Wakou: Wakou, #1

By Jude LaHaye

    It's 1277 and Japan's Tsushima Island has still not recovered from the Mongol invasion of three years prior. Two of the invasion's survivors comb the beach, looking for food, scraps of cloth, and wood suitable for burning. They are girls, but they have chopped their hair short and wear the rags of street boys to deter desperate men from interfering with them. One of the girls is Rin; her parents were slaughtered before her eyes when the invaders found their village. Her house was burnt to the ground while the Mongol troups rounded up adult men and women to take back to Korea as slaves: the children and infants were brutally murdered in front of their screaming parents. Her own escape is part of our story...and how she met her companion.

    Rin's companion and savior is not really a girl at all. She is a demon. She assumes a human appearance, although her skin is grey and her hair as lank as wet seaweed. Rin calls her Sameko - little shark. When she is threatened, she reverts to her true form, a seven-foot blue monster with a gaping maw, sharp fangs, horns...you know, just call to mind the Japanese demons you've seen pictures of, and that's him: Moritaka. The only thing which links Moritaka to Sameko is the third eye in the middle of their foreheads. Sameko's third eye is always closed, because when she opens it she transforms into Moritaka immediately.

    One day, Rin sees a familiar silhouette walking towards her and Sameko on the beach they frequent. She stares for long moments in disbelief, but finally calls out a greeting: "Uncle! Uncle Zaku, is that really you?" The man is as stunned as the girl: he had thought everyone in his extended family had been slaughtered. Zamakitsune - or "Zaku" to family and friends - has a proposition for the two "boys." He has salvaged three Korean warships abandoned by the Mongols and has constructed a single serviceable ship. His proposal? He asks if they would like to go pirating with him and his small crew. His ship is not far from the beach the girls call home. He can take them there in just a few hours of walking.

    Rin accepts the offer tentatively, but Sameko is over the moon! Pirating! How exciting is that going to be, do you think? Her wide grin displays her rows of tiny grey teeth...and in moments, when she thinks they are threatened by more men approaching from the west, those little teeth morph into the huge fangs of the demon monster, Moritaka. Rin manages to calm the demon, and soon Sameko is restored to them. Zaku, being a wily and resilient person - "kitsune" means "fox," after all - soon sees that having a demon for a crewmate could be a real asset for his pirating gambit.

    The rest of their adventure is detailed in Wakou - a word which means Japanese Pirate. Join the crew of the pirate ship Samu - yes, Zaku has already named his ship "The Shark." 

    As with any decent story of medieval Japan, we have a motley crew of hardy survivors, all of them from different backgrounds. They have two things in common: they lost everything to the Mongols, and they must all learn how to pirate. And, spoiler alert: yes, we have a samurai. Our story would not be complete without one.

    Join the crew of The Shark. Board foreign ships, fight their crews into submission and relieve them of their valuable cargo...unleashing Moritaka as needed to convince them to surrender! Take your plunder to China, to what is now the bustling port city of Ningbo of the Sung Dynasty, the last hold-out in all of China from Mongol invasion and rule.

   Sail, swim, fight, and learn to love again...and perhaps again. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jude LaHaye
• Release date: May 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223712541

Jude LaHaye

Jude LaHaye is a Buddhist. Buddhists believe that the highest form of sentience is the human being. They also believe that the meaning of life is...Life. LaHaye struggles with his belief system and the evidence of his own human interactions and observations. His books are born of this struggle.

Book preview

One. The Beach

I spend a lot of time on the beach. It has become my home. I had a real home once, but the invaders destroyed it. I know they thought they burned it down with me and my parents still in it, but Moritaka only allowed them to take my parents. Me, he saved. I escaped without a scratch. I can’t say the same about the two Mongol soldiers who tried to attack me as I fled the inferno which had been my home.

The Mongols didn’t know about Moritaka. Understandable, that: no one knew about him, after all. But he was - is -  always with me; he protects me. My mother and father never saw him in his true form. They saw him only when he closed his third eye. Then he simply appeared as a small and silent little girl.

Like me. I am small and silent, too. And a girl. A little one.

My parents see nothing any longer. They are dead, and my last sight of them haunts me almost as tangibly as Moritaka does. They were savagely beaten before being burned to death in what was once our home. Even without the devouring flames, I doubt they could have survived what the Mongols did to them.

I have developed a theory about Moritaka. I think he is my grandmother, or maybe even her grandmother before her. Why else would I have such a staunch protector from The Afterlife? I am no scholar, but I don’t remember learning that Lord Enma allowed his inmates to wander the earth without purpose. Moritaka has a bond with me, and I am guessing it’s one of blood. Blood and possibly guilt.

Atonement. That’s a good reason for a tortured spirit to return to the world and act with purpose. Of course, I am guessing, just as I guessed a name for my blue monster. He never provided me with one. Well, it’s not like I ever need to summon him. He is always with me.

We don’t really speak much, Moritaka and I. We just mainly cohabit each other’s sphere of existence. I scrounge for food and scraps of cloth and wood, and Moritaka watches over me, throwing open that third eye of his when danger presents itself.

Moritaka, the three-eyed Moritaka, is a monster from legend. He is huger than the biggest of men. He is blue. Black blubbery flesh outlines his mouth and eyes, eyes with yellow sclera and red irises. When he is very excited, his black pupils entirely obscure his irises. His fangs are as yellow as his eyes. He has two gigantic fangs on his bottom jaw and rows of smaller fangs between them and on his top jaw. He wears rope sandals and a loincloth made from some kind of animal skin. It is sourced from an animal that used to sport spots. Oh, and horns. On each corner of his enormous forehead, there are horns not unlike those our goats have...except bigger. Much bigger. Or rather like our goats had. They were all annihilated by our invaders, too.

Usually, just the sight of him in his true state is enough to scare off most dangers. Every once in a while, he has to hurt someone. He isn’t wild - you know, out of control. He exerts just enough strength and violence to eradicate the danger. If the danger is flesh and blood, Moritaka devours it. If the danger is elemental, something like water or weather, Moritaka banishes it with a great bellow...really quite something to see...and hear. The bellow must itself be a force of nature if nature responds to it as it does.

I am always hungry. Even when I am able to catch and eat a fish, the hunger is never fully satisfied. It drives me to do dangerous things. I don’t really give the danger much thought. I am fairly confident by now that Moritaka will not allow any harm to befall me. I wish I could convince him that hunger is the real danger; that he should be doing more to acquire me food and water. Shelter. Clothing, for crying out loud.

My name is Rin. My parents used the kanji meaning dignified when they named me. I have since changed the kanji to the one which means confront. Either one is pronounced rin. There is no dignity in how I am forced to live. I have been able to tell no one about my name change, and if there were anyone left who cared, they probably wouldn’t be able to read anyway.

We were not impoverished, our little village on one of the many beaches which grace our beautiful Tsushima Island. We fished. We raised goats for meat and milk. We had terraced fields where we grew broccoli, radishes, onions, and cabbage. But they took all of it, those smelly invaders, poisoning the fields with the filthy oils they used to burn, burn, burn. The goats they butchered, not for the meat, but for the sport. The goat pieces and carcasses were thrown onto their fires. I do not like to think on it. But the memories, sight, sound, smell, all return to me unbidden.

So, the girl, then. She is with me when Moritaka closes that great third eye in the middle of his forehead. I have named her Sameko. Dear Little Shark. She has the tiniest pointy teeth! She is also not quite the right color. Grey. She’s grey. Her lank hair is black, though, as black as my own. She is always the same height as me, too. We have both grown some in the last two years.

She doesn’t eat much, but she eats. She only eats fish and meat and prefers them raw. Her sharp little teeth are quite efficient with raw flesh. Thankfully, even though I remind myself she is eating for two, her appetite is small.

We talk, Sameko and I. We talk of things in the moment. I don’t recall ever having a discussion with her about our mutual futures...or about our pasts, either. We are always in the moment. This fish is good, isn’t it? Yes. Do you want more of this tree fox? Only if you have had your fill, Rin. We will share it evenly, Sameko. We will always share everything evenly. Thank you. You’re welcome.

We speak quietly at all times. There are desperate people on the island. Some of them are locals. If Moritaka eats many more of them, there won’t be any left. I don’t wish them ill. I just wish they would leave us alone. I don’t get any enjoyment out of watching them getting devoured. It’s rather ghastly, really. At the same time, I do not wish to be ravished or maybe even eaten by these scrawny, dirty, starving wretches. So when we talk, Sameko and I, we talk very quietly. We wear layers of rags we have reclaimed from the beach. We cut our hair short, using seashells to do so. We wish to hide the fact that we are girls, for even devastation and deprivation cannot eradicate the vile appetites of men.

***

We are on the beach. The day is warm and the breeze is strong. Our hair whips around our faces, buffeted by the winds which whistle through the straits separating our island from the mainland. Goryeo, it is called. The mainland, that is.

A man approaches, and he’s not alone. When he sees us, he signals for his companions to remain behind while he comes closer. He wears a long sword in his belt but does not draw it.

Sameko and I stand at the ready. Whether to fight or flee, we don’t know yet. I am starting to recognize certain things about the man as he gets nearer: his gait, his huge feet, his bowlegs...could it be? I thought them all slaughtered...

Rin? the man calls out, fighting the wind to be heard. Rin- ko, is that you? His voice carries the same note that my mind does: disbelief. He quickens his pace, his arms raised at his sides.

It’s him. I know it. Uncle?! I cry, beginning to run towards him. Uncle, is that really you? Tears are forming behind my eyes. I didn’t even know I could feel emotions anymore. It is painful. I don’t like it.

We slow as we near each other, now walking almost on tiptoes, gradually closing the distance which separates us.

He is also crying. This is more than I can bear. I take the last two steps toward him and raise my arms, imitating him. We collide and I throw my arms around his bony frame.

He raises his eyes to meet mine, but something behind me catches his attention. His eyes are thrown open wide with alarm. He pulls my arms from around his waist and pushes me behind him. He has drawn his sword.

Oh, by the gods. It’s Moritaka. His third eye has opened and his true form is revealed. The men who remained behind turn and run. I can hear their cries of terror clearly, even as their screams recede.

Moritaka! I cry. "No, Moritaka, no! You will not hurt this man. He is family. My family, do you hear?" I have stopped him in his tracks. He has a pained expression on his face, like he is trying to think a very complex thought. After a few anxious moments, Moritaka closes the eye on his forehead and is instantly transformed into my dear little shark. Sameko.

Uncle, I say, forcibly turning him around to face me once again. Uncle, please put your sword away. You must not present any kind of threat to me or to my friend...please. I place a hand on his sword arm and push down on it as I plead with him. He slowly relents, his body shaking violently.

"Don’t you mean your fiend? he finally asks, his expression both wary and angry. Rin, what are you doing consorting with a demon? He looks back at Sameko. How did this happen? He takes on the pained look that Moritaka had as he tried to navigate a tricky thought. And how is it that you are even here? I came to check on my sister and her family two years ago, and there was nothing left but ashes. I buried the bones I found and honored them as the three of you... His questions die and he takes me in his arms once more. How is it that you live, that you have been living all of this time and I did not know or hear of it?"

We keep ourselves hidden most times, I tell him. I searched for you, too, Uncle, but your house was also destroyed. I hesitate, afraid to ask the next question. What of Aunt Saoru? His face falls and he trains his eyes on the beach at his feet. And little Akio? He shakes his head, and I can hear that he is crying. I approach him and put my arms around him. He is so small! Although he is a head taller than I am, he probably weighs the same as I do. So it is just the two of us, then?  I ask him softly, taking one of his calloused hands in mine. Our eyes meet and he smiles through his tears.

But that is one more than we had when we arose this morning, he says. We are back in each other’s arms.

What have you been doing, Uncle? Where and how do you live? I ask after several moments.

I and my men, and he looks over his shoulder to surveil the deserted beach, live in a cove not too very far from here. Rin, he grabs one of my shoulders as he speaks, watching Sameko warily at the same time. We have recovered ships. Mongol ships. Three of them. We have been working for months cannibalizing two of them so that we can bring the third into sea-worthy condition.

He gives me a questioning look before he actually speaks the question. Will you join us, Rin? Will you go to sea with us?

But uncle, what use will I be to you? I reply, hoping he will continue to ask me to join him. I’ve never sailed before.

I can teach you everything you need to know, he says.

What about your men? I ask.

We need crew. That is why we came here today, looking for men who would be willing to join us.

But instead you find a couple of girls... I draw out hesitantly.

Not just girls, he protests. Well, one of you is a girl...and my beloved, long lost niece. The other is a protective spirit. You, I can train. Does your little friend have any skills?

She can tie knots, Uncle. Really good knots.

Very well, then. She brings a useful skill to our ship. The men will be convinced to allow her to sail with us if she can prove she can contribute...and not harm. She must not menace our crew.

Where will we sail, Uncle? I ask, ignoring part of his question and shooting glances back at Sameko who listens to our conversation with a fire in her eyes I have never seen there before.

We sail the seas, Rin, he replies. We are not fleeing to another land. We will search for other ships. Ships we can overcome and board. Ships with cargo. Food, riches of all kinds. Spices. Perhaps even coin.

I look at Sameko again and she is actually smiling just the slightest bit. Her eyes continue to gleam.

Pirates, Rin, my uncle says. We will be pirates.

Sameko grins and reveals all of her sharp little teeth. I guess that this means we’re in. We want to be pirates. I have no other interpretation for her unprecedented enthusiasm.

We’re in, Uncle, I say, bowing the deep bow which normally accompanies an agreement between parties. Uncle grabs me in a hug once again, and when we separate, I see him nod respectfully to Sameko. She nods back, still grinning her frightening smile, a look of absolute glee on her gray face.

We’re in.

Two. The Cove

We have very few possessions to gather but gather them we do. We walk side-by-side with my uncle until the beach ends and a narrow path materializes along the rocky shore. That is when we fall into line, Uncle preceding me. Sameko follows me closely, her look of enthusiasm undimmed.

In an hour of steady walking, we meet the first of Uncle’s men. He is obviously wary, but waits for Uncle sheepishly, never taking his eyes from Sameko. She notices this and her ghastly smile returns.

Zaku, the man calls out to my uncle. That is his name. Zamakitsune. Zaku is what my own parents called him for as long as I can remember. Zaku, I am sorry I ran. I was startled. What is going on? Who are these boys?

Boys? I repeat in my head. Well, I guess that’s the reaction we wanted, wasn’t it?

This is my nephew, Rin, Uncles replies seamlessly, lying with an ease that surprises me. And this young man, here he gestures at Sameko, is, uhh, Suke...

I know that this creature is not a young man, the man says sullenly, his fear quashed by apparent force of courage. It is a demon.

"Ah, but it is our demon, Uncle says with confidence. He wishes to go a-pirating. A-pirating with us. He will protect us. He will not harm us...and he is a master of knots."

The entire time Uncle is fabricating this fiction, Sameko smiles and nods with great enthusiasm. She bows several times to the man who confronts us. He eventually relaxes enough to resume walking. Now he walks in the lead, Uncle behind him, and I behind Uncle. Sameko follows me, still grinning.

Takeshi, Uncle calls to the man in the lead. Do not tell any of the other men what you witnessed on that beach. We must catch Kai and Katsu before they get back to the cove. The status of this young man, Suke, must remain our secret.

I don’t know if we can catch them in time, Takeshi responds. But I understand your intentions in this matter. Let’s make haste. Perhaps it is still possible to intercept them.

As he finishes speaking, we see the two men in question. They huddle together at the edge of a wood. The path has become a tiny thing, narrowing so one must walk with one foot in front of its other. To one side lies the dense forest, and to the other a sheer rocky drop to the ocean below. The men cling to trees for support. It appears they are waiting for their companions. They call out to Takeshi and Uncle before they can see me and Sameko.

Zaku, Takeshi, one of them cries out. I am sorry I ran. I could not think, the fear was so strong. How did you escape the demon? The last word of his question dies in his throat as he catches sight of me and Sameko. He looks to his companion for support. His companion simply gives him the head gesture which means "go ahead...you do the talking."

Who are these boys? the first man, Katsu, asks in a subdued voice. He appears to be very nervous. Strangely, his companion is calm. He stares at me as if searching his memory for signs of me.

Takeshi puts a cautionary hand on my uncle’s arm and speaks first. These boys dispatched the demon for us, he lies. This is Rin, Zaku’s nephew. And this, he continues, gesturing at a now-solemn Sameko, is Suke, Rin’s friend. These boys have agreed to join our crew. Not only is Suke a master of knots, but he has some magic. It was he who banished the huge blue demon with just a few words.

It is so, Sameko says. I did this.

Takeshi and Uncle are watching Sameko with small smiles on their faces, like they are enjoying a puppet show. These boys will make great additions to our crew, Takeshi says in a voice which does not allow contradiction or question. Let’s go. It will be dark soon. We need to get back to the cove before nightfall. Kai, take the lead. Katsu, you’re next. Zaku and I will follow, leading Rin and Suke.

It’s as if Takeshi has some magic of his own, because the two other men turn immediately and, without question or comment, begin leading us down the narrow, twisting path. There is no conversation along the way. We move silently, continuing on for perhaps another hour before reaching an encampment almost hidden at the base of a deep cove. Mountains rise practically from the water itself, leaving a narrow shelf where crude buildings have been constructed. Wooden docks protrude out into the cove’s deep waters, where a ship is moored. It rides low in the water, sports two masts, and gleams. Its wooden sides have been lacquered and polished. It is black, with splashes of red around its oarlocks, stern, and prow. A stylized great fish has been painted with some skill on each side of the prow along with a name, something the Mongols had never graced the craft with: Same.

They have named our vessel The Shark. I stand slack-jawed, amazed at this almost unbelievable coincidence, while Sameko approaches and stands next to me. This is a rare occurrence, and my awe grows exponentially.

No coincidence, that, she says in a low growl. Very appropriate. And right.

What will Moritaka have to say, do you think? I ask. We speak in our usual low voices. We are not overheard.

He will be delighted that we are to be boys, Sameko says, no playfulness in her tone. It annoyed him to be protecting a girl.

Oh. I did not know that, I admit.

You still don’t know it, she replies, now smiling a tiny little smile. "Not that you could admit to him, you don’t. It’s our secret."

It’s been a day of secrets, I say to myself.

That it has, Sameko says.

I hope she does not hear the gulp I make. It’s involuntary. She reads my thoughts!

As she turns to leave, she is smiling again.

***

We are assigned cots and fed dried fish. It is delicious.

We have been preparing provisions for our voyage for many months, Uncle tells me. We have dried fox, goat, and rabbit meat and lots and lots of dried fish. We will not go hungry.

Sameko - I mean Suke - will be good with that, I say. But we will need more than meat to remain healthy, Uncle. I have discovered this while on my own...we need greens, or root crops. We scavenged for them up in the hills. We found enough for me, but what’s up there wouldn’t be enough for this entire crew.

Takeshi knows a thing or two about medicine and has told us this very thing. We have dried many hundreds of pounds of seaweed, Uncle says, patting me comfortingly on the shoulder. It was harvested from the far side of the island, where beds of it have been cultivated for centuries. We will be fine.

Seaweed would work, I tell myself.

Ugh, gross, Sameko says in a guttural whisper.

I laugh. And then miracle of all miracles, I hear it: Sameko laughs, too.

What in the worlds is going on here? I ask myself.

I grow happy, Sameko says. I look forward to adventures.

I suddenly realize that I feel it, too. I am excited. I look forward to my lessons on seafaring. In a single moment, everything I thought I was limited to has burst, and a new and interesting vista unfolds before me.

Sameko and I retire for the night and at least I know I sleep soundly. We are awakened in the early morning by a long whistle. Uncle comes to collect us, carrying more dried fish wrapped in aromatic leaves.

Let’s go, he says. Training starts now. First, we will get you some decent clothes and sandals. Then we will go aboard and familiarize ourselves with our new vessel. Later this afternoon, Suke can show us some knots.

The day goes by in a flash, and I fall into my cot after dinner - this time some fresh fish and rice - completely exhausted and sleep the night through. Does Sameko need to sleep? I ask myself as my mind flees consciousness.

I do not sleep, comes the answer from the next