Lone Rabbit and Child

First Published: April 1985 by Thoughts and Images

• Ame Tomoe
• Lord Noriyuki
• Miyamoto Usagi
• Lord Hikiji

Amidst the screams of dying men and a wall of steel, a loyal vassal clutches her child lord and makes good her escape, leaving her comrades to hold off would be assassins.

She and her lord happen upon a house on the outskirts of a village and enter. Seeing a sleeping samurai, she decides to do away with him before he wakes and can harm her lord. She suddenly finds herself on the floor with the supposedly sleeping samurai in an advantageous position.

The child-lord begs the samurai to spare his retainer. The samurai explains that he wishes to hurt neither of them. They explain themselves and introductions are made. The woman retainer is Tomoe Ame, and her master is Lord Noriyuki. The samurai introduces himself as Miyamoto Usagi. Tomoe Explains that they are being hunted by those loyal to Lord Hikiji - The daimyo that had his own lord's family assassinated.

They are disturbed by voices outside, who demand that Lord Noriyuki be turned over to them. Usagi appears, telling them he is less than impressed. They rush him, and soon lay dead at his feet. Those that rushed past him are dispatched by the blade of Tomoe Ame.

Usagi travels on with Lord Noriyuki, who takes him on as a yojimbo, and they travel until late in the evening. A storm brews and against Usagi's council, the find shelter in an inn. While there, Tomoe and Usagi formally introduce themselves, Usagi explaining where he learned his fighting style, and of his own lord, killed by the forces of Hikiji.

When morning dawns, they continue on. The storm having since moved on, has left in its wake a swollen river which the travellers must cross. As they approach the ferry, they are attacked from behind by more Hikiji loyalists. Usagi holds them off while Tomoe makes for the ferry. Carrying her lord, she shouts at the ferryman to hasten in casting off. Instead, he pulls a blade and swipes at her, knocking her into the foaming river and leaving Lord Noriyuki helpless on the jetty.

Not far away, Usagi has slain the would be assassins to find the 'ferryman' standing over Lord Noriyuki. He arrives on the scene in time, decapitating the ferryman before he has the chance to finish the child.

With the immediate threat over, they can find no immediate sign of Tomoe. After scouring the banks for several hours, they find her body face down and unmoving, washed up against the rocks of the riverbank. Lord Noriyuki fears the worst - Tomoe is dead.

Last change: 19. May 2003

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Usagi Yojimbo, including all prominent characters featured in the stories and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of Stan Sakai and Usagi Studios. Usagi Yojimbo is a registered trademark of Stan Sakai. Names, characters, places, and incidents featured in this publication either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), events, institutions, or locales, without satiric content, is coincidental.