kato

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.

ISBN: 978-1-7770534-1-3(Paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-7770534-0-6(Electronic Book)

Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Names, characters, and places are products of the author’s imagination. Any similarities to real or fictitious people is coincidental.

Front cover image and book design by waqasismail786.

Map art by Patrick Benjamin

ryanjenn101@gmail.com

Acknowledgements

Our wonderful child for understanding that I have to work whatever shifts I was given. This book will hopefully give you the means to do whatever you wish, and tear down some of the road blocks that affect so many of us.

A great thank you to the wonderful artists of Rhapsody of Fire, whose music helped me shape what has become my favorite character and inspired many of my fight scenes. Please keep making your epic music and I hope to see you again when you come back to Toronto.

Finally to the World Building workshop, and Fantasy Maps and World Building Facebook groups. So many kind and helpful people who helped sort out some of the problems we couldn’t hash out ourselves. Where I met Patrick, the talented artist who fixed the mess of a map I had, and turned it into a work of art.

To everyone who believed in us, encouraged us and never let us give up whether they are still here or not.

To my lovely wife and co-author, for letting me help with something for a change and running with my idea to polish and publish. You are my love, my best friend and the greatest sounding board anyone could ask for. When you actually answer a question.

Contents

ISBN: 978-1-7770534-1-3(Paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-7770534-0-6(Electronic Book)

Front cover image and book design by waqasismail786.

Map art by Patrick Benjamin.

ryanjenn101@gmail.com

Chapter 1

I found myself staring out the window, the faint calls of birds from the small grove behind the manor that we called home. The late spring breeze played with the ends of my copper bangs, summer wasn’t too far off, making me completely forget that I was in the middle of a calligraphy lesson.

“Jun-hime, focus please.” I was snapped out of my daydream, “I can see my lesson is boring you today, we will try again tomorrow.” my teacher sighed, she could see my mind was somewhere else.

“I am sorry Yori-sensei, I guess I am a little distracted with the meeting coming up. Otō-san said that today might actually be the last one, mostly because he is starting to run out of options.” I rested the brush I was holding on to the edge of the inkwell. “I guess by this time next week I will be shipped off to Hebi to see the matchmakers there.”

“No need to think that way, you never know this one could be the one Akio-sama might actually like.” Yori noted, taking one last look at me. “I will clean this up, you should make sure you look presentable. While I do not think your potential groom would mind your hands dotted with ink, I know Akio-sama would never approve of you showing up in such a manner.”

“I really am sorry I was not able to focus today, Yori-sensei.” I excused myself from the room.

It was hard enough being the only daughter to the head of our clan, but as my father was also the Daimyo of our lands so there was a lot expected of me. Most of my brothers had high expectations placed on them as well, the two oldest Toro and Eiji were both contenders to become heir, and someday one of them would become the next Daimyo.

Next in line were the twins Daisuke and Daiki, who were night and day. Daisuke was the scholar, forever reading and learning everything he could to better help whoever became heir. And Daiki was a trickster, pulling pranks whenever he got the chance and most of the time, he ended up pulling Daisuke in.

And then our youngest brother was a year younger than me, Takeshi. While the others were often busy with tasks set by our father, he would find ways to spend time with me. Being that he was the youngest there wasn’t much for him to do, so he would slip away to have tea with me or to keep me company when others were away from home.

“Jun-san, we have to get you ready. Akio-sama said that the head of the Asano clan and his son will be here shortly.” Makoto, one of my maids, caught my attention as I walked toward my rooms. Her issued, plain red kimono didn’t so much as crackle as she hurried in, black hair perfect.. “We need to hurry, or you will be late.” she hurried me along, knowing that I would try to drag my feet for as long as possible.

While I did play the dutiful daughter, I was far from the perfect lady. Many of the maids would scold me daily when they caught me doing something that was against my father’s rules. While I was allowed to be in the dojo while my brothers trained, I was not to join them. I was not even allowed to join them when they met with the other clan leaders, claiming that it was something I would never need to know.

But little did he know, I would slip off at night to the grove of sakura trees that I loved and would try to train myself to use a sword, one that I had borrowed from the armoury. One-night Daisuke caught me as I snuck out, but he did not go to tell father, he did something I never thought he would do. He joined me when he could, helping me to the best of his abilities. Daisuke had asked me if he could invite Eiji or Toro to join us and they might be able to help me out some more, but I told him it would bring too much attention to us if three of us would disappear at night.

“Alright now, you look ready to go Jun-san.” Minako, the other of my maids, took a step back once they had finished pinning my hair up with a green jade flower. If it wasn’t for the minor personality differences, and the height difference I’d swear they were the same person. I looked myself over in the mirror, today they dressed me in a light green kimono with silver and gold flowers printed on the silk. The colours did happen to complement my dark brown eyes and copper hair nicely. I guess Otō-san really wants this one to go over well. I took one long last look before being pulled along by Makoto as I walked to my father’s office.

With a quick knock on the door she called to whoever was inside, “Jun-san is ready, shall I send her in?”

“Do so.” was the only answer that was given. Seems Otō-san is in one of his moods again, should make for a great time. I looked around the office, Toro and Eiji had made it before me so that was a comforting thought. “Good thing you are on time, I would not have pleased if you were late for a third time.” father snapped from the head of the table as I closed the door behind myself. Despite being slimmer than my oldest brothers, seated to his right, he still demanded the room.

“Yori-sensei ended our lesson early so I would have enough time to make myself presentable.” I kept my eyes on the floor as I crossed the room, taking my place between Eiji and Toro.

“You did cut it pretty close,” Eiji leaned into whisper, his dark brown eyes playful while our fathers were hard and uncaring, “nice colour choice by the way.”

“Not my decision,” I hissed back, “nothing ever is, you should know that.” Before I had a chance to say anything else, Toro nudged my leg with his silently telling us to be quiet. Our guests had arrived.

The meeting was going as well as all of the ones before it, Asano started bartering with father over different borders and trade deals just so his son could marry me. He wasn’t ugly by any stretch of the imagination, neat hair, boyish good looks, and perfect posture. He seemed nervous, and looked younger than I was. While I was only there to be shown off, just a pretty face that only really had a value in what could be obtained for my hand. My father was truly running out of options, the most advantageous options were closed off to him. The Oda lands in the north had no heir, the Azai heir to the west was a girl about my age, and the Mochizuki to the south was unclear, the eldest, a son, was missing and the other child was a girl and not officially named.

Father and Asano had almost come to an agreement, when Takeshi came in and whispered something into Eiji’s ear and slipped out again. The look on his face had me curious about what he had said, but my questions had to wait until later as Eiji leaned around me to repeat it to Toro and from there it was past it onto father.

“Jun, leave us.” father snapped, clearly becoming angry. “You are no longer needed today.” I took his words of dismissal without a second thought. With a quick bow I left the room to see Takeshi leaning against the wall down the hall waiting for someone.

“Seems like you made it out in one piece.” Takeshi bounded up, his long black hair becoming unbound.

We met at a little table in the garden beside the manor, it had become our ritual after those horrible meetings, we would have tea brought out to the gardens and enjoy the fresh air whenever we could. “What was it you said to Eiji? Otō-san was not pleased by it.” I brushed a stray leaf from the table. I started filling cups, and by the time I was done Eiji and one of the twins, Daisuke I could tell by the left part in his black hair and glasses he needed as he was always reading, had joined us, looking pleased with themselves.

“Good to see you are still with us.” Daisuke came and sat next to me, “Eiji was just telling me what happened.”

I looked at them, “I would love to know what you are talking about. All I know is Takeshi came in, whispered something and I was told to leave.” I needed to know what was going on, “Does someone feel like filling me in?”

“Our dear Takeshi here told me that Asano doesn’t really have a son, no children of his own as it stands. The boy he brought with him was in fact his nephew.” Eiji informed us, straightening his light brown hair, as I filled his cup, “Father wouldn’t have cared much as long as he had said so from the beginning. But he wasn’t very pleased to find out that he had been lied to this whole time.”

Takeshi shook his head, “It was Daiki that found out what was going on. I just happened to be close by, so he sent me to let you know.” he told us, “He was acting like a servant and he managed to get some of the ones they brought with them to talk to him. Seems being a fool paid off this time.”

“And while I am grateful for his behaviour, it is not going to do much good. Since this meeting did not go the way Otō-san wanted, I will be sent off to the matchmakers in Hebi sometime soon.” I couldn’t help but feel a little sad that I will be separated from my family and sent off to be married. “I always knew my luck would not hold out forever.”

“Well we’ll just have to enjoy the time we have left then.” a voice called out. We all turned to see Daiki, walking up to us with his mischievous look in his amber eyes. “I was just talking with Yori-sensei, and she told me that there is going to be visitors from Shiwa passing through on their way to Hebi. Father is actually going to let them spend the night here.” Daiki joined us at the table, taking his usual seat next to Daisuke.

Takeshi and Daisuke shared a shocked look, “How can you be sure? Father never lets anyone near the estate, so why the sudden visit?” Daisuke asked as someone stopped just outside of the garden.

“Let me take a guess, they just so happen to have a son with them, and Otō-san wants to meet with them.” I snipped, getting a laugh from Eiji. “I am right, that has to be the only reason why.”

Before he had a chance to say anything, “Eiji, we are needed.” Toro called from the house, he was bigger than any of us, his longer black hair caught in the breeze. He didn’t look pleased about something. “He says it is important.” Toro never spent much time with all of us together and even less time with me because our father always had him off with one lesson or another, so his free time was very hard to come by.

“I’ll find out if that’s the case, little sister.” Eiji tried to comfort me as he patted my head as he left us to go join Toro, “but try not to worry too much. Father could only be showing them courtesy to see if trade deals could be made, we can never tell with him.”

I reached for Eiji’s hand, “Can you give this to Toro for me?” I asked, pressing a small note into his palm. “I meant to slip it to him, but I was sent away before I had the chance.” Toro and I had been using our brothers to pass small notes and letters to each other for some time. It was the only real way for us to talk as father had all but come out and said that he was never to speak to me.

Of all the rules our father had placed on me, I found one to be the strangest of them all. There were ones that I could understand, not going near the lake that was on the property or that I wasn’t allowed to go near the barracks where our guards lived. But to have almost no contact with my own brother, it seemed to be a little extreme. But as with all the rules, everyone knew better than to speak out or try to go against them.

“Of course, I’ll see you guys at dinner.” Eiji waved as he went to join Toro and they both went back to father.

“Do you want to know what I also heard from Yori-sensei?” Daiki asked once Eiji was out of ear shot, “Seems like father is finally ready to name his heir. Sometime in the next few days he’s going to be calling a meeting with all the clan heads and making the announcement. I didn’t say this while Eiji was here because I know it’s a touchy subject for him.”

Takeshi seemed interested by this news, “So he plans on naming Toro then?” he asked, leaning in closer. “I mean there’s only one real option, he’s the oldest.”

Daiki shook his head, “Not that I’ve heard. A lot of the staff seem to think Eiji’s getting the title. Age might be a factor but there’s only about a year difference between the two of them.” he turned to Daisuke, the mischievous look back in his eye. “Care to make a wager? See which one gets named as heir?” he and Daisuke would often have friendly bets between them.

Daisuke shook his head, “Not this time, I get the feeling that Eiji will become heir. I’ve been studying with both of them for so long that I’m pretty sure that father will choose the one he thinks is the right fit.”

We stayed in the garden until the sun started to dip behind the manor, and Minako came to get me so I could suffer through another wardrobe change before dinner. Takeshi walked with me as far as the hallway that his room was down, from there I quietly listened to Minako go on about how my bodyguards, Ayame and Kasumi, should be coming back in the next few days and the stories of their travels we would be treated to.

Eiji, Toro, and father didn’t end up having dinner with us that night, which was unusual for them. It was the only meal where all of us were together in the same room for an extended period of time, and the only time that we weren’t together was when they were off in Kashi, the central city of our lands.

It wasn’t until later that I would come to find out why they had skipped dinner with us. I had fallen asleep early after shooing Makoto away for the night, I was going to try to sneak out and spend some time in the sakura grove, but all the excitement from the day caught up with me and before I knew it I had nodded off leaning against the wall close to the window.

What woke me was the sound of hurried footsteps coming into my room, I sat up to see Takeshi and the twins huddled by the door, looking pale as ghosts. “What is going on? Why do you three look so scared?” I asked, only to have Daiki launch himself at me, covering my mouth with his hand.

“Shh, they don’t know we’re here. This end of the house seems to be untouched so far.” he hissed. “Remember the visitors that I said were coming?” I nodded, “Well they’re here and they are not visiting. Seems they sent word a head saying that they were nobles passing through, turns out they are here to assassinate father.”

My eyes went wide, “So what are we to do now? If they find us we are more than certainly dead.” I whispered, pulling his hand away. “Is there no place we can hide?”

“When Eiji woke us, he said that he and Toro would come find us here if the invaders hadn’t already made their way to you.” Daisuke explained, pulling Takeshi away from the door. “He also said that we were to wait with you unless it became unsafe, then it was up to the three of us to make sure that you got away.”

“As long as they are together, there is less to worry about.” I was relieved to know that they would be looking out for each other, “Until then we will have to wait quietly. We can hide behind the screen, that way we have a little cover in case someone comes looking.”

We hid, huddled in a corner of my room silently waiting for either of our older brothers to come and find us. An hour had passed, and we hadn’t heard anything in the halls. “We should think about leaving, it’s been too long.” Daisuke kept his voice low as he went to check the door, “It seems they haven’t thought about coming this way yet, we might have some luck.”

“Where do you think we should go? Try to make a break for Kashi?” Daiki asked as he helped me to my feet. “Or do you think we should try for somewhere a little farther?”

“I have an idea,” I smoothed out my kimono, “I have a place we can hide, Eiji should know where to find us.” I offered, knowing that Eiji would be able to find his way there as he helped me build it without any others finding out about it. I watched Daisuke weighing our options, while putting distance between us and our pursuers would be the best idea but if we wanted to wait for the others somewhere close by would make it easier for them to find us.

“Then you can show us once we get outside. Daiki you lead the way, make sure the way is clear.” Daisuke took charge, “We’ll hide out for as long as we can, but if it looks like they’ve caught on to us we won’t be able to stay any longer.”

“We’ll have to take our time in case the halls are blocked. So where’s your little hide away? I need to know which direction to lead us.” Daiki asked.

Before I even had a chance to reply, Takeshi jumped in. “The sakura grove, where else do you think she’d hide? I'll watch our backs, this way there’s less chance of anyone sneaking up on us.”

So with Daiki leading us through the house we quickly and quietly made our way outside without much incident. There were a couple of times that we had to backtrack and take a detour, but we went unseen.

“Looks like we’re in the clear.” Daiki whispered as he looked back to me once we got outside, “So dear princess, which way now?”

I pointed to the far end, “Are we really safe?” I whispered, I had never in my life felt so scared.

Takeshi grabbed my hand, “As long as we are together, there will never be a reason for you to worry.” I knew he was just as scared as I was, but it did make me feel better knowing that he was trying to make me feel safe. We slowly and quietly made our way towards the grove.

We didn’t get far.

Before we knew it, soldiers clad in green and black surrounded us. “You four are coming with us.” I couldn’t take my eyes off the spear pointed at me.

“Daiki.” I let out a pathetic sounding whine. “What are we going to do?” I was on the verge of tears.

“Don’t worry, just do as they say for now.” he tried reassuring me, “I’ll think of something until Eiji or Toro come find us.”

We let the soldiers herd us into a small gathering room on the first floor. I stayed between the twins, that way they could hold onto me if one of the soldiers tried to take me away.

No one said anything, they just watched us, there were maybe a dozen people in the small room that we used as a tea room in the winter. None of our guards, just staff. It wasn’t until someone new came into the room did they snap to attention. I guessed it was their commander by the way they acted. “Good job in rounding up these ones. Our lord will be very pleased.” he stopped in front of me, a wicked look in his eyes, “You even managed to find the little princess too, now I know our lord will be pleased indeed.”

“Don’t you even think about laying a finger on her,” Takeshi snapped, jumping at the man. “I will not allow any of you to touch her.” the commander just stepped to the side and let Takeshi fall to the floor.

“We will start with this one then, since he so kindly volunteered.” The commander motioned to a couple of soldiers to pick him up, “If you cannot get the answers we need, there are two others who might know something.” I watched helplessly as they dragged Takeshi off, there was nothing I could do to stop them.

“What are they going to do to him?” I whispered to Daisuke, “Why are they here to begin with?”

He thought for a moment, “I wish I could say, but we will do our best to get at least you somewhere safe, I promise.” Daisuke swore to me as both he and Daiki grabbed my hands. I was shaking so bad that I could see their arms start to tremble as well.

“We won’t let anything happen to you, we’ve always watched out for you and that’s not going to stop now.” Daiki gripped onto my hand tighter.

It felt like a lifetime had passed before there was any sound from outside the room, there was rushed footsteps and loud thudding all through the hall. “You two go see what that was.” the commander ordered the two closest to the door.

They quickly left but didn't make it far before they were stuck down. “Jun, close your eyes, I don’t want you to see this.” Eiji called as he stormed into the room, sword in hand.

I shut my eyes tight and turned my face into Daisuke’s shoulder as I was told and he placed his free hand over my ear, shielding me as much as possible.

I heard the commander fight against Eiji then I felt something hit the floor. I knew it was safe to look once Daisuke moved his hand, “We need to move, now. I don’t know how long we have before they send more to come and see what’s going on. Everyone get out safely or hide, don’t resist if you are found. Stay alive.” Eiji pulled me to my feet, “Can you walk?”

I nodded slowly, “But what about Takeshi, they took him away somewhere. We need to find him.” I pleaded. I didn’t want to leave him behind, there was no way I could leave without all of us.

Eiji shook his head sharply. “We don’t have time to go looking, we can try to come back and see if we can find him.” he went to the door, carefully checking to see if the way was clear. “Let’s go, while the way is clear.”

I could feel my entire body growing cold, Eiji wanted to leave without our last two brothers, “We cannot leave them behind,” I dug my heels in as the twins tried moving me, “we cannot be sure if they will be able to hold out until we come back for them.”

“It will be just Takeshi I will be looking for,” Eiji came back over to me, “Toro is gone, and we need to leave now.” Before I could protest anymore, Eiji threw me over his shoulder and led the twins out, following the path he cut on his way in. Many looked like they didn’t even have a chance to draw.

I pounded his back with all my might, demanding to be put down and we needed to look for Takeshi, but Eiji didn’t slow down for a moment.

He kept his quick pace until we came to one of the outer walls that were being repaired. There was a hole just large enough for us to crawl through. “I stashed some supplies on the other side, I went to the grove like I thought you would do.” Eiji told us as he put me down, “I found your little hut and took what I thought would be useful. There was only enough to last all of us a day or two at the most, so we’re going to have to make a stop in Hima and hope we won’t be recognized right away.”

“That seems a little far to go,” Daiki said, realizing how far that was from here, “especially if we plan on coming back to get little Takeshi. There is no way we can make the trip twice, not with…” he stopped himself, looking at me.

“With me, someone who has never walked for a long distance.” I finished for him, knowing full well that I was not only slowing them down, but they would be looking out for me the entire time until we made it somewhere safe. “I know that I am not really used to travelling like you three, but I will do my best to keep up.”

“We won’t be able to slow down, not until we know that no one is chasing us.” Eiji insisted as we watched Daiki and Daisuke disappear through the hole, “and once we find a place suitable enough, you will be staying hidden.”

“But what about Takeshi, will you come back for him?” I wasn’t leaving until I knew for sure Eiji was going to come back.

“I swear to you, I will do everything I can to get him back.” he nodded, putting a hand on my shoulder, “But right now, please we need to leave. I swore to Toro that I would look after you and I will protect you with my life if it comes down to it.”

Chapter 2

We walked for hours through the thick forest just past Kashi. The lovely smells of the hickory and katsura trees, hung thick in the air. Only taking short breaks as we made our way through the back roads. Since we only left with the clothes on our backs and the few supplies Eiji managed to find in my little hideout, my feet started hurting from the uneven ground.

The soft shoes I had on did nothing to protect my feet and I could tell that they were bleeding in places where small rocks had cut through. If I had known that we would have been walking for hours on end, I would have asked for a better pair.

Every time I started to slow, Eiji would call back to me, saying I needed to keep pace. My reply to him every time was one of the un-lady like remarks I would always get in trouble for using.

“If you keep lagging behind like this, it’s going to take us that much longer to get to Hima.” Eiji finally snapped at me, “I did not risk my life for you to drag your feet.” it seems that he had enough of me needing to stop from the pain.

“Right now I think that I would have preferred to stay behind. That commander seemed to think that his lord would be pleased to get his hands on me, probably would have kept me for a pet.” I snapped back. “At least that way I would have been able to sit down for more than a few minutes at a time.” I got up in his face, both of our tempers flaring in full force. “You forget, that I never left the manor for very long, and even then, I was stuck in that damned carriage.”

“No you don’t, I overheard what some of them wanted to do to you. You should be grateful that I found you before they took you like they did Takeshi. So you will have to forgive me your highness if I put saving your life above your comfort.” he didn’t back down, “If you would get your spoiled ass moving, we can find a clearing to spend the night in before it gets too dark to see anything.” he sharply turned and stormed off.

Daiki gave my arm a little pat as he passed me to catch up with Eiji as Daisuke came up on my other side, “Do you need a hand? I could carry you for a little while, if you want.” he offered, noticing the condition of my shoes. “You know he didn’t mean to be like that, we’re all just tired from all the excitement.”

“I could care less if he meant it or not, Eiji knows I am not used to these kinds of things.” I snapped again, my temper was still running high. I winced taking another step, I didn’t let on just how much pain I was in, Daisuke could clearly see I was hurting. “We all lost a lot, but it does not give him the right to behave like a complete prick.”

He held onto my arm as I took another uneasy step, “Take your time, no sense in hurting yourself even more. Daiki went to calm Eiji down. Once we stop to get some sleep, I will take a look at your feet and see what I can do.” Daisuke gave me a sympathetic smile as he kept me steady as we walked.

After a few more hours, Eiji finally found somewhere he felt was safe enough for us to make a small camp. He hadn’t said a word to me since our blow out, but I could see he wanted to say something, but he didn’t want the twins to hear.

“Daisuke go refill the water skins,” he nodded and took the skins to a nearby spring, “Daiki, round up some firewood.” And that left us alone. I found a fallen tree to sit on and tried to pull my shoes off. “I want to apologize for what I said earlier, I was out of line and it was really uncalled for.” he knelt in front of me and helped peel my shoes off.

“It really was, but not completely unfounded.” I looked down at my cut-up feet, “I too said things that were uncalled for.”

Eiji looked my feet over, pulling the bag our supplies were in closer. “I shouldn’t have pushed so hard. Had I thought about it, I would have known that you weren’t used to these kinds of conditions. Can you forgive me for being so heartless?”

“You were never heartless, just thinking of the best way to keep us safe. You did what you thought was right, you thought like a true leader.” I watched him start cleaning out the small cuts and wrapped my feet with some gaze he pulled from the bag. “If you had not done what you did, then all of us would have met horrible fates.”

“Good to see you two have made up again,” Daiki noted. as he came back with an arm load of small branches, Daisuke came back right behind him. “And you’ve taken care of the princess too, wow someone really felt bad for being mean.”

“Shut up, I couldn’t let the cuts get infected.” Eiji glared at him, “The two of you try to get some sleep after you eat, we’re going to be taking turns on watch.”

“What about me, I think I should be helping as well.” I insisted, not sure of what I could possibly do in the state I was in.

“Why don’t you go wash up a little, I can carry you to the spring I filled the water skins from.” Daisuke offered, “You look like you could use a little time to do something normal.”

“I think that sounds like a wonderful idea.” I had started feeling like all the dirt and leaves would never come off. “That would be nice.” I smiled as Daisuke came over and Eiji helped me on to his back.

“It’s good to know that you made up with him, we don’t know how long it will be until we can find you a safe place to hide.” Daisuke took me through the trees along a small worn path. “You know better than most how his quick temper gets the best of him.”

“I should not have pushed the way I did,” I admitted, “I was being a little selfish. I know he means well and only wants the best for us.”

Daisuke nodded, “You both have fiery tempers, and both don’t want to back down, I find it amazing that we haven’t had more shouting matches before that one.”

“How kind of you,” I spoke with a flat, unimpressed tone, “what faith you have in us.” I felt his laugh rumble through me, I could tell he was enjoying our conversation.

We came to a beautiful small clearing, the water of the spring was almost like it was made of crystal with how clear it was even as the sun set.

“I brought you something to eat as well, I figured you could use a little time away from us.” Daisuke offered, producing a small portion of food. “With what little we have, we need to make it to Hima by tomorrow night or we’re going to be going hungry until we get there.”

“You would be faster without me,” I gently slid from his back, resting at the water's edge. “Leave me behind, go on ahead and come back for me when you go back for Takeshi.” I knew it was the only way for them to make it in good time.

“You wouldn’t survive on your own, not in the time it would take us to get there and back.” Daisuke did what he could do to comfort me, smoothing out some of my hair, “Eiji would never allow you to do something like that. Just rest here for a while, I’ll come back for you before I get some sleep.”

I watched Daisuke return to our camp, wondering why they would go through so much just to make sure I was safe when it would be so much easier to just leave me behind.

As I ate, a deer family slowly made their way past, stopping only briefly to let the little one catch up. It was as if they didn’t even notice I was there, just going on with their business. As I watched them, the young fawn made its way over to me, it didn’t seem to really care that I was human.

“Why hello little one,” I laughed as the little deer seemed just as curious about me as I was of him. “I have never been this close to deer before, you are just so beautiful.” I reached out my hand and he butted his head against it. I had never felt fur so soft, it was almost like touching silk.

“Oh little one, Takeshi would have loved to see this. We had never seen any kind of wild animals so close before.” I said, petting his head. “I wonder if it has something to do with this spring that puts you at ease around me?”

Before I knew it, the little fawn had settled down and rested his head in my lap and was curled up close. It was the most amazing thing I could ever witness in my life, and as I sat in wonder as the doe and stag came and sat with us.

I could have stayed like this for hours, but something caught the attention of the deer after a rest. They seemed to sense something was coming and quickly got up and vanished back into the trees.

As I watched them go, I noticed something stir in the water. Before I could react the spring exploded. There encircling and looming over me was a giant deep blue dragon, its hair a turquoise colour and the horns shone a pale blue, teeth as long as my leg. I was so paralysed with fear I couldn’t even think as he looked down at me with fierce azure eyes.

“So you were the one I sensed, I was wondering when you would come.” his voice rumbled through me, “Akio finally let you out of the house.”

I had trouble finding my voice, “Otō-san was still inside when we fled.” I murmured, “I do not know what happened to him.”

“It would seem that you and your family have fallen on hard times.” The dragon brought his face down to my level, my torso could easily fit in one of his eyes, they weren’t as frightening as I first thought, the bright blue eyes held kindness and caring. “But I have known for a long time that someday you would come to my home, little Matsu. It has always been so. I had hoped that Akio would have gotten over his pride and honoured your destiny.”

That caught my attention, “My destiny? I was only ever supposed to marry a nobleman and bring honour to my family. What more could I be meant to do?” I shyly asked, this was the first time I had ever heard of any of this.

This caused the dragon to laugh, it was a good thing I was still sitting down, or I would have been knocked back from the rumbling his voice rang with. “Akio, you low arrogant fool. You my dear little one have been destined to be part of a great battle between the light and shadows.” he held out his clawed hand for me, the pale blue claw big enough to pierce three people, and looked sharp enough to rip through a stone wall. “Since a time before you were born you have been meant to be the next mighty Azure Dragon.”

I staggered to my feet, “You must have mistaken me for one of my brothers, I could never be chosen for such an important task.” I placed a hand onto one of his claws, my feet still hurt quite a bit. “I was never allowed to learn how to defend myself, you could never mean that I am meant for this.”

The dragon scooped me up into his palm, “My poor little one, it makes my heart ache to hear you speak this way of yourself. I have known what has been in store for you for many years and I tried to get that fool you called father to prepare you for what is to come. But he feared you would become too powerful and try to claim the territory for yourself.” He didn’t move again until I was sitting safely in the centre of his palm. I was surprised at just how kind and gentle he really was, despite looking so scary. It was nice to know I was safe and wasn’t going to be made into a meal. “He even laughed at me when I told him of your destiny, told me right to my face that no daughter of his would ever learn how to be a warrior.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, “How am I to fight anyone? I could barely handle the journey here, what is it that makes you think I can possibly fight a battle for you?” I asked, “I could never bring myself to take a life.”

“And I would never ask you to. As you journey with your brothers and the friends you will meet along the way, your purpose will be shown to you.” I was lowered into the water, “I can provide you with what you need for the next step of your journey, as well as some more suitable clothing for you. As beautiful as you look dressed this way, you need clothes that were made for travelling long distances.”

“I do not know how we will ever be able to thank you for this.” I lowered my head as I couldn’t give a proper bow. I noticed that the water around my feet started glowing faintly.

“You do not need to, I am merely serving as a guild for this small portion of the adventures before you, the rest will be up to you and the others.” I found myself back at the edge of the spring, but I was on the opposite side from where I was earlier, in the early morning sun.

“Jun! Where have you been?” Eiji shouted when he saw me. I just looked at him dazed, I wasn’t sure what had just happened.

“We’ve been looking all night, you disappeared, and we thought someone had taken you.” Daiki came rushing through the water, “We were worried, what happened?”

“There was a huge dragon.” I exclaimed, getting up. It wasn’t until I was fully up that I realized that I wasn’t in any pain. I looked down, and I was wearing a new pair of shoes, proper ones meant for long journeys and hard walking. “Look at that, it wasn’t a dream.”

“Talk straight would you, you’re not making any sense.” Eiji snapped as I just looked at him. “You vanished last night and now you’re acting like this.”

“I was sitting over there,” I pointed to the spot I had been sitting, “and a family of deer came and sat with me. Then they took off back to the forest and out of the water came this giant blue dragon. He said that I was the next Azure Dragon, whatever that means, and he would give us enough supplies to get us to Hima.”

“You forgot that Ryu-ojii said he was going to give you proper travelling clothes.” A voice came from somewhere behind us. I looked around and there was a statue of a dragon standing from where the voice had sounded. “No you didn’t hear things, I’m very much real.”

A tiny dragon, a lighter blue than the giant one, climbed on top of the head of the statue. “That’s the giant dragon you saw?” Daiki laughed, “Jun I think you need your eyes looked at, it’s so tiny.”

“No I swear there really was a huge dragon, he came out of the water you are standing in.” as I moved I felt something swing around my neck. Looking down I noticed that I was now wearing a pendant made of blue jade, but it wasn’t just that my clothes had changed now as well. “See this proves that I am not lying, how could I have done something like this?”

Eiji still seemed like he didn’t believe me, “I don’t think she could lie about this even if she wanted to.” Daisuke chimed in as Daiki got closer to the little dragon, “I also don’t think you should get too close to that thing, whatever it is until we’re not sure it isn’t poisonous.”

“I will have you know that I am not poisonous, I couldn’t be even if I tried.” the little dragon snapped, “Ryu-ojii sent me as a guide and teacher. You are going to need me to show you how your new gifts work. He asked me to watch over you while you travelled, this way you don’t have to be so scared.”

“So the one I met before was Ryu-No-Mikoto?” I came closer to the statue, “And what would your name be, little dragon?”

“I’m Kyo, and just like Ryu-ojii, I’ve been watching you four make your way here.” Kyo explained as he jumped onto my shoulder, he was just long enough to stand on both shoulders. “I know you want to go back for the ones you left behind, but I can tell you now that wouldn’t do you any good.”

“Why?” I felt my blood run cold. Could something have happened to them? I wanted to ask, but I couldn’t make the words leave my mouth.

“They have already been taken back to Hebi, there is one there who is looking for a way to find you.” Kyo looked over to Eiji, “For now going to the capital would be an ill-advised plan.”

“I will not be taking advice from a tiny lizard. We are going to be making a stop in Hima and then continuing on to Hebi, and now we know that at least Takeshi will be there and we have more reason to go.” Eiji was committed to the plan that he and Daisuke had come up with while we had been walking.

“I’m just saying, instead of going straight into the palm of the one who wants to capture all of you, you should continue on Masu. Make your way toward somewhere you know you have allies.” Eiji didn’t look happy when Kyo said that.

“Who is it we can trust in Masu?” I asked, I hadn’t known we had allies outside of my bodyguards. They had been called home before the attack, so I didn’t know if they were alright.

“Don’t worry about it. We will make our way there after we go to Hebi.” Eiji snapped, clearly not wanting to talk about it.

“There’s no talking you out of this clearly bad idea. It’s a good thing that Ryu-ojii made sure to give you his sword as well.” Kyo jumped down from his perch on my shoulder and went to the side of the statue where there were a few bags now. “Here you go, the Dragon’s Fang. The weapon of the Azure Dragon, it now belongs to you.”

Eiji went to go and pick up the katana but wasn’t able to lift it. “You expect someone to wield this? I can’t even pick it up.” I watched as Eiji struggled to get it up off of the ground.

“That’s because it’s not meant for you, the only one who will ever be able to lift it is Jun.” Kyo explained, “As you are the one Ryu-ojii picked, the sword is yours.”

I went to see if what Kyo had said was true, I finally got a good look at it myself. A beautiful deep sea blue sheath and grip, the wrap a lighter lake blue. The kashira was shaped to look like a dragon head, “But I do not have any real training, I cannot be expected to carry something so fine.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure there will be someone you can find to help you.” Kyo sounded confident as I slid the sword onto my belt, “But I guess we shouldn’t linger here any longer, if you want to make good time before it gets dark.”

We started dividing up the supplies between four packs, but when it came to loading up the small tents Ryu-No-Mikoto had given us, Eiji wouldn’t let me carry the one meant for me.

“I don’t want to hear it, you still haven’t gotten used to hard travel yet. I don’t want you pushing yourself just because you think you can take the load.” Eiji made his point clear, and I didn’t press the subject anymore for now.

I could tell he was upset about something, and it was almost like I had done something to set him off again. “Kyo go see if one of the twins needs your help, I have to see what the matter with Eiji is.” I asked, lowering him from my shoulder.

I caught up with Eiji easily enough, “Save whatever it’s you’re going to say for someone else, wouldn’t want the precious chosen one to waste her breath.” I could see it was going to take some work to get through to him.

“I never asked to be chosen, all I want is to go home and for things to mostly go back to how they were.” I insisted, falling in step with him, “It seems that this is the path I must walk to make that dream so, and I can only do that with you by my side, fighting with me.”

“Why would you ever need plain normal me? Not when you have an all-powerful dragon with you.” Eiji snapped, now I had an idea of what had put him into his bad mood.

“I want you because you are my brother, there is no one else I trust more. I would have liked to have had more time to prepare, apparently Otō-san knew that this was going to happen and did nothing.”

“You know nothing about what our father knew.” Eiji came to a stop, he wouldn’t look at me, “Father told me that we were to leave you behind, that you were going to drag all of us into a never ending darkness. He said that all you had ever brought to him was suffering and it would be your fate to be left to the invaders.” he seemed to be holding back his voice, trying not to yell. “So what great destiny is it you have that would cause him to leave you for dead.”

“I would not know, but I have faith that we will find out what this new road has in store for us together.” I boasted, stepping around him to catch his eye, “We are in this mess together, all the way up to our heads. We cannot keep fighting each other over every little thing.” It was starting to look like I was defusing his anger.

“How is it you always know what I need to hear?” Eiji asked as he finally looked at me, “Every time my temper gets the better of me, you always know just how to bring me back.”

“That’s because I have been watching you for as long as I can remember.” I smiled at him, “Now we have to get to Hima, that is our next step.” Eiji nodded as we heard a splash and Daisuke laughing.

“What’s all that about?” Eiji asked as we headed back to the others. We came back to find Daiki completely soaked and Daisuke just standing to the side laughing himself cross eyed.

“The fool thought it would be a good idea to insult Ryu-ojii while at his spring.” Kyo laughed from the safety of the head of the statue, “He said that I was just a tiny lizard that you all should cook up and Ryu-ojii was a made-up story.”

“So how did he get all wet?” I asked as Daiki looked at me as if I had something to do with it.

“A wave came up from behind me, I swear I almost got washed away.” Daiki exclaimed, shaking the water from his black hair. “I say we get out of here before something else happens.”

“Not yet, before we go the two of you apologize for the behaviour you have shown.” I pulled Eiji over to the statue, “Once you do that we can carry on our way.”

“We apologize for our behaviour and hope that you can forgive us.” they both bowed in front of the statue. “And I am sorry for my behaviour toward you as well Kyo, I let my emotions get the better of me.” Eiji apologized as Kyo jumped to my shoulder.

I had a feeling that we were going to have to deal with Eiji’s temper a few more times before we finally made it to Hebi, but I had faith that I could keep the peace as much as possible.

“We should probably get moving, we have lost a lot of daylight already. Did you not say that we could be at town by tonight?” I asked as the others picked up their packs.

“We should make good time now, since you’ve got proper shoes.” Eiji laughed when I made a face at him. “But with all of this, we don’t have to rush anymore, so if we don’t end up making it before night fall, we will be alright.”

“Alright then, but I have one last thing I need to do before we leave.” I turned to the statue, “Thank you for all you have given us, I will try my best to make you proud and not regret picking me as your champion.” I bowed to the statue before joining the others on the path, we still had a lot of walking left to do before we could get a decent rest.

Chapter 3

I couldn’t be sure, but as the day went on I wasn’t as tired as I was the day before. I found myself keeping pace even getting ahead of Eiji, there were times I had to stop and wait for them to catch up.

Kyo had told us it was because I had the full strength of a dragon running through me now, that was where my new found speed was coming from. He also said I would be stronger now as well, but I couldn’t think of a way to test that out just yet.

“Jun, take it easy will you. We still have a long way to go, don’t tire yourself out.” Eiji called as I dashed past him again, “You can test yourself once we stop for the day.” I heard him laugh as my shoulder collided with a tree.

“I don’t think she can hear you right now, Jun seems to be enjoying a little bit of her new found freedom. Imagine what a caged bird feels once it gets the feeling of the wind beneath its wings, she’ll only slow down once we settle down for the night.” Kyo watched from Eiji’s shoulder, it seemed that he had chosen to find a safer ride while I dashed around my brothers.

I let them catch up a little more before I started climbing a sturdy looking tree, “Eiji, look how high I am, I would never have thought that climbing would be so much fun.” I waved from a high branch as they passed underneath me.

“Hey crazy girl, get back down here, if you get hurt we don’t have a magic spring to fix you up again.” Eiji called, he was starting to sound like a nursemaid we had once when she caught the boys climbing a tree.

“Fine you big killjoy.” I sighed slowly starting to lower myself, then I had an idea. “Would you catch me if I fall?” I asked, making him look up.

“I guess, as long as neither one of us gets injured.” Eiji started watching me more carefully now, “What are you planning?”

“Just think fast,” I called, letting myself drop from a low branch. I could have made it on my own, but I wanted to scare Eiji a little.

“What were you thinking, you dumb crazy child?” Eiji caught me before I hit the ground. “Did that great dragon take your common sense when he gave you that seal?” he looked down at me in his arms.

“Oh come on, it was only a small drop. Besides I knew you would catch me.” I laughed trying to get down, but Eiji had a faster way. He dropped me causing me to land backside first onto the hard ground.

“The distance doesn’t matter, you think falling out of trees is so much fun to do it when I’m not around and see who will catch you.” Eiji stepped over me and continued down the path.

“That is no way to treat a lady,” I got to my feet, brushing the dirt from my clothes, “you are supposed to catch me every time.”

“Well that was a sight,” Daiki laughed, coming up next to me. “One minute you’re in the tree the next Eiji is dumping you onto the ground.”

“I wanted to see if he would actually catch me. But I do not think he will be doing that again.” I rubbed my now sore butt, “Come on, he will leave us behind if we do not keep up.” I pulled Daiki along as we followed behind Eiji.

As the sun started to drop behind the trees, Eiji said we would be setting up camp for the night and as it didn’t seem like it was going to rain we wouldn’t need to set up the tents. While Eiji and the twins set up the camp I had Kyo tell me more about what I could do now.

The only thing he seemed to tell me about was this armour that I would be able to summon, “It will give you the appearance of a dragon, I had only seen it a few times.” he ended his explanation.

“So when can I summon it? Would it be possible to do it right now?” I asked, but Kyo only shook his head.

“Sorry, but it will only come when you have a true need for it.” he must have noticed that I was a little disappointed, “Take heart, if you never need to summon it, that means I’m doing my job. I will watch out for you, no matter what.” Kyo promised, draping himself around my neck. I was the closest thing he could give me a hug due to his size.

We sat like that until dinner was ready, “We’ll make it to Hima in the morning, with us being so close to town we don’t need to have a guard tonight.” Eiji seemed to be a little more relaxed as he passed me a bowl of stew, “We’ll need to be as rested as we can get to deal with the merchants tomorrow.”

“Should I do that or would one of you like to do it?” I asked as Daiki looked at me, “What? Did I say something odd?”

“No, but you might want to think about changing the way to talk. We want to try to hide you, so the proper princess act needs to be put to the side.” Daiki lectured me, “You could try talking like we do, one it’s faster, and two you’ll blend in better with us.”

“I do not know if I will be able to do that, Yori all but beat it into me. I will try if it will help keep us hidden.” I promised as Daiki continued to shake his head.

“Right there is a good example, when you say ‘do not’ just say ‘don’t’ it goes faster and it’s not so proper.”

“Alright I think I see what you mean, let me try something. I think we’ll have to go see the horse breeder so we don’t have to walk as much.” I tried and he nodded.

“There you go, one small step. You’ll get better at it while we’re on the road, soon it’ll be the only way you’ll want to talk.” he made a point to use as many shortened words as possible to get his point across.

“I do not think I will ever get the hang of it. I think it is time to get some sleep. Goodnight.” I waved, heading to my bed roll. “I do not think I will be able to do as they ask, but I will try my best.” I whispered to Kyo as I pulled the blanket over us.

“Pleasant dreams Jun, everything will work itself out, try not to worry too much.” Kyo muttered as he slipped from my neck and curled into a ball by my head.

I found myself being shaken awake the next morning, “Come on princess, time to get going. Even your little lizard is ready to go.” Daiki pointed out as he shook me some more.

“I don’t like you, go away.” I grumbled as I rolled away from him, pulling my blanket over my head. “It’s too early for this. Leave me alone.”

“Rise and shine or get left behind.” I could hear water sloshing around close by. “If you don’t want a nasty surprise, I would get moving if I were you.”

“Leave her.” Eiji called back, “If she wants to waste all her energy climbing trees and fooling around, then she will learn fast enough that we won’t be waiting around all day for her to get going.”

I used some colourful words to tell him what I thought, and just as I went to sit up Daiki let out a shocked yelp. Looking over I saw Daiki standing over me with an empty bucket and was completely drenched.

“Why did you soak yourself if you wanted me to get up?” I asked as he shot me a dirty look, “What did I do?”

“I went to dump the water on you and it turned back on me.” he shook his head making small drops of water fly everywhere. “Care to explain why that is.”

“Do not look at me, I would not know anything about it.” I defended myself as Kyo came scampering over, the other two not far behind him.

“Is it possible for you to go more than a couple waking hours without getting soaked?” Eiji laughed as Daiki gave him a dirty look, “But at least you managed to get the princess up, so can we get going now?”

“Oh, I think I know what happened.” Kyo climbed up my arm. “I may have forgotten to mention you now have control over water, and it will do as you will it.” he explained sitting on my shoulder, “Since you didn’t want to wake up just yet, the water turned on Daiki trying to make him back off.”

“How could you forget something like that?” Daiki demanded, “Something that important shouldn’t just slip your mind.” he reached into his pocket and started throwing acorns at Kyo.

“It was a little bit of a long day yesterday, so I may have forgotten that piece of information. I’ll take some time today and try to remember anything else I could have forgotten.” Kyo explained, dodging each of the acorns.

“Will you stop throwing those, you’ll hit me instead.” I snipped, catching two acorns before they hit me in the face, “I’m sure Kyo did not mean to forget, and now we know that I have a new skill.” I packed up my belongings, then joined Eiji and Daisuke on the thin path they were on.

“You drench me, the least you can do is help me dry off.” Daiki shouted as we left him behind.

“I am not sure how it all works, I’ll help you later once I have a better understanding of what I can do.” I called back to him. I laughed as a long string of cursing followed us along with the sounds of wet footsteps.

“You know it would take just a little focus and you can get the water out of his clothes.” Kyo whispered in my ear as we walked.

“I know, but I want him to suffer just a little. I’m getting sick of waking up being shaken like a bell.” I heard Eiji snicker a little.

“Help him, better to have him dry and annoyed than wet and miserable.” Eiji told me with a wicked smile. I turned, focusing on the water on Daiki’s clothes. I may have been trying a little too hard because the next thing I knew was his clothes went flying in the opposite direction.

“I am so sorry, but you did have fair warning that I wasn’t sure how to control these new powers.” I laughed as I spun back around with my eyes covered, “But at least I helped.”

“We can work on your control later.” Kyo laughed in my ear as we watched Daiki stomp past us once he got dressed again.

“Thanks for nothing.” he grumbled, I was going to say that he was dry now but there was still a strip of wet fabric going down his back.

“Just be grateful that this didn’t happen while we were in town, it could have gone very bad for everyone.” Eiji laughed, looking back over his shoulder at us. We had reached the tree line just outside Hima and we still didn’t have a plan yet.

We came up to the small trade town, it was mostly a stop for merchants, not even enough of a population to merit a spot on a map, but at least it had a few permanent residents for us to trade with. “We’re here, now what’s our plan?” Daisuke asked as we gathered around Eiji.

It had been a few days since we had been anywhere near civilization and we had no idea what had become of our home, so we were going to need to collect as much information we could while getting enough supplies to get us to Hebi.

Eiji thought for a moment, “First we need to hide Kyo, I’m pretty sure people will notice a tiny blue dragon walking around.” Kyo coiled around my arm and we all looked at him. “Anything you could do about that?”

“I think so, and I may be able to hide Jun’s face as well.” He climbed up my arm and wrapped himself around my neck, then I could feel my face warm and start to tingle.

“Now that wasn’t something I expected.” Daisuke observed, lifting my chin to get a better look. “He became a tattoo, and he even managed to change your facial features a little.”

It was strange to be examined so closely, “I wouldn’t mind seeing for myself.” even my voice had changed a little.

“Even your voice is a little deeper, more masculine. Kyo doesn’t go halfway.” Daiki nodded his approval, “You are one amazing little dragon.”

Even Eiji was impressed by Kyo’s disguise. “Well that takes care of the other problem we had.” he turned back to the village, “I want you three to stay close and let me do the talking.” he looked at Daiki, who looked the other way. “Last time I took you to the market in Kashi I ended up paying twice the amount because of your big mouth.”

“In my defence I didn’t know that those were his daughters.” he flashed us one of his winning grins, “You know how I get sometimes, I couldn't keep my opinion to myself.”

“Of course you would.” I sighed, “One of these days you are going to get yourself into trouble and we’re not going to be there to help you out.” I scolded him, but it just didn’t sound right with the voice Kyo gave me.

“I only spoke the truth and unfortunately this time it was an ugly one.” he laughed as I punched him in the arm.

“That’s just fine, but you might want to keep it to yourself. One day being too honest will either get you killed or with a bride you don’t want.” Daisuke patted his twin’s shoulder, “Let’s get going before it gets any later.”

Eiji turned around before Daisuke could go any farther, “I have one last rule, no names.” I could see he was serious, “If we are recognized for some reason we can’t be sure that we’ll be safe here, so to be on the safe side I want you to use false names.”

“How are we going to remember new names?” Daiki asked. “I hope you don’t expect me to not slip up.”

“I expect you to want to keep Jun safe, and if that means learning a new name then I would hope that wouldn’t be a problem.” Eiji wasn’t going to budge on this, “For the time Jun, you’ll be Jiro. I’ll be Kazuki and you two will be Raiden and Ryota, I don’t really care which one you pick but let me know when you decide.”

“I like Raiden.” Daiki claimed the name for himself, “That is if you don’t mind.” He looked over to Daisuke, who just shrugged, not really caring either way.

“Good, now we can go get our supplies.” Eiji spun and led the way to the market.

Since I hadn’t been allowed to get out often, the trip through the market was an overwhelming experience making my way along the dusty street. There were so many people talking and shouting almost everywhere, each voice competing with each other trying to get their business done at the same time. The smiths fixing travellers transports and showing horses added to the din. So many smells familiar but still new smells assaulted me from the street vendors and the few permanent shops.

The only time I had seen this many people at one time was whenever we held a banquet but even then the staff all hurried around with little to no sound. It was starting to become too much all at once.

I moved closer to Eiji and tugged on the back of his sleeve, letting him know I needed to go somewhere less chaotic. “Take her to the inn, we’ll be staying there for the night. We’ll meet you there once we’re done.” he passed me off to Daiki as we moved through the market. “Don’t get separated, we can’t afford to lose the day searching for her.”

“Fine, but don’t expect me to babysit all day.” he didn’t seem pleased that he was going to be watching me. “Come on.” he pulled me along behind him.

“I am sorry about this, it’s all just so much all at once.” I knew I was acting childish, but it was a scary experience for me. “It’s the first time I’ve been in a town market without being whisked through in a carriage, it’s a lot to take in all at once.”

He had a guilty look now, I guess he was feeling a little bad for me now. “It’s fine, but next time have Kyo make you a little more childish that way it won’t look so weird.” he took my hand and we made our way to the inn.

The inn was small, but that didn’t seem to deter townsfolk from gathering, happily chatting and laughing among themselves. We managed to rent a single room that was large enough to fit all four of us for the night. Daiki stayed down in the crowded dining area while I went up to the room to relax a little, I had my fill of noisy busy areas for the day and wanted nothing more than some quiet time alone.

After a short while I began to get restless, the noise leaking in from outside easing the panic I felt earlier. While the packed market was a lot to take in I realised there was no point in hiding myself away. I was free now and I should experience everything I could. “Kyo, I am going out to look around the market. I will pick up Daiki on my way past, but I want to see it for myself and not with a borrowed face.” I said as I felt him pull away from my skin.

“I can’t let you do that, if someone is watching the area you could be found out.” he looked completely serious, “Daiki had already warned me that if something should happen to you that I would be skinned alive and turned into a very dashing belt.”

“Then what am I to do with my time, it is getting boring just sitting around waiting for Eiji and Daisuke to come back.” I really didn’t want to spend the night just waiting around for them to get back.

“Why not use the water in that jug over there and get a little practice in, you’ve already said you want to get a better handle on what you can do.” Kyo yawned, stretching out on the table in front of me. “You have to learn to walk before you can run, this is no different.”

“Practicing sounds like a better idea than getting lost to me.” Eiji startled me from the door, I hadn’t heard him come in. “It wouldn’t kill you to listen to us once in a while. You know we have to be cautious, and sometimes that means hiding out and doing what you are told.”

I rolled my eyes at him, “You are starting to sound like everyone else, trying to plan out my every move from the moment the sun’s up until it is time to turn in for the night.” I knew that his life hadn’t been easy either, but it hadn’t been as controlled as mine had been.

“I may not have had as many rules as you, but try having to learn every aspect of our territory, while keeping up with your combat while trying to keep up with your older brother.” He grumbled, shutting the door behind him as he came in.

“Poor you, being a contender for heir must have been such a chore.” I spat at him, “It must have been horrible for you.”

Eiji was getting annoyed with my attitude. “It was often a chore, and difficult. But it was what I wanted so I make no excuses.” He shot back. "How about being a contender with someone who was not even your blood brother."

I gave him a confused look, “How is that possible, the only ones were you and Toro.” I sat down on one of the beds, “You can’t mean that…” I couldn’t believe what he was saying, I wasn’t sure if I could even get the words out.

“I am the blooded Matsu heir,” he pulled a chair closer so he could look me in the eye, “but Toro showed such great promise as a warrior and a leader that father was willing to overlook the fact that I am his only child.”

“Excuse me?” I had to make sure that I understood what he was telling me. “What do you mean by ‘only child’?” I must have been in some kind of shock and wasn’t fully grasping what he was saying.

“I mean just that, I am the only child of Akio and Akemi.” I could see it in his eyes that he wasn’t lying or trying to be cruel. “I promise that I will tell you and the twins more at a better time, but right now we need to focus on making it to Hebi to get answers on why our home was attacked.”

I didn’t want to believe him, but he was right about needing to focus. “You better have some kind of proof to back up your claims.” I threatened. “After we speak to the emperor you better tell us everything.”

Eiji gave me a small half smile, “And I know you won’t let me forget.” He patted my knee as he got up, “Why don’t I go get you something to eat, you must be hungry.” I didn’t really feel like eating but I could see he wanted to give me a little space to process the new information he had dropped on me.

I must have been lost in my thoughts because the next thing I knew was Eiji came back in with the twins not too far behind him. “They didn’t have much available but I thought you’d like some of the soup they had.” Eiji said handing me the bowl like nothing had happened before he left.

“Thanks.” I was still a little stunned, “They cause any trouble while you were here with me?” I noticed that Daiki was being abnormally quiet.

Eiji looked over at Daiki who had claimed one of the far beds, “Him? He’ll be fine once he gets a little sleep. Seems he tried to get the whole dining room to join him in a song.”

“Of course he would, if you hadn’t stopped him he probably would have too.” I smiled at the thought. “I know you already said you’d tell us everything you know later, but how do you think they’ll handle the news.” I asked Eiji quietly.

“Right now, not well.” Eiji whispered back. “For now please don’t say anything.”

I nodded while picking at my food. “I won’t, we’re all we have. I wouldn't want to lose any of you right now.” I could feel him watching me stirring the soup.

“Are you alright?” Eiji asked, coming to sit next to me. “I know it’s a lot for me to ask of you to keep this to yourself, but it’s for the best.”

I looked over to the twins, “I am all alone, I see them together and it only reminds me that I have no one else.” I felt Kyo climb up next to me, “I get an empty ache thinking that there’s no real place for me to go once we’re out of danger.”

Eiji wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close, “You’ll always have a place with me, no matter what.” he tried to make me feel better, “And we’ll always be family, no matter what anyone else says.”

“And you have me,” Kyo climbed up into my lap, “So you’ll never really be alone.” They were making me feel a little better.

“Now eat up and try and get some sleep.” he said claiming the bed closest to the door, “We leave first thing in the morning.”

I finished the soup in a few quick gulps, “Thank you, the pair of you. It’s nice to know I am not alone.” I whispered, making myself comfortable.

Chapter 4

I was having such a strange dream, I found myself standing outside in the hall in front of our room in the inn. Before I could move around I heard heavy footsteps running past me and the sounds of swords clashing, but there was no one there. I had a very uneasy feeling about everything, something didn’t feel right about what I was seeing.

The next thing I knew I was sitting straight up in bed with this feeling of dread washing over me. Not good, we need to leave now. Was all I could think as I double checked my pack to make sure it was ready to go before I went to wake Eiji.

“Eiji, get up. We need to leave.” I shook him but he wouldn’t wake, “Eiji we are in danger we need to go.”

I kicked the bed and he jolted awake. “What’s going on now?” he looked around then laid back down, “It’s not even morning yet, go back to sleep.” I wasn’t going to let him go back to sleep, I grabbed him and pulled him out of the bed which he was not happy about.

“I said we need to go, something bad is going to happen, I can feel it.” I explained as I shook the twins awake. “Alright you two, rise and shine we need to get moving.” They greeted me in a similar manner as Eiji, “I know the sun isn’t up yet, but need to get moving.” I needed them to understand that something was coming our way.

When they didn’t move I pulled them from their beds just as I did with Eiji, “Why are you going crazy, we’re safe enough here.” Daiki complained as he rubbed his head, “How could possibly know something is going to happen?”

The sound of heavy footsteps proved me right enough. They all instantly got to their feet and grabbed their packs. "Our weapons are downstairs, " Eiji growled, making for the door.

As soon as he touched it the door burst in sending him to the ground. The rest of us snapped around as five dark clad warriors rushed in. One stopping with his sword to Eiji’s throat.

I felt a tingling throughout my body. “Come peacefully and the others might live.” The one over Eiji ordered.

I felt Kyo scuttle up my back and whisper. “I can bring your weapons up. Let go and call your armour.”

I didn’t fight to power coursing through me. “Let go of my brother or face the wrath of the eastern dragon.” I shouted back, as I was engulfed in a brilliant blue light.

“Stick your left hand out to the side.” Kyo whispered before the light faded. “And trust your instincts.”

Our attackers were stunned for a moment as I stood as defiantly as I could and reached out my hand. The wooden floor splintered as my hand was wrapped in a torrent of water and I felt my sword in my palm. Gripping it Kyo let the water subside revealing the magically ‘summoned’ weapon, matching my azure dragon scaled armour.

I felt words eager to flow out so I let them, trusting that Kyo knew what he was talking about. “Raging rivers wash my enemy from my sight.” A violent stream erupted from my hand and I swept it across the room knocking two of the assailants through a wall. The one over Eiji back through the door and over the railing, and the last two by the twins against the wall.

Eiji rolled to his feet and picked up his sword that Kyo brought up with mine. “Window now,” he ordered, “there are more down stairs.”

The twins were out the window in a heartbeat, Eiji motioned for me to go next, while he made sure no more were coming up. Apparently I was just covered in armour, just as I reached the opening some of my loose hair from under my helmet got a violent pull. A look back showed me the last one I hit holding his shortsword ready to drive it into my back. Being the furthest away he mustn’t have been hit as hard.

I grabbed my weapon to drive him off but Eiji was there first. He ripped his weapon free, faster than I thought possible and sliced through the man’s weapon arm, into the hand holding my hair, and through a large portion of my hair.

A second swing and he was put down for good. “Go!” Eiji urged and we nearly flew out the window down the short wooden overhang and to the ground where our brothers were impatiently waiting at the back of the building. “Straight out of town. There’s bound to be more.” We took off in a straight line, in between a few houses.

After a few alleyways Eiji stopped for a second, cleaned off his blade with a rag and tossed it down a different alley and we raced away. Hoping his little trick would buy us a little time.

“Alright so there’s a few things you need to explain.” Daiki demanded once we found a place to rest. “How was it you knew that they were coming, what is with the armour and what happened to your hair?” he pelted me with questions.

Thankfully Kyo was still riding my shoulder. “I believe I told you she has control over water. Although I never thought she could pull so much of it out of the air so soon. And I told you she was given armour for when she needs it.” He explained again. He pressed the top of his head to my cheek, “Relax and the armour will fade.”

I was still a little rattled from the whole experience but I closed my eyes and calmed my racing heart. I could feel the comfortable weight lift and when I opened my eyes again it was gone. “I can’t explain how I knew they were coming, I just knew that something bad was about to happen if we stayed any longer.” I reached up and touched the shorter section of my hair, “And as for my hair, Eiji made a split decision. It was save me or the hair and I guess he likes having me around a lot more than my hair.” I tried making a joke to make it seem like it wasn’t a big deal.

“We’re going to have to find someone who can fix it up properly later, but for now let me see what I can do.” Daisuke offered as he rummaged through one of the packs and produced a small knife. “It’ll be better than walking around with your hair a complete mess.” he came up behind me and slowly evened out my hair to the best of his abilities.

“Why don’t we make camp here and try to get a little more sleep, Jun looks like she’s about to pass out anyways.” Eiji noticed I was starting to sway a little.

I tried to wave him off, “I’ll be fine to keep going, we shouldn’t stay this close to town if they are still looking for us.” I tried to get up once Daisuke was finished but I stumbled a little when I tried to walk a few steps.

“Clearly you overdid it, rest now and we can continue on once you’ve recovered enough.” Eiji made his point and handed me a blanket, “We won’t break out the tents just in case we have to run again, but we should be safe enough here as it stands.”

I had no choice but to agree with him, I was starting to feel like I was going to pass out on my feet, “Fine but only for a little while, we shouldn’t stay in one place too long. They found us once they can do it again.” I took the blanket and found a place to get comfortable. I’m going to need a bath as soon as I can, I’m covered in loose hair. That was the last thing I thought before drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

“How much longer is she going to sleep?” I heard whispered voices around me, “If this keeps up any longer we’re going to have to find a doctor to make sure nothing is wrong.”

“Nothing is wrong, Jun just used too much power all at once and it’s taking longer than expected for her to recover it.” it was Kyo this time, he must have been next to my head since I could hear him so clearly.

I tried to sit up, but I was so stiff that it was impossible, “Can I get a hand over here?” I asked, getting their attention. I couldn’t open my eyes yet, but I hoped that once I was sitting up that I would start being able to work out some of the stiffness.

“Jun.” Eiji yelped as he came closer, “You finally woke up.” I felt him slide an arm under my shoulder and helped me sit up. “Do you know how long you’ve been asleep?”

I tested my arms slowly, still not ready to open my eyes to the bright light of the world just yet. “A day at the most.” I guessed, but from the sound he made I had a feeling I was completely wrong.

“Try four, we had to move once which wasn’t easy since none of us couldn’t really lift your sword.” it was at that point I snapped my eyes open, I needed to see for myself that he wasn’t lying to me.

And sure enough I was in one of the tents Ryu had given us, “What happened?” I asked while I was still taking everything in.

“After you fell asleep some more of them got close to finding us, Kyo managed to chase them off but we knew they would be back. So we took turns carrying you and practically dragging your sword.” Eiji explained as much as he could. “Kyo said you might recover faster if we found somewhere close to a water source, that was two days ago.”

I could hear the twins pacing around waiting to be invited in, “I’ll let them know you’re fine.” Eiji said getting up, “We’ve all been worried for you.”

No sooner than he left, Daiki launched himself at me. “You’re alright.” I could see he was about to laugh and cry at the same time. “You gave us a good scare this time.” he hugged me tight.

I patted his back the best I could, “I’m sorry, I just used too much power in that last fight but I’m alright now.”

He still held me tight, maybe a little afraid that something would happen to me if he let me go. “Just try to be more careful in the future, I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“I won’t let anything happen, I promise you.” I comforted him, “But you need to let me go before you crush me.”

“Right, sorry.” he backed off a little, “Why don’t you go wash up a little, I bet you're still covered in stay hairs.”

He was right, if I had been out for four days I would still have some of the cut hair stuck to me. “It’s a good thing we’re close to the water then. I’ll be fine on my own but if you guys could have something ready to eat when I get back that would be great.” I grabbed a spare set of clothes and a towel before I left the tent.

I wanted to have some time alone to go over what had happened. “I’ll stay in the tree line, that way if something happens I can get help for you.” Kyo offered trailing along behind me. “I’ll make sure no one tries to sneak up on you.”

“Thanks, I’m sure you’re just saying that because Eiji threatened to turn you into a snack.” I could tell that was what happened. “You can go back if you really want, I can handle myself just fine.”

“No, I think it’ll be safer if I stay with you, I’m not sure what they would do to me while you're gone.” Kyo stayed close to me as we made our way to the small river that was being fed by a waterfall.

“Alright, you get comfortable and I’ll let you know when we’re heading back.” I left him and went to the edge of the river. It was the perfect place to work out the stiffness from sleeping on the ground for days on end.

I quickly got out of my clothes and rinsed as much of the hair from them as I could, then I found a sunny spot to let them dry while I went and sat by the waterfall. So much has changed in a short time, I wonder if we could ever go back to being like we were. I thought letting the water run over me, watching the loose strands of copper flow down the river.

It wasn't long before I was completely relaxed and started lightly humming to myself, I had lost track of how long I had been in the water but when I heard something moving around in the underbrush. I snapped to attention, “Kyo is that you?” I knew it was stupid to call out like that, “You shouldn’t try to scare me like that.” I slowly moved behind the waterfall for more cover.

Just as I got behind the water someone came out of the tree line, a tall, broad warrior dressed in a red kimono. Shit, this isn’t good. I scolded myself, but with all the water around I wasn’t completely defenceless, I just hoped that Kyo had seen the stranger too and went for help.

He carefully looked around searching for something. “You have been on the road too long, you are starting to hear things.” he muttered to himself, making for the water’s edge. “I think it is about time to get back into a town and find a little work.”

He adjusted his swords, while I didn’t know much about a warrior’s trade I knew the katana and wakizashi are supposed to be worn on the same side, his were on either hip. “And time to stop talking to yourself, you will scare away the clients.” He busied himself refilling his water skin.

Alright so far, I’m still unnoticed. I tried to quietly let out the breath I’d been holding, But I still have the problem of getting out of here. I looked around and realized that on a large stone across from the stranger was the clothes I had washed out. Shit, shit, shit. What am I going to do now? I was starting to panic a little.

The clothes were close enough to the water where I could try and grab them with a tendril of water, but I needed to do it unseen. It would be a wonderful opportunity for me to see how far I could push myself before I started to get tired, but if I messed up then I was going to have to make a mad dash and keep running until I made it back to camp.

Alright calm down and focus. First to distract him. I focused on the water right in front of him and made it jet up into his face. Once I was sure he was good and distracted I used water to gather up my clothes and brought them to me.

I was feeling quite proud of myself that I had managed to pull it off without being caught. Although now he was on alert for what attacked him, sword drawn. Well that won’t work again, just going to have to hold tight and hope backup comes soon. I dressed and waited as quietly as I could.

I took this time to study the stranger, he was dressed in fine red clothes but I had met with just about every young nobleman father could find and he wasn’t one of them. There weren't any clan sigils that I could make out from where I was so there was no way of knowing without talking to him. Despite his soaking wet clothes and now soggy wet black hair, he was handsome. Clearly a warrior, muscled like Eiji or Toro, but well defined features.

He started to relax his guard a little when something caught our attention, and like lightning he snapped into a defensive pose as my brothers came through the trees.

The twins stepped back while Eiji grabbed his sword. The stranger relaxed again keeping his sword to his side. “Sorry about turning on you all like that.” He apologized to my brothers, while I slipped out the other side. “I was attacked by the river here and am a little on edge.” I used their appearance as an opening to get out from behind the waterfall and I hid in the tree line to watch them for a little while longer.

While that would have sounded strange to anyone else, they knew that I wasn’t too far away. “It seems the spirit of one of the missing Matsus doesn’t like you very much.” Eiji offered, while I quickly dried off. “We heard they had been attacked recently and the princess along with at least four of the young lords haven’t been seen in over a week.” I couldn’t tell what Eiji was up to, but it seemed odd to me that he was giving up so much information like that.

“At least I know I have not done anything to anger Ryo-No-Mikoto.” he sheathed his sword. “Apologies again, I am ronin Masazumi.” He gave Eiji a low bow.

Eiji returned his bow, “We are Tsukino Kazuki, Raiden and Ryota.” he gestured to the twins when he introduced them, “and there is a fourth with us, but he seems to have wandered off on his own. You wouldn’t have happened to see him?”

He took a second and thought. “I thought I heard someone near here. But there was no one here when I arrived.”

Daiki came around Eiji a little, “You see the poor thing was cursed with an abnormally pretty face that our parents wouldn’t let him out a lot in fear that others would either be cruel to him or try to steal him away.” Daiki was laying things on a little too thick for my liking, but he continued on. “And now that we’re on our way to meet up with some family in Hebi he has been wandering off on his own a lot and this time we fear we really have lost him.”

“It was only a moment ago I heard the voice. Your missing,” it was clear to me that he wasn’t buying Daiki’s story, “brother may be around here somewhere.” he offered.

I used their conversation to get to the small path and walked backwards a little bit, “Alright so if the waterfall is to my right, then I should be close to finding my way back.” I hoped that Masazumi wouldn’t recognize the clothes I was wearing.

“Jiro.” I jumped when Eiji snapped at me, “What was the one thing we have been telling you this entire time?” I spun to look at him and I tried to look as guilty as possible.

“I’m sorry oniisan, but when Raiden came back saying there was a waterfall nearby I wanted to see it for myself.” I hoped I was actually believable, “I didn’t mean to cause any trouble.”

“We’re never going to make it if you keep this up.” Eiji scolded me, “Mother entrusted me to look after you and make sure you make it in one piece. I will tie you to me if that's what it takes.” he grabbed my arm a little too roughly and pulled me long behind him.

“Sorry you had to see that.” Daisuke apologized as he caught up with us, “Kazuki can be a little too harsh at times.”

“Maybe I can be of some assistance then.” Masazumi suggested, grabbing our attention. “Escorting and protection are my specialties. An extra pair of eyes could not hurt, and I can promise all four of you will arrive safely at Hebi.”

“We’ll be fine, I won’t pay someone to do something I can do myself.” Eiji snapped, but I made him stop before he could go any farther. “We don’t need the extra body.” he told me in a tone that was warning me not to protest.

“Clearly you do not need any help.” Masazumi mocked, with more than a little sarcasm. “A question before you go, how many times has master Jiro either gone missing or gotten into trouble?”

“More times than we can keep track of.” Daiki offered up, earning him a dirty look from Eiji. “What, it’s the truth. And if you were to set a price?” I silently thanked Daiki for asking, lately I had begun to trust my instincts more and there was something important about this man and I wanted to know what it was. “As you can see we aren’t travelling with much and we wouldn’t want to cheat you out of anything.”

“We’re not even going to entertain the idea.” Eiji could see he was fighting a losing battle. “We’ve been fine on our own until now, and we’ll be fine until we get to the rest of the family.” but he was trying his best to convince us that it was a bad idea to bring him with us.

Masazumi answered as if Eiji hadn’t said a word. “I normally charge by the number of people up front and the number of days it takes on arrival, but as I have all that information. one hundred, regardless of any delays.” He gave a charming smile that would even make Daiki proud. “That is much lower than I normally charge for so many people.”

Eiji choked at the amount, “That is outrageous, not even the Mochizuki charge that. It sounds like you’re trying to rob us blind.” He was clearly not going to be having any of what was going on.

The newcomer just shrugged, “Where do you think I got the idea? However I believe you know they will not offer to defend men.” He looked me over quickly, “Although Jiro-san here might be able to fool even Lord Omasu.”

Daiki let out a short nervous laugh, “That’s a good one, but you’re not the first to make it.” he turned his attention to Eiji, “Come on Kazuki, it wouldn’t hurt to have him along. We’ll be able to get the money back once we get to Hebi.”

Eiji leaned in closer to me, “Your new pet is a secret, remember. And on top of that we’re being hunted, how do you know we can trust him?” he whispered.

“I just do, just like when I knew we were about to be attacked.” I whispered back, pulling my arm from his hand. “Please trust me about him.”

“Fine, but only to the city gates.” Eiji gave into us, “If I get the feeling that you can’t be trusted, I will personally chase you off.”

“Not like you could.” He boasted, annoying Eiji even more. “I know when I am about to be taken for a fool.” he turned to leave.

“Please don’t go,” I stopped him. “My brother is just extra paranoid since we heard about what had happened to Jun-hime and the others. We just left for Hebi and were going to visit the Matsu family, if we had left any sooner then we would have been there during the attack.” it was my turn to spin a tale, “I’m sure there has to be some kind of way we can smooth things over.”

He considered a moment. “I can understand your brother's position.” he turned back to Eiji, a playful smile on his face. “Are you a gambling man Kazuki-san?”

“I prefer not to waste my money on games of chance.” Eiji stepped around me, “But I should have known a vagabond like you would.” I couldn’t believe that Eiji was picking a fight with someone who was just trying to help.

“One does what is necessary to survive. But I was thinking something that requires more skill.” he had Eiji’s attention. “A dual, no contact, clear winner decided by Ryota-san. You win, I escort you all free of charge. I win, I get half now, half when we get to Hebi.”

“I’d take that offer.” Daiki pointed out, “We could just end up with a free bodyguard.” I knew he was trying to encourage Eiji into taking the wager.

Eiji looked over his shoulder at me, I nodded. “Alright then, but only because my siblings seem fascinated by you.”

They stepped near the river and drew their katanas. “Are you sure you would rather not just pay me?” Masazumi mocked, agitating Eiji further. “Very well then.” He became deadly serious, and drew his wakizashi with his left hand, positioning his weapons like a crab claw. “Ryota-san, if you would be so kind.”

Daisuke nodded, “If you think this is the only way to satisfy their curiosity.” He looked at each of them, “Kazuki, ready?” Eiji nodded, then he looked to Masazumi. “Masazumi, ready?” and when he nodded, Daisuke took a step back and called out. “Begin.”

Eiji charged, I could see it all on his face; the frustration from the long travelling, fighting with his remaining family, and the fact that we haven't been able to do much besides run and hide, all coming to the surface. He thrust forward, I was beginning to worry that Eiji might do some real damage.

With a quick shift of his wrists Masazumi crossed his blades, putting Eiji's in between them. Masazumi stepped back with his right foot, and guided the blade harmlessly away from himself. Keeping their katanas locked, he quickly leaned in with his wakizashi and put it to Eiji'’s throat. No direct contact.

"Winner, Masazumi." Daisuke declared. Eiji was clearly unhappy with how things turned out.

"Just remember I will be watching you." Eiji spat as Masazumi moved his weapons. "Raiden, gather the money we have. It should be enough."

Daiki snapped into action getting the coin purses from the others, “Not a word any of you.” Eiji muttered to me as he stormed past.

“Ryota, can you go with him?” I asked Daisuke as the twins came over to me. He nodded and jogged after Eiji. “I am really sorry about what happened, he’s normally not like that. I think everything that has happened lately has made him wound tighter than usual.” I apologized to Masazumi for Eiji’s behaviour.

“It is fine, I deal with much worse regularly.” he said with a cheerful smile. “Please lead me back to your camp and I can get to work.”

“That was something else,” Daiki sounded really excited. “Where did you learn to fight like that?” I was thankful for his distracting Masazumi, it gave me a chance to get Kyo out of sight.

“I spent a lot of time in the mountains with the Mochizuki Sun Guardians. I adopted their fighting style with a few modifications.” He patted his shortsword.

“You must be somebody pretty important for them to let you learn from them.” Daiki actually sounded impressed. “We had some stay with us when we were younger…” I stepped on his foot to shut him up. If he kept talking there was a good chance that he would give us away.

“I’m sorry Raiden, I didn’t see your foot there.” I shot him a warning look to keep him from saying anything else. “Maybe you should pay more attention to where you’re going instead of running your mouth.”

Masazumi ignored the sibling spat. “I am nothing special. Just a wanderer that is good at making friends and collecting what is owed.”

“Come on you three, get something to eat before we get moving again. We have a lot of time to make up for.” Eiji shouted once we came into view of the camp. He and Daisuke had already started to break down the tents. He looked over to me, “I want you to double check your belongings, I’m not turning around if you forget anything again.”

I guessed Kyo had gathered the rest of my things while everyone was distracted, I don’t know how he did but he was an awesome little dragon. I’m going to find a treat he likes to thank him for that. I thought as I felt a warm tingle around my throat meaning he knew what I was planning.

“Sure thing, I’m sure everything is there.” I happily took the warm bowl of soup from him, I hadn’t realized just how hungry I was after not eating for four days. I found a log close to the fire pit to sit on while I ate.

“Just how many more days are we from Hebi?” Daiki asked as he dropped down next to me.

Daisuke thought quickly, “If we move at a good pace, a week at most.” he nodded to himself, “Since we’re taking the back roads it will take about that, but that is if we don’t run into any more issues.” I knew that last comment was directed toward me.

“I promise to stay out of trouble.” I swore to him, “I’ll do my best not to slow us down any more than I have been.”

Daiki nudged me with his shoulder, “Don’t feel bad, you’ve done your best with what you’ve been given.” he did make me feel better. “But let’s try to stay on Kazuki’s good side for a while, wouldn’t want him to leave us somewhere on our own, but then again he might not do that because he’s afraid of what we’ll get into unsupervised.” he got a small laugh out of me.

Eiji looked over at us, an unamused look on his face. “Maybe I should lose you two, it would make my life easier. Now if you’re finished eating, get over here and help.”

I finished my soup and quickly checked my pack to make sure nothing was going to be left behind, once I repacked my bag I moved on to breaking down the tent.

It was obvious that I had no clue what I was doing when Daiki and Daisuke came over to help me with the damned thing. "I'm sorry guys, I know I'm still completely useless." I apologize to them once we were finished.

"Don't sweat it, we knew that it was going to be a process, getting you used to being outside on our own." Daiki was being too understanding, "But next time you owe me."

“Not one for ruffling it?” Masazumi smiled from a nearby tree. “I am thinking I should have asked for more money.”

“Excuse me for not getting out often.” I was getting a little annoyed with everyone picking on me. “Not everyone is allowed to be as free and wild as you are.” I shot at him. It was going to be a long enough day, I wasn’t going to put up with being made fun of.

He put up his hands in mock surrender. “I am just saying on the road everyone needs to pull their own weight.”

“Don’t worry about me not doing my share, I’m tougher than I look.” I went up to him, but it was a little hard to be taken seriously when I only came up to his chest.

“As the only other one of the four of you with a weapon I truly hope so.” he never lost that cocky smile, “I just hope when it comes time to use it you can and will.” he just walked away to talk to Eiji.

“Yeah well I’ll show you.” I muttered, going back to the twins. “Why did we ask Eiji to let him come with us again?”

“You’re just bent out of shape because he clearly knows you have zero idea what you’re doing and you’re all talk.” Daiki laughed as I picked up my pack, “You were the one that wanted him along, now you’re the one who’s going to deal with the consequences.”

“I hate you too.” I walked past him and went over to Eiji, “If you two are done chatting, we’re ready to go.”

Masazimu just bowed to me, “After you.”

Chapter 5

We walked for most of the day, Eiji kept up a rushed march that I swear he using to try to kill us. “Kazuki, can we please take a break? You know that I’m not used to going for long distances.” I whined a little, we hadn’t even stopped to have a break when we ate lunch. If it wasn’t for my new stamina I would have dropped from exhaustion a long time ago.

“Not yet.” Eiji still seemed to be irritated with me, “We lost too much time dealing with you, so no we are not taking a break.”

“We are losing the light,” Masazumi pointed out, “let us give the little prince a rest, or we are going to lose time tomorrow.”

“Listen here you, I will not be putting up with this.” I turned on him, I wasn’t going to let him think he’s better than me. “You will not be talking to me that way, you have no clue who I am and the respect that I deserve.” I dug my finger into his chest.

“And what respect would that be.” He said a little sternly, “You four are minor nobles at best, maybe retainers.” he moved my hand away, “You should be careful how you talk to others, even a lowly ronin.”

I was gearing up to give him a piece of my mind when Daiki grabbed my arm and pulled me away. “Not worth it.” he whispered to me, “The more frustrated you get, the more the water around you reacts. We need to keep that a secret for now.”

I shook him off of me, “I don’t really care, I’m not going to let some… some…” I was so angry that I couldn’t think of what I wanted to call Masazumi, so I just pointed at him. “Him, push me around or talk down to me.”

“You are aware he is almost a foot taller than us, how else is he going to talk to you.” Daiki quipped as I punched him as hard as I could in the arm. “I’m just saying that you need to relax a little. Why don’t you help Kazuki start setting up a camp, that should keep you out of trouble.”

I muttered a string of colourful language as I went to catch up to Eiji, “I was told to come help you.” I grumbled, dropping my pack next to him. “Raiden thought it would be a good thing for me to do right now.”

“Starting to regret letting him come along?” Eiji asked, knowing full well that he shouldn’t try to provoke me right now. “I want you to remember that this was really your idea and now you’re going to have to live with it until we get to Hebi.”

“Why does it seem like everyone is picking on me today?” I sighed as we worked together to set up the tents. “Can’t we all just get along and walk in a peaceful silence?”

“Because Raiden would explode if he tried to be quiet for too long.” Eiji laughed a little, “I don’t know if you remember when father told all of us that we were to be silent during a meal and he wouldn’t stop chattering after we were finished.”

I thought for a moment, “I remember that, it took him two days to finally run out of things to talk about.” I stood back from the tent and it stood just fine.

“Think you can handle the next one on your own?” Eiji asked, “Things would go faster if we each do one.”

I nodded, I was confident that I could put one up on my own. “I think I can do it.”

After a few moments, I found myself in a tangle of ropes and canvas. “Would you like a hand?” I heard Masazumi asked. “You seem to be having a problem.”

“Please.” I pleaded, trying to shake myself loose, “I thought I had a handle on it, then it attacked me.” I knew how ridiculous I looked as I managed to finally free myself. “And sorry about my behaviour earlier, like Kazuki we’ve all been under pressure with the Matsus missing.”

He helped untangle, “No I am sorry, I was being rude. It was unprofessional, let me make it up to you by showing you how to do this alone.”

“Thank you.” It was then that I realized that I hadn’t seen Masazumi with any gear of his own. “I just noticed that you don’t have a tent with you, where are you going to be sleeping?” I asked as I looked around in case I missed him setting up while I was fighting with the tent.

He gave me a warm smile, “Well considering I am charged with keeping a close eye on you, we will be sharing, naturally.”

That caught the attention of my brothers and started some very loud protesting. “What they mean is,” I shouted over them to settle them down, “I tend to be violent in my sleep and it would be safer if you didn’t do that.” If Masazumi wasn’t suspicious of us before, this recent outburst would send up a huge red flag that something was off. “I also enjoy my privacy, so why doesn’t Ryota share with Kazuki and you can share with Raiden.”

He just kept smiling, “I would not want to put anyone out. I normally sleep in the open, or in a tree.” he didn’t press the issue. “I prefer to sleep in the open, that way I can react instantly and keep an eye on everything.”

Now I had the feeling he was onto us, and that meant he was going to be watching us carefully from here on out. “Hey Masazumi, can I get your help collecting some water?” Daiki asked, holding up all of the water skins. “A second pair of hands would be great.”

He nodded at Daiki, “I will walk you through the setup in a few minutes.”

“Take your time.” I waved them off and waited for them to be out of ear shot. “What the hell was that? I could have handled that on my own.” I hissed at Eiji and Daisuke. “We are trying to keep our secret and not announce who we are to the whole world.”

“We couldn’t just let him sleep in the same tent as you, what would you have us done instead?” Eiji shot back at me. It was clear to me that we were going to be found out before we made it to the capital.

“I would have dealt with the situation with a lot more tact and grace than you three.” I kept an eye on the direction Daiki had taken Masazumi, “You can’t control every situation that comes up Eiji, you have to let me handle things on my own sometimes.”

“When it comes to him, I will be handling things myself.” Eiji turned back to what he had been doing, ending the conversation.

I was about to chew him out some more Daiki and Masazumi came back, “Looks like I missed something important.” Daiki looked at us, “Please tell me I didn’t miss a fist fight.”

“Not yet, but it might come down to it if they both don’t back down.” Daisuke said, giving me a look that told me to go back to what I was doing.

“Fine, but we are not done with this.” I went back to trying to figure out how this mess on the ground will become a tent. Masazumi came over promptly and we began to slowly put my tent together. True to his word, he told me what to do and why while I did it on my own, with a little when I needed it.

As we finished Eiji and Daiki came back, “Fresh food today.” Daiki announced. “Jiro, care to help me?”

“Sure.” I went over to see what they had brought back. Strung over his shoulder were a few rabbits. “You can’t be serious.”

“You’ve had rabbit before,” Daiki smiled, “the only difference is it currently looks like a rabbit.” He held out two of the dead fluffy creatures, “Just need to gut, skin, joint, and clean them.”

I look at him as if he was speaking another language, “Really? And just how do you think I’m going to do that?” there was no way I even knew where to begin.

A knife buried itself at my feet, “One of those helps.” Masazumi interrupted, gauging my reaction. “I take it you never had to kill your own dinner before.” I shook my head. “Would you like help with the first one?”

“I would rather not do it all, if I am being honest.” I gave Daiki a pleading look, why did he pick now to make me do this. “Are you sure I’m the only one that can help?”

Masazumi answered, “Survival skills are important,” he gave me a once over, “for everyone.” I was sure he was putting things together, my brother's overreaction didn’t help. “I will help you now and then if you find yourself alone you will be able to feed yourself.”

“Fine.” I grumbled grabbing the knife. “Thank you for the help.” I snatched the rabbits from Daiki, “No one can blame me if the damn thing doesn’t have much meat left on it.”

We spent a few minutes going over the steps showing me as we went with the first rabbit, leaving the second for me to handle on my own.

“Alright, I can do this.” I gripped the knife tightly, “One swift motion, straight down the middle.” just the thought of gutting the poor little creature was turning my stomach.

The moment the blade pierced the animal, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to do it. “Excuse me.” I dropped the blade and dashed off for the trees.

While I emptied the contents of my stomach Masazumi came over and kept me from falling into it, water at the ready. “Are you alright?”

“I’ll be fine in a moment.” I rinsed my mouth out, wishing that he didn’t see me like this. It was bad enough that I couldn’t do much other than be in the way but now I couldn’t even clean my own dinner without looking pathetic.

“I was sick my first time too.” He seemed to be trying to make me feel better. “I was about ten sent out for survival training, that mostly included being left on my own and told to find my way home with just my weapons and a tent.”

“Were they trying to kill you?” I managed to sit, leaning back against a tree. “I imagine being sent out at that age wasn’t easy.”

“That was the point, to ensure I could live without the comforts of home. You never know when you will have to fend for yourself and live off of whatever you can find.”

While this situation was forced on me he was thrown into it, I couldn’t help but wonder if that kind of thing was done to my brothers. It would explain how they are so collected. “The way I had to look at it was, it or me. If I didn’t kill and eat I was going to die, and I refused to die.” He held the knife back out, “While the situation is very different the idea is the same. Are you going to die or live?”

I could feel my skin tingle where Kyo was, his way of trying to show his support. “I can’t let my brothers look after me all the time.”

He helped me to my feet, “Just be glad it is only a rabbit, I managed to kill a goat and had to take care of it alone. It was a much messier experience.”

“Just where are you from? One doesn’t see too many goats wandering in the woods.”

“From my parents,” he smiled, “I am not willing to have that conversation with a grown man.” Ass. “No more stalling, time to clean and cook.”

I managed to get through cleaning the little animal. Wasn’t an experience I wanted to repeat, but knowing I could made me feel a little better.

I couldn’t sleep that night, so I just made myself as comfortable as possible and sat up quietly talking with Kyo. “I’m sorry you have to stay hidden, I wish there was a way around it.” I apologised while running my hand down his back.

“It’s fine, I understand that it would look a little weird if you four are seen with a little blue lizard-like creature.” he was making a low purring sound with every pass of my hand. “It wouldn’t be so bad if I were bigger, but that won’t be for a while yet.”

“So someday instead of you riding on my shoulder I would be able to ride on yours, I think I could get used to that.” I mused resting my hand lightly on his back, “I can’t wait to see what you look once you’ve grown up some more, Daiki would be too afraid to make jokes about eating you.”

“Then it would be my turn to threaten him with turning him into a snack.” The thought made both of us laugh a little. “Maybe you should try to get a little rest, Eiji might have you guys walking endlessly again tomorrow.”

I shook my head, “It’s almost time for my turn to stand watch, I’ll get some sleep after I wake Daiki for his turn.” I listened to the sounds outside my tent for a moment, “Speaking of which, time to hide again.” I lifted Kyo up to my shoulder and he turned into the tattoo around my neck once again. I know the situation sucks right now, but someday we won’t need to hide. I promised him gently running a finger along where I could feel Kyo.

Had I been a moment slower, I would have had to think of an explanation of how I came to be sitting with a blue lizard in my lap to give to Masazumi as he stopped just outside the flap of the tent.

“It is time for your watch,” he said poking his head in, “I will wait for you to wake up a bit.” he left just as quickly as he had come.

I carefully made my way over to where Masazumi was sitting on a fallen tree, I noticed that he was watching the stars. “Expecting someone to fall from the sky and ambush us?” I finally got my chance to return some of the teasing he had been doing to me.

“No, just enjoying some peace. Are you?” Masazumi asked, catching me off guard. He must have really good hearing to have noticed me walking up, I hadn’t been making that much noise.

“It was a joke.” I sat down next to him on the tree. “I don’t think there is anyone who could actually come from the sky.”

“You never know, I learned growing up to expect anything.” he continued to watch the stars. “But I guess with Kazuki’s mood it would kill anyone’s sense of humour.”

“He has that effect on people sometimes, we try not to hold it against him, he means well, and he just wants to protect us.” Masazumi looked over at me, “I think the past few days have been the hardest on him.” I could feel my face getting warmer for some reason and I was sure I could hear Kyo laughing for some reason.

“I never do, but I can understand his need to defend his family. As for me, I am just the muscle, but I can make his job easier.” he seemed almost sad, as if this was something he hadn’t chosen for himself.

“But you are an exceptional swordsman, why are you working as a simple sell sword?” As soon as I asked, I wish I hadn’t. “That’s none of my business and I shouldn’t have asked.” the words just kept spilling out of me.

“You sure are blunt with your questions.” I could see a playful smile return to his face. “Let’s just say it was not completely by choice. I am not ashamed to say that I am a ronin.”

“So you are formally trained, but you beat my brother so easily and he is one of the best from our clan.” I was truly shocked. I was beginning to think that he wasn’t just some random swordsman.

“That maybe, but Kazuki lost before he even drew his blade.”

“What do you mean? How could someone lose before the fight has even started?” I thought Masazumi sounded ridiculous, no one can lose before they begin something.

Masazumi moved closer to me “You do not have much experience with combat do you.” he commented, “You need, above all else, to remain calm and balanced here,” touching my forehead with two fingers, “and here.” he moved his hand over my heart. His hand lingered for a moment, I felt my heart beat faster.

“If you go into battle eager and overconfident, you are going to rush and make mistakes, then you are dead. If you go in nervous or scared, you are going to hesitate and lose your head. If, like your brother, you go in angry and agitated, you will telegraph every move you make and not bother to think ahead. That is the unfortunate truth behind your brother’s defeat.” his honesty shocked me, he didn’t know me well and he was being so honest it was odd. So I figured I should be honest back.

“I’ve never seen anyone use two weapons like that, where did you learn that?” I asked, it seemed to catch him off guard.

“It is a special technique of the Sun Guardians, from the Mochizuki mountains.” he seemed protective of his secrets, something I could understand better than most.

“So you grew up in the mountains, what was that like?” I asked, I had never been farther than Hebi so I didn’t know much about the rest of the empire.

“When did I say I was from there, I made some friends and trained with them. A lonely ronin is not cut out to be a part of the Sun Guardians.”

I wasn’t convinced with that explanation. “Very well, keep your secrets but I do have one request while we are travelling.” I had his attention, he looked interested in what I might have to say.

“And that would be?” he asked, shifting to look at me better.

“Train me. I’m not asking for you to tell me all your secrets, just to get my skills up to where I can take care of myself. I’ll pay you extra, somehow.” from the look on Masazumi's face told me that was not what he was expecting.

“I think I could show you a few things, and forget the extra. Your payment will be dealing with Kazuki. Of your brothers, he is the only one who does not seem to like me.” he got up off of the tree. “Well goodnight, wake Raiden in two hours.”

I watched him walk off to the other side of camp, away from the others. I started wondering what caused him to be a wanderer, I could never imagine not having my brothers with me at all times. Things would have turned out much differently without them, so I was forever grateful for them even if we aren’t getting along.

“Could your heart beat any louder? I thought I was going to go deaf if he was here any longer.” Kyo sat on my shoulder, I hadn’t noticed him come off my neck.

“I’m sorry, there is something about him that just causes my heart to hammer like that.” I apologized as Kyo sat in my lap.

“Well if I didn’t know any better, I would say that you like him.” he grinned up at me.

“I do like him, why do you think I’ve been fighting with Eiji so much lately.” Kyo just gave me a mischievous look, “What did I say this time? It’s the truth.”

“That’s not the kind of ‘like’ I meant. I mean you might be developing feelings for Masazumi, what other explanation would there be.” Kyo teased as I sent him tumbling to the ground when I jumped up.

“That’s not true, it can’t be.” There was no way that I could think about falling in love at a time like this. “Even if that was true, there’s a rank difference it wouldn’t be allowed.” I looked around to make sure Masazumi wasn’t coming back to check on me because of all the noise.

“So, why would that stop you? Eiji will be made head of the clan and there shouldn't be any pressure on you anymore. You can go off and be happy for once.” Kyo climbed back up onto the tree.

“I wouldn’t know what being happy looked like if it bit me on the nose.” I sighed, “I just think you’re seeing something that is not there, we are just too different to be anywhere near compatible. And besides I can’t start letting myself...”

“Become boy crazy?” Kyo offered, “I just think you should consider the possibility that the reason he practically ran into you at the waterfall is because fate wants the two of you closer together.”

I thought over what Kyo was saying, Maybe there is another reason that Masazumi needs to come with us to Hebi and I’m just over thinking things. “We’ll see, but I don’t want another word from you about my feelings for anyone.” I gave Kyo a stern look.

“You’re the boss, but if you ever want to talk about it I'll be around.” he offered curling up in my lap again.

“I think you’d be the last person I’d want to talk to about my feelings.” I muttered as I turned my attention back to the stars overhead. I needed a way to tell Eiji that I was going to be training with Masazumi until we parted ways.

I figured that waiting until we were settling down for the day before I sprung my plan on Eiji. I hoped that walking all day would take some of the fire out of his fight, so I waited until everyone was finished eating.

“Kazuki, can you take the first watch tonight?” I asked, hoping that he was in a better mood then the day before.

“I could, but isn’t that when he’s supposed to be on watch?” Eiji answered, pointing to Masazumi. He didn’t sound like he was in a better mood. “You’ve been acting odd all day, care to tell me why.”

I took a deep breath and gathered up all the courage I could muster, “I asked Masazumi to train me a little before we got to Hebi. I don’t want to be a hindrance if we come across trouble again.” I could see Eiji was trying to remain calm, but it didn’t seem to be working.

“No, not going to happen.” Eiji was dead set against this idea, “You could have asked Ryota or myself if you wanted to train.”

“I have to agree with him, Jiro.” Daisuke took Eiji’s side for this argument, “We should be the ones to see to your training. I mean no disrespect by this but you shouldn’t have asked a stranger.”

“None taken.” Masazumi replied, lounging against a tree. “I did not expect it either. But I will lend my services if it helps keep someone alive.”

I pulled Eiji’s attention back to me, “Can you with all honesty say you would come at me with your all?” I knew he would try to make the case that since I was a girl I wouldn’t need to defend myself while he and the twins were around, but since Masazumi was close he couldn’t.

I could see him fighting back his words, “I wouldn’t take the risk of you getting hurt, with only Ryota and limited medical supplies too much can go wrong.”

“You of all people should know how well Masazumi controls his weapons and his temper. I am not asking for permission.” I wanted him to know that I was done being treated like I was made of glass. “I don’t need someone to go easy on me, I need to be taught how to protect myself properly.”

That must have pushed on Eiji’s last nerve, “A word, alone.” He motioned for me to follow rather harshly. “Have you completely lost your mind? There is no way you can think this is a good idea.” he hissed once we were a good distance away from everyone else.

“I think it’s a very good idea, you can’t protect yourself and keep me safe at the same time. It’s just not possible, this way you won’t have to worry about me getting hurt if I’m not close to you or the twins.” I whispered back, “I’m thinking ahead, because we both know that there will be another problem that I can’t just wash away.”

We both looked back to see Daiki launching into one of his tall tales, “It’s my job to protect you but I know when I’m beat.” Eiji sighed, “But if you think anything is off, come right back. I don’t want you taking him on by yourself.”

“I can live with that.” I couldn’t help but smile. “And thank you for letting me do this.”

Eiji just waved me off, “So how much more is this going to be costing me?” he asked Masazumi as we went back to the other.

He just smiled a little. “My payment was watching Jiro-san ask you. I am a little disappointed but a deal is a deal.” He faced me, “Are we starting tonight or tomorrow?”

“Tonight. I don’t want to waste another day, I’ll go get my sword.” I went to get it from where I left it while we ate and they all laughed at me, “Now what? What is it that I have done that is so funny this time?”

“Lesson one, always keep your weapon with you at all times.” Masazumi patted his sword, then pointed to Eiji’s. “Quick way to find yourself in a bad situation is to be without your weapon.”

“He’s got you there,” Daiki slapped Masazumi on the back, “You’ve got your work cut out for you now.” he continued to laugh.

Before I had a chance to give Daiki a piece of my mind, Masazumi said. “While Jiro-san collects his things, mind If I ask a question. You all are coming from the Matsu estate area, what exactly happened there?”

We all froze, it wasn’t a question we were expecting. “All we really know is there was some kind of attack and no one has seen or heard from Eiji, Daiki, Daisuke, and the princess.” Eiji explained. “Last we were told was that Akio was going to announce an heir some time soon. That’s why we were heading there, but the attack happened first.” I was amazed that he came up with that on the spot.

“We should consider ourselves lucky that we weren’t there when things went bad.” I lied, feeling so guilty that Eiji felt it was necessary to lie. “I just hope they are safe wherever they are.” I was going to have to find a way to make it up to him for all the lies we’ve been telling him.

Masazumi gave me a small smile, “Small miracles.” He easily lifted himself to his feet. “Whenever you are ready there is a small clearing nearby where we can get started.”

I picked up my sword and tried to hide how bad I was feeling. “You worry too much, she’ll be fine. The princess has enough people with her to make sure she’ll be safe.” It was weird hearing Eiji talk about me like I wasn’t around.

I just nodded, “Right then, no more distractions, time to get training.” I wasn’t going to let there be a repeat of what happened on the night of the attack.

He stopped a few steps ahead of me and gave a quick assessing look. “Thankfully I don’t need to teach you how to carry your weapon. Have the others taught you anything of swordsmanship at all?”

“Ryota tried his best, whatever I know I’ve picked you from watching the others.” I admitted, “I wasn’t allowed to train with them, so I used what I saw and did it myself until Ryota found me out.”

“Odd. Well at least I have more than less a blank slate to work with. Please draw and take a centre stance.”

I started to draw the sword from the sheath, the first time I had done so, what met my eyes caught me off guard. There etched in blue on the flat of the blade was my name. I quickly slammed the blade back down hoping that it just looked like my hand slipped. What am I going to do about that, there’s no way he won’t see it. I tried my best to keep my panic to myself.

“Everything alright?” I didn’t have a doubt he saw the second of panic with those sharp blue eyes of his. “Someone did show you the basic stances, right?”

“I know them, my hand just slipped is all." I tried to keep calm, I couldn't let him know something was off.

“Good, chudan please.”

I need to focus, maybe if I get lucky he won’t even notice. I scolded myself while I drew and took my stance. I need to get my act together or he will know that something’s off.

He made a quick circuit around me, “Not bad.” He manually adjusted my stance. I fought the blush on my cheeks. “What we will focus on today is getting into and out of the three basic stances, Chudan, Jodan, and Gedan. So you will be able to pick one and get into it instantly.”

“Alright, but could you not be so hands on? I really don’t like being touched.” I came up with a reason for him to keep his distance.

“No point in doing this if it is not done properly. But I will refrain unless an adjustment has to be made.”

“Fair enough.” I conceded, I did ask for this and it was better than doing it by myself again. “What’s next?”

The next few days passed quickly, Masazumi’s training was both easy and hard at the same time. It was easy to follow along with his instruction and he never demanded something I was not ready for. Also hard because it wasn’t used to such rigorous training. He made me do drills nonstop and then when I was good with one, he came up with a new harder one. I was thankful that I had picked him, without Masazumi I wouldn’t have gotten any better.

“Right cut, thrust, parry.” Masazumi called out the sequence as we started training for the day. “Pick up the pace, you’re moving too slow.” he seemed to be on edge tonight, it must be because we were only a few hours away from our destination.

“I’m moving as fast as I can. What’s with you tonight?” I looked over at Masazumi, he was scanning the tree line.

“Go back to your brothers, something is wrong.” he drew his sword, I didn’t move right away. “Go now!” he shouted as a dark clad figure jumped out of the trees. My feet slipped out from under me as I jumped back, causing me to hit the ground. I was stunned for a moment, unsure of what to do. “Jun get going!” Masazumi’s voice brought me back to my senses, I crawled along the ground a few steps and got to my feet and ran for the camp.

We were not that far from where we made camp thankfully, but they already had company of their own. Eiji was defending himself against two swordsmen. Daisuke used one of our cooking pots to defend against another, while his twin danced around a spearmen trying his best to skewer him.

With so many I didn’t know where to go and stood frozen for a moment. “Go help the twins.” Masazumi ordered running up next to me, his fight clearly a short one. He took off towards Eiji, easily getting the attention of one of the attackers and turning the tides of that fight.

As I turned I saw the spearman feign an attack making Daiki react and quickly adjust to pierce his leg. I was on them in a second, my sword just missing his arm. A quick second swing cut his weapon in two.

He reached for his sword, giving me my chance. I thrust forward as hard as I could and buried my sword into his heart.

I wasn’t prepared for the tearing sensation travelling through my weapon, or the slight shocked look he gave me as the light in his eyes slowly faded. A shadow loomed beside me as I stood in horror at what I had done. I turned to look and saw a new fighter, his sword raised high. I snapped my eyes shut waiting for the bite of his blade.

Instead I heard the ringing of steel on steel. “Lesson, what fifty now, keep your eyes open. Your enemy should fear you even if you are busy.”

I ripped my blade out and swung, forcing the newcomer back a few steps. I nearly lost my lunch at the pulling sensation and the whip of blood off of the tip.

Masazumi got in between us. “Are you able to help Daisuke?”

“Yeah.” I breathed. I ran to Daisuke, our pot he was using was truly dead. I didn’t let myself think about what I had to do again, it was either him or my brothers. Neither noticed my arrival until my blade cut into the swordsman's arm. A second slash cut his throat, spraying blood over the both of us.

A grunt of pain drew our attention, Masazumi had been shot in the arm from the tree line. Eiji had gotten his hands on a bow of his own and returned fire, using our next problem as a distraction.

They went into the trees, Masazumi ripping out the arrow as he walked looking for any other attackers while Daisuke came over to look at his brother as I kept watch over the area.

Eiji and Masazumi came back a few minutes later from either direction, meeting with the three of us. We looked around one last time to make sure there were no others, when Eiji was sure it was safe he stormed up to Masazumi, sword still in hand. “Talk now!”

He just shrugged, “I figured it out a while ago.”

Chapter 6

Once we had gotten Daiki setup and comfortable, Eiji turned on Masazumi again. “Care to elaborate on how you knew who we are?” he looked over at me, “That is unless someone said something they weren’t supposed to.”

“I didn’t say a thing, I was extra careful. I’d be more worried with the way you lunatics have been acting than me slipping up.” I shot back at him, “If anything I was the only one not acting suspicious.”

Masazumi got in between us. “She did not say anything,” he backed me up, “I pieced it together. All of you were not exactly subtle about it.”

I thought I actually heard Eiji growl, “Will you calm down, there is zero reason for you to be upset with how things turned out. If it hadn’t been for Masazumi, we would have been in deep trouble.” I turned to him, “Can you tell me how you figured it out, so we do better in the future?”

“A few subtle things, and a few blaring ones. First was Daiki-san’s unnecessary description of their ‘feminine’ looking brother, it would be better for you to travel as a woman.” He was still coaching me. “Then all the protesting when I said I would be sharing a tent with you. When I asked what happened to your home Eiji-san did not mention your missing brothers, suggesting he knows what happened, and his knowledge of the Mochizuki Guardians. Then there was you demanding I talk to you with the respect you deserve. While I am used to being talked down to as a ronin, no one who did not grow up being given a certain level of respect would talk to someone like me like that for fear I may do something, uncivilised. There also was your name stamped on the side of your sword.”

He seemed to have taken careful notes of every interaction since we met. “Finally there is your finely made clothes, and the other night when you asked how I bested Eiji-san.”

Eiji looked at me as if I had done something wrong, “All I said was that you are one of our best.” I did my best to remember the conversation. “I didn’t say anything else.” all I could really remember was the sound of my heart hammering away.

“You’ve commented on the way we look, but based on the fine clothes you’re wearing, you want us to believe you just happened to be wandering that back roads and stumbled upon us?” Daisuke took over, we both knew that Eiji wasn’t in any state of mind to ask any more questions.

“I work hard to afford these, and it is going to be hard to replace them on just what you are paying me. I am going to have to pick up another job quickly.” he pointed to the hole in the shoulder, and the bloodstain accompanying it. “Did you not think it was odd that I do not carry much, I have to look my best if I want the best jobs that pay the most.”

“Looking ‘your best’ on the back roads? Something doesn’t seem right about that.” Daisuke wasn’t letting up on him, I haven’t seen him like this before. But one of us needed to be firm right now and knew I would be too soft and forgiving and Eiji would have beaten him senseless by this point if I hadn’t been holding on to him.

“Like I said when I first met you, I heard a voice and went to check things out. Looking back, I should have been a little quieter and faster.” he was giving me a charming smile now, “A real man will always know when he faces a lady.”

Some of the connections he has been listing off clicked in my brain and I came to a realization. “You… you low… I don’t even know what I should even call you.” I could even tell Kyo was getting agitated now, “I thought you were just giving me some advice.” and before I knew it Kyo was sitting on my shoulder growling along with my words.

“And he explains the disappearing tattoo.” Masazumi played off the sudden appearance of a tiny dragon. “I will not make excuses, but I had to confirm my suspicions and I will not complain about how I did.” He dared to give me a quick wink. “None of you were ever going to tell me the truth.”

Kyo didn’t give me a chance to strike, he launched himself at Masazumi’s face. “You will show Jun more respect.” he was caught in mid air thanks to Masazumi’s warrior reflexes and Kyo’s small size. But it didn’t stop my little defender from clawing and biting whatever he could.

“Kyo,” I quietly said, “Enough.” I didn’t have the energy left to deal with all the fighting. It was becoming clear to me that Masazumi wasn’t the person I had thought he was.

He examined his hand. "For what it is worth, I have no intention of saying anything. I can understand the need for secrecy. I still have a job to do and will see Jiro safely to Hebi." He quickly wrapped his hand with a cloth, “At least let me introduce you to a friend of mine. He is a doctor.”

“You may as well use our proper names.” Eiji grumbled, “I’ll leave Daiki’s care to his twin, since it’s clear my opinion means next to nothing.” he stormed off and we watched him go.

“I’ll go after him.” Daisuke started to follow after Eiji, but I grabbed his arm to stop him.

“You look after Daiki, I’ll go after Eiji.” I passed Kyo off to him, “And you will stay and make sure nothing happens.” I took off jogging to catch up to Eiji.

He hadn’t gone far, “If you plan on yelling at me some more, just save it.” Eiji snapped, not even turning around. “I’ve only been trying my best, but every time I turn around you or the other two are undermining me.”

“I thought I was helping, so we are both wrong.” I admitted, I wasn’t going to let something like this hang between us. “I should have listened to you when you said we shouldn’t bring Masazumi along, you clearly have been dealing with people like him much longer than any of us.”

He spun on me faster than I could process, “Then why challenge me every step of the way? I’ve been trying to keep us safe, and all you can think about is showing off because you think you’re all tough now.”

“Because I thought we could trust him, I thought we could use the help.” It broke my heart to see him this angry with me, “I want you to know that you didn’t need to look after me and you could focus on more important things.”

It was like all his rage just faded away when I explained why I did what I had done. “You should have just said so.” he took one of my hands, “I made a promise that I would look after you no matter what and I plan on doing that no matter the cost. But you may have a point that I could use some help doing that, can you forgive my short temper.”

“It’s not me you need to apologize to.” I could see the regret in his eyes, “I know you don’t want to swallow your pride, but you have been very rude.” Eiji knew I was right, but I didn’t expect him to agree with me.

“Sweet little sister, I love how you try to make the world nothing but better.” Eiji gave me a tight hug, “I will try to apologize, but I make no promises.”

We headed back to find Daisuke wrapping up Masazumi’s shoulder, “He’ll be taking us to see the doctor.” I was surprised to see a great number of scars down his arm and his torso. He must have been fighting all his life, or wasn’t as good as he led us to believe.

“Doctor Hojo is the best in the city, despite his choice of clinics.” Masazumi informed us. “I cannot count the number of times he saved my life.”

“From the looks of you, that’s more times than he could count.” I elbowed Eiji because of his comment. “I may have been a little hard to live with the last few days, but it was only because I’ve been trying to take on the world by myself.”

“You might want to try that apology again.” I insisted, going to sit with Daiki, who seemed to be in a good mood considering he had a spear stuck into his leg earlier in the night. “I hope you don’t think I would let you do it half assed.”

Masazumi just smiled again. “It is fine. You are all just trying your best in an impossible situation.” He put his shirt back on testing his shoulder a little. “As far as I am concerned as soon as Kazuki-san pays me when we reach our destination,” he used Eiji’s alias trying to show us that we can still trust him, “our business is finished. Your secret is safe with me.”

“You shouldn’t be letting him get away with it.” I scolded both of them, “Both of you clearly know that this is not how the heir to a noble clan should be acting.”

“It is alright.” Masazumi tried to calm me down. “While his temper is something he will need to work on before he takes over your father’s seat, I am used to much harsher treatment. Being a ronin comes with certain freedoms, and much disdain. But I regret nothing, this is the path I must walk.”

There was something about his answer that seemed a little strange to me, “I still think he owes you a proper apology, but if you are fine with that I won’t press the matter.” I curled up closer to Daiki, “We should try to get some sleep before we figure out how we’re going to get into the city tomorrow.”

“You four sleep,” Masazumi suggested, “I am still wide awake from the fighting and will take the first watch, Daisuke-san I will wake you in a few hours.”

I tried my best to get a little sleep, but every time I closed my eyes, all I could see were the faces of the men I had killed. While I had only taken their lives in self defence it still weighed heavily on my mind.

“Are you ok?” I heard Masazumi ask as he passed by.

I nodded, “Just having a hard time getting to sleep.” I gave him a half truth, no point in him seeing just how useless I really was.

He gave me a quick once over, “From the slightly panicked look and the sweat I would say you have never killed anything before. Let alone another human.”

“It’s that obvious?” he gave me a little nod, “Of course it would be. I just can’t shake the sight from my mind.” I admitted even though I didn’t really feel like talking about it.

“I would be worried if you did not. Only a monster can kill and feel nothing.” he soothed. “I still remember my first kills. If it was not for my friend I am sure I would have broken down surrounded by enemies and killed.” He held his hand out, “Come take a small walk and cool off.”

I looked at his hand for a moment, the tiny nicks from Kyo already closed. “Alright, it’ll be better than flopping around like a dying fish.”

He pulled me up with ease, it was almost like I weighed nothing to him. “It usually is.”

We didn’t go far, just around the edges of camp, as to not disturb the others. “There is little anyone can tell you about what to do after, or what it is like to watch the life fade from another.” he spoke softly, almost forcing out the conversation. “The only thing I can really say is to find a way to live with what happened and do not bury yourself. That is how you either become numb to killing and become something less than human, or self destruct. I have seen both too many times in my short life.”

“How do you do it? How do you cope with taking a life?” I asked.

“Badly.” He confessed. “I make it a point to never forget any life I have taken, and do what I can to make amends. But a life for a life never seems to be enough with the number I have taken.”

I was tired of the depressing topic. While he was right I needed to find a way to live with killing those men, I didn’t feel like talking about it anymore. “So how did you know it was us or did you just take a random guess?”

He chuckled “Little of both. I actually met you all before, Toro and Eiji a few times. But the last time was about ten years ago.”

I tried to remember something so long ago. “That would explain Eiji and maybe the twins, but that was just so long ago, how is it you were so sure?” he was spiking my curiosity. I wanted to know more about him and when our paths had crossed.

We stopped and he faced me. “That was the guessing part, it has been a long time.” he gave me a smile, “Besides I never forget a pretty face.”

I could feel my face starting to burn, I just hoped it was too dark for him to see, “There is no way you could have known, I know there are very few with my colour of hair but you couldn’t have known.” I hoped he would take the bait and give me some details.

“I remember a little girl with copper hair clinging to her mother. Sadly we never spoke or formally met.” he seemed to be keeping something from me, but it was understandable we lied to him from the start.

“Just one more thing, if you can remember us so clearly, how is it that Eiji doesn’t seem to remember you?” There had to be a good reason that Eiji didn’t remember Masazumi.

“Like we both said, it was a long time ago. We were all different people then.” He answered without actually answering. “Do you think you can sleep now? If it will help I can stay close by. Or stay away.”

“It’ll help knowing that you’re close by.” I blurted out, What is wrong with me? I’m supposed to be mad at him and now I sound like a love struck court lady. I needed to get some sleep before I said anything I was going to regret.

He still smiled, “Then let’s get you back to your spot.” He led me back to my sleeping bag, “I will be close by if you need anything. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” was the only thing I could say without sounding like a complete fool.

We took it slow the next morning, letting Daiki get as much rest as he could. Masazumi on the other hand refused to slow down, for the most part he didn’t even seem to notice his wound, until it started bleeding again.

“Daisuke will eventually threaten to knock you out if you open your wound again.” I warned Masazumi when we stopped for lunch. We were less than a couple hours away but we needed a rest from hauling Daiki around. “That is if he hasn’t already.”

“It just needs to be re-tied, I have had worse.” he awkwardly shrugged off the side of his tops. “Mind lending me a helping hand?”

He untied and adjusted the wrapping, but couldn't quite tie it back up. “Sorry I’m not the best at this, but it should hold until we get to the doctor.” It was then I realized something important that we hadn’t thought of until now. “Eiji, how are we going to get into the city? As far as everyone is concerned, we're still missing and we don’t have any way to prove we are who we say we are.”

The realization hit him too, “I hadn’t thought of that, and I didn’t have time to grab our identification papers either.” Eiji started to look nervous, “It’s not like we can walk up to the gate and demand to be let in just because we’re Matsu.”

“With the way you get sometimes, I’m surprised that wasn’t your first idea.” I muttered quietly. “We could always try to sneak in with a wagon going by, we could either try to jump on or wait for the guards to be distracted.” I offered, it was the best I could come up with but at least I was trying to think of something.

“Anyone consider just entering like a normal person.” Masazumi suggested, “This is Hebi, there are hundreds of people going in and out all day. A few more will not be noticed.”

“Unfortunately those two stick out a little too much.” Daiki pointed at me and Eiji, “Father would bring him and Toro here every chance he could, and with her fabulous shade of copper coloured hair they would be spotted in a heartbeat. For some reason whoever has been tracking us wants her, so avoiding people as much as possible would be ideal.”

“The guards see far too many people to pick out one noble.” He insisted, “But I know a few of the guards I can see if they will be willing to let my comrades in, no questions.”

“We’ll have to make do with that.” Daisuke nodded, “It’s the best option we have to get us into the city.” I knew he was taking Daiki’s condition into account in making his decision.

“Fine, but I still have a few arrows left if he pulls anything funny.” Eiji warned keeping his bow close. “Once Daiki is feeling up to it, we’ll head for the gate.”

“Fair enough.” Masazumi said, trying to keep up his carefree facade. “When we get within sight I will go ahead and clear the way.”

“I’m more than ready to go, just one thing.” Daiki paused, looking over to me, “Jun, if you could ease up on those claws you call nails that would be great. It feels like you’re trying to rip something out.”

I looked at my hands, “They are not that long you big baby.” I snipped helping Daisuke get Daiki to his feet, “Besides we’re doing all the hard work here.”

“I just think of it as payback after your episode in Hima.” Daiki laughed, giving me a knowing look, he was talking about after I fainted. “We did have to move you once and I was the one with that privilege.”

“It’s because of my episode that we managed to get away in time, so I don’t hear you complaining about that.” I looked over to Daisuke, “You sure you don’t want to leave him behind somewhere? It would be really easy to get away from him now.”

“You seem to be fairly strong now,” Daisuke complemented, “think you can toss him over your shoulder like a sack of rice?”

“Without a doubt, but you shouldn’t insult rice like that.” I managed to get a small laugh from Eiji, it was as if we hadn’t been chased from our home. “Of the two the rice would be better behaved.” It felt almost normal the way we lightly heartily joked with each other.

Once the gate was in sight Masazumi jogged ahead of us while Daisuke and I made sure Daiki didn’t need us to carry him. “So how much says that we won’t get through?” Daiki asked as his twin tightened the bandage on his leg, “I have serious doubts that he actually knows anyone who can let us in.”

“I think we’ll be fine getting in,” I watched Masazumi talk to one of the guards, “I think we’re going to have a problem getting out if we need to leave in a hurry. We’ll be trapped if something goes badly.”

“Let’s just hope that we won’t need to leave in a hurry.” Eiji sounded hopeful, taking my place next to Daiki, “I’ll take him for now, you can take over for Daisuke when he gets tired.”

We were waved over. “Bunta-san my associates, Tsukino Kazuki, Raiden, Jiro, and Ryota.” he introduced us. “Like I said, we ran into a little trouble on the road and need to go see Doctor Hojo. We will be gone as soon as Raiden can walk on his own.”

The guard handed Masazumi back a few papers, “Be sure that you are. We don’t want your kind of trouble lingering.” he nodded to his partner who opened the door and let us through.

Eiji and I moved Daiki as quickly as we could so we wouldn’t be identified, “Too bad we didn’t actually put money on him.” Daiki whispered as I dug my nails into his side.

“Shut up will you, we’re trying to keep hidden.” I hissed in his ear. “Try to contain yourself for a little while.”

“She is right, focus on moving, he is not far.” Masazumi urged us along leading the way, “Besides I am always the safe bet. I do not know how to lose.”

“Let’s just hope that this doctor is as good as you say he is.” I knew Eiji was still suspicious of anyone Masazumi knew.

Doctor Hojo was a pleasant older man, who took one look at Daiki and ushered us inside his house. “Well it doesn’t look as bad as it feels. The wound isn’t too deep, so it’s sorer than anything.” he examined Daiki’s leg carefully, “Whichever one of you did the bandage did an amazing job.”

Daisuke never really could handle praise, “Thank you, I did a little medical studying. I knew that it would be useful one day.” he was blushing a little. Poor guy, it’s hard for him to take a compliment.

“If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought you were a doctor. Maybe if you wanted to stay and train with me, you are more than welcome to.” Daisuke looked shocked at the offer. If the doctor knew who he was talking to, he might not have made the offer.

“Doctor are you trying to steal one of my companions.” Masazumi said, keeping his own wound turned away from the doctor's keen eyes. “I do not know what I would do on the road without Ryota with me.”

“Masazumi, you can’t keep such a fine young mind all to yourself. With skills like these, he could save many lives, with the right training.” Hojo turned to Daisuke. “What do you say son, the pay isn’t going to be very good, but just think of all the good you could do.” I knew Daisuke would jump at the chance to learn whatever he could from Hojo, but I had a feeling that until he knew I was safe Daisuke would put any option like this to the side.

“Again, thank you very much sir, but for now, I am going to be staying with my brothers. I never know when they are going to need me.” he bowed “But if at any time in the future I change my mind, can I take you up on your offer.”

“Of course, by all means come back anytime you want.” Hojo beamed a little, turning back to Daiki. “Now about your leg, let’s get this poultice on and wrap you back up.” We all watched as he painted a thick layer of a green paste onto Daiki’s leg. “You should be as good as new in a day or two with enough rest.” Hojo instructed while wrapping fresh linen over the poultice.

“Great so we're hauling him around for the next few days.” I sighed, “You are so going to owe me for this.” I huffed as Daiki tried giving me an innocent look.

“I have beds you can use while he recovers.” Hojo offered, “Your turn Masazumi, let us see it.”

“I am all right.” He tried to play off. “Just a little arrow.”

“There is blood all down your sleeve. And with a lady here I know you have gotten yourself hurt.” The doctor had better eyes than anyone else in the room, despite his glasses. “I know you are not shy around the ladies so let me see.”

Resigned to his fate Masazumi showed off his wound. “Speaking of ladies, where is your lovely daughter?”

“Fuu is off making the last of the deliveries, she will be back later.” I watched the doctor carefully as he reached for the poultice again. “Now if you don’t want to tell me what actually happened that’s fine, but I do hope you know the company you’re travelling with.” he gave me a short look making it clear that he knew I wasn’t a man.

“I know everyone I work with, you know this.” he gave me a sly smile. “But I also have to work with some level of discretion.”

“You have my silence, as far as anyone is concerned I’ve been treating a young man from the Tsukino clan travelling with his three brothers.” Hojo vowed as we all let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank you, it’s good to know there is at least one person we can turn to while we’re here.” I reached for my coin purse, “How much do we owe you for treating our brother?”

Hojo held up his hand to stop me. “No, no, no I will not take any payment. I owe Masazumi a great debt, so I told him any time he needs treatment while he’s here, I would do it for free. This is all I can do to repay him for saving my daughter.” Hojo waved me off. “Now put that away, your money's no good here.”

“But you must let me do something to repay your kindness, there must be something I can do.” I tried thinking of something, but there wasn’t much I could think of.

“Why not make some tea? You haven’t done that since we left home and I’ve been wanting some the whole trip here.” Daiki suggested, drawing attention to him as Hojo finished up wrapping Masazumi’s shoulder again.

“That would be lovely, Fuu brought home some sweets from the market this morning that would go nicely with some tea.” Hojo agreed, getting a crutch for Daiki. “Then it’s settled, your payment will be making tea for the dessert. Come along, this way.” he led us through his little clinic to a smaller part of the house.

“It’s beautiful here, are all these plants used in your medicine?” I asked, looking at all the different flowers and potted plants.

“Most of them, but be careful which ones you touch, some can be quite poisonous.” I drew my hand back when he said that, “Now this way, I think Fuu is back now.”

“Hello father, do we have company?” a girl about my age came out of what looked to be a kitchen. “Masazumi, it’s good to see you again. And you brought friends this time.”

Masazumi seemed to brighten up a little at the beautiful doctor’s daughter. “Hello pretty lady.” he greeted the willowy brunette. “I am glad to see you still helping out your father. You are always the highlight of my visits.”

Fuu’s expression changed once she noticed Daiki with the crutch, “You got hurt again, and let me guess father is refusing to let you pay?” She looked over at Hojo and pointed a finger at Masazumi, “You can’t keep treating him for free, yes he did save me but that was two years ago. I don’t know how many more times I have to tell you that you have more than repaid him.” then she turned to me, “And let me guess, because you are with the freeloader he didn’t take money from you as well.”

“I wanted to pay, trust me. How about I help in the kitchen with dinner and we can call it even?” I had hoped that would calm her down, even a little. She was a little scary for such a small girl.

“Seems fair.” She looked me up and down. “Come on girly, you can fill me in on how you got tied up with him.” I guess her father taught her well. She only needed one look at me to know I wasn’t a boy.

The kitchen was small, but cosy, there was enough room for the two of us to work side by side. Fuu seemed nice once she wasn’t in the same room as Masazumi, which I couldn’t really blame her for right now, not after seeing his true colours finally.

“So how did you end up with that rag tag band out there?” she asked as we worked on dinner. It was going to be nice having a proper meal after a couple weeks on run.

“Well three of them are my brothers, we met Masazumi just a few days ago. He helped us out of a tight situation last night.”

“Yeah that’s Masazumi, always good in a pinch.” Fuu was watching me carefully now, it was almost like she was trying to figure me out. “Here try this. Always good after a long trip. It’s made with mint leaves, it’s a house blend I make it myself.” she slid a jar toward me. “I can handle the rest of dinner, you can start on some tea.”

“Alright, that sound good.” I started making the tea, “Is it just you and your father here?” I needed to fill the silence that fell around us.

“Yeah, my mother died when I was really young, so I don’t remember her well. It’s always just been the two of us, I guess after my mother, he could never love anyone else.”

As Fuu moved around the kitchen, I noticed a small box on the little table, “You got something special in there?” I asked, pointing to the box.

She turned to see where I was pointing, “Those are made special every time something big is happening, they go really fast so I got as many as I could. Apparently the emperor has some announcement and celebration about his son.”

She started loading up a tray with dishes for everyone, “Come on, let's feed them before my father puts them to sleep with his plant babble.”

After we ate, Fuu brought out this tray of amazing looking sweets. They were mochi shaped like tigers. I had never seen something so cute that you could eat, it was a nice treat after what had been going on.

“I was lucky to get the ones I did, so everyone please enjoy.” Fuu served us each one. She was right about the tea, I was starting to feel tired, not just tired but foggy. I had only served myself one cup, and it was mostly full. But I had finished my dessert.

“Jiro, are you alright? You’re not looking too good.” Hojo must have noticed that I was starting to sway.

“I don’t know, everything feels so foggy. Is there somewhere I can lay down.” I asked, shaking my head, trying to free it from the fog.

“Fuu, take her upstairs. Use the spare bedroom.” I heard Hojo say to Fuu who took me by the arm. “I’ll be up later to check on you, I’m guessing you are over tired from your trip.”

“Sure thing, I’ll take care of her. Come on Jiro, this way.” I felt her pull me along with her, I was having a hard time walking now.

“What did you do to me?” My words came out half slurred, “You did something to my food, didn’t you?” I was having trouble pulling away from her.

“Please don’t think any less of me, I had to protect my father. They said if I didn’t drug you that they would ruin my father's work. I wouldn’t have done this if I had the choice. Please forgive me.” That was the last thing I heard as everything went black.

Chapter 7

“Jun it’s time for you to wake up.” I felt someone lightly shake me, “You don’t want to sleep the day away, do you.” for some reason the voice sounded like Takeshi, but it couldn’t have been him. I tried to open my eyes, but my eyelids were so heavy I could barely move them.

“I’m still so tired, please leave me alone.” I managed to mumble, everything felt so heavy it was like I was being weighed down with bricks. “Come back for me later.”

“I can’t do that, come now big sister, it’s time to get up.” the voice continued to call me, and now there was a tugging at my hands. “I have some big news for you. So it’s time to get up, sleepy head.” not many people talked to me like that, so I just figured it was Daiki trying to wake me this time, Wait if it was Daiki why did he call me big sister?

As I was pulled up into a sitting position I finally got my eyes open, it took some time for my eyes to focus but as they did, I wasn’t sure where I was. I looked around the room, it was very fancy, almost like the one I had back home. A finely polished mirror sat on a vanity, two floor to ceiling doors leading out onto a small balcony, I could even see a hint of a bathroom through a door on the far side of the room. All the furniture was high quality, even finer than we had back home.

Sitting there at the foot of the bed was someone who looked just like Takeshi. “I must still be sleeping, you were left behind.” I reached out to touch him, but he grabbed onto my hand. His hand was so warm and I could feel every imperfection in his skin. “How?”

“They brought us here because it was the safest place.” Takeshi reassured me, placing my hand over his heart, “See nothing bad happened to me, the ones that attacked the house were looking for you to make sure nothing would happen to you.” he gave me a small smile and I couldn’t contain my tears.

“I was so worried that something had happened to you after they took you away.” I grabbed him up in a tight hug, “I am so sorry we didn’t go back for you, it just wasn’t safe enough for us to go back.” I clung to him, afraid if I let him go that he would vanish.

“I knew you would eventually make your way here, I had faith that we would be back together again.” he pulled back a little and held me by the shoulders, “I won’t let them take you from me again, that’s why I had that girl drug you that why I could get you away from Eiji and the twins.”

There was a dark look in his eyes now, “What are you talking about, it’s because our brothers I made it here, and once they know I’m missing and where to come looking for me we can all leave together.” I said slowly, unsure of how he was going to react. “We’ve been trying to think of different ways to get you back. But I never thought it was going to be this easy.”

“I don’t want to see them, they took you away from me.” Takeshi was getting agitated now, I had never seen him become like this before. “I’ll do everything in my power to keep you with me from now on. It’s my job to protect you, not theirs.”

“What happened to you? You were always so close with the twins. Who is this man that has turned you against your own family?” I knew I was looking at a stranger, there was no way the twins could ever do anything that would make Takeshi hate anyone.

“We were never family, just a bunch of unwanted children thrown together.” he became so cold, “Do you honestly still call them brothers? They probably don’t even know you are missing. So why not stay here with me, forever.” Something wasn’t right with him, like something had snapped. Had leaving him the night broken him so much that he now hates the others, I needed to know more about what happened to him while we were apart.

“Takeshi, that’s enough. Can you not see that you are scaring her.” an older man had come in, “Now come along, it is time for your medicine. You can come visit her again really soon I promise.” he waved Takeshi out the door.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can, please think about staying.” I heard him as the door shut, leaving me with the older man.

“What is wrong with him, he seems to be unstable.” I asked, watching him come across the room. There was something unnatural about the way he moved, I could tell that he hadn’t been involved in much combat but it was clear that he could hold his own if needed.

“Nothing that cannot be cured over time, seems what happened to him when you left him behind caused some kind of fracture in his mind.” I felt my heart drop. “Now I know that it is not anyone's fault that it happened that way, but he believes that your brothers took you away from him and they didn’t want to let you two back together. Now I’m sorry, my name is Oda Orochi.” he bowed his head, “And I already know who you are, Matsu Jun.” I could see his eyes past his short black hair. They were a deep shade of purple, it wasn’t a colour that I had ever seen someone have before. Everything about him, his walk, speech, green clothing said he was a nobleman. But his presence made my hair stand on end, like I was in the room with a dangerous animal.

“Thank you very much for taking care of Takeshi for us, but we should really be getting back to our brothers, they will be very worried about us.” I started to stand when I realized that I was wearing something very heavy, looking down I was dressed in a bright red kimono.

I must have had a confused look on my face, “We took the liberty of having you changed into something more suitable for a young woman of your station. We could not allow the bride to the emperor’s son going around looking like some kind of street urchin.”

That must be that exciting news Fuu was talking about. I tried to keep my head clear, but I was still feeling a little foggy. “But I have never met him or the emperor, so how could that decision be made already?”

“Your father approved of the union himself, there will be an announcement in the next day or two so the whole empire will know the blessed news.” Orochi informed, placing a small blue jade dragon on the bed next to me, “If you want to spare your brothers the same fate, you will do as you are told without complaint.” he warned, changing from calm and pleasant to someone darker and sinister.

“What have you done to him?” I picked up the little dragon, handling it with care. “How could you do something like this to him?” I was starting to feel light headed again, whatever Fuu had given me wasn’t fully out of my system yet.

“Just behave like a proper lady, and your little friend will be free once I am convinced that you will not make a scene.” I couldn’t tell if it was because I was still under the effects of the drug or if something was wrong with the room, but there was something odd coming off of Orochi. “Now get some more rest, you have a big day tomorrow.” I heard him leave just as I drifted off again.

“I found her. She seems to be intact.” rushed whispers woke me, it must have been very late as it was dark. I took a few moments to remember where I was and what was going on.

“Here I was hoping to have to wake the princess with a kiss.” Masazumi smiled at me, then waved the others into the room. Daisuke quietly shut the doors behind them. “Fuu told us what happened, and that she said that she hopes that you will forgive her one day.”

I was slowly remembering what had happened, then remembered that Kyo was locked away in the jade. I felt around for him to make sure he hadn’t fallen to the floor. Once I found him, I held him close to my heart and I would have started crying if it hadn’t been for everyone in the room.

“Are you ok Jun-dono,” Masazumi asked, as he scanned the room, “do you know who brought you here?”

Still clutching Kyo close, “Takeshi told me that he was the one who asked Fuu to drug me.” I slowly put things in order, “He’s suffering from something, I don’t know what’s wrong with him but he’s angry with you three for keeping me away from him.”

“But there was no way we could have known that he was alright.” Eiji was just as confused as the others. “So we’re going to have to find him as well now.”

I shook my head, “No I wouldn’t, he doesn’t seem right and there’s no telling what he could do.” I explained getting up, “There was also an older man that came in, I think he called himself Oda, but I just can’t recall his name.” Everything was still foggy, I tried my best to remember.

"Oda? Oda Orochi?" Masazumi sounded concerned, maybe a little scared.

He dropped my bag in front of me and went to the door loosening his sword. "Get changed. We leave now." He had never given us an order before.

I grabbed my clothes as Eiji found a privacy screen for me, “You seem spooked, you know this man?” I asked, shedding the kimono as quickly as I could. “And what has he done with our brother?”

"I do not know what he has done but he is capable of much more than his title lets on." He didn't really answer. "You all should know who he is. Daimyo Oda Orochi."

“Last I heard he was staying here in Hebi more than his own territory,” Daisuke recalled as I finished changing. “So it doesn’t seem out of place that he would be seen here. But the two of you are making him sound dangerous.”

I held out the jade dragon, “Look what he did to Kyo, you tell me if he’s dangerous. Please tell me you guys brought my sword with you.”

“It wasn’t easy half dragging the thing here.” Daiki complained pointing to the bed, “Can’t exactly be stealthy while dragging it along the floor.”

I tucked Kyo into a secure pocket of my pack, “Right, as much as I would like to get Takeshi, I don’t think it’s for the best.” I picked up my sword.

“We shouldn’t go back to Hojo’s, there’s a good chance that someone will be watching for us there.” Eiji advised as he paused by the door and listened, “Sounds clear, we shouldn’t waste our opening.”

“We will come back for him, won’t we?” I asked, hoping that Eiji would agree with me.

“As soon as we know that it’s safe.” was all Eiji said before the doors flew open, it was like the darkness itself was alive.

“I couldn’t agree more, that’s why you need to stay with me. Unlike them, I know I can keep you safe.” Takeshi walked in, but there was something sinister about the way he looked. “Now why don’t you change out of those rags and come take your rightful place at my side.”

There was something in his voice that was making me feel the fog creep over me again, and I almost started feeling like I wanted to change back to the kimono but then I felt a rush of power wash over me.

“No, I don’t know what kinds of tricks you are using, but they have no power over me.” I closed my eyes and focused on the power running through me, I summoned the dragon armour again. I hadn’t wanted to, but I had no other choice if we were to get out of here. I could feel Masazumi staring at me, and I knew he would have questions later, but they would have to wait for now.

“So the rumours are true, the Azure Dragon had returned.” Orochi appeared behind Takeshi, almost like he came from the darkness itself. “Never would have thought it was you, but no matter it just makes you a better prize than I imagined.”

“Not this time,” I could feel a pulse come from within myself, I could feel Ryu’s power, he was guiding me from wherever he was. “When I say, jump out of the window.” I nodded to my brothers and Masazumi. “I will be back for you Takeshi, that’s a promise. Stay safe for now and I will see you again.”

“Not so fast, there’s nowhere for you to go from here, this is the only door.” Orochi smirked, as if he thought he had outsmarted us.

“That may be the only door, but we can always jump out a window.” I brought my hands up in front of me, “Icy waters, bend to my will, block their path.” I created a wall of thick ice between them and us. “Let’s go, I don’t know how long it will last.” I rushed over to the window, and just as I knew there would be there was a pond under it. “Jump, I can catch us.”

“Are you sure, that’s a small pond.” Daisuke looked down at the pond as I climbed out. “Is there enough water for you to do this?”

“We don’t have a choice, unless you want to take your chances with them. Now I have to be the last to jump so get going.” I watched them climb out the window and hang for a moment, “All together on my mark, one… two... three. Go.” I watched them go and then I let go of the wall myself.

At first I couldn’t find the focus to draw the water up to meet us, but then I heard Eiji yelling at me and I brought the water up from the pond to stop our fall. I guided the water toward the ground so we wouldn’t end up in the pond itself.

“Good job, but are you alright?” Daisuke grabbed my arm once we touched down on the ground. I guess I was a little wobbly after using so much power. “Do you feel tired at all?”

“No, I had been working with Kyo on my control. I just feel a little light headed.” I felt the armour vanish, “I didn’t know the ice wall was going to work, I’m glad it did.” I leaned onto Daisuke’s shoulder, I didn’t want them to worry about me so I tried to not let them see how worn out I was.

“Back the way we came.” Masazumi ordered again, Eiji leading the way, “I think there is more to discuss when we get out of here.”

After only a few steps everyone noticed I was not very steady on my feet. “Daisuke help your brother, Eiji make sure no one gets in our way.” Masazumi gave rapid orders stopping on me. “Sorry but we need to be faster.” He easily scooped me up and ran. He didn’t even seem to notice that he was carrying me.

“I can walk just fine, now put me down.” I fought vainly, there was no way I was going to break the hold he had on me in my present condition. So I gave up as we moved as quickly and quietly as possible through the garden and back into the city.

I kept looking back at the palace and wondering what had happened to Takeshi to make him that way, it must have something to do with Oda Orochi and I was going to get Masazumi tell me more about him.

We stopped at a small tree. “I’ll go over first.” Eiji ordered, “Masazumi, help the others up and over. Daiki first.” With that he easily climbed up the tree and disappeared over the wall.

Masazumi put me down, “Are you alright to climb up?”

“I should be,” I felt better than the last time I called up my armour, “If you can get us somewhere safe, you will get the explanation you're owed.”

“Worry about that later.” He put his back to the tree and cupped his hands. “Do like these two.” Daiki came over, and supported by his brother placed his good leg onto Masazumi’s hands and he hefted him up to the lowest branches.

Daisuke followed suit, jumping under his own power. “Your turn. Up and over quickly.”

I didn’t waste any time and copied the twins. He nearly threw me up the tree, I’d hate to see what he could do with those arms when he’s angry at someone. I thought to myself inching along the branch. I’m so glad he’s on our side for now.

I dropped down the other side to be caught by Eiji, suddenly glad we had that little playtime a few days ago. Masazumi joined us a few seconds later, “Head west I know a spot we can hide out in for a little while.”

Masazumi led the way up to a shady inn called The Peach Blossom, but he reassured us that we would be safe here while we figured out our next step. “I’ll get us a couple of rooms, we should try to rest if we get the chance.” I left my brothers with Masazumi so they could go over most of our story, I would fill in the gaps later.

I excused myself and went upstairs, I needed to be alone to sort out what had happened, there was still so much that I didn’t fully understand. I carefully pulled Kyo from my pack and sat on one of the beds.

“I’m sorry this happened to you Kyo, but I plan on finding a way to get you back to normal.” I promised him. It’s my fault that you were turned into stone, so it’s up to me to make it right. I debated changing, but decided that if we needed to leave in a hurry that it would be better staying dressed as I am.

I placed Kyo on the pillow and curled up. For the first time in days, I cried myself to sleep, I cried for Kyo being trapped, for what had happened Takeshi and out of frustration with myself for not being smarter. If I had been smarter then Kyo wouldn’t have been caught in the middle.

I never wanted the others to see me in such a state, not ever again. I was a little grateful that they decided to leave me alone for now, that way I could let it all out without any of them knowing.

I found myself on an open plain, what looked like farm lands all around me. “No more tears little one, you have a task ahead of you.” I heard Ryu say, but he wasn’t anywhere I could see.

The scene in front of me shifted and changed. Now I was looking at a three level pagoda that was a golden colour with tigers all around, and there was a full moon in the sky behind the building. “Go west find the healer from the house of the shining moon.”

I looked around to see if I could find where I was so I could tell the others, but I didn’t know where I was, “How will I know I’ve found this healer, please I need more information.” I pleaded as the scene around me started to fade.

“Worry not little one, you will know her when you meet. But do not delay, time is not your friend.” was the last thing he said as I found myself looking at the ceiling of the room at the Peach Blossom.

“It’s about time you woke up, I’ve been trying for half an hour.” Daisuke remarked as I sat up. “Eiji says it’s time to start heading out of the city. Masazumi found us away out.”

“West, we have to go west.” I stated, grabbing my pack. “Ryu told me there was a healer at a temple in the west that can help change Kyo back.” I put Kyo back into the pocket of my bag and hurried behind Daisuke to join the others.

We met them outside with one of the city guards, he didn’t look too friendly. Another friend of Masazumi I guessed when he started talking. “Are you the friends of Masazumi?” he asked rudely. All Eiji did was nod, “Good, let's go. Quietly.”

We followed him through the back streets. Backtracking at times to avoid other guards. Once we got to the east gate the guard turned to us, “Wait here, I’ll wave you over once it’s safe for you to go.” he went over to the other guards at the gate. It looked like he was talking to them for a few minutes until another joined them and the first two started to gather their things, getting ready to leave.

Once they left, it seemed to be an eternity before our guard’s partner left and he waved us over. “Alright, time for you to go. I'm going to go over to where you were hiding, once you get a few hundred feet from the wall, you will most likely be spotted and the archers on the walls have orders to shoot on sight, spread out and run for the trees, don't slow and don't stop for anything."

“Thank you, without you we couldn’t have gotten this far.” I said, shaking his hand. “You put a lot on the line for us.”

“Don’t be thanking me, once the alarm bell sounds I’m going to be chasing after you. Masazumi will be waiting for you just inside the tree line, and when you see that walking pain in the ass you can tell him that we are more than even now.” he turned from us to open the gate.

“Right, we thank you all the same.” Eiji came up beside me. “You ready for this?” he asked me, all I could do was nod.

“Alright, go” the guard opened the gate and we ran with everything we had. I hadn’t realized how far it was to the trees, there was nothing but empty ground for what had to be a half dozen kilometres. I pulled ahead of the others quickly, and I knew that with my speed I could keep the archers distracted long enough for my brothers to make it to the trees.

“Jun, don’t be reckless, they aim to kill.” Eiji scolded me as I passed him and Daiki a second time. “We’ll be fine, just worry about yourself.”

“That’s not happening, I’m faster than you, so if I can take their attention off of you, I will.” he wasn’t going to change my mind. He was always going out of his way to protect me, so now it was my turn to protect him. “I’ll take Daiki, that way you’ll get able to get to cover safely.”

“I’ve got him, take care of yourself.” Eiji urged me on, “We’ll be fine.”

The alarm bells sounded and the arrows started to fly past, narrowly missing. They were bound to get lucky eventually, “I hope this works.” I muttered, spinning around. I had only one chance at this, “Icy waters guard our backs.” I managed to bring up thin ice shields behind us that way we would have a little protection.

“Jun don’t get reckless, you’ll overexert yourself.” I ignored him, nothing was going to stop me from protecting my family.

I could see and hear arrows bouncing off my little ice shields, they faded in frequency as we ran, the long shots becoming harder with so few targets, until they stopped altogether.

“Jun you stupid fool,” Eiji snapped once we were safe, “We would have been fine, there was no point in you draining yourself farther.”

“I would prefer to be tired than be full of arrows.” I snapped back at him, trying to drop the shields.

“I think we are alright now Jun,” Daisuke kept watch on the open field we just ran across, “they don’t seem to be following us yet. You can drop the protections.”

“I’ve been trying, but it seems to be out of my control.” I tried waving them away again and they cracked a little. I could feel the drain of the magic was taking on me, “It’s starting to look like I tried to do too much.” My vision was starting to get blurry, “I can’t get it to dissolve, the ice is not listening to me.”

“Calm down.” Eiji told me unhelpfully, “You’re still panicked.” He was right, I could still feel my heart pounding from the danger and the want to help my brothers.

Masazumi came over to us and I relaxed a little. “Useful trick you have Jun-dono.” he smiled. “They will need some time to send out a search party so we should move while we can. Rest when we get some distance.”

Seeing that everyone was safe, I managed to calm myself a little and it seemed enough to regain control over the ice as I made it drop. “Rest sounds like a good idea right now.” I started to sway on my feet as Daisuke put a hand on my shoulder to steady me.

“Climb on my back, I’ll carry you while you rest.” I knew that he wouldn’t be able to carry me for too long, but I knew he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“That sounds like a plan.” Eiji helped me onto Daisuke’s back and I fell right asleep.

Chapter 8

“Where do we go from here? We can’t go home and there is no way we can stay here.” I heard Daiki ask as I opened my eyes. I guess I had been too heavy for Daisuke, Eiji was now carrying me. I didn’t move just yet, I wanted to know what they had to say. “We can’t keep running forever.”

“All of you can come home with me.” Masazumi suggested. “We can protect her better than the three of you alone.”

“That’s not happening.” As Eiji spoke, I felt the words vibrate through me, “I swore I would be the one protecting her and that’s what I plan to keep doing.”

“And when Orochi finds you, what will you do then? There is only one way to keep your little princess safe, and that is not alone.” Masazumi was really pressing the matter. “You do not understand what he can be like.”

I was done listening to them fight over who was going to protect me, “Nor are we going to find out.” I lifted my head up, “I do not need anyone to protect me.” Eiji turned his head a little to look at me.

“How much of that did you hear?” he asked, knowing full well that I had heard enough to know that he and Masazumi were in a bit of trouble.

“You know that I can take care of myself, and both of you need to lay off of this overprotective act.” I slid down from Eiji’s back. “I may not be able to use my powers fully on my own just yet, but every time I use them I get better, and stronger. If either one of you two think that whisking me away to hide until it’s safe, you are sadly mistaken.” I stood in between them.

“This is insanity, there is no point in putting yourself in harm's way if it can be helped. I can take you to my home where you can be safe, cannot think of anywhere you would be safer.” Masazumi seemed angry over the fact that I didn’t fall over myself to accept his offer.

“You don’t get it, I am not a bird to be kept in a cage. I have spent so much of my life protected, locked away for my own good. So I will never again allow myself to be hidden from the world when my brothers need me the most.” I finished with Masazumi and turned on Eiji, “And you if I ever catch you thinking about letting someone, and I don’t care who they are, put me away somewhere for my own good again I will do many unkind things to you.”

“I know you are not a delicate flower, but he does have a point. And as much as I don’t want to agree with Masazumi, I think laying low for now may just be the best option.” I stared at him in utter shock, Eiji knew that I couldn’t stand the thought of being treated like a fragile doll again, so why would he even think I would be alright with him thinking it was a good idea.

“No, it’s not happening. I don’t care what the rest of you do, but I am heading west. Ryu said there was a healer at a shrine that can help Kyo and that is where I plan on going.” I started to storm off when Masazumi caught my hand.

“Please listen to reason.” he pleaded holding my furious gaze, “You cannot even seem to use these gifts of yours more than once or twice. A safe place to train is the best thing.” He hesitated a second, “I may even know someone who can help your little friend.”

“This is not your problem anymore.” I pulled away from him so I could look at him properly, “I already know where we can find a healer, like I already said I’m heading west like I was told. I don’t know what the rest of you want to do, but that is where I am going.” I tried to keep my temper in check, the last thing I wanted to do was accidently freeze someone and not know how to fix it.

“How about we all get some rest.” Daiki suggested, for once being the voice of reason. “None of us have gotten much rest, and I am getting tired.”

I now felt like a heel, I had completely forgotten about Daiki’s injury. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”

“A part of that stream we have been following is close by.” Masazumi commented, “Think you can walk for fifteen minutes or so?” He seemed concerned for Daiki.

He nodded, “I think that’s possible.” I knew he wasn’t going to be mad at me for being too short sighted. “But Jun has to carry me if I can’t make it.” he flashed me his winning grin.

“I think I can live with that. I can always throw you over my shoulder if it comes to that.” I promised, getting a small laugh from Daiki.

We set up a small camp next to the stream, no fire or tents in case we had to pick up and run, but the moon was bright and full so we didn’t need the fire. I told them about what Ryu had shown me and that it was the only way to restore Kyo. Daiki paled when I mentioned the tigers.

“So do you have a name for the healer?” Eiji asked once I was done. “How are you going to know who we’re looking for?”

“He didn’t say a name. All he said was that she was from the house of the shining moon and I would know her when I met her.” I looked over to Daisuke, “Any ideas on which clan we’re looking for?” Of the four of us, I knew he might know which clan we should try looking for. Daisuke had studied the names of almost all the names of the major clans in the empire, so with any luck we might just have a head start on our search.

“There could be a few but I haven’t researched the western lands much.” he shook his head. “We could take a stop in Masu, we could find some of the answers we need from Lord Azai. There shouldn’t be too many places that would allow such large animals to roam freely.”

“Anywhere that allows tigers to roam around doesn’t sound like a place for a healer if you ask me.” Daiki muttered as he pushed a small stone around with the toe of his shoe. I knew he wasn’t a big fan of tigers since we were children so going to a place that had them wandering freely would be the last place he would want to go. “Why would Lord Ryu send us there?”

“I don’t know, but something about it feels right. So that’s where we are going. Masazumi, are you still coming with us?” I noticed he was really quiet, almost like he was pulling away from us.

“I am not sure, this is a lot for one person to take in.” he got up, “I need some time to think.” he walked off into the trees. I went to get up, but Eiji stopped me with a shake of his head.

“Let him go, it is on him to choose his own path now. Just as you choose your way, you need to let him do the same.” I knew Eiji was right, but I could help but want Masazumi to continue travelling with us. “Now you should try to get some more sleep, I’ll wake you if we have to move.” he tossed a blanket at me.

I woke up sometime later, it was still really dark and I could tell that Masazumi hadn’t returned yet. Since I couldn’t sleep any more, I went to go find him. I found him practicing in the moonlight.

I found a tree stump to sit on and watched him, he seems more comfortable practicing in the moonlight, his swords catching the light just enough to make them seem like light themselves. I wish there was a way to make some tea, then it would have been like being at home watching Toro and Eiji spar. I must have been lost in my memories because I didn’t notice that he had come to sit next to me.

“Having fun watching?” he asked as I shook my head, bringing myself back to the present.

“Seeing you practice made me think of when we were at home, all together.” I started to explain. “When Eiji and Toro would train I would always make sure to have something ready for them to eat when they were finished. It feels like that was a lifetime ago. Thinking of happier times hurts a lot more now that I know that Takeshi is still alive.” I looked up to the moon, “I still blame myself for leaving him behind.”

“It is not your fault, there is no way you could have known he would be waiting for you here.” Masazumi tried to console me. “And with Orochi involved there is a very good chance you would not have gotten him away willingly.”

“But there was something off about how he was acting, even when Daiki was being extra irritating Takeshi would never be angry. It was almost like he was a whole different person.” I pulled one leg up closer so I could rest my cheek on my knee, “It was the first time I was actually afraid of my brother.”

“It may not have been, not completely.” he was starting to raise more questions. “I do not know the extent of his abilities, but I know a little about the power he wields. Used improperly they could make Orochi extremely dangerous.”

“How is it you know so much about Orochi and what he can do?” I asked, there were more questions than answers by this point. “Why does it feel like you know more than you’re letting on?” I needed some answers so I knew that my trust was completely misplaced.

“I spent a long time travelling, not just as a ronin. Eventually you get to know a little about a lot.” He avoided my question carefully. “I know that your youngest brother is in trouble, but is safe enough. I do not believe he will be harmed. I know the one you are looking for will help you, no questions asked. She is the one I mentioned earlier.”

I picked up my head, “Just how could you, I wasn’t given much to go on. What is it you are not telling me?” I could tell there was something important that he was keeping hidden.

He seemed to wrestle with telling me more, “I can only say what is safe for you to know, and what I can freely say.” I both wanted to throttle the answers out of him and respect his need for secrets. “There are not many with the gift Orochi and,” he paused thinking of something to say, “your healer have. But I can promise that she will help you.”

I let out a frustrated sigh, “I’d like something a little more than blind faith to go on, but lately I’ve learned that a leap of faith means placing your trust in others when you’re not sure where to land.” I ruffled my hair, trying to work off some of my tension. “It would be nice to have a few clear answers, but I’ll make do with confusing riddles.”

“I wish I could do more for you Jun-dono.” He looked up to the sky, “I am not as free as you think. But I believe that there is something I can go get that will help me aid you. If it exists.”

“So that means we’re going west without you.” he didn’t have to say but I knew we’d be parting ways here. “Daiki will miss you.” I wanted to beg for him to stay and continue on with us, but as Eiji had said we each have our own paths that we need to follow.

“Yes.” He said a little reluctantly. “I never believed in the stories of the Azure Dragon and the others, but as she is stunningly sitting next to me, I think I need to re-examine what I know to be true.”

“I guess I’m not the great hero one would expect. It’s pretty pathetic that I can’t go more than a few days without fainting.” I felt like I was letting everyone down with just how inconvenient it was having to carry me around all the time.

“I am willing to bet he was much worse off than you are. And I never lose a bet.” He gave me a charming smile tilting my chin up. “From what I remember he was a horribly ugly man. I prefer the new one.”

I could feel myself blushing from his closeness, Why can I hear a drum, oh that would be my heart. He was so much closer than ever before, “I wouldn’t know about that.” I managed to stammer out. I couldn’t seem to string together a coherent sentence other than that.

I thought I saw his eyes flick to my lips. He gently whispered, “I do.” He leaned in, closing the small distance.

I let out a small panicked squeak, a sound I didn’t know I was capable of making, and ungracefully fell back off of the tree we had been sitting on. It felt like my heart was going to break out of my chest.

Masazumi was beside me in a second, “Are you alright?” He held out a hand, “I am sorry if I was too forward.”

I nodded, taking his hand, “I just have… hurt brother needs attention. Should go and…Daiki that one.” I couldn’t stop the rambling no matter how hard I tried.

He just smiled again, and easily lifted us both to our feet, barely a hair between us. “How about I leave you with a small parting gift.” He pulled a small calligraphy set out of his bag and held his hand out for mine. “May I?”

I nodded, placing my hand in his. I was a little curious about what he was planning on doing but I didn’t try to ask in case I started rambling again.

In a few deft strokes he put a character on the back of my hand. “Through intense training and hard work, the true warrior becomes quick and strong. They are not as most people, they develop a power that must be used for good.” he easily quoted from reading something many times. “They have compassion. They help their fellow man at every opportunity.” He held my stare, “You my lady embody Jin beyond any I have ever met.”

I couldn’t take my eyes off of him, caught in his ocean blue eyes. “I… thank you.” I was at a loss for words while the heat in my face flared again. “I should really check on my… Daiki.” I wanted to retreat but I couldn’t bring myself to take my hand back.

“If he is asleep leave him be, and get some yourself. I will stay on watch for a little longer.” He gently let my hand go, “Sleep well.”

“Yes, right. Sleep is a… thing.” I walked as fast as I could, still trying to stop the words from leaving my mouth. Could I have been less graceful, I think I’ve seen stones with more tact than that display. I scolded myself for acting like a complete fool of myself. At least he’s leaving so you won’t have to worry about doing that again.

Sleep was next to impossible for the rest of the night, I kept going over what had just happened and my less than graceful reaction. My mind started going over the ‘what if’s’ and it only made things worse.

I’m sure with one word I could die of embarrassment. I wonder if I can drown because I think jumping into a very deep lake sounds like a marvellous idea right now. I laid back watching the sky above me slowly change. Maybe I do have some kind of feelings for him like Kyo said. But how could I for some who is such a shameless flirt and there is the obvious difference in rank, so even if I did what good would it do me. My thoughts were running wild by the time Masazumi came back and Eiji was starting to wake.

“So figured out what your next move will be?” I heard Eiji ask. I didn’t want them to know I was listening just yet, I wanted to see if they could actually be civil with each other while no one was looking.

“Unfortunately she is determined to go west,” Masazumi answered, “I still think it would be better to come south with me but I know when I am beaten.” I could almost feel him watching me. “I can get their attention and run south. I have friends in between here and the mountains who I can turn to. With a little luck they will not notice you four until it is too late.”

“Does she know this?” I couldn’t tell if Eiji was against this plan Masazumi came up with, “For one reason or another she has grown attached to you and it will break her heart if you just up and disappeared.”

"She knows I am leaving. She does not know I am going to use myself as bait." He told my brother. "I will give you fair warning. Assuming I am not killed soon, I plan on returning once I have found something that could be helpful."

I could almost see the thoughtful look on Eiji’s face, “I won’t say anything in case we don’t cross paths again. I don’t want to be responsible for taking away her hope just yet.”

"Despite your shortcomings, you are a good brother." He just had to try and anger Eiji. "I need a little sleep before I start running. Wake me in three hours please."

I couldn’t make out what Eiji muttered, but I assumed there was some kind of name calling involved. “I can’t be sure of it but I know you are more than a Guardian, I just hope you’ll feel a little more like sharing your past when you get back. That’s the least she deserves.”

I gave up trying to sleep as the sun started to come up, I must have gotten a little sleep because when I looked around the camp Masazumi was gone. “I wish Masazumi had said something before he left.” Daiki sighed as we gathered our things. “But I guess he’s not one for long goodbyes. Are you going to be alright with that?”

I knew that Masazumi was planning on doing something stupid and he didn’t want me to know about it. “I will be, but I plan on giving him a piece of my mind next time I see him.”

“Then we’ll have to make sure to survive until then, because I would love to see your tiny self get up in his face.” Daiki laughed as I turned a bright shade of red.

I tried my best to suppress the blush that was only getting worse the more the memory of the night before came back to the surface. “I wouldn’t put it like that.”

“Why dear sister, one would think you like Masazumi better than us.” Daiki continued to torment me, his eyes drifting to my right hand. “That’s adorable, a promise exchanged, a confession perhaps. Written on the back of your hand?” I could see the mischief playing in his amber eyes.

“Don’t even go there, it’s not like that.” I tried protesting, tried even harder not to hide my hand. He wasn’t listening, “I swear to you it’s not like that, but even if it was I’m not foolish enough to actually think that we might cross paths again.” as much as I wanted to believe what I was saying, there was a little piece of myself that knew we’d see Masazumi again eventually.

This caught Daisuke’s attention, “Jin is an interesting choice for a goodbye. Most men would have tried to woo with love or beauty.”

“Not you too, come on guys give it a rest.” there was no living with them now that they had something to tease me with. “You both know that it will never work out, we come from two different worlds.” I needed to get them to drop the subject. “Can we move past this now?”

The alarm bells started to sound, “That’s our signal, make sure that nothing gets left behind, we still have a lot of ground to cover before we reach the next town.” Eiji spared me from further torment.

We didn’t waste a moment, we grabbed our belongings and started making our way north to the closest town to get whatever we needed to make our way west. Daisuke must have noticed I was lagging behind, “Don’t worry Jun, fools like him don’t seem to know when to give up. We’ll see him again.” Daisuke nudged his twin with his shoulder.

“What’s that supposed to mean? You calling me a fool?” Daiki shoved him back, this is always how their fights start and most of the time we just let them fight things out. “Last time I checked, I’m the one who keeps saving your sorry ass.”

“Really, I clearly recall saving you a few nights ago. Or have forgotten me protecting you with the cooking pot.” Eiji stepped in between them, it seemed that this fight needed someone to intervene before it came down to a fist fight.

“Enough, we have to hurry. They won’t be fooled for long and we have a long way to go if we want to save our little friend.” he pushed Daiki ahead of him. “I’m sure Masazumi isn’t stupid enough to not come back after being such a thorn in the side, so don’t worry too much about him. Just you focus on getting Kyo out of that jade.”

I hope you’re right, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to him. I thought as I let Eiji take the lead. We had a long journey ahead of us, and I couldn’t spend the entire time worrying about someone who could clearly take care of himself.

Chapter 9

We had been travelling for a couple weeks and a heavy tension had fallen over us as we pressed on. We stopped at Kura, a busy border city between the Oda lands and Hebi. We quickly traded the silk I had and most of the money we had left for a horse each. As we left town we heard a rumour that there was a son of a noble family being held in Hebi after being accused of treason.

All of my brothers tried their best to convince me that Masazumi had made it safely to wherever it was he was heading, but I still had a nagging feeling that made me worry he had been caught nevertheless.

As we crossed the border into the Azai territory I was finished with the silence. I waited until the twins went to find some firewood, “Eiji what is with you lately? Ever since Masazumi left you haven’t been yourself.” I finally cornered him as we set up camp for the night.

“Nothing, you're just imagining things.” he tried brushing me off, but I wasn’t about to let up on him just yet.

“I don’t think so, I get that we have to be careful on our way to the temple but it’s almost like you are acting guilty about something.” I must have hit a nerve because he stopped what he was doing.

“What would I have to feel guilty about?” He was clearly trying to dodge me, but he should have known better than to try. “Masazumi left of his own accord, even so it should have been clear that the both of you are from different worlds and you should know better.”

“But that’s not true now is it. You told me yourself that the twins and I were taken in by Akio so there is a chance we don’t come from noble blood. So what does it matter to you?” I hadn’t noticed the twins come back to the camp, so they heard us fighting.

“What does she mean, Eiji what’s going on?” Daisuke asked as he and Daiki got closer. “What would make you believe that we aren’t family?”

“Nothing, it’s not important.” Eiji tried to avoid the conversation. “This is neither the time nor the place to be having this kind of discussion.”

“No I think that this is the perfect time to talk about this,” I could see that Daiki was becoming uncharacteristally angry.

“Daiki, we are out in the open,” Eiji tried again to delay the conversation. “I haven’t kept anything…”

“What kind of lies have you been telling us?” Daiki leapt onto Eiji, knocking both of them to the ground. I guess Eiji didn’t think Daiki was able to knock him over, he looked shocked as they hit the ground. “Why wait to bring up something that could change everything we’ve ever known to be true?” he started punching Eiji wildly, not really caring if any of the blows connected.

“I didn’t tell you.” Daiki got a punch in. “Because of everything that has been going on,” another punch got through, “If you let up on me I will tell you the full story.” Eiji managed to get out between punches, he was trying his best to block them, but some managed to get through.

“Daisuke, are you alright? Sit down, I'll get you a drink.” I left Daiki on Eiji while I tended to Daisuke, he looked like he could use the attention more, his face had gone pale. “I didn’t mean for you two to find out like this, I was just so angry at Eiji, I kind of threw it at him.” I sat him down and filled a cup from my water skin. “I didn’t mean for you guys to find out like this.”

“How long have you known? Why not tell us right away?” he was shaken, I couldn’t blame him. I remember the night Eiji told me, I didn’t want to believe it either.

“Not long,” I looked over to Eiji and Daiki, “Wait here, I’m going to pull Daiki off of him and then Eiji can explain himself to you guys.” I went back to them hoping I didn’t have to get violent with them.

“Jun why didn’t you make him tell us right away?” Daiki yelled as I pulled the back of his shirt.

“Because I said I would tell you, once I thought you two could handle the news. I’ll tell the three of you the full story, but only once you’ve calmed down.” Eiji pushed Daiki back a little so he could get to his feet. “I did what I thought was right, but I guess I was wrong.” I helped Daiki to his feet and brought him to Daisuke.

“So while we’re all mad at you, finish it off. That way there’s no more secrets between us.” I sat with the twins, holding Daisuke’s hand. I couldn’t tell which one of us needed it more, but he gripped on pretty tight.

“Father’s lands had been ravaged by plagues and he opened his house to all he could save. That turned out to be only you three, Takeshi and Toro,” I felt Daisuke shift a little, I guess hearing their names still hurt him a bit. “Back then father was kind to all and we had great relations with the neighbouring lands, so when disaster struck many of them banded together to aid him. The three of you came from high ranking families so father knew you would be a good fit for the family, but it didn't really matter to him he was just happy that he could help.” Eiji sat across from us, but he couldn't bring himself to look at any of us.

“Why would he do that? The man we know is nowhere near that kind. I can’t remember the last time we had guests that didn’t have to be at the house.” Daisuke asked, his voice was a little quiet. “I know that our relations with the other territories haven’t been great either, the last trade agreement I read mentioned something about you being married to the Azai princess.”

“Me being married off to the Azai was father’s last ditch effort to get an upper hand on the farming trades. My father was much kinder before our mother’s accident years ago.” He looked like he was having a hard time reliving this for us, but it was important for all this to be out in the open. “After what happened to her, father shut himself off from the rest of the empire. Only dealing with the other Daimyos when it suited his needs.”

“So taking us in was his last kind act.” It was strange hearing it said out loud. “And once he changed, that was when he cracked down on us. With all of the rules and restrictions, what better way to keep the world from knowing he had been raising the next Azure Dragon.” Daisuke repeated, slowly going over everything we had been through up until now.

“Maybe, but it all seems to be a lot to take in right now. I’m not hungry right now, I’ll take a small walk around to make sure we haven’t drawn anyone’s attention.” I grabbed my sword and made my way into the trees.

I was having a hard time with everything, so much had changed in such a short time that it all was getting to be too much. All I wanted was for something, it didn’t matter how small it was, to stay the same. Even the air is different here. I can’t wait to go home, if I can call that place my home ever again. I thought as I ducked under a low hanging branch. Would I even be able to go back, if the truth ever got out would it even be possible?

It was all just too much for me to think about now, it was a distraction that I couldn’t afford. “Jun-hime?” I heard from somewhere close by, but there was no one that I could see. “What are you doing by yourself?” I looked up to see a familiar face looking back down at me.

Growing up I had always had a pair of kunoichi from the Sesai village watching over me. I had been told that it had been for my own protection but after a while I started to think it was because Akio was starting to see something in me that he had wanted closely monitored.

“Kasumi? How did you find your way here?” I watched her lithe body ease down from the tree above me, she moved with little sound so it was no wonder she had snuck up on me. “Is Ayame with you too?” I hadn’t seen them since they had been called back home before the attack happened. I could never figure out just how she and her sister could move around wearing the Matsu colours unseen. While Kasumi would wear a full length kimono when the occasion called for it, right now she was in dark riding clothes, I guessed it was so she could make it to us without being stopped.

“She is close by, I came ahead because I heard someone moving around.” She looked me over with her razor sharp brown eyes, “I am glad to see you are all right, once we got word of what had happened I was so worried that something horrible had happened to you.”

“We’ve been lucky until now, but it’s so good to see you. I’ve been worried that I would never get to see you and Ayame again.” I gushed, launching myself at her wrapping her in a tight hug. Kasumi had always been like a big sister to me, always looking out for my best interests, I always felt the safest with her around.

She wiggled out of my embrace, “Take me to the others and get us caught up on what has been happening.” Kasumi always had a talent for keeping personal things personal and business, business.

Right now she was all business. “Shouldn’t we wait for Ayame? It would make things easier than having to explain everything twice.”

“If she is not with them already, I will signal her.” Kasumi said motioning for me to start moving. For all I know Ayame was right behind me. For one so happy and a little bubbly, she could nearly vanish anywhere.

We quickly made our way back to the camp. “Hey look who,” I paused for a second, “well found me.”

Before any of them could greet Kasumi, or even move beyond turning their heads, the area was lit up with Ayame’s cheerful voice. “Jun-hime!” she dropped out from god knows where and crushed me in a tight embrace. Unlike her older sister, Ayame wore a kimono that came to just above her knees and sleeves that stopped at her elbows in a dark blue with silver trim. “We were so worried about you.” Despite being much smaller than her older sister, Ayame was still scary strong.

“It’s so good to see you again.” I hugged her back, trying not to choke on her brown hair around her shoulders, “I can’t wait to tell you everything that’s happened while you’ve been away.” Thankfully I didn’t have that issue with Kasumi as she kept her hair much shorter.

We told them everything from the moment of the attack to leaving Kura. Kasumi taking it all in with calm composure, with the odd question for clarification. While Ayame was nearly in tears over having left me at such a disastrous time.

I had left out a few details about the last time I sat with Masazumi. The last thing I needed was Eiji flying off the handle and sending one of them to go kill him. “How did you two know where we were?” I asked. While it was part of their job to find information, we left abruptly from everywhere we have stopped, and no one knew our real names.

Ayame answered before Kasumi could even open her mouth, “Oh that because Lord Raizo told us where to start looking for you.” she crooned with a little smile and admiration in her soft brown eyes when she said an unfamiliar name.

“The Mochizuki heir? We didn’t come across anyone from the south.” Daisuke asked, “We were travelling with a ronin who said he did train with the Guardians for a little while…” he must have realized something when he paused.

“Why would the heir of a major clan be a lowly sell-sword?” Eiji scoffed. “It couldn’t have been the same man.”

Daisuke didn’t seem convinced, “But it all seems to fit now that I think about it, how else would he have been able to know it was us? There is a small possibility that Masazimi could be the banished heir.”

“Remember the rumours a couple years ago,” Daiki cut in, “he stepped out of line for some reason so his father sent him away. It was all the talk in Hebi when we were there for the Rain of Flowers festival.”

“Omasu never confirmed sending his son away, nor was there a change of succession.” Eiji countered. “They rarely come down from their mountains mostly sending their Guardians to see everything done.”

While they briefly debated Masazumi’s identity Ayame pulled me in close. “Was this Masazumi tall, broad and handsome?” She asked with a little mischievous smile I’ve never seen. “Hair blacker than the night, and blue eyes you could drown in.”

She described Masazumi perfectly, but also several other people. “It could just be a coincidence.” I tried to bury any thoughts of the last night we had travelled together.

“There’s one way to know for sure.” She pressed on, “Did he wear his wakizashi on his left, and go out of his way to help you?”

I nodded, “But I would think that anyone trying to stay on Eiji’s good side would help me.” I didn’t have an argument for where he carried the short sword. “We were just at the capital, there’s a good chance that this Raizo saw us there.”

“Not my Raizo. He always goes out of his way to help.” She swooned with more than a little glee. “You said you were taken by force into the castle and he helped get you out without a second thought. That is exactly how he is.”

“He didn’t just help, Masazumi was basically in charge.” Daiki came over and joined our conversation, “We wouldn’t have been able to get Jun back if he hadn’t been there.”

I was stuck on her choice of words. ‘My Raizo’. The man I was with didn’t seem like the one woman kind. And if he was the one she has been talking about constantly for the last few years she was in for a rude awakening. One that he will be very sorry about if he had been two timing Ayame.

She gave Daiki a shove, “Girl talk, no boys.” She seemed annoyed with his presence. “Go give Kasu some more details on how you got into the castle.”

“You two are never any fun.” Daiki laughed as he left us, “But you can keep your girly secrets for now, but next time you have more fun letting me join in too.”

I gave him a pretend confused look, “You want to talk about clothes, accessories and boys?” I teased him.

“Are you kidding me, you two always have the best gossip. I just put up with all the other garbage to get to the good stuff.” he actually sounded a little serious with the way he said it.

“Shoo.” Ayame demanded, throwing one of her razor sharp needles into his backside. All Sesai carried a collection of the thin metal weapons, used in their particular combat style. And each could be deadly in one of their hands. She drew another from its hiding spot, “She’s spent enough time with all you little boys. It’s girl time.”

I laughed as the insulted look on Daiki’s face, “You didn’t have to do that, you know he’s just a busy body.”

“Well one of them needed to pay for the chop job they did to your hair.” I had forgotten that my hair was shorter now. “I take it they wanted you to blend in with them?”

I shook my head, “Far from it, when we were attacked in Hima I was caught by my hair and Eiji accidently cut it helping me get away. It was horribly uneven so Daisuke did what he could to make me look presentable.” I explained touching the ends of my hair, “I actually like it right now, this way I don’t have to worry about it getting in my way if we have to take off in a hurry again.”

“Well let’s see if we can fix what they did.” She beamed. “Kasu! Come help me.” She called her sister.

We spent most of the night sitting up and talking about anything and everything, Ayame always knew when I needed just to talk and after what had happened earlier in the night it was exactly what I needed.

I dodged most of her questions about Masazumi the best I could while I tried to get as much information about Raizo from as I could, which wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be. The more she talked about him I started to think that the two men were one in the same, but we wouldn’t know until Masazumi met back up with us.

Since there weren't enough horses Kasumi rode with me, and Ayame chose to ride with Eiji, who didn’t look thrilled to have her chatter away in his ear about the Mochizuki heir the whole time. The twins and I thought it was a fitting punishment for keeping secrets, but I kind of thought we were being a little hard on him, he was only doing what he thought was right.

“Kasumi, what can you tell me about my mother?” I asked her as we rode through the magnolia and willow trees. I figured she may know something that she could tell me about her. “I don’t remember her well and I want to know more about her.”

“What brought this now Jun-hime? You've never asked about her before.” I could feel her become uncomfortable behind me, maybe Eiji had asked her not to say anything. “Whatever Lord Eiji told you is all I know. We as children were never told much about that day.”

“I don’t want to know about that,” I looked over my shoulder at her a little, “I want to know what she was like.”

“She was very much like you are now, very strong willed and caring. She would be very proud of the woman you have become.” I wanted to believe her so much, that my mother would be proud of me and the decisions I’ve made up until now. “Now let’s stop for the night so I can rescue Lord Eiji from my sister.” she pointed over my shoulder to them.

Eiji looked like he was going to throw her from the horse as she chatted away, guess he suffered enough for now. I waved for the others to stop and we made a small fire to cook dinner. Kasumi managed to get Ayame to stop talking long enough for us to eat in silence, after that I excused myself to get some sleep.

A little while later Ayame came to check on me. “Jun-hime, It’s not like you to keep to yourself like this. Is everything alright?” she seemed to really be concerned.

“I’m fine, it was just a long day of doing nothing.” I wasn’t completely honest with her, I was starting to miss having Masazumi around. Things seem really quiet without him and Eiji squabbling over something.

“Right and your favourite colour is pink. You only get like this when you’re trying to deal with something you don’t want anyone else to know about, so what’s on your mind.” Ayame sat down next to me, “So this is your little dragon you were talking about, he looks adorable like this.” she picked up Kyo and looked him over.

“Wait until you see him when he’s not jade, he fits nicely on my shoulder or coiled around my arm.” I could see there was something else she wanted to say, but didn’t know if she could. “Is there something you wanted to ask?”

She waited for a very long moment, debating her words. “Do you think that Raizo found someone else?” I’ve never seen Ayame so concerned about anything. “When I saw him, there was something different about him.”

“I wouldn’t know, even if they are the same person, I wouldn’t be able to notice if there had been a change.” I gave her the most honest answer I could. “But just in case they are, you should know that he’s been flirting with every woman he sees.”

“There were rumours that he was usually less than faithful a long time ago,” she looked a little dispirited, “but he was nothing but honest and loyal when we were together so I never listened to them.” She angered slightly, “I know they were just jealous that they couldn’t catch his eye and I did.”

I could only imagine what would happen if she ever found out that ‘her’ Raizo was the shameless flirt Masazumi, “You truly are a special individual. I just hope that you’ll be happy no matter what happens.” I smiled a little, I really did want her to be happy. Everyone deserves to have something to look forward to.

She jumped on me in a tight hug, “Thank you Jun.” If it wasn’t for my new strength she might have broken something. “Here I was trying to make you feel better.”

“Well I thought that since you’re always looking out for me, I just thought you could use someone looking out for you for a change.” It made me feel so much better than I had been, it was exactly what I needed to help me feel better.

Chapter 10

With the sun starting to dip low behind the trees, thankfully we are nearing our next stop. Kasumi had decided that she would keep riding with me, while Ayame rode with Daiki for the time.

The trees had thinned out quite a bit, it was going to be flat lands before long. I could feel Kasumi stiffen slightly then say “Ayame, go.” no other words. She must have known something wasn’t right, I had always trusted her judgement.

“On it.” was Ayame’s answer before she slid off the horse and disappeared into the trees. I could feel Kasumi shifting to look back at Daisuke. “Be ready to take the horse’s reins.”

“What's going on Kasumi?” I was starting to get concerned. Something had her spooked and that didn’t make me feel good about what might happen.

“We might be in some trouble, nothing to worry about,” she reassured me “Can you ride past Daiki and Eiji?” I did, moving beside Daiki first, “Daiki be ready to take one of the horse’s reins.” we moved on “Eiji be ready to dismount and have that bow ready, I believe we are about to have some trouble.”

A few moments later all hell broke loose, I heard a rustle and Kasumi jumped up off the horse and threw several of the senbon that both she and Ayame carried. Each hit a shuriken that had been flying at us.

“Get off.” she yelled, we all dismounted Eiji rushed over to me bow at the ready, while the twins took the horses. Five dark clad men rushed out of the trees.

Eiji called out “Get the horses out of here, we'll take them.” The twins took off at a full gallop while Eiji and I went back to back and I drew my blade.

Kasumi rushed to the closest one and quickly took him down leaving a needle every time she hit. One of them broke off to go after the twins and I watched Ayame fall out of nowhere, landing on his shoulders “Hi.” she said with that friendly smile of hers. She threw all of her full body weight backwards, taking him with her and crashing his head into the ground and moved on to her next target.

I could feel Eiji beginning to fire off shots, there were just too many for Kasumi and Ayame to handle alone. One managed to get close, however he was not ready for my speed or strength and I slashed deep across his chest and he fell away.

The next one came from the branches above, a short sword already drawn and coming at me. I stopped it with the side of my blade. He's strong, I can't force him away to strike back. I heard footsteps running, getting closer and then Kasumi shouting “Jun-hime, watch out.”

A quick arrow from Eiji slowed him down enough for Kasumi to grab his arm, twist and plant three needles into it, “You will not hurt Lady Jun.” she snapped then delivered a roundhouse kick to the side of his head.

Back to my immediate problem, I focused on the man in front of me. “Mighty river hear my call, aid me in my time of need.” I called up a stream of water coating him thoroughly, while he was reeling from that I froze him solid.

Looking around there were four more on the ground already, three with arrows sticking out of them and the other attempting to remove the needles sticking out of every joint. Ayame and Kasumi were dealing with one more each, going hand to hand.

Eiji had drawn his katana since the quiver was empty, as Kasumi went shot for shot with her opponent. Apparently some were more skilled than others, another that had been hiding in the trees rushed her. Eiji and I started to move to intercept but he was too far ahead and quickly closed in.

Ayame saw all of this as well and screamed “Kasu!" and in a flash of motion she drew the twin short swords that she kept strapped to her back. A few quick swipes cut up her opponent's arms, turned into a kick to the jaw and put him on the ground and took off toward her sister.

Kasumi and her opponent broke apart giving Ayame room to pass, which was his mistake. As she passed, Ayame took a quick slash at his eyes, missing but it wasn't the point, it gave her sister time to close the gap and started putting needles in key places quickly rendering him useless.

Ayame stopped just in front of what seemed to the last ninja, she was angry not stupid and not willing to rush into a confrontation with a larger, armed opponent his own sword ready for her to step forward. With her arms out at about waist level the reverse grip she has looked foolish leaving her torso exposed. Bait that he was happy to go for, no sooner did he move to strike, she moved crossing her arms and blades, catching his blade. A stepped back to allow most of the force to be wasted.

She spun keeping her right hand sword locked with his, and went to bury the other into his head when Eiji yelled out, “Stop! Leave him alive.” She instantly adjusted her wrist so the sword stopped along his neck, just waiting for a wrong move.

“Good we have a hostage now,” he loomed over our captive, “Let's find a spot to set up camp and see what our friend here knows.” Eiji had the same idea I had, we needed answers and it would be great to see what our new friend would be able to tell us.

Our captive started reaching for something but Kasumi stopped him. “Nice try, wouldn’t want you to take the easy way out.” she grabbed a small vial of black liquid from his hand. “Not just yet, at least.”

We started to bind his hands but he must have had a hidden blade in his sleeve because once we got him to his feet he drew the blade and plunged it into his side and tore a deep gash in his own flesh. He had moved so fast that not even Kasumi could have stopped him. Whoever these guys were they didn’t want their secrets getting out.

“Now what?” I looked to Eiji, “We’re never going to find anything out if they keep killing themselves.”

“Not much you could have done, he was planning on ending himself either way.” Kasumi looked at the vial in her hand. “The Shosuro clan have a no hostage way of life. Once captured they find a way to keep from talking, and in most cases they end up dead.” she handed the vial to Eiji.

“So we can’t waste time the next chance we get. Make them talk on the spot.” Eiji tucked the vial into a pocket, I hoped he didn’t plan on using it. “I guess we should find the twins, they might be getting worried that we’re taking too long.”

We spent the rest of the night on edge, unsure if there would be another attack. It was at that point we agreed that it would be for the best if we took shelter in the next town we came across until we knew that it was going to be safe enough to continue on.

Eiji told us he knew there was at least one place he knew of where we could possibly be safe enough to hide out, but he seemed to be more on edge about going to this place than staying out in the open.

He wouldn’t say how he knew we would be safe, only that we would be there by midday if we moved at a good pace. I looked over to see if either the twins or Kasumi would know where Eiji was planning on taking us, the twins shook their heads while Kasumi seemed to have an idea but didn’t say anything.

“Eiji please we need to know, how can we trust this place to be safe?” I asked him again after a few hours of riding, I wasn’t giving up until I got the answers I wanted.

“I said everything I can say for now, we don’t know who could be listening.” he had become very good at keeping secrets from us in the last few weeks, what’s one more at this point.

“Jun-hime, let it go.” Kasumi chided from over my shoulder, “You must trust in Eiji when he says that it is a safe place.” It was clear that she knew where we were heading.

“Come on Kasumi, you know what’s going on, don't you?” Daiki asked, he had always been good at getting information from people but I knew that Kasumi was going to fall to his tricks.

“Yes I do, but Lord Daiki don’t you think you should be entertaining Ayame instead of me.” Kasumi ignored his question, she must have known what he was trying to do. It was funny watching her shut him down, not many could do that, but I knew that Kasumi was a great ninja and would become the next clan leader when the time comes.

“Sorry Daiki, did you think she would fall to your silver tongue?” I laughed, as he shot me a dirty look. “You would have better luck talking to a rock than trying to get Kasumi-san to talk.”

“Well it was still worth a try, it would be nice to know where we’re going.” he shrugged. I would have liked to know as well, but Eiji only told us anything when there was a need.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be there by day’s end. Just let me do all the talking.” Eiji seemed distracted, wherever we were going that would make him uneasy.

Things slowly became clearer as we passed a road maker, the sign that was pointing the direction had ‘Masu’ written clearly on it. “That’s where the Daimyo of the Azai lands live.” Daisuke explained when he saw me reading the sign.

“So you think that’s where Eiji’s taking us?” it seemed to be the only option we had. “Would that be a good idea?”

“Eiji seems to think so,” Kasumi rested a hand on my shoulder, “Have a little faith in his decision to bring you here.” She tried to reassure me and put my worries at ease.

As promised we reached the Azai manor around midday, it was much smaller than the Matsu home, if I hadn’t known better I wouldn’t have been able to tell that a noble family lived here.

“What if Oda got here before us?” I was starting to panic, I didn’t like the idea of being trapped in another place I couldn't get out of without using my powers. There’s no telling which of the other Daimyos Orochi got to, we could be in a very bad position if we’re not careful.

“I said it was a safe place, I trust the Azai family and you should too.” Eiji looked back at me.

“I’m going to hold you to that.” I vowed as the gates opened to let us through, “Because if this turns out to be a trap of any kind, you’re the one I’m coming after first.”

“Eiji-kun! I was so worried when you did not reply to my message!” a woman came running out of the house as fast as she could with a kimono on. Her light brown hair looked like it had been recently braided as there wasn’t a hair out of place. “It has been weeks without any word, I did not know if you were still alive.” She leapt onto Eiji as he climbed down from his horse.

“Usagi-chan please calm down. We are fine, we made it out before things got bad.” Eiji managed to catch her without being knocked over, but with her being so slim he managed to stay on his feet without a problem. “I would have sent word if I knew it was safe enough to do so.” he looked back at us. “Let me introduce you to my siblings, these are the twins Daiki and Daisuke and our sister Jun.” he pointed to us as he said our names.

“Why is she dressed like that?” Usagi looked at me with a turned up nose as disgust flashed in her amber coloured eyes, almost like she thought she was better than I was.

“It was for her protection, we have been pursued the entire way here.” Eiji calmly consoled her, “She will clean up and be dressed properly while we are here.” I wanted to punch both of them right then and there, but with both of the twins grabbing me by the arms to keep me from making good on my rage.

“She better,” that vain rabbit shot me another dirty look before turning back to Eiji and changing her tone, “Now come inside, father wants to know what happened to you.” she pulled him toward the house.

“I should help them with our packs, it would not be fair to leave all the work for others to do.” Eiji tried pulling away to stay with us.

“Do not worry, your servants can take care of the bags. Father is waiting for you.” Usagi pulled him inside and he just let her.

“Who the hell does she think she is, talking like that about us?” I seethed once they were out of sight, the twins were still holding on to me.

“That was Lady Azai Usagi, Eiji’s future wife.” Kasumi explained as she helped unload the packs from the horses. “She is the only child of Lord Azai Chūjirō who lost his wife when Lady Usagi was very young.” She knew quite a bit about them, but I guess it was part of her job to know everyone who had dealings with our family.

“That was her? You mean Eiji is going to marry that vain selfish little…” Daiki clapped his hand over my mouth before I could say anything else.

“You need to be nice while we are here, we need their help.” he knew my temper was going to cause a lot of problems while we stayed here, which I was hoping wasn’t going to be very long.

“Jun-hime, please do not hold anything against her. She, unlike you, has not had much female interaction and does not know how to act around another as well as you do.” Kasumi held out a pack that wasn’t mine to me. “Here is everything you are going to need, please try to fit in while you are here.”

“Now I’m going to move my hand, please don’t say anything that is going to get us into hot water.” Daiki slowly moved his hand, waiting to see if he needed to put it back.

“I promise to do my best,” I grunted, “but I will not be taking any more abuse from that pompous little stuck up.” I grumbled, grabbing the pack from Kasumi, “I do not care who the hell she is, I will be putting my new rabbit cleaning skills to use if she keeps talking down to me.”

“Come on Jun-hime, let’s get you cleaned up.” Ayame said, taking my hand and started walking me toward the house. “We shouldn’t be here for very long, so you will only have to put up with her for a short time.”

The bag Kasumi had given me had everything I was going to need to dress the part of a lady, down to an ornate hair piece. She must have known that eventually I was going to need these things, but it wasn’t in the usual reds and golds I was used to, they happened to be shades of blue with hints of silver everywhere. Ayame came with me and helped wash the weeks of dirt and grime from my hair and get me dressed for dinner.

“I am so envious of you Jun-hime. Whoever bought these for you must be really important.” Ayame gushed as she finished tying the obi for me. I was grateful to have her with me, if it hadn’t been for her I would still be fighting to get the kimono on. She had moved on to my hair, “It looks like this hair ornament was made for shorter hair so we’re in luck, let’s finish getting you ready.”

At dinner, Eiji was sitting between Usagi and someone I was guessing was Lord Chūjirō, who was a plump man with short grey hair, dressed in a light green and silver coloured kimono with a black and orange striped obi. I was sitting next to Daiki on the far side of the room, almost like Usagi planned on it. She kept looking at me as if I had something growing from my face.

“Jun-chan, why do you sit so far away? Why don’t you come sit up here next to me.” Chūjirō motioned to the empty space to his right, the kind smile went all the way to his amber eyes. Usagi looked scared that I may come sit next to him and it would have made me beyond happy to make her uncomfortable, but I wanted to try and make peace between us.

“Thank you my Lord, but I am more than comfortable here.” I replied, Eiji nodded with approval, “Maybe Usagi-san would like to join me? I would love to get to know her much better.” I heard Daiki snort out a laugh as Usagi had a look of pure terror at the idea.

“That sounds like a lovely idea, go on my lovely.” Chūjirō looked over to Usagi who was shaking her head.

“But father, my place is here at your side.” it sounded like she was about to start whining to get her way. I knew the spoiled brat wasn’t going to want to but I had a feeling with one word from Eiji she would do as she was told.

“Come now Usagi-chan, someday soon all of us will be family, I think it would be nice if you two got to know each other.” Eiji’s voice was so smooth that I almost wanted to get up and move closer to her.

“If it is what you want dearest, but only this once.” Usagi gave in, got up and came to sit with me on the other side of the room. At first she looked at me as if I was carrying some kind of plague that was going to jump to her if even the hem of her kimono touched mine.

“I am sorry if I have done something to offend you in any way, but please try not to think ill of me.” I offered some tea to her, I may have hated all the lessons on how to be a proper lady but they did come in handy right now. “Please let us become dear friends.” I plastered a smile on my face. Eiji was going to owe me big time for putting up with her if she continued to act like a selfish and spoiled brat.

“I would like that very much,” she held out her cup, “I am sorry as well if I have offended you. I am just very envious of you, you get to spend all your time with my darling Eiji and I only get to see him once and awhile.” She seemed to be sincere, so this might be easier to get along with her than I thought.

“Trust me, spending so much time with him is not as fun as one would think. The long trip has made him very grumpy.” I said getting her to laugh a little, maybe we could actually be friends by the end of the meal.

“Why not go for a walk through the gardens after dinner, Usagi. I understand that this is Jun-chan’s first time away from home and I would take a guess that she would like to see some of the flowers from our lands.” Chūjirō suggested when he noticed we had started getting along.

“Yes I think that would be a good idea, most of the flowers should be in bloom by now.” Usagi nodded, “And it is still very warm at night so we do not have to hurry.”

“Thank you very much, I would like that.” I could feel my face start turning red, I didn’t like having so much attention on me. I focused on the food in front of me, that way no one would talk to me for the rest of the meal.

Chūjirō wasn’t kidding about how beautiful the gardens were, so many different colours and kinds that grew here was incredible. “Usagi-san, these plants are amazing, I never knew flowers could come in such bright colours.” I couldn’t contain myself, I had to get close to all of them.

“They are beautiful, but do not go thinking we are friends. I cannot stand the sight of you.” and she was back to being nasty, I guess it was all an act in front of everyone being nice to me. “I will never let you take Eiji-kun from me.”

“He’s my brother, you do not need to worry about that,” now I knew why she didn’t like me, she was under the impression that I was going to take Eiji from her. “Trust me, I want him to be happy. And from what I saw, the way he is with you, he is happy.” that seemed to catch her attention.

“What do you mean? You really think he’s happy with me?” she was really interested in what I thought now, “Did he say anything about me before?” Now I had to lie, but this was Eiji’s fault for not letting me know what we were heading into. He probably didn’t think Usagi would be this insane over seeing me, but he should have said something so I wouldn’t have been caught off guard.

“He is always saying that you are very kind and that you and I would become fast friends, he also said that you would understand me better than anyone else since we both lost our mothers at a young age.” I figured I could try and get some sympathy from her if I played that card, nothing better than a shared hardship to get her to see me differently.

I watched her expression change quicker than I had thought possible, instead of glaring at me, she had a soft smile. “Eiji-kun said all that, I would not have known he thought that way about me.” Usagi came over and took both of my hands in hers. “I need to apologize for the way I have been acting toward you, if I had known about your mother, I would not have been so mean.”

“Never mind that, let us just move on from here.” I replied as her face lit up as she smiled even more now. “Why, I have an idea, we should spend the day together tomorrow. I am not sure how long we are going to be here so why not make the most of our time together.”

“That would be fun, I will plan some things for us to do.” Usagi looked over to the house, “Looks like it is time for us to head to bed.

I looked over to see the twins and Eiji waving to us to come inside. “We are going to have a wonderful time tomorrow.” I promised as we walked over to my brothers. I think I liked her better when she was trying to pick a fight. I didn’t know what I had just gotten myself into, but I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like it very much.

Chapter 11

“How could you not tell us about her,” I tried my best to keep my voice down, “She was so mean to me up until a few moments ago. And I had to lie for you as well.” I started chewing Eiji out the second the four of us were alone.

“I didn’t know she was going to act like that with you. If I had known she was going to be such a brat I would have given you a heads up.” he leaned against the wall. “You didn’t have to lie to her for me.” it was like he didn’t really care.

“Really? I didn’t have to lie to her? I needed to, if I hadn’t she would have continued to be mean to me. And another thing, look at me.” I held my arms out, letting the sleeves of the kimono hang. “You have no idea how heavy these things are. I thought I was done being dressed up like a doll.”

“But you look like a very pretty doll.” Daiki tried to lighten the mood, but it didn’t help at all. I shot him a dirty look that caused him to jump back a little bit. “Sorry, just trying to make you feel better.”

I turned back to Eiji, “You owe me a lot, so you better not make her angry at me again. She thought I was trying to steal you away from her.” that got the boys to laugh. It was getting late and all I wanted to do was get changed. “Can one of you chuckle heads take me back to my room, I can’t take being dressed like this much longer.” Daisuke nodded as he opened the door for me.

“This way, dear little princess. Hope you dream of your prince charming.” Daisuke laughed as he walked with me down the hall.

“I swear I will beat you to a pulp if you keep this up.” I vowed as he opened the door to the room for me. “Tomorrow I am not looking like this, I’m going to dress my way.” he laughed as Ayame came up next to us.

“Jun-hime, let’s get you ready for bed. I hear you have a big day planned for tomorrow. Usagi sent some clothes for you to wear, you might not like them.” She waved Daisuke off as she pulled me into the room.

“What do you mean she had clothes sent for me?” I asked as Ayame brought me around the dressing screen. There were three different kimonos hanging near the wall, each a different shade of pink with flowers printed on them. “Oh my, I would like to know why she would send pink. Of all the colours she could send, why the one colour I can’t stand.”

“She might think pink looks good on you.” Ayame was trying to be helpful, but it only wanted to make me cry.

“It must have something to do with the flowers we were looking at. But I can’t be rude and not wear them, might as well take one for the team.” I groaned as Ayame helped me get ready for bed. “I just noticed that the colours from the kimono I was wearing kind of match the colours of yours.”

“So they do, Kasumi has had that bag since we left. Right after we ran into Raizo.” Ayame noted as she hung the kimono up with care. “We told you he was a Mochizuki, these happen to be their colours.”

“It could just be a coincidence, I noticed that the dark blue made my hair stand out nicely.” I shook my hair out as I took it down. “I’d like some more solid proof before we say that Masazumi is the Mochizuki heir.” I turned around to head over to the bed. “But you never know, any ways, goodnight Ayame. Please don’t leave my side until I fall asleep.”

“Goodnight Jun-hime, I will always be by your side. Someone needs to make sure you stay out of trouble.” She promised as she moved next to the bed so she could see the door.

Usagi somehow managed to talk Eiji into letting us go into Masu for an outing. At first I had been against going as I was sure it wasn’t a wise idea to go without everyone, but Usagi told me that she had agreed to have Ayame and Kasumi come along as bodyguards for the day.

“We are going to have so much fun, it will be nice for you to get away from your brothers for a little bit.” Usagi continued on as she pushed me into a carriage. “If you liked our gardens last night, then you are going to enjoy the flower market in town.”

“I did like all the different kinds of flowers, but if it is not a problem, there is somewhere else I would like to stop as well.” I had been meaning to ask Eiji if we could stop in a town for the last few days, but every time I wanted to, he seemed to be in a mood and I left him alone. “We have not had the chance to stop for a proper rest so we couldn’t celebrate Eiji’s birthday and I wanted to see if we could find something for him today.”

“That sounds like a fantastic idea, he will love anything you pick out.” she exclaimed as we started to move away from the house. “I wonder what we will find while we are in town.”

Masu was so very busy, I had never seen so many people packed in one space before. The sounds and smells were a little overwhelming at first, but it quickly passed as Usagi and I walked through the crowd. She was being nice to me, explaining what things were when I didn’t know what it was.

We wandered the market for most of the day, but I was having an issue finding anything I thought Eiji could use. “Do you know where I could find some durable fabric? I noticed that Eiji was starting to wear his travelling clothes thin. I knew I could make him some new clothes.” I got the idea as we passed a few clothing stores.

Usagi thought for a moment, then grabbed my hand. “There should be one close by, I think that something practical like that would make a fine gift for Eiji-kun.” she was trying to be nice, but it sounded like she was talking down to me again, I let it slide as she had been trying so hard to be nice and become friends.

I found some nice scarlet red linen that would suit Eiji nicely. Usagi let me know she was going ahead to get us a table for lunch up the street. I sent Kasumi with her while Ayame and I finished with the merchant.

As soon as we left, a commotion started up. We could just see Kasumi squaring off against two street thugs. “Ayame help her.” I ordered and she took off like a shadow. No sooner did she leave my side did a voice behind me pull my attention.

“Come quietly missy and our friends will not hurt yours.” I turned to find two more thugs boxing me in.

“I think you should reconsider that threat, a few of my friends know how to take care of themselves.” I found myself wishing I brought my sword instead of this annoying pink kimono.

They closed in a step. “Too bad for you then.” I knew I was stronger than them but they clearly did not know who they were threatening.

I balled my fist and swung as hard as I could, looking to drop one and scare the others. He caught my arm before I could get any real strength into my swing. “A little fight in you. We like it when they fight.”

A moment later he was knocked off his feet as Ayame rose up in front of me, a bloody sword in one hand, the front of his shirt in the other. Kasumi appeared behind the other as he dropped like a log, one of her long needles sticking out from the base of his skull.

A quick swipe and Ayame finished off the one struggling against a girl half his size. “Thanks for the help, but if both of you are here, who’s watching over Usagi?” I asked. We took off to where Kasumi had left her.

Ayame got ahead of us, tearing into the tea house. “Kasumi, Jun-hime we have a problem, Usagi has been taken. I think the men who surrounded you must have been working with someone.” Ayame looked like she was about to cry, but I knew that she wouldn’t show such emotion in front of Kasumi. “I am so sorry I let this happen.”

“We can’t go back without her, so we need to find her ourselves.” I looked at the sisters, normally I would have said that we should go get the boys, but I didn’t know how much time we had before something bad would happen to Usagi, “If we work together, we can find her.” they nodded, agreeing with me.

“One of us needs to stay here and clean up the mess they made.” Kasumi ordered motioning to the group of men that had tried to pick a fight with me. “Ayame I want you to take Jun-hime to go see the herbalist.”

The suggestion made Ayame visablely cringe. “Is there anyone else we can turn to instead? You know I don’t really like having to deal with her, she creeps me out.”

“Enough.” Kasumi snapped, “One of us needs to deal with the growing crowd and the city guard. Do as you are told and go, I will come find you once I finish up here.” she ordered, not giving Ayame a chance to argue.

“Come on.” She led me through some back streets. We stopped in front of a small herbalist shop. I couldn’t understand why Ayame was so put off, there didn’t seem to be anything out of place with the shop itself.

“Now, there are a few things you need to know about the shop owner before we go in. Madam Wu is very odd and has a lot of scars so firstly do not, and I mean this do not look her in the eye. Next be mindful of what you say, she can find the truth in a lie if you are not careful, that’s why I will be doing all the talking.” It wasn’t like Ayame to take charge like this, it was refreshing to see her like this.

“Lastly, under no circumstance will you take anything from her, no food, no drink, nothing. Madam Wu has been known to slip things into the food and drink she offers others just to see what will happen to them.” Ayame seemed to have a lot of rules, could this one lady be so dangerous

“Ayame this seems to be a bit much, this Madam Wu can’t be as bad as you are making her out to be.” I said once she was finished, finally able to get a word in. “I think we’ll be fine without being so cautious.”

“And that way of thinking will get you dead, Madam Wu is very sneaky and she will try and trick you. If we bring you back to your brothers, harmed in any way, Eiji will skin us alive.” Ayame looked really shaken now, how could one woman scare her so much.

“Fine, I’ll play by your rules this time. So let’s get this over with, we don’t know how much longer Usagi has.” and with that I followed her in the shop.

“Little Ayame, good to see you again. It’s been a long time, what is it you need from me this time?” a woman sat at a long table, her face had badly burned and all that remained was scars down the left side of her face.

“Hello Madam Wu, I need your help saving someone very important. The Lady Azai Usagi was taken somewhere in town, and we need to find her.” Ayame stated sitting across from Madam Wu, not taking her eyes from the woman. There had only been one chair, but as it was Ayame who wanted to do the talking I let her sit.

“That little stuck up,” Madam Wu let out a loud howl of laughter, “Why would you even think that I would risk my livelihood on that brat.”

“Please, you need to help us. She is to marry my brother,” I couldn’t help myself, I had to speak up even if Ayame had told me not to. “It could mean war if the wedding does not happen.” I knew in my heart that it was very possible that war could start over something so small as a wedding, so preventing such things from coming to pass.

“Your lands will be fine for now, the mountains guard them well. You have a powerful ally, yet you do not know it.” She poured two cups of something from a teapot. “Drink, tell me more of your travels. Then I may help with what you are looking for.” Madam Wu slid the cup toward me. Ayame all but grabbed my arm when I reached for it, she was shaking her head violently.

“Do not do it, like I told you she likes playing with people. You have more at risk than most others who come in here.” Ayame pulled the cup away from me. “I will not allow you to risk yourself.”

“No, this is something I have to do.” I took the cup back from her, “Now move out of my way.” I pulled her up from the chair.

“Ayame, you need to know when to back down. Let her do what needs to be done.” I sat down across from Madam Wu and took a sip from the cup. The tea made my mouth tingle and I started feeling like I was floating.

“What did you give me?” I looked into the cup to see if there was any way to tell what I was drinking. It wasn’t like anything I had before, it must come from afar off place.

“It’s made of a few jewel leaves, they come from across the sea to the west, along with a few other choice ingredients. I always find that they get new people to open up without a problem.” Madam Wu smiled, her scars creased making them take the shape of a snake. “Do you know the man who gave me these scars? He is the same man who chases after you, child. Oda Orochi, he knows your worth as well.” she got up from the table and went over to a shelf.

“What worth? You mean as the Azure Dragon?” I couldn’t stop the words from coming out, maybe that was what she meant about opening up. I watched as she got up from the table and went to a shelf that was close by. Madam Wu took her time looking over the shelves until she found what it was she had gotten up for.

“Yes child, I too have been blessed by the dragon lord.” Madam Wu brought a small ornate box to the table, “Orochi saw that the four champions were coming back into power, and he tried for the power himself and was turned away by three of the lords. You must guard your power with your life, we cannot afford for it to fall into the darkness.” Madam Wu placed the box in front of me. “This should help you on your travels, it was entrusted to my family generations ago to give to the Azure Dragon when she appeared again.”

“You have what you wanted, now what about Lady Usagi?” Ayame was starting to lose her temper.

“She’s safe.” the old woman snapped her fingers and a huge man carried Usagi out from behind a curtain. She looked unharmed, but when I tried to get up to go see her, I fell over my own feet.

“Jun-hime, are you alright?” Ayame rushed to catch me before I hit the ground and helped me sit back in the chair.

“She’ll be fine soon. Some jewel leaves when made into tea alone can also cause some paralysis for a short time.” Madam Wu explained calmly, like it was just any other business transaction. “As for the bratty bunny, she is fine. I had my son bring her here to make sure that you came to see me while you were here.” he gently placed Usagi down in a chair I hadn’t seen before. Hopefully she won’t remember what happened when she wakes up.

“Also I had him pick out something for your brother so you do not have to go back empty handed.” he placed a bundle into my lap. “You should be getting back soon, might not want anyone to come looking for you.”

“So you got Usagi kidnapped?” Eiji asked me that night after I told them what had happened while we were in town. Usagi didn’t say anything to anyone about what had happened when we got back, it was almost like she couldn’t remember her time with Madam Wu, which was something I was very grateful for.

“I did not get her kidnapped, the crazy lady with the scars used her as a way to get me into her shop. She said she knew I was coming and I was given this.” I pulled the box from the pack next to me. “I can’t seem to open it, so I don’t know what is inside yet.” Daisuke took the box from me and started turning it over in his hands.

“I think it might be a puzzle box, there must be something really important inside. You said that Madam Wu knew about you and your power?” he asked, still looking over the box.

“That’s what she said, but how could that be? I didn’t know I was going to be here until we got here yesterday.” I pulled the Kyo statue from my pocket and began rubbing my thumb over his head. Looking down I noticed that the end of his tail was starting to chip away.

“No, we’ve taken too long. Look, he's starting to crumble.” I gave a panicked look to Eiji. “We need to get going again, we have been here too long.” I started making my way to the door.

“You can wait until morning, it would be rude to leave in the middle of the night.” he sneered, making me stop in my tracks. “Lord Azai was kind enough to let us rest here for a few days, even if it was just you that left, Usagi would be upset and think you don’t like her if you left without saying goodbye.”

“I like her, but I care for Kyo, it is my fault he ended up turned to stone, and it must be me to turn him back to normal.” I just looked at the door, “Usagi will understand that I have someone who is counting on me. Just tell her that it was very important for me to leave before morning.” I wanted to cry and scream at him, but I knew he needed Chūjirō to like him to keep the peace between our lands. He had what he needed to do and I had my own problems to worry about.

“Do what you must, but I may not follow you from here.” was the last thing I heard from Eiji as I walked out of the room.

Chapter 12

I knew I was going against Eiji’s wishes, but I had to carry on, I didn’t know how much time Kyo had left but I wasn’t going to waste it waiting until we were sure it was safe enough to continue on.

“Come on you stubborn horse, Kyo is in trouble and we have to get going.” I tried getting my horse from the stable, after the stable hand saddled her for me, but the stubborn creature wouldn’t move.

“Maybe she wants to stay with her brothers?” I looked over my shoulder to see Daiki standing there. “From what I heard from the breeder, she won’t go anywhere without at least one of them, they have always been together.” he came into the stable and started getting his horse ready to go.

“Why are you coming with me? Did Eiji ask you to come and look after me?” I just watched him as he quickly worked saddling his horse and started leading him out of the stable. As Daiki did this, my horse who had not wanted to go anywhere only a few moments ago, was now pulling me along as she followed them outside. Traitor, we would have been gone by now if you hadn’t pitched a fit.

“No Eiji doesn’t know, it was Daisuke, he worries about you. We both have been watching you while we’ve been here and noticed that you have been acting like a caged animal.” he looked back at me, “Daisuke knew it was only a matter of time before you took off in the night. Also you forgot your box.” he passed it to me.

“Thank you, I guess I wasn’t going to be getting too far without one of you anyway.” we mounted and started making our way toward the main gates. “I want to be mad at Eiji, but I know why he’s staying behind. What about Daisuke, why is he staying behind instead of coming with us?” Daiki shook his head.

“He said something about looking out for Eiji, and that he will join us in a few days. We should be at the temple by then, if nothing goes wrong.” he seemed confident we would have an easy ride the rest of the way. “But Daisuke thinks that Eiji might not be coming with him. He might be staying to make sure Usagi doesn’t say anything about what happened today.” we passed the gates, and then picked up our pace up to a gallop. We didn’t talk much, as we wouldn’t have been able to hear each other over the wind whipping around us.

We rode almost all night, stopping only for an hour or two to rest the horses and to get a little sleep ourselves. As morning dawned we had come on to the open plains, nothing but farm lands as far as we could see.

“I’m going to guess we found where we have to go,” Daiki tried joking with me, but I was too focused and too tired to care, “We should rest a little more. No sense killing ourselves and the horses getting there.” he nodded to a roadside tea shop. “Come on, we both could use something to eat and a real rest for a little bit.”

“We don’t have time, I don’t want Kyo to crumble away without trying my hardest to save him.” I kept going down the road until my horse stopped. “Now what is your problem?” I looked back to see Daiki had stopped at the tea shop, and without him I wasn’t going anywhere. “Fine, but we can’t stay too long.” I turned around and joined him. It wasn’t really fair that he had this much control over our pace.

“See, not so bad resting. A little something to eat and then we’ll get back on the road. Kyo will be just fine, we don’t have far to go now.” he coaxed, as I sat across the table from him. “Why don’t you try figuring out the puzzle of your box if you need to keep busy.” he looked at my bag. I wasn’t going to leave it out of my sight right now, not until I figured out what was inside.

“Might as well, I’m stuck here until you say it’s time to go again.” I took the box out and looked it over. It was a beautifully made box of dark wood. The bottom had three well worn dials with pictures I couldn’t really make out, but there were no seams for a lid so how was it to open.

I ran my hands over the top and sides and felt nothing that moved or even looked like it could move. “Any ideas on how to get this thing open?” I looked at him, but it looked like he fell asleep, leaning on the table. “Great on my own, now what about the box.” I held it in the light, and I felt something shift.

Turning the box over I noticed that there was a small dial that had shifted, lining up the small pictures that looked like a sun and moon. The pictures were across from each other and there were other pictures around the other dials. The pictures were clear now, some I knew what they meant but there were others that I wasn't sure on why they were there.

“Daiki, wake up, look at this.” I kicked him, “I think I’ve found the first part of the puzzle.” when he didn’t wake up I kicked him harder than I meant to and sent him flying to the floor.

“What the hell was that for? I was sitting there minding my own business.” he snapped, picking the chair and himself up off the floor.

I gave him a little smile, “Sorry, but look at this.” I showed him the bottom of the box. “I held it in the sunlight and I felt something move. Then when I looked at the sun and the moon lined up like this. Think you can help me with the rest of it?” he looked at the other pictures with me. Neither one of us could figure out what they meant and there was only one sun and one moon.

“I don’t get it. What is the clue trying to show us?” Daiki put his head down on the table. “What does the sun and moon have to do with anything? They have nothing in common, they are total opposites.” when he said that, something clicked in my mind.

“You’re right, opposites always go across from each other. Look here,” I pointed at a picture that looked like waves. “This one might be for water, so what is the opposite to it?” I started to turn it slowly.

“That might be fire,” he watched as I moved the pictures to line up across from each other. “Now what about the other dial, this one looks like a rock.” he started moving the other one.

“So we want something that looks like air, try the one that looks like a cloud.” Once we got the last two lined up, there was another clicking sound and one of the panels on the side shifted. “Look it opened, we did it.”

“Don’t get too excited just yet, it’s only a small pouch inside.” Daiki pulled a small blue silk pouch out from the open side.

“Well it’s a start, let’s see our prize for the hard work we put in.” I opened the pouch slowly, “I wonder what it could be.” out tumbled a dragon cut from a blue gemstone. I looked like it was meant to fit into something else or connect with other pieces.

“Well great something else to carry around, any idea what it could be used for?” I passed the little dragon to him, and I looked the box over. There weren't any new puzzles that appeared yet, “I think we’re done for now, we should get going.” he nodded.

“Not too much longer, we’ll have Kyo back in no time.” We left some money on the table and went back to the horses. “You know the others will meet us there, nothing will keep them away.” Daiki patted my shoulder as we checked on the saddles before riding on toward the temple.

It took us another couple of days to get to the temple, but I was very grateful that we didn’t have to worry about getting lost since we had to travel through flat lands once the temple came into sight.

“Well we’re here, now what?” Daiki asked once we came up to the main gate. “Do we just go in?”

“Might as well, you find somewhere to tie up the horses and I’ll go ahead.” I slid down from the saddle and slipped my pack on. “I get the feeling tigers are going to be around a lot, try not to get eaten on me.” I looked back at Daiki before opening the gate.

“You be safe too, little Kyo is counting on you to find the healer in one piece.” he waved as we parted ways.

Daiki had told me to be safe, but I knew that he was going to be terrified walking alone if he did in fact come across any tigers. I heard a story from Daisuke that when we were younger, we had a travelling animal act stop at the house for the twin’s birthday one year and there had been an incident with one of the tigers they had.

From what I was told, it was just a baby and had jumped on to Daiki and began to lick him, but Daiki began to freak out and it gave him a small bite on the arm. It wasn’t a hard-enough bite to do any lasting physical damage, it only left a light scar, but the mental damage was enough to make him forever afraid of tigers.

The walk wasn’t too long up to the main building, but it wasn’t the one from my dream where Ryu showed me where to go, this one was a little taller with five levels and was mostly a deep forest green colour, twin roaring tigers atop the doors. The open area around didn’t hide any other buildings that might have matched the one I had seen in the dream.

I was starting to think we hadn’t found the right temple, so I hoped that there was someone inside who could point us in the right direction. As I got closer to the front doors I could hear familiar voices from the other side.

“What do you mean you haven’t seen anyone else come through here in a few days? It’s all flat lands around here, it’s not like we passed them without noticing them.” it almost sounded like Eiji, but he should have still been back at the Azai estate with Usagi and Daisuke, there is no way that they could have made it here before us if they took the same road.

“Well Matsu-sama, I do not know what to say. Your brother and sister have yet to make it. It could be that you took a different road than them, there is the road to the south that would take them an extra day to ride.” I guess that they did manage to get here before us, but I waited to make sure that it wasn’t some kind of trap and it also gave Daiki a chance to catch up.

“We’re not the only guests.” Daiki came around the corner. “There’s a carriage and a bunch of horses in the stable.” He noticed I was trying to listen to something inside. “What’s going on? I thought you’d be in there by now.”

“I thought I heard Eiji, but I don’t know if it’s one of Oda’s tricks or not. Did you see either his or Diasuke’s horse in the stable?” I asked but Daiki shook his head, pushed past me and opened the door, “Stupid fool. You may have just walked into a trap.” I quietly cursed after him.

“How did you guys get here before us? We must have had a two-day head start at least.” I watched from the door, no point in both of us getting caught if there wasn’t a need for it. I could only really see two figures from where I was hidden, not counting Daiki. It looked like Daisuke and Eiji had made it to the temple, but I didn’t want to risk anything just yet.

“Where’s Jun, she should be with you.” Eiji asked, totally ignoring Daiki’s question. He wasn’t acting like himself, almost like a puppet.

“She should be along soon, just tying up the horses. I have a question for you, do you remember how old I was when I got the scar on my arm?” Why was he bringing up something like that? Now was not the time for talking about old scars.

“You got that not too long ago, from the fight just before we got to the capital.” Daiki started to slowly back out of the room, he didn’t get that scar in that fight, it was the tiger bite when we were kids that he was asking about. It wasn’t common knowledge that he had been bitten, so whoever this was, they were not our brothers. It was a trap just like I thought.

“Sorry but that’s the wrong answer. I’ll just be going now.” Daiki motioned for me to get out of sight. No need for them to see me if I could hide fast enough, so I ducked around the corner before he fully backed out through the door. It seemed odd that the monk didn’t seem to mind that a fight could possibly break out right in front of him. I knew monks are calm by nature, but this one was too calm.

“Wait, something is off here,” I came back around the corner and went into the room with the monk. I walked right up to him, “It’s you. You’re the one doing this, how?” and he only smiled at me as he waved his hand. The images of Eiji and Daisuke vanished and Daiki looked around spooked.

“You are very wise, young one, how did you know?” he motioned for us to sit down. We did, but not letting the older man out of sight.

“You were very calm, way too calm for a monk who was about to have a fight break out in front of you.” he nodded, “But how did you make that happen?”

“Easy, my child, I use a sort of magic. Nothing like what you have, but it is like a blessing from Lady Tora to protect her home.” he waved his hand again and the image of a small tiger began jumping around getting closer toward Daiki then he liked.

“Jizo, are you up to your tricks again?” a woman came walking in through another door on the other side of the room, her attendant a tall stern looking raven haired woman a step behind.

The woman was beautiful, tall and thinly built, but carried herself with a grace that made me think she was from a noble family. Her hair looked like the night sky, flecks of silver shone through the curtain of black hair standing out against her fine silver kimono. I had never seen anyone like her before, but something about her was familiar. Her silk kimono had a blue moon sewn above her heart and confirmed she was the woman I was looking for.

“I meant nothing by it Lady Yumiko, I just wanted to see if they were meant to be here.” Jizo laughed as she joined us, choosing to sit close to me.

“Jizo, that was mean. Lady Tora said that they would come, you shouldn’t have done that. But did they pass your test?” Lady Yumiko seemed used to him doing such things, she must be here often to be scolding him like this.

“Yes, she did. That one,” he nodded toward Daiki who was slowly backing away from the tiger illusion, “Not so much, and he looks like he’s ready to cry.”

“Jizo, that’s enough. The poor boy is terrified of the tiger, why are you being so mean today.” Lady Yumiko waved at the tiger and it vanished.

“It’s you. You’re the one we’re here to see.” I marvelled, looking at her, Ryu was right, I knew her when I saw her. “You are the healer from the house of the shining moon. Please you need to help me, he’s trapped in here and now he’s starting to crumble.” I pulled Kyo from my pocket and showed her. Now there was more crumbling off of his tail, it was getting worse.

“Easy child, Lady Yumiko does not deal with pets.” Jizo looked like he was about to say more, but Yumiko raised her hand to silence him.

“This is no ordinary animal, he was touched by dark spells and now it has begun to eat away at the little dragon.” she gently took him from me, “Lord Ryu’s grandson, and that would make you the Azure Dragon I have been waiting for. Jizo, I will need a large bucket of water and a large piece of Dragon root, we are going to teach the young ones how to bless water.” Jizo rushed off to find what she had asked for. I had heard of Dragon root before, it was used in medicine in Kashi but I wasn’t sure how it was going to be of any use in freeing Kyo from his stone prison. I was just going to have to place my faith in Yumiko and hope for the best.

“Ryu told me you would be able to save Kyo, please tell me he was right? I couldn’t live with myself if we didn’t make it in time.” I looked at Yumiko as she placed Kyo into her lap and placed both of her hands over him, “I don’t know what Oda did to him, but you can fix it right?”

“Yes, you made it just in time. You said Oda, that would be Oda Orochi you are talking about would it?” I looked over to Daiki, who had come closer to see what was going on. How could she have known, is the man so well known for being a horrible person?

“Yes I was told by Lord Ryu and a ronin friend of ours that you could help.” I was starting to sound a little desperate, “He seems to know a lot of people.” Yumiko’s expression changed a little as she watched me, she looked shocked that I said that.

“You both seem to know many people, how was he?” she seemed almost sad asking about Masazumi. “It has been some time since our paths have crossed.”

“Well enough, when he left us, he said something about going home for something. But that was a few weeks ago, so we hope he made it to wherever he was going.” Daiki added from over my shoulder as Jizo came back with the bucket and the root.

“Here you go, but are you sure this will help?” he asked as we moved out of the way. Jizo didn’t seem to believe that this was going to help Kyo.

“Jizo, why don’t you go get something for our friends, something to eat and drink, take the young man with you to help carry things back.” Yumiko suggested as she started breaking up the pale blue root into small chunks.

“Come on kid, let’s leave the ladies to their work, I know Lady Yumiko will be hungry once she’s done.” Jizo waved to Daiki to follow him, and he just looked at me.

“It’s okay, I’ll be alright with her. Just don’t let Jizo tease you any more than he already has.” I nodded, “Do you want to take my sword just in case?” I got him to laugh as he got up, we both knew he couldn’t pick it up but I think it helped him understand that I was safe without him for a little while.

Once they had left, Yumiko turned to me and held out her hands, “Here take these. I broke up the Dragon root to make it easier to drop the right amount into the water without over doing things.” I took the chunks of the root into my hands as she looked Kyo over closely. “He seems to have grown while he was sleeping. He’ll be bigger than when you saw him last, so try not to be too shocked.” She considered Kyo again, “We should do this outside, just in case.” I nodded as she placed him into the water and stood with an easy strong grace.

We walked well away from the pagoda to give Kyo room. “So what are we going to be doing? Is just some water and a root really going to fix Kyo?” I wanted to know everything that was going on, but Yumiko stopped suddenly, making the questions die on my lips.

She sat tucking her legs under herself. “Enough talking, just watch and do as you are told.” I nodded, and joined her on the lush grass. “Now place your hands on the bucket.” I dropped the root into my lap and grabbed onto the bucket. It felt cold at first but quickly warmed under my hands, I could feel the connection to Kyo almost right away. “Good you can feel him, now use the water to slowly add the root one piece at a time, only stop once the water feels too hot to touch anymore.”

I did as I was told, I focused on making tendrils from the water to grab onto the chunks in my lap. It was hard at first getting the water to do as I wanted it to do, but after I got the first few pieces into the water it was like Kyo was helping me with the water and my control.

“Almost done, don’t worry Kyo we’ll get you out of there.” I whispered as I felt the water begin to heat up, it didn’t take long for it to become uncomfortable but it hadn’t gotten to the point where I couldn’t stand it anymore and I was starting to run low and the Dragon root. “What do we do if the root runs out?” I looked over to Yumiko, but she seemed to be in a trance, whispering to herself. It wasn’t until her eyes snapped open that the water burned against my hand and forced me to let go of the bucket.

“Back away, he is going to need the room.” Yumiko pulled on my sleeve to get me to move. I hadn’t noticed it at first, but the water had started to boil and bubble, and now it was causing the bucket to shake as we backed well away from the bucket.

“What’s going on? Why is the water acting that way?” I couldn’t take my eyes off of the bucket, I didn’t want to miss anything that could be important.

“It is Oda’s magic leaving the dragon, I will explain it more later but for now just watch.” she pointed as a geyser erupted from the bucket. There could not have been that much water in there, it would have reached the third floor if we had been inside.

The water began changing colours from clear, to a pitch black, to white, and everything in between. Then fell back into the bucket quickly filling it and soaking the area. I started to move closer again but Yumiko tugged on my sleeve pulling me back toward her. If she hadn’t done so, I would have been hit by the surge of water and bits of wood as the bucket exploded.

“I AM FREE!” Kyo roared through the raging water. “It has been far too long. I almost began to lose hope of ever seeing the sun again.” he was still in the water as he and the water circled us a few times. Kyo now stood taller than me now and I had to look up at him to see his face.

“Kyo,” I slowly got closer, unsure if the spectacle was over. “Kyo welcome back.” I raced over to him and threw my arms around one of his front legs, the top of my head just came to his shoulder. He had lowered his head to touch his nose to my face as I held onto him as I cried. I couldn’t contain myself anymore, I was happy and relieved to have him back and safe again but I had never expected him to be so large.

“I guess I can’t hide anymore, now can I?” he asked, making me laugh, I reached my arm around the side of his head and hugged him close.

“I don’t think so, but I guess it will be my turn to ride on your shoulder now. I’m so happy to have you back again, and I am so sorry that you had to go through that alone.” I looked him in the eye, “Don’t ever leave my side again.”

“I don’t plan on it, I did hear you while I was locked away, I want you to know that it was never your fault that it happened. I was doing my job and protected you from Oda for a little while, but when I became too much of a hassle for him, he turned me to stone.”

He wasn’t blaming me for any of it, that took such a weight off of my heart I didn’t know what I would have done with myself if he had. I just stood there with my arms wrapped around him while the rest of the world faded away, glad to have the missing part of my family back again.

Chapter 13

I wasn’t sure of how much time had passed, I hadn’t noticed that Jizo and Daiki came back until something was dropped behind me.

“Is that Kyo?” I turned to see him awestruck standing there pointing. I let go of Kyo and moved over to him to lower his arm.

“Yes it is, not so tiny anymore. You may want to mind your manners now, never know when he might get hungry.” both Kyo and I laughed as Daiki’s expression changed from awe to terror. I guess he wasn’t going to be anymore jokes about making Kyo into a snack.

“You would never let him eat me, right?” he asked as Yumiko came over to join us. Two of Yumiko’s guards had rushed to see what the commotion was about, and now flanked her, swords drawn. A taller man with slicked back black hair and a shorter one with very long red hair. Both wearing dark blue guard outfits, similar to Yumiko they had a crest sewn into their clothes, but had a different phase of the moon.

“No, but I would stay away from sweets if I were you, it could just save your life one day.” I laughed patting his shoulder, but it didn’t seem to relieve his terror. I looked over to Yumiko, “Allow me to introduce you to Kyo, the largest of my brothers.”

“You helped me find my way back, I thank you very much.” he brought his nose close enough for her to touch, her guards tensing a little, but made no move. Yumiko didn’t seem to mind Kyo’s huge size, she might as well have been looking at a dog with how calm she was.

“Do not worry, but there is something I do need your help with.” Yumiko asked as we saw the plant life starting to wither from the tainted water. “The water has been tainted by the dark magic that was holding you, could you purify it.”

Both Kyo and I looked around and tried to figure out how we could possibly purify the water, then I remembered something I had seen once before.

“Dip one of your claws into the water, it should work.” I looked at Kyo, he didn’t look convinced but I knew it would work. “Ryu was sitting in his spring, purifying the waters of the world.” I gathered up all the water I could, doing my best to keep it away from anything else.

“Here goes nothing.” Kyo cautiously dipped his claw into the bubble. The water fizzed and it slowly became still and clear.

“See, I knew it would work. Now let's get something to eat.” I patted his side as I let the water drop and went inside with Daiki and Yumiko. Kyo being forced to stay outside now, he was far too big for the door.

It was good having Kyo back again, but now we needed to find a way to travel without drawing too much attention to ourselves.

After we had dinner with Lady Yumiko that night, Jizo showed Daiki and I to a room where we could get some sleep and wait for the others to come, but since he reached the second floor Kyo had to sleep outside. He said it was alright and that he didn’t mind the tigers, but I went with him anyway, I didn’t want to leave him alone again.

“Jun you know you don’t have to come with me, go sleep in a proper bed for a change.” Kyo protested as I curled up next to him under the night sky.

“Well what if I want to be outside? Did you think of that?” I looked up at him and smiled. “I have gotten used to being outside all the time, so sleeping inside makes me feel uneasy. That and I want to be close to you, I want to make sure this isn’t a dream.” Kyo brought his tail closer and wrapped it around me.

“Trust me, this is real. I’m just sorry you had to suffer alone while I was asleep.” he lifted me up and placed me on his shoulder. “But now we’re back together again, and that will be the way we stay.”

The view from up on Kyo’s shoulder was amazing, I could see so far I wonder if this is how he saw the world while he was small. “Kyo, did you dream while you slept?” I had to know, it was weeks since we talked and I just couldn’t stop now.

Kyo shook his head, “No, but I could hear you talk to me every night and when Oda’s spell started eating away at me, I felt your panic. I knew you would do everything in your power to save me, I never once lost faith in you.” I wrapped my arm around his neck as he laid down. “Now, maybe we should get some sleep. I’m sure Lady Yumiko will have chores for us to do in the morning.” he yawned and I slid down to the ground and curled up near his head.

“Alright, but wake me if anything happens.” I said as we drifted asleep under the open sky.

“Jun, wake up.” I felt someone shaking me. I slowly opened my eyes to find myself looking up at the sky. I remembered falling asleep sitting up against Kyo, but I found myself on my back with Daiki sitting next to me. “Lady Yumiko came looking for you this morning and I didn’t know where you went.” he told me as I sat up and looked around.

“Kyo, where did he go? I told him to wake me if something happens.” I started to get up but found something was holding my legs down. I looked and saw there was a little tiger had found its way into my lap and fell asleep.

“I don’t know, you were alone when I came out to get you.” I looked at him with a confused look and he gave me one in return. “What’s with that look?”

“I’m not alone, there’s a tiger in my lap. Can’t you see it?” I asked as the tiger began to wake up. Daiki looked at me as if I had lost my mind and I had to agree with him because I was starting to feel that way.

“He can’t see me, mother sent me to bring you to her. Your dragon is already there, he told me to let you sleep and I just made myself comfortable.” the tiger stretched out, looking back at me. “Only those who my mother deems worthy can see me. Now we have to hurry, you’ve kept her waiting long enough.” she jumped off of me and started toward the forest that was close by.

“No way, I’m not going anywhere without him.” I pointed at the now very confused Daiki. “If you want me to come, I’m bringing him with me.” I informed him as the little tiger turned around to look at me.

“Fine, but can we please get a move on, mother does not like to be kept waiting.” she continued on her way as I grabbed Daiki by the hand on my way up to my feet.

“What is going on? You’re talking to the air.” he pointed out as we followed behind the tiger. I knew he was only moving because I was pulling him along with me.

“Just trust me, there is a baby tiger that you can’t see taking us into the forest to meet her mother. I’m thinking she is the guardian of this area, so we should go but just stay alert for anything.” we came up onto the forest, and a path in the trees opened up as we came closer.

“Fine, but if we get eaten I blame you for all of it.” he whimpered as we headed into the forest.

The path took us deep into the forest that we lost sight of the temple, but nothing made me feel like we could be in danger. It was quiet and calm almost like the whole forest was asleep, and it brought a peace over me that I haven’t felt in some time.

“It’s so quiet, where are all the animals?” Daiki asked but I almost didn’t hear him, it was almost like there was something causing the trees to dampen all the sounds.

“I don’t know, but I don’t feel anything evil hiding here. We should be safe for now, but please don’t leave my side.” I held onto his hand tighter, afraid that he was going to vanish on me.

“I’m not going anywhere, so can you not break my hand.” he pulled his hand out of mine. “Any idea on how much farther we have to go?”

“I think we’re almost there, I think I can see the end of the path.” I pointed ahead of us. “Remember your manners, this is a tiger we are about to meet.”

“Yeah I know, but why a tiger?” he must be freaking out on the inside, I’ll have to make it up to him once we get out of here.

“Because, young man, the western lands are my domain.” we both jumped at a voice from behind us, “If you have a problem with that, you are more than welcome to go home.”

We turned around to see a very large tiger standing over us, I guess this is Lady Tora.

“No problems, I am very sorry.” Daiki grabbed onto my arm and pulled me in front of him.

“Very good then.” she looked down at me, “So you are the one Ryu chose, not much to you, now is there?” I had a feeling she didn’t like me very much and I wasn’t liking her too much at the moment.

“Yes my lady,” I bowed, “I am Matsu Jun and this is my brother Matsu Daiki.” I introduced us as she stepped around us and continued down the path.

“Well then Matsu children, come along we have much to talk about.” We followed her into a clearing with a small pond. It was a lot like the Dragon spring where I first met Ryu and Kyo, but there were things that were completely different as the pond and open space were much smaller. I guess as this is the home of a tiger, she wouldn’t want too much open space.

“Kyo, why did you leave me like that? I was so scared when I woke up and you were gone.” I went over to him, I was still a little mad that he would leave me like that.

“I am so sorry, but Tora-oba said it was important that you find your own way without me.” he pressed his nose to my head, “I promise to make sure you know when I have to leave you again.”

“You better.” I placed my hand on the side of his head, “My lady, why have you asked me here?” I asked as she sat down on the other side of the pond.

“I asked you here so I could see who Ryu picked as his champion for myself. Yumiko had told me that you would bring an end to Orochi’s evil, but I do not think you can do it on your own. Now if your other brothers had been here as well, we could have started the ordeal to find my champion, but we have to wait until they get here.” Lady Tora seemed irritated that we had come ahead of the others, but that wasn’t the only thing that was irritating her. “So I want you to show me what it is you can do, prove to me that Ryu did not waste his choice on you while we wait for the rest to show.” It was like I had done something to upset her. I didn’t mind using my powers to show off a little, but Lady Tora seemed disappointed in me.

“My lady, I do not think grandfather would like it if he heard you talking that way to Jun. She comes from a long line of mighty warriors and even has the last Azure Dragon as an ancestor, she is very much worthy of her title.” Kyo defended, as I wasn’t too sure on what I should be doing.

“Little dragon, you will hold your tongue. This is my domain and I will conduct how I please,” Tora snapped at Kyo and we both flinched at her harsh words. “Now you will do as you are asked.” I nodded as I stepped away from Kyo and Daiki.

Taking a breath, I centred myself before I began making the water dance. I knew she was going to want something grand, so I made the water take many forms, changing from a dragon to a tiger and then back again. Lady Tora just yawned and began cleaning herself, so there was one last idea I had, I began forming a figure of a tiger in a mighty pose then froze it with the last of my strength.

“That is all you can do?” she looked over the ice sculpture as I flopped down on the ground panting. “And you are tired already? Pathetic, you should be able to do so much more by now. No wonder the little dragon was locked away for so long.”

“Please Tora-oba, go easy on her. Travelling has not been easy on them and they have been hunted since they left their home.” Kyo came over to me, “She has come far with what little training she has been able to do.”

“And now you make excuses, I am done with you for now.” Now I knew what she was mad about, not being able to save Kyo on my own made me feel bad enough, but now Tora was just making it worse. “I will call for you once the others have arrived.” and with a wave of her paw, we found ourselves back in the open fields behind the temple.

“Jun, are you alright?” Daiki asked when I didn’t get up. “I know she was a little mean, but Kyo was right you can only do your best.” he came and sat next to me.

“My best isn’t good enough. It was my fault that I got caught by Orochi, and then Kyo was trapped in stone and I couldn’t even undo the spell by myself.” I felt like I was going to cry, so I crossed my arms over my eyes. “No matter how good I become, there will always be someone who thinks I can do better or I will never be good enough.” I felt Kyo lay down on my other side, resting his head beside me.

“Don’t take what she said to heart, Tora-oba has always been like that even with grandfather.” he comforted as I put one of my hands on his head. “You are the best at what you do, and that makes you the best to us.”

“Thanks guys,” I pulled myself up off the ground, “I think I need to go get changed, I’ve been in these clothes for a few days now and I need a bath.” I sighed as I walked toward the temple to see if I could find Jizo and ask if there was somewhere I could clean up. I just needed to be alone for a while and a bath was the best way to get the boys to leave me alone for some time.

What Tora had implied had hit me hard and didn’t make me feel any better about the last few weeks. Lately all I had been able to think about was that all of this happened because of me, Orochi came for me and destroyed our home to claim me as some kind of prize, because of that Eiji and the twins were now on the run with me.

I even caused a perfect stranger problems, when Masazumi joined us for that short time, he ended up getting hurt and now I was pretty sure that Orochi had caught him and was holding him in prison just because he helped me.

I wondered what would happen if Orochi found out that we had stopped here for a while, I had a feeling that Yumiko and Jizo would get hurt too or worse.

Maybe I should just turn myself over to him and hope that the others stay away, but I know that wouldn’t happen, they would come for me and then we would be in deep trouble if it came down to that.

“Jun-hime, good to see Lady Tora didn’t eat you.” Jizo laughed when he saw me come into the temple. “I was hoping she wouldn’t, but she can be mean some days.”

“I wish I had known that before seeing her.” I muttered as I tugged on my sleeve, “Anyways, I was wondering if there was somewhere I could clean up? I’ve been wearing these since we left the Azai house.”

“I sure do, come with me and I can show you the way.” he waved for me to follow him through some doors. “I thought Lady Yumiko found you this morning. So you finally met Lady Tora, how did that go?” he asked, not knowing that I was feeling down about it.

“She was unkind to me, making me feel worse than I already do.” I didn’t want to tell him all the details, but I knew he wasn’t going to ask for them.

“She does that sometimes, but she will accept you eventually.” he opened the door for me, “But for now enjoy the bath, it will make you feel better in no time.” he offered as he walked back the way we came.

“Thank you Jizo, don’t tell the others I’m here.” I waved after him as I went inside and closed the door behind me.

Jizo was right, a bath was just what I needed. I could feel all the stiffness drain away from my limbs as I sat in the water, I hadn’t felt so relaxed in a long time it was a nice change. “I guess I could stay here for a while and hide out from the world. It’s not like anyone is going to come in any way.” I said out loud, not knowing that someone had slipped in without me hearing.

“There you are.” I looked over to see Yumiko coming to sit with me. “I see Jizo felt you needed to relax.” she came into the water and sat next to me.

“Yes, we met Lady Tora.” I looked down at my hands that I had folded in my lap.

Yumiko must have picked up on how I was feeling, “Say no more, she does not like anyone the first time she meets them. But I take it she was particularly unkind to you, because of what happened with Kyo?” I nodded, feeling like I was going to cry. I didn’t want her to see me like this, but there wasn’t much I could like this. “You know full well that there was nothing you could have done to prevent it from happening.” she put her hand on my shoulder.

“It just makes me feel useless with the way she said it, like I wasn’t supposed to have been chosen for this task.” I could feel the tears start rolling down my cheeks. “I am sorry, I do not know what came over me.” I tried wiping them away, but they just wouldn’t stop.

“It is fine, I am the only one here and I will keep it to myself.” she was trying to make me feel better, but it wasn’t quite working that way, it only served to make me feel worse.

“Thank you, but that does not help. I should not be showing such emotions to anyone, much less someone I have just met.” I finally managed to stop the tears, “Tell me more about your home, I would like to know more about you.”

“There is not much to know, I was born into a noble family and married into another noble family. My twin brother took over for our father once he died, leaving him with more power than he should ever have had.” Now I could tell that I had asked too much. “But at least I have my healing abilities. Maybe I could try to show you something that could be of some help to you later.”

“I would like that very much, thank you.” I smiled as we looked over to the door that opened again.

There was a woman that I assumed was Yumiko’s other attendant knelt in the doorway. A younger woman than the other one, maybe a little older than I was. Her chestnut hair tied into twin braids, with a pleasant happy face “My lady, I am very sorry to interrupt your bath, but the rest of the Matsus have arrived along with Lady Azai.” she informed us as Yumiko made her way to the edge of the bath.

“Usagi is with them? I wonder why that is?” I followed after her as the attendant left us.

“I am not sure, but there must be a good reason for it. If you would like, I could have one of my attendants help you get dressed to greet them.” I shook my head at her offer.

“No thank you, I can do it on my own, that is the only good thing I managed to pick up at home before all this started. I will meet you outside shortly.” I said as I quickly tossed on the riding clothes to get back to the room I was using with Daiki.

Chapter 14

Just as I made it up to the floor our room was on, Daiki was coming out looking like he had just woken up from a nap. “Good you’re here. Get yourself cleaned up, the others finally made it and they have Usagi with them.” I pulled him back into the room behind me.

“Why does your hand feel so warm?” he asked as I shoved the cleanest clothes I could find into his hands and pushed him to the other side of the room.

“Jizo showed me where the bath was. Now get changed.” I pulled the dressing screen between us. “It’s a good thing I had Kasumi pack this up for me.” I began changing into the blue kimono that Kasumi had given me back at the Azai house. I don’t know what it was about it, but I had made sure to bring it with me. It was quickly becoming one of my prized possessions.

“You said that Usagi was with them, why would they let her tag alone knowing it was dangerous?” Daiki asked as I finished tying the obi around myself.

“I don’t know, can I come around the screen yet?” I asked, smoothing out and wrinkles that I could see.

“Yeah, I’m done.” I pushed the screen out of the way, “Wow, not bad for dressing yourself, are you going to put your hair up or can we go now?”

“Let’s just go, I want to see the others.” he opened the door and we made our way downstairs to meet up with the other.

“Yumiko-san, it is good to see you again, how is Omasu doing?” I heard Eiji say as we came down the stairs.

“He is well, thank you. I am sorry to hear of all the misfortune that has befallen your family as of late.” she replied as we finished coming down.

“Jun-chan, I’m so happy to see you.” Usagi raced over to me and wrapped me in a hug. “When Eiji-kun told my father that you had left in the middle of the night, I became very worried that something had happened.” I felt bad that I had made her worried, but there hadn’t been any time to stop and say goodbye.

“I am sorry Usagi-chan, I did not mean to cause you to worry. I would have said goodbye if I had the chance.” I patted her on the shoulder. “But I am happy to see you.”

“Good, because you are the reason she wanted to come with us. Usagi wanted to make sure you were not mad at her.” Daisuke noted as he came over to stand with us. “I was hoping to ask you about the puzzle box.”

“We got one panel to move, I will show you later.” I managed to pull Usagi off of me and walked over to Eiji. “Good to see you made it, I was beginning to worry that you would never make it, but where are Ayame and Kasumi?” I asked when I noticed that we were two people short.

“They said that they would catch up at a later time, they told us that they had been called home for something.” I was a little sad that I hadn’t had the chance to see them off, but I knew that I would get to see them again soon.

Yumiko came up and put a hand lightly on my shoulder, “How about we have something to eat while you wait for Lady Tora. Jizo took the twins and gathered some refreshment for everyone.”

“Right away my lady, the rest of you can go to the great hall and we will be right back.” Jizo offered as he waved the twins to follow him.

“Once they come back, I have a story that you may like to hear.” Yumiko said as we went to the large room we were the day before.

Jizo had the twins carry in two large trays with all kinds of fruit on them, while he had a large pitcher of water and enough cups for us.

“Now, do any of you know the legend of the guardians?” Yumiko asked once everyone was sitting.

“I do not think so,” I looked over to Daisuke, who shook his head. “Our father did not really believe in fairy tales.”

“I know a little of it,” Eiji spoke up, “Mother told it to me a couple of times.” He looked a little guilty for not telling us what he knew before now. Usagi held his hand, trying to comfort him.

“Does this have something to do with Ryu and Lady Tora?” I asked, watching Jizo pull a huge screen out from a hidden closet in the wall.

“A little, let me start from the beginning.” she moved over to the first panel of the screen. “Once there were five great beasts, each taking domain in the four corners of the country. A formidable turtle and a powerful snake shared the north, the mighty tiger of the west, a majestic bird in the south and a magnificent dragon in the east,” the screen showed each of the different guardians.

“Each used their powers to form the landscape, shaping it to suit their own needs. As they worked, making the land we now live on, the guardians failed to take notice of the darkness that had begun creeping in.” She moved to the next panel, showing the guardians at the four points with a dark blotch in the centre.

“Taking the form of a ruthless and relentless serpent, the one who controls the darkness and the undead. It was not until towns of people started to form that the guardians began to notice that Ko, a serpent made of pure darkness, was tainting the hearts of man, filling their minds with hateful thoughts. He spread hate, war and famine throughout the land, and there was not much the guardians could do to stop him. No matter what they had tried the serpent was always one step ahead of them, and it was because the serpent had chosen a woman to act out his will among the people.”

“So that sounds like me in a way, I was chosen to be the Azure Dragon.” I noted as Yumiko moved on to the panel in the middle of the screen, this one showing a woman clad in a dark armour wielding an odd weapon. It looked like a katana, but it looked like two blades very close together, there was a black cloud around the blades, even if it was just a painting on a screen there was a malevolence that came from it. “But if there was a fifth, and I call him this because I have nothing better to call him by, guardian then why is there only four major clans who have lands of their own?”

“It is because of her that the four major clans were created. This woman here,” Yumiko pointed to the screen, “She was of the imperial house, that was how she was able to spread sheer chaos across Kato. It was because of her the four guardians had to find a way to combat the growing danger, and so they too chose champions to bring the balance back. There were two men from the east and south and two women from the north and west, each brought with them weapons that were dearest to their families and were gifted powers of the guardian of their home.” I felt myself grab onto the dragon seal under my kimono, suddenly it felt heavy around my neck. The weight was becoming too much for me to handle, but I couldn’t bear to take it off.

“Well we know that the man from the east was a Matsu, would that mean that the others would be from the main families as well. Do you think we could get someone from north and south to help?” Eiji asked, looking over to Daisuke, who again shook his head.

“I do not know everything, stop looking to me for all the answers.” he grabbed an apple from one of the trays.

“But you do know a lot, so we just figured that you might know something about it.” I retorted as Yumiko lightly laughed at our sibling squabble.

“I happen to know both of those clans, One maybe willing to help more than the other. The Mochizuki to the south has always had a tentative alliance with the east so you may have a better chance with them. As for the Oda,” we all flinched when she mentioned our pursuer, “Please do not judge the whole clan by the actions of one man. He allowed power to go to his head, he was good once.”

“I think I remember father making deals with the Mochizuki a few times before mother passed, but it was a long time ago.” Eiji remembered as Yukimo nodded.

“Yes your family and mine did have great relations, many of us were saddened with the news of her passing, your mother was an amazing woman.” We were quiet for a few moments, then Yumiko continued with her story. “Once they had received their blessings from the guardians, the four champions made their way to the source of Ko’s power, it was once called the Well of Night, but not many know it by that name anymore, most know it by the name of the city that stands over top of it.”

“Hebi, am I right?” Daisuke asked and the rest of us just sat there gapping at him. Yumiko must have known we were going to have this reaction because all she did was nod.

“How is that possible? There has been a heart of darkness in the capital this whole time, and no one has been affected by it?” I must have asked what my brothers were thinking as well, since none of them said anything.

“What makes you think that no one has been touched by it? I believe you four already know at least one who is in the grip of darkness.” Yumiko suggested as I took a moment to think back to our time in the capital.

“No, not happening. I will not believe that he has become that thing’s puppet.” I shook my head trying to convince myself it wasn’t true. “He is too kind for something like that to happen, why him.”

“Who are you talking about? You do not mean…” Daiki asked as he watched me slamming my fist into the floor causing the wood floor to break, cutting my hand.

“Takeshi, he is the only one that we saw there that should not have been.” Eiji revealed before I could, he knew just as well as I did that was the only explanation why he was still alive.

“If that monster did that to Takeshi, then could he possibly have taken Toro as well?” Daiki asked as we looked to Yumiko. She seemed to have more answers than we had questions, maybe she knew what became of Toro once we left.

“It is possible, I do not know for sure, there are things that even I cannot see right now.” she replied as Jizo came over to me and bandaged up my hand. “But I do know this, the four champions came together and sealed the serpent for what was to be an eternity, but as you have seen with your own eyes that was not the way it stayed. Now it falls on the chosen four to bring an end to the serpent before he can cause unrest again. As Jun has been picked to be the Azure Dragon of the east, that leaves the Golden Tiger of the west, Onyx Turtle and Ivory Snake of the north and the Crimson Phoenix of the south to gather.”

“So we need to find someone from the Oda and Mochizuki clans as we already have someone from the Azai clan with us.” Daiki noted as I got to my feet, “Jun are you alright?”

“No,” I snapped at him, I wasn’t about to even entertain the idea of putting my new friend in danger.

“Last time I checked it was not your place to speak for me.” Usagi snapped, getting my attention.

“I will not put you in danger.” I shook my head, “Or anyone else for that matter, I will take care of the serpent on my own,” I promised, heading to the door, but quickly landed on the floor as I tripped over something.

“I think you need some time to cool off. This may have been too much for you to take in all at once, but you needed to know what lay in front of you.” Yumiko said as I looked back to see her holding a rope that was tangled around my feet. Where did that come from, I didn’t see her reach for anything.

“And let that thing continue to use my brother and who knows how many others for its unholy cause, I will not stand for it.” I tried to get the rope off of my feet, but it wouldn't budge.

“Jun, please listen to reason. What would happen if you went in unprepared and got hurt, or worse got yourself killed? We would have lost another sibling and the serpent would be one step closer to its goal.” Eiji came over to me and knelt down, keeping his voice low. “Yumiko-san was just trying to help by making sure we knew of the task that has been given to you. I will not stand by and watch you run off and do something foolish, so please calm down and think things through.” he offered me his hand and pulled me into a sitting position.

“Alright, but we need to find someone else.” I whispered as I felt the ropes loosen so I could kick them off. “I will not stand for Usagi to be in any danger, you need to make her go home.”

“I will make that happen, now please promise me you will not go and do something stupid.” he looked me in the eye and there was no way I was going to be able to lie to him like this.

“Fine,” I sighed, “But you better hold up your end.” I let him pull me back toward everyone else, but I didn’t sit again. I was too tense to think about trying to relax again right now. “Yumiko-san is there anything else we need to know about the serpent?”

“One thing, and it is the most important thing you will need to know about him. He will try to find a hole, anyway into your mind. The four of you will need to be of one mind, all wanting the same thing when you go to face him. If there is even a tiny bit of doubt, anger, anything like that you will fail and chaos will reign once more.” Yumiko seemed to know what she was talking about. Maybe that was what caused her brother to change. Right now didn’t seem like the right time to ask about Orochi, later if I could get her alone again I would have to ask.

“So how am I to get my brother back? There must be a way.” I looked over at the hole I punched into the floor, trying to get myself under control again.

“I am sorry, but there is a very real chance that he is gone. There may be no way for him to come back.” I squeezed my bandaged hand, causing it to bleed more. “I know that is not what you wanted to hear, but you cannot afford to have false hope. I do not mean to be cruel, but these are things you need to hear.” Yumiko called after me as I left the room, tears running down my face. Why is that everyone wants to protect me, but all they end up doing is causing me more pain.

“Why did you choose me!” I screamed at the sky once I got outside, “You should have taken one of the others, they can handle things much better than me!” I fell to my knees, tears falling like rain drops in a storm. I wrapped my arms around my midsection and curled in on myself. What good am I if I can’t help my family when they need me.

I don’t know how long I had stayed, but at some point day had turned to night and Kyo had come and encircled me with his body. “How long have you been here?” I looked at him, blinking my eyes into focus. My voice cracked from the rawness in my throat from my crying.

“A few hours, I had gone off to investigate the sea and when I came back, you were just sitting here not really seeing anything around you. I don’t know what happened while I was gone, but it must have been bad by the looks of your hand.” I shifted stiffly and looked down to my bandaged hand, the cloth was a dull red from the blood.

“Lady Yumiko told us what was going on, I didn’t take things well.” I unwrapped my hand, and looked at the cut on the side of my hand. “I guess I should get someone to help me wrap this back up.” I tried getting up, but I couldn’t feel my legs.

“Let me help you back inside, I think the others are worried about you.” he lifted me up and placed me down on his shoulder. “If you can, try to slide more into my back and hold on tight.” I managed to get over just enough to get my arms around his neck before he took off running back to the temple.

I hadn’t realized how far I had gotten before stopping, “No wonder no one found me,” I said as the landscape whisked past, “Kyo I am sorry, and thank you for staying with me.”

“There is nothing to be sorry for, and I have already said that I will always be by your side.” he called back over the wind. I started feeling better being close to him, there was a calming effect he had over me, no wonder I had such an outburst.

“I never want you to leave me, there is no one that I want more right now.” I was trying to get a better grip, but I was just so worn out that it was hard to keep from flying off his back.

“Don’t worry, I don’t plan on going anywhere any time soon.” I heard him promise as sleep took me over. All the excitement of the day had finally caught up with me and I couldn’t fight to stay awake any longer, I would have to make time to apologize when I woke up.

Chapter 15

“What are we going to do about her, she’s a loose cannon right now and we all know that she can and will do whatever her heart tells her.” I heard voices around me, I wasn’t really sure what was going on. The last thing I remembered was riding on Kyo’s back.

“Well you know we can’t keep her here, she’ll have another outburst and might take a wall out next time.” this time I heard Daiki laugh. “Maybe she could stay like this. We won't have to worry too much about her flying off the handle again.”

“We cannot leave her in such a state, once she wakes we have to talk things over with her.” this time Eiji was speaking, I tried opening my eyes and got them open a little bit enough to see fuzzy outlines of the three of them.

“I know I was wrong and you guys are right, we need to talk.” I managed to say, my throat was so dry my voice cracked.

“Take things easy, you’ve been asleep for a day and a half. We were worried that you had hidden yourself away after the other day.” Daisuke came over and sat on the edge of the bed, “You gave us quite a scare, are you alright now.” he gave me a small cup of water.

“I am feeling better, but the way I behaved was beyond out of line. I overreacted, like everyone said, it was all too much for me to take in all at once but it does not excuse the way I acted.” I found the strength to sit up, and I felt stiff all over.

“We know, and even Lady Yumiko understands. It is a heavy burden that has been placed on you, so it is only normal to react in such a manner.” Eiji snarked from the doorway, I couldn’t see his face but I had a feeling that he was bitter about something. “We’re just glad that you’re alright now, I’ll go let the others know.” with that he was gone, I knew I wouldn’t be seeing him around again for some time.

“Let me guess, he’s jealous. It’s not the first time, nor will it be the last.” Daiki guessed as he brought over a small plate of food. “Thought you might be hungry, do you want one of us to go have a talk with him?”

“No, he’ll come back and we’ll have a small argument then everything will go back to being somewhat normal until something else happens then the cycle will repeat. I think he’s having a harder time accepting things as they are than I am. He just wants to keep me safe but he knows that I have to stand on my own two feet without him.” I watched them, they seemed on edge about something. “What happened while I was sleeping?”

“Eiji broke off his engagement with Usagi and after that he sent her home. He hasn’t been himself since, and then we couldn’t find you for hours after that, so he’s been angry with himself. If Kyo hadn’t brought you back when he did, I think Eiji would have been out all night looking.” Daisuke said as Daiki nodded, “But right now focus on feeling better, we will deal with everything later.” there was a knock on the door and Jizo stuck his head in.

“Good to see you’re up Princess, Lady Yumiko said she was going to be stopping by later. We knew you would be alright, but still couldn’t help worrying.” Jizo came in holding a bunch of flowers in a vase. “I hope you don’t mind a little colour to brighten your day.”

“Thank you Jizo, tell me what has been happening. These two told me some of it, but I want to hear it from someone who won’t be worried about my feelings.” I waved him in and he gave the flowers to Daiki. “I want you two to go keep an eye on Eiji, make sure he stays out of trouble.” they nodded and left.

“You know more than you let on, so what do you want to know?” Jizo pulled a chair closer to the bed.

“Is it true that Eiji sent Usagi home? I hope that wasn’t because I told him to keep her safe.” I looked down into the cup in my hands. I couldn’t help but think that it was my fault that he ended things with her for my sake.

“Yes, he told her that for the time being it wasn’t safe for her to be around. I heard that he ended their engagement for the time, he had said that once everything was over with Orochi he would come back and smooth things over with her father.” I knew it, he had sent her away for me but at the same time he overdid things.

“I knew there were things those two wouldn’t tell me. Jizo I want to apologize for punching a hole in the floor, is there something I can do to fix things.” I offered, but all he did was shake his head.

“No worries, Daiki already fixed it up. I guess they knew you would feel bad about it and made sure it was taken care of by the time you woke up. Speaking of which, let me see your hand.” he held out his hand for mine. I had forgotten that I had cut it, so I let him look it over. “Wow, it’s almost fully healed. That’s amazing, I guess this is because you are the Azure Dragon.”

“I guess so, well I don’t have to worry about infections. Jizo, can you help me with something?” I asked him, knowing that he might say he couldn’t, but it was worth a chance.

“I can try, what are you thinking?” he must have known that he might be the only one who could help.

“I want to learn more about healing while we’re here, I want to make sure I am prepared in case something happens again.” I explained, he was relieved when he heard that was the only thing I wanted.

“Well now, that is something I can do. I’ll be back later with some books on plants we can go over, right now you should just rest. I think your brothers will get upset if you over do things right now.” Jizo patted the back of my hand, “So please take things easy for now.”

“Thank you Jizo, I will rest for now. But I don’t think I could sleep right now, but could you open the window before you go?” I asked as he stood up to leave.

“I sure can, some fresh air and sunlight will be good for you.” he went over to the window and opened it only to have a blue snout shoved into his face. I had to cover my mouth to muffle the giggle I let out at his shocked yelp.

“Oh sorry Jizo, didn’t know you were there. Daiki just told me you woke up, so I thought you would like me to come see you.” he apologized resting his head on the windowsill. I was glad to see he was here, I hoped I was on the ground floor so he could be close.

“That’s alright, I was just on my way out anyway. I will be back later, take it easy.” Jizo nodded as he left. Once he closed the door, I slipped out of bed and brought the chair over to the window so I could be closer to Kyo.

“How are you feeling? The boys asked me to take Usagi home early yesterday and I didn’t get back until it was dark, and you still hadn’t woken up so everyone was getting worried.” Kyo let me know what has been going on as I rested my head against his. “I like Usagi, she’s really nice, and she said she was going to miss spending time with you but knew that it was for the best and she wished she could have said goodbye before leaving.”

“I’m going to miss her too, but she’s going to be safer back home. I just wish Eiji hadn’t ended things between them, even if it’s temporary he shouldn’t have done that.” I sighed as I heard the door open behind me.

“Hello Yumiko-san,” Kyo greeted her over my shoulder, “Come to see Jun too?”

I turned around to see her, the tall guard kept to the door. “Yes, I was happy to hear she was awake.” Yumiko came in with what looked like a plate of sweets. “I thought you might like something sweet.”

“Thank you, that sounds great.” I got up to get another chair, but she motioned for me to sit.

“Just like you, I believe that I can care for myself. I think I can lift a chair on my own.” she smiled as Kyo laughed at me.

“You think it’s funny? Well we will see how many sweets you get.” I snipped as Yumiko sat down on the other side of Kyo, across from me. “I am happy you came, I wanted to apologize for my behaviour the other day. I was out of line with the way I acted, I should not have overreacted the way I did.” I bowed my head, of all the people I had apologized to today, she was the one I had wanted to talk to the most.

“Never you mind about that, I had known that it could have gone that way. But of all of you I had not expected it would be you to lose your temper. I guess you have the most right to be upset, as you are the one affected. I should have found a way to be softer with your feelings.” Yumiko seemed sad about something, maybe she felt bad about what happened too.

“Yumiko-san, please do not think that way, you did what you felt was right. I needed to know what was coming and you did it in the only way you could. I thank you for doing so, I am the one at fault here.” I grabbed on to her free hand, “Please do not feel like you were wrong by doing what you knew you had to do.”

“Okay, before you two get out of hand, you both are sorry and forgive each other. Let’s move on and give me some of the sweets.” Kyo huffed, causing both Yumiko and I to start laughing so hard our eyes started to tear.

“I think he’s getting impatient with us, and I guess he’s earned at least one.” I giggled, wiping tears from my eyes, “Which one would you like?”

“I think I want the green one, it looks like a good one.” he said as I put it in his mouth.

“I hope you like it, I’ve made all these myself. I haven’t managed to get them just right.” she chuckled as Kyo started coughing. “Oh my, I think that one was had the fire peppers in it. Maybe I should have warned you about that, I was trying to find a way to make a spicy candy but so far it hasn’t worked.” I couldn’t help but laugh as Kyo ran in search of something to drink.

“I wouldn’t mind trying one of those.” I took one of the green candies for myself. I loved anything that was spicy and it sounded like the perfect sweet for me.

Yumiko tried to hide a smile behind her hand as I started fanning myself with my hand. “I told you it was not quite right yet.” she laughed.

I managed to finish the candy once I got used to the heat and lost most of the feeling in my mouth. “I guess I should help him,” I laughed as I waved him back, “Hey Kyo, get back over here so I can help.” I called him and he came back. I looked over to the cup Daisuke had given me earlier and tried to call the water over, but it didn’t move. I tried again and it didn’t even twitch.

“Is something wrong?” Yumiko watched me as I got up and went over to the cup. I was starting to think maybe I was just too far, but as I got closer the water still wouldn’t move.

“I think there’s something wrong, I can’t get the water to move.” I looked back at Kyo, who was still coughing. “I’m sorry Kyo, but I have to go find Lady Tora.” I went to grab my sword but I couldn’t pick it up, so I decided to leave it behind, I was in a hurry.

“Jun come back, Lady Tora doesn’t appear unless she wants to. You’ll get lost in the forest if you are not invited.” I heard Yumiko call after me as I ran down the stairs.

A few hours later I was standing just on the edge of the forest, staring down the path trying to figure out what I was going to do if I did end up getting attacked. I couldn’t use my powers and I didn’t have any weapons so I was pretty much on my own, having to use what little survival skills I had picked up from the others.

“Tora-san, please I need to speak to you.” I called out to the trees, hoping that someone would hear me. My only hope was on the other side of the trees, and I had only one option right now. Knowing that I had to prove myself worthy of gaining an audience with her, so down the path I went.

“I see you want to go see mother, I can take you to her if you wanted.” I heard a voice from inside the trees, “You’ll just end up lost if you go alone.” I looked to see the little tiger from the other day come out of the trees onto the path in front of me. “I’m Momo by the way.” she introduced herself.

“I don’t think accepting help will show Lady Tora that I am worthy of her time and help. But if you happened to stay with me, I wouldn’t mind a little company.” I accepted her offer as she nodded, “Good then, shall we?” I started down the path again with her next to me.

“Mother became worried about you when you sat out in the field for most of the day on your own, she had a feeling you might have a mental break and get separated from Lord Ryu’s power, and like always, she was right. But don’t worry, you still have your powers, they just happen to be locked away for now.” she told me as we made our way toward the clearing.

“So I’m the only thing standing in my own way, how can that be?” I looked down to her, “I’m blocking my powers because of what, I don’t want to face the fact that I may have to lose Takeshi all over again?”

“Yeah that sounds about right, Lady Yumiko came and talked to mother about you. Seems what mother had said to you last time only served to shake your self-confidence, which she is sorry for, but you’ll never hear her say anything like that.” Momo gave a short laugh, “All you really need to do is just begin to believe in yourself again and you will get the powers back. I know Kyo will be by your side, but if you don’t mind can I come too?”

“I don’t mind, but I think Daiki might. You see he had a bit of a bad experience with tigers when he was younger, so now he’s terrified of them now.” I explained, causing Momo to laugh, “It’s really hard for him to be here at the temple, but he’s doing his best for me. So you would have to clear it with him first.”

“I think I should be the first one to be asked, that is if you want to leave the sanctuary of home my child.” we heard Tora before we saw her.

“I am sorry mother, I know I should have come to ask you first but I want to see the world past the temple.” Momo sniffed as she laid down on the ground, it looked like she knew she was in trouble.

“I know this too, and you will, once I have chosen a guardian. I will want a way to keep an eye on things while you travel.” Tora agreed as Momo jumped up, her ears pointed straight up with excitement. “But only once I choose and since the only Azai was sent away by you and your brother, I will need to find someone else now.”

“Use one of my brothers, you must have a way for you to test them, for them to show their worth?” I pleaded as she seemed to be thinking over my idea, “Please, I know that they are worthy, each have their own way of seeing the world and they would and have stood by me while I have acted like a spoiled brat.” I then realized why I have been having such a hard time with everything, I was so focused on myself and not at all on everyone around me. I need to start looking at things differently, focus on helping others instead of just what is best for me.

“Now you are ready for the task at hand.” Tora nodded, sensing my new resolve “I was planning on holding a trial to help decide which one of them was worthy of my powers, but you are going to help me now.” she had a look that made me worry what I had gotten myself into, something told me that I wasn’t going to like.

“What is that I am going to have to do?” I asked as Tora slowly moved toward me, “I am not going to like this now am I?”

“Just trust me, this will not hurt, much.” she purred slowly moving closer, “Now as long as you hold still, I will be quick.” All I saw was the flash of claws and the sound of tearing of fabric.

Chapter 16

“Was that really necessary? I was getting attached to that kimono, it was just given to me.” I complained, looking down where my missing sleeve should have been, finding my armour. “I really did like it. You owe me a new one.”

Tora had ripped the sleeve off of me and had Momo bring it back to the temple. She was going to tell my brothers that I had gone into the forest on my own and now I was badly injured.

“Just be grateful I did not scratch you with all that moving you did, and your armour seemed to do its job so you will be fine.” Tora dismissed. “It was your idea to test them, so you get to be the bait.”

I checked my arm for any other damage finding the azure blue scales undamaged. I realised I had no idea what my armour looked like. I followed my arm down to the slightly clawed fingers, they didn’t look long enough to do anything with but still looked fierce. Matching boots and scaled armour covered most of my legs and torso.

Looking around my head felt heavier. Leaning a little over the pond, I wore grand horns on top of my helmet while my mask and the rest of the helmet looked like Kyo when he roared. “I look frightening.”

“Kind of the point, our warriors strike fear into our enemies, and inspire allies.” Tora spoke like I was a child questioning the need for clothing. “As for the kimono, I will see about repairing it and even cleaning how does that sound.” Tora promised as she watched the pond, she was using it as a looking glass to watch what the boys were doing. “Looks like all three are coming, they must really care for you.” I moved closer so I could see.

“We have been through a lot the last little while, it only strengthens the bonds we have, even if we are not blood.” I noticed Tora turned her head a little toward me. “That was something you did not know? But yes the only blood siblings are the twins, the rest of us were brought together as children when our families died. Eiji is the true Matsu heir, as he was always meant to be, but I think I may have stolen his role as the Azure Dragon.” I looked over at her, Tora only shook her head.

“No, never think that, if Ryu chose you the title was always meant to be yours. Now let us watch the fun as they try to make their way through the forest.” she almost sounded encouraging. I nodded as we watched the pond again.

“Now what, Momo disappeared so we don’t have a guide. There is no way all three of us should go in.” Daisuke proposed once they got to the forest edge, “I think I should stay behind, in case she finds her way out before you find her.”

“And then there were two, that Daisuke is very practical. I would have liked to see him try more, but he does have a good idea.” Tora was much nicer than I had originally thought, she was only hard on me because she was trying to help.

“He is the best when it comes to books, he was always studying so he knows a little about a lot of things. Now from here we are down to Eiji and Daiki, which one do you think will get to the guard?” I asked as she seemed to weigh the choices.

“I think Eiji will, as you already have said that Daiki is terrified of tigers. So it will come down to who will run away first.” Tora was being mean, using Daiki’s fear against him.

“Where is she, there is no way she could have gotten this far into the forest.” Eiji complained a little as they continued down the path, looking on both sides of the path for me.

“Knowing her, she could have gotten really far. And from what both Lady Yumiko and Kyo said she was really freaked out about something.” Daiki explained as that made it to a small clearing, “But you do have a point, if she was hurt we should have seen her by now.” he flopped down on a fallen log and held his head in his hands.

“We can’t give up, Masazumi wouldn’t let me live it down, that’s if we ever see him again. I haven’t told Jun this, but the rumours of the emperor having the son of a noble in prison is true. From what Kasumi told me was that after we got away, they put Takeshi there to keep him from following us.” Eiji sat next to him. “I think Jun was under the impression that it was Masazumi, but both Kasumi and Ayame told me that he managed to get to safety. I let her think it was him so she wouldn’t think of what was happening to Takeshi.”

“Why would you do that, you know she would worry about him no matter what so why add to that.” Daiki looked at Eiji in surprise, “She would do better knowing the truth than having any of us lie to her any more than we already have.” Eiji held his hand up to get Daiki to stop talking.

“We’re not alone, get ready to run.” Eiji reached for his sword as the bushes started to move. The tiger Tora had placed as a guard came out from the trees, growling teeth bared.

“Eiji, wait I don’t think we should be so hasty. This is her home, we just need to back away slowly.” Daiki quivered as they slowly got up and began to back away.

“See, I knew Daiki was not ready to face his fears. I knew he would back away.” Tora commented as we watched them back away.

“Wait, look at him.” I pointed at Daiki, he was standing his ground. “He seems to be ready to face the tiger down.”

“Eiji, I remember seeing another path a little while back, go back and see if there is a way around. I’ll stay here and keep our friend busy.” Daiki challenged the tiger as he dug his feet into the dirt. “If there is a chance for you to find her, take it.”

“See, I knew he would finally face his fear.” I was smiling, proud to see him acting this way.

“We will see, give it time. He still may run.” Tora didn’t seem to have as much faith in Daiki as I did, but I knew deep in my soul that he was going to prove her wrong.

“What about you? How are we going to get you out of here if you become injured?” Eiji protested as he watched Daiki squaring off with the tiger.

“Don’t worry about me, Jun is our priority. You get her out and then you can send someone to come and get me if I don’t follow you out.” Eiji nodded and ran back, looking for another way.

Daiki charged at the tiger, “I’m not afraid of you, you don’t scare me.” and he passed right through the tiger as he jumped at her. Tora and I watched as he came tumbling into the clearing.

“I knew it, good job getting over your fear and just for me.” I ran over to him and grabbed him up into a hug. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Hang on a minute, you’re not hurt? But Momo said…” Tora cut him off.

“She did as I asked. It was a test to see which one of you brothers would become my champion, and lucky me, I got the scaredy cat.” she teased as I snorted out a short laugh. “And what may I ask is so funny?”

“You called him a scaredy cat, and you are a very large cat yourself.” I couldn’t help but laugh and Daiki joined me in laughter.

“I do not see why it was so funny, all I did was say he gets easily scared.” I could tell she wanted to laugh with us, but refused to. “Anyway, Daiki get over here.” I helped him up so he could go over to Tora.

“I don’t know what’s going on, we thought you were in danger. What happened?” he asked as I went to stand with Tora.

“Like I already said, I was testing you three. I needed to know which one of you cared the most and was brave enough to come and rescue your sister who you thought was hurt and in danger.” she pointed at the pond and it replayed everything we already saw. “You not only dared to come into a forest you knew your greatest fear lived in, but you were ready to lay down your life so Eiji could get away. I think I did get the best one, but we will need you to get over that fear of yours.” Tora remarked as she gave me a yellow stone seal, it was like mine only it had a tiger on it.

“Wait so you mean I get to be your champion?” he asked as I put the seal around his neck.

“What do you think, dimwit.” I smiled as he looked down at the seal, “Now you are going to need your weapon as well, as no one else can move them, come here.” Tora ordered as she waved Daiki over to her.

There had been a small altar set up with a set of matte gold gauntlets and greaves with black stripes, along with what looked to be fresh picked flowers. “Setsuna was a dear friend, I miss her almost every day. She was a fierce warrior and never backed down, but at the same time she was one of the most caring people I have ever come to know. She would be happy to know that you are taking up her title as the Golden Tiger.” Tora stated as we came closer, Daiki went up to the altar as I stayed by her side.

“We will honour her memory by sealing the serpent away for good this time, that I can promise you.” I vowed as Daiki put the gauntlets on, they were a perfect fit, almost like they had been placed there just for him. Showing them off a little I noticed his name etched into each piece, just below the elbows and knees. Well next time he gets into trouble, they won’t have to wonder who it is. I giggled to myself.

“I know you will honour us all, now you two need to get back to the others. They are waiting for you at the end of the path.” Tora said as we started on our way, “Oh Daiki, you are going to be taking Momo with you on your travels. Try not being terrified the whole time.” she called after us, Daiki let out a small moan and I patted his shoulder.

“It will be fine, you’ll see. I like Momo, she’s really nice and friendly and since she’s so small there is no way she could eat you.” I laughed as he gave me a terrified look.

“Don’t joke about things like that, she’s still growing, so she still has time to get bigger. What have I gotten myself into this time.” He grumbled as we cleared the trees to see Daisuke and Eiji standing there.

“You’re alright, just missing a sleeve. What happened?” Eiji looked from me to Daiki and saw the tiger seal and weapons. “So you get the honour of being a champion. Good for you.” and that was all he had to say before turning and walking off.

“Maybe I should go talk to him, have him understand what happened.” Daiki volunteered as both Daisuke and I shook our heads.

“No, best let him get it out of his system on his own right now, he’s still hurting from making Usagi leave.” Daisuke advised as we watched him head off on his own. I couldn’t help but to think it was my fault, I had put him in a position where he had to choose between me and Usagi.

“I’ll talk to him later, but how about we go back to the temple and see if Jizo can help us fix up a feast to celebrate.” I knew we needed something to celebrate, as I took their hands and led them back to the temple. “We finally have something to be happy about for once.” if I had only known what was waiting for us at the temple, I wouldn’t have been so ready to hurry back.

As we made our way back over the open fields, I noticed that something wasn’t right. There was a dim glow coming from where the temple should have been. “Hey guys, I think we have a problem.” I looked back to them and pointed, “Let’s hurry and find out what is going on.” We took off running.

“I think we should be a little cautious, we don’t know what’s going on just yet.” Daisuke cautioned as we ran.

“Lady Yumiko and Jizo should have still been inside, if the temple is on fire we have to get them out.” I picked up my pace as we got close enough to see where the temple was. Someone or something had set the temple on fire, but I could see that Yumiko and Jizo had made it out safely.

“Is everyone alright? What happened?” Daiki asked, I hadn’t noticed him keeping up with me.

“We don’t know, the last thing I remember before the fire started was a howling sound. If it hadn’t been for Lady Yumiko I would have been still inside, she had come to find me and we had gotten out together.” Jizo filled us in as he crossed his arms over his chest, soot and small burn marks covered his face and clothing..

“It’s good she was there. Now is there anything we can do to help?” I asked as he shook his head.

“The closest water source is too far, Lady Yumiko’s guards took off on horseback anyway. by the time they get any here it wouldn’t be of any help.” Jizo seemed sad, I guess the temple was the only home he had known.

“Well then it’s good that you have me around, I’ll see what I can do.” I stepped closer to the burning temple, closed my eyes to focus, the heat and sparks made it harder but I wasn’t about to let the temple burn down without trying. I could feel the water flowing under the ground. It took some doing but I started pulling it up toward us, it was fighting me as it wanted to stay where it was.

“Come on, I need your help. Jizo will lose his home if we don’t do anything.” I whispered as I focused the water into a rope and pulled. I heard the others shout as the water came up from the ground, but I had to really focus to tame the river it kept trying to go back to where it came from.

“Jun, do you need help?” I heard Kyo ask, I hadn’t opened my eyes yet but I could tell that he had come up next to me. “Let me help tame the river, you work on putting out the flames.” I felt the river stop pulling away from me as much, so I opened my eyes. I nodded at my dragon companion as I patted out a few embers on my clothes.

“You will want to aim for the bottom, aim for the source of the flames.” Lady Yumiko pointed to the top of the temple. “Maybe if Daiki could find a way to take the air out of the building, the flames should go down.”

“Tell me how,” he came up on my other side, “I have to help too, I like this place too much.”

“Just focus on what you want to happen, really want it with everything you got and then it will happen.” I instructed as he nodded.

“Jun, the water, don’t let it get away.” Kyo nudged me, I hadn’t noticed that the water was trying to go back underground.

“Sorry, I got this.” I went back to my task. Just as Yumiko had said, I took part of the river and forced it to head toward the temple, focusing on taking out the flames on the lower floors.

As we worked, the fire died down in great plumes of grey smoke. It seemed Daiki was getting the hang of his powers as the fire went out in no time. “Good work, you two managed to save most of the building. I can’t thank you enough.” Jizo praised as I finally let the water go back to where I pulled it from. “It’s going to take a little work, but I will have it back to what it was in no time.” Daiki and I wobbled on our feet, we had to use a lot of power, and it left us weak.

“Good job, not bad for your first time.” I patted his shoulder as we made our way down to the ground to sit. The grass was wet, but right now we didn’t mind or care, both of us were very tired.

“You too, now I know why you keep blacking out. Are you hungry too?” he asked as we sat back to back.

“Not really, I guess you had to work harder than I did. No, all I really need is a nap right now.” I leaned my head back onto his shoulder. “Like I said before, I am so proud of you, I’m glad to know you have my back.” I was talking to myself as Daiki had fallen asleep with his head on my shoulder.

“Rest now, I will be here when you wake.” Kyo told me as I noticed I was starting to drift. “You both earned it.” I was just happy that we managed to save most of the temple, and when we woke we would be pitching in and helping clean up what was left.

Chapter 17

“You should have seen them, they worked so well together.” I felt something next to me move, “I just wish this didn’t keep happening, we need to find away from them to train and still be safe.”

“Well we won’t be able to stay here much longer, it’s becoming unsafe.” I guess Eiji had come back but I wasn’t ready to deal with him. “We need to figure out our next move.”

“Let them rest, they earned it. We can deal with things in the morning, they have Kyo and Momo to guard them and we can find an undamaged room inside.” I shifted and tried to go back to sleep, but I couldn’t since I was getting hungry.

“Oh sorry Jun if I woke you. It looked like you were getting cold, so I moved up closer to warm you a little.” Momo lifted her head when she noticed I shifted.

“No it’s alright, I’m getting hungry anyway.” I got up, someone must have laid us down once we had fallen asleep. “You stay with him, I’ll be right back.” Momo moved closer to Daiki once I got out of the way.

“You might want to change too, you’re caked with mud.” she suggested as I looked down at myself, and she was right, there was a thick layer of mud on my back and lower half. I could see dozens of tiny holes caused by the sparks. The fire had fought back and by the look of my kimono it was close to winning.

“Well let’s hope the rest of my clothes survived. I’m going to have to apologize to Masazumi whenever I meet him, he was the one who gave it to Kasumi to bring to me.” I sighed as I made my way to the temple.

I guess everyone else had found somewhere to sleep for the night, since I didn’t see anyone while I made my way to the room upstairs Daiki and I had used. The stairs were stable and it didn’t look like the fire had made it to them yet, which made me feel hopeful that my clothes were safe.

“Careful, the landings might be weak in places.” Jizo warned from behind me, making me jump a little.

“You scared me, I thought everyone was sleeping.” I turned to look at him, he didn’t seem like the happy Jizo we had come to know and love but it was understandable, his home had just been on fire. “How are you holding up?”

“I’d be better if you and your brothers never came here,” he took a step forward and that was when I saw that his eyes had turned black, “I was hoping that annoying witch wouldn’t get out, and maybe get at least one of her bothersome guardians with the fire. I should have waited for everyone to be asleep instead of for you to leave.” I started backing up the stairs slowly, not taking my eyes off of him.

“Jizo, listen to me, you have to wake up. Ko has found a way to get into your head, fight him off.” he followed me every step of the way, it was going to be hard to get away from him once my back hit the wall, I was going to have to try everything I could to defuse the situation before then.

“Why should I? For the first time in a very long time, my eyes are clear to everything. Everyone just comes through here and I get treated like a servant, bowing and smiling and jumping every time someone wants something. No more, I will not be a doorstep any more. Lord Oda wants you and has promised me that he will rebuild my temple once I have delivered you to him.” Jizo had become a little threatening now as we made it to the top of the stairs. “Now come along quietly and nothing will happen to your brothers.”

“I will not allow you to do that,” Yumiko commanded our attention as she appeared on the landing next to me. “I think it is time for you to leave this monk in peace, dishonoured one be gone and return to the darkness from where you came from.” she placed a paper charm over his eyes.

Black smoke began to snake its way out from under the charm. “What did you do?” I looked from Jizo over to Yumiko. She just stood there with a grim look on her face.

“It was as I feared, the Well of Night has become more active. Go get yourself ready, I will wake your brothers. You four have to leave as soon as you can, it has become very unsafe for you to linger here much longer. I wish you had the time to recover fully, but you need to go.” she didn’t sound like a loving mother anymore, but spoke with command that demanded to be followed. The red haired man came from downstairs and picked up Jizo and they both walked down the stairs.

“What about Jizo, should we leave him here like this?” I watched them walk away, frozen with fear.

“I will deal with him,” she turned back to look at me, “Now go and do as you are told.” I jumped at how sharp her voice had become. Completely different from the way she had been the last few days, I had almost started to think of her as a mother to us.

“Yes ma’am, I will be as fast as I can.” I hurried along so she wouldn’t get mad at me, I was kind of afraid of what she could do to me if I stepped out of line. I changed quickly, choosing to only save a small piece of the kimono I had been wearing, it was far too damaged to be wearable again. In the time it took me to do all of that, Yumiko had woken Eiji and Daisuke, leaving the task of waking Daiki to me.

“What’s going on, what happened to Jizo?” Daiki mumbled as I shook him awake.

“Jizo had been possessed by Ko, we have to leave now.” I had left the fact that he tried to attack me out so they wouldn’t try to hurt him for something that he was not in control of. Yumiko must not have told the others anything either, so at least he was safe from them for now, but I will have to tell them about it, eventually.

“So where do we go now? We still have to go see the guardians in the north and south, so where to first.” Eiji asked as he pulled Daiki to his feet.

“North, there is no pass to the south from this side.” Yumiko informed us, looking back at the temple, “I wanted to join you for some of the trip, but as this has happened, I must remain and tend to Jizo. I wish you well on your travels, we will meet again sometime soon.” she gave us a sad smile. The twins went ahead to get the horses ready as I finished saying goodbye with Eiji.

“I am going to miss you, please be safe yourself.” I fought the urge to run over to her and wrap my arms around her. “Next time we meet I look forward to having more of your fire pepper candies.” I couldn’t fight it anymore, I ran up to her and threw my arms around her.

“Jun, that is highly inappropriate, what has gotten into you.” Eiji scolded me, but I didn’t care, I needed a hug right now and I wanted to prolong my time with Yumiko.

“It is alright, it is something we both need.” Yumiko returned my hug and we just stood there as she stroked my hair and whispered everything was going to be alright in my ear. “Now you have to get going, and here take these,” she gave me two charms that were very different from the one she had used on Jizo.

“What are they?” I asked looking them over. They just looked like bits of paper with writing on them, but I could feel a pulse of magic in them.

“They are for Momo and Kyo. They will help them blend in while they wear them. It will make things easier for you to get around. Now get going, if you linger any longer I cannot guarantee that you will be safe.” she waved us off as I went back to Eiji.

“Thank you Yumiko-san, until we meet again.” Eiji gave her a deep bow, then guided us down the path to the stable where we had left the horses. “You shouldn’t have done that, I know you have become very attracted to lady Yumiko in the short time we were here, but she could have seen that act as being rude.” he began to lecture me as we walked.

“I already know all of that, but I couldn’t help it. Will we actually see her again, like she said?” I looked back over my shoulder to see her waving at us.

“As long as we stay out of trouble, I believe so. What happened to the blue kimono, by the way? It was pretty messed up by the time the fire was put out.” He asked, making me sigh, I did the only thing I could have done with it.

“It wasn’t in any condition for me to bring it, so I had to leave it behind.” I hung my head a little, “I’m going to miss it, I was kind of getting used to wearing it.”

“You do know that blue with silver is the Mochizuki colours, don’t you?” he asked as I stopped and looked at him, causing him to stop and look back at me.

“Ayame said that too, but why would you bring that up?” I was very confused now.

“She was born an Oda but married into the Mochizuki, that’s how come she knew about the allegiance between us and them.” he explained as it dawned on me.

“And I’ve been wearing their colours this entire time.” he nodded. “And I just gave her a hug, there has to be something very wrong with me. But why didn’t she say anything?” I couldn't believe how ignorant I had been the last few days, I was ready to die from embarrassment.

“It is very possible that she was just being polite, but that is a question you can ask her next time. Right let’s go, the twins are waiting.” Eiji just smiled at me as he took my hand.

“You’re right,” I agreed, “We have a lot of distance to cover.” I started running slowly, pulling him along with me.

“Slow down, I don’t run as fast as you do.” Eiji tried his best to keep up with me, “And I guess Daiki will be just as fast.”

“I don’t know, we’ll have to see once we get to a safe place to stop for a rest.” I slowed down so we could walk side by side, but still holding on to his hand. “I am sorry about the trial, but you did make it to the last test.”

“And how is it you know?” Eiji asked as we walked. We hadn’t had time to talk since the fire the night before, so I wanted to tell him now before things got out of hand again.

“I was watching with Lady Tora.” I answered, “But there are still two guardians left, there is still a chance for you.” I knew it was a sore spot with him, but I knew that if we didn’t talk things out now it was going to blow up in our faces.

“I just want to keep you three safe, you’re all I have left. One day all of this will be over and things can go back to being normal again.” Eiji comforted, then turned into a light tease. “Well maybe we will have to find a new normal, since you already found someone you want to marry.”

“I wouldn’t have a clue who you are talking about, I think you might have hit your head on something.” I could feel my face starting to get hot, “Come on, we shouldn’t keep everyone waiting.”

“You can keep lying to yourself, but we both know you haven’t stopped thinking about Masazumi since we parted ways. And so you know, the rumours we have been hearing about a noble in the imperial prison isn’t him.” I nodded as Eiji talked.

“I know already, I heard you tell Daiki. Thank you for trying to protect me, but I’m not a little girl anymore who needs her big brother to hold her hand.” he gripped my shoulder. “And I don’t have feelings for Masazumi, I’ve just been worried that something had happened to him since we haven’t heard anything yet.”

“What’s taking so long, we don’t have all night.” Daiki called as he saw us coming down the path.

“Sorry, I tripped over a stone on the path, I’m fine now.” I fibbed a little heading over to them. “Kyo, Momo, I have something for you from Lady Yumiko. She said it was going to help you blend in.” I gave them the charms. There was a quick flash of light, then once the light died away Kyo and Momo looked like humans, only with some of their original features. Kyo was the same height as Eiji with long hair so dark it was almost blue and azure blue eyes, while Momo was my height, her eyes were orange with black flecks. Both still had sharp looking teeth and had clothes that matched their natural appearance.

“Wow, Lady Yumiko sure knows her magic. I would never have thought of anything like this.” I went up and touched Kyo’s face, it didn’t feel right, I missed his scales. “This is going to take some getting used to. But I like your eyes. Still the same as always.”

Kyo did something that I wasn’t prepared for, he wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug. “I was hoping that someday I would get to do this, I have been either too small or too big, but now I am the right size.” I could feel his breath tickle the top of my ear as I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him back.

“This feels so right, we have been so close for so long but now we can finally hug.” I buried my face in his shoulder, “Thank you for always being so close.”

“I never plan on leaving your side again.” Kyo vowed as we pulled apart. “You’re too much trouble to let out of my sight again.”

“We should get going, we don’t know if Oda or his men are on the way here.” Daisuke cut in, bringing my horse to me. “Maybe you should sit behind Kyo, like how Momo is with Daiki, it would look less suspicious that way.” I watched as Daiki helped Momo up onto the horse, and I had to agree it was the best action.

“Do you think you can handle that?” I slipped away from Kyo, Eiji’s staring suddenly made me feel uncomfortable.

“I think so, but I will have you with me, there shouldn’t be a problem.” he noted, lifting himself up. “My Lady, we should be off.” he reached out his hand to help me up. I don’t know why, but I hesitated for a moment, not sure if I should take his hand. It felt as if he was asking me to marry him.

“Come on, we don’t have all night.” Eiji snapped, pulling me back from my thoughts. “You can continue to mentally freak out once we get moving.”

“Sorry, you’re right.” I took Kyo’s hand and let him pull me up behind him, it was almost like I weighed nothing to him.

“I guess I was too forward, sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable.” he apologized as we followed the others, “I guess I was overtaken by my emotions, I’ll try to keep better control for myself from now on.” with the way he was talking, it sounded like I had hurt his feelings.

“No, don’t do that. I like you the way you are, I just have to sort out something in my heart. Never stop being yourself around me, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.” I rested my head on his back.

“If you’re still tired, get some rest I will protect you.” he insisted, patting my hands. “I’ll make sure you don’t fall off.” he reassured me with a small laugh.

“Thank you, I think I might just do that.” I rested my head on his back, closed my eyes and let myself get some sleep.

I found myself back in the Dragon spring once again, so I guessed Ryu wanted to see me again. “Ryu-san, are you here?” I called out as I moved closer to the spring.

“Not this time child, I have the dragon busy at the moment so I could talk to you myself.” a black snake came out from the trees, “I know you already know my name.”

“You are Ko, the serpent that drowns the world in evil and chaos.” I stood my ground, not showing I was scared. “You are not welcome here.”

“You have no power here, now you should just give up on this pointless journey of yours.” he laughed, “Why not allow yourself to be taken care of? Orochi promised you protection, did he not? And what of your dear brother, Takeshi?” he wound his way toward me.

“Never say his name, I will save him from your poison.” I backed up a few steps, “And you are wrong, I have more power here than you, and I said you are not welcome here.” I used the water from the spring to shoot a jet of water at him, but he didn’t move. He only laughed as I fought to control the water.

“Silly child, this is not a place for mortals like you.” I flinched as I felt something bite my leg. “The only one who can banish me is the old dragon, but he isn’t here now is he.” Ko seemed smug by this fact, but I knew there had to be something I could do.

“That might be true you dirty old snake, but you didn’t manage to keep me away for long.” I turned to see Ryu come out of the spring behind me, “Now I believe this lovely young lady told you to leave, now it’s time for you to go.” he flicked his tail at the serpent, and he vanished.

“Ryu-san, how did he get here? There shouldn’t be any way for him to get here.” he shook his head.

“The seal that was binding him to the well is nearly broken, so now he can move freely making it much more dangerous for you and your brothers.” he sighed, bringing his face down to mine. “From now on stay together, no matter what happens. The only hope for all of you to be safe, is to watch each other’s backs. Momo and Kyo can help keep watch at night, but you better get used to sleeping close to the others.”

“But Ryu-san, could things truly be that bad?” I asked as I felt myself being pulled back, “Why do they always do that to me?”

“You were in pain while that serpent was here, they are worried. But you have to go back and tell them what has happened, it is important for them to know.” he placed his nose on my forehead. “Be well little dragon, we will meet again.” and with that I awoke in Kyo’s arms.

“There you are, we didn’t know what was happening when you started to burn up.” Kyo panicked as he placed me down on the ground, they had set up a camp while I was out. “Something happened at grandfather’s spring didn’t it?”

“Yes, Ko showed up. Ryu wasn’t there and he was saying that I should just give up and give myself over to Orochi.” I laid back, feeling a little dizzy. “Then Ryu showed up and sent him away. He told me that the seal on the Well of Night is nearly broken and the serpent is loose. Ryu said that we need to stay together at all times to stay safe.” I guess I was affected by Ko worse than I thought.

“So this is going to slow things down then, we’re going to have to be extra cautious going through the Oda lands.” Eiji mused, bringing over a cup of water. “Was there anything else he wanted us to know?”

“Not that I can remember, everything is getting foggy now.” I closed my eyes, I felt like I was on fire, but I didn’t tell them that so they wouldn’t worry. “I think I’m just going to sleep now. If we have to move, just pick me up and go. I’ll be safe with all of you watching over me.” I felt a cool hand on my face.

“I don’t think you should be moved any time soon, Ko’s aura seems to have poisoned you. We’ll have to wait for the fever to break before we can move her.” I heard Kyo say and the hand moved away. “Momo, you know the area the best, I’m going to need some Snakeweed, it should keep the pain under control as the poison leaves her body.”

Is that what happened? “Am I in any danger?” I managed to get out weakly, I was starting to feel my strength leave me. “Please tell me the truth.”

“As long as we take care of you, everything will be fine. All you have to do is rest and let us do what we can.” Kyo placed his hand back on my cheek, “I promise that nothing bad will happen. Now rest, I will be here when you wake.” I felt myself drifting off to sleep, I didn’t want to but I could feel myself being pulled into the darkness.

“Please stay with me.” I placed my hand over his as I fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

I didn’t know when I was going to wake again, but I could tell that everyone was doing their best to keep me safe while I slept. I didn’t dream of the spring or Ryu again, but I kept hearing Masazumi telling Eiji he would be back before he left. I knew that I had to fight off the poison with everything I had. I had to find out if he actually was going to kiss me that night before he left.

While at the same time I needed to figure out how I felt about Kyo, things seemed different now since Lady Yumiko’s charm had changed him for the time. But for the time being, I had to wait until I was better to figure these things out, what little energy I had right now had to go toward healing.

Chapter 18

I couldn’t tell how much time had passed, but I felt myself being moved many times. I wish there was something I could have done to help, but the poison from Ko kept me in a state in between being awake and asleep, my body felt like it was on fire and being torn apart at the same time. There were times that I thought I heard Kyo talking to me, saying that I had to keep fighting and I was so much stronger than the poison.

I wasn’t able to dream while I was like this, so it felt like I was trapped in a dark room with no way to get out. There had been a few times when I felt like giving up and just let the poison consume me, but then I would think of Masazumi’s promise before he left and it was enough to keep me fighting.

And then I finally managed to open my eyes, but the light was so bright that I had to cover them with my hands. “Hey guys, how long was I out this time?” I managed to say, but my throat was very sore and I started coughing, but I couldn’t hear anyone. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I looked around and found that we had stopped in a town because I was in a bed. “Kyo? Anyone? Where did you go?” I managed to push myself up so I could sit up and get a better look.

The room was small and had one bed on each side, but there was a pail of blankets on the floor close to my bed. I listened, but I still couldn’t hear anyone and I began to panic. Could they have left me somewhere, thinking I would never wake again? No, then why would it look like someone had been sleeping on the floor. I shook my head and knew it was time to test my feet, if I wanted to find answers, I had to get up and go look for them.

“Look who finally woke up,” someone said from the doorway, “I should have known nothing could keep you down for much longer.” It was Ayame holding a tray with food and a cup of water.

“How long was I asleep? I need to see the others so we can figure out what we are going to do next.” I asked as I tried standing, but began to wobble.

“No, I don’t think so. You are going to stay in bed until the doctor says you can get up. You should count yourself lucky that Doctor Hojo was running an errand out this way, if your brothers hadn’t come across him when they did, well I don’t want to think of that.” Ayame explained, sitting me back down and pulling the blanket over my legs. “Also that Kyo guy hasn’t left your side, where did he come from? He seems to think that it was his fault you got sick.”

“I’ll tell you everything later, right now I just want to see my brothers. Can you get them for me?” I asked as she put the food in front of me.

“You eat, I’ll go and get them. And Jun, please don’t make any more problems for anyone, they do everything they can for you so please stay out of trouble.” Ayame chided as she left again, but I noticed that she didn’t call me Jun-hime, as she always had. There must be something on her mind, or she could be mad at me but right now I was just focused on eating.

Out of nowhere someone had pounced on me, “Oh Jun, I was so worried,” Momo wrapped her arms around my neck and was rubbing her cheek against mine, “When the doctor said that if we hadn’t found him when we did, there was a chance you would never wake up again.”

“I’m happy to see you too Momo, but you need to get off of me.” I managed to pull her off me. “You can sit with me, but no more affection please.” she nodded as she rested her head in my lap. I guess this was normal behaviour for her as she was really a tiger.

I heard a small laugh from the doorway, “It’s good seeing you up, you’ve been drifting in and out on us for the last three weeks.” Kyo sighed as he sat on the floor next to the bed, he looked so worn down I was worried that he hadn’t been taking care of himself.

“Three weeks? We must not have gotten too far from the temple then.” I was amazed that they hadn’t let me slow them down. “I’m surprised I wasn’t left somewhere to recover.”

“You have doctor Hojo for that, if we hadn’t run into him we would have left you with Usagi and her father until you recovered. From the sounds of it there are a lot of people falling victim to Ko’s poison.” Eiji was standing at the door, looking just as worn as Kyo.

“Where are we then, if we crossed paths with Hojo then you managed to get pretty far while dragging me around.” I shifted so I could put a hand on Kyo’s shoulder.

“We made it to Kura, just inside the Oda territory, Kyo carried you, turns out he’s stronger than he looks.” Eiji didn’t seem to relax at all, “Things seem to be getting worse every passing day, the twins are out looking for any leads we can find on the next guardian right now. They should be back sometime soon, so I’ll have them come up as see you when they get back.”

“How is going with the guardian? I take it that we don’t know where it is.” everyone shook their heads, “Alright, is there anything I can do from here until Doctor Hojo says I can get out of bed?”

“They, where they are. The next guardian is actually two, or that is what grandfather would say.” Kyo corrected me. “Lady Kame and Lord Aki have been known to live deep in the forests around here, but no one knows for sure where.”

“But you just need to rest, we don’t want you to push yourself to get better any faster.” Eiji insisted as Kyo nodded.

“Your fever still hasn’t fully broken, so if you end up doing too much, you could end up setting your recovery back. We can handle things for now, just do what the doctor tells you.” Kyo echoed what Eiji was saying, it felt like they needed to tell me over and over to listen to the doctor.

“Alright, I get it. I’ll listen to Doctor Hojo, but the moment he says I can get out of bed, I’m going to be joining you again looking for the guardians if you haven’t found them by then.” I agreed with them, but they knew if I really wanted to, I could get out of here anytime I wanted.

“Good, now we’ll let you get some more rest before sending Hojo up to see you. I’ll be back later to check up on you.” I waved as Eiji left.

I waited until I couldn’t hear his footsteps anymore, “Alright you two, someone needs to start talking. What’s going on?” I startled Kyo and Momo, making them jump a little.

“It’s just as we said, Ko’s poison is spreading much faster than anyone could have thought. Eiji and the twins have been helping the doctor with the sick and finding the guardian, but it’s taking a toll on them. If this keeps up, I'm not sure how much longer any of us can hold out.” Kyo leaned his head down onto the bed next to my hand. “But I think things will get easier now with you getting better.” I placed my hand on his head, it was weird for me to feel hair instead of scales, but I still felt him relax under my touch and quickly fell asleep.

“He’s been sitting up with you most nights, only sleeping anytime someone else was here with you.” Momo whispered to me, “He wouldn’t let you out of his sight not even for a minute. I think he felt bad that you got sick, he even tried healing you himself three times, but it didn’t work. You also kept saying something about seeing him again, who was it you were talking about?” Momo asked, I shook my head. I hadn’t realized that I had been talking in my sleep.

“Never you mind, you’ll find out later. Now how about you get me out of here? We can go for a walk and I can see what’s really going on, I know that everyone isn’t telling me the whole truth, and yes I already know this because they don’t want me to worry and have a setback.” I tried, but she shook her head. “I see, they left you because they thought you wouldn’t let me leave. Well now, that’s unfortunate for them and you.” I slowly moved off the bed trying not to wake Kyo.

“Jun, what is it you’re planning?” she watched me make my way over to my bag, “I suddenly really don’t like the way you said that, you know that they are only trying to keep you safe.” she inched back slowly when I turned back around.

“Hold still now, I don’t want to pull your hair.” I moved closer to the bed with a bundle of rope from my bag.

After I tied Momo up, I made sure that we hadn’t woken Kyo up, but I guess he had been so tired that he slept through the whole thing. I pulled a blanket up over his shoulders and made sure that Momo was comfortable before grabbing my katana and heading out the room.

I knew that someone would come eventually and find them or Kyo would wake up and untie Momo in no time. I was going to stop somewhere and get her something to make up for that, and I did feel bad about it but I knew there was no other way to get out.

The city we had stopped in was small, but it was really busy. So many shops selling almost everything one could think of, it was all so amazing to just stop watching the people moving from shop to shop. Being nestled in between Oda, and the imperial lands it was very busy. I wondered if it was the kind of life I could get used to, without titles and fancy clothes, just going day to day with the one I wanted.

I also wondered the opposite, could someone get used to having a title, not having to worry about where his next meal was coming from. But if Eiji had his way, he would probably make Masazumi work for his meals anyways. I made myself laugh at the thought.

“Hey pretty lady, looking to spend some time with a real man?” a man came up alongside me, thinking I needed company.

“I’m fine, I’m on my way to meet with my brothers,” I answered him, continuing on my way. I did my best to ignore him.

“I can walk with you until you get there, I hear it’s getting really dangerous for pretty things like yourself to be walking around all alone. A lot of girls have been going missing.” he continued to follow me, not giving up.

“I think I can handle myself, why don’t you go find someone else to bother.” I tried being nice, but I was getting tired of him.

“I don’t think so, because I know who’s been taking them. If you’re nice to me, I might just let you go.” he tried grabbing my arm, but I managed to pull away from him. “Come on now, don’t be like that. Just spend a little time with me and then you can go back to your brothers.” this time he ended up grabbing me and pulled me close.

“I don’t think so, I tried letting you off nicely but now I have to be mean.” I balled my hand into a fist and swung it right into his face, I hit him with so much force that he let go of my arm. “I told you I had no interest in spending any time with the likes of you, now leave me alone.” I started walking away when I felt him grab me around the middle and picked me up.

“Now I know I was right, Lord Oda will be pleased that I finally found you. He said he would give me a big reward if I bought you back without any marks on that pretty face, so you’re getting off easy this time.” he started taking me down an alley, away from the crowds toward a group of five people dressed like the Shosuro ninjas that had attacked us while we were on our way to see Tora. “She’s the one you wanted right? And look not a single mark. Now where’s my money, only then will I hand the girl over.”

“I don’t think so, he said he didn’t want my face marked up, but didn’t say anything about yours.” I slammed the back of my head into his face as hard as I could, making him drop me.

I managed to stun him enough to get a head start down the alley to my right but it wouldn’t do me much good against ninjas. Well this is a fine mess I’ve gotten myself into. I dashed into what I hoped was an abandoned storehouse. I made my way to the back hoping to either hide out until they lost interest or start picking them off one at a time, five on one isn’t exactly fair odds, heightened strength or not.

I got through the first small room to a very large, very empty room. “And my luck continues.” I mumbled to myself and moved off to the far side of the warehouse, turned and drew my weapon.

The first four Shosuro ninjas rushed in and covered both sides, cutting me off from the boarded-up windows, the fifth strolled in bow in hand. One of the ninjas on my left spoke, “Come quietly and Lord Oda promises no harm will come to you.”

“Never going to happen” I stepped forward holding my sword up right in front of me.

The one in the middle just raised his bow, notched an arrow and took aim. Suddenly there was a loud crash, a blur of motion with a quick flash of light. The bow suddenly snapped forward, the arrow still in between his fingers.

From off to the side, “Now gentlemen, I am new to this situation but as the lady is pointing a sword your way, I believe she is uncomfortable.”

I looked over to see who had just joined the fight, “Masazumi, am I glad to see a friendly face right now!” I shouted.

“I have a hard time leaving a pretty lady alone,” he strutted forward, with that charming smile, “Now I will take the girl off your hands, and you all can go home, she seems like a handful anyway.”

The one in the middle just dropped the bow and motioned with both hands. The ninjas attacked.

I flicked my blade and knocked the first ninja’s weapon away and thrusted into the chest of the second. A slash to the side finished the other one. In a heartbeat we had each brought down our opponents, now just one stood before us, clad all in black and masked, and now that I had a chance to look more carefully I could see a snake stitched with black thread wrapped around him.

Masazumi walked over with that confident swagger I missed. “I hope you do not mind Jun-dono, but I will fight this one, I am afraid I am getting out of practice.” He turned fully to our last enemy. “First I think I would like to see who I am fighting.” Suddenly he was gone, crossing the space between them in an instant, if I would have blinked I don’t think I would have seen anything at all.

It was at that moment everything stopped, as Masazumi returned to me having cut off the mask, I watched as it fell from the face of the one person I had never wanted to see, and had hoped too long to see again. Standing before us with those amber eyes, my eldest brother Toro.

“Toro?” I whispered and started to move forward “Toro is that you?” he wasn’t acting like himself, but I knew that it was him.

Before I could take a few steps Masazumi put his arm out in front of me “Stop that is not your brother.”

“What are you talking about? I know it’s him, it has to be.” I insisted and rushed past him.

“JUN STOP!” he shouted, I stopped walking. “That is not Toro, look at his eyes.” I looked, seeing nothing of the brother I lost so long ago. Masazumi continued, “The Toro I knew had a constant look of determination, and focused ambition, this thing is just walking around looking like him.

“But it has to be, we found Takeshi different so why not…” I tried to explain but he cut me off.

“That is why he was sent, to make you vulnerable.” He stepped in front of me again “Let me take care of this and I am sorry for what I have done, and what I have to do.”

I watched as Masazumi stepped forward a few steps and drew his wakizashi, “Matsu Toro, a pleasure to meet you again, sadly it is under these circumstances, do you remember me?” No response, “Very well, you seem to want to take Jun-dono by force, “ he readied himself left foot out front, swords held like a claw, “I Mochizuki Raizo will stop you if you, at all costs!”

Mochizuki, like lady Yumiko? Toro drew his katana, leaving the much longer sword he carried sheathed on his back, and attacked. A strong two handed overhead slice, I’ve seen that hit drop almost everyone with the misfortune of being on the receiving end.

Much like he did with Eiji, Masazumi or Raizo, whoever he was, crossed his blades and caught Toro’s. Unlike last time there was no easy moving of the blade, no swift counter attack, they just stayed locked, Masazumi looked like he was having a hard time keeping the blade away.

Masazumi let go of the guard and hopped back a little, letting Toro’s blade hit the ground, cutting deeply into the stone. Masazumi thrusted, Toro easily sidestepped the blade. Toro pulled his sword up, forcing Masazumi back a step. “Let us step this up a little.” Masazumi hinted, then for no visible reason, started attacking with incredible speed. His blade moved faster than I could, even with my gifts. Toro however didn’t seem to mind, or even notice, he countered every swing or thrust like he was swatting away a trainee.

After a few moments of exchanging blows, neither one even getting a scratch Masazumi jumped way back to join me again, “Jun you have to get out of here we cannot win this.”

Toro started to walk our way “What do you mean I can help you fight.” I offered. I wasn’t going to leave Toro in the control of Orochi or Ko.

“No you cannot, not against him. Go now, I will hold him off.” He took off again attacking with everything he had. The exchange was too fast for me to fully see, just sparks whenever their swords collided.

Suddenly Masazumi sped up further, his swords little more than flashes of light. I was not sure how but both their katanas were pushed aside and Masazumi spun and kicked Toro hard in the head sending him across the room. "Jun we... need to... go now." He panted as Toro got back up.

"I can't leave him like this," I pleaded, “there has to be something else we can do, I won’t accept leaving him here in that.”

"Then I am sorry again." In a second he was in my face and I felt a fist in my stomach, my arm being twisted as my sword was slammed back into its sheath. In the time it took me to blink we were out the window he crashed through, then three streets away.

Once I had regained the ability to breath I started trying to wiggle free. “Put me down, put me down now. I have to go back, I have to save him.” I pounded my fists against his back, “It’s all my fault that he’s like this, I have to save him.” I could feel tears starting to well up in the corners of my eyes.

“I already said this, but whatever that was, it was not your brother. It was just a lifeless doll to make you more willing to go along with it.” he gently put me down on my feet, “Orochi will try anything to get to you, and he knows that your family is your greatest weakness.” he looked up and down the street to make sure we hadn’t been followed. “Now how about we get you back to the others, there is no way they do not know you are missing.” he took my hand and started leading me back to the main street.

I watched him as we walked, something had changed since the last time I had seen him. “I guess Masazumi was never your real name.” I asked remembering he had called himself Raizo Mochizuki when he was fighting the Toro look alike. “So what should I call you now other than a liar?” I was being a little harsher than I needed to be, but I was a little irritated that he had taken me away from Toro regardless if he was an imposter.

Chapter 19

He braced his back against the wall trying to get control of his breathing. “I have been called much worse than a liar,” he laughed with a little smile, “for what it is worth I am sorry, I was not free to use my true name.” He stood straight and gave me a deep bow, “Mochizuki Raizo, Sun Guardian, and once heir to the Mochizuki clan.”

“So Kasumi and Ayame were right, and those rumours about you being banished too for that matter.” I was trying to temper my anger. “You know Eiji is going to rip you apart, right?”

He straightened, still with that smile, mischief in his deep blue eyes. “He is welcome to try. As long as you are not angry with me I can deal with Eiji. I cannot stand it when a pretty lady is upset with me.”

“You should rest a little, you look how I feel when I have used too much of my power.” I tried to stay a little irritated with him. “I’ll see if I can find you something to drink.” I was mentally kicking myself for not grabbing at least one of the water skins before I left.

It didn’t take long to find a barrel with water in it, but it wasn’t the cleanest. It was time to try something new, I brought a bubble of water up out of the barrel then I focused on pulling the water away from all dirt and things that were floating in it. I managed to get some of the water to come out clean, just enough to make a cup of ice and fill it. I carefully made my way back to Raizo, he looked amazed at what I had done.

“Here, just be careful it’s going to be cold.” I gave him the cup. “How is it you managed to find me like that?” No one should have known where I had slipped off to, so it must have just been a freak accident.

“Took a little effort but Lady Usagi said you four were likely heading north. Then it was a matter of finding what town.” He spoke like he tracked people down all the time. “I heard the commotion from a few blocks away and came to see if I could help. When I saw you standing your ground against five attackers I knew you would fight to your last breath before being taken.”

“I couldn’t let them think I was an easy target.” I was proud of myself for standing my ground, “All I could think of was the lecture I would get from Eiji if I did end up getting taken.” I remarked with a half smile.

“Let us get you back to the others, you have a different lecture to be ready for.” He reminded me that I snuck out and left Momo tied up. “I am sure something will be blamed on my sudden appearance.”

We slowly made our way across town to get back to the small house that we were staying in. Raizo nearly collapsed halfway back. I really wasn’t looking forward to Eiji's reaction to me going out and Raizo’s reappearance, but there was no way I could get around not going back.

“Eiji, I found her!” I heard Daiki call from behind us, “And it looks like she’s bringing someone back with her.”

“Daiki get over here and help me, he’s heavy.” I demanded as he came up beside me. I had to carry Raizo, he was still exhausted from getting us away from Toro. “How angry is Eiji with me?”

“You’ll be lucky if he ever let’s you out of his sight again.” Daiki replied, draping Raizo’s other arm over his shoulders. “I just hope you didn’t get into too much trouble while you were gone.”

“Well I’m so sorry for taking off but I couldn’t stand staying in bed for much longer. Three weeks of being caught between being asleep and awake will make one a little restless.” it was a little awkward for us to carry Raizo between us, since he was so much taller. “But look who turned up when I was in a tight spot. I had to drag this lump halfway across the city just to get back before you guys would start to worry.” I teased the nearly unconscious Raizo.

“I am still conscious.” He muttered, startling us. “A pleasure to see you again Daiki-san.”

“Good to see you’re still alive, started to get worried we wouldn’t get to see you again.” Daiki chuckled as he helped Raizo into one of the chairs in the yard. “Too bad Daisuke isn’t back yet, he’ll be happy to see you too.”

“Great the vagabond returns just what we need,” Eiji sniped from the door as I turned to face him. “And as for you, we told you to wait and see what Doctor Hojo says before going off by yourself. And on top of that, you tied up poor Momo. She was so upset by the time Kyo woke up, she was worried that something was going to happen to you.” he started scolding me, which I took because I did deserve it. “And that’s not to mention the fact that Kyo almost ripped the house apart after he untied her. Did you not think there was a good reason why I told you to stay put?”

“How about you back off a little bit, after being asleep for weeks you cannot really blame her for not wanting to be in bed anymore.” Raizo interjected, making Eiji turn on him.

“This is a family matter, stay out of this.” he snapped, clearly furious with me and turning his anger on Raizo.

“Eiji, he just saved my life, try to at least not be rude.” I quietly muttered, there was no reason for Eiji to be taking it out on him, but there was probably no stopping him now.

“He’s just going to be more of a problem for us, we don’t have time to babysit some no name wanderer, someone who has no ties to a real family or loyalties.” Eiji looked back to Raizo, who was slowly getting up from the chair.

“Eiji that’s…” I watched as Raizo stood under his own power. I wasn’t sure if he felt well enough yet, but he seemed steady walking over to Eiji.

“Eiji-san, what is my name?” he asked quietly, staring at him with such a cold stare it scared me a little.

“What are you going on about?” Eiji avoided the question, trying not to break eye contact, but he was having a hard time not looking away. I felt Daiki tug on my arm and I stepped back to be out of the way if things went bad.

“What is my name!” he asked again with more force, not yelling just scary. Daiki and I flinched back a step, frightened by the presence he was giving off.

“Masazumi.” Eiji finally spat.

“Masazumi was the name my father ordered me to use when I defied him…”

Eiji cut him off, “A disgraced son from some no name samurai clan.”

Raizo went off, “My name is Mochizuki Raizo, once heir to the Mochizuki house, first born and only son to Daimyo Mochizuki Osamu and Yumiko. Born and raised to lead and protect my people, just like you Eiji. I, above all who are here, understand what it means for you to want to protect those you care for the most, but you refuse to use every means at your disposal, no leader can protect everyone alone!” He finally took a breath, everyone else stunned at the name he just used and all the truth he just hit Eiji with.

“He’s the son of Lady Yumiko? Why didn’t she say anything?” Daiki whispered to me, all I was able to do was shake my head.

Now more calmly he continued, “My father sent me out into the world to teach me a lesson, but I learned a different one than he intended. And because of that I renounced my name and title to come back to help Jun-dono and her family. In order to do that I needed to be able to keep up with the power she wields, some of you wield I guess,” he took a second to look at Daiki. “So I risked life and limb to find the Okami no Kiba, the Wolf’s Fangs I now carry on my hips. I now have the power to help all of you, I may not have the gifts Jun and Daiki possess, but I am fast enough to always be there when I am needed, so you need to come to terms that not only am I back, but I plan on staying as long as she needs me. That is my duty as a Sun Guardian.”

Never before have I seen Eiji speechless, they just glared at each other for a few moments, “It’s not safe here anymore, let's get out of town.” Eiji seethed, more of a command, something he needed after having Raizo scold him like a child.

We watched as Eiji turned to go back inside, but after a few steps Raizo had stopped Eiji with a hand on his shoulder, I was close enough to make out what Raizo was saying. “Eiji listen well, you ever insult my family again, I will cut your hand off, so you can never point it at me again.” Something about the way he said it made a shiver down my spine, but I’ll have to deal with them later, none of us were safe here anymore.

Eiji knocked Raizo’s hand off of his shoulder and went back into the house as Momo came out. “I heard shouting, is everything alright?” she asked Daiki before she saw me standing next to him.

“Just a small disagreement, nothing that hasn’t happened before. I’m going to make sure that he doesn’t punch any holes in the walls.” Daiki looked over at me, “I’ll let you know when it’s safe to come in.”

I nodded as he went in after Eiji to calm his temper a little. “Jun, you’re back.” Momo came closer to me. I thought she was going to jump on me, but she slapped me with all her might. There was a lot of pain in my cheek, more than just the sting of a slap, it felt like I had been scratched as well. Not deep enough to do any real damage, but she did manage to draw blood.

Raizo stepped in hand on his sword, “You need to explain yourself, now.” I raised my hand and shook my head.

“No, she doesn’t.” I cut him off, feeling blood drip down my cheek. “For what I did, I will take whatever punishment she feels is right.” I swiped the back of my hand across my cheek, leaving a bloody smear on my hand.

“I can’t believe you would do something so careless. Everyone was so worried when they found out you were missing. Kyo went with Daisuke to see if they could find you, why didn’t you listen?” Momo pounded her fists against my shoulders. “They knew that there were people here looking for you, and they just wanted to keep you safe. And now look, you’ve got four scratches on your cheek.” I guess she didn’t realize that she was the one who scratched me, but I wasn’t going to make her feel bad about it.

“I am so very sorry I put you through so much.” I pulled her into a hug, resting my uninjured cheek on hers. “I never meant to hurt you. Can you forgive me?” I asked.

“Always, but next time please listen and do as you are told.” she smiled at me, as if nothing happened. Seeing her like this made everything so much better, “So who’s the cutie behind you?” She looked over my shoulder to see Raizo.

“Momo, why don’t you go get me something to clean my cheek with. I don’t really feel like having to walk around with dried blood on my face.” I told her as she looked back to me.

“Why is your face so red? I know I haven’t been a person for long, but you seem to act differently than the others.” Momo studied my face closely, “But I’ll be right back, then you can tell me.” she went back inside, leaving me alone with Raizo. I could feel his eyes watching me, and I was having a hard time calming down.

“What was that all about?” he asked, coming around to look at my cheek, “She got you pretty good, it almost looks like an animal scratched you.”

“You could say that Momo is a special girl and I’ll leave it at that for now.” I winced as he touched my cheek, “How bad is it?”

“Not too bad, but you may have a scar after they heal.” Raizo admitted, examining the scratch. “Maybe that will deter any unwanted attention from now on.”

“I have a small question.” I felt shy asking, but I needed to know, “The healer we found at the tiger temple was your mother, wasn’t she?”

“Yes, I told you that you could trust her.” He chuckled, gently cleaning off my cheek with a cloth from his pocket. “How was she?”

“Up until the fire, in good spirits.” I was having a hard time focusing with him being so close. “I kind of miss the fire pepper candies she had made, those were really good.” I could feel the tips of my ears starting to burn. “I really did like spending time with her, I hope we get to see her again.'' That was all I could come up with, I was so embarrassed about just running up and hugging her the way I had, I really hoped that he would never find out I did that.

A longing smile ghosted on his lips, “She has that effect on people. As long as you are on her good side she is very kind.” His smile widened a little, “And you survived one of her candies, that says much about how strong you are.”

“It just worked out that I happen to be able to handle spicy foods.” I couldn’t control the random rambling now, “Kyo on the other hand looked like he was going to die.”

I smiled at the memory when I noticed him looking over my shoulder, “There is someone coming, be ready?” I turned around in time to see a familiar wide figure coming up to me really fast.

“Get away from her,” Kyo had pulled me away from Raizo and put himself in between, “Did he hurt you?”

“Easy Kyo, Raizo helped me. If it wasn’t for him, Orochi’s men would have taken me away.” I explained as he looked at me. He looked so scared, it made me feel worse about sneaking out while he was sleeping.

“And what about your cheek, you’re hurt.” he turned his back to Raizo, who I thought by now must be getting tired of being blamed and yelled at just to be ignored in the next heartbeat.

“Momo slapped me, she didn’t mean to scratch me and I think she didn’t realize she did it. Now will you calm down, you are being rude to Raizo.” I scolded as Kyo looked around for someone else.

“I think Momo hit you harder than she should have, you’re seeing people that aren’t here. There’s only you, me, and Masazumi, who’s Raizo?” I pointed over his shoulder at Raizo. “Oh no, she really did hurt you. Jun, listen to me, his name is Masazumi, Raizo was the one who gave you that lovely kimono that you liked.” Kyo ranted as he pointed to Raizo, “That one there, you travelled with him before, you know he’s a ronin.”

“If you are finished,” Raizo swatted Kyo’s finger out of his face, “But all the girl did was slap her.”

“Like I said, Momo is special. But Kyo thank you, you reminded me of something.” I side-stepped Kyo, “Thank you for the kimono, and I am sorry that it didn’t make it to this point. There was a small incident with a very large tiger and a missing sleeve.” I thanked him as Momo came back out with some washcloths and warm water. She pulled me over to one of the chairs and made me sit.

“Oh good Kyo’s back, you can help me bandage Jun’s face.” she passed him the bowl with the water “Now will you tell me why it is you act differently around Raizo?” Momo wasn’t going to let this go until she got an answer.

I needed to think quickly of something to change the subject, but Kyo did it for me. “How is it you are so sure that’s who he is?” he didn’t seem to want to believe us.

Momo looked from my cheek and over her shoulder. “Yeah that’s him, mother and Lady Yumiko would sometimes watch over him from the pond back home. She always wanted to know what he was up to and if he was well.” She explained, going back to work. “Here she’s all yours,” she moved out of the way so Kyo could bandage me up.

“Who are you two, I know you are not as you seem.” Raizo asked, he must have been watching them clean me up.

“You're just noticing now, good for you.” Kyo used some of the water and closed the wounds. “There, now can you please go more than two days without getting hurt?” he asked as I stood up.

“Maybe, but no promises. Never know what the road holds for us, and you know that it’s not going to be an easy one.” I looked toward the house, “So do you think I should go in yet?” I wish I could know how Eiji was taking everything, all I wanted to do was talk to him, to tell him about what had happened earlier. But maybe now wasn’t the right time, he seemed pretty angry with me for sneaking off, so letting him cool off might just be the best way to go about things.

“Better let him cool off,” both Kyo and Raizo said together, “You should know better than to add fuel to the fire.” Kyo finished off. I could tell that for the next few days were going to be a very big adjustment for everyone, between the three of them fighting all the time, I don’t know when we were going to find the time to find the next guardian.

Chapter 20

As the four of us stood outside in the courtyard, Daisuke came running up. “Oh good, you made it back. I heard that there was some of the Shosuro clan in town, let’s get inside before we are seen.” he started to make his way to the door, but Kyo, Raizo and I reached out to grab him.

“I wouldn’t do that just yet. Eiji is in a bit of a mood, he and Raizo had a bit of an argument.” I explained quickly, pulling him back, “Best just to wait for Daiki to come back.”

Daisuke looked at me funny, “Who’s Raizo, I only see you, Momo, Kyo and Masazumi.”

“That’s Raizo.” Momo cut in before I could. “This is going to get old if I’m going to have to correct everyone every time.”

“Once everyone is together I think I should introduce myself properly.” Masazumi, Raizo, I need to clear his identity up before I drive myself mad. He sat back down. Between Eiji and Kyo he is really going to have to watch his back.

I pulled Daisuke closer, “He’s also Lady Yumiko’s son.” I whispered, and he gave me an unsure look.

“So, wouldn’t that make Orochi his uncle?” Daisuke asked as he looked over to Raizo. I hadn’t thought about that yet. “Do you think we can trust him?”

“We can trust him. I don’t care what family he comes from or who his relatives are, he’s helped us so many times that he has more than proven himself.” I nodded, “But don’t tell Eiji this, he may never trust Raizo if he thinks that there is a chance he would betray us.” I knew while I could trust him. Daisuke nodded, we both knew Eiji wouldn’t like knowing that his tie to Orochi was so close.

“I would actually prefer to tell him, if Eiji is ever going to trust me I cannot be hiding something that important.” Raizo cut in, I thought we were being quiet enough not to be overheard. “While he is not my favourite person in the world we do need to start getting along to some degree.”

“Alright everyone, it’s safe. I’ve managed to calm him down some, but let’s be careful shall we?” Daiki called as he came out. “Oh good you’re back. Now that we’re all together, we can make a plan on what to do next.”

Once inside, everyone sat around a table unsure of what to say or do next. Raizo stood drawing everyone's attention. "Is this everyone?"

I looked around the room, I noticed we were one short. “Ayame’s not back yet.”

Eiji shook his head, “She’s still out looking for you. But she shouldn’t be much longer.”

"That is fine, Ayame knows me and can confirm my identity later." Raizo wasn’t gaining any trust, as the others gave him suspicious glances. "My real name is Mochizuki Raizo, son of Daimyo Omasu, and Yumiko. My uncle is Oda Orochi, I believe he has been pursuing you all. I do not know why."

"Why did you give us a false name when we met?" Daisuke asked, wanting to make everything clear.

I could see that was an uncomfortable subject, “Is that really any of our business? Last I checked we weren’t exactly honest with him either.” I spoke up trying to sidestep any more unpleasantness.

Raizo gave me a thankful smile. "It is fine Jun-dono, the rumours that I was banished are true, to an extent. As far as anyone was concerned I was Masazumi and no one else. It was the name I was given to use when I was sent out."

“So why is it all of a sudden you are using your proper name, tired of not getting your way?” Eiji finally spoke, “Or was it because you thought it would make some kind of impression on us?”

I kicked him under the table, “That’s enough of that. Why is it that every time you open your mouth, you are nothing but rude?”

"As ronin I am always talked down to. Until I draw my sword." Raizo smiled at Eiji reminding him who won last time. "I went home to beg my father for help. He allowed me to pass through his territory and returned my name. Simple as that. It is easier to move and get business done with a reputable name than none."

He lounged back in his chair, "As for impressing you, I learned to care little about what others think of me. There are few here whose options I care for at all."

Eiji let out a low growl, but Daiki cut in quickly enough. “What is it we’re actually going to be doing now?” I gave Daiki a little nod, thanking him for somewhat defusing the situation.

“I think we should stay off the main roads, we can never tell who works for Orochi.” Daisuke suggested.

“Agreed,” I nodded, “but how are we going to find the next guardians if we stay away from people?” I asked him, knowing he wouldn’t be able to give me a good reason.

“Fine, you have a point. So we travel on the back roads, but you stay out of sight when we get to a town. I say one or two of us can go in and find out any information we can.” he did have a plan after all, I should learn to never underestimate Daisuke.

“Alright with that out of the way, where should we go?” Eiji asked as he pulled out a map, “We’re here, a few days from Shiwa and that is also where Oda lives most of the time. We should avoid going there, we’ll be spotted easily.”

“I do not think so, my uncle would not expect you to go into the heart of his territory. That may just be the safest place right now, as long as he is not there.” Raizo mused, drawing Eiji’s attention to him.

“No it’s not, we’d be risking too much. We have those two to worry about.” Eiji pointed to Daiki and me, “If either one or both are taken by Orochi, it will not be good.”

“So you just want to hide them away? Not a really well thought out plan.” Raizo asked, leaning back in his chair. “Considering that together they have more power than all of us combined. So maybe this should be left up to them.”

“No, this should be a family decision. That’s how we started this and it will be the way we end this journey. I think going to the city would be good, but staying out of sight is a good idea too.” I stopped the bickering. Looking around the table, there was a definite divide on what we should do. The twins hadn’t added much, they seemed to be working out a plan on their own. “Do you two have something to add?”

“Yes we do,” Daiki answered as Daisuke nodded, “But first I want to know one thing. If we do end up going to the Shiwa, how can we know for sure that Orochi won’t be waiting for us?”

“We would not, but it is a chance we have to take. If anyone would know where the area’s guardians are, it would be someone from there.” Raizo recommended as the twins nodded to each other.

“Then we have come to a decision. We’re going to the city, but Jun and I will stay at a safe distance in case Orochi has set a trap for us.” Daiki suggested as I shook my head.

“No, I’m not doing that, I’m not staying out of sight. If Orochi’s waiting for me, then let him come. Since I’ve been awake I’ve felt better than I have in a long time, I can fight him off this time.” I pushed myself up from my chair. “If it is a trap, then I will deal with it. But I cannot stand by and let them walk into it without any backup.”

“And what would happen if something happened to you? Think about what that would do to Kyo and Momo, they care so much about you too.” Daisuke pointed out, knowing exactly what to say to make me rethink what I was saying.

“That’s not fair.” I disapproved, looking across the table at him. “You know I can’t argue with that. What if I brought one of them with me?”

“No, you and Daiki have to stay out of the city. That’s the only way everyone gets what they want.” Daisuke turned into quite the mediator, I couldn’t remember him ever being like this. I guess much has changed in the last few weeks, I couldn’t wait to see what else has changed.

“Fine, I’ll wait outside the city. But if I get the feeling something is wrong, I’m going in.” I left the room in a huff. “I’m going to see if there is anything I need to pack.” I started up the stairs, not wanting to hear anymore arguing.

“So is everything set to go?” Kyo asked as I went into the room I had been using, “What’s the plan for now?”

“We’re heading to Shiwa, but Daiki and I are going to be staying outside the city while everyone else goes in to find information on where the guardians could be.” I informed him, looking through my pack, just about everything was packed, but I couldn’t find the puzzle box Madam Wu had given me. “Kyo, do you know where the puzzle box went?” I looked over to him.

“Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you the twins have been working on it. I think Daisuke still has it.” he answered as I tossed a pillow at him.

“You forgetful little lizard, what am I going to do with you? Also, have you seen Kasumi? I wanted to ask her something.” he shook his head.

“Kasumi had to go back to their village, their mother seems to be affected by the same poison as you were, so she went back to care for her. But there is something wrong with Ayame since we met back up with her. She seems cold toward you and I don’t like it.” Kyo seemed concerned, sitting closer to me, “Please be careful around her right now, I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“I promise, but I expect you to watch my back as always. We’re a team, so I know I can count on you to protect me no matter what and I would do the same for you.” I swore as someone knocked on the door.

“Jun-dono, may I come in?” Raizo asked, opening the door a little.

“Come on in, it’s just me and Kyo.” I waved him in. I noticed Kyo wasn’t too pleased with Raizo coming to see me. “Behave yourself please, I’m too tired for any more fighting.”

“I was wondering where you wandered off to, then Momo told me where your room is.” he smiled, stepping in. I could feel Kyo stiffen up beside me, like he was getting ready to pounce on Raizo if he came any closer.

“Yeah, I wanted to make sure that I was ready to go. I just have to get something from the twins and I’m good to go.” I put my pack down and looked over to Kyo. “Can you give me and Raizo a moment alone?” I asked, but he shook his head.

“Nope, I’m not leaving you alone with him. You are mine to protect, and that is what I’m going to do.” Kyo protested.

“You greedy dragon, please. you can wait outside the door if it makes you feel better.” I shooed him away as nicely as I could. “I have something to talk to him about, privately.”

“Fine, but If I think you’re in trouble, I will be here in a heartbeat.” he grumbled, pushing past Raizo.

“Well he does not like me much. Someone has been spending too much time with Eiji.” Raizo joked as Kyo closed the door behind him.

“I think he’s still a little mad at you from the last time he saw you, when he was small. I’m sorry if he causes you any problems, I’ve noticed that he has become overprotective of me lately.” I pattered the bed next to me. “Come sit, no point standing there.”

“Well you are the precious princess.” he laughed sitting next to me.

“I also want to apologize about the kimono again. First Tora tore one of the sleeves off to use as bait for my brothers so she could find out which one was meant to her champion. Then it was singed pretty badly, then there was all the mud from putting out the fire at the temple, there was no way of saving it. I know it must have been expensive, and now all that’s left is a small scrap.” I pulled the bit of fabric from my pack.

“Things happen that we cannot control.” He took the fabric from me, “I only bought it to hide for a few minutes.” He gave me that sly smile “I bet you were beautiful in it though.”

My heart is going to explode if he keeps this up. I tried to get my thoughts under control. “I would guess so, but no one said anything to me.” I confessed, fidgeting with my hands in my lap.

He brushed a few stray hairs away, gently tracing my hairline down to my cheek and chin, “Pity, maybe I should teach them some manners.”

My brain froze, I couldn’t figure out what I should do. Or wanted to do. When I didn’t respond he laughed softly and turned to his bag. “You may want to save it for a little while, but my mother left me something to give to you.” He handed me a neatly wrapped bundle. “ She has an uncanny ability to know when someone is going to need something.”

I delicately opened it to find a new kimono. It was different from the last one, it was a beautiful deep green, light blue on the hems, all stitched in silver thread.

“This is amazing,” I could believe that Yumiko would know that I was going to need a new kimono without even knowing me yet. “I’m going to have to find a way to thank her next time I see her.”

“Make sure she sees you in it and I promise that will be thanks enough.” I could feel him watching every move I made.

I had been used to being watched, but there was something different about it when it was him. “We’ll have to eventually make our way to Taruka, so I will have the opportunity to do just that.” I rumbled a little trying to not feel self conscious.

“Assuming your brothers have not killed me by then, I would love to show you everything we have to offer.” I couldn’t help but notice his eyes flick to my lips for just a second.

I took that moment to quickly put a little space between us and crossed the room to place the kimono on the table. I hadn’t noticed until now, that Ayame had come into the room and was standing by the door glaring at me.

“Good to see you made it back in one piece Jun.” she greeted me a little coldly, coming closer to us, “Raizo, I’m so happy to see you again.” she seemed colder toward me than Raizo, then I remember that Ayame had always gone on and on about how she was in love with Raizo and that one day she was going to marry him.

“I think I should go see if the twins have my puzzle box, please excuse me.” I excused myself, dashing out of the room.

I couldn’t believe I didn’t think of sooner, I couldn’t compare to Ayame. I could barely go a week without getting into some kind of trouble and she was able to take care of herself without a problem. I didn’t see Kyo out in the hall so he must have gone off to help Eiji or Momo with something.

“Hey, everything okay?” Daiki asked me when he saw me standing outside my room.

“I’m fine, Kyo told me that you and Daisuke had the puzzle box.” I changed the subject, wiping my face when I noticed that I had started crying.

“Yeah, we were working on the next puzzle before Eiji sent us out looking for the guardians. Want it back?” he asked as we went into the twin’s room.

“Not yet, mind if I see if I can figure it out?” I sat down on one of the beds as he grabbed the box off of the table that was by the window.

“Here, good luck. Neither Daisuke nor I could figure out this one. None of the pictures on the dials make any sense.” Daiki sighed, handing the box to me. I turned it over to see what he was talking about, and he was right the pictures didn’t seem to have anything in common other than they were all animals now.

“When did this happen?” I looked over at him and he shrugged.

“Not sure, Daisuke was bored one night and grabbed it from your bag. The next morning the pictures on the dials had changed. But we can’t figure it out, even the middle dial hasn’t been any help either.” he pointed to it, and there was a picture of a small mouse-like animal and a bird of some kind.

Looking at the other two dials had similar pictures but I couldn’t think of what the connections could be, then I thought back to the last puzzle, “Go get Daisuke, I think I figured it out. I just want to make sure I’m right.” I turned over my thoughts as Daiki took off to go get his twin.

A few minutes later, they came back and I shoved the box in between them, “Here I’m pretty sure that I figured it out, but the dials aren’t turning for me.” I announced as they gave me odd looks.

“What was the solution?” Daisuke asked as he looked at the dials, sitting across from me on the other bed.

“Predator and prey, owls eat small rodents.” I pointed to the middle dial, “So you just need to find the hunter and the hunted.”

“Why didn’t we think of that,” Daiki remarked, sitting with his brother, “But if you figured it out, why couldn’t you open it up?”

“I don’t know, just open it up already. I want to see what is in the next panel.” I sat on the edge of the bed, watching as they lined up the pictures. Just as Daisuke finished lining up his dial, we heard a clicking sound of something opening up, the next panel had shifted a little bit so they could move it.

“What is it?” I asked as Daiki slid it open and pulled out another silk pouch, but this time it was yellow. “Do you think it could be like the other one we opened?”

“I think so,” Daiki nodded as he opened it and took out a gemstone tiger, “Two down, two to go. What do you want to bet that the next ones will be related to the other guardians?”

“I’m thinking you’re right.” Daisuke looked back at the dials, “So we have to wait for the pictures to change again?” he asked as Daiki and I nodded.

“But that will only happen after we find the next guardians, so that means we need to stop wasting time here.” I reluctantly got up, “I’ll go get my pack, we need to get going now.” I was dreading going back to my room, but I forgot my bag when I left so there was no getting out of it.

“I can go get it if you want,” Daiki offered, “You suddenly have this look on your face that makes me think you might kill someone.”

“No, I’ll get it. Get your things together and be ready to go.” I suggested before making my way back down to my room. I hesitated a moment, not sure what I was going to find on the other side of the door, but I went in anyways because I wanted to get this over with as fast as possible.

“Why? I’ve known you almost my whole life, so why not pick me?” Ayame asked as I went in, it seems I had walked in on something I shouldn’t have.

“Sorry, I forgot my bag.” I picked it up and tried to leave as quickly as I could, but Ayame had grabbed me.

“What is it about you that makes them all care so much?” she asked, gripping me tighter, so much so that it began to hurt. “You just had all of this dropped into your lap, I worked hard and still I’m nowhere close to you or my sister.”

“Ayame, let go you’re hurting me.” I winced, trying to pull away, but she held on tighter. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I didn’t mean to upset you if I have.”

“So the princess is sorry, well then I must forgive her.” she dropped my arm and left the room, giving me one last icy look as she did.

“I don’t know what I did to upset her, but she has never acted like this before.” I rubbed the sore, red hand print Ayame had left on my arm.

“I am afraid this is because of me. She was under the impression that she and I were going to be married someday, but this is not the first time I have had to correct her on this matter.” Raizo sounded like he was apologizing as he looked at my arm. “It looks like she now blames you for this, and without Kasumi around I fear Ayame may get out of hand.”

“So we just have to wait for Kasumi to come back before she calms down, I don’t think my arm can take much more.” I tried to joke while holding on to sore my arm.

“I do not think even Kasumi undo things this time. Ayame is just going to have to get over this on her own.” Raizo stated as Daiki came in.

“Hey you two, we’re ready to head out now.” he announced as he saw Raizo holding onto my arm. “What happened?”

“Ayame, she’s not feeling like herself right now. I’ll be fine,” I tried to brush his question off as Raizo and Daiki followed me as we went to meet the others. “Just don’t tell Eiji, I don’t want him to overreact.”

“Overreact about what?” he asked as he walked in front of us.

“We managed to get the panel of the box open.” Daiki lied, showing him the yellow tiger, grinning proudly.

“Okay,” he gave us a confused look, it was clear that he didn’t believe Daiki but didn’t push the matter. “Anyways, you guys ready to go?”

“I think so, are we walking again?” I asked when I didn’t see the horses. I was a little disappointed, I was just starting to like riding.

“Yeah, we may not move faster but it will be safer.” he confirmed, lifting up his pack. “You think you can handle it?”

“I think I can, but can you keep up?” I teased him, slipping my own pack on. I felt like I could run all the way to Shiwa on my own, but I knew that Eiji would want me to take it easy.

“Don’t overdo it again, you only just woke up. You have to learn to go easy sometimes.” Eiji commented as we started out. No one knew when we would find the guardians, but as long as we stayed together nothing could stop us.

Chapter 21

We had been on the road again for a couple days and we hadn’t come any closer to getting to the Oda stronghold. I was starting to get bored from walking through the trees and looking at the backs of my brother’s heads. Momo had tried to come up with games we could play, but after a while I think she realized there wasn’t much you can do while walking.

On the third day, I saw Raizo talking to Daiki and moved closer, “So Jun-dono manipulates water, what were you gifted with?”

“He can play with the winds,” Momo claimed, bouncing into the conversation “Mama’s domain is the wind and air, like Lord Ryu uses water.” she hadn’t been far from me, I was starting to think Kyo had put her on guard duty that way he could stay up front to keep watch. I had also noticed since we had left the Azai lands, she had become less formal and more childlike.

“That would make you fairly fast then.” Raizo looked up, “It’s nearly nightfall how about we set up camp inside the tree line?”

“Sounds good to me,” I second the idea, I had wanted to see what Raizo was thinking, “We have been walking all day.”

Raizo sped up a little so he could catch up to the others and asked, “Eiji-san, Daisuki-san, could you find a spot for camp, I would like to see what Daiki is capable of. Jun-dono could you watch after us, in case someone sneaks up?” Ayame had taken to watching over us from the treetops, I guess she had wanted to keep space between her and I.

“Why not,” Eiji snapped, “not like we’re searching for the next guardian or anything.” and moved off towards the trees, the others followed. I think he was getting tired of being ordered around, but it could also be because we haven’t had a decent rest since we left so we all were a little worn out and getting short with each other.

We waited until the others were out of sight within the trees, “Okay Daiki-san it took them about five minutes to reach the trees from here walking, normally we should be able to close the gap running in two, let us see what your feet can do.”

“A race, you’re on Raizo, Jun could you stay here and count us off?” he asked, accepting the challenge.

“I have a better idea.” I buried my sword into the ground and stood next to them. “We’ll all go, I bet I can beat you both.” I’ve been using my abilities longer than Daiki, and Raizo can’t run for long, he gets too tired. Easy win.

“Very well, in fairness,” Raizo looked around, picking up a small rock. “We will start as soon as this hits the ground.” We nodded and got ready to run.

He threw the rock high, all of us watching for the moment it made contact.

Thud.

We took off, Raizo and I pulled way ahead right away. He gained a little ground on me and turned around running backwards “Come on Jun-dono I am not even trying.” he taunted with a cocky grin on his face.

He suddenly went serious, as something sped past both of us, “You both are too slow.” Daiki shouted back at us.

Raizo suddenly turned and sped up a great deal, all I could do was watch them speed off leaving me behind. Raizo quickly caught up and they both slammed a fist into a tree at the same moment, causing a loud cracking sound. It looked like it was tilted a little. The boys standing there grinning at each other, each daring the other to declare themselves the winner.

There will be only one winner here, I thought to myself and called back, “Now back to the start.” They may be faster but I’m much closer.

I heard from behind me “Sorry Daiki-san but I am going to have to beat you both.” I felt a sudden force of air behind me, as I was picked up and sped off back to my sword. Daiki joined us a few seconds later.

Raizo put me down, and I turned and punched him in the chest “What was that all about, I’m not a sack you can just pick up.”

He just stood there with that annoying smile of his “Sorry, I could not afford to lose a contest of speed, and I wanted to make sure you came in second, Daiki is remarkably fast.”

“Not fast enough apparently, how did you get to her, then here so quickly.” Daiki asked.

“It is the gifts given by my swords, each one doubles my speed, all three and I can out pace just about anything, but I cannot maintain that one for very long, I have been getting better the more I use them.”

“Well that was fun,” I pouted a little, still a little annoyed, “We should get back to the others.”

“Not just yet, I would like to see Daiki-san in combat, if it’s alright with you?” he asked Daiki.

“I’m up for it, you sure you’re not too tired.” He taunted Raizo. “Jun can you watch over us please, just in case.”

I sheathed my sword “Okay, you two have fun beating each other.” I found a small boulder to sit on so I could keep watch.

They stepped off the road a little ways, and Raizo shifted his swords so that they were nearly on his back. “A swordsman using his hands, this won’t be a challenge.” Daiki taunted.

“We will see.” Raizo taunted in response. I’ve seen the look on his face before, he’s ready to fight.

They both take a stance, Daiki keeping close to himself fists raised, Raizo turned sideways and more open left hand out front and open, right fist ready.

Neither one of them moved at first, but I could see that they were waiting for the other to make the first move. “Come on, you afraid of messing up that pretty face of yours?” Daiki tried taunting Raizo into taking the first swing, but it didn’t seem to work.

“That is not going to work on me, you may as well just swing,” Raizo looked like he was having fun, taking a few steps to the right.

“Fine then, get ready,” Daiki started to swing.

“No, Daiki, you mustn’t!” Momo called as she came running out of the trees. She pulled off her charm and changed back into her tiger form. She jumped onto Daiki and knocked him back as a blast of air came from the gauntlet and hit a tree to the left of Raizo and knocked a hole clean through it.

“What was that?” I jumped up to make sure no one was hurt. “Daiki what the hell were you thinking?”

“I didn’t mean it, I don’t even know what I did.” his voice shook a little as he sat up, making Momo slide into his lap.

“You must never use the gauntlets against another person, it is too dangerous.” she cautioned, rubbing her head into his chest. “We should have warned you sooner, but they are always channelling the air into the fists so you need to learn to control how much you use.” she got off of him and went looking for her charm.

“Well that was something new,” Raizo chuckled as he helped Daiki up from the ground. “Did you know she could do that?”

“Yeah, but it’s the first time in weeks that she’s been in her tiger form.” Daiki nodded, “I had almost forgotten that she and Kyo don’t always look the way they do.”

“Go help her find the charm. It’s going to be hard if someone finds us with her like this.” I told Daiki as I pushed him toward where Momo was looking. “Are you alright, you didn’t get hit?” I asked Raizo, looking him over to see if he was hurt.

“I am fine, if it had not been for the little tiger, I would look like the tree.” he spotted and picked up the charm that had blown over his way. “Well now, this explains a lot. Mother gave you a more effective way of hiding your little lizard and our feline hero, thank you Momo-kun” he gave the charm to Daiki, who put it on Momo.

“It was my fault to begin with, I should have said something before now.” Momo giggled now back in her human form. “Much better, now I can do this.” she turned and jumped on me.

“Momo, will you get off of me? As happy as I am that you like me, please stop jumping on me.” I sighed, putting my hand on her head. “I know Kyo put you up to something, but you don’t need to be attached to me at all times.”

“You figured it out, but don’t tell Kyo. He’ll be upset with me.” she whined, rubbing her face on my shoulder.

“I promise I won’t let him know. But I assume that camp is all set up?” I asked as she nodded.

“Yep, Eiji said that you had to come back and get something to eat, he’s been worried that you are pushing yourself too hard.” Momo took my hand, pulling me past Raizo and Daiki. “He also told me to tell you two are on watch until someone comes to get you.” I heard Daiki groan as we went to the campsite. I’ll have to make sure to save some dinner for them so they don’t end up going hungry all night.

“How much longer until we get to the city? I miss having a bed to sleep in.” I asked Eiji once I finished eating.

“Not too much longer, maybe tomorrow or the day after. But you said you would stay outside, remember.” he reminded me, I had hoped that he would have forgotten.

“I remember, but I still think it’s unfair. Everyone else gets to enjoy a warm bed while Daiki and I have to stay outside in the cold.” I complained. But he didn’t seem to notice or care.

“You will have Kyo and Momo, so at least you won’t get lonely. Now just do as you’re told and behave for a change.” Eiji countered my argument, taking my bowl from me. “Now go and take them something to eat while it’s still hot.” he ordered, giving me two bowls to take to Daiki and Raizo.

“Fine, but this discussion is not over.” I relented walking back to where Daiki and Raizo were standing guard. “I come with dinner guys.” I called as Daiki came running over to get his bowl.

“Yes, hot food. I was starting to get cold.” he held the bowl in his hands to warm them. “Any luck on getting Eiji to let you go in with the others?” he asked.

“How did you know? There is no way you could have heard me from here.” I blurted out as he laughed.

“It’s written all over your face. You know just as well as I do that he’s only doing this because he’s watching over you. While you were out, he was worried that you wouldn’t wake up.” he mentioned as I went over to Raizo to give him his food.

“Here, you must be hungry,” I held out the bowl for him, but he didn’t move. It looked like he was asleep.

“Leave it here,” Daiki suggested as he patted the grass beside him. “He’s been out for a little bit, but I couldn’t wake him.” I went over and sat with him.

“That’s a good idea, we’re all worn out so sleeping whenever we can is good. Just don’t let Eiji know he fell asleep, you know how he gets.” I laughed as Daiki shoved his food into his mouth.

“How is it you aren’t always eating? I’m so hungry all the time now.” Daiki started eyeing the other bowl that was in my lap.

“Go get more, this isn’t for you.” I swatted at him, “I’ll stay here and you can get more.” I shooed him away as he got up.

“Fine, but I may not be back for a while. I might send Kyo or Daisuke to take over my watch.” he told me as he walked back to the campsite.

“That’s alright with me, but just don’t say anything to Eiji.” I called after him. Now I was left alone with a sleeping Raizo, and if it hadn’t been for not knowing where Ayame was I would have moved closer to him, but I was worried that she would do some real damage without someone to stop her.

“She is on watch on the other side, so if you wanted to come sit closer it should be safe.” I heard Raizo say as he woke up.

“How did you know why I was keeping my distance? And how do you know where she is?” I asked, there was no way he could have known that I was here if he had been really asleep.

“You learn to read people quickly when fighting for your life. Now are you going to give me my food or just sit there all night.” he played a little, although I don’t think he was entirely joking.

“Someone gets grumpy when they wake up.” I joked with him as he snorted at me and took the bowl from me. “Just be grateful it’s still hot, now eat up.” I sat down next to him. “So have any ideas on how we can handle her for now?”

“Not yet, but I will think of something.” he offered as he started eating.

“Well let’s hope that we come up with something soon, I don’t think I could take being scared of her too much longer. I respect her too much and I still want to be her friend.” I looked up at the sky, or what I could see of it. “There has been too much arguing among us lately, I just want it all to end.”

“Things are never that easy, but someday you just might get your wish. As for now, we must do everything we can to protect each other.” Raizo didn’t like the situation anymore than I did, there was some truth in his words, but I still believed that there was a way to help Ayame get over whatever it was that was making her act this way.

“Someday is too far, there must be something I can do now. I get the feeling that maybe I should have let myself be taken by Orochi’s men when they came from the beginning.” I confessed, finally putting into words how I’ve been feeling for some time now. There had been so much that has happened in the last few months that was making me think that things would have been better if I would have cooperated with Orochi since the beginning.

“Never, ever think that way.” Kyo stressed coming through the trees, “Self-doubt never leads to anything good, and he feeds on it. The more you think that way, the more power you give him and it opens a door to your heart.” he came over to me and sat down in front of me. “I was given the job to protect you, and I am going to my job no matter what happens.”

“I can’t help it, after everything that has happened, I just feel like giving in.” I lamented bringing my knees up to my chest. Lowering my head, I rested it on my knees. “It would be much easier, and I could save everyone.”

“He is right Jun-dono, nothing good can come from giving into despair, as long as we are free and together Orochi will not get what he wants.” I turned to Raizo, and his comforting smile.

“And besides, not all of the Oda are evil, remember my mother and by extension myself are Oda, and I swear on the life of your little lizard here, we will always be there to protect you.” Raizo wrapped an arm across my shoulders, reassuring me that everything will work out.

“If you must know, I am not so small anymore. I would have grown faster if it was not for your uncle sealing me away.” Kyo glared at Raizo. “But Eiji wants you back at camp, I am to take over for you.” he began to tug on my hand.

“Alright, I’ll go. I guess I’ll see you two in the morning.” I got up and made my way back to the camp slowly, trying to get my thoughts in order. I can’t let my dark thoughts take hold again, I had to keep Ryu and Yumiko’s words in my ear. I had to hope that one day we will win over the darkness and all will be set right in the end.

Chapter 22

From where we were I could see the city walls, but I knew that I wouldn’t be able to see what the city would look like. “So are you really sure that Daiki and I are going to be safer if we stay outside?” I tried to get Eiji to let me come along, we had a few more hours of walking before making it close enough to the city for them to enter easily, and I was determined to change his mind.

“Yes, now stop bothering me about it. It was already decided and that is the end of it.” he snapped at me, I hadn’t let up on him the entire walk.

“So you’re going to leave us out here, with the weather getting colder someone could get sick.” I knew he couldn’t argue with me about the fact that the weather was starting to change.

“Then you can get a fire going, but you are not going past the city gate.” he turned on me, “I will not say this again, you are to stay put until we say it is safe.”

“Fine, but please stop treating me like a little child that needs to be protected at all times.” I bit at him as he sighed, “What now? You don’t seem to believe that I can take care of myself?” I shot back at him.

“You know I don’t think that way, but there are times that you need to learn when to play things a little safer. You can’t always run headlong into the fire every time things start to heat up.” Eiji started to lecture me. “I don’t mean to be overprotective, but I know you are more than willing to jump in before looking. We will not always be there to protect you, so I am trying to teach you a lesson in patience by making you wait for us to come get you.”

“I don’t need to learn any more lessons on patience, I’ve always been pushed to the sidelines for far too long. I have all this power and you won’t let me use it to help, and that’s because you think you know better than I do.” I stood my ground, tired of being treated like a child.

“You keep saying that you aren’t a child, but right now you are acting like a spoiled brat who is not getting her way. This is the last time we are going to go over this.” Eiji dismissed as he turned away from me, and all I could do was glare at the back of his head.

“Jun, please understand that he only says and does these things because he cares. He’s more worried about you than anyone else because you had such a sheltered life and you aren’t used to being out in the real world like we are.” Daisuke tried to smooth things over as he came up beside me, “Please don’t give him a hard time when it looks like he’s being over protective. We’re all trying our best, this is something new for everyone.” he patted my shoulder.

“It’s just so unfair, he wants me to stand on my own but in the same breath he tells me to listen and behave.” I felt like I wanted to scream, but I knew it wouldn’t do it any good. “Why is it he feels the need to protect me at all times?”

“Because you are the shining hope, the only girl in a house full of men. He only wants what’s best for you.” Daiki chimed in, “You are very special to all of us, but him most of all. He has always felt that it was up to him to keep you safe since we left home, did you know he blames himself for not standing up and telling father that he would take you as a bride before he was shipped off to Usagi.”

“And how would you know this?” I asked.

Daiki simply shrugged. “Eiji had something of a grief stricken confession while you were out for those weeks.” he confessed, “Said he knew for some time that we are not blood related. People like to talk when they think no one is listening.”

“You shouldn’t be listening in.” I scolded him, “Clearly that wasn’t meant for you to hear. I can’t believe you can be so nosy.”

I swatted at him before he jogged off to join Daisuke as Raizo fell into step with me, “Jun-dono, Kyo-san can I talk to you for a moment, I may have a solution to your Ayame problem.” Raizo spoke low, looking back at Kyo. “Can we fall back slightly in case you do not like the idea.”

“Sure Raizo.” I nodded, and we slowed our pace a little to be out of earshot “What is your idea?”

“Plainly speaking hire me again.” We both gave him a confused look, so he continued “Ayame knows that I am a Sun Guardian and I take my duties very seriously, she will respect that I have a job to do.”

“I have a feeling there’s more to this than just that.” Kyo accused, glaring at him.

“There is and this is the part you will not like Kyo-san,” he pauses a moment, debating to continue “You, Kyo-san, will have to keep a little more distance.”

“Never going to happen,” Kyo interrupted, putting himself in between me and Raizo. “You just want to keep Jun for yourself.”

“Kyo that’s not fair, we should at least hear him out fully.” I shushed him, not sure where this is going exactly.

“Thank you Jun-dono, the way it would work in this situation we would have sent out two Guardians, maybe three but that is rare, Jun-dono and Momo-kun travel side by side with the Guardians flanking on either side.” He stopped for a moment and considered everyone in the group “I would need the cooperation of everyone. The best formation to use would be Kyo and Daiki in front leading the way, myself, Jun, Momo and Ayame lined up next, with Eiji and Daisuke covering the rear.”

“See I was right, he just wants you next to him Jun, we have been doing fine without all of this.” Kyo didn’t seem to like that plan all too much.

That seemed to anger Raizo “Yes I am doing all of this for my ego, tell me Kyo-san how many times has Jun-dono passed out from over taxing her gifts, or been kidnapped on your watch. This is what I do for a living, protecting people, protecting women to be more accurate. If you have any doubts, send word to Lady Usagi, I believe you have met.” He took a breath and calmed down some, and turned to me, “Ayame is more dangerous than you know, she can kill us all despite your dragon protector, she knows to take him out first and, in that form, she can do it before you realize what happened, Kasumi is even more skilled.”

“Preposterous.” Kyo replied, puffing himself up a little. It looked like he was trying to make himself bigger than Raizo, which didn’t look like it was working.

“Are you actually that over confident that you believe you alone can protect Jun-dono, or are you just trying to mark your territory like a dog with a bone.”

That seemed to push Kyo over the edge. He took a swing at Razio, who seemed to be expecting it. Raizo easily guided Kyo’s fist out of the way with his right hand and brought his elbow up into Kyo’s armpit causing him to cry out a little. A backhand from Raizo to the ribs and a quick shift of his body and Kyo was suddenly being flung over Raizo’s shoulder and crashed into the ground. Raizo maintained hold of Kyo’s wrist and gave it a hard twist, making Kyo call out again.

“You see Kyo-san, I learned all that from Ayame.” Everyone was staring back at us now wondering what was going on. “On top of that you refuse to even acknowledge anybody else here, for example,” Raizo opened his right hand and I saw Ayame throw one of her swords and he caught it without looking, “I have friends who will help me just as much as I will help them. You have been in that body for a while, but it is not your natural form. You do not know how easily it can be broken, Ayame does, will you at least think about the idea rationally.” He looked over at me. “I am doing what I believe is best, I will leave the decision up to you all, but do give it some serious thought, this is what I do, mostly.” he gave me that sly smile.

He let Kyo go and went over to where Ayame had come out of the trees, “Thank you for helping me Ayame-chan, hopefully things will get better for all of us.” I realized he would always look out for her. I helped Kyo back up to his feet. “One last thing Jun-dono.” he turned to look at Eiji, “Eiji-san you should teach her at least the basics of Kukkudoro.”

Eiji looked at Raizo a little shocked that he knew about our clan's fighting technique “How do you know about our clan secrets?”

Raizo just looked at him “Eiji-san you know as well as I do clan fighting techniques are secret as long as no one lives through the attack, and I have been on the receiving end of it before. I have the scar to prove it,” he absentmindedly rubbed his left arm. “Jun-dono is a quick learner and will do you proud.”

“I do not like that idea, or any others you might have. I can protect her just fine while everyone is away.” Kyo boasted as he stepped in front of me.

“No, Kyo he does have a point. And I hate to admit this but he is right, she should be learning our clan’s way of fighting.” Eiji agreed with Raizo, shocking all of us. I never thought I would see the day where Eiji would take Raizo’s side on anything, but maybe he was finally getting over whatever was between them.

“You really mean it? Or are you just saying that as a way to keep me out of trouble?” I looked over at Eiji, he looked a little hurt that I had said that.

“I do mean it, you should know how to protect yourself better and I should have started sooner, but I selfishly wanted to be your protector for a little longer.” he admitted as I ran over to him and wrapped him in a tight hug.

“Thank you for wanting to take care of me, but it’s time I stand on my own two feet. There will come a time when you have to count on me.” I vowed, letting him go.

“Well at least you’re not going to be bored waiting for us. Come on, let’s find a place to make a camp and we'll be going in at first light.” Eiji led the way to find a clearing we could use as a base for the time.

Chapter 23

Once we had set up camp, Eiji took me aside to start on my training. “I know Raizo already showed you some basics, so there isn’t much for me to show you with that, but I want to see how well you fight.” he had found a couple of sticks for us to use for this. “Come at me with everything you’ve got.”

“Are you sure about that? What if I hurt you?” I asked looking at the stick then back to him.

“It’ll be fine, how could you possibly do enough damage with a stick to hurt me. Now come at me.” he demanded as I hesitated some more. “Alright, I’ll come to you then.” he charged at me, only giving me enough time to brace myself.

“Will you give me a minute, I don’t think this is the best way to start things.” I exclaimed between hits, “There has to be a better way to go about this.”

“You should know that this is how Toro and I were taught, and now it’s your turn.” he backed off a little, “You were so eager earlier, what happened?”

“Because you are pushing me too fast, I get the feeling that you are a little jealous that it took Raizo saying something before you even thought about training me yourself.” I observed as Eiji looked away. “I knew it.”

“So what if you’re right, with the way you act around him you would think he was a god.” Eiji shot back at me, “It will break your heart when he finally turns on us.”

“And what makes you think that? Raizo has been nothing but helpful ever since we met him, so why doubt him now?” I asked, but Eiji shook his head, “No, no more of this. We need to be honest with each other, now more than ever. If you have something to say, out with it.”

“Fine you want the whole truth, well here we go.” he began, taking a few steps closer to me, “I know he’s not all he seems to be. Why else would he have brought up our clan secrets? It’s because he wants them for himself, and what better way than to use you to get them.”

“You think so little of everyone who isn’t family, do you know who you are acting like right now?” I knew he wouldn’t like what I was about to say, but it needed to be said, “Father, you’re acting just like him right now. And with that scowl you have right now, you even look like him.” I spat turning away from him, but I didn’t manage to get far as he grabbed onto my arm.

“Never compare me and him ever again, I will never be like him.” he growled as I tried to break his grip, but he held on to me tight. “That night I swore that I would look after you and the others no matter what, and that is what I will do until we get our home back.”

“You need to let me go,” I warned him, trying to get him to let go of my arm again, “Eiji I have no clue what’s wrong with you, but you need to get over it before you can teach me anything.” I started to send a chill through my arm and into his hand. We stood there for a few minutes until the cold got too much for him to take, and he dropped my arm.

“We’ll pick this up in the morning. I’ll stay back tomorrow and work with you on your training, but I will not put up with you holding back again. If you truly want to learn our clan’s fighting style, then you will do as you are told.” he snapped heading back to the camp before me. I watched him go, and I couldn’t help but think there was something more that he wasn’t telling me and it was eating away at him.

“So how did training go?” Kyo asked me once I came back to the camp.

“Not good, I just hope things go better in the morning.” I said as I sat next to him by the fire. “Where did Eiji go?”

“I don’t know, all he did was come back to throw a stick into the fire and walked off again.” he pointed off toward the city wall. “He didn’t look like he was in a very good mood either.”

“We had another fight, that seems to be happening more and more lately. I think we all need a night with a warm bed off the ground. And maybe a night away from each other might help.” I watched the fire as I rested my chin on my knees.

“What, you don’t like being out here with us all the time?” Daiki asked as he dropped down next to me. “But we all love you so much.” he teased me, but it wasn’t helping with anything.

“Some time apart might help for a little while, but the true problem will just come right back.” Daisuke mused from the other side of the fire, “This is going to be something we are going to have to face as a family, if he’ll listen to us.”

“You know he won’t, we’re just little kids to him and he has to look after us until we get back home.” I speculated as I felt Daiki as he nodded next to me. “There has to be a way for him to finally see that we don’t need him to protect us from the world anymore.”

“And how would we do that? It’s not like he’ll listen to any of us just because we’re younger than him.” Daisuke reminded us as he put more wood on the fire. “There has to be someone we could ask to talk to him.” he looked over at Kyo.

“No way, he won’t listen to me.” Kyo protested, “I think if the three of you corner him, then you might have a chance. But you should take it easy on him, if you push him too hard he may snap back at you.”

“So, we’re on our own. Thanks a lot,” I retorted as Eiji came back to the camp. “I’m sorry about earlier, can we try again tomorrow?”

“We shouldn’t have a problem, if you listen when I tell you something.” he grimaced sitting next to Daisuke. “Unless one of you two want to take over.”

“You know we can’t, we never studied under Fujimoto-sensei. Father only let you and Toro learn the clan secrets, so you are the only one who can train her.” Daisuke deflected as Daiki nodded.

“Father was going to ship us off to other families, so he didn’t bother much with us. He had you and Toro, so there wasn’t much need to be concerned with us.” Daiki added, “Maybe we should call it a night, since someone has to get up early.” he bumped my shoulder as he got up.

“Yeah that does sound like a good plan.” I agreed, getting up too. “Good night everyone.” I waved as I went into my tent and got ready to get some sleep before Momo came charging in.

“I can’t believe you wanted to go to sleep without me, you know I like to curl up next to you.” she whined, taking off the charm turning back into a tiger.

“I thought you were on watch with Raizo?” I asked as I got comfortable on my bed roll.

“I was, but the twins came to switch with us.” she curled up close to my side, “Good night, Jun.”

“See you in the morning Momo.” I muttered scratching behind her ears before falling into a deep sleep.

“Jun, come on wake up already.” I felt someone shaking me to get me to wake up. “Come on father has some big news for us and he won’t tell anyone until we’re all together.”

“I just went to sleep, leave me alone.” I swatted at whoever it was, “I’ve got to be up early tomorrow.”

“You have to still be dreaming, must have been a good nap.” they persisted to shake me, “Now come on, Eiji and Toro are waiting for us.”

Takeshi?

“Hang on, you shouldn’t be here.” I shot up and looked around. I was no longer in the tent with Momo next to me, “Wait, when did I get here? I was camping with Eiji and the twins. And where is Momo, Kyo and Raizo?” I was back home, like it was before the attack.

“Must have been one interesting dream, but I’ve never heard of two of those people.” he was giving me a strange look. “You already knew Raizo was here, the two of you have barely been apart. Now come on, we have to get going.” he pulled me out of bed and pushed me out the door.

“Wait a minute,” I dug my heels in and pushed back against his hands. “Now I have no idea what’s going on here, but this is not how things should be, you should be locked away in the capital.”

“Sounds more like a nightmare, but as you can see that I’m here and the house is just fine. Now please stop stalling, we have to hurry.” he pushed me harder and my feet slid along the floor.

“So what happened to the visitors? Didn’t they attack during the night?” I looked back over my shoulder at him.

“Did you hit your head on something? You know we have visitors from all over Kato and they are here for father’s announcement.” Takeshi reminded me as he kept pushing me down the hall. “Now what is this about an attack, I can’t think of anyone that would want to do that. We don’t have time for this, I will get the twins to lift you if you don’t start cooperating with me.”

“So we never had to run away from home, and Orochi never took you to the capital and twisted you.” I quickly turned to face him. “And Toro too, he’s fine and nothing bad happened?” I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tight.

“Now I know there is something wrong with you, I’ll have Daisuke take a look at you later but can we get moving, we’re going to be late if we don’t get moving.” Takeshi urged as I grabbed onto his hand and started pulling him.

“What are we waiting for, we can’t keep everyone waiting.” I smiled as I started running down the hall, pulling him along behind me.

“Now this is a grand day.” Akio proclaimed once everyone was settled, “We are gathered here today for this joyous occasion, the naming of the next leader of the clan.” I noticed there was a woman sitting next to him with coppery hair just like mine.

“Takeshi, who is that next to father?” I leaned over and whispered to him.

“How could you not remember mother? I think you may have hit your head really hard.” he whispered back. How could that be, mother died many years ago, so how was it she was sitting here with us now. I was starting to get confused again, I’m going to have to find out what’s going on here later.

“Now as many of you already know, my eldests sons have both proven worthy heirs, but it is time I chose one to be my successor.” Akio continued as we watched Toro and Eiji came into the room. “Now we normally don’t have this problem, but it seems the branch families are divided evenly between the two candidates so the final decision comes down to me, and after many long hours I have come to a decision.” he waved to Toro and Eiji to come forward. “After watching you boys grow into fine young men and I know both of you will do your best, but I can only choose one of you.”

“Come on you old wind bag, get on with it, some of us are not getting any younger.” someone called out and a few people snickered.

“I am sorry Hisao-san, but this only happens once in a young man’s life.” Akio said with a laugh, “Both of you have shown great promise and I know that whomever is chosen today will have the respect of the whole clan.” Akemi gave a small cough and made a small hand movement to get him to speed up a little.

I had never seen Akio like this, it was almost like he was a completely different person from the man I remembered. “It seems that my lovely wife thinks I am taking too long as well, so I am proud to present my son Toro with the dragon blade. The prized possession of clan and the symbol of the head to the Matsu lands.” he held out a blue sheathed katana for Toro to take.

It looked just like the one I got from Ryu, but the memory was beginning to become fuzzy and I was starting to have a hard time remembering.

“Thank you father, I will do my best to make you proud.” Toro stepped forward and took the sword from Akio. “I have one request, if you will allow me to keep Eiji on as my adviser.”

“I think that will be a fine idea, already you are thinking like a true leader.” Akio announced as everyone in the room cheered, “Now let the feast begin.”

A few hours later, I found myself slipping away and sat outside to get some fresh air. “All that get to be too much for you?” I heard someone say from behind me. I look over my shoulder to see the woman that Takeshi had called mother.

“Yes, it has been some time since I have been in such a crowded room.” I watched her sit down next to me.

“Takeshi was right, you must have hit your head or you might be catching a cold.” she placed one of her hands on my forehead. “You seem fine, but we will have Daisuke give you a look over just in case. So are you excited for tomorrow?”

“What is happening tomorrow?” I asked as all she did was shake her head and smile.

“Your marriage announcement, we have been planning it for weeks now. You and I finally wore your father down and got him to agree on the one we choose, do you remember?” she reminded me as I tried to think about it and it sounded right to me but I still felt like I was out of place here and I needed to be somewhere else.

“A little, I guess the dream I had earlier was just so real that I thought it was real. I am happy to see everyone together and getting along, it is almost like a dream.” Akemi laughed a little at me. I guess to her I did sound a little crazy.

“Come on, we should be getting back now. You know how your father gets around Omasu, we cannot leave the two of them alone for too long.” she snickered, getting up and held out her hand for me. “Are you going to be alright?”

“I think so, but is it alright if I excuse myself early? I have a lot to prepare for tomorrow.” I took her hand and pulled myself up.

“I think that will be alright, but just make sure you say good night to your father and brothers first, you know how they worry.” we started walking back to the feast when an older man came running up to me.

“Jun, please do not be fooled by what you are seeing and feeling. This is all just a dream made to lure you in and trap you here,” he grabbed my shoulders and pulled me closer to him, “This is all an illusion conjured by the serpent to keep you out of his way, you have to wake up now.” he had a wild look in his eyes that made me a little scared.

“Come along grandfather, it seems you have been neglecting your medicine again.” Akemi pulled him off of me, and started leading him away.

I stood there watching them walk away, unsure of why he would say these things to me. My head began to hurt, like I was trying to remember something but the memory was being blocked by something.

“There you are, we thought you ran off on us,” Takeshi said as he came running up to me. “You alright, you look so pale.”

“I think I just need to go lie down. It’s been a long day and I am just a little tired.” I murmured as he put his arm around me. “Could you take me back to my room?”

“I can do that, I will tell father and the others what happened.” we started walking back to my room when I started feeling faint. “You really do not look well, I will go get a doctor once we get you settled in bed.” he offered once we got to my room.

“I do not need a doctor, I just need to rest. I must be worn down from everything the last few days. A good night's sleep and I will be just fine in the morning.” I promised as he opened the door for me, “Go back and have fun. Just do not forget to tell father that I am sorry I could not return and I will see everyone in the morning.” I waved to him as I closed the door behind me.

Once I knew I was alone, I dropped to the floor in pain. “What is wrong with me, it feels like I am being ripped in two.” I asked out loud, rolling on my back.

I didn’t have much time to think about what was going on when a light tapping came at the window. “Are you alone, snowflake?” a familiar male voice was on the other side. I froze as my heart started pounding. “If I stay out here any longer, someone will catch me.”

I didn’t know what to do, part of me wanted to rush over and let him while the other was so very confused and wanted to go run and hide. But like every other time, my need to know won out and I cautiously crossed the room with light footsteps.

I tried to quietly crack open the window so I could confirm that it was who I thought it was outside my room, and I was shocked to see that I was right. Crouched on the roof in front of the window was Raizo with his confident grin plastered on his face, dressed in the Mochizuki colours waiting to be let in.

“What are you doing up here, would you not be missed downstairs?” I asked, opening the window enough for him to get in. “If anyone knew you were up here with me like this neither of our fathers will allow us to see each other again.” he scooped me up, making me giggle, and brought me to eye level.

He just kept grinning, “Let them try. It seems that our marriage will be beneficial to both sides, so I do not see that happening.” he brushed his lips against mine lightly with a ghost of a kiss, making me whimper a little which made him chuckle a little.

“You wicked man.” I giggled as I draped my arms over his shoulders. While something in the back of my mind was screaming at me that all of this was not right, it felt like it wasn’t meant to be this way.

“But you do have a point, I cannot be away for too much longer. We will have to wait until after the announcement tomorrow before we can disappear together.” he gently put me back down and brushed a few stray hairs from my face, “I have waited a few weeks since the last time we got to be alone, what is one more night. Try to get some rest, I noticed you were not looking well before you vanished.”

“Just too much excitement, I will try to get some sleep.” I breathed once I found my voice, my heart was ready to break out of my ribs. “I cannot wait until tomorrow.” Raizo gave me one last hug before slipping back out the window again. I watched as he made it back down to the ground before I shut the window.

I couldn’t help but think something was a little odd with everything and then the pain flared up again, causing me to drop to my knees clutching my head again. “Why does it hurt like this?” I asked out loud.

“That’s because you know this is very wrong. You do not belong here,” someone called from the window, “Come back with me to where you belong, do not allow yourself to be trapped here.” I twisted around to see someone I could barely remember climbing into the room.

“Who are you, why is it I know your face.” I asked pulling myself up off the floor as he came closer. He was taller than I was so I had to look up at him once he was close enough. There was something about his blues eyes that made me think they looked like dragon eyes.

“You’ve already forgotten me, it seems the spell is stronger than we thought.” he rested a hand on my head, “Please try to remember me and what I normally look like.”

I focused on his eyes, trying to remember them but I couldn’t find the memory. “I am so very sorry, but I am having a hard time remembering you.” I took a step back, “But I know you should not be here, so I will ask you only once to leave.”

“You can’t fall for this, you know that it’s not true that the only reason I was able to make it to you. Please you have to remember us and everything we’ve been through.” he took a step closer, but I backed away again.

I closed my eyes and the pain only became worse. “I want to remember, but I cannot for some reason.” I held my head between my hands and slowly sank to the floor again.

“You can’t remember because he doesn’t want you to fight through it.” the stranger wrapped his arms around me and the pain began to subside.

I opened my eyes and looked at my friend. “Oh Kyo, I am so sorry I almost forgot about you. But this place is so perfect, the way I had always hoped it would be, and I even got to meet my mother.” I wrapped him up in a hug.

“That’s what Ko wanted, he made this dream world to tempt you to stay. Once Momo noticed that you were in trouble she came and got me, if it hadn’t been for her we wouldn’t have been able to pull you out, it would have been too late.” Kyo sounded panicked, helping me to my feet. “Just hold on to my hand and I can get us out of here.” he held out a hand for me, but I hesitated.

“Can I say goodbye to my mother first? I would not feel right if I did not do that first.” I asked, but Kyo shook his head.

“You know that’s not really your mother, just an illusion made to trick you. We need to go now while you still can think clearly, if you don’t leave now there is a good chance you will be trapped here forever.” Kyo pleaded, “Please you have come with me willingly, that is the only way you can leave.”

I looked from his hand to the door and back again, “I want to go back, but this place is what I have wanted for so long. There is no more fighting and my family is together and happy, just like we should have been.” I grabbed onto the front of the kimono, “But it means nothing if it is not real, alright Kyo just get us home.” I grabbed onto his hand.

The next thing I knew I was looking up at the roof of my tent with Daisuke and Eiji leaning over me, “Welcome back, will you please stop wandering off on us.” Daisuke laughed as he helped me sit up.

“I am sorry I scared you, but it felt so very real.” I reached out and pulled them into a hug. “Please do not be mad at me.”

“We couldn’t be mad at you this time, you got pulled away from us. But maybe next time you should put up more of a fight.” Eiji scolded as Daiki came in.

“Oh so I don’t get hugged too?” he joked as he came over to us. “I see how it is, well fine then I don’t want to hug you either.” he pretended to pout as I pulled him in too.

“Enough out of you and get in here. I am glad to be back where I belong.” I relaxed as I felt Kyo wrap his arms around us. “And thank you for bringing me back.” I gave him a small smile and he only nodded to me.

Chapter 24

I couldn’t sleep for the rest of the night after being pulled from the illusion, I was afraid that if I did go back to sleep that I wouldn’t come back this time. “Jun, please try to sleep a little, it’s going to be a long day for you.” Kyo requested as he walked past me by the campfire.

“No thank you, I really do not feel up to putting myself at risk right now.” I shivered at the memory of how real it all was. “I do not think I could fight it off again, it all felt so real. You go get some rest, I will be here in the morning.”

“Alright then, just try to get some sleep if you can.” he replied, disappearing into one of the tents.

“What was all that about?” Raizo asked as he sat next to me. “I heard something going on earlier.”

“It seemed that I was pulled into a dream state where everything was perfect, my mother was alive and my father was kind and happy.” I watched the fire, “All my brothers were together and we were celebrating father naming his heir, the whole family was there. It was everything I have been wishing for, but it was all a lie, just a way for Ko to keep me under his control. If it had not been for Kyo, I would have been trapped there forever.” I rested my chin on my knees, pulling myself into a ball.

“Good thing you have him around then.” Raizo sounded a little hurt. “Was it really everything you had been wishing for?”

“Yes, that is what made it so hard to tell that it was not real. There was even talk of a marriage announcement for the next day.” my heart started pounding, remembering how he had been the one I was going to marry. I can’t tell him that, there’s no way I could ever tell anyone. I decided to keep that piece of information to myself for the time being.

“It would be interesting to find out, I should go and see if Ayame needs some help with the watch.” Raizo stated as he got up and walked toward the tree line.

“You may have hurt his feelings,” Daiki remakered as he dropped down next to me. “I know it would be a kick to my ego if a girl said she was in a perfect world and didn’t mention me, after all he’s done for you.”

I watched him for a moment, “Do you think things would have been different if we had met him before things started going wrong?” I tried not thinking about what I saw, but it wouldn’t leave me alone now. Could we have fallen in love before he met Ayame?

“You never know, but maybe you shouldn’t talk about it in front of him right now.” I knew that what he was saying was true, but it still hurt a little knowing that I had hurt Raizo. “So who did he pick? In this perfect world which one of them did father choose as his heir?” Daiki tried distracting me.

“Toro, then he asked if Eiji could be his adviser. It was nice seeing everyone getting along again. But at the same time it was strange being back with everyone, and meeting mother as well. It feels like I have known her all my life now.” Daiki laughed at me a little.

“It must have been nice, to take a small break from all of this. To sleep in a bed again after so long camping outside.” I laughed along with him.

“You truly never know what you have, not until it is gone. But enough of this, what are you doing up?”

“Couldn’t really get back to sleep, so I figured I would keep you company until Eiji gets up at least. I think this latest scare you’ve given us knocked the chip off his shoulder.” I shifted myself so I was a little closer.

“Thank you, I think I might take a small nap then. Wake me when everyone else wakes.” I muttered, putting my head on his shoulder.

“Sure thing, rest well.” he rested his head on top of mine and I drifted off into a light, dreamless sleep.

I woke up some time later to Daiki giving my shoulder a light shake. “Hey, come on Eiji is awake now. I think he and Raizo have been talking, they both seem to be annoyed with each other already.”

“Why would they do that? What could they possibly have to talk about that would not end in a fist fight?” I watched them stare coldly at each other from the other side of camp.

“I think it had something to do with your training. You seem to be the only thing that brings the two of them together, so you know it has to be important.” Daiki explained as he passed me a warm drink, “Now drink up, it looks like you’ve got a long day ahead of you.” he gave me his grin that he used every time he knew something.

“What do you know now?” I glared at him as he shrugged.

“Let’s just say that you’re going to wish you hadn’t asked for this.”

I should have known that they came up with something because when I followed Eiji to the spot he had picked for our training there happened to be a stack of large branches off to one side. “Okay Jun, let’s try it his way, take off your pendent and we’ll see what happens” Eiji put more than a little emphasis on ‘his’. I reluctantly took off the dragon seal from around my neck and felt most of my strength leave me.

“How did you know that would happen?” I wondered just what it was he and Raizo had talked about before Daiki woke me up.

“We had a talk with Kyo before everything last night.” he took the seal from me. “First we’ll start with the stance. Turn partly sideways right foot out front knees bent.” I try to mimic how he stood. He moved and circled me once looking over how I’m standing, “Not bad, keep your right foot straight, in the direction you're attacking.” I shifted, correcting my foot. “Okay, now turn your upper body even further, having your right shoulder, again facing the direction you're attacking.

I turned, and he walked around me a few times. “Now what, I am just standing here?”

“One thing at a time impatient princess, if you’re going to learn to do this you may as well get it right.” One more rotation “Grip your sheath just below the sword, but close enough to where you can push on the tsuba with your thumb.”

“Like this?” I grabbed the sheath and pushed on the guard making it come free.

“Perfect. Now face forward the direction you would be swinging, lightly hold onto the hilt as if you're about to draw.” I moved into position. “Good hold that until I get back.”

Eiji eventually returned after what seemed like forever. I stood straight feeling every bone and muscle groan in protest of moving “Where the hell did you go, I have been standing here forever!” I yelled at him.

“It has only been an hour. How do you feel?” he asked like he didn’t leave me in the middle of the woods alone for an hour.

Continuing to yell “How do you think I feel, I’ve been in the same pose for an hour everything hurts now!” I was getting very close to giving up, my temper was getting the better of me.

“An hour is nothing, Fujimoto-sensei had me and Toro hold that for half a day, so an hour is nothing. Now quickly take the stance.” Eiji was being surprisingly calm with me, he must have known I was going to be like this before we started.

Grumbling, I moved back into position “Happy now?” I wasn’t sure how much more of this I was going to be able to take.

“Not yet, it took you too long to get everything back the way it should be, you did get into position without being told to correct anything and that is great. You should be able to get into position in a heartbeat, what I want you to do is go from full standing into the stance over and over again.

“Really? I get the feeling you are just trying to punish me for something.” I grumbled without moving.

“How much time do you think an enemy will give you to ready your attack, you must be able to instantly get ready and execute from any position or circumstance, now get to it.”

I saw no real point in arguing with him on this, knowing that there was no way for me to win and I stood up straight and as quickly as I could, got back into position, over and over again.

“Keep at it,” he coached unhelpfully, “I’ll go and see if there is anything for lunch.” And he left me alone in the woods again.

I went over the motions over and over again, reminding myself it’s useless to get mad at Eiji. He is trying to teach me, I think. After what was easily longer than last time he returned with a few bowls of food. He left one at the base of a tree and Ayame dropped down to claim her lunch.

“Lunch time, sit we’ll eat and then I’ll show you the actual attack part of Kukkudoro.”

I flop down on the ground not caring to move somewhere to sit more comfortably. He handed me my food and I dug in, despite how little I seem to be doing I was starving. “Eiji can you answer a question honestly?” he nodded with his mouth full “What is your problem with Raizo?

I think my question made him choke a little, “What makes you ask that?” he coughed.

“You two are always fighting about one thing or another. After waking up from that dream world, I just want a little peace between everyone.” I put my bowl on the ground in front of me, “Could you try to get along with him, even if it is for a short while?”

“If it’s you that’s asking me, then I will try. Now finish up, we still have a lot to cover.” he instructed as I nodded, picking up my bowl again.

Once he finished eating, Eiji went off to the tree line and grabbed something. “We’re burning daylight, let's get back at it.” He jammed a long branch into the ground, “Now the hard part is the execution of the attack, step back and watch.” I moved back a few paces as he took the stance. “Don’t blink.”

In an instant he drew and swung, cleaving the branch in two. “That looks simple enough, let me have a go at it.” I took my position and Eiji put another branch in front of me. I drew, swung and cut the branch. I looked at what I had done and Eiji’s, his was a clean smooth arched slightly to cut where a neck would have been, mine a much steeper cut and frayed on the outer edge. “What happened? I thought I did what you did?”

“You got ahead of yourself, you tried to do it before you understood how, while it did look simple there’s more to it than drawing and swinging. Now watch and I’ll go through it slowly, there are three main components that need to be done at the same moment.” He set up again, “Now as one you need to draw,” he started to pull his sword from its sheath, "While doing so be trying to swing, this puts pressure on the sheath and the blade this normally does damage to both over time but with a sword from Ryu it shouldn't be a problem. As you're doing that push with your left foot to lunge forward some, this will give you extra range, everything comes together the moment the sword leaves the sheath giving you greater speed and power than you normally would."

“That is a lot for a simple movement, but okay here we go.” I took the stance once more and walked myself through the motions. “Draw while trying to swing, push forward.”

Eiji nodded as I kept repeating the movements, “Not bad, aim a little higher when you draw and speed up every time you try it. Keep going until you can do it in your sleep.” He moved and sat on a rock.

After dozens and dozens of tries, with Eiji unhelpfully yelling out, faster, higher, keep your foot straight, and many other annoying calls, I finally broke. “Maybe if you actually helped me out here Eiji I would be able to get this!”

Of all people to come over to help it was Ayame that wandered over “The problem is your teacher. Eiji you’re trying to teach her like a boy when you fail to see Jun is far smaller than you.”

“What is your point Ayame, the attack is the same.” he replied.

“The fundamentals are the same, but they need to be adjusted for her size.” She turned to me “Try and turn your waist more and level off the swing so you’re not swinging up but across.”

I looked at Eiji for instruction, he just nodded, and I adjusted slightly and tried again. As I stood there it already felt more comfortable, I drew and swung and immediately felt the difference, it felt much more natural. “Not bad, okay Ayame you were right. Now that is done, you need to get faster and be able to perform it without thinking, would you like to take a guess on how that is done?”

I hung my head a little “I’m going to be here all day swinging at nothing right?”

“More than less, until you get completely comfortable and can change direction and still swing without slowing down repetition is your friend.”

“Thank you Ayame-san,” I watched her go back to her spot in the trees. I wasn’t too sure why she helped me, but one could only hope that she would be back to normal soon, I could use her back on my side again, the sooner the better.

By the time we went back to camp, all I wanted to do was curl up in my tent and sleep. Every muscle ached, and groaned with every movement that I almost passed up on having dinner, but I was so hungry that I needed to eat something.

“Looks like you two worked hard.” Daiki laughed as I shot him a dirty look. “Wow, that’s a first. Normally you would have tried to hit me, looks like Eiji wore you down hard.”

“I just did what was necessary, we don’t have much time to baby her by taking it easy.” taking a bowl from Daisuke, Eiji was finally sounding like he was willing to let me stand on my own. “While we’re in the city tomorrow, you are on your own for training. I’ll have Kyo keep an eye on you so I will know if you slack off.” I would have given him a vulgar gesture if I could have moved my arms more than an inch or two, so I had to settle for a dirty look for the time.

“Can I not take the day off?” I moaned, as Daisuke held out a bowl for me. “I can barely breathe without it hurting, I am sore in places that I did not know were there before.” I looked at Daisuke as he waited for me to take the bowl. “Do you honestly think I can take that right now?” I snipped at him as he put it down next to me.

“Don’t take your mood out on him, he did nothing to you.” Daiki was actually being a little short with me, as he sat next to me by the fire, “You’re just sore that you are the only one of us who has to train right now.” he laughed at his own joke.

“You are far from funny,” I reached for my dinner, every inch of my hand protested the movement.

“Here let me help you,” Kyo offered, sliding to the seat next to me and picking up the bowl that I was giving a death glare. “I know that you worked hard today, but it will only get easier as you get better at it.” he held out the spoon so I could take a bite.

“I am not a child that needs to be fed,” I looked at him, and took the bite because of the pleading look he had on his face. “Just this once, so you will not worry about me.” I grumbled as I let Kyo feed me. I could tell that all eyes were on us as he did so, but when I looked for Raizo he wasn’t anywhere I could see him.

“You can skip your turn on watch tonight, we’ll figure out who gets your watch later.” Eiji informed me once he finished eating, “You should rest as much as you can tonight.”

“I found a natural hot spring not too far from here,” Kyo volunteered, putting the bowl down. “Let’s get you cleaned up a little.” Before I had the chance to say that I just wanted to get some sleep, Kyo had scooped me up and took off into the woods north of the camp.

I was happy to be sitting in the warm water once we had gotten to the hot spring, as much as I wanted to protest the whole time that he should have asked before whisking me away, Kyo was right that it did help.

“Are you going to come join me?” I called out to him, “I know that you are itching to be in here with me.” Kyo became noticeably uncomfortable when I went to undress saying he’d keep watch, keeping his back turned.

“No thank you, I knew you might want to wash off once you were finished and then I found this. Why is it you want to push yourself so hard, you have all of us to protect you.” he called back.

“I do not want everyone fighting for me, I have always wanted to be on the battlefields with my father and brothers. I always knew that I was meant to do more than just sit back and let them risk everything. I knew that I would one day be more than just a wife and mother.” I slid down until the water lapped at my chin. “Kyo, come closer at least, I don’t want to keep yelling.” I heard him come closer to the spring. “Can I trust you with a secret?”

“You know you can trust me with anything, if there is something you don’t want the others to know, just say so and that’s the way it will be.” he called from right behind me, “What’s on your mind?”

“I think that Raizo is upset about something. He has not said much to me since you pulled me out from the illusion last night,” just thinking about the sad look on his face when I told him about it made my heart ache.

“I think that is something for you two to talk about, I do wish there was a way for me to be of more help.” Kyo conceded with a sigh, “But why would you want to keep this from your brothers?”

“That was not the secret,” I laughed, splashing him a little. “In the dream world I was going to be making a marriage announcement the next day, and what I hadn’t told anyone is that it was Raizo I was going to marry.” I felt my face getting hot, mentally kicking myself for even bringing such things up. “I don’t know if I should say anything to anyone about it, especially since I don’t know how I feel about him.”

Kyo was calm in his reply, “The human heart is a tricky thing to understand, but I will do as you ask for now and keep this to myself. As for that cursed place Ko had you, think no more of it, try to forget about it as that will give him a way back in.” I could tell that was all he wanted to say on the matter. “Try not to stay in there too long, the heat may play tricks on your senses.” he warned as he shifted back to his hiding place in the tree line.

I must have been sitting in the warm water for hours, because I began to hear voices coming from the far side of the spring.

“Come on Ryoma, mother and father will wonder where we have gotten off to.” I heard a young boy’s voice, so I slowly made my closer to see what was going on.

“You worry too much Ryoga, they will not notice us gone just yet. Mother always said that this hot spring was the best.” another boy boasted, his brother I guessed from the way they talked to each other. “Father and mother are finally letting us go off on our own so enjoy it.” Something occurred to the boy Ryoma, “You did remember to leave a note, or at least pass a message along, right?”

“I thought you left it, we are going to be in so much trouble when we get back.” I couldn’t help but have a silent laugh at the boys once I saw them, it was like I was watching Daisuke and Daiki when they were younger. But these boys looked so familiar, like I was looking at Raizo, but only if he was a child. “Father told us not to leave the city walls after dark, he is going to be furious if he ever finds out that we disobeyed him again.”

“You’re just scared to get into trouble because you know I am the favourite to take over.” the boy Ryoma boasted, causing his brother to puff out his chest.

“You are not, you know father will pick whoever will do the most good for everyone.”

Something caught their attention and they both reached for their lone weapons, a wakizashi each. “I do not think we are not alone, Ryoga, stay close.” That was when I caught a flash of their eyes, each having a blue eye, identical to Kyo’s dragon eyes.

“Jun, where did you go? You know it’s not safe for you to wander off alone.” I looked back to see Kyo standing at the edge of the spring.

I looked back to where I had seen the boys, only to see that they had taken off at the sound of Kyo calling for me. “Sorry, I heard voices. There were these two young boys at the other end of the spring, but there was something odd about them.” I explained as I made my way back to him.

“I didn’t see anyone else here, let alone any children. I did warn you that the heat will play on your senses, now let’s get you out of there and back to the others.” Kyo offered me his hand with his eyes closed. “They must be worried about you by now.”

I couldn’t contain myself and started laughing uncontrollably as I got out of the water, “You have bathed with me before, what makes now so different?” I asked as I got dressed. “And I know that you were the only one taking care of me while I slept, so what is with this new shyness around me?”

“Things are different now,” Kyo noted as I let him pick me up again, “Now, you will do as Eiji says and rest. You have more training to do in the morning.”

Once Kyo got us back to camp, I quickly slipped into my tent and waited for Momo to come and find me. It didn’t take her long. “Jun, why didn’t you come get me when you got back?” she complained, charging into the tent as she did so.

“Because I knew you would come to find me. I have a question for you, but you have to promise not to breathe a word of what I say to anyone.” I needed to tell someone.

She sat down next to me, eyes bright with curiosity. “Now we get to keep secrets for each other, you really must like me then.” She seemed happy by this fact. “So what is it that you don’t want the boys to know?”

“Let me ask my question first, in the pond in your mother’s den, can she see the future?” I asked as she looked at me with a strange look.

“You wouldn’t be asking me something like this unless you think you’ve seen something, and yes she can gaze into the future if she wishes. Now I have a question for you, what is it you think you saw?” There was no avoiding it now, Momo knew I had seen something at the spring.

“There were these two young boys, twins from what I could tell, but there was something about them that made them seem out of place.” I let out a sigh, “They looked like a much younger version of Raizo, but they each had a blue eye, it almost matched Kyo’s. Do you have any idea who they could have been?” The grin that was now plastered on Momo’s face made me backup a little, it was as if she already knew what it was I had seen.

“Oh were they cute? I guess they would have been if they looked like him, you have been given a very special gift. Someone has shown you your possible future children, but the question is, why do they look like one, but have eyes of another?” I was stunned silent for some time by what she had implied, the boys I had seen were my own. It took a lot of self-control not to rush back to the spring and see if I could see them again, to learn more about them. “But at the same time, it could be a distraction from our enemies.” Momo’s words stuck me like an arrow through the heart, it could have very well been a trap.

“So it could be nothing more than a trick, a cruel trick to let my guard down,” as I spoke the words, I could feel my heart break a little, “You have to swear not to say anything to anyone about this. I do not want the others to know of this, to think my mind is still open to an attack from Orochi or Ko.” I insisted, gripping her hand tightly in mine.

“You have my word, I know how they all worry for you.” she promised, patting my hand, “But you have to tell me, which one of them would you choose if this was a time of peace?” Momo always knew how to get me to laugh, even if it was just a little one.

“It would not be up to me to choose, but I think father would have picked Raizo over Kyo, for the political ties. He was always looking for the best way to have ties with as many clans as possible. I was merely a pawn in his war games.” I leaned over and rested my head on her shoulder, “But I do not know if it would have been a good match back then, many of the branch families do not trust the Mochizuki clan, they always claimed that we could never truly know what they had hidden away in their mountains.”

“Well then, it sounds like it would have been a perfect match to me, then you could have shown those stuffed shirts that we never had anything to worry about.” Daisuke interjected as he popped his head into the tent. “I’m sorry for listening in, but Eiji wanted me to make sure that you got some sleep tonight.” I looked at him, worried of what he had heard, “And don’t worry, I’ll keep what I heard to myself. I know that times have been hard since we left home, so a little weakness by now is understandable. Now get to sleep, if Eiji catches you two chatting the night away, I can guarantee that you will regret it in the morning.” and with that he was gone again.

Chapter 25

As the first light of dawn woke me, I heard Eiji and Daisuke talking. “So we’re going to split up once we get inside the walls of the city. Four hours, that’s all we can afford today, tomorrow we might have to bring Raizo with us if we don’t turn up anything.” Eiji didn’t sound happy at the thought of needing Raizo’s help.

“It doesn’t sound like a good idea, we should stay together. We don’t know if there are any of the enemies in there.” Daisuke countered as I came out of my tent, “I know we can cover more ground apart, but we need to think about this smartly.” he waved at me once he noticed I was up.

“Good morning, already to head into the city?” I asked them, standing next to Daisuke.

“Just about, we’ll also be picking up some things we’re starting to run low on. If there anything you can think of that you need, just let us know before we leave.” Eiji seemed on edge this morning, more than usual, something must have set him off.

“Are you sure you are up for this? Is everything alright?” I asked, putting a hand on Eiji’s arm. “Maybe you should go tomorrow, when you are feeling better.” he pushed my hand away, giving me a mean look.

“I’m fine, since you’re up, get something to eat and I can get you started with your training before we leave.” he ordered, turning to walk away.

“What is wrong with him?” I watched him go through the packs, taking stock of what we had left.

“Not too sure, he came in and woke me up not too long ago. I think it has to be something more than going into the city, or maybe it has something to do with Usagi.” Daisuke sounded a little worried, I took my eyes off of Eiji to see the sad look on Daisuke’s face.

“You think, it has been a while since we last saw her. I hope she is alright.” I must have had a similar look on my face, thinking about my new friend. “I just hope we did not drag her into our mess.”

“We left the estate quick enough, so with any luck she and her father are safe.” he tried to reassure me, patting my shoulder. “Come on, you should really eat something. Help me make breakfast for everyone, they should be getting up soon.”

“So what do I get to do while you two are in the city and she’s off training?” Daiki complained as we started getting ready for the day ahead. “I guess I could just sit around and do nothing all day, but who knows what kind of mayhem I can get up to left alone for too long.” he knew saying something like that would get at least one of our attentions, as Daisuke, Eiji and I looked at each other for a moment.

“I would say that you should take him, but what could he possibly get up to out here? There is no one else around and we’re in a forest, we have nothing to worry about.” I chuckled as they nodded, both smiling back at me. “Looks like we beat you at your own game, finally. Now behave for a little while.”

“Come on, there has to be something for me to do. Kyo will be with you, and those two are going to the city and I know for a fact that Momo will sleep most of the day, so that leaves me with Raizo and I don’t know where he went off to.” Daiki looked to Eiji and Daisuke, “You guys won’t mind if I come along, right?”

Kyo shook his head, “I’m staying here, we can’t count on you two not to slack off while unattended.” he corrected Daiki

“You have to stay here, you can think of something to keep yourself busy.” Eiji insisted, being firm with him, “We can’t replace you if something happens, so please just stay out of the city and out of trouble.” I could tell it was taking a lot for him not to start snapping at Daiki, we all knew that Daiki was amazing at getting himself into the worst kind of trouble, so it was no surprise that we had to watch him no matter where we went.

“Alright, I’ll stay here. I guess it gives me time to figure out how to make something for lunch.” he conceded looking at my direction, “Since you’ll be so busy training, it’s my job now.” I watched with horror as Eiji and Daisuke started making their way toward the city.

“On second thought, maybe you guys should take him with you.” I half begged as they only waved back at me, laughing as they went. “Come on guys, he is going to kill me if he tries cooking.” but all I could do was just watch them walk off.

“If you want to go with Jun-dono, I can take care of lunch.” we turned to see Raizo coming out of the tree line.

“I think I like that idea, we’ll be safer that way.” I grabbed on to Daiki and dragged him along behind me. I still couldn’t be in the same space with Raizo for too long before my heart started pounding and a light blush set in.

After practicing for what seemed like forever, Kyo watched every move making sure I didn’t slack off, as if I would even against protesting muscles. Performing the strike over and over again, Daiki letting me know when it’s not quite right, though most of what came out of his mouth was far from helpful.

Once we had a quick lunch, leftovers from breakfast, as Raizo was supposed to prepare lunch but no one had seen him, and as Ayame went with Eiji and the others, so we couldn’t track him well enough to find him in good time.

I was just about to set up again when I heard a shout from my left “Jun-dono!” I looked over my shoulder to see Raizo in the tree line, just as he released a fist sized rock aimed at me. Without thinking about it, I took position, lined up and swung.

Half of the rock bounced away on either side of me, being cut cleanly in two, “Raizo have you gone mad?!” I shouted at him, shocked that he would have done something like that.

“I had faith that you could defend yourself, and I was right.” He explained with that annoying knowing grin. He began walking towards me, the smile quickly fading, becoming stern and very much like his fighting expression. “I came here to teach you a lesson Jun-dono, one that only I can teach you right now.”

“And what would that be?” something didn’t feel right as the temperature dropped around us.

As he got closer, the temperature kept dropping, making the air colder and it got harder to breathe, “While I was arguing with Eiji I realized he was right you cannot be babied any longer.” With each step he seemed to get taller and wider, his presence changing from the happy man who’s been with us for so long. “You need to understand what facing a warrior is like, years of combat takes a toll on not just the body, but the spirit as well.” He stopped a few feet in front of me, seeming to take up much more space than he should. “The fighters from before were ninjas trained to hide this battle aura,” I found myself reaching for the necklace that Kyo was holding for me, “but eventually you will have to fight a real fighter one who’s dangerous just by being there.”

The air got caught in my lungs and I couldn’t breathe, looking at the distance between us, he could make a lethal swing with his sword while keeping out of reach of mine, I couldn’t move anyway, not from pain or weariness but from fear. “A real fighter can paralyse a weak opponent with his presence, you must never waver in your will to fight.” I just stood there, trapped in the anger and desire to kill that seemed to be coming off of him in waves.

He took a deep breath and quicker than it had happened the feeling vanished, and I sank to the ground, breath coming in short bursts. “Look around Jun-dono,” I did, seeing Daiki to my right and Kyo slightly behind, bodies ready for anything he might do. “They moved in closer as soon as they felt like I might be a threat, Kyo-san sensing it first.”

“What was that all about” I managed to say, breathing a little easier, still pretty shaken by whatever just happened.

“Some call it a battle aura, others Ki, and many other names I do not know, but simply it is a killer instinct, one that a person develops when you have fought and killed for many years, it is the same presence one gives off when very angry and everyone around seems to be uncomfortable.” He paused for a moment helping me up “I did not mean to frighten you like that, but it is something you will have to be able to overcome, it is more than less a battle of wills, have yours unshakeable and you will never feel that vulnerable again.”

He didn’t release my hand and produced his small writing brush again. He smiled at me while putting another symbol on my hand. “Hiding like a turtle in a shell is not living at all.” He recited. “A true warrior must have heroic courage. It is absolutely risky. It is living life completely, fully, and wonderfully.”

Realizing he was being watched he let my hand go, “Not many fully live up to Yu. You and Ayame love life. Do not lose that.” He turned and began to walk away, not giving me a chance to say anything. “I will go prepare dinner, I got us something to last a few days.”

Before I noticed, Daiki had come up beside me. “Want to reconsider what you said before? Or do you have a new argument you want to use.”

“I still stand by most of what I said, we still come from two different worlds, it just wouldn’t work.” I wasn’t about to fool myself into thinking just because it turned out Raizo used to be a noble that it changed anything. “With everything going on, it would be stupid to let myself get distracted while we’re in the heart of enemy territory.”

“So what you’re saying is that if we were somewhere a little safer you would be willing to entertain the idea.” I could see he wasn’t going to drop it.

“Just drop it already. How could I have feelings for someone who can make me shake in fear so easily.” I showed him the slight tremor in my hand. I just hope that is left over from the fear.

“You are still a little pale want to take a break?” Kyo asked. I nodded, “Come sit and we’ll pick up in a bit.” Raizo’s lesson, while unorthodox, was learned. I’ll never allow myself to be that frightened again.

“He did what?!” Eiji roared when Daiki told him what had happened while he and Daisuke had been in the city.

“Kyo and I were there, we wouldn’t have let anything happen.” Daiki tried smoothing things over, but it wasn’t working very well.

“He did it for my own good, Raizo had a point by spooking me the way he did, I am far from ready if things truly get bad.” I pulled Eiji’s attention away from Daiki, “You and I both know things can get bad if someone is unprepared going into a fight. So please, for me, do not overreact as you always do.” I looked him in the eye and made him understand that I was not backing down from this.

After staring at me for what seemed like a lifetime, Eiji finally took a breath, “Just this once, but next time he does something like this, he will have to answer to me.” Eiji sighed, backing down for the time. That's what I needed to hear, I didn’t like the thought that Eiji could blow his top at any moment and do something that we all knew he would regret much later.

“Thank you, now let me help you put away this stuff that you managed to get from the market.” I offered, holding out my hands to take one of the bundles they had brought back with them.

“It’s alright, go and sit. Rest while you can, we can never know when we have to make a quick escape again.” Eiji waved me off and loaded up Daiki instead. “But you must have taken it easy while I was gone, you’re nowhere as stiff as you were yesterday.” he laughed as he and Daiki went to put our supplies away.

“I did have one thing I wanted to talk to you about.” I followed after them, “I want to hire Raizo back as a bodyguard.”

Eiji paused for a second, “You want to do what now? After what he did to you?” he turned to face me, clearly his bad mood was back in full force. “Have you lost your mind, and just how do you plan on paying for these services? He's still a sell sword.”

“Raizo did it to help me, while he should have found a different way to do it but it was a lesson that I needed to learn. I’ll pay him myself once we get home again, if I have to.” I didn’t back down from him. I didn’t want to tell him the real reason behind wanting Raizo to be my bodyguard again, I still hadn’t come clean about Ayame’s sudden personality change toward me. “I was hoping you would agree with me that this was a good idea, but if we’re going to fight about it then don’t worry about the details, I’ll take care of them myself.” I could feel my anger coming back up to the surface again, I should have known he was going to give me a hard time.

“May what to give the full story Jun-dono, that way we are not fighting everyone constantly.” Raizo suggested, “At the very least I may get some help.”

“This has something to do with Ayame, doesn’t it?” I should have known Daisuke would have noticed. When I didn’t answer him right away, he nodded, “I thought so. And like the stubborn idiot you like to be, you thought you could handle her on your own without involving us.”

“It’s not her fault.” was the only defence I had ready, “While I’m not saying she’s completely under Ko’s influence, he’s not helping the situation. This is the only way to keep some of the peace, even if it is for a short time.”

With one look from Daisuke, Eiji walked off with a dismissive wave. “Do as you like. Clearly I’m out voted on the matter.” he spat, it was clear he wasn’t happy about this but it looked like he wasn’t going to make a fuss at the moment.

“I am going to need your help Eiji-san.” Raizo called after him, “This will only work with everyone working together. She can be dangerous but also a strong ally, I will not lose her.”

His words stung a little for some reason, Maybe I’m still feeling the effects from that dream world. I gripped my pant leg tightly to keep myself from reaching out for him, “Let him cool off, no point in trying to talk with him right now.” I took one of the bags from Daisuke and went to make myself busy, I didn’t want to dwell on the thoughts running through my mind.

“One of you should talk with him. I know what I am doing and will defend Ayame as fiercely as you Jun-dono or Momo.” Raizo was getting annoyed with Eiji’s attitude towards him. “If he does anything against Ayame I will teach him what it means to be a Sun Guardian.”

Chapter 26

I don’t know what kind of magic Daisuke worked on Eiji, but when they came back from the city the next day he was ready to listen to what Raizo had to say. I kept watch from a distance just in case they got into another argument.

“Everyone come closer please.” Raizo called, “You as well Ayame-kun.” We all got close, curious about what happened. “Eiji-san and I have come to an understanding about the danger of the situation, and we have agreed that better precautions need to be taken. Especially the safety of Jun-dono, Momo-kun, and Daiki-san.”

While I wasn’t pleased that I needed the extra protection, I knew it was a necessary part of the plan. “So what did you two settle on?”

“Normally we would have sent a team out, no less than four, my whole team likely would have been sent for a high profile client like this.”

Team? He never said anything about having others he worked with. “As it is just me I cannot do this alone and will need everyone’s cooperation.”

“So you plan on what, tying yourself to Jun?” Daiki asked with his usual mischievous grin, “What better way to keep an eye on her if she can’t get away.”

I gave him a quick clip to the back of his head, “I can’t train like that, use your head.”

He gave me a small smile, “Out of respect for clan secrets Kyo will watch over Jun and Daiki in the morning while they practice. I will take over while Kyo and Jun are practicing. Momo-kun sticks with either Daisuke, Eiji, or Ayame when they go into Shiwa and help as best as you can. Ayame-kun when you are not helping Eiji you are Daiki’s shadow. You understand best how we operate so I will trust his safety to you.” He met the eyes of both Eiji and Kyo, “I will be close by Jun at all times, I will keep some distance while she is practicing her swordsmanship, but other than that I will be close by at all times. This is how we Guardians operate.”

It wasn’t what I wanted to hear, but I was going to have to find a way to deal with whatever these feelings I was having while keeping a tight hold on my emotions. “I can live with that, I don’t have much of a choice in the matter but it could be worse.” I resigned myself to having a second shadow.

The next couple of days went the same way, Eiji, Daisuke, Momo and Ayame would go into the city just after we woke up and wouldn’t come back until just before nightfall.

While they went off and did that, I worked away at my training for most of the day, I had worked it out with Eiji and Kyo that I would do my sword training during the morning and after lunch Kyo and I would go off to a nearby river and worked on my powers, mostly working on the ice powers.

“Come on, focus. If you want to cross the river just by walking across it you will have to freeze just enough to stop the water from moving under you, but will melt once you take a step.” Kyo was coaching me from the other side of the river. He had found a place where there were stepping stones that he could watch me from.

“I would love to see you do this, it is not as easy as it looks.” I looked at him as I made my way back to the edge of the river, after the ice had melted out from underneath me again.

“Calm and focused Jun-dono.” Raizo coached from his perch, “Just like your sword it just takes practice and patience.” I tried not to look at the back of my right hand, the ink long since washed away, but I could still feel the strokes of the brush.

“I should have gotten this by now.” I pulled my now completely soaked shoes off, “it’s been a few days now, it shouldn’t be this hard.” I tried again only to end up halfway across before I was in the river again.

“Look at the bright side, you are the only one of us to be constantly clean.” he tried to play. “I think Daiki has an aversion to water and the others are too busy.”

“Not helping.” I dropped to the edge of the water as Kyo made his way over to us. “There has to be something I’m missing here.”

“Not that I can see, but you do make it halfway every time now so you are improving.” Kyo took his turn trying to cheer me up. “It could be worse, the water could be freezing cold so you have that working in your favour.”

I gave Kyo an unimpressed look, “I don’t really feel the cold anymore, so that wouldn’t bother me even if it was. You guys are doing a poor job of making me feel better.”

“Sorry Jun-dono, just trying to make you feel better.” Raizo hopped off his branch, “How about I go back and make sure Daiki does not try and kill us with dinner again?”

“That sounds like a good plan, I enjoy living.” I got up and dusted myself off, “I want to try a few more times. No point in only half trying when I’m so close.”

He nodded, “Kyo-san, keep an eye on her, call if you need me, I can hear from the camp.”

I could tell Kyo didn’t like to be told to watch me, but he managed to keep himself civil. “We shouldn’t be too far behind you.” was he said before he crossed back to the other side of the river.

I tried to hide a grin that tugged at my lips, “Aww, looks like he likes you now.” I teased Raizo as he just walked away, ignoring my comment but I knew he heard me.

“If you’re done goofing off.” Kyo called to me, “Just remember quick light steps and don’t stop.” He coached as I tried again.

This time I almost all the way across before I slipped on my own ice. “I was so close this time.” I was upset that I slipped, how I managed it I wasn’t sure. “I want to try again if you want to head back ahead of me.” I was determined to get across at least once before stopping to eat, “A few more before I dry off, I’ll catch up in a minute.”

He watched me carefully for a few minutes, “Fine, but not too much longer, I don’t want you to wear yourself out. You will get this in your own time.” he repeated for the thousandth time as he started to head back.

I waited until I couldn’t hear his footsteps anymore. “I did, I’ve been waiting for everyone to take their eyes off of me.” I confessed to myself, picking up my shoes. Taking a deep breath, I quickly skipped across the river without a second thought.

I had been able to control the ice perfectly since the day before. But I knew there was only one way I could get everyone to stop watching me long enough was to look like I was having a hard time with my training.

I also knew that if I tried it during the morning that someone would notice right away, so I waited until Kyo could see I was about to give up trying to say we should take a break. I felt bad about doing it, but it was the only way I could ever get to see the inside of the city. I would try to find a way to make it up to them once things calmed down again.

Looking back to the other side of the river, I knew that if I wasn’t back before Eiji and the others, I was going to be in so much trouble.

“I am sorry, but I am not a fragile flower that needs to be protected from every little thing, I just hope that one day you will understand why I do these things.” I sneered quietly as I slid my feet back into my shoes and took off running toward the city to finally see it for myself.

Once I had dried myself off, I faced another problem, I had no way to get into the city. So, as I stood in the tree line, waiting for a grand idea to come to me, I saw a merchant cart a little way down the road, and that’s when I came up with a plan.

I found a long tree branch and quickly laid it across the road and then strapped my sword across by back to keep it out of the way and retrieved my water skin. I concentrated on the shape I wanted and poured half of it out on my left hand, the water forming claws on the tip of each finger, then I froze them. “Claws seemed to work well for Kyo when he climbed around on things” I nodded to myself as I repeated the process on my right hand.

As the cart pulled up to the branch, the driver got out to move it, muttering something about kids being a pain. I quietly made my way to the side of the cart laid down and rolled under it. Using my new claws, I dung them into the bottom of the frame and pulled myself up, so I was off the ground. “Should have made some for my feet too.” I whispered to myself.

After what felt like forever of holding myself up, we came to a stop and I could hear “Just the crates today?” I assumed it was one of the gate guards that had asked.

“And a pick up for the capital,” The driver answered, “I’ll be leaving again in the morning.” I could hear another guard poking around the cargo and I said a silent prayer that they wouldn’t look underneath the cart.

“All clear,” the second guard called, and we moved into the city. I could hear many voices and the clamours of daily life all around, getting excited I nearly let go.

Holding on a little longer until he came to a stop, I quickly liquefied the nails and rolled out from under the cart and got to my feet as just the driver turned around. “Something wrong, miss?’ he asked, seeing the dirt all over my clothes.

“Nothing at all, just had a long day on the road and I am thankful for finally getting to the city in one piece.” I gave him a smile and walked off. “As much as I hate to admit this, I need to thank Eiji for making me stay in one position for so long, I may not have been able to do that otherwise.” I mumbled to myself, taking in the busy street around me.

The city was the very thing I had hoped it would be, busy and full of people moving along their way. It wasn’t as busy as the first town we stopped at when we left home, but there was still so much activity it made me happy to see it for myself.

I spent a few hours just wandering the streets without really thinking of the time, but it wasn’t until I heard someone behind me that I realized how long I had been here, “It is about time I found you.” I turned around to see Raizo a few steps behind me and instantly I could feel my face heat up. I need to get that under control eventually or someone is going to know something is off.

“I could not help it, I needed to see everything for myself.” was all I could bring myself to say, I knew better than to try and lie to him. “Eiji may want to keep me locked away in a cage, safe from the world, but I need to see what a normal life is like.”

“And I do not blame you, but it is very dangerous right now and you did a very stupid thing.” he looked at me, “If you wanted to truly come in here you could have asked the head of your guard to escort you in. Now how about we get you back before Eiji notices that you are gone, and we both get yelled at.”

“I’m sick of having to ask for permission to do anything. I am more than able to look after myself.” I was sick of being treated like a child.

“It would not be asking permission with me Jun-dono. Just doing my job making sure you are safe wherever you wish to go.” Sometimes I hated how he always knew the best thing to say. “And to keep up this little cover you agreed to, you do need to let me do what I was trained to do. Anywhere you want to go, whatever you wish to see, I will see you there safely.” he held out his arm for me.

“Why are you being so nice to me after I ran off.” I took a couple steps away, I needed to think of a way to put a little distance between us, “And I can’t walk with you, not looking like this.” I tried to walk away, “I am a grand mess, and just look at the way I am dressed, I may have been raised to be a lady but right now it does not look that way.” I insisted as I felt him grab on to my hand. Not good, not good at all. He’s going to know something is off.

“I do not care about those things,” he stepped up next to me, “considering your brother I should have known you would try and slip off on your own.” he took my arm and put it through his and held me close to him. I was starting to wish my hair was long enough to hide my face. “Since we are both in trouble anyway, what would you like to see?”

“You do not have to do this, I can walk on my own just fine.” I lightly complained, trying to pull my arm from him, but he held me tight. “Come on, let me go. People will look and think there is something wrong with me.” I turned my head so most of the redness in my cheeks was hidden. “Please let go, I promise not to run off.”

“I am just giving you a full demonstration of my job.” He smiled looking straight ahead. “Most ladies prefer it when everyone around knows she is protected, I look after my charges. Where ever they want to go.” he offered as we walked along.

Just end me now. I did my best to keep my face away from him, “I think heading back to the camp before Eiji finds out that we’re gone is a good idea.” I knew I was being a little rude, but if I made eye contact now I knew I was going to blurt out what had happened in Ko’s dream world.

“If you wish.” He smiled pointing us back to the main gate. “No reason we cannot take our time with it though.”

He’s trying to kill me, is this pay back for hurting his feelings the other day? I thought as I tried to get my heart rate under control, I need someone to put between us soon or I might do something I’m going to regret.

Kyo and Daiki thankfully ran past us as we walked. “I win Daiki-san. I told you I would find her first.” Raizo called out, stopping them in their tracks.

“Well it’s about time. We’ve been looking all afternoon for you, how did you get here?” Daiki asked as he pulled me into a hug. “Please stop taking off.” he whispered in my ear as Kyo pulled me away from him.

“I snuck in, a merchant was passing by and I used ice to make claws and hung on to the bottom.” I admitted as Kyo gripped me tighter than Daiki.

“Really, why would you do something so foolish? One of these days you are going to get yourself killed if you keep taking risks like that.” Kyo growled, “Why must you make us worry like this. I’m going to side with Eiji if he says we’re going to lock you away somewhere.”

“I did not mean to make everyone worry, but I needed to come see the city for myself.” I stated, slipping away from Kyo. “But I will not be running off again anytime soon.” I pointed over his shoulder, “Mostly because he will not be letting me out of his sight ever again.” I grumbled as Eiji made his way over to us.

“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t all of you be back at camp?” he demanded from us, “I can’t believe you, going behind my back by sneaking in.”

“They came in after me, I am the only one who is at fault here.” I defended the others, standing in front of him. “They came to find me and made sure I stayed out of trouble. But maybe we should find somewhere else to have this conversation.” I suggested as Eiji looked around to see people looking at us.

“We will talk about this when we get back,” he grabbed me by the arm and began walking me toward the gate. “And I’m liking Kyo’s idea of locking you away at this point, it would save me so much headache knowing that you can’t get into trouble for five minutes.”

We make our way towards the main gates avoiding the main road but still travelling the wider streets, opposed to the narrow side streets. “Something is not right.” Kyo noted, sounding uneasy about something.

“He’s right, there should be people out around here, there’s not too many shops but nobody is going to and from their homes.” Ayame noted.

The rush of many heavy foot falls filled the quiet as our path was blocked by dozens of soldiers and guards flooding the street blocking our path. They stood there, various weapons drawn and ready. We readied ourselves, Raizo and Eiji up front first blades at the ready, I joined on the other side with Kyo flanking me, Ayame and Daiki on the other side of Eiji.

A lone purple eyed figure sauntered out for a side street, clad in the deep green of his territory. No weapons were visible, he didn’t need any. “Thank you all for delivering my prize to my doorstep, how kind of you.”

“Uncle!” Raizo shouted, “Stop this madness, you know this kind of power is not meant to be wielded by one man.”

“Raizo, my loving nephew, come and join me, and I can bestow to you far more than what your father took away.” He offered, but I knew that Raizo would never take him up on such an offer.

“Never! No one here will ever fall for your lies. Please give up on this obsession.” he pleaded, as if trying to get Oda to remember the man he once was.

He just looked at us a moment, “Very well then, kill them all and bring me the seals.” He ordered casually, walking off towards his home. The small army hesitated not knowing why so few stand before them so calm and confident.

“All of you go find those guardians.” Raizo ordered, and I just looked at him.

“No Raizo we can fight.” I was determined to stay, there was nothing that could make me leave him here to face this alone.

“We all stay, we all die. There are far too many, I can slow them down, everyone go now!” there was some truth in what he was saying, but I couldn’t bring myself to back down.

“You can’t win this Raizo,” Eiji muttered quietly, “you will die.”

“I know” Raizo whispered back. “Kyo get Jun out of here, everyone else make for the entrance.”

“You sure? You can get her out faster.” Kyo admitted reluctantly, I felt him take a step closer to me.

I watched as Raizo took a step forward and yelled out “First one to move dies!” one brave or foolish soul stepped forward. “KYO GO!” and he took off, dispatching the one who moved in an instant.

“KYO NO PUT ME DOWN!” I cried out, as Kyo scooped me up and took off down the street, “We have to go back and fight, there is no way we can let him do this alone.” I pounded my fist against Kyo’s chest, but he didn’t slow down.

“I’m sorry, but this is the only way we can make sure our enemies don’t get their hands on you. I wish there was more we could do for him.” Kyo apologized as I looked over his shoulder. There was one thing that I knew I could do for him from here. I made walls of ice on either side of him, making it harder for the enemy to overwhelm him.

“Matsu children, come this way.” I heard someone call to us, “I know who you are and I am here to help you find what you are searching for.” I twisted around to see a man guiding us down a side street. I couldn’t get a good look at him from where I was, but got the feeling that he was on our side.

“Thank you for your help, but may I ask, who are you?” I asked as Kyo finally put me down, but he stayed close to me just in case something happened. Now that I got the chance to look at him I noticed he looked no older than Eiji was with hair that looked like a starless night.

“I am sorry, but now is not the time for such things, please follow me and I will explain everything when we are in a safer place.” he waved for us to follow him, but Eiji held out his arm making us wait.

“Can we at least know your name, it’s been hard for us to trust strangers lately.” Eiji asked as the man turned around to face us again.

“Of course you would be wary of someone who knows you but you do not know them. I am Zenzo, chief adviser to Lord Orochi, but trust me when I say that I am a friend and wish you no harm.” he introduced himself, bowing low. “Now please, the streets are not safe right now. I have a place where you can rest and regroup, but we must go now before Lord Orochi notices that I am missing.” he waved for us to follow, but Eiji wouldn’t budge.

“You worry too much.” I whispered, walking past him, “If he is working against us, why would he be here and not with Orochi right now? Come on, I know we can trust him.” I continued on behind Zenzo, knowing that the others would follow just to keep me from getting into trouble.

Within twenty minutes, we were in a house close to the wall, it was small but there was enough room that everyone had their own space and we wouldn’t have to share bedrooms if we didn’t want to. Zenzo showed us where everything was and even had all of our belongings brought in from our campsite.

“What is it you want from us then?” Eiji asked after Zenzo helped me sort through everything from the camp. “We have no money or anything of value, so what is it you plan to gain from helping us?” I never knew Eiji to be so mean, but given where we were and the fact that we didn’t know much about Zenzo, he must have felt the need to be a little more guarded than normal.

“Please understand I mean you no harm, yes I do work for Lord Orochi but it does not mean that I am like him.” Zenzo tried to reassure us, Eiji mostly.

“How can we know for sure? You brought us here and you knew that we were camped outside the city wall?” I questioned him, I had a feeling he was telling the truth, but I needed him to say it out loud.

“Yes I did have you brought here, and yet, you are not bound. You are free to leave at any time. I have served the Oda house for a very long time, before he turned into the monster he has become, and I know that he is still that man, somewhere under all the darkness and hate.” Zenzo answered, just as I had hoped.

“So why bring us here at all then?” Eiji seemed to be wary, and I couldn't blame him, we all had to be on guard given where we were.

“I brought you all here to help you find what you are looking for. Lord Orochi has a path that goes right to the guardian's sanctuary, but there is a catch. Only the champion is allowed to go, and as there are so many of you that need to be tested.” Zenzo explained as he looked at Eiji and Daisuke. “You two, follow me. The rest will have to wait here, please make yourselves comfortable, there is food in the kitchen waiting for you.” Zenzo guided Eiji and Daisuke out of the room, leaving the rest of us to wait for their return.

“Do you think we can trust him?” Daiki asked me as we sat watching the door he and the others went through.

“I do, all he wants is for the master he once knew to come back. You and I have done all we can for now, we have to have a little faith in the others now.” I patted his shoulder, “Come with me, let us make sure that there is enough for the others to eat once they get back.” I started for the kitchen, there wasn’t much Daiki or I could do for them now, but we could make sure that there was a hot meal waiting for them once they did return to us.

Chapter 27

Hours passed and Zenzo hadn’t come back with Eiji and Daisuke yet, “What is taking so long?” I paced the length of the house, from the front door to the kitchen and back again, “They should have come back by now.”

“You’re going to wear a hole in the floor if you keep pacing like this. Come sit down and have something to eat.” Daiki tried to grab my arm as I passed by him, just missing. “There’s no point in making yourself worry like this.”

“I can’t help it, is this what it is like when I take off?” I asked as he nodded, “I will keep this in mind next time I feel the need to run off on my own.” I reached for my braid, remembering it wasn’t there anymore, just as the door opened.

Eiji was first through the door by the time I made it back to the door, “Sorry we took so long, Zenzo had to get back to Orochi before we could finish so we have to wait for him to come back. He said that this place was protected so we’ll be able to stay as long as we want.” he stopped in his tracks as he looked at me, “You don’t look so go, are you feeling alright?”

“I was just really worried about you two,” I grabbed him up in a hug, “I am so very sorry for all the times I have made you worry like this, I will try my best to behave and listen when you tell me to stay put.”

“And maybe I should ease up on how strict I’ve been, you wouldn’t have felt the need to sneak in by yourself if I hadn’t forbidden you from coming in. I’m sorry too.” he hugged me back. “We only have each other now, and we have to look out for each other.”

“Can I come in too, or am I just going to spend the night outside?” Daisuke asked as we turned to see him standing in the doorway.

“Come on, let’s eat something and talk about what we’re going to be doing next.” Eiji advised as the three of us made our way to the dining room where Daiki and the others were waiting.

“Well it’s about time, any longer and Jun would have polished the floor smooth at the rate she was pacing.” Daiki laughed as we sat down with him.

“I would not have, I would have gotten tired eventually.” I quipped as I glared across the table at him.

“Yes you would have if they hadn’t gotten back when they did, I was watching you for the last hour. You couldn’t sit still after we finished making dinner.” he commented as Eiji laughed at us.

“And now I know why you were so apologetic. I guess you’ve learned your lesson about running off.” he kept laughing as I turned my glare toward him.

“I have no idea what you are talking about, now we should eat before it gets any colder.” I ignored their comments as we started piling food onto our plates. “Daiki, Where’s Ayame? She’s supposed to be shadowing you and it wouldn’t feel right eating without her.” It had been so long we all had a meal where we knew it was safe enough to sit and relax so it was nice to be able to sit and laugh as if there wasn’t any danger.

“Last she said she was making sure that we weren’t followed. We haven’t seen her in a while, but Ayame will come back once she’s sure it’s safe.” Daiki explained as he got up to get something. “I found something while we were cooking.” he came back with a bottle of saké and a stack of cups.

“Wow, it’s been a while since we’ve had a proper drink. We might as well enjoy the down time while we can.” Daisuke said, helping Daiki pour the drinks. “And we’ve missed a few celebrations since we’ve been away from home, so I think we can afford at least one drink.” I thought about all the time we have been travelling and the only thing I could think of was Eiji’s birthday.

“Not just my birthday has passed, yours went by while you were asleep.” Eiji pointed out when he noticed me looking at him. Sitting here now, with them like this made me realize just how much time had gone by.

“I guess that sounds reasonable, I mean it is for our birthdays so it should not hurt.” I remembered something as I took the cup from Daiki as he came over with them. “Now that I am thinking of it, I got something for you when Usagi and I had our misadventure when we went shopping.” I excused myself, getting up from the table and made my way up to the room I had chosen for myself. I had unpacked a few things so all my belongings were organized and out of my pack.

Of the few bundles I had, the one Raizo had given me, the gift that Madam Wu had given to me for Eiji and the fabric I had bought to make something for Eiji, I paused in front of the one from Raizo. “Maybe I should wear it while we are here, I might not get another chance for some time.” I opened it slowly and ran my hand over the smooth silk, “I just wish I could have worn it for him once.” I changed as quickly as I could, so the others wouldn’t worry that I ran off again.

“Hey, there you are. Now we know what was taking you so long, don’t you look so pretty all dressed up.” Daiki commented as I came into the room, “I thought your kimono was left behind at the tiger temple when we had to leave?”

“This is a new one, Lady Yumiko had left it for Raizo to bring with him when he came to find us last. She must have known that I would need another one after we left her at the temple.” I sat next to Eiji again, “Here I thought you might need this, I meant to give it to you before Kyo started to crumble.” I held out the bundle from him.

“You didn’t have to, we didn’t get anything for you.” Eiji took the bundle from me and proceeded to open it. “But how did you know that I needed new travelling clothes?”

“I noticed that yours were starting to look really worn out, I thought you would like a new set before they fell apart. Now, where did you two go with Zenzo earlier?” I asked as Daisuke and Eiji looked at each other.

“He took us to the edge of the Oda estate, there was a small building there that he said could take us to the guardian’s shrine, but only the champion was allowed in there. If the rest of us want to go as well, we would have to take a long way to the shrine.” Daisuke explained as he sat across from me, “Neither one of us was able to open the door, Zenzo said that it wasn’t safe and that was why the door was sealed. He also told us that we could go back and give it another try in a few days once Oda heads back to the capital, until then, we will be safe here as long as we don’t leave the grounds.”

“No point in leaving, Zenzo told us that we will have everything we need and he will be back in a couple days to see if we need anything. So for now, we wait and rest while we can,” Eiji had place my gift on the table in front of him, “There is a big enough garden that you can continue your training, so don’t think you’re going to get off that easy.” he looked at me, almost knowing that I was going to try to get out of my training while we were here.

“How about one day? That way I can mend our clothes, you are not the only one who needs their clothes fixed.” I pointed at the twins, “I hope Zenzo thought to have extra clothes ready as well, if not you two will have to wear sheets until I can repair your clothes.” I informed them as they groaned.

“Wait, why can’t we just walk around naked?” Daiki laughed as both Daisuke and Kyo punched him in both of his shoulders. “I take that as a no.”

“Of course you can’t, we do have ladies with us. What is wrong with you?” Daisuke scolded, hitting him again.

“It’s just Momo, and she’s really a tiger so she doesn’t really count.” and then Kyo punched him again.

“And what about your sister and Ayame? Do they not count as women?” he seemed angry with Daiki’s behaviour.

“Fine, I can take a hint. Just please stop hitting me, it’s really starting to hurt.” Daiki whined as he rubbed his shoulders.

“I don’t see a problem with you missing a day, but as long as you stay busy.” Eiji agreed as I got up from the table.

“Sounds fair. I am getting tired, so I’ll see you in the morning.” I waved to them as I retreated back upstairs again. As much as I wanted to spend the night with them, I need a little time on my own. I didn’t know why, but I was feeling lonely, like a piece of myself was missing and I didn’t know where to find the piece.

I could hear Daiki laughing at something from my room, at least he was still able to laugh and have a good time. I always wondered how he was always able to keep a smile on his face no matter what was going on, having him around has always made the hard days a little easier. But I knew that if I ever told them about Toro, it could undo all of the happiness we had held onto until now.

I woke from a fitful sleep a few hours later to a cool breeze coming into my room, it looked like the shutters had opened some time during the night. From the look of the sky it was almost dawn, so there wasn’t much point in trying to go back to sleep.

I stood by the window, watching the few people who lived in the surrounding houses start their day, until I noticed a couple of dark figures standing by the gate to the property, leading straight to the front door. They seemed to be looking for something, and while everyone else ignored this house, they stood staring at the door. As I continued to watch them, one of the figures turned and looked up at me.

“Takeshi,” I whispered as I backed up from the window. “How did they find us here, Zenzo said we would be safe.” I started heading toward the stairs, not even thinking of waking the others just yet.

I moved as quickly and quietly down the stairs and toward the front door. I was so focused on making it to the door that I hadn’t noticed that I was being followed. “Where do you think you’re off to? I thought you bunch agreed that staying inside the grounds was for the best, unless you felt like lying again.” I heard Ayame from the kitchen.

“I wasn’t leaving, I thought I saw someone outside and I just wanted to peek out the front door to make sure no one had found us.” I explained, sliding to a stop as she met me in the hall.

“Then why didn’t you feel like waking anyone else?” she stood in front of me, arms crossed her chest. “Or did you really think you could take on someone all by yourself?”

“I did not wake anyone because I was not sure if I really did see anything and I know there is no way I can fight anyone on my own.” I tried to slip past her, but she stepped in front of me every time.

“So why even bother then, if you aren’t sure there is anyone outside? I think you’re just looking to stir up trouble.” Ayame snapped, dropping her arms and taking a step closer to me, “You’ve already cost Lord Raizo his life, why can’t you just stay out of the way.” she took another step, closing the gap between us even more.

“I did not want to leave him behind, and if I could I would go out and look for him.” I looked her in the eyes, “You and I both know he would not have let either one of us stay behind. Raizo found his way back to us once before, he will do it again, I just know it.” Ayame was close enough to me now that I could feel her breath on my face.

“So you say, but you can’t be sure.” she wasn’t listening, and before I could react Ayame had grabbed me by the throat, “All this mess is because of you, maybe you should just die now.” she began to tighten her grip on me, cutting off my ability to breathe.

“Ayame...let...go,” I managed to gasp out, trying to break her grip on me, “I…need…to…breathe.” my arms started to feel heavy and darkness was starting to creep into the edges of my vision.

“No, I don’t think so. You’ve caused more trouble than you’re worth, so I’m going to put you out of all our misery.” she squeezed tighter and I found myself struggling to gasp for air.

No matter what I tried I was losing my fight to breathe, Ayame was stronger than she looked. “Please…let...go.” I tried to plead, but it was getting harder to think, I wasn’t sure how much longer I could hold on.

“What the hell is going on here?” I heard someone from the stairs, “Ayame let her go.” She let me drop to the floor, gasping and coughing.

“She was going to check outside for something, I just stopped her.” she tried to justify her actions, backing off as Kyo put himself between us.

“That was a bit extreme, I think you need to back way off before her brothers find out about this.” he warned, kneeling next to me, “Take it easy, try to take slow deep breaths. What happened?”

“I woke up because the shutters on my window were open, I saw someone outside and they knew that this house was here when everyone else was ignoring it.” I grabbed on to Kyo’s arms, my throat was so raw that I could barely talk but I needed to tell him what I saw. “It was Takeshi, I just know it was. He looked right at me and I knew it was him.” he pulled me closer, wrapping his arms around me.

“He’s not here, Orochi has him locked away back in Hebi. I don’t think Orochi would bring Takeshi here if he knew Takeshi could get away.” Kyo soothed as he smoothed down my hair. “Let’s get you back to bed before anyone else wakes up, we can talk about this more later.” He didn't give me a chance to try standing up on my own before scooping up and carrying me upstairs. “Ayame, you better hope there isn’t any lasting damage, or you won’t have to worry about her brothers.”

Within minutes of bringing me back to my room, Kyo had woken my brothers and they all piled in to see me. “Are you alright?” Daisuke asked as he sat next to me. “Let me take a look.” he brought a candle closer so he had enough light to see by.

“I am fine, it just hurts to talk or swallow.” my voice was rough and I found it hard to talk.

“We need to make sure that she didn’t do permanent damage, while I do that, Kyo take Daiki and see if Ayame is still in the house. We need to find out what is going on.” Daisuke ordered as he lightly touched my neck where Ayame had grabbed me. “Eiji you’re going to stay here with me, we both know that if you go after Ayame, she will be in worse condition when you get her back here.”

“Fine, but she had better have a good reason for doing what she did.” Eiji nodded to the others as they left, “Now why are you up so early?”

“There was someone outside. I was standing at my window and they looked up at me and I swear it was Takeshi.” I managed to get out before Daisuke put his hand over my mouth.

“No more talking, I don’t want you to hurt yourself. Whatever you have to say, it can wait until your throat is feeling better.” I nodded as Daisuke gave Eiji a harsh look, “No asking her questions until I say so, understood?”

“Understood, since we’re all up I make something to eat.” Eiji offered as he headed down to the kitchen.

“Now, I want you to take it easy. We both know that Ayame is stronger than she looks, so if he tries to get you to talk before you’re ready, come and get me.” Daisuke passed me a glass of water, “Now are you sure that it was Takeshi you saw.” I nodded, there was no doubt in my mind that it was him and Toro standing at the gate. “So Orochi let him out, and my guess is he’s going to use him to find you. So we need to be on guard even more now than ever.”

Daisuke seemed a little upset, and I was aching to ask him what was bothering him but I knew I wasn’t allowed to talk. So I reached out to touch his arm, “Don’t worry about me, it’s our jobs as your brothers to protect you from harm.” I shook my head and pointed to my katana, then back to myself. “You can fight when the time is right, but it’s not yet time for that. I know you’re brave and strong, but you also need to learn to be patient. How about we move you down to the sitting room looking out over the garden, that way you’ll have lots of room to mend the clothes.” Daisuke volunteered, holding his hand out for me to take.

It was amazing that the twin’s clothes hadn’t just fallen off of them, there were more holes than fabric. But I guess Zenzo thought of that too when he got the house ready for us, there was more than enough extra fabric to fix everything.

As I worked, Daiki and Kyo came back. It seemed that Ayame had taken off and was nowhere to be found. “Sorry we couldn’t look longer, it seems Oda has extra guards walking the streets so we couldn’t look for her.” Kyo apologized as he came to sit next to me, “Wow, those pants have seen better days. Are you sure you can fix them?” I nodded as I pulled a basket closer that had some fabric in it as well as thread and scissors. “Well if you say so. Anything I can get for you?” I shook my head, pointing to the small table off to my right. Daisuke had made sure that there was something close by if I felt like eating. He had left some fruit and a pot of tea before he and Eiji went back upstairs to talk about something they didn’t want me to hear.

“Hey there’s the princess, how are you holding up?” Daiki asked when he spotted us. “Are those my pants? Good luck fixing those, might as well try my luck buying new ones.” he laughed as I held up the pants.

“At this rate, you’ll be here for the next few days mending these. We could always wait for Zenzo to come back and ask him to get us some more clothes.” Daiki mused as I snipped the scissors at him as well as shaking my head.

“She’s right, we can’t ask him to do anymore than he already has. You shouldn’t even think like that.” Kyo voiced my opinion as I nodded. “Now how about we get you talking again.” He turned me so I faced him and gently placed his hands on my neck.

His hands felt cold at first, but they quickly became warm and my throat felt better almost instantly. “Can I do something like that?” I quietly asked, not wanting to push my voice too much right away.

“Eventually, maybe with some training but for now maybe you should focus on the task at hand.” Kyo laughed as I moaned. “You volunteered for this, I hope you remember that.”

“I didn’t think it would be this bad. What did you do to them, chew through them when you got bored?” I asked holding them up again. “I am amazed that they did not just fall off of you before now.” I looked through one of the holes at Daiki.

“Good to hear you again, now do you feel up to telling us what happened last night?” Daisuke asked as he and Eiji came down the stairs.

“Like I tried to say earlier, I woke up early since the shutters on the windows were open and I saw two figures standing outside. Now everyone else around them didn’t even notice this house, but they were standing at the gate and it looked like they were waiting for someone. Then one looked up at me and I know it was Takeshi, so I came down here to peek out the door and that was when Ayame hurt me.” I explained, I didn’t care if they believed me about Takeshi, but I know what I saw.

“So Orochi is finally using him to hunt us down, I knew this would happen eventually.” Eiji smouldered as he leaned against the door frame, “Do you have any ideas about who was with him?” I could feel his eyes on me as I busied myself with the pants in my lap. “Jun, is there something you need to tell us?” it was right then that I wished Kyo hadn’t healed me enough so I could talk.

“We think Orochi brought him back.” I was all I could say, I didn’t want to think about what I had seen when Raizo had saved me in the warehouse.

“Who are you talking about? There’s no one left for Orochi to bring back.” Eiji demanded as he came into the room. “What is it you’re not telling us?”

“When Raizo saved me after I woke up from being asleep for three weeks, we had a run in with Toro.” I took a ragged breath, “I had been chased into an old warehouse by five of Orochi’s men and their leader was Toro. But he did not act like himself, it was almost like he did not know who I was and he would not speak.” I looked up to see Eiji, he had gone pale.

“So you’re saying that Orochi somehow brought him back from the dead? What kind of twisted magic is that?” he asked as I got up to walk over to him.

“We do not know what kinds of powers Ko has given him, but I promise you that I will find a way to bring him back to us.” I vowed, looking him in the eyes. “I do not know how or when, but I will bring him home.” and that was when the front door slammed open and Zenzo came running in.

“Matsu children, I am sorry to come in like this but things have changed for the worst. You need to leave the city as soon as possible, Lord Orochi knows you are hiding here and will be here within the hour.” he panted as he slid to a stop in front of us. “Pack enough supplies to last you a few days' ride, but please be quick about it.”

“You heard him, let’s get a move on. Looks like your clothes are going to have to wait.” Eiji commanded as the twins and Kyo jumped into action. “Jun, gather that you need to fix the clothing. I’ll pack the rest of your belongings for you, and see what else you can get out of him.” he pointed at Zenzo, who was still panting in the doorway.

“Less than five minutes? Fine, but let the twins know to grab as much clothing as they can, I do not know when I will get a chance to fix everything.” I called as Eiji bounded up the stairs and started packing everything.

“Jun-sama, let me help you. That way you will be ready for when the others come back down. I will gather food and water for you while you get what you need from here.” Zenzo offered dashing off to the kitchen.

As I gathered what I thought was going to be enough material to repair the clothing, and joined Zenzo in the kitchen. “Anything I can help you with?” I asked when I noticed that he was packing six small bags with food.

“No it is alright, I am used to doing this on a much larger scale. I make sure that all the guards have enough food while they are on patrol, so packing for you and your family is easy.” Zenzo tossed an apple to me. “Eat, you look like you could use something to eat.”

“Thank you, is there anything else you can tell me about what’s going on? Anything you can think we might need to know before we leave?” I played with the apple as I watched him work.

“Well we are going to break a few rules getting you out of here, first you are going to use the secret entrance. After that Eiji and Daisuke will have to be tested by Lady Kame and Lord Aki. I know what it was my job to find the champion, but there is no more time for that.” Zenzo explained as he started closing the bags.

“Thank you Zenzo-san, you have done so much for us, how can we ever repay your kindness.” It struck me as odd that someone so young could be used to doing all of this. “May I ask you one quick question?”

“Of course Jun-sama, but I think I can guess what it is. You want to know how someone who looks my age can do all of this without a second thought, am I right?” he asked as he moved around the kitchen at lightning speeds. “Easily, when you are twice as old as you look.” Zenzo smiled as I just stood there stunned for a moment.

“That is amazing,” was all I could manage before Eiji and the twins came downstairs. “Is everyone ready to go?”

“Just about, how’s everything down here?” Daisuke asked as Eiji gave me my pack.

“All is in order, just waiting for everyone else.” Zenzo replied as he started handing out the small food packs. “There should be enough in each one to last a few days, but you should be at the guardian's sanctuary before that runs out.

Before I could thank him again, Kyo and Momo came in with all the camping gear. “Let’s go, we don’t have much time left.” Kyo urged as he took the bag from Zenzo and started from the front door.

“Not that way, I could not be sure that I was not being followed. Out through the garden, it will take us closer to where we have to go.” Zenzo directed us out the side of the house. “But we do need to move quickly, please stay close, we do not have much time.”

As we made our way to the small building, I couldn’t help but think that Raizo wouldn’t be able to find us right away, but I knew he would find a way to meet up with us again. “Alright, Matsu children, this is where I have to leave you. As much as I wish to come along, I must remain here.” Zenzo explained once we came to the small building. “I wish all of you the best of luck in your travels and I hope to see you again once everything is settled.” he opened the door for us and I watched as Kyo and Momo went first.

“Thank you again for all you have done for us. We will come back again as soon as it is safe.” I promised as the twins followed Eiji through the door, “Stay safe and take care of yourself.” I hugged him before dashing into the building myself. I knew that if Orochi ever found out that Zenzo had helped us, it would not end well for him.

“Come on, Zenzo s smart he’ll be just fine.” Daiki nodded as he took my hand. “We’ve got a lot of walking ahead of us, so let’s not waste any time.” I looked down a long forested path, it was something I hadn’t expected to see so I was taken aback for a moment.

“Is it going to be safe for us to be here? Zenzo said that this path was only for the champion.” I asked as we started down the path.

“As long as we stay together, it should be fine.” Kyo seemed a little cautious as he looked back at me, “But if you hear things in the trees, do not listen to any voices. They will lead you off the path and you could be lost with no way back.”

“So maybe it wouldn’t be a good idea to stay in one place for too long then, just in case something happens.” Daiki let out a nervous laugh as he looked around.

“You do not need to worry, I will protect you if anything tries to get you.” I smiled as Daisuke snorted into the back of his hand.

“Oh so you do have a sense of humour, I always thought you left that in a book somewhere.” Daiki jabbed Daisuke in the back. “Good to see I didn’t get all the good looks and humour.” Daiki jabbed him again.

“Enough goofing off, we have to make good time before it starts to get dark.” Eiji called as he looked back at us. “We don’t know if Orochi can follow us so we need to put enough distance between us and him.”

“Come on, Eiji, lighten up. If you walk around with a scowl on your face all the time, it will stay that way.” Daiki tried to lighten the mood as I shook my head.

“He does have a point, we do not know if Orochi can follow us here so we should not linger in one place too long.” I agreed, letting go of Daiki’s hand and moved up to the front of the group where Kyo was walking. “So we just have to follow the path and it will take us where we need to go?”

“Yeah, think of it like the path you took to Grandfather’s spring for the first time. It’s the same thing, just keep where you want to go in your mind and the path will take us there.” Kyo looked down the path, “As long as we stay together, we should make it there in no time.”

“Then let’s get a move on,” Daiki barked as he jogged past us. At least one of us had a little hope, “We can’t keep the guardians waiting.”

Chapter 28

Hours passed and it didn’t feel like we had made any progress, the path stretched out both behind us and in front without any signs of any end on either side. Nor did the sun seem to move, so we walked under the high noon sun.

“Kyo, do you have any idea on how much longer it will take us to get there.” I asked once we took a break, hoping that he would have some idea on what was going on.

“Sorry, I’m not really sure what’s going on. I would have thought we would have made it there by now.” he looked over at Momo, “Should we go on ahead and find out why we are stuck?”

“Might as well,” Momo sighed standing up, “But I think we should go without the charms. Can you look after them for us Jun?”

“I will, but what should we do?” I looked from Momo to Kyo. They seemed to know something.

“Just keep walking, follow the path as it will bring us together again.” he spoke as Momo took off her charm, stretching out into her feline form. “We’ll be waiting for you.” and with that he pulled off his charm and was making his way down the path with Momo.

“So they’re taking off on us? Are you ok with that?” Daiki came over to me as I picked up the charms from the ground.

“I have to be, I think that having them with us was blocking our progress somehow. Now we should be able to carry on without a problem now, we might want to get moving soon.” I looked over to see Eiji getting up, he must have agreed with me.

“I’d normally say we’re burning daylight, but I don’t think the sun feels like moving right now.” he gave a small laugh as we gathered up our belongings.

I looked around to see if I needed to get Kyo’s or Momo’s packs, but they were gone all ready, it must have been the guardian’s magic at work that made our loads easier to carry. I just wished everyone could stay together for more than a few days at a time. I found myself laughing at the thought.

“What’s so funny?” Daisuke asked as we started on our way again.

“I was just thinking that we can’t seem to keep travelling companions for more than a few days at a time, and now we’re back to being just the four of us again after having Kyo with us all this time.” I sniffled as my laughter turned to tears, “We will find them again, right?”

“Of course, and do you know why? Because we always find our way back to our family. You’ve done it so many times now, you have to know it’s true, now just have a little faith that we’ll see them again and we will.” he comforted me, taking my hand in his. “Now, which way are they?” I thought for a moment, we had watched them go down the path ahead of us, so why was he asking such a question.

I almost asked him what he meant, but then I felt a tug on my dragon seal. It seemed to be pulling down the path behind us and I could see Daiki’s doing the same. “I think we have been going the wrong way this whole time. Look at the seals.” I pointed them out as we turned around the way they were pointing. “What do you think?” I looked over at Daisuke to get his opinion.

“I think you should lead us,” Daisuke turned me around and followed behind me as I walked back the way we had come.

“Are you sure we should be going that way, what if Orochi shows up?” Eiji asked as we made our way down the path.

“No, I do not think he will be able to find us here. It seems we are protected here.” I guessed, not knowing why I felt so confident that Orochi wouldn’t be able to find us. “You have to remember that the guardians are on our side, and I think that they are protecting us so we can get away from Orochi.”

“If you say so, but just be mindful of what Kyo said, don’t listen to any voices from the trees.” Eiji echoed Kyo’s words as they followed me down the path.

As we made our way down the path, I was starting to become more uneasy. It had been almost all day since we had started down the path and there was no sign of finding Kyo, Momo or the guardians of the region. Then there were the low whispers coming from the trees, as time dragged on around us they became more unnerving. I couldn’t really make out what they were saying, there were just too many low voices all at once.

“We should stop here for the night.” Eiji suggested as he watched as the sun finally started dropping lower in the sky.

“We should keep going, we should be protected so there should not be any risk of an attack.” I insisted, looking down the path ahead. “We could be so close and not know it.” I didn’t want the others to know I was hearing things, if they could hear the whispers too they weren’t bothered by them.

“No, he’s right. We need to rest, there’s no real point in trying to wander around in the dark.” Daisuke came up next to me, putting a hand on my shoulder, “That and if we do come across enemies we would be too tired to fight back.” I understand that we needed to be well rested.

“Alright,” I sighed, “I guess you both are right.” we didn’t bother to move off the path, we just sat where we were, there wasn’t going to be anyone else coming down the path as far as we knew.

As Zenzo had packed us dried foods in our packs, we didn’t need a fire and it was warm enough to go without one. Daiki seemed to have something on his mind. “Hey, Daisuke, I was thinking of something,” whenever the fool starts conversations with that he has come up with a plan that never ends well.

“I don’t want to hear it, last time you opened with that, we both were forbidden from leaving our rooms for three weeks. So I will not be taking part in any of your schemes.” Daisuke waved him off, but Daiki wouldn’t leave him alone.

“I didn’t mean to get you punished too, that wasn’t my plan to begin with. I was just thinking about the puzzle box.” Daiki had my attention now too, “See I knew you would be interested. So the first panel opened for me and Jun, and then it was you and me who got the next one open.”

“So what, it was made to be opened by two people.” I wasn’t sure where he was going with this, but Daisuke gave him a curious look.

“Well the first one opened after Jun was the dragon and the second opened for me and it was a tiger, now I was thinking that you might be the next one.” he waited for Daisuke to say something before continuing on with his rant. “Follow me on this thought, the first champion and the second open the first panel. Then the second and third open the next panel.”

“I don’t think so. You could have easily taken the box to Eiji when we found out the solution. It all seems too easy to me.” Daisuke laughed him off, “I think you’re just over thinking things, maybe you should try to get some sleep.” Daiki just shook his head, disagreeing with Daisuke seemed to be one of his favourite past times.

“I know I’m right for a change, I know you think you’re always right and most times you are, not this time.” he was now starting to pout like a child unable to get his own way.

“Believe what you want, but as for myself I’m going to try to get a little sleep.” Daisuke suggested, leaning back against one of the trees.

“I think you might be onto something, that could be why the panel wouldn’t open for me even though I solved the puzzle.” I rested my chin on my knees. “I think your theory might just be right, but we won’t know for sure until one of them is chosen.”

“Thank you, it’s nice to know that someone is on my side for now.” he gave me a small smile, “Try to get some sleep, we don’t know how much longer we’re going to be walking.”

I had managed a couple hours of rest before the insistent whispering started to get to me again. “Alright, we’ve had a rest, can we go now?” I began packing up, I couldn’t handle the voices for much longer, I thought I could hear a couple familiar voices now.

“You won’t rest until you can see Kyo again? What is it with you two, neither one of you can handle being out of the other’s sight for long.” Daiki joked as I threw a twig at him. “It’s true, when you got sick Kyo was always hovering over you. And now you look like you’re about to throw up if we don’t get to them soon.”

“Enough, I’m not dealing with you two fighting. Jun has a point, as much as we need the rest, we shouldn’t be staying in one place for too long.” Eiji cut in as he stepped between us. “Jun lead the way.” He turned her to face the path.

Come on, show us the way to our friends. I said my silent prayer as I held my seal out letting it point the direction we had to go, so that was the way we walked. Daiki stayed by my side, trying to keep me from worrying.

“A thought for a thought?” I heard Eiji asked Daisuke, “You look like you’ve got something on your mind.”

“There's been a lot of things going on that I can’t make sense of. It feels like it was just yesterday that we were getting ready for father to announce the next heir and now we’re here on this endless path. They seem to be the only ones having a good time with all that’s going on.” I hadn’t realized that he had been feeling that way.

“Jun never really got to see the outside world before, so all of this is new to her and she wants to see it all before heading home again. As for Daiki, I think he’s only wearing his smile to keep you from worrying about him. Maybe you should talk to him a little more and find out how he really feels.” I shifted to look over my shoulder to see Eiji with his hand on Daisuke’s shoulder, “He worries about you just as much as you worry about him.”

“Maybe you’re right, maybe I’m just trying to make more of this than there really is.” Daisuke just shook his head, “We will go home someday, right?”

“Hopefully, but we won’t know what kind of condition it will be in.” Eiji voiced a concern we all had. I caught a flash of something between the trees.

“We can always rebuild, maybe even make the house better than it was before. We could even make a special shine just for mother.” Daisuke must have noticed it too, “Can you see that?”

“See what, there’s just trees like there has been all day.” Eiji looked around as we came to a stop. “You feeling alright?”

“Yeah, keep up with them,” Daisuke pointed at us, “I’ll catch up with you shortly.” he started down this new path.

“Get back here you idiot, we should stay together.” but it looked like Eiji’s words fell on deaf ears. “Dammit, if it’s not Jun running off it’s something else.” I came jogging over as the path vanished.

“Now what? We need to come up with a way to get him back, there’s no telling what is going to happen while he’s in there.” I scanned the tree line on both sides of the path we were still on, but there were no other openings.

The voices started to get louder, almost understandable. “I’m going to test my claws on whatever is making that racket.” Daiki threatened frantically looking around for the source of the voices.

“I’m not the only one hearing them, I thought I was starting to lose my mind.” I felt relieved that I hadn’t been losing my mind.

Eiji gave us a concerned look, “I think the both of you are losing your minds. What are you talking about?”

“Ever since Kyo and Momo had left, there has been this constant low whispering coming from the trees.” I explained, “I don’t know why you can’t hear it, maybe it has something to do with our powers.” I shrugged, “But that isn’t important right now, we need to get Daisuke back before something happens.”

Before we could come up with any ideas on what to do to find Daisuke, we could hear him clearly. “I was told to stay on the road, but this is a road as well, so I never really left it. And what makes you think I came alone?” his voice came from farther ahead of us. How did he get that far ahead of us already, he just strayed from the path.

I followed his voice, “I’m sorry, but I don’t know what’s going on.” he sounded confused for a moment, but then he must have remembered that it wasn’t one guardian we were looking for. “Wait you two are the protectors of the north lands, Lord Aki and Lady Kame, I’m sorry for not thinking about it sooner.” I felt the ground shake a little, as if the very earth found Daisuke amusing.

No matter how close we got, it always seemed he managed to get farther away from us. “Sweet Momo, a powerful warrior?” Daisuke laughed, and I had to agree with him. I couldn’t see Momo harming a fly and not feeling bad afterwards. “You have to be thinking of someone else, there is no way that Momo could ever be helpful in a true fight.”

I kept trying but I couldn’t make out who he was talking to over the other chattering, the whispering refused to subside. Only our brother could be heard over the din.

It’s not looking good, we’ll never catch up at this rate. I sighed as it looked impossible we were going to find a way to catch up with Daisuke. “How could you let him run off like that? Why didn’t you go with him Eiji, how could you?” Daiki shouted, grabbing the front of Eiji’s shirt and drew back his fist.

“Daiki, let him go. If you beat him to a bloody mess we won’t be able to find Daisuke because we’ll be here taking care of him.” I tried my best to pull Daiki away, but he wouldn’t move.

“Daiki! Let Eiji go.” Daiki and I jumped a little at how close he was now. I hadn’t heard him coming up on us.

“Daisuke!” we shouted and proceeded to jump on him, knocking all of us to the ground. “Where did you go?”

“I found the guardians, Lord Aki and Lady Kame. They are both really nice, well Lady Kame more so than Lord Aki, but still they’re ready to help us.” Daisuke consoled us as we hugged him tight. “Have you had luck finding Kyo and Momo?” I shook my head.

“Not yet, the seals stopped pointing the way when we heard you talking. It’s like they are close but we cannot see them.” I was a little sad at the thought that Kyo and Momo were hiding.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find them soon enough.” he gave me a comforting smile, “Now how about you two get off of me and I can introduce you to the guardians.”

“Good to see you made it back to us in one piece.” Eiji held out his hand to help Dasuke up once we got off of him, “But don’t be so stupid again, that Daiki’s job.”

“Good to see you got your family sorted out, unfortunately Aki doesn’t want to cooperate.” a giant black tortoise, who I assumed was Kame said as she along with a very large white snake came over to us.

“Is there anything we can do to help with that?” I asked as Aki slithered forward.

“I have a challenge for all of you. A game of riddlesss to sssee if you are worthy of our help, one anssswer each so a total of four. Anyone can anssswer but get just one wrong and it’sss home you all go and there will be no northern champion.” he hissed coiling his tail around himself. “Think long and hard before you anssswer, you will only get one chance at this.” he watched us with his dark eyes, silently waiting for an answer.

“We’ll do it, we need your help and if this the only way to get it, then so be it.” Daisuke bravely stood up to the giant snake. I didn’t know where his new found bravery was coming from, but it didn’t look like he was going to back down anytime soon.

“Well now, ssseemsss sssomeone had grown a back bone. Fine then have it your way, but don’t complain to me if you lossse.” Lord Aki lowered so he was now level with us, “For the first an easssy one.” He wrote a bunch of numbers and letters in the dirt with his tail “What do each of these represent?”

We move to get a better look.

24 HiaD

7 DotW

9 LoaC

12 SotZ

We took some time thinking things over, I know this, it’s just like the riddle games we used to play during the winters back home. I gave Daisuke a look, letting him know I had come up with the answer. “twenty-four Hours in a Day. Seven days of the Week. Nine Lives of a Cat. Twelve Signs of the Zodiac.” I smiled when Lord Aki nodded.

“Like I sssaid an easssy one.” he didn’t seem to unpleased that we got the first one, “Now the next. I ssspeak without a mouth and hear without earsss. I have no body but come alive with the wind, what am I?” it looked like he was feeling over confident and wasn’t even trying to come up with clever riddles.

Daisuke looked to me and I only shook my head, not knowing the answer, “What’sss the matter, thisss one too tricky for you? Not ssso sssmart are we now.” Lord Aki was trying to taunt so into saying the wrong a wrong answer.

“Just give us a little time, we will get it.” Daisuke mused as Daiki nodded, echoing my thoughts, “Wait I have it, and I think you know it too don’t you Daiki?” he nodded again.

“It’s an echo.” they exclaimed at the same time as Lord Aki let out a long hiss.

“You won’t get the next one ssso easssily. We hurt without moving. We poissson without touching. We bear the truth and the liesss. We are not to be judged by our sssize, what are we?” Lord Aki seemed to direct this one toward Eiji, “You know what they are better than any of the othersss, let that weigh on your mind.”

“What’s he talking about? Have you heard this riddle before?” Daisuke asked Eiji as he only looked at the ground.

“I think I know the answer. It is something that I told you all many times since we left home and even before then.” Eiji sighed, lifting his eyes to mean Lord Aki’s gaze. “Lies, that’s the answer you want isn’t it.”

“I ssshouldn’t have given you that hint, but I think you would have gotten it on your own anywaysss.” Lord Aki seemed pleased with himself right now, “Now for the last. A man saw a snake crossing the road and turned to crush it with horse and cart. No lights lit the road no torch adorned the cart, how did the man see the snake?.”

Daisuke was pacing by this point, something was clearly bothering him. “Daisuke!” Eiji shouted bringing him back to the moment “Care to help us get your weapon?”

“No.” was all he said defiantly.

“Giving up, ssso sssad”. Aki mocked.

“No more questions,” Daisuke gave Aki a look of pure defiance, “we’ve already beaten you.” This is met with confused looks from myself and our brothers. “I will answer this one if you insist but my dear sister already answered four questions, the first set you wrote on the ground and she called them all out.”

“Ssso you’re that clever, you win this time. I hope you are happy with yourssself.” Aki grumbled as Kame laughed at him.

Not able to let the question go unanswered “And it was daytime, That’s why the snake got crushed.” I hadn’t seen Daisuke look this sumg since he had beaten Eiji at Shogi.

“So sorry Aki dear, but it seems the boy has beaten you at your own game this time.” she snickered as Lord Aki hissed at her, “Watch that tone with me, you’re just sore that he beat you. Now you have to hold up your end and go with them.” she warned him as a clearing appeared next to her. “Now Daisuke this is yours for now.” There in the clearing there was a small table, and upon it was a kusarigama along with a pair of arm guards that looked like snake skin.

He examined it with a careful eye. The handle was shaped like a snake head, its fangs forming the long blade of the sickle, his name stamped just beside the snake’s mouth. He was fascinated with the pattering, the handle was rougher diamond shaped scales, while the chain’s were more round. All ending in a solid looking black stone.

I helped him put the arm guards on first, making sure they were tied tight enough. “You know that they are made of my ssshed ssskin. Better than letting it go to wassste.” Aki laughed when he caught the flash of disgust on my face. “You use dead cow ssskin to make the leather in your ssshoesss and the thought of my ssskin make the guardsss is disgusssting to you? You are a very ssstrange creature.”

“What is the clip for?” I asked, pointing to Daisuke’s left arm once I was finished.

“Daisuke can hook the kama there and wrap the chain around his arm and it will become a shield. I couldn’t let Aki be the only one allowed to be a part of the weapon.” Lady Kame answered as I looked up to her. “Do you approve, little one?”

“Yes, thank you for everything.” Daisuke turned to see Daiki was holding something out for him. “What’s that?”

“Your seal, I figured you’d want me to give it to you.” he came closer and looped it over Daisuke’s head. “Now we just have to get to the south without getting caught.” Daiki beamed, bumping his shoulder into his twin’s, in a playful way.

“I can help with that. As you leave down the path that brought you here, there will be a wagon with a horse waiting for you. This way you can make it to the Mochizuki lands before the snow falls and blocks your path.” Kame advised as she turned to Aki, “As for you, maybe looking a little more human might serve you better.” that only made him hiss again.

“I guessss a giant sssnake would draw too much unwanted attention,” he sighed, shifting into the form of a man about our father’s age. But his hair was a silver colour and he seemed to have scales on the edges of his eyes. “And I guess we have to drop the Lord title asss well, I will allow you to call me sssenssei.”

“Aki dear, please don’t make any more trouble for them than necessary, they have enough to deal with as it is.” Kame begged as she looked us over, “I guess everyone is already to go then. I will miss you, but we will see each other again in no time.” she comforted the giant snake-man, as I patted the pocket I was carrying the charms, “Don’t worry so much, you will be back with them in no time, and I mean everyone.” Kame gave me a small smile. “Now go on, you can’t waste any more time here.”

Chapter 29

We followed Aki to where a covered wagon was waiting for us, “Aki-sensei, what did Lady Kame mean by we will meet up with everyone again soon?” I asked.

“Well why don’t you look inside the wagon and see for yourself. If I tell you every answer what will you learn on your own.” he pointed to the opening in the wagon’s canvas. “Just because I know just about everything doesn’t mean that I will be giving out answers for free all the time.”

When I looked inside the wagon, I found Ayame asleep. “Ayame, how did you find your way out here?” I jumped in and sat next to her to see if there was anything wrong with her.

“Kame found her wandering around, seems the poor girl got lost looking for someone.” I heard Aki behind me. “So, what should we do with her?”

“Wait for her to wake up, we need to find out why she attacked Jun.” Eiji said as I jumped down from the wagon.

“You will not harm her, I get the feeling that she has not been able to control her feelings toward me right now.” I speculated as there was a rustle in the underbrush.

There standing before us, blinking in the light of the clearing was Raizo, but he was heavily wounded. He gave us a smile, “You were wrong Eiji-san, I did not die.” he started to fall.

“Raizo!” I called as I dashed over to Raizo and caught him before he hit the ground. He looked at me, still smiling and I couldn’t help but feel a weight being lifted from me.

“I told you I would come back, I will always come back to you.” he managed to say before passing out in my arms. He was still holding on to his katana, but he was starting to lose his grip on it, so I grabbed it before it fell to the ground.

Do what you can for him, but you must be quick about it. I heard a hard female voice and looked around for the source.

“What’s the matter Jun?” Daisuke asked as he brought over what medical supplies we had left.

“Did you hear that voice saying to help him quickly.” I asked, sounding foolish even to myself.

No one else can hear me, please lay him down and keep us in contact with him, he is more injured than even he realizes. I heard again.

“Who’s there!” I called out, earning strange looks from the others.

I am in your hand Jun, the others cannot hear me. Please focus, Raizo has many wounds and has lost much blood, we must keep in contact with him, we are keeping his heart beating.

“Jun lay him down and undress him, we need to get the bleeding to stop.” Daisuke urged. While Daisuke removed his clothes, I took the katana sheath and slid the weapon back into it. “What are you doing?” he asked, “we need to get these closed up.”

I looked him over, noticing dozens of wounds, and many more scars, one in particular caught my attention. On his left arm an old but still very visible scar that looked like it is keeping his arm attached to his body. “His swords are keeping his heart beating, they need to be in contact with him,” I explained. As I quickly removed the weapons one at a time and pressed them to his legs, out of the way.

“That’s ridiculous, help me clean the wounds.” He ordered, very unlike Daisuke but Raizo seems to have grown on him.

Time for debating comes later, I decided, methodically cleaning dirt and dried blood from around each wound. “Daiki come hold him down,” Daisuke called out, “Jun hold his arm down, he’s not going to like this.” I moved and held his left arm down, seeing some of an arrow shaft. Daisuke placed some clean cloth around it, grabbed hold. “Hold him tight.” And pulled, ripping the arrow out. I managed to keep his arm in place but even with my extra strength he nearly broke my grasp, the wound was quickly wrapped up. “Now the one in his leg”.

Daisuke tore most of his pants exposing much of his well-muscled leg. Once again placing cloth near the arrow “Hold him tight, he seems to like to run so his legs are going to be stronger.” We held him down and Daisuke pulled out the arrow as straight and as quickly as possible. This time I wasn’t strong enough, he kicked hard sending me tumbling backwards, and a knee struck the side of Daisuke’s head. Undeterred he was back in an instant covering and wrapping the wound. “That looks like all of them”

“Is he going to be alright?” I asked as I looked down at myself, I could feel the blood on my clothes.

“As long as we let him rest, we are going to have to move him into the wagon. Daiki help us. Eiji, can you make sure there is enough room for us to lie him down and make sure he’s comfortable.”

“So, you two are treating him special now,” Eiji grumbled as he started moving bags around to make room for Raizo, “Can I expect similar treatment some day?”

I place his knife and shortsword back on his belt. I can be away for a brief moment but hurry. His sword urged me.

“You’ll never be hurt this bad, or at least we’ll try to keep that from happening.” Daisuke grunted as he and Daiki lifted Raizo into the wagon.

“Here, lay him down and I’ll take over from here.” I told them as I climbed in through the front. “I’ll ride back here with Raizo and Ayame to make sure they do not get bumped around too much.”

Once Daiki and Daisuke had laid Raizo down I quickly made sure he was comfortable and placed the sword back in his hand along the side of his body.

“Don’t baby him too much, he’ll come to expect it from you every time.” I heard Eiji as he climbed into the driver’s seat. “Is everyone ready to head out, it’s going to be a long trip.”

“We have to wait for Momo and…” I started to say when I heard someone call out for us.

“Wait up, you wouldn’t want to leave us behind.” Kyo called as he and Momo came from the path behind us. “Just because we know where you’re going doesn’t mean we want to meet you there.”

“What took you so long? Did you get lost or something?” Daiki asked as he grabbed the charms from me before jumping out of the wagon.

“It seems someone got us all turned around, we would have been here sooner if the giant lizard listened to me in the first place.” Momo quipped once she changed back into a human.

“Please, you kept saying that we should keep going.” Kyo returned as he looked into the wagon, “What’s wrong?” he asked when he noticed I was crying.

“I was so worried, I thought you two wouldn’t make it back before we left.” I wiped my eyes the best I could, “I am just so happy that you made it back to us all right.”

“I see he made it back too, what happened?” Kyo saw Raizo lying next to Ayame.

“He was beat up pretty bad, Daisuke and I took care of him the best we could.” I tried smoothing out a piece of Raizo’s hair that was sticking straight up. “I just hope he will be fine.”

“He’s strong, Raizo will survive another day.” I watched as Kyo turned away from the back of the wagon and made his way to the front. “Mind if I ride with you up here?”

“Sure, but if you start to bug me, I’m going to kick you off.” Eiji stated as everyone in the back made room in the back for Momo.

“I don’t think so, you in the back.” Aki pulled Eiji off the wagon. “Why would you risk getting noticed when I can easily drive and no one would think twice about it.” he climbed up next to Kyo and Eiji found space next to me.

“So, what’s the plan? Do we make a stop by home and see if we can rest there?” Daiki asked as we started moving.

“Too much of a risk, what if we stopped in the Sesai village? We know we will be safe until Raizo and Ayame are ready to continue.” I suggested as Daisuke nodded in agreement.

“We would be on the border of the Matsu and Mochizuki lands there, it makes sense we should hide there for a little while.” Daisuke looked to Eiji, “Any input?”

“It’s the only option we have. We can’t be going in from the west, it’s solid rock the entire way across.” Eiji grumbled with a sour look on his face, “We need her to wake up first, I don’t know the way there, father never showed me.” he nodded toward Ayame.

“She’ll wake in due time, but right now the girl needs to rest.” Aki reassured us as he took a quick look over his shoulder. “So, we’re heading east then?”

“Yes, it seems to be the only way we can go for now.” I didn’t leave room for debate. He nodded in agreement. “How long do you think it will take to get there?”

“Not long, since I can make my own paths all I need to know is where we’re going.” Aki replied as he turned back to the road.

“Well for now we need to find a safe place to wait for Ayame to wake. Also, we need to replenish some of our supplies, so we need to be close to a town where no one knows who we are.” Daisuke stated calmly as he took a quick inventory. “We’re low on medical supplies now and we don’t have enough food for everyone.”

“All right, I think I know of a place. We should be there by tonight, so if you want to get some rest, get some sssleep now.” Aki encouraged us as we started to nod off. I watched Daiki and Daisuke lean against each other and Eiji just sat with his eyes closed.

“Rest, I know for a fact you haven’t had a proper rest for a few days. I’ll keep watch while you sleep, and I’ll wake you if either one of them changes.” Kyo insisted as he watched me fighting off sleep.

“I will be alright, one of us needs to be awake if something happens.” I fought to keep my eyes open. “I have to make sure he will be fine.” Darkness was creeping into the edges of my vision, I was losing my battle against staying awake, and eventually I fell asleep.

I must have slept for the rest of the day as it was just starting to get dark when I woke. I gave Raizo a quick check over to make sure he was still doing alright before I left the wagon.

“Hey, there you are.” Kyo waved as I jumped down from the wagon. “I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to wake up.” he held out a small bowl for me.

“How long was I sleeping?” I looked around the small camp that had been set up. “And where did everyone else get to?”

“Aki-oji took your brothers and Momo into the nearby town to stock back up on everything we’ll need. He also said that Ayame should be awake by morning.” Kyo watched me carefully as I sat down next to him. “How are you feeling? You must have been tired since you didn’t wake up when we stopped and got everything out of the wagon.”

“I must have been more tired than I thought. I feel better knowing that everyone is back together again, but I don’t think I will be able to get a good night's rest until we put an end to all of this.” I grimaced, looking into the fire. “Do you think it will be over soon?”

“I can’t say for sure, but I know that we only have one more guardian to get to and we know where we can find him.” Kyo did his best to comfort me as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Once things calm down, maybe you and I can go back to see if Jizo needs any help fixing up the temple.”

“That would be nice, and we can go visit Zenzo to see if everything turned out alright for him.” I spun around as a small moan came for the wagon. “That must be Raizo, I have to see if he is alright.” I jumped up and shoved my untouched food back into Kyo’s hands.

As I made my way back into the wagon, I saw Raizo trying to sit up. “What is it you are trying to do, lie back down.” I lightly pushed on his shoulder to get him to lie down. “You should wait for Daisuke to get back and make sure you are fine to move around.”

“I feel just fine, well except for the fact that I feel like I have been run over by many horses. How are you feeling, you look like you have not been sleeping well?” Raizo tried sitting up again.

“I am just fine, you need to stop moving around so much. You lost a lot of blood and you need to rest.” I urged him to lie back down, but he wouldn’t listen to me.

“Do not you worry about me, I will be just fine. It would take a whole army to finally put me down.” Raizo laughed as he held his side. “Did you ever find the guardians?”

“Yes, Aki-sensei took Momo and the others into town to get more supplies. I hope they will get back soon.” I told him as I called a water skin to me, “Here have a drink at least.” I passed it to Raizo.

“No fancy ice cup this time?” he joked with me as he drank. It was good to know he was in high spirits, I was able to relax a little more knowing he was out of danger for the time. “Where are we? I could not have been out for very long.”

“We’re east of Shiwa, I’m not sure how far but as far as I know we made it out, without drawing any attention.”

“Small mercy.” he handed the water skin back. “I am sorry if I frightened you when I came back. I must have looked like the walking dead.”

“I have to admit you have looked better.” I didn’t realize what I had said until it left my lips. “I just mean that anyone would look like death after that much blood loss.” I tried to backpedal as much as possible.

He just smiled, “I will have to try and clean up first next time.” He held his hand out, “Please help me up and out of here.”

“Oh no you don’t, you’re going to stay put and recover your strength until Daisuke says you’re good to go.” I spotted Daisuke’s pack and it gave me an idea, “I think something so everyone knows you’re to stay put is in order.” I rummaged through the bag without letting him go, and came up with Daisuke’s writing set. “Hold still. It’s your turn to be written on.”

I had the perfect word in mind, with the low light I took my time so I wouldn’t mess up. “It might not be as fancy as yours, but it should help get you back to full strength in no time.” I could feel his eyes on me, watching my hand writing.

He read his hand and smiled, “Kenkō seems fitting.” Meeting my eyes, “Why do I get the feeling you were waiting for an opportunity to write on me.”

“Maybe you’ll consider how hard it is to get the ink off after this.” I smiled a little, not able to look away. “Something to think about next time you think about writing on me.”

I went to say something else, but Kyo called before I could. “Jun, they’re back.” Daisuke came over to the wagon to check on Raizo.

“Seems someone is feeling better, but why did you let him sit up?” he scolded me, climbed up and sat on the other side of Raizo.

“I tried to get him to lie back down, but Raizo thinks he knows best. Let me get you two something to eat.” I jumped out of the wagon and made my way back to the campfire. I used it as the perfect excuse to get out of there without looking like a coward.

“So, how’s Raizo doing?” Eiji asked as I started getting two bowls.

“Awake, Daisuke is looking him over right now. Kyo told me Ayame should be up by morning, so I guess we will be heading out shortly after that.” I said as Daiki took one of the bowls from me.

“Thanks, I’m so hungry. So, are you excited to see a ninja village?” he asked as I took the bowl back from him.

“That is for your twin, and I take it no one really has visited the Sesai village before.” Both Daiki and Eiji shook their heads, “So we need Ayame to wake before heading out, just promise that you will not scare her.” I warned, looking at Eiji.

“We need to find out why she attacked you, there has to be a good reason for it.” Eiji didn’t sound angry but still overly concerned. I started back toward the wagon when he finished, “Don’t let your guard down around her just yet, we can’t be sure we can trust her.”

“So, she attacks Jun-dono for no apparent reason? That does not sound like Ayame, something must be wrong.” I heard Raizo, they must not have noticed that I had come back.

“Eiji is on edge about it, but I think I might have an idea. I was talking to Aki-sensei about it and he said that Ko could have been using her as a puppet. She might have some feelings toward Jun that she keeps locked away deep down and he’s using it against her.” Daisuke explained as he stuck his head out the back of the wagon. “Thanks for bringing me some too, I meant what I said by the way. Try talking to Ayame when she wakes, you two might fix whatever problem she is having with you.” he took his dinner and joined the others.

“Do you think that will work? Just talk to Ayame and everything will be alright.” I asked Raizo as I climbed in next to him.

I could see Raizo sitting there seething, that angry presence from before taking over the cart. “Could. Wars have been averted with a conversation.”

“Don’t blame her, I don’t. Aya wasn’t in a clear state of mind.” I tried to defend what Ayame had gone through, “It’s not easy being under someone else's control, you can get a little lost.” I couldn’t help but think of the pain I had felt while trapped in Ko’s dream world.

“She is trained to be in control of her actions. Just like every other warrior.” he wasn’t going to let up, but at least he was willing to let her explain when she woke up.

I opened my mouth to tell him to back off a little, but Aki came up to the flap. “Hey dragon girl, make yourself useful out here and help, this one can live without you hovering over him for a short time.”

I nodded before looking back to Raizo, “Here,” I gave him the bowl that I was still holding, “try not moving around too much.” I hoped he’d listen as I left with Aki.

“I know it’s not my place to say this, but maybe you should wait until things settle down before falling in love. You never know what could happen and that could leave an opening for your enemies.” Aki cautioned as he sat next to Kyo by the fire.

“You are right, it is not your place.” was all I said as I helped Eiji and Daisuke sort through everything they had brought back. Stupid snake, doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

“... what do you think?” Daisuke asked me, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Sorry, what was the question? I was not listening.” I asked, shaking my head a little.

“I asked if you thought that we had enough supplies to make it to the Sesai village. What’s got your head in the clouds?” Daisuke asked as I gave him a small smile.

“I was thinking of what might happen once this is all over and done with. Have you ever thought about it?” I asked as he shook his head.

“Daydream later, we have work to do right now.” Eiji snipped. “This should last us as long as we’re careful.”

“So now we just have to wait for Ayame to wake. Maybe you should go get some more sleep, you must still be tired.” Daisuke looked a little concerned as he patted my head. “I can take over with Raizo, so you can go lie down in one of the tents and try to get some more sleep.”

“If you think it will help, but I do not know how much sleep I will be able to get if any at all.” I went to lay down anyway. “Come and get me if anything happens.”

“You know I will, but for now go and take care of yourself.” he waved me off, “You won’t be any good to anyone if you can’t stay awake, I’ll make sure he rests too.”

“Thank you. If you feel tired, just come and get me and I will take over again.” I told him as he nodded. I must have been more tired than I thought, as soon as I laid down on the bedroll, I was out.

Chapter 30

“Well done little one, you have almost gotten all the powers needed to stop him.” I heard Ryu’s voice call to me in my dreams. “But your journey is far from over, I am afraid it will only get harder for you all once it is time to face Ko.” I found myself back in the Dragon Spring, only it was darker than it normally was from the last few times I had been here.

“Grandfather, what happened here?” I looked into the once clear waters of the pond and it was almost pitch black. “Did something happen to you?”

“Do not worry about me little one, it seems Ko is getting desperate.” Ryu reassured me as he pulled himself from the murky water. “All you need to know is that he will be trying to stop you at every turn now and the humans under his control have become more powerful.” He looked hurt, his once vibrant blue scales were a pale white and it seemed he was having a hard time keeping his head up.

“Is there anything I can do for you?” I asked, reaching my hand out to place it on the side of his neck.

“Keep your distance,” he ordered, and I took a few steps back. “My time is almost over, Ko has dealt me a final blow. But you must keep Kyo safe, it is your turn to protect him.” Ryu started to fade. “Please do not let him know what has happened, I do not want him to blame himself for not being here when this happened. Can you promise me that?”

“I will do what I can, but we both know how he can be.” I managed to say, but it was all I could do without breaking down into tears.

“Good, now no tears, little one. You are much braver than most think, but you need to listen to your family more, help each other. You are stronger together.” he laid down and closed his eyes. I started to cry, “I knew there was a reason you were meant to be my champion, now go and look after that foolish grandson of mine. He is going to need you more now than ever.”

With that, Lord Ryu, the great dragon of the east was no more.

I woke with a start, jolting up and having a hard time catching my breath. “So, it seems that the old lizard finally left us.” I turned my head to see Aki sitting next to me. “I heard you crying, and I could tell something was off.”

“What do you mean?” I was so confused by everything at the moment. “You mean something happened to Ryu?”

Aki nodded a little, “Seems when you saw him last Ko hit him hard and he wasn’t able to recover from it. We are not timeless, like everything else, we too must come to an end.” I could see Aki was a little upset by this. “I will miss the old guy, I think this is why Kame sent me with you. She must have known that something was off with Ryu and wanted me to make sure that idiot Kyo doesn’t do something stupid.”

“You will meet again one day, but for now we have to look out for each other.” I tried to comfort him as he let out a laugh.

“You sound just like him, always so full of hope.” Aki actually smiled a little, looking to the rising sun. “Alright, the sun will be up soon, and we should be heading out shortly after that.” he turned back to me with a warning look, “Remember this well, if you breathe a word of this to anyone I will make you regret it until your last day.” I guess he wants to let others think he’s a grump all the time.

“Sure, thing Aki-ojisan,” I smiled as he went on to say something, “but I would think you would be nicer to me if you want me to keep your secret.” I laughed as Aki muttered to himself as he walked away from me.

“What was that about?” Kyo asked as he watched Aki head to the wagon.

“We had a small heart to heart,” I turned to Kyo, “So you want to help me start cleaning up? That way we can head out once Ayame wakes up.”

“Alright, but are you going to tell me what you two talked about?” Kyo asked as we started taking down the tent.

“I’ll leave that for Aki-ojisan to tell you.” I smiled as I heard Aki still grumbling.

It wasn’t long after Kyo and I had packed up the tent that Eiji came running over to us. He looked panicked and it was starting to scare me. “We’re leaving soon so make sure you have everything packed up.” he seemed a little restless.

“What’s wrong?” Kyo asked, he must have noticed how Eiji was acting too.

“Daiki was looking for somewhere to fill the water skins before we left and noticed that a large number of Oda troops are heading east, it seems something big is about to happen.” he reported, looking back to the wagon. “We have enough supplies to make it, but we’re going to have to go the long way around and stick pretty close to the coast.”

“Great, if it’s not one thing it’s another. Well at least we’ll be of some use if trouble finds us while we’re on the road.” Kyo complained as he picked up a few packs that hadn’t been put in the wagon yet.

“So, the sooner we get into friendly territory the better, we need to hurry, or we might be seen.” I got to work helping to load the wagon, we couldn’t waste much time. “At least nothing else could possibly go wrong, right?”

Chapter 31

We rode for days barely able to get a decent rest, every time we stopped it seemed that Oda’s forces seemed to be on hot on our heels and were a half a day at the most behind us. It took a little convincing on two fronts during a short rest, but Kyo helped close Raizo’s wounds. He wasn’t anywhere near fighting condition, but he wasn’t bleeding every time we hit a bump.

It took Aki making his own path through the trees for us to finally lose our pursuers. “Next time you even think about saying ‘what else could go wrong’, bite your tongue.” Eiji hissed at me.

“It’s not like I brought them to us, so maybe you should back down.” I bit back, we had spent too much time in the wagon and it was starting to wear on all of us. “You’re acting like an ass, it’s not going to get us any closer to the Sesai village.”

“No we would be closer if Ayame would wake, clearly something is keeping her asleep.” Eiji continued snapping. “I still don’t think this is the best idea, people know what most of us look like.” Eiji continued on with his long list of complaints for the day.

I watched as he pulled the hood of his cloak closer around his head, he was under the impression that since we had crossed into our home territory that someone would see us but as we were sticking pretty close to the coast the chance of anyone being out here just before winter set in was very small.

“It’s a solid plan, Orochi’s forces will be moving toward the Mochizuki lands while we go this way to Ayame’s village. And once he realizes that we are not there, he should start looking elsewhere and we should have an opening.” I was repeating the argument I had made days before when we had managed to go unnoticed by Oda’s troops as we moved through the trees.

“As long as we don’t get stopped or have to be close to any towns we should be fine.” Daiki chattered, as he wrapped his cloak around himself, “When did it get so cold, I can’t remember ever being this cold in winter before.” he changed the subject so Eiji and I wouldn’t end up going around and around with the same points every time.

“How is it that I am the only one that isn’t cold?” I asked Aki, “Could it have something to do with Ryu’s power?”

“You are quick to catch on sometimes,” Aki handed the reins to Kyo so he could turn to face me. “The reason is just that. Once you figured out how to make ice, you became a little more resistant to the cold, this is why right now you aren’t as cold as the others. To you this feels like nothing more than an early fall day.” he turned his gaze to Daiki, “You on the other hand are just a big baby and can’t handle the cold.”

“Hey, I can handle the cold. I used to spend all day outside in the snow.” Daiki boasted as Daisuke snorted out a laugh.

“No you didn’t. You would often be hiding close to a fireplace and complain anytime someone shooed you away. Not only that, you always said that Eiji and Toro were out of their minds for training outside when it was cold.” Daisuke corrected as Daiki turned on him.

“Well I never saw you go out much, so what does that say about you?” he snapped as he elbowed Daisuke in the ribs.

“I was learning as much as I could about the Matsu lands and our trading partners. I have always known that someday I was going to be an adviser. So unlike you, I was preparing for the rest of my life.” Daisuke returned the elbow.

“Enough you two,” I growled, putting a stop to their little squabble. “We have more important things to focus on right now, like how are we going to find the ninja village when the ninja is still asleep.”

“She is not the only one who knows how to get there,” Raizo finally spoke up, we had managed to sit him up, “I have been there before so I know how to find it.”

“Really, and you just happen to feel like sharing this information now?” Eiji grumbled, everything seemed to be getting on his nerves right now. “This entire time we’ve been waiting for her to wake and you knew how to get there.”

“Well no one thought to ask me, maybe you should think about asking everyone what they know before making plans that rest on just one person.” Raizo shot back at him.

“Aki-oji please tell me there is somewhere close we can spend the night,” I couldn’t take much more of the fighting, “I need to get away from all of them for a little bit.”

He gave me a small smile and a nod, “I think we could use a break from each other. All this infighting won’t help anyone.” Aki nodded as he took the reins back from Kyo and led us to an empty beach. “This should do nicely, no one around.”

“Thank you,” I was the first to jump out, shoes off so I could feel the sand between my toes. “I have always wanted to do this.” We had been away from home for months now and it was nice being close to home again, I missed the smell of the open water. This was different, a little exciting and still felt like home.

“Couldn’t we have found somewhere a little more covered? What if we get spotted by a passing ship?” Eiji asked as he jumped down from the wagon, “This is too out in the open.”

“Will you give it a rest, if you think we are about to be seen, Daisuke and I can make some cover.” I snapped as Daisuke shook his head, “Fine then Aki-oji and I will, but you worry far too much.”

“And you don’t worry enough, you have gotten by with a lot of luck until now. One of these days you’ll find yourself out of luck and all alone.” Eiji muttered as Daiki helped him unload everything to make a camp for the night. “Now get over here and help, you can play in the water once we’re done.”

Once we had set our camp and had a small fire going, I drifted away from the group and stood at the water's edge, “Are you alright?” Kyo asked, joining me by the water.

“I don’t know, everyone seems to be getting on each other’s nerves. More than normal, I think the pressure is finally getting to us.” I kicked a stone into the water.

“It has been a trying time,” he agreed, placing a hand on my shoulder, “I think you all need a break from travelling. Once we get to Ayame’s home we can rest knowing that we are in a safe place.” Kyo grabbed my hand and pulled me into the water, “I’ve got something I want to show you.”

“But the water is cold, we could get sick.” I panicked a little as I began slipping in the sand.

“Like Aki-ojisan said, we’re lucky and don’t feel the cold like the others,” Kyo reached out and took my other hand, “I already know about Grandfather, but there is someone new in charge for now and I would really like for you to meet him.” as soon as he finished a huge wave came up on the sand and washed over us.

I had thought the water would have been colder, but it was warm, like the summer sun had been warming it all day. “I thought you were not allowed back here.” I pointed out as we surfaced in the dragon spring.

“I was told that it would be alright as long as I brought you with me.” Kyo reminded me as he jogged ahead of me to the pond where a man was standing. “I would like to introduce you to your seven greats grandfather, Tatsuo. He’ll be looking over the shrine for the next little while.”

“I cannot believe I get to meet you.” I stood staring, his sky blue eyes reminded me so much of Kyo’s, but looking at Tatsuo I could see some similarities to Eiji.

“Yes I know the Matsu bloodline is strong in me as well,” Tatsuo laughed when he caught me staring at him, “Your brother Eiji, his many greats grandfather and I were brothers and had I not become the Azure Dragon I would have taken over for our father. Kyo has filled me in the best he could on what has been going on.”

I couldn’t find the right words, this revelation had my head spinning, “So I am at least a small part, Matsu, we are family.” I was all I could say as I felt the tears begin to fall. I couldn’t explain why I was crying all of a sudden, but it was a relief to get to know even a small part of my own history.

“Yes, which makes me a little sad to see how such a beautiful flower was treated, but that man you called father was scared of you.” Tatsuo said as he and Kyo guided me to sit with them by the pond, “When the old one went to see him about you and what was going to happen, Akio was truly different after the accident with Akemi and feared that you would try to rule in his place if he showed any sign of weakness. He saw a power in you that he feared and wanted to stifle it before you noticed it was there.”

“So he did blame me for mother’s death,” I remembered hearing whispered rumours about what had happened that day and everything started to make more sense, why no one would tell me about what happened that day.

“Unfortunately you are correct, fear makes people do horrible things.” Tatsuo smoothed out my hair, “But things will be getting better soon. I am glad to have gotten a chance to meet you, dear child, but you and Kyo should be getting back. It will make others worry if you stay much longer.” he pointed out, holding out his hand for me to take.

“Thank you so much for talking with me,” I took Tatsuo’s hand and stood next to Kyo by the pond, “and I look forward to seeing you again.” I waved from the pond before Kyo and I jumped in and made our way back to the beach.

“And where have you two been?” Aki asked as we shook the water from our clothes.

“The Dragon Spring, Ryu has left us and a very distant relation to us has taken over for him.” I replied as I sat between Momo and Daiki. “And I’ve learned something truly amazing. It turns out that Eiji and I are family after all, so it turns out that we are distant cousins really.”

Eiji passed a mug of a warm drink down to me. “So who was he, before he turned into a dragon.”

“He did not turn into a dragon, or Tatsuo did not want to look like one to me. No he looked a little like you. In his mortal life he was my seven times great grandfather, and would have been head of the clan if he had not been chosen to be the Azure Dragon,” I rubbed my hands on my knees, I was so excited that I couldn’t really sit still. “So it was his brother, your seven times great grandfather, who became the clan leader. That was what Tatsuo told us at least, but we really don’t have a way to see if it is true.”

“Maybe if we ever get to go home, we can see what’s hiding in the records. No way would a whole branch of the family be forgotten without a good reason.” Daisuke pondered, looking out to the sea, “But what if something happened a long time ago that caused this fracture in the family, would we be able to find anything?”

“We won’t know, not until we look.” I nodded, the words hanging in the air like dark clouds. “I think I will turn in, long ride tomorrow.”

“Raizo, you’re looking better than I thought you would be.” the sound of talking woke me the next morning, “You shouldn’t be taking such risks, your life means more than anyone else's.” it was Ayame speaking, she had finally woken up but it seems it still hadn’t helped with her bad attitude.

“Ayame-kun, we are all fighting for our lives. Everyone has to help each other, no matter what.” Raizo sounded close, like he had managed to get out of the wagon. “We need to work as a team, you should know this better than anyone.”

“I wouldn’t mind working in a team, but putting your own life on the line like that, the cost is not worth the risk.” I wonder why she chose to stand close to where I was sleeping for this conversation, oh that’s right to make me feel worse than I already did for what happened.

I was about to open my mouth to say something when out of nowhere, Kyo spoke “Could you two kindly take this elsewhere? Jun hasn’t been sleeping well and I think she deserves some peace.”

“She hasn’t been the only one, look at Raizo.” Ayame’s voice was getting to me now, “Not only did he risk his life so you could get away, but you have been making him ride around in the cramped wagon. It’s a miracle that he was able to get up and move around.”

“Ayame-kun, that’s enough.” Raizo’s tone changed, he was becoming stern with her, “Go see if the others need help loading things up again.” and she walked away.

“You should be resting too, you still haven’t recovered fully yet.” Kyo noted as he moved around to the flap of the tent, “I think we’ll be heading out soon, so you should get back to the wagon.” I held a finger to my lips when Kyo saw I was awake, I didn’t want Raizo to know I had heard him and Ayame talking.

“Just make sure Jun is awake enough to make it into the wagon.” I heard him turn and start walking away.

“How much of that did you hear?” Kyo asked when Raizo was far enough away, “Ayame doesn’t seem any better.”

“I heard enough to know we have a real problem when it comes to her,” I let out a sigh, “Why did she have to wake up before we got her home?”

“Because of what Aki-oji did to put her to sleep, we had to wait for it to wear off.” Kyo admitted, placing his hand on my knee, “We should only be a few days away from the village.” he patted my knee then held out his hand to help me to my feet.

“Great, now we get to spend some time watching her cling to Raizo,” I made a disgusted look as I stood and brushed the sand from my clothes. “Guess it’s out of the question for me to ride up front with you and Aki-oji?”

“Eiji would like it better if you stayed in the back with the others,” Kyo started packing up the tent. “Maybe I can see if Raizo can talk her into going ahead and guiding us. That way you only have to put up with her at night.”

“He does seem to be the only one to get Ayame to listen, if you think he will do it you should try.” I looked over to the wagon just in time to see Daisuke helping Raizo into the back. “If not, then I guess I could always sleep for most of the trip.”

“Don’t let her get to you, you’ll always have me.” Kyo tried to comfort me as we hauled everything back to the wagon.

“Did you like your time in the sand?” Daiki asked as he took my pack from me, “Might be a long time before you get to see it again.”

Looking back to the water, “I think I can wait for it to be warmer, and everyone has to come with me.” I suggested as Daiki laughed a little.

“Making plans for the future, great way to distract from the hard times in front of us. But you have yourself a deal. Next summer, once everything is settled all of us will come back here.” Daiki spoke softly, a little sadly even.

That would be nice, everyone still together relaxing in the summer sun. It was a dream that I needed to hold onto tightly to make it through the cold, hard winter ahead of us.

Another few days of riding we were finally getting closer to the Sesai village. I don’t know how Kyo and Raizo managed it but Ayame agreed to be our guide and went ahead of the wagon to show Lord Aki the safest way to get there.

“Just one more day and we should be there,” Ayame pointed out as we set up the fire to make dinner that night, “I’ll send word that we’re coming so the guard won’t attack when they see the wagon.”

“Finally,” I sighed as I leaned against Kyo, “I do not know how much longer I could take riding in the back of the wagon. And just in time, we’re running low on supplies too.” I looked at the quickly vanishing stock of food we had managed to gather before we had been chased away by Oda’s troops, from the last town we stopped in.

“We’d make everything last, it’s the medical supplies I’m worried about,” Daisuke said as he went through his pack, “I’ve used a lot of what I had on Raizo, it’s a miracle that he hadn’t gotten an infection of any kind.” I knew that was one of Daisuke’s main worries, we didn’t have anything to cure Raizo if he did develop an infection from his wounds.

“We got lucky, let’s not push it anymore than we already have.” Eiji grunted as he started pulling tents out of the wagon, “Now if you ladies are done chatting, we have work that needs to be done.”

“I can help you know, I am getting bored just sitting around watching everyone.” Raizo slowly made his way over to us from his seat by the fire, “I am not that broken.”

“No, I don’t want you opening something again.” Daisuke insisted, “Now go sit yourself back down, I’m getting tired of patching you back up, when you feel the need to be helpful.”

“Everything should be closed for good now, I am just a little sore.” Raizo protested, as he reached for one of the heavier packs, but Daisuke snatched it from him.

“I have said no, now if you don’t listen to me I will find a way to pin you down.” Daisuke threatened as he used the ground under Raizo’s feet to move him back to his seat, “Move again and you will not like me.”

“Don’t you think you’re overreacting? He only wants to help.” I asked as Daisuke turned on me this time.

“No I’m not, we don’t have enough of anything if we get into a fight. So for now, Raizo sits out, so he can heal properly.” Daisuke snapped at me and shoved the pack into my hands, “You can pick up some of the slack, both of you.” he tossed another pack to Kyo as well.

“You need to lighten up a little bit, little brother, it’s not healthy to be so uptight all the time.” Daiki played as he helped himself to an apple, “When was the last time you really relaxed?”

“I have a few things to say to you too,” Daisuke was getting more irritated by the word. He snapped around to see Daiki sitting in the front of the wagon, “One, I am the older one and two, you are too relaxed. Everything with you is just one big game. It’s all about having fun every minute of the day, you never really do any hard work.”

“Ok, I think it’s time to separate you two,” I stepped in between the twins, looking to Kyo, “You take Daiki, I’ll stay here with Daisuke, I can get him to calm down.” I watched as Kyo picked Daiki by the back of his shirt and walked him over to the fire to help with dinner.

“You know he has a point,” I reasoned with him, moving closer to Daisuke, “It’s not good for you to be wound up all the time, you have to learn to let go once and awhile.”

I could tell that Daisuke wanted to argue with me, but he just sighed, “I know he’s right, but I’m right too. Daiki always finds ways to get out of hard work or finds an easy way out, it’s always bothered me.”

“There’s so much that bothered me when we first left home, like how Eiji would treat me differently than you two just because I’m a girl,” I put the pack down so I could lean against the back of the wagon, “And he still does, but I’m trying to not let him get to me. If I did, there would be more blow ups than usual. So trust me when I say it’s not easy to deal with someone who thinks they know what’s best, but you need to keep in mind that they are only trying to help.” Daisuke nodded as he watched Daiki and Kyo try to set up the pot for cooking.

“I know he means well and he does try his best to keep us from dwelling on dark thoughts, but I don’t think he takes things as serious as he should be.” Daisuke still seethed a little as he jumped down from the wagon, “Do you think you can finish up here? That way I can help those two before someone gets hurt.”

“I got this, go and apologize to him as well. I know you didn’t mean the harsh words you said to him.” I watched Daisuke go over to help with dinner.

“That was very wise of you,” Aki commented as he came to stand next to me, “How did you know what to say to him?”

“It was easy, they always fight like that when they have spent too much time together. I knew even a few minutes apart would calm them both down enough to get Daisuke thinking properly again.” I watched as the twins started lightly shoving each other. “They always find a way to make up quickly.”

“It’s nice, I know what it’s like to be one half of a whole.” Aki reminisce as he continued to watch them goof off together as I went to work organizing the packs. “What about you? Is there anyone that you feel that is your other half?”

“Aki-oji, I wouldn’t know what you’re talking about,” I fumbled with my words for a moment, “I’ve always been on my own, so I wouldn’t know what that feels like.”

“It feels like that there is one person in all the world that is here just to be by your side,” Aki looked back the way we came pointing over to the twins, “They already know that feeling, I can tell that they don’t like being away from each other for too long. Just like I already miss Kame, it’s only been a couple days since we left her, it feels like a lifetime ago.”

“You two will be together soon enough, once everything has been settled.” I promised, studying the sad look on his face, “Aki-oji, what does this feeling you were talking about, well I guess feel would be the word I’m looking for.” I could feel my face getting warm, it was odd for me to think like this.

“It’s a warm feeling, like when you’re close to them you can feel complete.” Aki sighed as he turned back to look at me. “Well you must have those feelings for someone close by, just look at your face, you’re all red like an apple.”

“Aki-oji, please don’t tease me.” I complained as I quickly turned away, “Now is not the time for me to be thinking like that, too much is uncertain and I don’t want to leave myself open to that kind of attack.”

“This is true, there is still too much left to chance.” Aki nodded as he started walking away. “Guard your heart well little one, I wouldn’t want to see you get hurt by offering it to the wrong one.”

Chapter 32

Sleep wouldn’t come easily for me that night. Aki’s words rang loudly in my ears. Why should I have to worry about giving my heart to anyone, it’s not like anyone here would want it anyways.

“What’s the point in thinking such things anyways, there’s a very good chance we won’t make it to see peace return.” I muttered to the top of the tent, “We’ve come close to failing so many times, it’s better if I just let my heart freeze solid. At least that way I might stay out of trouble for more than a day.”

As much as I wanted to get up, Momo had fallen asleep on my arm so I was pretty much pinned until she either woke up or rolled away from me. But there is what Raizo said, and to this point he has stayed true to it. Every time I’ve needed him the most he’s shown up, so maybe there’s a little hope for me yet.

“What have I told you about thinking like that? It won’t do you any good, the only thing it will do is let Ko in.” Kyo lectured as he poked him head in. “Come with me, I want to show you something.” he held his hand out for me.

“If I can get out from under Momo,” I whispered as he gently lifted Momo’s head off of my arm. “I don’t know how she can be out so quickly, it’s not like she did much today.” I took his hand and he put his other hand over my eyes.

“Do you trust me?” Kyo asked as we started walking.

“I’m very quickly starting to worry, but I know you won’t do anything to hurt me.” I murmured as I let him lead me away from the camp.

“You’ll like what I’ve found,” Kyo promised as we stopped, “I just know you’ll find it interesting at least, now when I say so look up.” he stood in front of me.

“Now what could you possibly have found all the way out here?” I asked as Kyo laughed.

“Just look up,” he pointed and I looked up. Above us were hundreds of stars. “Your brothers told me that any time you felt overwhelmed back home you would take off at night and just watch the sky until you felt better. So I thought that a sea of stars would do the trick.”

“You were right, this is amazing. It’s been awhile since I had the chance to do any star gazing,” I marvelled as I just stood there with my eyes on the night sky. “It’s so beautiful, thank you for bringing me to see this.”

“I knew you would like it, it’s something you haven’t had the chance to enjoy lately.” Kyo smiled as I walked around him, “I take it you’re feeling better now?”

“A little, I still feel worn down.” I looked at him, “I guess it’s just from travelling in cramped quarters for so long. It wouldn’t be so bad if we were walking, but as we’re stuck hiding in the back.” I must have had a sad look on my face because he grabbed me up in a tight hug.

“It won’t be for much longer, we’ll be at the Sesai village and you won’t have to hide while we’re there.” Kyo rested his cheek on the top of my head, “I’m sorry I can’t do much to protect you right now.” I hadn’t noticed until now that he was taller all of a sudden, maybe he was always this tall and I hadn’t noticed.

“It’s not your fault, we’re all learning how to use our powers. We’ll take some time while we’re resting in the village and figure out what else it is we can do.” I let him hold onto me, it made me feel better having him close like this. “I don’t blame you for anything, it couldn’t be helped.”

“It’s just that I haven’t been able to be much help now that I look like this,” I could tell he meant in his human form, but it was better than having a huge dragon walking around, “I wish there was more I could do for you, more than just sitting on my hands and watching you get hurt.”

“But you do more than that, without you there is a good chance I would have never woken up again when Ko pulled me into that dream world. You’ve already helped out so much more than you know.” I pulled away from him a little, “Now it’s my turn to tell you not to think like that, stop feeling like you are not being helpful. You’ll let the darkness into your heart if you keep that up.”

“I know, but I can’t help it,” Kyo sighed, playing with the ends of my hair, “I remember seeing you with long hair in that dream world, I think I can do something about it if you want.”

“You can regrow my hair? I guess it would alright as I’m not travelling as a man,” I thought it sounded like the best idea ever. “I do miss having long hair, do you think you can do it?”

“Yeah, I think I can.” Kyo tried to sound confident but I could detect the slight doubt in his voice. Placing both of his hands on the top of my head, “Now this might feel weird, but you’ll have your long hair back in no time.” and he was right, where his hands were starting to tingle and felt like rain hitting the top of my head.

“It feels strange, are you sure this is going to work?” I asked as I could feel like something was tugging on my hair.

“It should, now hold still. If I don’t focus, you’ll end up with more hair than you’ll like.” Kyo scolded me as I tried to reach around to see if I could feel my hair growing. A few moments later, Kyo took a step back and gave me a smile, “I think I like you better this way, the long hair suits you.”

I turned in a few small circles, feeling the familiar weight of long hair, “I have missed this feeling, now I can get a full use of the hair pins I found in the house Zenzo hid us in.” I had taken a few sets of fancy clothes, in case we needed them and I think that was why he had made sure that they had been there. “Thank you so much for doing this for me, it must not have been easy.”

“I’m happy you feel better now.” Kyo just watched me with a small smile on his lips. “Do you think you can sleep now?” he held out a hand for me.

“I think so, it’s been an amazing night. But we have been away too long, we wouldn’t want the others to worry that I’ve run off again.” I laughed as I grabbed Kyo’s outstretched hand and we started walking back to the camp.

“So where did you get off to last night?” Momo asked the next morning when she noticed I was awake, “And what happened to your hair, it’s so long now.” she came closer and started running her fingers through my hair.

“Kyo showed me a sea of stars last night, and he also helped my hair grow long again.” I nearly sang as I let her play with my hair. “I think with everything that has been happening lately, I think we both needed a distraction. Are you having fun?” Momo was completely fascinated by the length of my hair now, so I just let her see and she seemed to be having fun.

“Yes I am, you better hope that I never get my hands on any flowers. You’ll wake up one morning with a crown of flowers in your hair.” Momo laughed as Daiki came in to wake us up.

“Whoa,” he gasped a little when he saw me and my long hair, it’s not often that he was lacking words. “Just what happened to you?”

“Kyo did it for me, now I guess we’re going to be leaving soon?” I asked as I pulled Momo’s hands off of my hair.

“Yeah, Ayame said that she is going ahead to let the guards know we’re on the way, we should be there before nightfall if we leave now.” Daiki filled me in as he reached out to feel my hair, but I grabbed his wrist before he could.

“Not going to happen, I’m not going to let everyone touch me all day. Momo is the only one who can get away with that.” I kept firm hold of his hands as I pulled him along with me as I left the tent. “Now let’s get going, we’re so close to safety we shouldn’t waste time over something small.”

“Morning Jun, you look different today.” Daisuke greeted, as we walked past him. “You’re looking more like your old self again, finally feeling better?”

“Yeah, I finally feel like myself again. It’s been too long since we’ve been this close to a safe place where we know we have friends.” I smiled as I spotted Kyo over by the wagon. He caught me looking at him and smiled at me.

“Did we miss something last night?” Daiki asked as he wiggled his wrist away from me. “It seems like she’s not the only one in a better mood.” Daiki noted, standing next to Daisuke watching me.

“I don’t know dear brother, but let’s hope this doesn’t cause any other problems.” Daisuke commented as he nodded toward Raizo, “Troubled waters ahead, let’s hope that the storm will pass us by with little problems.”

“I don’t know, I kind of want to see Kyo and Raizo fight it out. Might be interesting, but you do have a point, this is something that we don’t need right now.” Daiki agreed as he leaned on Daisuke’s shoulder.

“Will you two get a grip,” I looked over at them, “There aren't any problems, and there will definitely be no fighting between the two of them. Do you two understand me, no egging them on.” I warned, looking to Daiki for the last part. I had a feeling that he was going to try to stir up something just to see if he could get Kyo and Raizo into a fight.

With a mock hurt look on his face, Daiki looked at me, “I am insulted that you would think I would ever try anything like that, you cut me deep madam.” he held his hands over his heart, as if I had actually had hurt him.

“If you three are done screwing around, we can finish packing up and get moving.” Eiji shouted from behind us as we stood laughing at Daiki’s overacting.

“We’re coming, once Daiki finishes dying from Jun’s harsh words.” Daisuke called back as we started walking over to help pack up the tents.

After a few hours of riding, a small town finally came into sight. “Look like we’re finally here,” Kyo told us over his shoulder, “Who wants to get out of here?”

“We’ll wait,” Eiji said sharply, “We can’t be sure that everyone is friendly to us here.” he seemed to be ready for a fight, and I couldn’t really blame him for it, we hadn’t been able to find a place where we hadn’t been chased out of as of yet.

“Maybe one or two of us should walk to the gate, that way they know we mean no harm.” I suggested as he shot me a sharp look.

“No, we wait here for Ayame.” was all Eiji ordered, none of us were about to test him given his current mood.

“Just remember your diplomacy, we are guests here.” Raizo stressed, taking a look out the front. “Looks like we are going to have some company.” I couldn’t see anyone right away, but once we got a little closer I noticed there were a few men standing on the path ahead of us.

“Care to explain how you found your way here?” The one that looked to be their leader held out his hand, “Not many people know where to find this village, fewer dare to come in such a large group.”

“We mean no harm, we’re weary from our travels and have someone who needs to see a real doctor.” Aki called out as he looked over his shoulder, “Sorry, I didn’t mean it to sound like that.”

Daisuke gave a quick nod, “It’s fine, while I did manage to save his life, it's nothing compared to a real doctor’s care.”

“And that’s all fine, but it still doesn’t change the fact that you should not have been able to find your way here without a guide.” the leader called back as we pulled to a stop, “Now I will only ask this once, how did you find your way here?”

“I thought Ayame said she was going to let the gate guards know we were coming,” I whispered to Daiki, “So how is it they didn’t expect to see us?”

“I can hear you back there,” he snapped as Daiki and I jumped a little, “Why don’t you come out here so we can talk face to face.”

“I’ll go,” Eiji clipped as he started to jump out, “I want you to run if things look like they are about to get bad. I’ll find a way to meet up with you later if it comes down to that.”

“I will help too, no point in you fighting alone.” Raizo slid out of the cart as he went to join Eiji. “I will make sure he gets out in one piece.” he reassured me as he jumped out and stood with Eiji.

“Wait a minute,” I heard the leader say as he came closer, “I remember you. Aiko brought you here before, felt the need to bring them here?”

“No, we had Ayame-san with us but she had said that she was coming ahead of us to tell you we were coming.” I tried to peek around Aki, but he shook his head so I sat back and waited, “Did she not make it back?” Raizo asked.

“And how are we to believe you, we have heard stories about what has been happening in the capital.” from what I could see the other men start shifting, preparing to attack on a moment’s notice. “And if Ayame had come back like you said, no one has told us anything.”

“Enough,” a woman’s voice called everyone’s attention, standing a few feet away was Kasumi with Ayame close behind her, “It seems my sister made a small oversight and was in a rush to see our mother.”

“Kasumi-san, you know these,” the leader eyed Eiji and Raizo for a moment, “people?”

“You will show them more respect, Kin,” Kasumi commanded as I pushed my way between Kyo and Aki, “They are two going to be powerful allies in the days to come, Matsu Eiji-san and Mochizuki Raizo-san.” she made her way over to us.

“It is good to see you again,” Eiji bowed. The twins jumped out the back while I wiggled out the front. “I hope everything has been going well for you.”

“I wish I could say it has, but unfortunately we have come into a few problems.” Kasumi smiled a little, watching as I ungracefully tumbled to the ground, one of my feet had become caught on the seat as in my excitement to see her, “And it seems that you’re feeling better, Jun-hime.” she laughed as she helped me up to my feet.

“Much better, thank you. I was a little sad that I hadn’t said goodbye when you left, but I’m beyond happy to see you now.” I wrapped her in a hug, “We have so much to tell you, you wouldn’t believe what has happened since we last saw you.”

“How about we head inside, then you can tell me everything over dinner tonight.” Kasumi offered as I let her go, “I invite all of you to spend as much time as you need resting, it seems some of you have had a rough time.”

“Kasumi-san, are you sure this is wise? If the stories are true, then trouble will not be far behind them.” Kin cautioned as he watched with Kasumi. “You need to think of the welfare of the village, we are depending on you to make the right choice.”

“One more word out of you, Kin, and it will be the last one,” Kasumi snapped, causing the man to flinch back a step, “I will not repeat myself again, they are friends and allies in the troubled times to come. You will show them the respect that they deserve and if I find out that you have been less than kind, the punishment will be severe.” I had never seen Kasumi act in such a way, something bad must have happened since she had been home.

“Yes ma’am, I offer my deepest apologies for the disrespect that I have shown you.” Kin figured out he was treading a thin line. He and the others returned to their posts without another word.

“He was only doing what was right, you shouldn’t be so hard on him Kasumi-san.” I defended Kin as she gave me a soft smile.

“I know Jun-hime, but he has been challenging me every step of the way. Kin believes that he should have been the next in line to lead our clan, but my mother has been preparing me for this all my life.” Kasumi took my arm into hers, “I know he means well, but I have to defend the decision my mother made years ago.” I could tell she was a little sad, “But that’s not a story for now, come let’s get you settled and looked after. I know you’ve had a hard time on the road, I’ll send for a doctor as well.”

“I take it Ayame filled you in on Raizo’s condition.” she nodded, “Daisuke did what he could with what we had, I think he did an amazing job.”

“And I trust that he did, but it would be better if a proper doctor looked him over as well.” Kasumi agreed, patting the back of my hand as we walked, “I know that Daisuke is very skilled and would have done everything in his power to make sure everything was healing right, so we have nothing to worry about.”

“You do not need to call for a doctor, I feel just fine.” Raizo tried to turn down the offer as he caught up with Kasumi and I. “I do not want to take them away from someone else who might need their care.”

“I won’t hear of it,” Kasumi stopped listening to the protesting as we passed a group of women standing by the gate, “I need you lot to go and prepare the guest house, we have company and I want it ready for them before they retire tonight. As well, can someone find Doctor Shin and send him to the main house.” Kasumi called to them as they quickly took off nodding to her orders.

“You don’t need to go out of your way just for us, we will be just fine in a group in a large room.” I protested a little as she patted the back of my hand.

“I thought you might want some time apart, as you all have been stuck together for so long. Let me show you and your family the hospitality you haven’t been shown in a very long time, it’s the least we can do.” Kasumi insisted, I knew there wasn’t any way that I could change her mind so I just nodded and let her win.

It had been so long since we had a proper meal, I had almost forgotten what it was like, it was nice to sit and relax to enjoy what we were eating. “Once everyone is done I’ll show you to your rooms and then if you want I can make sure that a bath is ready for you.” Kasumi announced when she noticed I was starting to fidget in my seat.

“Kasumi-san please don’t go out of your way just for us,” I tried to talk her down even a little. She shook her head, “You have already done so much for us as it is.”

“I won’t hear of it, it has always been my duty to look after you and I’m not about to stop now.” Kasumi had always looked after me, no matter what kind of trouble I found myself in. “You have always been like a sister to me, and it is my honour to have you stay here. Now let me spoil you a little.” she finished off with a laugh. She has always known that I hated being pampered, so for her to ask me to let her spoil me was a joke between us.

“If I must endure such torture just to make you happy, thank you for putting up with us.” I feigned a sigh as Kasumi came around and took my hand as I got up, “Let me guess, you’ve put us in different rooms too?” I asked as Kasumi started leading us down the hall.

“I thought you would enjoy the privacy after so long. I know how you like having your quiet time on your own.” Kasumi said as she stopped at a cross shaped hallway. “Eiji-san, Raizo-san and the twins are down this way,” she motioned to the right, “Lords Kyo and Aki as well as Momo-san are down the centre and you Jun-hime are on the left. I made sure all of your belongings have already been put into your rooms so I hope you find everything to your liking.” I stayed with Kasumi as I watched the others head to their rooms.

I knew that they wouldn’t be too far away if I needed them, but I was a little scared to be on my own after so long. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to being away from them, so much has happened that it feels strange not having someone share a room with me.” Kasumi patted my shoulder, she was always so understanding any time I brought a problem to her.

“Someday you’ll be able to be on your own and not feel this way. It may feel like a lifetime away right now, but I know that you are stronger than you think you are.” Kasumi consoled as she walked with me to my room, “If there is anything you need, pull on the cord by the window. Someone will come as soon as they can. I know you won’t bother to ring, but it’s there if you need.”

Kasumi gave me a hug before she turned to go back to her own room, “Get some rest, you need it after what you’ve been through, know that while you are here nothing can find you, you are safe.”

Chapter 33

After a good night's sleep in a place where people are not actively trying to kill us, I felt very good and getting to sleep in a room alone, mostly anyways, Momo still came to sleep with me despite having her own room. Everyone had been up for a few hours, breakfast eaten, and we had decided to take the day for ourselves. We needed a day of rest to recover our strength and get off each other’s nerves.

I didn’t see Raizo at breakfast or at all since we were shown our rooms and was a little worried, his wounds had not much time to heal and bouncing around in the cart could not have been good for him, and missing a meal couldn’t be good for his recovery either. I assumed he was sleeping as he more than earned one day to rest, so I gathered up some of the leftovers from breakfast and went to bring it to his room hoping not to wake him.

Just as I got to the door I could hear laboured breathing. A hundred things rushed through my head, the loudest being that he managed to hurt himself again. I slammed the door open, to find him dangling from the roof supports by his arms back to the door, slowly pulling himself up and easing back down. The muscles in his back and arms strained with the effort and glazed with sweat. I had forgotten what I had come here for, I couldn’t help but watch him.

He dropped down “Jun-dono, welcome. Sorry I did not hear you come in.” he greeted with a warm smile, turning around. I couldn’t help but stare, every inch was well toned muscle, and every other inch a scar. Realizing what I was looking at he walked away. “My apologies, I should at least pretend to be presentable.” he put on a robe. I took that moment to shake my head to clear the fog that had taken over my thoughts.

“No I’m the one who should be sorry, I should not have barged in like that, it's just I could hear you from the hall and I thought you had hurt yourself and I came to see if you were ok as you didn’t come for breakfast.” I rambled on, I knew that if I kept talking I would end up making a fool of myself.

He gave me that cocky smile of his like he knows more than he’s letting on “Thank you for your concern. I was seeing how out of shape I have gotten since Daisuke would not let me lift a finger all week, as it turns out, I am very out of shape, can barely get through my workout.”

“He just wanted you to get well, and not waste medical supplies, we had to use a lot of them to stop the bleeding.” I couldn’t help but to feel my face start to heat up.

“I will remember to thank him.” He says sitting down against the wall, “That plate would not happen to be for me would it?’

I looked at the plate “Oh, yes, I forgot I was even holding it.” I handed him the plate and moved to leave him to eat in peace. I stopped at the door and looked back, “Raizo, if you don’t mind my asking, how did you get all those scars.

“I do not mind at all, please come sit and keep me company.” He motioned for me to sit next to him.

I sat, and he ate a little before starting “The long and short of it is from the time you pick up a sword you are bound to fight those who are better than you and eventually you get cut.”

“Yes but you seem to have a lot, I mean you seem ok but I didn’t realize how many wounds you've received.” I stammered looking at his left arm.

“I will not lie, I have been fighting since I was very young, I am sure Eiji and the twins have their fair share.” he watched me, watching him. “However you are not curious about all my scars but this one” he pulled up the sleeve of his left arm.

I nod not wanting to pry by verbalizing it. “It came from the one person I have never been able to even come close to hitting, my father.”

“Your own father gave you such a large scar?” Even how cold my own father was he would never hurt one of us that badly.

His face darkened a little recalling the memory. “I was only ten or eleven years old and had been training with a few instructors after receiving my katana, my favourite being Oto-san. He kept saying I was relying too much on my wakizashi for defence and I needed to use both weapons for offense and defence.” He rubbed the scar remembering the moment “During our next sparring match he forced the wakizashi from my hand while I was trying to defend an onslaught and he slashed deep into my arm.”

“That’s horrible why would he resort to cutting his own son just to prove a point.” I couldn’t help the anger lacing my words. Finding it hard to believe that a father would do that to his own son just to teach him a lesson.

“I was not learning the lesson from him just telling me, so he made sure that I did not have a choice but to learn it.” A small grin appeared on his face “I was in the hospital for two weeks and unable to train at all for a month. The doctor said two things after I was patched up, one any deeper and I would have lost use of the arm completely, and I should not pick up a sword until it was completely healed. I was back in the dojo after the first month of my own volition unwilling to sit around any longer. That day I picked up my sword and began training despite the severe injury, was the only time I ever saw pride on my father's face.”

“He must really care for you, if he pushed you so hard he must see something worth pushing for.” I softened a little, playing with a loose thread on my sleeve, “I wish I had someone that had seen something like that in me.” I couldn’t help but to feel sorry for myself, all I had learned at that age was flower arrangements and a fan dance which I still can’t do very well.

“There must be something you can do better than the others?” Raizo asked as I pushed myself up from the floor.

“If you count being able to make flowers look pretty together or missing half the steps of a dance. I was never given anything special to learn, our father tried hiding me away, he feared that one day I would bring trouble to him.” I admitted going over to the window, “Ryu had gone to him once and told him that I was to be raised as a warrior, so that when Ko came back I would be ready to fight. But instead I was put into a cage and here we are now, blindly stumbling around not knowing when our enemy will catch up with us.”

“People do foolish things out of fear, he must have thought the power would have gone to your head. I am willing to bet he did not want you to try and take over the Matsu lands.” Raizo finally spoke after a long moment. “He did not seem to consider what would happen without that strength. Seems he wanted to raise a snowflake instead of risking an ice queen.”

Hearing him call me a snowflake caught me off guard, it brought back the memory of Ko’s dream world again and started making my heart pick up its pace again. “Could you do me a favour and never call me that again.” I tried to keep a hold of my emotions, but it was a losing battle. I could feel my heart thundering away in my chest, “I am not nor will I ever be a delicate snowflake.”

"I know this." he said apologetically, "I was just making a comparison. I have seen firsthand your dedication, compassion and hard work. You may be rough still but you are far from delicate." He laughed a little, "I do not think the others would know what to do without you to guide them."

“That is more than true,” I confessed, once I got myself under control, “but I feel like it’s my fault that they are being dragged all over the empire because they are looking after me.”

“I do not think they mind, you four are all the family that you have left. It would make sense for you to stay together.” Raizo consoled me a little, as he came closer, “Have you told them how you feel?”

“I could never do that, I wouldn’t want them to think that I’m blaming them for anything.” I admitted as I felt Raizo put a hand on my shoulder. “I think I need to have some time on my own, I’m sorry I interrupted your workout.” I slipped out from under his hand and made my way to the door again.

“Thank you again for making sure I had something to eat.” I heard him as I let the door close behind me. I couldn’t believe that I had said what I had, there was something about him that made me feel safe enough to open my heart to him.

“Jun-hime, there you are,” I heard Kasumi say as I headed back to my room, “I’ve been looking for you. I thought there might be something you might like to see.”

“Alright, just let me change first. I think that I would like to wear something other than my riding clothes for a change.” I turned to go back to my room, noticing she had followed me in. “I can get dressed on my own now, I figured it out.” I told her as she helped me change, “This is your home, you can’t spoil me all the time.”

“This is something I missed, I still have to get used to you being all grown up now. I remember this time last year, you would always come running to me to help you with your hair.” Kasumi reminsed as she took a step back and looked me over, “I guess you’ve finally found your wings. You’re not going to need me to help you all the time anymore.” I noticed that she has a sad smile on her face.

“There have been a lot of things I’ve learned to do for myself, but I have missed having you around.” I told her honestly, taking her hand, “But it’s time for me to be able to take care of myself, but thank you for looking after me all this time.” I felt tears building in the corners of my eyes. I hadn’t realized until now how much I had leaned on her, Kasumi had always been there for me and now I guess she was feeling a little unneeded. “You have your village to look out for now, I was going to learn how to be on my own eventually, so this works in both of our favours.”

“When did you become so wise?” Kasumi asked as she crushed me into a hug, “But there is one thing that I know you still need help with, so come on they won’t wait for us much longer.” she let me go and pulled me out of my room.

Kasumi knew that I had always had trouble dancing, and I would often avoid doing so if I could, but now she had gotten together some of the best dancers she could find to help me. “Here you go Jun-hime, I thought you could use some of your time with us to improve your footwork.” Kasumi knew I was about to turn as she pulled me into the dojo. “Now I know you really don’t like to dance, but think of it as training to help with your sword technique.”

“Kasumi-san, you really shouldn’t have done this. I don’t want to make a fool of myself, you know I can’t dance very well.” I tried to back out of the dojo, but Kasumi held onto my hand tightly so I couldn’t get away.

“You have a natural grace, you just need to find it.” Kasumi insisted as she pulled me inside, “Think of a gentle river flowing, winding its way to meet the sea.”

“I think I can handle that,” I gave in, sliding my shoes off. “A gentle river, I know what that feels like.” I mumbled as the other girls started bowing their heads around me. “No, I don’t want any of that. Stand with your heads held high, I hold no rank here.” the girls all looked to Kasumi, who nodded.

“Treat her like she is one of our own,” Kasumi commanded as she sat down by the door, “Now this is going to be interesting to watch.” she laughed as I found a space to stand. “Try not hurting anyone too badly Jun-hime, they still have other work they need to do.”

The dance lesson had gone horrible, I must have been focusing too much on feeling like a river to realize that I was making water appear around me, and when I panicked it fell to the floor and froze causing the others to slip. I stayed long enough to clear it away, but I had spent the rest of the day hiding in my room. I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing anyone right now.

I had changed into a simple shirt and pants, this way I could sit on the lounge by the windows and pull my legs close, making it so I was as small as I felt. I sat staring out the window, playing with the ends of my copper braided that hung over my shoulder thinking that I could stay right here for the rest of the time we were here and hide so I wouldn’t have to deal with the embarrassment of my terrible dancing.

I must have fallen asleep sitting there as someone knocking on the door made me jump, “It’s open, come on in.” I called, letting my left foot drop to the floor. Kyo pushed open the door with his shoulder as his hands were full.

“We missed you at dinner, thought you might be hungry.” he said as I pulled a table closer to where I was sitting so he could put down the plates. “What happened, no one has seen you since you brought Raizo something to eat this morning.”

I let out a sad sigh, “I guess Kasumi-san decided that it was up to me to talk about what happened today. She had tried to help me relax a little, so she gathered a few girls to help me with a fan dance I was learning before we left home, but it didn’t go so well.” I watched Kyo as he sat next to me, he didn’t seem to press me to tell him more, letting me go at my own pace. “Kasumi had said I should try to think of a river and how it gently moves, but I must have been focusing a little too hard on the river part because the next thing I know I have a circle of water around me. I panicked and the water dropped to the floor and froze right away, causing a couple of the others to slip. I cleared it away and I’ve been hiding out here since then.” I finished my explanation and Kyo did the one thing that I hadn’t expected of him, he laughed so hard he was shaking.

“I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t be laughing, but I can’t help it.” he didn’t look to be trying very hard as tears built up in the corners of his eyes. “I mean it could have gone worse, at least no one got hurt, right?”

“There is that small miracle, but I don’t understand why it happened.” I pushed my hair back behind my shoulder, “I knew I wouldn’t be able to show my face for a while so I hid out here, the last place I thought anyone would come looking.”

“We knew where you were, Daiki spotted you sleeping almost an hour ago. He was a little worried when he noticed you weren't wandering around trying to see everything possible.” Kyo managed once he had caught his breath, “You must really feel at peace here, to have fallen asleep by a window like that.”

“It’s nice knowing that we have friends here that can protect us. It has been some time since we’ve had a proper rest.” I looked at the plates Kyo had brought with him. They had been piled high with all kinds of food, “And who is going to eat all that? You can’t possibly think that I could eat all this on my own.”

Kyo nodded, “I thought you might be hungry as you haven’t eaten since this morning, but I could always help you eat it.” he pulled a plate closer to himself. “I mean if you don’t want all of it.” it was my turn to laugh at him, Kyo must have brought the extra food so he would have a reason to stay and make sure I was fine.

“I know what you’re up to, and you don’t need to make excuses to stay with me.” I told him. He only gave me a smile, “You are always welcome to stay with me, I enjoy your company.”

“Still, I wouldn’t want all this to go to waste, so let’s eat.” Kyo tried to sound considerate instead of just hungry, pushing the other plate toward me. “We wouldn’t want you wasting away on us.”

“I did have something I wanted to ask you, I wanted to ask you to hold on to my seal for me while we’re here, that way I can feel a little normal.” I asked, playing with the dragon seal I had around my neck.

“Don’t want a repeat of the dance lesson? I just have one question, why ask me to hold on to it for you? Why not ask Kasumi-san to put it somewhere safe?” Kyo asked, looking at me.

“I want to make sure that if we have to leave in a hurry I won’t leave it behind. And I know it will be safe with you and you are always by my side.” I took the cord from around my neck, “I just want a little time to feel like my old self, just a normal girl.” I held it out for him, I could feel the power of the Azure Dragon leaving me.

“Of course, I will make sure that it doesn’t leave my sight.” Kyo promised, looping the cord over his head letting the seal fall against his chest. “So what does the normal girl want to do for the rest of the day?”

“I was hoping to take a walk and try to see as much as possible before it gets too dark.” I declared as I got up, “Do you want to come along with me?” I reddened as my stomach growled loudly.

“How about we go do that after eating something,” Kyo chuckled as I sat back next to him, “I knew you would be hungry, we’ll explore as much as you want once you’ve eaten your fill.”

Chapter 34

We had been recovering in the Sesai village for a week, and now that our supplies were restocked, Eiji was ready to get moving again. He had gathered the twins and I for a meeting on what our next move should be. “How much longer should we stay here, hiding like scared children?” Eiji asked as we sat around a small table.

“Just because we can move on doesn’t mean we should,” I said, knowing it wasn’t what he wanted to hear but is was he needed to hear, “You know as well as I do that Oda will be looking for us coming this way, we need to take our time and make sure it is safe before we make our move.”

“And when would it be best for us to go? You know that winter is coming and when the snow starts any pass into the mountains will close until spring.” Eiji slammed his fist into the table, “Time is not on our side, the longer we wait the more danger we are in of getting stuck on a mountainside.”

“Leaving too soon will get us caught and leaving too late will get us stuck,” Daiki chimed in as he leaned forward on his elbows, “And there is only one way into the Mochizuki lands, yep we are screwed.”

“Not helpful, the least you can do is try to be helpful.” Daisuke scolded him, “Both sides have valid points, but there is one thing you both didn’t stop and consider.” both Eiji and I looked at him. “You seemed to have forgotten that we do have a guide, one who grew up in the mountains and is currently contracted to protect Jun wherever she goes.”

“I was thinking of asking anyway, but he has already helped us so much already.” knowing who Daisuke was talking about, I was reluctant to ask more of him. “We cannot keep asking him for help without expecting him to not ask for something in return one day.”

Eiji shook his head, “We have no way of knowing that he will not be turning on us once we get into his lands.” He was making his position on the matter pretty clear. “There’s no real way for us to know that we’ll be safe.”

“Get over it already, Raizo has proven himself time and again.” I snapped at Eiji, “Your endless mistrust of everyone that you don’t like is going to get us killed one day.” I was getting tired of having to defend our allies to him.

“You both are too stubborn for your own good,” Daisuke seemed to be as worn out by Eiji as I was, “Raizo will do everything he can to see Jun and by extension us to Taruka safely. Or it will tarnish his, and the Sun Guardian reputation.” then he turned to Eiji, “And you will bite your tongue, we need all the help we can get and our list of allies is very small at the moment.”

Eiji and I looked at each other for a moment, not sure of what the other will do, “You know he is right, but why is it we cannot get along?” I asked.

“Because we both know we’re right, so I guess we’ll listen to Daisuke for now on this.” Eiji conceded, “But that still doesn’t solve our problem of when we’ll leave.”

“Let me ask Raizo first and we can see how he feels about leaving, then from there we’ll all talk about leaving.” I told everyone, pushing myself up from the floor, “Before I forget again, have you two figured out the next puzzle on the puzzle box?” I asked, remembering that I had given Daisuke and Eiji the puzzle box I had received from Madam Wu.

“Daiki’s theory was right,” Daisuke admitted, holding up an obsidian turtle with a white marble snake around it. His twin looked proud of himself. “Now once we find the last guardian we’ll have all the pieces to whatever this is.”

“We will know when the time is right, I do not think Aki-ojisan will tell us anything before we are ready.” I reminded them, sliding the door open. “I will see you three at dinner.” With that I went to see if I could find Raizo to ask for his help getting through the Mochizuki lands.

I wandered around the guest house we had been using to see if I could find Raizo, but he was nowhere to be found so I went to the main house, “Ayame, tell me again what has happened since I left.” I heard Kasumi from the end of the hall, “I get the feeling that you have not been telling me the whole truth.” I got to the end of the hall to see a door open just a crack, Kasumi, Ayame and Raizo seemed to be having a meeting of their own.

“I don’t know what else to tell you sister, I did as you asked me to and I stayed by Jun.” Ayame said as Kasumi shifted in her seat.

“Now there is where I think you’re lying, I get the feeling that there is more to the story than that.” I watched Kasumi get up and cross the room to where Ayame was standing, “I have been talking with Momo and Kyo, they tell me that you attacked Jun. Grabbed her by the throat and choked her.”

“Do not lie to us Ayame-kun.” Raizo growled, I could tell he was upset. It wasn’t often he would take that tone with Ayame, so when he did, everyone knew Ayame had overstepped herself.

“It’s alright Raizo, I’m fine and I don’t think she fully knew what she was doing,” I slipped into the room trying to calm him, “I am sorry for barging in, but I think you should hear this from me as well.” Both Raizo and Kasumi watched me close the door behind myself. “She was only doing what she thought was right, although Ayame-san did overreact a little.”

He slowly turned towards Ayame, anger and conflict in his voice, “You hurt Jun-dono” it was a statement not a question. She opened her mouth to either explain or defend herself, he didn’t give her a chance “You attacked my charge, one of the people you know I am sworn to protect. More importantly your own.”

“She was going to leave the safe house we were in and endanger everyone, I had to do something.” She tried to convince him.

“You cannot lie to me Ayame, you know a hundred ways to stop someone. Crushing their throat is a good way of killing someone and you know it.” He seethed with barely restrained anger.

I tried to defuse the situation “Raizo it really is ok, I’m sure she didn’t mean to…”

He didn’t bother to listen. “I stayed behind then to give you all time to get away, and you turn around and harm one of the group.” She stared at him in shock, I don’t think she has ever been yelled at by Raizo before. “You have dishonoured my calling as a Sun Guardian and the sacrifice I was prepared to make for all of you.”

“And this is why I will be putting you into confinement,” Kasumi produced a pair of manacles from her belt. “I know you I should not need them, but I will if you make me.”

Shock now turned to horror. She managed to squeak out “You want me to stay behind? You don’t trust me anymore?”

“You acted without thinking, not only that you endangered the life of the one you have sworn to protect.” Kasumi held out her hand, “Until we figure out what is wrong with you, you will be staying where I can keep an eye on you.”

“But sister, who will protect Jun-san and the others?” Ayame asked, taking a couple steps away from Kasumi, “If I’m here, is there anyone else you can trust to replace me?”

“I will find someone, Jun-hime is no longer your responsibility. You are unwell and we need to be cared for.” Kasumi took a step closer, hand still out for her. “And for you to get the care, you will be here where I can make sure you are safe.”

“Aya, it will be alright. Let Kasumi help you.” I pleaded as I watched Kasumi get closer. “We will be fighting together soon enough, but for now you need to stay here.”

“If that’s what Lord Raizo wants as well.” Ayame whispered as she looked to him for help.

He lowered his voice, “You have betrayed my trust in you.” Ayame looked like she had been stabbed through the heart.

“Then, I guess I will be staying then.” Ayame looked over to Kasumi, “Where am I going to be confined to?”

“Your rooms, this is not a punishment. You are unwell, but we cannot let the others know what has happened, so as far as they will know you have become stricken by the same illness as our mother.” Kasumi spoke softly as she took hold of Ayame’s hand, “I will make sure no one comes to disturb you.” I moved out of the way so Kasumi could guide Ayame to her room, I could only silently watch as they disappeared down the hall.

“Why did you not tell me what she had done?” Raizo’s voice pulled my attention back to him.

“Because it was not her doing, Ko plays with people’s minds and I think that she may have been feeling angry with me for what had happened to you.” I defended her, turning to see that even he was having a hard time with what just happened. “I did come to ask you something, but I think it can wait for another time.” I quickly left the room, almost running away. I knew it made me look like a coward, but I knew that if I had stayed longer then I would have said something that I would never be able to take back.

I felt stupid for running away, but it was Ayame he loved so it was obvious that he blamed me for this happening to her. I had wandered for what felt like hours, not really paying any attention to where I was going, so I had ended up in a small quiet garden.

“There you are,” I looked up from the path to see Kyo coming at me from the opposite direction, “Daisuke was worried about you, he said you went to go talk to Raizo and you never made it back. Then Raizo found your brothers and told them you had taken off without talking to him.” I watched him cross the garden in a few long strides.

“Something happened with Ayame,” I sniffled, “It is my fault that she is being confined to her rooms, if I was only stronger.” I started to explain when Kyo wrapped his arms around me, drawing me close to his chest.

“Never blame yourself for the darkness in others, you can’t see what they don’t want you to.” Kyo whispered into my hair, I hadn’t noticed how much taller than me he had gotten, “Everyone has secrets that they are not willing to share.” and how is that after spending so much time with him like this that I was only just now noticing how he smelled like a spring rain, there were so many other small details that I missed before but now I was seeing for the first time.

I could feel his hand smoothing down the loose hairs from my braid, “I still feel like I should have tried something, Raizo wouldn’t have gotten so angry at her.” I could feel tears now stinging my eyes.

“I get the feeling that this has more to do with Raizo than Ayame.” Kyo remarked, as I looked up at him. “But I also know that you’ll tell me when you feel ready.” he touched his brow to mine, his face so close that I could feel his breath.

“Thank you,” was all I said, and was all I needed to. I knew of everyone Kyo would be the only one who wouldn’t push me for more details.

“How about you and I take dinner in your room again? That way if you feel up to talking you don’t have to do it in front of a room of people.” Kyo suggested as he stepped back to take one of my hands in his.

“I think that would be a good idea,” I let him guide me back to the guest house, which as it turned out was not far from the garden I ended up in.

So much had happened that I was looking forward to a quiet night just me and Kyo, I hadn’t spent much time with him since we had arrived and it felt like I was neglecting him. Once Kyo left for the night I settled by the window before I started my packing.

“So you seem to be hiding out a lot while we’re here.” Daiki came to check on me once it started getting dark, “It’s not like you to be so shy around Kasumi and Ayame, what happened?” It had been decided that we were leaving in the morning, and he had come to make sure I was ready to leave. He dropped down on the bed and sat with me a little, one last calm night before the chaos for travelling.

“Ayame will not be coming with us when we leave in the morning,” I looked over at him to see that he was shocked by the news, “Because of what had happened, Kasumi thought it would be best if she stayed here while we carried on.”

“I guess if Kasumi thinks it’s for the best,” he pushed himself up from the bed, “I’ve got some packing left to do, see you in the morning.”

“Daiki,” I called out, making him pause at the door, “You will get to see her again, that I know will happen.” I watched him go, and I knew it was not because he had packing to do.

Packing didn’t take me long, as I hadn’t unpacked much, “And then it’s back to living on the road,” I placed my pack on the table, looking around the room. “I am going to miss being safe.”

“Being in a house does not always make you safe.” I turned to see Raizo standing in the doorway, “Knowing who you can trust is what makes one safe.”

“And since we cannot trust Ayame, it is best that she stays here.” I fixed one of the straps on my pack, “But the way you talked to her, was that really necessary?”

“Yes.” was all he said.

“Nothing else? That is all you have to say on the matter?” I snapped, did he really not feel any remorse for the way he had acted toward Ayame.

“What else is there to say, she would have killed you.” I could tell his temper was starting to flare, “And to make matters worse, you tried to hide what she did from me.”

“We did not mean to, there have been more important things to think about as of late.” I crossed my arms across my chest, “And if we are going to start talking about trust, I remember you not being completely honest about who you were.”

“I had no choice in the matter, and you did the same thing.” Raizo accused, pointing a finger at me.

“We only did what we thought would keep us safe, we had no idea if we could trust you.” I glared at him, “I think we are finished here,” I turned my back to him and made it look like I was busy with something.

I could tell Raizo was just standing in the doorway, but after what felt like a lifetime he finally left, leaving me and my rage to simmer alone.

My dreams that night were plagued with strange images, different versions of myself and the others acting as if none of our current plight was happening. Each time it changed there were things that stayed the same while there were others that changed completely.

This particular vision I found myself wandering the halls of our home, but I was the only one there from what I could tell. It wasn’t until I heard the slithering of a snake that I realized that I wasn’t completely alone.

“Have you enjoyed the things I have shown you?” I heard someone ask as a pitch black snake came up next to me. “I have noticed you pay extra attention to the ones with the Mochizuki boy in them.”

I ignored the snake’s taunting, I did not want to give him more power over me than he already was trying to get. “Come now, don’t be like that. We are old friends at this point, I have been with you for months now. You can’t tell me you haven’t noticed the whispers every time you get into an argument.”

Ko was making it impossible for me to pretend he wasn’t there. “Why don’t you crawl back into whatever pit you came from, I am not interested in what you have to offer.”

“Just think of all the freedom you could be enjoying, doing as you wish with whoever you want. Not having to fight a kingdom, the constant arguing would stop. You’d be able to sleep inside again instead of in the dirt like a stray dog.” Ko’s words rang with a level of truth.

“You’re wasting your breath.” I knew whatever he promised would come with a huge price.

“Just look.” The scene around me changed and became my sakura grove in the fall, bare trees and dead leaves. The foundation for new life, come spring. Another version of myself strutted through the trees. I was shocked, mostly at what I was wearing. A completely inappropriate deep red outfit, of form fitting leggings barely reaching my waist strapped in gold around my waist and thighs. A sleeveless top that barely covered anything leaving my stomach bare, and a frightening amount of my chest. The only thing that could have been considered armour was the thin sleeve on my left arm that connected a light chain around my body, dangling a red sun over my navel.

My sword was drawn as I walked, not my dragon sword but clearly a fine well honed blade. The blank expression turned into a playful, wanting smile as my opponent came into view and lunged into an attack. The broad, bare back, equally form fitting night blue leggings, and thick scar on the left arm told me Raizo and I had spared before. Had been doing so for a long time based on the ease and comfort we were showing. The fight froze as he knocked the sword from my hand and dropped his own and easily picked me up by the waist.

“Look how happy you both are.” Ko coiled around the blissfully happy couple, “No more worrying about when the next attack will be, where your next meal is coming from. Eiji off with his own lady love. The twins, pursuing their own passions.” He almost appeared to smile at me. “Your body guards, freed from duties to live the lives they want. To love and lead and act of their own accord. Without having to ask permission to even leave your side.”

“I do not have them bound to me, at any time they wish to leave they can.” I turned away from the scene, “And anything you offer comes with a price too high for everyone.” I wanted to wake up now more than ever, I just wanted Kyo to come pull me out so I didn’t have to watch Ko toy with my emotions like this anymore.

“I don’t ask for much, just your total submission to me.” Ko started to wrap himself around my body, “None of the others will be harmed, not as long as they listen to their precious princess. I can’t be held responsible if they die because I had to defend myself.”

The feel of his scales made my skin crawl, “I will not tell you this again, you’re wasting your time and breath. I will never bow to you or Orochi.” I saw a flash of blue light and the snake was gone, for how long I couldn’t really be sure of, but I knew it wouldn’t be for long.

I found myself in Kyo’s arms, “Thank you Kyo. I think Ko is getting desperate.”

Chapter 35

Dawn broke and we got ready to leave, “I see Raizo is late.” I looked around as we loaded up our packs into the wagon, we had agreed to take it as far as we could.

“He said there was something he needed to do before we left,” Daiki told me as he looked at me, “Did something happen between you two last night?”

“That is none of your concern.” I snapped at him. “I could care less what he is up to.”

“I’ll take that as a yes then.” Daiki smiled looking over to Daisuke, “Want to make a wager on how long she stays mad at him.”

“Dear brother, must you turn everything into a game?” Daisuke held out a small pouch, betraying his words. “This is everything I have on me, I say she forgives him by tonight.”

“Enough goofing off you two,” Eiji snapped, “I’m just happy that she's finally come to her senses.” he grumbled as he looked over at me.

“If the three of you are quite finished, I would like to get going.” I snapped again as I hopped into the wagon. “I believe we want to make it before winter sets in.” it was just then when I saw Raizo jogging up.

“Sorry I took so long, is everything ready to go?” he asked.

“Just about,” Daiki said as he poked out from around the wagon, “We sent Jun to ask you yesterday if you could be our guide through the mountains, but I guess she didn’t.”

“Never you mind what I did or did not do.” I snipped at him.

“I would be honoured to show you the way,” Raizo answered him, pausing to look at me before putting his pack in the wagon. “Has Ayame-kun’s replacement arrived yet?”

“He is with Aki-ojisan, making sure everything is in working order.” I clipped, as I felt someone climb onto the front of the wagon.

“When everyone is ready, we’re good to go.” Aki called as Kyo joined him.

“Good, the sooner we get there the better.” I knew I was going to have to spend a lot of time in a small space with Raizo so I wanted it over as soon as possible.

“Do you have everything?” Kyo asked as he came up next to me, “Just doing a last check before we start on our way.”

“Yes, I made sure to check before I went to sleep last night.” I got comfortable as he patted my shoulder.

“Jun-dono, a word please,” I noticed him looking at Kyo, “in private.”

“Why, so you can lose your temper again?” Kyo tensed up next to me, I had told him what had happened before he found me the night before.

“It's ok, we will catch up.” I patted his arm, and jumped down. “I have my seal, so I will be able to look out for myself.”

“How do you plan on doing that when we're taking the wagon to the border?” Eiji was back to using his condescending tone, which I had to admit made me feel a little better.

I watched Raizo dash over to Eiji, “I can catch us up.” then dash back to where I was standing.

We let the wagon get a start without us, “What is it Raizo, we do not have a lot of time.”

“You deserve an explanation for yesterday.” We started walking at a slow pace.

I took my time, not really wanting to waste many words, “You had no right to yell at Ayame like you did.”

“I did let my anger get the better of me. The reason I was late this morning was because I went to see Ayame to apologize to her and to hopefully help her start to heal.” Raizo seemed truly sorry for the way he had acted, but it was still hard for me to get over the way he had talked to me.

“Then why did you?” I asked, there had to be more to the story, and I hoped he would tell me.

“Ayame and I have a bit of a strained past. Let me start from the beginning.” He told me how they met, their run in with each other during his first mission as a Sun Guardian, how they trained and grew up and grew stronger together. “Eventually we did fall in love, we were not foolish enough to tell our parents, but for me at least I think I was caught up in the novelty of it, a beautiful young girl from what may as well have been a foreign land for all I knew of the world at the time. Facing dangers together, knowing my father would never approve given the difference in our social standings.”

“So you knew you couldn’t have a life together and you dragged her along by her heart strings.” I accused. It seemed unkind of him to do something like that.

“Not at all, I believed I could make it happen, I was very young, and in hindsight, extremely stupid.” I knew Raizo was telling the truth, but I wasn’t about to let him off the hook so easily.

“Well at least something did not change when you were banished.” I said with a small smile.

He smiled a little at the barb “That is when things did change.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, I could tell it wasn’t a memory he liked to remember.

“The short version is, I helped a young woman from being harassed by an annoying drunk. I broke his arm and was about to draw my blade when Omasu and Kaito, the head of the city guard, found me.”

“With you, there has to be more to the story than that. Banishment seems to be a little extreme for a disagreement.” I knew things couldn’t ever be that simple. “What else happened?”

“Not really, it came down to either letting us both get away with similar behaviour. Or punish us both. We were both stripped of our positions, him from the guard, me as heir.”

“Forcing you to leave, assume a new identity and somehow learn your place in the world.” I filled in the rest for myself from what he had already told us. “So how does Ayame fit into all this?”

“More than less.” he hesitated telling me more, “What I have never told anybody, and I do not think Ayame has either, is what happened the night I left.” He paused to gather his thoughts and courage. “In a fit of anger and shame I left in the middle of the night with enough provisions to get me to a border town, when Ayame stopped me.”

“She tried to stop you from leaving?” it did sound like something Ayame would do.

“No, she was going to come with me, and every piece of me wanted her to, but I could not let her throw her life away because of me. I was being forced out because of my rash actions and past behaviour, but she would have given everything for nothing and I realized that I had no right to destroy her life like that.”

“What happened?” I found myself asking.

“Like everything else in this world, we fought, sword to sword.” He clenches a fist turning his knuckles white in anger directed at himself. “I used to say she was the girl no man could hit, as I have only seen Kasumi strike her during practice. And from where I stand that remains true.”

“What do you mean?”

“You ever see that thin scar on her arm, near the shoulder?” he asked, I knew the scar he was talking about. Ayame never wanted to tell me how she got it every time I asked. Through gritted teeth Raizo continued. “I gave her that, the blade of the monster who had cut his friend and left her alone crying in the street.”

Another long pause, I could tell he was having a hard time telling me all of this, “I avoided the Sesai village and anytime I caught wind that one of them was in a particular area I would avoid it. For fear I would run into her again.”

“And the next time you saw her was after meeting us.” as Raizo had sent Ayame and Kasumi to help us while he had headed home.

Raizo nodded, “By then I had entered a new stage of confusion in my life. One that I am still working through.” He released his fist and continued, “But we had an honest conversation this morning and I believe we can both move forward.”

“You really do love her, don’t you?” I asked, the words had already left my mouth before I realized what I had said.

“A part of me always will, but she does not deserve the monster I become when I draw my blade.” Raizo drew distant as I looked at him.

“For what it is worth, I do not think you are a monster.” I tried to make him feel better, nudging him a little with my elbow. Raizo had done so much not just for me but everyone he met, how could he possibly see himself as a monster.

“I am sure Eiji would disagree” he gave me a playful smile, coming back a little. He reached into his pocket and pulled a now familiar box and brush.

Knowing he had some wisdom to pass on, I gave him my hand. “Warriors are responsible for everything that they have done, and everything that they have said, and all of the consequences that follow.” He easily inked the back of my hand as he spoke. “They are immensely loyal to all of those in their care. Chu is the virtue I have had the fewest problems with. My father saw to that at a very young age.”

“Why does that not surprise me.” I managed a small smile. “I guess I’ll be getting to meet your family once we go to see the final guardian.”

“Unfortunately.” he sighed a little resignedly. “You already met mother, but Omasu and Satomi are nothing like her. Just be careful.”

“You make it sound like they’d be able to kill with a single look.” I tried to joke with him, but it didn’t seem to work.

“Father is a true warrior, he will be honest and on the chance someone angers him to the point he draws his weapon, he will fight fairly, but with all of his considerable strength. Satomi on the other hand may just do that. She is still young, nearly sixteen, but has a very short temper.” I was suddenly unsure I wanted to meet the rest of them. “How about we catch up now?”

I looked at the tiny spot that was now the wagon, “How do you plan on doing that? it will take us a half an hour to catch up assuming they stop now.” it would take us all day just to catch up with them now.

His playful smile was back, and it made it impossible for me to stay mad at him any longer. “I believe you have already met Mother, allow me to introduce you to the Wolf’s Pulse” Raizo held out his hand. “Do you still trust me?”

“As long as you still trust me,” I took his hand. I felt a strong pulse through my body like a single heartbeat.

“Look around Jun-dono, see the way I see the world now.” I looked around, everything clearer moving slower, all my senses heightened crystal clear. I could see every detail of everything around me, the smell of the soil of the nearby farms of the village, hear the faint voices of my family in the wagon so far ahead, “I will show you every inch of this world if you asked me to.” Raizo offered quietly, not needing to speak above a whisper.

As much as I enjoyed seeing the world like this, I knew there was somewhere else I needed to be, “As much as I would love to, right now I think it would be best if we stayed with my brothers for the time being.” I found myself whispering my answer, not able to bring my voice any louder.

“Then I suppose we should return to the others then,” he looked off toward the wagon, “Hold on tight and try not to outpace me, top speed is exhilarating and can be hard to control.” I felt two more beats and the world slowed to a crawl. He gave my hand a little tug and with a smile we ran, in a few seconds we had caught up and then passed the others. When we stopped, Raizo was breathing hard, but still managed to say, “They should be here in about five minutes.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, I remembered what it was like when I first got my seal and how it felt when I could run without getting tired quickly. But this was nothing like that, it was so much more and I couldn’t think of anything that I could ever compare this feeling to.

With all the grace of a falling rock Raizo sat down on the ground and we waited for the others. When they pulled up he stood and taunted, “What took you so long, Jun-dono and I have been waiting forever.”

Eiji just grumbled as we climbed into the back, “Hey why not invite me next time you race, I still owe you from last time.” Daiki said as both Raizo and I laughed.

Chapter 36

We rode for two whole days until we came upon the border into the Mochizuki lands, the mountains were like nothing I had ever seen before, “Why did none of you tell me that we had to cross this.” I turned on my brothers once we started to unload the wagon.

“Well you never asked, what were you expecting little rocks we could step over?” Daiki asked as he helped unhitch the horses from the wagon, “Well princess, hate to break it to you but mountains tend to be big.”

I looked for a small rock to throw at him, but something caught my eye, “Eiji, what does this look like to you,” I sounded a little panicked as I picked up a scrap of red cloth and showed it to him.

“If I didn’t know any better I would say it’s from one of our banners. So I guess Oda took over some of our army and they must have passed through here not too long ago.” Eiji observed, taking the cloth from me, “We have to be on our guard while we’re here.”

“But that also means that us hiding for the last week may have played to our advantage, if we are lucky we could get the drop on them.” I mused looking up the mountain pass, “We could use all the luck we can get right now.”

“I know these mountains well, we will not have a problem navigating through them.” Raizo came to stand next to me for a moment looking up at the mountains, “As soon as we make it to my father’s house, I will do my best to make sure you are safe.”

“If only it would be that easy, no one will be truly safe until all of this is finished.” It wasn't until then that I noticed Kyo had come up next to me and I was starting to feel a little small standing between both Kyo and Raizo, “Come on, we should help out and see what we can help with.” I quickly walked over to the wagon, not being able to stand being in the middle of them.

“As we only have two horses, we’ll have to rotate rides that way we don’t have to worry about anyone that becomes exhausted.” I heard Aki say to Eiji once I was closer.

“I don’t think that should be a problem, but once we get closer to the estate Momo and Jun will have to ride with someone, it would look strange if they were riding alone or not at all.” Eiji said, I knew that he didn’t want to say it, but he also wanted me to change out of my riding clothes before we came across anyone heading up the mountain.

“If you really think it is a good idea, but I may not be able to fight if things start getting bad.” I started reaching for my pack when Eiji grabbed my wrist.

“You won’t be staying to fight, you will be doing as you’re told and getting on a horse and riding where Raizo tells you to.” I opened my mouth to complain, but Eiji held up his hand to silence me, “I don’t want to hear it, if any of us has the best chance of getting out it will be Daisuke and Aki-sensei. So if it comes down to it you are going to run and we will find you later.”

“What better way to hide the fact that you’re now a warrior? No one would think twice about seeing you run off, it works in your favour.” Daisuke concurred from over Eiji’s shoulder, “You would be able to defend yourself if they came after you and Momo, and not to mention the fact that Momo happens to be a tiger certainly helps.”

“Forever the strategist, whatever would we do without you.” I huffed, picking up my pack.

“As fine as a plan as that is,” Raizo interrupted, “loose the horses, they are not
built for this terrain.”

“What do you mean,” Eiji demanded “you expect us to walk the week it’ll take to get
there.”

I could see Raizo thinking, debating something with himself. “What is it, Raizo?
You look like you know something.”

“I know many things, most importantly right now every twist and turn within my
mountains.”

“I would certainly hope so, it’s why you were asked to lead us through them.” Eiji
jabbed.

“Quiet Eiji.” I snapped back at him, much to his shock, “What is it Raizo, you know
something that can help us?”

Seeming to come to a decision he took a deep breath, “I can get us there in three days.
There is a path that only the members of the main family know about. It is meant as an escape route, but my father will be furious if I take you that way.”

I walked up and looked at him, “We don’t have a lot of time, please take us through the fast route.”

He looked down with a little smile “How could I possibly say no.” he looked to the others, “Kin-san take the horses and wagon back, your services are no longer required.” he ordered. “We will be spending a fair amount of time underground, so they will be useless, I suggest you all layer up. It is going to get much colder very quickly.” Kin looked annoyed at being ordered by Raizo, but turned the cart back and left us.

It was a good thing that I had gone shopping for more clothes for myself while we had been in the Sesai village, we had been avoiding the Matsu colours all this time but now it was pretty obvious that we couldn’t hide forever.

“I managed to get the warmest clothes I could find.” I grabbed the extra pack I had brought with me. “I got something for each of us, I’ll let you three scrap over who gets what.” I took out a bright red haori and tossed the bag to Daiki.

I knew I wasn’t going to need it for a while still, but I had bought this one special for myself and I didn’t want one of the boys to claim it for themselves. I had found a haori that had a gold dragon across the back and it actually fit like it was made just for me, so I couldn’t let them even think of trying to steal it on me.

“Well now, wasn’t someone thinking ahead.” Daisuke went over and took a jacket for himself.

I shrugged, “I can’t let you come up with all the good ideas all the time. I think it is time we show them what the Matsu children can do.” I could see he was a little proud of me, “We have been running too long, I think it is time for us to fight back a little.”

“And right you are,” Daiki nodded. “Maybe we could even try to take back our home when we’re done here.” he held out his arm for me.

“I would think that is on all of our minds, but we should wait to see what happens in the coming days before we start making plans about that.” I said, linking arms with him.

Fortunately, the walk up the mountain was uneventful, save for the verbal sparring matches Raizo and Eiji would get into. We had stopped for the day when Raizo turned to us, “I think there is something all of you should know, especially you Eiji-san.”

“What is it now, haven’t you said enough to me today already?” Eiji complained, rather rudely.

“You know what Eiji, shut up for once.” I snapped at him, “We all have had enough of your complaining.” no one else had wanted to say it, but Eiji was wearing all of us down with his attitude toward the one person who was getting us through the mountains without getting us lost.

“You will want to hear this, my father is very, and I cannot emphasize this enough, very strict and proper, he will not tolerate any rudeness of any kind. There are exactly two people in the world who know the location of Lord Tori and my mother will not help if he does not give consent, this is after all his territory and we must be careful whom we let wander around, we have many resources, but the food is often scarce.”

“There is no point in trying to scare us Raizo, it won’t work” Eiji dismissed him.

Raizo stepped in front of Eiji, “That is what I am talking about, using commoner language, not using a proper honorific can and will be seen as an insult and could very well have you kicked out of the territory.”

I could see that Eiji wasn’t even trying to look like he’s paying attention, which was annoying Raizo to a new end, “Very well, I will give you an example of the kind of man my father is. When I was much younger, my father was giving me a lesson in our two handed sword techniques, and said I was relying too much on my wakizashi to defend,” he started explaining, giving me his swords and untying his obi.

Mother, what is it he plans on doing? I thought to the sword, I knew she had been listening.

Do not worry child, Raizo knows what he is doing. Was all the answer she gave.

“Talk about improper.” Eiji mocked, but Raizo continued. I had always known Eiji could
be rude, but he had been taking things too far lately.

“To prove this point he attacked harder than he had been,” he continued, placing his outermost layer over top of the swords, “He smashed the weapon I had been using to defend myself with both of his,” he took off the left side of the rest of his top half, revealing the massive scar just above his elbow, and pointed out three others along his ribs, “Cutting deep into my arm and three more to my chest, intentionally shallow as to not cause permanent damage.” Raizo left out that last detail when he told me the same story.

They stood there staring speechless, even Eiji was for a change. “The doctor said any deeper and he would have killed me or lost the use of my left arm. He came to me during my recovery exactly one time and said, ‘I hope you have learned your lesson my son’, and I had. Many lessons. More than half the scars on my body are from my own father, no other fighter has ever hit me as hard or as deep as he has.”

Raizo looked at each of us “So, a warning to you all to be careful at all times, he will cut you in half without hesitation regardless if you are the next head of a ruling clan, a woman, or a celestial being. He will show some restraint with women but only so much.”

“You see I know that with him I need to act as I should, with you it’s a totally different story. If what you told us is true, then you hold no power anywhere then it shouldn’t really matter how I talk to you.” Eiji continued to belittle Raizo, and that was when I lost my temper with him.

In one fluid motion I shoved Raizo’s belongings back in his arms and punched Eiji in his mouth, “You really need to back off, all this time Raizo has been nothing but helpful to us and you have been nothing but rude.” I pulled my fist back to punch him again, but someone caught me by the wrist.

Looking over my shoulder I saw Raizo hold onto me, “Thank you Jun-dono, but I think he has learned his lesson.” he surmised as Eiji fell onto his back, unconscious from that one punch I gave him, “No you did not hit him that hard, but the ice around your hand did.” I looked up to my hand and he was right, there was a thick layer of ice encasing my fist.

“I didn’t mean to do that, it must have happened on its own.” I panicked a little as the ice turned back to water and fell to the ground, Daisuke was looking Eiji over to see if I had done any real damage.

“He’s going to be fine, a little sore around his mouth when he wakes up, but nothing should be broken.” Daisuke tried reassuring me, but it didn’t help.

I didn’t know what had come over me, to make me lash out in a way I had never done so before, “I think I will just be over here for the time.” I mumbled numbly walking over to some large boulders at the edge of camp, “I think I need some time to cool off.”

“That might be wise,” Raizo agreed as I curled in on myself, drawing knees close and resting my head on them.

I had never in all my life lost my temper in such a way and it scared me knowing that it could happen again at any time. What scared me even more, was the fact that the ice had formed around my hand without me even knowing it. It worried me that this hadn’t been the first time it had happened, and I knew it was going to be far from the last time.

I stayed on the edge of camp all night, I felt it was the safest place for me to be. “How are you feeling?” Raizo came over to sit with me after everyone else settled down for the night, “Are you cold at all?”

“No, it seems that because I have a little control over ice I do not feel the cold as much.” I admitted as he draped a blanket across my shoulders anyways.

“Winter sets in quickly up here, you should be careful.” I could tell Raizo was watching me as I pulled the blanket around myself and shifted away from him a little.

“Has Eiji woken up yet?”

“Yes, he said he is not mad about what happened. I think you shocked everyone when you hit him like that.” Raizo moved closer again, which made me shift away again. “Will you stop running away, there is no way you can hurt me.”

“How do you know, you saw what happened earlier. I have no control over this power.” I wrapped the blanket around myself tighter. “I am a danger to everyone.”

“Far from it, I see it as a good thing to be able to have your powers react with you as well as actively commanding it.”

I shook my head, “Not if this keeps happening, what if next time someone truly gets hurt? It is best for everyone to keep a safe distance from me.”

“The next time it will be someone you mean to hurt.” He took my hand letting the blanket open up. “You were coming to the aid of a friend, and I believe if you had meant to do real damage to Eiji he would have been killed. You wanted to end the fighting and that is exactly what you did,” he gave me that heart-warming smile, “although I think he would prefer that you refrain from swinging at him from now on.”

I managed a small laugh, “Well it served him right, and I think he will think twice about picking a fight with me.” it was just then a small cold breeze blew past and sent a shiver through me, “How much longer until we get to your home?”

“Another two and a half days at least, fortunately our first stop will be warmer going through the first cave.” Raizo answered.

I moved closer to him for warmth, “What was it like growing up here, it all could not have been as hard as you have said.”

“Life up here is harsh, food is hard to grow, our summers are short and blistering, winters long and deadly. Those who live up here do not have a choice but to be strong.” He looked around seeing beyond the peaks high above “The scenery is breathtaking and there is always something to do, regardless if you are the ruler of these lands or just tend a shop, everyone is useful.”

“What of your family? I know your mother and you have told us what your father is like, how about your sister?” I asked, he had never spoken much about his family, so I was curious.

“Satomi-chan,” it looked like he flinched a little. “She is very, let us say temperamental, every bit as beautiful as mother, every bit as serious as father, and is quick to anger for someone so young. A word of warning, do not call her chan, only mother can call her that. I have had to duck many arrows because of it.” he remembered with a faint smile.

“It is a good thing I asked, she sounds a little like you as well. I would imagine that your father is very proud of both of you.” I praised as he scoffed at my comment. “As much as you think he is not, I get the feeling that he truly is proud of you for doing what you feel is right.”

He dismissed the compliment with a wave, “You should get some sleep Jun-dono, we travel long and hard tomorrow, another half day before we get to the only town in our way.” We bid each other quick good nights and I tried my best to sleep on the unforgiving stone we were sleeping on.

The ground had been so hard and cold that it was impossible for me to get any sleep, but it was nice that Momo had made it her mission to sleep as close to me as possible so I didn’t have to worry about getting a chill. “Things could not possibly get any worse from here on out.” I muttered as I tried stretching the stiffness out of my back.

“It can and most likely will.” Daisuke confirmed as he handed me a bowl of warm broth, “But we’ve survived worse up until now, so what’s a little more hardship before we’re done.”

“Could you not be in such a good mood today, I think you really need to turn down the cheer.” I grumbled as I held the bowl between my hands to warm them.

I heard Daiki laugh as he made his way toward me, “I know you don’t like mornings, but this is the worst I think we’ve seen you in a long time.” he dropped down next to me with little effort, “Come now little sister, give us one of those wonderful smiles of yours.” he nudged me with his shoulder trying to get a laugh out of me.

“Back off, I am in no mood for you or your mischief right now so go find someone else to terrorize.” I shot him a glare that froze him in place.

“Ok, you’ve got your angry eyes now,” Daiki looked over his shoulder to Kyo, “Hey dragon, your princess woke in the most wonderful of moods, mind giving me a hand here?” he called over to Kyo.

“Sorry my friend, but you’re on your own. I’ve got something else to deal with right now.” Kyo called back as he tried shaking Aki awake. “It seems the cold isn’t agreeing with him.”

“Back off you horrible little lizard, I can wake just fine on my own.” Aki grunted as he pushed himself up from the ground. “I am not used to hard rocks like these and I am much older than all of you combined so I am allowed more rest.” he looked just as stiff and sore as I was.

“See, I’m not the only one who does not appreciate how chipper you bunch seem today.” I muttered, rubbing the back of my hand against my nose. Before I could stop myself, I sneezed causing the broth in the bowl warming hands to freeze, “Great, now I have to worry about freezing things when I sneeze. This was getting out of control.” I noticed Daiki shaking rather hard next to me. “One sound out of you and you will be next.” he nodded, but continued to shake from the laughter I knew he was fighting to control.

“Maybe your powers are out of control because we’re getting farther from the Dragon spring. You told me that they stopped working altogether for a little while when you and Daiki first got to the tiger temple.” Daisuke offered as I melted the ice. “It would make the most sense.”

“If that were true then I should not have had a problem back in the Sesai village, we were closer to home there than anywhere else.” Thinking back to the few days when I couldn’t use my powers, I remembered something that I wouldn’t have thought twice about. “It has to be Ko, doing something to block me from using them properly. I was able to use them again once Jizo was taken over.”

“He may be trying to control the dragon, but it’s the woman he wants.” Aki grunted as he dropped down on the other side of me, “Any child of yours will have great power and very well be a mighty leader. Why do you think the old dragon sent you a guard dog instead of a warrior? He wanted to make sure that no one would get close enough to figure that out.”

“And that would be why he not only took Takeshi but Toro as well, to increase his chances of capturing me,” I double checked as Aki nodded, “Things just keep getting better and better, unstable magic and a very good chance that the evil we are going up against want to use me like some prized mare. Can I just go back to sleep and pretend that all of this is just a bad dream, please.”

“Do not despair Jun-dono, you are far stronger than you realize, we know this to be true otherwise Ko would not fear you so.” Raizo came over with a heart-warming smile. The smile faded quickly when he looked at Aki. “Aki-sama, are you feeling well, you seem a little off from a few days ago?”

“Going from my wonderful forest home to these cold mountains doesn't agree with me, that or I’m just too old to be dealing with you children.” Aki grumbled as both Daisuke and I looked at him, “Not you two, for the most part. But the bickering is getting a little tiresome.”

“It is not just that, your movements are different, slower, more laboured.” Raizo continued. I took a good long hard look at Aki, and noticed that Raizo was right.

“Daisuke, do you know what happens to snakes if they get too cold too fast?” I asked as Aki started glaring at me.

“If I remember correctly, they die. Being cold blooded makes it harder for them to stay warm and eventually they can’t get warm at all.” Daisuke was now receiving a death glare from Aki, “You don’t think that’s what’s happening, do you?”

“There is a very good chance that I am right, and by going with the dirty looks you and I are getting we’re right.” I knew I was on the right path, “Why not just tell us? There is no reason for us not to want to help.”

Realization hit everyone at the same time, Aki was dying. Raizo dropped his bag and began taking things from it “Aki-sama I am disappointed in you trying to play the tough guy with your wisdom.”
“Aki you can change form, match Raizo’s size,” Daisuki frantically ordered, “Raizo use one layer that you have on, you have a body temperature, he doesn’t.”
With practiced efficiency and clearly some of his granted speed, Raizo removed his weapons and two outer layers of clothing. “There is no arguing Aki-sama,” he wasn’t leaving any room for arguments, removing a third and handing it to Aki, “take my middle layers and two more from the pile.”

“Meddling children, all of you. I would have been fine once we reached the main estate,” Aki kept grumbling as he pulled on the extra clothes. “Why do you think I didn’t bother telling you? Overreacting as you normally do, now I remember why I made Kame travel with the last bunch.”

“You are family now, Aki-ojisan, so of course we are going to worry.” Aki only huffed at me, but he did seem to be moving around better now. “So how far do you think we’ll make it today?” I turned my attention back to Raizo, who was quickly repacking.

He seemed to be planning as he packed “Aki-sama we are several days from the main estate, much longer if we take the common route, I will not let one of my comrades die from stubbornness, it is too easy for mammals to freeze to death and it only gets colder as we climb.” He thought some more “We will be at the closest town by nightfall, strike camp, we leave in five minutes.” He ordered and we all rushed to gather out things, Raizo speeding around to help everyone.

Once we were finished, Raizo continued, not leaving room to be argued with. “We form up Daisuke and Daiki on either side of Aki, he starts to falter, carry him if needed. Momo are you and Daiki able to warm the winds to keep his temperature up?”

“I think so,” she replied, a little unsure “we can try our best.”

“Do what you can and stay close behind them. Kyo you are up front with me to keep pace and I need someone who can clear any ice that may be in our way. Jun, Eiji you follow thirty paces behind, Oda’s troops maybe here and I do not want to be surprised, Jun, cover our tracks the best you can. We move at my pace with no arguments and do not fall behind.”

To everyone’s shock, Eiji accepted his role quietly and fell back with me with little more than a nod. “I wanted to apologize for yesterday, it was uncalled for me to lose my temper in such a way.” I quickly apologised as we let the others take their lead.

“Maybe I deserved it a little,” Eiji looked over at me, there was a faint bruise from where my fist had made contact, “I did make a fool of myself, and I’m even a little proud of you for having the bravery to put me in my place, albeit a little rougher than necessary.”

“I really didn’t mean to hit you with the ice, are you still in any pain?” he shook his head, I could tell that it did hurt him a little. “Let me have a look, I want to try something.” I turned Eiji’s face toward me so I could get a better look at him. Ever since Kyo had healed me, I had been thinking that I could do something similar but I haven't had the chance to try it on anyone yet.

I coated my hand in a little water, placed it over the bruise and focused on healing it, I could feel my hand getting warm and then Eiji’s hand was over mine. “You don’t need to do that, it’s just a little bruise. I could always say Raizo did it.”

“As much as I know you would enjoy tormenting Raizo some more, I would feel better if we did not show up on the lord's doorstep looking all beaten. We need them to believe we are not a threat.” I laughed, “There, good as new.” I moved my hand to see the bruise was now gone.

“I guess you have a point, now come on, we don’t want to get left behind.” Eiji grabbed my hand as we started walking, “We would be stuck wondering if we got lost now.”

We kept up the forced march all day, Raizo not allowing any breaks. A few hours after noon it started getting much colder, to the point that the twins were supporting Aki in between them. Eventually we heard Raizo call back to everyone. “We reach the town in ten minutes, I am going ahead to start necessary preparations, Kyo-san keep pace.” He dashed off faster than I’ve seen him move.

“Show off,” Eiji muttered, making me laugh a little. “I swear he’s trying to kill us, there is no way he would still have the energy to run ahead like that after the pace we’ve held all day.”

“It only seems hard to us as we’re not used to the conditions here, as the days go by it should become easier for us.” I looked over at him noticing he was having a harder time than anyone else. “Are you feeling alright? You seem to be having a hard time breathing.”

“Just a little tired from the pace, don’t you worry about me. All I need is a good long rest, then I’ll be as good as new.” Eiji was never very good at lying to me, and the fact he was trying to cover up the fact he wasn’t feeling well was starting to worry me.

“I will worry, you’ve looked out for me all this time with little complaint about it, if there is something wrong, you should tell us so we can fix it.” I pulled him to a stop, “Aki-ojisan was stupid enough to try this earlier, I really don’t want to go through it again with you just because you think that because you’re the oldest and you can take care of everything by yourself.”

“I’ll be fine, like you said in a few days I’ll be back to my old self.” Eiji tried to make me feel better as he patted my head, “But I guess you’ll have no problem coming up the mountain whenever you like.”

“And what do you mean by that? What business would I have coming back up this way?” I demanded, shoving his hand off of my head.

“Well you’ll be wanting to see your Lord Mochizuki now wouldn’t you?” Eiji started taunting me, trying to pull my attention away from him, “I mean once everything is said and done he’ll be welcome home again and I know you’ll want to come see him whenever you get the chance.” he knew it was working, teasing me had always been one of his favourite pastimes when we were at home.

Feeling the heat in my face start to flare up, I turned away from him and started to continue on to the town, “I wouldn’t have any idea what you are talking about. We’d both be very busy and spare time would be better used for other things. Besides, you would never let me come all this way without you and you don’t even like Raizo enough to even think about leaving me alone with him.” I knew I had started rambling, and most of what I said was true or what I believe to be. “Come on, everyone will be waiting for us. It would be rude to make them wait.” All I could hear was Eiji chuckling as I walked away, at least someone was having a good laugh at this.

Chapter 37

We caught up before getting close to the main entrance, where there were a couple of guards waiting, “We have been asked to show you to the Winter Lily, Lord Raizo went ahead to make sure everything was ready for when you arrive.” one of them greeted once we were close enough. “He said to make sure that you got there without any trouble.” he waved for us to follow, and we did.

“Thank you so much, this must be so far out of the way for you.” I said as we made our way through town.

“Don’t you worry about it, highlight of my day.” the guard declared, stopping outside the inn, “best of luck on the rest of your trip up the mountain.” waved as he returned to his post.

Before we could take a step towards the door, Raizo came out with a man and took Aki between them and hauled him inside, “There are rooms ready for you, I will be back in a moment to show you.” the other man called back to us as they disappeared down a flight of stairs.

“What was that all about?” Daiki asked as we followed them in at a slower pace.

“Maybe they found a way to warm him up.” I offered looking around for a large enough table for us to all fit in. “Over this way, by the fire.” I pulled on Daiki’s sleeve to get his attention. We made our way over to a long table that had benches along both sides.

“This should do nicely,” Daisuke agreed as he slid onto the bench next to Daiki, “we’ll be able to see everything from here.”

Just as Kyo and Eiji sat down, Raizo came back into the dining room and with a quick scan found us. “There are a few things I am going to look into getting for the rest of the trip, the owner will be right up as soon and Aki-sama is all set up. He will make sure that there is nothing you need, and all that is left is to figure out where everyone is sleeping tonight.” he paused at the end of the table, “I will be back later, rest while you can.” and with that he was off again.

“What could he possibly be getting?” Daiki whispered to me.

“I think he might be looking for warmer clothes for Aki-ojisan, it seems to have gotten colder since this morning.” Even I was feeling a little cold rubbing my hands together. “I can only imagine it’s going to get colder from here.”

“I’m sharing a room with Jun.” Momo declared as she grabbed onto my arm. “You boys can fight over who gets paired up.

“We’re together.” the twins coursed in unison, as I knew they would. That left Kyo, Aki, Eiji and Raizo, which didn’t mean anything good for the one stuck with Eiji.

“I’ll be with Aki-ojisan, that way someone can keep an eye on him during the night.” Kyo said quickly as Eiji started glaring at him.

“No, because I know that leaves me with him and there is no way I’ll be doing that.” Eiji snapped, “how about I room with Aki-sensei and you can be with Raizo.” he pointed a finger at Kyo.

“Sorry, but I think I will stick with Aki-ojisan. You just want to see if I’ll lose my temper and eat him during the night.” Kyo started glaring at Eiji.

“At least if you ate him, it would be less messy if I killed him myself.” Eiji glared back. It had turned into a staring match that neither side wanted to lose.

“What if, and this might sound a little crazy,” Daiki chimed in, drawing their attention to himself, “but you two share, leaving Raizo with Aki.” I had to choke back a laugh as both Eiji and Kyo simply looked at each other with a slight embarrassed look.

“Why didn’t we think of that?” Kyo asked as Eiji shook his head. “Well I guess that takes care of that now doesn’t it.”

Daiki looked smug and completely satisfied with himself, “I do happen to have good ideas every once and awhile. Now let’s see about getting some hot food, I haven’t had anything to eat all day.”

I tried to get comfortable in my room that night, but I was starting to worry as we hadn’t seen Raizo since he left on his errand. “What could have taken him so long?” I asked out loud, since I was alone for the time. “I shouldn’t be so worried as he knows every rock and pebble of these mountains better than anyone, but I just can’t help it.” I crossed my arms over my eyes and tried to relax.

I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew was Momo had come in and fallen asleep since she was making a soft purring sound that she always made and there was the sound of footsteps coming from above.

I followed the footsteps and ended up on the roof. “Raizo what are you doing up here, do you not sleep?”

“Not when I have better things to do Jun-dono.” He joked not looking away from the night sky.

“And why are you on the roof, in the middle of the night in the freezing cold?” I scolded him, “We already had one scare with Aki, we don’t need to be risking our guide.”

“Remembering. I was in such a rush the last time I was home I never stopped to remember.”

I joined him on the roof. “Remember what?”

“My life, growing up here, the feeling of being back where I belong. Although I guess I do not fully belong anymore, my father has disowned me, so I am to just wander from now on.”

“I’m sure he could forgive you someday. I get the feeling he knew you would come to our aid whether you got his permission or not.” I tucked the blanket I had brought with me around myself.

“Forgiveness from a father's standpoint, not a ruler’s. While he may forgive how I acted and spoke to him personally, he cannot and will not give back the title of heir.” He smiled to himself, “Honestly I am not even sure I want it anymore.”

“But you couldn’t really want a life without a home, there has to be somewhere you would want to one day call home.” I knew what it was like not to know when we’ll be able to have a proper home again, but Raizo wasn’t allowed to return to his ever again made me a little sad. “Maybe I could talk to Eiji and the twins to see if there is anything we can do for you, as you have done so much for us.”

“I do not think ‘home’ is a physical place anymore. In my travels I have made friends, enemies, business contacts. I think I could live going to where I am needed,” he sounded content with his situation. “My father has rescinded his exile order so I can come back to the mountains whenever I wish.”

“Even still, I will see to it that you will have a place to stay whenever you come through our lands. Without your help there is no way we would have made it this far, such kindness needs to be repaid.” I knew that I would be able to get the twins on my side and then there wouldn’t be anything Eiji would be able to do. “But I have to admit, from what I have seen so far, living here would not be so bad. It is quite beautiful.”

He abruptly stood up, “How would you like to see the mountains the way I do?”

“What do you mean?” looking up at him confused, “How many different ways are there to see the same thing?”

“See up there to the east a little ways up that part of the mountain, it’s a guard outlook, and it gives a wonderful view of the area.”

“I would love to, if things are amazing down here I cannot wait to see what it looks like from up there.” I pushed myself up from the roof. Before leaving, I stopped by my room to leave the blanket and grab a jacket so I wouldn’t feel the chill in the air.

We made our way up the path and through the mountain itself where stairs were carved from the mountain all the way up when I noticed Raizo with a mischievous grin “I just had a better idea.”

“I am not going to like this am I?” I had seen that same look on Daiki’s face so many times before, it had me a little concerned.

“I promise you will love it, I need you to trust me.”

“I will always trust you.” I said without a second thought.

“Ok close your eyes.” he whispered softly, I did. Before I knew it he had picked me up and we were running faster than we had when we caught up with the cart.

I could feel the cold wind pulling at my hair, then we stopped. The night air was cool on what little skin I had exposed, wind blowing much harder than in the town, “And here we are, be careful the ground is uneven.”

He gently put me down, and I adjusted my feet to the steep slope “Welcome Jun-dono to my home.” he stopped at the top of the mountain high above the town.

All I could see for miles was the tops of other smaller peaks and what lights had been left burning in the town below. It was so different from the world I knew of back home, where it was so green and flat, “This view is amazing, thank you for bringing me up here.”

“I wish I had thought to show you the border peaks, you can see for days.” He watched me watching everything else. “When we get to the Mochizuki estate I will bring you to those tops, they are the highest and most spectacular one can safely get to.”

“I would be honoured to see it.” was all I could really muster, there was just so much I wanted to take in before we had to head back to the others. But knowing Kyo, he was already looking for me, forever worried that something could happen again without him being there to stop it.

“It seems we have company coming to join us.” Raizo scowled as he pointed to something that was flying right for us. It was as if I had called him to us, Kyo had taken off his charm and was flying in his dragon form.

“There you are, I’ve been looking for you.” he scolded as he stopped in front of us, “It’s late and Momo said that you went off to find out what a noise was and never came back.”

I reached out and put a hand on the end of his snout, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you worry but as you can see I’m just fine and I’m with Raizo.” I rubbed the end of his nose to calm him a little.

“Being with him does not make it safe, what would you have done if you fell? It’s a long way to the ground.” Kyo huffed, blowing my hair back, “Next time you want a bird’s eye view, ask me.”

“Should I be insulted, Kyo-san. To think I would put Jun-dono in danger.” Raizo replied annoyed with Kyo. “It has not snowed this far down just yet, and with her powers it is unlikely she would fall.”
“Unlikely, is not a will not Raizo.” Kyo was clearly becoming annoyed as well.
“And to question my ability to protect those around me is insulting.” Raizo nearly vanished and reappeared on top of Kyo’s head “What is more dangerous, a stable mountain or a moving dragon?”

“I would never allow Lady Jun to be harmed!” Kyo roared, trying to shake Raizo off.
Waiting for his moment Raizo jumped off and nimbly landed beside me. “That makes two of us.” he taunted with a smile I’ve seen before right before someone ended up on the floor. But it was different somehow, not dangerous, more playful, like he would enjoy fighting Kyo on his mountain tops.

“If you two are done, knowing Kyo, you’ve kicked up enough noise looking for me that my brothers are going to start worrying soon.” I looked at both of them, hoping one would back down. “You can continue your bonding time when we get down from here.”

“You are probably right,” Raizo agreed, standing to his full height. “I assume Kyo-san is about to insist that he take you back to the inn, and cause a bigger scene, or I can show you a fun way down the mountain. Your choice, Jun-dono.”

Looking between the two, it was hard for me to choose. On the one hand I had been wanting to go flying with Kyo for so long, but running with Raizo was just as exhilarating. “I think I’ll ride down with Kyo.” I finally decided as I started climbing up onto Kyo’s head. I barely had time to make sure I wouldn’t fall before Kyo took off, “You didn’t have to take off like that, we could have brought Raizo along with us.” I called over the wind.

“He’ll be fine, after all he managed to get you up there on his own. I would imagine Raizo will get back to The Winter Lily before us anyways.”
“So it would seem.” I looked down to see Raizo running down the side of the mountain. I have no doubt that’s what he meant by ‘A fun way down’.
“Eiji is right, he is a show off, using his speed to beat us down the mountain.” Kyo scoffed.

I took another look and he did appear to be having fun running and sliding headlong down the steep side, his long hair flowing behind him like a piece of the night “I don’t think so, with how fast we got up here he should have been down by now, he’s using his natural state.” I found myself defending him.
“He’ll be using it again soon enough just to prove that he could get there first.”
“Be that as it may, you could have waited anyway. It was very rude of you to take off like that.” I scolded him, I knew Kyo had better manners than that. “You better apologize when we meet back up.”

The only response I got was a low growl that I felt through my legs, I knew Kyo didn’t want to, but he was going to do as I asked because I asked him to. “Only because I know it means so much to you, but for no other reason.” I managed to make out.

“Thank you. You and Eiji both need to get over whatever problem you have with Raizo, we’ve still got a long way to go.”

“It’s not so much of a problem as there is a chance he could just run off with you and there wouldn’t be much any of us could do. Even at top speed Daiki wouldn’t be able to come close to keeping up, we just worry about your safety is all.” Kyo gently landed behind a row of houses, where Momo was waiting for us.

“I just saw Raizo come back, I knew you wouldn’t be too far behind.” she bounced up and put the charm back on Kyo. “Next time you feel the need to wander off, tell me so I can keep this one from freaking out.” Momo pointed at Kyo.

“I promise, but I was safe with Raizo so I didn’t think it would have been a problem.” I assured her as Momo grabbed on to one of my arms as we walked back to the Winter Lily.

“I don’t care what you saw at the hot spring, you shouldn’t wander off right now, it’s all too dangerous for you.” Momo truly sounded concerned for my well being.

“I will keep that in mind for next time.” I promised as we walked past Raizo, “See you in the morning.” was all I managed to get out before Momo pulled me inside and up the stairs to the room.

“What did Momo mean by you seeing something at a hot spring?” Kyo asked, grabbing my hand and pulled me to a stop.

“Never you mind,” Momo snapped, tugging me along again, “Nosy dragons get a face full of claws if they pry in business that is not theirs.” she shoved me into the room before I could even start to come up with an answer.

“You know he’ll want an answer in the morning.” I groaned at the prospect of dealing with Kyo and my vision. Momo flopped onto my bed, “And these beds are too small for you to curl up next to me.”

“That’s not going to stop me, how else am I going to protect you from them if I can’t be next to you?” She gave me a look that told me there was no getting away from her tonight.

“Fine,” I sighed, crawling over her to try to get comfortable, “but don’t complain to me if you end up on the floor.” all Momo did was giggle and cuddle closer to me once I had stopped moving.

“Jun, come on you’ve slept long enough for today.” I felt someone start to shake me, “It’s noon already.” the shaking continued until I was almost pulled out of the bed.

“Momo, lay off will you,” I growled pushing myself upright, “One would think there was something important we needed to do.” I pushed my hair out of my face to be hit with a cold breeze.

“But we have to get going again soon, the more time we waste in one place the better chance we have of being caught.” she kept tugging on my sleeve, “And we’re having a hard time getting Eiji to eat anything. I thought you might be able to get him to have something before we head out.”

That was what woke me up fully, “It’s not like Eiji to not eat, let me change and I’ll be right down.” I nodded as Momo took off downstairs. “Something’s not right with him, better not waste any more time.” I started pulling warm clothes out of my pack.

“I see Momo finally managed to get you up.” I hadn’t noticed Kyo come in. “I was starting to think you were going to sleep through the rest of the trip.”

“As much as I would love to, but I have to be more helpful than being dead weight.” I turned to shoo him out the door, but he was closer than I had thought.

“What did Momo mean when she said you saw something at the hot spring? We have to make sure Ko isn’t trying any other tricks.” he grabbed my hands and held them tightly.

“I can tell you right now, it wasn’t Ko.” I assured him, “I don’t think you need to know much more than that and Momo shouldn’t have brought it up. Also it really is none of your business, so please drop it.” I knew I was being rude, but it wasn’t something I wanted to think about right now.

“Jun, this could be a trap. I don’t want you taking risks by yourself, you can always count on us to help.” Kyo pleaded with me, “Please don’t start keeping things from me.”

“I would never keep anything important from you or anyone else, but this is something very personal and I will not be sharing it with everyone.” I tried to pull my hands away, but he was holding on too tight. “Kyo, you need to understand that I’m trying to deal with too many things at once and you’re not helping me in anyway. Please trust me.”

I could tell he wasn’t going to drop this conversation anytime soon and I had a feeling that he was going to bring it up again when we were around at least Daiki so there wouldn’t be any way for me to back out of it, “Fine,” he dropped my hands, “but if I think you’re in any kind of danger, I will tell Eiji and then you’ll need to come clean.”

“So help me Kyo, if you breathe a word to anyone, I will freeze your mouth shut. And with how dysfunctional my powers have been lately, I wouldn’t want to take the chance of it not melting.” I warned him.

“Just don’t feel like you have to do everything alone.”

“I know that I’m not alone, but this is not something that I need help with.” I assured him as I started pushing him out of the room, hoping he would take the hint to leave. “Now if you don’t mind, I would like to get changed.”

“Alright, but don’t take too long, I think Eiji is starting to get impatient. He’s been in a bad mood since last night and I don’t think he got any sleep last night either.” Kyo added, pulling the door closed behind him.

“What the hell do you mean I’m in no shape to go anywhere?” I heard Eiji before I even made it halfway down the stairs. “I feel fine enough to carry on.”

I hurried down the rest of the stairs as fast as possible without knocking into anyone else. “What’s going on?” I asked once I spotted my brothers.

“Everyone’s putting up a fuss, apparently I don’t look well enough to travel.” Eiji snapped as he watched me sit across from him. “One bad night and I’ve been deemed ill.”

I could tell that he wasn’t feeling well, but he would never admit it while we were in Raizo’s territory, “Let me look at you, then I will say whether or not we will be going anywhere today.” I grabbed his hand, “I don’t want you pushing yourself because you think you have to keep up with the rest of us. We can’t possibly think about going on without you, now could we.” I looked over to the twins, who nodded along with me.

Eiji let out a defeated sigh, “Fine, but this is pointless. I feel just fine.”

“I’ll be the judge of that. Now Kyo told me you didn’t really get any sleep last night and before that Momo told me that you weren’t eating, what else is wrong?” I asked, knowing that there was a chance that he wouldn’t tell me everything.

“I’ve had a pounding headache since yesterday, but that’s just from not sleeping well or getting hit in the face with a chunk of ice.” Eiji joked as if he was trying to laugh it off. “But other than that, I’m fine. I just don’t feel very hungry today is all, you three don’t need to worry so much.”

“I’m going to talk to Raizo, he may know what’s going on. I want you two to keep an eye on Eiji and try to get some food into him.” I got up from the table and did a quick scan of the room, “Is he off again today?”

“Yeah, he said something about picking up the last of the things we’ll need to finish our trip up the mountain.” Daisuke filled me in, “You could try the market, if he’s not back by now that’s where you’ll be able to find him.”

“Just don’t get into trouble, as you love to do when you’re alone.” Daiki teased me as I walked past him.

“Now why would I go and do something like that? Why don’t you behave yourself while I’m gone?” I ruffled his dark hair and waved to the others before leaving.

The townsfolk were helpful in pointing me in the right direction, and I managed to find him in no time, “Raizo, I finally found you.” I called him as I jogged up.

He turned around carrying several bundles “Jun-dono, come to help me with the last of the preparations?” he asked with his playful smile.

“I can, but first I need your help with something.” I stopped just in front of him, “Eiji doesn’t seem to be feeling so well and the twins and I think we should wait at least another day. Have you ever heard of someone getting sick while coming up into your territory before?”

“It can happen, I am sure he is fine, things get a little different as we climb, let me guess headache, fatigue, and not eating.” I nodded hopeful that he knows what’s wrong “I am sure he is just dehydrated, it happens faster up here everyone needs to drink more, the pack on my back has extra water for everyone.”

“Are really sure that’s it?” I couldn’t believe that was the heart of the problem. “I still think that we should wait an extra day, in case he gets worse.” I wasn’t going to believe that Raizo would let Eiji’s past behaviour sway his judgement in a moment like now.

“Believe me Jun-dono, despite the tension between Eiji and myself, he is a comrade and I would not let him get hurt out of pride.” He started moving back toward the inn, “I would not advise waiting much longer as it stands, we will not get to our next stop until after night fall and we have little time to spare.”

“Alright,” I started after him, “but if he gets any worse, I’ll be putting an end to it. I really don’t care where we are, my brother’s life is far more important.” I knew it sounded selfish, but Eiji and the twins are the only family I have left so it would stand to reason that I would do anything for them.

“As will I, I have no interest in seeing any of you suffer, you have been through enough, but trust that he will start feeling better soon.”

“Well as long as we have that dealt with then,” I said a little forcefully, keeping pace with Raizo, “what’s the next stop we’re going to be making?” I was curious to see where we were heading off to next.

“About a half day further along, we will camp outside a cave for the night, maybe just inside, but we will want the rest before starting through, it is the longest part of the trip and slightly dangerous.” He put on that comforting smile again, “Do not worry I will see you all through safely.”

“I have no doubt in that, and after this last stop how much longer until the Mochizuki estate?” I was starting to get excited to see not only the place where Raizo grew up, but Lady Yumiko again. So much had happened since we last saw her and I had so many questions for her too.

“About two days, depending on how quickly we travel, much of it is going to be underground. I have additional supplies we need to pick up at the west gate, it should all be ready for us.”

I almost let out a squeal, we’d be there in no time, “I can’t wait so what are we waiting for, let’s go get everything and head out.” I would have grabbed one of Raizo’s hands if he didn’t have them full.

“These clothes are so warm, I guess they would be with how cold it gets up here.” I gushed, once I had joined everyone back in the dining area of the Winter Lily. The extra layers were like nothing I had worn before. I didn’t need as many layers as the others, but it was starting to get cold even to me.

“Only you could possibly make a big deal of new clothes,” Daiki laughed, “but I guess that’s to be expected since you never really needed cold weather clothes like these.” but he and Daisuke had changed once Raizo and I got back with everything, leaving me to deal with Eiji.

“Well if you guys had brought me gifts like these from when you left with father, I wouldn’t get so excited.” I stood behind him so I could also see Eiji, “Any change?” I rested my hands on his shoulders.

“We managed to get him to eat a couple bites of stew, but nothing more. Are you sure we should be moving out?” Daiki turned his head a little so he could look at me. I could tell he was just as worried as I was.

“I’m not sure, but I told Raizo already that if Eiji gets any worse, we’re stopping wherever we happen to be. Raizo agreed with me on that point so there won’t be much of a fuss put up by him, getting Eiji to admit there’s a problem that’s going to be a chore.” Daiki put a hand over mine, I knew I could count on him to help me if things came to that.

“We’ll take care of him, let’s hope he doesn’t pass out on us on the road.” I rested my head on his, enjoying the small amount of peace I could get before heading back onto the road again.

“I can’t wait to see Lady Yumiko again, I want to tell her everything that’s happened since we parted ways a couple of months ago. Do you think she knows we’re on our way?” I asked Daiki, knowing full well that she most likely already knew that we were coming up the mountain.

“You really seem attached to her, but as her future daughter-in-law I would imagine that Lady Yumiko wouldn’t have a problem with coming for a visit once things have settled down.” I didn’t have to see the smirk spread across his face to know it was there.

“Not you too,” I groaned into his hair, “what is it with everyone and saying things like that?” I was grateful that Daiki couldn’t see the colour spread into my cheek, that would have only encouraged him to continue his torment.

“Because we can see how you act around him, and unlike Eiji and Kyo, I’m willing to sit back and see how things play out.”

“How much are you betting with Daisuke?” I knew there had to be another reason for him to take a spectator’s roll, if he wasn’t in the middle of things, he had a bet going with Daisuke.

“Dear lovely sister of mine, why would you ever think I would bet on your love life? I simply know when to mind my own business.” Daiki tried to layer as much charm as he could into his words, but it wasn’t working on me as well as he had hoped.

“So if I go over and ask Daisuke what the pot is sitting at, he won’t know what I’m talking about?” I asked, lifting my head and started to pull my hands off of his shoulders. “Or maybe I’ll have to ask him how many different pools you have going.”

“Come now, don’t be like that. What’s a little harmless betting on our wonderful, amazing and might I say very intelligent sister. We may also have another on how long until Kyo and Raizo fight over you, but I swear to you that I didn’t start that one.” I could tell he was trying to distract me from the fact he did in fact bet on me.

“And who, dearest brother, started that one?”

Daiki suddenly didn’t feel like talking about the subject anymore, “Hey it looks like everyone is ready to go, we should go join them.” he quickly got up from his seat and shot over to where the others had been waiting. “So ready to go?”

“Did you get yourself into trouble again with Jun?” Daisuke noticed how his twin was fleeing from me. “You really need to learn not to do that. What is it this time?”

“I found out that you two are betting on me.” I came up beside Daiki, “I really wish you two would really stop doing that, I should not be a source of amusement for you two.” I scolded the pair of them, but I knew that it wasn’t going to be the last time I would have to do it.

“We’re sorry.” the twins echoed. “I’ll share my winnings with you, like always promise.” Daiki finished, with a knowing grin plastered on his face.

“I’m done with both of you, how many times have you said that before?” I shook my head as both Daiki and Daisuke grinned at me.

“Too many times to count, and we’ll keep saying it until there’s nothing left for us to wager on.” Daiki laughed as he lifted his pack onto his shoulder.

“What’s the harm in a little fun?” Kyo asked as he handed me my pack, “From the sounds of it that’s totally normal for them.”

“I don’t mind them trying to do something that’s normal for them, but I would really like it not to include me for a change.” I sighed, slipping on the pack, “But as long as he’s not pulling pranks, I think we’ll be alright. Because the last thing we need right now is for him to make the wrong person angry.”

“Daiki could not possibly be that bad, with Daisuke around to keep him in line. I would imagine that Daisuke wouldn’t let him cause too much chaos.” Kyo optimism was funny sometimes. He and I watched the twins squabble a little.

“You would think that, but more times than not Daiki manages to get into so much trouble that Eiji has to step in and fix it, nearly every time. Why do you think we always make sure there is at least one of us with him at all times? That way we can make sure he doesn’t step too far over the line.” I laughed, thinking of a memory. “I remember one time that he caused such a mess when he was home, all the maids swore that he was a kitsune in disguise. He had somehow managed to turn all of the candles in the house upside down without anyone seeing him do it. And that was while he was running from the kitchen staff because he had hidden all the cooking pots.”

Kyo snorted out a laugh, “I can believe that, but he must have calmed down since then.”

I was going to correct him, but Raizo came in and waved for us to follow him. “I guess everything is ready to go.” I looped my arm through Kyo’s and followed the rest of the group to the western gate.

Raizo stopped at the gate and turned to us “This is the only supply stop for the rest of the trip, make sure you have whatever personal provisions you need.” We had already done our checks before he came to get us, so we were ready.

“Good,” he continued “I took the liberty of getting what we will need for the trip, ladies the first two bags are yours, it’s the food for the next few days, I don’t trust the other carnivores not to eat it all.” His smile told me he lumped himself in with the others. “Gentlemen we get the bigger ones, torches and small fire gear, Daisuke-san I restocked your medical supplies, to replace the ones you wasted on me.” We gathered up the bags, “Alright let's get moving.”

Chapter 38

“If you keep staring at me like that, I swear Jun, I might just drop to make you freak out.” Eiji threatened when he finally caught me watching him as we set up camp for the night.

“Well pardon me for being worried, but I will not let you push yourself to the point of harm.” I snipped, “Just because you think you’re fine doesn’t mean you are.” we had made it to the mouth of the cave without any problems, but it didn’t mean that we were clear just yet.

“Just please don’t go falling off the edge of the mountain, I don’t think that’s how you learn to fly.” Daiki joked, I could tell he was watching Eiji as well now.

“If you plan on being a mother hen, then maybe you should go look after Kyo.” Eiji pointed to Kyo, “He’s been looking down since he brought you back last night, go give your attention to him.”

“Fine, but if you start feeling any worse, please tell me.” I relented, looking to Daiki to make sure he was going to keep an eye on Eiji for me.

“Whatever makes you happy,” he waved me off as I made my way over to Kyo.

“How’s he doing?” Kyo asked when he noticed me.

“Not much better, and I know Eiji won’t say anything until it’s too late and he’s already pushed himself too hard.” I tried not to look back at Eiji, but it was hard. “I just wish there was something I could do for him.”

“Not every problem is yours to fix,” Kyo consoled, “there are just some things you need to let others handle.”

“That may be true, but if we don’t look out for each other, what's the point of travelling in such a large group? You and I could have just as easily come this far on our own, but we stayed with the others because that’s what family does.” I jabbed the tip of my finger into his shoulder, “So it only makes sense that I want to take care of Eiji, even if he doesn’t want me to.”

“You seem very attached to the fact that you were raised to be family,” Kyo yelped when I pinched him, “What was that for?” he rubbed the spot on his arm to make the pain fade.

“Because you have a big mouth,” I hissed, pulling his ear closer, “it may not be a big deal to you, but it might end poorly for us if anyone found that out.” I managed not to yell, but I had a feeling that Raizo had heard what Kyo had said anyway.

“May not want to make her too angry, Kyo-san, she is far more dangerous than she was a half year ago.” Raizo mocked. I wasn’t sure if he was saving me from having to keep threatening Kyo or just didn’t want to miss an opportunity to make fun of him.

“I know that better than you,” Kyo growled, glaring at Raizo, “at least I managed not to end up bleeding all the time and make Jun worry.”

“Bleeding a little reminds you that you are alive.” Raizo dismissed, then turned his attention to the group, “Everybody, get as much sleep as you can, time is going to be disorienting in the cave and we will be in there for little more than a day, so no guards tonight, rest as well as you can.”

I could see Kyo getting ready to start an argument, so I tugged on his sleeve a little, “Let it go, you’ll live longer.” I turned to head back to my bedroll, where Momo was already making herself comfortable. “I don’t understand why you two can’t just get along, it seems pointless to me for you to keep bickering with each other.”

“I think the underworld would freeze over if those two ever started getting along.” Daiki laughed, “what do you think, dear brother? Might increase our chances of winning the whole pot.” he looked over his shoulder to see Daisuke nodding.

“Enough chatter you old hens and get some sleep.” Eiji snapped, pulling his blanket tight around himself, “The sooner we get there, the sooner I can find some peace.”

“We go in single file, keep a few paces in between each other so we are not bouncing off of each other,” Raizo ordered as we packed up and got ready to head through the tunnel. “I am up front, Momo-kun you will be behind me as your night vision is better than mine, just in case I don’t see something.” I noticed he wasn’t giving anyone time to argue, but we really didn’t have time for it.

“Kyo-san behind her with a torch, you are easily seen from the back of the group and with the light behind us our vision will be less impacted. Eiji-san is next then Jun-dono, please keep an eye on him and let me know the second something seems off.”

“I do not need a nursemaid.” Eiji grumbled as I put a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s more for your safety than anything else. Who else would you want to watch your back other than me?” I gave him a light squeeze, “We’re just worrying about your health.”

With a defeated sigh, “I’m more than able to care for myself, I don’t need anyone holding my hand all the time.”

“That’s not what I’m doing and you know it. I just don’t want you pushing yourself too hard.”

“Aki-sama watch them both and you will have another torch to light the back end of the group. Daisuki-san follows Aki-sama. It should not be a problem but let me know if he begins to slow down like before. Daiki-san you are on rear watch, things do live in these caves and for the most part they do not bother people but on the off chance something does happen you are the next fastest and you have some camouflage with your gauntlets and I am assuming your full armour as well.”

“Let’s find out.” he looked excited about seeing his own armour. He looked at Momo, “How do I do this?”

“Normally you would only be able to call on the armour if there is a threat, but if you concentrate I’m sure you can summon it.” Momo didn’t sound too sure that it was going to work.

I could feel him looking at me, “Sorry I can’t be much help, the two times I’ve done it have all been to stay alive.” was all the advice I could offer, “It’s best you just feel this one out for yourself and tell me how to later.” I hoped he could figure it out because I had been trying on my own and wasn’t able to get anything to work.

“Let’s see what happens.” He closed his eyes and focused. “Lady Tora, help me watch over everyone.”

A bright golden flash filled the cave for an instant then there stood my brother in his full armour. Slimmer than mine with a few augmentations to the leg parts. Everything was tiger striped in black and gold, including the tail like belt. A roaring lion topped him off, vicious looking fangs and teeth framing his face. Adorable cat ears finishing the feline look.

A moment later the stripes shifted in colour. Even from the few feet that separated us he was hard to see. “I’ve never seen finer armour.” Daiki admired himself. “Think mine is even better than yours sister.”

“I beg to differ, you’re just a pretty kitty while I’m a fierce force of nature.” I could hear Kyo trying not to laugh, “You got something to say, scale face?”

“Most certainly not, I wouldn’t want to anger you and have to face the light shower you can muster.” he said with a snicker, going to stand closer to the entrance of the cave.

“Enough,” Raizo grabbed our attention, “you two can fight about who has the better armour later. Form up.” I knew he was right, this was no time to be playing. The commanding tone he used even kept Kyo and Eiji from arguing.

Once we got into the marching line we walked off into the darkness of the caverns.

The sounds of our footsteps echoed all around us, much of it seemed to be coming from the crag we had been walking along. I found myself looking behind us so often that Aki started lightly laughing at me. “We would know if someone was trying to sneak up on us.”

“It’s disorienting, I can hear the foot falls all around us. It’s almost like there’s an army following us.” Not to mention terrifying, I hate the dark and I want out of here as soon as possible.

“I keep forgetting that you never travelled far from home. One would think we were travelling with a young child.” Aki continued laughing as I shot him a dirty look. “I just meant it’s refreshing to see someone enjoying the world around them.”

“I just happen to find everything interesting, it’s all so new and fascinating and I want to learn as much as I can.” I had been scared of dark places for as long as I could remember, I just wanted to make sure that there was no way anything could sneak up on me.

He reached out and patted me on the head, “And there is nothing wrong with that, as a matter of fact it shows just how intelligent you are.”

I shoved his hand off of my head in time to see Eiji stumble a little, “How are you doing? Do you want to stop for a rest?”

“I’m fine,” he slurred his words a little, “you need to stop worrying.”

Before I had a chance to say anything else, Eiji started to stumble and headed towards the edge. I dropped my pack so I could grab on to Eiji with both hands, “Raizo we’ve got a huge problem back here.” I called out as Eiji started falling. “I don’t know how much longer I can hold him.”

After pulling Eiji to safety, the edge we were standing on started to break away and I started to fall unable to catch myself. Momo reached for me, but I was too heavy for her and I ended up pulling Momo down with me when I tried to climb back up.

My mind was paralysed with fear, I could barely think about breathing as I fell. “Momo!” I heard Raizo call from above along with the sound of a blade hitting stone. Well at least I’ll know that Momo is safe, now I have to figure out how to save myself. I thought, losing sight of Momo.

Before I knew what was happening, Raizo had grabbed onto me and pulled me close, “Jun hold on as tight as you can.” I wrapped my arms around his torso and squeezed as tight as I could.

For a second it felt like we had slowed down as Raizo ripped my sword free and slammed it into the wall, using its immense weight to bury it deep into the rock wall, stopping us instantly.

I had slipped a little with the sudden stop, but still held on tight.

We dangled there panting from the fright for a moment, Raizo held me tight, not willing to let go. Which was fine by me as I had a death grip on him anyway, “Jun! Raizo!” I could make out Kyo and Daiki calling down to us.

“We are fine, just a little shaken. Momo-kun are you alright?” Raizo called back to them, I couldn’t find my voice at the moment.

“Yes,” I heard Momo call back us, “I’m sitting on your sword, thank you so much”

“I’ll fly down and get you.” I heard Kyo call down.

“Help Momo it is too small for you to fit down here.” I felt Raizo shift a little to look at me, “Jun-dono are you alright?”

All I could manage was a nod and whispered “Yes.” At least I wasn’t going to be left alone in the dark, but I needed to find a way to bury my fear so I didn’t look like a fool.

“Good now it is too steep and sheer to climb back up, we are going to have to climb down, can you do that?” I couldn’t help but to look down, tighten my grip as I did so, “Jun!” Raizo called a little louder, snapping my attention back to him, “We need to climb down, can you manage it, we can brace ourselves between the walls here.”

I took a breath and calmed myself “I don’t have a choice now do I.” Why does it have to be so dark? I could have handled anything else, but not the darkness.

Raizo gave me a reassuring smile, had this been any other time I’m pretty sure I started blushing, “Good now it is still too wide for you here, take my hand and I will lower you down as far as I can. Brace your feet on one side, your back on the other, ok?”

I nodded again and began to squirm a little to be able to reach and grab his hand. “I am going to let go now, do not worry, I have you.” I could tell Raizo was trying to reassure me as he held my weight, but there was a tiny grain of fear of falling again.

He lowered me as far as he could, holding both our weights with one arm, keeping me steady as I lifted my legs and pushed against the rock wall, forcing my back to the opposite wall. He easily matched my position, like he had done this before.

“I am going to dislodge your sword, if I cannot hold it let it fall, we will get it when we get down there.” Raizo ordered, and I wasn’t about to argue with him about it.

He drew his wakizashi and lined up a short swing. A few seconds after he hit my weapon I just watched as my beloved sword fell into the black void below us.

“Sorry Jun-dono.” he looked back up and called to the others. “Jun and I are going down, if you can move Eiji continue along the path, the cliff ends soon and shortly after that there is a fork in the path that has enough room for everyone, wait for us there. I will get us there as soon as I can.”

Looking back at me, “We have to slowly shift our feet and backs to descend, there is no real instruction for it, you just need to feel it out, go slow and take your time, we will get to the bottom in due time.”

“Ok, here we go.” I sighed, and we slowly made our way down.

After what seemed like an eternity we hit bottom, “Any chance you have a torch on you?” I tried to look around to find my sword, but it was useless since I couldn’t see.

“Sadly no, I dropped the bag I was carrying with them in it.” I could hear him moving around. “Here Jun-dono,” He gently took my hand and I could feel my swords handle, “would do no good if you lost this.”

“Thank you,” I blindly fumbled with the sheath, “but just how did you find it, I can’t see anything.” I held my hand out in front of me but I couldn’t see it.

“I can see a little, another blessing granted by Mother.” He took my hand again, “Here take Daughter and you will slowly be able to see a little. It takes a little time so we will wait until you can at least see the ground at your feet.”

After a few minutes of silence, I heard a faint whisper of a small child’s giggle made my hair stand on end. Ghosts aren’t real, remember what Kasumi said, it was just Daiki making up stories. I did my best to keep from screaming, It’s just my imagination playing tricks on me because it’s so dark.

Who says ghosts aren't real? A sweet child voice sounded, I’m not that scary.

I froze solid, fear was taking hold of me. Just the wind, that’s it, nothing more than a tunnel breeze.

We can run like the wind if you want, Raizo does it all the time, just to run.

Looking down at my hand, It’s you who’s talking. I tried to let out a quiet nervous laugh, So you’re not some horrible creature from the dark come to devour us, I must look insane right now. I needed to get myself together, I couldn’t be on edge the entire time we were in the dark.

“She must like you,” Raizo interjected, “it took weeks for Daughter to speak to me.”

“I will admit I wasn’t expecting it.” I looked over at him, he was still hard to see, but I could make out his smile “A little warning would have been nice, but we should think of a way to get back to the others.” I looked up the way we came down, tucking Daughter into my belt “Any ideas?”

“You already met Mother, I did not think it would be a surprise.” He looked up reassessing things now that we are on solid ground. “Climbing is not a real option, even as good as I am, I cannot make that without proper gear, and even you would tire trying to conjure enough water and lift us that far.”

“And I take it there’s no real source of water anywhere down here.” I couldn’t really feel much water around us save what was left in the water skins we happened to have on us, “so there must be another path we could take.”

“Unfortunately, Kyo insisted he carry the extra water as he could lighten it, I saw no reason to argue.” He began looking around frantically “With a little luck we can find the bag of food you were carrying.”

“I dropped it when I went for Eiji, it’s most likely still up there.”

“My bag of torches is up there as well. Then time is truly not on our side.”

Of course we’re stuck in the pitch black with no food or water, we’re going to die down here and no one will know. I let out a defeated sigh, “Is there anything in our favour right now?” I knew that it wasn’t going to help to know that we were really out of luck, but I still needed to ask.

“Maybe,” he took a hard look at the tunnels on either side of us “while digging some of these out or even following unmapped portions of existing caves we would occasionally build ladders or walkways to other sections. I do not recognize this small area but that is to be expected, where you are is just as important as where you started.”

“Well if we can make it back to the entrance, then it shouldn’t take the two of us long to catch up with everyone.” I tried not to get my hopes up, but it was hard, “So now the question becomes how do we tell which will take us anywhere near where we want to go?”

“Hate to dampen your spirits Jun-dono but there is a good chance this does not have an entrance, this is all naturally formed, and almost certain that if it does it will not be the same one, we could be days from the way we came in.” I slumped at his depressing news, but he continued on “We go this way,” he announced, beginning to walk more than less the direction we had been going “the floor slopes up ever so slightly, up is where we want to go.”

“Up is better than down right now,” I muttered, keeping up with Raizo, “How long have these caverns been around, I would imagine that not too many people know of them.” I wanted to keep myself talking for as long as possible, trying not to think about what might happen if we didn’t make it back to the path we were on before falling.

“I could not even begin to imagine how long the natural ones have been here, many of the caves and mines we dig from are found by us and our ancestors, some came from those who were here before.”

We walked in silence for a long while, Raizo ever on the alert for anything, anytime there was a fork in the road he would pick the one that had an incline, no matter how small. He abruptly broke the silence “Jun-dono, if you do not mind my asking, why were you so very desperate to leave the Matsu estate? Do not get me wrong I cannot imagine it was much fun being confined to the grounds, but it sounded like you nearly hated the way things were.”

“I always knew there was something I was meant to be doing that I wasn’t. Father’s rules were very clear that I was only allowed to learn ladylike skills, and for no reason was I ever to go near the lake that was on the grounds. Because I was the only one with such harsh rules, I knew that something must have made me different from the others somehow, and it wasn’t until he began looking to marry me off that I truly knew something wasn’t right.” I paused long enough to collect my thoughts, “I wouldn’t say anything to Eiji or the twins, but I had always secretly hoped that they would have found a way to break father’s rule about me not training with them. It was the only thing that I ever really wished for.”

“Training with weapons you mean.”

“Yes, I would watch for hours on end but that’s as far as it went. I knew that if he would have only given me a chance to prove what I was capable of, I would have been allowed to do so much more. It wasn’t until much later when I met Ryu that I found out why I was given such treatment.” I kicked a small stone across the floor, “Fear makes people do stupid things when they want to hold onto power.”

“While I do believe everyone should know how to defend themselves, what is it you think we are, Eiji, Toro, myself, even our fathers?”

“My father was a coward who couldn’t accept the fact that he was allowed to raise the ones who would eventually face off against a mighty evil and that all his children would need many different skills if they are to survive.” I spat out, I couldn’t believe Raizo would lump him with the others, “He’s not like the rest of you, he only wanted to keep himself safe. You and my brothers know that it is the people that need protecting just as much as the nobility, you go and risk everything for people that you don’t even know.”

“I meant what do we have in common.”

“I would have to say you are all leaders in your own ways.” I found another rock to take my anger out on, kicking it as hard as I could, “One less than the rest.”

“True and a leader must be able to defend his home, his people, thus we learn to fight. And what do you think that makes us?”

“Warriors, ones who see more than the end of their own noses.” I was starting to get tired of talking in circles, “What is it you’re trying to get at?”

“Not in all cases Jun-dono.” He chuckled. “In times of peace, yes we are samurai, symbols of protection and security.” His face darkened “In times of war however we are killers, nothing more than a weapon for our master to use. Before I was banished, I would have dispatched anyone my father asked me to without hesitation, I often did. Every lord and warrior in this empire will cut down anyone if Yukito-sama commanded. I leave this question for you to ponder Jun-dono. Do you want to be a weapon for another to use, or do you want to live in peace?”

I was pulled from a dreamless sleep by a relentless guttural noise, Raizo made us stop for some sleep. We had no way of knowing what time it was but we must have walked for hours. I lay still as to not draw the attention of whatever is making the sound. Oh god, Daiki wasn’t lying, there are things living in the dark and we’re going to get eaten. I started to panic a little.

I noticed a tapping sound, not something making its way closer skittering on the ground, but in a rhythm keeping time to not a creature but a voice. “Raizo are you singing?”
Everything stopped the moment I started to speak “Did I wake you Jun-dono, sorry.”
“You’re a terrible singer.” I blunder out, my tiered brain not bothering with a polite filter.
With a chuckle, “You are not the first to tell me so. To be fair, that song is not meant to be pretty, it is the Mochizuki War song.”

I rubbed my face to wake myself up a little more, “It’s good to know we’re not being attacked by something, but where did you learn something like that?”

“Did you not think the heir would know everything about his clan, or at least as much as he could learn.” He got up from where he had been sitting, “Thankfully I have never had to use it for its intended purpose, at least not completely.”

“Seems interesting, I could see it being off putting if there was a whole army singing like that.”

“It can be, imagine five thousand troops at your doorstep all singing this very primal chant, even worse an unknown number of enemies with their voices bouncing around the mountains.” He gathered his belongings “We have records from when we took the mountains from the ones who were here before and this is actually their song. We kept it as part of our traditions to honour those who fought so well, it is not even in our language.”

“What better way to give tribute to those who came before.” I started playing with a loose part of my braid, trying to fix it so it wasn’t so messy. “I wonder if you could teach me how to sing like that, I mean if it wouldn’t get you into any trouble.”

“It would get me into a great deal of trouble.” He said with a smile, “Pack up your belongings and I will teach you as we walk.” I began doing so, it didn’t take long as I didn’t take much out. “Now the first few lines,” he started as we kept walking on “we have adapted to use as a signal in the mountains, I do not know if it was intended, but when looking for a troop, the searchers will begin, and the others will use the response to narrow down the location.”

Even though the words were hard to understand in places, I managed to pick up the general idea quick enough. We sang for what seemed like hours, passing the time and not thinking about the gnawing hunger, our water skins long empty.

Raizo stopped suddenly “I believe you are about to get a visitor.” He stepped to the side as I just caught a glimpse of Momo as she crashed into me in a bone crushing hug.

“It’s about time, everyone was getting so worried.” Momo was practically purring as she gripped me.

“That’s nice, but I can’t breathe.” I gasped as she let me go. “How’s Eiji, did he ever wake?

“He’s doing better, Kyo said that he’s going to need more rest once we get to a safe location. Come on, everyone will be relieved that the noise was just you two.” Momo eased one worry. She pulled on my hand, “We thought it was some kind of horrible creature.” I tried to cover the laugh I snorted out with a cough.

“Well I guess the song still rings true then,” Raizo laughed a step behind, “Let us return to the others.”

“Look who I found.” Momo called to the others, sounding proud of herself.

“You found? All you did was charge off on your own once they were close enough for you to pick up on Jun’s scent.” Kyo scolded as soon as we got closer. “Which I have to tell you was really foolish if it hadn’t been them.”

“You worry too much,” I patted his arm as I walked past him to check on Eiji. “How are you feeling, any better.”

“Enough to keep going.” he did sound a little better. Before I punched him in the arm, “What’s that for?”

“Never ever scare me like that again, I couldn’t help but think that something really bad happened to you.” I scolded him with tears in my eyes, “I told you that we’d stop if you needed a break, so why didn’t you tell me.”

“He would not worry you with his last breath Jun-dono, it is how older brothers are.” Raizo says with a smile at both of us “We rest some more, then take it slow from here on, Eiji-san, please tell me when you start to feel unwell, so we do not repeat this set back.”

“I’m fine to carry on.” I insisted as my stomach let loose a thundering growl. “What kind of beast was that?” I tried not to let the others see the redness in my cheeks.

“Come on, let’s get you something to eat,” Eiji tried to contain his laughter, “wouldn’t want anything living down here to think it has found a mate.”

Chapter 39

We finally exited the cave system having a brief outside trek in the light snow. Sweet glorious open sky. I took a deep breath of the fresh air, I never want to see another cave for the rest of our time up here.

Our supplies were dangerously low, but from what Raizo had said it is only another hour or so to get to the safety of Takura. We carefully made our way through the thin path in single file Eiji in front.

We reached the end of the hidden path, snaking around itself a little until we came to where the main road, when Eiji stopped suddenly.

“What’s the matter Eiji?” I called up when I noticed he had stopped.

“Company is waiting for us.” He responded, the twins along with Kyo and Aki rushed past to flank Eiji.

I watched as Raizo got out in front of everyone, putting a hand on Eiji’s shoulder as he walked past “I will handle this one, they are my people.”

“Furaingu Kitsune!” Raizo called in a loud clear voice, “I am back.” A loud cheer went up from the gathered soldiers echoing off every mountain from here to the coast. He met with them shaking hands and patting shoulders, it must have been sometime since he had seen them last.

“Forgive me everyone, I am being rude.” Raizo said standing between them and us, “Matsus, guardians, meet the men and women under my command when I was still a Sun Guardian, The Flying Foxes.”

“Seems like our little lord finally made himself some friends.” one of the older men teased Raizo.

“Do not get cute with me Daigo-san, I will still put you on the ground.” Raizo gave back “You are still envious that while I am around the ladies will not give you the time of day.”

“We can test that later tonight, but for now we are here to make sure that the lady with the copper hair,” Daigo gestured to me, “makes it the rest of the way. There could be someone from the main house that might have told us to be here to greet you.” he thumped a hand on Raizo’s shoulder.

I could feel all eyes on me now, “Me? Who could possibly want to see me?” was all I managed to squeak out without turning red.

“Name one other person from my house you have met Jun-dono,” Raizo asked with a little smile.

Of course, how could I possibly forget. I laugh at myself, “I guess with all the excitement the last few days, I got a little distracted.”

“I have an idea, how would you all like a royal escort for the last leg of the trip, it is only about an hour walk?”

“What do you mean Raizo? What could possibly happen so close to the city?” I asked, we were too close for any sort of ambush.

“One never knows Jun-dono.” Raizo turned to his men. “Kitsune form up!” Quickly and efficiently they formed up the ranks, two out front ready to go ahead, two more to the far side to cover the rear, the other five surrounded my friends one in the back two on either side.

“Nice form” Eiji mocked, but I could tell he was impressed, “leave your charges to defend themselves from the front.”

“The front is for the best fighter Eiji-san, of the whole squad guess who that might be.” They held each other’s stare for a moment when Raizo smiled “That would be me.” Raizo took his place up front, “Scouts go!” The two out front of the group took off down the road. “Sweepers forty-five seconds.”

With a quick look around, Raizo gave the order “We move.” And as one, even the few
who were not too sure how things got to this point moved towards our next destination.

We must have been halfway to the city when I heard Eiji started muttering to himself “I don’t know why they listened to a disgraced outcast, probably still riding on his father's name.”

“Eiji don’t be rude, they are giving us an escort,” I scold him with a quick pinch to the arm “the least you can do is be civil.”

“They listened to me Eiji-san because I do not command them as once heir, I command their respect.” Raizo corrected him, I could tell Eiji was starting to annoy him by questioning the loyalty of his people. “It is one thing to command your troops as a leader of your people, it's another thing to earn their respect through blood and sweat. I do not know how things are done in the Matsu lands but when we join the Guardians we stay in the barracks, live and train with the men and women we are going to be leading, yes I still had my rooms at the estate but they were usually used only when I had an engagement to attend to, and even then the barracks is not that far off.”

I saw Eiji gearing up with another insult, so I cut him off with another pinch. “We are guests, mind your manners.” I hissed in his ear. “I for one think that is a wonderful idea, what better way to get an understanding of your people than fight shoulder to shoulder.”

“My father has said the same thing many times, it took me a long time to realize the truth of them.” Raizo affirmed, still keeping watch.

I glared at Eiji, trying to get him to say anything that wasn’t an insult, “Your father seems to be a wise man.” was all he could come up with, looking away from me.

“He can be, if you can get around his cold demeanour.” Raizo sounded like he was warning us. We all stopped suddenly when a high pitched whistle sounded.

“What was that?” I asked trying to figure out where it came from.

“A signal we all carry, they all carry.” he corrected himself. “Call the sweepers in, I will go see what the problem is.” And he took off to where I can only assume the signal came from.

“Do you think it could be him?” I grabbed on to Eiji’s arm, I couldn’t help but feel a wave of fear take me over.

“It would be really stupid for anyone to attack this close to the city, just stay calm. The last thing we need is you panicking and ice flying all over the place.” Eiji said as he slipped his arm from my grip and wrapped it around me, “I may not be able to do much right now, but I will not let them take you again.”

We waited for a few more minutes, until I couldn’t stand it any longer, “I have had enough of this,” I pulled away from Eiji, “He’s taking too long.”

“Maybe you should wait a little longer, no point in heading off into danger.” Kyo started to say before I shot him a glare that made him flinch.

“I am so very tired of waiting on the sides while everyone else goes off and gets hurt on my behalf.” I called my armour, not knowing if I was going to need it and I charged in the direction Raizo had gone.

I found Raizo kneeling over a body, one of his men standing watch “Jun-dono, you should be with the others.”

“You should have known I wasn’t going to stay put.” I said, coming up beside him, “Anything I can do to help?”

“No, she has been dead for over a day,” he responded with barely contained rage.

“He’s close by isn’t he?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking, “But not stupid enough to be out in the open when there are so many around.”

“No this was not Orochi, it seems Airi-san killed her attacker,” he pointed off to my side where only a few feet away an Oda soldier lay dead “giving her partner time to get away.” He grieved a moment.

Raizo took command again “Signal for two others to come stay here and I will send others to retrieve the bodies, you see anyone that is not Mochizuki detain them if possible.”

His friend pulled out a small whistle and let off one long then two short blasts. A few minutes later two from the company showed up, he repeated his orders then turned to me “Come Jun-dono, my father needs to be told, you can drop your armour there is nothing we can do.”

I let the armour fade away, “Is there anything I can do for you?” I could see he was having a hard time seeing the woman like that.

“No,” he said coldly, “I need to inform the city guard, my father, then go see her family, it is the least I can do.”

“Then whenever you feel like talking, come find me and I’ll be more than happy to listen.” I offered, taking his hand in mine. I knew there wasn’t much I could do now, other than letting him know that he could count on me.

We walked back to the others where Raizo addressed his men, the sweepers having joined up with them while we were gone. “A friend has been killed only a little way off the path Tanaka Airi, she fell to an Oda troop who died of his injuries close by, we move fast back to the city.” Grave faces all around even from us “I will not allow anymore of our people to die by my uncles hand. Move out.” We started moving back along the path Raizo kept the breakneck pace he had set when Aki was in trouble.

It was a blur of activity once we reached the city walls, “Daigo, Saito, Yohko, make sure they get to the estate. Kenshin, Tomoe with me. Everyone else, find the commanders and let them know Lord Omasu will likely be calling for them soon.” Raizo left us to tell the head of the city watch what had happened.

“You got it, I’ll catch up with you when I can.” Daigo waved the rest of the unit on, I paused.

“Be safe, we can’t be sure how many are still out there.” I cautioned him, playing with the end of my braid. “Don’t take any risks if you don’t need to.”

He looked back to me “I have no intention of being foolish, I will meet you at the estate soon.”

Not waiting to be told again, I quickly jogged to catch up with the others, “What was that about?” Kyo asked when he noticed me.

I looped my arm through his, “It was nothing, let’s just focus on keeping Eiji’s temper contained. I don’t know how much longer he can go without having a blow out with someone.”

We maintained a quick pace as we made our way through the city, but I did my best to make a note of where the shops were. I wasn’t about to let the others do all the shopping this time, I needed to feel useful again.

“Here’s where we leave you,” Daigo said as we came up to the gate, “the young lord shouldn’t be too far behind us, so it won’t take him too long to catch up.”

I took a step away from Kyo, “Thank you for going out of your way to make sure we made it without getting lost.”

“Think nothing of it, just follow the road and you’ll be there in no time.” Daigo said as he and the rest of the Flying Foxes started back toward the city.

“Come on, we shouldn’t keep them waiting.” Eiji sounded a little nervous, as he turned to the gate, “I am Matsu Eiji, heir apparent to the Matsu clan, we are here to have an audience with your Daimyo, Mochizuki Omasu.”

“We know why you’re here, and they are waiting for you.” he waved us through.

The path took a steep incline as we walked and soon, I was able to see the tops of the houses. “Why is it now I am feeling nervous?” I muttered as the second gate came into view.

“That would be because you’ve never had to do something like this before, you’ve always been at home when meeting anyone.” Daisuke said from my side, “You’ve always had a chance to go and hide any time you got spooked.”

“I would never hide, I was always sent away. But it still does not change the fact I am nervous.”

“Don’t you worry,” Daiki came up on my other side, “You’ve got us, we’ll make sure that nothing happens” he wrapped an arm around my shoulders with a giant grin plastered across his face.

“Enough goofing off, make yourselves presentable.” Eiji snapped over his shoulder, I hadn’t noticed we had made it to the gate. Unlike home the Mochizuki house was only two stories and solid stone. The only real ornamentation was five, three story pillars out front.

The guards at the front doors opened them without word and I nearly dropped dead at the sight of Lord Mochizuki, an exact likeness to his son, just slightly older and his hair is a little duller from age. His wife Lady Yumiko beside him. Her small warm smile, opposite his stern expression.

“Welcome Matsu Eiji-san and family,” he greeted us, “Tentai-sama, Welcome to Taruka.”

I watched silently as Eiji bowed and we all followed suit, “Thank you for allowing us to be here.” I could feel my heart pounding, “My family and I are grateful for your hospitality.”

Taking a small step to the side, “Please come in, all of you look so worn out from your travels.” Lady Yumiko offered, “I will have some hot food and drinks brought in right away.”

One of the side doors opened up and a miniature Yumiko entered, bow in hand, quiver on her back, clearly having just come from their firing range, “Sorry I am late father,” she gave us a bow, “my apologies Matsus, Tentai-sama.”

That must be Satomi, I found myself awestruck, I wonder if I look like my own mother. I guess I will never know. “Please forgive us, it is our fault for not being able to send proper word ahead of us that we would be coming.” Eiji returned her bow, “Think nothing of it, Satomi-chan….”

He didn’t get a chance to finish, like lightning she readied notched drew and fired an arrow. I looked to see where my brother had been shot to see a hand holding an arrow, a few inches from Eiji’s head. “That is not a nice way to greet your guests sister, you really should get over this chan thing.” Raizo stood just to the side, playing with the arrow.

“Quite right,” Omasu scolded, “Satomi you are dismissed, go to your next lesson for the day, we will see you for dinner.” Looking at his son “Welcome back Raizo.”

A deep bow from Raizo “Thank you Omasu-sama.” And a big smile “Hello mother.”

I could see the look in Lady Yumiko’s eyes, she was so happy to have Raizo home again, “It is good to see you are safe.” I was happy that Raizo had come with us, he had missed his mother last time he was home.

We put our weapons in a storage closet and made our way to the dining room, where the promised warm meal was waiting for us. Taking his seat at the head of the table Omasu opened the conversation “Tell me exactly what has been going on.”

Before I could , Eiji started to retell everything we had been through up until now, there were parts he left out, mostly because they made it look like we couldn’t handle things. “And that is what brings us to your home, we need your help to find the last guardian’s shrine.” I could tell he was trying to spare me from feeling guilty, but it didn’t help not even a little bit.

Omasu considered for a very long moment “You do face one more problem, Tori-No-Mikoto only sees those who are summoned, and he only summons through Yumiko-kasan.”

I wasn’t going to let Eiji do any more talking, “Zenzo said the same of Aki-ojisan and Kame-san, but we do not have the time to wait.” I argued, making all eyes turn to me, “We cannot be sure if we will bring trouble into your home more than we already have.”

“You may not have a choice but to wait, the winter storms will be starting soon.” He scowled unfazed by my words “You do not want to be caught in one, prepared or not.” Yumiko whispered something to him, and he nodded. “We will wait a few days and see if Tori-No-Mikoto wishes to be contacted, in the meantime you have free reign within my city, I will have rooms prepared for you.”

Before I could say any more, Eiji shot me a warning look. “Thank you very much. We appreciate everything.” he leaned so he could whisper to me, “You keep telling me to mind my manners, maybe you should take your own advice. Please try to contain yourself, we need their help.”

“Then you better get your head together, since you feel so chatty.” I hissed, turning back to my meal. “We do not have time to sit on our hands.”

I ate in silence for the remainder of the meal, small talk took place around me, but I didn’t really care for it. “We would be honoured if you would join us for dinner tonight.” Lady Yumiko offered as the maids finished clearing away the last of the dishes.

“We would like that, thank you very much.” Daisuke answered before Eiji had a chance to turn her down, like we both knew he would try to.

Yumiko had the guest house prepared, as there were so many of us. “It feels wrong just sitting around waiting for something to happen.” I complained, watching Kyo from across the hall. “We should be making our way to see Tori.”

“You heard Omasu, Tori doesn’t like visitors and only sees the ones he calls for. It would be a bigger waste of time if we tried to force our way to his shrine.” Kyo came into the room I was staying in, “Take this time to get your powers under control, we’ll be safe for now.” he leaned against the wall near the door.

“Maybe,” I sighed, falling onto my back on the bed, “the twins and I should think about trying to get a better handle on our powers. Could you see if you can find a place where we can do that without being in the way?”

When Kyo didn’t answer right away, I looked over at him. “Tomorrow, for now maybe rest is what everyone needs.” he looked worried about something, “Want me to go see about setting up the bath for you?”

“Not right now, I think I’ll just lay here for a bit.” I could see that made Kyo relax a little. “If I end up falling asleep can you come get me before dinner?”

“I can do that.” Kyo said, pushing himself off of the wall, “I’ll make sure no one comes to bother you.” He paused at the door, “Anything else I can do for you?”

I waved him off, “I’m good, just a little rest is all I’m going to need.” I didn’t move again until I couldn’t hear his footsteps. So what is it I can do for now? Maybe I’ll take a trip into the city tomorrow while Kyo is trying to find a place for us to train.

Endless darkness greeted me. What’s going on, where am I? I looked around but there was nothing all around me. “Hello, is there anyone out there?” I started to get scared, there was no way that I should be alone in a house full of other people.

After not getting an answer, I tried moving around but I found myself unable to go anywhere. “Come on, what is going on!” I screamed, fighting to move my legs.

“Not very fun being trapped in the dark, now is it.” a voice hissed from the darkness, “Welcome to my prison.” I could hear something slithering around me in the dark.

“I’m not afraid of you, Ko” I tried to calm my pounding heart, “You hold no power over me.” I fought harder to get myself free.

“Oh I hold all the power, and I can all but taste your fear.” Ko hissed in my ear, “Why continue to fight against me? I can give you all your heart wishes for.” his face so close to my own I could feel his breath on my skin.

“You have nothing that I want, I have all I need.” I fought the urge to scream, “There is nothing you can offer me.”

Ko flicked his tongue out, I could feel it brush against my cheek. “Really? I can think of two people you want back. But there could be the love of another that you want more, I can give you all that and even more.” he turned his head so I could see my own reflection in his eye, “And there is only one thing you need to do for me, give yourself over to me.”

“Never, my brothers and I will put an end to you.” I spat in his eye, causing him to hiss angrily. “I’d rather die than allow myself to be used by you.” I pushed back harder against the force that was holding me.

“Well if death is the only way to release the power of the dragon, then so be it.” Ko said as whatever was holding me started to become tighter. “You should have just cooperated, it seems such a waste to end such beauty. But I can always just bring you back and make you do anything I wish.” Ko laughed as I started gasping.

I tried looking around. This would be the best time for a rescue, if anyone is listening, I thought, hoping someone could hear me.

I kept fighting, but it was getting harder and harder to move and breathe, “Jun, relax and breathe.” I could hear someone saying to me, but I couldn’t see them. “All you need to do is relax and follow the light.” and there was a faint blue light just in front of me.

I tried reaching for the light, but my arms were still pinned to my side. How can I relax, I’ll be dead in no time if this keeps up. I tried taking a deep breath, I found it was a little easier to move so I kept slowing my breathing and eventually I was free and running after the light.

“There you go, welcome back.” I woke feeling someone underneath me, holding me to them. “You gave me a scare.” I turned to see Kyo looking back at me.

“What happened?” I asked, my throat felt raw. “The last thing I really remember was you leaving so I could get a little rest before dinner.”

Kyo shifted so my head was resting against his shoulder, “You must have fallen asleep because when I came in to see if you were awake, I found you gasping on the floor.” he smoothed some of my hair, “Any idea what happened?”

I thought for a moment, letting Kyo stroke my hair. “No, I must have been having a nightmare.” I lied, remembering what I had gone through. “I need to get ready for dinner, you should go get cleaned up too.” I pulled away from him, trying to hide the fear that was creeping up on me.

I could tell Kyo didn’t really believe me, but he didn’t push me for any more details. “Alright, but if you think of anything please let me know.”

“I promise, if there is anything useful that I remember I will tell you.” I lied as Kyo shut the door behind him. If I told him what I was going through, Kyo would never leave my side again, I sighed, starting to get ready to join Yumiko and Omasu for dinner. This is going to be so much fun. I rolled my eyes at myself in the mirror, I had never enjoyed the stuffy dinners we had back home, so the odds of this one being any different were pretty small.

Chapter 40

Dinner had been a little eventful, my brothers and Kyo made it apparent that I shouldn’t just brush off my nightmare and started driving me insane with their almost constant hovering. I also noticed that Raizo had skipped having dinner with his family, so when I woke up before everyone else I went to see if I could find him to make sure he was alright.

“Excuse me, I’m looking for Raizo, can you tell me where I can find him?” I asked some of the house guards, I was looking to both spend time with Raizo in his hometown and get away from my brothers.

He gave me directions to the barracks just by the gate at the bottom of the path. I found Raizo in the mess hall, head on the table, ignoring his breakfast, surrounded by his team.

“Ah, look who’s come for a visit.” Daigo waved me over, “A little far from your family, aren’t you?”

“They can choke on their breakfasts for all I care right now.” I walked past him, “I needed some time with others who would not treat me like I am made of glass.”

“Good morning Jun-dono,” Raizo says weakly, not raising his head, “if everyone could stop shouting, I would really appreciate it.”

“Pay him no mind lady Jun, he had a long night.” One of the others said, short with a slight tinge of red in his long hair. I recognized him and a few of the others from Yumiko’s guard when we were at the tiger temple.

“Quiet Kenshin, I may have a headache, but I can still put you on the ground.” He threatened with as much humour as he could manage. “It would have been much shorter if you lot would have let me get some sleep.”

“But where would the fun be in that, you didn’t have the time to see those of us who were here when you came home a few months ago we couldn’t let you get away this time.” Daigo laughed. I could see how much they all missed him, they seemed to be more of a family than anything else.

“Is there anything I can do to at least ease your pain? I know my powers have been a little unreliable lately, but I know that I could do that at least.” I offered, trying to make myself feel useful.

“No thank you, this is what I get for listening to these fools all night,” Raizo raised his head, “Show some courtesy and let the lady sit down.”

They quickly move aside and let me sit next to Raizo. “We finally get to have a few words with Raizo’s latest conquest,” Another from Yumiko’s guard said, a tall, lean and stern looking man. “Tell us Jun-san how did you get tied up with this sad lump here?”

I ignored the first comment for the time, “It was completely by accident we ran into him. My brothers and I had stopped for the night as we were on our way to Hebi in hopes of getting some answers for why we had been chased out of our home.” I paused trying to find the right words.

“Ignore them Jun-dono, they are just trying to give you a hard time.” Raizo flinched at his own voice, trying to stop a conversation he thought I may not want to talk about.

“You seemed friendly with the girl last night, what was her name again?” another asked, one of the three women this time, the young attendant, her brown hair in twin braids was easy to identify.

“What did you get up to last night?” I asked, looking over at Raizo completely shocked.

“Nothing, I walked Keiko home.” He defended “Stop insinuating things.”

“How about the last one, the girl from the capitol,” the other man with slicked back hair said, he was younger and looked more easy going than the other, “or the one that was all hush hush.”

“The capitol? Do you mean Fuu, the doctor’s daughter?” I had to think for a moment, “I thought she was always mad at you for something.”

Raizo turned a little more serious, with his team "You want to be careful." then explained, "She might be a little upset when I was flirting with another young lady in an inn. The only reason you dimwits know about Fuu is what I wrote to you about the rescue."

"What was the name of the one that had him straightened out," the older slick hair man pressed, "must have been two or three years with her but not a peep. She was a subtle one too. I don’t think any of us actually saw her."

"Right" said another "they would always sneak away somewhere, Raizo-san even went so far as to push his paperwork onto us when she was here." The tallest and broadest one answered, "She was one from your own land, Lady Jun." realization dawned on me who they had been bugging him about,

"She was a slippery one, they could have done anything with..." Raizo viciously backhanded the one talking.

"I told you to watch it, Saito." he stood to his full height now sober. "You may be the commander now but I will not have any of you spreading rumours about any lady I may have been seeing." He turned to me "Please excuse me Jun-dono, I will return shortly."

I sat in a shocked silence for a few minutes, it was a lot for me to take in all at once. “I apologize for the ugliness Lady Jun, Saito has always been good at pushing the wrong buttons.” Daigo apologised, as two of the others picked Saito up. “I hope you won’t hold it against our little lord for putting an end to things like he did.”

“Well he did deserve that for pushing Raizo like that, it’s his own fault.” I had no sympathy for Saito, “He was warned to stop, I’m just amazed that Raizo didn’t accidentally knock his head off.”

They each introduced themselves. The one who was still out cold Saito introduced by the red haired one Kenshin , both of Yumiko’s guards. The younger one with the slick back hair Yusuke. Daigo who seemed to like to carry on the conversations. The three ladies Yohko with the braids, Tomoe whose hair matches Raizo’s but much longer and a motherly grace to her, were the other two watching over Raizo’s mother. Yukina and her older brother Toshiro who I didn’t notice when we met yesterday, being hidden under their hats, found a way to change the colour of their hair to an ice blue. The biggest of them Kazuma shared my coppery colouring.

“I didn’t know you were Guardians,” I admitted to Tomoe and Yohko, “I honestly thought the pair of you were just handmaidens.”

Tomoe smiled gently, “Part of the ruse we employ, nobody looks twice at the help. You didn’t notice Yohko when your dragon erupted, she ran out with the boys, swords in hand.”

Thinking back on it, I hadn’t seen her then, I was too focused with Kyo and hoping Saito and Kenshin didn’t take a swing. “I guess that will teach me to pay more attention, even if I think it’s safe.”

“It’s a tactic suggested to us when the Sesai bowed to our Daimyo, generations ago.” Yukina informed me, in her soft voice. “The best ones to gather information and move unseen are the ones nobody pays any attention to.”

“That is definitely a useful skill to have.” I had to agree, “My brother managed to figure that out on his own, Daiki managed to find out so much from the few visitors we had before everything went sideways.”

I couldn’t help but become a little curious, I had only known about Raizo as a Guardian. “Daigo-san, what was Raizo like when he first started out as a Guardian?” I asked, hoping to find out a little more about the man that has been travelling with us for so long.

“He was every bit the dutiful son, always seeking a way to either improve his mind or body,” he said with some admiration, “always trying to help everyone around him.”

Yukina added in “The woman we found yesterday, Raizo taught her son how to hold a blade, he is training to be a guardian because of Raizo.”

“He’s not a saint,” Toshiro interjected, “man would flirt with any woman that crossed his path. Would use his position to get his way if he couldn’t strong arm the situation.”

“I would understand that certain situations needed the use of force, but I get the feeling that he has changed in his time away.” I couldn’t think of a time when Eiji wasn’t trying to annoy Raizo, “I can’t say anything about his flirting, we haven’t had the chance to stay in one place for too long.” Could that be the reason why he is always being so nice to me? I would hope not, because that would just crush me if that was the case.

“Too bad you didn’t join him last night,” Tomoe said gently, “he was in fine form, like he never left, and before the Sesai woman.”

Maybe it was for the best, I might have lost all control. I thought, noticing there was a light frost collecting around my feet. “What he does in his own time is his business.”

A round of smiles from everyone, the same one Raizo gives when he knows something. “We know better than anyone how ladies are with Raizo, however you seem different.” Daigo commented. “Never once has the air gotten noticeably colder when one was mad at him.”

“And to top it off,” Saito added as he regained consciousness “you are the only one he has ever called dono.”

“Sorry I took so long Jun-dono,” Raizo greeted, proving his point, “I assume they have done nothing but drag my name through the mud.”

“I wouldn’t let them try,” I flashed him a smile, “The real reason I came looking for you today was to see if you wanted to join me for a walk. As Kyo and my overprotective brothers have gotten on my last nerve, I couldn’t think of a better way to spend the day.”

He smiled back “I would love to,” then turned to the others “think you all cannot cause a racket while I am gone.”

“You are always the worst of us Raizo and you know it,” Daigo teased “Lady Jun, make sure he gets some rest for tonight, although you may not be the best one for that.”

I quickly turned to leave, hoping none of them saw the pink of the blush creeping up my face, “I wouldn’t have any idea what you mean.”

He lingered for a moment, no doubt giving them one last silent warning. As we exited the barracks he asked “What would you like to see? My city is at your disposal.”

I thought for a moment, “The market, there’s something I am trying to find and wasn’t able to find it at the Sesai village.” I answered, “Unless you happen to have a suggestion in mind.”

We walked through the market weaving in and out of nearly every shop, even some that most men would avoid like their lives depended on it. Raizo treated me to lunch, he had grabbed some of his personal funds from the barracks as we left. I had been searching for something to get as a gift for him but what do you get someone who has little and wants nothing.

We had been out wandering the town for hours keeping conversation not about saving
the world or training. We must have seen every inch when he abruptly asked “Jun-dono, how would you like to see something extra special?”

I had thought we had seen everything already, but he did have my curiosity, “Sounds like it would be fun. What do you happen to have in mind?”

“A surprise that I need to prepare for,” he thought for a minute, “meet me tomorrow at the barracks after breakfast.”

I was a little suspicious but completely intrigued, “Ok, what do I need to bring?”

“Nothing, just yourself and your sword, no point in making the others suspicious.” He began to look around, “I think it is about time to get you back to your family?”

“What, why?” I asked, a little annoyed that he wanted to end our outing so abruptly.

“Well to be honest Kyo has been looking for you for some time now,” he said without a hint of remorse, “I had us hiding from him quite a few times.”

“Well it serves him right. He actually managed to get Daiki to sound mature for a change.” I huffed, puffing my cheeks out a little. “One tiny bad dream and they act like the world is ending.”

“Be that as it may, he is starting to cause a major scene,” he carefully watched Kyo fly around “we should let him know you are alright.”

I knew he was right, as much as I didn’t want to admit it. “If we must, no point in letting him cause trouble.”

We made our way to the open ground between the town and the wall to the farmlands and Raizo waved him down. “I’ve been looking for you all day, why didn’t you tell anyone you were leaving?” Kyo asked once he had landed, “You could have left a note or told someone you’d be going off.”

I walked right up to him, “Why, so you or one of the others could stop me and convince me it’s too dangerous for me to be out on my own?” I flicked the end of his snout, sending a trail of ice up to the top of his head, “Last time I check, I am more than able to look out for myself. I am not made of glass and I definitely do not need to be looked after at all times.”

“Quite right Jun-dono.” Raizo agreed, “I am giving you fair warning now Kyo-san, I have
invited Jun-dono for an outing tomorrow, with my team,” he lied without even blinking, “before you start tearing around as a dragon again, she will be with ten highly trained and armed Sun Guardians.”

Kyo didn’t seem to be convinced, “And if something were to happen, I doubt that you can stand up to an attack from Ko. I’ve been having a bad feeling that he’s been more active lately.” he shook the ice from his head, “I need to be by your side in case something like that happens.”

Defensive and slightly insulted “Unlike you I will always ensure those around me would be safe and survive. I will fight to my last breath even against Ko and you other celestials, alone if need be.”

If only they knew what I’ve seen, I’d be locked away so fast my head would spin. I better keep what really happened from them for now. I thought, taking a calming breath. “If you two are done trying to prove who the bigger man is, we should be heading back anyways. If we leave Eiji to things, he might get himself into trouble somehow.”

“Then back we shall go.” Raizo acknowledged, still standing up to Kyo “I should make an effort with my own family anyway.”

“I’m going to walk back with Raizo, so you can go back on your own.” I grabbed Raizo’s hand as I started walking away.

Dinner that night was unbearably awkward. Kyo wouldn’t leave my side, sitting so close that he might as well have been sitting in my lap and wouldn’t leave me alone until I was ready to go to sleep. But once I got ready for bed, all I could do was lay there staring at the ceiling. I’m so excited I wonder what Raizo could be planning. Whatever it is, I get the feeling that it’s going to be wonderful. I turned onto my side, looking out the window. Why does morning have to be so far away. I watched the sky until I finally managed to fall asleep.

Giving myself one last look over in the mirror the next morning, “Right, everything looks great.” I had found some hair pins in the bottom of my pack and had piled my hair into a bun so I wouldn’t have a long braid swinging around and getting in the way.

“Well now, someone looks fancy again today.” Daiki complemented as I passed him on the way to the front door, “got someone to impress?”

“If you must know, I’m going out for the day with Raizo and a few of his men.” I didn’t give him a second look, I was still mad at him for not having my side the other day.

“Brrr, such a cold look,” he pretended to shiver, “Come on, please forgive me. I can’t handle it when you’re mad at me.” he followed a few steps behind me.

“Maybe I wouldn’t be mad at you if I knew you always had my back.” I said, pulling on my shoes, “We’ll talk more about this later, I’m running late.”

I could feel him watching me the entire time, “I meant what I said, but at the same time I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.” Daiki apologize as I made sure I was ready to go.

“I will talk to you later, I promise.” I waved back at him as I took off, heading to the barracks. I ran as fast as I could, trying not to keep Raizo waiting too long.

I met Raizo in front of the barracks, and after a quick greeting we made our way out of the city limits and into the mountains surrounding the area. We walked, climbed, would be more accurate, for over an hour when Raizo pointed to a rather tall rock wall, “Just over that stone wall Jun-dono, do you think you can keep up?” he challenged, giving me his signature smile.

Giving him a grin of my own, “As long as you don’t slow down.” and we both took off
towards the wall in different directions, I chose to go straight at the wall. I hadn’t made the claws of ice since I snuck into Shiwa. “It’s no fun if you go easy on me.”

After climbing for a few minutes, I heard “Not getting tired on me, are you Jun-dono?” I could tell he was trying to distract me, so I made snow fall on him. There wasn’t any way I was going to let him slow me down and I knew my snow couldn’t slow him down much either.

I had made it most of the way up the wall when I heard Raizo above me, “I win, I guess hard work still pays off in the end.”

I looked up to see him at the top of the wall, so with an un-lady like gesture I threw a large snowball before I continued my way up. He let out a loud yell of surprise that was cut short, as he fell back off the wall “RAIZO!” I shouted as I hurried up the rest of the wall. Just as I managed to get to the top of the wall, I saw Raizo fall into a hot spring below, “Raizo you lunatic, you scared me half to death.” I shouted down at him when I saw he was fine.

“Come on in Jun-dono it is perfect down here.” he laughed as I fought the urge to pelt him with snow again, but I knew he would just laugh it off.

I called up a pillar of water to meet me at the top and froze just the top so I could ride down without getting too wet, not that it would have mattered much. “Now where is the fun in taking the slow way down?”

“I’m not the one who is soaked, in the middle of winter, being pulled down by his own weapons.” I sat on my ice close to him.

“This is true,” he answered, “I do need to put them aside before I get too tired, but
not even you cannot keep the ice solid.” Raizo pointed to the edge of my platform “Look it’s already starting to melt.”

I looked down at the ice, and it was as solid as possible. Without warning, Raizo pulled on the edge hard enough to cause me to tumble into the water with an undignified yelp. “Fine, two can play at this.” I said to myself under the water, it seemed I could stay under without having to worry about breathing. I should have tried it sooner but I only really thought about trying to see what would happen now. “Let’s see how long it takes him to start to panic.”

After a moment I could hear Raizo laughing, “Good try Jun-dono, I grew up with a mystic for a mother and I grew up with the stories of the Azure Dragon and the others. I know you can stay under for as long as you want.” he started to make his way to one of the edges.

I made an ice blocks around Raizo’s feet, trying to trip him up, “Must have been nice to hear stories of my very great grandfather and his adventures.” I said, popping my head out of the water, “but not all of us can have a parent like Lady Yumiko.”

Much to my annoyance he used the blocks to propel himself forward even faster. He climbed out of the water still laughing “No but trying to hide from a mother who can just divine your location whenever she wishes, it is not easy.” He started to place his weapons down on the rock he was standing on letting them dry properly “Your brothers told me about your little hiding place in the cherry blossom grove, mother would never have allowed that. My own little place that no one knew about, who knows what trouble I would have gotten into.”

“And what kind of trouble would that have been?” I thought about my hiding place in the grove, it had been so long since we had been there, I just hoped we would make it back in time to see them bloom again.

He just gave me a mischievous grin and reached a hand out, “Care for a hand out of the water, it’s not wise to swim around with so many layers on.”

It took me a moment to remember that I was still wearing winter layers, “Right, I almost forgot about them.” I laughed at myself, taking his hand, “Thank you.” He hauled me up with little effort and took a few steps back giving me plenty of room, while not a lot of space we could both sit comfortably. He turned his back and I watched him drop his obi and quickly his outer layers.

With a small squeak, I quickly spun so he couldn’t see my face flash red, “I can dry those for you if you would like.” was all I could think of to say. “I seem to have my powers under control for now.”

I heard him chuckle, “I had Hisa-san pack extra clothes for both of us but thank you.” I heard his shirts drop “What is the matter Jun-dono, this is the best place I ever found.”

I started to panic. I had so many thoughts running through my head all at once. What should I do here, I could stay and enjoy the hot spring with Raizo but would that really be the right thing to do? I don’t think he would be insulted too much if I said I wasn’t comfortable, but at the same time, I looked over my shoulder and internally groaned.

“Is everything alright Jun-dono, I do not think I have seen you hesitate with anything before?” he asked, “Have I overstepped in bringing you here?”

“It… it’s nothing like that,” I stammered, trying to gather my thoughts. “The truth is I’m not really good at these kinds of things.” I could feel the heat in my cheeks creeping into my whole face, “I mean it would be odd if I was, but maybe I should just stop talking now.”

I heard him turn around “Never feel embarrassed with me Jun-dono, if you are uncomfortable let me know and I will change, and we will climb out of here.” I turned around to face him “Or if you wish we can stay here and have some much needed fun as friends.”

Turning around was something I should have thought about doing that first, because now I was faced with trying to keep my words straight while looking at Raizo without a shirt on again, “I would love to stay and relax some more, we won’t know when we can get time like this again.”

That heart-warming smile crossed his face again “Well then I will wait for you in the water.” Without warning, Raizo removed his last layer and jumped back into the hot spring.

It’s a good thing I can’t drown, because I’m pretty sure if he keeps this up, I’m going to blackout. I thought as I dropped as many layers as I felt comfortable, I knew that the ones I left on wouldn’t slow me down in the water. “So I would imagine Lady Yumiko wouldn’t let you wander off on your own for too long, so how did you manage to find this place?” I asked, slipping back into the warm water.

“I was allowed to explore as I pleased, encouraged in fact. Father felt it was a good idea for me to learn to move through the mountains and become familiar with our home. I was often under guard but when I was old enough to defend myself I would often go missing for days.” He floated there a moment remembering his youth, “I found this spot around thirteen, took me forever to climb my way out the first time.”

“Such freedom, I’m a little jealous. If I wasn’t making sure Eiji and Toro were looked after during their training, I was off…” I paused thinking of the mess that was my dance lessons, “learning other skills.” I was never going to admit to him that I couldn’t dance, I would rather stay at the bottom of a lake than do that.

“Learning to dance?” he laughed a little at my shocked expression “Sorry Jun-dono, Ayame likes to talk, mother could help you with that, she managed to teach me.”

His face turned more serious “Even freedom comes with a cost, I was expected to use my time wandering to strengthen my knowledge of almost everything, and expected to prove it, my father’s favourite was to have me race some of the scouts and surveyors, people whose job it is to move around the mountains off the trails. For a Mochizuki everything you do must strengthen you somehow.”

“Then you must have seen many wondrous and fascinating things. And that also explains why you have a hard time relaxing. I’ve noticed you always seem to be on the move or off doing something.” I looked up to the sky, “The only time I really got to enjoy anything outside was when I would sneak off at night to be in my grove.”

“So you noticed that little flaw of mine, father is constantly doing something as well, family trait it seems.” He joined my staring “I have seen nearly every inch of these mountains, while I would not trade them for anything, once you have seen one mountain you’ve seen them all, less with the fascinating, more with the practical mapping.”

“Maybe you just need to see them through new eyes, you never know what you’ll find when you slow down and take the time to enjoy things with someone else.” Before I knew what I was saying, the words seemed to have found a way to come out on their own. I did not just say that out loud, did I? I could feel the blush creeping up and into my face again.

Another chuckle “Maybe you are right. Now that I have reconciled with Ayame I can stop running from my past.”

We swam around for a blissfully long time, I don’t remember the last time I could not be on high alert and just enjoy the moment. Raizo stopped swimming around and watched me for a moment. When I stopped, he asked “Jun-dono may I ask a question you may not want to answer?”

“Let me guess, you want to know about my nightmare?” I had a feeling he would want to know, and I was dreading him asking.

“No,” he responded to my surprise, that seemed to be everyone’s favourite topic lately, “I wanted to know what Momo-kun meant by ‘I don’t care what you saw at the hot spring’. It did not sound like anything dangerous, but you seem very defensive about it, maybe I can help you.”

I groaned, “You weren’t meant to hear that, now I know it was a mistake telling Momo. She’s convinced that I saw the future for myself, you’re already helping as much as you can.” I wasn’t ready to tell him everything I saw, but if he kept asking about it, I might end up slipping and say something.

“Future sight is a rare gift, even my mother needs to actively look.” Raizo said with some sympathy. “If there is even a small chance you have the gift, talk to mother she knows a few things about being burdened with power.”

I was about to say that he might be right, and to see what Lady Yumiko thought would be a great idea, when I noticed a familiar form over head. “Seems like we’ve been found.” I pointed to the dragon flying above us. “I guess Kyo figured out that we lied to him.”

“I lied to to him.” Raizo’s features went cold, “Ever the guard dog that one,” there was no hint of humour in his voice. “He does know you are allowed to do things without him right, walk around, talk to people, maybe even enjoy yourself for a few moments?”

“Don’t be too hard on him, Kyo just takes his job a little too seriously. He feels guilty for not being able to do much when I was kidnapped in Hebi and then spending so much time sealed away in the jade. Even when I was put under that sleeping spell after we parted ways with Lady Yumiko, he seemed to think that it was his fault for not being able to protect me,” I shook my head, “He’s just trying to make up for all that by staying by me, and making sure Momo is with me when he can’t. He just worried I might get taken away when he’s not looking.”

“Some serious training and that would not be a problem.” He pointed out, seeming to drift off in thought. Coming back to the moment “You do have some natural talent, if you would have been allowed to start at an earlier age, I am willing to bet you could have been able to hold your own against me.”

“That talent is what my father was afraid of.” I made a little whirlpool in front of myself and watched the water spin, “He thought if I knew that I was different from the others I would try to take our lands for myself. But it was because he treated me so differently that I knew I wasn’t doing what I was meant for, it seemed like his plan blew up in his face.”

“Clearly, it is a shame that Akio tried to stifle what should have been his greatest asset, just from a leader’s view point I would have made sure you had all the training you could handle and then some.” He circled me once swimming around me and the whirlpool. “You would have hated the training my father would have put you through, although with your powers you would have been the most frightening warrior on any battlefield.”

“Any training that wasn’t with Daisuke would have been better. Don’t get me wrong, he tried his best to help once he caught on to what I was doing, but I would have preferred to have a proper teacher.” I couldn’t help remembering the last night at home, “If I hadn’t fallen asleep that night, I would have been out in the grove when the attack happened. It’s strange to think that if I hadn’t been dragged to that pointless meeting earlier that day, I wouldn’t have known what had happened.”

“Fate rears its head.”

“What do you mean?” I was confused by his words.

He righted himself, looking at me properly, “If you had been out practicing, your brothers would have never left the estate without you, good chance they all would have died. If they had escaped and you were not with them, they would have had no place to hide and no provisions to get them anywhere. They owe their lives to you Jun-dono, you were the one who found the Dragon Spring, you fended off your attackers several times, untrained, you made them trust me long enough to get to Hebi, you are the one I came back for when we parted ways, and you are the reason I survived the fight with Orochi’s troops. We each owe you so very much.”

I shook my head, “I haven’t done anything like that,” with my concentration broken, the whirlpool vanished, “If it hadn’t been for me all of this wouldn’t have happened, I can think of so many things you and the others could be doing right now other than going to all the other territories and risking you lives all because you’re following me around. It’s not fair for me to expect you to come with us, wherever we decide to go next.”

“I do not know about the others, but I would be wandering around the territories risking my life anyway,” he said with a smile, like it was his natural state of living, “at least now I know why I draw my sword. You can expect me to be wherever I am needed, and I am needed by your side, for as long as you will have me there.”

“You don’t have to do that, I’m sure that Omasu would ask you to come back once everything has calmed down again and I wouldn’t want to keep you from your family.”

“You clearly do not know my father very well. The best I could hope for was to be summoned and questioned, or interrogated, depending on how you look at it.” He gave me what I can only describe as a shy smile “Who says you are keeping me from anyone, family is not only blood.”

I need to really stop talking now, anymore and I will be giving our secret away and I know Eiji would not be pleased with that. I noticed that Kyo hadn’t come down to take me back yet, I let out a reluctant sigh, “Maybe we should think about heading back soon, I can only imagine the trouble he’s stirring up with at least one of my brothers.” as much as I could have stayed all day, I knew that eventually we would have to face them.

With a reluctant sigh of his own, “You are most likely right.” his smile quickly returned, “However first, we eat lunch.”

“I like the sounds of that, no point in dealing with both Kyo and Eiji on an empty stomach.” He gave a laugh and swam back for our lunch.

We had just made it to the city wall when I spotted Daisuke waiting, “You really did it this time.” He shook his head, I couldn’t tell which one of us he was talking to, but I knew it was bad. “Kyo came back in a tizzy and now Eiji’s out for blood. You really need to have a mighty good explanation of what happened today.”

“Be careful, Daisuke-san,” Raizo said, colder than any ice I could make. “We will speak to everyone, I do not like to repeat myself.”

“I just mean that you will want to watch what you say, Eiji will try to twist it back on you.” Daisuke cautioned as he turned to head back to the house.

“You know I can handle them on my own,” I looked over at Raizo, trying to save him from facing off with both Eiji and Kyo, “you don’t need to come with me.”

“I invited you out, I will clean up my mess,” he said evenly. What was concerning, he was wearing his combat expression. “We will handle Eiji and Kyo.”

We walked in silence, Daisuke looking back over his shoulder ever so often making sure we hadn’t run off, “Well it’s about time, I don’t know what you two did but it’s a madhouse in there.” Momo met us at the door, “Whatever you did it couldn’t have been as bad as they are making it sound.” she came over to me and started circling me as a predator getting ready to pounce on her prey.

“Momo, what are you doing?” I turned in circles with her, “please don’t tell me you’re hunting.”

“Nope,” she brought her face close to mine, “you don’t smell any different, so I don’t know what they are worried about.”

“And what do you think happened, Momo-kun?” Raizo asked a little softer than he had been with Daisuke.

“You managed to get this one to relax,” she took a step back, “but you might have wanted to find a different way, something has everyone acting like you stole something.”

He patted her head and gave a small smile “Not without permission, Momo-kun”

Before I could ask her what she meant, the door opened behind her, Daiki didn’t say anything he only pointed for us to come inside, I know this is going to be bad. I grabbed Momo’s hand and with a look to Raizo we headed in.

“You,” I heard Eiji growl before I saw him, “how could you be so stupid.” he was on us before we knew it.

“Clarify Eiji-san, which ‘you’ and what was ‘stupid’” he interrupted with his old confidence back.

Eiji glared at Raizo, “I’ll deal with you in a minute.” he turned slowly to me. “I cannot believe you would slip off like that. With everything that’s going on, you need to be more careful because we can’t tell where the next attack will come from.”

I started shaking my head, “No, you do not get to even try that with me. You know that I would not go far on my own, so that’s not the problem here.” I narrowed my eyes at him, “What has you all bunched up is that I didn’t ask you to go out with me, you’re so used to me needing you all the time that you can’t handle the fact that I no longer need you to hold my hand.”

“No, the problem is you keep going off thinking you can handle everything on your own,” Eiji sharply pointed at Raizo, “and he’s not helping with that. As your older brother it is my job to keep you from harm, so I need you to listen to me when I say it’s not safe for you to go off without one of us.”

“You seem very eager to scream at a young woman Eiji and ignore the one she ran to when you all turned against her.” Raizo said with an unnerving calm. “And speaking as an older brother it is our job to protect our sisters until they can do it themselves.”

“But it will always be his job to protect her from men like you.” Kyo’s voice came from over Eiji’s shoulder, “I got curious about what you had planned for today, so I took a trip down to the barracks to see if someone could tell me. To their shock and mine, they didn’t know where you had gone off to.”

“It will serve you both well to remember what I am, before accusing me of any wrong doings to a lady.” Raizo snarled, I could tell he was trying to keep his temper in check, “I told my whole team what area we would be in, and not to give it away.” He faced them both as a warrior staring down his enemy “You both need to ask yourselves why she never bothers to tell you where she is going, and why she sneaks away all the time.”

“And you happen to have all the answers, now don’t you.” Eiji sneered, “So wise sage, how should I be acting? And how is it you know so much more about my sister than me?”

I cut in before Raizo could answer, “It’s because he takes the time to listen.” I snapped, “I had hoped that someone who had acted like a real brother all my life would notice that I’ve grown so much since leaving home, but I guess all you ever see me as is a little bird with a broken wing.”

“Well that confirms my theory.” Raizo shared that he had a suspicion before, looking at me. He turned back on the others and jabbed Kyo in the chest “If you keep chaining her up,” jabbed Eiji with his other hand, “and tearing her down, she will fade away. Maybe I will see if Jun-dono wants to spend some time with Satomi lost in the mountains so she can see what a woman is capable of when raised to live, and not be someone’s plaything.”

He took a breath and turned to me again, “Jun-dono can you tell mother that I will be dining with my team tonight, you are welcome to join us, they have taken a liking to you, we will be at the Shattered Hammer, most likely all night.” He turned and walked away, I noticed he kept his hands within easy reach of his swords.

I watched him go for a few minutes, then turned to head to my room. “And just where are you…” Eiji started to question me, until I placed an ice cold hand over his mouth.

“You will be leaving me alone,” I gave him a dark look, “I will not be talking to you or Kyo until I feel like it, am I understood?” he nodded, looking like he was about to drop dead from fear. “Good, you will apologize to lady Yumiko for me. I will be skipping dinner tonight, I just want to be alone.”

Chapter 41

Once everyone had left to go have dinner at the main house, I took the opportunity to relax a little, “I can’t believe them, acting like that. At least the twins had the sense to stay out of it.” I found talking to myself had become soothing as I padded around the house. “Asses, the pair of them. Overprotective asses, it serves them right to get chewed out like that.”

I did feel a little bad for saying some of the things I had, but I couldn’t contain myself for much longer, I just let my emotions get the better of me. “So my dear, it seems you’re having a little family drama. You know if you just came to me in the first place, you wouldn’t have to deal with all this nonsense.” I heard Ko’s voice in my ear, “I could have made all these pesky problems you keep having just go away, that way you wouldn’t have to deal with them anymore.” without warning, I found myself wrapped in a black snake’s coils.

“You would make them vanish, you would end up destroying the world.” I spat at him, “I’ve told you already, I will not allow you to hold any power over me.” I stayed as calm as I could, remembering how I freed myself last time.

“Aww, now isn’t that cute.” he laughed at me, “Without the help of your little lizard, there is no getting away from me this time. I will make you bend to me, you will allow me entrance into you. By the time I’m done, you will be begging me to take over your body.” he kept squeezing, tighter and tighter until it started to become uncomfortable.

“Never,” I said through gritted teeth, “I will never give in and let you take me over.” I held my head high, there was no way I was going to let him get the upper hand.

And then Ko was gone, not before whispering in my ear, “I will make you beg, this I promise you.”

I jolted up right, covered in a cold sweat. The morning sun came through the window, I looked around to get my bearings. It seemed that sometime during the night I had fallen out of bed as I was sitting on the floor with the blankets wrapped around me.

“Jun, you awake?” Daiki asked through the door as he knocked, “We brought you something to eat as you missed dinner and I knew you would be hungry.” I could tell he was a little skittish about coming in.

“It’s open,” I called to him, using the bed to pull myself up off the floor. “I just got up, so that’s great timing.”

It wasn’t just Daiki that came in, he had brought Daisuke with him, “We wanted to see if you wanted to talk about what happened yesterday?” Daisuke asked as he pulled the door closed behind himself, “You seemed really mad and we wanted to make sure that you knew that we only wanted to look out for you.”

“I’m not mad at you two, not really. You guys didn’t blow things out of proportion like Eiji and Kyo did.” I said as Daiki passed me a tray of food, “I know you two will always have my back, and I’m really glad you stayed out of the mess yesterday.” they both gave me a sad look.

“Why did you say that to Eiji,” Daiki asked, receiving a hiss from Daisuke. “He cares for you too, so why did you have to be so cruel?”

“I didn’t mean to be cruel, but he pushed me to it. I’m tired of him not seeing me for who I am now. I’ve changed so much, and I know I can take care of myself for the most part, both of you stopped treating me like I was going to break a long time ago but Eiji seems bent on protecting me forever.” I looked at the twins, “I know I shouldn’t have said what I did, but I had to find a way to get him to see me not as his little sister who needs her hand held all the time.”

“While Daiki and I know this, you should have really found a better time to do so.” concern thick in Daisuke’s voice as he took one of my hands in his, “We can’t be sure what Raizo will do now he knows about our situation, but if he wanted to, he could take you from us and there wouldn’t be much we could really do to stop him.”

“Really, that’s what you’re worried about,” I shook my head, rolling my eyes at him, “I can tell you right now what he would do, not a damned thing. Raizo would never do something so underhanded as that, if anything he would offer me the chance to stay knowing full well that I would turn him down so I could stay with you idiots.”

“How can you be so sure?” Daiki asked, crossing the room to hold my other hand.

“I can’t say for sure, but I just have this feeling that’s what would happen.” I gripped their hands tighter, “Raizo doesn’t see me the same way you lot do, this is going to sound crazy but it’s almost like he can see the person I will be someday.” Daiki choked on a laugh, “See I know you’d laugh at me.”

“It’s not that, I swear.” Daiki tried coving up more laughter, but it wasn’t working, “But you are right, you sound completely insane. Must be from the lack of food, we should let you eat.” they let go of me and started for the door when Daiki pulled something from his pocket, “Lady Yumiko asked me to pass this along, seems like she missed you last night.” he gave me the small note and they left me to my breakfast.

Matsu Jun

I am so sorry you were not feeling well last night. Please come join me for lunch today, if you are feeling better. I will be in the private tearoom of the main house. I am looking forward to seeing you.

Yumiko

I followed the attendant that had been waiting for me up to the tea room, completely nervous about having lunch with Lady Yumiko just after having Raizo suggest I should talk to her. “My lady, Matsu Jun is here.” the attendant knocked on the door once we came to a stop.

“Just in time, please show her in.” I heard from the other side of the door. “Dear Jun, so good to see you are feeling better.” Yumiko greeted once the door closed behind me.

“Thank you for inviting me, and I am truly sorry for missing dinner last night.” I waited by the door for her to tell me to sit, feeling more self-conscious than anything.

“No need to apologize and no need to be so formal, it will be just the two of us so you can relax.”

We made the normal small talk for a while, our families health, the weather, our travels. I had relaxed enough to ask, “Lady Yumiko, I do not want to be rude, but why did you ask to see me?”

She gave me a smile “To be honest we so rarely have visitors, even fewer in the winter, and the other notable names we have here do nothing but gossip about whomever happens to be missing from the table, it is very dull.”

I understood her feelings better than I thought, “Some of the other noble ladies I have met seem to have nothing but air in their heads, it is nice to find someone who is different.” I caught myself staring out the window, “This view is absolutely amazing, you can see the whole city from here.”

I saw her mouth curve into a small smile, “It does happen to be one of my favourites, I knew you would like it.” she paused as a few maids brought some trays of sweets for us, “I heard from a little kitty that you may have seen something at a hot spring not too long ago.”

I froze, that’s why she wanted just me, “I figured she would tell you about that, but to be honest I did want to ask you about it anyway.” I stammered, fidgeting with my fingers under the table.

“Well now, it must be important. Please tell me what it is you saw, maybe we can figure out why you saw it.” lady Yumiko said, her features becoming a little serious.

“If you do not mind then.” I took a deep breath to steady myself, “We had been camping on our way to find Lady Kame and Lord Aki’s shrine and Kyo had found a hot spring. He thought it would be a nice way for me to relax after everything, and I guess I had been sitting in the water too long because I heard voices not too far away.” I could feel my heart beating so hard against my ribs, I felt so nervous sharing this with her. “It turned out to be two boys, twins from the looks of them.”

“Tell me,” Yumiko cut in, “what did these boys look like?”

I should have known that she was going to ask that, “Let me just say that they looked like someone I know but they each had one eye that was the same as someone else I know.” I tried to be as vague as possible, but I had a feeling she already knew who I was talking about. “What do you think it means?”

She took a few minutes to carefully think over what I had told her, “It seems to me that you have been given something special, not many people get a chance to see their children beforehand. But you should also use a bit of caution, this could be a well laid trap, how many have you told of what you saw?”

“Momo is the only one who knows what they look like, she has let it slip that I did see something in front of both Kyo and Raizo and both have shown the same concern of it being a trap.” I thought for a moment, trying to think who else may know, “Daisuke might have overheard when I told Momo, but I know if he did hear anything, he would keep it to himself.”

“But you do not trust the others with this, why is that?” Yumiko asked, “Surely they would want to know.”

I shook my head, “It is not that I do not trust them, I already know how they would react. Daiki would torment me relentlessly and Eiji would try to shelter me as he always tries to do. I think he is worried that all of this is too much for me and I cannot handle it on my own.” I could see that she understood a little, “I went from waiting to being married off to crossing the empire to help save it, it was a big adjustment at first but now I feel I can handle so much more myself now that it is taking him a lot longer to see it.”

“He is your older brother, and as one younger sister to another, give him time and he will see that you have become a stronger person.”

Her face became stern. “I do advise extreme caution.” She had me a little concerned “Looking into the future could have unwanted consequences.”

“What do you mean?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“Shortly after Raizo was born I looked into his future, to see what kind of man he would become.” She had a look of both pride and shame “He has turned out exactly as I saw, strong, caring, selfless. It was later that I was given another vision, his heart torn in two, the anguish he would face after meeting two equally strong and loving women.”

I fought back the urge to ask if she had a feeling of who the women could be, “I am not sure that future sight is one of my powers, but I will take every precaution I can if it does turn out to be that way.” I promised, unsure if I would ever actively look into the future again.

Yumiko gave me a small nod, in a heartbeat her expression changed back to the one of a loving mother, “Now if those boys you saw are going to be as adorable as Raizo was, you will be very lucky and you will have your hands very full since there will be two of them.”

I froze again, there was no way for her to know. I made sure not to say who they looked like. I know Raizo had said that it was hard to hide things from Yumiko, but for her to know that, there shouldn’t have been any clues that would have tipped her off. “Do not be so shocked, you know we women have our ways of knowing things about the men in our lives.” She gave me the same knowing smile that her son so often had.

We talked a little more and before I got up to leave, “I hope you enjoy the rest of the day, Jun-kun and if you could tell my lovely son to come see me sometime in the near future.”

After leaving Yumiko, I started on my way back to the guest house but I changed my path toward the barracks so I could give Raizo the message. I also thought that I might just take Raizo on his offer to join him and his team for dinner, I was curious to see what it was like if Raizo actually relaxed a little.

Not surprisingly I did find him in the yard, practicing with a collection of city guards and Guardians. He noticed me at some point, when his match was over, he called a halt to his next opponent and came over, letting someone else fight. “Welcome Jun-dono, come to work out with some other fighters?”

“As tempting and fun as that sounds, I’m not exactly dressed for it.” I gestured to myself, I was still in my red and gold kimono that I had worn when I went to see Yumiko. “I just came from spending time with Lady Yumiko and I thought being here would be more relaxing than being anywhere Kyo or Eiji are right now.”

“That is why I am here as well,” he said with a smile, “I do not feel like a second standoff against them, unless I have to.” He looked me up and down “If you happen to change your mind, I am sure there is someone here who wears your size and we have places you can change.”

I thought for a moment, “Well in that case, why not. It beats sitting on the side lines like I used to.” I may not have brought my sword with me, but I was pretty sure that wouldn’t be much of a problem either.

“Excellent,” he exclaimed with a little too much enthusiasm and scanning the crowd “Wait a moment.” I did and he returned a minute later with a young girl in training gear. “Jun-dono, this is Masae-kun, she will show you where you can change and lend you a set of clothes.”

After following Masae, I changed into the simple deep blue practice equipment as quickly as I could, eager to get back to the training grounds. “So, do I look like I fit in better now?” I asked once I found my way back to Raizo.

“Much,” he said with a smile, “while you are beautiful in the formal clothes, you look more natural in something more practical.” He handed me a wooden training sword. “Now let us find you an opponent.”

We practiced for several hours, never against each other, Raizo always managed to find someone at my skill level, I even managed to win a few of my matches. The sun was beginning to set, and everyone started either going inside or to their homes. “Come on Jun-dono, we can wash up here and then meet the others.”

We walked through the halls and came to the bath house in the basement. To my surprise it was one bath house, both the men and women we had been training with filing in.

I hesitated for a heartbeat, but I managed to find my courage and shoved my shyness aside, mostly because I didn’t want anyone to think any less of me or that I thought myself special. Alright you can do this, there is nothing strange about this at all. Totally normal everyday thing, I mean everyone has to bathe so why waste space and water. I chanted to myself, trying to keep myself from turning around and running out.

“Everything alright Jun-dono?” Raizo asked, peeling off layers “We could go back to the estate if you prefer.”

“No,” I squeaked out. I cleared my throat and calmed myself to bring my voice back to normal, “No, I will be fine. I have to get over my shyness someday, and what better time than now.” I tried to keep my voice steady, but I could hear the nervousness was still there.

“I assume you have never been to a public bath house then, odd considering the number of them throughout your own lands.” He whistled once loudly. “They should help, I spotted them on the way in.” He said as Yukina and Yohko came over.

“Joining us tonight Lady Jun?” Yohko asked, a wave of relief came over me and I was slowly feeling more comfortable.

“That’s my plan.” I tried not squeaking, “That is if I can get my shyness under control long enough.” I knew that I could trust them with how I was feeling.

“Don’t be shy,” Yohko comforted, “we all have bodies and they are more than less the same.” She stole a glance Raizos’ way “Some better to look at than the others.”

I foolishly followed her glance, instantly I could feel the tops of my ears become hotter. “That is definitely the truth.” I quickly snapped my eyes back to Yohko, “I hope you don’t mind if I stay close to you two.”

“If you wish,” Yukina teased, “but where’s the fun in that.” We quickly undressed and followed the crowd into the bathing area, to wash up. My two new friends quickly turned traitor, sitting down in the giant pool opposite Raizo.

I should have known that they would have done something like that, but I followed them anyway. “Is it always like this here?” I was letting my curiosity take over.

“More than less,” Raizo answered, unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, drawing my attention, “many of these people live here in the barracks, many do not want to go home smelling of sweat, some just like to relax before going about their lives.”

I gave a thoughtful nod, “What better way to relax.”

We sat and talked for a little while, not about anything in particular whatever happened to come up. For the first time in my life I wasn’t the sheltered princess but just one of the others, a friend you could sit and talk to, it was very relaxing. That was until Raizo declared it was time to go meet the others and abruptly stood, showing every inch of himself to the room.

I watched Raizo change into a different person as the drinks were poured from the fun-loving defender, to border lining lechery. I turned to the other girls “How do you put up with him when he’s like this, it must get tiring swatting him away constantly.”

“Who Raizo? Yukina asked, “He’s never once made a pass at us.”

I finished my current drink “I find that hard to believe just watching him, it’s shameful. I just hope Lady Yumiko never sees him like this.”

“Oh she knows plenty,” Tomoe chimed in, “more than once she has come to collect him, but no, he has never once acted that way towards us.”

“Small miracles.” I mumbled to my next cup.

Yohko further defended him “The boys once asked him why not one of us and before he passed out, he mumbled something about never women he respects, or that can remove certain body parts.”

I snorted out a short laugh, “Self preservation at its finest.”

“Well he seems to have developed a type in his time away.” Yohko watched Raizo carefully. The others nodded in agreement.

“What do you mean?” I found it to be a strange comment, I was clearly missing something.

The girls just looked at me, “You can’t be that blind.” Yohko said, a little astonished.

“She looks exactly like you.” Yukina finished.

I couldn’t help but notice the woman Raizo had been flirting with did look a little like me. I couldn’t tell if he was trying to make me jealous or not on purpose, but it was working either way. “I wouldn’t say exactly, and anyone can clearly see that.” I huffed, “And it could just be a coincidence, that’s all.”

“She could be your sister with brown hair.” Yohko kept pressing. “You haven’t had that many drinks.”

“And I’m sure you’ve had too many.” I snipped. “Maybe Eiji and Kyo are right and I’m just too trusting.” I grumbled to myself. It was starting to look like I should have gone back to my brothers, with the way they were picking on me.

“He’ll come around eventually,” Tomoe sounded like she was trying to reassure me. “He cannot stay a child forever. Even Daigo grew up a little.”

Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse I was suddenly flanked by the twins. “Hello dear sister,” Daiki greeted with false sincerity, “enjoying some time away.”

“And things get better,” I glared at Daiki, “So what are the two of you doing?” I asked, turning my attention to Daisuke.

“To be honest, Eiji sent us to keep an eye on you. Since you missed dinner and no one has seen you almost all day, he got worried but knew it wouldn’t end well if he came himself.” Daisuke didn’t try to hide the truth as he tried sliding my cup away from me.

“So he sent spies,” I slapped his hand, “get your own.”

“We are here to have a good time,” Saito said, making it sound like a threat “the lady will leave when she is ready.”

“Ya come on cutie” Yohko fluttered her eyelashes at Daisuke, “join us and relax a little.”

“Don’t mind if we do,” Daiki answered for him, sitting between Yukina and Tomoe. “So has our lovely little sister been behaving herself?”

“Surprisingly.” Yukina smiled at me.

“I had a feeling that would be the case.” Daiki looked over at Daisuke with his hand out, “I believe you owe me something.”

I started glaring at the pair of them, “Why is it you two are always placing money on what I’m going to do next?”

Daiki flashed me his winning smile, “Because you are so predictable. It’s always two options with you and I always know which one will have the higher payout.” he laughed, counting the small pile of coins in his hand.

“Don’t be betting on your sister,” Tomoe scolded them, “family is too easy, that is why we usually bet on Raizo, he’s randomly unpredictable.”

“We didn’t have anyone else until recently.” Daisuke said, looking Raizo’s way.

“Things have definitely been really interesting, now we have two.” Daiki kept grinning like a fool.

“Long term betting is always more profitable anyway.” Saito bragged “Our longest one so far is whether Raizo has taken a vow of celibacy or not.”

“From the looks of things, I would say not.” I muttered, “I feel sorry for anyone who did put money on that.”

“Despite all of...that” Tomoe gestured to Raizo, who was whispering something to a new girl “he has never been with a woman.”

“Braggart wouldn’t shut up if he had.” Saito said.

But where would the fun be in that, Raizo has to know what they're up to by now. I thought watching how well the twins were blending in with the Foxes.

“Leave me alone!” we heard from a nearby table not just us but the whole bar. I looked over to see one of the rowdier patrons holding a young woman’s chin. I knew I should go see if there was anything I could do to help her, I was a little torn, while I didn’t want the girl to be pestered, but Raizo had been whispering sweet nothings to her mere minutes ago.

Like a phantom Raizo stumbled behind the man, struck out and grabbed his wrist and with a twist and a pull had him nearly falling. “I do believe the lady wished to be left alone.” he slurred out.

His two friends came up behind Raizo. Without a care, he said, “Well now, I don’t really want to wreck the place, how about we go outside.” Then let the man drop.

They shoved him outside and many of the patrons followed, myself and his team included.

“He cannot really expect to fight like that, he can barely stand.” I said to the others, watching Raizo sway in place trying to keep his feet.

With a chuckle Daigo said “He’ll be more than fine, while he doesn’t like to fight when drunk he can’t let this one go.”

“The show-off tends to do real damage,” Toshiro said “he has a hard time holding back when drunk. You’ll see in a minute.”

One of them charged, with a wide swing to end Raizo quickly. “Nothing about our young lord is dulled in drink,” Daigo said as Raizo caught the punch. With quick easy movements he elbowed the man in the throat, then a back hand. Raizo put the man down with only his right arm.

Not wasting time, the one who was bothering the lady rushed in trying to break Raizo’s nose. He turned just avoiding the hit, grabbed the man’s arm and broke it on his shoulder. Another quick hit to the ribs had him on the ground as well. The third was moving before his friend went down and managed a hook to Raizo’s face.

Staggering a few steps but keeping his feet under himself Raizo gave him a dangerous smile “Let’s see you try that one again.”

The man hesitated. “You see,” Daigo smiled, “Raizo trained harder and longer than any other Guardian, combat is in his very blood, in his bones. Fools like this couldn’t beat Raizo on his worst day. This is not even a conscious effort for him, he’s just letting his body react on its own.” The fool charged him again, trying to tackle Raizo, who waited a second and quickly punched him in the throat then the side of the head letting him fall to the side.

Raizo moved in front of the one with the broken arm, the only one still awake. “You are still conscious, good. Now this is the second time I have broken that arm Seiji,” a realization crossed the man’s face at who he was dealing with, “the next time I am keeping it.”

He moved towards the woman he’d been defending to be cut off by Toshiro. “You’re in enough trouble, you escort your lady back, we'll see her home.” The girl looked downtrodden when she saw the smile Raizo gave me.

With a bow to the girl he took her hand “Sorry for the trouble miss, some of the Guardians will see you home.” He gave it a little kiss, “Pleasant dreams.”

He staggered back to the rest of us “Jun-dono, let me collect my weapons and I will see you back to the guest house.”

Tomoe leaned in so Raizo couldn’t hear, “See, every bit the Guardian, not one woman is safer while Lord Raizo is around.” She gave me a wicked smile “Enjoy your walk back.”

I glared after Tomoe as she went and joined the rest of the team, “Daiki, take Daisuke and head back first. I don’t want Eiji or Kyo to start something, so you will make sure they are out of the way.” I turned to the twins, “Do what you need to, just do as I ask.”

“You sure you can handle him on your own? One of us can stay with you.” Daisuke offered, but I shook my head, “Alright, we’ll see you back at the house.” and they were off, leaving me to wait for Raizo.

A few minutes later he came back out. “Sorry for the wait Jun-dono, the others left me with the bill.” Then with a deep bow “Name the place my lady I will see you there safely.”

“I think the guest house will be fine, it’s been an… interesting day.” I said, starting to walk back to the house. “Oh, before I forget, Lady Yumiko asked me to tell you she wants you to go see her sometime soon.”

“I have to make time for Satomi as well before we leave, so much to do so little time.”

“Well if you didn’t spend so much time flirting, you might be able to have a little extra time for them.” I pointed out, a little colder than I meant to. “I know your mother missed you while you were gone, so maybe you could try a little harder.”

“Nothing wrong with having a little fun Jun-dono.” He was acting like a completely different person. “The Kitsune are as much my family as my mother, closer in particular cases.”

“That does not excuse your behaviour,” I didn’t want to think what he meant by closer, I knew if I asked about it, I would do something I would feel sorry about later. “You still have your mother, while others do not. You take for granted what someone else dreams for.”

“I am not the only one Jun-dono” he responded with a hint of animosity “While they are apparently not blood related you always had your brothers for support, I stepped out of line one time and was banished for it not a word from my sister in three years, not a letter from mother asking to meet while she was at one of the shrines, no summons from the parent who kicked his own son out of the only home he ever knew.”

We stopped in front of the lower gatehouse “While I do feel sorry for the loss of your mother, and your birth parents. You are far from the only one who has had trouble in their life. Go back to the tea house we visited two days ago and speak to the owner about his wife, you should recognize his name.” he gestured to the guards standing at the gate “They will see you the rest of the way.”

“Good night then,” I turned, not giving myself the chance to say something I knew I would never be able to take back. Maybe Eiji was right and I shouldn’t have trusted him, should have listened and not let my emotions cloud my judgment. I would never say such things to anyone, but I should have seen something like this coming.

I woke up the next morning with a fantastic headache, Momo coming into my room didn’t help much. “Jun, we need your help!”

“Please don’t shout Momo, and what’s the matter.”

“It’s Raizo, he’s on the roof sleeping, but we can’t wake him.” She explained still too loudly “I tried shaking and calling him, but he won’t budge.”

I loosely dressed and joined Momo, Kyo, and the twins outside. “Momo seems concerned for some reason,” Kyo scoffed. “If he’s stupid enough to sleep out in this cold he deserves to die.”

“Still not talking to you.” I looked up to the roof and saw one of Raizo’s legs dangling off the side. “Raizo,” I shouted, making my head feel worse “time to get up!”

Nothing, not even a twitch. “See like I said, he is dead to the world.” Momo poked him.

“I have an idea, and he’s going to pay for making me do this.” I took a deep breath and shouted at the top of my lungs “RAIZO HELP!” In an instant he was awake and rolled off the roof landing with a heavy thud, eyes scanning the area, poised and ready to strike.

Realizing there is no danger he stands “That is not very nice Jun-dono.”

“Wow, Tomoe was right that the protection thing is really engrained in there.” I said, not caring that he just dropped two stories “And you shouldn’t make people worry and come to wake me up to get you off the roof.” I started to head back inside, lightly rubbing the sides of my head.

I heard him say “Noted, take care everyone, mother demands my attention.”

“How’s your head?” Daiki asked as he followed close behind me, “Guess you had more to drink yesterday than you thought.”

“You are going to regret teasing me once the world stops pulsing.” I found my way to the living area and all but collapsed at the table. “I feel like death.” I put my head down and closed my eyes.

“Well princess, that’s what happens when you drink more than you should.” Daiki patted my back, a little too roughly. “What’s the lesson we have learned?”

“That you never really know someone.” I muttered into the table, “Are you going to hover all day?”

“Might, but if you ask me nicely, I might see if there’s something around to ease the headache.” I could hear him smiling at me, “But why didn’t you invite Raizo in, he must have been freezing from being out there all night.”

“That is none of your concern or your business. So you need to drop it.” I tried to growl at him, but the vibrations only increased my suffering.

I turned my head so I could see that Daiki was worried about something, “Jun, what happened last night? It’s not like you to be so cold.” he reached over to brush some of my hair out of my face, “did he do something?”

“No, I told you to drop it now back off.” I pushed myself up, “If you’re not going to help me, go away.” I knew he wasn’t going to give up until he got the answers he wanted.

He shook his head, “Not going to happen, you’re upset about something and you’ll just keep it to yourself until you can’t take it anymore. I know you won’t tell Kyo or Momo because they would tell us, but you know you can trust me.”

I knew I was defeated, “We had some heated words on the walk back, that and I feel like I was a fool for blindly giving my trust to someone I barely know.” I laid back down. “Why do I feel like this?”

Daiki gently smoothed out some of my hair, “Because you always want to see the best in everyone, you’re not a fool.” he stood and gave me a small smile, “Why don’t you go back to bed and I’ll bring you something for your head and a little something to eat.”

“A quick something to eat then get dressed,” Daisuke said, coming into the room with Eiji right behind him, “We have been called to the main house. Seems Lord Tori finally wants to see us, so we’re going to be going as soon as possible.”

“Fantastic,” I grumbled, “I’ll go get dressed now and eat when we get back, no point putting things off longer than we should.” I could see that Eiji wanted to ask me something, but I just walked past him. I wasn’t ready yet to admit he might have been right this whole time because I knew he was going to enjoy hearing me say it.

Chapter 42

Everyone was escorted to the audience chamber, or war room depending on the situation, I remembered sitting outside father’s all the time trying to listen and learn something useful. "It seems Lord Tori does wish to meet with the new champions." Omasu said by way of greeting "I will escort you to his shrine in two days."

"Two days?" I couldn't help but ask, "forgive me for asking, but why in two days? Why not today?"

Daisuke let out a low hiss in my ear, I must have sounded rude, but I didn't really care.

"There is a storm coming," he looked down at me "and only the foolish or desperate travel in the winter storms up here girl."

I wasn't sure if my bad mood was left over from the night before or this morning, but I was not going to put up with being talked to like that. "Then count me as both, time is running out on how long we can stay in one place without being found." I stopped caring if I sounded rude, but Eiji was glaring at me as if he was going to shut me down himself if I continued.

"Then you are welcome to leave," he said with no emotion "I will rescind my offer and time to guide you through the mountains and you can find the shrine on your own."

Before I got a chance to get into more trouble Daisuke cut me off, "I apologize for Jun's behaviour, she has been having nightmares lately and has not been sleeping well. I think all the stress from our travels have finally caught up with her." he turned to me, "I would imagine that she does not mean to be rude."

Taking his hint, I bowed my head, "Please forgive me if I overstepped." I knew better than to argue with Daisuke when he clearly was trying to get me out of the mess I had caused.

Yumiko whispered something to him, and he just gave her a nod "Lord Tori only wishes to see the champions and anyone who may want his power, Tentai are to remain here, we will return in four or five days."

"That is to be expected," Aki didn’t sound surprised, "It is your journey and you have to find your way." he shot Kyo a look when he hadn't protested, "And you will behave and wait. You have been making yourself noticed a little too much lately, and I will not be cleaning up any mess you make with Tori."

"Quite right,” Omasu agreed, "despite your good intentions in protecting your charge, my people are not accustomed to seeing a dragon circling overhead, Yumiko-kasan will be staying here if you should need anything." His dismissal was as heartless as the rest of the conversation, "Meet me in the front hall as soon as the storm passes, and we will be on our way."

We were only a few steps away from the main house when Eiji turned on me, "What the hell was that? Are you insane or just trying to prove something?" he snapped, waving a finger at me.

"I didn't see you stand up for us, someone had to." I hit his hand away, "Or are you so concerned with playing nice now that you'll leave me to do the dirty work?"

Daisuke stepped in between us, "Enough, both of you. Since when has acting like spoiled children gotten either of you anywhere? There are only so many times that excuses will get us out of tight spots." he looked to Daiki, "You take Eiji somewhere else, I will make sure Jun gets back to the guest house and is looked after and then once they've calmed down we can get things together for the trip to the shrine."

Daiki nodded, "Sounds good to me, Momo and Kyo can come with me." he gave me one last look, "Don't give him a hard time, we're all worried about you." Daiki said, grabbing Eiji's shoulder and pulled him along.

"So when were you going to tell us about the nightmares you've been having?" Aki asked once the others had disappeared from sight. "And don't try to lie either, I will know."

"They're just bad dreams I've been having since the fall, it's nothing to be worried about." I locked eyes with Aki, not backing down, "It was pretty scary falling like that, and I guess I'm not completely over it."

"That would explain why you've been falling out of bed every night lately," Daisuke cut in, "I just thought it was because you had gotten used to having Momo next to you all the time."

"You try falling off a cliff and see how well you sleep after. If there's nothing else, I would like to get something to eat." I pushed past Aki, but he grabbed my elbow.

“Those who can slip through the worlds can often become lost if they do not know the way, just keep that in mind." he let me go and watched me walk away with Daisuke.

I had found a private corner of the guest house to nurse my pounding head in. I hadn’t wanted to go back up to my room because I knew that anyone could find me easily enough and I just wanted to be left alone for a little while.

“Care to share what’s on your mind?” Daiki asked, pulling me from my thoughts. I hadn’t noticed him come in.“You seem a little off lately.” he was leaning against the door frame of the room I was in.

He had found me curled up by a window, “I’m fine, I think my temper got the better of me is all.” I put my feet on the floor and patted the seat next to me. “Come sit with me for a little bit, I don’t really want to be alone.”

“Want to talk about what happened with Raizo? I know you said you two had a disagreement, but what was it about?” Daiki wasn’t trying to be nosy, but he did want to know more. “It must have been bad if you are giving him the cold shoulder.”

I shook my head, “It wasn’t that, I can’t help but feel like I was cheated of something last night.” I gave Daiki an insulted look when he snickered at me. “And what is it you find so funny?”

Once he stopped laughing, “Sweet little sister, that sounds to me like you were jealous of the attention he wasn’t giving you.” he wiped a stray tear from his eye, “So has our dear little Jun finally been bitten by the green-eyed bug?”

“I am not or ever have been jealous.” I swatted his arm, “There is nothing between us for me to be jealous about, so don’t you even start to think that way.”

He gave me his sly grin, “And what way would that be? I’m only telling you what I see and it seems to me that you got jealous and may have been a little harsher than you meant to be.” he prodded, poking my knees. “You should take some time and figure out how it is you feel. We can’t have you losing your temper every time you get a little angry, like earlier.”

I knew he was right, “I did overreact, but I couldn’t take being talked to like that. We have been sitting on our hands for the last few days.” I leaned my head against the window, “Every day that goes by increases the chances of us being tracked down by someone. I just want life to go back to normal.”

Daiki gave my knee a pat as he got to his feet, “Don’t we all, but until then we just need to keep moving forward.” he said, making his way to the door, “Are you joining us for dinner here tonight?”

I nodded, “I think that’s exactly what I need. I want to go see something first. I’ll be back in a little while.” I waved as he left me to change, and to think.

I made my way through the city back to the little tea house just off of the market Raizo had taken me to a few days earlier. It took a little while to find it on my own but it was what I needed to clear my head enough to think clearly.

“Hello again miss,” The owner greeted me as I stepped through the door. “Coming in by yourself today?”

“My friend had other things to take care of today.”

“Raizo-sama is known to keep busy, but always took time to at least talk to many of the citizens whenever he could.” I wasn’t really surprised to learn that Raizo was well known here. “What can I get for you this afternoon?”

I took a breath to gather up my courage, “I was hoping to ask you about someone.” I was starting to wish I had thought this through a little more. “I heard from some of the Sun Guardians that Airi was your wife.”

He understandably saddened, “Airi and I were married for nearly twenty years.”

“I’m sorry.” I apologized, I had felt guilty that it was my fault she had been killed.

“Do not be, we both knew the risks of her remaining with the guard. She died protecting her family and her people.” He quickly wiped away a prideful tear. “Renji is taking her death as motivation.” The name struck a chord, “He is even more focused on becoming a Sun Guardian than before.”

I remembered sparring with a boy around my age named Renji. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get through his guard, his offence was a little lacking so we fought to a draw. “I think he will make a fine Guardian. I got the chance to spar with him yesterday.”

“Airi is proud of him, Raizo-sama helped us get Renji started, buying him his starting equipment and gifting Renji a wakizashi. Even took some time to teach him how to hold, draw, and care for his weapon.”

I didn’t hide the small smile I had, “Raizo-san always knows exactly how to help.” I realized I had been taking all his attention, “I’m sorry, I’ve taken you away from your other customers.” I quickly ordered a quick snack and a drink, despite our argument Raizo was a good person at heart. I knew we needed to clear the air between us, but first I had to be willing to listen to him, and he to me.

As promised, a snow storm hit that night during dinner. Making our way back to the guest house was impossible, so our hosts had some of the rooms made up for us in the main house. Aki, Kyo, Eiji and the twins were to share the only vacant room, while Momo and I had to sleep with Satomi.

"Satomi-san, I am curious, have you ever been to any of the shrines with Lady Yumiko?" I asked as we settled down for the night.

"Some yes." was all she gave me.

"Must have been interesting to see the other territories without being rushed." I tried to keep the conversation going, but I had a feeling it was going to be hard.

"It was educational, and pointless, I did not inherit mother's gifts, so the trips were short." She sounded more and more like her father with every word.

"But you have to admit, it was a little fun getting out like that." Momo purred, curling up close to me, "I know that spending time away from home makes it all that much better coming home."

"The change of scenery was welcome," she responded, "but travelling in and out of our territory is difficult at the best of times so trips are short and fully planned out."

I nodded, "It has been a pain trying to stay hidden. I hope we get home soon, I cannot wait for spring."

Momo turned her head toward me, "Is there something you are looking forward to?"

I gave her a smile, "Spring always brings the most beautiful flowers." I looked over to Satomi, "You are more than welcome to come and visit any time, Satomi-san. I would love to show you around."

"I have to play catch up thanks to my idiot brother," she had a little fire in her voice "my life up until a few years ago was bettering myself for my family and my future family but now I need to spend all my time learning everything he threw away." She then gave me a confused look "You just said you have been 'trying to stay hidden', why?"

I knew I could trust her with the truth, "I am going to assume Lady Yumiko told you the stories of the Azure Dragon and the other champions." I waited a moment, then continued. "They are more than stories, and that is why we have been running for months." I pulled my seal out from under my kimono, "That is how we came to meet your brother."

"I am aware," she said to my surprise, "Kyo and Momo-No-Mikoto are hardly hidden to someone who looks. I assume Daiki is the Golden Brawler, and Daisuke the Balancer. Then you are here to claim the Crimson Archer from Tori-No-Mikoto. But I asked you, why hide?" She became much like her brother when he turned deadly serious. "Each of you wield the power of an army, hiding says you are afraid of your enemy, the three of you alone should have nothing to fear from anyone or anything."

"We hid mostly because of me. It is not because of fear, but because I lack the experience to defend myself." I felt guilty because I knew it was all because of me. "Our father was told of what I would become, and he did not take the news well and decided that if I was not trained to fight then one of my brothers would be given the Azure Dragon's power."

"Experience is nothing more than what you do with opportunity, you have had plenty of chances to better yourself through trial and error but either decided to cower or was told to run by someone unwilling to let you fall and get back up." The words were harsh but she was right, all I have really done is bumble into trouble and ran when Eiji told me to.

"I have tried many times to convince Eiji-ani, but he is stubborn as the days are long. He is so used to me needing him for everything that it clouds his judgement, it is the cause of many blow outs lately." I said.

"Then stop asking permission to better yourself, you are the one with the power not him." she laid down clearly done with this conversation. "No woman is at any mans' beck and call, be as strong as you want to be."

The storm had continued throughout the night and all day, keeping us inside, and delaying our departure even further. While the others are usually interesting to talk to, when they are not betting on me, having new people to talk to was much preferred. So I went looking for Lady Yumiko, and eventually found her in her tea room, book in hand cup on the little table.

“Lady Yumiko sorry to interrupt, but do you know where Raizo is, I haven’t seen him since yesterday morning?”

“Still worried about him?” she held my gaze, like she already knew the answer.

“No,” I tried not to bite at her, “with this storm I thought he would be here with you, I wanted to see if he was still accompanying us.”

“He is fine,” she soothed, “he will not even notice a little storm like this.”

Little storm nothing, we can’t even open the windows. “Would you like to believe that he is somewhere safe and warm, maybe with one of his team members or with one of the girls from the Hammer, or would you rather know exactly where he is?”

I thought it was odd she would ask me something like that, "I would like to know exactly where he is. It seems odd that anyone would go out into a storm willingly."

She smiled and moved to the window. With a few soft words she opens it, the wind and snow being held back by whatever she did. She pointed up and I saw Raizo sitting on top of one of the stone pillars in front of the manor. "What possessed him to go up there?" I couldn't believe my eyes, "There is no way that could be safe for anyone."

"He is fine," we heard Omasu say as he entered the tea room, "it is not the first time he has been up there".

"Not the first time? He has done this before?" I looked from Raizo to Omasu, "In a storm like this?"

"It is a rite of passage for all Guardians." was all he said.

Yumiko explained further "Each Sun Guardian is to stay up on one of the pillars for a full day, some of which must be in a winter storm. Even your new friends Tomoe, Yukina, and Yohko spent the day up there."

"That seems really intense," I wasn't about to question something that seemed important, but it was really hard for me to understand why someone would do something like that out in such bad weather.

"It is, and that is the point," Omasu answered "if you do not have the strength and fortitude to withstand something this easy, you do not deserve to be called a Sun Guardian."

"Our son took it upon himself to outdo even his father." Yumiko said with pride "Mochizuki heirs spend two days out there, and he managed to not only pick a long storm, but an ice storm." she smiled at the memory, "Daigo took it upon himself to go help him down but Raizo took a swing at him with his katana."

"An ice storm!? I guess there was no changing his mind, was there?" I asked, already knowing what the answer would be.

"Never is." Omasu scoffed, "Boy is stubborn and hard headed." Yumiko looked at me and mouthed the words 'not the only one', with a little smile. "There is being strong then being foolish."

"I get the feeling that he was only trying to make you proud." I looked back out the window again, "but why is he up there right now?”

"It has become his place to think," She explained, "we find him there every time he has a moral dilemma he needs to think through, and nearly every time, no matter what the season, there is something falling from the sky."

"Any idea what he could be pondering over up there?" I asked, but I think I already knew it was about the argument we had.

"He came to speak to me over lunch yesterday, before he climbed up there," Yumiko volunteered "it seems that you, as he put it 'hitting him in the face about his behaviour', struck a chord."

Omasu spoke before I could respond. "Boy has always had a foolish streak for a pretty face, unfortunately it also made him an exceptional Guardian."

"I may have been a little harsher than I meant to be, but I stand by what I said." I couldn't help but feel a little out of place. "But at the same time, he did have some points that hit home as well."

"Brutally honest is the only real way to get through to boys like Raizo," Omasu huffed looking out at his son, "coddling gets nobody anywhere."

"Our son tends to go on the offensive when he knows who he is arguing with is right," Yumiko explains his delivery "and much like his father he doesn't spare the feelings when he believes he is right."

There was a soft knock and two servants came in with trays of food, enough for two. "I am sorry, I took up so much of your time, I will let you enjoy your lunch in peace, my brothers should have started searching for me by now anyways." I blurted out making for the door. They had given me so much to think about, but I knew that I was going to have to find time to apologize to Raizo for my behaviour the other night.

The storm finally broke just before nightfall, so we were able to go back to the guest house and finish getting our things ready for the trip in the morning. "Are you going to be alright to be alone with your brothers?" Momo asked as she watched me from the bed.

"I'll be fine, but if one of them doesn't come back would you really blame me?" I could tell she didn't like my joke all that much. "I'll try to work things out with Eiji, don't worry."

"Did you find out if Raizo will be coming with you this time?" she asked.

I shook my head, "I completely forgot to ask, but I get the feeling that Omasu won't let him off so easily."

"Why would Omasu make him come?" she started to say with a little more enthusiasm "without Raizo around you can patch things up with Eiji and Kyo."

"I would imagine Omasu wants Raizo to guide us to the shrine, or he just wants to keep an eye on him." I turned to look at her, "and I can patch things up with him there, it's not like it would be a big secret."

"It's just you seem to spend all your time with Raizo when he's around." Momo whined a little, "I just worry that he's trying to take you away from us."

"Not you too." I sighed, "Look I don't know why everyone thinks he's going to kidnap me or something, but that's not going to happen."

"You can't possibly know that for sure, anything can happen at this point. We are in his home, there could be so many places where he can take and hide you." Momo fretted, springing up from the bed, "But if you still think that you are completely safe, who am I to say otherwise." Before I had a chance to answer her, Momo was out the door and off to her own room.

"Nosey little fur ball." I said as she left, and tried my best to get some sleep, Ko had become very annoying.

We woke early the next morning and gathered in the greeting room again, Omasu waiting for us. "If everyone is ready, we will head out."

"Are we not missing someone?" I asked once I had noticed Raizo wasn't with us. "I would have thought Raizo-san would be joining us."

"Everyone important is here," Kyo grumbled, "you do not have time to waste."

"No but I do need a second sword for a group this large," Omasu looked at him with annoyance, "and I do not have time to change around the duties of those in the city. Hisa-san!" he called to the attendant, “Go find Raizo and tell him to be here in two minutes." She gave him a bow and hurried off.

I turned to Kyo, "Now behave yourself will you," I looked over at Eiji, "and the four of us can talk about what happened the other day when we get back, alright?"

"You mean three," Kyo counted, "Just you, Eiji, and myself."

"That is impolite Kyo-san, you two are angrier with me then Jun-dono." Raizo entered with his old swagger back. "You called for me Omasu-sama".

"Yes, you are coming with us, I need a second sword and cannot spare anyone else." he ordered, instead of asked.

With a bow "Yes sir, I am ready to leave at any time." I couldn't help but notice he didn't even look in my direction.

I could take a hint, so with a small wave to Kyo I went and put myself between the twins as we started moving, "What do you two think, is Kyo going to stay put?"

"Dear sister, are you asking for odds on your protector to come and get you again," Daiki said with a smile "you know we only discuss that when there is an opportunity to make a little money."

"And why would I think otherwise," I retorted, matching his smile. "What kind of fool do you take me for, three gold sounds like a good start?"

"Two to one that he shows up before the first morning," Daisuke stated, "one and a half for anytime until we get to the shrine."

"And if he does not show at all?" I asked, "because there is always the chance that he might actually listen."

"You do make a good point but given his current behaviour the odds on that would be slim so how does five to one sound." Daisuke offered.

I thought for a moment, "I can work with those, count me in for five gold on Kyo not showing at all, that is if you two have a problem with that?"

Daiki looked a little shocked, "That seems a little much does it not?"

"Well if you are scared that I might win, then I will see if I can find something else to do with the money I have been saving. There are a few shops back in the city that do have a few nice things I could use once we get home again." I taunted, knowing that Daiki at least wouldn't let the opportunity pass him by. I could see Daisuke shaking his head, trying to prevent Daiki from taking the bait.

"You got yourself a wager, five on him showing up by tomorrow morning." Daiki stuck his hand out for me, "May the best man win."

"No dear brother, you mean woman." I shook his hand as Daisuke groaned.

We made camp just before nightfall, I managed to clear some space of snow for everyone, no point in being cold and wet while we sleep.

I woke with a start, which was starting to become the norm these days, my sleeping bag drenched in sweat. I tried to dry it, but my powers failed me again, cold sleep, deprived and agitated I stepped out of my tent hoping the cold air would cool me off. I looked up at the star flecked sky, they actually seemed closer than back home.

Looking around I noticed a body missing, the only one of us who never bothered with a tent. I finally spotted Raizo perched on a small peak overlooking the camp site, if it hadn’t been for the fresh snow, I would have missed him in his dark clothing.

"Someone looks at home up here." I teased, finding my way up the shallow hillside to where he was sitting. "I wanted to talk about the disagreement we had the other night."

"I suppose we should," he was clearly channelling his father, "speak your piece."

Taking a breath, "I may have been a little harsher than I meant to, and I am sorry for the way I said things, but I still believe that I had a valid point. You get to know where you come from, while I do not, and I may be a little jealous of this fact."

"More than a little I would say, but you are right I got to know my birth family, the advantage you have is you do not have to be defined by your family, you are free to be who you wish, I will always be Mochizuki Raizo, son of Daimyo Mochizuki Omasu, the son who was banished." I could see him glaring down at the camp, most likely at his father’s tent.

"That may be the case, but I would like the chance to know who I would have been with them, because I know for one thing, I would not have been the sheltered princess I once was." I cleared away a patch of snow and sat down, "And I wouldn't have to put up with Eiji's incessant worrying all the time."

"What ifs and wondering drive people mad, I know they did for me what seemed like a lifetime ago." he said finally looking at me "I guess we both need to watch our tongues and stay away from the alcohol."

"Maybe, but knowing your team, that is not going to happen." I gave him a small smile, "I do have one thing I have been wanting to ask you."

"I may not be commander anymore, but I am still the better fighter, my word is law. Ask away, as before you can always talk to me, I am not like Momo-kun, I can keep my mouth shut."

"Why and how were you on the roof of the guest house?" I asked.

"Old habits, I have always preferred high places, I have woken up on a random rooftop more times than I care to admit." he admitted with a little shame. "When I cannot find where I want to go when drunk I climb and sleep, nobody ever thinks to look up there so I tend to get away with it."

I tried covering a small laugh with a cough, "Unless you're a hyper young tigress. I am so sorry for waking you like that, it was the only thing that I could think of that would work." I apologised, "Momo was really freaked out when you didn't move when she tried waking you."

"I was very drunk apparently, sorry for bothering you, if your head hurt half as much as mine did you did not have a fun day," he smiled, “and I can still feel that drop in my knees.”

"Oh my day started wonderfully and kept getting better after that." I bemoaned, "I was in a mood after you left and then we were summoned to see your father and my temper might have flared a little." I wasn't proud of that fact, "If Daisuke hadn't covered for me, I'm pretty sure we would have been lost out here when the storm hit."

"I would have found you, storm or no." he stared at me a second with a little smile "And I am sure you actually standing up to him was a good thing, he respects strength and conviction. Do try and heed the advice of the ones who know better though."

"Eiji already told me off, I had words with him after that. It got to the point where the twins had to separate us for a few hours. It's getting to the point where we can only be around each other for a few minutes before things get nasty between us and everyone thinks you want to spirit me away." I thought about what Momo had said last night, "You wouldn't do something like that, right?"

"Honestly? I would love nothing more, I do not think it is fair to rest the fate of our world on so few. However, I am not foolish enough to think I would get very far, I could avoid your brothers, but I do not feel like having any body part frozen on me mid stride."

"While I would love to see their faces, you already know that I am a force of nature on a good day. So not crossing me is what I call a smart idea." I felt lighter, like a weight was taken from my shoulders, "Let's try not to argue any more, life was boring without you around."

"Glad I am a source of entertainment for you Jun-dono." he quickly flicked my nose "And force of nature and all you know you cannot catch me." He let his smile drop "My turn for a question, are your nightmares starting to affect you, I could smell your fear from up here."

I should have known he would ask, "I'm fine, like I told Aki-oji and Daisuke the fall must have shaken me more than I thought. And could you refrain from smelling me, it sounds really strange hearing it said out loud." I started rolling a small snowball on the ground next to me.

"Sorry, but you can thank my katana for what the smell was, I still do not understand many of the things I hear, smell and feel, humans are not meant to have such keen senses." he took my hand "But please tell someone if things begin to take their toll, no one can handle everything alone."

"If they get worse, I'll make sure to tell someone." I promised, trying to keep my smile under control. "but what's that over there?" I pointed to something off to his other side.

He looked the way I pointed "I see nothing, you sure..." I didn't let him finish. I quickly grabbed the snowball I had been rolling and went to hit him with it. Not surprisingly he caught my hand in a flash, shattering the snowball.

He watched our interlocked fingers for a moment then seemed to become uncomfortable "You should get some more rest Jun-dono we have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow."

"Right, I think I should," I hesitated to take my hand back, "I'm glad we had this talk tonight." I got up and brushed the snow from my clothes, "See you in the morning."

"Goodnight Jun-dono," he gave me one last smile "if you should fall into another nightmare know I am here watching over you." I had a feeling that the nightmares were over for now since there was someone who will watch over me, even if it was from a distance.

After we broke camp the next morning I knew that I should make up with Eiji before we made it to Tori’s shrine. “Hey,” I tugged his sleeve, “walk with me for a little bit.”

We lagged back a little, “Finally ready to talk to me without trying to take my head off?” I deserved that barb. “But you’re not the only one at fault for that, we’ve both been nasty to each other the entire time we’ve been here.”

I nodded a little, “Yeah, I’m surprised we haven’t taken each other apart by now. I may have been acting a little selfishly, and I’m not exactly proud of that fact.”

Eiji put an arm around my shoulders, and pulled me a little closer, “You weren’t the only one. I just wanted to be the only one to keep you safe.” I knew it took a lot for him to admit it, “I kind of hoped you wouldn’t have apologized to Raizo, that way you’d want to spend more time with us again.”

“That’s a little mean don’t you think. He’s been nothing but helpful to us.” I scolded him, “I hope you’ll apologize to him for your behaviour once we get back to Taruka.”

“I guess it would be rude to leave without making nice with someone who could end up being a trade partner someday.” Eiji said as I rolled my eyes at him.

“I can’t believe you, but if that will get you to smooth things over with him then I guess I shouldn’t ask for more.”

Chapter 43

It took another full day just to get to a place called The Maw. Raizo and Omasu didn’t seem to even notice the knee-deep snow while the rest of us struggled to keep up. No matter what I did the snow seemed to have a mind of its own and kept us at a slow pace.

“Can we not take a break, even for a few minutes.” I complained quietly to myself. I had already learned that Omasu didn’t abide complaints, so it was going to be pointless to even try.

“We are almost there Jun-dono.” Raizo held out my arm for me, “Let me help you, the snow and ice up here can be very tiring even if you are used to it.”

I reluctantly hooked my arm through his and held on tight, “Thank you Raizo,” I stopped a second and glanced at Omasu, not sure if he was even listening, “-san.” I couldn’t tell if my heart was hammering away because of how hard I was pushing myself or if it was for another reason.

We walked arm in arm for the last few hours, Eiji and Omasu talking about one nonsense or another, I had stopped listening a while ago to focus on not letting the snow slow me anymore than it already had.

We reached the edge of The Maw. “This is where we part ways, Raizo take Eiji-san through the pass, it would be far too dangerous for everyone to go. There is a cave on the cliff side more than halfway through.” Omasu ordered as we came to a stop.

Raizo looked at Eiji, then back to Omasu, “I remember it, Eiji-san I can guide you there and back safely, but I do need you to trust me.”

Eiji glared at Raizo a moment, almost like he was debating saying no. “I do not have a choice, do I?”

I could tell Eiji was already getting under Raizo’s skin when he took a deep breath. “You always have a choice.”

“Lead the way.”

They took a few steps when Raizo stopped and turned to me, “Do not worry, we will both be back before you know it,” he came back to me. “My father will watch over you.”

That familiar smile spread across his lips, pulling out his little travel writing kit. “My father respects ‘Gi’ the most.” He launched into another bit of wisdom “Be acutely honest throughout your dealings with all people. Believe in justice, not from other people, but from yourself. To the true warrior all points of view are deeply considered regarding honesty, justice and integrity.”

I took a couple of small steps back towards the twins, who no doubt saw the exchange. “Still passing love notes…” Daiki started as I shot him a warning glare.

“They will be fine,” Daisuke comforted as I watched them walk along the thin path, “Raizo-san grew up in these mountains, Eiji-ani is in good hands.”

“It is not the mountains I am worried about, and you know it. The way those two go at it sometimes has me worried.”

I turned to Omasu, "Is there not another path that we all could have taken?"

"We are taking it, I have sent them through an alternate path." he informed us like he didn't just separate two people from our group for no reason.

I stared at him for a moment, "Then why send them that way?"

"Regardless of the path he chooses in life Raizo will have to deal with your brother," he replied "they have to learn to not fight like children."

While I could see his point, I couldn't help but to think that it wasn't the best thing for them to be alone together right now. "I just hope they do not end up throwing each other off the side of the mountain." Daiki and Daisuke nodded along with me.

"Their test will not be The Maw, it will be the cave itself." He still kept a marching pace and nothing seemed to tire him. "Raizo knows a great deal about these mountains but there is only two living people who know how to get to Lord Tori's Pagoda."

"Those people would be yourself and Lady Yumiko, am I right?" I asked, I was pretty confident I was right, but I had to ask anyway.

"Yes she is the first Hira since Ko was sealed to see Lord Tori." he explained. "The path is well hidden and is only shown to the next head when it is time for the next generation to step up."

"And that is the other reason why you sent them on their own path." I couldn't help but to say, "Then why take us this way?"

"There is no point in making everyone suffer, they will have to work together to get out of the caves, while we can enjoy an easier path."

Easier path was a miss conception, he led us through several winding paths, in and out of short caves. Each turn or cave had a dozen or more similar ones close by, but he never faltered, or even slowed.

We finally came to a set of massive double doors built into the side of the mountain, it was at that moment that there was a rumble from somewhere else in the mountains, “What was that?”

Omasu looked around for a second. "An avalanche, if I had to guess one of them has gotten angry enough to start yelling."

"Eiji, if I would venture a guess." I grumbled, but the twins disagreed with me.

"Raizo." they echoed, "Eiji does not yell, he just gets that cold stare." Daiki continued, "You should know by now that is how he gets."

"I would have to stand with him on this one, even if those two are alone together I do not think Eiji would resort to shouting." Daisuke nodded along.

"It was Raizo." Omasu confirmed "it seems he got annoyed enough to override his common sense."

"I just hope they made it to safety," I looked to Omasu, "Where do we go from here?"

"You three follow the only path further in, I will remain here," he instructed, I gave him a shocked look. "There is little to fear from here, just watch your step and do not go beyond the first room unless invited."

"Thank you for seeing us this far," I turned to the twins, "Ready?"

"Any time you are." Daiki said with a nod from Daisuke.

We kept moving through the short cave, lit just enough from the open doors we left Omasu at and the open side we came out of. We couldn't help but stare, while Lady Tora's shrine took up a lot of space, the temple itself was modest, this was a massive ten story pagoda, A scorched phoenix, wings spread wide, sat above the story tall double doors. Sadly, in need of a great many repairs, much like how we left the tiger temple. The area around it barren except for the twin lava flows coming from either side meeting at the temple itself.

"Mind your step." I nervously laughed, "Wouldn't want to get roasted by accident."

"Not the best time for jokes," Daisuke scolded. "Just stay away from there and we'll be fine."

"Won't that be a little hard as we're going to the temple?" Daiki pointed out.

"As long as we stay where Omasu said to go, we should be alright." Daisuke reiterated, "Come on, let's not waste anymore time." He took the lead and headed for the temple.

We entered the temple through the front double doors. I didn’t notice before but the doors and most of the structure wasn’t wood like most of our buildings, but stone held together with metal. It was the only building like it that I had ever seen, I wondered just how they managed to keep the metal from melting in the intense heat.

To say it was sweltering in there would have been an understatement, it very well could have been cooler in the lava. "Why does the fire guardian have to be in the hottest place on earth," Daiki complained "we'll melt long before Raizo and Eiji show up".

"Well we wouldn't have any trees if the shrine was in the forest." I snipped, "This is the best place. I just wish there was a way to fix up the temple." I looked around the decaying room, "I would imagine it would be hard to maintain it."

"I wonder if the tiger temple was ever fixed up," Daiki thought aloud, "We kind of left it a real mess."

"We could always take a trip to go see once we finish with Ko. You'll have to go return the gauntlets anyways, so we can go together." I offered with a smile. "It would be nice to spend some time just to be able to enjoy the trip."

"I second that," Daisuke chimed in, "The five of us could take our time and actually enjoy the company."

"Five? There's you two, me and Eiji, who's the..." I turned to give him a shocked look, "Really, you too? We don't even know if he's coming with us again after we're done here."

"Who are you guys talking about?" Daiki asked, looking lost and confused.

"Raizo, Daisuke is counting him with us." I answered, "Now that's everyone assuming he's never leaving my side again." Just because we made up doesn't mean he'll stick around forever. "We don't even know when, or if he'll show up here."

“Oh, he'll be here eventually, just not soon enough to make a difference,” we heard Orochi's voice from the doorway we came through, “Now how about you all hand over your seals and when your brother returns and gives me his I promise that no harm will come to any of you, and I will even reunite you with Takeshi and Toro, a more than fair deal, no?”

“No point in lying to them uncle” Raizo drew all attention to himself, running in from the opposite side of the room.

Orochi just raised his hand and Raizo stopped dead in his tracks. "Now now, that's not very polite, what would your mother say?" Orochi said nonchalantly.

With a quick nod to the twins, we each called our armour. Daisuke was covered in sturdy shell like armour wrapped in a snake's embrace, topped in a striking snake mouth fangs down his face.

Daisuke moved to the right, spinning his kama, while Daiki used his speed to get within striking distance on the other side.

"Daiki no get away!" We heard Raizo say as Orochi stepped back and released the spell. Daiki's speed was greater for a change, allowing him to barely avoid the swing. Daisuke threw his weapon, Orochi avoided it effortlessly.

I saw my chance and moved in with a thrust, Orochi annoyingly danced away, and finally drew his weapon. A weapon I had only seen once before when Yumiko was telling us the story of our predecessors, a twin bladed katana, about an inch apart. Raizo moved in again, and locked swords with his uncle. Orochi broke the hold and landed next to me just off to my left, before I could swing Daisuke threw his kama again, it sailed past and he tried to wrap it around Orochi, but he just ducked it, allowing it to pass by harmlessly. Daiki's turn again, a few quick punches and kicks, each dodged with ease. Orochi took a swing of his own, even with his speed and reflexes Daiki barely managed to dodge.

Orochi suddenly charged Daisuke. Who changed the weapon to a shield, as Daiki closed in with a high kick, only to have it miss and hit the shield, knocking his brother over. With his back now exposed Orochi swung again taking advantage of his off-balance position. Raizo managed to get in front of the attack.

They stayed locked for a second, then Raizo called out "Everyone get back." we back off, Raizo waiting until we had all moved before breaking the lock, "His swords are poisoned do not let them touch you!"

Orochi chuckled, "Very observant, do tell how did you figure it out?" In a blink he was nearly in front of me, weapon raised to kill. Even faster Raizo was there holding him at bay with two of his weapons.

They both suddenly jumped apart, as a flaming arrow hit the spot they were standing. "Sorry I took so long." Eiji called from the level above clad in his own feathered crimson armour, long flight feathers crowing his head. “You were wrong Raizo, I did not die.” he mocked, holding a daikyu in the shape of great flame coloured wings in one hand, no quiver to be seen.

He jumped down to join us. "Good about time you showed," Raizo said, "I need you to provide cover fire, Jun you and Daisuke stay back from here on out." Raizo at some point turned into a commander not leaving room for arguments.

"What no," I protested, I wasn't about to let them fight Orochi alone if I could help it. "I told you I'm not helpless, I can fight!"

"That is not what I mean, I need you and Daisuke to do the watching part of the fight," he took the time to explain "that means you cannot miss anything, I am not going to have the time to figure out how he is fighting us off, just going to be acting and reacting, you two figure out how he is holding his own against us."

"Makes sense, but you can't go it alone." Daisuke said, coming closer.

"I am not Daiki and Eiji are going to be fighting with me. Now watch each other’s backs." Eiji was moving away from us to give himself room to shoot. I could see an exchange of words and what I could only think was surprise on Eiji's face.

Raizo dashed to Daiki next to relay his orders, I could see an eager smile on my brother's face. The battle resumed, Raizo and Daiki dashing in and out as quickly as they could, Eiji taking a shot whenever Orochi was open, nothing worked.

As I watched I couldn't help but think there was something all too familiar, something obvious. It was then that I realized what it was. "Raizo Daiki, get out of there, he's one of us, he has a guardian fuelling his abilities!" I shouted to them.

Orochi just smiled "Clever girl." He shimmered revealing his own armour, black with a snake motif wrapped around him. The snake rushed straight at Raizo, stopping him from moving with the same spell from before. It was like watching one of my nightmares, I felt just as helpless now as I do when I'm in one of them, as he effortlessly picked Raizo up by his throat.

"Run" he got out with what could have been his last breath.

"Now to show you the pointlessness of resisting, while some of my spells won't work on you," he smiled at Raizo "they all work on this one and none of you can stop me." he slowly pushed his weapon through Raizo's stomach. "Goodbye my dear nephew, I’ll make sure my sister gets your body".

Before I could even think, a stream of water came between them and forced Raizo towards us before freezing solid.

While Orochi struggled with the ice, "Daisuke get Raizo," Eiji ordered. Without any words, Daisuke threw the weight end of his chain wrapping it around Raizo and pulled him over. "Jun snap out of it and grab his weapons." Eiji continued making his way to the door we came through. As I regained my senses, the ice dropped and Eiji began firing a hail of arrows, keeping Orochi away, while Daisuke carried Raizo running out the opening. I dropped to pick up Raizo's dropped katana and wakizashi and ran to join Daisuke. Eiji and Daiki follow close behind to deter Orochi from following.

We ran as fast and as far as we could, eventually taking refuge in a small cave slightly away from the door where Omasu was waiting for us, there was a small pond off to one side.

"This will do. Daiki, go let Omasu know what has happened." Daisuke ordered as he put Raizo down and examined the wound. "This is bad, the punctures are too close together, even if I could stitch them, wrapping would only prolong things slightly, and even if he survived the wound there is still the poison to deal with." he looked at me with a sad defeated look "I'm sorry there's nothing we can do."

"No," I whimpered, "There has to be something we can do." I gave Daisuke a pleading look, but he only shook his head. It felt like the world around me was fading away, I could hear Eiji and Daisuke talking but it sounded muffled.

It wasn't until when Eiji grabbed hold of my shoulders did I really understand what he was saying. "JUN! JUN! listen, there is a chance we can save him, that you can save him." my eyes snapped to him, completely focused so I wouldn't miss anything, "When Kyo healed your neck I bet he used similar magic to Lord Ryu, maybe you can ask for guidance or a boon or something, the point is if he would have gotten healing gifts from Ryu you should be able to do something."

"I'll try anything," I wiped my face with the back of my hand, "get him closer to the water." they carefully moved him to the water’s edge. I sat in the water, which only came up to my hips. "Daisuke, make me as many large bowls as you can, I'm not going to let the poison get into the water." he nodded and started passing bowls to Eiji.

I placed my hands in the water and focused on holding it there, "Hold him down, I'm not going to be able to be gentle."

I tried to pull the water up with my hands, but it stayed in the little pool. I tried again, nothing. "Work for me damnit!" I yelled at the water and tried again, I could feel a little pull this time, but the water just fell as soon as it left, I may as well have been splashing around.

Frustrated, I smashed my fist into the stone and tried again still next to nothing. I could see Raizo's breath becoming short. "I told you to work!" I yelled again with another punch. A small pull but it failed.

I didn't count how many times I punched something "Jun don't hurt yourself," Eiji moved to take my hand, "you're making your knuckles bleed".

Another punch "Shut up I am doing this!" I could feel the blood flowing through my fingers. I pulled my hand out and the water stayed with me. "About time." I placed my hand over the wound, I closed my eyes and focused on the water I put in his wound and pulled the poison out first. I snapped my eyes open as a black ooze filled the water. I repeated the process endlessly until the ooze stopped, from there I focused my attention on closing the wounds, there were so many, the twin blades ripped through many organs. All I could do was force them close one at a time.

Once that was done, I barely had the strength to pull myself from the water. "Now all we have to do is wait and pray that we were fast enough." I panted as I lay on my back looking at the roof of the cave. "Don't touch any of the bowls that are filled, I'll deal with them once I can move again."

I must have drifted off for what I thought was only a few minutes, but the next thing I knew Daiki was back with Omasu and the sun was just coming up. “You look like hell, what happened.” Daiki asked, standing over me.

“I saved him, it wasn't easy.” I grumbled, trying to sit up but I could barely move my arms, “I’d like to see you try and heal someone then look like you just went for a nice walk through the gardens.”

“Show some respect Daiki-kun,” Omasu berated, “your sister saved a life risking her own to do so.”

“Does your mouth ever stop?” Daisuke glared at Daiki, “Maybe think before you start talking next time.” I couldn’t help but laugh, but even that hurt. I couldn’t tell if it was from sleeping on the cave floor or from the drain I suffered from the healing.

“All of you are loud enough to wake the dead,” my heart leapt at Raizo’s voice “a man cannot even rest in peace.” Relief came over me, but I stayed quite unsure if I would start crying or not.

“Better alive and cranky than anything else.” Daiki joked, as I saw Daisuke come up behind and punched him in the back of the head, “What was that for?” he whined, rubbing his head.

“I will not tell you again, stop talking before you find yourself in hot water.” Daisuke scolded.

“It is fine,” Raizo smiled at their squabble, I was glad he was able to keep in good spirits. “Daiki-san is only trying to help in his own way.” he gave us a weak smile. “But please tell me that I at least saved the girl before someone pulled me out of there.”

Omasu came over closer to his son “The ‘girl’ saved you boy. You owe her a lot.”

He gave me a smile, one I’ve never seen on him. “I guess that means I cannot brag to the others about my heroic deed.”

“It is a wonder you did not bleed to death,” Omasu scolded “we looked around the area and there was surprisingly little blood anywhere.”

“I can explain that,” Daisuke interjected, “most of that black sludge Jun-nee pulled out of Raizo-san was dead blood. Whatever is on that sword destroys the blood extremely quickly.”

“I told you to leave that alone, moron.” I managed to get up on my elbows so I could scold him better, “What would you do if something had happened?”

“I am sorry for not listening, but I needed to know what we are dealing with. If there is a way to make an antidote before we face Oda again, it would be in our best interest.” Daisuke countered, “I figured it would be better to be prepared.”

“Knowledge is the best weapon Jun-dono.” Raizo said in my brother’s defence “and I am sure Daisuke-san took every precaution.”

“Not the point,” I pulled myself into a sitting position, “that was a risk that you should not have taken.” I pointed at him.

“Like you’re one to talk, how many times have we told you not to do something just for you to go off and do it anyways?” Daisuke was visibly becoming angry, “You are not the only one that can take risks.”

I pulled myself to my feet, while I knew I wouldn’t be able to stand for long I came nose to nose with him. “And what would have happened if you were affected while I was out? I told you to leave them because I could help if something happened. I knew you would want to prepare an antidote and you would need to examine what was in the bowls.” I locked eyes with him, “We would be down two men instead of one because you had to satiate your curiosity. And you saw how quickly things went from bad to worse, I was looking out for you.”

"Enough fighting." Raizo ordered sitting up "Jun-dono, Daisuke-san was only trying to do what he thought was best at the time." He looked at my moron brother "Daisuke-san, please think ahead and use more caution in the future, knowledge is not worth your health." he looked around, "Speaking of such, where are these bowls?"

"Eiji-san took them outside to burn," Omasu informed a little curtly, clearly not amused with the squabbling "They should be done soon."

I wobbled my way over to one of the walls and slid to the floor, "What is our plan from here? Oda knows we have all the seals so it will not be long before he comes to try and get them." I rested my head on the wall, "And we still need to figure out how to seal Ko back into the Well of Night."

"What is later will come later," Omasu nodded, "for now nothing can be done until you and Raizo can walk. Rest and recover."

"He is right Jun-dono you rest for now, we have a long walk back." Raizo said that little smile still on his lips.

"You as well, I only need to recover the energy I used. I was not able to completely heal you, I did the best I could, so you still need to rest." I knew that wasn't going to happen, but I had to try anyway.

"Both of you lay back down," Omasu nearly shouted, an angry father whose children refused to go to bed "we will leave when you are able to make the trip."

Daiki came over to sit with me, "You want to tell me what happened with your hand? I've noticed you've been trying to keep it hidden." he whispered, leaning his head on my shoulder.

"It's nothing, I'll take care of it later." Of course he would notice, "Just don't tell anyone, I don't need the extra attention."

"I would never think about it, you've been extra moody lately so I don't want to get you mad at me too." he laughed, but then became serious, "You know if there is anything you want to talk about you can come to me. I may not be Takeshi, but I will always listen."

"Thank you, but I'll be fine," I leaned my head on his, "You miss him too?"

He nodded, "I know that what happened to him hurt you the most, and that's why you've been trying so hard to protect us."

"I don't see why I wouldn't do that anyways, but I will always be protective of you three no matter what." I could feel sleep creeping up on me, "We only have each other now, so no matter what I'll have your back."

"And we'll have yours." Daisuke dropped down on the other side of me, "But you need to let us help you, how else are we going to keep you from over using your powers?" I guess that was his apology.

"I can't get better if I don't know when I've used too much," I grabbed his hand, "we shouldn't fight when we're both right."

"Get some sleep, I'll tell you what I found out later." Daisuke patted my hand as I closed my eyes and I let sleep take over.

Chapter 44

I woke some time later, feeling uncomfortably hot. "Daiki, get lost," I mumbled. I hadn't opened my eyes, I wanted to try and sleep a little longer, but the heat was making it impossible, "you're just as bad as Momo."

"Do try and pay attention to those around you," I heard a hard female voice say to me "I am much different from him."

I snapped my eyes open to see a deep red bird sitting next to me, "And I take it you are our last companion, nice to meet you." I bowed a little, but it seemed that I had offended her already. "I am sorry we could not wait for you at the temple."

"Eiji and Omasu came back to get me," she scoffed "the older one seemed to realize that I was not about to come and find you."

"Akane-san does not seem like us very much," Daiki commented, dropping down next to me with two bowls in his hands. "Here, take this. You will feel better once you get something to eat." he held one out to me. "Would you like some as well?" I could tell Daiki was trying to make friends with Akane, but she wasn't having anything to do with us.

"No," Akane ruffled her feathers, "I will take care of myself. I would like to leave some time soon, this cave is beyond full."

"We leave when Jun-dono is feeling well enough." I heard Raizo call from outside the cave "For the hundredth time, complaining is not going to speed things up."

"Let's not worry about me," I pushed myself away from the wall, "I will be fine, should you be moving around?" I took a couple of unsure steps, but I wasn't going to let that slow me down now.

"How about you have something to eat before you get all worried about someone else." Daiki tried grabbing my arm, but I happened to dodge him. "Daisuke has been looking after him, knowing you would not forgive us if one of us did not."

"I am fine," he called again, "tell your brother to get off my back before I put him on his."

"In a moment, I have my own to deal with." I couldn't help but laugh, "That is the problem with twins, there are two of them."

"If you two are well enough to be protesting against help, then perhaps we can get moving," Omasu scoffed coming into the cave, "our supplies are not unlimited."

"I am ready to go any time."

He looked at me for a moment, seeing how stable I was on my feet "Good. Pack the gear we leave in thirty minutes!" he ordered, and everyone snapped into action, even Daiki stopped fooling around.

I wasn't about to let the boys out do me, but when I got to my pack it was all ready to go. "Don't you worry, I got bored, so I made sure your pack was ready." Daiki said as he pushed the bowl into my hands, "Eat will you, we will not stop for a while so eat now."

"If there is nothing you need my help with," I watch Daiki go over and whisper something to Daisuke.

"Just eat," they called to me, "we have everything under control." Daisuke finished.

Not wanting them to force me to eat, I went and sat back with Akane. "I guess when we get back, we will have to ask Lady Yumiko for a charm to give you a human form." I spoke casually trying for anything to get her to talk a little.

This just caused her to ruffle her feathers again, "What do you take me for? I am nothing like those children." she spat at me, "While they lived care free, I was preparing and training." she shifted her form. Now sitting next to me was a beautiful woman in a crimson kimono with flame yellow hair. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the twins falter for a few steps, trying not to stare.

"I guess that makes things a little easier." I turned back to my food, "I take it then you are older than Momo and Kyo."

"Age has nothing to do with anything, I was made to be prepared in case that evil worm ever found a way out of its hole." I could tell that I wasn't going to be getting anywhere talking to her, Akane seemed to be angry at everyone.

"Do you think you could teach that to Momo, I don't think she enjoys having to rip the tag off of her fur every time she wants to transform." I tried again to be friendly, but Akane was making it really hard for me.

Shifting back into her phoenix form, "If they cannot do it on their own, then it is their problem to fix. I was not sent to be a teacher."

After that she said very little to us and we quickly made our way back to Takura. I think even Omasu was eager to return to his wife. But the way back was much easier as we had already carved a path through the snow. I noticed the twins hovering around our new reluctant companion the entire walk, whether it was because she was new and very attractive, or the heat she seemed to naturally give off. I didn't want to know.

"JUN!" I heard Momo before she launched herself at me, "Everyone was getting worried, you guys were running late." she wrapped me in a tight hug. It seemed that she, Yumiko and Kyo had been waiting for us at the gate.

"Sorry about that," I patted her head, "there were some unforeseen complications." I watched as Kyo waited for me to say something. "You just going to stand there, I thought for sure you would have been waiting farther down the path." I gave him a small smile.

"I thought I would keep Lady Yumiko and Momo company." Kyo smiled, coming over as Momo left me and jumped on Daiki to hug him too. "I'm glad to see you made it back in one piece."

"If Oda had his way, we wouldn't have made it back." I seethed a little remembering how easily he bested us, feeling my hand ache faintly. "We got lucky this time."

"But next time we will be ready," Eiji came up beside me, "he caught us off guard this time, but we will not be letting that happen again."

I gave him a nod, "But first we need time to rest, someone still needs time to fully recover." I shot a look at Raizo. "And there is still the matter of dealing with the issues the two of you have with him."

Raizo snuck up behind me, "You really should fully recover, you keep pushing yourself too hard." He then spoke to the three of us, "We will all sit down tomorrow and talk, but for now we are all tired from the trip and I could use a nice hot bath."

"A bath sounds great right now, I am pretty sure I am still covered in whatever was in that pond." I looked myself over hoping I didn’t look as gross as I felt, "Why don't you take Eiji and the twins with you, that way I can get a little space to relax."

"If they wish to join me at the barracks, they are welcome," Raizo offered, walking off, "it should not be crowded just yet."

"Oh we're with you." Daiki exclaimed as he pulled the other two behind him, not giving them a chance to protest. "I think our little sister has more than earned some time on her own."

"You too Kyo-san" Raizo called "let the ladies be for a few hours."

"It would be a great idea, that way Eiji and Daisuke have back up if Daiki tries to misbehave." I said when Kyo gave me a questioning look. "Best way to distract him, ask for one of his stories and that should do it. Go and have a little fun." I waved him off.

"Only if you will let me look at your hand later, I don't know what happened, but I assume there is a story to go along with those scrapes." he gave me one last look before going off to join the others.

I had enjoyed my time alone once I shooed Momo away. I used my time to relax and heal my hand without an audience, "So you work now. Well that's just fantastic." I grumbled, watching the skin mend. There came a knock on the door "Lady Jun, Kyo-No-Mikoto asked me to pass on a message to you." one of the attendants assigned to us said through the door.

"What is the message?" I called going to the edge closest to the door.

"He just asked if you wished to take a walk when you are finished, he will be waiting for you in the front hall."

"Thank you," I replied, hearing her leave. "Odd, why didn't he just come and ask me himself? I guess I'll find out on our walk." I quickly finished up and got dressed.

"Sorry I kept you waiting," I called to Kyo as I made my way to the front hall, "have you been waiting long?"

“Not at all” I could tell he was lying, he'd been here for ages. “I thought with everyone leaving in a day or two, we could take a little time and have a walk, maybe clear the air.”

I couldn’t help but smile, "I'd like that, things have been really crazy lately and I get the feeling that it's only going to get worse from here." I smiled to myself, it was nice to spend time with Kyo without being mad.

"Then let's be on our way." Kyo grinned at me holding out an arm for me. "Tell me what happened on your trip to see Tori."

I told him of the trip to the shrine and Oda's attack, then healing Raizo. "Seems Ko has a champion now, making him that much more dangerous."

"It sounds like Oda has been so for some time, that kind of control takes time, and grandfather never said anything about a dark champion." Kyo noted as we made our way through the snow-covered gardens. "But you have taken great strides with your powers, I'm not sure if I could pull poison out of a body like that."

I shook my head, I didn't deserve the praise. "I almost wasn't able to, I got so frustrated I was punching the stone edge of the pond. That was why my hand was so scraped up, I didn't have the energy to heal myself by the time I was done." I held out my hand to show him, "But it's better now, I just needed to relax and focus and this time I didn't feel any drain."

"You're comparing two different things, Raizo was at death's door while your hand was only a little scraped." he took my hand and looked it over, "In both cases you have done an amazing job. You are more talented than you give yourself credit for." Kyo's words meant so much to me, it was nice having more than one person telling me these things.

"That's kind of you to say, but I just muddle through and get lucky when something good happens." I sputtered, feeling the tips of my ears starting to burn from embarrassment. "With everything that's happened so far I'm starting to think my luck is starting to run low."

“Come now, no need to talk like that.” Kyo said, pulling me in front of him. He had my face cupped between his hands, our faces were so close together I could feel his breath on my skin. “True talent doesn't need luck."

I could feel my heart pounding against my chest and a blush spreading over my cheeks. Something about us standing like this felt off, like I shouldn't be this close to Kyo. "Why are you saying these things, why be so nice to me after I was so cold toward you?" I couldn't understand why he was acting this way, my mind was racing along with my heart and it was getting harder to breathe.

"Because it doesn't matter how cold you want to act," he spoke softly, "I know how you feel."

I tried shaking my head, “No. Things are too confusing right now, I don't even know how I should feel.” I tried to pull away from him.

"Then don't think about it." he whispered inching closer. I was starting to panic, I couldn't find the strength to get away.

“Kyo n..” I started to say, but he cut me off with a light kiss.

I quickly pulled back, "Kyo!" I slapped him with as much force as I could muster.

Before he could recover there was a quick flash and Kyo was sent tumbling away several feet, nearly crashing into a tree. Standing a step in front of me was a remarkably angry Raizo. "You are lucky Kyo, last person I kicked like that his neck broke on contact, much like a twig.”

“Raizo!” I jumped a little “what are you doing here?”

“Sorry Jun-dono, I was taking a walk after dinner and heard you tell him ‘no’ then a slap and put it together.” he took a few steps toward Kyo and dropped all emotion from his voice. “When a lady says 'no' it is impolite to do what you want anyway, now apologize or I draw more blood.” he pointed his blade at Kyo, I could see a little blood dripping from the tip.

Kyo touched the spot on his chest where the sword cut into him. I could nearly see the anger radiating off of him, “I would like to see you do that again Raizo.” Kyo reached for his seal.

“Go on Kyo take it off, I will be the first person in a thousand years to say he killed a dragon and mean it.” Raizo challenged.

I shook off my shock and stepped in between them “Both of you stop this madness. What is wrong with you two?”

Raizo responded first “I am sorry Jun-dono, my anger got the better of me.” he wiped off the blade and tossed the cloth at Kyo. “A reminder not to press things when people who care for her are around.”

“It won’t happen again.” He replied hand still on the seal.

“The cut or the kiss? Raizo asked, walking over to Kyo sheathing his sword. They stood level with each other, I hadn’t noticed that Kyo had gotten bigger over the past few weeks. “Do anything against her will ever again no matter how small,” Raizo spoke low, not quite enough where I couldn't hear, putting a hand on Kyo’s shoulder, “and I will not bother to kick you. However you will be allowed the honour of having Jun-dono as the last thing you ever see.”

I watched Raizo put something away, too quickly to see what it was, and then with a bow “Please forgive my hasty actions, I will take my leave.” he just walked back towards the main path back to the barracks.

I couldn't help but feel as if I had let Raizo down, my heart ached as I watched him walk away. I stormed over to Kyo, calling up some water from the nearby snow, "I am stronger than you give me credit for Kyo, your actions betray your words." I quickly mended his wound. "Do not assume to touch me again." and quickly made my way back to the guest house.

Chapter 45

After what happened the night before, I didn't know what to expect from this conversation. "Will you settle down," Eiji insisted when he noticed me fidgeting with my hair, "you're acting like someone is going to kidnap you. We're just sitting down to talk things over about what happened." I could tell he was trying to make me feel better, but I still couldn't calm myself.

"That doesn't help, just promise me no fighting. We've still got to figure out our next move and I would prefer it if everyone was talking to each other." I said, letting go of my hair. "Think you can do that for me?"

He gave me a soft smile, "I can promise to try, but with us you can never know." Eiji patted my head before going to the front hall.

We made our way to Omasu's war room, Raizo had managed to convince his father to let us borrow it for this conversation. We let ourselves in, the guards normally posted there dismissed, Raizo already waiting for us at the head of the table. "Welcome Jun-dono, Eiji-san, please come sit, as soon as Kyo-san arrives we can see about getting past some recent events."

I stuck close to Eiji, feeling it was the safest place right now. Raizo had thought ahead and there were three additional places set up for everyone complete with tea and snacks, two on his right and one on his left. Just as Eiji and I settled into our seats, Kyo came in looking as he had run the entire way, "Sorry I'm late, I thought we were meeting in one of the rooms in the guest house."

"It is fine Kyo-san, Jun-dono and Eiji-san just arrived as well," Raizo said with surprising restraint, "please sit." he motioned to the lone unoccupied spot. "Now, we should clear everything up, first I would like to know exactly what you told everyone Kyo-san, when you saw us in my hot spring."

"I told them what I saw, which was that the two of you were being rather close while swimming in the nude." Kyo tried to sound informative.

I choked on my tea. "Why would you even say something like that?" I sputtered, "That is nowhere near what had happened."

"Clearly his eyesight is not as good as ours Jun-dono." Raizo retorted. "The full truth is Jun kept on several layers, two if my guess is correct, I was in fact topless, however I was not without coverings of my own. I could see she was getting uncomfortable with the intimate setting and offered to bring her back, but she decided to stay, and we swam for a while, then ate lunch, nothing more."

I could see Eiji debating whether or not to lose his temper, "If that was the case, why did you not say something?" Eiji asked, calming down a little.

"Would you have really believed us if we told you? I don't think so." I looked at Eiji, "Besides you never asked us for our side, you just assumed that Kyo's story was the only one."

"I should apologize to you Eiji-san, I should have told you that I was taking Jun-dono out for a picnic." he gave Eiji a sitting bow, "I am sorry, if it should come up again, I will inform you."

Much to my surprise Eiji seemed to calm a little more, "No, you do not have to tell us anything. You both brought up a good point the other day, I can't keep her at my side forever." Eiji relented, patting my head again, "You'll have to learn to be on your own eventually and I shouldn't try to stop you if you want to go off and explore. Just please do tell me that you are going off, I will worry more if you don't."

"I can do that," I gave Eiji a smile, "as long as you promise to have a hot meal waiting for me to come back to." I could see that he was really going to try to let me find my own way from here on out, but I had to make sure he knew I would always come home.

"So he gets an apology, but what about the fact that you lied to my face?" Kyo demanded.

"No, I will not." Raizo responded. "I owed Eiji-san that because I did not bother to tell him. I actively lied to you because I knew you would not leave her be, even if she demanded it of you. I believe you are incapable of leaving Jun-dono alone even when you know she is well protected." Raizo's unflinching calm was both impressive and unnerving.

"And what do you call your behaviour last night?" Kyo huffed, "It looks to me like you are just as unable to give her space." I could see Kyo was treading a very fine line with his taunting. If he wasn't careful Raizo could very well reach for his katana sitting just behind him.

"I was out enjoying my childhood home," he answered evenly "you two were about fifty feet from our Koi pond. Would you care to tell Eiji-san why I, and Jun-dono, struck you last night."

Eiji looked from Kyo to Raizo then settled on me, "What happened, and why didn't you say anything?" I was glad to see he had a handle on his temper, but I had a feeling that would quickly fade once he heard what had happened.

"I didn't tell you because I, we were planning on bringing it up here. At least here you're less likely to be destructive." I shot a glare at Kyo, "So tell him how you earned that handprint on your cheek."

"I may have overstepped a few lines a little." Kyo must have found something interesting on the floor next to him because he wouldn't look at myself or Eiji.

Raizo finished for him "From where I was, Kyo took an unwanted kiss from Jun-dono. She slapped him, very hard apparently," I could hear a little satisfaction in his voice, "while I rushed over with a kick and shallow slice to his chest. I may have acted in haste, but I apologized to Jun-dono already."

"You did what?" Eiji seethed. "How am I supposed to trust you with her if I don't know what you're going to do next." he planted his hands on the table and pushed up.

"Peace Eiji-san." Raizo cut him off, "I do believe Kyo has got a clear message and would be truly foolish to press the matter." he locked eyes with Kyo "And you now know, so you and the twins can keep an eye on him."

After a few long minutes, Eiji finally sat back down. "Is there anything else I should know about while I am still in an understanding mood?" he looked from Kyo to Raizo, "Or have you two finished?"

"I have something you might want to know." I said, choosing my words carefully. "But I do need you to promise that you will keep an open mind."

Realizing what I could be talking about Raizo asked, "Could you take off your seal Eiji-san? I would rather not explain why most of my father’s house has to be rebuilt in the middle of winter."

Giving both of us suspicious looks, "What have you two done this time?" Eiji slowly reached for his seal.

"Nothing unwanted." Raizo put in, "Jun-dono, please explain, after his powers are muted."

I waited for Eiji to put the seal on the table and pulled it towards myself, "You remember how I went to have lunch with Lady Yumiko the day before the storm." he nodded, "Well I was still really angry with you and thought going to the barracks would be a better option than spending time around the guest house feeling you glare at me. Now I could have just sat back and watched like I used to do with you and Toro, but I figured why shouldn't I make the most of my time and I trained for most of the afternoon with everyone."

"Alright, so far nothing you've said would give me cause to worry. I take it you're getting to that part." Eiji pressed when I stopped to think of the best way to tell him what happened next.

I nodded, taking a deep breath. "Well you know how it is when you've trained all day, so once everyone was done for the day we headed for the bath. You've been to the barracks so you know there's only enough space for one bath." I waited for Eiji to say something, but he just quietly stared at me. Raizo just nodded for me to continue, "I did stay close to Yukina and Yohko so there wasn't much to worry about there."

You could have cut the tension with my sword. Eiji and Kyo just stared at me for a very long moment, "I want my seal back now." Eiji said in a calm manner, but it didn't make me want to hand the seal over. I could have handled him being at least a little angry, but this was just downright frightening.

"I think it would be safer for now if I held on to it, I don't know what you've got planned but I know I won't like it." I kept my hand over the red stone bird, and pulled it closer to me.

"What do you think would happen in a public bath house Eiji-san? You did not seem to mind the other women in there yesterday." Raizo gently reminded him, "While you were gentlemen enough not to stare, I know you looked, everyone does. But I did not even consider that it was out of the ordinary for a warrior family. The female team members that joined us would have happily escorted her back at a word."

"So you admitted to taking a look then," Kyo tried sounding smug, but quickly backed off. The death glare Eiji was giving him would have stopped his heart if it was possible.

"That was not called for, Kyo. Are you trying to insult me as well?" I was very tempted to give Eiji back his seal now, but I knew that would also put Raizo at risk.

Raizo evenly returned "Yes," sealing his fate with Eiji, "would you care to know what I saw."

At this point I wanted to crawl under a rock, "You may want to choose your next words very carefully." Eiji was still unnervingly calm.

Raizo sat up straighter, suddenly a commander of the room. "I saw a beautiful young woman, her porcelain skin unmarred by the horrors of war and combat. Her face and hands sun kissed from long hard travelling, her palms just showing warrior calluses. I saw a girl overcome her shyness and sat among her peers, a woman with her friends."

Raizo's words stunned both Kyo and Eiji into silence, while all I could hear was my heartbeat in my ears. "All things considered, I don't trust either one of you right now." Eiji finally said, calm but seething. "However, I will have to accept the fact that my dear baby sister will have to grow up someday." still with a calm voice, "Now we need to plan where we go from here. Now that we have all the powers of the champions, Ko will be stepping up his hunt for us."

"Considering what happened at the pagoda, some serious training for everyone seems in order." Raizo suggested "I could talk to my father and see if there is somewhere you all could use your powers to their fullest without destroying anything important."

"What about you Raizo," Kyo threw at him, "from what I understand you were very close to useless, more of a liability when we meet with Oda again."

"Kyo, you are in enough hot water as it is. Maybe you should try to be a little more polite." I warned him. "I do think using some of the time we have left here wisely is a good idea."

"As much as I don't want to agree with him, Kyo has a point." Eiji mused, "Your biggest asset is your speed and if Oda can stop you from moving that easily I don't know how much help you will be when we meet him again."

"And we hardly need an unpredictable loner following us around." Kyo huffed.

"That's enough Kyo," I wasn't going to let him take his anger out on Raizo any longer.

"It is fine Jun-dono, they are not without a point." Raizo calmed me. "We will all decide my usefulness later, when everyone is here. Is there anything else?"

"There is something that has been on my mind since we stopped in the Sesai village. What has happened to our home, we have no idea if father is even still alive." I could see Eiji tense up a little, this was not a topic he wanted to think about.

"I would think you would never want to go back, after the way you were treated." Eiji commented, grabbing my hand. "But no news could mean that he is still alive, we would have heard something otherwise."

"Then all the more reason to go back, we could possibly get him on our side. We both know that he loved his position more than anything else and I can guarantee he would enjoy keeping it."

"That's if Oda and Ko haven't gotten to him first," Kyo cut in again. "If they promised him more than what he already has then I can be sure that he would turn all of you over without a second thought."

"Could you not accuse an Oda of all the wrong doings," Raizo was now getting annoyed, "in case you have forgotten my mother is an Oda, and by extension myself."

"The point I think Kyo was trying to make was the fact that our father would turn on us if he was offered a great reward for doing so." I tried smoothing things over. "I could imagine Ko sending Takashi to turn him, it would be better to use someone he already knows and would be more likely to trust."

"Then you should return to your home, the storm that just passed was a small one, the winter storms have just started, and it may be best to get back down the mountains before the passes are blocked." Raizo gave an alternative, "Talk to the others and decide what you wish to do, if you all decide to stay I will speak to father about a training place." He grabbed his sword and stood "I think we have taken enough time away from my father’s business," he seemed distant all of a sudden "I will be around if you need me."

Before I could ask Raizo what was wrong, Eiji held his hand out, "I think you have something of mine." cutting in front of me.

I looked down at my hand, "Right, sorry." I gave him the seal and stepped around him, but I had lost sight of Raizo. "Can you round up everyone else, we should try to figure out what we're going to do next. There's something I have to do first, I'll meet you back at the guest house." I had a feeling of where he could be heading, so I started making my way out of the main house.

I ran as fast as I could trying to catch up with Raizo, and I was so focused on where I was going, I nearly ran into Omasu. "I am so sorry Omasu-sama, I should have been watching where I was going." I apologized as I skidded to a stop.

"No harm done," he dismissed with could only be a little light in his voice, "I was just about to come see if you all were finished, my wife and I would like to speak to you Jun-kun."

I tried to not look scared, "We just finished. I do have some time before my family needs me again, so I would be happy to speak with you and Lady Yumiko." I could always catch up to Raizo as soon as I was done. I didn't know why they wanted to see me, so I started trying to think of anything it could be about.

"Good come with me." He led me up to the second floor, and down the main hall that led to Satomi's, Raizo's and his own bedrooms. Much to my shock he entered his private audience chamber where Lady Yumiko was waiting.

I tried pushing down my fears, Yumiko is here so it couldn't be too bad. "Hello Lady Yumiko." I bowed to her from the door, waiting to be told to sit.

"Please come and sit." Omasu said standing behind his wife.

My heart raced with every step, I thought it was going to beat straight out of my chest. "If there is something Kyo has done, I am sorry. I will have a talk with him about it." I blurted out, it had to be either him or Daiki that had caused trouble.

"No trouble," Yumiko comforted, "we wanted to thank you for saving our son's life."

I freaked myself out over nothing, "It was nothing, he has risked himself for me and my brothers so many times now it was the least I could do." I tried to refuse their offer, feeling my ears start burning. I felt so stupid for assuming it was a bad thing they wanted to see me about.

"He is a Sun Guardian, it is in his nature to help those in need," Omasu dismissed Raizo's past actions on our behalf, "you went far beyond what was necessary, and for that simply ask anything you wish, and if it is within my power I will see it done."

I was stunned for a moment, "Thank you, but you do not need to do that. I only did what I felt was right." I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, they were acting like I saved the entire territory by offering me such a favour.

"For better or worse he is our son, it is a debt we do not take lightly." Omasu insisted. "I have much power, resources and influence, there is much you can ask for, and little we would deny the woman who saved Raizo's life."

"You and your family have done more than enough for us, I could not possibly ask for more." I was humbled that Omasu and Yumiko would offer anything to me, just for doing what I knew in my heart was the right thing.

"Please Jun-kun" Yumiko insisted, "Omasu-tosan is every bit as stubborn as Raizo. He will not back down." She gave him a quick look, a silent conversation between husband and wife "If not something now, then whenever you need anything do not hesitate to send word."

"I will," I could see I wasn't going to win, "thank you again." They gave me a nod and Omasu motioned for me to leave, which I took trying not to look eager to be gone.

Chapter 46

I had tracked Raizo down at the koi pond in the garden, "I thought I'd find you here." I came up beside him.

"Hello Jun-dono," he smiled standing up from under the tree, "is there something you need?"

"I wanted to know what was wrong, you seemed a little distant before you left." I was curious to see if he would actually tell me.

"There are many things to consider, and you eight have much to do before everything is finished." he tried to avoid answering me directly.

"That might be true, and we will face everything together. Strength in numbers." I said, hoping that would get a straight answer.

He took a deep breath and put on a blank face "I do not have the heart to lie to you Jun-dono, this is as far as I go."

It felt like the wind was knocked out of me, "I shouldn't have assumed." I tried hiding the hurt in my voice. "I should have figured that you would want to stay and protect your home."

"The Mochizuki lands are well protected," he seemed resigned, looking at the far off peaks, "I am not needed here, I think I will spend a few more days with the team then wander again."

"Then why not stay with us? I can't say it won't be any safer, but at least you'd have someone watching your back." I wanted to understand his reason, but I couldn't.

"You have all the help anyone could ask for, you don't need some unpredictable lone wolf following you around."

"So this is about what Kyo said? Both of them need to get over themselves, you've helped so much already." I couldn't believe that he would listen to anything Kyo had insinuated. "We only made it to this point because of you."

"While his words were said in anger and jealousy, it does not make them untrue." I couldn't tell if he was trying to convince me, or himself. "I have fought and killed for a fair part of my life and never before have I been useless in a fight." He looked at me again "A final lesson for you, a warrior strikes at an opponent’s weakness, if I go up against Orochi again he will exploit me as a weakness, and it could cost one or all of you your lives."

I tried thinking of something to say that could possibly change his mind, "Then let us handle him. Eiji and the twins are just as big of a target." I knew it was a weak argument, but I wasn't about to give up just yet.

With a sad smile "Farewell Jun-dono." he turned away. "For what it is worth I do hope we meet again." it was like the ground opened up underneath me as I watched him walk away. I wanted to cry, but I knew that it wouldn't do any good, I had to hold my head high. Letting go was part of growing up and I had to learn to stand on my own, so I bit back the tears as I walked back to the guest house.

Just as I was getting back, Eiji was leaving the guest house. “There you are, we’ve been waiting for you.” he said, taking one look at me then becoming very concerned, “What happened, why do you look so sad?”

“Sorry I took so long, I’ll explain inside.” I replied, walking past him and headed to the living area where everyone else was waiting. I stopped in the doorway for a moment, trying to collect myself so I could think clearly.

"Now that we're all finally together, we can decide on what to do next." Eiji began, coming up next to me. "Raizo has offered to find us some space to train if we wanted to wait out the winter here." I tried not reacting to Raizo's name, but the hurt was still a little too fresh.

"That would be a good idea, we did get beat pretty hard the other day." Daiki said, "But what about going home, we have lots of room there?"

"I think going home would be the best idea," I agreed, "no point in wearing out our welcome. We've spent too much time away, if there is anyone left they will be wondering where we got off to." Daisuke seemed to agree with me. "So that's three for going home, anyone else have any ideas?"

"Wouldn't it be dangerous to try to leave now? We wouldn't know if a storm is coming until it's on top of us." Kyo asked, "As much as I would like to get away from the mountains, I think it would be safer to stay put for the time being."

"If you cannot feel a storm coming, what good are you?" Akane snapped at him, "Did Ryu teach you anything? You can't even change your form on your own, how much use can you be?" that comment caused Kyo to let out a low growl.

"Let's try to be civil, right now is about planning our next move not pointing out each other’s weak points." Daisuke was trying to keep the peace. "If a storm does happen to catch us off guard, Aki-sensei and I can make a shelter so we can ride it out. I would assume Raizo will be guiding us back down, so we will be safe enough from bad weather."

I shook my head as tears stung my eyes, "He's not coming. I was talking to him before I came back, and he thinks we would be safer without him when we face Orochi again." I grabbed the ends of my sleeves so my nails wouldn't dig into my palms. "I could ask Omasu if he could lend us someone until we are back in our own lands."

"What brought this on?" Daisuke asked with a confused look, "Never before has he backed down, what changed?"

"Seems the fight against Orochi did a number on his confidence. That and what Kyo said to him earlier didn't help any." I sobbed just a little, fighting against my tears. "He now feels that Orochi would use him as a weakness against us, said it would be safer for everyone if we part ways here."

"That makes no sense, if that was the case then you should have told him that we'd take care of Oda." Daiki fumed, looking at me, "Did you even try to convince him to stay?"

"I did everything I could." I snapped, "I tried everything I could think of and he still said it would be better this way. So we'll just have to move on without him."

"To be fair I bet he had the same thought I do, a warrior strikes at an opponent’s weakness. Orochi has already seen what would happen when Raizo is in danger, so if he got his hands on Raizo again, you would fly into a rage again Jun, and the rest of us would panic trying to keep you safe." Eiji told us, like this was coming from a history lesson, "Everything would fall apart in seconds and there is every possibility we would lose." He looked at me "Unless you think you can freeze your heart enough to watch him die and not react."

"Then I guess I will be a liability as well then, because if it comes down to it I will do anything to protect those I care for." I gave Eiji a cold look, "Once you come to an agreement on what we're doing next come and tell me. You already know what I think." I left the room without another word, if I had stayed any longer, I knew I was going to lose my temper and do something that I would regret later.

I had made my way to the far end of the guest house, where there was a small sitting room. It was here that I could find a little peace to deal with my emotions and get my head on straight before we continued on. I must have been gone longer than I thought because the twins came in with a few trays of food and a teapot and cups.

"So this is where you're holding court today? Nice view, good choice." Daiki smiled, placing the food down on the table by one of the windows. I hadn't noticed that from here there was a wonderful view of some far off peaks.

"I was just looking for a quiet place to think. So has a decision been made yet?" I asked as they moved the table closer so we could all fit around it.

"So far most of us agree with you that going home is what we should do. Kyo and Aki think we should wait, but for different reasons and Momo sees good points on both sides. Eiji said that we should give it another day and see what happens, but I think he wants to go home just as badly as you do." Daisuke gave me the cliff notes of what the others talked over, passing me a cup of tea. I could tell that he wanted to say something but wasn't sure how to.

"So Raizo said that we'd be better off without him, you really sure there's nothing we can do to change that?" Daiki asked bluntly. I could see that Daisuke wasn't about to stop him so he must have been thinking something similar.

"He seems to be as unmoving as a mountain once he makes up his mind." I sighed, "As it stands it will be just us when the time comes for us to fight Orochi and Ko."

"Don't count him out just yet, you never know if he'll have a change of heart." Daiki tried to cheer me up but I didn't want it to work this time. "But I do have one question for you, did it really take you that long to find him? You almost always know where to find him, so what took you so long this time?"

"Omasu and Lady Yumiko wanted to talk to me." I answered and Daiki gave me a panicked look, "No you didn't do anything. It was about what I did after Orochi attacked. Omasu said that I should be rewarded and offered to grant me a request of my choice." I explained. I hadn't put much thought into what I was going to ask for, mostly because I had gone to see Raizo right after.

"And you said that there wasn't anything you needed." Daisuke knew me better than I knew myself sometimes, "I take it that he wouldn't take that for an answer, so what do you plan on asking for then?"

"I don't know. We can buy our own supplies for the trip home and there isn't much else we need." I held my cup between my hands, "I did have a passing thought of asking him to give Raizo back his title and position as heir, but it would be selfish of me to think he would want it after everything that has happened. It would be rude of me to not ask for anything, but there is nothing I can think of." Daisuke took one of my hands into his and patted it.

"While you think of others all the time, maybe this time you should be just a little selfish and think of yourself." Daiki suggested, "I'm sure with Lady Yumiko's gifts she could show you what your parents were like."

I shook my head, "No, while I didn't think of that, I will be fine not knowing. Because if I even get just a taste of what things could have been, I will want more and eventually it would drive me mad."

"You could see if we can borrow an army, it would make dealing with Orochi much easier." Daiki suggested with his annoying smile.

"I don't think Eiji would like that much, I get the feeling that he would see it as I didn't have enough faith in him. I have to find something that won't offend anyone." I sighed again, "If there is such a thing."

"Then don't worry about it now," Daisuke nodded, "when there is something you want, I am sure they will honour their promise to do what they can for you."

I nodded, "You're right, I'll think of something eventually. I think it's time we start getting ready to go home, there's no need to endanger these people anymore."

Steeling myself, "Tell the others we are leaving tomorrow morning, we can't debate constantly, or nothing is going to get done. We go back home, find out what we have left and then make a plan from there."

Daiki gave me a mock bow "Yes Jun-sama, your wish is our command."

I guess our decision to leave didn't come as a shock to many people, I had gotten up early to double check we had everything we needed and to make a quick stop by the barracks to say goodbye to my new friends. Yukina, Yohko, and Tomoe had a special set of training clothes made up for me, saying that I was going to need them if I wanted to keep my pretty girls’ clothes in one piece. It must have been their way of thanking me for saving Raizo, so I took them with a smile, a little sad that they wouldn't be coming as well but they had their work here they had to do.

Once we had finished the last of the packing up, Omasu and Yumiko had come to see us off. "Thank you again for taking us in, it means more to us than you will ever know." I said with a deep bow.

"Think nothing of it," Omasu seemed to have warmed up to us a little, "safe travels."

And with that we were off, but before we made it to the main gate we were stopped. A short, skinny man stood in the middle of the street. "Forgive my intrusion," he greeted bowing deeply, "I am scout Katsuji. Raizo-sama hired me to see you to the border."

Of course he would, "Thank you for your time," I accepted the help, "please lead the way." I gave him a small smile before we started off again. But as I had expected Raizo hadn't come to see us off, it was better this way for everyone. No more teary goodbyes to distract me from the path ahead.

As we left the city itself I could feel eyes watching us from somewhere unseen, I turned back to see if I could find out who it was that was watching us. I did my best to scan not only the doors and windows but the rooftops as well because I had a feeling I knew who was making sure we left without a problem.

Going down the mountains was slow, Katsuji didn't know the path we took up but was concerned about the snow. That slowed us down, Raizo told us it would normally take about seven days to reach Taruka, but our guide said with the deep snow and a blizzard that hit the eastern part of the territory it would be at least ten days.

Eiji did take the time to get familiar with his new bow, the flaming arrows he shot clearing out large chunks of snow in our path. The trip wasn't all bad, Katsuji showed us some of the hidden homes set up for travellers who are caught in the many storms. While they were small, not meant to house nine people, they were warm dry and stocked with food.

We did have the good fortune of not having a storm come upon us, so we weren't delayed any longer. Good fortune always comes with bad. Nearly every night I woke from one of Ko’s visits. Every night I got to have my heart ripped out from one of the others leaving, until it was just me.

By the ninth day, I could see that Akane was getting tired of having to stay in her human form and often made small comments about it would be faster if we all could fly like she did, that way we would have been to the border in only a few days. But it didn't matter at this point, we had come this far on our own and as long the weather stayed in our favour we were going to be home in no time.

As we made camp for the night, I had something I wanted to ask Eiji, "Are we going to take the main roads now? With the weather as it is, we would have an easier time."

"I guess there's no real reason not to anymore. We just have to keep an eye out for anyone that could cause trouble." he remarked, looking over to me, "Are you ready for whatever might happen? Father could try to trade you away."

"I would like to see him try," I gave him a small smile, "I've become what he feared, strong and able to stand up for myself."

"And we're with you no matter what." Daiki added, "To the end of time and back again."

"You do know that is impossible right? Once time ends there is no coming back." Daisuke said, in a matter of fact tone which made me laugh. It was strange hearing myself being so carefree when so much was coming for us and we had the fate of everything riding on us winning.

"Good to see you can still laugh, I was starting to worry that we'd never hear it ever again." Daiki smiled as he stretched out on his bedroll, "Soon enough there will be nothing but laughter and good times."

"Enough goofing off, get some rest this might be our last leg on the mountain, but the journey is far from over." Eiji smiled a little, giving me one last look, "It's good to see you smile again." I guess I had been wearing a gloomy expression since we left, but I hadn't noticed.

I had so much on my mind that it must have been showing on my face, "I'm sorry for worrying you, but I'm feeling better now." I yawned, getting settled for the night. "I can't wait to be home again."

I sat up, a little disoriented because the last thing I remembered was, we were still in the mountains. But then how did I get into my own bed, when did we get home and why didn't I remember. The questions ran through my mind as I got up and made my way through the house, it seemed as it was before we left only it was quiet. There should have been attendants moving around, getting things ready for the day ahead but the only sound was my own footsteps.

"Despair, it always smells go alluring to me." the all too familiar voice hissed, "It is only second when fear is around. And to you, an empty house brings both out so well, knowing that you are all alone and left behind scares you more than death." Ko described, making my skin crawl as he slid up next to me. "Which some may call brave, not fearing your own death but it leaves room for other fears to grow."

"Death should not be feared, it comes for us all in the end." I tried not looking at him, "What wickedness do you plan on showing me this time? Or do you just plan on taunting me?"

"Well I was going to give you a glimpse of what you want most, but you have given me a much better idea." Ko slithered forward, "Come see what I have to show you." he beckoned me with his tail. I knew I didn't have an option but to follow, so I slowly made my way to the entry hall to see it lit up and full of motion.

"Is she ready yet? Eiji-san said we needed to make sure Jun-hime is not late today of all days." it was Makoto, one of my maids that called as a few others rushed past her.

"Just about, she's being difficult about the colour for a change.” Minako called back, "She said that it had to be the purple one she made, or everyone is going to have to leave without her."

"I told her that one was being cleaned, red and gold will have to do. Let me see if I can talk her into it." Makoto sounded more annoyed than I have ever heard her before, "Why of all days does she pick today to be a pain? Lord Raizo and Lady Ayame will be insulted if she does not show."

"Lies, all of it." I turned my back on the scene only to see myself coming toward me, dressed in a solid red kimono with a simple gold obi. The look on my face was so painful that it twisted my heart.

"No need," my voice was so quiet, I almost didn't hear it. "I am ready, go tell my brother." what had made me so cold, it was almost like I was a different person.

"I can see you would like to see more, well then let us follow." Ko sounded almost delighted at what he was showing me. "I mean we would be rude to show up late to the ceremony your family is kindly hosting." we made our way to the lake, following my other self.

"You cut it pretty close this time. I've run out of excuses for you." Eiji hissed, "I get that you're hurting, but you are crossing into being rude."

"I will remember that for next time," my other's voice was even, lacking any emotion. "But do not expect me to be around for much longer. I plan on going to Hebi soon, no point in staying here since you have Usagi."

I looked around, but I couldn't see the twins. "They did not make it, and once you won the day you just shut everyone out." Ko revealed, looking behind us, "Oh good we have not missed anything, you are really going to enjoy this." he seemed to be really excited about something.

Before I could open my mouth to ask what he meant, someone from behind us called out, "Presenting Lord Mochizuki Raizo, Daimyo of the Mochizuki territory and Lady Mochizuki Ayame." and they walked past us, arm in arm. They were both dressed in fine Mochizuki coloured clothing, him in a deep blue, her in a fine silk silver kimono. They both looked happy as they made their way passed, Ayame was nearly glowing.

"So what does this have to do with me," I was fighting to keep control of my powers, it felt like Ko was trying to make my temper flair.

"Everything my dear, since you pushed everyone away your wolf went back to the one he knew would love him." Ko's taunts kept coming, "No one can really love someone with a chuck of ice for a heart."

"I have had enough of you lies!" I screamed and that was when the whole scene froze in a layer of ice.

"Good girl, let it out." Ko slithered his way in front of me, looking me right in the eyes, "But guess what, I found you." Ko practically sang.

Chapter 47

I bolted up right, panting as I looked around to see we were still on the mountain and the ground and even the tent around me had been completely covered in ice. "Just another nightmare." I muttered, laying back down covering my eyes with my arms. "Just another horrible nightmare." As I lay there, all I could see every time I closed my eyes was Ko’s sinister smug face grinning back at me. I couldn’t help but think that I had finally given Ko what he had been trying to get from me for weeks, our exact location.

The last of our travels through the mountains were, thankfully, quick. With the slightly warmer weather the snow wasn't a problem and we made it to the border before noon. "Home free, and not another person in sight." Daiki quipped as we came to a spot that opened wider on the path.

"I really wish you wouldn't say things like that," I was having one of my bad feelings, like I had back at the inn, in Hima, doing a quick scan of the area. There was something about that nightmare I had that put me on edge. "We should have heard some birds by now at least, something doesn't feel right."

"You're just scaring yourself because we've had an easy trip so far." Daiki seemed to be too at ease, "What's the worst that could happen?"

"Anything can happen, and you really need to stop talking because every time you've said that things have gotten worse." I snipped at him. And as if drawn by Daiki's words, dozens of Oda troops blocked the path ahead of us and closed in on both sides. "I knew it, I blame you for this." I glared at Daiki for a second.

"Not the time to be bickering." Eiji chided, scanning the numbers, "There's too many, we don't have too many options here."

"Well there is only one right option," I froze in place. Orochi came strutting forward, a satisfied smirk plastered on his face. "Surrender and all of you might live, but I cannot promise what Lord Ko will do with you three." he gestured towards the twins and Eiji. "As for the girl, she is to be left to me."

I shuddered at the thought of him coming anywhere near me. "Not on your life," I spat at him. "I'd die before you get the chance to touch me. I think it's time we showed them our full power." I nodded to the others and they knew what I meant.

While they were able to call their armour, I was left trying and failing.

"Seems all your big words were wasted. Nothing but overconfidence, only to fail when you are needed the most." Orochi taunted as I kept trying to summon my armour.

"Keep talking Orochi," Kyo called out, "We are all together this time, you can't defeat all of us."

"Just because there are more of you does not mean you will win," Orochi continued taunting, "While you assume I am without a companion of my own."

We formed a tight circle waiting for something to pop out at us. "Come now you cannot think things would be that easy do you." Orochi looked like he had already won.

It was then I heard this horrible chanting, the greatest sound ever. First one voice, then the words echoed by what could have been dozens or hundreds of voices.

"Dear god, what now?" Daiki complained. "Don't we have enough to deal with at the moment?" I knew that the voices were those of allies, but I didn't know if saying anything would give away their plan.

"Don't worry," I whispered to Daiki, trying to keep my voice as low as possible, "reinforcements are close by."

I could see the ridge we just came from, five forms standing there all in full armour. They stopped marching in time to the last words of the chant. The one in the middle removed his helmet.

"Oda Orochi!" Raizo called across the distance, "Lay down your arms, the people before you are under the protection of the Mochizuki clan. Further the women are under contract with The Sun Guardians. Any hostility towards them will be met in kind."

"You threaten with only five of you," Orochi sauntered closer to us, Eiji took aim, "you should have come with an army."

"You assume too much." Raizo buried his new weapon in the ground at that moment a small wave of arrows flew from the range on either side of him. It was pandemonium, the Oda troops didn't know where to aim or where would be a safe place to take cover. The space between us and Raizo erupted as a giant black snake emerged from the base of the mountain.

I let out a small whimper, it was almost an exact copy of the one from my nightmares. "This is not good." I shot Eiji a panicked look, "we need to end this quickly."

Eiji and Raizo mirrored each other, "GO!"

Our guardians changed back, and everyone took off. Daiki and Eiji rushed Orochi, Daisuke Aki and Momo went north, while Akane Kyo and I went south. A few fighters fell to my blade, the sudden rush of an angry dragon and phoenix putting them off guard. We fought for what could have been hours or seconds, I couldn't tell, between the screaming and the blood, and the horror there was little cause to care.

Everything went black for a split second as something tore through my left shoulder. I fell to a knee, while Kyo wrapped a small typhoon around me. Something heavy landed in front of me, I looked up to see a heavily armoured warrior, only the fur around his weapons giving away his identity. He knelt, examining the wound, "It is not serious, hold on." Without warning he grabbed the arrow poking out of my shoulder and pulled.

I screamed louder than I thought humanly possible. "Can you close the wound?" he asked, picking up his weapon.

"I can try. Go, the others need you more right now." I placed my hand over the wound, but it wasn't healing. Just as my armour had failed, this simple task seemed impossible.

"KYO!” Raizo called out, and he showed up a second later. "She stays on your back," he turned back to me, "defend yourself as best as you can." and he took off towards Orochi.

I was getting so very tired of being useless and needing to be rescued. While Kyo flew around obliterating people with his claws and tail, while Akane literally rained fire down on anyone in her path. Looking around further, Daisuke and Raizo had joined Eiji and Daiki.

"How are you holding up?" Kyo called back. I had ripped off my sleeve and used it as a temporary bandage, it was all I could do to keep from bleeding all over Kyo.

"Focus on them not me." I shouted, still holding onto my shoulder. "I'll hold out until later."

The others could handle themselves, Orochi was the real threat, I watched and waited for anything I could do.

It seemed the first encounter taught everyone much, they never gave Orochi even a small opening, Raizo stayed at a distance using his pole arm to great effect, and never attacking alone.

Raizo got in close and with a barrage of strikes managed to force his uncle’s weapon aside, just long enough for Daiki to get in with a mighty punch, sending the black clad warrior skyward.

Eiji let loose a hail of arrows, many connecting. "Daisuke up!" Raizo called and was sent flying with a long spear of earth rocketing up. I saw Daiki just waiting, the winds around him becoming violent and being funnelled into his right fist.

A few more lightning quick attacks from Raizo and one double handed cleave sent Orochi plummeting back to the ground. He never hit.

In a second Daiki closed the gap, "Tornado Fist!" at once all the power he'd been collecting was released in a single devastating punch, sending Orochi tumbling through the torrent several hundred feet away from the battle.

"Kyo get over there." I pointed to where the others were running to finish Orochi.

Our enemy got back up just as we all reached him. “Not bad, it seems like you all have finally grown up a little.” He taunted as I jumped off Kyo and we readied our weapons. “I do not think this is a suitable place for such an important moment.”

“And what makes you think you are going anywhere uncle?” Raizo threatened stepping closer as Kyo landed behind him.

Orochi didn't seem concerned by the fact that he was now cornered. "Dear nephew, did your father never teach you to never claim a victory until your opponent is dead." Orochi chuckled as there was a tremble coming from underneath us. "Until our next encounter." With that the black snake came up from under him, mouth open as if to swallow him and slithered off before we could attack.

Kyo was about to go after him until I stumbled a little, feeling light headed from the blood loss. "We'll get him another time, right now we should regroup." I leaded on Eiji's shoulder, keeping myself on my feet.

After things calmed down our guardians stood watch over the Oda survivors, Raizo and his team came over to four us. He removed his helmet and knelt, the near full, silver moon on its brow the only ornament of his simple dark blue armour. Even I could tell some pieces were changed to make moving through the mountains easier. “Eiji-san, Jun-dono we came to lend our assistance, if you will have us.” He was being overly formal, but I could see from his unshaven face and shorter hair they had travelled fast and hard down the secret path to catch up.

“Thank you for coming to our aid Raizo,” Eiji greeted, “I don’t want to think of what may have happened.”

“I see you changed your mind.” I tried to hide that I was glad he showed up to save the day again, while trying to rest my arm in a way so it wouldn’t hurt. “Seems someone knocked some sense into you.”

He considered a moment, “Mother sent us, she said you would need help and that we were the only ones who could make it in time.”

I looked to Eiji, who nodded. “Thank you, we appreciate any help you can offer.” I knew better than to turn away this much help.

Raizo stood and snapped into action, “Yohko with Momo, Yukina with Jun, Tomoe with Akane, everyone else round up the survivors.”

“What do we do with them?” Saito asked.

“We are not in our territory,” he looked at Eiji, “It is Lord Matsu’s word we will follow.”

“I want as much information as you can get out of them.” Eiji ordered, looking over to me. “but after that do as you will, we can’t have them giving away our location.” I didn’t argue with his decision, I knew he was right, and it was so there wouldn’t be any other surprises but it still felt wrong to me.

He turned to Saito, “Isolate any commanders and interrogate them. Send the rest to the lockbox, see if they are strong enough to survive the winter.” Saito bowed and executed the orders. “Kyo!” Raizo called. He came back in his human form. “Can you heal that wound?”

“Just stop the bleeding,” I told him, “the scar will help remind me to pay better attention.”

While Kyo tended to my shoulder Raizo kept on “Lord Aki are you able to quickly grow some trees?”

“I will commune with Kame, and we will see what can be done.” he didn’t even ask why, just went to find a quiet spot.

“What do you need trees for?” I couldn’t help but ask, while testing the movement in my shoulder.

Everyone looked to the field of bodies “Funeral pyre.” Eiji said softly.

That night was endless, the Kitsune made quick work of the trees Lady Kame had grown and built a large pyre. There were no words, no tears, just a blaze and endless watching.

After the ambush I tried to sleep as little as possible, this way Ko wouldn't be able to find us again. While Momo or Yukina were watching, I would try my best to make it look like I was sleeping but there were times they caught me and would stay with me until I actually did fall asleep.

"What happened yesterday? You've never frozen up like that before, not that bad." Eiji demanded. I had been trying to avoid him because I knew the questions would be never ending.

"I don't know," I tried to play it off as nothing, "I've been having issues for days and you know it, so it's not a surprise that I would have an issue this time."

"No, you've never had a problem when you felt that you were in danger. There's something else going on and you’re not telling us." Eiji grabbed my good shoulder, "We can't help if you don't trust us enough to say anything."

Yukina was next to him in a heartbeat hand on his wrist ready to remove it, when Raizo came over. "It is ok Yukina go rest I will take over." She gave him a quick bow and left. Turning to face me, "You told me Jun-dono that you would tell someone if your nightmares started to affect you, the blast of ice I found on the way down suggests they have." At some point he stopped being the carefree ronin, this was Raizo as a Guardian, serious and straight forward.

"I had hoped that I could handle it on my own, and I was. Ko was particularly cruel this time and I was the reason Orochi found us." I admitted, "All this mess is my fault and I did not want to drag anyone else down any more than I already have."

"Then you should have sought help from the beginning," Raizo scolded, "there is a reason that the Daimyos and even the Emperor have advisors, they need help."

I dropped my head ashamed. "Learn from this, you have put those you care for in danger because you refused to admit you need help, anything happens again, ask."

"And how can anyone possibly help, he targets me when I sleep." I brushed Eiji's hand off, "Last time I checked, I am on my own in the nightmares."

"Maybe I cannot," he nodded behind me "but I assume one of them can." everyone else was coming up to join us. "Between your brothers, and your protectors I am certain someone can help."

"We're all here for you, no matter what." Eiji comforted as he placed his hand on my head, "We're all we have left, so if we don't look out for each other then we will never survive." he ruffled up the loose strands of my hair, "Now start from the beginning and we'll figure something out."

So I did just that, I told them about each of the nightmares. When I came to the most recent one, I left out a lot of details, I didn't want to worry the twins. "I know I should have said something sooner, but I thought I could fight Ko off on my own."

"Don't be stupid," Akane snapped, "if Ko could be fought off by one little girl do you not think everything would have been settled a long time ago."

"While you could have said that a little nicer," Momo pulled me into a rib crushing hug, "Akane does have a point. You should have come for help sooner, Ko is dangerous, and you should have known better than to try on your own."

"I believe I gave you a warning, but it looks like you didn't bother to listen." Aki scolded, I knew that's all I was going to hear for the next few days, "I told you that wandering while dreaming will not end well for you."

"In my defence, I did not know I opened the door. If I knew I could do something like that I would have avoided it." I was getting tired of everyone ganging up on me, "Also if I had been told to be careful of such things, I would have been better prepared."

"Like I could have known this would have happened." Kyo grumbled, "I didn't think Jun would have been able to use something like that without training. If anything, you three should have noticed something was off." Kyo pointed at Eiji and the twins.

"Don't you place this on us, you're the one who was supposed to be training her." Daiki pointed back at Kyo, "No one can predict the ever changing mood of a woman." I slapped him in the back of the head, "What? I'm right, your mood changes faster than the weather."

"ENOUGH!" Raizo bellowed from spot on the edge of the group. "There is plenty of blame to go around, Jun-dono you should have asked for help. Kyo-san you should have been training her on every aspect of her powers from day one. You three should have noticed something was off with your own sister. Momo-kun you spend most nights curled up next to her, you could have told someone she has not been sleeping well. Aki-sama if you had a suspicion you could have offered advice instead of a vague warning. I should have pressed the matter when I brought it up two weeks ago."

He took a breath. "Akane-san is the only one cleared because she is new to the group." He looked each of us in the eye "Everyone and no one is to blame. The point now is to correct things as best we can, learn, and move on."

"And what would you suggest we do?" Daisuke asked, I think this was the first time I had heard him be cold to anyone, "How would you go about combating a being that only seems to attack in dreams."

"I do not know, mother might be able to help, but that will be time consuming. We could ask the most experienced one among us." he suggested turning his gaze to Aki.

"Unfortunately, dreams are too fluid for me, the closest one is the one who should have foreseen something like this." Aki looked over to Kyo, "Whatever we decide, I will be of little help."

"Do you at least know of something helpful," Raizo asked, "someway for Kyo to help drive Ko out of her head?"

"Not Kyo alone, it would take someone else to enter the dream realm to help chase the snake off." Aki said, "You three cannot go, you are too important." he pointed at my brothers, knowing that they would offer to go.

"Who would you suggest then, these are my dreams we are talking about and I would not feel up to sharing them with just anyone." I saw Aki's gaze flick to Raizo quickly and I tried to refrain from shaking my head.

"What would happen if you, Akane or Momo go?" Raizo asked.

Aki narrowed his eyes, "Not good things. The best case would be it would drive her mad, the worst case is something I do not think is something we should be considering."

"Then I am your only option. We cannot risk the others, it is too dangerous for you if the guardians go, and I will not risk my team." He fixed me with a stare, "That is if you can trust me."

"I trust the fact that you will do what you can to protect me, which will have to be enough right now." I had hoped there was another way, but I had to accept that this is the only way.

"Good, both of you go clear your heads." Aki waved us off. "You need to be focused on the task and nothing else. I will instruct Kyo on what he has to do."

I excused myself to a quiet place to sort out how I felt about having Raizo enter my dream, there were things I didn't want anyone to see. "What do I have to worry about?" I asked myself, leaning against a tree. "Ko will most definitely not give the chance for us to even see anything that would be anywhere private." I crouched down and scooped up a couple handfuls of snow and packed it into a ball. The snowball was cold to my touch, last time it was nothing, I was beginning to feel the cold again.

"So that's how it is?" I found myself talking to the snowball, "Locking me out just because I couldn't fight off Ko." I couldn't tell who I was mad at myself for knowing I should have said something before things got to this point or whoever it was that broke the seal on Ko in the first place.

In my frustration I threw the snowball with all my might, which wasn't much, causing my already sore shoulder to ache even more. "What good am I if I can't even protect those I care for, might as well have run off on my own for all the use I'll be."

Aki gathered us far away from where the pyre was still smouldering. Akane had another much more pleasant fire burning. "Kyo is as ready as he's going to be," he said, "are you two ready?"

Raizo gave a nod. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be." I answered for both of us, hoping that everything would go smoothly. "So what do we have to do?"

Aki pointed to the shallow pool that I guess he and Kyo had made, "Just sit back to back in the pool, but the more contact you have the stronger the connection will be and then Kyo will have an easier time." he instructed, "Other than that you will have to stay relaxed, or this will never work." I could tell he was saying this more to me than us.

We made our way to the centre of the pool and sat with as much of our backs touching as we could, as Aki had instructed. I could feel one of Raizo's weapons on my back. Kyo handed his charm to Aki and circled the pool in his dragon form.

"Now this is where things get a little tricky." Aki coached once everyone was settled, "You two will have to rely on each other once in the dream realm, we can't send in backup if things start to go wrong. And a final word of warning, if you die in the dream realm then you will die out here as well, and there will be no way to save you if that happens."

I started to feel drowsy, "We've got this, just make sure nothing goes wrong out here." I managed to say as I started having a hard time keeping my eyes open and my head up. "We'll be back in no time." That was the last thing I was able to say before my vision went black.

Chapter 48

We opened our eyes to a vast green field, nothing around as far as the eye could see. “I thought there would have been more going on inside that pretty head of yours than this Jun-dono.” I smacked him in the back of his head.

“Any idea what we are looking for? I asked, trying to see something, anything.

“This is your mind,” he said, taking a few steps away, “try summoning it or something.”

As if called a massive black serpent slithered between us, moving much faster than what seemed possible for its size.

“Welcome back little dragon, finally come to hand yourself over.”

“Not a chance!” Raizo called drawing its attention. “Leave her mind now before we rip you to pieces.”

“Ah the unwanted one,” Ko slithered around Raizo “have you finally gone back to drinking and whoring your problems away?”

“Don’t listen Raizo, he’s just scared because he knows we don’t fear him.” I called.

“I am aware Jun, I know my heart better now.” he sized up the monster like any other opponent.

I quickly lost the ability to move, speak, my breathing became shallow. “Time to lose another, so many people you care about,” the snake struck, Raizo just managed to dive out of the way, "for me to remove."

“Too bad you don’t have your fangs in here little wolf,” it mocked “if you only didn’t fight alone.” He looked at me and could only see me standing there letting him fight for me.

With that cocky grin of his he turned back to Ko, “I am never alone.” He snapped his fingers and a huge wolf sank her fangs into Ko’s neck, while a second smaller one rushed up his back going for the eyes. I heard a little growl from near my feet and the third wolf, no more than a puppy at my feet, ready to fight the world.

Ko smacked them off and Raizo rushed to catch the smaller wolf. “And thanks to my mother, I understand how to fight in a dream world.” He put the wolf down and held his hand out slowly summoning his sword.

The snake struck and Raizo lashed out with his blade cutting into its face. “Jun focus your mind, take control back.”

The whispering came again, “You are not strong enough to resist me forever, you were sheltered and left to wither, you know it is only a matter of time before I have what is mine.”

I can’t, he can’t be allowed to win. I need to help Raizo. I watched helplessly as Raizo called his second sword and continued to fight off Ko alone. Why am I so useless?

“Give yourself to me, and you can have all the strength denied to you”.

NO!

I tried and struggled, tried to help but I couldn’t even move my fingers. My powers refused to obey me. I watched Raizo fight with everything he had, but each slash, bite and thrust proved useless against the snake’s scales.

“Look, he grows weak.” Ko whispered to me. “Even a warrior's mind will break to me.” Raizo was slapped hard by its tail, sending him tumbling towards me. Only a few steps and I could reach him.

He slowly stood and walked a few feet closer to Ko who lashed out with his tail again, sending Raizo flying.

“You can end his suffering Jun, I can taste your pain as you watch him fight.” Raizo stood bracing himself on his wakizashi. “Maybe I will take your lover's body, use him to take the seals. A living body is so much more useful than dead.”

The snake barrelled for him, Raizo didn’t move, just stood there panting. Ko struck.

At the last second, I thought I saw Raizo smile. In a flash he hopped, spun, and as the jaws started to close, he buried his katana into the roof of Ko’s mouth and the wakizashi into the bottom and balanced there, suspended between his fangs, just avoiding Ko’s.

“You need to try harder than that demon.” I heard him say as he rotated again kicking his shortsword down and slamming the long up into Ko’s brain and dove out of the closing jaws as it hit the ground.

“He is impressive,” Ko hissed, “your dog managed to fight one scale of power.” Ko tightened around me a little more. “I will enjoy the havoc he will cause, you will both cause. Now let us see how he fares against two.”

From the distance two more giant snakes slithered forward. Calmly Raizo called up two more weapons and readied himself. “You can’t win mortal,” the snakes mocked, “you didn’t even tell the girl the truth.”

Raizo?

“I did not lie,” he responded, giving himself and me time, “I omitted one fact.”

“You did not tell her you plan on dying today”.

“I did not tell her I am expendable.” He didn’t look back at me, “I am here to give her time and not risk the others.”

“You came to die, you have been wandering looking for someone to end you.”

“Maybe once, but not anymore.” Defiant and confident “I know why I fight and why I live, I am here to give Jun-dono time to figure out what she lives for, and if I have to give my life so that she can cut you in half I will.”

The snakes lunged and his battle started again, this time he didn’t have time to counter attack. Just defend and move, his wolves doing the same. The snakes moved faster and worked as one.

Raizo was hit again landing a few feet in front of me. “I am really getting tired of being slapped around.” He got back up, “Jun-dono listen well, mother told me you have power of your own. Ko may have the dragon’s powers suppressed, but he can’t suppress yours. Focus, find it and free yourself from him.”

The snakes began to circle us “For what it is worth I hope I get to see you again with my own eyes.” He sheathed his wakizashi. “Nothing is greater than you here, this is your world.” He dashed off fighting off the snakes again.

“He is wrong, this world is only as strong as you are, and you are weak.” I could feel the constriction tighten. “He will fall and break his promise to return, and I will have everything I need to rip the powers from you all.”

I stopped struggling. “Yes let go.” Focusing on not what problems we face or what Raizo was willing to give up for us, for me. But on why I was there. “Everything will be over soon.” I could feel Ko getting further inside my head.

“You are almost done,” he whispered, “it is time to stop fighting the inevitable and join with me, and you can have everything you have seen. Have your family back.”

My family, Eiji, Daiki, Daisuke, Toro and Takashi. Ko lives to take and destroy, if he gets my powers, he will take my family, my friends.

Raizo.

Closing my eyes. I want everyone to be safe, I will protect my family, not just Eiji and the twins, but Raizo too. I snapped my eyes open, the realization hitting me like a wall of stone. It was at that moment that I knew what Raizo meant to me.

“Enough!” I roared, with a rush of power I finally broke free, my sword instantly in my hands and I struck cutting deep into the hidden form that was around me. “You have invaded my dreams for the last time.” I noticed that my hands and arms had a blue glow around them, almost like when I summoned the armour.

“Look at that, the little dragon thinks she came bare her teeth at me.” Ko taunted, “I think you are just mad that if I take this one, then you won’t get to see who they truly belong to.”

I took a calming breath and gathered myself. “Spit your poison at someone else, you are far from welcome here.” I could feel the air around myself getting colder, “Form of made of ice, take flight and chase the unwanted for this place.” I found myself at the heart of a dragon made of water and ice, large enough to easily pick up the snakes without any trouble.

“Well done Jun-dono!” I heard Raizo call. “I think I will follow your example.”

He stepped in between the two visible snakes, “Kitsune form up!” the forms of Raizo’s team surrounded them. “You deal with the one I cannot see, we have these two.”

I could see the invisible form rushing away through the rapidly growing grass, the lakes and rivers of my home starting to flood in. “You can’t escape me here Ko.” I picked up my little protector, and took off with my dragon. Not as elegant as flying with Kyo, but it got the job done.

I easily caught up and crushed the snake under the dragon’s claw. “Time to end this Ko, I know what will happen if you die here in a dreamscape.”

It solidified “That you may, but what will happen to your pet dragon if he has to maintain keeping you two here.”

Kyo no. He used my temporary distraction to wrap around the dragon’s leg and crushed it. I watched as he slithered away getting smaller and smaller as more and more of my world returned and filled in. The vast plains of Lady Tora’s domain, the lush forests where Kame waits for Aki. My own lakes and rivers that I can now freely swim in. And off in the distance, my newest memories, Raizo’s tall mountains, the crazy fool standing on top of the highest peak.

I awoke with a gasp, looking around to see that we had made it back in one piece. "That is something that I don't think I'll be doing again any time soon." I leaned my head back against Raizo for a moment, then remembered that he had taken a beating, "You alright back there?"

He coughed "Never felt better. Best sleep I have had in weeks."

"Liar," I turned a little, so I could put a hand on his back. "you're hurt and I know it, hold still."

Before I could see if I could heal him, he stood. "I am fine Jun-dono, you should see about testing your powers, I need to set up the guard rotations."

I covered my hands in water and followed after him, "That can wait, or you will have to deal with me following you around until I see an opening. You will not get away from me that easily." I knew he could outrun me without a second thought, but I would just track him down.

He turned and gave me a smile, "I think we both know you cannot keep pace with me Jun-dono. Thank you for your concern but I have been injured worse and recovered just fine, go enjoy some time with your brothers and the others, we will have to move out soon."

"Fine." I clipped, knowing I would not win, "But I'll be watching and if you look like you're in more pain than you should be, I will get someone to hold you still so I can heal you myself." As much as I wanted to make sure Raizo was fine, I knew that he wouldn't want me worrying over him.

But I now knew the reason why I worried as much as I did, I loved him much more than anyone else in the world and I didn't want to see him in any kind of pain. I wanted nothing more than to be the one to protect him and to be the one by his side every day, but right now I would have to keep these feelings to myself, there was too much at stake for anyone to be distracted.

Epilogue

That night the twins decided that they wanted to sleep on either side of me, which I didn't complain about, it was their way of making sure I was safe. Momo on the other hand tried her best to kick one of them out of her spot, to no avail.

If there had been enough space when Eiji came to check on us, I was pretty sure he would have found a way to slip in, but all he did was silently laugh at me when I tried to get him to take at least one of them.

It took me a long time to fall asleep, but once the first light started coming into the tent, I found I had Daisuke with his head on my good shoulder arm draped across me, Daiki somehow wrapped his arms around my middle and Momo had somehow made herself comfortable on my legs.

I tried moving to get up, but I found myself completely pinned under them, "I can't believe you three, let me up." but nothing seemed to wake them. I could hear the others starting to move around outside and I thought about calling for help, but I didn't think that would help much either.

What a better time to test things out, I thought to myself. I focused and made my skin and the dew on the ground cold, nearly frozen. While it was enough to get the twins to stir and eventually wake up enough to let me go, I still had Momo to deal with as she didn't seem to be bothered by the drop in temperature. "Momo, get off of me." I started shoving her, she reached up and started pawing at me the more I shoved.

"It's too early to wake up," Momo yawned as I finally managed to free my legs, "You just got to sleep, why do you want to be up now?"

"Because it is almost time to go Momo-kun." I heard Raizo as he walked past. "Breakfast is almost ready when you are ready to get up."

I took a few minutes to get the feeling back into my feet before I tried getting up. While I didn't get much sleep, it had been the first night in weeks that I hadn't worried about having to deal with a nightmare and it was a welcome change. "How are you feeling this morning?" I asked Raizo as I caught up to him.

"Well enough Jun-dono," he dismissed, "I take it you at least rested well, considering the cozy quarters last night."

"I knew they wouldn't leave me alone any other way, I think they feel a little guilty for not noticing something was wrong sooner." I answered, "But it was nice to know I wouldn't have a nightmare for a change."

"Then things will be back to normal for you," Raizo was a little distant "you should eat something, we have a lot of ground to cover and we are both sleep deprived."

"I guess we do," I tried not to let my feelings show, "I'll catch up with you later then." I said, going to get some breakfast.

"That was painful to watch." Akane commented as I passed her. "Could you be trying any harder?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." I tried to avoid her, not slowing down but it didn't stop her from following me. "I was only making sure that Raizo was alright after yesterday."

"Right and that's all you wanted to do. You all but tripped over yourself to catch up to him, you should just say something and have him put you out of your misery." Akane grabbed onto my arm and spun me around to face her, "Someone will get hurt if you carry on like this."

"Now is not the time we should be thinking of such things." I tried keeping my voice low, pulling my arm from her hand. "We do not need any extra distractions at the moment."

"All the more reason to speak up now. If you keep this up, things will only get worse for you." Akane pressed me, "I've seen it before, and it will not end well."

"I don't think it's your place to say what I should do in my personal life." I stood my ground, "It is my choice when, if at all I tell anyone anything. Now if you excuse me, I'd like to eat before we head out." I turned and continued on my way.

The following days became routine, wake up, eat, walk, eat, walk, make camp. Repeat. The roads strangely devoid of anyone, no patrols, no merchants, no travellers. With a group this large hiding wasn’t an option, but we should have attracted some attention.

"Someone from Kashi should have been out on the road by now." Eiji said as we came up on the city, "I've got a really bad feeling about this."

"It's winter, maybe everyone is just staying home." I offered, trying to ease his worries, "I know that's where Daiki would love to be right now."

"No, something is definitely wrong. Kashi is always busy no matter what time of year," Eiji turned to the twins, "You two and Jun come with me. Raizo I need you and the Kitsune to wait out of sight, if there is something wrong, I don't want to scare anyone." it was strange hearing Eiji talking calmly to Raizo, but it was nice to see him trying to get along.

Raizo gave a quick nod “Tomoe, Yohko, and Yukina will stay with you. Extra protection for women is not out of the ordinary. They will signal if you need us.” He turned to the rest “Disappear but stay within sight of at least one other.” They all scattered in various directions, many hiding in plain sight. Just a tired traveller or someone about their daily lives.

As we approached the gate, one of the men on watch looked completely shocked, "Lord Eiji? And Lords Daiki and Daisuke? What are you doing here?" he bowed deeply then saw me, "Oh Jun-hime, you are safe. That is good to know." he looked relieved to know that I was alright.

"What has been going on? I have never seen the road so empty." Eiji got the man's attention, "Where is everyone?" the guard looked from Eiji then back to me.

"Everyone is scared, there have been troops from Shiwa in the territory." the guard paused, "and no one had seen or heard from Lord Akio in months, so with you four missing no one feels safe enough to travel outside the city."

"Has anyone been to see father at the estate?" Eiji asked, he needed to know more without sounding desperate. "If there was concern over safety, someone should have gone to see him."

"A few of us had tried, but we never got past the front gate. Every time someone tried, they got turned away saying that everything was under control and there was nothing to worry about." the guard didn't look proud of this fact, "But everyone knows something is wrong and they fear once the sun goes down."

I tugged on Eiji's sleeve, and he leaned closer, "We should go see for ourselves. Whoever is behind this should let us in." I whispered, but he shook his head.

"Thank you," Eiji turned to us, "We will regroup and come back later, we need a plan first."

"Then it might be useful to be in the city, and see for ourselves what is going on." Daisuke suggested. "We can have Raizo and the rest of his team meet us somewhere."

"I know a place that's big enough for everyone." Daiki said, "The Gilded Dragon should be perfect, it is the biggest inn we have."

Eiji seemed to like the idea, so turned back to the guard he had been talking to. "There will be more of our party following us shortly, can you guide them to the Gilded Dragon?"

Giving us another bow, "It would be an honour my lord."

He turned to Tomoe "Round up the others and meet us there." She nodded and walked off the way we came.

We made our way through what should have been a busy main street, with the exception of a few vendors hoping that we would stop and buy something, it was deserted. Even Taruka after that storm was busy and lively, while I have never walked through my own city, this was depressing.

We got to the Gilded Dragon and the owner seemed overly excited to have a few people walk in. "Welcome Lords and Ladies to the Gilded Dragon, what is it I can do for you weary travellers."

"If there is no one else renting rooms, we will need all of them." Eiji ordered and the owner looked like he was going to drop dead from shock, "We have more joining us, eighteen in total, we do not mind sharing if necessary."

"Of course my lord, you just so happen to be in luck, with no one travelling the roads right now all my rooms are available for you." the owner was overjoyed to finally have some business.

"Well now, that works in everyone's favour then." Eiji said as he pulled his coin pouch out, it seemed fuller then it should have been, "I think this will cover us for our time here."

The owner’s eyes all but bugged out of his head when he picked up the pouch, "Of course my lord, meals will also be included with the logging."

Once Eiji finished dealing with the owner, all we had left to do was wait for the rest to join us so we could plan our next move. It only took an hour for them to find their way to meet with us, but Raizo wasn't with them.

"Don't look so worried," Kyo came and sit next to me, "He'll turn up, as he always does."

I was still uneasy about the fact that Raizo was still hurt from when he helped me chase Ko off, "He's still hurt, anything could happen." Kyo seemed to be having a hard time sitting, "Is everything alright? You didn't get hurt, did you?"

I reached my hand out to see if there was anything I could do to help, but Kyo shoved it away, "I'm fine, don't worry about me, just a little sluggish from the spell. It took a lot out of me too."

I didn't believe him, but I knew there was no way to help him if he didn’t want me to, "Alright, but if it gets worse say something, please."

"I'll be fine, just worry about yourself." Kyo ruffled my hair, "I know you want to get out and see the city for yourself but staying put might be the best plan for the time."

"I know, I think I can wait for things to go back to normal before I go sightseeing. It's so sad out there, everyone is afraid because Oda's troops have been spotted around the territory." I leaned my elbows on the table and held my face in my hands, "I want to see the city as it should be, not like this."

Raizo burst in, startling everyone "Things are much worse than they seem." He wheezed, every breath seemed to be a chore.

"What are you talking about Raizo?" Eiji said standing up, "We haven't seen many people, so we don't have any information."

"That is why I took a run around your estate." I have never seen Raizo this winded before. "More than half of, the troops I could see, were Oda. Although, the Matsu banner still flies." he finished leaning on the wall.

"And that's why the city guard is getting turned away," I looked at Eiji, "and no one has seen father. They are trying to pretend nothing is wrong when they have taken control somehow." I noticed Kyo was starting to have a hard time breathing too, "Are you sure you're alright." I asked, getting more worried.

"I already said not to worry about me," Kyo panted, "You need to focus your attention on your people, I can take care of myself."

Raizo started violently coughing, it sounded more like something trying to leave his chest. He moved and looked at his hand. "Well that is not good." and he started to topple over.

I and half his team were there in a heartbeat "Raizo what is wrong." I demanded, seeing the blood he coughed into his palm.

"I will be fine, get Kyo." he pointed and just as I looked over Kyo fell from his seat and crashed to the floor.

It was a flurry of action around me, Saito and Kazuma had Raizo propped up between them and the twins had Kyo. “Get them upstairs, clearly something isn’t right with either of them.” Eiji shouted over the chaos.

I found myself standing numbly, rooted in place as one of my closest friends and the man I loved were dragged to one of the rooms on the second floor. A light touch to my arm brought me back to my senses. “They’ll be alright, won’t they?” Momo asked in a small voice. She sounded so scared, it didn’t help my own fears.

I put my hand over hers, “They are both too stubborn and hard headed to stay down for long, I’ll do what I can.” I tried my best to comfort her, but I wasn’t sure if there was anything I could do without Kyo’s help.

I slowly made my way to the room, ordering Momo to get me as much water as she could carry. I’m not about to stand by and let you two slip away from me. They bark at me for not asking for help now look at the pair of you.

I told Yukina and Daisuke to look over Raizo. I went over to Kyo. Now we needed clear thinking, Raizo would have found some way to keep us on track. As Kyo wasn’t human they would be of little help. I may not be much help, but something was better than nothing. We were going to have to wait and see if they would recover as we did whatever we could to ease the bleeding.