This Alliance

*22 years later* Chapter 1: See me not.

An: Hello again. Just to be clear I am not so well educated of the Japanese, Roman/European, and Scandinavian cultures so if there is anything that is wrong or misinformed please let me know. I am trying to research as much as I can for some of these stories and it would help to get some feedback. Thanks so much for reading, hope you enjoy.

Something was out there. Oku Mobura knew it.

It was something that haunted him for weeks. A presence- a spirit - that he must have angered. One reported to have worn a white mask.

Despite the strong walls that surrounded the stronghold and the dozens of trained guards ordered to protect him, he still felt as though there was something hiding within in the shadows.

What didn't help was that his recent trades have been attacked. The recent reports he had received gave him terrible news. Viking attack. All of the goods were stolen and no survivors were left.

He clenched his teeth and crumpled the paper in his hands, "d@mn!" He dropped it to the ground in anger. The officer that walked beside him never flinched.

This village is running me dry!

Lord Satake should have never suggested this place. This place was supposed to give him good fortune. In the few months that he had been here It costed him time and money. The only advantage this village had was that it was far from the war.

The wood floors of the porch creaked as he took each step. He knew that something was there, listening. it knew that he was aware.

He turned to the low ranking officer next to him, "keep your guard up. The spirit might return."

The officer nodded and went out into the yard. Mobura slid open the door and went into the warm building. He took multiple turns through the maze that was his dull stronghold. He passed by several guards whose steps followed the same strumming pattern as they walked by.

This night in particular was making him restless. He needed something to take his mind off of vikings and night spirits.

I have to see that scroll again.

Mobura decided to return to his study. A room with shelves filled with scrolls loosely tied together with strings. The white paper was colored by the warm light of the candles that dimly lit the room. Candles which were placed on a table, dripping wax onto pages that had been splayed out.

He took a candle and approached the shelf closest to him. He reached back into the shelf until he found the loose board of the wall behind. He moved the board out of the way and found a small roll of paper that was purposely tucked away from the rest of the scrolls.

Opening the scroll, symbols of a language Mobura didn't fully understand appeared in front of him. He sat down at the table of papers and began to inspect the symbols. The brush strokes of black paint were so vaguely familiar, but the way the sentences were structured were not at all like their own language. It was one of the last things that Lord Satake had given him before he left for the village. Even in the dark of night He remembered the order that was given to him.

Keep it secret.

And the threat that followed afterward.

Or your head will be a nice addition to my table piece.

He kept it secret and still had his head on his shoulders but there was something Mobura never understood. This language was not that of any of the three factions. Not of vikings or of the knights, so where did it even come from? And why did Lord Satake want to keep it secret? Even to him there were some things his lord never told him.