Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13
“Suki, do you know where we are?” Reizo asked her instead.
She peered out both windows and said, “Yes, this is Crossroads. I see the roads that leads to Hot Spring and The Capital.” Home is a day’s walk up the road. I’ll be there soon!
Reizo pinched his nose. “Thanks, Suki. Just stay inside Gogo, whatever happens.” Real concern crossed his face. She nodded. He’s not upset at you for a change, he’s just worried about the bandits.
“Be careful, Reizo.” She was worried for his safety as well.
“If you have to, tell Gogo to flee back to The Capital. Where’s that paper?”
“It’s right here in my sleeve.” The paper’s outline was visible through the fabric. Reizo looked at her until she drew it out. She handed it to him for inspection. He returned it when he was satisfied and watched her carefully as she put it back in her sleeve.
Reizo reached for his own sleeve. “I hear their song. They are fine. Relax and wait for Ichiro to return,” Taru said. He strung the smaller bow, the one for Suki. Getting wound up won’t do the kid or us any good, thought Taru. A nervous fighter is a dangerous fighter. He barely qualifies as one, since he’s never held a weapon. But I must keep him safe. I doubt Yoshi is wrong about danger coming to The Capital.
The four of them waited in silence, enjoying Gin’s cherry blossoms.
Ichiro gave the little wax balls a good sniff before he shoved them into his ears. It was strange using another’s fur for such a thing instead of his own, but it was what he had. He gleaned no further information about a Papermaster.
Ichiro walked around the copse of trees and towards the town.
He’d never been to Crossroads, which was a human village. His village of Big Fork mostly traded with Hot Spring. He was surprised that Crossroads was very similar to Big Fork. A well, houses, and a town hall. But Crossroads was a trade hub for the province, so there were also three shops instead of one in Big Fork. The buildings sat empty and there was something forlorn about them, as if they missed the bustle of people.
He gave a wide berth to two bandits watching the road at the edge of town. Hidden and silent or not, there was no reason to risk a fight. They smelled and look rough. The cooking fire was in the meager early afternoon shade of the town hall. Several more rough looking men sat on the veranda watching a pot boil. Taru was right, it was rabbit stew.
Off to the side a man in a torn and bloodied uniform was tied up. Ichiro noted the man’s features as he got as close as he dared. He could smell the breath of two of the bandits talking. The bound man was unconscious…but breathing. He saw more men inside the town hall dozing in the afternoon heat. At the other end of the road out of town were two more guards.
Ichiro returned to Gogo. He couldn’t smell Gin’s cherry blossoms until he was right next to the cart. He glanced around and realized Gogo’s kami were eating sound and smells. He dismissed the kami hiding him once he got to the step Gogo pushed out.
To Suki, it looked like he appeared in front of the door.
“There’s two bandits on the road in and out of town. One of them has several knives and the other has a bow. Two are watching stew boil, and I saw three sleeping in the town hall. Some of them have bows, most have spears or a clubs. And..they have a prisoner.” Ichiro reported after removing the wax balls from his ears.
“Who?” Reizo asked.
“I don’t know, he looks pretty beat up. It looks like he’s wearing a uniform.”
“Show us,” Reizo said. Ichiro looked at the onmyoji, remembering that he’d told them not to do any Kitsune tricks.
“Go on,” Reizo pinched his nose.
Ichiro showed a picture of the prisoner. Gin closed her eyes. “I don’t want to see,” she whispered. Only Ichiro and Taru heard her. The phantom blossoms and smell vanished.
“That’s one of the guards who protects the mail,” Suki said. She grimaced at his injuries, but didn’t look away. “You’ve got to rescue him!” She said to Reizo and Taru.
“Ichiro, can you carry and hide him?” Reizo asked. Ichiro nodded.
Taru tied a dagger on to Ichiro’s waist. “Only use this if you need to. Don’t look for a fight.” Then he tied a water gourd on his other side. “When you have a chance, drink.”
Reizo tied a gourd on as well.
Taru handed Suki the small bow. She took it without a word. Reizo saw her grim determination. “Bandits attacked our farm a time or two,” she’d said last night, which seemed like weeks ago.
“The draw isn’t heavy enough to pierce deeply, but no one likes being shot at,” Taru told her. She nodded.
"Taru and I will talk to the bandits and find out what happened here. Perhaps we can resolve this without violence after all." But the way my luck goes, no. I’m in over my head. I’ve never been in a fight like this before. I was hoping the town was deserted, and whether we found clues or not, we’d visit my in-laws for a few days. “Ichiro, when they’re all distracted, bring that man back to Gogo. Don’t draw any attention because we can’t rescue you.” Ichiro nodded.
“Be careful, Ichiro! Don’t leave me,” Gin whispered and gripped him in a bone crushing hug. "I want to go with you,” she continued.
"You have to protect Lady Taira," Ichiro replied.
“I hate it when you do that. When you act like I’m a dumb kid,” she glared at him.
Ichiro sighed. He told her the whole truth for the first time in a very long time. “You can’t control your illusions and you’re too small to carry him. You couldn’t even stand to look at him when I showed everyone.”
Gin took it rather well. “Show me what he looks like now,” she frowned.
“You still can’t go.”
“I know, but I want to see what he looks like now.” Gin was as exasperated as he was.
Ichiro sighed and showed the beaten and bruised man again. Gin tightly shut her eyes, then opened them slowly to see.
“Oh. He’s not sick.” she was relieved. Ichiro shook his head. “Give me a hug, little sister.”
Reizo looked at Taru. “I have three Ofuda: Tornado, Boulder, and Firestorm. Can you handle most of the bandits?” If Firestorm or Boulder isn’t released properly, the kami will destroy the first things they come to, that’s the real danger. It’s one thing to talk to the kami when you’re calm, another when you’re in the middle of a fight. The reality of the situation hit Reizo.
“I am an excellent shot. Ichiro, you say the two on this side of town had bows?”
Ichiro nodded.
These sound like the typical bandits who rely on numbers instead of skill. They are prone to panic and therefore they are dangerous. Nothing I haven’t seen, but these two are green. No matter, this is the path and it can’t be changed now. Taru pushed all dread out of his thoughts.
“Tornado will take care of their arrows,” Reizo smiled grimly. If they shoot me. Taru and Ichiro will be unprotected.
It’s good that the kid isn’t overconfident. He’s old enough to be scared. Not sure about the boy. He’s young enough that folly might over ride his caution. Taru analyzed his fellow men-at-arms.
Taru, Ichiro, and Reizo stuffed the little wax and fur balls in their ears and left.
"Gin, let's make a bed for that man Ichiro is bringing back." Gin helped Suki, grateful to have something to take her mind off her brother walking back into danger. Suki told her about life on her farm, and Gin listened attentively.
Picture by Daphne Zaras - http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/headlines/dszpics.htmlOriginally uploaded at en.wikipedia; description page is/was here., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2130165