In The Realms of the Unreal

Chapter 13

If there was one thing, John Blackthorne didn't hate about Japan, it was the fact that the women were so subservient to men. They'd sleep with any man at a drop of a hat and almost considered it a great dishonour to refuse.

To top it all off, most of them weren't that bad in bed as Blackthorne was now in the middle of finding out.

When the lovemaking had finished, Blackthorne lay in bed while the girl got herself dressed.

"So what news is happening in the world?" he asked the girl.

"We took prisoners in the castle" she told him

Blackthorne rolled his eyes at this. Prisoners in the castle were not unheard of in these times. But then the girl spoke again

"They say they're gaijin."

This did catch Blackthorne's attention. "Gaijin? From where?"

The girl shook her head "I don't know. They just said the prisoners aren't from Japan and-" Before the girl could finish, Blackthorne was already leaping out of bed and putting on his clothes.

As he hurried through the castle to the dungeons, Blackthorne just hoped he wasn't too late.

The dungeons of Edo castle were unsurprisingly unpleasant. The group were essentially stuffed into a single dark murky cell that smelled like a football changing room with a toilet that hadn't been flushed for the last few decades. In fact, the group had a sneaking suspicion that that was the case with the cell's own chamberpot.

Jerry was probably the most nervous of the group

"Oh crap!" he said fretting "We're so dead!"

"We ain't dead just yet" Mcclane said back "So keep your hair on while we think up a plan" Jerry frowned "And just what do you suggest? We're stuck in a dark smelly dungeon with a locked door and no windows. Short of digging our way out, we've got no chance"

"Then if that's what we have to do, we'll do it!" Emma snapped "Now shut up and let us think!" Jerry abruptly went silent. This lasted for about a second, before the sound of a door opening from outside the cell sounded out.

Jerry practically went white

"Oh no no no!" he trembled "We're gonna get it now!"

A second later, the door of the cell unlocked. The group watched with baited breath as it slowly opened. Then a voice said

"I take it you're the foreigners"

"Yes" Scully gulped "That's us"

"Oh thank god I'm not too late"

A well dressed man then proceeded to step into the cell. The group immediately noticed that he wasn't Japanese. In fact he had the features and attitude of an eloquent Englishman. His face was covered in a vast black beard and his eyes had the look of a man who'd been through a lot and survived it all. The Doctor soon realised who he was

"By any chance, are we in the company of John Blackthorne, the first Englishman in Japan?" Blackthorne bowed

"The very same. I'm glad to hear my reputation has spread so far."

Blackthorne then folded his arms

"Now what brings outsiders such as yourself to this country?"

For a second, the group hesitated. Katsushiro however quickly spoke

"They're looking for a rune of some sort that will help them prevent the rebirth of a dark and evil force. They say it's found in a temple on top of a mountain"