Tides Move Slowly

The first time Gaki met her, he was dying.
Deep inland, far from Taimana Choryu, Kitsu Sokori appeared as though summoned by his desperation. Fevered and bleeding, he was ready to bargain his soul for survival.
"Samurai, please!" He called to her.
"Do you hate the people who hurt you?" She replied like a cat playing with a crippled rat.
"I already killed everyone who hurt me" He hissed. "But it looks like they might kill me in return, I can feel them pulling me from Toshigoku".
With a knowing smirk she saved him, weaving spells with whispers and blood, binding his life to her will. In return, he became her student, her servant.
Months later, when Sokori spoke of her need for noble souls, it was Gaki who told her of the hidden harbor. Taimana Choryu was a place of filth and whispers, perfect for their work. Sokori’s plan demanded sacrifices, and Gaki set about collecting them: Doji Hiroshige, his yojimbo Yasuki Suzaku, and two others whose names no longer mattered. Gaki knew some men in Slow Tide Harbor who were willing to settle a debt by kidnapping the nobles, and ask none of Gaki in return.
Suzaku escaped once, tearing through the swamp in a desperate bid for freedom, but Gaki caught him before he reached the town. Sokori did not care how the Crab died, only that Hiroshige remained alive, and the full moon was almost upon them.
Then the Emerald Magistrates arrived.
The three young samurai moved through the harbor like a storm, asking questions, paying debts, and buying truths that no one dared utter for free. Gaki watched from the shadows as their persistence carved away at the harbor’s secrecy. He moved the prisoners to the pleasure barge anchored in the mist, shrouded in silence and fear.
That night, they came.
The first arrow came without warning. A guard on the dock fell, clutching his throat, as the Unicorn loosed another arrow into the night. His aim was precise, each shot a death sentence. Gaki's hired men scrambled to respond, but the Lion was already moving, his katana flashing as he stormed the bridge to the boat. Steel met flesh, and the Lion cut through them like a reaper.
From the shore, the Kuni spoke.
Gaki felt the spell before it struck. A cold weight crushed his throat, silencing his voice, his power. He clawed at his neck, but the Jade Strike was unrelenting, severing his connection to the blood-soaked magic that had sustained him.
Then they boarded the boat.
The Lion charged forward, cutting down the remaining guards, while the Unicorn's arrows found their marks with uncanny precision. Gaki stumbled, mute and powerless, as the samurai advanced. He reached for his knife, but Sokori’s spell answered his desperation. From a small boat on the horizon, nestled in the lagoon, she spoke.
The dead rose.
The fallen guards clawed their way to their feet, their lifeless eyes fixed on the intruders. The Lion fought them head-on, his blade a whirlwind of defiance. The Unicorn struck from a distance, his arrows silencing the unnatural groans of the reanimated. Together, they carved through the undead like storm-tossed waves breaking against stone.
Gaki fell to his knees.
The Kuni stepped forward, his tetsubo gleaming with jade and etched prayers. He began to chant, the words incomprehensible to Gaki, but their meaning carved into his flesh. A final swing of the weapon brought searing pain, and Gaki’s world collapsed into silence. Mute, immobile, he could only watch as the magistrates secured the prisoners. The seal burned into him like chains, severing him from Jigoku's whispers. He had been reduced to nothing. Now, he would face judgment in Otosan Uchi.