The Story of Gamo

[YanYanGanaffi]

The gentle trickle of the stream soothed Yuki's mind. He stood on the small bridge spanning over the small stream that ran through his master's zen garden. Orange flashes disturbing the surface of the water revealed the presence of the koi darting about, searching for food. The crickets in the bamboo forest at the edge of his master's estate played their nightly concert as fireflies blinked in and out of the night air, like sparks of flame that died just to reincarnate a few seconds later. It had been a hard winter, killing off many of the annoying mosquitoes that sometimes ran rampant in this part of Japan. Yuki laid a hand on the handgrip of his sword. He smiled inwardly looking at the koi. His smile changed to a grimace as Gamo's blade slid into his kidney. The double edged dagger was ripped up a few inches, twisted, and then withdrawn with cruel effecentecy. Gamo eased the body off the end of the bridge and hid it under the low wooden structure.

 

Gamo was dressed in the traditional black nightsuit of the ninja. Like a cat, he had scaled the outside wall and stalked along the roof's edge until he found a dark corner in the Zen garden to slip into. The knee deep stream provided a wonderful cover as he stayed low in the water, easing his way along with only the top of his head visible in the water. Moving around waterlillies and lilly pads, he went unnoticed compeletely by the samurai on the bridge. It was a simple matter of taking out a dagger and dispatching him from behind.

 

With the evidence of his kill stashed safely away, Gamo studied the surrounding courtyard. A path laid with river pebbles led to a large house standing three floors high with steep tiled roofs. The path stopped at the base of some stairs attatched to a porch that encircled the entire house. There was a smaller building that was a servent's quarters near the main house. Torches glowed along the porch. Gamo could see the warm glow of candles and lanterns from inside the house. Methodically he slinked to the edge of the porch while in a crouched stance, hands out by his sides for balance and wieght distribution as he performed a low rolling step to avoid making any sound that may alert any guards. As he reached the edge of the porch, he heard the sound of a foot scuffing the floor nearby. For a suprised second, Gamo tensed.

 

In the shadow of the steps, he curled into a ball, concealed by darkness and shadow. Listening, the footsteps approached, stopped, then finally began to pass. The ninja crawled up the steps and to where the guard who made the foot steps was plodding along at a bored pace. Loosening a dark colored sash, Gamo quietly matched the samurai's foot fall as he gained on him. He held both ends of the cloth; one in each hand, ready to pounce. The samurai stopped to yawn. The sound was cut off quickly as the sash wrapped around the stunned man's throat. Gamo slammed a knee into the lower back of his victim, rolling the man's fall so he landed on his stomach. Keeping his knee firmly planted into the struggling gurad's back, Gamo tightened the sash as he straightened his body for leveage. Soon, the struggle was over as the samurai slumped into eternal slumber.

 

Donning his sash again, the made his way to the servent's door of the house. Slipping though the halls like a ghost, he found his target in bed with one of his servent girls, enjoying the 'benefits' the lord of the manor was privey to. Interrupted, the lord went to call for his guards at the sight of the ninja. Unfortunately for him, he shared his bed with a konichi; the female counterpart to the male ninja. His scream died in his throat before it could sound as the blade of a dagger the 'servent girl' carved a nice gash across his throat. Warm red rapidly oozed from the wound. Gamo nodded to the female before turning and leaving; his mission; or rather, their mission, complete.

Edited March 22, 2005 by YanYanGanaffi

[Wyvern]

A very nice assassination narrative, YanYanGanaffi. I particularly liked the poetic language that you incorporated in the first paragraph, as the descriptions of the "koi" reflections and the cricket "concert" were both very vivid and original details. I also really liked the manner that you radically shifted the tone of the paragraph with the unexpected instance of Yuki's death, as the detail of Gamo's sword penetrating Yuki's kidney caught me off guard and evoked confusion before I realized that it was an assasination. The rest of the story, while not as brilliantly detailed as the first paragraph, read very fluidly and was well-written and stylistic prose.

 

One thing that I'd be curious to see more of in this story is Gamo's partner in crime, the konichi posing as a servant girl, who is introduced around the end of the piece. I was interested in seeing the manner that the Gamo and the girl might interact, and what their relations to one another might be. Perhaps you could offer a moment of them plotting the mission, or a brief exchange between them after they acknowledge the mission accomplished?

 

Well done, YanYanGanaffi.