But No Less In Danger

Somewhere in the province of Musashi something was building. There was a tension in the air. Nestled deep within the walls of a wooden building sat a rather strange man with eyes the colour of the abyss and a posture that screamed danger. His hands were curled between crossed legs, just barely showing the inky blackness of his nails to the two other bodies in the room. They were trembling and it brought a manic grin across the face of their fear. He leaned forward as carefully as possible, poised like a viper to attack at any moment. The grin widened when the figure to his left flinched.

"So, tell me. Why is it we do not have those disgusting humans in chains? Why is it your troops have failed me once again?" His voice belied the fury seeping out from within. "Or am I mistaken and the ones at fault are you two flesh bags?!" Both aforementioned figures almost sprang backwards in a knee-jerk reaction to the venom dripping from the inhuman before them. He was getting impatient. "Weeeeeeeeell?" A pause, and one of the men made the mistake of looking into the spiralling abyss. It snarled at him. "You! Answer me!"

"M-master we were deceived...t-there were guards. Powerful on--" He trailed off, now noticing the blank look across their leader's face. It was a bad sign. It wasn't exactly their fault, though. The informant they used had either lied to them or didn't realise their targets were always protected. They were fools to think otherwise.

"Tell me Yamagashi, before I tear you both limb from limb for your impudence, who dared to stand in my way?"

"The..." If he was going to be honest, he didn't know, but he remembered one of their only survivors was able to name one enemy and detail the other. "There were two...one they call The Walking Shadow and the other a white-haired male..." Their leader hummed in contemplation, fingers stretching and neck popping as it tilted to the side.

"Bring me your informant," they tensed as his nails began to sharpen, "he will answer for our failure." The one called Yamagashi nodded vigorously and bowed deeply in respect, though mostly with fear and relief. "You are dismissed."

"Hai!" They chorused scuttling to their feet almost sprinting out their Master's room and they couldn't have moved faster if they had tried. Behind them, now shrouded in pitch black, the monster grinned.

Soft snoring permeated the air like fine wine, trailing off into a light hum when the crackle of fire sprang forth. Underneath the cover of the trees and hidden by the fate of the Sōhei, Mizuki lay watch. His eye had been captured by the two foreigners in their midst and after just as much contemplation, he realised they were as much of an anomaly as the clothes on their backs. The monks had been adamant in treating them as quickly as possible, even going so far as to drain part of their life force to save the female from the grasp of death. He thought not about the strange way his charges had acted and slid his good eye closed, hands burrowed deep within the sleeves of his hitatare. They were no threat, and the travelling monks had already deemed the area safe with their protection, so it was normal to settle down and relax. Yet why was he so restless? Ryō had left to gather food enough for the extra mouths and had grumbled like a child when he had to leave the curiosity healing before him. On the way back after their initial rescue he remembered the perseverance of the young male as he had limped next to him, eyes flickering between the ground ahead and the unconscious woman in Mizuki's arms. He had shown true resilience through the agony Mizuki could see flicker briefly across his face, and he wondered absentmindedly where the strength came from. There was an obvious lack of training since his muscles were soft and untamed like a noble and yet, there was power steeped below. They did not seem like the type of high society snob he was used to running into, but foreigners were an extremely rare breed these days and hardly any ever entered Japan. He wasn't sure these two knew where they were to begin with if their startled looks had been anything to go by. Travellers, perhaps? Or explorers? He mentally hummed and released an arm to pull out his pipe and herbs.

There was a tight rustle of leaves from the left of him, and the heavy breath of Ryō alerted him to his return arms laden with various animal carcasses. Mizuki's nose crinkled at the scent of fresh blood, the copper making his nose twitch in a passable sneer.

"Ryō." The black- and white-haired male grunted in recognition. Mizuki blinked his lone eye open, growling low in the back of his throat and made his friend freeze in the middle of depositing his fresh kills. Curious green met irritated amber.

"Would you kindly move somewhere else and do that?" There was an edge to his question and Ryō winced as he remembered why. Mizuki followed his every move and when the young man bowed in apology, he muttered a quiet "not to worry" and relaxed as the intensity of the smell reduced to something more manageable. In a battlefield it was a different matter altogether and he knew his brother couldn't help the slip of mind.

Evelyn felt warm and a slight tingling in her leg drew her attention under the soft blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Her head felt fuzzy and just a bit heavy as she groaned in protest. There were voices, both strange and familiar at the same time, that babbled like water around her. Then hands. Several hands pressed down on her leg, and she yelped in pain and the shock of the sudden intrusion. There was a quiet shushing that sounded distorted in the haze covering her mind, and warmth seeped into her bones like a salve that dissolved the cloud surrounding her as well as the pain stemming from where those very same hands had pressed. She was lifted up to sit against the scratchy bark of a tree, yet the blanket offered little to only some small protection against it. She tried to open her eyes, but they felt stuck together and eventually when she was able to pry them apart, everything was blurred beyond recognition. On the other hand, it seemed the flesh-coloured blobs dotting in and out of her vision were people. They offered her some fresh water amidst the panic building up inside, and she accepted it greedily. Her mouth was so dry! It felt like a desert had finally been gifted with rainwater.

"Take i' slow an' steady now. Don' wanna choke, do you?" Evelyn coughed in reply and the soft voice let off a small chuckle, while a masculine scent tinged with metallic after tones invaded her senses. About a minute of recovery from her sputtering was all it took, and she squinted up at an almost visible face, mouth pulled into an undignified frown. Her vision slowly improved the more she focused, and finally, a face obscured by cloth greeted her dilating eyes. A surprised grunt left her.

"You, ah, hungry?" The man asked hesitantly, gesturing to something perched by the side of a wood burning fire. She followed the line of his hand, blinked, and then widened her eyes in abstract horror. Modern society never prepared her for seeing a skewered rabbit with no fur on it, cooking innocently and dripping with fresh blood over a burning flame. Ryō observed her reaction closely. It was a bit overwhelming and all at once she felt her face softening and being replaced by one of acceptance. The silver speckled male recognised her change of attitude immediately as he had seen it many times in the faces of villagers and warriors alike who had finally chosen not to fight against the natural flow of the world. This woman's, however, stemmed from something else entirely and by the way she dressed, somewhere else as well.

"Food would be lovely, thank you..." She scraped out with a small choke, politely bowed her head in response to his previous inquest and Ryō gave her a tentative smile, forgetting the fact that half of his face was obscured by black cloth. However even with said forgetfulness, she understood the slight crinkling of his eyes and flashed one in return.

Mizuki had been watching the exchange with an observant eye. He felt an inkling of curiosity stir when she spoke, as her accent and words were not only unfamiliar but had a familiarity that almost contradicted the unknown. She spoke Japanese, that was a given...but he was more intrigued by the combination of old, new and slightly foreign words that were spoken. They were sitting close enough that he could smell water lilies again, softer now that they had settled and calmed down. Emotions had a habit in increasing the potency of scents that came from humans, and sometimes it played havoc with his sensitive nose. With all of Ryō's coverings it was muted, however two new additions to their little group had a pungent if not overly heavy smell to them. He had never known such a strength in all the years of his travels. It was obvious they were displaced somehow.

[Sōhei – Warrior monks]