“Way of the Warrior”

The rocking of the waves woke him up. The man was chained to the floor of a Portuguese ship. The deck was wet from the moisture of the sea, the air hot and humid, and the smell of dozens of people chained together near livestock was unbearable. The man had no idea where or how long they had been sailing; the days started blending into each other for months. He would often sit and contemplate how his actions got him to where he was and how he would get out of it.

The man’s name was Khalid. He had been fighting for a Moorish army in the Iberian Peninsula when the Portuguese captured him after a supply train he was guarding was attacked and overrun. All the others in the parade were killed, but the Portuguese commander respected his fighting spirit after seeing him defend the ground he stood upon when there was no chance of survival and decided to sell him as a slave instead. After being moved to a port in Portugal, Khalid was sold to a slaver and put on a ship set for an unknown destination.

One of the Portuguese sailors came down onto the deck where Khalid and the others were being held; the sailor had a bucket of water and several rags. He said some words, none of which Khalid knew, and used motions that symbolized that they should clean themselves. Quickly, others grabbed a rag and started to wash. Khalid also grabbed a rag, leaned over, and began speaking Arabic to one of the other captured slaves. The slave said they were required to wash because the ship was pulling into port and the slaves needed to look presentable.

After a while, several sailors came down and brought the slaves to the top deck, still chained at the wrists and ankles. The intense brightness of the sun hurt Khalid’s eyes. Squinting, he saw the port fisherman selling their catch of the day; people were moving all around. As they were brought off the ship, he could closely see what the people were wearing. Most were dressed in what looked like robes, some had on round straw hats that came to a tip at the top, and some were carrying fans, but he quickly noticed a group of four men walking through the crowd. By the way they walked, he could tell they were noble. Their clothes looked like robes but appeared much more maintained, and they carried two swords at their hips, one larger and one smaller, and when they passed, people would bow to them. The group of slaves was led toward a stand that had been set up.

These sword-wielding nobles came over to Khalid and the others to inspect them. One of the Portuguese sailors got onto the stand and began to speak a language that Khalid had never heard before. Khalid and several others had been the first ones pushed onto the frame. The sailor continued to babble in this foreign language as men would raise fans. Khalid had seen several slave auctions before and knew what was happening; they were being sold. The bidding was intense between two men battling back and forth, one wearing black robes with a single white flower on both shoulders, the other in green with three white flowers on each shoulder. They continued their battle until the one wearing black eventually beat the man in green, who, disappointed and frustrated, stormed off angrily. With a bow and exchange of coins, Khalid and the others were sold and pushed into a carriage.

The carriage took them to a big building with large compound walls. The courtyard was open with a well-raked rock pit, and the building had a triangle-style roof. Khalid was impressed with the size of everything. The carriage stopped, and they were ushered out. The man who bought them looked at the group, said some stern words, and walked away. It was apparent he was a severe man. A small wooden sword was placed down, and each person had to show if he could defend himself. Since Khalid was a warrior before, he knew how to use a sword to significant effect and impressed the group there to evaluate them. Later, they went to sleep and woke up before sunrise.

Khalid was brought to where others were training with wooden swords where he practiced and learned all day for several weeks. Over time, he also picked up some words in the new language, words like ‘dynamic’ and ‘samurai.’ He found out that his owner had just recently taken the castle they were residing in during a great battle where he had to fight his uncle.

That night, Khalid was taken to a building, led to a pit, and given a short sword. There, he saw another slave ready to fight Khalid. The fight started at the sound of a gong; the opponent swung at Khalid, aiming to kill him, but missed. Thanks to his prior training, Khalid was able to quickly end the enemy, and the fight was done. Cheers filled the room, and Khalid felt weird. For the first time since being captured, he felt like himself again. This happened every day for several months, and Khalid continued to win. By day, he would learn the language, finding out it was Japanese, then fight by night, and his owner continued to accumulate wealth.

One night, his master came down. Khalid was not brought to the pit like usual. Instead, his master decided to speak with him. They walked through the compound, surrounded by trees that had beautiful white leaves that resembled flowers. Two bodyguards stood on either side of his master, both carrying two swords on their hips. His master asked if Khalid had always been a slave, and Khalid responded that he was of noble birth and was captured in battle. His master nodded and understood why Khalid fought so hard to regain his honor. His master stated he had met another foreigner who had proved himself to be a great warrior, and he was made a samurai. Khalid felt respect for his master even if he was his owner.

As they were walking, several arrows were shot, one glancing his master in the shoulder, and the others found the two bodyguards. Six men jumped from the compound walls, clothed in black with their faces covered. His master drew his sword, but Khalid was defenseless, with his wrists still bound. The attackers ran towards Khalid’s owner; he was able to kill one of them but had been hit in the other shoulder by a glancing blow. Khalid saw a sword on the ground and grabbed it. He went after the attackers to defend himself and his master. He fought one while his master struggled to fend off the other three. Khalid got the better of his opponent quickly; the fighting in the pit had perfected his fighting abilities. He looked over and saw two-on-one for his master, who had been knocked to the ground and was in serious trouble. Khalid rushed over to help him, slashed both attackers quickly, and helped his master up. His master was in pain but thanked him. They investigated who the attackers were and came to find out they were samurai from a rival clan, which angered his master.

The following day, Khalid was called to see his master inside the house. Once in his presence, he knelt and bowed. His master expressed his gratitude for being saved the previous night, and remembering what he said, was indebted to Khalid. He told Khalid that he would become one of his bodyguards, not as a slave, but as a samurai. He showed Khalid a suit of armor and told him it was from the man he killed last night. As a sign of respect for Khalid, it was now his to wear. His master had taken it from the dead man’s family last night after the attacks as a symbol of retribution, then burned the man’s house to the ground. Khalid was asked to put it on; the suit was form-fitting, and the armor had overlapping plates of metal and leather, which would aid in blocking sword thrusts and arrows. Khalid was informed it was to be put on like a clam shell. Two things that stuck out for him were how incredibly light it was, nearly twenty pounds lighter than the armor he would wear back home, and how decorative it was. It almost seemed that the armor was also a status symbol, showing the clan’s prestige and power with intricate designs in the armor and the neck pad.

Khalid was honored and thanked his master many times, bowing to show respect. His master told him to no longer address him as master, he could address him as Lord Nobunaga. Khalid was told how Nobunaga was consolidating his rule over the other daimyo. As his bodyguard, Khalid followed Nobunaga for many months, and through many battles with his followers, he became angered by new policies, strict standards, and beliefs.

One day, as they were walking near a temple, a messenger came running and told Nobunaga how one of his followers had rebelled against him and sided with his enemies. They had marched a massive force to surround the city of Kyoto. Nobunaga quickly got his armor on and readied a small force of seventy to fight for as long as they possibly could. Soon, they were approached by many enemy samurai and peasant foot soldiers. Nobunaga, Khalid, and his loyal samurai cut down over half of the attackers before being forced back towards the temple for a better defensive position. As they worked their way back, an archer struck Nobunaga in the stomach. Khalid caught and dragged him inside the temple while some other samurai stayed to defend the entrance for as long as possible.

Khalid carefully laid Nobunaga on the ground. Nobunaga claimed victory was impossible, and he would have to commit the sacrificial rite of seppuku. Khalid was instructed to be the second in this act, required to cut Nobunaga’s head off once Nobunaga had stabbed himself in the stomach with a short dagger. They prepped the area for the ceremony. Nobunaga knelt and stabbed himself in the stomach and as he did, Khalid did as was required of him. Khalid stared at the body of the man he had respected as a fierce warrior and gave a respectful final bow before heading out to join the remaining samurai in one last final stand.

Khalid and the other samurai met a force coming up the steps of the temple. They fought bravely, taking out way more of the enemy than the enemy killed of them before finally, all of Nobunaga’s forces were killed, their swords clasped in their hands like true samurai warriors were supposed to. Khalid was killed, and his armor was restored to the family it was initially taken from to regain their honor. Though this was the end of Khalid, this was not the end of the armor that he wore. Eventually, it would find its way from China, and eventually to a small military school in Northfield, Vermont, called Norwich University, where history students would study and examine it.

Bibliography

Kato, About the Author: “The Honno-Ji Incident.” Samurai World, 20 May 2018, samurai-world.com/the-honno-ji-incident/.

“Oda Nobunaga.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., www.britannica.com/biography/Oda-Nobunaga. Accessed 14 Sept. 2023.

Afroetry, et al. “Black Slaves in 16th-17th Century Japan: Nanban 南蛮.” Dream of the Water Children: The Black Pacific, 6 Dec. 2015, dreamwaterchildren.net/2012/01/22/black-slaves-in-16th-17th-centuryjapan-nanban/.