A Flame in the Wind...

[Yuichi Inoue]

Tetsoma Kyosku knelt on the tatami mat, feeling the ridges dig in to the skin around her knees. She ignored it. Just like she ignored the cramp in her right leg and the pins and needles sensation spreading across her ankle. Like most sensations to her body and most emotions that passed through her mind, she pushed it aside. Ignoring pain and discomfort and thinking without emotion had been bred into her over years of hard training. Years of discipline, all to become a tool for the clan.

Head bowed, she stared at the beige mat and waited. Candles flickered to either side of her, but only enough light emanated from the shifting flames to chase the shadows to the corners of the small rectangular room. Before her a screen separated her from her leader. The man who had allowed her to stay in this village as a child, after her home and parents were killed in a raid by the Okinawa ninja clan. She could not see him. If she listened hard enough, Kyo could make out the sound of his breathing, which had grown laborious over the last three years.

He was getting old.

Soon someone would replace him. There was no place for weakness here. Very few in a ninja clan had the luxury to live a long life and die of natural causes. Someone would challenge him for the right to lead, he would lose.

It was only a matter of time.

"Tetsoma-san." The voice that issued forth was rough, sounding like stones tumbling down the side of a mountain.

"Hai, Jonin-sama." No matter how many times she'd been in this room and how many times she talked to him, the ninja never got used to it. She could feel the tension in her back.

"The mission?" Was all he said, all he had to.

She reached to her right, keeping her eyes on the floor, and grabbed the hilt of the Katana beside her. She had inspected the weapon herself. Folded steel with the family name Kohaku engraved on the habaki and a beautifully carved jade dragon comprising the tsuba. The saya was made of mahogany and lacquered to shine an exquisitely dark black.

'Honour above all else.' Etched into the wood with a careful hand.

This she found ironic.

In one fluid motion, she present it in both hands, palm up. To her left, another screen parted and a servant girl appeared in drab clothes, her face a hard mask showing nothing. She gingerly took the sword from Kyo's hands, never meeting her eyes, then quickly left the room.

Many times the shinobi had seen that servant girl before. She still knew not her name. Servants did not talk.

"Went without incident, Jonin-sama." She responded, moving her hands back to her side. "No incident?"

She kept the smirk from her face. "A samurai without honour is easy to dispatch. He held not to bushido and let down his guard when he thought me a simple Geisha."

It had been more than easy to kill Kohaku Akain. The man had let his greed and emotions cloud everything he did. He no longer followed the tenements of Bushido and cared only about the money lining his pockets, and the amount of women he could bed. Posing as a Geisha and gaining entrance to the Inn had been more than easy. To get into his room required only a flourish of hand skills with a fan, a simple trick really, and a kimono slit high up the side to show a bit of leg.

Men could really be such easy targets. The few women Kyo had killed put up the most resistance and forced her to be far more cunning.

"The contract is fulfilled then." He said simply. "I have nothing for you now."

"Understood."

She bowed her head lower before rising from the mat just as a screen to her right opened; a servant girl kneeling in the corner. Taking two steps backward from her leader, Kyosku turned and headed out into the hall.

Not a single decoration lined the simple rice screen walls. No vases and no flowers. Just the occasional candle to chase away the dark. Servants moved about efficiently and without so much as glancing at her face. Their eyes on the floor.

Turning right at the first cross section and then left at the next, Kyosku exited the manse and found herself in an exquisitely manicured garden with the bright mid day sun shining down on her. A sea of sand stretched out before her, with rocks, bridges and bonsai scattered in perfect symmetry.

Free for a time, she moved through the garden with barely a glance and headed into the village, towards her house.

[Yuichi Inoue]

Yuichi stared up at the ceiling.

It had been two days since Saburo had come to see her. Two days and not a word on her fate, not a word from anyone really. Servants from Shiyo's house brought her food and replenished the oil in her lantern, but they did nothing more. They would not look at her. Would not speak to her. Her first attempts at conversation had been met with fearful glances and hasty retreats. After the third try she'd merely given up. No point getting a servant punished for her own selfish reasons.

Saburo said he would be back. So he'd come.

He also said he loved her and wanted to marry her, yet at the first crossroads in their life, he'd shown how little he trusted her.

Yui's heart ached every time she remembered the look on his face. The way his eyes had questioned her, unwilling to believe in her. Then she remembered the look on her father's face when she had confessed to killing the Phoenix. The way his skin had paled, his eyes wide in shock.

Everyone in the village thought her cursed. All because Ruka had given her a Phoenix. A mystical creature, under the protection of the spirits. But killing a mystical creature was taboo and it appeared many of the villagers believed she'd purposefully done it. For what gain, she didn't know. Only their beliefs mattered. After all, they held her fate in their hands.

A scary thought since many of the people in that meeting did not trust her. She'd been born with odd gifts, a affinity towards fire, and that had never sat well with any of them.

All she could do, while she awaited their decision, was think. Think and sleep and pray for the sun. She could already begin to feel the lethargy beginning to seep into her body. Ever since she'd been a child, if Yui went too long without being in the sunlight, her body would slowly begin to weaken and she'd grow depressed and uninterested in things. The flame from the lantern helped. When she touched the heated glass, she felt it course through her body, but it wasn't the same.

I want out of this cage...

Sighing, Yui rolled over on her hard bed and stared at the back wall. The lantern cast the bamboo bars into shadow relief that flickered and danced. She watched the pole figures move until her eyes blurred and played tricks on her, making it look like the shadows bled and blended together, reaching for her.

A chill washed over her.

She shook her head, dispelling the image and the shadows returned to normal.

If she spent too much time in here alone, she just bet she'd start losing it. Yui couldn't count the number if solitary hunting trips she'd taken, but this was different. In the woods there was always something to do and if she could find no human to talk to, occasionally she could find an ear in a forest spirit.

Maybe Saburo wasn't going to come back.

The thought caused her throat to constrict. Swallowing the lump, she buried her face into her pillow and breathed in the must and mildew smell.

He'd come back. He said he would.

The wind outside shifted. She heard it whistle through the cracks in the storehouse and from somewhere she could not fathom, a breeze stirred her hair. It felt comforting.

Her eyes drifted shut, her mind lulled into sleep by a gentle and insistent murmur.

When next she opened them, Yui found herself squinting up through the trees at a bright mid day sun. It streamed through breaks in the canopy, bathing the forest floor around her in gold. She smiled and breathed in greedily the smell of rotting wood and wet earth, of recent rain and leaves, oh so many leaves.

It smelled of home to her.

Languidly, she stretched out her muscles and rose from the bed of moss and ferns. Next to her lay her pack, bow and quiver. She slipped them all on. Her eyes scanning the ancient trees, taller than any house in Amori and easily four times the width of her waist.

Green on brown stretched in all directions, broken only by the sunlight and a break of blue from the sky above. Moss covered rocks rose here and there and lush ferns carpeted most of the floor.

Yui did not recognize this forest. The plants here were different and she knew for a fact that the yellow moss growing to the right of her could only survive in higher elevations.

Am I in the Shirayama Mountains?

She'd traveled up the mountains once before with her father, but not very far. The mountain range was vast and steep, filled with many valleys and ridges; and also plenty of plants and animals that only existed on the mountain. Not to mention people. Yui had heard tale of secret Shinobi villages in the Shirayama, ninja that would steal lost children. Though she doubted they actually existed. More like bedside stories told to keep children scared to leave the safety of the village.

Just like when her father would tell her stories of Oni eating wayward children.

A strange place for her to dream about. Normally she only dreamed about places she knew.

Hearing movement ahead of her, Yui watched a large beige swatch of colour move between two tree trunks. Her eyes narrowed in on it and picked out the head of the deer as it emerged around the side of gigantic alder tree. A large stag, a full growth of antlers on his head with at least 10 points. Quite a prize for any hunter.

Feeling that sudden spike of adrenaline fill her system, Yui couldn't help the grin that began spreading from ear and ear. Pulling her bow, she crept towards the beautiful creature, silent upon the moss covered ground.

[Yuichi Inoue]

Kyo stepped out the leaders garden and breathed deeply of the fresh mountain air. Still early in the morning, the sun had barely risen passed the crest of the mountain ridges to bathe the valley in golden light. The normal sticky humidity of the warm season had yet to set in, and judging from the bright and clear, blue sky, it might not today. Yet even this early, the village of Tsuwano was filled with activity.

The soft sole of her sandals made barely a sound on the lonely dirt and rock path from the Jonin's house. It sat higher up, on a rocky ledge that overlooked the rest of the village. From up here she could see the bustle of the farmers as they tended the rice fields to the north, the green stalks swaying in the breeze amidst the flowing water. A sea of fruit trees grew to the east, where the ground was slightly dryer, and the rest of the farmland lay further out to the west, beyond her wandering eye.

The village lay at different levels. Most of the workshops and stalls were in the lowest region, the bowl of the valley, while houses spread out from there. The oldest families in Tsuwano having houses the highest up, while newer ones were forced to build lower into the valley where the chance of flooding was higher.

Surrounding all of it were the rocky ledges of the Shirayama Mountains. No matter what direction one looked in, mountain ridges or white capped tops could be seen within the village, appearing to almost hold and protect it. Thick and ancient forests surrounded it on either side until the trees could find no purchase on the rocky ground, there only scraggly grass grew, wind swept by and sun bleached.

Kyosku, like many of her shinobi brethren, had been given a home on the outskirts of the village, closest to the forest edge and the hot springs that welled up from the mountain. They were not relegated there because they were looked down upon, on the contrary, her and the other shinobi preferred the quiet and solitude, and many of the things the villagers needed were bought for with their services. Being a hidden village, they had very little to no use for money and traded for everything they needed.

As she entered the bustle of the village, familiar faces called out to her. She waved to Mei and Kohaku as they walked by her on the dirt path, arm laden with cloth and three children of varying ages trailing behind them. She even exchanged pleasantries with elder Shou, but for the most part, made it perfectly evident she had no interest in small talk with anyone. Kyo had pushed herself and traveled through the night, knowing how close she was to home, and the exhaustion was beginning to show its face. She had been on the move for two weeks now. Two weeks of sleeping on the ground where the slightest out of place noise roused her, hand on her blade and ever at the ready.

Traveling alone certainly had it's disadvantages. Though she often preferred it to being with a group or even one individual. In her experience, companions usually just slowed her down, or caused unnecessary complications.

Wishing to rid herself of the grime of travel, Kyo took the winding path away from the village and towards the forest.

Once she entered the woods, it felt like she left the sun behind. The ancient trees grew tall and thick, their canopies high over head and soaking up the sun, leaving the forest floor blanketed in shadows and moss and ferns.

The wind shifted upon her first foot fall within. Kyosku felt it brushing against her back and ruffling her hair, reminding her of a lovers caress. Barely audible words whispered on the breeze, all she could make out was the rise and fall of speech. She could not even discern gender.

Puzzled, Kyo turned in a compete circle and saw no one around her; and every sense she owned told her she was completely alone. Still, she could hear the cadence of speech, feel the fingers upon her.
Never one to be superstitious, the shinobi ignored it and took the path towards the hot springs. The trail clearly defined by the many feet that had walked here before. Yet only after a couple of steps she felt the wind push against her, pull at her clothes and hair, whipping it around her face, almost as if to block her.

She stopped walking.

The wind died down.

When she took another step it started back up and this time she could feel it pulling her towards the left, deeper into the forest. Her gut fluttered and she found herself wanting to follow the wind's direction, though she couldn't even begin to fathom why. It was just the wind. Still, she found herself turning in that direction, her feet treading the soft moss covered ground. The wind continued to whip against her back, pushing her forward.

The ninja let it.

[Yuichi Inoue]

After a short time, Kyo found herself leaving the boundaries of the village. The small stone markers along the forest floor indicated where the magic that kept the village hidden began and ended. She could stand on the other side of the boundary while a group of Okinawa clansmen crept by and they'd never know she was there. Still, once she stepped over it, she would to visible to any eye without.

She didn't even pause for thought. With the breeze still caressing her back, she pushed forward, even bone weary and tired as she was.

Stepping through the invisible field felt like walking through a thick spider web. The shinobi couldn't help but shiver and run her fingers across the bare skin of her arms. She'd never really liked it. The sensation creepy and disconcerting to her. As a ninja, she'd always preferred hardened steel to any form of magic, though she could produce a few tricks should the moment arise and desperation sink in.

Once outside the boundary, she caught the faint sound of fabric moving not far from her, a branch breaking under foot. From years of training, not a single muscle within her tensed. Instead, her eyes darted around, looking for a source. Seeing nothing in the thick vegetation, Kyo grabbed a low lying branch and heaved herself up into the tree.

Arm over arm, feet finding purchase on bark, she pulled herself up high into the canopy and immediately her eyes caught movement below and to the right. A large stag, moving through the brush, head high as he sampled the wind.

She nearly climbed down, seeing the stag, but then a blur of dark colour caught her eye and Kyo paused.

Someone moved through the woods behind the stag.

She could see the bow, an arrow already notched and waiting to be strung, as the lithe figure moved as quietly as any ninja. The stag stepped across the stone boundary, unperturbed by the magic. The figure below her continued to move towards it and Kyo watched in complete shock as the person stepped right across the stone markers without making even a ripple upon the barrier.

Her eyes narrowed.

Fingers reached behind her and wrapped around the hilt of her blade. Every instinct said she should kill this intruder.

Wait...

The voice whispered to her across the wind and Kyosku actually felt herself hesitate. Why she could not exactly say. But she waited and watched as the hunter gained a clear shot, pulled back and let loose the arrow. It flew true and struck the stag broadside, coming out the other side in a mist of pink blood; the lungs punctured.

Spurred with sudden adrenaline, the stag took off, feet pounding through the underbrush in an attempt to escape it's own inevitable death. She watched it run, barely twenty yards before it slowed and laid down to die. The last trash of it's legs slashing through the underbrush.

The hunter waited and in that moment, Kyo realized it was not a man but a woman. Her slender frame well hidden in a man's yukata, but her hair and the rise and fall of her chest gave it away. She could just make out the gentle curves that defined her as a woman.

As she watched, the huntress picked up the trail of her kill and quietly moved across the forest floor, impressing the ninja with how silent she could be and how well she moved over the bumps and rises, the roots and holes.

Gingerly, she approached the fallen stag, though once she could see the animal quite dead, the tension in her shoulders slackened and she placed her bow on the ground, removing her pack in the process. As she bent down, Kyo noticed movement ahead of her and saw a saberlionness hiding in the deep underbrush. The beige colouring of the massive creature nearly invisible among the branches and leaves. She saw it only as the creature shifted the muscles in it's massive forelegs and followed the lines to her paws, poised in front, long black claws at the ready. Long muzzle barely discernible; the rest of it's body hidden.

Muscles coiled beneath the fur and skin, eyes trained not on the dead stag but on the woman as she knelt next to the creature.

Go!

The muscles in her legs tensed and coiled, just like that of the saberlionness.

Save her!

The wind pushed her back and wrapped around her. Kyo sprang from her perch upon the tree, using every ounce of speed she possessed, she moved from branch to branch like the wind itself and plummeted towards the forest floor and the woman and beast upon it.

[Yuichi Inoue]

Yui slid the blade of her tanto up the stomach of the stag. Her hands working with practiced skill. She carefully opened up the skin, but kept the sack that held the organs intact. She could puncture it, had done it many times before, but this was a cleaner way of doing it. When she reached the heart and lungs, a torrent of blood pooled out and flowed across her blade and fingers. The arrow had punctured both lungs and tore right through the heart. Blood had gathered in the chest cavity as the stag's heart had frantically beat it's final song.

Continuing to cut up the neck, she reached up and grabbed a hold of the creatures esophagus with her left hand. Fingers tight around the slimy appendage, she cut through, then pulled the entirety of the stag's internal organs out in one clean movement. Leaving them a steaming pile on the forest floor.

Everything that happened next, became a blur to the huntress.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

She raised her head. Dead ahead of her, two green eyes stared out of the thick brush; long feline body tensed and coiled.

Yui only had time to recognize the creature in the span of a second before it lept at her. Awkwardly kneeling on the ground, she attempted to scramble to the side, hoping it would take the stag and leave. Only it never got to her.

A blur of black caught her eye. Slammed into the creature and sent it reeling off to the side.

The huntress stared at the sabrelionness as it rolled to it's feet and shook it mighty head. It's eyes locked not on her, but slightly to her left.

She turned and saw a woman standing there. Dressed in travel worn and stained clothes, black hair a wild mess about her and eyes the colour of a frozen lake. Her face had soft features, but a hard expression. It reminded her of that look her father had when he'd fought that saberlionness in the forest. Hard, unyielding, unforgiving; the look of a warrior.

Two blades were held in front of her, as black as night and straight as an arrow shaft.

The woman moved, so fast Yui saw nothing but a blur, felt the wind against her face, the lionness reared back and two deadly swords were deflected by four long, black claws. She shifted her stance, the creature moved in on her, a long, powerful swipe aimed right at her torso. She jumped to the side. Hit the ground and before Yui could blink the lionness was on her again. Claws racked the air, the woman ducked, then charged. Swords flashed. Blood flew and just like that the fight ended as abruptly as it started.

Yui found herself staring, unsure who had won, then the sabrelionness shifted and fell. The massive body landing hard on the forest floor, blood pooling into the once pristine green and brown.

The woman straightened and wiped her blades off on her yukata before sliding them into hard, black wooden sheathes on the small of her back. She turned around. Caught in that frozen stare, Yui found herself without words. Then the woman blinked and that hard expression melted away as if it had never been there.

"Are you all right?" Even her voice, though pleasant, had a hard edge to it that cut through the serenity of the forest, like a sharp, winter wind.

"I--y-yes! Forgive my manners!" Yui quickly stood and bowed deeply to the woman, who had without a doubt in her mind, just saved the huntress' life. "Thank you, I can not imagine what would have happened if you had not shown up."

"I imagine you would have been eaten by a rather hungry lionness." She said drolly, a note of amusement lining her words. Though when Yui looked up, none of that amusement touched her eyes. They looked cold and distant and wary to her still.

Straightening, Yuichi glanced back at the dead animal behind her, amazed that she had so easily taken down the mighty creature. Then she noticed a tear in the woman's yukata. The dark, baggy material hid her skin from her eyes, but as she trailed down her arm to her hand, she saw blood dripping off her fingers in a steady flow. The stranger did not acknowledge it or even seem to notice.

"You've been hurt." Yui said, quickly covering the distance between them.

She didn't notice the sudden tension that filled the strange woman's body. Nor the deadly air about her or the way her other hand reached back for a blade. Her eyes focused solely on her arm.

Through the shredded material she could see four deep gashes that ran diagonally across her upper arm. Blood pumped out of them at an alarming rape and though she couldn't say for certain without actually touching her, at least one looked appeared to have cut down to the bone.

"It's nothing to bother over, I'll take care of it later." Was all the woman stated as she watched her, those disconcerting eyes never leaving her.

Yuichi balked. "Nothing to bother over? You're bleeding everywhere!" She took a deep breath to calm the frantic beat of her heart and help purge the left over adrenaline from her system. She had no idea how the woman could keep face with a wound like that and not even grimace, but she did. "You received it from protecting me, thus I am indebted to you and feel it my responsibility to help. Come, I'm actually quite adept at healing."