you. Lord Ōuchi is satisfied, as long as you're gone.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And the authorities?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You mean the ones who would not take on the Zodiac in the first place? They're just as busy now with other things as they were when the monks killed Nin-tai and Aka-rui.\"\n\nShima stepped onto the mifune. It rocked from his weight. \"Likely the ōryōshi are glad the gang is dead and they can be done with them.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He sat down on a bench built along the boat railing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I disagreed with Lord Ōuchi,\" he said, stroking his beard. \"The sōhei won't lift a finger to avenge that scum.\"\n\nWhat Shima said made sense. Saburo felt regret. \"I let my tongue wag too much after the battle. If I'd kept my mouth shut, no one would have known it was me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shima shrugged. \"I didn't tell anyone about what happened. Not about anything, but someone did. Everyone loves a good story, especially when it's true. We'd been asking around about the Zodiac. I'm sure that's how somebody put it together.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm sorry I got you mixed up in this.\"\n\nShima shook his head with a small nod of admiration. \"That night? I wasn't entirely sure you're going to come out alive.\"\n\n\"I was certain I wasn't.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo drew in a deep breath." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It never occurred to me that there would be any afterwards.\"\n\n\"No afterwards?\"\n\n\"I have been thinking about that since I left.\"\n\n\"Thinking of?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Afterwards.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ah.\"\n\n\"I thought everything would end that night. At Iwakawa-jiin, they were formidable.\"\n\n\"The night you went in after them, they were into their saké. Not like when they raided your monastery. But,\" Shima said, his eyes menacing with resolve, \"if you hadn't come out, I'd've gone in and finished them.\"\n\n\"I think it's easier to fight when you don't think you're going to live.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You going to fight again?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I think I killed everyone I set out to kill.\"\n\n\"What do you plan to do now?\"\n\nIt was a simple question. Saburo answered simply, \"I don't know.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You've been walking at least four days. No ideas in all that time?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Mostly I've been thinking what I'll do in order to eat.\"\n\n\"Going back to the monastery, maybe? Be a priest again?\"\n\nSaburo shook his head. \"Not after what I've done. I can't ever be a priest—\" He broke off with a hiss." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Before I went to the monastery, I was headed to the Imperial City. Maybe that's where I should go.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shima grunted. \"Just because the Ōuchi are distancing themselves doesn't mean there aren't others who would in fact appreciate a man of shall we say... talent?\"\n\n\"I'm no samurai. I was a priest. A farm boy before that. Nobody will bring me in like you did.\"\n\n\"I brought you in because you had will.\"\n\n\"But that was you. I'm not sure any clan will have me. I'm not buke.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My beginnings are as lowly as any.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shima's voice rumbled darkly, twinged with humor. \"At least you were a priest.\"\n\n\"You served in the Hōgen Ran—for the winning side. The Ōuchi had to accept you, no?\"\n\n\"No,\" Shima said flatly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But the strange thing is that, for all the buke and kuge who descend from fancy parents and high titles, there are even more who come from simpler roots. As I have told you over and over, battle knows no pedigree. A farmer with a tachi can cut down a noble with a tachi with but a single cut. The battlefield remembers only who wins. You've established yourself. Your talents could prove useful. There are rewards, so long as you don't end up lost inside some army. Pick your battles carefully, and make sure there's enough gold at the end to go around.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo scowled.\n\n\"Don't look so skeptical.\"\n\n\"To kill for money?\" He shook his head in disapproval." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"There are others just as foul as the Zodiac and whom the ōryōshi ignore. Raiding farms. Terrorizing innocents. Robbing. Maiming. Raping. Killing. If people want to give you gold to rid the world of vermin, should you look away from payment?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shima sniffed. \"Even priests accept alms.\"\n\n\"Nin-tai would say that road is wide and slippery.\"\n\n\"And you are far down that road. Afraid you'll slip now? There are other Nin-tais in this world—with different names. It's just you've never heard of them... yet.\"\n\nSaburo looked away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Or do you could go back to being a farmer or maybe take up a trade or perhaps marry a rich woman—or maybe even become the lover of a handsome samurai and travel together?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shima was silent a moment. \"You remember that night?\"\n\nSaburo did remember. He remembered it very well. The exuberance of having survived and the plentiful saké." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had permitted himself to share the love he had always denied himself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And so even as the last echoes of his human innocence dissolved into the earth, he and Shima had embraced, coming together in open intimacy of nandō.\n\nHe also remembered the night at Iwakawa-jiin when they first met. When his attraction toward Shima was the honest and true admiration and affection of a young man suffering loneliness and heartbreak, who sought reassurance and strength and, yes, love from a man of strength and action—the opposite of Dayu-suke. And Shima had responded generously, giving Saburo whatever he asked for." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But only now did Saburo realize that Shima had wanted something in return: for Saburo to become a man who could wreak vengeance with a cold heart." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In this, Shima had succeeded. Since the massacre, Saburo drew away from Shima. Their last moment of true closeness was when Shima's student had crossed the vale from human to monster.\n\nSaburo had been changed into someone else, something else." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Not the person he had been before." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not a priest, not anymore.\n\nHe was now a killer. Brutal. Remorseless. Barely human. His vengeance on the Eleven had not brought his heart back, only hardened it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shima said, \"You're quiet.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo sighed and shook his head. \"I remember.\"\n\n\"Hmm,\" Shima grunted. \"I brought Gaki with me. He's over there.\" And indeed the stallion was in the shade not far from the docks. \"I can bring him aboard. Strike out to the Isle of Two Kingdoms.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We drank too much saké. So much my head spun. It was the saké that caused me not to be myself.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Saké, ne?\" Shima's eyes lost the mirth they'd had only moments before. \"It was just so much saké then,\" he said slowly, stretching each word out. \"Nothing more? Just drink?\"\n\nSaburo did not look at him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You don't get hard anymore for me?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo shook his head.\n\nShima sighed deeply. \"Too bad only saké does that to you.\"\n\n\"I am done with saké.\"\n\nShima snorted. \"Done with it, are you? Hmm. You may one day see that some things taste good and you continue to drink them, even if you awaken the next morning with a spinning head.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo gazed across the Bungo." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shima said, \"Maybe you are one of the ones who gets hard only after using his steel sword, and that frightens you.\"\n\nSaburo could feel Shima staring intently at him.\n\n\"Maybe it's why you ran away from the monastery in the first place. You were running from yourself.\"\n\nSaburo faced him with defiance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The monastery was home. Nin-tai would not abide nanshoku. Elders do not take advantage of innocent boys.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shima's jaw set itself like stone. \"Boys!\"\n\n\"Boys who put their filial trust in an elder. And you certainly are elder,\" Saburo said, his words calculated bite like sharpest steel. \"What are you? Almost thirty?\"\n\n\"I may be ten years older than you, but you are no chigo,\" Shima said through clenched teeth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You're a full-grown man!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'd never known what physical love was, and you led me along.\"\n\n\"Oooh.\" Shima's voice was cold as a winter wind, barely more than a whisper. \"You dare!\" Shima flushed. \"You came to take what I taught. You then killed eleven men. And you have the audacity to speak of your innocence! For three years I watched you plot your bloodletting day by day, and now you hide behind the fiction that you are not responsible for your own plot?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Maybe you are right,\" Saburo said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Nevertheless, I do not want to follow an old man.\"\n\nShima bolted up as if about to strike Saburo dead on the spot.\n\nSaburo decided he would not raise a hand. Maybe he did owe Shima his life." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Maybe death at Shima's angry hand would be the best way to end it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But Shima did not move. A long time passed in silence.\n\nFinally Shima said, low and quiet, \"Very well. I wish you well in your world without... saké.\"\n\nShima again reached toward his sword." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo again readied himself for the blow." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But instead of drawing steel, Shima took a small satchel from his sleeve and tossed it at Saburo's feet.\n\nIt landed with a metallic clunk. \"That was for us. Now the money's only for you. In the Imperial City, you'll need every coin there.\"\n\n\"I can't take money.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You're a thief,\" Shima snarled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You took what I taught you. You might as well have that, too!\"\n\nThe mifune rocked, water slapping its hull, as Shima stepped off and stomped toward his horse. Almost at once, he was in the saddle.\n\nSaburo lowered his eyes and watched the boat's rocking motion, so disconnected from the firmness of the shore." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shima's voice called from the shore, \"I fight because it's the manly thing. It's time for you to decide what and who you are, for I have no use for you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After a pause, the sword master shouted, \"I wish I had never met you!\"\n\nA wave of hot bitterness filled Saburo's chest. He looked up, trying to catch Shima's eye, if just for a moment, but it was not to be. The rider had already put spurs to horse and was thundering out onto the road, rocks and dirt flying as hooves clattered away—as if Shima were riding Gaki off into a great battle." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: Cooperative storytelling\nMy role: Provide a brief opening\nYour role: Expand upon my opening with four sentences, emulating the writing style of Katherine M. Lawrence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "[ Hour of the Sheep, One day past Full Moon of Unohana Month, Second Year of Shōan, 10 May 1172, North Road, Nagato Prefecture ]" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In death, Shima seemed larger than Saburo remembered. The sword master lay face down in the mud, long arms extended fully out over his head, fists still clutching the man-length nodachi. In the cold drizzle, his indigo and orange yoroi glistened, appearing polished and pristine, except for a bloody gash just under his ribcage.\n\nSaburo knelt down next to him and gently nudged his shoulder, and it yielded slightly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The body had not yet begun to stiffen." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not dead long. He pushed harder and rolled the body face-up.\n\nHe suppressed a gasp. He had killed many targets and been in terrible battles with grisly carnage, but nothing prepared him for the lifeless face of his own mentor. Mud smeared his cheeks and jaw." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sand grains clung to his eyeballs and invaded the creases of the lids." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rainwater dribbled from his mouth.\n\nShima's eyes were clear. No sign of the black that swallowed the eyes of victims of fugu poisoning.\n\nThis meant the false monks weren't the killers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "What had earlier been his slight regard for a mere girl disguised as a samurai turned into bitter rage." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Clenching his teeth, he poured water from his canteen across Shima's eyes, rinsing away the grit. Then closed them.\n\nSaburo closed his own eyes. He had to compose himself. He was renown even among the shinobi for his ability to kill anyone efficiently, without compunction or remorse, and always with discretion." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He always applied patience and attentiveness, things he had learned from his old mentor-father Nin-tai, in everything he did." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had never failed in an assignment. For the man of the shadows, death brought clarity.\n\nHe focused now on what he knew and didn't know. The routine calmed and centered him, bringing him back to cold reality." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Earlier, as he had come up the road, he'd encountered farmers carrying fabrics." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He saw terror on their faces. At the time, he'd assumed he—an unpredictable armored samurai on a lonely road—had frightened them. But then he came upon the scene and realized the dead bodies had terrified those pitiful farmers. Had they actually watched the battle, seen the Taka girl defeat these men?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "If so, she was only a short distance ahead." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He could dash up the road and cut her down. It was possible she might not expect someone to rush up so soon—or at all.\n\nBut experience had taught him that appearances could deceive and to always check for the small clues. He slipped a hand under Shima's dō." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His chest, the thickest part of his body, was only slightly warm." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki could have done her killing as long as an hour before. Possibly longer.\n\nPlus she was on horseback. Although that made her easier to follow, it also meant she was traveling faster than he could on foot—two to three times faster, even accounting for periods when she would have to walk to let her stallion rest. Unlikely he could catch her before nightfall." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yet she would have to stop somewhere for the night." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He could get his chance while she slept.\n\nHe swept his gaze around. Aki lay face down, pierced by one stabbing thrust through the lung. The Taka girl surely had done that." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Across the road, Ie's body lay sliced in two from a much more brutal and powerful attack." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shima's nodachi, no doubt.\n\nWhy had the fools attacked Shima? Had he tried to help the girl, only to have her turn on him? Had she caught Shima with his guard down and killed him out of spite or malice?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "No. His guard wasn't down." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Clearly from how he fell, she'd struck when his nodachi was raised high, poised for attack. For her to have killed Shima with one thrust in face-to-face battle indicated superb skills for anyone, let alone a young noblewoman that Kuma had dismissed as \"untested.\" Obviously she had been trained to a high level. Why go through all that trouble for a mere girl?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Taka,\" he hissed out loud." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Such a small, secretive, and rather isolated clan, and yet his client seemed to know exactly when she'd departed on her journey and what she carried. Kuma had to be Taka. Why did Kuma want these particular two scrolls? Why did he want the warrior dead, her body never to be found?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had said she was \"high rank.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Could it be that she was of very highest rank? As a policy, Saburo preferred never to ponder why he was being hired; yet now the petty intrigues within the Taka clan had touched his own life.\n\nHe stepped back to take in the entire battle scene—the footprints, the trampled brush along the road's edge—and then he noticed the deep wheel ruts and trudging indentations from footsteps tracking past the roadside shrine. The fabric merchants. At the Barrier Strait, he had watched them slowly, awkwardly roll their cart aboard the kobune that carried the Taka warrior, Shima, Aki, and Ie." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around four sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: Katherine M. Lawrence" }, { "from": "human", "value": "A cart lay smashed to pieces at the very bottom of a ravine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The merchants were nowhere in sight, but their footprints continuing up the road. A cart with this much silk aboard was worth a small ransom. To just dump it in a gully? Had they panicked at the sight of the murder?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The cart lay on its belly in loose dirt by a small stream, having battered trees on its way down, losing wheels and bags of cargo along the way." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One bundle hooked by a pine branch had split open, revealing mostly straw inside. Other ripped silk satchels further down also revealed straw contents. The silk outer wrappings were obviously intended to deceive all but those who gave careful scrutiny.\n\nThe green tunics the merchants had worn were scattered along the hillside." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Also their shoes. What commoners would have tossed aside new-made shoes?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He focused in on the cart itself. For all the violence in its demise, it appeared to be largely intact, but for a side panel that had been torn off to reveal a compartment that ran the length of the cart underneath the bed flooring. What were they smuggling in there? Something they could carry by hand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Exotic treasures from across the Leeward Sea?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That made no sense. Even smugglers alarmed by dead bodies would not have discarded their own clothing—let alone the cart itself—without getting something in exchange. Even the straw would have found a buyer in any of the nearby towns. Yet everything had been cast aside—except for whatever had been hidden in that compartment." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Obviously, their ruse did not matter anymore now that they had gotten past the Nagato sakimori." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now they carried what they had smuggled across the Strait and no longer felt the need to be disguised as merchants.\n\nBeing himself a master of disguises, Saburo wondered what appearance had they assumed. He took a few steps along the ledge, examining the wreckage below, and that's when he saw something he recognized even from this distance: a warrior-monk's gray-white tunic and distinctive leg-strap sandals that had spilled out of the cart. The exact kind of disguise worn by the Zodiac." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Convenient for men who did not want to be bothered by local authorities." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But sōhei could not travel carrying exotic valuables without raising suspicion. But the cart's hidden compartment would have been perfect for transporting polearms—a preferred weapon of warrior-monks.\n\nSaburo sighed. Armed or not, these men almost certainly had nothing to do with the Taka warrior and the scrolls she carried. Enough about this.\n\nHe glanced up and down the road for travelers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He remained alone, at least for the moment." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The early afternoon sun broke out of the clouds. It still stood fully two fists high. Not yet Hour of the Monkey—yet with every moment, the Taka woman was getting further away.\n\nQuickly he contemplated what had to be done." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The bodies were unavoidable." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even if he dragged them into the ravine, they'd be found eventually, and that would raise questions. The last thing Saburo needed was having presumptuous ōryōshi inquiring about unexplained murders. He'd learned long ago, better than leaving no clues was to leave specific clues leading to an obvious explanation. No questions, no mysteries." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If the scene here appeared to be a routine robbery—hapless travelers who'd been ambushed by brigands—the ōryōshi would dismiss the incident as trivial, or at most focus only on local troublemakers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yes, that would work.\n\nSaburo rolled Aki's body over and searched his tunic, but found no coins. The fake monk stank of saké. Not just a fool, a drunken fool who spent his money on drunken foolishness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ie's upper torso lay facing up, his face the bloodless alabaster of the divine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But mortal entrails spilled from the severing wound that ran from shoulder to opposite hip. Saburo's probing fingers found nothing in the man's rent tunic. Saburo crept over to the lower half of the body, where the stench of kuso threatened to overpower him—the most undignified part of death, the body's release of excrement, the spirit's last gesture to the floating world. Breathing through his mouth, he found a gold coin stitched into the lower tunic hem." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Quickly, yet careful not to touch the fugu, he flung the two assassins' poisoned blades deep into the ravine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now they were just two unfortunate monks. And the weapons, if found, would be associated with the owners of the cart.\n\nTaking a deep breath of cold air to keep his head clear, Saburo knelt beside Shima. \"Forgive me,\" he whispered, and he probed the samurai's sleeves." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His hands came away with two heavy purses, each filled with gold coins." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So much gold! More than Saburo had paid the failed assassins. Had Shima also been paid to get the scrolls? No, more likely thrifty Shima had earned and saved the coins—just as he had when working for the Ōuchi.\n\nThe clank of the coin satchel landing in the boat rang in Saburo's memory." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He said, \"You called me a thief.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shima did not answer, but Shin-en began to shriek. Saburo shoved the monkey out of his mind.\n\nSaburo couldn't take Shima's gold now. \"I've already taken so much from you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He tucked the purses back into the sword master's sleeve." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Someone else can steal the money. Even ōryōshi wouldn't pass up such a fortune.\n\nBut the girl had not taken the money. Young, blooded for the first time, she would have focused on having taken life—not unlike how he after killing the Eleven had left behind the blood-covered treasure." }, { "from": "human", "value": "How else was she like him?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Another burst of rain came down in the sunshine as he felt under Shima's tunic for anything else of value, and his fingers touched a silk cord.\n\nHis heart skipped a beat. He dared not believe it. He traced the lanyard to the pouch he knew was there." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He shoved the tunic aside." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo slipped loose the silk drawstring and removed what was inside.\n\nThe omamori.\n\nShima had kept it all these years, long after the talisman had lost its power. Even after their agonized parting." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The takō embroidery was slightly soiled, as if Shima had occasionally rubbed his thumb across it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sentimental sword master.\n\nWhen Nin-tai had died, Saburo had not wept. When Aka-rui had died, he had not wept. Not since the death of his mother had he wept, but now his body was wracked with sobs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He cradled Shima's head in his hands, saying all the things he had wished to say to him in life, telling him how he wanted it to have been different. \"I loved you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He gently lowered Shima's head to rest. Rain coursed like tears down the dead man's cheeks, and when he saw Shima crying, Saburo sobbed even harder.\n\nTotally spent, gut aching, Saburo murmured what Shima had called him. \"Dankotaru.\" Resolute.\n\nHe sniffed. This was not the time to let his own sentimentality overwhelm him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had already lingered for too long." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He slipped the amulet back into its pouch and tucked it into a sleeve pocket.\n\nNow for a weapon. The short sword he had procured in Akamagaseki surely would not be enough against the Taka warrior. Shima's nodachi was far too large for Saburo to wield, but Shima also carried a tachi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo stood and half-drew the weapon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It gleamed in the sun, polished and sharp, without a notch—as to be expected of a sword master. He shoved it back in and tied the scabbard to his waist sash.\n\nHe thought of giri, his duty to complete the assignment, whatever the cost. But now he felt something else, an added strength—ninjo, human feelings." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as Katherine M. Lawrence" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The day's light waned, but Saburo maintained his brisk pace. As always, he kept his ears tuned to the sounds around him, which so far were just the unremarkable murmur of the forest. Birds, insects, squirrels. Even in the unseasonable cold, the pulsing mating chorus of minminzemi filled the air, each insect falling silent as he moved past, then rejoining the song behind him.\n\nHe now regretted his choice of wearing armor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mushi no shirase. The bugs were letting him know." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The guise of samurai had seemed perfect when he had set out on the North Road from Akamagaseki, but now its little squeaks and clacks as the platelets shifted on his body distracted him—and obstructed his hearing.\n\nHe felt the presence of Shin-en once again. She has killed Shima, the monkey whispered in his skull. Why is she still alive?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "And Shin-en began its shrieking and howling." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Unable to clear his mind, Saburo grappled with the monkey. He had to refocus.\n\nFocus! Details reveal events.\n\nSaburo turned his attention to Yamabuki's large colt's hoof tracks in the mud hardening in the unseasonable cold." }, { "from": "human", "value": "By their separation, it was clear that the horse maintained a steady pace." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But additional marks told him that the false silk merchants also walked ahead of him, how far ahead he could not tell. The pattern of their footprints, two abreast, indicated military training.\n\nWell, it was no matter for him. Their intrigues almost certainly bore no connection to his task." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His mind focused on killing the Taka warrior—and immediately Shin-en returned, shrieking and howling in excitement as Saburo pictured the expression on Yamabuki's face when his sword sliced open her belly, and the sound of her body hitting the ground, her eyes empty." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As the sun fell below the trees, thickening clouds above burned blood red before ripening into smashed, bruised plums. Gloom settled upon the forest. Trees and rocks disappeared into murk. And Saburo realized that the false silk merchants' footprints had disappeared as well." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He stopped to listen." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The insects had fallen silent. Gentle wind rustled the treetops. He reached out with all his senses and heard a distant voice. A laugh. A whiff of burning pine. Campfire?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The men who were not silk merchants were making camp, but where?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then he saw it. Over to the left, a vague glow seeped from a copse.\n\nFor the span of three breaths, he weighed his options. The Taka warrior likely would stop in Minezaki." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If so, he would lose nothing by investigating these men." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It wasn't because he wished to discover the reasons of their ruse. The idea of having armed men behind him annoyed him.\n\nQuietly he unfastened his Hayakawa armor and stacked the pieces behind a tree trunk. The cold air chilled his skin under his sweat-damp kimono." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Somewhere, an owl called oooooooo-hoooo-oooo, sending luck and protection against misfortune through the woods." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Protection for him? Or for those men?\n\nWas this a mistake?\n\nAs if in response, the sharp blue light of the rising moon illuminated the treetops—then almost immediately was swallowed by dark clouds. The forest was giving him his answer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The blackness provided a shield more effective than any armor." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He tucked the swords into his waist sash. Then as silent as the silence itself, he slipped into the forest, becoming one with it. Wind whispered through the pines. Again the owl called ooooooooo-hoooo-ooo." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And men's laughter, suddenly so loud in the dark void, answered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The campfire glow grew brighter as Saburo approached. In the middle of a small clearing, several stacked branches blazed with fire. Six men moved about, casting long ghostly shadows into the woods. They wore robes of sōhei." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Individual voices began to find their way to him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It will be good to sleep in a bed tomorrow,\" said on with slightly slurred speech.\n\n\"You think Kiso will let you rest with the news we're bringing?\"\n\n\"Kiso doesn't trust the Ōuchi.\"\n\n\"He trusts the beauty of their women.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The men laughed quietly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He trusts the beauty of all women!\"\n\nMore laughter.\n\n\"Beauty visits all clans.\"\n\n\"And that's why in the end they will side with Kiso. He understands how to win.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Again they laughed. Indeed, these were no monks." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The voices fell silent. The sharp-sweet smell of cooked rabbit filled the air. Not the diet of religious men. The aroma brought back memories of the night he'd first met Shima." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Now Shima lay dead in the road." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No burial. No rites. And shinobi or not, priest or not, Saburo knew the sutras. He could have at least performed the rites before leaving.\n\nShin-en whispered, You should feel guilt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo pushed Shin-en aside." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Guilt was a luxury an assassin never dared buy.\n\nOne of the men said, \"The general won't like the news about her brother.\"\n\n\"Ne,\" said a deep voice. \"Say nothing about it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We have to.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why?\"\n\n\"Because it was he who convinced the Ōuchi to meet.\"\n\nAnother asked, \"Will there be a meeting without him?\"\n\n\"Let Kiso decide,\" the deep voice answered, and the other voices fell silent for a while." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Wanting to see their faces, Saburo floated closer, like a ghost, making no sound, a shadow within shadows, until he felt the warmth of the fire against his cheeks." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A trio of intersecting skewers held the large, skinned animal roasting over the flames.\n\nThe six men, heads uncovered, did not have the shaved heads of Tendai monks but the wild black manes and beards of buke. Warriors. Large warriors at that. Their naginata leaned against tree trunks, the poles adding to the dancing shadows from firelight, but the men themselves remained armed with both tachi and personal swords." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Even so, they behaved as if they had no concerns about any potential threats around them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If they had sensed danger, they would not have kindled a fire and roasted a rabbit. But they sat at their ease, tearing hunks of flesh with knives and fingers and swigging from a passed-around flask.\n\nAnd unlike sōhei, who lived lives attuned to the nature surrounding them, they had permitted death—in the form of Saburo—to steal so close without challenge.\n\nA squat man took a gulp of saké and shook his head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"They should rename it the Isle of Obstinate Daimyō. Kikuchi. Itō. Taka. Sagara. Shimazu. They think that somehow they can stay out of it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The warrior next to him, thicker, with wilder hair, said, \"The Taka brother Tachibana was interested. You saw?\"\n\n\"Kiso would like the Taka woman.\"\n\n\"The warrior on the boat this morning? A tall sapling.\"\n\n\"That sapling killed the Ōuchi fencing master.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Baka!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He challenged her on the boat. They obviously had a duel.\"\n\n\"And what about the dead monks? She killed them too?\"\n\n\"Maybe her hands are fast. A killer kills.\"\n\n\"Give me that flask.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The squat warrior passed the saké bottle to the wild-haired man—who took a deep gulp—and reached out over the fire, tearing off more meat." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For the space of thirty breaths, the men said nothing. Damp branches crackled in the fire as the men chomped, swigged, and sighed over their meal.\n\n\"I had a thought,\" said a warrior across the fire, whose gray-tinged hair suggested he was eldest. \"What if the sapling is Taka Daimyō's answer to Kiso's entreaties?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He gazed one by one at each of his companions." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She could be with him right now.\"\n\nChewing, the squat man said, \"That's not good.\"\n\nThe elder warrior said, \"Kiso's incautious with women.\"\n\n\"Ha! And he has done so well trusting men. His uncle killed his father to take power of the Minamoto. I think he thinks that a woman would not do that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No woman could. She'd be eliminated if she so much as tried. Men won't follow a woman.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ne!\" rumbled the deep voice again from a tall, angular man, his back to Saburo. \"Respect for the general.\"\n\nThe squat man bowed his head.\n\nBut the elder warrior was not finished." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Taka Moroto has a daughter. His only heir. It is said she has been trained with the sword. She could be the sapling, ne?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Those words nearly shook Saburo out of his cloak of shadow.\n\nThe wild-haired warrior spat out a bone. \"Moroto will marry her off to Takanao for peace with the Kikuchi.\"\n\n\"Takanao might join us,\" said the squat man." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Again, the tall man sounded off in a low warning tone." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hey. They will choose sides when they are forced to.\"\n\nThe squat man snorted. \"The daimyō on that isle are cowards. If they had gills, they'd crawl into the sea to get away from what's coming.\"\n\n\"Ne! You talk too much.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The squat man sneered at the tall man." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You think Masahito is listening? Does Kiyomori have owls spying on us?\"\n\n\"What I hear is saké talking.\"\n\nSaburo heard a leaf crack.\n\nTen steps to his right stood a large fox, red fur seeming to glow in the firelight." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It stared at him with uncanny intensity." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo's blood ran cold. Was it a God? Saburo felt a shiver. Why would a God appear now?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "A trickster come to toy with him?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He flushed with a surge of rage. What had the Gods ever done for him? All the people he ever cared about were dead.\n\nThe fox bolted directly in front of him before dashing off into the deeper woods." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The six men turned at the noise and stared straight at Saburo." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The voice of his teacher and lover flash in his mind: \"Two equally matched swordsmen have an even chance in a duel. Two against one, it becomes one in three. Three against one, it's one in six. Four against one, survival is one in twelve. Take out as many opponents as quickly as possible before the battle begins.\"\n\nSaburo sprinted forward, drawing Shima's tachi, and struck two men down in one sweep. The remaining four leapt back, pulling their blades free of their scabbards.\n\nFour left—one in twelve for an ordinary swordsman, but Saburo was no ordinary swordsman." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Like a fox, he feinted attack at one, then twisted around as the tachi tore through the chest of the man next to him. Three left." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They spread out, surrounding him. The one behind slid to the side, at least three steps away, his steps snapping twigs. Two other men stood in front of him. Not young. Seasoned warriors." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Older hands with weathered faces and unblinking eyes that had known battle—eyes that would not accept anything but their opponent's death." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo could not permit them to live, not after seeing his face. Now he would find out what the trickster God intended for him—or for them.\n\nThe taller man, the one with the deep voice, flicked glances around left and right, alert to possible attacks on his flank. Saburo grinned. Men always assumed no one would dare act alone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The other man before him, short and thick bodied, locked eyes, holding his sword low at the ready, pointed downward along his front leg." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Approaching slowly, maintaining a balanced stance, Saburo held his own sword low and back. His foot touched a thick branch at the edge of the campfire, and now he knew what would happen next.\n\nHe slid his other foot slowly around while raising his tachi high.\n\nHe glanced left." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Both men looked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He kicked. The branch flipped up, sending sparks flying.\n\nTo their credit, they did not lose focus even as the cinders burned their faces. The tall man took a half-step back, but the squat man, tough as he was thick, stepped forward and smashed the tumbling log in two with a hard lateral strike, splashing sparks at Saburo.\n\nSaburo jumped forward, moving in close, driving his tachi into the man's chest, pinning him to the air." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Spinning now, he let go the hilt and drew his short sword, coming in low against the tall man, who brought his blade down with a powerful two-handed strike." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo flashed his sword up—short sword met long sword, steel met steel with a loud crack. Saburo's blade vibrated more than it should have. His right hand stung with pinpricks. He kicked a leg out high, smashing the tall man's knee." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The other warrior cried out." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo cut through the tall man's torso, sapping his wind. The warrior bent over, wounded. Staggering. But still on his feet.\n\nSeeing his chance, the third man who had hung back charged with powerful diagonal strikes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo barely parried them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The squat man impaled by the tachi finally fall back to the dirt—blocking Saburo's shuffle-steps. Now off balance, Saburo flung the short sword at his attacker's face, not expecting to do damage, only to disrupt his rhythm.\n\nIn the moment's hesitation, Saburo pivoted around and ripped his tachi free from fallen squat man's chest. His attacker reset his stance, eyes focused on Saburo's longer sword." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo dropped one arm and let his personal dagger slip into his hand." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With a rising snapping motion, he flung it low. It slammed into the man's groin. Saburo's long sword sliced through the man's face. Blood spewed in an arc." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The man fell in a rolling tumble." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Five of the warriors own, the tall warrior remained, still standing despite a shattered knee, bent only slightly, clutching his side wound, sword held out in one unsteady hand.\n\nSaburo approached him slowly. The sole survivor had little left in him. He'd be dead soon anyway." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo considered just leaving him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But something about this man dressed as a warrior-monk brought up rage within the fallen priest. And he had no time for waiting.\n\nHis blade flashed, knocking the man's sword out of his hand. Another flashing motion and the warrior's arm came off at the elbow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And still the tall man stood, glaring at him with defiance." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo brought down his sword again, severing the man's other arm at the shoulder. Blood spurted from both wounds, but weakly. The gash in his torso had released most of it. The man's fierce eyes turned glassy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His body tipped forward." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo stepped out of the way, and as the man fell, Saburo swung the tachi once more, taking his head.\n\nBreathing deeply, his heart pumping, Saburo surveyed the slaughter—and it had been a slaughter. He walked up to each one and drove the tachi point into each man's heart. Just like the Eleven. No witnesses." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The fire logs, scattered now, lost much of their flame." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the fading light, he grabbed a discarded head scarf and wiped the blood off Shima's tachi. Its blade remained marvelously undamaged. He slid it into its saya.\n\nAfter retrieving and wiping down his short sword, he examined its cutting edge." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Deep notches. Though the sword hilt inscription proclaimed it a Kuninaga blade, it had to be a forgery." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What could he expect from a shop selling dead men's armor? He tossed the damaged sword into the remnants of the fire.\n\nFrom a scabbard lashed to the squat man's waist sash, Saburo pulled a ko-dachi. This blade gleamed even in the dimness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Good enough. He slashed the sageo, tucked the empty saya into his waist sash, and slid the blade home." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A rumble in the distance. A breeze of cold gave his damp skin a chill as the distinctive clinks and clops of mounted horses grew louder. He turned his head slowly, listening. Downhill, out on the road, fives horses moved at a canter. Sakimori guards." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Would the guards see the campfire?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Too late now. Scattering the logs would only kick up more sparks. He waited. The sakimori would have encountered the dead bodies of Shima and the false monks. Was this a manhunt? The riders excitedly shouted to each other. Laughter." }, { "from": "human", "value": "After a few breaths, the sound shifted and began to fade." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo glanced over his clothes. In the encroaching darkness, he could just make out blood spattered across his front and sleeve. Not too bad; the robes of the fallen were in even worse shape. But he did not want to encounter any authorities like this." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He'd need to acquire a new disguise by morning." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If he had not killed the Taka warrior by then.\n\nThe mostly picked-over rabbit carcass lay at his feet. With hard fingers, he tore off a strip of flesh from the hind and shoved it into his mouth. Chewing on the bitter meat, he stepped back into the darkness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Only murky shadows in the dark guided back to the North Road." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Leaving the Hayakawa armor behind, he strode uphill in the strengthening icy wind. Scattered snowflakes flitted around him, touching the ground only to slide sideways in a restless dance." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "I'll be your writing partner today. I will set the scene, and you will continue the story with 4 sentences, channeling the voice and techniques of Katherine M. Lawrence.i'll kick things off by writing a bit, then you'll take over and write the next 4 sentences in the distinctive voice of Katherine M. Lawrence.Ive got a bit of writers block, im gonna send you something then keep it going 4 sentences at a time, also im going for a Katherine M. Lawrence sorta thing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "[ Hour of the Ox, Minezaki ]" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The town bore no sign announcing its existence. But clusters of weathered and indifferently maintained minka homes—clapboard walls and peaked thatched roofs, ghostly with a dusting of snow, tattered with rents and holes—rose up along the road. Saburo passed the first structure, long since abandoned, with windows that gaped open like mouths to the underworld. The next home also appeared uninhabited; yet he smelled firewood and an occasional whiff of millet." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Desperate people surviving after a rough winter? He walked on." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The snowfall grew heavier, now sticking to the road. His steps left footprints. More tricks from the Gods? He cinched his cloak a bit tighter." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A stooped gray couple squatted in the darkness against the wall of a nondescript clapboard minka more haphazard in construction, assembled from leftover scraps from finer buildings." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He ran up to them, as if in an anxious hurry, and said in a weak voice, \"Please, I'm looking for a samurai. I have an urgent message for her. Riding a horse? Wearing green armor so dark it's almost black?\"\n\nThe man gaped at him, working his lips over toothless gums. The woman shrugged.\n\n\"You saw her? Where did she go?\"\n\nThe woman touched the old man's shoulder and stole inside." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The old man, confused, slowly followed her, and the door banged shut." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo continued up the road. The strange summer storm intensified. Carried on the wind blowing down from the mountains, snow swirled around him, and now his footprints disappeared in an ever-restless whiteness. Surely Yamabuki could not have gone on in this weather, especially over the pass." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She had to have stopped somewhere nearby for the night." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As he had in Akamagaseki, he now peered around behind each building he passed, checking for stables. Few homes had any—their tenants too poor to own horses, let alone house them in separate structures—and what sheds he found stood empty and unused.\n\nAs the density of minka increased, so did their quality. All bore peaked roofs, though most of thatched straw, not shingles." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He reached a crossroads—the reason the town even existed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A broad road extended off to the left and right: the East-West Highway, a major traveling route that reached from the Leeward Sea to the Inland Sea. But nobody was traveling on this night.\n\nThe Taka warrior likely had not taken the long way around to the Imperial City. With this weather, she had to be somewhere in this town." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He continued on North Road into the densest part of Minezaki." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The minka now stood wall to wall, and many abutted bluffs or large boulders, making getting around them more difficult, checking stables more time-consuming. Often upon creeping around to the back of a structure, he encountered the stone or steep dirt of a cliff face. Twice he had to throw rocks at skeletal dogs that pestered him for food. At none of the stables he found were horses." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He crept up to one somewhat maintained structure and peered through an open window." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dark and silent but for the faint hiss of burning coals. He slid open the door. Nobody. He entered.\n\nThe entire interior was one room, deserted; yet an iron plate sat within the irori, glowing red. Someone lived here and was perhaps soon to return." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo warmed his hands and feet." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He tried to center himself and reflect on his next move, but instead found himself thinking about Shima. Shima! Dead! The cold body—so altered since that night they'd first embraced.\n\nHis thoughts wandered further back—to Iwakawa-jiin. But now the temple had turned cold and lifeless and withered priests trudged ghostlike through corridors and across courtyards." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The few faces he recognized were aged." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He floated through walls, past the kitchen where flavorless millet bubbled in a pot, and into a large chamber where a small deflated man, gray and hunched, sat in meditation in front of an incense flame. The light flickered across the gaunt face, and Saburo realized he was looking at Dayu-suke. The bettō who took Nin-tai's position had become a shadow of himself—no longer the fat but shriveled. Old. Barely alive. Dayu-suke's lips moved, and the words reached Saburo's ears, yet Saburo could not understand them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The old man chanted in some unfamiliar language." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The only word Saburo could make out was \"Dankotaru.\" The room dissolved into smoke and Saburo found himself in the misty graveyard, by Aka-rui's weathered marker. Aka-rui, still young, climbed out of the ground and frowned.\n\nLoud stomping the boards outside brought Saburo out of the fog." }, { "from": "human", "value": "With feet soft and silent, he moved to the corner by the door." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Slowly, he slipped his sword, scabbard and all, from his sash and held it from the middle.\n\nThe door slid open. A gaunt man with snow on his black hair stepped in.\n\nSaburo struck. The scabbard smacked hard against the man's skull. The man crumbled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The shinobi checked outside for anyone else who might have been coming along." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Satisfied, he slid the plank door shut and moved back through the dark room, looking for a pot, basket, anything that might have contained something useful. He yanked down straw-mesh sack hanging on a wall. Inside was a cheap kimono, thin material. In the dimness, it appeared rather plain. Perfect." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He kicked off his robe, walked to the irori, and tossed his blood-spattered garment onto the coals." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Immediately smoke rose, thick and slow. He slipped on the new-found kimono and tied the sash. The ko-dachi's scabbard tucked in easily, but the sash seemed too insubstantial for the tachi. He couldn't leave Shima's sword behind, so he fashioned the saya's sageo into a loop and threw the cord over his shoulder to carry the sword on his back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The man he had clouted moaned." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo moved to him, drew his knife, and slit open the man's throat. As blood spurted out onto the planks and seeped through the gaps, smoke from the fire crawled along the floor to caress the body. Dayu-suke's chant seemed to dance at the edge of his awareness.\n\nSaburo pushed open the door, stepped out, shut it behind him, and continued up the North Road further into Minezaki." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The snow was surprisingly deeper now." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What hour was it? He'd heard no tolling. He would have guessed toward the end of the Hour of the Pig. But the chill and the snow gave him the sense it was much later." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The Hour of the Mouse?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hour of the Ox? Hour of the Mouse? His mind ran in circles. And still the dark fog clung to his thoughts." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Was the bettō trying to curse him?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He recalled the large fox with the intelligent eyes. A God? Or was it a shapeshifting tsukimono conjured to possess his soul?\n\nHe scooped up a handful of snow and shoved it into his mouth. With his tongue, he worked the snow around as it melted, letting the cold clear his head." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as Katherine M. Lawrence" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo ducked into the Saké House. Empty. A stooped old man in a brown kimono with white stripes moved tables and picked up fallen benches. \"Saké House Man,\" Saburo said.\n\nWithout looking up, the silver-haired man bowed stiffly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Cost you a copper,\" he muttered with barely veiled disdain and shuffled by Saburo toward the back." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't want your saké.\"\n\nThe proprietor stopped, turned, and peered up at him, his eyes flitting back and forth from Saburo's face to the kimono he wore. \"Where's Ase?\" he asked, eyes narrowing.\n\nSaburo glanced down to see in the brazier light a distinctive yellow leaf pattern in the seemingly plain brown kimono he'd acquired." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Not quite as anonymous as he had assumed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He laughed gently. \"The man with dark hair? He sold it to me. My kimono was soiled from falling into a mud hole.\" He glanced down modestly. \"I did not want to embarrass my lord.\"\n\nThe saké man resumed his way toward the back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I bear a message for a Taka samurai, a woman wearing dark green armor. She here?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The old man jerked his head. \"No.\"\n\n\"It's important I deliver this message. I can pay for information.\"\n\nThe man paused.\n\nSaburo stepped forward and clapped a small Sòng Dynasty copper coin onto the counter." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Nobody by that description?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The old man turned. His gnarled fingers scooped up the coin. He examined it closely, then looked up with a knowing smile. \"Interesting night.\" He paused, studying Saburo's face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But no woman samurai.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Interesting? I think your answer is too vague to merit a Sòng copper.\"\n\nThe saké man slowly nodded. \"Sakimori.\" He said the word as if it were cursed. \"Drunk already. Talked about a samurai killed on the North Road. Not a woman.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo held up his hand, rubbing thumb and fingers together. \"That's all?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The man spat. \"With sakimori, it's never one thing. They come here already drunk. I don't know why. They tried to get a yahochi to join them. But she had a sword.\" He smirked. \"That did not go well.\" He turned away.\n\n\"Yahochi with a sword? Did not go... how?\"\n\nThe saké man jutted out his chin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo narrowed his eyes, set his jaw, and clapped another copper onto the counter." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She was too much for them. Didn't draw her sword. Broke their bones with just the scabbard.\" He chuckled and picked up the coin.\n\n\"Not a warrior?\"\n\nThe old man waved his hand in front of his face, fingers dancing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Made up. A yahochi, I said. Long black hair down her back. Young. Beautiful—probably. Who can tell with all that makeup?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He shook his head. \"She wore a local kimono, but she was no local. Her speech? Strange accent. Strange words. I didn't know that women who give their skin are taught to fight.\"\n\nSaburo exhaled deeply. \"They aren't.\"\n\nThe man squinted at him. \"Didn't think so.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo held up another coin and placed it gently on the counter." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I believe this woman might be the very lady I am to deliver my lord's message to. Do you know where she is?\"\n\nThe man shrugged, sagging as if a burden were set on his back. \"She left with a young kuge.\"\n\n\"A kuge? What kuge? Does he have a name?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The man shrugged again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't know. Been around alone for several days. Easy to spot. Gentian flower on his kimono.\"\n\nSaburo's heart started to beat hard. Minamoto—the man named Kiso who no doubt awaited his men's arrival. Saburo remained outwardly calm. \"Where's he staying?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Red Banners. But I wouldn't—\" The old man cut himself off." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo ignored the breach of manners. \"This yahochi. Wearing a local kimono, you said?\"\n\n\"Kōno's. The armorer's family colors and pattern. Orange with butterflies.\" He shook his head. \"Sad business, that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Sad?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No use for those kimono. Pox outbreak six years ago. Dead wife. One of the twin girls.\"\n\nSaburo's pushed away memories of his mother's death. This very moment, the Taka woman was likely in the arms of the woman-loving Kiso. Saburo could strike now." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The old man took a seat in a corner and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo asked, \"Kind uncle, what's your name?\"\n\n\"They call me Unagi.\"\n\n\"I need a room, Unagi-kun. Where's this Red Banners? It sounds worthy.\"\n\nUnagi jerked his head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"They won't have a room for you. Only Minamoto not Minamoto.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Minamoto not Minamoto?\" Saburo repeated.\n\n\"They're the only ones. Are you Minamoto?\"\n\nSaburo shook his head.\n\n\"Didn't think so.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Another place nearby then?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I have a room for you. Five coppers.\"\n\nSaburo placed on the table a coin larger than the others, worth twenty coppers.\n\nUnagi snatched it up, trying to hide his delight. \"Out, to the right, take the alley. House banner with cherries. You want saké? I'll get you a flask to take with.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He rose from his seat and quickly ambled toward a low curtained doorway to another room." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"May tomorrow be less interesting,\" Saburo said to his back and stepped out into the snowy night.\n\nHard icy snow bit his cheeks. Wind blew drifts across the road. His own footprints from before were already lost in the white." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He paused at the corner as his eyes grew accustomed to the darkness away from the brazier light, then started down the alley, hand on the hilt of his ko-dachi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He didn't put it past the old man to send out armed akutō to rob a stranger carrying Sòng coins. But nobody confronted him. In fact, nobody was out at all.\n\nAlmost immediately he came upon a solid building draped with red banners, snow drifts blown up against the door." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Directly across stood a more humble building bearing a weathered banner with a marking so faded it was barely visible: Sakura." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo crossed over and clapped his hands.\n\nAfter a dozen breaths, he wondered if anyone had heard him. But at last the door clunked and rumbled open, splashing light out into the alley. A small woman of middle age with kind eyes and sun-warmed cheeks, wearing a gray kimono, smiled up at him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Apologies. I'm not so quick at my age.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Unagi,\" Saburo said.\n\nShe invited him in. He unfastened his sandals and unwrapped his legs, then followed her barefoot around down a short hall that bent to the left twice—obviously a larger structure than it had seemed—before leading into a small room where an irori burned, warming the space. Probably where she herself slept." }, { "from": "human", "value": "From a nook, she retrieved a straw-mat bedroll." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She bent over, laid it down, and with a deft shove unfurled matting with a blanket already placed. \"I have no food at this hour. Apologies. I do have saké.\"\n\n\"Nothing,\" Saburo said.\n\nThe woman bowed. \"Water in the pail. I will have hot water and food ready after the sun is up.\" Her mouth twisted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If we can see Amaterasu in this storm. By halfway through Hour of the Dragon, in any case. Two coppers for rice. Eight if you want meat.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She bowed low and slid the screen door shut.\n\nHe suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion. Let the Taka warrior have her tryst. He would strike in the morning." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He found a wooden cup hooked on the edge of the pail and drank a mouthful of water." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then he lay down on the bedding and closed his eyes. The coals in the irori hissed." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write 4 sentences sentences in the style of Katherine M. Lawrence spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In darkness, a fox cried its laughing feminine bark." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cold wind blew up a cloud of unswept leaves and dust that stung his eyes. Squinting, he turned away and stepped through the door into the Soft Breeze Shrine.\n\nThe Eleven of the Zodiac, all naked but masked like sōhei, glared at him. \"You again?\" Not hesitating this time, Saburo drew Aka-rui's ko-dachi and cut through Dragon's neck—but the blade passed right through without touching the flesh. Dragon laughed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The rest of the Eleven joined in, all laughing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo stood helpless among his fellow priests and novices at the main gate of Iwakawa-jiin. Dragon lowered his naginata and moved on Nin-tai. Saburo jumped forward to block—but his ko-dachi was gone, his hand empty. The naginata blade passed through him as if he were smoke and sliced into Nin-tai, who crumpled to the ground." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Aka-rui cried out and charged forward, his ko-dachi in his own hand." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo cried out, \"Don't! Let me!\" But Aka-rui did not hear or see him and ran by.\n\nSaburo spun around. The Eleven were gone. His fellow priests were gone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The bloody bodies of his mentor and his best friend lay in the dirt." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A fox charged out of the woods and took a position over the corpses, snarling. Saburo drew his tachi—Shima's tachi. Could he strike down a God? The fox reared up on its hind legs and transformed into a large man—Shima!—who said in his resonant voice, \"Did it feel good?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "It erupted into laughter, deep laugher, and leapt into the air." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It's body shifted, sprouting fur, twisting—and was swallowed in a mist that roiled all around Saburo.\n\nA woman's voice as smooth as the silk his mother wore whispered all around him, \"Help me.\" The most lovely woman he had ever seen emerged from the mist. She gazed at him in a most forthright way." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The feral intensity of her eyes terrified him, yet he couldn't look away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What are you?\" he asked.\n\n\"I am of Bùxiû, I am called Rènxìng.\" Her words echoed inside his head.\n\n\"Why are you here?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Because of Qiānnián.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Who is Qiānnián?\"\n\n\"You do not know Qiānnián, you will help me.\"\n\n\"Help? How?\"\n\n\"Kill Yīng Shānchuī.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I know no such person.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rènxìng tittered and her eyes turned black and she laughed hysterically, dissolving into the mist.\n\nSaburo snapped awake, twisted in the blanket.\n\nThe room of the inn felt hot. His body dripped with sweat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Daylight streaked in from cracks between the window screen slats." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Children's excited high-pitched voices squealed just outside. Calming his breath, he listened as they laid out plans to creep up on one of their number and pelt the unsuspecting victim with snowballs.\n\nYes, and so it begins, Saburo thought to himself. Sneak up. Ambush the unsuspecting." }, { "from": "human", "value": "We all learn this lesson." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With a whoop, the children ran off. But then something distracted them. \"Look! Look!\" they screamed.\n\nSaburo's curiosity was piqued, especially as he heard the crunches of many footsteps in the snow and the grumble of men's voices." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Pushing himself to his feet, he put an eye up to one of the slits to peer outside." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The view looked out on Saké House from the side, where the alley intersected with the road. Some thirty townspeople gawked at the spectacle of a jun of Ōe guards escorting through the deep snow a hand-drawn two-wheeled cart. In the cart's bed, two people lay under blankets—one, feet hanging over the end, pointing downward; the other, supine, face staring at the sky.\n\nSaburo grabbed his weapons and found his way to the front door, where he wrapped his legs and tied on his sandals." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The bright morning sun was higher than he'd expected." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hour of the Snake at least. Snow had piled high in the alley, but a narrow path had already been packed down near the buildings. The farmers and other townsfolk warily made way for him as he walked up to look.\n\nA wide-eyed farmer said to his fellows, \"They had no chance.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo asked him, \"A duel?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No, the snowstorm on the pass. Many died. One survivor.\"\n\nFor an instant, Saburo feared that Yamabuki was among them and he had missed his chance to kill her himself. But then he dismissed the idea. A Taka warrior was unlikely to travel with Ōe." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The cart stopped in front of Saké House." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Some guards went to the back of the cart, gently lifted one man, and carried him inside. The other body was left in the cart.\n\nFive Ōe warriors milled about in front, ostensibly standing guard. To Saburo they looked like young rustics, likely drawn to the adventure and status of soldiers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They did their best to affect grim countenances, though given their relaxed confidence, they obviously did not anticipate trouble." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Perhaps sensing this, or simply too foolish to be frightened, one daring boy of no more than eight summers ran up to them, giggling, and in their manner marched back and forth through the snow, bearing the child's version of a scowl. The child came only waist high to any of the men, but what he lacked in size, he made up for in mimicry.\n\nThe guards could not help but laugh. Two of them added to the fun by joining in the boy's imitation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Their scowls grew severe, though their eyes remained mirthful." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That fun accomplished, the boy grew curious and approached one of the young men, the one amongst them with the most kindly expression, and extended his hand toward the man's hoko yari.\n\n\"Ah,\" the man grunted and moved the polearm's shaft within reach. The boy stretched his hand and let his tiny fingers caress the wood. The man said with a smile, \"One day you may walk among the sakimori in the service of the Ōe clan.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The boy beamed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Suddenly a woman rushed up, plowing her own path through the snow. She scowled at the guards like a wolf ready to fight, her mouth frightened and angry, and grabbed the boy's wrist, practically lifting him off the ground. \"You worthless child!\" With an open palm, she slapped him across the back of his neck.\n\n\"Ow!\" the boy moaned and burst into tears." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Expand the story by adding four sentences." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "[ Third Quarter of Hour of the Snake ]\n\nThe young man headed away from North Road, following a broken path through the deep snow toward the high cliffs beyond. His silk kimono's delicately woven blue mon of gentian flowers over bamboo leaves confirmed his class and identity. No doubt this was Kiso." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Perhaps he was seeking a rendezvous with the Taka princess." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was smiling—the smile of a man in love.\n\nHe strode across the snow with the confidence of a fighter. Strong. Loose. Balanced. Connected to the ground." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Young men unfamiliar with weapons often carried their swords in hand as they walked to prevent the scabbard from swinging wildly and striking them in the arm or even the face." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But this man's deep ajisai-blue tachi saya, hanging by its matching sageo, seemed to float alongside his thigh. Saburo knew: this man could handle himself in battle.\n\nFeigning the purposeful hunched walk of a farmer—not much he could do about his swords—Saburo followed from twenty steps behind. A few common townspeople glanced at him, perhaps recognizing the distinctive pattern on his borrowed kimono or the sword strapped to his back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Good. Let them remember the sword and kimono and forget his face." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No one dared speak in challenge.\n\nThe buildings and trees on one side of the road gave way to a sheer drop, where wind eddies roiled up frost to sparkle in the sun. The tracks veered up a side road along a ledge. A group of buildings came into view." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kiso walked directly toward them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo dashed to a stand of trees, ducked under snow-laden branches, and crouched on the damp soil. From this vantage, he held a clear view of the buildings.\n\nThe young kuge walked right up to the largest building and paused in the wide-open double doorway. A moment later, the Taka warrior stepped into view, smiling." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Flirting. Yes, there was definitely affection between them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo glanced around. The road was empty. He detected the scent of burning coal. Gray-black smoke rose from a vent in the high roof the building. An armory. Perfect." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nobody respectable—except warriors, of course—would want to soil their souls by coming around here." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Time to act!\n\nThe doorway stood empty. Where had they gone? Inside? Off to one of the other buildings? It didn't matter." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He would kill her now and drag her body into the ravine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nobody would know what happened to her.\n\nHe dashed toward the building.\n\nBut when he was but ten steps from the entrance, but two young men appeared.\n\nSaburo darted to the side and hid around the corner." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The two men, hardly more than boys, dumped a large bucket of yellow-green liquid into a pile of rocks to the side." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No indication they had seen him.\n\nSaburo sighed. No witnesses. But to kill mere boys? He would avoid it if possible, but he would do what was necessary." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He edged around the armory to the field behind, where he saw a stable and a few small structures, fresh tracks in the snow leading to each of them." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No matter. She was here somewhere. Now was the time to strike." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around 4 sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: Katherine M. Lawrence" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[ Hour of the Horse ]" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the guesthouse, the battle culminated with Yamabuki's surrender to Yoshinaka, and yet she did not in the slightest feel defeated. In fact she had achieved her aims. Now he lay next to her, sound asleep, his face innocent.\n\nA distant tsurigane began its slow tolling." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She rolled over and took some paper out of the saddlebag by the bed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For all the joy of intimacy with a man, afterward it was the woman who had to clean herself. Still, his wetness was strangely satisfying, she thought as she wiped along her legs.\n\nHer mind wandered unbidden to one day when she was thirteen springs and a large boat rode out a storm in the Great Bay of Ō-Utsumi. There was much excitement, for the boat was filled with traders from Sòng Cháo." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nakagawa considered the occasion propitious for Yamabuki's education, and so he encouraged her to converse with the strangers and practice speaking their language." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But the Taka princess began a different education that day, for among the strangers was one trader who spoke an indecipherable language but could make himself understood somewhat in the Common Language. He said he was from a place called Shā Xī, a great trading city in the far west beyond Sòng, and he had with him a text appropriate for young men and women who were nearing adulthood. But he would not show it to Yamabuki, only to Nakagawa, who, upon seeing it, became quite delighted—more than Yamabuki had seen him—and offered in trade his finest brocade kimono, one he always said was too fine to despoil on his mortal frame.\n\nSoon after, the winds changed, and the traders departed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When Yamabuki asked Nakagawa about the text, he explained the language was of Tenjiku, the Center of Heaven, the land where the Buddha was born, a land as far from Sòng as Sòng was from Akitsushima." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He explained that this language was not based on brush stroke but on musical symbols. The notes matched the sounds the human mouth made to form a word.\n\n\"You mean like women's writing and katakana?\" Yamabuki asked.\n\n\"Even more complicated. A string of many shapes, one after the other, all connected like a long thread.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "What a strange way to write." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A language of musical notes on a thread.\n\n\"Perhaps one day we shall explore this language,\" he said, placing the scroll in the room where important manuscripts were stored.\n\nThe very next day, she retrieved it and took it to her shinden, where she and her handmaids could examine this strange language. Indeed, it looked like a row of jagged teeth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But far more interesting than indecipherable script were the drawings the manuscript contained—drawing that left nothing to the imagination as to their subject: handsome unclothed men and voluptuous unclothed women coupling with one another." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No wonder a language based on musical notes needed drawings—drawings that needed no translation.\n\nNow, as she watched Yoshinaka sleep, heat built up in her heart, and she recalled the resolution she had made that day: that long before she mastered the musical language, she would achieve all the pleasures pictured in the book of love.\n\nShe stood up and felt a chill. Even colder than earlier this morning." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She tossed the paper with Yoshinaka's wetness onto the coals." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Flames burst forth. She placed another piece of wood on the fire as a ninth bell strike rang out into silence.\n\n\"Burning the evidence?\" Yoshinaka said, sitting up.\n\n\"Did I wake you? Or was it the bell?\"\n\nHe shook his head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I always sleep with an eye open.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He tapped the tachi next to him.\n\n\"It's getting colder in here,\" she said, rubbing her arms.\n\n\"On this cold day, may I suggest we employ other means to keep warm and to purify ourselves?\"\n\nShe smirked and said teasingly, \"I already put another log in the fire.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I mean warm up by taking a dip in the onsen.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hot springs?\"\n\n\"Hai, hai. Where do you think all that steam comes from over by the cliffs? Maybe you don't have onsen on the Isle of Unknown Fires.\"\n\n\"We have steaming kakkazan from which living fire rock flows. Onsen in our prefecture could boil a rabbit.\"\n\n\"Ha!\" Yoshinaka's eyes sparkled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No doubt. We also have springs like that in Shinano. But I will take you to hot springs that I promise don't scald.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Perhaps one day we will.\"\n\n\"No, no. I mean let's go now. Kōno's onsen.\"\n\n\"You've seen them?\"\n\n\"Yes behind this guesthouse.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Show me.\" She put on her shitagi and kimono, surreptitiously taking the three scrolls along." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yoshinaka quickly donned his own kimono, leaving his undergarments where they lay.\n\nYamabuki thought about the shinobi and picked up Tiger Cub. \"Bring your sword.\"\n\n\"Always. I would be naked without it.\"\n\nThey slipped on their boots and, before long, were making their way into the bluffs behind the armory and up a snow-filled narrow trail that twisted between narrow rock outcroppings, switching back and forth, and finally emerged on a small plateau." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Using his scabbarded tachi, Yoshinaka knocked through a drift of snow piled up between two high boulders and led her into a totally contained rocky ravine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Above the surrounding high snowcapped cliffs, blue sky blazed bright, but the sun's warmth reached only partway down. Steam filled the air. Straight across from them, at about eye height, a small pool bubbled. Steaming water trickling down into a slightly larger pool below no wider than the reach of her arms." }, { "from": "human", "value": "From there, a sheet of water flowed down through a channel into the largest of the pools." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She gazed all around, feeling like she had stepped into the mouth of a mountain. Except there was no musty odor. He laughed. \"The onsen here are not so hot as Amaterasu, but warmer than the blood. This one carries the sweetness of life. And it's quite private. No one will find us here.\"\n\nYamabuki raised her brows and smiled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A clump of ice fell from a steam-shrouded outcropping, and some pebbles tumbled down from above, splashing into the pool." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately one sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yoshinaka grinned. \"Shall we join those rocks?\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Expand the story by adding 4 sentences." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "[ Third Quarter of Hour of the Horse ]\n\nAs the sun pushed past mid-heaven, two warriors approached Minezaki along the snow-covered road. At first all anyone knew was the clank and jingles of tack and weapons, the sounds of mounts—sounds familiar to a town used to the comings and goings of sakimori.\n\nWhere the road rose from the east, the tips of long blades appeared, aimed at the sky, moving up and down in easy rhythm, rising ever higher, until two riders came into view, side by side—each so exceptional that it was hard to decide which of them was the more stunning." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Some townspeople just gawked; blood drained from their faces, and any sense of propriety drained from their bodies." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Several commoners fell to their knees and bowed in awe. Two Gods had descended to the Autumn Creek Land to stir mere mortals.\n\nOne rider wore an open brocade kimono of the finest nishiki, its woven dye pattern blood red intermixed with rich indigo. Only someone from the highest echelon of the kuge class would dare to wear something so courtly; yet the yoroi underneath—crimson-lacquered platelets gleaming in the rays of the sun—suggested buke." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And not just the armor, but the array of weapons that stood battle ready and menacing: a naginata with shaft well-worn from handling, a tightly strung bow with an ebira overflowing with black-and-white hawk-feathered war arrows, and a long tachi that hung in its fur-covered saya." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But what was so unearthly was the stranger's alabaster aspect: a young face of rare beauty covered in rice-white oshiroi appropriate for the Imperial Court, framed with long hair white as the snow. Even the horse, a magnificent half-tamed stallion, was argent like the clouds and had as much spirit as a tempest wind. As the green bridle flounce undulated, the horse almost pranced, its muscles rippling with every stride, its mane and tail combed by the gentle breeze.\n\n\"Ha!\" the rider suddenly shouted—a female voice—and the stallion broke into a gallop." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The other rider likewise let out a womanly shout and galloped by, black hair streaming back." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her brilliant blue riding kimono fluttered open, revealing splendid white yoroi trimmed with indigo silk. The discerning eye could see she bore the distinctive Ine mon. She too was armed: naginata strapped to the saddle boot, its long tapered blade reaching up to slice the air; tightly strung yumi with ebira, replete with arrows; and tachi in a fur-covered saya fastened by braided blue-and-white sageo. With her kabuto strapped to the back of her saddle, a wreath of hollyhock adorned her head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "How she came to wear these blossoms so early in the season, no one knew." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Some suspected she was a master of magic who could conjure anything at will.\n\nWhen the riders disappeared from sight, the commoners blinked, glancing at each other. Who or what had they just seen?\n\nWithout faltering, the riders galloped toward town." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Now at a stately trot, they rode up the main street, sitting majestically in their saddles, glancing at the onlookers, although the gazes lingered only on those wearing armor or bearing weapons." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The riders' expressions betrayed neither fear nor malice, just implacable disinterest. The townspeople withdrew far enough to feel safe, yet not so far as not to miss what might transpire.\n\nAs they approached the Saké House, the two samurai slowed their horses to a walk. At the entrance, a young Ōe guard leaned his hoko yari against the building's outer wall and ducked inside, immediately returning with Sadamasa." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Several other sakimori followed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Reining their mounts, the clinks and jangles of tack fell silent. The horses snorted, their breath steaming as, with casual dignity and the agility that comes from years spent on horseback, the woman warrior in blue slipped her leg from the stirrup, swung it over her mount's neck, and dropped down to the ground.\n\nThe other rider stayed in the saddle.\n\nFor the span of two breaths, the woman warrior and Sadamasa regarded each another." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The more astute of observers might have noticed that Sadamasa's breathing became shallow and his sword hand flexed by his side." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As if in response to the pose Sadamasa struck, the tail of the woman's horse lifted and green excrement fell into the snow.\n\nSadamasa glanced around, glaring at anyone who dared meet his gaze, and stormed back into Saké House. The other sakimori glared at the two women before following Sadamasa—all but the two youngest, who resumed their posts, now with a renewed interest in projecting fierce strength.\n\nThe woman samurai led her horse down the alley." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The white warrior, still in her saddle, guided her white steed to follow." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They stopped in front of the House of Red Banners.\n\nBefore they could clap or call out, the front door slid open. \"Welcome! Welcome, Aoi Shōgun!\" cried a gaunt man as he ambled forward, bald head bobbing as he bowed repeatedly, his red-striped kimono dragging in the snow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The dismounted warrior, Aoi Shōgun, gave him a perfunctory nod." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hari-kun, grain for the horses. Food for us.\"\n\nHari bellowed a command toward the house and waited awkwardly since no one responded, grinning in the meantime at the general. He bowed to make it look like matters were in hand. All at once, there was the sound of scurrying feet on wooden flooring, and boy and a girl dashed out, bowing toward the newcomers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hari put on a severe expression, wagging his finger." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Take the horses to the stable!\" The youngsters cried out in one voice, \"Hai!\"\n\nThe boy took the reins from Aoi, who said, \"Comb down my horse. Put a blanket over him.\"\n\nThe girl, tall and just beyond her mogi year, rushed to the other horse." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But the white rider withheld her reins and said, \"Is Yoshinaka inside?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Embarrassed, the girl shook her head.\n\nAoi addressed the girl in a rough voice made soft. \"What about Ashita?\"\n\nThe girl scrunched her face. \"Ashita?\"\n\n\"My brother.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hari stepped up, bowing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Nobody else has arrived, samurai-sama.\"\n\nAoi grunted and ducked in through the door.\n\nHari muttered something to the girl. She blanched and rushed inside after Aoi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hari bowed to the alabaster warrior." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"May I be of help, samurai-sama?\"\n\n\"Where's Yoshinaka?\"\n\nHe bowed. \"He leaves and he comes back. He never says where.\"\n\nThe white warrior tugged her reins and her argent stallion turned about, stomping and snorting." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No doubt he's on the prowl,\" she said with a smirk." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'll find him.\" She left back up the alley at a trot." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Today you will be acting as a writing assistant, your partner will send something and you will write the next four sentences." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo swept aside the snow, revealing icy handholds in the cliff's outcroppings where he could plant his feet. He had to move fast now. He needed to catch the Taka warrior in a vulnerable moment—more difficult now that she was accompanied by Kiso. Saburo had just missed a clear chance when she was preoccupied in the guesthouse." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had foolishly assumed he had time for caution, avoiding even a chance of being seen by the people inside the armory." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But before he could get close, she and the young lord had emerged and walked toward the bluffs, and now they were up in the crags somewhere.\n\nTo follow them, the shinobi scrambled up the rough rock face where nooks and crevasses meandered unpredictably but provided a quick way over the first rise. Let the terrain work to her disadvantage, where he would choose the moment of her death.\n\nAccumulations of snow and ice made the way treacherous, but before long he cleared the crest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There he discovered a hidden canyon just beyond." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He dropped to his hands and knees and slid across the snow-covered surface toward the far edge.\n\nCautiously he peered over the side.\n\nThe view, partially obscured by rising steam, revealed Yamabuki standing completely naked near a hot springs pool, her long hair tied into a coiled knot at the back of her neck. Ankle deep in the water, Minamoto faced her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The warriors below spoke, but wind gusted across the bluff, whistling in the ragged rocks, drowning out what little of the voices might have carried up this high." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo edged even closer, but the packed ice under his body was slick and he found himself sliding down toward the drop-off.\n\nDesperately, he reached out to grasp a rock outcropping, arresting his motion. But now he was too exposed.\n\nHowever, he now had a clear view of the young man's beautiful body—lean, muscular, with the flush of youth—possibly more attractive than any man Saburo had ever seen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Two parallel scars, long since healed, crossed his shoulder." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Only a truly adept fighter could have survived wounds like that. Probably the warrior at the other end of that sword had not been so fortunate.\n\nKiso took Yamabuki's hand and led her deeper into the hot waters. The water rose to his daikon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Momentarily Saburo felt his own twitch." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He cursed himself for becoming distracted and focused on Yamabuki. It was obvious she was about to give her skin. She stepped into the spring pool, and the emptiness in Saburo's heart began to fill with loathing animosity.\n\nKiso said something to her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo could not make out, but they both swept their gazes around the canyon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Certainly he'd been spotted.\n\nBut no. The two below remained totally intent on each other. This was perfect. She was distracted. Guard down." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Completely focused on the man." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Their swords leaned several steps away from the pool. Finally. Time to move in for the kill.\n\nSaburo pushed away from the ledge and, crawling on hands and feet, found a route to descend the steep rock face. Saburo wrapped his finger around the tsuka of Shima's tachi.\n\nWe'll see who's holding the better tsuka at the end of this!" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Hey can you write like Katherine M. Lawrence and use whatever i write as a jumping off point?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Waist deep in the spring pool, Yamabuki felt the heat seep into her legs." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It felt wonderful, even as it continued to burn her skin. Steam rose all around.\n\nAcross from her, Yoshinaka, who was in the water up to his neck, grinned. \"Better now, yes?\"\n\n\"I'm not sure I can do this,\" she said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She crouched, and the hot water rose to just below her breasts." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her nipples grew firm, as much from anticipation as from the chill air.\n\n\"Don't worry. The toes have the most difficult adjustment.\"\n\n\"My toes are not the parts I'm thinking about.\"\n\nHe laughed. She lowered herself all the way in, water up to her neck." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She gasped as the warmth embraced her. Yoshinaka's eyes twinkled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "How unlike Ryuma he was! She found herself comparing them. She could not help herself. Both men were similar." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Both men were different." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Both men were tall, though she remembered that Ryuma seemed wider at the shoulder and wider at the hara—the belly, the seat of resolve.\n\nBut did Ryuma have resolve? The morning after their night together, as he led Mochizuki to the front of the Wakatake Inn, she and Ryuma exchanged a long moment, staring into each other's eyes. Who else knew what had happened?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Maybe the entire inn." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After all, it wasn't a Taka fortress. Still, propriety demanded formality. She knew many years might pass before the two saw each other again. Was it not already so?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Six years had passed since their prior encounter." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maybe it would be six years again—maybe more. Most of the Good People died by their thirtieth year. By that reckoning, half of her own fleeting life was already gone. Maybe they would never meet again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When she considered yesterday's duels, she realized how terribly close she had come to that being true." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And suppose after years yet to be recorded, she rode her steed into Kita, returning to the Inn of Young Bamboo? Might Ryuma have taken a wife? Perhaps one of the pretty servant-dancers. Maybe Ishi-tsuki, or perhaps Chi-ye." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Both were lovely. Maybe he took both as his wives." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They would have his babies. Yet she herself could not afford to let her attraction lead her in that direction—could not let herself feel what she in fact felt. She had to put Ryuma out of mind—the faithless Ryuma who would marry two women who would bear his babies.\n\nYoshinaka sat in the water, back against rock wall at the end of the pool." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He looked at her intently. \"Are you troubled?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No.\" She lied, of course. She would not say she was thinking about another man. Staying beneath the warm water she sloshed over to where he sat, his legs stretched out in front of him. She rose up and straddled him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As she lowered herself downward, her breasts moved passed his delighted face." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He immediately became aroused.\n\n\"Lift your knees,\" she said.\n\n\"Oh, I'm lifting everything,\" he whispered back.\n\n\"Cradle me. Let me sit.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He adjusted himself so she could come down against him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She settled her weight on his thighs and rocked her hips gently, and the sun peeked over the south-facing cliff above and washed down upon them, illuminating the entire area in warmth.\n\nYoshinaka said, \"Amaterasu is especially bright shining upon snow.\" He squinted up into the blindingly blue sky. \"It is beautiful.\" He smiled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Such a beautiful smile." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"When I saw you come to the armory with the sun rising, I decided I would call you Asahi. All that she shines on is made beautiful by her rays.\"\n\n\"Asahi is it?\"\n\n\"You are Asahi Shōgun.\"\n\nHe grinned, eyes wrinkling with pleasure." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Then I shall call you Yamabuki Shōgun. I have plans already drawn up to build a great fortress castle in the mountains. I shall name it Yamabuki-jō.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She raised an eyebrow, even as she continued rolling her hips. \"Yamabuki Chéng? Am I that formidable?\"\n\n\"You are that beautiful. It's the perfect name. Mountain Rose Castle. In the fortress mountains of Shinano.\"\n\nShe imagined herself in the mountains with the two of them looking across the domain." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She had never been to Shinano, but that did not matter." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She imagined a magnificent green land with brooks, lakes, and rivers. She imagined every day might be like this. He would lead her into their canopied sleeping area.\n\n\"Put your arms around me,\" she said, thinking back on the drawings in the picture book." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As he slid his arms around her back, she wrapped hers around his neck." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now he began to lift while she began to slide. Her saya moved toward him, but his tsuka was not where she wanted it. She reached down and held it steady, lowering her body until she could just feel him touch, and then she let go and allowed her weight to move her down, which pushed him inside her. Exquisite! Maybe because they had coupled earlier or because they were in the water, it went more smoothly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She lowered herself further and Yoshinaka slipped ever deeper into her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her hara went numb and completely sensitive at the same time. And now she fully sat, and he was fully within her.\n\n\"Shall we have another battle?\" She grinned wickedly and began to move up and down, and he did too in rhythm with her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She moaned with delight, and they continued with abandon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And her body experienced every sensation, every touch, every shiver that ran up her back.\n\nLove.\n\nYamabuki moaned as another pulse of pleasure coursed through her. The embrace of the hot water trapped the heat building up within her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She felt Yoshinaka within, moving slowly but steadily." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her arms around his neck, she gasped, wanting him deeper. His strong hands, fists clenched at the small of her back, supported her. She directed the pace, rocking her hips. He moved in time in yet another dance they shared." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Stones skittered off the cliffs to her left." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Melting snow, no doubt. She cast a sideways glance. Tiger Cub remained in easy reach. She let her mind slip back to the pleasure of Yoshinaka." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A whistling breeze carried cold air across the water, sweeping aside the steam." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She inhaled the coolness as the heat between her legs intensified. The guesthouse had been merely a preliminary compared to what she experienced now.\n\nHe thrust deeper. It ached yet it didn't. She wanted to ache. To hurt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But not in the way of injury." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the way of throbbing. Of entering ever further. The tightness of him inside thrilled her. Delighted her. And then Yoshinaka pressed his hips up, and his tsuka pulsed as his seed exploded inside her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her entire body dissolved from the top of her head, through her neck, down her back, through her hips and legs to her curled toes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She moaned and almost screamed.\n\nShe touched his shoulder. He had to stop. She let him hold her as her body pulsed and throbbed, and the intensity began to die away." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Mode:\nCo-writing\n\nLength:\nfour sentences\n\nStyle:\nKatherine M. Lawrence" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki tried to turn toward the source, but Yoshinaka's arms slid up her back and pulled her close." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She yielded. His chest vibrated against her. \"Some people respect the intimacy between others. Leave us be.\"\n\n\"Some warlords respect their commitment to their warriors,\" the woman's voice said with a tone of scolding familiarity. \"The general is awaiting your instructions. Get into your armor. I'll pay off your yahochi. Two coppers is the going rate, girl. No?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki's ire erupted like lava flowing from an angry mountain." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She pushed away from Yoshinaka—groaning slightly at the loss of his presence within her, the full sensation of his tsuka sliding from her saya—and stood upright to face this intruder.\n\nA woman warrior had positioned herself at the edge of the pool—and for a flash, Yamabuki was taken aback.\n\nIn full makeup, face oshiroi white, lips painted red in the fashion of a rosebud, with snowy white hair, obviously left untied for dramatic effect, draped across her shoulders and down her back, she stood as white as the vapor that filled the air. If not for her crimson red yoroi and two swords hanging at her side, she might have been an illusion from the roiling steam." }, { "from": "human", "value": "However, it was the color of her eyes gave her an unearthly appearance—blue as pale as the heavens." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Never had Yamabuki seen this eye color in a human. Only in cats: neko. Yes, a pretentious cat, this one. Even the tachi she carried was of extra length." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki felt that her own eyes turn to flame." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She pitched her voice in the high and haughty royal court accent that the Dowager had insisted she perfect. \"Retract your insult!\"\n\nA startled expression crossed the other woman's face, which then transformed into a smirk. She purred musically, \"Two copper's an insult?\" She looked Yamabuki up and down." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was meant to be dismissive, but there was curiosity mixed in as her eyes lingered a bit longer than was polite." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Three then. I suppose he's obligated to pay extra for your supercilious pronunciation.\"\n\n\"At least I don't articulate like some backcountry bumpkin who's just crawled out of the Oku underbrush.\"\n\nThe pale blue eyes burned at Yamabuki. \"Aren't you a caution!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki glared back. \"Who is this shirabyōshi wearing armor and pompous makeup?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A pretender who no doubt prefers the comforts of the inner shinden chambers to life in the world. One of Yoshinaka's lovers? His concubine?\n\n\"Please stop this war of words, Yamabuki-san,\" Yoshinaka said, wading out of the onsen, unabashedly naked.\n\nHe stands naked in front of her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "So, one of his lovers after all." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He raised his palms, looking plaintively at Yamabuki. \"Gomen nasai. You have to excuse my sister.\"\n\nSister?\n\n\"Yamabuki-sama, may I present Imai Tomoe. Tomoe Shōgun, please respect our guest, Taka-gimi.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Princess?\" The woman named Tomoe both scowled and smirked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Princess and Taka Shōgun,\" he said. \"Daughter of Taka Daimyō.\"\n\nTomoe smiled thinly, not showing her teeth. \"You certainly have caught quite the man in my brother, Taka-gimi.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I don't catch men like someone who thinks she's a catcher of mice. And I'm not accustomed to being disrespected.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tomoe flicked dismissively a hand as white as alabaster. \"Welcome to the big rude world.\"\n\n\"Insults,\" Yamabuki said with restraint, \"beget steel.\"\n\n\"Yours?\" Tomoe laughed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yoshinaka shook his head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Be careful, Tomoe. She fought in the Heiji Ran.\"\n\n\"Not possible.\" Tomoe sniffed.\n\n\"I saw it with my own eyes,\" he said with complete earnestness.\n\nTomoe huffed. \"Now I know you are drunk.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It is true. Last night she fought over saké bottles and sent several sakimori flying.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yoshinaka laughed, and Yamabuki recognized the homonym: Heiji Taira clan and wine bottles.\n\nTomoe did not answer.\n\nSmall rocks tumbled again from the cliff above. Tomoe looked up. \"Someone's up there,\" she whispered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki scanned the cliffs but saw nothing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yoshinaka picked up his tachi. \"Tomoe is right. Those rocks did not fall by themselves.\"\n\nTomoe's hand went to her sword hilt. \"Animal? Maybe someone wanting to watch?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The three listened intently in silence, but now only heard the wind whistling high above answered her ears." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki retrieved Tiger Cub. Is the assassin about to kill me? Is this how I am to die? Naked in a hot springs?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tomoe said, \"Kiso-sama, you must get to a safe place. If someone is up there armed with yumi and arrows, we're easy targets.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Perhaps we should take ourselves to our kimono and armor, Taka-gimi.\"\n\nFrustrated and annoyed, Yamabuki met Yoshinaka's gaze and said, \"Our business here is concluded anyway.\"\n\nTomoe glanced at her, pointedly taking in all of Yamabuki's nakedness, and her lips curled slightly. \"Don't worry. I'll stand guard while you get into your shitagi, Hadaka-gimi.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Naked Princess!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Before Yamabuki could respond, Yoshinaka hissed, \"Stop it!\" and Tomoe turned away like a scolded child—a child wearing a ko-dachi and long tachi. Yoshinaka showed Tomoe a great deal of deference and nothing that smacked of indulgence. There was more to this woman than what she seemed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Quite possibly Tomoe knew how to use those weapons." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Good. Yamabuki didn't like the idea of threatening a defenseless woman.\n\nBut Yoshinaka was right. This wasn't the place. Certainly not if Gankyū was lurking about." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki retrieved her shitagi." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At the edge of her vision, she caught Tomoe once again eying her before returning her attention to the rocks above." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Let's engage in a collaborative writing exercise. I'll provide a starting point, and You'll continue with four sentences in the style of Katherine M. Lawrence." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Wrapped in her shitagi and kosode, the back of her head tingling—and not just from the cold—Yamabuki followed Yoshinaka down the rocky trail and out through the short rock-walled passageway, listening to the quiet steps of Tomoe behind her. They all walked in silence. When they emerged from the cliffs, Yoshinaka and Yamabuki headed directly toward the guesthouse.\n\n\"Where are you going?\" Tomoe asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yoshinaka grinned at her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Kimono would be proper, ne?\"\n\nTomoe's eyes scanned the cliffs. \"I will stand post out here and protect you, brother.\"\n\nThe white warrior's concern about potential danger reminded Yamabuki that Yoshinaka, too, had enemies." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The chill she had felt, barely acknowledged even to herself, when Tomoe had said someone was up on the rocks returned." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "How reckless she had been! Yamabuki had put the one-eyed assassin out of her mind. Now she felt foolish.\n\n\"Shall we?\" Yoshinaka asked with a smile as he slid open the guesthouse door." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Just as foolish as giving my skin to Yoshinaka." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Charming as he was, she scarcely knew him.\n\nInside the guesthouse, as Yoshinaka donned his kimono, Yamabuki immediately slipped into her own kimono and fastened her hakama.\n\nThen she stood still while Yoshinaka dropped to a knee and expertly fitted her suneate. Neither of them spoke." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She liked the touch of his hands, the firm but gentle touch of his fingers fastening the ties." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A shiver ran down her back. Her skin still held memories. But as he fastened other armor pieces to her, one by one, a sense of relief came over her.\n\nSomething Shima had said now settled upon her awareness—that the assassin Gankyū worked only for clan traitors, that a Taka traitor was trying to have her killed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She had dismissed Shima's claims at the time as attempts to shake her before drawing steel on her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But was he right? Was there a traitor within the Taka clan?\n\nShima had claimed she was just a chibi being used as bait, and the scrolls likely were blank or even intended to fall into the wrong hands. But only her mother, her father, Tomoko, Hana-ye, and Lord Nakagawa had known she was leaving on musha shugyō." }, { "from": "human", "value": "None of them would have sent a killer after her. Impossible." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But someone did. What purpose would her death serve? The mere question was almost too distasteful to consider. But there were hints. The two false monks had known of only two of the three scrolls." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The traitor's information was incomplete." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She had killed the false monks. As for Gankyū, the man Shima had said was named Saburo—or was that a dream?—he was still out there. I've been fooled by three shinobi so far. I'm alive only because of my sword and luck." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Anyone I meet could be an assassin." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Another shiver ran down her spine, this time cold and with foreboding.\n\nOnce her corselet was securely fastened, Yoshinaka stepped behind her and began to fasten a sode to her left shoulder.\n\n\"Yoshi-chan?\" she asked softly.\n\n\"Hmm?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Who is Tomoe?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ah. She's my brother's sister.\"\n\n\"Is she your sister?\"\n\n\"Yes, but not by blood.\"\n\n\"Not by blood?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No. She is the sister of my milk brother, Shiro, so that makes her my sister.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She nodded. Milk brothers, infants suckled by the same nursemaid.\n\nHe began to attach the other sode to her right shoulder and said, \"I told you about my uncle killing my father and taking our lands. I was to be executed as well. They could not bring themselves to kill a child, or so they say. We escaped from Musashi Prefecture and I was raised in Shinano.\"\n\nThe subject of family betrayals brought Yamabuki discomfort. \"Your sister called you Kiso.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Ah.\" He finished the last tie on the sode and stepped around in front of her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I no longer go by Minamoto. Kiso is better—the mountains of Shinano.\"\n\n\"Kiso.\" She smiled, understanding exactly the significance: not Minamoto, not anymore, not in his loyalties. \"Kiso Asahi Shōgun,\" she said. \"And you've returned to power.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Power of what? My cousin now rules Minamoto.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She saw pain in his eyes, and she felt a sadness for him. If she had been betrayed by her uncle, her father killed, her birthright taken, she would have been shattered. Could she have gone on with honor? Could she have rallied others to her side, in effect forging a new clan, or at least family of sorts, as Kiso obviously had?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kiso Yoshinaka handed Yamabuki her short sword, and then tied his own tachi saya to his sash." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I also need my armor,\" he said, and he raised his brows mischievously, showing his self-confidence. \"Especially with assassins lurking.\"\n\nWhen they stepped outside, Tomoe stood waiting. She looked Yamabuki's armor up and down." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki stood ready for more insults, but Tomoe said simply, \"It's an uncommon mon.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She almost sounded impressed.\n\nMoments later, they entered the armory. Yo-ichi rushed up to them and bowed to Tomoe. \"Your horse is unsaddled, curried, blanketed, and fed in the stable, samurai-sama.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tomoe grunted. \"Take me stables. I want to see how Raski is curried. I've ridden him hard.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yo-ichi bowed lower this time, and the two of them headed for the stables.\n\nYamabuki muttered, \"It's not just her horse she rides hard.\"\n\nYoshinaka smiled wickedly. \"You know all about riding hard.\"\n\nShe blushed. He laughed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She laughed softly, casting a shy glance away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Taro called out, \"Samurai-sama!\" Taro cradled Yamabuki's tachi in its scabbard, his palms up high. \"I finished polishing your sword.\"\n\nYoshinaka whispered, \"I'm glad my sword also got polished.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What notches there were in fact were barely more than scratches. It was an honor to work on the blade of great master Yukiyasu,\" Taro said, and he bowed, presenting the sword to her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki bowed in return and accepted it.\n\nShe drew the blade out, tip only just still in the scabbard, and looked the blade up and down. \"Yoshi!\" she said in praise. She snugged the sword back in its scabbard, fastened the sageo to her waist sash, and let Tiger Claw hang free." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Its weight comforted her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She reached into her sleeve and retrieved the pouch with the agreed-upon fifty silver coins. She held it out.\n\nTaro received the pouch and bowed low.\n\nShe said, \"I expect to be leaving tomorrow, depending upon weather.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You are most welcome here, samurai-sama.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yoshinaka said, \"Taro-san.\"\n\nTaro grinned and bowed. \"Your armor, samurai-sama. Hai!\" He turned and shouted, \"Eiji! Fuyuki!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The young men ran up from the back of the building." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yoshinaka-sama is ready for his yoroi.\"\n\nTaro's sons repeated for Yoshinaka the efficient process they had only an hour before done for Yamabuki—what Yoshinaka had done more tenderly, but with no less thoroughness, for her just moments before. She watched as they placed each piece on his body.\n\nBy the time they fastened his dō, he took on a splendid and formidable aspect, yet without any change in his demeanor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The deep-blue lacquer of the kozane platelets glinted in the daylight washing in from the open doors." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The green and white silk only made the yoroi more impressive. When the azure-blue helmet was finally placed on his head, he seemed every bit the shōgun ready to lead battle.\n\nHe stepped around, swinging his arms this way and that—sword and archery motions. \"Yes, yes.\"\n\nTaro bowed low." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yoshinaka glanced at the armorer." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I believe I paid you in advance.\"\n\nWithout hesitation, Taro bowed even more deeply. \"I am most honored, Tennō.\"\n\nTennō? Yamabuki thought." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If Kiso Yoshinaka drew this kind of support from people of all classes, perhaps his cause was not as hopeless as she had thought." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mari's soft voice came from behind her. \"Samurai-sama?\"\n\nYamabuki turned, and the girl presented the kabuto that Yamabuki had declined to wear earlier. \"May I assist you with this?\"\n\nStill not wanting to deal with her hair, especially now that it was still damp from the hot spring, yet not wanting to leave it behind again, she said, \"Help me fasten it to my shoulder.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide four sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "More dead men. Yamabuki was quite certain this had nothing to do with her. She wanted no part of it. She had enough troubles already. But Yoshinaka seemed quite concerned, so when he and Tomoe followed the boy out of the armory, Yamabuki came along—and almost immediately regretted it, for on Ledge Road, the three warriors walked into a brisk wind that blew loose snow from the trees and cut bitterly through Yamabuki's armor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There's a snare to indulging in the comforts of onsen." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She contained a smile. The fallen snow which had softened earlier now resisted their steps, giving in with a crunch. The swing of her tachi made her feel whole.\n\nNext to her, Tomoe had put on a strange wooden mask that covered her face from brow to cheeks." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was far from a mempō." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not only was it wood, but it bore no fierce visage to frighten enemies. It was just plain wood with narrow slits cut into it, presumably so she could see where she was going. Was the mask to hide the blue color of her eyes?\n\nMeanwhile, Yoshinaka questioned the boy, who chattered on, obviously excited about the spectacle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Kani-kun, tell me what happened.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Bandits! They killed an Ōuchi warrior and monks yesterday.\"\n\n\"We already know this,\" Yoshinaka said, impatient.\n\n\"Someone killed the bandits. The sakimori are bringing the bodies into town.\"\n\n\"How many dead? Did you see?\" Yoshinaka asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The boy touched his fingers, counting. \"Six.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"All dead.\" It wasn't a question.\n\nKani said, barely ahead of his breath, \"The bandits were killed in the woods, but a beast dragged one of the bodies to the road, and the guards saw it and found the others.\"\n\nTomoe said, \"The guards are angry over dead bandits?\"\n\n\"One of them says the Ōuchi did it. Revenge for killing their warrior.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "This made sense to Yamabuki." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Back home, the Ōuchi were known for revenge killings.\n\nBut Tomoe muttered, \"Ōuchi? Is that even possible?\"\n\nYoshinaka said, \"Not likely.\"\n\nAgain, Yamabuki sensed she was missing something important." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Down in front of Saké House, on either side of the door stood two Ōe guards with spears." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What were they doing there? Was a dignitary inside? The guards watched the three approaching warriors for a moment, but then turned their attention the opposite direction down Ledge Road.\n\nWhen the intersection at North Road came into view, Yamabuki, Yoshinaka, and Tomoe stopped as one." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Down at North Road, a large group of Ōe warriors dragged boards bearing dead men—from their appearance, warrior-monks." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki recognized Sadamasa among the sakimori.\n\nThe procession stopped. Sadamasa shouted a command, and the guards unceremoniously let go of the planks. The monks fell to the muddy snowpacked road, their bodies sprawled in undignified death. Blood soaked their sōhei robes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Wild hair and thick beards covered the heads of all—except for one dead man whose head was missing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "These were no warrior-monks. Yamabuki looked for clues as to their true identities, but she saw no weapons or banners. Either confiscated or already looted by others.\n\nThe Ōe guards spread out, glaring at the curious townspeople who had gathered to gawk." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Who knows these men!\" Sadamasa bellowed. Who recognizes any of them! Someone must!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No one spoke up.\n\nTomoe and Yoshinaka shot long glances at each other.\n\n\"Kani-kun,\" Yoshinaka said. \"Tell me if you learn anything else. You know where to find me.\" He held out a hand and the boy retrieved something from it. A coin?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Hai!\" the boy said, still pumped full of excitement, and ran back down the road." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tomoe glanced at Yamabuki and said in dismissal, \"Kiso and I have matters we must attend to. Leave us, Hadaka-gimi.\"\n\nAnger flared in Yamabuki. She thought to draw Tiger Claw, but that would only attract the attention of the sakimori. Perhaps it would be best to stay away from her, lest I get provoked into killing again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She glared at the half-masked white woman." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yoshinaka said, \"Come with us, Yamabuki-sama.\"\n\n\"What?\" Tomoe cried, whipping off her wooden mask to glare at him.\n\nIgnoring her, he nodded at Yamabuki. His face no longer held the kindness of a lover." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around 4 sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: Katherine M. Lawrence" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The night before, Yamabuki had taken the House of Red Banners to be a room barely larger than the genkan where she and Yoshinaka removed their boots." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But now heavy shōji were slid aside, revealing old but solidly built yama house. An irori burned in the center. Two braziers cast warm light on walls that bore no tapestries or banners. Nor did any mats or pillows decorate the plank floor, though its black lacquer's uneven color and lack of shine revealed years of use—a natural course of events given that this might have been the most well-made structure in this small town." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki briefly wondered if, years ago, an Imperial minister or governor might have lived here." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After they had removed their boots and stepped into the large room, Yoshinaka retrieved some items from a small box against a wall. A bowl, sumi, a small flask, and paper. He knelt on the floor and under brazier light prepared ink in the same way Yamabuki prepared her own for her pillow book.\n\nThe smell of pungent spice greeted her, and she realized Tomoe had lit some incense in a porcelain kōro." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Now they both watched in silence as Yoshinaka laid out on the worn floor six square sheets of rice paper." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He dipped his brush in the bowl and drew on one square, with elegant strokes, a name for one of the fallen warriors. A funerary remembrance. He dipped the brush again and marked the next square with another name. He marked each paper with a name.\n\nHe finished the last stroke on the last sheet, set down the brush, and sat back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tomoe nodded in approval." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All attention turned to the front door as a warrior in brilliant white yoroi entered.\n\nA woman. She slid the door firmly shut behind her and removed her boots. Moving as if her armor were part of her, the samurai stepped up from the genkan. For a moment, she stared at Yamabuki." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yoshinaka said to Yamabuki, \"This is Aoi Shōgun, my top commander.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki stared back at Aoi. She was older, though not as old as Lady Taka. Like Yamabuki, and unlike Tomoe, she wore no oshiroi, and her cheeks held the color of a life led in the sun. Woven leather, stained dark from hand sweat, covered her tachi tsuka." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her kimono sleeves bore the rice-ear mon identical to those on Blue Rice's cotton trousers and saké flasks." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A knot tightened in Yamabuki's stomach. She had imagined Blue Rice's sister to be some helpless whisp of a woman, nothing like this formidable warrior; yet this had to be her. \"You have to tell her what happened,\" he had said. But that had been a dream." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Aoi shifted her attention to Yoshinaka and bowed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Tennō! I was looking for you. I discovered bad news.\"\n\nIn answer, Yoshinaka gestured at the squares of paper. Aoi sighed. He rose to his feet and glanced at each of the warriors in turn—Tomoe, Aoi, and Yamabuki—and said, \"Join me.\"\n\nHe walked solemnly to the far side of the irori and sat, facing the sandy pit." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tomoe seated herself to his left." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Aoi, his right. Yamabuki sat across from him, her back to the entry. The glowing embers warmed her face.\n\nYoshinaka added two logs. Then he lifted the top off a taru resting next to him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One by one, he dipped bowls into the saké within, passing one to Tomoe, another to Aoi, who in turn passed it to Yamabuki—giving her a lingering questioning look in the process—and a last one again to Aoi before dipping one for himself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He raised his bowl and said, \"Namu Amida Butsu!\" I take refuge in the Amida Buddha.\n\nTomoe smiled and repeated, \"Namu Amida Butsu!\"\n\nThe three others drank down their bowls, but Yamabuki hesitated, unsure." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The Buddhist monks sanctioned by the Emperor had announced the accepted ways to honor the dead." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The nembutsu was not one of them. Yamabuki had of course heard of Pure Land Buddhism, but it was not something the Taka practiced in Ō-Utsumi—and certainly not in the Imperial City. Still, she had read that the nembutsu was to be recited five hundred times for rebirth to be realized. Then again, every clan had their own practices handed down through the generations, each similar to others, yet unique." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She put her bowl to her lips and emptied it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tomoe lifted the funerary papers and touched them to her forehead, then held them in front of her mouth. She chanted words Yamabuki didn't understand while she dropped one of the sheets into the irori. The square seemed to float over the low fire, smoldering before flashing into flame. Ashes danced over the coals as sparks rose up toward the roof vent." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Still chanting, the white-haired warrior released another marked paper into the coals." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And then another, each one by one.\n\nTomoe's ritual seemed eclectic, resembling Shintō if not Jingi. Yamabuki wondered what Tomoe and Yoshinaka would think about the rituals the priests of the Taka clan performed in honoring the dead. We are all as much strangers to each other as we are to the dead." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As the ash from the last of the papers settled in the sand, Yoshinaka sighed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Takaitori will be missed keenly by his Satake brothers.\"\n\n\"And by Otomo,\" said Tomoe.\n\n\"We need to find out who did this.\"\n\n\"I want to know how,\" Aoi said, and she opened her mouth to say more, but stopped herself and turned to Yamabuki." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Who are you? Why are you here? Tennō, why is she here?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki answered directly. \"I am Taka Yamabuki, daughter of General Moroto.\"\n\n\"Taka-gimi,\" Yoshinaka added.\n\nAoi did not appear impressed, but she did bow her head slightly. \"Why are you here, Taka-gimi?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yoshinaka said, \"Taka-gimi might have some useful information about events that happened on the North Road.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Among other useful aspects,\" his sister muttered.\n\nYamabuki bit off a retort and took a breath to calm herself. A coal sizzled and cracked. Several sparks floated up into the rafters." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Takaitori's men were seasoned warriors,\" Yoshinaka said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Not just anybody could kill them. Who? Who has the capability?\"\n\n\"Who would dare?\" Aoi asked.\n\nTomoe snorted. \"Anyone with enough swords. Ōe. Ōuchi.\"\n\nYoshinaka turned his eyes to Yamabuki." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Taka-gimi, you were on the North Road yesterday. Who else did you see?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Nobody but those of whom I already told you,\" she replied. \"Just a farmer family carrying dyed fabrics to the Strait. I encountered nobody else until I arrived in Minezaki.\"\n\nHe continued to gaze at her. \"What about at the Strait? Who else crossed with you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The Barrier Strait? You were there?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Aoi asked. \"What did you see?\"\n\nYamabuki shifted uncomfortably. She was being drawn into an intrigue she wanted no part of. When she had invited intimacy with Yoshinaka, this was not part of her plan. She took in a breath, considering her words, and decided to state the facts simply, without interpretation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then they would realize there was nothing out of the ordinary—aside from the shinobi who attempted to kill her and the sword master who nearly did, but she was not about to get into that." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"In the morning, Hour of the Dragon, two jun low-level Ōuchi warriors arrived by kobune from Akamagaseki. Then I boarded with my colt. The other passengers were two Tendai monks, a sword master, a wanderer, and some silk merchants with a cart.\"\n\n\"Silk merchants?\" Yoshinaka's face darkened. \"You did not tell me.\"\n\n\"Why? Is it important to report of the travels of silk merchants?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Gomen.\" He took a calming breath and said, \"This might be important Yamabuki-gimi.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The cart was cumbersome. Heavy. The merchants appeared strong enough, but they were inept handling it. Why they didn't have an ox I have no idea.\"\n\n\"How many merchants?\" asked Aoi.\n\nYamabuki checked her memory to make sure. \"Six.\"\n\nThe others nodded almost as one." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Were the fabric merchants in fact Yoshinaka's men?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That meant every passenger on that kobune—except for Blue Rice, and who knew what he might have been capable of?—was a killer of one sort or another. And she had not realized it, not even of herself.\n\n\"Did you kill them?\" Tomoe declared, more an accusation than a question." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Tomoe!\" Yoshinaka snapped." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The alabaster woman snorted. \"No, it's obvious she's incapable.\"\n\nYamabuki frowned. Does she fear me? Is that why she's so hostile?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki resolved to ignore Tomoe as much as possible." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Or she'll force me to kill her.\n\n\"Gomen nasai.\" Yoshinaka bowed his head to Yamabuki. \"Where did you see these silk merchants last?\"\n\nAt this point, Yamabuki wanted to get this over with." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her temper was growing short." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was one thing to be interrogated by Nakagawa or challenged with bokken by other Taka warriors in training. It was quite something else to be questioned by armed warriors with revenge on their minds.\n\n\"I last saw them approaching Akamagaseki. They had struggled with their cart on beach. I was up North Road, a quarter hour ahead of them.\"\n\nAoi said, \"The Tendai monks. Maybe they did it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Two against six?\" said Tomoe \"Monks?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They were no monks,\" said Yoshinaka.\n\nAoi and Tomoe looked at him, waiting for him to explain, but he said nothing, gazing at Yamabuki. He wanted her to tell them.\n\nShe sighed. \"They were not monks, and they were dead by the Hour of the Horse.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If not monks, who were they?\" Aoi asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They attacked me with blades tipped with fugu. I killed them.\"\n\n\"You killed them, Taka-gimi?\" Tomoe narrowed her eyes. \"How?\"\n\nYamabuki touched her hand to Tiger Claw's hilt and said nothing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tomoe leaned forward. \"And they were after you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Apparently,\" Yamabuki said.\n\n\"Why?\"\n\nYamabuki had no intention of elaborating. \"A Taka matter.\"\n\nTomoe raised her eyebrows, skeptical." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Aoi struck a more polite tone." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yamabuki-sama, you mentioned a sword master?\"\n\nYamabuki nodded. \"A large man with a nodachi. Wearing Ōuchi armor.\"\n\n\"Are you sure?\"\n\nAoi turned to Yoshinaka." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's possible a sword master could kill even six seasoned warriors.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki said, \"Not possible.\"\n\n\"Why not possible?\"\n\n\"He also was dead by the Hour of the Horse.\"\n\n\"Dead? By you?\" Tomoe asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki met Tomoe's gaze." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He challenged. He insisted.\"\n\nTomoe's eyes crinkled, and a half-smile of half-admiration and half-menace appeared on her face. \"You seem to attract trouble. You could have killed our men.\"\n\nNow it was Yamabuki's turn to ask questions." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"So they were your men?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tomoe spread her hands out and swept them over the irori, where the ashes from the rites still danced in the air currents.\n\nYoshinaka said, \"I told you last night of my plan.\"\n\nThe eyes of the other two women flashed. \"You told her?\" Tomoe nearly shouted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yoshinaka growled, \"We speak now with Taka Shōgun! Wasn't that the purpose of sending the envoys? To forge alliances with clans of the Isle of Unknown Fires?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Taka!\" Tomoe said dismissively. \"How many troops under your command, Taka Shōgun?\"\n\nYamabuki narrowed her eyes. \"My personal command?\"\n\nTomoe nodded hard." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"All of them.\" Of course her father, the daimyō, was the ultimate commander, but she was still shōgun." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Any Taka samurai she encountered would obey her command without question. She smiled thinly at Tomoe and said, \"I do not see you with a retinue. Tomoe Shōgun, how many do you command? Or do you have so few that you need our numbers to swell your ranks?\"\n\n\"This is pointless!\" Yoshinaka roared. They fell silent. He took a deep breath." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We have lost six men and we bicker with someone who could be an ally.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Aoi looked very serious. \"You mentioned an eleventh person on the kobune. A wanderer, you said. I am expecting my brother. He might have crossed with our envoys.\"\n\nYamabuki nodded slightly, steeling herself.\n\n\"Could you describe him?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Time to fulfill her promise." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A loquacious and friendly man. Seemed to know a lot about the clans. He knew I was Taka. He did not approve of the Ōuchi. It was he who called them 'low-ranking' samurai.\" She decided it was best not to mention his particular affection for saké. \"He said he had been of daimyō lineage, but he wore a commoner's tunic. Simple cotton trousers bearing the symbol of the rice plant.\"\n\nAoi smirked. \"He offered you drink.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki grinned sheepishly. \"I declined.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What happened? He's not with you?\"\n\nYamabuki braced for another accusation from Tomoe, but the white warrior stared at the burning coals, saying nothing.\n\nYamabuki took a breath. \"The seas were choppy. He did not bear it well. When we reached the shore, there was a checkpoint. Sakimori of the Ōe clan.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And?\" Aoi prompted, her face hardening." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki realized she was drawing this out too long. Why torture her any more? \"Ashore, he ran to the brush to lose his stomach. And—\" She hesitated. Tell her!\n\n\"And?\" Aoi prompted again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"A sakimori warrior shot him with an arrow. He died instantly.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Aoi did not seem to react. Yamabuki didn't want to say the next part, but she could not in good conscience hold it back, not from a respected general. \"It was pointless,\" she said, letting her bitterness show. \"A skill-test murder by one of the guards who claimed this unarmed man was making a run for it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Aoi clenched her eyes tight. She whispered, \"Risu-chan.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The dream name further tightened Yamabuki's stomach.\n\nGeneral Aoi opened her eyes. In an eerily calm voice, she asked, \"Where is his body?\"\n\nYamabuki shook her head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I do not know. Last I saw, the sakimori left him there.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She stifled a building rage. \"They were too busy laughing.\"\n\n\"Where are these sakimori now?\"\n\nThe question cooled Yamabuki's temper." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yes, they met their just fates." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I found out this morning, the kashira of the detachment, the man responsible, died last night along with several other Ōe as they tried to cross the pass through the snowstorm. The Yuki-onna took them.\"\n\nThe general lowered her head. In a strained voice, she asked, \"Who held the yumi? What is his name? Whose arrows killed my brother?\"\n\n\"A man named Misaki. He too was caught on the pass.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Aoi gazed with intensity at Yamabuki, and after some moments, bowed her head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yamabuki-sama, dōmo arigatō gozaimashita.\"\n\nYamabuki bowed in return.\n\nAoi's gaze moved to Yoshinaka. Tears welled in her eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Tennō—\" She choked on her words and turned her face away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A distant bell began tolling the hour.\n\nYoshinaka said in a quiet voice, \"When we return home, we will offer proper remembrance for our fallen.\"\n\nAoi said, \"We need locks of hair from our men. For their families. I will get them.\"\n\nShe stood and stormed out to the genkan and put on her boots." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A moment later, the outer door slid open and slammed shut just as the seventh toll rang out into silence." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately two sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hour of the Monkey.\n\nYoshinaka said, \"Let Aoi-sama find herself. We need to decide what we're going to do.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Today you will be acting as a writing assistant, your partner will send something and you will write the next four sentences." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yoshinaka dipped a saké bowl into the taru and held it out toward where Aoi Shōgun had been sitting, while looking expectantly across the irori at Yamabuki." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She met his gaze.\n\nHe wants me to discuss his plans? This is how he draws me into his endeavors. Am I to be his warrior-lover?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "That prospect made her both excited and uneasy." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Still, this was just a conversation. Just talk. To refuse to sit next to him would be impolite.\n\nIn one smooth motion—not easily executed while wearing armor—Yamabuki rose to her feet, stepped to his right, and lowered herself back down. Eyes shining, he handed her the full cup, then dipped a bowl for Tomoe and one for himself." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Without a word, they all drank." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He collected Yamabuki's bowl and refilled it, and as he filled Tomoe's, he said, \"We now walk in darkness. We don't know what news Takaitori was bringing. I may need to go there myself.\"\n\nTomoe said, \"Too dangerous.\"\n\n\"Perhaps. But I must try.\"\n\n\"I don't know what you'd find,\" Yamabuki said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If your men were the ones who visited my father days before I left—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He told you?\" Yoshinaka's face lit up. \"Is he interested? Or perhaps open to discussions of a pact?\"\n\n\"What would be the benefit of such a pact? I do not know what it is you are trying to do, aside from reclaiming your birthright. Until yesterday, I did not even know you existed.\"\n\nHe collected and refilled everyone's saké bowls one by one." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then he began in his gentle voice to speak about what he called a better way to live, but which proved to be, at first, more of a litany of problems and injustices suffered across the land." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"For example, the tax.\"\n\n\"We pay this every autumn,\" she said.\n\n\"Did you know that the tax rates were set hundreds of years ago? And no matter how land has changed, no matter the weather, droughts, floods, pestilence, famines, the amount never changes.\" He went into detail about lawless areas of the country, the ineffective and corrupt actions by Imperial officials, their failures to maintain roads and stations." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And he spoke with some frustration about the self-absorption of the nobles in the Imperial City, their inward focus to the point of obsession." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Bandits are terrorizing the farmers while the Imperial ministers enjoy entertainments of monkey music. People starve in Shimotsuke while the ministers spend all day debating the fine points of what the acceptable brilliance of kimono colors should be for a middle-ranking lord.\"\n\nYamabuki found it not at all difficult to imagine ministers of petty concerns spending hours on trivial matters.\n\n\"Intrigue always shadows the Chrysanthemum Throne,\" said Yamabuki.\n\nHe slapped his knee for effect." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"They do it for power. Not to change things, just to put themselves on top of the same stinking kuso pile!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki raised an eyebrow at his impolite language.\n\nBut he seemed not to notice as, eyes gleaming, he continued, \"We are going to make it better for everyone. Not just for the moon lords!\"\n\nYamabuki drank down her saké. Yoshinaka's enthusiastic interest surprised her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She could not betray her father's trust." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"General Moroto's concern is always first with the Taka and the security of our borders. He did not tell me what message your men brought. He was interested in the news your envoys reported about the Kikuchi.\"\n\n\"You don't like them.\" Yoshinaka took the saké bowl from her hand. \"I hear it in your voice.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Relations with our neighbors is a Taka matter.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A Taka matter!\" Tomoe snorted.\n\nRefusing to be provoked by her, Yamabuki waited as Yoshinaka handed her a brimming refill. \"Takanao is the new daimyō. It is said he is young and ambitious. It is said he is not likely to remain sequestered. It is said he has disaffection for the Emperor.\"\n\nYoshinaka lit up. \"Perhaps he could be made an ally?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She shook her head slowly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What about the other clans? The Ōuchi?\"\n\nShe grimaced. \"The Taka have not had beneficial relations with the Ōuchi. Mostly we avoid one another.\"\n\n\"Do you know who of the western clans we might entreat?\"\n\nYamabuki drank her saké while collecting her thoughts." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My father says that every daimyō must be acquainted with the game of Igo. It's about encirclement. Black and white stones are placed on a board that's scribed in squares.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I know the game,\" Yoshinaka sounded interested.\n\n\"My father says it is more than a game. He says it is a teaching.\"\n\nYoshinaka nodded.\n\n\"It's a game the highborn in the Imperial City play very well. They build solid lines of stones and adroitly connect them at the critical moment.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki looked at Tomoe, who listened closely." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"True,\" Yoshinaka said, \"but stones that linger on the edge have restricted liberty and can easily be captured, even if they take no great part.\"\n\n\"You mean like Ō-Utsumi? With water on two sides of our province, you think we risk being trapped in atari?\"\n\n\"I mean like any piece whose freedom of movement is restricted.\"\n\nYamabuki nodded. \"True, but every beginner also knows not to rush to the center to engage the opponent. For one, it is rude. For another, it rarely achieves anything lasting.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What do you recommend, Taka-gimi?\" Tomoe asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Build a good foundation and to anticipate the enemy's structures and exploit weaknesses. As Nakagawa says, 'Every strength is also its weakness.' \"\n\n\"Oh?\" Yoshinaka leaned forward.\n\n\"Strong and fixed is good, but it cannot become supple and lithe.\"\n\nHe smiled. \"A good player can turn one into the other by dropping the right stone in the right place at the right time.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"True, so long as the stone is not moved into atari or squandered. If it is your intent to win a game—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You mean, take the Imperial City?\"\n\n\"—I mean any game, you can't let yourself walk into atari.\"\n\nYoshinaka said, \"No one will deliberately go into atari.\"\n\n\"Sometimes even the brilliant attacker can miscalculate and end up surrounded. Sometimes it is better to lose a stone than to push a long line in hopes of saving one piece and end up losing a whole column.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How do you mean that, Taka-gimi?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Tomoe Shōgun has advised that you not go to the Isle of Unknown Fires. I concur, not because you are in any real physical danger, but more that you are far from the center of the board.\"\n\n\"Didn't you just say it is rude to move to the center of the board?\"\n\nTomoe said to her brother, \"And didn't you just say that staying on the edge minimizes a stone's liberty?\" Her deep blue eyes twinkled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Taka Shōgun is saying we must first surround near the main area of play and not focus on the edges of the board.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yoshinaka laughed. \"How gracefully, Taka Shōgun, you tell someone that they need to rethink their strategy!\" He laughed some more.\n\nYamabuki couldn't help but smile. \"The Ōuchi and the Kikuchi will use you as a sacrificial stone, for they believe they have a chance of winning against Kiyomori. In the Hōgen Ran and the Heiji Ran, the enemy walked into the Imperial Capital. Walked into atari. Yet if you start at the edge, you yourself will be encircled before you break out. You are already on the Main Isle. They must come to you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Sōdesu ka. Start close, but not foolishly close.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes.\"\n\n\"And my words about taxes and lawlessness? What of these?\"\n\n\"That's is where you lay your first stone.\"\n\n\"But everyone is affected.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Start with those who are prospering without Imperial help, and thus pay the most for the least. These daimyō will understand your message immediately.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yoshinaka nodded and began to brood. He appeared about to say something but cut himself off.\n\nHe collected and refilled everyone's bowls.\n\nAt least there's good saké, Yamabuki thought." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He drank his down quickly and rose to his feet." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am going to find Aoi-sama. Make sure she doesn't kill anybody.\"\n\nHe said no more as he put his boots on and stepped outside. The door slid shut.\n\nYamabuki and Tomoe were alone in the House of Red Banners." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tomoe appeared to be amused, but for her own part, Yamabuki was both charmed and alarmed by Yoshinaka's headstrong nature—character that could be formidable in battle but also lead to blunders." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tomoe broke the silence. \"Shall we walk? My stomach tells me I would benefit from nabe.\"\n\nAfter all the saké, the thought of food, even a steaming hot pot, did not hold appeal. However, a walk sounded quite the thing after such anxious conversation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But glancing at the alabaster woman, she hesitated." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tomoe's eyes narrowed. \"Tell me.\"\n\nHow could Yamabuki say this? \"Last night, I sought out saké and because of this\"—she touched the healing cut on her cheek—\"I too thought it best to wear full makeup.\"\n\n\"Such are the decisions kuge women must make.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I learned this morning, women in oshiroi are taken for yahochi.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tomoe burst into laughter, a tittering musical laugh that was both courtly and almost bawdy. \"You have a reputation, Taka-san!\"\n\nYamabuki bristled. \"That reputation is for all women in makeup.\"\n\nIf anything, Tomoe laughed harder." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"They can try calling me yahochi, and my sword will reply.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Now write approximately five sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's getting late. I'm going to see if the summit pass is in view. Maybe the weather is clearing.\"\n\n\"And if it isn't?\"\n\n\"Well,\" she sighed, \"I may have to go around on the East-West Highway.\"\n\n\"Then you can travel with us,\" said Tomoe and she smiled warmly. \"I know my brother would like that.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Expand the story by adding 4 sentences." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "[ Seven Bell Strikes, Hour of the Monkey ]\n\nThe last note of the distant tsurigane faded to silence under the thick gray sky as Aoi stepped into the crusted snow outside of the House of Red Banners. Her brother was dead, and there she stood, feeling nothing, looking at nothing, hearing nothing.\n\nBy standing around she achieved nothing, so she marched up the alley." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The packed, refrozen snow made walking difficult, her steps sometimes sliding on hard-packed ice, other times breaking through crust and sinking to her ankles." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She was thankful for her fur boots. Even rabbit hide was better than straw. Or nothing.\n\nShe found herself near the green banners of Saké House. Saké. That sounded good." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Two Ōe warriors, barely more than children, probably farmers, judging by their rough hands and shabby kimono, flanked either side of the entrance." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They stiffened at her approach, trying to look fierce with their overly long hoko yari.\n\nAoi sniffed at them. \"What were are going to do with those? Spear birds in the sky?\"\n\nThe guards, suddenly uncertain, glanced up at the blades atop their polearms." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Aoi threw aside the door and stepped through." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Inside she found the place empty apart from five more Ōe sitting around several saké bottles. One of them the kashira she had stared down when she and Tomoe had first arrived in town.\n\nAoi snorted. Real warriors. She slammed the door shut." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The warriors casually glanced at her, then looked again with appraising looks. She sniffed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Let them look. She picked a table close to the door, sat with her back to the wall, and said, \"Hey!\"\n\nA bent old man emerged from a curtained-off back room.\n\n\"Saké,\" she said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A moment later, he set a simple bottle down on the table. \"A copper.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She looked from the bottle to the old man's face. \"Bowl?\"\n\nThe saké man looked her up and down, then went into the back room, grumbling all the way, and returned with a drinking bowl.\n\nShe put a coin down and it disappeared into his hand. She poured and drank." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Awful saké. Perfect for her mood." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The world was awful. The Gods had abandoned the entire Autumn Creek Land. They had abandoned her. They had let her brother be killed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Little Risu, who had never hurt anybody." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Who disliked fighting so much he refused to train with a bokken. Now he was dead. Killed by stupid warriors who thought killing an unarmed man was a test of skills. She glowered at the sakimori across the room. Warriors like them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She drank the last of the sour liquid and she was about to call out for another bottle, when the front door slid open and two commoners, a man and a woman, entered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The woman carried a covered nabe. The man closed the door for her and they walked toward the back room. The woman said in a sweet, quiet voice, \"Samurai-sama, I have some food.\" An indistinct voice came from the back room, and the two commoners ducked into the other room." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One of the Ōe warriors said, \"We have to eat salted fish and he gets nabe. Lucky man.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Lucky to lose only your fingers?\" one of his fellows asked.\n\n\"Lucky to survive the Yuki-onna.\"\n\nThis caught Aoi's attention." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She stared at her empty saké bottle, listening, watching the warriors at the side of her vision." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The senior guard—the kashira, she guessed from the extra colors woven into his armor—said, \"You just want a woman to bring you hot broth.\"\n\nAll five warriors laughed quietly.\n\n\"Ōe Shōgun won't be pleased, though. Fingerless retainers are of no use to him.\"\n\n\"Maybe in the training hall?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Could you see that? An instructor? Misaki-san?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A roaring thunder filling Aoi's ears drowned out the laughter of the men. Quietly, she rose to her feet and walked to where the five men sat. They looked at her. She said in a flat voice, \"You said a name.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The kashira stood, facing her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Who asks?\" He seemed tense.\n\nAoi gazed at him calmly. \"I know that name.\"\n\nThe Ōe warrior—kashira rank, from the look of him—squinted. \"You know Misaki-san?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Aoi ignored the question and glanced at the back room." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He's back there, isn't he?\" she said, not expecting an answer.\n\nShe headed toward the curtained doorway.\n\nBehind her, the guard growled, \"Stop!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She slowly turned." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The other four guards rose, and they all now glared at her. The kashira shouted, \"You are not permitted to go in there!\"\n\nAoi sniffed. \"Who are you to tell me?\"\n\nHe took a step toward her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I am Sadamasa Kashira! I speak in the name of the Emperor!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At that, Aoi laughed—but it was a bitter laugh, a mirthless laugh that vented her anger. \"You? In the name of the Emperor? Does He know this?\"\n\n\"Impudence!\" He glanced at his men. \"Apprehend her!\"\n\nThe four warriors, hands on their sword hilts, spread out and approached her like silk moths to brazier fire." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She stood still, her mind empty but for the pain of the her brother's death." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But when they came within three strides of her, she let go of what held her and released her rage within.\n\nShe stepped once. Her tachi flashed out from its scabbard and cut across through one warrior's neck. The others froze as the man's head landed with a wet thump. The torso impossibly remained standing, blood gurgling out of its neck, before toppling over." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The warriors' eyes bulged, and they might have stood there like trees were it not for the roar of Sadamasa." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Kill her!\"\n\nAoi stepped again and cut another man through the chest, sending blood spraying. Sadamasa charged up from the back. Aoi stepped aside and shoved another guard into him, then whipped the sword through the leg of the third." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Screams and blood filled the air as Aoi mercilessly moved through them, seeing where they would move, striking them where they were exposed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Before she had taken ten steps, the battle was over.\n\nFive Ōe warriors dead.\n\nThe door guards clambered from outside, no doubt having heard the commotion, and saw the dead men and the woman holding the bloody sword.\n\n\"Ahh!\" they cried and they began trembling." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One aimed his polearm at Aoi. \"You—!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Aoi stepped toward them. The brave guard swung his yari back and slashed at her. Aoi parried the blade easily, but the polearm's reach still kept her at a distance, too far to strike back with her sword. Emboldened, the young guard grinned and swung back again, harder—but blade embedded in a wooden beam." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He tugged on the shaft to free it, but in two quick strides Aoi was upon him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her tachi cut through his neck. Blood sprayed. His eyes glazed. He collapsed.\n\nHis companion moaned, took a step back, dropped his spear, and sprinted out the front door.\n\nSo far, the battle was a rout." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But Aoi felt no satisfaction." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She felt nothing but black rage. She marched into the back room, where she startled everyone.\n\n\"Leave,\" Aoi said.\n\nGrimacing with terror, the man and woman commoners slid along the wall, trying to stay away from the fearsome warrior, and dashed out of the room." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The saké man followed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the dim brazier light, a lone warrior lay on a mat next to an irori where coals burned red.\n\nShe said, \"You are Misaki.\"\n\nThe man appeared to be unwell, but he answered in a surprisingly strong voice. \"I am Misaki.\"\n\nAoi looked at him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was nothing more than an insect." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He peered at her with insect-like eyes. She said, \"I am Ine Aoi, sister of Ine Ashita, and I avenge his death.\"\n\nMisaki threw off his blankets and rolled to the side. With some difficulty, he pushed to his feet, grimacing, and stood—tottering, but with face hard, trying to maintain his dignity." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Your brother? He was the man at the Barrier Strait?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Aoi shifted her position and raised her sword high.\n\nMisaki just nodded. \"I suppose it's better this way.\"\n\nAoi struck. Misaki was dead before his body hit the floor. His hand, missing all but two fingers, fell on the edge of the irori." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Aoi gazed at that hand, the instrument of her brother's death, as it now lay lifeless in the flickering glow of the coals." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She heard a quiet step behind her, a familiar step. She turned around and gazed at Yoshinaka, whose eyes offered nothing but compassion. She felt tears run down her cheeks. But now that her rage was gone, she felt nothing but emptiness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Words came unbidden. \"My brother is still dead.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yoshinaka's mouth parted as if he was about to reply when a tsurigane began tolling in rapid rhythm.\n\nAlarm!\n\nShouts outside, in the distance.\n\nYoshinaka stepped close and put his hands on her arms." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Aoi-sama,\" he said. For her, it was as though he spoke from the other side of the world. \"Aoi-sama!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "he shouted, but he was so far away. Yoshinaka too was all the way across on the other side of a veil. But right in front of her, she saw her brother, just six summers old, climbing high in a mulberry tree, laughing and squealing as he tried to chase a squirrel.\n\n\"Ine Shōgun!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Aoi's eyes focused. \"Tennō!\" she whispered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We must leave town now! Take the East Highway. If we don't see each other, we will meet at the Inn of Dancing Butterflies in Aki Prefecture.\"\n\n\"Aki Prefecture,\" she repeated.\n\n\"Hai!\"\n\n\"Aki Prefecture,\" she said again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Aoi-sama,\" Yoshinaka said. \"There is still much to do. We must survive this day!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Aoi took in a deep breath, and the cloud over her began to dissipate. The tolling alarm continued, and in her mind she pictured where the guards would be, blocking where roads intersected, watching at strategic points with clear sightlines. \"We'll be safer together.\"\n\n\"If we can,\" Yoshinaka said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My horse is at the armory, as is Tomoe-san's and Taka-gimi's. We will meet where North Road intersects East-West Highway.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Aoi nodded. \"If the enemy is there, we should meet further beyond. A quarter hour at full gallop. They all will not sustain chase that long.\"\n\nYoshinaka grinned. \"Shōgun!\"\n\nAoi grinned. \"Tennō!\"\n\nTogether they strode through the main room of the Saké House and stepped outside." }, { "from": "human", "value": "With a nod to each other, they parted." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yoshinaka dashed up Ledge Road. Aoi marched back into the alley to the House of Red Banners." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "The user will write a bit then you need to write around 4 sentences continuing directly from the user's text. Try to mimic the style of Katherine M. Lawrence.Produce 4 sentences using the prose and structure of Katherine M. Lawrence every time its your turn using what the user wrote as a seed." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "[ Second Quarter of Hour of the Monkey ]\n\nWhen Yamabuki and Tomoe stepped outside, they were met with fresh snowfall. They immediately headed toward the dead end of the alley. Tomoe had no interest in wandering around blindly searching for places where the Taka woman could see the pass, so she had rousted innkeeper Hari from his afternoon nap—late nights and early mornings were busy times for innkeepers—to get his advice." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His answer was unexpected: simply venture up the alley to where it ended at the cliffs." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Look up the sheer wall, and you will see. This is why the town is called Peninsula Ridge.\"\n\nThey walked in silence. Rundown buildings lined both sides of the alley all the way to the end.\n\nThe cliff's rock face was indeed sheer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dark gray and smooth as if a God had sliced off a piece of the mountain." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The two warriors gazed skyward, but the summit remained cloaked in mists.\n\n\"The Imperial City lies ten days beyond the pass,\" Yamabuki said. \"That is if the weather cooperates. Who can guess how long this freak storm will last?\"\n\nThe snow conditions did not particularly interest Tomoe." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She wanted to get to know better the future Taka warlord who had possibly stolen her brother's heart." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tomoe breathed hard. \"With the loss of our men, it's too dangerous to stay here. We'll take the road eastward.\"\n\nYamabuki shook her head. \"Going east adds five extra days to Heian-kyō.\"\n\nTomoe grunted. \"We can't sit around and wait for the whatever pass to thaw.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's called the Pass of the Setting Sun.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki flashed a crooked smile. \"It's in the northeast, where the sun rises—hardly a setting sun.\"\n\n\"Taka-gimi, you don't have the right viewpoint. From Kyōraku\"—and certainly this Taka princess had to know that nobody called it Heian-kyō anymore, not in generations—\"it's in the southwest. Everything is named in relation to the Imperial City. Besides, northeast is a badly aspected direction.\"\n\nYamabuki gazed at the summit, frustration on her face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We make our own luck. At least that's what my mother says.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tomoe said, \"You're not trapped here. You can wait for the pass to open, or\"—she flashed her a smile—\"you can accompany us and not let the elements waste your time. It'll be safer if we travel in numbers.\"\n\n\"No,\" Yamabuki said. \"I will not leave Minezaki now. I have no reason to. I'll wait out the weather.\" She gave Tomoe a sideways glance. \"Appealing though your invitation sounds.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "A distant tsurigane began furious tolling in alarm." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cries erupted down the alley, near the Saké House. Visible in the swirling snow, black-clad sakimori dashed in all directions.\n\nTomoe's heart thumped hard. \"What's this commotion?\" She loosened her sword." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In a dry voice, Yamabuki said, \"I knew Unagi's saké was wretched. Perhaps the soldiers are finally finding out.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She started to laugh, then stopped.\n\nSpear-carrying soldiers hurried in their direction. The men pointed at the two women and ran ever faster.\n\n\"I don't like the look of this?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki loosened her own tachi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Spearmen.\" Tomoe stiffened. Even mediocre warriors could be dangers wielding hoko yari. \"Dead-end. No getting away unless we smash through one of these hovels.\"\n\nYamabuki said, \"If we run, we look weak—and guilty. Besides, it won't buy us anything if we head into the side streets. They don't lead anywhere.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Both women dropped their hands to their sides." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Neither made any aggressive move. Their swords remained where they were, but they were at the ready.\n\nThe soldiers numbered a full jun, ten sakimori, counting their leader—one of those hotheads with more wildness in his eyes than brains in his head. They ran up as a bunch and spread out into a semicircular formation and lowered their spears, cornering the two women against the cliff." }, { "from": "human", "value": "None of the soldiers, apart from the leader, wore any significant armor—only leather chest protectors and shin guards." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For a long moment no one said anything. It was Yamabuki who broke the silence. \"What's this about?\"\n\n\"You are under arrest,\" the leader growled.\n\n\"Arrest?\" Yamabuki's eyes narrowed. \"For what?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"A woman warrior killed some of our men. It had to be one of you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We haven't killed anyone,\" Tomoe snapped. \"You're out of your depth.\"\n\n\"Ha!\" The leader sneered. \"Put down your swords and come along. You don't want to challenge the Ōe!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "From a distance, anyone would have concluded this was no contest." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sakimori had the distinct advantage. Battle was futile.\n\nBut the two women examined closely the cohort, taking their measure. Warriors were not interchangeable, even though their tunics and weapons seemed to be. Tomoe and Yamabuki studied the men's eyes, looking for any sign of fear, any hesitation, any lapse in concentration, twitches... anything that would give them an advantage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The men edged forward." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was nowhere the women could go.\n\nOne of the sakimori shook his spear with menace. \"Come with us.\"\n\n\"It has to be Aoi-sama they want,\" Tomoe whispered. She shook her head and raised her voice to proclaim to all within earshot, \"We have nothing to do with this matter!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The leader frowned petulantly, then nodded—some unspoken command—and the guard nearest to Tomoe started to poke his spear in her direction." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Move! You're coming with us.\"\n\nTomoe glared back with an expression that said, Don't do this!\n\nOf course the sakimori guard ignored the warning, letting his spear dart back and forth like a prod. She stood her ground until the sharp edge almost touched her, so that she finally had to dance out of its way." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The man guffawed—but then he let out a ghastly scream." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The next anyone knew, Tomoe stood with her naked tachi held horizontally at shoulder height, gleaming blade dripping red. The falling snowflakes melted as they touched the blood's warmth.\n\nThe man's spear lay in the snow, an arm severed below the elbow, complete with hand, the fingers still clutching the spear. Now on his knees and shrieking horridly, with his good arm the man tried to staunch the bleeding, but the stump gushed blood with each heartbeat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He looked into the heavens, letting out another long shriek." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tomoe's sword flashed a second time and the man's head rolled through the snow, leaving a bloody trail, stopping when it bumped against the side of one of the houses. Tomoe stood ready for battle in forward stance, her sword pointed downward along her front leg.\n\n\"He wouldn't have survived. Fatal cut. It was merciful,\" Tomoe whispered grimly. Her eyes remained locked on her targets." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yet she must have seen Yamabuki with eyes in the back of her head, for she muttered, \"Classic stance, Denka?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki held her naked tachi extended high above her head, blade pointing toward the heavens. \"Leave now,\" she growled low in the tone of a warlord, \"and you leave with your lives.\"\n\nThe leader's hand moved to his tachi. \"Kill them!\"\n\nAt this point the fighting broke into two battles—three spearmen and the leader setting themselves on Tomoe, and four going at Yamabuki, while the last one held back, likely hoping the situation would resolve itself without his involvement." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tomoe moved into a blur, using her speed and long sword to deadly advantage." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One man saw his spearpoint sail off on its own before he saw nothing else. The other warrior was more cautious, trying to jab her from a distance. Tomoe leapt forward, tachi sweeping the polearm aside, and landed close, blade over her left shoulder. She spun. The man felt only an instant of pain before all went dark." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One of the men thought this was his chance." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With a fierce yell, he closed his eyes and thrust hard as he could, trying to drive the hooked blade of his polearm into her back. But his weapon met nothing. He opened his eyes to see her downward strike at his head. In an instant, his world turned red, then black." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For Yamabuki, time slowed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Four sakimori came at her at once, bellowing fearsomely. The one closest thrust his spear directly toward her corselet. In a single looping motion from up-to-down-to-up, her sword knocked the spear aside, into the legs of the man to his left. She brought Tiger Claw down against the top of the man's skull, splitting it wide as blood and brains plumed in every direction." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The full-power blow continued down and through his jaw." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He fell to his right.\n\nShe turned her attention to the next attacker, striking horizontally into his torso, blade passing through his lung. His eyes went blank.\n\nThe third guard had to deal with the first man, who fell in his path." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki reversed along the same horizontal line, cutting into the attacker's ribcage." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Blood spurted into the air. The snow turned red.\n\nThe fourth sakimori leapt over the bodies of the first three men. However, to reach Yamabuki he bent at the waist." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki stepped on top of the first body and deflected the spear and delivered a full-power strike that cleaved his head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The four guards had fallen in less than five heartbeats.\n\nThe last sakimori stood five strides away, spear directed at her chest. He shouted and charged.\n\nYamabuki leapt to the side, delivering a quick cut." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Belly split, spilling innards, he screamed with his last breath before falling." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All the guards were dead. Yamabuki straightened, breathing deeply.\n\nTomoe, standing over her five kills, gasping through clenched teeth, muttered. \"What took you so long?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki looked at Tomoe's handiwork and met her gaze." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Next time don't make me wait,\" Tomoe said. \"It gets boring watching you struggle so.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Let's engage in a collaborative writing exercise. I'll provide a starting point, and You'll continue with four sentences in the style of Katherine M. Lawrence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "From the moment they left the House of Red Banners, Saburo shadowed Yamabuki and the alabaster woman." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was impossible to miss them, two women clad in beautiful yoroi. They carried their weapons casually as they strolled down the main street. Who was this woman with the Taka warrior? Ever since the onsen, he had tried to figure how she fit in." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She had displayed extraordinary senses detecting his presence at the rim of the canyon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Was she a hired sword? A yojimbō? The bodyguard, if that's what she was, wore exquisite armor and was as haughty as she was beautiful, and she surely knew she was, for she brazenly flaunted an extra-long tachi.\n\nAnd yet for all the military gear, Saburo could not help but have a growing impression that he followed a pair of young girls. They chatted in an animated and feminine way, gesturing with their hands and at times even laughing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As he paralleled them he saw Yamabuki had on a cheerful expression and open face." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Almost innocent. Saburo wondered how she was even allowed to carry something so dangerous as a tachi.\n\nHis assessment of her started to shift when a squad of spearmen tried to arrest them. For a brief moment, Saburo thought they were after him. Maybe Ase's body had been discovered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He cursed himself. He had never killed indiscriminately." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He prepared to take one of the escape routes he always noticed wherever he went.\n\nThe guards did not so much as glance in his direction. Just to be safe, though, he burst into one of the hovels, where a withered woman stooped peering through the window slats.\n\n\"Out!\" he shouted and she almost fell over herself, leaving by the back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo settled into her place at the window." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It appeared to him that the women had no choice but to surrender.\n\nAll that changed in an instant. Yamabuki's demeanor transformed, as though another being took over her body. Her smile dissolved. Her expression hardened." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her eyes turned to granite." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her mouth drew into a line. Her body erect, she grew half a head taller—not so much that anything physically changed, more that she called up something that she otherwise kept hidden.\n\nWords were exchanged and spears were brandished.\n\nThen in one glorious strike, the alabaster yojimbō decapitated one of the guards." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She was as physically talented as she was beautiful." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Like the snake of her mon, she struck fast. Blindingly fast. Fast and accurate—her sword a blur. Another spear carrier and then their leader fell in quick succession to her. For a brief moment Saburo wondered if it was the yojimbō who had killed Shima." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Meanwhile, the Taka Princess stood alone against the other men." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Bad odds. The sakimori attacked as a unit. True, they were mere spearmen, but fighting close in with so many determined opponents took a coolness few possessed. A warrior was either born with this kind of ice or died young. This kind of nerve was something some men managed to feign." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Fewer swordsmen actually possessed it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Most did not, but still had the presence of mind to bluff. Yamabuki's sword cut through men like a whirlwind. There was no bluffing. Saburo could barely keep up with the speed at which her sword dispatched them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Before one man even started to fall, her sword already found its mark on the next man." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo held his breath until the final sakimori fell.\n\n\"Magnificent,\" he whispered to himself.\n\nAnd though Saburo favored men, if indeed he favored anyone, when Yamabuki flicked the blood from her sword and wiped the blade with rice paper, he found himself stirred. The Taka warrior excited him as no woman had, at least not since Sairyū at the market nineteen years before." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Such a contrast: the sweet daughter of a weaver of straw baskets and a grim princess in dark green armor, a weaver of death." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He did not know if he wanted to ravish the Taka warrior or if he even still wanted to kill her. What kind of wife might she make? What offspring would we have? What would she be like if she gave her skin?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "But ever pragmatic, Saburo realized a warrior of this strength would never let any man possess her any more than Saburo would let any man possess him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Poor young Kiso would never possess her.\n\nAnd there was more. Saburo saw the look in the alabaster yojimbō's eyes: lust. The alabaster woman's mouth might have twisted in disdain when she said something flippant to Yamabuki—something Saburo could not quite hear—but her eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yes those eyes. What the yojimbō saw in Yamabuki was what he had seen." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The look in the yojimbō's eyes was an admiration at least as great as Saburo's. No. He would never have any chance in Yamabuki's bedchamber. The only way he would conquer her was for her to fall beneath his sword.\n\nHis hand moved to the hilt of Shima's tachi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He took a deep breath, ready to act." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No one would blame him—after all, Yamabuki now had killed sakimori, so her death would be deserved. The alabaster woman would be no easy target, but if he killed Yamabuki outright, the yojimbō would either choose to fight or make her getaway. The death of all the sakimori could be blamed on the Taka samurai. He stepped out the doorway." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shouts drew his attention as a contingent of archers scurried up the street." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Whereas spearmen were often raw recruits whose chief qualifications were youth, an ability to follow orders, and willingness to lift a polearm, archers were another matter.\n\nSix of them and their commander halted some thirty long paces from the two women. The bodies of the dead, snow falling on them, lay in heaps in the street. The archers lifted their yumi, nocked their arrows, prepared to shoot." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One defensive tactic for Yamabuki and her yojimbō might have been to lift the dead bodies, using the corpses as a shield, but neither woman availed herself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Swords drawn, they eyed the archers. Saburo tensed. If they killed her, he would not have the pleasure of killing Yamabuki.\n\nThe leader gave the command. Six arrows sped toward the two women." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The women's swords swept them from the air. Cut into pieces." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The commander ordered another volley. Again the arrows were intercepted. The commander called for his men to move in closer.\n\nA small girl ran out, emerging from a break in the rock wall." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Judging from her size, she was not even five springs, but the girl spoke animatedly and pointed toward the fissure." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The archers leapt over their dead as Yamabuki and her yojimbō followed the child along the face cliff and one by one disappeared.\n\nThe archers reached the fissure. Three sat on the snow, extending their feet to hold their yumi and drew back the bowstrings, arrows directed into the fissure. The remaining three stood above them, ready to shoot at the same time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Clearly it would be impossible for anyone to dodge a volley within the narrow tunnel. The commander shouted." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The first volley was away, and they listened to hear the arrows hit, but there was no sound whatever.\n\nMoments later, death was atop them. Saburo cut the archers down as they fumbled for their swords.\n\nAnother group of warriors, at least two jun, raced down the street, swords drawn." }, { "from": "human", "value": "These odds were becoming impossible." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Veiled partially by the snowfall, Saburo slipped into the cave.\n\nShouts erupted from the guards and they guards raced faster, leaping over the snow-covered bodies. The man in the kimono had killed sakimori. No quarter would be given." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yet when they arrived at the cliff face, they found only more dead bodies." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately one sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The killer, along with the opening in the rock, had vanished, leaving only footprints in the snow." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write 4 sentences sentences in the style of Katherine M. Lawrence spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The blood-spattered snow of the street gave way to the welcome warmth and dryness of the cave. In single file, Yamabuki and Tomoe followed the small girl through a quiet, narrow, airless tunnel. The underground passage was lined improbably with braziers and torches. Sounds echoed musically, reverberating in harmony—a chorus endlessly repeating every footfall, utterance, and rasp." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Even after a hundred steps, the passage remained constricted with a low ceiling, though not so low that Yamabuki could not stand to full height." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Still, the narrowness prevented her from seeing very far ahead. Within the confinement, conversations proved difficult, but she could see Kouma straight ahead. And Tomoe right behind. As far as she could tell, theirs were the only reflected sounds." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You think anyone's followed us?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tomoe looked back over her shoulder. \"The torches have gone out.\"\n\nKouma giggled gleefully. \"No one's behind us. I closed it. The bad man is lost. He doesn't know the way, but I do.\"\n\n\"The bad man?\" Yamabuki asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The strange-eyed one who followed you across the water.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki turned to Tomoe. \"Can you keep watch if anyone's behind us. I don't want to have to fight in these confines. Even our short swords would be unwieldy. I'll have to fight with a tantō if it comes to it.\"\n\n\"You? If it comes to it?\" Tomoe hissed as they turned sideways to move forward, squeezing by the encroaching walls." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"There's no switching positions in here. If it comes to it, Denka, I'll be the one doing the fighting. Take down two or three, and the corpses will stop a brigade.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't call me 'Denka.' \"\n\n\"Don't look back. Bad luck,\" Kouma commanded. \"Keep looking ahead.\"\n\nThey came to a series of chiseled rock steps that led steeply upward.\n\n\"Where does this lead?\" Yamabuki asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"To your horses. You have to get away from the fox snows. They'll linger here just as long as you do.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kouma climbed quickly with a spring in her short stride.\n\n\"We may get out of here,\" Yamabuki said, \"but it's far from over.\"\n\nTomoe grunted in affirmation. \"Blood has been spilled. Lots of it. Once we get to the stables, we have to be ready to ride hard.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Every once in a while the corridor split and another set of steps led off in some other direction, sometimes glowing with warm light, sometimes fading into blackness." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki gazed into these other passages more out of curiosity than anything, but Kouma would always caution, \"No. Not that way. That is not a good way. This way.\" She pointed to tunnels she favored.\n\nTomoe asked, \"All of your spearmen? Kills?\"\n\nYamabuki muttered, \"All dead.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No witnesses.\" She chuckled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Maybe I should call you Shōgun.\"\n\nYamabuki shook her head. \"The Ōe will question everyone.\"\n\n\"No.\" Tomoe laughed darkly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"They'll be riding full gallop after General Aoi, who, if I don't miss my guess, will outrun them. Head to Aki Prefecture where the Ōe won't be welcome. Neither you nor I can stay here. Not now. It's the East-West Highway for both of us. Soon as we get our horses, we head west. Let them chase Aoi-sama east. Draw them away.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki breathed hard. This was not to her liking.\n\n\"Shhh,\" Kouma whispered. \"This way.\" And the three disappeared into the shadows.\n\nSaburo had followed right behind Yamabuki and the others into the cave—or so he thought—but total darkness greeted him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He quickly lost his bearings." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He stretched his hands out, seeking anything solid—rock, dirt, roots—but his fingertips encountered only emptiness. No matter where he reached, there was only wide-open, unseen vastness.\n\nHe bent, down feeling for the floor. Bits of broken rock and tiny boulders—all warm to the touch." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dry and dusty. Was he possibly teetering at a drop-off?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He stood back up and with one foot pushed some stones. They gave way. The sound of rock against rock, stones sliding downward, clunking one against the other echoed up and all around him. He sensed that he stood within an enormous chamber atop a massive mound of rubble that sloped away in every direction.\n\nHow did I get up here?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "How far to the bottom?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Murmuring voices drifted behind him, far away. He looked over his shoulder. More darkness. He stayed perfectly still. Listening. The murmuring died." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tiny slivers of light bobbed up and down high above. Torchlight? It waned." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Follow it. Or he might lose his way entirely. In fact, already he was lost. He vowed he would not let fear into his heart." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His eyes adjusted. Shapes ahead, dark within dark." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He could just make out the ceiling of a cavern vault. More sounds. Dripping water. Murmuring voices. Torchlight above him—high and far up. Was that them?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He slid his foot forward so as not to stumble." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Each step had to be planned. He moved within blackness over more rubble. Blinded by the darkness, his only recourse was to follow the sounds. They intensified, growing distinct. Wailing. Almost human." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Screeching." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Bats?\n\nMore torchlight. He glimpsed Yamabuki and the yojimbō walking upside down on the cavern roof. Was he looking up at them on the ceiling, or was he upside down while they walked below along the rock floor? All at once their torches went dark." }, { "from": "human", "value": "How did Yamabuki move with such ease?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He tried to reconstruct his route. Again he put out his hands—and his palms came to rest against cool, solid rock walls. Solid rock where only moments before he encountered vast openness. Impossible. He needed lights." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Follow the lights and intercept them. His only recourse." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had to find the lights.\n\nHe felt around some more. All he felt were walls. At last he encountered a passage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He could touch both sides by stretching out his arms wide." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He could even reach the ceiling. He used his fingertips to follow the tunnel further and his foot as a feeler to confirm solid ground ahead.\n\nHe sensed he traveled downward.\n\nThe cries of children came out of the darkness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Children? Inside this cave? Screaming." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Crying. The sounds of rocks being piled.\n\nSteadily the cave grew brighter as if some sort of underground dawn had started to break. The light came from waters." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Strangely colored ponds. He made his way toward the source—a chamber with hot yellowish-red boiling pools that smelled of brimstone." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Too hot to stay, he retreated deeper inside the cavern, glad that he now could make out the features of his surroundings.\n\nHe entered another cave, one with obsidian walls and ceiling. Tiny fragments of feldspar glittered, embedded in black lava rock that almost looked like a night sky.\n\nVoices echoed again. Loud voices. Not the children?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Was it the two women warriors?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No.\n\nMen, gruff and angry. The Ōe guards followed him in?\n\nSteps carved in rock led up a hillside." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He neared a rim of boulders tall as a man—and a familiar torii gate." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Soft Breeze Shrine? Impossible. Not inside this cave. And yet as he looked around he found himself outside.\n\nWhen did I leave?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was a night sky, not a lava ceiling." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The moon shone full. He looked back down the steps. Was the mouth of the cave below? No. For a moment he thought he saw Shima holding the bridles of Raiden and Gaki, but then the image blew away like smoke—or more like whirling snow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo's heart sank as he heard voices he had never forgotten." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The eleven Zodiac. He came upon the door to the shrine, which greeted him with granite guardian dogs and a chōzubachi to rinse his mouth. The basin was filled with sand. He was certain this was the Soft Breeze Shrine, and this night absolutely identical to the night ten years before. The raucous laughter. The bawdy singing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Was all this just a dream?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "More nightmare than anything.\n\nSomething inexplicable drew him to the door. And as on that fateful night, he clapped his hands to announce his arrival, but the door remained closed. Saburo clapped again, hard enough that his palms hurt and for an accomplished swordsman, that meant exceedingly hard." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The raucous voices and bawdy songs continued." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo grew annoyed. He shoved the door open.\n\nEverything fell silent, even the cicadas.\n\nInside, the bodies of eleven naked men lay slain, exactly as on the fifth night of Shūbun, just as he remembered.\n\nAka-rui's sword, which he had taken to kill the Zodiac, stood buried in Dragon's chest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo found himself strangely comforted at coming upon the scene, perhaps because it was his work." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In fact over the years he had allowed himself to think about this scene, and it never caused him even the slightest moment of dread. If anything it gave him dark satisfaction.\n\nBut then Saburo gasped. Though the bodies lay perfectly still, the irezumi body art crawled along underneath the dead men's skin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo looked down at Viper who lay splayed open." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Though Viper's eyes stared emptily into space, the snake's glazed eyes darting with reptilian menace, its tongue flickering. It hissed, \"Sssssshinobi.\"\n\nWolf's irezumi bared his canines. The dead man's chinko began to twitch. It pointed accusingly at Saburo." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Coward,\" growled Wolf's irezumi as it crouched to leap from the body at Saburo." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But it could not free itself and merely writhed beneath the skin.\n\nWith increasing vitriol, one by one, the irezumi of each dead man denounced Saburo. Killer. Fraud. Fallen priest. Murderer of infants." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Liar." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Baka mono. Impostor. Sham. Oni." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One of the irezumi would hurl a slur and the other ones would growl in echo." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Louder and louder—it was growing hard for Saburo to think amid the din.\n\n\"Silence!\" Saburo shouted, and all the angry words ceased.\n\nBlade still deep in Dragon's chest, Aka-rui's sword started to move without moving. A shape crawled within the steel, just like the irezumi under the dead men's skins." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A boy's voice arose from nowhere." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You betrayed me, Dankotaru.\"\n\n\"Aka-rui?\" Saburo would know that voice anywhere. \"Where are you?\"\n\nThe blade floated a vaporous, undulating figure. Aka-rui. He seemed to struggle to pull away, but could not succeed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I am here,\" the figure said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Here?\"\n\n\"Imprisoned in this blade.\"\n\n\"Imprisoned?\"\n\nSaburo stepped closer, and it was true." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Aka-rui's image writhed like flame emanating from the ko-dachi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He appeared as he did in life, in pristine snow-white priest's garb, except for the slice across his chest where Dragon's naginata had split the young man open. The wound did not bleed, though it was heavily caked in Aka-rui's own blood.\n\n\"Why?\n\n\"Because of your arrogance.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Arrogance? I avenged you!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo cried, shocked at seeing Aka-rui in this amorphous form, shocked that Aka-rui's body still showed the wounds, but mostly shocked at Aka-rui's accusation.\n\n\"Did you, now?\" Aka-rui's eyes were no longer the ones Saburo remembered—the flashing eyes of mirthful youth. Their fire had gone out, replaced by pain and dullness. His image moved closer and further from the blade's edge." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo said, \"I did not betray you. I came back. I killed them.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Did I ask you to?\"\n\n\"There was no need to ask. It was my duty.\"\n\n\"Your duty?\" Aka-rui almost sneered. \"Your duty as what? As a syncretic priest? When had either of us ever taken such vows? When were we ever even asked to consider such a thing? Look where I must live now.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"In this shrine?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Shrine? This shrine does not stand. It exists only because of your memories of it. You see merely puppets—a bunraku. You're spared the true shape of the Ne-no-Kuni.\"\n\n\"The Hollow Land?\"\n\n\"If your eyes saw the Land of Roots for what it is, you'd go blind at the very horror of it. If your mind experienced this place as it truly is, you would descend into complete insanity.\" Aka-rui pulled away from the steel, grimacing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yet it is in this place that I must remain until the Hour of the Ox, only to be called back when that short hour ends.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why are you here? You did nothing wrong. You are the one who was harmed.\"\n\n\"That may be. But then you stole my soul and left it with the men you killed.\"\n\n\"A soul can't be stolen.\"\n\n\"It can. And you did. A samurai's soul resides in his sword. I knew that since I was a boy. I cleansed my father's spirit from the sword I took. I know Shima told you the sword owner's soul rests within the blade.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Shima? How do you know of him?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I was there. I witnessed the night you showed him my sword. I watched you from the steel. I watched as you honed your skills and sought your vengeance and then left my sword—my soul—buried in Dragon's chest. You have trapped me here with them. To be killed at Iwakawa-jiin was horrifying, but it ended quickly. But to be imprisoned with these beasts for an interminable term!\"\n\nFor a moment, Aka-rui struggled. His image grew almost entirely clear, until finally he relented and was drawn back down to the sword. Small. Dark.\n\n\"If you wanted my sword so much, very well. You should simply have stolen it—but then it would have offended your arrogant priestly vows. You told yourself theft was base, but you should have faced it instead of turning your emptiness into some holy quest. Then I would not be trapped. You never made the weapon yours. You revered it, reveled in it, yes, but you never cleansed my spirit from the steel to free me. Until the night you attacked the Zodiac, you carried the blade like a religious relic, some love object of a moonstruck groom, though you never actually loved me—not the way I loved you—and thus this steel has doomed me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I only sought to honor you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Honor me! Like the one hundred sixty-seven memorial tablets in your self-styled temple at the headwaters of the River of Forty Thousand Sands? Where in your vanity you try to replicate Iwakawa-jiin? Where you think your killing can be atoned for by mumbling to pieces of wood?\"\n\nSaburo wanted to protest, but no words came.\n\nAka-rui said, \"You told Shima you felt my grave marker was but empty stone. And now look at me.\" Aka-rui inserted his fingers into the gash in his chest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My heart is rent.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Done by Dragon,\" Saburo insisted.\n\n\"No. Done by you.\"\n\n\"My doing?\" Saburo snarled.\n\n\"That you protest so much is proof your heart is empty, though it goes on beating. Somewhere your heart became empty, or maybe it was never full in the first place.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo gritted his teeth and hissed. \"You—I should—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What? What do you plan to do, Dankotaru? Kill me?\" Aka-rui laughed manically. \"If only you would!\"\n\n\"I did it for Nin-tai!\" Saburo's eyes flashed. \"I always loved him. More than I ever loved you or anyone else!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Good that you speak the truth, for Nin-tai would be anguished if he saw what you had become.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What do you expect of me?\" Saburo cried. \"I have done everything demanded of me by a warrior's obligation.\"\n\n\"Obligation? You have done what suited you.\"\n\n\"Well, it suits me to leave.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh,\" Aka-rui laughed and said through laughter." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You couldn't stay even if you wanted to. Your time here will soon be up. You will leave the stage of this puppet show and return to the Veil of Tears, where other dark masters who hide behind black hoods will manipulate you. Fortunately for you, you will remember little of this place.\" And then his laughing stopped, followed by convulsive sobs. \"If you ever loved me. If you every really loved me, you will take this accursed sword with you. Take it to Iwakawa-jiin.\"\n\n\"The monastery.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Take the sword to where my body rests. There is a new abbot. He will expect you. Go to my grave. He will be there. Speak with him. Deliver this blade and set me to rest.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo put his palms over his ears. He could not bear to hear Aka-rui's sobs, but the sobbing was not outside. It was inside. It was Saburo who sobbed. \"I will take the sword! I will deliver it to the new abbot at Iwakawa-jiin.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Arigatō gosaimas!\" Aka-rui's voice boomed in relief, filling the cavern." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo reached for the hilt, but the moment he touched it, a flash of blackness, if such a thing were possible, swept over the scene and everything—temple, bodies, sword—disappeared.\n\nSaburo found himself standing totally alone in the dimness once again. Only the feldspar twinkled in the obsidian ceiling. Yet he held Aka-rui's sword in his grip." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He slipped the blade into his sash." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A young girl's voice pierced the silence. \"You are a bad priest.\"\n\n\"What!\"\n\n\"A bad priest.\" A girl stood further up the passage—the same girl who had led Yamabuki into the caves." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was no time to argue with foolish children about priestliness." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You know where the two women warriors went?\"\n\n\"Hai.\"\n\n\"Where are they?\"\n\n\"I showed them the way out.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Show me the way out.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Īe.\" She shook her head. \"Stay away from her!\"\n\n\"You will show me the way out.\" He tapped the sheathed sword's hilt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The child shook her head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Obstinate, are you?\" He stepped toward her, ready to twist her wrist to force her into obedience.\n\nBut drawing closer, he saw her more clearly.\n\n\"Tōsō!\" he gasped.\n\nThe pox—same as his mother." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But this was much worse." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Many times worse. The girl's face showed signs of advanced rot.\n\nCorpse-like. Corruption.\n\nWhen she smiled gently, it only made it look worse. \"Come. Take my hand.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She stretched out a skeletal appendage." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Let me lead you to where I dwell when it's daylight.\"\n\nSaburo moaned with revulsion mixed with fear.\n\n\"I'll show you things you could never imagine.\" When she broke into a small smile, he could see through the sides of her cheeks where the flesh had fallen away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She moved toward him. He stepped back." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And those markers you burn incense for and pray over in your household temple? All those souls? Why look at pieces of wood when you can meet them as they are now? You can reacquaint yourself with them. Many are here—waiting for you!\"\n\nShe pointed into the tunnel behind her.\n\n\"The tears of joy they will have at having you close to them again!\" Without dropping her gaze, she stepped back into the shadows." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Come,\" she called from the darkness. \"Come. Follow me\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo turned, almost at a run, heading into the opposite passage.\n\nWho is that ahead?\n\nA shadowy figure beckoned Saburo to follow. Would it attack? No." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It moved away from him as if it were afraid he would catch up, and this called on something within him that compelled him to follow." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The shadow was always just at the edge of his sight. Aka-rui? It beckoned again and vanished.\n\nAlone, he plunged further into the corridor. At least he was not standing in total darkness on top of a pile of scree." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo started to run. \"Aka-rui!\" he shouted." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Aka-rui.\" But the figure did not stop. It kept moving. Moments later he saw. Not Aka-rui, but Nin-tai!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saburo called, but the figure kept moving, though he noticed they traveled steadily upward." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo's breathing grew labored. He thought to turn around and look back down from where he came, but he heard Nin-tai's voice whisper, his words perfectly clear, \"Don't!\" He sensed Nin-tai next to him. The bettō's voice entered Saburo's mind as if it were his own thoughts: \"Seek out the mountain goat. Otherwise you risk taking his place.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Once again, Nin-tai stood further down the tunnel." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saburo dashed after him over the rough and rocky floor, but Nin-tai kept moving away until finally... daylight!\n\nDespite what he had been told, Saburo started to turn to take a last look at where he had been—when a mighty shove hurled him out the passageway. He stumbled and fell.\n\nThe next thing he sensed was cold." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He lay in a snow drift." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Merciful daylight, though heavily gray with overcast, but daylight! He was in Minezaki. He looked for the passageway from which he came. There was none. He found himself at the waterfall, which had largely frozen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Judging by the snow accumulation, the road had not been traveled in some time." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It was all a dream,\" he told himself. And then he gazed at Aka-rui's sword clutched in his hand." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "expand on the story like Katherine M. Lawrence would" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki climbed the stairs." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The brazier had given out some time back, but daylight now led the way out into a drafty plank structure. She pushed out through the door onto the grounds behind the armory. What she had thought was a house near the stables merely covered the entrance to the network of caves.\n\nYamabuki breathed in the mountain air—cold but fresh—free of the cave's staleness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tomoe emerged right behind her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki grinned at her, then looked around. \"Snow's falling hard.\"\n\nTomoe nodded. \"The kind that piles up.\"\n\nThe girl was nowhere to be seen, not even tracks. \"Where's Kouma?\" She looked about." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Did Kouma not come out with us?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tomoe gave her a puzzled look. \"Who?\"\n\n\"Kouma, the little girl.\" Yamabuki headed back to the cave exit. \"Ko-chan!\" she called back into the cavern.\"\n\n\"Who's Kouma?\" Tomoe asked.\n\n\"Kouma. The girl who led us through the tunnels.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You led us through the tunnels.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No. There was a girl ahead of us.\"\n\n\"I didn't see anyone.\"\n\n\"I must have blocked your view.\" Yamabuki again called, \"Ko-chan!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "After a moment, a soft voice answered from the darkness, \"Did you get out?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes. Yes. Gomen nasai. Come join us.\"\n\nHer call was met only by silence.\n\n\"Ko-chan, come out.\"\n\nSilence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki stood pondering the blackness of the cave when Yoshinaka's emerged from the stables." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We need to saddle up. The Ōe are looking for us. All of us.\"\n\n\"This has something to do with General Aoi, ne?\" Tomoe said.\n\nFace grim but confident, Yoshinaka nodded. \"She found the man whose arrow killed her brother.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki let out a long breath. \"Misaki.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She couldn't let her brother's death stand as long as the killer lived.\"\n\n\"I couldn't either,\" said Tomoe.\n\n\"She cut her way through at least eight guards to get to him.\"\n\nYamabuki sighed. \"We had to kill ten more.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The simple gaze of understanding from Yoshinaka gave her some comfort." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We're implicated. We ride out now.\" Tomoe's statement was more command than anything.\n\nSomething within Yoshinaka seemed to shift. Yamabuki could see it in his face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The charismatic noble was replaced by a general." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He said, \"I saddled up Uma. He's ready to ride. I'll stand guard until you can get your mounts ready. We'll go together and catch up to Aoi.\"\n\n\"No! Let her go east,\" said Tomoe. \"We'll have to go where they won't follow. The closer we are to her, the more we'll be implicated.\"\n\n\"You will abandon her?\" Yamabuki muttered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Ah!\" Tomoe scoffed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I pity anyone who takes it upon themselves to attack her.\"\n\n\"I mean at brigade strength.\"\n\n\"Anyone,\" said Yoshinaka and Tomoe in unison.\n\n\"I need to gather my things,\" said Yamabuki." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We mount up first, ne?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tomoe said and without waiting for agreement entered the stables.\n\nYamabuki started across the snow toward the guesthouse.\n\n\"What is so important?\" Yoshinaka cried out. \"You can get whatever it is once we're ready to ride.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My ink and brushes. My pillow book and poems,\" she said, calling out. \"Things I need!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Out of breath, she burst into the room, kicking off her boots as decorum dictated. They fell against the straw boots no one claimed. We're these Misaki's after all? Did Blue Rice take them?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She caught herself. I can't think about such foolishness now." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She knelt down, gathered her saddlebag, making sure all her belongings were there—including the surreptitious weapons all Taka royals carried. Everything seemed complete.\"\n\n\"Yama-chan?\"\n\nOnly Yoshinaka dared call her that. She met his eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You must ride out with us.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You and Tomoe go ahead. Go west. If I decide that it makes sense, I may join you. Go without me.\"\n\nHe walked toward her. She did not like the deliberateness of his approach and so she rose. He looked deeply into her eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His own eyes half-closed, he said, \"I have Tomoe-san saddling Raski and Full Moon.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She was ready to quip that Mochizuki would be a handful for such an inexperienced warrior, but from the look he gave her, she stopped her tongue before she said something she regretted. This was not a moment to make light. She could see it in his eyes. All she managed was to softly say, \"What?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You must come with me, anata.\" My dearest one." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am on a mission, a matter of giri.\"\n\n\"And what of ninjo? Is your heart so empty?\"\n\nYamabuki suppressed the lump that formed in her throat. \"You know what we are, you and I. I would feel nothing for you if we were not of the same cloth. The same steel. Surely you understand this.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Then is there no place in your heart for me?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It is filled only with you, anata.\" She choked briefly \"But duty comes first. How would it look if the next Taka daimyō simply rode away when it suited her?\"\n\n\"And where are you riding?\"\n\nShe smiled, tears forming in her eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"To Heian-kyō. Rakuchū. To the Palace of Black Plums.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Then I shall meet you there.\"\n\n\"I will be there but for a brief time. Then I must start my musha shugyō in earnest or risk all.\"\n\nYoshinaka put his arms, bulky with armor, around her armored shoulders and pulled her tight—armor to armor, face to face, breath to breath—looking deeply at her. \"Then let's ride out quickly so we can see each other all the sooner again.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She smiled and felt herself blush." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She gave a little push against him, armor to armor. He laughed.\n\nThey were most of the way back to the stables when Tomoe emerged. \"The horses are ready.\" She threw Yamabuki a look. \"Big horse.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"One of the breed that fell from the skies. Glad you managed to saddle him up. He's still half wild.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm used to half-wild things.\" With a half-twisted smile, she looked Yamabuki up and down.\n\n\"Gomen,\" Yamabuki said, looking skyward at darkening skies.\n\n\"If we get separated, we'll rendezvous on the coastal road,\" Tomoe pronounced." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I will not be going west.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tomoe looked askance at her.\n\n\"It will add ten days to my journey.\"\n\n\"You are worried about that?\" Tomoe scoffed.\n\n\"It's Taka Shōgun's decision.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yoshinaka swung into the saddle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'll ride a bit down Ledge Road to see if anyone's about.\"\n\n\"Doubtful in this weather,\" Yamabuki called after him as he rode off. She checked Mochizuki's tack. \"I have to go to Heian-kyō,\" she said with a breath." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Who's in the Imperial City that you need to get there so soon? Your betrothed?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Never that.\"\n\n\"Never? Have you told my brother that?\"\n\n\"What happens between us is private.\"\n\n\"As private as the onsen?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"As private as omeko.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki faced Tomoe. \"If I did not care for him, you and I would not be speaking to each other.\" Nor would I be involved in this embroilment.\n\n\"What happened to Kiso-sama?\"\n\nTomoe's question so simply stated gave Yamabuki a sense of dread." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She squinted in the light." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The firs were so laden with snow there was hardly any green. Even the leafing trees had accumulations that blocked much of the view up Ledge Road.\n\nThey moved over a few steps for a better line of sight.\n\nIn the distance, out where the road dropped down, was some kind of commotion." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki could see spears and helmets swarming around a man on horseback turning, charging, rearing, sword flying." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yoshinaka!\n\nTomoe shouted, \"He's in trouble!\" and started for her horse.\n\nYamabuki called, \"Hold!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tomoe spun, glaring at her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But Yamabuki focused on a mass of soldiers in black Ōe tunics charging toward them. \"We have trouble of our own. I count fourteen.\" Her eyes scanned again.\n\nTomoe looked. \"Twenty-five at least. At least and half of them archers.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We can't go back through the cave. It will take us back to where we started. Besides the horses won't fit.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm not going to surrender to them.\"\n\n\"Who said anything about surrendering? The question is how many arrows we have between us. You any good with a bow?\"\n\nTomoe flashed Yamabuki a look. \"Probably better than you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well then, we should do quite well.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sakimori approached in a loose formation.\n\nYamabuki and Tomoe led their horses to the other side of the stable, where they had some cover and a clear view of the road between the armory and the trees.\n\n\"Stop!\" One of the sakimori, likely the leader, raised his gumbai over his head. A war fan—his symbol of authority all were to heed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He and is men were at least sixty paces from the half-walled stables." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We can shoot from here,\" Yamabuki muttered. \"We can't risk the horses by riding out. At least not yet. We stay here for the moment. Agreed?\"\n\n\"Agreed.\"\n\nEach grabbed an ebira and bow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tomoe counted her arrows. \"I have fifteen.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki joined in a quick count. \"Eighteen.\"\n\n\"Thirty-three.\" Tomoe breathed hard. \"So every shot counts.\"\n\n\"You must come with us!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "the man with the gumbai barked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki broke into a laugh. \"No,\" she shouted back without the slightest sign of concern. \"We are not under your jurisdiction. Only the Mikado Himself has the authority to arrest me, and I can assure you, He has no such intent, and I also guarantee He will be very cross if He discovers your effrontery.\"\n\nThe commander sputtered, shouting, \"We have witnesses!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Silence, you fool!\" Tomoe snapped." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Show your obedience! Bow before the Princess! All of you! Bow!\"\n\nThe sakimori looked in confusion toward one another.\n\n\"She's no Princess!\" a voice cried out from the back. \"She's a yahochi! She gave me her skin last night.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The men more or less laughed and hooted as a group.\" Bow before a yahochi!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "one cried, and the others joined in with rude noises. \"Bow before this!\" roared one of them, pointing at his privates, feigning ecstasy.\n\nHis laugh turned into a gurgle as an arrow pierced his neck, a plume of blood spurting into the air. The man fell back into the snow and did not move." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Seventeen arrows left,\" Yamabuki muttered as she pulled a fresh arrow." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tomoe put a hand to her mouth. \"You dare mock us? Bow!\"\n\nSeveral men indeed bowed as they were told. The Ōe commander screamed, \"Attack!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The sakimori at the front broke into a run, drawing swords, charging through thickening snowdrifts that slowed them to at half speed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Start with the men at the edges,\" Tome said.\n\nYamabuki grinned at her. \"Atari.\"\n\nTomoe nodded hard.\n\n\"Sixteen left,\" Yamabuki muttered as another fell." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Three more swordsmen fell in rapid succession, and Tomoe laughed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You only shoot one arrow at a time? How boring.\"\n\n\"Very well.\" Yamabuki took three arrows in hand and shot them as quickly as she ever had. Accurately. Three men went down. \"How many left?\" Yamabuki asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I have twelve arrows.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No. How many men do you see?\"\n\n\"I count sixteen.\"\n\n\"And we have twenty-five arrows between, still.\"\n\nThe remaining swordsmen, now within twenty strides of the stables, suddenly fell flat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What now?\" Tomoe asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You know. The archers next.\"\n\nAnd sure enough, the sakimori archers took up positions. With the swordsmen so close and lying in the snow, their field of fire would be unobstructed.\n\n\"How many archers?\" Tomoe shouted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Eight!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Moments later, a volley of arrows sped toward the stables. Yamabuki and Tomoe ducked down, letting the half-walls shield them, and hoped the horses would survive. The arrows whizzed overhead. Timbers popped with impacts." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The horses?\" Tomoe yelled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No hits!\" Yamabuki called out.\n\nThe archers ran forward, closing the distance. They were halfway across the armory grounds. In the meantime, the swordsmen were on their feet and running the final distance to the stables." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tomoe and Yamabuki drew arrows and shot." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Four men went down.\n\n\"Missed one!\" Tomoe barked.\n\n\"So did I!\"\n\n\"Swords!\" Yamabuki barked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Disencumbering themselves from their ebira and bows, they leapt away from the building, cutting the remaining attackers down, though the Ōe swordsmanship was better than expected." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No sooner had the last of the swordsmen fallen than the eight archers grabbed arrows and moved into shooting position, thirty strides from the stable.\n\n\"Back inside!\" Tomoe commanded, but Yamabuki was already inside with her bow and arrows.\n\nThe archers volleyed again in bursts of eight, three times in succession. The women lay low as the arrows struck all around them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The archers broke into two groups." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Half shot another volley while the other half dashed forward and took new positions—from which they volleyed as the first group charged forward. The archers repeated this tactic, gaining ground. But this worked only until they got so close to the stable that their own number got in the way of the shots.\n\nSeizing this moment, Yamabuki and Tomoe moved back into position and released quick bursts, bringing down three of the closest archers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki picked off another one of the furthest group." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tomoe stepped outside and cut down the closest archer with her tachi.\n\n\"Three left!\" Yamabuki cried.\n\n\"Mount up and get them!\"\n\nIn moments the riders burst from the stables." }, { "from": "human", "value": "With only three of their original number, the archers broke into confusion." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Though shooting from horseback was always more difficult, and the horses labored through the snow, Tomoe and Yamabuki got one archer each. They both aimed for the last archer. It was Yamabuki's arrow that felled him.\n\nThe two Ōe commanders turned and ran away down Ledge Road." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At the best gallop Raski could manage in the drifts, Tomoe, sword drawn, rode down the fleeing man, decapitating him with one magnificent strike." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My, she has that strike perfected, Yamabuki thought to herself, but she did not dwell on it, for the other Ōe commander fled into the woods where the horses could not follow.\n\nIn one leap, Yamabuki was out of the saddle, running in pursuit. She reached into her sleeve and drew out a shuriken. She threw it hard." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The throwing star struck him between the shoulder blades." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He twitched and fell forward.\n\n\"Very precise,\" said Tomoe as she reigned her mount.\n\nYamabuki scowled as she got into the stirrups. \"I was aiming for his neck.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tomoe cast a sideways glance toward Yamabuki." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You Southerners seem to know how to fight,\" she said. She put out her hand, her palm upward. \"It's snowing harder.\"\n\n\"And night is falling,\" Yamabuki added grimly.\n\nThe two rode to the intersection with North Road." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Looking toward the heart of Minezaki, they saw a trail of bodies." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tomoe said, \"That's Yoshinaka's work.\"\n\n\"He made it, you think?\"\n\nTomoe laughed. \"Why wouldn't he?\"\n\nYamabuki gazed at the dead men strewn all over." }, { "from": "human", "value": "How many were there?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Twenty? Temporarily inured to seeing death, she started counting.\n\nShouts.\n\nShe glanced at Tomoe, who peered in every direction.\n\nRight in front of them, not a hundred strides away, a black mass of Ōe samurai swarmed into view, blades drawn, filling the road." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At least three jun warriors roared as one and charged through the snow at the two women." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How many arrows?\"\n\n\"Six,\" said Tomoe. \"You?\"\n\n\"Eight.\" Yamabuki sighed. \"How long will they keep this up?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Don't worry about them. They're all on foot.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tomoe pointed at the mountains behind them—the way of the pass, though they couldn't see it through the white mist. \"That's where we go.\"\n\n\"Into the storm?\" Yamabuki cried in disbelief.\n\n\"We ride through it. The clouds are low.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How do you surmise that?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tomoe laughed. \"Where I'm from, any girl could tell you when the clouds are low. An hour's walk or ride and we'll see clear skies.\"\n\n\"And you know this for a fact?\"\n\n\"No.\"\n\nThe approaching Ōe swordsmen had closed half the distance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki squinted at the whiteness shrouding the mountains, trying to see through." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She and Tomoe were had to make a decision. To attempt the pass at night? She saw nothing but clouds.\n\nTomoe said, \"Ne, what's the alternative? Fight these Ōe? And who knows how many more?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She gave a crooked smile." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Besides, when we break through the clouds, it will be colder, and so more adventures lie ahead.\"\n\nHer enthusiasm made Yamabuki smile. \"Tomoe-san, I find it strange you think we can climb above the clouds.\"\n\nTomoe was unable to suppress a loud laugh." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Southern lowlander! I will teach you to climb above the clouds. Trust me, Yamabuki-san. I promise that you won't be disappointed.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Ōe swordsmen were now only twenty strides away.\n\nTomoe spurred Raski and galloped through the virgin snow toward the pass. Following, Yamabuki could sense Mochizuki did not like the cold, and yet since she encouraged him, he did not protest.\n\nThey left the buildings behind." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The North Road steepened, though it proved difficult to see where the trail actually went." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And in the manner of spirited horses, the faster Raski strode, the more Mochizuki kept apace. Yamabuki held the colt back, which was not easy, but if Tomoe made a misstep, driving her horse as fast as she did, Yamabuki did not want to end up on top of the hapless horse and rider.\n\nShe seems to know where she's going. Maybe I'm the only one to not have any sense?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The wind picked up and the snow began to blow horizontally." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tomoe turned herself half-around in the saddle and cried, \"Stay close. We're headed into a whiteout.\" Tomoe said something more, but the wind howled so that Yamabuki could not make out the words. Yet Tomoe was laughing about something. Something about the snow covering the dead as well as their tracks." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Something about fools not following." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Now write approximately five sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki pulled her field coat tighter. To what cold fate am I being led? Does this woman even know where she's going or what she's doing? Perhaps we should turn back from the fox elements?\n\nBut there was no turning back, for when Yamabuki looked behind, she saw only a wall of swirling white." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Mode:\nCo-writing\n\nLength:\n4 sentences\n\nStyle:\nEiji Yoshikawa" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[ EARTH ]" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "[ The Little Bell ]\n\nTakezō lay among the corpses. There were thousands of them.\n\n\"The whole world's gone crazy,\" he thought dimly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"A man might as well be a dead leaf, floating in the autumn breeze.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He himself looked like one of the lifeless bodies surrounding him. He tried to raise his head, but could only lift it a few inches from the ground. He couldn't remember ever feeling so weak. \"How long have I been here?\" he wondered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Flies came buzzing around his head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He wanted to brush them away, but couldn't even muster the energy to raise his arm. It was stiff, almost brittle, like the rest of his body. \"I must've been out for quite a while,\" he thought, wiggling one finger at a time. Little did he know he was wounded, with two bullets lodged firmly in his thigh." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Low, dark clouds shifted ominously across the sky." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The night before, sometime between midnight and dawn, a blinding rain had drenched the plain of Sekigahara. It was now past noon on the fifteenth of the ninth month of 1600. Though the typhoon had passed, now and then fresh torrents of rain would fall on the corpses and onto Takezō's upturned face. Each time it came, he'd open and close his mouth like a fish, trying to drink in the droplets." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's like the water they wipe a dying man's lips with,\" he reflected, savoring each bit of moisture." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His head was numb, his thoughts the fleeting shadows of delirium.\n\nHis side had lost. He knew that much. Kobayakawa Hideaki, supposedly an ally, had been secretly in league with the Eastern Army, and when he turned on Ishida Mitsunari's troops at twilight, the tide of battle turned too." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He then attacked the armies of other commanders—Ukita, Shimazu and Konishi—and the collapse of the Western Army was complete." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In only half a day's fighting, the question of who would henceforth rule the country was settled. It was Tokugawa Ieyasu, the powerful Edo daimyō.\n\nImages of his sister and the old villagers floated before his eyes. \"I'm dying,\" he thought without a tinge of sadness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Is this what it's really like?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He felt drawn to the peace of death, like a child mesmerized by a flame.\n\nSuddenly one of the nearby corpses raised its head. \"Takezō.\"\n\nThe images of his mind ceased. As if awakened from the dead, he turned his head toward the sound." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The voice, he was sure, was that of his best friend." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With all his strength he raised himself slightly, squeezing out a whisper barely audible above the pelting rain. \"Matahachi, is that you?\" Then he collapsed, lay still and listened.\n\n\"Takezō! Are you really alive?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, alive!\" he shouted in a sudden outburst of bravado." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And you? You'd better not die either. Don't you dare!\" His eyes were wide open now, and a smile played faintly about his lips.\n\n\"Not me! No, sir.\" Gasping for breath, crawling on his elbows and dragging his legs stiffly behind him, Matahachi inched his way toward his friend." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He made a grab for Takezō's hand but only caught his small finger with his own." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As childhood friends they'd often sealed promises with this gesture. He came closer and gripped the whole hand.\n\n\"I can't believe you're all right too! We must be the only survivors.\"\n\n\"Don't speak too soon. I haven't tried to get up yet.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'll help you. Let's get out of here!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Suddenly Takezō pulled Matahachi to the ground and growled, \"Play dead! More trouble coming!\"\n\nThe ground began to rumble like a caldron. Peeking through their arms, they watched the approaching whirlwind close in on them. Then they were nearer, lines of jet-black horsemen hurtling directly toward them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The bastards! They're back!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "exclaimed Matahachi, raising his knee as if preparing for a sprint. Takezō seized his ankle, nearly breaking it, and yanked him to the ground.\n\nIn a moment the horses were flying past them—hundreds of muddy lethal hooves galloping in formation, riding roughshod over the fallen samurai. Battle cries on their lips, their armor and weapons clinking and clanking, the riders came on and on." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Matahachi lay on his stomach, eyes closed, hoping against hope they would not be trampled, but Takezō stared unblinkingly upward." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The horses passed so close they could smell their sweat. Then it was over.\n\nMiraculously they were uninjured and undetected, and for several minutes both remained silent in disbelief.\n\n\"Saved again!\" exclaimed Takezō, reaching his hand out to Matahachi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Still hugging the ground, Matahachi slowly turned his head to show a broad, slightly trembling grin." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Somebody's on our side, that's for sure,\" he said huskily.\n\nThe two friends helped each other, with great difficulty, to their feet. Slowly they made their way across the battlefield to the safety of the wooded hills, hobbling along with arms around each other's shoulders. There they collapsed but after a rest began foraging for food." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For two days they subsisted on wild chestnuts and edible leaves in the sodden hollows of Mount Ibuki." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This kept them from starving, but Takezō's stomach ached and Matahachi's bowels tormented him. No food could fill him, no drink quench his thirst, but even he felt his strength returning bit by bit.\n\nThe storm on the fifteenth marked the end of the fall typhoons. Now, only two nights later, a cold white moon glared grimly down from a cloudless sky." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They both knew how dangerous it was to be on the road in the glaring moonlight, their shadows looming like silhouette targets in clear view of any patrols searching for stragglers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The decision to risk it had been Takezō's. With Matahachi in such misery, saying he'd rather be captured than continue trying to walk, there really didn't seem to be much choice. They had to move on, but it was also clear that they had to find a place to lie low and rest. They made their way slowly in what they thought was the direction of the small town of Tarui." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Can you make it?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Takezō asked repeatedly. He held his friend's arm around his own shoulder to help him along. \"Are you all right?\" It was the labored breathing that worried him. \"You want to rest?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm all right.\" Matahachi tried to sound brave, but his face was paler than the moon above them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even with his lance for a walking stick, he could barely put one foot in front of the other.\n\nHe'd been apologizing abjectly over and over. \"I'm sorry, Takezō. I know it's me who's slowing us down. I'm really sorry.\"\n\nThe first few times Takezō had simply brushed this off with \"Forget it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Eventually, when they stopped to rest, he turned to his friend and burst out, \"Look, I'm the one who should be apologizing. I'm the one who got you into this in the first place, remember? Remember how I told you my plan, how I was finally going to do something that would really have impressed my father? I've never been able to stand the fact that to his dying day he was sure I'd never amount to anything. I was going to show him! Ha!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Takezō's father, Munisai, had once served under Lord Shimmen of Iga. As soon as Takezō heard that Ishida Mitsunari was raising an army, he was convinced that the chance of a lifetime had finally arrived. His father had been a samurai. Wasn't it only natural that he would be made one too?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He ached to enter the fray, to prove his mettle, to have word spread like wildfire through the village that he had decapitated an enemy general." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had wanted desperately to prove he was somebody to be reckoned with, to be respected—not just the village troublemaker.\n\nTakezō reminded Matahachi of all this, and Matahachi nodded. \"I know. I know. But I felt the same way. It wasn't just you.\"\n\nTakezō went on: \"I wanted you to come with me because we've always done everything together. But didn't your mother carry on something awful! Yelling and telling everybody I was crazy and no good! And your fiancée Otsū, and my sister and everybody else crying and saying village boys should stay in the village. Oh, maybe they had their reasons. We are both only sons, and if we get ourselves killed there's no one else to carry on the family names. But who cares? Is that any way to live?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "They had slipped out of the village unnoticed and were convinced that no further barrier lay between themselves and the honors of battle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When they reached the Shimmen encampment, however, they came face to face with the realities of war. They were told straightaway they would not be made samurai, not overnight nor even in a few weeks, no matter who their fathers had been. To Ishida and the other generals, Takezō and Matahachi were a pair of country bumpkins, little more than children who happened to have got their hands on a couple of lances. The best they could wangle was to be allowed to stay on as common foot soldiers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Their responsibilities, if they could be called that, consisted of carrying weapons, rice kettles and other utensils, cutting grass, working on the road gangs and occasionally going out as scouts." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Samurai, ha!\" said Takezō. \"What a joke. General's head! I didn't even get near an enemy samurai, let alone a general. Well, at least it's all over. Now what are we going to do? I can't leave you here all alone. If I did, I could never face your mother or Otsū again.\"\n\n\"Takezō, I don't blame you for the mess we're in. It wasn't your fault we lost. If anybody's to blame, it's that two-faced Kobayakawa. I'd really like to get my hands on him. I'd kill the son of a bitch!\"\n\nA couple of hours later they were standing on the edge of a small plain, gazing out over a sea of reedlike miscanthus, battered and broken by the storm." }, { "from": "human", "value": "No houses. No lights." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There were lots of corpses here too, lying just as they had fallen. The head of one rested in some tall grass. Another was on its back in a small stream. Still another was entangled grotesquely with a dead horse." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The rain had washed the blood away, and in the moonlight the dead flesh looked like fish scales." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All around them was the lonely autumn litany of bellrings and crickets.\n\nA stream of tears cleared a white path down Matahachi's grimy face. He heaved the sigh of a very sick man.\n\n\"Takezō, if I die, will you take care of Otsū?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What are you talking about?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I feel like I'm dying.\"\n\nTakezō snapped, \"Well, if that's the way you feel, you probably will.\" He was exasperated, wishing his friend were stronger, so he could lean on him once in a while, not physically, but for encouragement. \"Come on, Matahachi! Don't be such a crybaby.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My mother has people to look after her, but Otsū's all alone in the world. Always has been. I feel so sorry for her, Takezō. Promise you'll take care of her if I'm not around.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Get hold of yourself! People don't die from diarrhea. Sooner or later we're going to find a house, and when we do I'll put you to bed and get some medicine for you. Now stop all this blubbering about dying!\"\n\nA little farther on, they came to a place where the piles of lifeless bodies made it look as if a whole division had been wiped out. By this time they were callous to the sight of gore. Their glazed eyes took in the scene with cold indifference and they stopped to rest again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "While they were catching their breath, they heard something move among the corpses." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Both of them shrank back in fright, instinctively crouching down with their eyes peeled and senses alerted.\n\nThe figure made a quick darting movement, like that of a surprised rabbit. As their eyes focused, they saw that whoever it was was squatting close to the ground. Thinking at first it was a stray samurai, they braced themselves for a dangerous encounter, but to their amazement the fierce warrior turned out to be a young girl." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She seemed to be about thirteen or fourteen and wore a kimono with rounded sleeves." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The narrow obi around her waist, though patched in places, was of gold brocade; there among the corpses she presented a bizarre sight indeed. She looked over and stared at them suspiciously with shrewd catlike eyes.\n\nTakezō and Matahachi were both wondering the same thing: what on earth could bring a young girl to a ghost-ridden, corpse-strewn field in the dead of night?\n\nFor a time they both simply stared back at her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then Takezō said, \"Who are you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She blinked a couple of times, got to her feet and sped away.\n\n\"Stop!\" shouted Takezō. \"I just want to ask you a question. Don't go!\"\n\nBut gone she was, like a flash of lightning in the night." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The sound of a small bell receded eerily into the darkness." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Could it have been a ghost?\" Takezō mused aloud as he stared vacantly into the thin mist.\n\nMatahachi shivered and forced a laugh. \"If there were any ghosts around here, I think they'd be those of soldiers, don't you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I wish I hadn't scared her away,\" said Takezō." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"There's got to be a village around here somewhere. She could've given us directions.\"\n\nThey went on and climbed the nearer of the two hills ahead of them. In the hollow on the other side was the marsh that stretched south from Mount Fuwa. And a light, only half a mile away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When they approached the farmhouse, they got the impression that it wasn't of the run-of-the-mill variety." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For one thing, it was surrounded by a thick dirt wall. For another, its gate verged on being grandiose. Or at least the remains of the gate, for it was old and badly in need of repair.\n\nTakezō went up to the door and rapped lightly. \"Is anybody home?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Getting no answer, he tried again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Sorry to bother you at this hour, but my friend here is sick. We don't want to cause any trouble—he just needs some rest.\"\n\nThey heard whispering inside and, presently, the sound of someone coming to the door.\n\n\"You're stragglers from Sekigahara, aren't you?\" The voice belonged to a young girl." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's right,\" said Takezō." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We were under Lord Shimmen of Iga.\"\n\n\"Go away! If you're found around here, we'll be in trouble.\"\n\n\"Look, we've very sorry to bother you like this, but we've been walking a long time. My friend needs some rest, that's all, and—\"\n\n\"Please go away!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"All right, if you really want us to, but couldn't you give my friend some medicine? His stomach's in such bad shape it's hard for us to keep moving.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well, I don't know... \"\n\nAfter a moment or two, they heard footsteps and a little tinkling sound receding into the house, growing fainter and fainter.\n\nJust then they noticed the face. It was in a side window, a woman's face, and it had been watching them all along." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Akemi,\" she called out, \"let them in. They're foot soldiers. The Tokugawa patrols aren't going to be wasting time on them. They're nobodies.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Akemi opened the door, and the woman, who introduced herself as Okō, came and listened to Takezō's story.\n\nIt was agreed that they could have the woodshed to sleep in. To quiet his bowels, Matahachi was given magnolia charcoal powder and thin rice gruel with scallions in it. Over the next few days, he slept almost without interruption, while Takezō, sitting vigil by his side, used cheap spirits to treat the bullet wounds in his thigh." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One evening about a week later, Takezō and Matahachi sat chatting." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They must have a trade of some kind,\" Takezō remarked.\n\n\"I couldn't care less what they do. I'm just glad they took us in.\"\n\nBut Takezō's curiosity was aroused. \"The mother's not so old,\" he went on." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's strange, the two of them living alone here in the mountains.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Umm. Don't you think the girl looks a little like Otsū?\"\n\n\"There is something about her that puts me in mind of Otsū, but I don't think they really look alike. They're both nice-looking, that's about it. What do you suppose she was doing the first time we saw her, creeping around all those corpses in the middle of the night? It didn't seem to bother her at all. Ha! I can still see it. Her face was as calm and serene as those dolls they make in Kyoto. What a picture!\"\n\nMatahachi motioned for him to be quiet.\n\n\"Shh! I hear her bell.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Akemi's light knock on the door sounded like the tapping of a woodpecker." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Matahachi, Takezō,\" she called softly.\n\n\"Yes?\"\n\n\"It's me.\"\n\nTakezō got up and undid the lock." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She came in carrying a tray of medicine and food and asked them how they were." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Much better, thanks to you and your mother.\"\n\n\"Mother said that even if you feel better, you shouldn't talk too loud or go outside.\"\n\nTakezō spoke for the two of them. \"We're really sorry to put you to so much trouble.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, that's okay, you just have to be careful. Ishida Mitsunari and some of the other generals haven't been caught yet. They're keeping a close watch on this area and the roads are crawling with Tokugawa troops.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They are?\"\n\n\"So even though you're only foot soldiers, Mother said that if we're caught hiding you, we'll be arrested.\"\n\n\"We won't make a sound,\" Takezō promised. \"I'll even cover Matahachi's face with a rag if he snores too loudly.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Akemi smiled, turned to go and said, \"Good night. I'll see you in the morning.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Wait!\" said Matahachi. \"Why don't you hang around and talk awhile?\"\n\n\"I can't.\"\n\n\"Why not?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Mother'd be angry.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why worry about her? How old are you?\"\n\n\"Sixteen.\"\n\n\"Small for your age, aren't you?\"\n\n\"Thanks for telling me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Where's your father?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't have one anymore.\"\n\n\"Sorry. Then how do you live?\"\n\n\"We make moxa.\"\n\n\"That medicine you burn on your skin to get rid of pain?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, the moxa from hereabouts is famous. In spring we cut mugwort on Mount Ibuki. In summer we dry it and in fall and winter make it into moxa. We sell it in Tarui. People come from all over just to buy it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I guess you don't need a man around to do that.\"\n\n\"Well, if that's all you wanted to know, I'd better be going.\"\n\n\"Hold on, just another second,\" said Takezō. \"I have one more question.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The other night, the night we came here, we saw a girl out on the battlefield and she looked just like you. That was you, wasn't it?\"\n\nAkemi turned quickly and opened the door.\n\n\"What were you doing out there?\"\n\nShe slammed the door behind her, and as she ran to the house the little bell rang out in a strange, erratic rhythm." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The Comb" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At five feet eight or nine, Takezō was tall for people of his time. His body was like a fine steed's: strong and supple, with long, sinewy limbs. His lips were full and crimson, and his thick black eyebrows fell short of being bushy by virtue of their fine shape. Extending well beyond the outer corners of his eyes, they served to accentuate his manliness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The villagers called him \"the child of a fat year,\" an expression used only about children whose features were larger than average." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Far from an insult, the nickname nonetheless set him apart from the other youngsters, and for this reason caused him considerable embarrassment in his early years.\n\nAlthough it was never used in reference to Matahachi, the same expression could have been applied to him as well. Somewhat shorter and stockier than Takezō, he was barrel-chested and round-faced, giving an impression of joviality if not downright buffoonery. His prominent, slightly protruding eyes were given to shifting when he talked, and most jokes made at his expense hinged on his resemblance to the frogs that croaked unceasingly through the summer nights." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Both youths were at the height of their growing years, and thus quick to recover from most ailments." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "By the time Takezō's wounds had completely healed, Matahachi could no longer stand his incarceration. He took to pacing the woodshed and complaining endlessly about being cooped up. More than once he made the mistake of saying he felt like a cricket in a damp, dark hole, leaving himself wide open to Takezō's retort that frogs and crickets are supposed to like such living arrangements. At some point, Matahachi must have begun peeping into the house, because one day he leaned over to his cellmate as if to impart some earth-shattering news." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Every evening,\" he whispered gravely, \"the widow puts powder on her face and pretties herself up!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Takezō's face became that of a girl-hating twelve-year-old detecting defection, a budding interest in \"them,\" in his closest friend. Matahachi had turned traitor, and the look was one of unmistakable disgust.\n\nMatahachi began going to the house and sitting by the hearth with Akemi and her youthful mother. After three or four days of chatting and joking with them, the convivial guest became one of the family." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He stopped going back to the woodshed even at night, and the rare times he did, he had sake on his breath and tried to entice Takezō into the house by singing the praises of the good life just a few feet away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You're crazy!\" Takezō would reply in exasperation. \"You're going to get us killed, or at least picked up. We lost, we're stragglers—can't you get that through your head? We have to be careful and lie low until things cool down.\"\n\nHe soon grew tired of trying to reason with his pleasure-loving friend, however, and started instead to cut him short with curt replies:\n\n\"I don't like sake,\" or sometimes: \"I like it out here. It's cozy.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "But Takezō was going stir-crazy too." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was bored beyond endurance, and eventually showed signs of weakening. \"Is it really safe?\" he'd ask. \"This neighborhood, I mean? No sign of patrols? You're sure?\"\n\nAfter being entombed for twenty days in the woodshed, he finally emerged like a half-starved prisoner of war." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His skin had the translucent, waxen look of death, all the more apparent as he stood beside his sun-and-sake-reddened friend." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He squinted up at the clear blue sky, and stretching his arms broadly, yawned extravagantly. When his cavernous mouth finally came closed, one noticed that his brows had been knit all the while. His face wore a troubled air.\n\n\"Matahachi,\" he said seriously, \"we're imposing on these people. They're taking a big risk having us around. I think we should start for home.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I guess you're right,\" said Matahachi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But they're not letting anyone through the barriers unchecked. The roads to Ise and Kyoto are both impossible, according to the widow. She says we should stay put until the snow comes. The girl says so too. She's convinced we should stay hidden, and you know she's out and about every day.\"\n\n\"You call sitting by the fire drinking being hidden?\"\n\n\"Sure. You know what I did? The other day some of Tokugawa's men—they're still looking for General Ukita—came snooping around. I got rid of the bastards just by going out and greeting them.\" At this point, as Takezō's eyes widened in disbelief, Matahachi let out a rolling belly laugh." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When it subsided, he went on." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You're safer out in the open than you are crouching in the woodshed listening for footsteps and going crazy. That's what I've been trying to tell you.\" Matahachi doubled up with laughter again, and Takezō shrugged.\n\n\"Maybe you're right. That could be the best way to handle things.\"\n\nHe still had his reservations, but after this conversation he moved into the house." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Okō, who obviously liked having people, more specifically men, around, made them feel completely at home." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Occasionally, however, she gave them a jolt by suggesting that one of them marry Akemi. This seemed to fluster Matahachi more than Takezō, who simply ignored the suggestion or countered it with a humorous remark.\n\nIt was the season for the succulent, fragrant matsutake, which grows at the bases of pine trees, and Takezō relaxed enough to go hunting the large mushrooms on the wooded mountain just behind the house. Akemi, basket in hand, would search from tree to tree." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Each time she picked up their scent, her innocent voice reverberated through the woods." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Takezō, over here! Lots of them!\"\n\nHunting around nearby, he invariably replied, \"There are plenty over here too.\"\n\nThrough the pine branches, the autumn sun filtered down on them in thin, slanting shafts. The carpet of pine needles in the cool shelter of the trees was a soft dusty rose." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When they tired, Akemi would challenge him, giggling." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Let's see who has the most!\"\n\n\"I do,\" he'd always reply smugly, at which point she'd begin inspecting his basket.\n\nThis day was no different from the others. \"Ha, ha! I knew it!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "she cried. Gleefully triumphant, the way only girls that young can be, with no hint of self-consciousness or affected modesty, she bent over his basket." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You've got a bunch of toadstools in your batch!\" Then she discarded the poisonous fungi one by one, not actually counting out loud, but with movements so slow and deliberate Takezō could hardly ignore them, even with his eyes closed. She flung each one as far as she could. Her task completed, she looked up, her young face beaming with self-satisfaction." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Now look how many more I have than you!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's getting late,\" Takezō muttered. \"Let's go home.\"\n\n\"You're cross because you lost, aren't you?\"\n\nShe started racing down the mountainside like a pheasant, but suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, an expression of alarm clouding her face. Approaching diagonally across the grove, halfway down the slope, was a mountain of a man; his strides were long and languorous, and his glaring eyes were trained directly on the frail young girl before him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He looked frighteningly primitive." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Everything about him smacked of the struggle to survive, and he had a distinct air of bellicosity: ferocious bushy eyebrows and a thick, curling upper lip; a heavy sword, a cloak of mail, and an animal skin wrapped around him.\n\n\"Akemi!\" he roared, as he came closer to her. He grinned broadly, showing a row of yellow, decaying teeth, but Akemi's face continued to register nothing but horror.\n\n\"Is that wonderful mama of yours home?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "he asked with labored sarcasm." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes,\" came a peep of a reply.\n\n\"Well, when you go home, I want you to tell her something. Would you do that for me?\" He spoke mock politely.\n\n\"Yes.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "His tone became harsh." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You tell her she's not putting anything over on me, trying to make money behind my back. You tell her I'll be around soon for my cut. Have you got that?\"\n\nAkemi said nothing.\n\n\"She probably thinks I don't know about it, but the guy she sold the goods to came straight to me. I bet you were going to Sekigahara too, weren't you, little one?\"\n\n\"No, of course not!\" she protested weakly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well, never mind. Just tell her what I said. If she pulls any more fast ones, I'll kick her out of the neighborhood.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He glared at the girl for a moment, then lumbered off in the direction of the marsh.\n\nTakezō turned his eyes from the departing stranger and looked at Akemi with concern. \"Who on earth was that?\"\n\nAkemi, her lips still trembling, answered wearily, \"His name is Tsujikaze. He comes from the village of Fuwa.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her voice was barely above a whisper." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He's a freebooter, isn't he?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"What's he so worked up about?\"\n\nShe stood there without answering." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I won't tell anybody,\" he assured her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Can't you even tell me?\"\n\nAkemi, obviously miserable, seemed to be searching for words. Suddenly she leaned against Takezō's chest and pleaded, \"Promise you won't tell anyone?\"\n\n\"Who am I going to tell? The Tokugawa samurai?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Remember the night you first saw me? At Sekigahara?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Of course I remember.\"\n\n\"Well, haven't you figured out yet what I was doing?\"\n\n\"No. I haven't thought about it,\" he said with a straight face.\n\n\"Well, I was stealing!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She looked at him closely, gauging his reaction." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Stealing?\"\n\n\"After a battle, I go to the battlefield and take things off the dead soldiers: swords, scabbard ornaments, incense bags—anything we can sell.\" She looked at him again for a sign of disapproval, but his face betrayed none. \"It scares me,\" she sighed, then, turning pragmatic, \"but we need the money for food and if I say I don't want to go, Mother gets furious.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The sun was still fairly high in the sky." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At Akemi's suggestion, Takezō sat down on the grass. Through the pines, they could look down on the house in the marsh.\n\nTakezō nodded to himself, as if figuring something out. A bit later he said, \"Then that story about cutting mugwort in the mountains. Making it into moxa. That was all a lie?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, no. We do that too! But Mother has such expensive tastes. We'd never be able to make a living on moxa. When my father was alive, we lived in the biggest house in the village—in all seven villages of Ibuki, as a matter of fact. We had lots of servants, and Mother always had beautiful things.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Was your father a merchant?\"\n\n\"Oh, no. He was the leader of the local freebooters.\" Akemi's eyes shone with pride. It was clear she no longer feared Takezō's reaction and was giving vent to her true feelings, her jaw set, her small hands tightening into fists as she spoke." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"This Tsujikaze Temma—the man we just met—killed him. At least, everyone says he did.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You mean your father was murdered?\"\n\nNodding silently, she began in spite of herself to weep, and Takezō felt something deep inside himself start to thaw. He hadn't felt much sympathy for the girl at first. Though smaller than most other girls of sixteen, she talked like a grown woman much of the time, and every once in a while made a quick movement that put one on guard." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But when the tears began to drop from her long eyelashes, he suddenly melted with pity." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He wanted to hug her in his arms, to protect her.\n\nAll the same, she was not a girl who'd had anything resembling a proper upbringing. That there was no nobler calling than that of her father seemed to be something she never questioned. Her mother had persuaded her that it was quite all right to strip corpses, not in order to eat, but in order to live nicely." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Many out-and-out thieves would have shrunk from the task." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "During the long years of feudal strife, it had reached the point where all the shiftless good-for-nothings in the countryside drifted into making their living this way. People had more or less come to expect it of them. When war broke out, the local military rulers even made use of their services, rewarding them generously for setting fire to enemy supplies, spreading false rumors, stealing horses from enemy camps and the like. Most often their services were bought, but even when they were not, a war offered a host of opportunities; besides foraging among corpses for valuables, they could sometimes even wangle rewards for slaying samurai whose heads they'd merely stumbled upon and picked up." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One large battle made it possible for these unscrupulous pilferers to live comfortably for six months or a year." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "During the most turbulent times, even the ordinary farmer and woodcutter had learned to profit from human misery and bloodshed. The fighting on the outskirts of their village might keep these simple souls from working, but they had ingeniously adapted to the situation and discovered how to pick over the remains of human life like vultures. Partly because of these intrusions, the professional looters maintained strict surveillance over their respective territories. It was an ironclad rule that poachers—namely, brigands who trespassed on the more powerful brigands' turf—could not go unpunished." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Those who dared infringe on the assumed rights of these thugs were liable to cruel retribution." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Akemi shivered and said, \"What'll we do? Temma's henchmen are on their way here, I just know it.\"\n\n\"Don't worry,\" Takezō reassured her. \"If they do show up, I'll greet them personally.\"\n\nWhen they came down from the mountain, twilight had descended on the marsh, and all was still." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A smoke trail from the bath fire at the house crept along the top of a row of tall rushes like an airborne undulating snake." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Okō, having finished applying her nightly makeup, was standing idly at the back door. When she saw her daughter approaching side by side with Takezō, she shouted, \"Akemi, what have you been doing out so late?\"\n\nThere was sternness in her eye and voice. The girl, who had been walking along absentmindedly, was brought up short." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She was more sensitive to her mother's moods than to anything else in the world." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her mother had both nurtured this sensitivity and learned to exploit it, to manipulate her daughter like a puppet with a mere look or gesture. Akemi quickly fled Takezō's side and, blushing noticeably, ran ahead and into the house.\n\nThe next day Akemi told her mother about Tsujikaze Temma. Okō flew into a rage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why didn't you tell me immediately?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "she screamed, rushing around like a madwoman, tearing at her hair, taking things out of drawers and closets and piling them all together in the middle of the room.\n\n\"Matahachi! Takezō! Give me a hand! We have to hide everything.\"\n\nMatahachi shifted a board pointed to by Okō and hoisted himself up above the ceiling. There wasn't much space between the ceiling and the rafters." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One could barely crawl about, but it served Okō's purpose, and most likely that of her departed husband." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Takezō, standing on a stool between mother and daughter, began handing things up to Matahachi one by one. If Takezō hadn't heard Akemi's story the day before, he would've been amazed at the variety of articles he now saw.\n\nTakezō knew the two of them had been at this for a long time, but even so, it was astonishing how much they had accumulated. There was a dagger, a spear tassel, a sleeve from a suit of armor, a helmet without a crown, a miniature, portable shrine, a Buddhist rosary, a banner staff..." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was even a lacquered saddle, beautifully carved and ornately decorated with gold, silver and mother-of-pearl inlay." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "From the opening in the ceiling Matahachi peered out, a perplexed look on his face. \"Is that everything?\"\n\n\"No, there's one thing more,\" said Okō, rushing off. In a moment she was back, bearing a four-foot sword of black oak. Takezō started passing it up to Matahachi's outstretched arms, but the weight, the curve, the perfect balance of the weapon impressed him so deeply that he could not let it go." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He turned to Okō, a sheepish look on his face." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Do you think I could have this?\" he asked, his eyes showing a new vulnerability. He glanced at his feet, as if to say he knew he'd done nothing to deserve the sword.\n\n\"Do you really want it?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "she said softly, a motherly tone in her voice." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes... Yes... I really do!\"\n\nAlthough she didn't actually say he could have it, she smiled, showing a dimple, and Takezō knew the sword was his. Matahachi jumped down from the ceiling, bursting with envy. He fingered the sword covetously, making Okō laugh." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"See how the little man pouts because he didn't get a present!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She tried to placate him by giving him a handsome leather purse beaded with agate. Matahachi didn't look very happy with it. His eyes kept shifting to the black-oak sword. His feelings were hurt and the purse did little to assuage his wounded pride." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When her husband was alive, Okō had apparently acquired the habit of taking a leisurely, steaming hot bath every evening, putting on her makeup, and then drinking a bit of sake." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In short, she spent the same amount of time on her toilette as the highest-paid geisha. It was not the sort of luxury that ordinary people could afford, but she insisted on it and had even taught Akemi to follow the same routine, although the girl found it boring and the reasons for it unfathomable. Not only did Okō like to live well; she was determined to remain young forever.\n\nThat evening, as they sat around the recessed floor hearth, Okō poured Matahachi's sake and tried to persuade Takezō to have some as well." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When he refused, she put the cup in his hand, seized him by the wrist and forced him to raise it to his lips." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Men are supposed to be able to drink,\" she chided. \"If you can't do it alone, I'll help.\"\n\nFrom time to time, Matahachi stared uneasily at her. Okō, conscious of his gaze, became even more familiar with Takezō." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Placing her hand playfully on his knee, she began humming a popular love song." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "By this time, Matahachi had had enough. Suddenly turning to Takezō, he blurted out, \"We ought to be moving on soon!\"\n\nThis had the desired effect. \"But... but... where would you go?\" Okō stammered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Back to Miyamoto. My mother's there, and so is my fiancée.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Momentarily taken by surprise, Okō swiftly regained her composure. Her eyes narrowed to slits, her smile froze, her voice turned acid. \"Well, please accept my apologies for delaying you, for taking you in and giving you a home. If there's a girl waiting for you, you'd better hurry on back. Far be it from me to keep you!\"\n\nAfter receiving the black-oak sword, Takezō was never without it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He derived an indescribable pleasure from simply holding it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Often he'd squeeze the handle tightly or run its blunt edge along his palm, just to feel the perfect proportion of the curve to the length. When he slept, he hugged it to his body. The cool touch of the wooden surface against his cheek reminded him of the floor of the dōjō where he'd practiced sword techniques in winter. This nearly perfect instrument of both art and death reawakened in him the fighting spirit he had inherited from his father." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takezō had loved his mother, but she had left his father and moved away when he was still small, leaving him alone with Munisai, a martinet who wouldn't have known how to spoil a child in the unlikely event that he had wanted to." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In his father's presence, the boy had always felt awkward and frightened, never really at ease. When he was nine years old, he'd so craved a kind word from his mother that he had run away from home and gone all the way to Harima Province, where she was living. Takezō never learned why his mother and father had separated, and at that age, an explanation might not have helped much. She had married another samurai, by whom she had one more child." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Once the little runaway had reached Harima, he wasted no time in locating his mother." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "On that occasion, she took him to a wooded area behind the local shrine, so they wouldn't be seen, and there, with tear-filled eyes, hugged him tightly and tried to explain why he had to go back to his father. Takezō never forgot the scene; every detail of it remained vividly in his mind as long as he lived.\n\nOf course, Munisai, being the samurai he was, had sent people to retrieve his son the moment he learned of his disappearance. It was obvious where the child had gone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takezō was returned to Miyamoto like a bundle of firewood, strapped on the back of an unsaddled horse." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Munisai, by way of greeting, had called him an insolent brat, and in a state of rage verging on hysteria, caned him until he could cane no more. Takezō remembered more explicitly than anything else the venom with which his father had spat out his ultimatum: \"If you go to your mother one more time, I'll disown you.\"\n\nNot long after this incident, Takezō learned that his mother had fallen ill and died. Her death had the effect of transforming him from a quiet, gloomy child into the village bully." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Even Munisai was intimidated eventually." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When he took a truncheon to the boy, the latter countered with a wooden staff. The only one who ever stood up to him was Matahachi, also the son of a samurai; the other children all did Takezō's bidding. By the time he was twelve or thirteen, he was almost as tall as an adult.\n\nOne year, a wandering swordsman named Arima Kihei put up a gold-emblazoned banner and offered to take on challengers from the village." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takezō killed him effortlessly, eliciting praise for his valor from the villagers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Their high opinion of him, however, was short-lived, since as he grew older, he became increasingly unmanageable and brutal. Many thought him sadistic, and soon, whenever he appeared on the scene, people gave him a very wide berth. His attitude toward them grew to reflect their coldness.\n\nWhen his father, as harsh and unrelenting as ever, finally died, the cruel streak in Takezō widened even more." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If it had not been for his older sister, Ogin, Takezō would probably have gotten himself into something far over his head and been driven out of the village by an angry mob." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fortunately, he loved his sister and, powerless before her tears, usually did whatever she asked.\n\nGoing off to war with Matahachi was a turning point for Takezō. It indicated that somehow he wanted to take his place in society alongside other men. The defeat at Sekigahara had abruptly curtailed such hopes, and he found himself once again plunged into the dark reality from which he thought he had escaped." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Still, he was a youth blessed with the sublime lightheartedness that flourishes only in an age of strife." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When he slept, his face became as placid as an infant's, completely untroubled by thoughts of the morrow. He had his share of dreams, asleep or awake, but he suffered few real disappointments. Having so little to begin with, he had little to lose, and although he was in a sense uprooted, he was also unfettered by shackles.\n\nBreathing deeply and steadily, holding on to his wooden sword tightly, Takezō at this moment may well have been dreaming, a faint smile on his lips as visions of his gentle sister and his peaceful hometown cascaded like a mountain waterfall before his closed, heavily lashed eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Okō, carrying a lamp, slipped into his room." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What a peaceful face,\" she marveled under her breath; she reached out and lightly touched his lips with her fingers.\n\nThen she blew out the lamp and lay down beside him. Curling up catlike, she inched closer and closer to his body, her whitened face and colorful nightgown, really too youthful for her, hidden by the darkness. The only sound that could be heard was that of dewdrops dripping onto the windowsill." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I wonder if he's still a virgin,\" she mused as she reached out to remove his wooden sword." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The instant she touched it, Takezō was on his feet and shouting, \"Thief! Thief!\"\n\nOkō was thrown over onto the lamp, which cut into her shoulder and chest. Takezō was wrenching her arm without mercy. She screamed out in pain." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Astonished, he released her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh, it's you. I thought it was a thief.\"\n\n\"Oooh,\" moaned Okō. \"That hurt!\"\n\n\"I'm sorry. I didn't know it was you.\"\n\n\"You don't know your own strength. You almost tore my arm off.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I said I was sorry. What are you doing here, anyway?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ignoring his innocent query, she quickly recovered from her arm injury and tried to coil the same limb around his neck, cooing, \"You don't have to apologize. Takezō... \" She ran the back of her hand softly against his cheek.\n\n\"Hey! What are you doing? Are you crazy?\" he shouted, shrinking away from her touch.\n\n\"Don't make so much noise, you idiot. You know how I feel about you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She went on trying to fondle him, with him swatting at her like a man attacked by a swarm of bees." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, and I'm very grateful. Neither of us will ever forget how kind you've been, taking us in and all.\"\n\n\"I don't mean that, Takezō. I'm talking about my woman's feelings—the lovely, warm feeling I have for you.\"\n\n\"Wait a minute,\" he said, jumping up. \"I'll light the lamp!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, how can you be so cruel,\" she whimpered, moving to embrace him again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't do that!\" he cried indignantly. \"Stop it—I mean it!\"\n\nSomething in his voice, something intense and resolute, frightened Okō into halting her attack.\n\nTakezō felt his bones wobbling, his teeth rattling." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Never had he encountered such a formidable adversary." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not even when he'd looked up at the horses galloping past him at Sekigahara had his heart palpitated so. He sat cringing in the corner of the room.\n\n\"Go away, please,\" he pleaded. \"Go back to your own room. If you don't, I'll call Matahachi. I'll wake the whole house up!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Okō did not budge." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She sat there in the dark, breathing heavily and staring at him with narrowed eyes. She wasn't about to be rebuffed. \"Takezō,\" she cooed again. \"Don't you understand how I feel?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He made no reply." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't you?\"\n\n\"Yes, but do you understand how I feel, being snuck up on in my sleep, frightened to death and mauled by a tiger in the dark?\"\n\nIt was her turn to be silent. A low whisper, almost a growl, emerged from a deep part of her throat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She said each syllable with a vengeance." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How can you embarrass me so?\"\n\n\"I embarrass you?\"\n\n\"Yes. This is mortifying.\"\n\nThey were both so tense they hadn't noticed the knocking at the door, which had apparently been going on for some time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Now the pounding was punctuated by shouts." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What's going on in there? Are you deaf? Open the door!\"\n\nA light appeared in the crack between the sliding rain shutters. Akemi was already awake. Then Matahachi's footsteps thudded toward them and his voice called, \"What's going on?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "From the hallway now, Akemi cried out in alarm, \"Mother! Are you in there? Please answer me!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Blindly Okō scrambled back into her own room, just adjoining Takezō's, and answered from there. The men outside appeared to have pried open the shutters and stormed into the house. When she reached the hearth room she saw six or seven pairs of broad shoulders crowded into the adjacent, dirt-floored kitchen, which was a big step down, since it was set at a lower level than the other rooms.\n\nOne of the men shouted, \"It's Tsujikaze Temma. Give us some light!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The men barged rudely into the main part of the house." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They didn't even stop to remove their sandals, a sure sign of habitual uncouthness. They began poking around everywhere—in the closets, in the drawers, under the thick straw tatami covering the floor. Temma seated himself royally by the hearth and watched as his henchmen systematically ransacked the rooms. He thoroughly enjoyed being in charge but soon seemed to tire of his own inactivity." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"This is taking too long,\" he growled, pounding his fist on the tatami." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You must have some of it here. Where is it?\"\n\n\"I don't know what you're talking about,\" replied Okō, folding her hands over her stomach forbearingly.\n\n\"Don't give me that, woman!\" he bellowed. \"Where is it? I know it's here!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I don't have a thing!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Nothing?\"\n\n\"Nothing.\"\n\n\"Well, then, maybe you don't. Maybe I have the wrong information... \" He eyed her warily, tugging and scratching at his beard. \"That's enough, men!\" he thundered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Okō had meanwhile sat down in the next room, with the sliding door wide open." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She had her back to him, but even so she looked defiant, as though telling him he could go ahead and search wherever he had a mind to.\n\n\"Okō,\" he called gruffly.\n\n\"What do you want?\" came the icy reply." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How about a little something to drink?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Would you like some water?\"\n\n\"Don't push me... \" he warned menacingly.\n\n\"The sake's in there. Drink it if you want to.\"\n\n\"Aw, Okō,\" he said, softening, almost admiring her for her coldhearted stubbornness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Don't be that way. I haven't been to visit for a long time. Is this any way to treat an old friend?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Some visit!\"\n\n\"Now, take it easy. You're partly to blame, you know. I've been hearing about what the 'moxa man's widow' has been up to from too many different people to think it's all lies. I hear you've been sending your lovely daughter out to rob corpses. Now, why would she be doing a thing like that?\"\n\n\"Show me your proof!\" she shrieked. \"Where's the proof!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If I'd been planning to dig it out, I wouldn't have given Akemi advance warning. You know the rules of the game. It's my territory, and I've got to go through the motions of searching your house. Otherwise, everybody'd get the idea they could get away with the same thing. Then where'd I be? I've gotta protect myself, you know!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She stared at him in steely silence, her head half turned toward him, chin and nose proudly raised.\n\n\"Well, I'm going to let you off this time. But just remember, I'm being especially nice to you.\"\n\n\"Nice to me? Who, you? That's a laugh!\"\n\n\"Okō,\" he coaxed, \"come here and pour me a drink.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "When she showed no sign of moving, he exploded." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You crazy bitch! Can't you see that if you were nice to me, you wouldn't have to live like this?\" He calmed down a bit, then advised her, \"Think it over for a while.\"\n\n\"I'm overcome by your kindness, sir,\" came the venomous reply.\n\n\"You don't like me?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Just answer me this: Who killed my husband? I suppose you expect me to believe that you don't know?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If you want to take revenge on whoever it was, I'll be happy to help. Any way I can.\"\n\n\"Don't play dumb!\"\n\n\"What do you mean by that?\"\n\n\"You seem to hear so much from people. Haven't they told you that it was you yourself who killed him? Haven't you heard that Tsujikaze Temma was the murderer? Everyone else knows it. I may be the widow of a freebooter, but I haven't sunk so low that I'd play around with my husband's killer.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You had to go and say it, didn't you—couldn't leave well enough alone, eh!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With a rueful laugh, he drained the sake cup in one gulp and poured another. \"You know, you really shouldn't say things like that. It's not good for your health—or your pretty daughter's!\"\n\n\"I'll bring Akemi up properly, and after she's married, I'll get back at you. Mark my word!\"\n\nTemma laughed until his shoulders, his whole body, shook like a cake of bean curd." }, { "from": "human", "value": "After he'd downed all the sake he could find, he motioned to one of his men, who was positioned in a corner of the kitchen, his lance propped vertically against his shoulder." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You there,\" he boomed, \"push aside some of the ceiling boards with the butt of your lance!\"\n\nThe man did as he was told. As he went around the room, poking at the ceiling, Okō's treasure trove began falling to the floor like hailstones.\n\n\"Just as I suspected all along,\" said Temma, getting clumsily to his feet." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You see it, men. Evidence! She's broken the rules, no question about it. Take her outside and give her her punishment!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The men converged on the hearth room, but abruptly came to a halt. Okō stood statuesquely in the doorway, as though daring them to lay a hand on her. Temma, who'd stepped down into the kitchen, called back impatiently, \"What are you waiting for? Bring her out here!\"\n\nNothing happened. Okō continued to stare the men down, and they remained as if paralyzed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Temma decided to take over." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Clicking his tongue, he made for Okō, but he, too, stopped short in front of the doorway. Standing behind Okō, not visible from the kitchen, were two fierce-looking young men. Takezō was holding the wooden sword low, poised to fracture the shins of the first comer and anyone else stupid enough to follow. On the other side was Matahachi, holding a sword high in the air, ready to bring it down on the first neck that ventured through the doorway." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Akemi was nowhere to be seen." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So that's how it is,\" groaned Temma, suddenly remembering the scene on the mountainside. \"I saw that one walking the other day with Akemi—the one with the stick. Who's the other one?\"\n\nNeither Matahachi nor Takezō said a word, making it clear that they intended to answer with their weapons. The tension mounted.\n\n\"There aren't supposed to be any men in this house,\" roared Temma." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You two... You must be from Sekigahara! You better watch your step—I'm warning you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Neither of them moved a muscle.\n\n\"There isn't anybody in these parts who doesn't know the name of Tsujikaze Temma! I'll show you what we do to stragglers!\"\n\nSilence. Temma waved his men out of the way. One of them backed straight into the hearth, in the middle of the floor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He let out a yelp and fell in, sending a shower of sparks from the burning kindling up to the ceiling; in seconds, the room filled completely with smoke." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Aarrgghh!\"\n\nAs Temma lunged into the room, Matahachi brought down his sword with both hands, but the older man was too fast for him and the blow glanced off the tip of Temma's scabbard. Okō had taken refuge in the nearest corner while Takezō waited, his black-oak sword horizontally poised. He aimed at Temma's legs and swung with all his strength." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The staff whizzed through the darkness, but there was no thud of impact." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Somehow this bull of a man had jumped up just in time and on the way down threw himself at Takezō with the force of a boulder.\n\nTakezō felt as though he were tangling with a bear. This was the strongest man he had ever fought. Temma grabbed him by the throat and landed two or three blows that made him think his skull would crack." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then Takezō got his second wind and sent Temma flying through the air." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He landed against the wall, rocking the house and everything in it. As Takezō raised the wooden sword to come down on Temma's head, the freebooter rolled over, jumped to his feet, and fled, with Takezō close on his tail.\n\nTakezō was determined to not let Temma escape. That would be dangerous." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His mind was made up; when he caught him, he was not going to do a halfway job of killing him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He would make absolutely certain that not a breath of life was left.\n\nThat was Takezō's nature; he was a creature of extremes. Even when he was a small child, there had been something primitive in his blood, something harking back to the fierce warriors of ancient Japan, something as wild as it was pure. It knew neither the light of civilization nor the tempering of knowledge." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nor did it know moderation." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was a natural trait, and the one that had always prevented his father from liking the boy. Munisai had tried, in the fashion typical of the military class, to curb his son's ferocity by punishing him severely and often, but the effect of such discipline had been to make the boy wilder, like a wild boar whose true ferocity emerges when it is deprived of food. The more the villagers despised the young roughneck, the more he lorded it over them.\n\nAs the child of nature became a man, he grew bored with swaggering about the village as though he owned it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was too easy to intimidate the timid villagers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He began to dream of bigger things. Sekigahara had given him his first lesson in what the world was really like. His youthful illusions were shattered—not that he'd really had many to begin with. It would never have occurred to him to brood over having failed in his first \"real\" venture, or to muse on the grimness of the future." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He didn't yet know the meaning of self-discipline, and he'd taken the whole bloody catastrophe in stride." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And now, fortuitously, he'd stumbled onto a really big fish—Tsujikaze Temma, the leader of the freebooters! This was the kind of adversary he had longed to lock horns with at Sekigahara.\n\n\"Coward!\" he yelled. \"Stand and fight!\"\n\nTakezō was running like lightning through the pitch-black field, shouting taunts all the while." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ten paces ahead, Temma was fleeing as if on wings." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Takezō's hair was literally on end, and the wind made a groaning noise as it swept past his ears. He was happy—happier than he'd ever been in his life. The more he ran, the closer he came to sheer animal ecstasy.\n\nHe leapt at Temma's back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Blood spurted out at the end of the wooden sword, and a bloodcurdling scream pierced the silent night." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The freebooter's hulking frame fell to the ground with a leaden thud and rolled over. The skull was smashed to bits, the eyes popped out of their sockets. After two or three more heavy blows to the body, broken ribs protruded from the skin.\n\nTakezō raised his arm, wiping rivers of sweat from his brow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Satisfied, Captain?\" he asked triumphantly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He started nonchalantly back toward the house. An observer new on the scene might have thought him out for an evening stroll, with not a care in the world. He felt free, no remorse, knowing that if the other man had won, he himself would be lying there, dead and alone.\n\nOut of the darkness came Matahachi's voice." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Takezō, is that you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yeah,\" he replied dully. \"What's up?\"\n\nMatahachi ran up to him and announced breathlessly, \"I killed one! How about you?\"\n\n\"I killed one too.\"\n\nMatahachi held up his sword, soaked in blood right down to the braiding on the hilt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Squaring his shoulders with pride, he said, \"The others ran away. These thieving bastards aren't much as fighters! No guts! Can only stand up to corpses, ha! Real even match, I'd say, ha, ha, ha.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Both of them were stained with gore and as contented as a pair of well-fed kittens. Chattering happily, they headed for the lamp visible in the distance, Takezō with his bloody stick, Matahachi with his bloody sword.\n\nA stray horse stuck his head through the window and looked around the house. His snorting woke the two sleepers." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "I'll be your writing partner today. I will set the scene, and you will continue the story with 4 sentences, channeling the voice and techniques of Eiji Yoshikawa.i'll kick things off by writing a bit, then you'll take over and write the next 4 sentences in the distinctive voice of Eiji Yoshikawa.Ive got a bit of writers block, im gonna send you something then keep it going 4 sentences at a time, also im going for a Eiji Yoshikawa sorta thing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "After a sound sleep, the events of the night before were all but forgotten." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For these two, only today and tomorrow existed.\n\nTakezō ran out behind the house and stripped to the waist. Crouching down beside the clean, cool mountain stream, he splashed water on his face, doused his hair and washed his chest and back. Looking up, he inhaled deeply several times, as though trying to drink in the sunlight and all the air in the sky." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Matahachi went sleepily into the hearth room, where he bid a cheery good morning to Okō and Akemi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why, what are you two charming ladies wearing sour pusses for?\"\n\n\"Are we?\"\n\n\"Yes, most definitely. You look like you're both in mourning. What's there to be gloomy about? We killed your husband's murderer and gave his henchmen a beating they won't soon forget.\"\n\nMatahachi's dismay was not hard to fathom." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He thought the widow and her daughter would be overjoyed at news of Temma's death." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Indeed, the night before, Akemi had clapped her hands with glee when she first heard about it. But Okō had looked uneasy from the first, and today, slouching dejectedly by the fire, she looked even worse.\n\n\"What's the matter with you?\" he asked, thinking she was the most difficult woman in the world to please." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What gratitude!\" he said to himself, taking the bitter tea that Akemi had poured for him and squatting down on his haunches." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Okō smiled wanly, envying the young, who know not the ways of the world. \"Matahachi,\" she said wearily, \"you don't seem to understand. Temma had hundreds of followers.\"\n\n\"Of course he did. Crooks like him always do. We're not afraid of the kind of people who follow the likes of him. If we could kill him, why should we be afraid of his underlings? If they try to get at us, Takezō and I will just—\"\n\n\"—will just do nothing!\" interrupted Okō." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Matahachi pulled back his shoulders and said, \"Who says so? Bring on as many of them as you like! They're nothing but a bunch of worms. Or do you think Takezō and I are cowards, that we're just going to slither away on our bellies in retreat? What do you take us for?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You're not cowards, but you are childish! Even to me. Temma has a younger brother named Tsujikaze Kōhei, and if he comes after you, the two of you rolled into one wouldn't have a chance!\"\n\nThis was not the kind of talk Matahachi especially liked to hear, but as she went on, he started thinking that maybe she had a point. Tsujikaze Kōhei apparently had a large band of followers around Yasugawa in Kiso, and not only that: he was expert in the martial arts and unusually adept at catching people off their guard. So far, no one Kōhei had publicly announced he would kill had lived out his normal life." }, { "from": "human", "value": "To Matahachi's way of thinking, it was one thing if a person attacked you in the open." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was quite another thing if he snuck up on you when you were fast asleep.\n\n\"That's a weak point with me,\" he admitted. \"I sleep like a log.\"\n\nAs he sat holding his jaw and thinking, Okō came to the conclusion that there was nothing to do but abandon the house and their present way of life and go somewhere far away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She asked Matahachi what he and Takezō would do." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'll talk it over with him,\" replied Matahachi. \"Wonder where he's gone off to?\"\n\nHe walked outside and looked around, but Takezō was nowhere in sight. After a time he shaded his eyes, looked off into the distance and spotted Takezō riding around in the foothills, bareback on the stray horse that had woken them with his neighing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He doesn't have a care in the world,\" Matahachi said to himself, gruffly envious." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cupping his hands around his mouth, he shouted, \"Hey, you! Come home! We've got to talk!\"\n\nA little while later they lay in the grass together, chewing on stalks of grass, discussing what they should do next.\n\nMatahachi said, \"Then you think we should head home?\"\n\n\"Yes, I do. We can't stay with these two women forever.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No, I guess not.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't like women.\" Takezō was sure of that at least.\n\n\"All right. Let's go, then.\"\n\nMatahachi rolled over and looked up at the sky." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Now that we've made up our minds, I want to get moving. I suddenly realized how much I miss Otsū, how much I want to see her. Look up there! There's a cloud that looks just like her profile. See! That part's just like her hair after she's washed it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Matahachi was kicking his heels into the ground and pointing to the sky.\n\nTakezō's eyes followed the retreating form of the horse he had just set free. Like many of the vagabonds who live in the fields, stray horses seemed to him to be good-natured things. When you're through with them, they ask for nothing; they just go off quietly somewhere by themselves." }, { "from": "human", "value": "From the house Akemi summoned them to dinner. They stood up." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Race you!\" cried Takezō.\n\n\"You're on!\" countered Matahachi.\n\nAkemi clapped her hands with delight as the two of them sped neck and neck through the tall grass, leaving a thick trail of dust in their wake.\n\nAfter dinner, Akemi grew pensive." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She had just learned that the two men had decided to go back to their homes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It had been fun having them in the house, and she wanted it to go on forever.\n\n\"You silly thing!\" chided her mother. \"Why are you moping so?\" Okō was applying her makeup, as meticulously as ever, and as she scolded the girl, she stared into her mirror at Takezō." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He caught her gaze and suddenly recalled the pungent fragrance of her hair the night she invaded his room." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Matahachi, who had taken the big sake jar down from a shelf, plopped down next to Takezō and began filling a small warming bottle, just as though he were master of the house. Since this was to be their last night all together, they planned to drink their fill. Okō seemed to be taking special care with her face.\n\n\"Let's not leave a drop undrunk!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "she said. \"There's no point in leaving it here for the rats.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Or the worms!\" Matahachi chimed in.\n\nThey emptied three large jars in no time. Okō leaned against Matahachi and started fondling him in a way that made Takezō turn his head in embarrassment.\n\n\"I... I... can't walk,\" mumbled Okō drunkenly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Matahachi escorted her to her pallet, her head leaning heavily on his shoulder." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Once there, she turned to Takezō and said spitefully, \"You, Takezō, you sleep over there, by yourself. You like sleeping by yourself. Isn't that right?\"\n\nWithout a murmur, he lay down where he was. He was very drunk and it was very late.\n\nBy the time he woke up, it was broad daylight." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The moment he opened his eyes, he sensed it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Something told him the house was empty. The things Okō and Akemi had piled together the day before for the trip were gone. There were no clothes, no sandals—and no Matahachi.\n\nHe called out, but there was no reply, nor did he expect one." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A vacant house has an aura all its own." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was no one in the yard, no one behind the house, no one in the woodshed. The only trace of his companions was a bright red comb lying beside the open mouth of the water pipe.\n\n\"Matahachi's a pig!\" he said to himself.\n\nSniffing the comb, he again recalled how Okō had tried to seduce him that evening not long ago." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"This,\" he thought, \"is what defeated Matahachi.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The very idea made him boil with anger.\n\n\"Fool!\" he cried out loud. \"What about Otsū? What do you plan to do about her? Hasn't she been deserted too many times already, you pig?\"\n\nHe stamped the cheap comb under his foot." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He wanted to cry in rage, not for himself, but out of pity for Otsū, whom he could picture so clearly waiting back in the village." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately two sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As he sat disconsolately in the kitchen, the stray horse looked in the doorway impassively. Finding that Takezō would not pat his nose, he wandered over to the sink and began lazily to lick some grains of rice that had stuck there." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as Eiji Yoshikawa" }, { "from": "human", "value": "In the seventeenth century, the Mimasaka highroad was something of a major thoroughfare." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It led up from Tatsuno in Harima Province, winding through a terrain proverbially described as \"one mountain after another.\" Like the stakes marking the Mimasaka-Harima boundary, it followed a seemingly endless series of ridges. Travelers emerging from Nakayama Pass looked down into the valley of the Aida River, where, often to their surprise, they saw a sizable village.\n\nActually, Miyamoto was more a scattering of hamlets than a real village." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One cluster of houses lay along the riverbanks, another huddled farther up in the hills, and a third sat amid level fields that were stony and hence hard to plow." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All in all, the number of houses was substantial for a rural settlement of the time.\n\nUntil about a year before, Lord Shimmen of Iga had maintained a castle not a mile up the river—a small castle as castles go, but one that nonetheless attracted a steady stream of artisans and tradespeople. Farther to the north were the Shikozaka silver mines, which were now past their prime but had once lured miners from far and wide.\n\nTravelers going from Tottori to Himeji, or from Tajima through the mountains to Bizen, naturally used the highroad." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Just as naturally, they stopped over in Miyamoto." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It had the exotic air of a village often visited by the natives of several provinces and boasted of not only an inn, but a clothing store as well. It also harbored a bevy of women of the night, who, throats powdered white as was the fashion, hovered before their business establishments like white bats under the eaves. This was the town Takezō and Matahachi had left to go to war.\n\nLooking down on the rooftops of Miyamoto, Otsū sat and daydreamed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She was a wisp of a girl, with fair complexion and shining black hair." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fine of bone, fragile of limb, she had an ascetic, almost ethereal air. Unlike the robust and ruddy farm girls working in the rice paddies below, Otsū's movements were delicate. She walked gracefully, with her long neck stretched and head held high. Now, perched on the edge of Shippōji temple porch, she was as poised as a porcelain statuette." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A foundling raised in this mountain temple, she had acquired a lovely aloofness rarely found in a girl of sixteen." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her isolation from other girls her age and from the workaday world had given her eyes a contemplative, serious cast which tended to put off men used to frivolous females. Matahachi, her betrothed, was just a year older, and since he'd left Miyamoto with Takezō the previous summer, she'd heard nothing. Even into the first and second months of the new year, she'd yearned for word of him, but now the fourth month was at hand. She no longer dared hope." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lazily her gaze drifted up to the clouds, and a thought slowly emerged." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Soon it will have been a whole year.\"\n\n\"Takezō's sister hasn't heard from him either. I'd be a fool to think either of them is still alive.\" Now and then she'd say this to someone, longing, almost pleading with her voice and eyes, for the other person to contradict her, to tell her not to give up. But no one heeded her sighs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "To the down-to-earth villagers, who had already gotten used to the Tokugawa troops occupying the modest Shimmen castle, there was no reason in the world to assume they'd survived." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not a single member of Lord Shimmen's family had come back from Sekigahara, but that was only natural. They were samurai; they had lost. They wouldn't want to show their faces among people who knew them. But common foot soldiers?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Wasn't it all right for them to come home?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Wouldn't they have done so long ago if they had survived?\n\n\"Why,\" wondered Otsū, as she had wondered countless times before, \"why do men run off to war?\" She had come to enjoy in a melancholy way sitting alone on the temple porch and pondering this imponderable. Lost in wistful reverie, she could have lingered there for hours." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Suddenly a male voice calling \"Otsū!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "invaded her island of peace.\n\nLooking up, Otsū saw a youngish man coming toward her from the well. He was clad in only a loincloth, which barely served its purpose, and his weathered skin glowed like the dull gold of an old Buddhist statue. It was the Zen monk who, three or four years before, had wandered in from Tajima Province." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He'd been staying at the temple ever since." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"At last it's spring,\" he was saying to himself with satisfaction. \"Spring—a blessing, but a mixed one. As soon as it gets a little warm, those insidious lice overrun the country. They're trying to take it over, just like Fujiwara no Michinaga, that wily rascal of a regent.\" After a pause, he went on with his monologue.\n\n\"I've just washed my clothes, but where on earth am I going to dry this tattered old robe? I can't hang it on the plum tree. It'd be a sacrilege, an insult to nature to cover those flowers. Here I am, a man of taste, and I can't find a place to hang this robe! Otsū! Lend me a drying pole.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Blushing at the sight of the scantily clad monk, she cried, \"Takuan! You can't just walk around half naked till your clothes dry!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Then I'll go to sleep. How's that?\"\n\n\"Oh, you're impossible!\"\n\nRaising one arm skyward and pointing the other toward the ground, he assumed the pose of the tiny Buddha statues that worshipers anointed once a year with special tea.\n\n\"Actually, I should have just waited till tomorrow. Since it's the eighth, the Buddha's birthday, I could have just stood like this and let the people bow to me. When they ladled the sweet tea over me, I could've shocked everyone by licking my lips.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Looking pious, he intoned the first words of the Buddha: \"In heaven above and earth below, only I am holy.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Otsū burst out laughing at his irreverent display. \"You do look just like him, you know!\"\n\n\"Of course I do. I am the living incarnation of Prince Siddartha.\"\n\n\"Then stand perfectly still. Don't move! I'll go and get some tea to pour over you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "At this point, a bee began a full-scale assault on the monk's head and his reincarnation pose instantly gave way to a flailing of arms." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The bee, noticing a gap in his loosely hung loincloth, darted in, and Otsū doubled up with laughter. Since the arrival of Takuan Sōhō, which was the name he was given on becoming a priest, even the reticent Otsū went few days without being amused by something he'd do or say.\n\nSuddenly, however, she stopped laughing. \"I can't waste any more time like this. I have important things to do!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "As she was slipping her small white feet into her sandals, the monk asked innocently, \"What things?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What things? Have you forgotten too? Your little pantomime just reminded me. I'm supposed to get everything ready for tomorrow. The old priest asked me to pick flowers so we can decorate the flower temple. Then I have to set everything up for the anointing ceremony. And tonight I've got to make the sweet tea.\"\n\n\"Where are you going flower-picking?\"\n\n\"Down by the river, in the lower part of the field.\"\n\n\"I'll come with you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Without any clothes on?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You'll never be able to cut enough flowers by yourself. You need help. Besides, man is born unclothed. Nakedness is his natural state.\"\n\n\"That may be, but I don't find it natural. Really, I'd rather go alone.\"\n\nHoping to elude him, Otsū hurried around to the rear of the temple. She strapped a basket on her back, picked up a sickle and slipped out the side gate, but only moments later turned to see him close behind her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takuan was now swathed in a large wrapping cloth, the kind people used to carry their bedding." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is this more to your liking?\" he called with a grin.\n\n\"Of course not. You look ridiculous. People will think you're crazy!\"\n\n\"Why?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Never mind. Just don't walk next to me!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You never seemed to mind walking beside a man before.\"\n\n\"Takuan, you're perfectly horrible!\" She ran off ahead, with him following in strides that would have befitted the Buddha descending from the Himalayas. His wrapping cloth flapped wildly in the breeze." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Don't be angry, Otsū! You know I'm teasing. Besides, your boyfriends won't like you if you pout too much.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Eight or nine hundred yards down from the temple, spring flowers were blooming profusely along both banks of the Aida River. Otsū put her basket down and, amid a sea of fluttering butterflies, began swinging her sickle in wide circles, cutting the flowers off near their roots.\n\nAfter a while, Takuan grew reflective. \"How peaceful it is here,\" he sighed, sounding both religious and childlike." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why, when we could live out our lives in a flower-filled paradise, do we all prefer to weep, suffer and get lost in a maelstrom of passion and fury, torturing ourselves in the flames of hell? I hope that you, at least, won't have to go through all that.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Otsū, rhythmically filling her basket with yellow rape blossoms, spring chrysanthemums, daisies, poppies and violets, replied, \"Takuan, instead of preaching a sermon, you'd better watch out for the bees.\"\n\nHe nodded his head, sighing in despair. \"I'm not talking about bees, Otsū. I simply want to pass on to you the Buddha's teaching on the fate of women.\"\n\n\"This woman's fate is none of your business!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, but you're wrong! It's my duty as a priest to pry into people's lives. I agree it's a meddlesome trade, but it's no more useless than the business of a merchant, clothier, carpenter or samurai. It exists because it is needed.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Otsū softened. \"I suppose you're right.\"\n\n\"It does happen, of course, that the priesthood has been on bad terms with womankind for some three thousand years. You see, Buddhism teaches that women are evil. Fiends. Messengers of hell. I've spent years immersed in the scriptures, so it's no accident that you and I fight all the time.\"\n\n\"And why, according to your scriptures, are women evil?\"\n\n\"Because they deceive men.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Don't men deceive women too?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, but... the Buddha himself was a man.\"\n\n\"Are you saying that if he'd been a woman, things would be the other way around?\"\n\n\"Of course not! How could a demon ever become a Buddha!\"\n\n\"Takuan, that doesn't make any sense.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If religious teachings were just common sense, we wouldn't need prophets to pass them on to us.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"There you go again, twisting everything to your own advantage!\"\n\n\"A typical female comment. Why attack me personally?\"\n\nShe stopped swinging her sickle again, a world-weary look on her face.\n\n\"Takuan, let's stop it. I'm not in the mood for this today.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Silence, woman!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You're the one who's been doing all the talking.\"\n\nTakuan closed his eyes as if to summon patience. \"Let me try to explain. When the Buddha was young, he sat under the bo tree, where she-demons tempted him night and day. Naturally, he didn't form a high opinion of women. But even so, being all-merciful, he took some female disciples in his old age.\"\n\n\"Because he'd grown wise or senile?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Don't be blasphemous!\" he warned sharply." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And don't forget the Bodhisattva Nagarjuna, who hated—I mean feared—women as much as the Buddha did. Even he went so far as to praise four female types: obedient sisters, loving companions, good mothers and submissive maidservants. He extolled their virtues again and again, and advised men to take such women as wives.\"\n\n\"Obedient sisters, loving companions, good mothers and submissive maidservants... I see you have it all worked out to men's advantage.\"\n\n\"Well, that's natural enough, isn't it? In ancient India, men were honored more and women less than in Japan. Anyway, I'd like you to hear the advice Nagarjuna gave women.\"\n\n\"What advice?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He said, 'Woman, marry thyself not to a man—'\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's ridiculous!\"\n\n\"Let me finish. He said, 'Woman, marry thyself to the truth.'\"\n\nOtsū looked at him blankly.\n\n\"Don't you see?\" he said, with a wave of his arm." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"'Marry thyself to the truth' means that you shouldn't become infatuated with a mere mortal but should seek the eternal.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But, Takuan,\" Otsū asked impatiently, \"what is 'the truth'?\"\n\nTakuan let both arms fall to his sides and looked at the ground. \"Come to think of it,\" he said thoughtfully, \"I'm not really sure myself.\"\n\nOtsū burst out laughing, but Takuan ignored her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"There is something I know for certain. Applied to your life, wedding honesty means that you shouldn't think of going off to the city and giving birth to weak, namby-pamby children. You should stay in the country, where you belong, and raise a fine, healthy brood instead.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Otsū raised her sickle impatiently. \"Takuan,\" she snapped, exasperated, \"did you come out here to help me pick flowers or not?\"\n\n\"Of course I did. That's why I'm here.\"\n\n\"In that case, stop preaching and grab this sickle.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"All right; if you don't really want my spiritual guidance, I won't impose it on you,\" he said, pretending hurt." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"While you're busy at work, I'll run over to Ogin's house and see if she's finished the obi I'm supposed to wear tomorrow.\"\n\n\"Ogin? Takezō's sister? I've met her, haven't I? Didn't she come with you once to the temple?\" He dropped the sickle. \"I'll come with you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"In that outfit?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He pretended not to hear. \"She'll probably offer us some tea. I'm dying of thirst.\"\n\nTotally spent from arguing with the monk, Otsū gave a weak nod and together they set out along the riverbank.\n\nOgin was a woman of twenty-five, no longer considered in the bloom of youth but by no means bad-looking." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Although suitors tended to be put off by her brother's reputation, she suffered no lack of proposals." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her poise and good breeding were immediately evident to everyone. She'd turned down all offers thus far simply on the grounds that she wanted to look after her younger brother a bit longer.\n\nThe house she lived in had been built by their father, Munisai, when he was in charge of military training for the Shimmen clan. As a reward for his excellent service, he'd been honored with the privilege of taking the Shimmen name." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Overlooking the river, the house was surrounded by a high dirt wall set on a stone foundation and was much too large for the needs of an ordinary country samurai." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Although once imposing, it had become run down. Wild irises were sprouting from the roof, and the wall of the dōjō where Munisai once taught martial arts was completely plastered with white swallow droppings.\n\nMunisai had fallen from favor, lost his status, and died a poor man, not an uncommon occurrence in an age of turmoil. Soon after his death, his servants had left, but since they were all natives of Miyamoto, many still dropped in." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When they did, they would leave fresh vegetables, clean the unused rooms, fill the water jars, sweep the path, and in countless other ways help keep the old house going." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They would also have a pleasant chat with Munisai's daughter.\n\nWhen Ogin, who was sewing in an inner room, heard the back door open, she naturally assumed it was one of these former servants. Lost in her work, she gave a jump when Otsū greeted her.\n\n\"Oh,\" she said. \"It's you. You gave me a fright. I'm just finishing your obi now. You need it for the ceremony tomorrow, don't you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, I do. Ogin, I want to thank you for going to so much trouble. I should have sewn it myself, but there was so much to do at the temple, I never would have had time.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm glad to be of help. I have more time on my hands than is good for me. If I'm not busy, I start to brood.\"\n\nOtsū, raising her head, caught sight of the household altar. On it, in a small dish, was a flickering candle. By its dim light, she saw two dark inscriptions, carefully brush-painted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They were pasted on boards, an offering of water and flowers before them:" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Departed Spirit of Shimmen Takezō, Aged 17.\n\nThe Departed Spirit of Hon'iden Matahachi, Same Age.\n\n\"Ogin,\" Otsū said with alarm. \"Have you gotten word they were killed?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well, no... But what else can we think? I've accepted it. I'm sure they met their deaths at Sekigahara.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Otsū shook her head violently. \"Don't say that! It'll bring bad luck! They aren't dead, they aren't! I know they'll show up one of these days.\"\n\nOgin looked at her sewing. \"Do you dream about Matahachi?\" she asked softly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, all the time. Why?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That proves he's dead. I dream of nothing but my brother.\"\n\n\"Ogin, don't say that!\" Rushing over to the altar, Otsū tore the inscriptions from their boards. \"I'm getting rid of these things. They'll just invite the worst.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tears streamed down her face as she blew out the candle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not satisfied with that, she seized the flowers and the water bowl and rushed through the next room to the veranda, where she flung the flowers as far as she could and poured the water out over the edge. It landed right on the head of Takuan, who was squatting on the ground below.\n\n\"Aaii! That's cold!\" he yelped, jumping up, frantically trying to dry his head with an end of the wrapping cloth. \"What're you doing? I came here for a cup of tea, not a bath!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Otsū laughed until fresh tears, tears of mirth, came." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm sorry, Takuan. I really am. I didn't see you.\"\n\nBy way of apology, she brought him the tea he'd been waiting for. When she went back inside, Ogin, who was staring fixedly toward the veranda, asked, \"Who is that?\"\n\n\"The itinerant monk who's staying at the temple. You know, the dirty one. You met him one day, with me, remember? He was lying in the sun on his stomach with his head in his hands, staring at the ground. When we asked him what he was doing, he said his lice were having a wrestling match. He said he'd trained them to entertain him.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, him!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, him. His name's Takuan Sōhō.\"\n\n\"Kind of strange.\"\n\n\"That's putting it mildly.\"\n\n\"What's that thing he's wearing? It doesn't look like a priest's robe.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It isn't. It's a wrapping cloth.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A wrapping cloth? He is eccentric. How old is he?\"\n\n\"He says he's thirty-one, but sometimes I feel like his older sister, he's so silly. One of the priests told me that despite his appearance, he's an excellent monk.\"\n\n\"I suppose that's possible. You can't always judge people by their looks. Where's he from?\"\n\n\"He was born in Tajima Province and started training for the priesthood when he was ten. Then he entered a temple of the Rinzai Zen sect about four years later. After he left, he became a follower of a scholar-priest from the Daitokuji and traveled with him to Kyoto and Nara. Later on he studied under Gudō of the Myōshinji, Ittō of Sennan and a whole string of other famous holy men. He's spent an awful lot of time studying!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Maybe that's why there's something different about him.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Otsū continued her story. \"He was made a resident priest at the Nansōji and was appointed abbot of the Daitokuji by imperial edict. I've never learned why from anyone, and he never talks about his past, but for some reason he ran away after only three days.\"\n\nOgin shook her head.\n\nOtsū went on. \"They say famous generals like Hosokawa and noblemen like Karasumaru have tried again and again to persuade him to settle down. They even offered to build him a temple and donate money for its upkeep, but he's just not interested. He says he prefers to wander about the countryside like a beggar, with only his lice for friends, I think he's probably a little crazy.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Maybe from his viewpoint we're the ones who are strange.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's exactly what he says!\"\n\n\"How long will he stay here?\"\n\n\"There's no way of knowing. He has a habit of showing up one day and disappearing the next.\"\n\nStanding up near the veranda, Takuan called, \"I can hear everything you're saying!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well, it's not as though we're saying anything bad,\" Otsū replied cheerfully." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't care if you do, if you find it amusing, but you could at least give me some sweet cakes to go with my tea.\"\n\n\"That's what I mean,\" said Otsū. \"He's like this all the time.\"\n\n\"What do you mean, I'm 'like this'?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takuan had a gleam in his eye." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What about you? You sit there looking as though you wouldn't hurt a fly, acting much more cruel and heartless than I ever would.\"\n\n\"Oh, really? And how am I being cruel and heartless?\"\n\n\"By leaving me out here helpless, with nothing but tea, while you sit around moaning about your lost lover—that's how!\"\n\nThe bells were ringing at the Daishōji and the Shippōji." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They had started in a measured beat just after dawn and still rang forth now and then long past noon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the morning a constant procession flowed to the temples: girls in red obis, wives of tradesmen wearing more subdued tones, and here and there an old woman in a dark kimono leading her grandchildren by the hand. At the Shippōji, the small main hall was crowded with worshipers, but the young men among them seemed more interested in stealing a glimpse of Otsū than in taking part in the religious ceremony.\n\n\"She's here, all right,\" whispered one.\n\n\"Prettier than ever,\" added another." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Inside the hall stood a miniature temple." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Its roof was thatched with lime leaves and its columns were entwined with wild flowers. Inside this \"flower temple,\" as it was called, stood a two-foot-high black statue of the Buddha, pointing one hand to heaven and the other to earth. The image was placed in a shallow clay basin, and the worshipers, as they passed, poured sweet tea over its head with a bamboo ladle. Takuan stood by with an extra supply of the holy balm, filling bamboo tubes for the worshipers to take home with them for good luck." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As he poured, he solicited offerings." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This temple is poor, so leave as much as you can. Especially you rich folks—I know who you are; you're wearing those fine silks and embroidered obis. You have a lot of money. You must have a lot of troubles too. If you leave a hundredweight of cash for your tea, your worries will be a hundredweight lighter.\"\n\nOn the other side of the flower temple, Otsū was seated at a black-lacquered table. Her face glowed light pink, like the flowers all around her. Wearing her new obi and writing charms on pieces of five-colored paper, she wielded her brush deftly, occasionally dipping it in a gold-lacquered ink box to her right. She wrote:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Swiftly and keenly," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "On this best of days,\n\nThe eighth of the fourth month,\n\nBring judgment to bear on those\n\nInsects that devour the crops." }, { "from": "human", "value": "From time immemorial it had been thought in these parts that hanging this practical-minded poem on the wall could protect one from not only bugs, but disease and ill fortune as well." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Otsū wrote the same verse scores of times—so often, in fact, that her wrist started to throb and her calligraphy began to reflect her fatigue.\n\nStopping to rest for a moment, she called out to Takuan: \"Stop trying to rob these people. You're taking too much.\"\n\n\"I'm talking to those who already have too much. It's become a burden. It's the essence of charity to relieve them of it,\" he replied.\n\n\"By that reasoning, common burglars are all holy men.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takuan was too busy collecting offerings to reply." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Here, here,\" he said to the jostling crowd. \"Don't push, take your time, just get in line. You'll have your chance to lighten your purses soon enough.\"\n\n\"Hey, priest!\" said a young man who'd been admonished for elbowing in.\n\n\"You mean me?\" Takuan said, pointing to his nose." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yeah. You keep telling us to wait our turn, but then you serve the women first.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I like women as much as the next man.\"\n\n\"You must be one of those lecherous monks we're always hearing stories about.\"\n\n\"That's enough, you tadpole! Do you think I don't know why you're here! You didn't come to honor the Buddha, or to take home a charm. You came to get a good look at Otsū! Come on now, own up—isn't that so? You won't get anywhere with women, you know, if you act like a miser.\"\n\nOtsū's face turned scarlet." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write four sentences sentences in the style of Eiji Yoshikawa spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Matahachi's family, the Hon'iden, were the proud members of a group of rural gentry who belonged to the samurai class but who also worked the land. The real head of the family was his mother, an incorrigibly stubborn woman named Osugi. Though nearly sixty, she led her family and tenants out to the fields daily and worked as hard as any of them. At planting time she hoed the fields and after the harvest threshed the barley by trampling it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When dusk forced her to stop working, she always found something to sling on her bent back and haul back to the house." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Often it was a load of mulberry leaves so big that her body, almost doubled over, was barely visible beneath it. In the evening, she could usually be found tending her silkworms.\n\nOn the afternoon of the flower festival, Osugi looked up from her work in the mulberry patch to see her runny-nosed grandson racing barefoot across the field.\n\n\"Where've you been, Heita?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "she asked sharply. \"At the temple?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Uh-huh.\"\n\n\"Was Otsū there?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" he answered excitedly, still out of breath. \"And she had on a very pretty obi. She was helping with the festival.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Did you bring back some sweet tea and a spell to keep the bugs away?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Unh-unh.\"\n\nThe old woman's eyes, usually hidden amid folds and wrinkles, opened wide in irritation. \"And why not?\"\n\n\"Otsū told me not to worry about them. She said I should run right home and tell you.\"\n\n\"Tell me what?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Takezō, from across the river. She said she saw him. At the festival.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Osugi's voice dropped an octave. \"Really? Did she really say that, Heita?\"\n\n\"Yes, Granny.\"\n\nHer strong body seemed to go limp all at once, and her eyes blurred with tears." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Slowly she turned, as though expecting to see her son standing behind her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Seeing no one, she spun back around. \"Heita,\" she said abruptly, \"you take over and pick these mulberry leaves.\"\n\n\"Where're you going?\"\n\n\"Home. If Takezō's back, Matahachi must be too.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'll come too.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No you won't. Don't be a nuisance, Heita.\"\n\nThe old woman stalked off, leaving the little boy as forlorn as an orphan. The farmhouse, surrounded by old, gnarled oaks, was a large one. Osugi ran past it, heading straight for the barn, where her daughter and some tenant farmers were working." }, { "from": "human", "value": "While still a fair distance away, she began calling to them somewhat hysterically." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Has Matahachi come home? Is he here yet?\"\n\nStartled, they stared at her as though she'd lost her wits. Finally one of the men said \"no,\" but the old woman seemed not to hear. It was as though in her overwrought state she refused to take no for an answer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When they continued their noncommittal gaze, she began calling them all dunces and explaining what she'd heard from Heita, how if Takezō was back, then Matahachi must be too." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then, reassuming her role as commander in chief, she sent them off in all directions to find him. She herself stayed behind in the house, and every time she sensed someone approaching, ran out to ask if they had found her son yet.\n\nAt sunset, still undaunted, she placed a candle before the memorial tablets of her husband's ancestors. She sat down, seemingly lost in prayer, as immobile as a statue." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Since everyone was still out searching, there was no evening meal at the house, and when night fell and there was still no news, Osugi finally moved." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As if in a trance, she walked slowly out of the house to the front gate. There she stood and waited, hidden in the darkness. A watery moon shone through the oak tree branches, and the mountains looming before and behind the house were veiled in a white mist. The sweetish scent of pear blossoms floated in the air." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Time, too, floated by unnoticed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then a figure could be discerned approaching, making its way along the outer edge of the pear orchard. Recognizing the silhouette as Otsū's, Osugi called out and the girl ran forward, her wet sandals clomping heavily on the earth.\n\n\"Otsū! They told me you saw Takezō. Is that true?\"\n\n\"Yes, I'm sure it was him. I spotted him in the crowd outside the temple.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You didn't see Matahachi?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No. I rushed out to ask Takezō about him, but when I called out, Takezō jumped like a scared rabbit. I caught his eye for a second and then he was gone. He's always been strange, but I can't imagine why he ran away like that.\"\n\n\"Ran away?\" asked Osugi with a puzzled air. She began to muse, and the longer she did so, the more a terrible suspicion took shape in her mind. It was becoming clear to her that the Shimmen boy, that ruffian Takezō she so hated for luring her precious Matahachi off to war, was once more up to no good." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At length she said ominously, \"That wretch! He's probably left poor Matahachi to die somewhere, then sneaked back home safe and sound. Coward, that's what he is!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Osugi began to shake in fury and her voice rose to a shriek. \"He can't hide from me!\"\n\nOtsū remained composed. \"Oh, I don't think he'd do anything like that. Even if he did have to leave Matahachi behind, surely he'd bring us word or at least some keepsake from him.\" Otsū sounded shocked by the old woman's hasty accusation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Osugi, however, was by now convinced of Takezō's perfidy." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She shook her head decisively and went on. \"Oh, no he wouldn't! Not that young demon! He hasn't got that much heart. Matahachi should never have taken up with him.\"\n\n\"Granny... \" Otsū said soothingly.\n\n\"What?\" snapped Osugi, not soothed in the least." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I think that if we go over to Ogin's house, we just might find Takezō there.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The old woman relaxed a bit. \"You might be right. She is his sister, and there really isn't anyone else in this village who'd take him in.\"\n\n\"Then let's go and see, just the two of us.\"\n\nOsugi balked. \"I don't see why I should do that. She knew her brother had dragged my son off to war, but she never once came to apologize or to pay her respects. And now that he's back, she hasn't even come to tell me. I don't see why I should go to her. It's demeaning. I'll wait here for her.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But this isn't an ordinary situation,\" replied Otsū." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Besides, the main thing at this point is to see Takezō as soon as we can. We've got to find out what happened. Oh, please, Granny, come. You won't have to do anything. I'll take care of all the formalities if you like.\"\n\nGrudgingly, Osugi allowed herself to be persuaded. She was, of course, as eager as Otsū to find out what was going on, but she'd die before begging for anything from a Shimmen.\n\nThe house was about a mile away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Like the Hon'iden family, the Shimmen were country gentry, and both houses were descended from the Akamatsu clan many generations back." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Situated across the river from one another, they had always tacitly recognized each other's right to exist, but that was the extent of their intimacy.\n\nWhen they arrived at the front gate, they found it shut, and the trees were so thick that no light could be seen from the house. Otsū started to walk around to the back entrance, but Osugi stopped mulishly in her tracks.\n\n\"I don't think it's right for the head of the Hon'iden family to enter the Shimmen residence by the back door. It's degrading.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Seeing she wasn't going to budge, Otsū proceeded to the rear entrance alone." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Presently a light appeared just inside the gate. Ogin herself had come out to greet the older woman, who, suddenly transformed from a crone plowing the fields into a great lady, addressed her hostess in lofty tones.\n\n\"Forgive me for disturbing you at this late hour, but my business simply could not wait. How good of you to come and let me in!\" Sweeping past Ogin and on into the house, she went immediately, as though she were an envoy from the gods, to the most honored spot in the room, in front of the alcove." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sitting proudly, her figure framed by both a hanging scroll and a flower arrangement, she deigned to accept Ogin's sincerest words of welcome." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The amenities concluded, Osugi went straight to the point. Her false smile disappeared as she glared at the young woman before her. \"I have been told that young demon of this house has crawled back home. Please fetch him.\"\n\nAlthough Osugi's tongue was notorious for its sharpness, this undisguised maliciousness came as something of a shock to the gentle Ogin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Whom do you mean by 'that young demon'?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "asked Ogin, with palpable restraint.\n\nChameleon-like, Osugi changed her tactics. \"A slip of the tongue, I assure you,\" she said with a laugh. \"That's what the people in the village call him; I suppose I picked it up from them. The 'young demon' is Takezō. He is hiding here, isn't he?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why, no,\" replied Ogin with genuine astonishment." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Embarrassed to hear her brother referred to in this way, she bit her lip.\n\nOtsū, taking pity on her, explained that she had spotted Takezō at the festival. Then, in an attempt to smooth over ruffled feelings, she added, \"Strange, isn't it, that he didn't come straight here?\"\n\n\"Well, he didn't,\" said Ogin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"This is the first I've heard anything about it. But if he is back, as you say, I'm sure he'll be knocking at the door any minute.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Osugi, sitting formally on the floor cushion, legs tucked neatly beneath her, folded her hands in her lap and with the expression of an outraged mother-in-law, launched into a tirade.\n\n\"What is all this? Do you expect me to believe you haven't heard from him yet? Don't you understand that I'm the mother whose son your young ne'er-do-well dragged off to war? Don't you know that Matahachi is the heir and the most important member of the Hon'iden family? It was your brother who talked my boy into going off to get himself killed. If my son is dead, it's your brother who killed him, and if he thinks he can just sneak back alone and get away with it... \"\n\nThe old woman stopped just long enough to catch her breath, then her eyes glared in fury once more. \"And what about you? Since he's obviously had the indecency to sneak back by himself, why haven't you, his older sister, sent him immediately to me? I'm disgusted with both of you, treating an old woman with such disrespect. Who do you think I am?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Gulping down another breath, she ranted on." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If your Takezō is back, then bring my Matahachi back to me. If you can't do that, the least you can do is set that young demon down right here and make him explain to my satisfaction what happened to my precious boy and where he is—right now!\"\n\n\"How can I do that? He isn't here.\"\n\n\"That's a black lie!\" she shrieked. \"You must know where he is!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But I tell you I don't!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ogin protested. Her voice quivered and her eyes filled with tears. She bent over, wishing with all her might her father were still alive.\n\nSuddenly, from the door opening onto the veranda, came a cracking noise, followed by the sound of running feet.\n\nOsugi's eyes flashed, and Otsū started to stand up, but the next sound was a hair-raising scream—as close to an animal's howl as the human voice is capable of producing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A man shouted, \"Catch him!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then came the sound of more feet, several more, running around the house, accompanied by the snapping of twigs and the rustling of bamboo.\n\n\"It's Takezō!\" cried Osugi. Jumping to her feet, she glared at the kneeling Ogin and spat out her words. \"I knew he was here,\" she said ferociously." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It was as clear to me as the nose on your face. I don't know why you've tried to hide him from me, but bear in mind, I'll never forget this.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She rushed to the door and slid it open with a bang. What she saw outside turned her already pale face even whiter. A young man wearing shin plates was lying face up on the ground, obviously dead but with fresh blood still streaming from his eyes and nose. Judging from the appearance of his shattered skull, someone had killed him with a single blow of a wooden sword." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"There's... there's a dead... a dead man out there!\" she stammered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Otsū brought the light to the veranda and stood beside Osugi, who was staring terror-stricken at the corpse. It was neither Takezō's nor Matahachi's, but that of a samurai neither of them recognized.\n\nOsugi murmured, \"Who could've done this?\" Turning swiftly to Otsū, she said, \"Let's go home before we get mixed up in something.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Otsū couldn't bring herself to leave." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The old woman had said a lot of vicious things. It would be unfair to Ogin to leave before putting salve on the wounds. If Ogin had been lying, Otsū felt she must doubtless have had good reason. Feeling she should stay behind to comfort Ogin, she told Osugi she would be along later." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Do as you please,\" snapped Osugi, as she made her departure." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ogin graciously offered her a lantern, but Osugi was proudly defiant in her refusal. \"I'll have you know that the head of the Hon'iden family is not so senile that she needs a light to walk by.\" She tucked up her kimono hems, left the house and walked resolutely into the thickening mist.\n\nNot far from the house, a man called her to a halt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had his sword drawn, and his arms and legs were protected by armor." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was obviously a professional samurai of a type not ordinarily encountered in the village.\n\n\"Didn't you just come from the Shimmen house?\" he asked.\n\n\"Yes, but—\"\n\n\"Are you a member of the Shimmen household?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Certainly not!\" Osugi snapped, waving her hand in protest." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am the head of the samurai house across the river.\"\n\n\"Does that mean you are the mother of Hon'iden Matahachi, who went with Shimmen Takezō to the Battle of Sekigahara?\"\n\n\"Well, yes, but my son didn't go because he wanted to. He was tricked into going by that young demon.\"\n\n\"Demon?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That... Takezō!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I gather this Takezō is not too well thought of in the village.\"\n\n\"Well thought of? That's a laugh. You never saw such a hoodlum! You can't imagine the trouble we've had at my house since my son took up with him.\"\n\n\"Your son seems to have died at Sekigahara. I'm—\"\n\n\"Matahachi! Dead?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well, actually, I'm not sure, but perhaps it'll be some comfort to you in your grief to know that I'll do everything possible to help you take revenge.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Osugi eyed him skeptically. \"Just who are you?\"\n\n\"I'm with the Tokugawa garrison. We came to Himeji Castle after the battle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "On orders from my lord, I've set up a barrier on the Harima Province border to screen everyone who crosses." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This Takezō, from that house back there,\" he continued, pointing, \"broke through the barrier and fled toward Miyamoto. We chased him all the way here. He's a tough one, all right. We thought that after a few days of walking he'd collapse, but we still haven't caught up with him. He can't go on forever, though. We'll get him.\"\n\nNodding as she listened, Osugi realized now why Takezō hadn't appeared at the Shippōji, and more importantly, that he probably hadn't gone home, since that was the first place the soldiers would search. At the same time, since it seemed he was traveling alone, her fury wasn't diminished in the least. But as for Matahachi being dead, she couldn't believe that either." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I know Takezō can be as strong and cunning as any wild beast, sir,\" she said coyly, \"But I shouldn't think that samurai of your caliber would have any trouble capturing him.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well, frankly, that's what I thought at first. But there aren't many of us and he's just killed one of my men.\"\n\n\"Let an old woman give you a few words of advice.\" Leaning over, she whispered something in his ear. Her words seemed to please him immensely." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He nodded his approval and enthusiastically exclaimed, \"Good idea! Splendid!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Be sure to do a thorough job of it,\" urged Osugi as she took her leave.\n\nNot long afterward, the samurai regrouped his band of fourteen or fifteen men behind Ogin's house. After he briefed them, they piled over the wall, surrounding the house and blocking all exits. Several soldiers then stormed into the house, leaving a trail of mud, and crowded into the inner room where the two young women sat commiserating and dabbing at their tear-stained faces." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Confronted by the soldiers, Otsū gasped and turned white." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ogin, however, proud to be the daughter of Munisai, was unperturbed. With calm, steely eyes, she stared indignantly at the intruders.\n\n\"Which one of you is Takezō's sister?\" asked one of them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I am,\" replied Ogin coldly, \"and I demand to know why you've entered this house without permission. I will not stand for such brutish behavior in a house occupied only by women.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She had turned to face them directly.\n\nThe man who had been chatting with Osugi a few minutes earlier pointed to Ogin. \"Arrest her!\" he ordered.\n\nBarely were the words out of his mouth before violence erupted, the house began to shake and the lights went out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Uttering a cry of terror, Otsū stumbled out into the garden, while at least ten of the soldiers fell upon Ogin and began tying her up with a rope." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Despite her heroic resistance, it was all over in a few seconds. They then pushed her down onto the floor and began kicking her as hard as they could.\n\nOtsū couldn't recall afterward which way she had come, but somehow she managed to escape. Barely conscious, she ran barefoot toward the Shippōji in the misty moonlight, relying completely on instinct." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She had grown up in peaceful surroundings and now felt as though the world were caving in." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When she reached the foot of the hill where the temple stood, someone called to her. She saw a shape sitting on a rock among the trees. It was Takuan.\n\n\"Thank heaven it's you,\" he said. \"I was really starting to worry. You never stay out this late. When I realized the time, I came out looking for you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He looked down toward the ground and asked, \"Why are you barefoot?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was still gazing at Otsū's bare white feet when she rushed headlong into his arms and began wailing.\n\n\"Oh, Takuan! It was awful! What can we do?\"\n\nIn a calm voice, he tried to soothe her. \"There, there. What was awful? There aren't many things in this world that are all that bad. Calm down and tell me what happened.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"They tied Ogin up and took her away! Matahachi didn't come back, and now poor Ogin, who's so sweet and gentle—they were all kicking her. Oh, Takuan, we've got to do something!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sobbing and trembling, she clung desperately to the young monk, her head resting on his chest.\n\nIt was noon on a still, humid spring day, and a faint mist rose from the young man's sweating face. Takezō was walking alone in the mountains, whither he knew not. He was tired almost beyond endurance, but even at the sound of a bird alighting, his eyes would dart around." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Despite the ordeal he'd been through, his mud-spattered body came alive with pent-up violence and the sheer instinct to survive." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Bastards! Beasts!\" he growled. In the absence of the real target of his fury, he swung his black-oak sword screeching through the air, slicing a thick branch off a large tree. The white sap that poured from the wound reminded him of a nursing mother's milk. He stood and stared." }, { "from": "human", "value": "With no mother to turn to, there was only loneliness." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Instead of offering him comfort, even the running streams and rolling hills of his own home seemed to mock him.\n\n\"Why are all the villagers against me?\" he wondered. \"The minute they see me, they report me to the guards on the mountain. The way they run when they catch sight of me, you'd think I was a madman.\"\n\nHe'd been hiding in the Sanumo mountains for four days." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Now, through the veil of the midday mist, he could make out the house of his father, the house where his sister lived alone." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nestled in the foothills just below him was the Shippōji, the temple's roof jutting out from the trees. He knew he could approach neither place. When he'd dared go near the temple on the Buddha's birthday, crowded though it was, he'd risked his life. When he heard his name called, he had no choice but to flee. Aside from wanting to save his own neck, he knew that being discovered there would mean trouble for Otsū." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: Cooperative storytelling\nMy role: Provide a brief opening\nYour role: Expand upon my opening with four sentences, emulating the writing style of Eiji Yoshikawa." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That night, when he'd gone stealthily to his sister's house, Matahachi's mother—as luck would have it—had been there." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For a while he'd just stood outside, trying to come up with an explanation of Matahachi's whereabouts, but as he was watching his sister through a crack in the door, the soldiers had spotted him. Again he had to flee without having the chance to speak to anyone. Since then, it appeared from his refuge in the mountains that the Tokugawa samurai were keeping a very sharp eye out for him. They patrolled every road he might take, while at the same time the villagers had banded together to form search parties and were scouring the mountains." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He wondered what Otsū must think of him and began to suspect that even she had turned against him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Since it appeared that everyone in his own village regarded him as an enemy, he was stymied.\n\nHe thought: \"It'd be too hard to tell Otsū the real reason her fiancé didn't come back. Maybe I should tell the old woman instead... That's it! If I explain everything to her, she can break it gently to Otsū. Then there won't be any reason for me to hang around here.\"\n\nHis mind made up, Takezō resumed walking, but he knew that it would not do to go near the village before dark. With a large rock he broke another into small pieces and hurled one of them at a bird in flight." }, { "from": "human", "value": "After it fell to earth, he barely paused to pluck its feathers before sinking his half-starved teeth into the warm, raw flesh." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As he was devouring the bird, he started walking again but suddenly heard a stifled cry. Whoever had caught sight of him was scrambling away frantically through the woods. Angered at the idea of being hated and feared—persecuted—for no reason, he shouted, \"Wait!\" and began running like a panther after the fleeing form." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The man was no match for Takezō and was easily overtaken." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It turned out to be one of the villagers who came to the mountains to make charcoal, and Takezō knew him by sight. Grabbing his collar, he dragged him back to a small clearing.\n\n\"Why are you running away? Don't you know me? I'm one of you, Shimmen Takezō of Miyamoto. I'm not going to eat you alive. You know, it's very rude to run away from people without even saying hello!\"\n\n\"Y-y-y-y-yes, sir!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Sit down!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Takezō released his grip on the man's arm, but the pitiful creature started to flee, forcing Takezō to kick his behind and make as if to strike him with his wooden sword. The man cringed on the ground like a simpering dog, his hands over his head.\n\n\"Don't kill me!\" he screamed pathetically.\n\n\"Just answer my questions, all right?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'll tell you anything—just don't kill me! I have a wife and family.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Nobody's going to kill you. I suppose the hills are crawling with soldiers, aren't they?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Are they keeping close watch on the Shippōji?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Are the men from the village hunting for me again today?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Silence.\n\n\"Are you one of them?\"\n\nThe man jumped to his feet, shaking his head like a deaf-mute.\n\n\"No, no, no!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's enough,\" shouted Takezō." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Taking a firm grip on the man's neck, he asked, \"What about my sister?\"\n\n\"What sister?\"\n\n\"My sister, Ogin, of the House of Shimmen. Don't play dumb. You promised to answer my questions. I don't really blame the villagers for trying to capture me, because the samurai are forcing them to do it, but I'm sure they'd never do anything to hurt her. Or would they?\"\n\nThe man replied, too innocently, \"I don't know anything about that. Nothing at all.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takezō swiftly raised his sword above his head in position to strike." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Watch it! That sounded very suspicious to me. Something has happened, hasn't it? Out with it, or I'll smash your skull!\"\n\n\"Wait! Don't! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!\"\n\nHands folded in supplication, the trembling charcoal-maker told how Ogin had been taken away a prisoner, and how an order had been circulated in the village to the effect that anyone providing Takezō with food or shelter would automatically be regarded as an accomplice. Each day, he reported, the soldiers were leading villagers into the mountains, and each family was required to furnish one young man every other day for this purpose." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The information caused Takezō to break out in goose pimples. Not fear. Rage." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "To make sure he'd heard right, he asked, \"What crime has my sister been charged with?\" His eyes were glistening with moisture.\n\n\"None of us knows anything about it. We're afraid of the district lord. We're just doing what we're told, that's all.\"\n\n\"Where have they taken my sister?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Rumor has it that they've got her in Hinagura stockade, but I don't know if that's true.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hinagura... \" repeated Takezō. His eyes turned toward the ridge that marked the provincial border. The backbone of the mountains was already spotted with the shadows of gray evening clouds.\n\nTakezō let the man go." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Watching him scramble away, grateful to have his meager life spared, made Takezō's stomach turn at the thought of the cowardice of humanity, the cowardice that forced samurai to pick on a poor helpless woman." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was glad to be alone again. He had to think.\n\nHe soon reached a decision. \"I have to rescue Ogin, and that's that. My poor sister. I'll kill them all if they've harmed her.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Having chosen his course of action, he marched down toward the village with long manly strides." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A couple of hours later, Takezō again furtively approached the Shippōji. The evening bell had just stopped tolling. It was already dark and lights could be seen coming from the temple itself, the kitchen and the priests' quarters, where people seemed to be moving about.\n\n\"If only Otsū would come out,\" he thought." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He crouched motionless under the raised passageway—it was of the sort that had a roof but no walls—which connected the priests' rooms with the main temple." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The smell of food being cooked floated in the air, conjuring up visions of rice and steaming soup. For the past few days, Takezō had had nothing in his stomach but raw bird meat and grass shoots, and his stomach now rebelled. His throat burned as he vomited up bitter gastric juices, and in his misery he gasped loudly for breath.\n\n\"What was that?\" said a voice." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Probably just a cat,\" answered Otsū, who came out carrying a dinner tray and started crossing the passageway directly over Takezō's head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He tried to call to her, but was still too nauseated to make an intelligible sound.\n\nThis, as it happened, was a stroke of luck, because just then a male voice just behind Otsū inquired, \"Which way is the bath?\"\n\nThe man was wearing a kimono borrowed from the temple, tied with a narrow sash from which dangled a small washcloth. Takezō recognized him as one of the samurai from Himeji." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Evidently he was of high rank, high enough to lodge at the temple and pass his evenings eating and drinking his fill while his subordinates and the villagers had to scour mountainsides day and night searching for the fugitive." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The bath?\" said Otsū. \"Come, I'll show you.\"\n\nShe set her tray down and began leading him along the passageway. Suddenly the samurai rushed forward and hugged her from behind." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How about joining me in the bath?\" he suggested lecherously." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Stop that! Let go of me!\" cried Otsū, but the man, turning her around, held her face in both big hands and brushed his lips against her cheek.\n\n\"What's wrong!\" he cajoled. \"Don't you like men!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Stop it! You shouldn't do that!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "protested the helpless Otsū. The soldier then clapped his hand over her mouth.\n\nTakezō, oblivious of the danger, leapt up onto the passageway like a cat and thrust his fist at the man's head from behind. The blow was a hard one." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Momentarily defenseless, the samurai fell backward, still clinging to Otsū." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As she tried to break away from his hold, she let out a shrill scream. The fallen man began shouting, \"It's him! It's Takezō! He's here! Come and take him!\"\n\nThe rumble of feet and the roar of voices thundered from inside the temple. The temple bell began signaling the alarm that Takezō had been discovered, and from the woods throngs of men began converging on the temple grounds." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But Takezō was already gone, and before long search parties were once again sent out to scour the hills of Sanumo." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Takezō himself hardly knew how he'd slipped through the swiftly tightening net, but by the time the chase was in full swing he found himself standing far away, at the entrance to the large dirt-floored kitchen of the Hon'iden house.\n\nLooking into the dimly lit interior, he called out, \"Granny!\"\n\n\"Who's there!\" came the shrill reply. Osugi ambled out from a back room." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lit from below by the paper lantern in her hand, her gnarled face paled at the sight of her visitor." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You!\" she cried.\n\n\"I have something important to tell you,\" Takezō said hurriedly. \"Matahachi isn't dead, he's still very much alive and healthy. He's staying with a woman. In another province. That's all I can tell you, because that's all I know. Will you please somehow break the news to Otsū for me? I couldn't do it myself.\"\n\nImmensely relieved to have unburdened himself of the message, he started to leave, but the old woman called him back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Where do you plan to go from here?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I have to break into the stockade at Hinagura and rescue Ogin,\" he replied sadly. \"After that, I'll go away somewhere. I just wanted to tell you and your family, as well as Otsū, that I didn't let Matahachi die. Other than that, I have no reason to be here.\"\n\n\"I see.\" Osugi shifted the lantern from one hand to the other, playing for time. Then she beckoned to him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'll bet you're hungry, aren't you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I haven't had a decent meal for days.\"\n\n\"You poor boy! Wait! I'm in the midst of cooking right now, and I can give you a nice warm dinner in no time. As a going-away present. And wouldn't you like to take a bath while I'm getting it ready?\"\n\nTakezō was speechless.\n\n\"Don't look so shocked. Takezō, your family and ours have been together since the days of the Akamatsu clan. I don't think you should leave here at all, but I certainly won't let you go without giving you a good hearty meal!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Again Takezō was unable to reply." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He raised his arm and wiped his eyes. No one had been this kind to him for a long, long time. Having come to regard everybody with suspicion and distrust, he was suddenly remembering what it was like to be treated as a human being.\n\n\"Hurry on round to the bathhouse, now,\" urged Osugi in grandmotherly tones." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's too dangerous to stand here—someone might see you. I'll bring you a washcloth, and while you're washing, I'll get out Matahachi's kimono and some underwear for you. Now take your time and have a good soak.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She handed him the lantern and disappeared into the back of the house. Almost immediately, her daughter-in-law left the house, ran through the garden and off into the night.\n\nFrom the bathhouse, where the lantern swung back and forth, came the sound of splashing water.\n\n\"How is it?\" Osugi called jovially. \"Hot enough?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's just right! I feel like a new man,\" Takezō called back." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Take your time and get good and warm. The rice isn't ready yet.\"\n\n\"Thanks. If I'd known it'd be like this, I'd have come sooner. I was sure you'd have it in for me!\" He spoke two or three more times, but his voice was drowned out by the sound of the water and Osugi didn't answer.\n\nBefore long, the daughter-in-law reappeared at the gate, all out of breath." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She was followed by a band of samurai and vigilantes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Osugi came out of the house and addressed them in a whisper.\n\n\"Ah, you got him to take a bath. Very clever,\" said one of the men admiringly. \"Yes, that's fine! We've got him for sure this time!\"\n\nSplitting into two groups, the men crouched and moved cautiously, like so many toads, toward the fire blazing brightly under the bath." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Something—something indefinable—pricked Takezō's instincts, and he peeped out through a crack in the door." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His hair stood on end.\n\n\"I've been trapped!\" he screamed.\n\nHe was stark naked, the bathhouse was tiny, and there was no time to think. Beyond the door he'd spotted what seemed like hordes of men armed with staffs, lances and truncheons." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Still, he wasn't really afraid." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Any fear he might have had was blotted out by his anger toward Osugi.\n\n\"All right, you bastards, watch this,\" he growled.\n\nHe was well beyond caring how many of them there were. In this situation, as in others, the only thing he knew how to do was to attack rather than be attacked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As his would-be captors made way for each other outside, he abruptly kicked open the door and jumped out and into the air, bellowing a fearsome war whoop." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Still naked, his wet hair flying in every direction, he seized and wrenched loose the shaft of the first lance thrust at him, sending its owner flying into the bushes. Taking a firm grip on the weapon, he thrashed about like a whirling dervish, swinging with complete abandon and hitting anyone who came near. He'd learned at Sekigahara that this method was startlingly effective when a man was outnumbered, and that the shaft of a lance could often be used more tellingly than the blade.\n\nThe attackers, realizing too late what a blunder they'd made by not sending three or four men charging into the bathhouse in the first place, shouted encouragement to one another." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was clear, however, they'd been out-maneuvered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "About the tenth time Takezō's weapon came in contact with the ground, it broke. He then seized a large rock and threw it at the men, who were already showing signs of backing down.\n\n\"Look, he's run inside the house!\" shouted one of them, as simultaneously Osugi and her daughter-in-law scrambled out into the back garden." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Making a tremendous clatter as he stormed through the house, Takezō was yelling, \"Where are my clothes? Give me back my clothes!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There were work clothes lying about, not to speak of an elaborate kimono chest, but Takezō paid them no attention. He was straining his eyes in the dim light to find his own ragged garment. Finally spotting it in the corner of the kitchen, he seized it in one hand and finding a foothold atop a large earthen-ware oven, crawled out of a small high window. While he made his way onto the roof, his pursuers, now totally confused, cursed and made excuses to each other for their failure to ensnare him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Standing in the middle of the roof, Takezō unhurriedly donned his kimono." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately two sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With his teeth, he tore off a strip of cloth from his sash, and gathering his damp hair behind, tied it near the roots so tightly that his eyebrows and the corners of his eyes were stretched.\n\nThe spring sky was full of stars." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as Eiji Yoshikawa" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The daily search in the mountains continued, and farm work languished; the villagers could neither cultivate their fields nor tend to their silkworms." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Large signs posted in front of the village headman's house and at every crossroads announced a substantial reward for anyone who captured or killed Takezō, as well as suitable recompense for any information leading to his arrest. The notices bore the authoritative signature of Ikeda Terumasa, lord of Himeji Castle.\n\nAt the Hon'iden residence, panic prevailed. Osugi and her family, trembling in mortal dread lest Takezō come to take his revenge, bolted the main gate and barricaded all entrances." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The searchers, under the direction of troops from Himeji, laid fresh plans to trap the fugitive." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Thus far all their efforts had proved fruitless.\n\n\"He's killed another one!\" a villager shouted.\n\n\"Where? Who was it this time?\"\n\n\"Some samurai. No one's identified him yet.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The corpse had been discovered near a path on the village outskirts, its head in a clump of tall weeds and its legs raised skyward in a bafflingly contorted position." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Frightened but incurably nosy, villagers milled about, babbling among themselves. The skull had been smashed, evidently with one of the wooden reward signs, which now lay across the body soaked in blood. Those gawking at the spectacle could not avoid reading the list of promised rewards. Some laughed grimly at the blatant irony." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Otsō's face was drawn and pale as she emerged from the crowd." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Wishing she hadn't looked, she hurried toward the temple, trying to somehow blot out the image of the dead man's face lingering before her eyes. At the foot of the hill, she ran into the captain who was lodging at the temple and five or six of his men. They had heard of the gruesome killing and were on their way to investigate. Upon seeing the girl, the captain grinned." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Where've you been, Otsū?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "he said with ingratiating familiarity.\n\n\"Shopping,\" she replied curtly. Without bestowing so much as a glance upon him, she hurried up the temple's stone steps. She hadn't liked the man to begin with—he had a stringy mustache which she took particular exception to—but since the night he'd tried to force himself on her, the sight of him filled her with loathing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takuan was sitting in front of the main hall, playing with a stray dog." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She was hurrying by at some distance to avoid the mangy animal when the monk looked up and called, \"Otsū, there's a letter for you.\"\n\n\"For me?\" she asked incredulously.\n\n\"Yes, you were out when the runner came, so he left it with me.\" Taking the small scroll out of his kimono sleeve and handing it to her, he said, \"You don't look too good. Is something wrong?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I feel sick. I saw a dead man lying in the grass. His eyes were still open, and there was blood—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You shouldn't look at things like that. But I guess the way things are now, you'd have to walk around with your eyes closed. I'm always tripping over corpses these days. Ha! And I'd heard this village was a little paradise!\"\n\n\"But why is Takezō killing all these people?\"\n\n\"To keep them from killing him, of course. They don't have any real reason to kill him, so why should he let them?\"\n\n\"Takuan, I'm scared!\" she said pleadingly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What would we do if he came here?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dark cumulus clouds were drawing their cloak over the mountains. She took her mysterious letter and went to hide in the loom shed. On the loom was an unfinished strip of cloth for a man's kimono, part of the garment which, since the year before, she'd been spending every spare moment spinning silk yarn for. It was for Matahachi, and she was excited by the prospect of sewing all the pieces together into a full kimono." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She had woven every strand meticulously, as if the weaving itself were drawing him closer to her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She wanted the garment to last forever.\n\nSeating herself before the loom, she gazed intently at the letter. \"Whoever could have sent it?\" she whispered to herself, sure that the letter must have really been meant for someone else." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She read the address over and over, searching for a flaw." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The letter had obviously made a long journey to reach her. The torn and crumpled wrapper was smudged all over with fingerprints and raindrops. She broke the seal, whereupon not one but two letters fell into her lap. The first was in an unfamiliar woman's hand, a somewhat older woman, she quickly guessed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I am writing merely to confirm what is written in the other letter, and will therefore not go into details." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I am marrying Matahachi and adopting him into my family. However, he still seems concerned about you. I think it would be a mistake to let matters stand as they are. Matahachi is therefore sending you an explanation, the truth of which I hereby witness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Please forget Matahachi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Respectfully, Okō\n\nThe other letter was in Matahachi's scrawl and explained at tiresome length all the reasons why it was impossible for him to return home. The gist of it, of course, was that Otsū should forget about her betrothal to him and find another husband. Matahachi added that since it was \"difficult\" for him to write directly to his mother of these matters, he would appreciate her help." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If Otsū happened to see the old woman, she was to tell her Matahachi was alive and well and living in another province." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Otsū felt the marrow of her spine turn to ice. She sat stricken, too shocked to cry or even to blink. The nails of the fingers holding the letter turned the same color as the skin of the dead man she had seen less than an hour before.\n\nThe hours passed. Everyone in the kitchen began wondering where she'd gone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The captain in charge of the search was content to let his exhausted men sleep in the woods, but when he himself returned to the temple at dusk, he demanded comforts befitting his status." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The bath had to be heated just so; fresh fish from the river had to be prepared to his specifications and someone had to fetch sake of the highest quality from one of the village homes. A great deal of work was entailed in keeping the man happy, and much of it naturally fell to Otsū. Since she was nowhere to be found, the captain's dinner was late.\n\nTakuan went out to search for her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had no concern whatsoever for the captain, but he was beginning to worry about Otsū herself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It just wasn't like her to go off without a word. Calling her name, the monk crossed the temple grounds, passing by the loom shed several times. Since the door was shut, he didn't bother to look inside.\n\nSeveral times the temple priest stepped out onto the raised passageway and shouted to Takuan, \"Have you found her yet? She's got to be around here somewhere.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "As time went on, he grew frantic, calling out, \"Hurry up and find her! Our guest says he can't drink his sake without her here to pour it for him.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The temple's manservant was dispatched down the hill to search for her, lantern in hand. At almost the same moment he took off, Takuan finally opened the loom shed door.\n\nWhat he saw inside gave him a start. Otsū was drooped over the loom in a state of obvious desolation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Not wanting to pry, he remained silent, staring at the two twisted and torn letters on the ground." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They had been trampled on like a couple of straw effigies.\n\nTakuan picked them up. \"Aren't these what the runner brought today?\" he asked gently. \"Why don't you put them away somewhere?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Otsū shook her head feebly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Everyone's half crazy with worry about you. I've been looking all over. Come, Otsū, let's go back. I know you don't want to, but you really do have work to do. You've got to serve the captain, for one thing. That old priest is nearly beside himself.\"\n\n\"My... my head hurts,\" she whispered. \"Takuan, couldn't they let me off tonight—just this once?\"\n\nTakuan sighed. \"Otsū, I personally think you shouldn't have to serve the captain's sake tonight or any night. The priest, however, is of a different mind. He is a man of this world. He's not the type who can gain the daimyō's respect or support for the temple through high-mindedness alone. He believes he has to wine and dine the captain—keep him happy every minute.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He patted Otsū on the back." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And after all, he did take you in and raise you, so you do owe him something. You won't have to stay long.\"\n\nShe consented reluctantly. While Takuan was helping her up, she raised her tear-stained face to him and said, \"I'll go, but only if you promise to stay with me.\"\n\n\"I have no objection to that, but old Scraggly Beard doesn't like me, and every time I see that silly mustache I have an irresistible urge to tell him how ridiculous it looks. It's childish, I know, but some people just affect me that way.\"\n\n\"But I don't want to go alone!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The priest is there, isn't he?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, but he always leaves when I arrive.\"\n\n\"Hmm. That's not so good. All right, I'll go with you. Now stop thinking about it, and go wash your face.\"\n\nWhen Otsū finally appeared at the priest's quarters, the captain, already slouching drunkenly, immediately perked up. Straightening his cap, which had been listing noticeably, he became quite jovial and called for refill after refill." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Soon his face glowed scarlet and the corners of his bulging eyes began to sag." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was not enjoying himself to the full, however, and the reason was a singularly unwanted presence in the room. On the other side of the lamp sat Takuan, bent over like a blind beggar, absorbed in reading the book open on his knees.\n\nMistaking the monk for an acolyte, the captain pointed at him, bellowing, \"Hey, you there!\"\n\nTakuan continued reading until Otsū gave him a nudge." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He raised his eyes absently, and looking all around, said, \"You mean me?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The captain spoke gruffly. \"Yes, you! I have no business with you. Leave!\"\n\n\"Oh, I don't mind staying,\" Takuan replied innocently.\n\n\"Oh, you don't, do you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No, not at all,\" Takuan said, returning to his book." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well, I mind,\" the captain blustered. \"It spoils the taste of good sake to have someone around reading.\"\n\n\"Oh, I'm sorry,\" responded Takuan with mock solicitude. \"How rude of me. I'll just close the book.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The very sight annoys me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"All right, then. I'll have Otsū put it away.\"\n\n\"Not the book, you idiot! I'm talking about you! You spoil the setting.\"\n\nTakuan's expression became grave. \"Now, that is a problem, isn't it? It's not as though I were the sacred Wu-k'ung and could change myself into a puff of smoke, or become an insect and perch on your tray.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The captain's red neck swelled and his eyes bulged." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He looked like a blow-fish. \"Get out, you fool! Out of my sight!\"\n\n\"Very well,\" said Takuan quietly, bowing. Taking Otsū's hand, he addressed her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The guest says he prefers to be alone. To love solitude is the mark of the sage. We mustn't bother him further. Come.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why... why, you... you... \"\n\n\"Is something wrong?\"\n\n\"Who said anything about taking Otsū with you, you ugly moron!\"\n\nTakuan folded his arms." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I've observed over the years that not many priests or monks are particularly handsome. Not many samurai either, for that matter. Take you, for example.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The captain's eyes nearly leapt from their sockets. \"What!\"\n\n\"Have you considered your mustache? I mean, have you ever really taken the time to look at it, to evaluate it objectively?\"\n\n\"You crazy bastard,\" shouted the captain as he reached for his sword, which was leaning against the wall. \"Watch yourself!\"\n\nAs he got to his feet, Takuan, keeping one eye on him, asked placidly, \"Hmm. How do I go about watching myself?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The captain, who was by now screaming, had his sheathed sword in hand." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I've taken all I can take. Now you're going to get what's coming to you!\"\n\nTakuan burst out laughing. \"Does that mean you plan to cut off my head? If so, forget it. It would be a terrible bore.\"\n\n\"Huh?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"A bore. I can't think of anything more boring than cutting off a monk's head. It would just fall to the floor and lie there laughing up at you. Not a very grand accomplishment, and what good could it possibly do you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well,\" growled the captain, \"let's just say I'd have the satisfaction of shutting you up. It'd be pretty hard for you to keep up your insolent chatter!\" Filled with the courage such people derive from having a weapon in hand, he laughed a mean belly laugh and moved forward threateningly.\n\n\"But, captain!\"\n\nTakuan's offhand manner had so enraged him that the hand in which he held his scabbard was shaking violently." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Otsū slipped between the two men in an effort to protect Takuan." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What are you saying, Takuan?\" she said, hoping to lighten the mood and slow the action. \"People don't talk like that to warriors. Now, just say you're sorry,\" she entreated. \"Come on, apologize to the captain.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takuan, however, was anything but finished." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Get out of the way, Otsū. I'm all right. Do you really think I'd let myself be beheaded by a dolt like this, who though commanding scores of able, armed men has wasted twenty days trying to locate one exhausted, half-starved fugitive? If he hasn't enough sense to find Takezō, it would indeed be amazing if he could outwit me!\"\n\n\"Don't move!\" commanded the captain. His bloated face turned purple as he moved to draw his sword. \"Stand aside, Otsū! I'm going to cut this big-mouthed acolyte in two!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Otsū fell at the captain's feet and pleaded, \"You have every reason to be angry, but please be patient. He's not quite right in the head. He talks to everybody this way. He doesn't mean anything by it, really!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tears began gushing from her eyes.\n\n\"What are you saying, Otsū?\" objected Takuan. \"There's nothing wrong with my mind, and I'm not joking. I'm only telling the truth, which no one seems to like to hear. He's a dolt, so I called him a dolt. You want me to lie?\"\n\n\"You'd better not say that again,\" thundered the samurai." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'll say it as often as I wish. By the way, I don't suppose it makes any difference to you soldiers how much time you squander looking for Takezō, but it's a terrible burden on the farmers. Do you realize what you're doing to them? They won't be able to eat soon if you keep this up. It probably hasn't even occurred to you that they have to neglect their field work completely to go out on your disorganized wild-goose chases. And with no wages, I might add. It's a disgrace!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hold your tongue, traitor. That's outright slander against the Tokugawa government!\"\n\n\"It isn't the Tokugawa government I'm criticizing; it's bureaucratic officials like you who stand between the daimyō and the common people, and who might as well be stealing their pay for all they do to earn it. For one thing, exactly why are you lounging around here tonight? What gives you the right to relax in your nice, comfortable kimono all snug and warm, take leisurely baths and have your bedtime sake poured for you by a pretty young girl? You call that serving your lord?\"\n\nThe captain was speechless.\n\n\"Is it not the duty of a samurai to serve his lord faithfully and tirelessly? Isn't it your job to exercise benevolence toward the people who slave on the daimyō's behalf? Look at yourself! You just close your eyes to the fact that you're keeping the farmers from the work which gives them daily sustenance. You don't even have any consideration for your own men. You're supposed to be on an official mission, so what do you do? Every chance you get, you literally stuff yourself with other people's hard-earned food and drink and use your position to get the most comfortable quarters available. I should say you are a classic example of corruption, cloaking yourself with the authority of your superior to do nothing more than dissipate the energies of the common people for your own selfish ends.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The captain was by now too stunned to close his gaping mouth. Takuan pressed on." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Now just try cutting off my head and sending it to Lord Ikeda Terumasa! That, I can tell you, would surprise him. He'd probably say, 'Why, Takuan! Has only your head come to visit me today?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Where in the world is the rest of you?'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No doubt you'd be interested to learn that Lord Terumasa and I used to partake of the tea ceremony together at the Myōshinji. We've also had several long and pleasant chats at the Daitokuji in Kyoto.\"\n\nScraggly Beard's virulence drained from him in an instant. His drunkenness had worn off a bit too, though he still appeared incapable of judging for himself whether Takuan was telling the truth or not. He seemed paralyzed, not knowing how to react." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"First, you'd better sit down,\" said the monk. \"If you think I'm lying, I'll be happy to go with you to the castle and appear before the lord himself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As a gift, I could take him some of the delicious buckwheat flour they make here. He's particularly fond of it.\n\n\"However, there's nothing more tedious, nothing I like less, than calling on a daimyō. Moreover, if the subject of your activities in Miyamoto should happen to come up while we were chatting over tea, I couldn't very well lie." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It would probably end up with your having to commit suicide for your incompetence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I told you from the beginning to stop threatening me, but you warriors are all the same. You never think about consequences. And that's your greatest failing.\n\n\"Now put your sword down and I'll tell you something else.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Deflated, the captain complied." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Of course, you are familiar with General Sun-tzu's Art of War—you know, the classic Chinese work on military strategy? I assume any warrior in your position would be intimately acquainted with such an important book. Anyway, the reason I mention it is that I'd like to give you a lesson illustrating one of the book's main principles. I'd like to show you how to capture Takezō without losing any more of your own men or causing the villagers any more trouble than you have already. Now, this has to do with your official work, so you really should listen carefully.\" He turned to the girl. \"Otsū, pour the captain another cup of sake, will you?\"\n\nThe captain was a man in his forties, ten years or so older than Takuan, but it was clear from their faces at this moment that strength of character is not a matter of age." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takuan's tongue-lashing had humbled the older man and his bluster had evaporated." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Meekly he said, \"No, I don't want any more sake. I hope you'll forgive me. I had no idea you were a friend of Lord Terumasa. I'm afraid I've been very rude.\" He was abject to the point of being comical, but Takuan refrained from rubbing it in.\n\n\"Let's just forget about that. What I want to discuss is how to capture Takezō. That is what you have to do to carry out your orders and maintain your honor as a samurai, isn't it?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Of course, I also know you don't care how long it takes to catch the man. After all, the longer it takes, the longer you can stay on at the temple, eating, drinking and ogling Otsū.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Please, don't bring that up anymore. Particularly before his lordship.\" The soldier looked like a child ready to burst into tears.\n\n\"I'm prepared to consider the whole incident a secret. But if this running around in the mountains all day long keeps up, the farmers will be in serious trouble. Not only the farmers but all the rest of the people as well. Everyone in this village is too upset and frightened to settle down and get on with their normal work. Now, as I see it, your trouble is that you have not employed the proper strategy. Actually, I don't think you've employed any strategy at all. I take it that you do not know The Art of War?\"\n\n\"I'm ashamed to admit it, but I don't.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well, you should be ashamed! And you shouldn't be surprised when I call you a dolt. You may be an official, but you are sadly uneducated and totally ineffectual. There's no use in my beating you over the head with the obvious, however. I'll simply make you a proposition. I personally offer to capture Takezō for you in three days.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You capture him?\"\n\n\"Do you think I'm joking?\"\n\n\"No, but... \"\n\n\"But what?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But counting the reinforcements from Himeji and all the farmers and foot soldiers, we've had more than two hundred men combing the mountains for nearly three weeks.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm well aware of that fact.\"\n\n\"And since it's spring, Takezō has the advantage. There's plenty to eat up there this time of year.\"\n\n\"Are you planning on waiting till it snows, then? Another eight months or so?\"\n\n\"No, uh, I don't think we can afford to do that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You certainly can't. That's precisely why I'm offering to catch him for you. I don't need any help; I can do it alone. On second thoughts, though, maybe I should take Otsū along with me. Yes, the two of us would be enough.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You aren't serious, are you?\"\n\n\"Would you please be quiet! Are you implying that Takuan Sōhō spends all his time making up jokes?\"\n\n\"Sorry.\"\n\n\"As I said, you don't know The Art of War, and as I see it, that is the most important reason for your abominable failure. I, on the other hand, may be a simple priest, but I believe I understand Sun-tzu. There's only one stipulation, and if you won't agree to it, I'll just have to sit back and watch you bumble about until the snow falls, and maybe your head as well.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What's the condition?\" said the captain warily." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If I bring back the fugitive, you'll let me decide his fate.\"\n\n\"What do you mean by that?\" The captain pulled at his mustache, a string of thoughts racing through his mind. How could he be sure that this strange monk wasn't deceiving him completely?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Although he spoke eloquently, it could be that he was completely insane." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Could he be a friend of Takezō's, an accomplice? Might he know where the man was hiding? Even if he didn't, which was likely at this stage, there was no harm in leading him on, just to see whether he'd go through with this crazy scheme. He'd probably worm out of it at the last minute anyway." }, { "from": "human", "value": "With this in mind, the captain nodded his assent." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"All right, then. If you catch him, you can decide what to do with him. Now, what happens if you don't find him in three days?\"\n\n\"I'll hang myself from the big cryptomeria tree in the garden.\"\n\nEarly the next day, the temple's manservant, looking extremely worried, came rushing into the kitchen, out of breath and half shouting: \"Has Takuan lost his mind? I heard he promised to find Takezō himself!\"\n\nEyes rounded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Not really!\"\n\n\"Just how does he plan to do it?\"\n\nWisecracks and mocking laughter followed, but there was also an undercurrent of worried whispering.\n\nWhen word reached the temple priest, he nodded sagely and remarked that the human mouth is the gateway to catastrophe." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But the person most genuinely disturbed was Otsū." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Only the day before, the farewell note from Matahachi had hurt her more than news of his death could ever have. She had trusted her fiancé and had even been willing to suffer the formidable Osugi as a slave-driving mother-in-law for his sake. Who was there to turn to now?\n\nFor Otsū, plunged into darkness and despair, Takuan was life's one bright spot, her last ray of hope." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The day before, weeping alone in the loom shed, she'd seized a sharp knife and cut to shreds the kimono cloth into which she'd literally woven her soul." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She'd also considered plunging the fine blade into her own throat. Though she was sorely tempted to do so, Takuan's appearance had finally driven that thought from her mind. After soothing her and getting her to agree to pour the captain's sake, he'd patted her on the back. She could still feel the warmth of his strong hand as he led her out of the loom shed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And now he'd made this insane agreement." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Otsū wasn't nearly as concerned over her own safety as she was over the possibility that her only friend in the world might be lost to her because of his silly proposal. She felt lost and utterly depressed. Her common sense alone told her it was ridiculous to think that she and Takuan could locate Takezō in so short a time.\n\nTakuan even had the audacity to exchange vows with Scraggly Beard before the shrine of Hachiman, the god of war." }, { "from": "human", "value": "After he returned, she took him severely to task for his rashness, but he insisted there was nothing to worry about." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His intention, he said, was to relieve the village of its burden, to make travel on the highways safe once more and to prevent any further waste of human life. In view of the number of lives that could be saved by quickly apprehending Takezō, his own seemed unimportant, she must see that. He also told her to get as much rest as she could before the evening of the following day, when they would depart. She was to come along without complaint, trusting in his judgment completely." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Otsū was too distraught to resist, and the alternative of staying behind and worrying was even worse than the thought of going." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Late the following afternoon, Takuan was still napping with the cat in the corner of the main temple building. Otsū's face was hollow. The priest, the manservant, the acolyte—everybody had tried to persuade her not to go. \"Go and hide\" was their practical advice, but Otsū, for reasons she herself could hardly fathom, didn't feel the least inclined to do so." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The sun was sinking fast, and the dense shadows of evening had begun to envelop the crevices in the mountain range that marked the course of the Aida River." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The cat sprang down from the temple porch, and presently Takuan himself stepped onto the veranda. Like the cat before him, he stretched his limbs, with a great yawn.\n\n\"Otsū,\" he called, \"we'd better get going.\"\n\n\"I've already packed everything—straw sandals, walking sticks, leggings, medicine, paulownia-oil paper.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You forgot something.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What? A weapon? Should we take a sword or a lance or something?\"\n\n\"Certainly not! I want to take along a supply of food.\"\n\n\"Oh, you mean some box lunches?\"\n\n\"No, good food. I want some rice, some salty bean paste and—oh, yes—a little sake. Anything tasty will do. I also need a pot. Go to the kitchen and make up a big bundle. And get a pole to carry it with.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The nearby mountains were now blacker than the best black lacquer, those in the distance paler than mica." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was late spring, and the breeze was perfumed and warm. Striped bamboo and wisteria vines entrapped the mist, and the farther Takuan and Otsū went from the village, the more the mountains, where every leaf shone faintly in the dim light, seemed to have been bathed by an evening shower. They walked through the darkness in single file, each shouldering an end of the bamboo pole from which swung their well-packed bundle.\n\n\"It's a nice evening for a walk, isn't it, Otsū?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takuan said, glancing over his shoulder." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't think it's so wonderful,\" she muttered. \"Where are we going, anyway?\"\n\n\"I'm not quite sure yet,\" he replied with a slightly pensive air, \"but let's go on a bit farther.\"\n\n\"Well, I don't mind walking.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Aren't you tired?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No,\" replied the girl, but the pole obviously hurt her, for every once in a while she shifted it from one shoulder to the other.\n\n\"Where is everyone? We haven't seen a soul.\"\n\n\"The captain didn't show his face at the temple all day today. I bet he called the searchers back to the village so we can have three days all to ourselves. Takuan, just how do you propose to catch Takezō?\"\n\n\"Oh, don't worry. He'll turn up sooner or later.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well, he hasn't turned up for anyone else. But even if he does, what are we going to do? With all those men pursuing him for so long, he must be desperate by now. He'll be fighting for his life, and he's very strong to begin with. My legs start shaking just thinking about it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Careful! Watch your step!\" Takuan shouted suddenly.\n\n\"Oh!\" Otsū cried in terror, stopping dead in her tracks. \"What's the matter? Why did you scare me like that?\"\n\n\"Don't worry, it's not Takezō. I just want you to watch where you walk. There are wisteria-vine and bramble traps all along the side of the road here.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The searchers set them there to catch Takezō?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Uh-huh. But if we're not careful, we'll fall into one ourselves.\"\n\n\"Takuan, if you keep saying things like that I'll be so nervous I won't be able to put one foot in front of the other!\"\n\n\"What are you worried about? If we do walk into one, I'll fall in first. No need for you to follow me.\" He grinned back at her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I must say, they went to an awful lot of trouble for nothing.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After a moment's silence, he added, \"Otsū, doesn't the ravine seem to be getting narrower?\"\n\n\"I don't know, but we passed the back side of Sanumo some time ago. This should be Tsujinohara.\"\n\n\"If that's the case, we may have to walk all night.\"\n\n\"Well, I don't even know where we're going. Why talk to me about it?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Let's put this down for a minute.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After they'd lowered the bundle to the ground, Takuan started toward a nearby cliff.\n\n\"Where are you going?\"\n\n\"To relieve myself.\"\n\nA hundred feet below him, the waters that joined to form the Aida River were crashing thunderously from boulder to boulder." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The sound roared up to him, filling his ears and penetrating his whole being." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As he urinated, he gazed at the sky as if counting the stars. \"Oh, this feels good!\" he exulted. \"Am I one with the universe, or is the universe one with me?\"\n\n\"Takuan,\" called Otsū, \"aren't you finished yet? You certainly do take your time!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Finally he reappeared and explained himself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"While I was about it, I consulted the Book of Changes, and now I know exactly what course of action we have to take. It's all clear to me now.\"\n\n\"The Book of Changes? You aren't carrying a book.\"\n\n\"Not the written one, silly, the one inside me. My very own original Book of Changes. It's in my heart or belly or somewhere. While I was standing there, I was considering the lay of the land, the look of the water and the condition of the sky. Then I shut my eyes, and when I opened them, something said, 'Go to that mountain over there.'\" He pointed to a nearby peak." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Are you talking about Takateru Mountain?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I have no idea what it's called. It's that one, with the level clearing about halfway up.\"\n\n\"People call that Itadori Pasture.\"\n\n\"Oh, it has a name, does it?\"\n\nWhen they reached it, the pasture proved to be a small plain, sloping to the southeast and affording a splendid view of the surroundings." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Farmers usually turned horses and cows loose here to graze, but that night not an animal could be seen or heard." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The stillness was broken only by the warm spring breeze caressing the grass.\n\n\"We'll camp here,\" announced Takuan. \"The enemy, Takezō, will fall into my hands just as General Ts'ao Ts'ao of Wei fell into the hands of Ch'u-ko K'ung-ming.\"\n\nAs they laid down their load, Otsū inquired, \"What are we going to do here?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We are going to sit,\" replied Takuan firmly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How can we catch Takezō by just sitting here?\"\n\n\"If you set up nets, you can catch birds on the wing without having to fly around yourself.\"\n\n\"We haven't set up any nets. Are you sure you haven't become possessed by a fox or something?\"\n\n\"Let's build a fire, then. Foxes are afraid of fire, so if I am I'll soon be exorcised.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "They gathered some dry wood, and Takuan built a fire." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It seemed to lift Otsū's spirits.\n\n\"A good fire cheers a person up, doesn't it?\"\n\n\"It warms a person up, that's for sure. Anyway, were you unhappy?\"\n\n\"Oh, Takuan, you can see the mood I've been in! And I don't think anyone really likes to spend a night in the mountains like this. What would we do if it rained right now?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"On the way up I saw a cave near the road. We could take shelter there till it stopped.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's what Takezō probably does at night and in bad weather, don't you think? There must be places like that all over the mountain. That's probably where he hides most of the time, too.\"\n\n\"Probably. He doesn't really have much sense, but he must have enough to get in out of the rain.\"\n\nShe grew pensive. \"Takuan, why do the people in the village hate him so much?\"\n\n\"The authorities make them hate him. Otsū, these people are simple. They're afraid of the government, so afraid that if it so decrees, they'll drive away their fellow villagers, even their own kin.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You mean they only worry about protecting their own skins.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well, it's not really their fault. They're completely powerless. You have to forgive them for putting their own interests first, since it's a case of self-defense. What they really want is just to be left alone.\"\n\n\"But what about the samurai? Why are they making such a fuss about an insignificant person like Takezō?\"\n\n\"Because he's a symbol of chaos, an outlaw. They have to preserve the peace. After Sekigahara, Takezō was obsessed with the idea that the enemy was chasing him. He made his first big mistake by breaking through the barrier at the border. He should've used his wits somehow, snuck through at night or gone through in disguise. Anything. But not Takezō! He had to go and kill a guard and then kill other people later on. After that it just snow-balled. He thinks he has to keep on killing to protect his own life. But he's the one who started it. The whole unfortunate situation was brought about by one thing: Takezō's complete lack of common sense.\"\n\n\"Do you hate him too?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I loathe him! I abhor his stupidity! If I were lord of the province, I'd have him suffer the worst punishment I could devise. In fact, as an object lesson to the people, I'd have him torn limb from limb. After all, he's no better than a wild beast, is he? A provincial lord cannot afford to be generous with the likes of Takezō, even if he does seem to some to be no more than a young ruffian. It would be detrimental to law and order, and that's not good, particularly in these unsettled times.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I always thought you were kind, Takuan, but deep down you're quite hard, aren't you? I didn't think you cared about the daimyō's laws.\"\n\n\"Well, I do. I think that good should be rewarded and evil punished, and I came here with the authority to do just that.\"\n\n\"Oh, what was that?\" cried Otsū, jumping up from her place by the fire." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Didn't you hear it? It was a rustling sound, like footsteps, in those trees over there!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Footsteps?\" Takuan, too, became alert, but after listening closely for a few moments he burst into laughter. \"Ha, ha. It's only some monkeys. Look!\" They could see the silhouettes of a big monkey and a little one, swinging through the trees.\n\nOtsū, visibly relieved, sat down again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Whew, that scared me half to death!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For the next couple of hours, the two sat silently, staring at the fire. Whenever it would dwindle, Takuan would break some dry branches and throw them on.\n\n\"Otsū, what are you thinking about?\"\n\n\"Me?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, you. Although I do it all the time, I really hate holding conversations with myself.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Otsū's eyes were puffy from the smoke. Looking up at the starry sky, she spoke softly. \"I was thinking of how strange the world is. All those stars way up there in the empty blackness— No, I don't mean that.\n\n\"The night is full. It seems to embrace everything. If you stare at the stars a long time, you can see them moving. Slowly, slowly moving. I can't help thinking the whole world is moving. I feel it. And I'm just a little speck in it all—a speck controlled by some awesome power I can't even see. Even while I sit here thinking, my fate is changing bit by bit. My thoughts seem to go round and round in circles.\"\n\n\"You're not telling the truth!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "said Takuan sternly. \"Of course those ideas entered your head, but you really had something much more specific on your mind.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Otsū was silent.\n\n\"I apologize if I violated your privacy, Otsū, but I read those letters you received.\"\n\n\"You did? But the seal wasn't broken!\"\n\n\"I read them after finding you in the loom shed. When you said you didn't want them, I stuck them in my sleeve. I guess it was wrong of me, but later, when I was in the privy, I took them out and read them just to pass the time.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You're awful! How could you do such a thing! And just to pass the time!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well, for whatever reason. Anyway, now I understand what started that flood of tears. Why you looked half dead when I found you. But listen, Otsū, I think you were lucky. In the long run, I think it's better that things turned out the way they did. You think I'm awful? Look at him!\"\n\n\"What do you mean?\"\n\n\"Matahachi was and still is irresponsible. If you married him, and then one day he surprised you with a letter like that, what would you do then? Don't tell me, I know you. You'd dive into the sea from a rocky cliff. I'm glad it's all over before it could come to that.\"\n\n\"Women don't think that way.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, really? How do they think?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm so angry I could scream!\" She tugged angrily at the sleeve of her kimono with her teeth. \"Someday I'll find him! I swear I will! I won't rest until I've told him, to his face, exactly what I think of him. And the same goes for that Okō woman.\"\n\nShe broke into tears of rage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As Takuan stared at her, he mumbled cryptically, \"It's started, hasn't it?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She looked at him dumbfounded. \"What?\"\n\nHe stared at the ground, seemingly composing his thoughts. Then he began. \"Otsū, I'd really hoped that you, of all people, would be spared the evils and duplicities of this world. That your sweet, innocent self would go through all the stages of life unsullied and unharmed. But it looks like the rough winds of fate have begun to buffet you, as they buffet everyone else.\"\n\n\"Oh, Takuan! What should I do! I'm so... so... angry!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her shoulders shook with her sobbing as she buried her face in her lap." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "By dawn, she'd cried herself out, and the two of them hid in the cave to sleep. That night they kept watch by the fire and slept through the next day in the cave again. They had plenty of food, but Otsū was baffled. She kept saying she couldn't see how they'd ever capture Takezō at this rate." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takuan, on the other hand, remained sublimely unperturbed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Otsū hadn't a clue to what he was thinking. He made no move to search anywhere, nor was he the slightest bit disconcerted by Takezō's failure to appear.\n\nOn the evening of the third day, as on the previous nights, they kept vigil by the fireside.\n\n\"Takuan,\" Otsū finally blurted, \"this is our last night, you know. Our time is up tomorrow.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Hmm. That's true, isn't it?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well, what do you plan to do?\"\n\n\"Do about what?\"\n\n\"Oh, don't be so difficult! You do remember, don't you, the promise you made to the captain?\"\n\n\"Why, yes, of course!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well, if we don't bring Takezō back—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He interrupted her. \"I know, I know. I'll have to hang myself from the old cryptomeria tree. But don't worry. I'm not ready to die just yet.\"\n\n\"Then why don't you go and look for him?\"\n\n\"If I did, do you really think I'd find him? In these mountains?\"\n\n\"Oh, I don't understand you at all! And yet somehow, just sitting here, I feel like I'm getting braver, mustering up the nerve to let things turn out whatever way they will.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She laughed. \"Or maybe I'm just going crazy, like you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm not crazy. I just have nerve. That's what it takes.\"\n\n\"Tell me, Takuan, was it nerve and nothing else that made you take this on?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Nothing but nerve! That's not very encouraging. I thought you must have some foolproof scheme up your sleeve.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Otsū had been on her way toward sharing her companion's confidence, but his disclosure that he was operating on sheer audacity sent her into a fit of despondency." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Was he totally insane? Sometimes people who are not quite right in the mind are taken by others to be geniuses. Takuan might be one of those. Otsū was beginning to think this was a distinct possibility." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The monk, serene as ever, continued to gaze absently into the fire." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Presently he mumbled, as though he'd just noticed, \"It's very late, isn't it?\"\n\n\"It certainly is! It'll be dawn soon,\" snapped Otsū with deliberate tartness. Why had she trusted this suicidal lunatic?\n\nPaying no attention to the sharpness of her response, he muttered, \"Funny, isn't it?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What are you muttering about, Takuan?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It just occurred to me that Takezō has to show up pretty soon.\"\n\n\"Yes, but maybe he doesn't realize you two have an appointment.\" Looking at the monk's unsmiling face, she softened. \"Do you really think he will?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Of course I do!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But why would he just walk right into a trap?\"\n\n\"It's not exactly that. It has to do with human nature, that's all. People aren't strong at heart, they're weak. And solitude is not their natural state, particularly when it involves being surrounded by enemies and chased with swords. You may think it's natural, but I'd be very much surprised if Takezō manages to resist the temptation to pay us a call and warm himself by the fire.\"\n\n\"Isn't that just wishful thinking? He may be nowhere near here.\"\n\nTakuan shook his head and said, \"No, it is not just wishful thinking. It isn't even my own theory, it's that of a master of strategy.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He spoke so confidently that Otsū found herself relieved that his disagreement was so definite." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I suspect that Shimmen Takezō is somewhere very close by, but hasn't yet decided whether we're friends or enemies. He's probably plagued, poor boy, by a multitude of doubts, struggling with them, unable to advance or retreat. It'd be my guess he's hiding in the shadows right now, looking out at us furtively, wondering desperately what to do. Ah, I know. Let me have the flute you carry in your obi!\"\n\n\"My bamboo flute?\"\n\n\"Yes, let me play it for a while.\"\n\n\"No. Impossible. I never let anyone touch it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why?\" Takuan insisted." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Never mind why!\" she cried with a shake of her head.\n\n\"What harm would it do to let me use it? Flutes improve the more they're played. I won't hurt it.\"\n\n\"But... \" Otsū clasped her right hand firmly on the flute in her obi.\n\nShe always carried it next to her body, and Takuan knew how much she treasured the instrument." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had never imagined, however, she would refuse to let him play it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I really won't break it, Otsū. I've handled dozens of flutes. Oh, come now, at least let me hold it.\"\n\n\"No.\"\n\n\"Whatever happens?\"\n\n\"Whatever happens.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You're stubborn!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Okay, I'm stubborn.\"\n\nTakuan gave up. \"Well, I'd just as soon listen to you play it. Will you play me just one little piece?\"\n\n\"I don't want to do that either.\"\n\n\"Why not?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Because I'd start to cry, and I can't play the flute when I'm crying.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hmm,\" mused Takuan. While he felt pity for this obstinate tenacity, so characteristic of orphans, he was aware of a void deep within their stubborn hearts. They seemed to him doomed to yearn desperately for that which they could not have, for the parental love with which they were never blessed.\n\nOtsū was constantly calling out to the parents she'd never known, and they to her, but she had no firsthand knowledge of parental love. The flute was the only thing her parents had left her, the only image of them she'd ever had." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When, barely old enough to see the light of day, she'd been left like an abandoned kitten on the porch of the Shippōji, the flute had been tucked in her tiny obi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was the one and only link that might in the future enable her to seek out people of her own blood. Not only was it the image, it was the voice of the mother and father she'd never seen.\n\n\"So she cries when she plays it!\" thought Takuan. \"No wonder she's so reluctant to let anyone handle it, or even to play it herself.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He felt sorry for her." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "On this third night, for the first time, a pearly moon shimmered in the sky, now and then dissolving behind misty clouds. The wild geese that always migrate to Japan in fall and go home in spring were apparently on their way back north; occasionally their quacking reached them from among the clouds." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "expand on the story like Eiji Yoshikawa would" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Rousing himself from his reverie, Takuan said, \"The fire's gone down, Otsū. Would you put some more wood on it?... Why, what's the matter? Is something wrong?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Otsū didn't answer.\n\n\"Are you crying?\"\n\nStill she said nothing.\n\n\"I'm sorry I reminded you of the past. I didn't mean to upset you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's nothing,\" she whispered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I shouldn't have been so stubborn. Please take the flute and play it.\" She brought the instrument out from her obi and offered it to him across the fire. It was in a wrapper of old, faded brocade; the cloth was worn, the cords tattered, but there still remained a certain antique elegance.\n\n\"May I look at it?\" asked Takuan." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, please do. It doesn't matter anymore.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But why don't you play it instead of me? I think I really would rather listen. I'll just sit here like this.\" He turned sideways and clasped his arms around his knees.\n\n\"All right. I'm not very good,\" she said modestly, \"but I'll try.\"\n\nShe knelt in formal fashion on the grass, straightened her kimono collar and bowed to the flute laying before her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takuan said no more." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He seemed no longer to even be there; there was only the great lonely universe enveloped in night. The monk's shadowy form might well have been a rock that had rolled down from the hillside and settled on the plain.\n\nOtsū, her white face turned slightly to one side, put the cherished heirloom to her lips. As she wetted the mouthpiece and prepared herself inwardly to play, she seemed a different Otsū altogether, an Otsū embodying the strength and dignity of art." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Turning to Takuan, she once again, in proper fashion, disavowed any claim to skill. He nodded perfunctorily." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The liquid sound of the flute began. As the girl's thin fingers moved over the seven holes of the instrument, her knuckles looked like tiny gnomes absorbed in a slow dance. It was a low sound, like the gurgling of a brook. Takuan felt that he himself had turned into flowing water, splashing through a ravine, playing in the shallows." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When the high notes sounded, he felt his spirit wafted into the sky to gambol with the clouds." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sound of earth and the reverberations of heaven mingled and were transformed into the wistful sighs of the breeze blowing through the pines, lamenting the impermanence of this world.\n\nAs he listened raptly, his eyes closed, Takuan could not help but recall the legend of Prince Hiromasa, who, while strolling on a moonlit night at Suzaku Gate in Kyoto and playing his flute as he walked, heard another flute harmonizing with his. The prince searched out the player and found him in the upper story of the gate. Having exchanged flutes, the two played music together throughout the night." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Only later did the prince discover that his companion had been a devil in human form." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Even a devil,\" thought Takuan, \"is moved by music. How much more deeply must a human being, subject to the five passions, be affected by the sound of the flute in the hands of this beautiful girl!\" He wanted to weep but shed no tears. His face sank deeper between his knees, which he unconsciously hugged more tightly.\n\nAs the light from the fire gradually faded, Otsū's cheeks turned a deeper red." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She was so absorbed in her music that it was difficult to distinguish her from the instrument she was playing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Was she calling to her mother and father? Were these sounds ascending into the sky really asking, \"Where are you?\" And was there not mingled with this plea the bitter resentment of a maiden who'd been deserted and betrayed by a faithless man?\n\nShe seemed intoxicated by the music, overwhelmed by her own emotions." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her breathing began to show signs of fatigue; tiny beads of sweat appeared around the edges of her hair." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tears flowed down her face. Though the melody was broken by stifled sobs, it seemed to go on and on forever.\n\nAnd then suddenly there was a movement in the grass. It was no more than fifteen or twenty feet from the fire and sounded like a creeping animal." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takuan's head shot up." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Looking straight at the black object, he quietly raised his hand and waved a greeting.\n\n\"You over there! It must be chilly in the dew. Come over here by the fire and warm yourself. Come and talk with us, please.\"\n\nStartled, Otsū stopped playing and said, \"Takuan, are you talking to yourself again?\"\n\n\"Didn't you notice?\" he asked, pointing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Takezō has been over there for some time, listening to you play the flute.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She turned to look, and then, with a shriek, threw her flute at the black form. It was indeed Takezō. He jumped like a startled deer and started to flee.\n\nTakuan, as astonished as Takezō by Otsū's scream, felt as though the net he was so carefully hauling in had broken and the fish escaped." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Jumping to his feet, he called out at the top of his lungs, \"Takezō! Stop!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was overpowering strength in his voice, a commanding force that could not easily be ignored. The fugitive stopped as though nailed to the ground and looked back, a little stupefied. He stared at Takuan with suspicious eyes.\n\nThe monk said no more." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Slowly crossing his arms on his chest, he stared back at Takezō as steadily as Takezō was staring at him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The two seemed even to be breathing in unison.\n\nGradually there appeared at the corners of Takuan's eyes the wrinkles that mark the beginning of a friendly smile. Unfolding his arms, he beckoned to Takezō and said, \"Now, come here.\"\n\nAt the sound of the words, Takezō blinked; a strange expression came over his dark face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Come on over here,\" Takuan urged, \"and we can all talk to each other.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There followed a puzzled silence.\n\n\"There's lots to eat and we even have some sake. We're not your enemies, you know. Come over by the fire. Let's talk.\"\n\nMore silence.\n\n\"Takezō, aren't you making a big mistake?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "There's a world outside where there are fires and food and drink and even human sympathy." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You persist in driving yourself about in your own private hell. You're taking a pretty warped view of the world, you know.\n\n\"But I'll stop trying to argue with you. In your condition, you could hardly have much of an ear for reason. Just come over here by the fire. Otsū, warm up the potato stew you made a while ago. I'm hungry too.\"\n\nOtsū put the pot on the fire, and Takuan placed a jar of sake near the flames to heat it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "This peaceful scene allayed Takezō's fears, and he inched nearer." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When he was almost on top of them, he stopped and stood still, apparently held back by some inner embarrassment.\n\nTakuan rolled a rock up near the fire and patted Takezō on the back. \"You sit here,\" he said.\n\nAbruptly, Takezō sat down." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Otsū, for her part, couldn't even look her exfiance's friend in the face." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She felt as though she were in the presence of an unchained beast.\n\nTakuan, lifting the lid of the pot, said, \"It seems to be ready.\" He stuck the tips of his chopsticks into a potato, drew it out, and popped it into his mouth. Chewing heartily, he proclaimed, \"Very nice and tender. Won't you have some, Takezō?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takezō nodded and for the first time grinned, showing a set of perfect white teeth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Otsū filled a bowl and gave it to him, whereupon he began alternately to blow on the hot stew and slurp it up in big mouthfuls. His hands trembled and his teeth clattered against the edge of the bowl. Pitifully hungry as he was, the trembling was uncontrollable. Frighteningly so.\n\n\"Good, isn't it?\" asked the monk, putting down his chopsticks." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How about some sake?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't want any sake.\"\n\n\"Don't you like it?\"\n\n\"I don't want any now.\" After all that time in the mountains, he was afraid it might make him sick." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Presently he said, politely enough, \"Thank you for the food. I'm warmed up now.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Have you had enough?\"\n\n\"Plenty, thank you.\" As he handed his bowl back to Otsū, he asked, \"Why did you come up here? I saw your fire last night too.\"\n\nThe question startled Otsū and she had no answer ready, but Takuan came to the rescue by saying forthrightly, \"To tell the truth, we came here to capture you.\"\n\nTakezō showed no particular surprise, though he seemed hesitant to take what Takuan had said at face value." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He hung his head in silence, then looked from one to the other of them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Takuan saw that the time had come to act. Turning to face Takezō directly, he said, \"How about it? If you're going to be captured anyway, wouldn't it be better to be tied up with the bonds of the Buddha's Law? The daimyō's regulations are law, and the Buddha's Law is law, but of the two, the bonds of the Buddha are the more gentle and humane.\"\n\n\"No, no!\" said Takezō, shaking his head angrily.\n\nTakuan continued mildly. \"Just listen for a minute. I understand that you are determined to hold out to the death, but in the long run, can you really win?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What do you mean, can I win?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I mean, can you successfully hold out against the people who hate you, against the laws of the province and against your own worst enemy, yourself?\"\n\n\"Oh, I know I've already lost,\" groaned Takezō. His face was sadly contorted and his eyes brimmed with tears. \"I'll be cut down in the end, but before I am I'll kill the old Hon'iden woman and the soldiers from Himeji and all the other people I hate! I'll kill as many as I can!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What will you do about your sister?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Huh?\"\n\n\"Ogin. What are you going to do about her? She's locked up in the stockade at Hinagura, you know!\"\n\nDespite his earlier resolve to rescue her, Takezō could not answer.\n\n\"Don't you think you should start considering the well-being of that good woman? She's done so much for you. And what about your duty to carry on the name of your father, Shimmen Munisai? Have you forgotten that it goes back through the Hirata family to the famous Akamatsu clan of Harima?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takezō covered his face with his blackened, now nearly clawed hands, his sharp shoulders piercing upward as they shook in his haggard, trembling body." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He broke into bitter sobs. \"I... I... don't know. What... what difference does it make now?\"\n\nAt that, Takuan suddenly clenched his fist and let go with a solid punch to Takezō's jaw.\n\n\"Fool!\" the monk's voice thundered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Taken by surprise, Takezō reeled from the blow and before he could recover took another punch on the other side." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You irresponsible oaf! You stupid ingrate! Since your father and mother and ancestors are not here to punish you, I'll do it for them. Take that!\" The monk struck him again, this time knocking him all the way to the ground. \"Does it hurt yet?\" he asked belligerently.\n\n\"Yes, it hurts,\" the fugitive whined." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Good. If it hurts, you may still have a little human blood coursing through your veins. Otsū, hand me that rope, please... Well, what are you waiting for? Bring me the rope! Takezō already knows I'm going to tie him up. He's prepared for it. It's not the rope of authority, it's the rope of compassion. There's no reason for you to either fear or pity him. Quick, girl, the rope!\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Now write approximately five sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Takezō lay still on his stomach, making no effort to move. Takuan easily straddled his back. If Takezō had wanted to resist, he could have kicked Takuan in the air like a little paper ball. They both knew that. Yet he lay passively, arms and legs outstretched, as though he'd finally surrendered to some invisible law of nature." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Expand the story by adding 4 sentences." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Although it was not the time of the morning when the temple bell was usually rung, its heavy, regular gonging resounded through the village and echoed far into the mountains. This was the day of reckoning, when Takuan's time limit was up, and the villagers raced up the hill to find out whether he'd done the impossible. The news that he had spread like wildfire.\n\n\"Takezō's been captured!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Really! Who got him?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Takuan!\"\n\n\"I can't believe it! Without a weapon?\"\n\n\"It can't be true!\"\n\nThe crowd surged up to the Shippōji to gawk at the collared outlaw, who was tied like an animal to the stair railing in front of the main sanctuary." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Some gulped and gasped at the sight, as though they were beholding the countenance of the dreaded demon of Mount Ōe." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As if to deflate their exaggerated reaction, Takuan sat a bit farther up the stairs, leaning back on his elbows and grinning amiably.\n\n\"People of Miyamoto,\" he shouted, \"now you can go back to your fields in peace. The soldiers will be gone soon!\"\n\nTo the intimidated villagers, Takuan had become a hero overnight, their savior and protector from evil. Some bowed deeply to him, their heads nearly touching the ground of the temple courtyard; others pushed their way forward to touch his hand or robe." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Others knelt at his feet." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Takuan, appalled at this display of idolatry, pulled away from the mob and held up his hand for silence.\n\n\"Listen, men and women of Miyamoto. I have something to say, something important.\" The hue and cry died down. \"It is not I who deserve the credit for capturing Takezō. It was not I who accomplished it, but the law of nature. Those who break it always lose in the end. It is the law that you should respect.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Don't be ridiculous! You caught him, not nature!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't be so modest, monk!\"\n\n\"We give credit where it's due!\"\n\n\"Forget the law. We have you to thank!\"\n\n\"Well, then thank me,\" continued Takuan." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I don't mind that. But you should pay homage to the law. Anyway, what's done is done, and right now there's something very important I'd like to ask you about. I need your help.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What is it?\" came the question from the curious crowd.\n\n\"Just this: what shall we do with Takezō now that we've got him? My agreement with the House of Ikeda's representative, who I'm sure you all know by sight, was that if I didn't bring the fugitive back in three days' time, I'd hang myself from that big cryptomeria. If I did succeed, I was promised, I could decide his fate.\"\n\nPeople started to murmur.\n\n\"We heard about that!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He assumed a judicial pose." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well, then, what shall we do with him? As you see, the dreaded monster is here in the flesh. Not very fearsome, really, is he? In fact, he came along without a fight, the weakling. Shall we kill him, or let him go?\"\n\nThere was a rumble of objections at the idea of setting Takezō free. One man shouted, \"We've got to kill him! He's no good, he's a criminal! If we let him live, he'll be the curse of the village.\"\n\nWhile Takuan paused, seeming to consider the possibilities, angry, impatient voices from the rear shouted, \"Kill him! Kill him!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "At that point, an old woman pushed her way to the front, shoving aside men twice her size with sharp jabs of her elbows." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was, of course, the irate Osugi. When she reached the steps, she glared at Takezō for a moment, then turned and faced the villagers. Waving a mulberry branch in the air, she cried, \"I won't be satisfied with just killing him! Make him suffer first! Just look at that hideous face!\" Turning back to the prisoner, she raised her switch, screaming, \"You degenerate, loathsome creature!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "and brought it down on him several times, until she ran out of breath and her arm dropped to her side." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Takezō cringed in pain as Osugi turned to Takuan with a menacing look.\n\n\"What do you want from me?\" the monk asked.\n\n\"It was because of this murderer that my son's life has been ruined.\" Shaking violently, she screeched, \"And without Matahachi there is no one to carry on our family name.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well,\" countered Takuan, \"Matahachi, if you don't mind my saying so, never amounted to much anyway. Won't you be better off in the long run taking your son-in-law as heir? Giving him the honored Hon'iden name?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How dare you say such a thing!\" Suddenly the proud dowager burst into sobs. \"I don't care about what you think. Nobody understood him. He wasn't really bad; he was my baby.\" Her fury rose again and she pointed at Takezō." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He led him astray, he made him a good-for-nothing like himself. I have the right to take my revenge.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Addressing the crowd, she beseeched them, \"Let me decide. Leave it to me. I know what to do with him!\"\n\nJust then a loud and angry shout from the back cut the old woman off. The crowd parted like rent cloth, and the latecomer marched quickly to the front. It was Scraggly Beard himself, in a towering rage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What's going on here? This isn't a sideshow! All of you, get out of here. Go back to work. Go home. Immediately!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was shuffling, but no one turned to go. \"You heard what I said! Get a move on! What are you waiting for?\" He stepped threateningly toward them, his hand poised above his sword. Those in the front shrank back wide-eyed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No!\" interrupted Takuan." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"There's no reason for these good people to go. I called them here for the express purpose of discussing what's to be done with Takezō.\"\n\n\"You be quiet!\" commanded the captain. \"You have nothing to say in this matter.\" Drawing himself up and glaring first at Takuan, then at Osugi, and finally at the crowd, he boomed, \"This Shimmen Takezō has not only committed grave and serious crimes against the laws of this province; he is also a fugitive from Sekigahara. His punishment cannot be decided by the people. He must be turned over to the government!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takuan shook his head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Nonsense!\" Seeing that Scraggly Beard was ready to respond, he raised a silencing finger. \"That's not what you agreed to!\"\n\nThe captain, his dignity seriously threatened, started to argue. \"Takuan, you will no doubt receive the money the government has offered as a reward. But as an official representative of Lord Terumasa, it is my duty to take charge of the prisoner at this point. His fate need no longer be of any concern to you. Don't trouble yourself even thinking about it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takuan, making no effort to answer, broke into peals of laughter." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Every time it seemed to subside, it would come rolling up again.\n\n\"Watch your manners, monk!\" warned the captain. He started to spit and sputter. \"What's so funny? Huh? You think this is all a joke?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My manners?\" repeated Takuan, cracking up in laughter again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"My manners? Look, Scraggly Beard, are you thinking of breaking our agreement, going back on your sacred word? If you are, I warn you, I'll turn Takezō loose here and now!\"\n\nWith a unanimous gasp, the villagers began edging away.\n\n\"Ready?\" asked Takuan, reaching toward the rope that bound Takezō.\n\nThe captain was speechless." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And when I unleash him, I'm going to sic him on you first. You can fight it out between yourselves. Then arrest him, if you can!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Now hold on—just a minute!\"\n\n\"I kept my part of the bargain.\" Takuan continued to make as if he were about to remove the prisoner's fetters.\n\n\"Stop, I say.\" The samurai's forehead beaded with sweat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well, because—because—\" He was almost stuttering. \"Now that he's tied up, there's no point in letting him go, just to cause more trouble—now, is there? I'll tell you what! You can kill Takezō yourself. Here—here's my sword. Just let me have his head to take back with me. That's fair, isn't it?\"\n\n\"Give you his head! Not on your life! It's the business of the clergy to conduct funerals, but giving away the corpses, or parts of them... Well, that'd give us priests a bad name, wouldn't it? No one would trust us with their dead, and anyway, if we started to just give them away, the temples would go broke in no time.\" Even with the samurai's hand resting on his sword handle, Takuan couldn't resist baiting him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Turning to the mob, the monk became serious again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I ask you to talk it over among yourselves and give me an answer. What shall we do? The old woman says it's not enough to kill him outright, we should torture him first. What do you think of lashing him to a branch of the cryptomeria tree for a few days? We could bind him hand and foot, and he would be exposed to the elements day and night. The crows will probably gouge out his eyeballs. How does that sound?\"\n\nHis proposal struck his listeners as so inhumanly cruel that at first no one could answer.\n\nExcept Osugi, who said, \"Takuan, this idea of yours shows what a wise man you really are, but I think we should string him up for a week—no, more! Let him hang there ten or twenty days. Then I myself will come and strike the fatal blow.\"\n\nWithout further ado, Takuan nodded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"All right. So be it!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He took hold of the rope after freeing it from the railing and dragged Takezō, like a dog on a leash, to the tree. The prisoner went meekly, head bowed, uttering not a sound. He seemed so repentant that some of the softer-hearted members of the crowd felt a bit sorry for him. The excitement of capturing the \"wild beast\" had hardly worn off, however, and with great gusto everyone joined in the fun." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Having tied several lengths of rope together, they hoisted him up to a branch about thirty feet from the ground and lashed him tightly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So bound, he looked less like a living man than a big straw doll.\n\nAfter Otsū came back to the temple from the mountains, she began feeling a strange and intense melancholy whenever she was alone in her room. She wondered why, since being alone was nothing new to her. And there were always some people around the temple." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She had all the comforts of home, yet felt lonelier now than she had at any time during those three long days on the desolate hillside with only Takuan as a companion." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sitting at the low table by her window, her chin resting on her palms, she reflected on her feelings for half a day before coming to a conclusion.\n\nShe felt that this experience had given her an insight into her own heart. Loneliness, she mused, is like hunger; it isn't outside but inside oneself. To be lonely, she thought, is to sense that one lacks something, something vitally necessary, but what she knew not." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Neither the people around her nor the amenities of life at the temple could assuage the feeling of isolation she now felt." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the mountains there had only been the silence, the trees and the mist, but there had also been Takuan. It came to her like a revelation that he was not entirely outside herself. His words had gone straight to her heart, had warmed and lighted it as no fire or lamp could. She then came to the innocent realization that she was lonely because Takuan was not around." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Having made this discovery, she stood up, but her mind still grappled with the problem at hand." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After deciding Takezō's punishment, Takuan had been closeted in the guest room with the samurai from Himeji a good deal of the time. What with having to go back and forth to the village on this errand and that, he'd had no time to sit down and talk with her as he had in the mountains. Otsū sat down again.\n\nIf only she had a friend!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She didn't need many; just one who knew her well, someone she could lean on, someone strong and completely trustworthy." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That was what she longed for, craved so badly that she was nearly at her wit's end.\n\nThere was always, of course, her flute, but by the time a girl is sixteen, there are questions and uncertainties inside her that can't be answered by a piece of bamboo. She needed intimacy and a sense of partaking in, not just observing, real life.\n\n\"It's all so disgusting!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "she said out loud, but voicing her feeling in no way mitigated her hatred for Matahachi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tears spilled onto the little lacquered table; the angry blood coursing through her veins turned her temples blue. Her head throbbed.\n\nSilently the door behind her slid open. In the temple kitchen, the fire for the evening meal burned brightly.\n\n\"Ah ha! So this is where you've been hiding! Sitting here letting the whole day slip through your fingers!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The figure of Osugi appeared at the door." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Startled out of her abstraction, Otsū hesitated a moment before welcoming the old woman and putting a cushion down for her to sit on. Without so much as a by-your-leave, Osugi seated herself.\n\n\"My good daughter-in-law... \" she began in grandiose tones.\n\n\"Yes, ma'am,\" answered Otsū, cowed into bowing deeply before the old harridan." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Now that you have acknowledged the relationship, there's a little something I want to talk to you about. But first bring me some tea. I've been talking till now with Takuan and the samurai from Himeji, and the acolyte here didn't even serve us refreshments. I'm parched!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Otsū obeyed and brought her some tea.\n\n\"I want to talk about Matahachi,\" the old woman said without prelude. \"Of course, I'd be a fool to believe anything that lying Takezō says, but it seems Matahachi is alive and staying in a different province.\"\n\n\"Is that so?\" said Otsū coldly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I can't be sure, but the fact remains that the priest here, acting as your guardian, agreed to your marriage to my son, and the Hon'iden family has already accepted you as his bride. Whatever happens in the future, I trust you don't have any ideas about going back on your word.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well... \"\n\n\"You'd never do such a thing, would you?\"\n\nOtsū let out a soft sigh.\n\n\"All right then, I'm glad of that!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She spoke as though adjourning a meeting." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You know how people talk, and there's no telling when Matahachi will be back, so I want you to leave this temple and come live with me. I've more work than I can handle, and since my daughter-in-law's got so much on her hands with her own family, I can't drive her too hard. So I need your help.\"\n\n\"But I—\"\n\n\"Who else but Matahachi's bride could come into the Hon'iden house?\"\n\n\"I don't know, but—\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Are you trying to say you don't want to come? Don't you like the idea of living under my roof? Most girls would jump at the chance!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No, it's not that. It's—\"\n\n\"Well, then, stop dawdling! Get your things together!\"\n\n\"Right now? Wouldn't it be better to wait?\"\n\n\"Wait for what?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Until... until Matahachi comes back.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Absolutely not!\" Her tone was final. \"You just might start getting ideas in your head about other men before that. It's my duty to see that you don't misbehave. In the meantime, I'll also see that you learn how to do field work, care for the silkworms, sew a straight seam and act like a lady.\"\n\n\"Oh. I... see.\" Otsū had no strength to protest. Her head still pounded and with all this talk of Matahachi, her chest tightened." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She feared saying another word lest she release a torrent of tears." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And there's one other thing,\" said Osugi. Heedless of the girl's distress, she raised her head imperiously. \"I'm still not quite sure what that unpredictable monk plans to do with Takezō. It worries me. I want you to keep a sharp eye on the two of them until we're sure Takezō is dead. At night as well as in the daytime. If you don't take special care at night, there's no telling what Takuan might do. They may be in cahoots!\"\n\n\"So you don't mind if I stay here?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"For the time being, no, since you can't be in two places at once, can you? You will come with your belongings to the Hon'iden house the day that Takezō's head is separated from his body. Understand?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, I understand.\"\n\n\"Make sure you don't forget!\" Osugi barked as she whooshed out of the room.\n\nThereupon, as though waiting for the chance, a shadow appeared on the paper-covered window and a male voice called softly, \"Otsū! Otsū!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hoping it was Takuan, she hardly looked at the shape of the shadow before rushing to open the window." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When she did, she jerked back in surprise, for the eyes meeting hers were the captain's. He reached through, grabbing her hand and squeezing it hard.\n\n\"You've been kind to me,\" he said, \"but I've just received orders from Himeji to go back.\"\n\n\"Why, that's too bad.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She tried to pull her hand from his, but the grip was too firm." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They seem to be conducting an investigation into the incident here,\" he explained. \"If only I had Takezō's head, I could say I had discharged my duty with honor. I'd be vindicated. That crazy, stubborn Takuan won't let me take it. He won't listen to anything I say. But I think you're on my side; that's why I've come here. Take this letter, will you, and read it later, somewhere where no one will see you?\"\n\nHe pressed the letter into her hand and was off in a shot. She could hear him hurriedly walking down the steps to the road." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was more than a letter, for a large gold piece was enclosed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But the message itself was straightforward enough: it asked Otsū to cut off Takezō's head within the next few days and bring it to Himeji, where the writer would make her his wife, and she would live amid wealth and glory for the rest of her days. The missive was signed \"Aoki Tanzaemon,\" a name that, according to the writer's own testimony, belonged to one of the most celebrated warriors of the region. She wanted to burst out laughing, but was too indignant.\n\nAs she finished reading, Takuan called, \"Otsū, have you eaten yet?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Slipping her feet into her sandals, she went out to talk with him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't feel like eating. I have a headache.\"\n\n\"What's that in your hand?\"\n\n\"A letter.\"\n\n\"Another one?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"From whom?\"\n\n\"Takuan, you're so nosy!\"\n\n\"Curious, my girl, inquisitive. Not nosy!\"\n\n\"Would you like to have a look at it?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If you don't mind.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Just to pass the time?\"\n\n\"That's as good a reason as any.\"\n\n\"Here. I don't mind at all.\"\n\nOtsū handed him the letter, and after reading it, Takuan laughed heartily." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She couldn't help but let the corners of her mouth turn up too." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That poor man! He's so desperate he's trying to bribe you with both love and money. This letter is hilarious! I must say, our world is fortunate indeed to be blessed with such outstanding, upright samurai! He's so brave he asks a mere girl to do his beheading for him. And so stupid as to put it in writing.\"\n\n\"The letter doesn't bother me,\" said Otsū, \"but what am I going to do with the money?\" She handed Takuan the gold piece.\n\n\"This is worth quite a lot,\" he said, weighing it in his hand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's what bothers me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't worry. I never have any trouble disposing of money.\"\n\nTakuan walked around to the front of the temple, where there was an alms box. Preparing to toss the coin in, he touched it to his forehead in deference to the Buddha. Then he changed his mind." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"On second thought, you keep it. I daresay it won't be in the way.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't want it. It'll just cause trouble. I might be questioned about it later. I'd rather just pretend I never saw it.\"\n\n\"This gold, Otsū, no longer belongs to Aoki Tanzaemon. It has become an offering to the Buddha, and the Buddha has bestowed it on you. Keep it for good luck.\"\n\nWithout further protest, Otsū tucked the coin into her obi; then, looking up at the sky, she remarked, \"Windy, isn't it? I wonder if it'll rain tonight. It hasn't rained for ages.\"\n\n\"Spring's almost over, so we're due for a good downpour. We need it to wash away all the dead flowers, not to mention relieving the people's boredom.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But if it's a heavy rain, what'll happen to Takezō?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hmm. Takezō... \" the monk mused.\n\nJust as the two of them turned toward the cryptomeria, a call came from its upper branches.\n\n\"Takuan! Takuan!\"\n\n\"What? Is that you, Takezō?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "As Takuan squinted to look up into the tree, Takezō hurled down a stream of imprecations." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You swine of a monk! You filthy impostor! Come and stand under here! I have something to say to you!\"\n\nThe wind was beating at the tree's branches violently, and the voice came through broken and disjointed. Leaves swirled around the tree and onto Takuan's upturned face.\n\nThe monk laughed. \"I see you're still full of life. That's okay; that suits me fine. I hope it's not just the false vitality that comes from the knowledge that you're soon going to die.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Shut up!\" cried Takezō, who was not so much full of life as full of anger." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If I were afraid to die, why would I have just kept still while you tied me up?\"\n\n\"You did that because I am strong and you are weak!\"\n\n\"That's a lie, and you know it!\"\n\n\"Then I'll put it another way. I'm clever, and you are unspeakably stupid!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You might be right. It was certainly stupid of me to let you catch me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't squirm so much, monkey in the tree! It won't do you any good, it'll make you bleed if you've any blood left, and frankly, it's quite unbecoming.\"\n\n\"Listen, Takuan!\"\n\n\"I'm listening.\"\n\n\"If I had wanted to fight you on the mountain, I could've easily squashed you under one foot like a cucumber.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's not a very flattering analogy. In any case you didn't, so you'd be better off leaving that line of thought. Forget about what happened. It's too late for regrets.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You tricked me with your high-sounding priest talk. That was pretty mean, you bastard. You got me to trust you and you betrayed me. I let you capture me, yes, but only because I thought you were different from the others. I never thought I'd be humiliated like this.\"\n\n\"Get to the point, Takezō,\" Takuan said impatiently.\n\n\"Why are you doing this to me?\" the straw bundle shrieked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why don't you just cut off my head and get it over with! I thought that if I had to die, it'd be better to let you choose how to execute me than let that bloodthirsty mob do it. Although you are a monk, you also claim to understand the Way of the Samurai.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh, I do, you poor misguided boy. Much better than you!\"\n\n\"I would've been better off letting the villagers catch up with me. At least they're human.\"\n\n\"Was that your only mistake, Takezō? Hasn't just about everything you've ever done been some kind of mistake? While you're resting up there, why don't you try thinking about the past a little.\"\n\n\"Oh, shut up, you hypocrite! I'm not ashamed! Matahachi's mother can call me anything she wants, but he is my friend, my best friend. I considered it my responsibility to come and tell the old hag what happened to him and what does she do? She tries to incite that mob to torture me! Bringing her news of her precious son was the only reason I broke through the barrier and came here. Is that a violation of the warrior's code?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's not the point, you imbecile! The trouble with you is that you don't even know how to think. You seem to be under the misconception that if you perform one brave deed, that alone makes you a samurai. Well, it doesn't! You let that one act of loyalty convince you of your righteousness. The more convinced you became, the more harm you caused yourself and everyone else. And now where are you? Caught in a trap you set for yourself, that's where!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He paused. \"By the way, how's the view from up there, Takezō?\"\n\n\"You pig! I won't forget this!\"\n\n\"You'll forget everything soon. Before you turn into dried meat, Takezō, take a good look at the wide world around you. Gaze out onto the world of human beings, and change your selfish way of thinking. And then, when you arrive in that other world beyond and are reunited with your ancestors, tell them that just before you died a man named Takuan Sōhō told you this. They'll be overjoyed to learn you had such excellent guidance, even if you did learn what life was all about too late to bring anything but shame to your family name.\"\n\nOtsū, who had been standing transfixed some distance away, came running forward and attacked Takuan in shrill tones." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You're carrying this too far, Takuan! I've been listening. I heard everything. How can you be so cruel to someone who can't even defend himself? You're a religious man, or you're supposed to be! Takezō's telling the truth when he says he trusted you and let you take him without a struggle.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Now what's all this? Is my comrade in arms turning against me?\"\n\n\"Have a heart, Takuan! When I hear you talk like that, I hate you, I really do. If you intend to kill him, then kill him and be done with it! Takezō is resigned to dying. Let him die in peace!\" She was so outraged she grabbed frantically at Takuan's chest.\n\n\"Be quiet!\" he said with uncharacteristic brutality." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Women know nothing of these matters. Hold your tongue, or I'll hang you up there with him.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No, I won't, I won't!\" she screamed. \"I should have a chance to speak too. Didn't I go to the mountains with you and stay there three days and three nights?\"\n\n\"That has nothing to do with it. Takuan Sōhō will punish Takezō as he sees fit.\"\n\n\"So punish him! Kill him! Now. It's not right for you to ridicule his misery while he's lying up there half dead.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That happens to be my only weakness, ridiculing fools like him.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's inhuman!\"\n\n\"Get out of here, now! Go away, Otsū; leave me alone.\"\n\n\"I will not!\"\n\n\"Stop being so stubborn,\" Takuan shouted, giving Otsū a hard shove with his elbow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When she recovered, she was slumped against the tree." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She pressed her face and chest to its trunk and began wailing. She had never dreamed Takuan could be so cruel. The people in the village believed that even if the monk had Takezō tied up for a while, eventually he'd soften and lighten the punishment. Now Takuan had admitted that it was his \"weakness\" to enjoy seeing Takezō suffer!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Otsū shuddered at the savagery of men." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If even Takuan, whom she'd trusted so deeply, could become heartless, then the whole world must indeed be evil beyond comprehension. And if there was no one at all whom she could trust...\n\nShe felt a curious warmth in this tree, felt somehow that through its great, ancient trunk, so thick that ten men with arms outstretched could not encompass it, there coursed the blood of Takezō, flowing down into it from his precarious prison in the upper branches.\n\nHow like a samurai's son he was!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "How courageous! When Takuan had first tied him up, and again just now, she had seen Takezō's weaker side." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He, too, was able to weep. Until now, she'd gone along with the opinion of the crowd, been swayed by it, without having any real idea of the man himself. What was there about him that made people hate him like a demon and hunt him down like a beast?\n\nHer back and shoulders heaved with her sobs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Clinging tightly to the tree trunk, she rubbed her tear-stained cheeks against the bark." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The wind whistled loudly through the upper branches, which were waving broadly to and fro. Large raindrops fell on her kimono neck and flowed down her back, chilling her spine.\n\n\"Come on, Otsū,\" Takuan shouted, covering his head with his hands. \"We'll get soaked.\"\n\nShe didn't even answer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's all your fault, Otsū! You're a crybaby! You start weeping, the heavens weep too.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then, the teasing tone gone from his voice: \"The wind's getting stronger, and it looks like we're in for a big storm, so let's get inside. Don't waste your tears on a man who's going to die anyway! Come on!\" Takuan, sweeping the skirt of his kimono up over his head, ran toward the shelter of the temple.\n\nWithin seconds it was pouring, the raindrops making little white spots as they pummeled the ground. Though the water was streaming down her back, Otsū didn't budge." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She couldn't tear herself away, even after her drenched kimono was clinging to her skin and she was chilled to the marrow." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When her thoughts turned to Takezō, the rain ceased to matter. It didn't occur to her to wonder why she should suffer simply because he was suffering; her mind was consumed by a newly formed image of what a man should be. She silently prayed his life would be spared.\n\nShe wandered in circles round the foot of the tree, looking up to Takezō often, but unable to see him because of the storm." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Without thinking, she called his name, but there was no answer." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A suspicion arose in her mind that he might regard her as a member of the Hon'iden family, or as just another hostile villager.\n\n\"If he stays out in this rain,\" she thought in despair, \"he's sure to die before morning. Oh, isn't there anyone in the world who can save him?\"\n\nShe started running at full speed, partially propelled by the raging wind. Behind the main temple, the kitchen building and the priests' quarters were tightly shuttered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Water overflowing from the roof gutters slashed deep gullies in the ground as it rushed downhill." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Takuan!\" she screamed. She'd reached the door of his room, and began banging on it with all her strength.\n\n\"Who is it?\" came his voice from within.\n\n\"It's me—Otsū!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What are you doing still out there?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He quickly opened the door and looked at her in astonishment. Despite the building's long eaves, rain showered in on him. \"Come inside quick!\" he exclaimed, making a grab for her arm, but she pulled back.\n\n\"No. I came to ask a favor, not to dry off. I beg you, Takuan, take him down from that tree!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What? I'll do no such thing!\" he said adamantly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh, please, Takuan, you must. I'd be grateful to you forever.\" She fell on her knees in the mud and lifted her hands in supplication. \"It doesn't matter about me, but you must help him! Please! You can't just let him die—you can't!\"\n\nThe sound of the torrent nearly blotted out her tearful voice." }, { "from": "human", "value": "With her hands still raised before her, she looked like a Buddhist practicing austerities by standing under a freezing waterfall." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I bow before you, Takuan. I beg you. I'll do anything you ask, but please save him!\"\n\nTakuan was silent. His eyes were tightly closed, like the doors to the shrine where a secret Buddha is kept. Heaving a deep sigh, he opened them and breathed fire.\n\n\"Go to bed! This minute! You're weak to begin with, and being out in this weather is suicidal.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, please, please,\" she pleaded, reaching for the door." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm going to bed. I advise you to do the same.\" His voice was like ice. The door slammed shut.\n\nStill, she would not give up." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She crawled under the house till she reached the spot she guessed was beneath where he slept." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She called up to him: \"Please! Takuan, it's the most important thing in the world to me! Takuan, can you hear me? Answer me, please! You're a monster! A heartless, cold-blooded fiend!\"\n\nFor a while, the monk listened patiently without replying, but she was making it impossible for him to sleep. Finally, in a fit of temper, he jumped out of bed, shouting, \"Help! Thief! There's a thief under my floor. Catch him!\"\n\nOtsū scrambled out into the storm again and retired in defeat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But she was not finished yet." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Rock and the Tree\n\nBy early morning, wind and rain had washed spring away without a trace. A throbbing sun beat down furiously and few villagers walked around without a wide-brimmed hat for protection.\n\nOsugi made her way uphill to the temple, arriving at Takuan's door thirsty and breathless." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Beads of sweat emerged from her hairline, converged in rivulets and coursed straight down her righteous nose." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She took no notice of this, for she was brimming over with curiosity about her victim's fate.\n\n\"Takuan,\" she called, \"did Takezō survive the storm?\"\n\nThe monk appeared on his veranda. \"Oh, it's you. Terrific downpour, wasn't it?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes.\" She smiled crookedly. \"It was murderous.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm sure you know, however, that it isn't very difficult to live through a night or two of even the heaviest rain. The human body can take a lot of buffeting. It's the sun that's really deadly.\"\n\n\"You don't mean he's still alive?\" said Osugi in disbelief, at once turning her wrinkled face toward the old cryptomeria. Her needlelike eyes squinted in the glare." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She raised a hand to shield them and in a moment relaxed a bit." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He's just drooping up there like a wet rag,\" she said with renewed hope. \"He can't have any life left in him, he can't.\"\n\n\"I don't see any crows picking at his face yet.\" Takuan smiled. \"I think that means he's still breathing.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Thank you for telling me. A man of learning like you must surely know more than I do about such matters.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She craned her neck and peered around him into the building. \"I don't see my daughter-in-law anywhere. Would you please call her for me?\"\n\n\"Your daughter-in-law? I don't believe I've ever met her. In any case, I don't know her name. How can I call her?\"\n\n\"Call her, I say!\" Osugi repeated impatiently." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Who on earth are you talking about?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why, Otsū, of course!\"\n\n\"Otsū! Why do you call her your daughter-in-law? She hasn't entered the Hon'iden family, has she?\"\n\n\"No, not yet, but I plan to take her in very soon as Matahachi's bride.\"\n\n\"That's hard to imagine. How can she marry someone when he's not around?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Osugi became more indignant." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Look, you vagabond! This has nothing to do with you! Just tell me where Otsū is!\"\n\n\"I imagine she's still in bed.\"\n\n\"Oh, yes, I should've thought of that,\" the old woman muttered, half to herself. \"I did tell her to watch Takezō nights, so she must become pretty tired by daybreak. Incidentally,\" she said accusingly, \"aren't you supposed to be watching him during the day?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Without waiting for an answer, she did an about-face and marched under the tree." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There she stared upward for a long time, as if in a trance. When it finally broke, she plodded off toward the village, mulberry stick in hand.\n\nTakuan returned to his room, where he stayed until evening.\n\nOtsū's room was not far from his, in the same building." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her door was also closed all day except when opened by the acolyte, who several times brought her medicine or an earthenware pot full of thick rice gruel." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When they had found her half dead in the rain the night before, they'd had to drag her in kicking and screaming and force her to swallow some tea. The priest had then given her a severe scolding while she sat mutely propped against a wall. By morning she had a high fever and was hardly able to lift her head to drink the gruel.\n\nNight fell, and in sharp contrast to the previous evening, a bright moon shone like a clearly cut hole in the sky." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When everyone else was sound asleep, Takuan put down the book he was reading, slipped into his wooden clogs and went out into the yard." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Takezō!\" he called.\n\nHigh above him a branch shook and glistening dewdrops fell.\n\n\"Poor boy, I guess he doesn't have the strength to reply,\" Takuan said to himself. \"Takezō! Takezō!\"\n\n\"What do you want, you bastard of a monk?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "came the ferocious response." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Takuan was seldom taken off guard, but he could not conceal his surprise. \"You certainly howl loudly for a man at death's door. Sure you're not really a fish or some kind of sea monster? At this rate you ought to last another five or six days. By the way, how's your stomach? Empty enough for you?\"\n\n\"Forget the small talk, Takuan. Just cut my head off and get it over with.\"\n\n\"Oh, no! Not so fast! One has to be careful about things like that. If I cut your head off right now, it'd probably fly down and try to bite me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takuan's voice trailed off and he stared at the sky." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What a beautiful moon! You're lucky to be able to view it from such an excellent vantage point.\"\n\n\"Okay, just watch me, you filthy mongrel of a monk! I'll show you what I can do if I put my mind to it!\" With every ounce of strength in him, Takezō then began to shake himself violently, flinging his weight up and down and nearly breaking off the branch he was bound to. Bark and leaves rained down on the man below, who remained unruffled but perhaps a bit affectedly nonchalant." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The monk calmly brushed his shoulders clean, and when he was finished he looked up again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's the spirit, Takezō! It's good to get as angry as you are now. Go ahead! Feel your strength to the fullest, show you're a real man, show us what you're made of! People these days think it's a sign of wisdom and character to be able to control their anger, but I say they're foolish. I hate seeing the young being so restrained, so proper. They have more spirit than their elders and they should show it. Don't hold back, Takezō! The madder you get, the better!\"\n\n\"Just wait, Takuan, just wait! If I have to chew through this rope with my bare teeth, I will, just to get my hands on you and tear you limb from limb!\"\n\n\"Is that a promise or a threat? If you really think you can do it, I'll stay down here and wait. Are you sure you can keep it up without killing yourself before the rope breaks?\"\n\n\"Shut up!\" Takezō screamed hoarsely." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Say, Takezō, you really are strong! The whole tree is swaying. But I don't notice the earth shaking, sorry to say. You know, the trouble with you is that, in reality, you're weak. Your kind of anger is nothing more than personal malice. A real man's anger is an expression of moral indignation. Anger over petty emotional trifles is for women, not men.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It won't be long now,\" he threatened. \"I'll go straight for the neck!\"\n\nTakezō struggled on, but the thick rope showed no sign of weakening. Takuan looked on for a time, then offered some friendly advice." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why don't you cut that out, Takezō—you're getting nowhere. You'll just wear yourself out, and what good is that going to do you? Squirm and wriggle all you like, you couldn't break a single branch of this tree, much less make a dent in the universe.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Takezō gave out a mighty groan. His tantrum was over. He realized the monk was right.\n\n\"I daresay all that strength would be put to better use working for the good of the country. You really should try doing something for others, Takezō, although it is a little late to start now. If you'd just tried, you'd have had a chance at moving the gods or even the universe, not to mention plain, everyday people.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takuan's voice took on a slightly pontifical tone." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's a pity, a great pity! Though you were born human, you're more like an animal, no better than a boar or wolf. How sad it is that a handsome young man like you has to meet his end here, without ever having become truly human! What a waste!\"\n\n\"You call yourself human?\" Takezō spat.\n\n\"Listen, you barbarian! All along you've had too much confidence in your own brute strength, thinking you didn't have a match in the world. But look where you are now!\"\n\n\"I've got nothing to be ashamed of. It wasn't a fair fight.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"In the long run, Takezō, it doesn't make any difference. You were outwitted and outtalked instead of being outpummeled. When you've lost, you've lost. And whether you like it or not, I'm sitting on this rock and you're lying up there helpless. Can't you see the difference between you and me!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yeah. You fight dirty. You're a liar and a coward!\"\n\n\"It would have been crazy of me to try to take you by force. You're too strong physically. A human being doesn't have much chance wrestling a tiger. Luckily, he rarely has to, being the more intelligent of the two. Not many people would argue with the fact that tigers are inferior to humans.\"\n\nTakezō gave no indication that he was still listening.\n\n\"It's the same with your so-called courage. Your conduct up till now gives no evidence that it's anything more than animal courage, the kind that has no respect for human values and life. That's not the kind of courage that makes a samurai. True courage knows fear. It knows how to fear that which should be feared. Honest people value life passionately, they hang on to it like a precious jewel. And they pick the right time and place to surrender it, to die with dignity.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Still no answer." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's what I meant when I said it's a pity about you. You were born with physical strength and fortitude, but you lack both knowledge and wisdom. While you managed to master a few of the more unfortunate features of the Way of the Samurai, you made no effort to acquire learning or virtue. People talk about combining the Way of Learning with the Way of the Samurai, but when properly combined, they aren't two—they're one. Only one Way, Takezō.\"\n\nThe tree was as silent as the rock on which Takuan sat. The darkness, too, was still. After several moments, Takuan rose slowly and deliberately." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Think about it one more night, Takezō. After you do, I'll cut off your head for you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He started walking away, taking long, thoughtful strides, his head bowed. He hadn't gone more than twenty paces when Takezō's voice rang out urgently.\n\n\"Wait!\"\n\nTakuan turned and called back, \"What do you want now?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Come back.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Mm. Don't tell me you want to hear more? Could it be that at last you're beginning to think?\"\n\n\"Takuan! Save me!\" Takezō's cry for help was loud and plaintive. The branch began to tremble, as though it, as though the whole tree, were weeping.\n\n\"I want to be a better man. I realize now how important it is, what a privilege it is to be born human. I'm almost dead, but I understand what it means to be alive. And now that I know, my whole life will consist of being tied to this tree! I can't undo what I've done.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You're finally coming to your senses. For the first time in your life, you're talking like a human being.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't want to die,\" Takezō cried. \"I want to live. I want to go out, try again, do everything right this time.\" His body convulsed with his sobbing. \"Takuan... please! Help me... help me!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The monk shook his head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Sorry, Takezō. It's out of my hands. It's the law of nature. You can't do things over again. That's life. Everything in it is for keeps. Everything! You can't put your head back on after the enemy's cut it off. That's the way it is. Of course, I feel sorry for you, but I can't undo that rope, because it wasn't me who tied it. It was you. All I can do is give you some advice. Face death bravely and quietly. Say a prayer and hope someone bothers to listen. And for the sake of your ancestors, Takezō, have the decency to die with a peaceful look on your face!\"\n\nThe clatter of Takuan's sandals faded into the distance. He was gone, and Takezō cried out no more. Following the spirit of the monk's advice, he shut the eyes that had just experienced a great awakening and forgot everything." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He forgot about living and about dying, and under the myriad tiny stars lay perfectly still as the night breeze sighed through the tree." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was cold, very cold.\n\nAfter a while, he sensed that someone was at the base of the tree. Whoever it was was clutching the broad trunk and trying frantically but not very adroitly to climb up to the lowest branch. Takezō could hear the climber slipping downward after almost every upward advance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He could also hear chips of bark falling to the ground and was sure that the hands were being skinned much worse than the tree was." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But the climber kept at it doggedly, digging into the tree again and again until finally the first branch was within reach. Then the form rose with relative ease to where Takezō, barely distinguishable from the branch he was stretched on, lay depleted of every ounce of strength. A panting voice whispered his name.\n\nWith great difficulty he opened his eyes and found himself face to face with a veritable skeleton; only the eyes were alive and vibrant." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The face spoke. \"It's me!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "it said with childlike simplicity.\n\n\"Otsū?\"\n\n\"Yes, me. Oh, Takezō, let's run away! I heard you scream out that you wanted with all your heart to live.\"\n\n\"Run away? You'll untie me, set me free?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes. I can't stand this village anymore either. If I stay here—oh, I don't even want to think about it. I have my reasons. I just want to get out of this stupid, cruel place. I'll help you, Takezō! We can help each other.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Otsū was already wearing traveling clothes, and all her worldly possessions hung from her shoulder in a small fabric bag.\n\n\"Quick, cut the rope! What are you waiting for? Cut it!\"\n\n\"It won't take a minute.\"\n\nShe unsheathed a small dagger and in no time severed the captive's bonds." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Several minutes passed before the tingling in his limbs eased and he could flex his muscles." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She tried to support his entire weight, with the result that when he slipped, she went down with him. The two bodies clung to each other, bounced off a limb, twisted in the air and crashed to the ground.\n\nTakezō stood up. Dazed from the thirty-foot fall and numbingly weak, he nevertheless planted his feet firmly on the earth. Otsū writhed in pain on her hands and knees." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"O-o-h-h,\" she moaned." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Putting his arms around her, he helped her up.\n\n\"Do you think you broke something?\"\n\n\"I have no idea, but I think I can walk.\"\n\n\"We had all those branches to break the fall, so you're probably not too badly hurt.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What about you? You okay?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes... I'm... I'm okay. I'm... \" He paused a second or two, then blurted out, \"I'm alive! I'm really alive!\"\n\n\"Of course you are!\"\n\n\"It's not 'of course.'\"\n\n\"Let's get out of here fast. If anybody finds us here, we'll be in real trouble.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Otsū started limping away and Takezō followed... slowly, silently, like two frail wounded insects walking on the autumn frost." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They proceeded as best they could, hobbling along in silence, a silence broken only much later, when Otsū cried, \"Look! It's getting light over toward Harima.\"\n\n\"Where are we?\"\n\n\"At the top of Nakayama Pass.\"\n\n\"Have we really come that far?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes.\" Otsū smiled weakly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Surprising what you can do when you're determined. But, Takezō... \" Otsū looked alarmed. \"You must be famished. You haven't eaten anything for days.\"\n\nAt the mention of food, Takezō suddenly realized his shrunken stomach was cramped with pain. Now that he was aware of it, it was excruciating, and it seemed like hours before Otsū managed to undo her bag and take out the food." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her gift of life took the form of rice cakes, stuffed generously with sweet bean paste." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As their sweetness slid smoothly down his throat, Takezō grew giddy. The fingers holding the cake shook. \"I'm alive,\" he thought over and over, vowing that from that moment on he'd live a very different sort of life.\n\nThe reddish clouds of morning turned their cheeks rosy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As he began to see Otsū's face more clearly and hunger gave way to a sated calm, it seemed like a dream that he was sitting here safe and sound with her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"When it gets light, we'll have to be very careful. We're almost at the provincial border,\" said Otsū.\n\nTakezō's eyes widened. \"The border! That's right, I forgot. I have to go to Hinagura.\"\n\n\"Hinagura? Why?\"\n\n\"That's where they've got my sister locked up. I have to get her out of there. Guess I'll have to say good-bye.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Otsū peered into his face in stunned silence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If that's the way you feel about it, go! But if I'd thought you were going to desert me, I wouldn't have left Miyamoto.\"\n\n\"What else can I do? Just leave her there in the stockade?\"\n\nWith a look that pressed in on him, she took his hand in hers. Her face, her whole body, was aflame with passion." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Takezō,\" she pleaded, \"I'll tell you how I feel about this later, when there's time, but please, don't leave me alone here! Take me with you, wherever you go!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But I can't!\"\n\n\"Remember\"—she gripped his hand tight—\"whether you like it or not, I'm staying with you. If you think I'll be in the way when you're trying to rescue Ogin, then I'll go to Himeji and wait.\"\n\n\"All right, do that,\" he agreed instantly.\n\n\"You'll definitely come, won't you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Of course.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'll be waiting at Hanada Bridge, just outside Himeji. I'll wait for you there, whether it takes a hundred days or a thousand.\"\n\nAnswering with a slight nod, Takezō was off without further ado, racing along the ridge leading from the pass into the far-distant mountains. Otsū raised her head to watch him till his body melted into the scenery.\n\nBack in the village, Osugi's grandson came charging up to the Hon'iden manor house, shouting, \"Grandma! Grandma!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Wiping his nose with the back of his hand, he peered into the kitchen and said excitedly, \"Grandma, have you heard? Something awful's happened!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Osugi, who was standing before the stove, coaxing a fire with a bamboo fan, barely looked his way. \"What's all the fuss about?\"\n\n\"Grandma, don't you know? Takezō's escaped!\"\n\n\"Escaped!\" She dropped the fan in the flames." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What are you talking about?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This morning he wasn't in the tree. The rope was cut.\"\n\n\"Heita, you know what I said about telling tales!\"\n\n\"It's the truth, Grandma, honest. Everybody's talking about it.\"\n\n\"Are you absolutely sure?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, ma'am. And up at the temple, they're searching for Otsū. She's gone too. Everybody's running around shouting.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The visible effect of the news was colorful. Osugi's face whitened shade by shade as the flames of her burning fan turned from red to blue to violet. Her face soon seemed drained of all blood, so much so that Heita shrank in fear.\n\n\"Heita!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Run as fast as your legs can carry you. Fetch your daddy right away. Then go down to the riverbank and get Uncle Gon! And hurry!\" Osugi's voice quivered.\n\nBefore Heita even reached the gate, a crowd of muttering villagers had arrived. Among them were Osugi's son-in-law, Uncle Gon, other relatives and a number of tenants.\n\n\"That girl Otsū's run away too, hasn't she?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And Takuan's not around either!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Looks pretty funny if you ask me!\"\n\n\"They were in it together, that's for sure.\"\n\n\"Wonder what the old woman'll do? Her family honor's at stake!\"\n\nThe son-in-law and Uncle Gon, carrying lances passed down to them from their ancestors, stared blankly toward the house." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Before they could do anything, they needed guidance, so they stood there restlessly waiting for Osugi to appear and issue orders." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Granny,\" someone finally shouted, \"haven't you heard the news?\"\n\n\"I'll be there in a minute,\" came the reply. \"All of you, just be quiet and wait.\"\n\nOsugi quickly rose to the occasion." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When she'd realized the awful news had to be true, her blood boiled, but she managed to control herself enough to kneel before the family altar." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After silently saying a prayer of supplication, she raised her head, opened her eyes and turned around. Calmly she opened the doors of the sword chest, pulled out a drawer and withdrew a treasured weapon. Having already donned attire suitable for a manhunt, she slipped the short sword in her obi and went to the entranceway, where she tied her sandal thongs securely round her ankles.\n\nThe awed hush that greeted her as she approached the gate made clear they knew what she was dressed for." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The stubborn old woman meant business and was more than ready to avenge the insult to her house." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Everything's going to be all right,\" she announced in clipped tones. \"I'm going to chase down that shameless hussy myself and see to it she receives her proper punishment.\" Her jaw clamped shut.\n\nShe was already walking briskly down the road before someone in the crowd spoke up." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If the old woman is going, we should go too.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All the relatives and tenants stood up, and fell in behind their doughty matriarch. Arming themselves as they went with sticks, fashioning bamboo lances hastily as they walked, they marched directly to Nakayama Pass, not even pausing to rest on the way. They reached it just before noon, only to find that they were too late.\n\n\"We've let them get away!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "one man shouted. The crowd seethed with anger." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "To add to their frustration, a border official approached to inform them such a large group could not pass through.\n\nUncle Gon came forward and pleaded earnestly with the official, describing Takezō as a \"criminal,\" Otsū as \"evil\" and Takuan as \"crazy.\" \"If we drop this matter now,\" he explained, \"it will sully the name of our ancestors. We'll never be able to hold up our heads. We'll be the laughingstock of the village. The Hon'iden family might even have to abandon its land.\"\n\nThe official said he understood their predicament but could do nothing to help." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The law's the law." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He could perhaps send an inquiry on to Himeji and get them special permission to cross the border, but that would take time.\n\nOsugi, after conferring with her relatives and tenants, stepped in front of the official and asked, \"In that case, is there any reason why two of us, myself and Uncle Gon, can't go through?\"\n\n\"Up to five people are permitted.\"\n\nOsugi nodded her acquiescence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then, although it looked as if she was about to deliver a moving farewell, she instead called her followers together in a very matter-of-fact way." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They lined up before her, staring attentively at her thin-lipped mouth and large protruding teeth.\n\nWhen they were all quiet, she said, \"There's no reason for you to be upset. I anticipated something like this happening before we even set out. When I put on this short sword, one of the most prized Hon'iden heirlooms, I knelt before our ancestors' memorial tablets and bade them a formal farewell." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I also made two vows." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"One was that I would overtake and punish the brazen female who has smeared our name with mud. The other was that I'd find out for sure, even if I died trying, whether my son Matahachi is alive. And if he is, I'll bring him home to carry on the family name. I swore to do this, and I will do it, even if it means tying a rope around his neck and dragging him all the way back. He has an obligation not only to me and to those departed, but to you as well. He will then find a wife a hundred times better than Otsū and blot out this disgrace for all time, so that the villagers will once again recognize our house as a noble and honorable one.\"\n\nAs they were applauding and cheering, one man uttered something sounding like a groan. Osugi stared fixedly at her son-in-law.\n\n\"Now Uncle Gon and I,\" she went on, \"are both old enough to retire. We are both in agreement on everything I've vowed to do, and he, too, is resolved to accomplish them, even if it means spending two or three years doing nothing else, even if it means walking the length and breadth of the country. While I'm gone, my son-in-law will take my place as head of the house. During that time, you must promise to work as hard as ever. I don't want to hear of any of you neglecting the silkworms or letting weeds grow wild in the fields. Do you understand?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Uncle Gon was nearly fifty, Osugi ten years older." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The crowd seemed hesitant to let them go it alone, since they were obviously no match for Takezō in the event that they should ever find him. They all imagined him to be a madman who would attack and kill for the smell of blood alone.\n\n\"Wouldn't it be better,\" someone suggested, \"if you took three young men along with you? The man said that five can pass through.\"\n\nThe old woman shook her head with vehemence. \"I don't need any help." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I never have, and never will." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ha! Everyone thinks Takezō is so strong, but he doesn't scare me! He's only a brat, with not much more hair on him than when I knew him as a baby. I'm not his equal in physical strength, of course, but I haven't lost my wits. I can still outsmart an enemy or two." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Uncle Gon's not senile yet either." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Now I've told you what I'm going to do,\" she said, pointing her index finger at her nose. \"And I'm going to do it. There's nothing left for you to do but go home, so go and take care of everything till we return.\"\n\nShe shooed them away and walked up to the barrier. No one tried to stop her again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They called their good-byes and watched as the old couple started their journey eastward down the mountainside." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The old lady really has guts, doesn't she?\" someone remarked.\n\nAnother man cupped his hands and shouted, \"If you get sick, send a messenger back to the village.\"\n\nA third called solicitously, \"Take care of yourselves!\"\n\nWhen she could no longer hear their voices, Osugi turned to Uncle Gon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We don't have a thing to worry about,\" she assured him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We're going to die before those young people anyway.\"\n\n\"You're absolutely right,\" he replied with conviction. Uncle Gon made his living hunting, but in his younger days he had been a samurai involved, to hear him tell it, in many a gory battle. Even now his skin was healthily ruddy and his hair as black as ever." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His surname was Fuchikawa; Gon stood for Gonroku, his given name." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As Matahachi's uncle, he was naturally quite concerned and upset about the recent goings-on.\n\n\"Granny,\" he said.\n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"You had the foresight to dress for the road, but I'm just wearing my everyday clothes. I'll have to stop somewhere for sandals and a hat.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"There's a teahouse about halfway down this hill.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So there is! Yes, I remember. It's called the Mikazuki Teahouse, isn't it? I'm sure they'll have what I need.\"\n\nBy the time they reached the teahouse they were surprised to see that the sun was beginning to set. They had thought they had more daylight hours ahead of them, since the days were growing longer with the approach of summer—more time to search on this, their first day in pursuit of their lost family honor.\n\nThey had some tea and rested for a while." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then, as Osugi laid down the money for the bill, she said, \"Takano's too far to reach by nightfall. We'll have to make do with sleeping on those smelly mats at the packhorse driver's inn in Shingū, although not sleeping at all might be better than that.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We need our sleep now more than ever. Let's get going,\" said Gonroku, rising to his feet and clutching the new straw hat he had just bought. \"But wait just a minute.\"\n\n\"Why?\"\n\n\"I want to fill this bamboo tube with drinking water.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Going around behind the building, he submerged his tube in a clear running brook till the bubbles stopped rising to the surface." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Walking back toward the road in front, he glanced through a side window into the dim interior of the teahouse. Suddenly he came to a halt, surprised to see a figure lying on the floor, covered with straw matting. The smell of medicine permeated the air. Gonroku couldn't see the face, but he could discern long black hair strewn every which way on the pillow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Uncle Gon, hurry up!\" Osugi cried impatiently." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Coming.\"\n\n\"What kept you?\"\n\n\"There seems to be a sick person inside.\" he said, walking behind her like a chastened dog." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What's so unusual about that? You're as easy to distract as a child.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Sorry, sorry,\" he apologized hastily. He was as intimidated by Osugi as anyone else but knew better than most how to manage her.\n\nThey set off down the fairly steep hill leading to the Harima road. The road, used daily by packhorses from the silver mines, was pitted with potholes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Don't fall down, Granny,\" Gon advised." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How dare you patronize me! I can walk on this road with my eyes closed. Be careful yourself, you old fool.\"\n\nJust then a voice greeted them from behind. \"You two are pretty spry, aren't you?\"\n\nThey turned to see the owner of the teahouse on horseback." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, yes; we just had a rest at your place, thank you. And where are you off to?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Tatsuno.\"\n\n\"At this hour?\"\n\n\"There's no doctor between here and there. Even on horseback, it'll take me at least till midnight.\"\n\n\"Is it your wife who's sick?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, no.\" His brows knitted." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If it were my wife, or one of the children, I wouldn't mind. But it's a lot of trouble to go to for a stranger, someone who just stopped in to take a rest.\"\n\n\"Oh,\" said Uncle Gon, \"is it the girl in your back room? I happened to glance in and see her.\"\n\nOsugi's brows now knitted as well.\n\n\"Yes,\" the shopkeeper said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"While she was resting, she started shivering, so I offered her the back room to lie down in. I felt I had to do something. Well, she didn't get any better. In fact, she seems much worse. She's burning up with fever. Looks pretty bad.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Osugi stopped in her tracks. \"Is the girl about sixteen and very slender?\"\n\n\"Yes, about sixteen, I'd say. Says she comes from Miyamoto.\"\n\nOsugi, winking at Gonroku, began poking around in her obi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A look of distress came over her face as she exclaimed, \"Oh, I've left them back at the teahouse!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Left what?\"\n\n\"My prayer beads. I remember now—I put them down on a stool.\"\n\n\"Oh, that's too bad,\" said the shopkeeper, turning his horse around. \"I'll go back for them.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, no! You've got to fetch the doctor. That sick girl's more important than my beads. We'll just go back and pick them up ourselves.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Uncle Gon was already on his way, striding rapidly back up the hill. As soon as Osugi disposed of the solicitous teahouse owner, she hurried to catch up. Before long they were both puffing and panting. Neither spoke.\n\nIt had to be Otsū!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Otsū had never really shaken off the fever she caught the night they dragged her in out of the storm." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Somehow she forgot about feeling sick during the few hours she was with Takezō, but after he left her she'd walked only a short way before beginning to give in to pain and fatigue. By the time she got to the teahouse, she felt miserable.\n\nShe did not know how long she had been lying in the back room, deliriously begging for water time and time again. Before leaving, the shopkeeper had looked in on her and urged her to try to stick it out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Moments later she had forgotten he'd ever spoken to her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her mouth was parched. She felt as if she had a mouthful of thorns. \"Master, water, please,\" she called out feebly. Hearing no reply, she raised herself on her elbows and craned her neck toward the water basin just outside the door." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Slowly she managed to crawl to it, but as she put her hand on the bamboo dipper at the side, she heard a rain shutter fall to the ground somewhere behind her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The teahouse was little more than a mountain hut to begin with, and there was nothing to prevent anyone from simply lifting out any or all of the loosely fitted shutters.\n\nOsugi and Uncle Gon stumbled in through the opening.\n\n\"I can't see a thing,\" complained the old woman in what she thought was a whisper.\n\n\"Wait a minute,\" Gon replied, heading toward the hearth room, where he stirred up the embers and threw on some wood to get a bit of light." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"She's not in here, Granny!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She must be! She can't have gotten away!\" Almost immediately, Osugi noticed that the door in the back room was ajar.\n\n\"Look, out there!\" she shouted.\n\nOtsū, who was standing just outside, threw the dipperful of water through the narrow opening into the old woman's face and sped downhill like a bird in the wind, sleeves and skirt trailing behind her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Osugi ran outside and spat out an imprecation." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Gon, Gon. Do something, do something!\"\n\n\"Did she get away?\"\n\n\"Of course she did! We certainly gave her enough warning, making all that noise. You would have to drop the shutter!\" The old woman's face contorted with rage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Can't you do something?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Uncle Gon directed his attention to the deerlike form flying in the distance. He raised his arm and pointed. \"That's her, right? Don't worry, she doesn't have much of a head start. She's sick and anyway she only has the legs of a girl. I'll catch up with her in no time.\" He tucked his chin in and broke into a run." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Osugi followed close behind." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Uncle Gon,\" she cried, \"you can use your sword on her, but don't cut off her head until after I've had a chance to give her a piece of my mind.\"\n\nUncle Gon suddenly let out a scream of dismay and fell to his hands and knees.\n\n\"What's the matter?\" cried Osugi, coming up behind him.\n\n\"Look down.\" Osugi did." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Directly in front of them was a steep drop into a bamboo-covered ravine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She dived into that?\"\n\n\"Yes. I don't think it's very deep, but it's too dark to tell. I'll have to go back to the teahouse and get a torch.\"\n\nAs he knelt staring into the ravine, Osugi cried, \"What are you waiting for, you dolt?\" and gave him a violent shove." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was the sound of feet trying to gain a footing, scrambling desperately before coming to a stop at the bottom of the ravine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You old witch!\" shouted Uncle Gon angrily. \"Now just get on down here yourself! See how you like it!\"\n\nTakezō, arms folded, sat atop a large boulder and stared across the valley at the Hinagura stockade. Under one of those roofs, he reflected, his sister was imprisoned." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But he'd sat there from dawn to dusk the previous day and all day today, unable to devise a plan to get her out." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He intended to sit until he did.\n\nHis thinking had progressed to the point where he was confident he could outmaneuver the fifty or a hundred soldiers guarding the stockade, but he continued to ponder the lay of the land. He had to get not only in but out. It was not encouraging: behind the stockade was a deep gorge, and at the front the road into the stockade was well protected by a double gate." }, { "from": "human", "value": "To make matters worse, the two of them would be forced to flee across a flat plateau, which offered not a single tree to hide behind; on a cloudless day such as this, a better target would be hard to find." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The situation thus called for a night assault, but he'd observed that the gates were closed and locked before sunset. Any attempt to jimmy them open would doubtless set off a cacophonous alarm of wooden clappers. There seemed no foolproof way to approach the fortress.\n\n\"There's no way,\" Takezō thought sadly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Even if I just took a long shot, risked my life and hers, it wouldn't work.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He felt humiliated and helpless. \"How,\" he asked himself, \"did I get to be such a coward? A week ago I wouldn't have even thought about the chances of getting out alive.\"\n\nFor another half day his arms remained folded over his breast as if locked. He feared something he couldn't define and hesitated getting any closer to the stockade." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Time and time again he upbraided himself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I've lost my nerve. I never used to be this way. Maybe staring death in the face makes cowards out of everyone.\"\n\nHe shook his head. No, it wasn't that, not cowardice.\n\nHe had simply learned his lesson, the one Takuan had taken so much trouble to teach, and could now see things more clearly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He felt a new calm, a sense of peace." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It seemed to flow in his breast like a gentle river. Being brave was very different from being ferocious; he saw that now. He didn't feel like an animal, he felt like a man, a courageous man who's outgrown his adolescent recklessness. The life that had been given to him was something to be treasured and cherished, polished and perfected." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He stared at the lovely clear sky, whose color alone seemed a miracle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Still, he could not leave his sister stranded, even if it meant violating, one last time, the precious self-knowledge he'd so recently and painfully acquired.\n\nA plan began to take shape. \"After nightfall, I'll cross the valley and climb the cliff on the other side. The natural barrier may be a blessing in disguise; there's no gate at the back, and it doesn't seem heavily guarded.\"\n\nHe had hardly arrived at this decision when an arrow whizzed toward him and thudded into the ground inches from his toes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Across the valley, he saw a crowd of people milling about just inside the stockade." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Obviously they'd spotted him. Almost immediately they dispersed. He surmised it had been a test shot, to see how he'd react, and deliberately remained motionless upon his perch.\n\nBefore long, the light of the evening sun began to fade behind the peaks of the western mountains." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Just before darkness dropped, he arose and picked up a rock." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had spotted his dinner flying in the air over his head. He downed the bird on the first try, tore it apart and sank his teeth into the warm flesh.\n\nWhile he ate, twenty-odd soldiers moved noisily into position and surrounded him. Once in place, they let out a battle cry, one man shouting, \"It's Takezō! Takezō from Miyamoto!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He's dangerous! Don't underestimate him!\" someone else warned." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Looking up from his feast of raw fowl, Takezō trained a murderous eye on his would-be captors. It was the same look animals flash when disturbed in the midst of a meal.\n\n\"Y-a-a-h-h!\" he yelled, seizing a huge rock and hurling it at the perimeter of this human wall. The rock turned red with blood, and in no time he was over it and away, running straight toward the stockade gate." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The men were agape." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What's he doing?\"\n\n\"Where's the fool going?\"\n\n\"He's out of his mind!\"\n\nHe flew like a crazed dragonfly, with the war-whooping soldiers in full chase." }, { "from": "human", "value": "By the time they reached the outer gate, however, he'd already leapt over it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But now he was between the gates, in what was in fact a cage. Takezō's eyes took in none of this. He could see neither the pursuing soldiers nor the fence, nor the guards inside the second gate. He wasn't even conscious of knocking out, with a single blow, the sentinel who tried to jump him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "With almost superhuman strength, he wrenched at a post of the inner gate, shaking it furiously till he was able to pull it out of the ground." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then he turned on his pursuers. He didn't know their number; all he knew was that something big and black was attacking him. Taking aim as best he could, he struck at the amorphous mass with the gatepost. A good number of lances and swords broke, flew into the air and fell useless to the ground." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Ogin!\" cried Takezō, running toward the rear of the stockade. \"Ogin, it's me—Takezō!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He glared at the buildings with fiery eyes, calling out repeatedly to his sister. \"Has it all been a trick?\" he wondered in panic. One by one he began battering down doors with the gatepost." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The guards' chickens, squawking for dear life, flew in every direction." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ogin!\"\n\nWhen he failed to locate her, his hoarse cries became nearly unintelligible.\n\nIn the shadows of one of the small, dirty cells he saw a man trying to sneak away.\n\n\"Halt!\" he shouted, throwing the bloodstained gatepost at the weasel-like creature's feet." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When Takezō leaped at him, he began to cry shamelessly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Takezō slapped him sharply on the cheek. \"Where's my sister?\" he roared. \"What have they done to her? Tell me where she is or I'll beat you to death!\"\n\n\"She... she's not here. Day before yesterday they took her away. Orders from the castle.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Where, you stupid bastard, where?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Himeji.\"\n\n\"Himeji?\"\n\n\"Y-y-yes.\"\n\n\"If you're lying, I'll... \" Takezō grabbed the sniveling mass by its hair." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's true—true. I swear!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It better be, or I'll come back just for you!\"\n\nThe soldiers were closing in again, and Takezō lifted the man and hurled him at them. Then he disappeared into the shadows of the dingy cells. Half a dozen arrows flew by him, one sticking like a giant sewing needle in the skirt of his kimono." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takezō bit his thumbnail and watched the arrows speed by, then suddenly dashed for the fence and was over it in a flash." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Behind him there was a loud explosion. The echo of the gunshot roared across the valley.\n\nTakezō sped down the gorge, and as he ran, fragments of Takuan's teachings were racing through his head: \"Learn to fear that which is fearsome... Brute strength is child's play, the mindless strength of beasts... Have the strength of the true warrior... real courage... Life is precious.\"\n\nThe Birth of Musashi" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takezō waited on the outskirts of the castle town of Himeji, sometimes keeping out of sight under Hanada Bridge but more often standing on the bridge unobtrusively surveying the passersby." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When not in the immediate vicinity of the bridge, he would make short excursions around town, careful to keep his hat low and his face concealed, like a beggar's, behind a piece of straw matting.\n\nIt baffled him that Otsū had not yet appeared; only a week had gone by since she swore to wait there—not a hundred but a thousand days. Once Takezō had made a promise, he was loath to break it. But with every passing moment he grew more and more tempted to be on the move, though his promise to Otsū was not the only reason he made his way to Himeji." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He also had to find out where they were keeping Ogin." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was near the center of town one day when he heard a voice shouting his name. Footsteps came running after him. He looked up sharply, to see Takuan approaching, calling, \"Takezō! Wait!\"\n\nTakezō was startled, and as usual in the presence of this monk, felt slightly humiliated." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had thought his disguise was foolproof and had been sure that no one, not even Takuan, would recognize him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The monk grabbed him by the wrist. \"Come with me,\" he commanded. The urgency in his voice was impossible to ignore. \"And don't make any trouble. I've spent a lot of time looking for you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takezō followed meekly. He had no idea where they were going, but he once again found himself powerless to resist this particular man. He wondered why." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was free now, and for all he knew they were headed straight back to the dreaded tree in Miyamoto. Or perhaps into a castle dungeon. He had suspected they had his sister locked up somewhere in the castle's confines, but he hadn't a shred of evidence to back this up. He hoped he was right: if he, too, was taken there, at least they could die together." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If they had to die, he could think of no one else he loved enough to share the final moments of precious life with." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Himeji Castle loomed before his eyes. He could see now why it was called the \"White Crane Castle\": the stately edifice stood upon huge stone ramparts, like a great and proud bird descended from the heavens. Takuan preceded him across the wide arcing bridge spanning the outer moat. A row of guards stood at attention before the riveted iron gate." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The sunlight glancing off their drawn lances made Takezō, for a split second, hesitant to pass." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Takuan, without even turning, sensed this and with a slightly impatient gesture urged him to keep moving. Passing under the gate turret, they approached the second gate, where the soldiers looked even more tense and alert, ready to fight at a moment's notice. This was the castle of a daimyō. It would take its inhabitants a while to relax and accept the fact that the country was successfully unified." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Like many other castles of the time, it was far from accustomed to the luxury of peace." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Takuan summoned the captain of the guard. \"I've brought him,\" he announced. Handing Takezō over, the monk advised the man to take good care of him as previously instructed, but added, \"Be careful. He's a lion cub with fangs. He's far from tamed. If you tease him, he bites.\"\n\nTakuan went through the second gate to the central compound, where the daimyō's mansion was located." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Apparently he knew the way well; he needed neither a guide nor directions." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He barely raised his head as he walked and not a soul interrupted his progress.\n\nHeeding Takuan's instructions, the captain didn't lay a finger on his charge. He simply asked Takezō to follow him. Takezō silently obeyed. They soon arrived at a bathhouse, and the captain instructed him to go in and get cleaned up." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At this point Takezō's spine stiffened, for he remembered all too well his last bath, at Osugi's house, and the trap from which he had narrowly escaped." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He folded his arms and tried to think, stalling for time and inspecting the surroundings. It was all so peaceful—an island of tranquillity where a daimyō could, when not plotting strategies, enjoy the luxuries of life. Soon a servant bearing a black cotton kimono and hakama arrived, bowing and saying politely, \"I'll lay these here. You can put them on when you come out.\"\n\nTakezō nearly wept. The outfit included not only a folding fan and some tissue paper, but a pair of long and short samurai swords." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Everything was simple and inexpensive, but nothing was lacking." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was being treated like a human being again and wanted to lift the clean cotton to his face, rub it to his cheek and inhale its freshness. He turned and entered the bathhouse.\n\nIkeda Terumasa, lord of the castle, leaned on an armrest and gazed out into the garden. He was a short man, with a cleanly shaven head and dark pock-marks lining his face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Although not dressed in formal attire, his countenance was stern and dignified." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is that him?\" he asked Takuan, pointing his folding fan.\n\n\"Yes, that's him,\" answered the monk with a deferential bow.\n\n\"He has a good face. You did well to save him.\"\n\n\"He owes his life to you, your lordship. Not me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's not so, Takuan, and you know it. If I just had a handful of men like you under my command, no doubt a lot of useful people would be saved, and the world would be the better for it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The daimyō sighed. \"My trouble is that all my men think their sole duty is to tie people up or behead them.\"\n\nAn hour later, Takezō was seated in the garden beyond the veranda, his head bowed and his hands resting flat on his knees in an attitude of respectful attentiveness.\n\n\"Your name is Shimmen Takezō, isn't it?\" Lord Ikeda asked.\n\nTakezō glanced up quickly to see the face of the famous man, then respectfully cast his eyes downward again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, sir,\" he answered clearly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The House of Shimmen is a branch of the Akamatsu family, and Akamatsu Masanori, as you well know, was once lord of this castle.\"\n\nTakezō's throat went dry. He was, for once, at a loss for words. Having always thought of himself as the black sheep of the Shimmen family, with no particular feelings of respect or awe for the daimyō, he was nonetheless filled with shame at having brought such complete dishonor on his ancestors and his family name. His face burned." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What you have done is inexcusable,\" continued Terumasa in a sterner tone." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, sir.\"\n\n\"And I am going to have to punish you for it.\" Turning to Takuan, he asked, \"Is it true that my retainer, Aoki Tanzaemon, without my leave, promised you that if you captured this man, you could decide and mete out his punishment?\"\n\n\"I think you can best find that out by asking Tanzaemon directly.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I've already questioned him.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Then did you think I would lie to you?\"\n\n\"Of course not. Tanzaemon has confessed, but I wanted your confirmation. Since he is my direct vassal, his oath to you constitutes one from me. Therefore, even though I am lord of this fief, I have lost my right to penalize Takezō as I see fit. Of course, I will not permit him to go unpunished, but it is up to you what form the punishment is to take.\"\n\n\"Good. That is exactly what I had in mind.\"\n\n\"Then I assume you have given it some thought. Well, what shall we do with him?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I think it would be best to place the prisoner in—what shall we say?—'straitened circumstances' for a while.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And how do you propose to do that?\"\n\n\"I believe you have somewhere in this castle a closed room, one long rumored to be haunted?\"\n\n\"Yes, I do. The servants refused to enter it, and my retainers avoided it consistently, so it went unused. I now leave it as it is, since there is no reason to open it again.\"\n\n\"But don't you think it's beneath the dignity of one of the strongest warriors in the Tokugawa realm, you, Ikeda Terumasa, to have a room in your castle where a light never shines?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I never thought of it that way.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well, people think of things like that. It's a reflection on your authority and prestige. I say we should put a light there.\"\n\n\"Hmm.\"\n\n\"If you'll let me make use of that chamber, I'll keep Takezō there until I'm ready to pardon him. He's had enough of living in total darkness. You hear that, don't you, Takezō?\"\n\nThere was not a peep from Takezō, but Terumasa began laughing and said, \"Fine!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was obvious from their excellent rapport that Takuan had been telling Aoki Tanzaemon the truth that night at the temple." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He and Terumasa, both followers of Zen, seemed to be on friendly, almost brotherly, terms.\n\n\"After you've taken him to his new quarters, why don't you join me in the teahouse?\" Terumasa asked the monk as he rose to leave.\n\n\"Oh, are you planning to demonstrate once again how inept you are at the tea ceremony?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's not even fair, Takuan. These days I've really started to get the knack of it. Come along later and I'll prove to you I'm no longer simply an uncouth soldier. I'll be waiting.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With that, Terumasa retired to the inner part of the mansion. Despite his short stature—he was barely five feet tall—his presence seemed to fill the many-storied castle.\n\nIt was always pitch dark high in the donjon, where the haunted room was located. There was no calendar here: no spring, no fall, no sounds of everyday life." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was only one small lamp, lighting a pale and sallow-cheeked Takezō." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The topography section of Sun-tzu's Art of War lay open on the low table before him.\n\nSun-tzu said:\n\nAmong topographical features,\n\nThere are those that are passable." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There are those that suspend." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There are those that confine.\n\nThere are those that are steep.\n\nThere are those that are distant.\n\nWhenever he came to a passage that particularly appealed to him, like this one, he would read it aloud over and over, like a chant." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He who knows the art of the warrior is not confused in his movements." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He acts and is not confined.\n\nTherefore Sun-tzu said:\n\nHe who knows himself and knows his enemy wins without danger.\n\nHe who knows the heavens and the earth wins out over all." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When his eyes blurred from fatigue, he rinsed them with cool water from a small bowl he kept beside him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If the oil ran low and the lamp wick sputtered, he simply put it out. Around the table was a mountain of books, some in Japanese, some in Chinese. Books on Zen, volumes on the history of Japan. Takezō was virtually buried in these scholarly tomes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They had all been borrowed from Lord Ikeda's collection." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When Takuan had sentenced him to confinement, he had said, \"You may read as much as you want. A famous priest of ancient times once said, 'I become immersed in the sacred scriptures and read thousands of volumes. When I come away, I find that my heart sees more than before.'\n\n\"Think of this room as your mother's womb and prepare to be born anew. If you look at it only with your eyes, you will see nothing more than an unlit, closed cell. But look again, more closely. Look with your mind and think. This room can be the wellspring of enlightenment, the same fountain of knowledge found and enriched by sages in the past. It is up to you to decide whether this is to be a chamber of darkness or one of light.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takezō had long since stopped counting the days." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When it was cold, it was winter; when hot, summer. He knew little more than that. The air remained the same, dank and musty, and the seasons had no bearing on his life. He was almost positive, however, that the next time the swallows came to nest in the donjon's boarded-over gun slots, it would be the spring of his third year in the womb." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'll be twenty-one years old,\" he said to himself." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Seized by remorse, he groaned as if in mourning. \"And what have I done in those twenty-one years?\" Sometimes the memory of his early years pressed in on him unrelentingly, engulfing him in grief. He would wail and moan, flail and kick, and sometimes sob like a baby. Whole days were swallowed up in agony, which, once it subsided, left him spent and lifeless, hair disheveled and heart torn apart." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: Cooperative storytelling\nMy role: Provide a brief opening\nYour role: Expand upon my opening with 4 sentences, emulating the writing style of Eiji Yoshikawa." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Finally, one day, he heard the swallows returning to the donjon eaves. Once again, spring had flown from across the seas.\n\nNot long after its arrival, a voice, now sounding strange, almost painful to the ears, inquired, \"Takezō, are you well?\"\n\nThe familiar head of Takuan appeared at the top of the stairs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Startled and much too deeply moved to utter a sound, Takezō grabbed hold of the monk's kimono sleeve and pulled him into the room." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The servants who brought his food had never once spoken a word. He was overjoyed to hear another human voice, especially this one.\n\n\"I've just returned from a journey,\" said Takuan. \"You're in your third year here now, and I've decided that after gestating this long, you must be pretty well formed.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I am grateful for your goodness, Takuan. I understand now what you've done. How can I ever thank you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Thank me?\" Takuan said incredulously. Then he laughed. \"Even though you've had no one to converse with but yourself, you've actually learned to speak like a human being! Good! Today you will leave this place. And as you do so, hug your hard-earned enlightenment to your bosom. You're going to need it when you go forth into the world to join your fellow men.\"\n\nTakuan took Takezō just as he was to see Lord Ikeda. Although he had been relegated to the garden in the previous audience, a place was now made for him on the veranda." }, { "from": "human", "value": "After the salutations and some perfunctory small talk, Terumasa lost no time in asking Takezō to serve as his vassal." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Takezō declined. He was greatly honored, he explained, but he did not feel the time was yet right to go into a daimyō's service. \"And if I did so in this castle,\" he said, \"ghosts would probably start appearing in the closed room every night, just as everyone says they do.\"\n\n\"Why do you say that? Did they come to keep you company?\"\n\n\"If you take a lamp and inspect the room closely, you'll see black spots spattering the doors and beams. It looks like lacquer, but it's not. It's human blood, most likely blood spilled by the Akamatsus, my forebears, when they went down to defeat in this castle.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Hmm. You may very well be right.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Seeing those stains infuriated me. My blood boiled to think that my ancestors, who once ruled over this whole region, ended up being annihilated, their souls just blown about in the autumn winds. They died violently, but it was a powerful clan and they can be roused.\n\n\"That same blood flows in my veins,\" he went on, an intense look in his eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Unworthy though I am, I am a member of the same clan, and if I stay in this castle, the ghosts may rouse themselves and try to reach me. In a sense, they already have, by making it clear to me in that room just who I am. But they could cause chaos, perhaps rebel and even set off another bloodbath. We are not in an era of peace. I owe it to the people of this whole region not to tempt the vengeance of my ancestors.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Terumasa nodded. \"I see what you mean. It's better if you leave this castle, but where will you go? Do you plan to return to Miyamoto? Live out your life there?\"\n\nTakezō smiled silently. \"I want to wander about on my own for a while.\"\n\n\"I see,\" the lord replied, turning to Takuan. \"See that he receives money and suitable clothing,\" he commanded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takuan bowed. \"Let me thank you for your kindness to the boy.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Takuan!\" Ikeda laughed. \"This is the first time you've ever thanked me twice for anything!\"\n\n\"I suppose that's true.\" Takuan grinned. \"It won't happen again.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's all right for him to roam about while he's still young,\" said Terumasa." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But now that he's going out on his own—reborn, as you put it—he should have a new name. Let it be Miyamoto, so that he never forgets his birthplace. From now on, Takezō, call yourself Miyamoto.\"\n\nTakezō's hands went automatically to the floor. Palms down, he bowed deep and long. \"Yes, sir, I will do that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You should change your first name too,\" Takuan interjected." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why not read the Chinese characters of your name as 'Musashi' instead of 'Takezō'? You can keep writing your name the same as before. It's only fitting that everything should begin anew on this day of your rebirth.\"\n\nTerumasa, who was by this time in a very good mood, nodded his approval enthusiastically. \"Miyamoto Musashi! It's a good name, a very good name. We should drink to it.\"\n\nThey moved into another room, sake was served, and Takezō and Takuan kept his lordship company far into the night." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They were joined by several of Terumasa's retainers, and eventually Takuan got to his feet and performed an ancient dance." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was expert, his vivid movements creating an imaginary world of delight. Takezō, now Musashi, watched with admiration, respect and enjoyment as the drinking went on and on.\n\nThe following day they both left the castle. Musashi was taking his first steps into a new life, a life of discipline and training in the martial arts." }, { "from": "human", "value": "During his three-year incarceration, he had resolved to master the Art of War." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Takuan had his own plans. He had decided to travel about the countryside, and the time had come, he said, to part again.\n\nWhen they reached the town outside the castle walls, Musashi made as if to take his leave, but the monk grabbed his sleeve and said, \"Isn't there someone you'd like to see?\"\n\n\"Who?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Ogin?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is she still alive?\" he asked in bewilderment. Even in his sleep, he'd never forgotten the gentle sister who'd been a mother to him so long.\n\nTakuan told him that when he'd attacked the stockade at Hinagura three years earlier, Ogin had indeed already been taken away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Although no charges were pressed against her, she had been reluctant to return home and so went instead to stay with a relative in a village in the Sayo district." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She was now living comfortably there.\n\n\"Wouldn't you like to see her?\" asked Takuan. \"She's very eager to see you. I told her three years ago that she should consider you dead, since in one sense, you were. I also told her, however, that after three years I'd bring her a new brother, different from the old Takezō.\"\n\nMusashi pressed his palms together and raised them in front of his head, as he would have done in prayer before a statue of the Buddha." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Not only have you taken care of me,\" he said with deep emotion, \"but you've seen to Ogin's well-being too. Takuan, you are truly a compassionate man. I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you for what you've done.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"One way to thank me would be to let me take you to your sister.\"\n\n\"No... No, I don't think I should go. Hearing about her from you has been as good as meeting her.\"\n\n\"Surely you want to see her yourself, if only for a few minutes.\"\n\n\"No, I don't think so. I did die, Takuan, and I do feel reborn. I don't think that now is the time to return to the past. What I have to do is take a resolute step forward, into the future. I've barely found the way along which I'll have to travel. When I've made some progress toward the knowledge and self-perfection I'm seeking, perhaps I'll take the time to relax and look back. Not now.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I see.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I find it hard to put into words, but I hope you'll understand anyway.\"\n\n\"I do. I'm glad to see you're as serious about your goal as you are. Keep following your own judgment.\"\n\n\"I'll say good-bye now, but someday, if I don't get myself killed along the way, we'll meet again.\"\n\n\"Yes, yes. If we have a chance to meet, let's by all means do so.\" Takuan turned, took a step, and then halted. \"Oh, yes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I suppose I should warn you that Osugi and Uncle Gon left Miyamoto in search of you and Otsū three years ago." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They resolved never to return until they've taken their revenge, and old as they are, they're still trying to track you down. They may cause you some inconvenience, but I don't think they can make any real trouble. Don't take them too seriously.\n\n\"Oh, yes, and then there's Aoki Tanzaemon. I don't suppose you ever knew his name, but he was in charge of the search for you. Perhaps it had nothing to do with anything you or I said or did, but that splendid samurai managed to disgrace himself, with the result that he's been dismissed permanently from Lord Ikeda's service. He's no doubt wandering about too.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takuan grew grave. \"Musashi, your path won't be an easy one. Be careful as you make your way along it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'll do my best.\" Musashi smiled.\n\n\"Well, I guess that's everything. I'll be on my way.\" Takuan turned and walked westward. He didn't look back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Keep well,\" Musashi called after him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He stood at the crossroads watching the monk's form recede until it was out of sight. Then, once again alone, he started to walk toward the east.\n\n\"Now there's only this sword,\" he thought. \"The only thing in the world I have to rely on.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He rested his hand on the weapon's handle and vowed to himself, \"I will live by its rule. I will regard it as my soul, and by learning to master it, strive to improve myself, to become a better and wiser human being. Takuan follows the Way of Zen, I will follow the Way of the Sword. I must make of myself an even better man than he is.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After all, he reflected, he was still young. It was not too late.\n\nHis footsteps were steady and strong, his eyes full of youth and hope. From time to time he raised the brim of his basket hat, and stared down the long road into the future, the unknown path all humans must tread." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He hadn't gone far—in fact, he was just on the outskirts of Himeji—when a woman came running toward him from the other side of Hanada Bridge." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He squinted into the sunlight.\n\n\"It's you!\" Otsū cried, clutching his sleeve.\n\nMusashi gasped in surprise.\n\nOtsū's tone was reproachful." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Takezō, surely you haven't forgotten? Don't you remember the name of this bridge? Did it slip your mind that I promised to wait here for you, no matter how long it took?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You've been waiting here for the last three years?\" He was astounded.\n\n\"Yes. Osugi and Uncle Gon caught up with me right after I left you. I was sick and had to take a rest. And I almost got myself killed. But I got away. I've been waiting here since about twenty days after we said good-bye at Nakayama Pass.\"\n\nPointing to a basket-weaving shop at the end of the bridge, a typical little highroad stall selling souvenirs to travelers, she continued: \"I told the people there my story, and they were kind enough to take me on as a sort of helper. So I could stay and wait for you. Today is the nine hundred and seventieth day, and I've kept my promise faithfully.\" She peered into his face, trying to fathom his thoughts." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You will take me with you, won't you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The truth, of course, was that Musashi had no intention of taking her or anyone else with him. At this very moment, he was hurrying away to avoid thinking about his sister, whom he wanted to see so badly and felt so strongly drawn toward.\n\nThe questions raced through his agitated mind: \"What can I do? How can I embark on my quest for truth and knowledge with a woman, with anyone, interfering all the time? And this particular girl is, after all, still betrothed to Matahachi.\" Musashi couldn't keep his thoughts from showing on his face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Take you with me? Take you where?\" he demanded bluntly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Wherever you go.\"\n\n\"I'm setting out on a long, hard journey, not a sightseeing trip!\"\n\n\"I won't get in your way. And I'm prepared to endure some hardships.\"\n\n\"Some? Only some?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"As many as I have to.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's not the point. Otsū, how can a man master the Way of the Samurai with a woman tagging along? Wouldn't that be funny. People'd say, 'Look at Musashi, he needs a wet nurse to take care of him.'\" She pulled harder at his kimono, clinging like a child. \"Let go of my sleeve,\" he ordered.\n\n\"No, I won't! You lied to me, didn't you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"When did I lie to you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"At the pass. You promised to take me with you.\"\n\n\"That was ages ago. I wasn't really thinking then either, and I didn't have time to explain. What's more, it wasn't my idea, it was yours. I was in a hurry to get moving, and you wouldn't let me go until I promised. I went along with what you said because I had no choice.\"\n\n\"No, no, no! You can't mean what you're saying, you can't,\" she cried, pinning him against the bridge railing.\n\n\"Let go of me! People are watching.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Let them! When you were tied up in the tree, I asked you if you wanted my help. You were so happy you told me twice to cut the rope. You don't deny that, do you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She was trying to be logical in her argument, but her tears betrayed her. First abandoned as an infant, then jilted by her betrothed and now this. Musashi, knowing how alone she was in the world and caring for her deeply, was tongue-tied, though outwardly more composed.\n\n\"Let go!\" he said with finality." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's broad daylight and people are staring at us. Do you want us to be a sideshow for these busybodies?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She released his sleeve and fell sobbing against the railing, her shiny hair falling over her face.\n\n\"I'm sorry,\" she mumbled. \"I shouldn't have said all that. Please forget it. You don't owe me anything.\"\n\nLeaning over and pushing her hair from her face with both hands, he looked into her eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Otsū,\" he said tenderly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"During all that time you were waiting, until this very day, I've been shut up in the castle donjon. For three years I haven't even seen the sun.\"\n\n\"Yes, I heard.\"\n\n\"You knew?\"\n\n\"Takuan told me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Takuan? He told you everything?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I guess so. I fainted at the bottom of a ravine near the Mikazuki Teahouse. I was running away from Osugi and Uncle Gon. Takuan rescued me. He also helped me make arrangements to work here, at the souvenir shop. That was three years ago. And he's stopped in several times. Only yesterday, he came and had some tea. I wasn't sure what he meant, but he said, 'It's got to do with a man and a woman, so who can say how it'll turn out?'\"\n\nMusashi dropped his hands and looked down the road leading west. He wondered if he'd ever again meet the man who'd saved his life. And again he was struck by Takuan's concern for his fellow man, which seemed all-encompassing and completely devoid of selfishness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Musashi realized how narrow-minded he himself had been, how petty, to suppose that the monk felt a special compassion for him alone; his generosity encompassed Ogin, Otsū, anyone in need whom he thought he could help." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It has to do with a man and a woman... \" Takuan's words to Otsū sat heavily on Musashi's mind. It was a burden for which he was ill prepared, since in all the mountains of books he'd pored over those three years, there wasn't one word about the situation he was in now. Even Takuan had shrunk from becoming involved in this matter between him and Otsū. Had Takuan meant that relationships between men and women had to be worked out alone by the people involved?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Did he mean that no rules applied, as they did in the Art of War?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That there was no foolproof strategy, no way to win? Or was this meant as a test for Musashi, a problem only Musashi would be able to solve for himself?\n\nLost in thought, he stared down at the water flowing under the bridge.\n\nOtsū gazed up into his face, now distant and calm." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I can come, can't I?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "she pleaded. \"The shopkeeper's promised to let me quit whenever I wish. I'll just go and explain everything and then pack my things. I'll be back in a minute.\"\n\nMusashi covered her small white hand, which was resting on the railing, with his own. \"Listen,\" he said plaintively. \"I beg of you, just stop and think.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What's there to think about?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I told you. I've just become a new man. I stayed in that musty hole for three years. I read books. I thought. I screamed and cried. Then suddenly the light dawned. I understood what it means to be human. I have a new name, Miyamoto Musashi. I want to dedicate myself to training and discipline. I want to spend every moment of every day working to improve myself. I know now how far I have to go. If you chose to bind your life to mine, you'd never be happy. There will be nothing but hardship, and it won't get easier as it goes along. It'll get more and more difficult.\"\n\n\"When you talk like that, I feel closer to you than ever. Now I'm convinced I was right. I've found the best man I could ever find, even if I searched for the rest of my life.\"\n\nHe saw he was just making things worse. \"I'm sorry, I can't take you with me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well, then, I'll just follow along. As long as I don't interfere with your training, what harm would it do? You won't even know I'm around.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Musashi could find no answer.\n\n\"I won't bother you. I promise.\"\n\nHe remained silent.\n\n\"It's all right then, isn't it? Just wait here; I'll be back in a second. And I'll be furious if you try to sneak away.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Otsū ran off toward the basket-weaving shop." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Musashi thought of ignoring everything and running too, in the opposite direction. Though the will was there, his feet wouldn't move.\n\nOtsū looked back and called, \"Remember, don't try to sneak off!\" She smiled, showing her dimples, and Musashi inadvertently nodded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Satisfied by this gesture, she disappeared into the shop." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If he was going to escape, this was the time. His heart told him so, but his body was still shackled by Otsū's pretty dimples and pleading eyes. How sweet she was! It was certain no one in the world save his sister loved him so much." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And it wasn't as though he disliked her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He looked at the sky, he looked into the water, desperately gripped the railing, troubled and confused. Soon tiny bits of wood began floating from the bridge into the flowing stream.\n\nOtsū reappeared on the bridge in new straw sandals, light yellow leggings and a large traveling hat tied under the chin with a crimson ribbon. She'd never looked more beautiful." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide four sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "[ WATER ]" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "[ The Yoshioka School ]\n\nThe life of today, which cannot know the morrow...\n\nIn the Japan of the early seventeenth century, an awareness of the fleeting nature of life was as common among the masses as it was among the elite. The famous general Oda Nobunaga, who laid the foundations for Toyotomi Hideyoshi's unification of Japan, summed up this view in a short poem:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Man's fifty years" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Are but a phantom dream\n\nIn his journey through\n\nThe eternal transmigrations.\n\nDefeated in a skirmish with one of his own generals, who attacked him in a sudden fit of revenge, Nobunaga committed suicide in Kyoto at the age of forty-eight." }, { "from": "human", "value": "By 1605, some two decades later, the incessant warring among the daimyō was essentially over, and Tokugawa Ieyasu had ruled as shōgun for two years." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The lanterns on the streets of Kyoto and Osaka glowed brightly, as they had in the best days of the Ashikaga shogunate, and the prevailing mood was lighthearted and festive.\n\nBut few were certain the peace would last. More than a hundred years of civil strife had so colored people's view of life that they could only regard the present tranquillity as fragile and ephemeral. The capital was thriving, but the tension of not knowing how long this would last whetted the people's appetite for merrymaking." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Though still in control, Ieyasu had officially retired from the position of shōgun." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "While still strong enough to control the other daimyō and defend the family's claim to power, he had passed on his title to his third son, Hidetada. It was rumored that the new shōgun would visit Kyoto soon to pay his respects to the emperor, but it was common knowledge that his trip west meant more than a courtesy call. His greatest potential rival, Toyotomi Hideyori, was the son of Hideyoshi, Nobunaga's able successor. Hideyoshi had done his best to ensure that power remain with the Toyotomis until Hideyori was old enough to exercise it, but the victor at Sekigahara was Ieyasu." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hideyori still resided at Osaka Castle, and although Ieyasu, rather than have him done away with, permitted him to enjoy a substantial annual income, he was aware that Osaka was a major threat as a possible rallying point of resistance." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Many feudal lords knew this too, and hedging their bets, paid equal court to both Hideyori and the shōgun. It was often remarked that the former had enough castles and gold to hire every masterless samurai, or rōnin, in the country, if he wanted to.\n\nIdle speculation on the country's political future formed the bulk of gossip in the Kyoto air.\n\n\"War's bound to break out sooner or later.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's just a matter of time.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"These street lanterns could be snuffed out tomorrow.\"\n\n\"Why worry about it? What happens happens.\"\n\n\"Let's enjoy ourselves while we can!\"\n\nThe bustling nightlife and booming pleasure quarters were tangible evidence that much of the populace were doing just that." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Among those so inclined was a group of samurai now turning a corner into Shijō Avenue." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Beside them ran a long wall of white plaster, leading to an impressive gate with an imposing roof. A wooden plaque, blackened with age, announced in barely legible writing: \"Yoshioka Kempō of Kyoto. Military Instructor to the Ashikaga Shōguns.\"\n\nThe eight young samurai gave the impression of having practiced sword fighting all day without respite. Some bore wooden swords in addition to the two customary steel ones, and others were carrying lances." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They looked tough, the kind of men who'd be the first to see bloodshed the moment a clash of arms erupted." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Their faces were as hard as stone and their eyes threatening, as if always on the brink of exploding in a rage.\n\n\"Young Master, where are we headed tonight?\" they clamored, surrounding their teacher.\n\n\"Anywhere but where we were last night,\" he replied gravely." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why? Those women were falling all over you! They barely looked at the rest of us.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Maybe he's right,\" another man put in. \"Why don't we try someplace new, where no one knows the Young Master or any of the rest of us.\" Shouting and carrying on among themselves, they seemed totally consumed by the question of where to go drinking and whoring.\n\nThey moved on to a well-lit area along the banks of the Kamo River." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For years the land had been vacant and weed-filled, a veritable symbol of wartime desolation, but with the coming of peace, its value had shot up." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately two sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Scattered here and there were flimsy houses, red and pale yellow curtains hanging crookedly in their doorways, where prostitutes plied their trade. Girls from Tamba Province, white powder smeared carelessly on their faces, whistled to prospective customers; unfortunate women who had been purchased in droves plunked on their shamisens, a newly popular instrument, as they sang bawdy songs and laughed among themselves." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around four sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: Eiji Yoshikawa" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Young Master's name was Yoshioka Seijūrō, and a tasteful dark brown kimono draped his tall frame. Not long after they'd entered the brothel district, he looked back and said to one of his group, \"Tōji, buy me a basket hat.\"\n\n\"The kind that hides your face, I suppose?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You don't need one here, do you?\" Gion Tōji replied." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I wouldn't have asked for one if I didn't!\" Seijūrō snapped impatiently. \"I don't care to have people see the son of Yoshioka Kempō walking about in a place like this.\"\n\nTōji laughed. \"But it just attracts attention. All the women around here know that if you hide your face under a hat, you must be from a good family and probably a rich one. Of course, there are other reasons why they won't leave you alone, but that's one of them.\"\n\nTōji was, as usual, both teasing and flattering his master." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He turned and ordered one of the men to get the hat and stood waiting for him to thread his way through the lanterns and merrymakers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The errand accomplished, Seijūrō donned the hat and began to feel more relaxed.\n\n\"In that hat,\" commented Tōji, \"you look more than ever like the fashionable man about town.\" Turning to the others, he continued his flattery indirectly. \"See, the women are all leaning out their doors to get a good look at him.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tōji's sycophancy aside, Seijūrō did cut a fine figure." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With two highly polished scabbards hanging from his side, he exuded the dignity and class one would expect from the son of a well-to-do family. No straw hat could stop the women from calling out to him as he walked.\n\n\"Hey there, handsome! Why hide your face under that silly hat?\"\n\n\"Come on, over here! I want to see what's under there.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Come on, don't be shy. Give us a peek.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Seijūrō reacted to these teasing come-ons by trying to look even taller and more dignified. It had only been a short time since Tōji had first persuaded him to set foot in the district, and it still embarrassed him to be seen there. Born the eldest son of the famous swordsman Yoshioka Kempō, he had never lacked money, but he had remained until recently unacquainted with the seamier side of life. The attention he was getting made his pulse race." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He still felt enough shame to hide, though as a rich man's spoiled son he'd always been something of a show-off." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The flattery of his entourage, no less than the flirting of the women, bolstered his ego like sweet poison.\n\n\"Why, it's the master from Shijō Avenue!\" one of the women exclaimed. \"Why are you hiding your face? You're not fooling anybody.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How does that woman know who I am?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Seijūrō growled at Tōji, pretending to be offended.\n\n\"That's easy,\" the woman said before Tōji could open his mouth. \"Everybody knows that the people at the Yoshioka School like to wear that dark brown color. It is called 'Yoshioka dye,' you know, and it's very popular around here.\"\n\n\"That's true, but as you say, a lot of people wear it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, but they don't have the three-circle crest on their kimonos.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Seijūrō looked down at his sleeve. \"I must be more careful,\" he said as a hand from behind the lattice reached out and latched onto the garment.\n\n\"My, my,\" said Tōji. \"He hid his face but not his crest. He must have wanted to be recognized. I don't think we can really avoid going in here now.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Do whatever you want,\" said Seijūrō, looking uncomfortable, \"but make her let go of my sleeve.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Let go, woman,\" Tōji roared. \"He says we're coming in!\"\n\nThe students crowded in under the shop curtain. The room they entered was so tastelessly decorated with vulgar pictures and messily arranged flowers that it was difficult for Seijūrō to feel at ease." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The others, however, took no notice of the shabbiness of their surroundings." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Bring on the sake!\" Tōji demanded, also ordering assorted tidbits.\n\nAfter the food arrived, Ueda Ryōhei, who was Tōji's match with a sword, cried, \"Bring on the women!\" The order was given in exactly the same surly tone Tōji had used to order their food and drink." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Hey, old Ueda says bring the women!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "the others chorused, mimicking Ryōhei's voice.\n\n\"I don't like being called old,\" Ryōhei said, scowling. \"It's true I've been at the school longer than any of you, but you won't find a gray hair on my head.\"\n\n\"You probably dye it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Whoever said that come forward and drink a cup as punishment!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Too much trouble. Throw it here!\"\n\nThe sake cup sailed through the air.\n\n\"Here's the repayment!\" And another cup flew through the air.\n\n\"Hey, somebody dance!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Seijūrō called out, \"You dance, Ryōhei! Dance, and show us how young you are!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am prepared, sir. Watch!\" Going to the corner of the veranda, he tied a maid's red apron around the back of his head, stuck a plum blossom in the knot and seized a broom.\n\n\"Why, look! He's going to do the Dance of the Hida Maiden! Let's hear the song too, Tōji!\"\n\nHe invited them all to join in, and they began rapping rhythmically on the dishes with their chopsticks, while one man clanged the fire tongs against the edge of the brazier." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Across the bamboo fence, the bamboo fence, the bamboo fence," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I caught sight of a long-sleeved kimono,\n\nA long-sleeved kimono in the snow...\n\nDrowned in applause after the first verse, Tōji bowed out, and the women took up where he had left off, accompanying themselves on shamisen.\n\nThe girl I saw yesterday" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Is not here today." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The girl I see today,\n\nShe'll not be here tomorrow.\n\nI know not what the morrow will bring,\n\nI want to love her today." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In one corner, a student held up a huge bowl of sake to a comrade and said, \"Say, why don't you down this in one gulp?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No, thanks.\"\n\n\"No, thanks? You call yourself a samurai, and you can't even put this away?\"\n\n\"Sure I can. But if I do, you have to too!\"\n\n\"Fair enough!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The contest began, with them gulping like horses at the trough and dribbling sake out of the corners of their mouths." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "An hour or so later a couple of them started vomiting, while others were reduced to immobility and blankly staring bloodshot eyes.\n\nOne, whose customary bluster became more strident the more he drank, declaimed, \"Does anyone in this country besides the Young Master truly understand the techniques of the Kyōhachi Style? If there is—hic—I want to meet him... Oops!\"\n\nAnother stalwart, seated near Seijūrō, laughed and stammered through his hiccups. \"He's piling on the flattery because the Young Master's here. There are other schools of martial arts besides the ones here in Kyoto, and the Yoshioka School's not necessarily the greatest anymore. In Kyoto alone, there's the school of Toda Seigen in Kurotani, and there's Ogasawara Genshinsai in Kitano. And let's not forget Itō Ittōsai in Shirakawa, even though he doesn't take students.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And what's so wonderful about them?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I mean, we shouldn't get the idea we're the only swordsmen in the world.\"\n\n\"You simple-minded bastard!\" shouted a man whose pride had been offended. \"Come forward!\"\n\n\"Like this?\" retorted the critic, standing up.\n\n\"You're a member of this school, and you're belittling Yoshioka Kempō's style?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm not belittling it! It's just that things aren't what they used to be in the old days when the master taught the shōguns and was considered the greatest of swordsmen. There are far more people practicing the Way of the Sword these days, not only in Kyoto but in Edo, Hitachi, Echizen, the home provinces, the western provinces, Kyushu—all over the country. Just because Yoshioka Kempō was famous doesn't mean the Young Master and all of us are the greatest swordsmen alive. It's just not true, so why kid ourselves?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Coward! You pretend to be a samurai, but you're afraid of other schools!\"\n\n\"Who's afraid of them? I just think we should guard ourselves against becoming complacent.\"\n\n\"And who are you to be giving warnings?\" With this the offended student punched the other in the chest, knocking him down." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You want to fight?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "growled the fallen man.\n\n\"Yeah, I'm ready.\"\n\nThe seniors, Gion Tōji and Ueda Ryōhei, intervened. \"Stop it, you two!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Jumping to their feet, they pulled the two men apart and tried to smooth their ruffled feathers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Quiet down now!\"\n\n\"We all understand how you feel.\"\n\nA few more cups of sake were poured into the combatants, and presently things were back to normal. The firebrand was once again eulogizing himself and the others, while the critic, his arm draped around Ryōhei, pleaded his case tearfully." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I only spoke up for the sake of the school,\" he sobbed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If people keep spouting flattery, Yoshioka Kempō's reputation will eventually be ruined. Ruined, I tell you!\"\n\nSeijūrō alone remained relatively sober. Noticing this, Tōji said, \"You're not enjoying the party, are you?\"\n\n\"Unh. Do you think they really enjoy it? I wonder.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Sure; this is their idea of a good time.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't see how, when they carry on like that.\"\n\n\"Look, why don't we go someplace quieter? I've had enough of this too.\"\n\nSeijūrō, looking much relieved, quickly assented. \"I'd like to go to the place we were at last night.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You mean the Yomogi?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes.\"\n\n\"That's much nicer. I thought all along you wanted to go there, but it would've been a waste of money to take along this bunch of oafs. That's why I steered them here—it's cheap.\"\n\n\"Let's sneak out, then. Ryōhei can take care of the rest.\"\n\n\"Just pretend you're going to the toilet. I'll come along in a few minutes.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Seijūrō skillfully disappeared. No one noticed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Outside a house not far away, a woman stood on tiptoe, trying to hang a lantern back on its nail. The wind had blown out the candle, and she had taken it down to relight it. Her back was stretched out under the eaves, and her recently washed hair fell loosely around her face. Strands of hair and the shadows from the lantern made lightly shifting patterns on her outstretched arms." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A hint of plum blossoms floated on the evening breeze." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Okō! Shall I hang it for you?\"\n\n\"Oh, it's the Young Master,\" she said with surprise.\n\n\"Wait a minute.\" When the man came forward, she saw that it was not Seijūrō but Tōji.\n\n\"Will that do?\" he asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, that's fine. Thank you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But Tōji squinted at the lantern, decided it was crooked, and rehung it. It was amazing to Okō how some men, who would flatly refuse to lend a hand in their own homes, could be so helpful and considerate when visiting a place like hers. Often they would open or close the windows for themselves, get out their own cushions, and do a dozen other little chores they'd never dream of doing under their own roofs.\n\nTōji, pretending not to have heard, showed his master indoors." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Seijūrō, as soon as he was seated, said, \"It's awfully quiet.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'll open the door to the veranda,\" said Tōji.\n\nBelow the narrow veranda rippled the waters of the Takase River. To the south, beyond the small bridge at Sanjō Avenue, lay the broad compound of the Zuisenin, the dark expanse of Teramachi—the \"Town of Temples\"—and a field of miscanthus. This was near Kayahara, where Toyotomi Hideyoshi's troops had slain the wife, concubines and children of his nephew, the murderous regent Hidetsugu, an event still fresh in many people's memory." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tōji was getting nervous." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's still too quiet. Where are the women hiding? They don't seem to have any other customers tonight.\" He fidgeted a bit. \"I wonder what's taking Okō so long. She hasn't even brought us our tea.\" When his impatience made him so jumpy he could no longer sit still, he got up to go see why the tea hadn't been served." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As he stepped out onto the veranda, he nearly collided with Akemi, who was carrying a gold-lacquered tray." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The little bell in her obi tinkled as she exclaimed, \"Be careful! You'll make me spill the tea!\"\n\n\"Why are you so late with it? The Young Master's here; I thought you liked him.\"\n\n\"See, I've spilled some. It's your fault. Go fetch me a rag.\"\n\n\"Ha! Pretty sassy, aren't you? Where's Okō?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Putting on her makeup, of course.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You mean she's not finished yet?\"\n\n\"Well, we were busy during the daytime.\"\n\n\"Daytime? Who came during the daytime?\"\n\n\"That's none of your business. Please let me by.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He stepped aside and Akemi entered the room and greeted the guest." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Good evening. It was good of you to come.\"\n\nSeijūrō, feigning nonchalance, looked aside and said, \"Oh, it's you, Akemi. Thanks for last night.\" He was embarrassed.\n\nFrom the tray she took a jar that looked like an incense burner and placed on it a pipe with a ceramic mouthpiece and bowl.\n\n\"Would you like a smoke?\" she asked politely." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I thought tobacco was recently banned.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It was, but everybody still smokes anyway.\"\n\n\"All right, I'll have some.\"\n\n\"I'll light it for you.\"\n\nShe took a pinch of tobacco from a pretty little mother-of-pearl box and stuffed it into the tiny bowl with her dainty fingers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then she put the pipe to his mouth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Seijūrō, not being in the habit of smoking, handled it rather awkwardly.\n\n\"Hmm, bitter, isn't it?\" he said. Akemi giggled. \"Where did Tōji go?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He's probably in Mother's room.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He seems fond of Okō. At least, it looks that way to me. I suspect he comes here without me sometimes. Does he?\" Akemi laughed but did not answer. \"What's funny about that? I think your mother rather likes him too.\"\n\n\"I really wouldn't know!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, I'm sure of it! Absolutely sure! It's a cozy arrangement, isn't it? Two happy couples—your mother and Tōji, you and me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Looking as innocent as he could, he put his hand on top of Akemi's, which was resting on her knee. Primly, she brushed it away, but this only made Seijūrō bolder. As she started to rise, he put his arm around her thin waist and drew her to him.\n\n\"You don't have to run away,\" he said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm not going to hurt you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Let go of me!\" she protested.\n\n\"All right, but only if you sit down again.\"\n\n\"The sake... I'll just go and get some.\"\n\n\"I don't want any.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But if I don't bring it, Mother'll get angry.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Your mother's in the other room, having a nice chat with Tōji.\"\n\nHe tried to rub his cheek against her lowered face, but she turned her head away and called frantically for help. \"Mother! Mother!\" He released her and she flew toward the back of the house.\n\nSeijūrō was becoming frustrated." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was lonely but didn't really want to force himself on the girl." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not knowing what to do with himself, he grunted out loud, \"I'm going home,\" and started tramping down the outer corridor, his face growing more crimson with each step.\n\n\"Young Master, where are you going? You're not leaving, are you?\" Seemingly from out of nowhere, Okō appeared behind him and rushed down the hall. As she put her arm about him, he noticed that her hair was in place and her makeup was in order." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She summoned Tōji to the rescue, and together they persuaded Seijūrō to go back and sit down." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Okō brought sake and tried to cheer him up, then Tōji led Akemi back into the room. When the girl saw how crestfallen Seijūrō was, she flashed a smile at him.\n\n\"Akemi, pour the Young Master some sake.\"\n\n\"Yes, Mother,\" she said obediently." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You see how she is, don't you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "said Okō. \"Why does she always want to act like a child?\"\n\n\"That's her charm—she's young,\" said Tōji, sliding his cushion up closer to the table.\n\n\"But she's already twenty-one.\"\n\n\"Twenty-one? I didn't think she was that old. She's so small she looks about sixteen or seventeen!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Akemi, suddenly as full of life as a minnow, said, \"Really? That makes me happy, because I'd like to be sixteen all my life. Something wonderful happened to me when I was sixteen.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What?\"\n\n\"Oh,\" she said, clasping her hands to her breast. \"I can't tell anybody about it, but it happened. When I was sixteen. Do you know what province I was in then? That was the year of the Battle of Sekigahara.\"\n\nWith a menacing look, Okō said, \"Chatterbox! Stop boring us with your talk. Go and get your shamisen.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Pouting slightly, Akemi stood up and went for her instrument." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When she returned, she started playing and singing a song, more intent, it seemed, upon amusing herself than upon pleasing the guests.\n\nTonight then,\n\nIf it's to be cloudy,\n\nLet it be cloudy," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hiding the moon" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I can see only through my tears.\n\nBreaking off, she said, \"Do you understand, Tōji?\"\n\n\"I'm not sure. Sing some more.\"\n\nEven in the darkest night" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I do not lose my way." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But oh! How you fascinate me!\n\n\"She is twenty-one, after all,\" said Tōji.\n\nSeijūrō, who had been sitting silently with his forehead resting on his hand, came to life and said, \"Akemi, let's have a cup of sake together.\"\n\nHe handed her the cup and filled it from the sake warmer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She drank it down without flinching and briskly handed him back the cup to drink from." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Somewhat surprised, Seijūrō said, \"You know how to drink, don't you.\"\n\nFinishing off his draft, he offered her another, which she accepted and downed with alacrity. Apparently dissatisfied with the cup's size, she took out a larger one and for the next half hour matched him drink for drink.\n\nSeijūrō marveled. There she was, looking like a sixteen-year-old girl, with lips that had never been kissed and an eye that shrank with shyness, and yet she was putting away her sake like a man." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In that tiny body, where did it all go?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You may as well give up now,\" Okō said to Seijūrō. \"For some reason the child can drink all night without getting drunk. The best thing to do is to let her play the shamisen.\"\n\n\"But this is fun!\" said Seijūrō, now thoroughly enjoying himself." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sensing something strange in his voice, Tōji asked, \"Are you all right? Sure you haven't had too much?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It doesn't matter. Say, Tōji, I may not go home tonight!\"\n\n\"That's all right too,\" replied Tōji. \"You can stay as many nights as you wish—can't he, Akemi?\"\n\nTōji winked at Okó, then led her off to another room, where he began whispering rapidly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He told Okō that with the Young Master in such high spirits, he would certainly want to sleep with Akemi, and that there would be trouble if Akemi refused; but that, of course, a mother's feelings were the most important thing of all in cases like this—or in other words, how much?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well?\" Tōji demanded abruptly.\n\nOkō put her finger to her thickly powdered cheek and thought.\n\n\"Make up your mind!\" urged Tōji. Drawing closer to her, he said, \"It's not a bad match, you know. He's a famous teacher of the martial arts, and his family has lots of money. His father had more disciples than anybody else in the country. What's more, he's not married yet. Any way you look at it, it's an attractive offer.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well, I think so too, but—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But nothing. It's settled! We'll both spend the night.\"\n\nThere was no light in the room, and Tōji casually rested his hand on Okō's shoulder. At just that moment, there was a loud noise in the next room back.\n\n\"What was that?\" asked Tōji." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Do you have other customers?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Okō nodded silently, then put her moist lips to his ear and whispered, \"Later.\" Trying to appear casual, the two went back to Seijūrō's room, only to find him alone and sound asleep.\n\nTōji, taking the adjacent room, stretched out on the pallet. He lay there, drumming his fingers on the tatami, waiting for Okō." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She failed to appear." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Eventually his eyelids grew heavy and he drifted off to sleep. He woke up quite late the next morning with a resentful look on his face.\n\nSeijūrō had already arisen and was again drinking in the room overlooking the river. Both Okō and Akemi looked bright and cheerful, as though they'd forgotten about the night before." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They were coaxing Seijūrō into some sort of promise." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Then you'll take us?\"\n\n\"All right, we'll go. Put together some box lunches and bring some sake.\"\n\nThey were talking about the Okuni Kabuki, which was being performed on the riverbank at Shijō Avenue. This was a new kind of dance with words and music, the current rage in the capital." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It had been invented by a shrine maiden named Okuni at the Izumo Shrine, and its popularity had already inspired many imitations." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the busy area along the river, there were rows of stages where troupes of women performers competed to attract audiences, each trying to achieve a degree of individuality by adding special provincial dances and songs to their repertoire. The actresses, for the most part, had started out as women of the night; now that they had taken to the stage, however, they were summoned to perform in some of the greatest mansions in the capital. Many of them took masculine names, dressed in men's clothing, and put on stirring performances as valiant warriors.\n\nSeijūrō sat staring out the door." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Beneath the small bridge at Sanjō Avenue, women were bleaching cloth in the river; men on horseback were passing back and forth over the bridge." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Aren't those two ready yet?\" he asked irritably. It was already past noon. Sluggish from drink and tired of waiting, he was no longer in the mood for Kabuki.\n\nTōji, still smarting from the night before, was not his usual ebullient self." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's fun to take women out,\" he grumbled, \"but why is it that just when you're ready to leave, they suddenly start worrying about whether their hair is just right or their obi straight? What a nuisance!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Seijūrō's thoughts turned to his school. He seemed to hear the sound of wooden swords and the clack of lance handles. What were his students saying about his absence? No doubt his younger brother, Denshichirō, was clicking his tongue in disapproval." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Tōji,\" he said, \"I don't really want to take them to see Kabuki. Let's go home.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"After you've already promised?\"\n\n\"Well... \"\n\n\"They were so thrilled! They'll be furious if we back out. I'll go and hurry them up.\"\n\nOn his way down the hallway, Tōji glanced into a room where the women's clothes were strewn about." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was surprised to see neither of them." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Where can they have got to?\" he wondered aloud." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around 4 sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: Eiji Yoshikawa" }, { "from": "human", "value": "They weren't in the adjoining room either." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Beyond that was another gloomy little room, sunless and musty with the odor of bedclothes. Tōji opened the door and was greeted with an angry roar: \"Who's there?\"\n\nJumping back a step, Tōji peered into the dark cubbyhole; it was floored with old tattered mats and was as different from the pleasant front rooms as night is from day. Sprawled on the floor, a sword handle lying carelessly across his belly, was an unkempt samurai whose clothing and general appearance left no doubt that he was one of the rōnin often seen roaming the streets and byways with nothing to do." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The soles of his dirty feet stared Tōji in the face." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Making no effort to get up, he lay there in a stupor.\n\nTōji said, \"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know there was a guest in here.\"\n\n\"I'm not a guest!\" the man shouted toward the ceiling." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He reeked of sake, and though Tōji had no idea who he was, he was sure he wanted nothing more to do with him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Sorry to bother you,\" he said quickly, and turned to leave.\n\n\"Hold on there!\" the man said roughly, raising himself up slightly. \"Close the door behind you!\"\n\nStartled by his rudeness, Tōji did as he was told and left." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Almost immediately Tōji was replaced by Okō." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dressed to kill, she was obviously trying to look the great lady. As though tut-tutting a child, she said to Matahachi, \"Now what are you so angry about?\"\n\nAkemi, who was just behind her mother, asked, \"Why don't you come with us?\"\n\n\"Where?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"To see the Okuni Kabuki.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Matahachi's mouth twisted with repugnance. \"What husband would be seen in the company of a man who's chasing after his wife?\" he asked bitterly.\n\nOkō had the feeling that cold water had been thrown in her face. Her eyes lighting up with anger, she said, \"What are you talking about? Are you implying that there's something going on between Tōji and me?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Who said anything was going on?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You just said as much.\"\n\nMatahachi made no reply.\n\n\"And you're supposed to be a man!\" Though she hurled the words at him contemptuously, Matahachi maintained his sullen silence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You make me sick!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "she snapped. \"You're always getting jealous over nothing! Come, Akemi. Let's not waste our time on this madman.\"\n\nMatahachi reached out and caught her skirt. \"Who're you calling a madman? What do you mean, talking to your husband that way?\"\n\nOkō pulled free of him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And why not?\" she said viciously." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If you're a husband, why don't you act like one? Who do you think's keeping you in food, you worthless layabout!\"\n\n\"Heh!\"\n\n\"You've hardly earned anything since we left Ōmi Province. You've just been living off me, drinking your sake and loafing. What've you got to complain about?\"\n\n\"I told you I'd go out and work! I told you I'd even haul stones for the castle wall. But that wasn't good enough for you. You say you can't eat this, you can't wear that, you can't live in a dirty little house—there's no end to what you can't put up with. So instead of letting me do honest labor, you start this rotten teahouse. Well, stop it, I tell you, stop it!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "he shouted. He began to shake." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Stop what?\"\n\n\"Stop running this place.\"\n\n\"And if I did, what would we eat tomorrow?\"\n\n\"I can make enough for us to live on, even hauling rocks. I could manage for the three of us.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If you're so eager to carry rocks or saw wood, why don't you just go away? Go on, be a laborer, anything, but if you do, you can live by yourself! The trouble with you is that you were born a clod, and you'll always be a clod. You should have stayed in Mimasaka! Believe me, I'm not begging you to stay. Feel free to leave anytime you want!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "While Matahachi made an effort to hold back his angry tears, Okō and Akemi turned their backs on him. But even after they were out of sight, he stood staring at the doorway. When Okō had hidden him at her house near Mount Ibuki, he'd thought he was lucky to have found someone who would love and take care of him. Now, however, he felt that he might as well have been captured by the enemy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Which was better, after all?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "To be a prisoner, or to become the pet of a fickle widow and cease to be a real man? Was it worse to languish in prison than to suffer here in the dark, a constant object of a shrew's scorn? He had had great hopes for the future, and he had let this slut, with her powdered face and her lascivious sex, pull him down to her level.\n\n\"The bitch!\" Matahachi trembled with anger. \"The rotten bitch!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tears welled up from the bottom of his heart." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Why, oh, why, hadn't he returned to Miyamoto? Why hadn't he gone back to Otsū? His mother was in Miyamoto. His sister too, and his sister's husband, and Uncle Gon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They'd all been so good to him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The bell at the Shippōji would be ringing today, wouldn't it? Just as it rang every day. And the Aida River would be flowing along its course as usual, flowers would be blooming on the riverbank, and the birds would be heralding the arrival of spring.\n\n\"What a fool I am! What a crazy, stupid fool!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Matahachi pounded his head with his fists." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Outside, mother, daughter and the two overnight guests strolled along the street, chatting merrily.\n\n\"It's just like spring.\"\n\n\"It ought to be. It's almost the third month.\"\n\n\"They say the shōgun will come to the capital soon. If he does, you two ladies should take in a lot of money, eh?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, no, I'm sure we won't.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why? Don't the samurai from Edo like to play?\"\n\n\"They're much too uncouth—\"\n\n\"Mother, isn't that the music for the Kabuki? I hear bells. And a flute too.\"\n\n\"Listen to the child! She's always like this. She thinks she's already at the theater!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But, Mother, I can hear it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Never mind that. Carry the Young Master's hat for him.\"\n\nThe footsteps and voices drifted into the Yomogi. Matahachi, with eyes still red with fury, stole a look out the window at the happy foursome. He found the sight so humiliating he once again plopped down on the tatami in the dark room, cursing himself." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What are you doing here? Have you no pride left? How can you let things go on this way? Idiot! Do something!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The speech was addressed to himself, his anger at Okō eclipsed by his indignation at his own craven weakness.\n\n\"She said get out. Well, get out!\" he argued. \"There's no reason to sit here gnashing your teeth. You're only twenty-two. You're still young. Get out and do something on your own.\"\n\nHe felt he couldn't abide staying in the empty, silent house another minute, yet for some reason, he couldn't leave." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His head ached with confusion." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He realized that living the way he had been for the past few years, he had lost the ability to think clearly. How had he stood it? His woman was spending her evenings entertaining other men, selling them the charms she had once lavished on him. He couldn't sleep nights, and in the daytime he was too dispirited to go out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Brooding here in this dark room, there was nothing to do but drink." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And all, he thought, for that aging whore!\n\nHe was disgusted with himself. He knew that the only way out of his agony was to kick the whole ugly business sky high and return to the aspirations of his younger days. He must find the way he had lost." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And yet... and yet..." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Some mysterious attraction bound him. What sort of evil spell was it that held him here? Was the woman a demon in disguise? She would curse him, tell him to go away, swear he was nothing but trouble to her, and then in the middle of the night she would melt like honey and say it had all been a joke, she really hadn't meant any of it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And even if she was nearly forty, there were those lips—those bright red lips that were as appealing as her daughter's." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This, however, was not the whole story. In the final analysis, Matahachi did not have the courage to let Okō and Akemi see him working as a day laborer. He had grown lazy and soft; the young man who dressed in silk and could distinguish Nada sake from the local brew by its taste was a far cry from the simple, rugged Matahachi who had been at Sekigahara. The worst aspect was that living this strange life with an older woman had robbed him of his youthfulness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In years he was still young, but in spirit he was dissolute and spiteful, lazy and resentful." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But I'll do it!\" he vowed. \"I'll get out now!\" Giving himself a final angry blow on the head, he jumped to his feet, shouting, \"I'll get out of here this very day!\"\n\nAs he listened to his own voice, it suddenly sank in that there was no one around to hold him back, nothing that actually bound him to this house." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The only thing he really owned and could not leave behind was his sword, and this he quickly slipped into his obi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Biting his lips, he said determinedly, \"After all, I am a man.\"\n\nHe could have marched out the front door waving his sword like a victorious general, but by force of habit he jumped into his dirty sandals and left by the kitchen door.\n\nSo far, so good. He was out of doors!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "But now what? His feet came to a halt." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He stood motionless in the refreshing breeze of early spring. It was not the light dazzling his eyes that kept him from moving. The question was, where was he headed?\n\nAt that moment it seemed to Matahachi that the world was a vast, turbulent sea on which there was nothing to cling to." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Aside from Kyoto, his experience encompassed only his village life and one battle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As he puzzled over his situation, a sudden thought sent him scurrying like a puppy back through the kitchen door.\n\n\"I need money,\" he said to himself. \"I'll certainly have to have some money.\"\n\nGoing straight to Okō's room, he rummaged through her toilet boxes, her mirror stand, her chest of drawers, and everywhere else he could think of." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He ransacked the place but found no money at all." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Of course, he should have realized Okō wasn't the type of woman who would fail to take precautions against something like this.\n\nFrustrated, Matahachi flopped down on the clothes that still lay on the floor. The scent of Okō lingered like a thick mist about her red silk under-robe, her Nishijin obi and her Momoyama-dyed kimono. By now, he reflected, she would be at the open-air theater by the river, watching the Kabuki dances with Tōji at her side." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He formed an image of her white skin and that provoking, coquettish face." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The evil slut!\" he cried. Bitter and murderous thoughts arose from his very bowels.\n\nThen, unexpectedly, he had a painful recollection of Otsū. As the days and months of their separation added up, he had grown at last to understand the purity and devotion of this girl who had promised to wait for him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He would gladly have bowed down and lifted his hands in supplication to her, if he'd thought she would ever forgive him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But he had broken with Otsū, abandoned her in such a way that it would be impossible to face her again.\n\n\"All for the sake of that woman,\" he thought ruefully. Now that it was too late, everything was clear to him; he should never have let Okō know that Otsū existed. When Okō had first heard of the girl, she had smiled a little smile and pretended not to mind in the slightest, but in fact, she was consumed with jealousy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Afterward, whenever they quarreled, she would raise the subject and insist that he write a letter breaking his engagement." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And when he finally gave in and did so, she had brazenly enclosed a note in her own obviously feminine hand, and callously had the missive delivered by an impersonal runner.\n\n\"What must Otsū think of me?\" groaned Matahachi sorrowfully. The image of her innocent girlish face came to his mind—a face full of reproach. Once again he saw the mountains and the river in Mimasaka." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He wanted to call out to his mother, to his relatives." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They had been so good. Even the soil now seemed to have been warm and comforting.\n\n\"I can never go home again!\" he thought. \"I threw all of it away for... for... \" Enraged afresh, he dumped Okō's clothes out of the clothes chests and ripped them apart, strewing strips and pieces all over the house." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Slowly he became aware of someone calling from the front door." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Pardon me,\" said the voice. \"I'm from the Yoshioka School. Are the Young Master and Tōji here?\"\n\n\"How should I know?\" replied Matahachi gruffly.\n\n\"They must be here! I know it's rude to disturb them when they've gone off to have some fun, but something terribly important has happened. It involves the good name of the Yoshioka family.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Go away! Don't bother me!\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Please, can't you at least give them a message? Tell them that a swordsman named Miyamoto Musashi has appeared at the school, and that, well, none of our people can get the better of him. He's waiting for the Young Master to return—refuses to budge until he's had a chance to face him. Please tell them to hurry home!\"\n\n\"Miyamoto? Miyamoto?\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Expand the story by adding four sentences." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was a day of unforgettable shame for the Yoshioka School." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Never before had this prestigious center of the martial arts suffered such total humiliation.\n\nArdent disciples sat around in abject despair, long faces and whitened knuckles mirroring their distress and frustration. One large group was in the wood-floored anteroom, smaller groups in the side rooms. It was already twilight, when ordinarily they would have been heading home, or out to drink." }, { "from": "human", "value": "No one made a move to leave." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The funereal silence was broken only by the occasional clatter of the front gate.\n\n\"Is that him?\"\n\n\"Is the Young Master back?\"\n\n\"No, not yet.\" This from a man who had spent half the afternoon leaning disconsolately against a column at the entranceway." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Each time this happened, the men sank deeper into their morass of gloom." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tongues clicked in dismay and eyes shone with pathetic tears.\n\nThe doctor, coming out of a back room, said to the man at the entranceway, \"I understand Seijūrō isn't here. Don't you know where he is?\"\n\n\"No. Men are out looking for him. He'll probably be back soon.\"\n\nThe doctor harrumphed and departed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In front of the school, the candle on the altar of the Hachiman Shrine was surrounded by a sinister corona." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No one would have denied that the founder and first master, Yoshioka Kempō, was a far greater man than Seijūrō or his younger brother. Kempō had started life as a mere tradesman, a dyer of cloth, but in the course of endlessly repeating the rhythms and movements of paste-resist dyeing, he had conceived of a new way of handling the short sword. After learning the use of the halberd from one of the most skillful of the warrior-priests at Kurama and then studying the Kyōhachi style of swordsmanship, he had then created a style completely his own. His short-sword technique had subsequently been adopted by the Ashikaga shōguns, who summoned him to be an official tutor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kempō had been a great master, a man whose wisdom was equal to his skill." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Although his sons, Seijūrō and Denshichirō, had received training as rigorous as their father's, they had fallen heir to his considerable wealth and fame, and that, in the opinion of some, was the cause of their weakness. Seijūrō was customarily addressed as \"Young Master,\" but he had not really attained the level of skill that would attract a large following. Students came to the school because under Kempō the Yoshioka style of fighting had become so famous that just gaining entrance meant being recognized by society as a skilled warrior.\n\nAfter the fall of the Ashikaga shogunate three decades earlier, the House of Yoshioka had ceased to receive an official allowance, but during the lifetime of the frugal Kempō, it had gradually accumulated a great deal of wealth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In addition, it had this large establishment on Shijō Avenue, with more students than any other school in Kyoto, which was by far the largest city in the country." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But in truth, the school's position at the top level in the world of swordsmanship was a matter of appearances only.\n\nThe world outside these great white walls had changed more than most of the people inside realized. For years they had boasted, loafed, and played around, and time had, as it will, passed them by. Today their eyes had been opened by their disgraceful loss to an unknown country swordsman." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A little before noon, one of the servants came to the dōjō and reported that a man who called himself Musashi was at the door, requesting admittance." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Asked what sort of a fellow he was, the servant replied that he was a rōnin, that he hailed from Miyamoto in Mimasaka, was twenty-one or twenty-two years old, about six feet tall, and seemed rather dull. His hair, uncombed for at least a year, was carelessly tied up behind in a reddish mop, and his clothing was too filthy to tell whether it was black or brown, plain or figured. The servant, while admitting that he might be mistaken, thought he detected an odor about the man. He did have on his back one of the webbed leather sacks people called warriors' study bags, and this did probably mean he was a shugyōsha, one of those samurai, so numerous these days, who wandered about devoting their every waking hour to the study of swordsmanship." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nevertheless, the servant's overall impression was that this Musashi was distinctly out of place at the Yoshioka School." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If the man had simply been asking for a meal, there would have been no problem. But when the group heard that the rustic intruder had come to the great gate to challenge the famous Yoshioka Seijūrō to a bout, they burst into uproarious laughter. Some argued for turning him away without further ado, while others said they should first find out what style he employed and the name of his teacher.\n\nThe servant, as amused as anyone else, left and came back to report that the visitor had, as a boy, learned the use of the truncheon from his father and had later on picked up what he could from warriors passing through the village." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He left home when he was seventeen and \"for reasons of his own\" spent his eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth years immersed in scholarly studies." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All the previous year he had been alone in the mountains, with the trees and the mountain spirits as his only teachers. Consequently, he couldn't lay claim to any particular style or teacher. But in the future he hoped to learn the teachings of Kiichi Hōgen, master the essence of the Kyōhachi Style, and emulate the great Yoshioka Kempō by creating a style of his own, which he had already decided to call the Miyamoto Style. Despite his many flaws, this was the goal toward which he proposed to work with all his heart and soul." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was an honest and unaffected answer, the servant conceded, but the man had a country accent and stammered at almost every word." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The servant obligingly provided his listeners with an imitation, again throwing them into gales of laughter.\n\nThe man must be out of his senses. To proclaim that his goal was to create a style of his own was sheer madness. By way of enlightening the lout, the students sent the servant out again, this time to ask whether the visitor had appointed anyone to take his corpse away after the bout." }, { "from": "human", "value": "To this Musashi replied, \"If by any chance I should be killed, it makes no difference whether you discard my body on Toribe Mountain or throw it into the Kamo River with the garbage. Either way, I promise not to hold it against you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His way of answering this time, said the servant, was very clear, with nothing of the clumsiness of his earlier replies.\n\nAfter a moment's hesitation, someone said, \"Let him in!\"\n\nThat was how it started, with the disciples thinking they would cut the newcomer up a bit, then throw him out. In the very first bout, however, it was the school's champion who came away the loser." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around four sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: Eiji Yoshikawa" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Musashi himself ended the bloodshed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Since his challenge had been accepted, he had no qualms about the casualties, but he announced, \"There's no point in continuing until Seijūrō returns,\" and refused to fight anymore. There being no alternative, he was shown, at his own request, to a room where he could wait. Only then did one man come to his senses and call for the doctor.\n\nIt was soon after the doctor left that voices screaming out the names of two of the wounded brought a dozen men to the back room." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They clustered around the two samurai in stunned disbelief, their faces ashen and their breathing uneven. Both were dead." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Footsteps hurried through the dōjō and into the death room. The students made way for Seijūrō and Tōji. Both were as pale as though they'd just emerged from an icy waterfall.\n\n\"What's going on here?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "demanded Tōji. \"What's the meaning of all this?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His tone was surly, as usual.\n\nA samurai kneeling grim-faced by the pillow of one of his dead companions fixed accusing eyes on Tōji and said, \"You should explain what's going on. You're the one who takes the Young Master out carousing. Well, this time you've gone too far!\"\n\n\"Watch your tongue, or I'll cut it out!\"\n\n\"When Master Kempō was alive, a day never passed when he wasn't in the dōjō!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What of it? The Young Master wanted a little cheering up, so we went to the Kabuki. What do you mean, talking that way in front of him? Just who do you think you are?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Does he have to stay out all night to see the Kabuki? Master Kempō must be turning in his grave.\"\n\n\"That's enough!\" cried Tōji, lunging toward the man.\n\nAs others moved in and tried to separate and calm down the two, a voice heavy with pain rose slightly above the sound of the scuffle. \"If the Young Master's back, it's time to stop squabbling. It's up to him to retrieve the honor of the school. That rōnin can't leave here alive.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Several of the wounded screamed and pounded on the floor." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Their agitation was an eloquent rebuke to those who had not faced Musashi's sword.\n\nTo the samurai of this age, the most important thing in the world was honor. As a class, they virtually competed with each other to see who would be the first to die for it. The government had until recently been too busy with its wars to work out an adequate administrative system for a country at peace, and even Kyoto was governed only by a set of loose, makeshift regulations." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Still, the emphasis of the warrior class on personal honor was respected by farmers and townsmen alike, and it played a role in preserving peace." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A general consensus regarding what constituted honorable behavior, and what did not, made it possible for the people to govern themselves even with inadequate laws.\n\nThe men of the Yoshioka School, though uncultured, were by no means shameless degenerates. When after the initial shock of defeat they returned to their normal selves, the first thing they thought of was honor. The honor of their school, the honor of the master, their own personal honor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Putting aside individual animosities, a large group gathered around Seijūrō to discuss what was to be done." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Unfortunately, on this of all days, Seijūrō felt bereft of fighting spirit. At the moment when he should have been at his best, he was hung over, weak and exhausted.\n\n\"Where is the man?\" he asked, as he hitched up his kimono sleeves with a leather thong." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He's in the small room next to the reception room,\" said one student, pointing across the garden." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Call him!\" Seijūrō commanded. His mouth was dry from tension. He sat down in the master's place, a small raised platform, and prepared himself to receive Musashi's greeting. Choosing one of the wooden swords proffered by his disciples, he held it upright beside him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Three or four men acknowledged the command and started to leave, but Tōji and Ryōhei told them to wait." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There ensued a good deal of whispering, just out of Seijūrō's earshot. The muted consultations centered around Tōji and other of the school's senior disciples. Before long family members and a few retainers joined in, and there were so many heads present that the gathering split into groups. Though heated, the controversy was settled in a relatively short time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The majority, not only concerned about the school's fate but uncomfortably aware of Seijūrō's shortcomings as a fighter, concluded that it would be unwise to let him face Musashi man to man, then and there." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With two dead and several wounded, if Seijūrō were to lose, the crisis facing the school would become extraordinarily grave. It was too great a risk to take.\n\nThe unspoken opinion of most of the men was that if Denshichirō were present, there would be little cause for alarm. In general, it was thought that he would have been better suited than Seijūrō to carry on his father's work, but being the second son and having no serious responsibilities, he was an exceedingly easygoing type." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That morning he had left the house with friends to go to Ise and hadn't even bothered to say when he'd return." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tōji approached Seijūrō and said, \"We've reached a conclusion.\"\n\nAs Seijūrō listened to the whispered report, his face grew more and more indignant, until finally he gasped with barely controlled fury, \"Trick him?\"\n\nTōji tried to silence him with his eyes, but Seijūrō was not to be silenced. \"I can't agree to anything like that! It's cowardly. What if word got out that the Yoshioka School was so afraid of an unknown warrior that it hid and ambushed him?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Calm down,\" Tōji pleaded, but Seijūrō continued to protest." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Drowning him out, Tōji said loudly, \"Leave it to us. We'll take care of it.\"\n\nBut Seijūrō would have none of it. \"Do you think that I, Yoshioka Seijūrō, would lose to this Musashi, or whatever his name is?\"\n\n\"Oh, no, it's not that at all,\" lied Tōji." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's just that we don't see how you would gain any honor by defeating him. You're of much too high a status to take on a brazen vagabond like that. Anyway, there's no reason why anybody outside this house should know anything about it, is there? Only one thing is important—not to let him get away alive.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even while they argued, the number of men in the hall shrank by more than half. As quietly as cats, they were disappearing into the garden, toward the back door and into the inner rooms, fading almost imperceptibly into the darkness.\n\n\"Young Master, we can't put it off any longer,\" Tōji said firmly, and blew out the lamp. He loosened his sword in its scabbard and raised his kimono sleeves." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Seijūrō remained seated. Though to some extent relieved at not having to fight the stranger, he was by no means happy." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The implication, as he saw it, was that his disciples had a low opinion of his ability. He thought back on how he had neglected practice since his father's death, and the thought made him despondent.\n\nThe house grew as cold and quiet as the bottom of a well. Unable to sit still, Seijūrō got up and stood by the window." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Through the paper-covered doors of the room given Musashi, he could see the softly flickering light of the lamp." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That was the only light anywhere.\n\nQuite a number of other eyes were peering in the same direction. The attackers, their swords on the ground in front of them, held their breath and listened intently for any sound that might tell them what Musashi was up to.\n\nTōji, whatever his shortcomings, had experienced the training of a samurai. He was trying desperately to figure out what Musashi might do. \"He's completely unknown in the capital, but he's a great fighter." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Could he just be sitting silently in that room?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Our approach has been quiet enough, but with this many people pressing in on him, he must have noticed. Anyone trying to make it through life as a warrior would notice; otherwise he'd be dead by now.\n\n\"Mm, maybe he's dozed off. It rather looks that way." }, { "from": "human", "value": "After all, he's been waiting a long time." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"On the other hand, he's already proved he's clever. He's probably standing there fully prepared for battle, leaving the lamp lit to put us off guard, just waiting for the first man to attack.\n\n\"That must be it. That is it!\"\n\nThe men were edgily cautious, for the target of their murderous intent would be just as eager to slay them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They exchanged glances, silently asking who would be the first to run forward and risk his life." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Finally the wily Tōji, who was just outside Musashi's room, called out, \"Musashi! Sorry to have kept you waiting! Could I see you for a moment?\"\n\nThere being no answer, Tōji concluded that Musashi was indeed ready and waiting for the attack. Vowing not to let him escape, Tōji signaled to right and left, then aimed a kick at the shoji. Dislodged from its groove by the blow, the bottom of the door slid about two feet into the room." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At the sound, the men who were supposed to storm into the room unintentionally fell back a pace." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But in a matter of seconds, someone shouted for the attack, and all the other doors of the room clattered open.\n\n\"He's not here!\"\n\n\"The room's empty!\"\n\nVoices full of restored courage muttered disbelievingly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Musashi had been sitting there just a short while ago, when someone had brought him the lamp." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The lamp still burned, the cushion he had been sitting on was still there, the brazier still had a good fire in it, and there was a cup of untouched tea. But no Musashi!\n\nOne man ran out on the veranda and let the others know that he had gotten away. From under the veranda and from dark spots in the garden, students and retainers assembled, stamping the ground angrily and cursing the men who had been standing guard on the small room. The guards, however, insisted that Musashi could not have gotten away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had walked down to the toilet less than an hour earlier but had returned to the room immediately." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was no way he could have gotten out without being seen.\n\n\"Are you saying he's invisible, like the wind?\" one man asked scornfully.\n\nJust then a man who had been poking around in a closet shouted, \"Here's how he got away! See, these floorboards have been ripped up.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It hasn't been very long since the lamp was trimmed. He can't have gone far!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"After him!'\n\nIf Musashi had indeed fled, he must at heart be a coward! The thought fired his pursuers with the fighting spirit that had been so notably lacking a bit earlier. They were streaming out the front, back and side gates when someone yelled, \"There he is!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Near the back gate, a figure shot out of the shadows, crossed the street and entered a dark alley on the other side." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Running like a hare, it swerved off to one side when it reached the wall at the end of the alley. Two or three of the students caught up with the man on the road between the Kūyadō and the burned ruins of the Honnōji.\n\n\"Coward!\"\n\n\"Run away, will you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"After what you did today?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was the sound of heavy scuffling and kicking, and a defiant howl. The captured man had regained his strength and was turning on his captors. In an instant, the three men who had been dragging him by the back of his neck plummeted to the ground. The man's sword was about to descend on them when a fourth man ran up and shouted, \"Wait! It's a mistake! He's not the one we're after.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Matahachi lowered his sword and the men got to their feet." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hey, you're right! That's not Musashi.\"\n\nAs they were standing there looking perplexed, Tōji arrived on the scene. \"Did you catch him?\" he asked.\n\n\"Uh, wrong man—not the one who caused all the trouble.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tōji took a closer look at the captive and said with astonishment, \"Is that the man you were chasing?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes. You know him?'\n\n\"I saw him just today at the Yomogi Teahouse.\"\n\nWhile they eyed Matahachi silently and suspiciously, he calmly straightened his tousled hair and brushed off his kimono.\n\n\"Is he the master of the Yomogi?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No, the mistress of the place told me he wasn't. He seems to be just a hanger-on of some sort.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He looks shady, all right. What was he doing around the gate? Spying?\"\n\nBut Tōji had already started to move on. \"If we waste time with him, we'll lose Musashi. Split up and get moving. If nothing else, we can at least find out where he's staying.\"\n\nThere was a murmur of assent and they were off." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Matahachi, facing the moat of the Honnōji, stood silently with his head bowed while the men ran by." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As the last one passed, he called out to him.\n\nThe man stopped. \"What do you want?\" he asked.\n\nGoing toward him, Matahachi asked, \"How old was this man called Musashi?\"\n\n\"How would I know?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Would you say he was about my age?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I guess that's about right. Yes.\"\n\n\"Is he from the village of Miyamoto in Mimasaka Province?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"I guess 'Musashi' is another way of reading the two characters used to write 'Takezō,' isn't it?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why are you asking all these questions? Is he a friend of yours?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh, no. I was just wondering.\"\n\n\"Well, in the future, why don't you just stay away from places where you don't belong? Otherwise you might find yourself in some real trouble one of these days.\" With that warning, the man ran off.\n\nMatahachi started walking slowly beside the dark moat, stopping occasionally to look up at the stars." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He didn't seem to have any particular destination." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It is him after all!\" he decided. \"He must have changed his name to Musashi and become a swordsman. I guess he must be pretty different from the way he used to be.\" He slid his hands into his obi and began kicking a stone along with the toe of his sandal. Every time he kicked, he seemed to see Takezō's face before him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's not the right time,\" he mumbled." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately one sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'd be ashamed for him to see me the way I am now. I've got enough pride not to want him to look down on me... If that Yoshioka bunch catches up with him, though, they're likely to kill him. Wonder where he is. I'd like to at least warn him.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Hey can you write like Eiji Yoshikawa and use whatever i write as a jumping off point?" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Along the stony path leading up to the Kiyomizudera Temple stood a row of shabby houses, their planked roofs lined up like rotten teeth and so old that moss covered their eaves. Under the hot noonday sun, the street reeked of salted fish broiling over charcoal.\n\nA dish flew through the door of one of the ramshackle hovels and broke into smithereens on the street. A man of about fifty, apparently an artisan of sorts, came tumbling out after it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Close on his heels was his barefooted wife, her hair a tangled mess and her tits hanging down like a cow's." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What're you saying, you lout?\" she screamed shrilly. \"You go off, leave your wife and children to starve, then come crawling back like a worm!\"\n\nFrom inside the house came the sound of children crying and nearby a dog howled. She caught up with the man, seized him by his topknot and began beating him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Now where do you think you're going, you old fool?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Neighbors rushed up, trying to restore order.\n\nMusashi smiled ironically and turned back toward the ceramics shop. For some time before the domestic battle erupted, he had been standing just outside it, watching the potters with childlike fascination. The two men inside were unaware of his presence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Eyes riveted on their work, they seemed to have entered into the clay, become a part of it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Their concentration was complete.\n\nMusashi would have liked to have a try at working with the clay. Since boyhood he had enjoyed doing things with his hands, and he thought he might at least be able to make a simple tea bowl. Just then, however, one of the potters, an old man of nearly sixty, started fashioning a tea bowl." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Musashi, observing how deftly he moved his fingers and handled his spatula, realized he'd overestimated his own abilities." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It takes so much technique just to make a simple piece like that,\" he marveled.\n\nThese days he often felt deep admiration for other people's work. He found he respected technique, art, even the ability to do a simple task well, particularly if it was a skill he himself had not mastered.\n\nIn one corner of the shop, on a makeshift counter made of an old door panel, stood rows of plates, jars, sake cups, and pitchers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They were sold as souvenirs, for the paltry sum of twenty or thirty pieces of cash, to people on their way to and from the temple." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In stark contrast to the earnestness the potters devoted to their work was the humbleness of their boarded shack. Musashi wondered whether they always had enough to eat. Life, it appeared, wasn't as easy as it sometimes seemed.\n\nContemplating the skill, concentration and devotion put into making wares, even as cheap as these, made Musashi feel he still had a long way to go if he was ever to reach the level of perfection in swordsmanship that he aspired to." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The thought was a sobering one, for in the past three weeks he'd visited other well-known training centers in Kyoto besides the Yoshioka School and had begun to wonder whether he had not been too critical of himself since his confinement at Himeji." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His expectation had been to find Kyoto full of men who had mastered the martial arts. It was, after all, the imperial capital, as well as the former seat of the Ashikaga shogunate, and it had long been a gathering place for famous generals and legendary warriors. During his stay, however, he had not found a single training center that had taught him anything to be genuinely grateful for. Instead, at each school he had experienced disappointment." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Though he always won his bouts, he was unable to decide whether this was because he was good or his opponents were bad." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In either case, if the samurai he had met were typical, the country was in sorry shape.\n\nEncouraged by his success, he had reached the point of taking a certain pride in his expertise. But now, reminded of the danger of vanity, he felt chastened. He mentally bowed in deep respect to the clay-smudged old men at the wheel and started up the steep slope to Kiyomizudera." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had not gone far when a voice called to him from below." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You there, sir. The rōnin!\"\n\n\"Do you mean me?\" asked Musashi, turning around.\n\nJudging from the man's padded cotton garment, his bare legs, and the pole he carried, he was a palanquin bearer by trade." }, { "from": "human", "value": "From behind his beard, he said, politely enough for one of his lowly status, \"Sir, is your name Miyamoto?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Thank you.\" The man turned and went down toward Chawan Hill.\n\nMusashi watched him enter what appeared to be a teahouse. Passing through the area a while earlier, he had noticed a large crowd of porters and palanquin bearers standing about in a sunny spot." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He couldn't imagine who had sent one of them to ask his name but supposed that whoever it was would soon come to meet him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He stood there awhile, but when no one appeared resumed his climb.\n\nHe stopped along the way to look at several well-known temples, and at each of them he bowed and said two prayers. One was: \"Please protect my sister from harm.\" The other was: \"Please test the lowly Musashi with hardship. Let him become the greatest swordsman in the land, or let him die.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Arriving at the edge of a cliff, he dropped his basket hat on the ground and sat down." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "From there he could look out over the whole city of Kyoto. As he sat clasping his knees, a simple, but powerful, ambition welled up in his young breast.\n\n\"I want to lead an important life. I want to do it because I was born a human being.\"\n\nHe had once read that in the tenth century two rebels named Taira no Masakado and Fujiwara no Sumitomo, both wildly ambitious, had gotten together and decided that if they emerged from the wars victorious, they would divide Japan up between them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The story was probably apocryphal to begin with, but Musashi remembered thinking at the time how stupid and unrealistic it would have been for them to believe they could carry out so grandiose a scheme." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now, however, he no longer felt it laughable. While his own dream was of a different sort, there were certain similarities. If the young cannot harbor great dreams in their souls, who can? At the moment Musashi was imagining how he could create a place of his own in the world." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He thought of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, of their visions of unifying Japan and of the many battles they had fought to that end." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But it was clear that the path to greatness no longer lay in winning battles. Today the people wanted only the peace for which they'd thirsted so long. And as Musashi considered the long, long struggle Tokugawa Ieyasu had had to endure to make this desire a reality, he realized once again how hard it was to hold fast to one's ideal.\n\n\"This is a new age,\" he thought." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I have the rest of my life before me. I came along too late to follow in the footsteps of Nobunaga or Hideyoshi, but I can still dream of my own world to conquer. No one can stop me from doing that. Even that palanquin bearer must have a dream of some sort.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For a moment he put these ideas out of his mind and tried to view his situation objectively. He had his sword, and the Way of the Sword was the way he had chosen. It might be fine to be a Hideyoshi or an Ieyasu, but the times no longer had use for people of their particular talents. Ieyasu had everything neatly tied up; there was no more need for bloody wars." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In Kyoto, stretched out below him, life was no longer a touch-and-go affair." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For Musashi, the important thing from now on would be his sword and the society around him, his swordsmanship as it related to existing as a human being. In a moment of insight, he was satisfied that he had found the link between the martial arts and his own visions of greatness.\n\nAs he sat lost in thought, the palanquin bearer's face came into view beneath the cliff. He pointed his bamboo pole at Musashi and shouted, \"There he is, up there!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Musashi looked down to where the porters were milling about and shouting." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They began climbing the hill toward him. He got to his feet and, trying to ignore them, walked farther up the hill, but soon discovered that his path was blocked. Locking arms and thrusting out their poles, a sizable group of men had encircled him at a distance. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that the men behind him had come to a halt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One of them grinned, showing his teeth, and informed the others that Musashi seemed to be \"staring at a plaque or something.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Musashi, now before the steps of the Hongandō, was indeed gazing up at a weatherbeaten plaque hanging from the crossbeam of the temple entrance. He felt ill at ease and wondered if he should try frightening them away with a battle cry. Even though he knew he could make quick work of them, there was no point in brawling with a bunch of lowly laborers. It was probably all a mistake anyway." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If so, they would disperse sooner or later." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He stood there patiently, reading and rereading the words on the plaque: \"Original Vow.\"\n\n\"Here she comes!\" one of the porters cried.\n\nThey began talking among themselves in hushed tones. Musashi's impression was that they were working themselves into a frenzy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The compound within the western gate of the temple had quickly filled with people, and now priests, pilgrims and vendors were straining their eyes to see what was going on." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Their faces brimming with curiosity, they formed circles outside the ring of porters surrounding Musashi.\n\nFrom the direction of Sannen Hill came the rhythmical, pace-setting chants of men carrying a load. The voices came closer and closer until two men entered the temple grounds bearing on their backs an old woman and a rather tired-looking country samurai.\n\nFrom her porter's back, Osugi waved her hand briskly and said, \"This will do.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The bearer bent his legs, and as she jumped spryly to the ground, she thanked him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Turning to Uncle Gon, she said, \"We won't let him get away this time, will we?\" The two were clothed and shod as though they expected to spend the rest of their lives traveling.\n\n\"Where is he?\" called Osugi.\n\nOne of the bearers said, \"Over there,\" and pointed proudly toward the temple." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Uncle Gon moistened the handle of his sword with spittle, and the two pushed through the circle of people." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Take your time,\" cautioned one of the porters.\n\n\"He looks pretty tough,\" said another.\n\n\"Just make sure you're well prepared,\" advised still another.\n\nWhile the laborers offered words of encouragement and support to Osugi, the spectators looked on in dismay." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Is the old woman actually planning to challenge that rōnin to a duel?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Looks that way.\"\n\n\"But she's so old! Even her second is shaky on his legs! They must have good reason to try taking on a man so much younger.\"\n\n\"Must be a family feud of some kind!\"\n\n\"Look at that now, will you! She's lighting into the old man. Some of these old grannies really have guts, don't they!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "A porter ran up with a dipper of water for Osugi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After drinking a mouthful she handed it to Uncle Gon and addressed him sternly. \"Now see that you don't get flustered, because there's nothing to be flustered about. Takezō's a man of straw. Oh, he may have learned a little about using a sword, but he couldn't have learned all that much. Just stay calm!\"\n\nTaking the lead, she went straight to the front staircase of the Hongandō and sat down on the steps, not ten paces from Musashi. Paying no attention whatever either to him or to the crowd watching her, she took out her prayer beads, and closing her eyes, began moving her lips." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Inspired by her religious fervor, Uncle Gon put his hands together and did likewise." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sight proved to be a little too melodramatic, and one of the spectators started snickering. Immediately, one of the porters spun around and said challengingly, \"Who thinks this is funny? This is no laughing matter, you imbecile! The old woman's come all the way from Mimasaka to find the good-for-nothing who ran off with her son's bride. She's been praying at the temple here every day for almost two months and today he finally showed up.\"\n\n\"These samurai are different from the rest of us,\" was the opinion of another porter. \"At that age, the old woman could be living comfortably at home, playing with her grandchildren, but no, here she is, in place of her son, seeking to avenge an insult to her family. If nothing else, she deserves our respect.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "A third one said, \"We're not supporting her just because she's been giving us tips. She's got spirit, she has! Old as she is, she's not afraid to fight. I say we should give her all the help we can. It's only right to help the underdog! If she should lose, let's take care of the rōnin ourselves.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You're right! But let's do it now! We can't stand here and let her get herself killed.\"\n\nAs the crowd learned of the reasons for Osugi's being there, the excitement mounted. Some of the spectators began goading the porters on.\n\nOsugi put her prayer beads back into her kimono, and a hush fell over the temple grounds." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Takezō!\" she called loudly, putting her left hand on the short sword at her waist." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Musashi had all the while been standing by in silence. Even when Osugi called out his name, he acted as if he hadn't heard. Unnerved by this, Uncle Gon, at Osugi's side, chose this moment to assume an attacking stance, and thrusting his head forward, uttered a cry of challenge.\n\nMusashi again failed to respond." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He couldn't. He simply did not know how to." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He recalled Takuan's having warned him in Himeji that he might run into Osugi. He was prepared to ignore her completely, but he was very upset by the talk the porters had been spreading among the mob. Furthermore, it was difficult for him to restrain his resentment at the hatred the Hon'idens had harbored against him all this time. The whole affair amounted to nothing more than a petty matter of face and feelings in the little village of Miyamoto, a misunderstanding that could be easily cleared up if only Matahachi were present." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nevertheless, he was at a loss as to what to do here and now." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "How was one to respond to a challenge from a doddering old woman and a shrunken-faced samurai? Musashi stared on in silence, his mind in a quandary.\n\n\"Look at the bastard! He's afraid!\" a porter shouted.\n\n\"Be a man! Let the old woman kill you!\" taunted another." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was not a soul who was not on Osugi's side." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The old woman blinked her eyes and shook her head. Then she looked at the bearers and snapped angrily, \"Shut up! I just want you as witnesses. If the two of us should happen to be killed, I want you to send our bodies back to Miyamoto. Otherwise I don't need your talk, and I don't want your help!\" Pulling her short sword partway out of its scabbard, she took a couple of steps in Musashi's direction.\n\n\"Takezō!\" she said again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Takezō was always your name in the village, so why don't you answer to it? I've heard you've taken a fine new name—Miyamoto Musashi, is it?—but you'll always be Takezō to me! Ha, ha, ha!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her wrinkled neck quivered as she laughed. Evidently she hoped to kill Musashi with words before swords were drawn.\n\n\"Did you think you could keep me from tracking you down just by changing your name? How stupid! The gods in heaven have guided me to you, as I knew they would. Now fight! We'll see whether I take your head home with me, or you manage somehow to stay alive!\"\n\nUncle Gon, in his withered voice, issued his own challenge." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's been four long years since you gave us the slip, and we've been searching for you all this time. Now our prayers here at the Kiyomizudera have brought you into our grasp. Old I may be, but I'm not going to lose to the likes of you! Prepare to die!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Whipping out his sword, he cried to Osugi, \"Get out of the way!\"\n\nShe turned on him furiously. \"What do you mean, you old fool? You're the one who's shaking.\"\n\n\"Never mind! The bodhisattvas of this temple will protect us!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You're right, Uncle Gon. And the ancestors of the Hon'idens are with us too! There's nothing to fear.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Takezō! Come forward and fight!\"\n\n\"What are you waiting for?\"\n\nMusashi did not move. He stood there like a deaf-mute, staring at the two old people and their drawn swords." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Osugi cried, \"What's the matter, Takezō! Are you scared?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She edged sideways, preparing to attack, but suddenly tripped on a rock and pitched forward, landing on her hands and knees almost at Musashi's feet.\n\nThe crowd gasped, and someone screamed, \"She'll be killed!\"\n\n\"Quick, save her!\"\n\nBut Uncle Gon only stared at Musashi's face, too stunned to move." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The old woman then startled one and all by snatching up her sword and walking back to Uncle Gon's side, where she again took a challenging stance." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What's wrong, you lout?\" Osugi cried. \"Is that sword in your hand just an ornament? Don't you know how to use it?\"\n\nMusashi's face was like a mask, but he spoke at last, in a thunderous voice. \"I can't do it!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He started walking toward them, and Uncle Gon and Osugi instantly fell back to either side." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Wh-where are you going, Takezō?\"\n\n\"I can't use my sword!\"\n\n\"Stop! Why don't you stop and fight?\"\n\n\"I told you! I can't use it!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He walked straight ahead, looking neither right nor left." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He marched directly through the crowd, without once swerving.\n\nRecovering her senses, Osugi cried, \"He's running away! Don't let him escape!\"\n\nThe crowd now moved in on Musashi, but when they thought they had him hemmed in, they discovered he was no longer there. Their bewilderment was acute." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Eyes flared in surprise, then became dull patches in blank faces." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Breaking up into smaller groups, they continued until sunset to run about, searching frantically under the floors of the temple buildings and in the woods for their vanished prey.\n\nStill later, as people were going back down the darkened slopes of Sannen and Chawan hills, one man swore that he had seen Musashi jump with the effortlessness of a cat to the top of the six-foot wall by the western gate and disappear.\n\nNobody believed this, least of all Osugi and Uncle Gon.\n\nThe Water Sprite" }, { "from": "human", "value": "In a hamlet northwest of Kyoto, the heavy thuds of a mallet pounding rice straw shook the ground." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Unseasonal torrents of rain soaked into the brooding thatched roofs. This was a sort of no-man's-land, between the city and the farming district, and the poverty was so extreme that at twilight the smoke of kitchen fires billowed from only a handful of houses.\n\nA basket hat suspended under the eaves of one small house proclaimed in bold, rough characters that this was an inn, albeit one of the cheapest variety. The travelers who stopped here were impecunious and rented only floor space." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For pallets they paid extra, but few could afford such luxury." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the dirt-floored kitchen beside the entranceway, a boy leaned with his hands on the raised tatami of the adjoining room, in the center of which was a sunken hearth.\n\n\"Hello!... Good evening!... Anybody here?\" It was the errand boy from the drinking shop, another shabby affair just down the road.\n\nThe boy's voice was too loud for his size." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He could not have been more than ten or eleven years old, and with his hair wet from the rain and hanging down over his ears, he looked no more substantial than a water sprite in a whimsical painting." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was dressed for the part too: thigh-length kimono with tubular sleeves, a thick cord for an obi, and mud splattered clear up his back from running in his wooden clogs.\n\n\"That you, Jō?\" called the old innkeeper from a back room.\n\n\"Yes. Would you like me to bring you some sake?\"\n\n\"No, not today. The lodger isn't back yet. I don't need any.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well, he'll want some when he does come back, won't he? I'll bring the usual amount.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If he does, I'll come get it myself.\"\n\nReluctant to leave without an order, the boy asked, \"What are you doing in there?\"\n\n\"I'm writing a letter, going to send it by the packhorse up to Kurama tomorrow. But it's a bit difficult. And my back's getting sore. Be quiet, don't bother me.\"\n\n\"That's pretty funny, isn't it? You're so old you're beginning to stoop, and you still don't know how to write properly!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's enough out of you. If I hear any more sass, I'll take a stick of firewood to you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Want me to write it for you?\"\n\n\"Ha, as if you could.\"\n\n\"Oh, I can,\" the boy asserted as he came into the room. He looked over the old man's shoulder at the letter and burst into laughter." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Are you trying to write 'potatoes'? The character you've written means 'pole.'\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Quiet!\"\n\n\"I won't say a word, if you insist. But your writing's terrible. Are you planning to send your friends some potatoes, or some poles?\"\n\n\"Potatoes.\"\n\nThe boy read a moment longer, then announced, \"It's no good. Nobody but you could guess what this letter's supposed to mean!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well, if you're so smart, see what you can do with it, then.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"All right. Just tell me what you want to say.\" Jōtarō sat down and took up the brush.\n\n\"You clumsy ass!\" the old man exclaimed.\n\n\"Why call me clumsy? You're the one who can't write!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Your nose is dripping on the paper.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh, sorry. You can give me this piece for my pay.\" He proceeded to blow his nose on the soiled sheet. \"Now, what is it you want to say?\" Holding the brush firmly, he wrote with ease as the old man dictated." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Just as the letter was finished, the lodger returned, casually throwing aside a charcoal sack he had picked up somewhere to put over his head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Musashi, stopping by the door, wrung the water out of his sleeves and grumbled, \"I guess this'll be the end of the plum blossoms.\" In the twenty-odd days Musashi had been there, the inn had come to seem like home. He was gazing out at the tree by the front gate, where pink blossoms had greeted his eye every morning since his arrival. The fallen petals lay scattered about in the mud." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Entering the kitchen, he was surprised to catch a glimpse of the boy from the sake shop, head to head with the innkeeper." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Curious as to what they were doing, he stole up behind the old man and peered over his shoulder.\n\nJōtarō looked up into Musashi's face, then hastily hid the brush and paper behind him. \"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that,\" he complained.\n\n\"Let me see,\" said Musashi teasingly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No,\" said Jōtarō with a defiant shake of his head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Come on, show me,\" said Musashi.\n\n\"Only if you buy some sake.\"\n\n\"Oh, so that's your game, is it? All right, I'll buy some.\"\n\n\"Five gills?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I don't need that much.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Three gills?\"\n\n\"Still too much.\"\n\n\"Well, how much? Don't be such a tightwad!\"\n\n\"Tightwad? Now, you know I'm only a poor swordsman." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Do you think I have money to throw away?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"All right. I'll measure it out myself, give you your money's worth. But if I do, you have to promise to tell me some stories.\"\n\nThe bargaining concluded, Jōtarō splashed cheerfully off into the rain.\n\nMusashi picked up the letter and read it. After a moment or two, he turned to the innkeeper and asked, \"Did he really write this?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes. Amazing, isn't it? He seems very bright.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "While Musashi went to the well, poured some cold water over himself and put on dry clothes, the old man hung a pot over the fire and set out some pickled vegetables and a rice bowl. Musashi came back and sat down by the hearth.\n\n\"What's that rascal up to?\" muttered the innkeeper. \"He's taking a long time with the sake.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How old is he?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Eleven, I think he said.\"\n\n\"Mature for his age, don't you think?\"\n\n\"Mm. I suppose it's because he's been working at the sake shop since he was seven. He runs up against all kinds there—wagon drivers, the paper-maker down the way, travelers, and what have you.\"\n\n\"I wonder how he learned to write so well.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Is he really that good?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well, his writing has a certain childish quality, but there's an appealing—what can I say?—directness about it. If I had a swordsman in mind, I would say it shows spiritual breadth. The boy may eventually be somebody.\"\n\n\"What do you mean?\"\n\n\"I mean become a real human being.\"\n\n\"Oh?\" The old man frowned, took the lid off the pot and resumed his grumbling." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Still not back. I'll bet he's dawdling somewhere.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was about to put on his sandals and go for the sake himself when Jōtarō returned. \"What have you been up to?\" he asked the boy. \"You've been keeping my guest waiting.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I couldn't help it. There was a customer in the shop, very drunk, and he grabbed hold of me and started asking a lot of questions.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What kind of questions?\"\n\n\"He was asking about Miyamoto Musashi.\"\n\n\"And I suppose you did a lot of blabbering.\"\n\n\"It wouldn't matter if I did. Everybody around here knows what happened at Kiyomizudera the other day. The woman next door, the daughter of the lacquer man—both of them were at the temple that day. They saw what happened.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Stop talking about that, won't you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Musashi said, almost in a pleading tone.\n\nThe sharp-eyed boy sized up Musashi's mood and asked, \"Can I stay here for a while and talk with you?\" He started washing off his feet, preparing to come into the hearth room.\n\n\"It's all right with me, if your master won't mind.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, he doesn't need me right now.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"All right.\"\n\n\"I'll warm up your sake for you. I'm good at that.\" He settled a sake jar into the warm ashes around the fire and soon announced it was ready.\n\n\"Fast, aren't you?\" said Musashi appreciatively." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Do you like sake?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes.\"\n\n\"But being so poor, I guess you don't drink very much, do you?\"\n\n\"That's right.\"\n\n\"I thought men who were good at the martial arts served under great lords and got big allowances. A customer at the shop told me once that Tsukahara Bokuden always used to go around with seventy or eighty retainers, a change of horses and a falcon.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's true.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And I heard that a famous warrior named Yagyū, who serves the House of Tokugawa, has an income of fifty thousand bushels of rice.\"\n\n\"That's true too.\"\n\n\"Then why are you so poor?\"\n\n\"I'm still studying.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How old will you have to be before you have lots of followers?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't know if I ever will.\"\n\n\"What's the matter? Aren't you any good?\"\n\n\"You heard what the people who saw me at the temple said. Any way you look at it, I ran away.\"\n\n\"That's what everybody's saying: that shugyōsha at the inn—that's you—is a weakling. But it makes me mad to listen to them.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Jōtarō's lips tightened in a straight line." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ha, ha! Why should you mind? They're not talking about you.\"\n\n\"Well, I feel sorry for you. Look, the paper-maker's son and the cooper's son and some of the rest of the young men all get together sometimes behind the lacquer shop for sword practice. Why don't you fight one of them and beat him?\"\n\n\"All right. If that's what you want, I will.\"\n\nMusashi was finding it difficult to refuse anything the boy asked, partly because he himself was in many ways still a boy at heart and was able to sympathize with Jōtarō." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was always looking, mostly unconsciously, for something to take the place of the family affection lacking from his own boyhood." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Let's talk about something else,\" he said. \"I'll ask you a question for a change. Where were you born?\"\n\n\"In Himeji.\"\n\n\"Oh, so you're from Harima.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, and you're from Mimasaka, aren't you? Somebody said you were.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's right. What does your father do?\"\n\n\"He used to be a samurai. A real honest-to-goodness samurai!\"\n\nAt first Musashi looked astonished, but actually the answer explained several things, not the least of which was how the boy had learned to write so well. He asked the father's name." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"His name is Aoki Tanzaemon. He used to have an allowance of twenty-five hundred bushels of rice, but when I was seven he left his lord's service and came to Kyoto as a rōnin. After all his money was gone, he left me at the sake shop and went to a temple to become a monk. But I don't want to stay at the shop. I want to become a samurai like my father was, and I want to learn swordsmanship like you. Isn't that the best way to become a samurai?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The boy paused, then continued earnestly: \"I want to become your follower—go around the country studying with you. Won't you take me on as your pupil?\"\n\nHaving blurted out his purpose, Jōtarō put on a stubborn face reflecting clearly his determination not to take no for an answer. He could not know, of course, that he was pleading with a man who had caused his father no end of trouble. Musashi, for his part, could not bring himself to refuse out of hand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yet what he was really thinking of was not whether to say yes or no but of Aoki Tanzaemon and his unfortunate fate." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He could not help sympathizing with the man. The Way of the Samurai was a constant gamble, and a samurai had to be ready at all times to kill or be killed. Mulling over this example of life's vicissitudes, Musashi was saddened, and the effect of the sake wore off quite suddenly. He felt lonely.\n\nJōtarō was insistent. When the innkeeper tried to get him to leave Musashi alone, he replied insolently and redoubled his efforts." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He caught hold of Musashi's wrist, then hugged his arm, finally broke into tears." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Musashi, seeing no way out, said, \"All right, all right, that's enough. You can be my follower, but only after you go and talk it over with your master.\"\n\nJōtarō, satisfied at last, trotted off to the sake shop.\n\nThe next morning, Musashi rose early, dressed, and called to the innkeeper, \"Would you please fix me a lunch box? It's been nice staying here these few weeks, but I think I'll go on to Nara now.\"\n\n\"Leaving so soon?\" asked the innkeeper, not expecting the sudden departure." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's because that boy was pestering you, isn't it?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh, no, it's not his fault. I've been thinking about going to Nara for some time—to see the famous lance fighters at the Hōzōin. I hope he doesn't give you too much trouble when he finds out I'm gone.\"\n\n\"Don't worry about it. He's only a child. He'll scream and yell for a while, then forget all about it.\"\n\n\"I can't imagine that the sake man would let him leave anyway,\" said Musashi as he stepped out onto the road.\n\nThe storm had passed, as if wiped away, and the breeze brushed gently against Musashi's skin, quite unlike the fierce wind of the day before." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The Kamo River was up, the water muddy." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At one end of the wooden bridge at Sanjō Avenue, samurai were examining all the people who came and went. Asking the reason for the inspection, Musashi was told it was because of the new shōgun's impending visit. A vanguard of influential and minor feudal lords had already arrived, and steps were being taken to keep dangerous unattached samurai out of the city. Musashi, himself a rōnin, gave ready answers to the questions asked and was allowed to pass." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The experience set him to thinking about his own status as a wandering masterless warrior pledged neither to the Tokugawas nor to their rivals in Osaka." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Running off to Sekigahara and taking sides with the Osaka forces against the Tokugawas was a matter of inheritance. That had been his father's allegiance, unchanged from the days when he served under Lord Shimmen of Iga. Toyotomi Hideyoshi had died two years before the battle; his supporters, loyal to his son, made up the Osaka faction. In Miyamoto, Hideyoshi was considered the greatest of heroes, and Musashi remembered how as a child he had sat at the hearth and listened to tales of the great warrior's prowess." }, { "from": "human", "value": "These ideas formed in his youth lingered with him, and even now, if pressed to say which side he favored, he'd probably have said Osaka." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Musashi had since learned a few things and now recognized that his actions at the age of seventeen had been both mindless and devoid of accomplishment. For a man to serve his lord faithfully, it was not enough to jump blindly into the fray and brandish a lance. He must go all the way, to the brink of death.\n\n\"If a samurai dies with a prayer for his lord's victory on his lips, he has done something fine and meaningful,\" was the way Musashi would have put it now." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But at the time neither he nor Matahachi had had any sense of loyalty." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What they had been thirsting for was fame and glory, and more to the point, a means of gaining a livelihood without giving up anything of their own.\n\nIt was odd that they should have thought of it that way. Having since learned from Takuan that life is a jewel to be treasured, Musashi knew that far from giving up nothing, he and Matahachi had unwittingly been offering their most precious possession. Each had literally wagered everything he had on the hope of receiving a paltry stipend as a samurai." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In retrospect, he wondered how they could have been so foolish." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He noticed that he was approaching Daigo, south of the city, and since he'd worked up quite a sweat, decided to stop for a rest.\n\nFrom a distance, he heard a voice shouting, \"Wait! Wait!\" Gazing far down the steep mountain road, he made out the form of the little water sprite Jōtarō, running for all he was worth. Presently the boy's angry eyes were glaring into his." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You lied to me!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Jōtarō shouted. \"Why did you do that!\" Breathless from running, face flushed, he spoke with belligerence, though it was clear he was on the verge of tears.\n\nMusashi had to laugh at his getup. He had discarded the work clothes of the day before in favor of an ordinary kimono, but it was only half big enough for him, the skirt barely reaching his knees and the arms stopping at the elbows." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At his side hung a wooden sword that was longer than the boy was tall, on his back a basket hat that looked as big as an umbrella." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even as he shouted at Musashi for having left him behind, he burst into tears. Musashi hugged and tried to comfort him, but the boy wailed on, apparently feeling that in the mountains, with no one around, he could let himself go.\n\nFinally Musashi said, \"Does it make you feel good, acting like a crybaby?\"\n\n\"I don't care!\" Jōtarō sobbed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You're a grownup, and yet you lied to me. You said you'd let me be your follower—then went off and left me. Are grownups supposed to act like that?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm sorry,\" said Musashi.\n\nThis simple apology turned the boy's crying into a pleading whine.\n\n\"Stop it now,\" said Musashi. \"I didn't mean to lie to you, but you have a father and you have a master. I couldn't bring you with me unless your master consented. I told you to go and talk with him, didn't I? It didn't seem likely to me that he'd agree.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why didn't you at least wait until you heard the answer?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's why I'm apologizing to you now. Did you really discuss this with him?\"\n\n\"Yes.\" He got his sniffling under control and pulled two leaves from a tree, on which he blew his nose.\n\n\"And what did he say?\"\n\n\"He told me to go ahead.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Did he now?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He said no self-respecting warrior or training school would take on a boy like me, but since the samurai at the inn was a weakling, he ought to be just the right person. He said maybe you could use me to carry your luggage, and he gave me this wooden sword as a going-away present.\"\n\nMusashi smiled at the man's line of reasoning.\n\n\"After that,\" continued the boy, \"I went to the inn. The old man wasn't there, so I just borrowed this hat from off the hook under the eaves.\"\n\n\"But that's the inn's signboard; it has 'Lodgings' written on it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, I don't mind. I need a hat in case it rains.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was clear from Jōtarō's attitude that as far as he was concerned, all necessary promises and vows had been exchanged, and he was now Musashi's disciple. Sensing this, Musashi resigned himself to being more or less stuck with the child, but it also occurred to him that maybe it was all for the best. Indeed, when he considered his own part in Tanzaemon's loss of status, he concluded that perhaps he should be grateful for the opportunity to see to the boy's future. It seemed the right thing to do." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Jōtarō, now calm and reassured, suddenly remembered something and reached inside his kimono." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I almost forgot. I have something for you. Here it is.\" He pulled out a letter.\n\nEyeing it curiously, Musashi asked, \"Where did you get that?\"\n\n\"Remember last night I said there was a rōnin drinking at the shop, asking a lot of questions?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well, when I went home, he was still there. He kept on asking about you. He's some drinker, too—drank a whole bottle of sake by himself! Then he wrote this letter and asked me to give it to you.\"\n\nMusashi cocked his head to one side in puzzlement and broke the seal. Looking first at the bottom, he saw it was from Matahachi, who must have been drunk indeed. Even the characters looked tipsy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As Musashi read the scroll, he was seized with mixed feelings of nostalgia and sadness." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not only was the writing chaotic; the message itself was rambling and imprecise.\n\nSince I left you at Mount Ibuki, I haven't forgotten the village. And I haven't forgotten my old friend. By accident I heard your name at the Yoshioka School." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At the time, I got confused and couldn't decide whether to try to see you." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now I'm in a sake shop. I've had a lot to drink.\n\nThus far the meaning was clear enough, but from this point on the letter was difficult to follow.\n\nEver since I parted from you, I've been kept in a cage of lust, and idleness has eaten into my bones." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For five years I've spent my days in a stupor, doing nothing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the capital, you are now famous as a swordsman. I drink to you! Some people say Musashi is a coward, good only at running away. Some say you're an incomparable swordsman." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I don't care which is true, I'm just happy that your sword has the people in the capital talking." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You're smart. You should be able to make your way with the sword. But as I look back, I wonder about me, the way I am now. I'm a fool! How can a stupid wretch like me face a wise friend like you without dying of shame?\n\nBut wait! Life is long, and it's too early to say what the future will bring." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I don't want to see you now, but there will come a day when I will." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I pray for your health.\n\nThen came a rapidly scrawled postscript informing him, at some length, that the Yoshioka School took a serious view of the recent incident, that they were looking everywhere for him, and that he should be careful about his movements. It ended: \"You mustn't die now that you're just beginning to make a name for yourself. When I, too, have made something of myself, I want to see you and talk over old times. Take care of yourself, stay alive, so you can be an inspiration to me.\"\n\nMatahachi had no doubt meant well, but there was something twisted about his attitude." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Why must he praise Musashi so and in the next breath carry on so about his own failings?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why,\" wondered Musashi, \"couldn't he just write and say that it's been a long time, and why don't we get together and have a long talk?\"\n\n\"Jō, did you ask this man for his address?\"\n\n\"No.\"\n\n\"Did the people at the shop know him?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I don't think so.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Did he come there often?\"\n\n\"No, this was the first time.\"\n\nMusashi was thinking that if he knew where Matahachi lived, he would go back to Kyoto right now to see him. He wanted to talk to his childhood comrade, try to bring him to his senses, reawaken in him the spirit he had once had." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Since he still considered Matahachi to be his friend, he would have liked to pull him out of his present mood, with its apparently self-destructive tendencies." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And of course, he would also have liked to have Matahachi explain to his mother what a mistake she was making.\n\nThe two walked on silently. They were on their way down the mountain at Daigo, and the Rokujizō crossing was visible below them.\n\nAbruptly Musashi turned to the boy and said, \"Jō, there's something I want you to do for me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What is it?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I want you to go on an errand.\"\n\n\"Where to?\"\n\n\"Kyoto.\"\n\n\"That means turning around and going back where I just came from.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's right. I want you to take a letter from me to the Yoshioka School on Shijō Avenue.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Jōtarō, crestfallen, kicked a rock with his toe.\n\n\"Don't you want to go?\" asked Musashi, looking him in the face.\n\nJōtarō shook his head uncertainly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I don't mind going, but aren't you just doing this to get rid of me?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His suspicion made Musashi feel guilty, for wasn't he the one who had broken the child's faith in adults?\n\n\"No!\" he said vigorously. \"A samurai does not lie. Forgive me for what happened this morning. It was just a mistake.\"\n\n\"All right, I'll go.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Entering a teahouse at the crossroads known as Rokuamida, they ordered tea and ate lunch." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Musashi then wrote a letter, which he addressed to Yoshioka Seijūrō:\n\nI am told that you and your disciples are searching for me. As it happens, I am now on the Yamato highroad, my intention being to travel around in the general area of Iga and Ise for about a year to continue my study of swordsmanship. I do not wish to change my plans at this time, but since I regret as much as you do that I was unable to meet you during my previous visit to your school, I should like to inform you that I shall certainly be back in the capital by the first or the second month of next year." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Between now and then, I expect to improve my technique considerably." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I trust that you yourself will not neglect your practice. It would be a great shame if Yoshioka Kempō's flourishing school were to suffer a second defeat like the one it sustained the last time I was there. In closing, I send my respectful wishes for your continued good health.\n\nShimmen Miyamoto Musashi Masana" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Though the letter was polite, it left little doubt as to Musashi's confidence in himself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Having amended the address to include not only Seijūrō but all the disciples in the school, he laid down his brush and gave the letter to Jōtarō.\n\n\"Can I just throw it in at the school and come back?\" the boy asked.\n\n\"No. You must call at the front entrance and hand it personally to the servant there.\"\n\n\"I understand.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"There's something else I want you to do, but it may be a little difficult.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What is it?\"\n\n\"I want you to see if you can find the man who gave you the letter. His name is Hon'iden Matahachi. He's an old friend of mine.\"\n\n\"That should be no trouble at all.\"\n\n\"You think not? Just how do you propose to do it?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, I'll ask around at all the drinking shops.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Musashi laughed. \"That's not a bad idea. I gather from Matahachi's letter, however, that he knows somebody at the Yoshioka School. I think it would be quicker to ask about him there.\"\n\n\"What do I do when I find him?\"\n\n\"I want you to deliver a message. Tell him that from the first to the seventh day of the new year, I'll go every morning to the great bridge at Gojō Avenue and wait for him. Ask him to come on one of those days to meet me.\"\n\n\"Is that all?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, but also tell him that I want very badly to see him.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"All right, I think I have it. Where will you be when I come back?\"\n\n\"I'll tell you what. When I get to Nara, I'll arrange it so that you can find out where I am by asking at the Hōzōin. That's the temple that's famous for its lance technique.\"\n\n\"You'll really do that?\"\n\n\"Ha, ha! You're still suspicious, aren't you? Don't worry. If I don't keep my promise this time, you can cut off my head.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Let's engage in a collaborative writing exercise. I'll provide a starting point, and You'll continue with 4 sentences in the style of Eiji Yoshikawa." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "On the bank of the Takase River, Akemi was rinsing a strip of cloth and singing a song she had learned at the Okuni Kabuki. Each time she pulled at the flower-patterned cloth, it created an illusion of swirling cherry blossoms.\n\nThe breeze of love\n\nTugs at the sleeve of my kimono." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Oh, the sleeve weighs heavy!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Is the breeze of love heavy?\n\nJōtarō stood on top of the dike. His lively eyes surveyed the scene and he smiled amicably. \"You sing well, Auntie,\" he called out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What's that?\" asked Akemi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She looked up at the gnomelike child with his long wooden sword and his enormous basket hat. \"Who are you?\" she asked. \"And what do you mean, calling me Auntie? I'm still young!\"\n\n\"Okay—Sweet Young Girl. How's that?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Stop it,\" she said with a laugh." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You're much too little to be flirting. Why don't you blow your nose instead?\"\n\n\"I only wanted to ask a question.\"\n\n\"Oh, my!\" she cried in consternation. \"There goes my cloth!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'll get it for you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Jōtarō chased down the riverbank after the cloth, then fished it out of the water with his sword. At least, he reflected, it comes in handy in a situation like this one. Akemi thanked him and asked what he wanted to know.\n\n\"Is there a teahouse around here called the Yomogi?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why, yes, it's my house, right over there.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Am I glad to hear that! I've spent a long time looking for it.\"\n\n\"Why? Where do you come from?\"\n\n\"Over that way,\" he replied, pointing vaguely.\n\n\"And just where might that be?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He hesitated. \"I'm not really sure.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Akemi giggled. \"Never mind. But why are you interested in our teahouse?\"\n\n\"I'm looking for a man named Hon'iden Matahachi. They told me at the Yoshioka School that if I went to the Yomogi, I'd find him.\"\n\n\"He's not there.\"\n\n\"You're lying!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, no; it's true. He used to stay with us, but he went off some time ago.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Where to?\"\n\n\"I don't know.\"\n\n\"But someone at your house must know!\"\n\n\"No. My mother doesn't know either. He just ran away.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, no.\" The boy crouched down and stared worriedly into the river." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Now what am I supposed to do?\" he sighed.\n\n\"Who sent you here?\"\n\n\"My teacher.\"\n\n\"Who's your teacher?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"His name is Miyamoto Musashi.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Did you bring a letter?\"\n\n\"No,\" said Jōtarō, shaking his head.\n\n\"A fine messenger you are! You don't know where you came from, and you don't have a letter with you.\"\n\n\"I have a message to deliver.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What is it? He may never come back, but if he does, I'll tell him for you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't think I should do that, do you?\"\n\n\"Don't ask me. Make up your own mind.\"\n\n\"Maybe I should, then. He said he wanted to see Matahachi very much. He said to tell Matahachi that he'd wait on the great bridge at Gojō Avenue every morning from the first day to the seventh day of the new year. Matahachi should meet him there on one of those days.\"\n\nAkemi broke into uncontrollable laughter." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I never heard of such a thing! You mean he's sending a message now telling Matahachi to meet him next year? Your teacher must be as strange as you are! Ha, ha!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A scowl came over Jōtarō's face, and his shoulders tensed with anger. \"What's so funny?\"\n\nAkemi finally managed to stop laughing. \"Now you're angry, aren't you?\"\n\n\"Of course I am. I just asked you politely to do me a favor, and you start laughing like a lunatic.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm sorry, I really am. I won't laugh anymore. And if Matahachi comes back, I'll give him your message.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is that a promise?\"\n\n\"Yes, I swear.\" Biting her lips to avoid smiling, Akemi asked, \"What was his name again? The man who sent you with the message.\"\n\n\"Your memory's not too good, is it? His name is Miyamoto Musashi.\"\n\n\"How do you write Musashi?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Picking up a bamboo stick, Jōtarō scratched the two characters in the sand." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why, those are the characters for Takezō!\" exclaimed Akemi.\n\n\"His name isn't Takezō. It's Musashi.\"\n\n\"Yes, but they can also be read Takezō.\"\n\n\"Stubborn, aren't you?\" snapped Jōtarō, tossing the bamboo stick into the river." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Akemi stared fixedly at the characters in the sand, lost in thought." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Finally she lifted her gaze from the ground to Jōtarō, reexamined him from head to toe, and in a soft voice asked, \"I wonder if Musashi is from the Yoshino area in Mimasaka.\"\n\n\"Yes. I'm from Harima; he's from the village of Miyamoto in the neighboring province of Mimasaka.\"\n\n\"Is he tall and manly? And does he leave the top of his head unshaved?\"\n\n\"Yes. How did you know?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I remember him telling me once that when he was a child he had a carbuncle on the top of his head. If he shaved it the way samurai usually do, you would see an ugly scar.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Told you? When?\"\n\n\"Oh, it's been five years now.\"\n\n\"Have you known my teacher that long?\"\n\nAkemi did not answer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The memory of those days evoked stirrings in her heart that made even speaking difficult." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Convinced from the little the boy had said that Musashi was Takezō, she was gripped by a yearning to see him again. She had seen her mother's way of doing things, and she had watched Matahachi go from bad to worse. From the first, she had preferred Takezō and had since grown more and more confident in the rightness of his choice. She was glad to be still single." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Takezō—he was so different from Matahachi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Many were the times she had resolved to never let herself wind up with the likes of the men who always drank at the teahouse. She scorned them, holding on firmly to the image of Takezō. Deep within her heart, she nourished the dream of finding him again; he, only he, was the lover in her mind when she sang love songs to herself.\n\nHis mission fulfilled, Jōtarō said, \"Well, I'd better be going now. If you find Matahachi, be sure to tell him what I told you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He hurried off, trotting along the narrow top of the dike." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The oxcart was loaded with a mountain of sacks, containing rice perhaps, or lentil beans, or some other local product. On top of the pile, a plaque proclaimed that this was a contribution being sent by faithful Buddhists to the great Kōfukuji in Nara. Even Jōtarō knew of this temple, for its name was virtually synonymous with Nara.\n\nJōtarō's face lit up with childish joy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Chasing after the vehicle, he climbed up on back." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If he faced backward, there was just enough room to sit down. As an added luxury, he had the sacks to lean against.\n\nOn either side of the road, the rolling hills were covered with neat rows of tea bushes. The cherry trees had begun to bloom, and farmers were plowing their barley—praying, no doubt, that this year it would once again be safe from the trampling feet of soldiers and horses." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Women knelt by the streams washing their vegetables." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Yamato highroad was at peace.\n\n\"What luck!\" thought Jōtarō, as he settled back and relaxed. Comfortable on his perch, he was tempted to go to sleep but thought better of it. Fearing they might reach Nara before he awoke, he was thankful every time the wheels struck a rock and the wagon shook, since it helped him keep his eyes open." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nothing could have given him more pleasure than to be not only moving along like this but actually heading toward his destination." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Outside one village, Jōtarō lazily reached out and plucked a leaf from a camellia tree. Putting it to his tongue, he began to whistle a tune.\n\nThe wagon driver looked back, but could see nothing. Since the whistling went on and on, he looked over his left shoulder, then his right shoulder, several more times." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Finally he stopped the wagon and walked around to the back." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sight of Jōtarō threw him into a rage, and the blow from his fist was so sharp the boy cried out in pain.\n\n\"What're you doing up there?\" he snarled.\n\n\"It's all right, isn't it?\"\n\n\"It is not all right!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why not? You're not pulling it yourself!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You impudent little bastard!\" shouted the driver, tossing Jōtarō onto the ground like a ball. He bounced and rolled against the foot of a tree. Starting off with a rumble, the wheels of the wagon seemed to be laughing at him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Jōtarō picked himself up and began to search carefully around on the ground." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He'd just noticed he no longer had the bamboo tube containing the reply from the Yoshioka School to Musashi. He had hung it from his neck with a cord, but now it was gone.\n\nAs the totally distraught boy gradually widened the area of his search, a young woman in traveling clothes, who had stopped to watch him, asked, \"Did you lose something?\"\n\nHe glanced at her face, which was partially hidden by a broad-brimmed hat, nodded and resumed his search." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Was it money?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Jōtarō, thoroughly absorbed, paid little attention to the question, but managed a negative grunt.\n\n\"Well, was it a bamboo tube about a foot long with a cord attached?\"\n\nJōtarō jumped up. \"Yes! How did you know?\"\n\n\"So it was you the drivers near the Mampukuji were yelling at for teasing their horse!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Ah-h-h... well... \"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"When you got scared and ran, the cord must've broken. The tube fell on the road, and the samurai who'd been talking to the drivers picked it up. Why don't you go back and ask him about it?\"\n\n\"Are you sure?\"\n\n\"Yes, of course.\"\n\n\"Thanks.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Just as he started to run off, the young woman called after him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Wait! There's no need to go back. I can see the samurai coming this way. The one in the field hakama.\" She pointed toward the man.\n\nJōtarō stopped and waited, eyes wide.\n\nThe samurai was an impressive man of about forty." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Everything about him was a little bigger than life—his height, his jet-black beard, his broad shoulders, his massive chest." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He wore leather socks and straw sandals, and when he walked, his firm footsteps seemed to compact the earth. Jōtarō, certain at a glance that this was a great warrior in the service of one of the more prominent daimyō, felt too frightened to address him.\n\nFortunately, the samurai spoke first, summoning the boy. \"Weren't you the imp who dropped this bamboo tube in front of the Mampukuji?\" he asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, that's it! You found it!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't you know how to say thank you?\"\n\n\"I'm sorry. Thank you, sir.\"\n\n\"I daresay there's an important letter inside. When your master sends you on a mission, you shouldn't be stopping along the way to tease horses, hitching rides on wagons, or loafing by the wayside.\"\n\n\"Yes, sir. Did you look inside, sir?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's only natural when you've found something to examine it and return it to its owner, but I did not break the seal on the letter. Now that you have it back, you should check and see that it's in good order.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Jōtarō took the cap from the tube and peered inside. Satisfied that the letter was still there, he hung the tube from his neck and swore not to lose it a second time.\n\nThe young woman looked as pleased as Jōtarō. \"It was very kind of you, sir,\" she said to the samurai, in an attempt to make up for Jōtarō's inability to express himself properly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The bearded samurai started walking along with the two of them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is the boy with you?\" he asked her.\n\n\"Oh, no. I've never seen him before.\"\n\nThe samurai laughed. \"I thought you made a rather strange pair. He's a funny-looking little devil, isn't he—'Lodgings' written on his hat and all?\"\n\n\"Perhaps it's his youthful innocence that's so appealing. I like him too.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Turning to Jōtarō, she asked, \"Where are you going?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Walking along between them, Jōtarō was once again in high spirits. \"Me? I'm going to Nara, to the Hōzōin.\" A long, narrow object wrapped in gold brocade and nestled in the girl's obi caught his eye. Staring at it, he said, \"I see you have a letter tube too. Be careful you don't lose it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Letter tube? What do you mean?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"There, in your obi.\"\n\nShe laughed. \"This isn't a letter tube, silly! It's a flute.\"\n\n\"A flute?\" Eyes burning with curiosity, Jōtarō unabashedly moved his head close to her waist to inspect the object. Suddenly, a strange feeling came over him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He pulled back and seemed to be examining the girl." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even children have a sense of feminine beauty, or at least they understand instinctively whether a woman is pure or not. Jōtarō was impressed with the girl's loveliness and respected it. It seemed to him an unimaginable stroke of good luck that he should be walking along with one so pretty. His heart throbbed and he felt giddy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I see. A flute... Do you play the flute, Auntie?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "he asked. Then, obviously remembering Akemi's reaction to the word, he abruptly changed his question. \"What's your name?\"\n\nThe girl laughed and cast an amused glance over the boy's head at the samurai. The bearlike warrior joined in the laughter, displaying a row of strong white teeth behind his beard.\n\n\"You're a fine one, you are! When you ask someone's name, it's only good manners to state your own first.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My name's Jōtarō.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This brought forth more laughter.\n\n\"That's not fair!\" cried Jōtarō. \"You made me tell my name, but I still don't know yours. What's your name, sir?\"\n\n\"My name's Shōda,\" said the samurai." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That must be your family name. What's your other name?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'll have to ask you to let me off on that one.\"\n\nUndaunted, Jōtarō turned to the girl and said, \"Now it's your turn. We told you our names. It wouldn't be polite for you not to tell us yours.\"\n\n\"Mine is Otsū.\"\n\n\"Otsū?\" Jōtarō repeated." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He seemed satisfied for a moment, but then chattered on." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why do you go around with a flute in your obi?\"\n\n\"Oh, I need this to make my living.\"\n\n\"Are you a flute player by profession?\"\n\n\"Well, I'm not sure there's any such thing as a professional flute player, but the money I get for playing makes it possible for me to take long trips like this one. I suppose you could call it my profession.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Is the music you play like the music I've heard at Gion and the Kamo Shrine? The music for the sacred dances?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No.\"\n\n\"Is it like the music for other kinds of dancing—Kabuki maybe?\"\n\n\"No.\"\n\n\"Then what kind do you play?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, just ordinary melodies.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The samurai had meanwhile been wondering about Jōtarō's long wooden sword. \"What's that you've got stuck in your waist?\" he asked.\n\n\"Don't you know a wooden sword when you see one? I thought you were a samurai.\"\n\n\"Yes, I am. I'm just surprised to see one on you. Why are you carrying it?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm going to study swordsmanship.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh, are you now? Do you have a teacher yet?\"\n\n\"I do.\"\n\n\"And is he the person to whom the letter is addressed?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If he's your teacher, he must be a real expert.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He's not all that good.\"\n\n\"What do you mean?\"\n\n\"Everybody says he's weak.\"\n\n\"Doesn't it bother you to have a weak man for a teacher?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No. I'm no good with the sword either, so it doesn't make any difference.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The samurai could hardly contain his amusement. His mouth quivered as if to break into a smile, but his eyes remained grave. \"Have you learned any techniques?\"\n\n\"Well, not exactly. I haven't learned anything at all yet.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The samurai's laughter finally burst forth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Walking with you makes the road seem shorter!... And you, young lady, where are you going?\"\n\n\"Nara, but exactly where in Nara I don't know. There's a rōnin I've been trying to locate for a year or so, and since I've heard that a lot of them have gathered in Nara recently, I'm planning to go there, though I admit the rumor's not much to go on.\"\n\nThe bridge at Uji came into view. Under the eaves of a teahouse, a very proper old man with a large teakettle was purveying his stock-in-trade to his customers, who were seated around him on stools." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Catching sight of Shōda, he greeted him warmly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How nice to see someone from the House of Yagyū!\" he called. \"Come in, come in!\"\n\n\"We'd just like to take a short rest. Could you bring the boy here some sweet cakes?\"\n\nJōtarō remained on his feet while his companions sat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "To him, the idea of sitting down and resting was a bore; once the cakes arrived, he grabbed them and ran up the low hill behind the teahouse." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Otsū, sipping her tea, inquired of the old man, \"Is it still a long way to Nara?\"\n\n\"Yes. Even a fast walker'd probably get no farther than Kizu before sunset. A girl like you should plan to spend the night at Taga or Ide.\"\n\nShōda spoke up immediately. \"This young lady has been searching for someone for months. But I wonder, do you think it's safe these days for a young woman to travel to Nara alone, with no place to stay in mind?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The old man grew wide-eyed at the question." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She shouldn't even consider it!\" he said decisively. Turning to Otsū, he waved his hand back and forth before his face and said, \"Give the idea up entirely. If you were sure you had someone to stay with, it'd be a different matter. If you don't, Nara can be a very dangerous place.\"\n\nThe proprietor poured a cup of tea for himself and told them what he knew of the situation in Nara. Most people, it seemed, had the impression that the old capital was a quiet, peaceful place where there were lots of colorful temples and tame deer—a place undisturbed by war or famine—but in fact the town was no longer like that at all." }, { "from": "human", "value": "After the Battle of Sekigahara, nobody knew how many rōnin from the losing side had come to hide there." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Most of them were Osaka partisans from the Western Army, samurai who now had no income and little hope of finding another profession. With the Tokugawa shogunate growing in power year by year, it was doubtful whether these fugitives would ever again be able to make a living out in the open with their swords.\n\nAccording to most estimates, 120,000 to 130,000 samurai had lost their positions. Being the victors, the Tokugawas had confiscated estates representing an annual income of 33 million bushels of rice." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Even if the feudal lords who had since been allowed to reestablish themselves on a more modest scale were taken into consideration, at least eighty daimyō, with incomes thought to total 20 million bushels, had been dispossessed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "On the basis that for every 500 bushels, three samurai had been cut loose from their moorings and forced into hiding in various provinces—and including their families and retainers—the total number could not be less than 100,000.\n\nThe area around Nara and Mount Kōya was full of temples and therefore difficult for the Tokugawa forces to patrol. By the same token, it was an ideal hiding place, and the fugitives moved there in droves.\n\n\"Why,\" said the old man, \"the famous Sanada Yukimura is in hiding at Mount Kudo, and Sengoku Sōya is said to be in the vicinity of the Hōryūji, and Ban Dan'emon at the Kōfukuji. I could name many more.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "All these were marked men, who would be killed instantly if they showed themselves; their one hope for the future was for war to break out again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The old man's opinion was that it wouldn't be so bad if it were only these famous rōnin hiding out, since they all had a degree of prestige and could make a living for themselves and their families. Complicating the picture, however, were the indigent samurai who prowled the city's back streets in such straits that they'd sell their swords if they could. Half of them had taken to picking fights, gambling and otherwise disturbing the peace, in the hope that the havoc they caused would make the Osaka forces rise up and take arms. The once tranquil city of Nara had turned into a nest of desperadoes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For a nice girl like Otsū to go there would be tantamount to her pouring oil on her kimono and jumping into a fire." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The teahouse proprietor, stirred by his own recitation, concluded by strongly begging Otsū to change her mind.\n\nNow doubtful, Otsū sat silently for a while. If she had had the slightest indication that Musashi might be in Nara, she would not have given danger a second thought. But she really had nothing to go on." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She had merely wandered toward Nara—just as she had wandered around to various other places in the year since Musashi had left her stranded at the bridge in Himeji." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shōda, seeing the perplexity on her face, said, \"You said your name is Otsū, didn't you?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Well, Otsū, I hesitate to say this, but why don't you give up the idea of going to Nara and come with me to the Koyagyū fief instead?\" Feeling obliged to tell her more about himself and assure her that his intentions were honorable, he continued, \"My full name is Shōda Kizaemon, and I'm in the service of the Yagyū family. It happens that my lord, who's now eighty, is no longer active. He suffers terribly from boredom. When you said you make your living by playing the flute, it occurred to me that it might be a great comfort to him if you were around to play for him from time to time. Do you think you'd like that?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The old man immediately chimed in with enthusiastic approval." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You should definitely go with him,\" he urged. \"As you probably know, the old lord of Koyagyū is the great Yagyū Muneyoshi. Now that he's retired, he's taken the name Sekishūsai. As soon as his heir, Munenori, lord of Tajima, returned from Sekigahara, he was summoned to Edo and appointed an instructor in the shōgun's household. Why, there's no greater family in Japan than the Yagyūs. To be invited to Koyagyū is an honor in itself. Please, by all means, accept!\"\n\nOn hearing that Kizaemon was an official in the famous House of Yagyū, Otsū congratulated herself for having guessed that he was no ordinary samurai. Still, she found it difficult to reply to his proposal." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Faced with her silence, Kizaemon asked, \"Don't you want to come?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's not that. I couldn't wish for a better offer. I'm simply afraid my playing isn't good enough for a great man like Yagyū Muneyoshi.\"\n\n\"Oh, don't give it a second thought. The Yagyūs are very different from the other daimyō. Sekishūsai in particular has the simple, quiet tastes of a tea-master. He would be more upset, I think, by your diffidence than by what you fancy to be your lack of skill.\"\n\nOtsū realized that going to Koyagyū, rather than wandering aimlessly to Nara, offered some hope, however slight. Since the death of Yoshioka Kempō, the Yagyūs had been considered by many to be the greatest exponents of the martial arts in the country." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was only to be expected that swordsmen from all over the country would call at their gate, and there might even be a registry of visitors." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "How happy she would be if on that list she found the name of Miyamoto Musashi!\n\nWith that possibility foremost in mind, she said brightly, \"If you really think it's all right, I'll go.\"\n\n\"You will? Wonderful! I'm very grateful... Hmm, I doubt that a woman could walk all the way there before nightfall. Can you ride a horse?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kizaemon ducked under the eaves of the shop and raised his hand toward the bridge." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The groom waiting there came running forward with a horse, which Kizaemon let Otsū ride, while he himself walked along beside her.\n\nJōtarō spotted them from the hill behind the teahouse and called, \"Are you leaving already?\"\n\n\"Yes, we're off.\"\n\n\"Wait for me!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "They were halfway across Uji Bridge when Jōtarō caught up with them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kizaemon asked him what he had been up to, and he answered that a lot of men in a grove on the hill were playing some kind of game. He didn't know what game it was, but it looked interesting.\n\nThe groom laughed. \"That would be the rōnin riffraff having a gambling session. They don't have enough money to eat, so they lure travelers into their games and take them for everything they're worth. It's disgraceful!\"\n\n\"Oh, so they gamble for a living?\" asked Kizaemon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The gamblers are among the better ones,\" replied the groom." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Many others have become kidnappers and blackmailers. They're such a rough lot nobody can do anything to stop them.\"\n\n\"Why doesn't the lord of the district arrest them or drive them away?\"\n\n\"There are too many of them—far more than he can cope with. If all the rōnin from Kawachi, Yamato and Kii joined together, they'd be stronger than his own troops.\"\n\n\"I hear Kōga's swarming with them too.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes. The ones from Tsutsui fled there. They're determined to hang on until the next war.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You keep talking that way about the rōnin,\" Jōtarō broke in, \"but some of them must be good men.\"\n\n\"That's true,\" agreed Kizaemon.\n\n\"My teacher's a rōnin!\"\n\nKizaemon laughed and said, \"So that's why you spoke up in their defense. You're loyal enough... You did say you were on your way to the Hōzōin, didn't you? Is that where your teacher is?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I don't know for sure, but he said if I went there, they'd tell me where he is.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What style does he use?\"\n\n\"I don't know.\"\n\n\"You're his disciple, and you don't know his style?\"\n\n\"Sir,\" the groom put in, \"swordsmanship is a fad these days; everybody and his brother's going around studying it. You can meet five or ten wandering on this road alone any day of the week. It's all because there are so many more rōnin around to give lessons than there used to be.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I suppose that's part of it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They're attracted to it because they hear somewhere that if a fellow's good with a sword, the daimyō will fall all over each other trying to hire him for four or five thousand bushels a year.\"\n\n\"A quick way to get rich, uh?\"\n\n\"Exactly. When you think about it, it's frightening. Why, even this boy here has a wooden sword. He probably thinks he just has to learn how to hit people with it to become a real man. We get a lot like that, and the sad part is, in the end, most of them will go hungry.\"\n\nJōtarō's anger rose in a flash." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What's that? I dare you to say that again!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Listen to him! He looks like a flea carrying a toothpick, but he already fancies himself a great warrior.\"\n\nKizaemon laughed. \"Now, Jōtarō, don't get mad, or you'll lose your bamboo tube again.\"\n\n\"No I won't! Don't worry about me!\"\n\nThey walked on, Jōtarō sulking silently, the others looking at the sun as it slowly set." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Presently they arrived at the Kizu River ferry landing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This is where we leave you, my boy. It'll be dark soon, so you'd better hurry. And don't waste time along the way.\"\n\n\"Otsū?\" said Jōtarō, thinking she would come with him.\n\n\"Oh, I forgot to tell you,\" she said. \"I've decided to go along with this gentleman to the castle at Koyagyū.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Jōtarō looked crushed. \"Take good care of yourself,\" Otsū said, smiling." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I should've known I'd wind up alone again.\" He picked up a stone and sent it skimming across the water.\n\n\"Oh, we'll see each other again one of these days. Your home seems to be the road, and I do a bit of traveling myself.\"\n\nJōtarō didn't seem to want to move." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Just who are you looking for?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "he asked. \"What sort of person?\"\n\nWithout answering, Otsū waved farewell.\n\nJōtarō ran along the bank and jumped into the very middle of the small ferryboat. When the boat, red in the evening sun, was halfway across the river, he looked back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He could just make out Otsū's horse and Kizaemon on the Kasagi Temple road." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They were in the valley, beyond the point where the river suddenly grows narrower, slowly being swallowed up by the early shadows of the mountain.\n\nThe Hōzōin\n\nStudents of the martial arts invariably knew of the Hōzōin. For a man who claimed to be a serious student to refer to it as just another temple was sufficient reason for him to be regarded as an impostor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was well known among the local populace too, though, oddly enough, few were familiar with the much more important Shōsōin Repository and its priceless collection of ancient art objects." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The temple was located on Abura Hill in a large, dense forest of cryptomeria trees. It was just the kind of place goblins might inhabit. Here, too, were reminders of the glories of the Nara period—the ruins of a temple, the Ganrin'in, and of the huge public bathhouse built by the Empress Kōmyō for the poor—but today all that was left was a scattering of foundation stones peeking out through the moss and weeds.\n\nMusashi had no difficulty getting directions to Abura Hill, but once there he stood looking all around in bewilderment, for there were quite a few other temples nestled in the forest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The cryptomerias had weathered the winter and been bathed in the early spring rains, and their leaves were now at their darkest." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Above them one could make out in the approaching twilight the soft feminine curves of Mount Kasuga. The distant mountains still lay in bright sunlight.\n\nAlthough none of the temples looked like the right one, Musashi went from gate to gate inspecting the plaques on which their names were inscribed. His mind was so preoccupied with the Hōzōin that when he saw the plaque of the Ōzōin, he at first misread it, since only the first character, that for Ō, was different." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Although he immediately realized his mistake, he took a look inside anyway." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Ōzōin appeared to belong to the Nichiren sect; as far as he knew, the Hōzōin was a Zen temple having no connection with Nichiren.\n\nAs he stood there, a young monk returning to the Ōzōin passed by him, staring suspiciously.\n\nMusashi removed his hat and said, \"Could I trouble you for some information?\"\n\n\"What would you like to know?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"This temple is called the Ōzōin?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes. That's what it says on the plaque.\"\n\n\"I was told that the Hōzōin is on Abura Hill. Isn't it?\"\n\n\"It's just in back of this temple. Are you going there for a fencing bout?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Then let me give you some advice. Forget it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why?\"\n\n\"It's dangerous. I can understand someone born crippled going there to get his legs straightened out, but I see no reason why anyone with good straight limbs should go there and be maimed.\"\n\nThe monk was well built and somehow different from the ordinary Nichiren monk. According to him, the number of would-be warriors had reached the point where even the Hōzōin had come to regard them as a nuisance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The temple was, after all, a holy sanctuary for the light of the Buddha's Law, as its name indicated." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Its real concern was religion. The martial arts were only a sideline, so to speak.\n\nKakuzenbō In'ei, the former abbot, had often called on Yagyū Muneyoshi. Through his association with Muneyoshi and with Lord Kōizumi of Ise, Muneyoshi's friend, he had developed an interest in the martial arts and eventually taken up swordsmanship as a pastime." }, { "from": "human", "value": "From that he had gone on to devise new ways of using the lance, and this, as Musashi already knew, was the origin of the highly regarded Hōzōin Style." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In'ei was now eighty-four years old and completely senile. He saw almost no one. Even when he did receive a caller, he was unable to carry on a conversation; he could only sit and make unintelligible movements with his toothless mouth. He didn't seem to comprehend anything said to him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As for the lance, he had forgotten about it completely." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And so you see,\" concluded the monk after explaining all this, \"it wouldn't do you much good to go there. You probably couldn't meet the master, and even if you did, you wouldn't learn anything.\" His brusque manner made it clear that he was eager to be rid of Musashi.\n\nThough aware he was being made light of, Musashi persisted. \"I've heard about In'ei, and I know what you've said about him is true. But I've also heard that a priest named Inshun has taken over as his successor. They say he's still studying but already knows all the secrets of the Hōzōin Style. According to what I've heard, although he already has many students, he never refuses to give guidance to anyone who calls on him.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, Inshun,\" said the monk disdainfully." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"There's nothing in those rumors. Inshun is actually a student of the abbot of the Ōzōin. After In'ei began to show his age, our abbot felt it would be a shame for the reputation of the Hōzōin to go to waste, so he taught Inshun the secrets of lance fighting—what he himself had learned from In'ei—and then saw to it that Inshun became abbot.\"\n\n\"I see,\" said Musashi.\n\n\"But you still want to go over there?\"\n\n\"Well, I've come all this distance... \"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, of course.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You said it's behind here. Is it better to go around to the left or to the right?\"\n\n\"You don't have to go around. It's much quicker just to walk straight through our temple. You can't miss it.\"\n\nThanking him, Musashi walked past the temple kitchen to the back of the compound, which with its woodshed, a storehouse for bean paste and a vegetable garden of an acre or so, very much resembled the area around the house of a well-to-do farmer. Beyond the garden he saw the Hōzōin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Walking on the soft ground between rows of rape, radishes and scallions, he noticed, off to one side, an old man hoeing vegetables." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hunched over his hoe, he was looking intently at the blade. All Musashi could see of his face was a pair of snow-white eyebrows, and save for the clank of the hoe against the rocks, it was perfectly quiet.\n\nMusashi assumed that the old man must be a monk from the Ōzōin. He started to speak, but the man was so absorbed in his work that it seemed rude to disturb him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As he walked silently by, however, he suddenly became aware that the old man was staring out of the corner of his eye at Musashi's feet." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Although the other man neither moved nor spoke, Musashi felt a terrifying force attack him—a force like lightning splitting the clouds. This was no daydream. He actually felt the mysterious power pierce his body and, terrified, he leaped into the air. He felt hot all over, as if he'd just narrowly avoided a death blow from a sword or lance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Looking over his shoulder, he saw that the hunched back was still turned toward him, the hoe continuing its unbroken rhythm." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What on earth was that all about?\" he wondered, dumbfounded by the power he'd been hit with.\n\nHe found himself in front of the Hōzōin, his curiosity unabated. While waiting for a servant to appear, he thought: \"Inshun should still be a young man. The young monk said In'ei was senile and had forgotten all about the lance, but I wonder... \" The incident in the garden lingered in the back of his mind." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He called out loudly two more times, but the only reply was an echo from the surrounding trees." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Noticing a large gong beside the entrance, he struck it. Almost immediately an answering call came from deep inside the temple.\n\nA priest came to the door. He was big and brawny; had he been one of the warrior-priests of Mount Hiei, he might well have been the commander of a battalion." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Accustomed as he was to receiving visits from people like Musashi day in and day out, he gave him a brief glance and said, \"You're a shugyōsha?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes.\"\n\n\"What are you here for?\"\n\n\"I'd like to meet the master.\"\n\nThe priest said, \"Come in,\" and gestured to the right of the entrance, suggesting obliquely that Musashi should wash his feet first." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was a barrel overflowing with water supplied by a bamboo pipe and, pointing this way and that, about ten pairs of worn and dirty sandals." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Musashi followed the priest down a wide dark corridor and was shown into an anteroom. There he was told to wait. The smell of incense was in the air, and through the window he could see the broad leaves of a plantain tree. Aside from the offhand manner of the giant who'd let him in, nothing he saw indicated there was anything unusual about this particular temple." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When he reappeared, the priest handed him a registry and ink box, saying, \"Write down your name, where you studied, and what style you use.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He spoke as though instructing a child.\n\nThe title on the registry was: \"List of Persons Visiting This Temple to Study. Steward of the Hōzōin.\" Musashi opened the book and glanced over the names, each listed under the date on which the samurai or student had called. Following the style of the last entry, he wrote down the required information, omitting the name of his teacher." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The priest, of course, was especially interested in that." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Musashi's answer was essentially the one he'd given at the Yoshioka School. He had practiced the use of the truncheon under his father, \"without working very hard at it.\" Since making up his mind to study in earnest, he had taken as his teacher everything in the universe, as well as the examples set by his predecessors throughout the country. He ended up by saying, \"I'm still in the process of learning.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Mm. You probably know this already, but since the time of our first master, the Hōzōin has been celebrated everywhere for its lance techniques. The fighting that goes on here is rough, and there are no exceptions. Before you go on, perhaps you'd better read what's written at the beginning of the registry.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Musashi picked up the book, opened it and read the stipulation, which he had skipped over before. It said: \"Having come here for the purpose of study, I absolve the temple of all responsibility in the event that I suffer bodily injury or am killed.\"\n\n\"I agree to that,\" said Musashi with a slight grin—it amounted to no more than common sense for anyone committed to becoming a warrior.\n\n\"All right. This way.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The dōjō was immense." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The monks must have sacrificed a lecture hall or some other large temple building in favor of having it. Musashi had never before seen a hall with columns of such girth, and he also observed traces of paint, gold foil and Chinese-white primer on the frame of the transom—things not to be found in ordinary practice halls.\n\nHe was by no means the only visitor. More than ten student-warriors were seated in the waiting area, with a similar number of student-priests." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In addition, there were quite a few samurai who seemed to be merely observers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All were tensely watching two lancers fighting a practice bout. No one even glanced Musashi's way as he sat down in a corner.\n\nAccording to a sign on the wall, if anyone wanted to fight with real lances, the challenge would be accepted, but the combatants now on the floor were using long oak practice poles. A strike could, nevertheless, be extremely painful, even fatal." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One of the fighters was eventually thrown in the air, and as he limped back to his seat in defeat, Musashi could see that his thigh had already swollen to the size of a tree trunk." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Unable to sit down, he dropped awkwardly to one knee and extended the wounded leg out before him.\n\n\"Next!\" came the summons from the man on the floor, a priest of singularly arrogant manner. The sleeves of his robe were tied up behind him, and his whole body—legs, arms, shoulders, even his forehead—seemed to consist of bulging muscles. The oak pole he held vertically was at least ten feet in length." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A man who seemed to be one of those who'd arrived that day spoke up." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He fastened up his sleeves with a leather thong and strode into the practice area. The priest stood motionless as the challenger went to the wall, chose a halberd, and came to face him. They bowed, as was customary, but no sooner had they done this than the priest let out a howl like that of a wild hound, simultaneously bringing his pole down forcefully on the challenger's skull.\n\n\"Next,\" he called, reverting to his original position." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That was all: the challenger was finished." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "While he did not appear to be dead yet, the simple act of lifting his head from the floor was more than he could manage. A couple of the student-priests went out and dragged him back by the sleeves and waist of his kimono. On the floor behind him stretched a thread of saliva mixed with blood.\n\n\"Next!\" shouted the priest again, as surly as ever." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At first Musashi thought he was the second-generation master Inshun, but the men sitting around him said no, he was Agon, one of the senior disciples who were known as the \"Seven Pillars of the Hōzōin.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Inshun himself, they said, never had to engage in a bout, because challengers were always put down by one of these.\n\n\"Is there no one else?\" bellowed Agon, now holding his practice lance horizontally.\n\nThe brawny steward was comparing his registry with the faces of the waiting men." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He pointed at one." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No, not today... I'll come again some other time.\"\n\n\"How about you?\"\n\n\"No. I don't feel quite up to it today.\"\n\nOne by one they backed out, until Musashi saw the finger pointing at him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How about you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If you please.\"\n\n\" 'If you please'? What's that supposed to mean?\"\n\n\"It means I'd like to fight.\"\n\nAll eyes focused on Musashi as he rose." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The haughty Agon had retired from the floor and was talking and laughing animatedly with a group of priests, but when it appeared that another challenger had been found, a bored look came over his face, and he said lazily, \"Somebody take over for me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Go ahead,\" they urged. \"There's only one more.\"\n\nGiving in, Agon walked nonchalantly back to the center of the floor. He took a fresh grip on the shiny black wooden pole, with which he seemed totally familiar." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In quick order, he assumed an attacking stance, turned his back on Musashi, and charged off in the other direction." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yah-h-h-h!\" Screaming like an enraged roc, he hurtled toward the back wall and thrust his lance viciously into a section used for practice purposes. The boards had been recently replaced, but despite the resilience of the new wood, Agon's bladeless lance plowed straight through.\n\n\"Yow-w-w!\" His grotesque scream of triumph reverberated through the hall as he disengaged the lance and started to dance, rather than walk, back toward Musashi, steam rising from his muscle-bound body. Taking a stance some distance away, he glared at his latest challenger ferociously." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Musashi had come forward with only his wooden sword and now stood quite still, looking a little surprised." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ready!\" cried Agon.\n\nA dry laugh was heard outside the window, and a voice said, \"Agon, don't be a fool! Look, you stupid oaf, look! That's not a board you're about to take on.\"\n\nWithout relaxing his stance, Agon looked toward the window. \"Who's there?\" he bellowed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The laughter continued, and then there came into view above the window-sill, as though it had been hung there by an antique dealer, a shiny pate and a pair of snow-white eyebrows." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It won't do you any good, Agon. Not this time. Let the man wait until the day after tomorrow, when Inshun returns.\"\n\nMusashi, who had also turned his head toward the window, saw that the face belonged to the old man he had seen on his way to the Hōzōin, but no sooner had he realized this than the head disappeared.\n\nAgon heeded the old man's warning to the extent of relaxing his hold on his weapon, but the minute his eyes met Musashi's again, he swore in the direction of the now empty window—and ignored the advice he had received.\n\nAs Agon tightened his grip on his lance, Musashi asked, for the sake of form, \"Are you ready now?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "This solicitude drove Agon wild." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His muscles were like steel, and when he jumped, he did so with awesome lightness. His feet seemed to be on the floor and in the air at the same time, quivering like moonlight on ocean waves.\n\nMusashi stood perfectly still, or so it seemed. There was nothing unusual about his stance; he held his sword straight out with both hands, but being slightly smaller than his opponent and not so conspicuously muscular, he looked almost casual." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The greatest difference was in the eyes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Musashi's were as sharp as a bird's, their pupils a clear coral tinted with blood.\n\nAgon shook his head, perhaps to shake off the streams of sweat pouring down from his forehead, perhaps to shake off the old man's warning words. Had they lingered on? Was he attempting to cast them out of his mind?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Whatever the reason, he was extremely agitated." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He repeatedly shifted his position, trying to draw out Musashi, but Musashi remained motionless.\n\nAgon's lunge was accompanied by a piercing scream. In the split second that decided the encounter, Musashi parried and counterattacked.\n\n\"What happened?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Agon's fellow priests hastily ran forward and crowded around him in a black circle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the general confusion, some tripped over his practice lance and went sprawling.\n\nA priest stood up, his hands and chest smeared with blood, shouting, \"Medicine! Bring the medicine. Quick!\"\n\n\"You won't need any medicine.\" It was the old man, who had come in the front entrance and quickly assessed the situation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His face turned sour." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If I'd thought medicine would save him, I wouldn't have tried to stop him in the first place. The idiot!\"\n\nNo one paid any attention to Musashi. For lack of anything better to do, he walked to the front door and began putting his sandals on.\n\nThe old man followed him. \"You!\" he said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Over his shoulder, Musashi replied, \"Yes?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'd like to have a few words with you. Come back inside.\"\n\nHe led Musashi to a room behind the practice hall—a simple, square cell, the only opening in the four walls being the door.\n\nAfter they were seated, the old man said, \"It would be more proper for the abbot to come and greet you, but he's on a trip and won't be back for two or three days. So I'll act on his behalf.\"\n\n\"This is very kind of you,\" said Musashi, bowing his head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm grateful for the good training I received today, but I feel I should apologize for the unfortunate way it turned out—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why? Things like that happen. You have to be ready to accept it before you start fighting. Don't let it worry you.\"\n\n\"How are Agon's injuries?\"\n\n\"He was killed instantly,\" said the old man. The breath with which he spoke felt like a cold wind on Musashi's face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He's dead?\" To himself, he said: \"So, it's happened again.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Another life cut short by his wooden sword. He closed his eyes and in his heart called on the name of the Buddha, as he had on similar occasions in the past.\n\n\"Young man!\"\n\n\"Yes, sir.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Is your name Miyamoto Musashi?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's correct.\"\n\n\"Under whom did you study the martial arts?\"\n\n\"I've had no teacher in the ordinary sense. My father taught me how to use the truncheon when I was young. Since then, I've picked up a number of points from older samurai in various provinces. I've also spent some time traveling about the countryside, learning from the mountains and the rivers. I regard them, too, as teachers.\"\n\n\"You seem to have the right attitude. But you're so strong! Much too strong!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Believing he was being praised, Musashi blushed and said, \"Oh, no! I'm still immature. I'm always making blunders.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's not what I mean. Your strength is your problem. You must learn to control it, become weaker.\"\n\n\"What?\" Musashi asked perplexedly.\n\n\"You will recall that a short while ago you passed through the vegetable garden where I was at work.\"\n\n\"Yes.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"When you saw me, you jumped away, didn't you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Why did you do that?\"\n\n\"Well, somehow I imagined that you might use your hoe as a weapon and strike my legs with it. Then, too, though your attention seemed to be focused on the ground, my whole body felt transfixed by your eyes. I felt something murderous in that look, as though you were searching for my weak spot—so as to attack it.\"\n\nThe old man laughed. \"It was the other way around." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When you were still fifty feet from me, I perceived what you call 'something murderous' in the air." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I sensed it in the tip of my hoe—that's how strongly your fighting spirit and ambition manifest themselves in every step you take. I knew I had to be prepared to defend myself.\n\n\"If it had been one of the local farmers passing by, I myself would have been no more than an old man tending vegetables. True, you sensed belligerence in me, but it was only a reflection of your own.\"\n\nSo Musashi had been right in thinking, even before they first exchanged words, that here was no ordinary man." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Now he keenly felt that the priest was the master, and he the pupil." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His attitude toward the old man with the bent back became appropriately deferential.\n\n\"I thank you for the lesson you have given me. May I ask your name and your position in this temple?\"\n\n\"Oh, I don't belong to the Hōzōin. I'm the abbot of the Ōzōin. My name is Nikkan.\"\n\n\"I see.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm an old friend of In'ei, and since he was studying the use of the lance, I decided to study along with him. Later, I had an afterthought or two. Now I never touch the weapon.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I guess that means that Inshun, the present abbot here, is your disciple.\"\n\n\"Yes, it could be put that way. But priests shouldn't have any use for weapons, and I consider it unfortunate that the Hōzōin has become famous for a martial art, rather than for its religious fervor. Still, there were people who felt that it would be a pity to let the Hōzōin Style die out, so I taught it to Inshun. And to no one else.\"\n\n\"I wonder if you'd let me stay in your temple until Inshun returns.\"\n\n\"Do you propose to challenge him?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well, as long as I'm here, I'd like to see how the foremost master uses his lance.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nikkan shook his head reproachfully. \"It's a waste of time. There's nothing to be learned here.\"\n\n\"Is that so?\"\n\n\"You've already seen the Hōzōin lancemanship, just now, when you fought Agon. What more do you need to see? If you want to learn more, watch me. Look into my eyes.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nikkan drew up his shoulders, put his head slightly forward, and stared at Musashi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His eyes seemed about to jump from their sockets. As Musashi stared back, Nikkan's pupils shone first with a coral flame, then gradually took on an azure profundity. The glow burned and numbed Musashi's mind. He looked away. Nikkan's crackling laugh was like the clatter of bone-dry boards." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He relaxed his stare only when a younger priest came in and whispered to him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Bring it in,\" he commanded.\n\nPresently the young priest returned with a tray and a round wooden rice container, from which Nikkan scooped rice into a bowl. He gave it to Musashi.\n\n\"I recommend the tea gruel and pickles. It's the practice of the Hōzōin to serve them to all those who come here to study, so don't feel they're going to any special trouble for you. They make their own pickles—called Hōzōin pickles, in fact—cucumbers stuffed with basil and red pepper. I think you'll find they taste rather good.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "As Musashi picked up his chopsticks, he felt Nikkan's keen eyes on him again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He could not tell at this point whether their piercing quality originated within the priest or was a response to something he himself emitted. As he bit into a pickle, the feeling swept over him that Takuan's fist was about to smite him again, or perhaps the lance near the threshold was about to fly at him.\n\nAfter he had finished a bowl of rice mixed with tea and two pickles, Nikkan asked, \"Would you care for another helping?\"\n\n\"No, thank you. I've had plenty.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What do you think of the pickles?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Very good, thank you.\"\n\nEven after he'd left, the sting of the red pepper on Musashi's tongue was all he could recall of the pickles' flavor. Nor was that the only sting he felt, for he came away convinced that somehow he'd suffered a defeat. \"I lost,\" he grumbled to himself, walking slowly through a grove of cryptomerias." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I've been outclassed!\" In the dim light, fleeting shadows ran across his path, a small herd of deer, frightened by his footsteps." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"When it was only a matter of physical strength, I won, but I left there feeling defeated. Why? Did I win outwardly only to lose inwardly?\"\n\nSuddenly remembering Jōtarō, he retraced his steps to the Hōzōin, where the lights were still burning. When he announced himself, the priest standing watch at the door poked his head out and said casually, \"What is it? Did you forget something?\"\n\n\"Yes. Tomorrow, or the next day, I expect someone to come here looking for me. When he does, will you tell him I'll be staying in the neighborhood of Sarusawa Pond? He should ask for me at the inns there.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"All right.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Since the reply was so casual, Musashi felt constrained to add, \"It'll be a boy. His name is Jōtarō. He's very young, so please be sure you make the message clear to him.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "I'll be your writing partner today. I will set the scene, and you will continue the story with 4 sentences, channeling the voice and techniques of Eiji Yoshikawa.i'll kick things off by writing a bit, then you'll take over and write the next 4 sentences in the distinctive voice of Eiji Yoshikawa.Ive got a bit of writers block, im gonna send you something then keep it going 4 sentences at a time, also im going for a Eiji Yoshikawa sorta thing." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Once again striding down the path he had taken earlier, Musashi muttered to himself, \"That proves I lost. I even forgot to leave a message for Jōtarō. I was beaten by the old abbot!\" Musashi's dejection persisted. Although he had won against Agon, the only thing that stuck in his mind was the immaturity he had felt in Nikkan's presence. How could he ever become a great swordsman, the greatest of them all? This was the question that obsessed him night and day, and today's encounter had left him utterly depressed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "During the past twenty years or so, the area between Sarusawa Pond and the lower reaches of the Sai River had been built up steadily, and there was a jumble of new houses, inns and shops." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Only recently, Ōkubo Nagayasu had come to govern the city for the Tokugawas and had set up his administrative offices nearby. In the middle of the town was the establishment of a Chinese who was said to be a descendant of Lin Ho-ching; he had done so well with his stuffed dumplings that an expansion of his shop in the direction of the pond was under way.\n\nMusashi stopped amid the lights of the busiest district and wondered where he should stay. There were plenty of inns, but he had to be careful about his expenses; at the same time, he wanted to choose a place not too far off the beaten track, so Jōtarō could find him easily." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had just eaten at the temple, but when he caught a whiff of the stuffed dumplings, he felt hungry again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Entering the shop, he sat down and ordered a whole plateful. When they arrived, Musashi noted that the name Lin was burned into the bottom of the dumplings. Unlike the hot pickles at the Hōzōin, the dumplings had a flavor he could savor with pleasure.\n\nThe young girl who poured his tea asked politely, \"Where are you planning to stay tonight?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Musashi, unfamiliar with the district, welcomed the opportunity to explain his situation and ask her advice." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She told him one of the proprietor's relatives had a private boardinghouse where he would be welcome, and without waiting for his answer, trotted off. She returned with a youngish woman, whose shaved eyebrows indicated she was married—presumably the proprietor's wife.\n\nThe boardinghouse was on a quiet alley not far from the restaurant, apparently an ordinary residence that sometimes took in guests. The eyebrowless mistress of the shop, who had shown him the way, tapped lightly on the door, then turned to Musashi and said quietly, \"It's my elder sister's house, so don't worry about tipping or anything.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The maid came out of the house and the two of them exchanged whispers for a moment or two." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Apparently satisfied, she led Musashi to the second floor.\n\nThe room and its furnishings were too good for an ordinary inn, making Musashi feel a bit ill at ease. He wondered why a house as well-off as this one would take in boarders and asked the maid about it, but she just smiled and said nothing. Having already eaten, he had his bath and went to bed, but the question was still on his mind when he went off to sleep." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Next morning, he said to the maid, \"Someone is supposed to come looking for me. Will it be all right if I stay over for a day or two until he arrives?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"By all means,\" she replied, without even asking the lady of the house, who soon came herself to pay her respects.\n\nShe was a good-looking woman of about thirty, with fine smooth skin. When Musashi tried to satisfy his curiosity about why she was accepting roomers, she laughingly replied, \"To tell the truth, I'm a widow—my husband was a Nō actor by the name of Kanze—and I'm afraid to be without a man in the house, what with all these ill-bred rōnin in the vicinity.\" She went on to explain that while the streets were full of drinking shops and prostitutes, many of the indigent samurai were not satisfied with these diversions." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They would pump information from the local youths and attack houses where there were no men about." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They spoke of this as \"calling on the widows.\"\n\n\"In other words,\" said Musashi, \"you take in people like me to act as your bodyguard, right?\"\n\n\"Well,\" she said, smiling, \"as I said, there are no men in the household. Please feel free to stay as long as you like.\"\n\n\"I understand perfectly. I hope you'll feel safe as long as I'm here. There's only one request I'd like to make. I'm expecting a visitor, so I wonder if you'd mind putting a marker with my name on it outside the gate.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The widow, not at all unhappy to let it be known that she had a man in the house, obligingly wrote \"Miyamoto Musashi\" on a strip of paper and pasted it on the gatepost." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Jōtarō did not show up that day, but on the next, Musashi received a visit from a group of three samurai. Pushing their way past the protesting maid, they came straight upstairs to his room. Musashi saw immediately that they were among those who had been present at the Hōzōin when he had killed Agon. Sitting down around him as though they'd known him all their lives, they started pouring on the flattery." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I never saw anything like it in my life,\" said one." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm sure nothing of the kind ever happened at the Hōzōin before. Just think! An unknown visitor arrives and, just like that, downs one of the Seven Pillars. And not just anyone—the terrifying Agon himself. One grunt and he was spitting blood. You don't often see sights like that!\"\n\nAnother went on in the same vein. \"Everyone we know is talking about it. All the rōnin are asking each other just who this Miyamoto Musashi is. That was a bad day for the Hōzōin's reputation.\"\n\n\"Why, you must be the greatest swordsman in the country!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And so young, too!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No doubt about it. And you'll get even better with time.\"\n\n\"If you don't mind my asking, how does it happen that with your ability you're only a rōnin? It's a waste of your talents not to be in the service of a daimyō!\"\n\nThey paused only long enough to slurp some tea and devour the tea cakes with gusto, spilling crumbs all over their laps and on the floor.\n\nMusashi, embarrassed by the extravagance of their praise, shifted his eyes from right to left and back again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For a time, he listened with an impassive face, thinking that sooner or later their momentum would run down." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When they showed no signs of changing the subject, he took the initiative by asking their names.\n\n\"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Yamazoe Dampachi. I used to be in the service of Lord Gamō,\" said the first.\n\nThe man next to him said, \"I'm Ōtomo Banryū. I've mastered the Bokuden Style, and I have a lot of plans for the future.\"\n\n\"I'm Yasukawa Yasubei,\" said the third with a chuckle, \"and I've never been anything but a rōnin, like my father before me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Musashi wondered why they were taking up their time and his with their small talk." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It became apparent that he would not find out unless he asked, so the next time there was a break in the conversation, he said, \"Presumably you came because you had some business with me.\"\n\nThey feigned surprise at the very idea but soon admitted they had come on what they regarded as a very important mission. Moving quickly forward, Yasubei said, \"As a matter of fact, we do have some business with you. You see, we're planning to put on a public 'entertainment' at the foot of Mount Kasuga, and we wanted to talk to you about it. Not a play or anything like that. What we have in mind is a series of matches that would teach the people about the martial arts, and at the same time give them something to lay bets on.\"\n\nHe went on to say that the stands were already being put up, and that the prospects looked excellent." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They felt, however, that they needed another man, because with just the three of them, some really strong samurai might show up and beat them all, which would mean that their hard-earned money would go down the drain." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They had decided that Musashi was just the right person for them. If he would join in with them, they would not only split the profits but pay for his food and lodging while the matches were in progress. That way he could easily earn some fast money for his future travels.\n\nMusashi listened with some amusement to their blandishments, but by and by he grew tired and broke in." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If that's all you want, there's no point in discussing it. I'm not interested.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But why?\" asked Dampachi. \"Why aren't you interested?\"\n\nMusashi's youthful temper erupted. \"I'm not a gambler!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "he stated indignantly. \"And I eat with chopsticks, not with my sword!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What's that?\" protested the three, insulted by his implication. \"What do you mean by that?\"\n\n\"Don't you understand, you fools? I am a samurai, and I intend to remain a samurai. Even if I starve in the process. Now clear out of here!\"\n\nOne man's mouth twisted into a nasty snarl, and another, red with anger, shouted, \"You'll regret this!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "They well knew that the three of them together were no match for Musashi, but to save face, they stamped out noisily, scowling and doing their best to give the impression they weren't through with him yet." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That night, as on other recent nights, there was a milky, slightly overcast moon. The young mistress of the house, free from worry as long as Musashi was in residence, was careful to provide him with delicious food and sake of good quality. He ate downstairs with the family and in the process drank himself into a mellow mood.\n\nReturning to his room, he sprawled on the floor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His thoughts soon came to rest on Nikkan." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's humiliating,\" he said to himself.\n\nThe adversaries he had defeated, even the ones he had killed or half killed, always disappeared from his mind like so much froth, but he couldn't forget anyone who got the better of him in any way or, for that matter, anyone in whom he sensed an overpowering presence. Men like that dwelt in his mind like living spirits, and he thought constantly of how one day he might be able to overshadow them.\n\n\"Humiliating!\" he repeated." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He clutched at his hair and pondered how he could get the better of Nikkan, how he could face that unearthly stare without flinching." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For two days this question had gnawed at him. It wasn't that he wished Nikkan any harm, but he was sorely disappointed with himself.\n\n\"Is it that I'm no good?\" he asked himself ruefully." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Having learned swordsmanship on his own, and thus lacking an objective appraisal of his own strength, he couldn't help but doubt his own ability to ever achieve power such as the old priest exuded." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nikkan had told him he was too strong, that he had to learn to become weaker. This was the point that sent his mind off on tangent after tangent, for he couldn't fathom the meaning. Wasn't strength a warrior's most important quality? Was that not what made one warrior superior to others?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "How could Nikkan speak of it as a flaw?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Maybe,\" thought Musashi, \"the old rascal was toying with me. Maybe he considered my youth and decided to talk in riddles just to confuse me and amuse himself. Then after I left, he had a good laugh. It's possible.\"\n\nAt times like this, Musashi wondered whether it had been wise to read all those books at Himeji Castle. Until then, he had never bothered much about figuring things out, but now, whenever something happened, he couldn't rest until he'd found an explanation satisfying to his intellect. Previously he'd acted on instinct; now he had to understand each small thing before he could accept it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And this applied not only to swordsmanship but to the way he viewed humanity and society." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was true that the daredevil in him had been tamed. Yet Nikkan said he was \"too strong.\" Musashi assumed that Nikkan was referring not to physical strength but to the savage fighting spirit with which he had been born. Could the priest really have perceived it, or was he guessing?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The knowledge that comes from books is of no use to the warrior,\" he reassured himself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If a man worries too much about what others think or do, he's apt to be slow to act. Why, if Nikkan himself closed his eyes for a moment and made one misstep, he'd crumble and fall to pieces!\"\n\nThe sound of footsteps on the stairs intruded upon his musings. The maid appeared, and after her Jōtarō, his dark skin further blackened by the grime acquired on his journey, but his spritelike hair white with dust. Musashi, truly happy to have the diversion of his little friend, welcomed him with open arms." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The boy plopped down on the floor and stretched his dirty legs out straight." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Am I tired!\" he sighed.\n\n\"Did you have trouble finding me?\"\n\n\"Trouble! I almost gave up. I've been searching all over!\"\n\n\"Didn't you ask at the Hōzōin?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, but they said they didn't know anything about you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh, they did, did they?\" Musashi's eyes narrowed. \"And after I said specifically that you'd find me near Sarusawa Pond. Oh, well, I'm glad you made it.\"\n\n\"Here's the answer from the Yoshioka School.\" He handed Musashi the bamboo tube." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I couldn't find Hon'iden Matahachi, so I asked the people at his house to give him the message.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Fine. Now run along and have a bath. They'll give you some dinner downstairs.\"\n\nMusashi took the letter from its container and read it. It said that Seijūrō looked forward to a \"second bout\"; if Musashi didn't show up as promised the following year, it would be assumed that he'd lost his nerve. Should that happen, Seijūrō would make sure that Musashi became the laughingstock of Kyoto." }, { "from": "human", "value": "This braggadocio was set down in clumsy handwriting, presumably by someone other than Seijūrō." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As Musashi tore the letter to bits and burned it, the charred pieces fluttered up into the air like so many black butterflies.\n\nSeijūrō had spoken of a \"bout,\" but it was clear that it was going to be more than that. It would be a battle to the death. Next year, as a result of this insulting note, which one of the combatants would end up in ashes?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Musashi took it for granted that a warrior must be content to live from day to day, never knowing each morning if he'd live to see nightfall." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nevertheless, the thought that he might really die in the coming year worried him somewhat. There were so many things he still wanted to do. For one thing, there was his burning desire to become a great swordsman. But that wasn't all." }, { "from": "human", "value": "So far, he reflected, he hadn't done any of the things people ordinarily do in the course of a lifetime." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At this stage of his life, he was still vain enough to think he'd like to have retainers—a lot of them—leading his horses and carrying his falcons, just like Bokuden and Lord Kōizumi of Ise. He would like, too, to have a proper house, with a good wife and loyal servants. He wanted to be a good master and to enjoy the warmth and comfort of home life. And of course, before he settled down, he had a secret longing to have a passionate love affair." }, { "from": "human", "value": "During all these years of thinking solely about the Way of the Samurai he had, not unnaturally, remained chaste." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Still, he was struck by some of the women he saw on the streets of Kyoto and Nara, and it was not their aesthetic qualities alone that pleased him; they aroused him physically.\n\nHis thoughts turned to Otsū. Though she was now a creature of the distant past, he felt closely bound to her. How many times, when he was lonely or melancholy, had the vague recollection of her alone cheered him up." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Presently he came out of his reverie." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Jōtarō had rejoined him, bathed, satiated and proud to have carried out his mission successfully. Sitting with his short legs crossed and his hands between his knees, he didn't take long to succumb to fatigue. He was soon snoozing blissfully, his mouth open. Musashi put him to bed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When morning came, the boy was up with the sparrows." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Musashi also arose early, since he intended to resume his travels.\n\nAs he was dressing, the widow appeared and said in a regretful tone, \"You seem in a hurry to leave.\" In her arms she was carrying some clothing, which she offered him. \"I've sewn these things together for you as a parting gift—a kimono with a short cloak. I'm not sure you'll like them, but I hope you'll wear them.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Musashi looked at her in astonishment." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The garments were much too expensive for him to accept after having stayed there only two days. He tried to refuse, but the widow insisted. \"No, you must take them. They aren't anything very special anyway. I have a lot of old kimono and Nō costumes left by my husband. I have no use for them. I thought it would be nice for you to have some. I do hope you won't refuse. Now that I've altered them to fit you, if you don't take them, they'll just go to waste.\"\n\nShe went behind Musashi and held up the kimono for him to slip his arms into." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As he put it on, he realized that the silk was of very good quality and felt more embarrassed than ever." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sleeveless cloak was particularly fine; it must have been imported from China. The hem was gold brocade, the lining silk crepe, and the leather fastening straps had been dyed purple.\n\n\"It looks perfect on you!\" exclaimed the widow.\n\nJōtarō, looking on enviously, suddenly said to her, \"What're you going to give me?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The widow laughed. \"You should be happy for the chance to accompany your fine master.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Aw,\" grumbled Jōtarō, \"who wants an old kimono anyway?\"\n\n\"Is there anything you do want?\"\n\nRunning to the wall in the anteroom and taking a Nō mask down from its hook, the boy said, \"Yes, this!\" He'd coveted it since first spying it the night before, and now he rubbed it tenderly against his cheek." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Musashi was surprised at the boy's good taste." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He himself had found it admirably executed. There was no way of knowing who had made it, but it was certainly two or three centuries old and had evidently been used in actual Nō performances. The face, carved with exquisite care, was that of a female demon, but whereas the usual mask of this type was grotesquely painted with blue spots, this was the face of a beautiful and elegant young girl. It was peculiar only in that one side of her mouth curved sharply upward in the eeriest fashion imaginable." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Obviously not a fictitious face conjured up by the artist, it was the portrait of a real, living madwoman, beautiful yet bewitched." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That you cannot have,\" said the widow firmly, trying to take the mask away from the boy.\n\nEvading her reach, Jōtarō put the mask on the top of his head and danced about the room, shouting defiantly, \"What do you need it for? It's mine now; I'm going to keep it!\"\n\nMusashi, surprised and embarrassed by his ward's conduct, made an attempt to catch him, but Jōtarō stuffed the mask into his kimono and fled down the stairs, the widow giving chase. Although she was laughing, not angry at all, she clearly didn't intend to part with the mask." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Presently Jōtarō climbed slowly back up the stairs." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Musashi, ready to scold him severely, was seated with his face toward the door. But as the boy entered, he cried, \"Boo!\" and held the mask out before him. Musashi was startled; his muscles tensed and his knees shifted inadvertently." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He wondered why Jōtarō's prank had such an effect on him, but as he stared at the mask in the dim light, he began to understand." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The carver had put something diabolical into his creation. That crescent smile, curving up on the left side of the white face, was haunted, possessed of a devil.\n\n\"If we're going, let's go,\" said Jōtarō.\n\nMusashi, without rising, said, \"Why haven't you given the mask back yet? What do you want with a thing like that?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But she said I could keep it! She gave it to me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She did not! Go downstairs and give it back to her.\"\n\n\"But she gave it to me! When I offered to return it, she said that if I wanted it so badly, I could keep it. She just wanted to make sure I'd take good care of it, so I promised her I would.\"\n\n\"What am I going to do with you!\" Musashi felt ashamed about accepting, first, the beautiful kimono and then this mask that the widow seemed to treasure." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He would have liked to do something in return, but she was obviously not in need of money—certainly not the small amount he could have spared—and none of his meager possessions would make a suitable gift." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He descended the stairs, apologizing for Jōtarō's rudeness and attempting to return the mask.\n\nThe widow, however, said, \"No, the more I think of it, the more I think I'd be happier without it. And he does want it so badly... Don't be too hard on him.\"\n\nSuspecting the mask had some special significance for her, Musashi tried once more to return it, but by this time Jōtarō had his straw sandals on and was outside waiting by the gate, a smug look on his face. Musashi, eager to be off, gave in to her kindness and accepted the gift." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The young widow said she was sorrier to see Musashi go than she was to lose the mask, and begged him several times to come back and stay there whenever he was in Nara." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Musashi was tying the thongs of his sandals when the dumpling-maker's wife came running up. \"Oh,\" she said breathlessly, \"I'm so glad you haven't left yet. You can't go now! Please, go back upstairs. Something terrible is going on!\" The woman's voice trembled as though she thought some fearful ogre was about to attack her.\n\nMusashi finished tying his sandals and calmly raised his head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What is it? What's so terrible?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The priests at the Hōzōin have heard you're leaving today, and more than ten of them have taken their lances and are lying in wait for you in Hannya Plain.\"\n\n\"Oh?\"\n\n\"Yes, and the abbot, Inshun, is with them. My husband knows one of the priests, and he asked him what was going on. The priest said the man who's been staying here for the last couple of days, the man named Miyamoto, was leaving Nara today, and the priests were going to waylay him on the road.\"\n\nHer face twitching with fright, she assured Musashi that it would be suicide to leave Nara this morning and fervently urged him to lie low for another night." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It would be safer, in her opinion, to try and sneak away the next day." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I see,\" said Musashi without emotion. \"You say they plan to meet me on Hannya Plain?\"\n\n\"I'm not sure exactly where, but they went off in that direction. Some of the townspeople told me it wasn't only the priests. They said a whole lot of the rōnin, too, had got together, saying they'd catch you and turn you over to the Hōzōin. Did you say something bad about the temple, or insult them in some way?\"\n\n\"No.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well, they say the priests are furious because you hired somebody to put up posters with verses on them making fun of the Hōzōin. They took this to mean you were gloating over having killed one of their men.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I didn't do anything of the sort. There's been a mistake.\"\n\n\"Well, if it's a mistake, you shouldn't go out and get yourself killed over it!\"\n\nHis brow beaded with sweat, Musashi looked thoughtfully up at the sky, recalling how angry the three rōnin had been when he turned down their business deal. Maybe he was indebted to them for all this." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It would be just like them to put up offensive posters and then spread the word that he'd done it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Abruptly he stood up. \"I'm leaving,\" he said.\n\nHe strapped his traveling bag to his back, took his basket hat in hand, and turning to the two women, thanked them for their kindness. As he started toward the gate, the widow, now in tears, followed along, begging him not to go." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If I stay over another night,\" he pointed out, \"there's bound to be trouble at your house. I certainly wouldn't want that to happen, after you've been so good to us.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't care,\" she insisted. \"You'd be safer here.\"\n\n\"No, I'll go now. Jō! Say thank you to the lady.\"\n\nDutifully, the boy bowed and did as he was told." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Today you will be acting as a writing assistant, your partner will send something and you will write the next 4 sentences." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Jōtarō trudged along sadly behind his master, fearing each step was taking them closer to certain death. A little earlier, on the damp, shady road near the Tōdaiji, a dewdrop falling on his collar had almost made him cry out. The black crows he saw along the way gave him an eerie feeling.\n\nNara was far behind them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Through the rows of cryptomeria trees along the road, they could make out the gently sloping plain leading up to Hannya Hill; to their right were the rolling peaks of Mount Mikasa, above them the peaceful sky." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That he and Musashi were heading straight for the place where the Hōzōin lancers were waiting in ambush made absolutely no sense to him. There were plenty of places to hide, if one put one's mind to it. Why couldn't they go into one of the many temples along the way and bide their time? That would surely be more sensible." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He wondered if perhaps Musashi meant to apologize to the priests, even though he hadn't wronged them in any way." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Jōtarō resolved that if Musashi begged their forgiveness, he would too. This was no time to be arguing about the right and wrong of things.\n\n\"Jōtarō!\"\n\nThe boy started at the sound of his name being called." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His eyebrows shot up and his body became tense." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Realizing his face was probably pale from fright and not wanting to appear childish, he turned his eyes bravely toward the sky. Musashi looked up at the sky too, and the boy felt more dispirited than ever.\n\nWhen Musashi continued, it was in his usual cheerful tone. \"Feels good, doesn't it, Jō? It's as though we were walking along on the songs of the nightingales.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What?\" asked the boy, astonished." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Nightingales, I said.\"\n\n\"Oh, yeah, nightingales. There are some around here, aren't there?\"\n\nMusashi could see from the paleness of the boy's lips that he was dejected. He felt sorry for him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "After all, in a matter of minutes he might be suddenly alone in a strange place." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We're getting near Hannya Hill, aren't we?\" said Musashi.\n\n\"That's right.\"\n\n\"Well, now what?\"\n\nJōtarō didn't reply. The singing of the nightingales fell coldly on his ears." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He couldn't shake off the foreboding that they might soon be parted forever." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The eyes that had bristled with mirth when surprising Musashi with the mask were now worried and mournful.\n\n\"I think I'd better leave you here,\" said Musashi. \"If you come along, you may get hurt accidentally. There's no reason to put yourself in harm's way.\"\n\nJōtarō broke down, tears streaming down his cheeks as if a dam had broken." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The backs of his hands went up to his eyes and his shoulders quivered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His crying was punctuated by tiny spasms, as if he had the hiccups.\n\n\"What's this? Aren't you supposed to be learning the Way of the Samurai? If I break and run, you run in the same direction. If I get killed, go back to the sake shop in Kyoto. But for now, go to that little hill and watch from there. You'll be able to keep an eye on everything that happens.\"\n\nHaving wiped his tears away, Jōtarō grabbed Musashi's sleeves and blurted out, \"Let's run away!\"\n\n\"That's no way for a samurai to talk! That's what you want to be, isn't it?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm afraid! I don't want to die!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With trembling hands, he kept trying to pull Musashi back by the sleeve. \"Think about me,\" he pleaded. \"Please, let's get away while we can!\"\n\n\"When you talk like that, you make me want to run too. You've got no parents who'll look after you, just like me when I was your age. But—\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Then come on. What are we waiting for?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No!\" Musashi turned, and planting his feet wide apart, faced the child squarely. \"I'm a samurai. You're a samurai's son. We're not going to run away.\"\n\nHearing the finality in Musashi's tone, Jōtarō gave up and sat down, dirty tears rolling off his face as he rubbed his red and swollen eyes with his hands.\n\n\"Don't worry!\" said Musashi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I have no intention of losing. I'm going to win! Everything will be all right then, don't you think?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Jōtarō took little comfort from this speech. He couldn't believe a word of it. Knowing that the Hōzōin lancers numbered more than ten, he doubted whether Musashi, considering his reputation for weakness, could beat them one at a time, let alone all together.\n\nMusashi, for his part, was beginning to lose patience." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He liked Jōtarō, felt sorry for him, but this was no time to be thinking about children." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The lancers were there for one purpose: to kill him. He had to be prepared to face them. Jōtarō was becoming a nuisance.\n\nHis voice took on a sharp edge." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Stop your blubbering! You'll never be a samurai, carrying on this way. Why don't you just go on back to the sake shop?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Firmly and not too gently, he pushed the boy from him.\n\nJōtarō, stung to the core, suddenly stopped crying and stood straight, a surprised look on his face. He watched his master stride off toward Hannya Hill. He wanted to call out after him, but resisted the urge." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Instead he forced himself to remain silent for several minutes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then he squatted under a nearby tree, buried his face in his hands, and gritted his teeth.\n\nMusashi did not look back, but Jōtarō's sobs echoed in his ears. He felt he could see the hapless, frightened little boy through the back of his head and regretted having brought him along. It was more than enough just to take care of himself; still immature, with only his sword to rely on and no idea of what the morrow might bring—what need had he of a companion?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The trees thinned out." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He found himself on an open plain, actually the slightly rising skirt of the mountains in the distance. On the road branching off toward Mount Mikasa, a man raised his hand in greeting.\n\n\"Hey, Musashi! Where are you going?\"\n\nMusashi recognized the man coming toward him; it was Yamazoe Dampachi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Though Musashi sensed immediately that Dampachi's objective was to lead him into a trap, he nevertheless greeted him heartily." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dampachi said, \"Glad I ran into you. I want you to know how sorry I am about that business the other day.\" His tone was too polite, and as he spoke, he was obviously examining Musashi's face with great care. \"I hope you'll forget about it. It was all a mistake.\"\n\nDampachi himself was none too sure what to make of Musashi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had been very impressed by what he had seen at the Hōzōin." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Indeed, just thinking about it sent chills up his spine. Be that as it may, Musashi was still only a provincial rōnin, who couldn't be more than twenty-one or twenty-two years old, and Dampachi was far from ready to admit to himself that anyone of that age and status could be his better.\n\n\"Where are you going?\" he asked again.\n\n\"I'm planning to go through Iga over to the Ise highroad. And you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, I have some things to do in Tsukigase.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's not far from Yagyū Valley, is it?\"\n\n\"No, not far.\"\n\n\"That's where Lord Yagyū's castle is, isn't it?\"\n\n\"Yes, it's near the temple called Kasagidera. You must go there sometime. The old lord, Muneyoshi, lives in retirement, like a tea master, and his son, Munenori, is in Edo, but you should still stop in and see what it's like.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I don't really think Lord Yagyū would give a lesson to a wanderer like me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He might. Of course, it'd help if you had an introduction. As it happens, I know an armorer in Tsukigase who does work for the Yagyūs. If you'd like, I could ask if he'd be willing to introduce you.\"\n\nThe plain stretched out broadly for several miles, the skyline broken occasionally by a lone cryptomeria or Chinese black pine. There were gentle rises here and there, however, and the road rose and fell too. Near the bottom of Hannya Hill, Musashi spotted the brown smoke of a fire rising beyond a low hillock." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What's that?\" he asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What's what?\"\n\n\"That smoke over there.\"\n\n\"What's so strange about smoke?\" Dampachi had been sticking close to Musashi's left side, and as he stared into the latter's face, his own hardened perceptibly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Musashi pointed. \"That smoke over there: there's something suspicious about it,\" he said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Doesn't it look that way to you?\"\n\n\"Suspicious? In what way?\"\n\n\"Suspicious—you know, like the look on your face right now,\" Musashi said sharply, abruptly sweeping his finger toward Dampachi.\n\nA sharp whistling sound broke the stillness on the plain." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dampachi gasped as Musashi struck." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His attention diverted by Musashi's finger, Dampachi never realized that Musashi had drawn his sword. His body rose, flew forward, and landed face down. Dampachi would not rise again.\n\nFrom the distance there was a cry of alarm, and two men appeared at the top of the hillock." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One of the men screamed, and both spun round and took to their heels, their arms flailing the air wildly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sword that Musashi was pointing toward the earth glittered in the sunlight; fresh blood dripped from its tip. He marched directly on toward the hillock, and although the spring breeze blew softly against his skin, Musashi felt his muscles tauten as he ascended. From the top, he looked down at the fire burning below.\n\n\"He's come!\" shouted one of the men who had fled to join the others." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There were about thirty men." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Musashi picked out Dampachi's cohorts, Yasukawa Yasubei and Ōtomo Banryū.\n\n\"He's come!\" parroted another.\n\nThey'd been lolling in the sun. Now they all jumped to their feet." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Half were priests, the other half nondescript rōnin." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When Musashi came into view, a wordless but nonetheless savage stir went through the group. They saw the bloodstained sword and suddenly realized that the battle had already begun. Instead of challenging Musashi, they had been sitting around the fire and had let him challenge them!\n\nYasukawa and Ōtomo were talking as fast as they could, explaining with broad rapid gestures how Yamazoe had been cut down." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The rōnin scowled with fury, the Hōzōin priests eyed Musashi menacingly while grouping themselves for battle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All of the priests carried lances. Black sleeves tucked up, they were ready for action, apparently set upon avenging the death of Agon and restoring the temple's honor. They looked grotesque, like so many demons from hell.\n\nThe rōnin formed a semicircle, so they could watch the show and at the same time keep Musashi from escaping." }, { "from": "human", "value": "This precaution, however, proved unnecessary, for Musashi showed no sign of either running or backing down." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In fact, he was walking steadily and directly toward them. Slowly, pace by pace, he advanced, looking as if he might pounce at any moment.\n\nFor a moment, there was an ominous silence, as both sides contemplated approaching death. Musashi's face went deadly white and through his eyes stared the eyes of the god of vengeance, glittering with venom." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was selecting his prey." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Neither the rōnin nor the priests were as tense as Musashi. Their numbers gave them confidence, and their optimism was unshakable. Still, no one wanted to be the first attacked.\n\nA priest at the end of the column of lancers gave a signal, and without breaking formation, they rushed around to Musashi's right." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Musashi! I am Inshun,\" shouted the same priest." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm told that you came while I was away and killed Agon. That you later publicly insulted the honor of the Hōzōin. That you mocked us by having posters put up all over town. Is this true?\"\n\n\"No!\" shouted Musashi. \"If you're a priest, you should know better than to trust only what you see and hear. You should consider things with your mind and spirit.\"\n\nIt was like pouring oil on the flames." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ignoring their leader, the priests began to shout, saying talk was cheap, it was time to fight." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They were enthusiastically seconded by the rōnin, who had grouped themselves in close formation at Musashi's left. Screaming, cursing and waving their swords in the air, they egged the priests on to action.\n\nMusashi, convinced that the rōnin were all mouth and no fight, suddenly turned to them and shouted, \"All right! Which one of you wants to come forward?\"\n\nAll but two or three fell back a pace, each sure that Musashi's evil eye was upon him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The two or three brave ones stood ready, swords outstretched, issuing a challenge." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the wink of an eye, Musashi was on one of them like a fighting cock. There was a sound like the popping of a cork, and the ground turned red. Then came a chilling noise—not a battle cry, not a curse, but a truly blood-curdling howl.\n\nMusashi's sword screeched back and forth through the air, a reverberation in his own body telling him when he connected with human bone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Blood and brains spattered from his blade; fingers and arms flew through the air." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The rōnin had come to watch the carnage, not to participate in it, but their weakness had led Musashi to attack them first. At the very beginning, they held together fairly well, because they thought the priests would soon come to their rescue. But the priests stood silent and motionless as Musashi quickly slaughtered five or six rōnin, throwing the others into confusion. Before long they were slashing wildly in all directions, as often as not injuring one other." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For most of the time, Musashi wasn't really conscious of what he was doing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was in a sort of trance, a murderous dream in which body and soul were concentrated in his three-foot sword. Unconsciously, his whole life experience—the knowledge his father had beaten into him, what he had learned at Sekigahara, the theories he had heard at the various schools of swordsmanship, the lessons taught him by the mountains and the trees—everything came into play in the rapid movements of his body. He became a disembodied whirlwind mowing down the herd of rōnin, who by their stunned bewilderment left themselves wide open to his sword.\n\nFor the short duration of the battle, one of the priests counted the number of times he inhaled and exhaled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was all over before he had taken his twentieth breath." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Musashi was drenched with the blood of his victims. The few remaining rōnin were also covered with gore. The earth, the grass, even the air was bloody. One of their number let out a scream, and the surviving rōnin scattered in all directions." }, { "from": "human", "value": "While all this was going on, Jōtarō was absorbed in prayer." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His hands folded before him and his eyes lifted skyward, he implored, \"Oh, God in heaven, come to his aid! My master, down there on the plain, is hopelessly outnumbered. He's weak, but he isn't a bad man. Please help him!\"\n\nDespite Musashi's instructions to go away, he couldn't leave. The place where he had finally chosen to sit, his hat and his mask beside him, was a knoll from which he could see the scene around the bonfire in the distance.\n\n\"Hachiman! Kompira! God of Kasuga Shrine! Look! My master is walking directly into the enemy. Oh, gods of heaven, protect him. He isn't himself. He's usually mild and gentle, but he's been a little bit strange ever since this morning. He must be crazy, or else he wouldn't take on that many at once! Oh, please, please, help him!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "After calling on the deities a hundred times or more, he noticed no visible results of his efforts and started getting angry." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Finally, he was shouting: \"Aren't there any gods in this land? Are you going to let the wicked people win, and the good man be killed? If you do that, then everything they've always told me about right and wrong is a lie! You can't let him be killed! If you do, I'll spit on you!\"\n\nWhen he saw that Musashi was surrounded, his invocations turned to curses, directed not only at the enemy but at the gods themselves. Then, realizing that the blood being spilled on the plain was not his teacher's, he abruptly changed his tune. \"Look! My master's not a weakling after all! He's beating them!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "This was the first time Jōtarō had ever witnessed men fighting like beasts to the death, the first time he had ever seen so much blood." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He began to feel that he was down there in the middle of it, himself smeared with gore. His heart turned somersaults, he felt giddy and light-headed.\n\n\"Look at him! I told you he could do it! What an attack! And look at those silly priests, lined up like a bunch of cawing crows, afraid to take a step!\"\n\nBut this last was premature, for as he spoke the priests of the Hōzōin began moving in on Musashi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, oh! This looks bad. They're all attacking him at once. Musashi's in trouble!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Forgetting everything, out of his senses with anxiety, Jōtarō darted like a fireball toward the scene of impending disaster.\n\nAbbot Inshun gave the command to charge, and in an instant, with a tremendous roar of voices, the lancers flew into action. Their glittering weapons whistled in the air as the priests scattered like bees sprung from a hive, shaved heads making them appear all the more barbaric.\n\nThe lances they carried were all different, with a wide variety of blades—the usual pointed, cone-shaped ones, others flat, cross-shaped or hooked—each priest using the type he favored most." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Today they had a chance to see how the techniques they honed in practice worked in real battle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As they fanned out, Musashi, expecting a trick attack, jumped back and stood on guard. Weary and a little dazed from the earlier bout, he gripped his sword handle tightly. It was sticky with gore, and a mixture of blood and sweat clouded his vision, but he was determined to die magnificently, if die he must.\n\nTo his amazement, the attack never came." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Instead of making the anticipated lunges in his direction, the priests fell like mad dogs on their erstwhile allies, chasing down the rōnin who had fled and slashing at them mercilessly as they screamed in protest." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The unsuspecting rōnin, futilely trying to direct the lancers toward Musashi, were slit, skewered, stabbed in the mouth, sliced in two, and otherwise slaughtered until not one of them was left alive. The massacre was as thorough as it was bloodthirsty.\n\nMusashi could not believe his eyes. Why had the priests attacked their supporters?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "And why so viciously?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He himself had only moments earlier been fighting like a wild animal; now he could hardly bear to watch the ferocity with which these men of the cloth slew the rōnin. Having been transformed for a time into a mindless beast, he was now restored to his normal state by the sight of others similarly transformed. The experience was sobering.\n\nThen he became aware of a tugging at his arms and legs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Looking down, he found Jōtarō weeping tears of relief." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For the first time, he relaxed.\n\nAs the battle ended, the abbot approached him, and in a polite, dignified manner, said, \"You are Miyamoto, I assume. It is an honor to meet you.\" He was tall and of light complexion. Musashi was somewhat overcome by his appearance, as well as by his poise." }, { "from": "human", "value": "With a certain amount of confusion, he wiped his sword clean and sheathed it, but for the moment words failed him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Let me introduce myself,\" continued the priest. \"I am Inshun, abbot of the Hōzōin.\"\n\n\"So you are the master of the lance,\" said Musashi.\n\n\"I'm sorry I was away when you visited us recently. I'm also embarrassed that my disciple Agon put up such a poor fight.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sorry about Agon's performance?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Musashi felt that perhaps his ears needed cleaning. He remained silent for a moment, for before he could decide on a suitable way to respond to Inshun's courteous tone, he had to straighten out the confusion in his mind. He still couldn't figure out why the priests had turned on the rōnin—could imagine no possible explanation. He was even somewhat puzzled to find himself still alive." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Come,\" said the abbot, \"and wash off some of that blood. You need a rest.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Inshun led him toward the fire, Jōtarō tagging along close behind.\n\nThe priests had torn a large cotton cloth into strips and were wiping their lances. Gradually they gathered by the fire, sitting down with Inshun and Musashi as though nothing unusual had occurred. They began chatting among themselves." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Look, up there,\" said one, pointing upward." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ah, the crows have caught the whiff of blood. Cawing over the dead bodies, they are.\"\n\n\"Why don't they dig in?\"\n\n\"They will, as soon as we leave. They'll be scrambling to get at the feast.\"\n\nThe grisly banter went on in this leisurely vein." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Musashi got the impression that he wasn't going to find out anything unless he asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He looked at Inshun and said, \"You know, I thought you and your men had come here to attack me, and I'd made up my mind to take along as many of you as I could to the land of the dead. I can't understand why you're treating me this way.\"\n\nInshun laughed. \"Well, we don't necessarily regard you as an ally, but our real purpose today was to do a little housecleaning.\"\n\n\"You call what's been going on housecleaning?\"\n\n\"That's right,\" said Inshun, pointing toward the horizon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But I think we might as well wait and let Nikkan explain it to you. I'm sure that speck on the edge of the plain is he.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At the same moment, on the other side of the plain, a horseman was saying to Nikkan, \"You walk fast for your age, don't you?\"\n\n\"I'm not fast. You're slow.\"\n\n\"You're nimbler than the horses.\"\n\n\"Why shouldn't I be? I'm a man.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The old priest, who alone was on foot, was pacing the horsemen as they advanced toward the smoke of the fire." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The five riders with him were officials.\n\nAs the party approached, the priests whispered among themselves, \"It's the Old Master.\" Having confirmed this, they fell back a good distance and lined themselves up ceremoniously, as for a sacred rite, to greet Nikkan and his entourage.\n\nThe first thing Nikkan said was, \"Did you take care of everything?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Inshun bowed and replied, \"Just as you commanded.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then, turning to the officials, \"Thank you for coming.\"\n\nAs the samurai jumped one by one off their horses, their leader replied, \"It's no trouble. Thank you for doing the real work!... Let's get on with it, men.\"\n\nThe officials went about inspecting the corpses and making a few notes; then their leader returned to where Inshun was standing. \"We'll send people from the town to clean up the mess. Please feel free to leave everything as it is.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "With that, the five of them remounted their horses and rode off." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nikkan let the priests know that they were no longer needed. Having bowed to him, they started walking away silently. Inshun, too, said good-bye to Nikkan and Musashi and took his leave.\n\nAs soon as the men were gone, there was a great cacophony." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The crows descended, flapping their wings joyfully." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Grumbling over the noise, Nikkan walked over to Musashi's side and said casually, \"Forgive me if I offended you the other day.\"\n\n\"Not at all. You were very kind. It is I who should thank you.\" Musashi knelt and bowed deeply before the old priest.\n\n\"Get off the ground,\" commanded Nikkan." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"This field is no place for bowing.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Musashi got to his feet.\n\n\"Has the experience here taught you anything?\" the priest asked.\n\n\"I'm not even sure what happened. Can you tell me?\"\n\n\"By all means,\" replied Nikkan. \"Those officials who just left work under Ōkubo Nagayasu, who was recently sent to administer Nara." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They're new to the district, and the rōnin have been taking advantage of their unfamiliarity with the place—waylaying innocent passersby, blackmailing, gambling, making off with the women, breaking into widows' houses—causing all sorts of trouble." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The administrator's office couldn't bring them under control, but they did know that there were about fifteen ringleaders, including Dampachi and Yasukawa.\n\n\"This Dampachi and his cohorts took a disliking to you, as you know. Since they were afraid to attack you themselves, they concocted what they thought was a clever plan, whereby the priests of the Hōzōin would do it for them. The slanderous statements about the temple, attributed to you, were their work; so were the posters. They made sure everything was reported to me, presumably on the theory that I'm stupid.\"\n\nMusashi's eyes laughed as he listened.\n\n\"I thought about it for a while,\" said the abbot, \"and it occurred to me that this was an ideal opportunity to have a housecleaning in Nara. I spoke to Inshun about my plan, he agreed to undertake it, and now everybody's happy—the priests, the administrators; also the crows. Ha, ha!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was one other person who was supremely happy." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nikkan's story had wiped away all of Jōtarō's doubts and fears, and the boy was ecstatic. He began singing an improvised ditty while dancing about like a bird flapping its wings:\n\nA housecleaning, oh,\n\nA housecleaning!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "At the sound of his unaffected voice, Musashi and Nikkan turned to watch him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was wearing his mask with the curious smile and pointing his wooden sword at the scattered bodies. Taking an occasional swipe at the birds, he continued:\n\nYes, you crows,\n\nOnce in a while" }, { "from": "human", "value": "There's a need for housecleaning," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But not only in Nara.\n\nIt's nature's way\n\nTo make everything new again.\n\nSo spring can rise from the ground," }, { "from": "human", "value": "We burn leaves," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We burn fields.\n\nSometimes we want snow to fall,\n\nSometimes we want a housecleaning.\n\nOh, you crows!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Feast away! What a spread!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Soup straight from the eye sockets,\n\nAnd thick red sake.\n\nBut don't have too much\n\nOr you'll surely get drunk." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Come here, boy!\" shouted Nikkan sharply." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, sir.\" Jōtarō stood still and turned to face the abbot.\n\n\"Stop acting the fool. Fetch me some rocks.\"\n\n\"This kind?\" asked Jōtarō, snatching a stone that lay near his feet and holding it up.\n\n\"Yes, like that. Bring lots of them!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, sir!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As the boy gathered the stones, Nikkan sat down and wrote on each one \"Namu Myōhō Renge-kyō,\" the sacred invocation of the Nichiren sect. Then he gave them back to the boy and ordered him to scatter them among the dead. While Jōtarō did this, Nikkan put his palms together and chanted a section of the Lotus Sutra.\n\nWhen he had finished, he announced, \"That should take care of them. Now you two can be on your way. I shall return to Nara.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "As abruptly as he had come, he departed, walking at his customary breakneck speed, before Musashi had a chance to thank him or make arrangements to see him again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For a moment, Musashi just stared at the retreating figure, then suddenly he darted off to catch up with it. \"Reverend priest!\" he called. \"Haven't you forgotten something?\" He patted his sword as he said this." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What?\" asked Nikkan." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You have given me no word of guidance, and since there is no way of knowing when we'll meet again, I'd appreciate some small bit of advice.\"\n\nThe abbot's toothless mouth let out its familiar crackling laugh. \"Don't you understand yet?\" he asked. \"That you're too strong is the only thing I have to teach you. If you continue to pride yourself on your strength, you won't live to see thirty. Why, you might easily have been killed today. Think about that, and decide how to conduct yourself in the future.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Musashi was silent." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You accomplished something today, but it was not well done, not by a long shot. Since you're still young, I can't really blame you, but it's a grave error to think the Way of the Samurai consists of nothing but a show of strength.\n\n\"But then, I tend to have the same fault, so I'm not really qualified to speak to you on the subject. You should study the way that Yagyū Sekishūsai and Lord Kōizumi of Ise have lived. Sekishūsai was my teacher, Lord Kōizumi was his. If you take them as your models and try to follow the path they have followed, you may come to know the truth.\"\n\nWhen Nikkan's voice ceased, Musashi, who had been staring at the ground, deep in thought, looked up. The old priest had already vanished." } ]