Fourth Day of the Second Month, Year One Thousand Ten of the Reign of the Ichiya Dynasty

Misao

A burst of visible air escaped Misao’s breath. They pulled their cloak close, shivering in the cold mountain winds. “You know,” they looked to their taller partner with a wry smile. “We could always decide to just trust in the Tenth Chosen’s abilities and turn back.”

Shizuku’s look back at them showed little amusement at the jest. After two days of traveling the Tsukisasuyama, they suspected the bitter cold had slain the few vestiges of humor she had. “Our orders from Sato-sama are clear. I do not distrust Himari-san, but her leaving alone was very rash. She may very well still need our help.”

“I know, I know,” Misao chuckled. Another cold shiver racked their body. “I still don’t see why we couldn’t have taken the main roads. This cold is going to freeze me half to death.”

“We need to follow the path as closely as possible,” she answered, shooting him a slightly annoyed look. “According to Yamura-san, she left for Nagata. This is the fastest path to Nagata for a lone rider. If we took a two day detour, we could lose the trail.”

Misao knew all of this, of course. But they always liked to think they were training his ‘younger’ Chosen in thinking about these little details. Even though Shizuku was nearly fifteen years their senior, they had only been a Chosen for four years, after the previous fourth Chosen retired. In truth, Misao thought that she could have challenged for a higher seat by now, but despite her age she seemed rather content to simply allow herself to naturally move up as other Chosen retired or passed.

The thought, in fact, turned invasive enough to demand response. “You would beat me, you know,” they said bluntly.

“What?” Shizuku gave him a confused look, clear that she didn’t know what they were talking about.

“If you challenged me for my seat. I’ve no doubt you would prove the victor.” Misao upturned a reassuring smile. “You have served well in these four years, I’ve no doubt that you would prove an excellent choice for even the fourth or fifth seat. And your voice in an elevated position would do well for the Chosen. Yet you refuse to challenge any of us.”

“Is this really the time to be questioning my reasoning for why I do what I do?” One of Shizuku’s eyebrows tilted upwards. Misao suspected she just might be annoyed at this line of questioning.

“Perhaps not technically, but I would counter that it is better for morale for us to find lighter things to discuss while we work to catch up. As it stands, we cannot make better time than this in the snow anyway. And I do not know that I will ever have another opportunity to speak to you so privately. If this line of questioning is so unwelcome, you can forget I said anything and we can simply pretend that nothing was ever discussed.” Their lips turned up into a disarming, boyish smile.

Shizuku said nothing for a long time. However, just when Misao had determined to move the line of questioning to something less digging, she began to speak. “I did not endeavor to join the Chosen out of ambition for power or status. It is my goal to protect the Emperor, as it should be of any Samurai of Seifu. To pass my Trial and become Chosen was always enough for me. And despite the seats being nominally a Chain of Command, in my experience we have never truly operated that way anyway outside of situations where it was absolutely necessary. If one is not challenging for the rank of Captain, to challenge at all seems pointless.” For the first time, they thought they saw her lips move up towards a smile, even as she pulled in her cloak against a frigid gust of wind.

“And challenging the best Swordsman in the Empire is a foolish notion,” they chuckled.

“It’s not that,” she shook her head. “The only reason I would desire to challenge Sato-sama is if he proved unable or unwilling to perform his duties as required. Whether or not I would win is irrelevant to that conversation.”

“A principled decision,” they considered. “Not one that Sato-sama himself would support, I dare say. He does always tell us that when it comes to protecting the Emperor, we need set our principles aside.”

“He does,” she agrees. “I just happen to disagree with him on that notion. Which bids me turn the question on you, Misao-san. Why have you never challenged for a higher seat? You seem so interested in it.”

A smooth chuckle laughed the notion firmly to dust. “I know my place within the Chosen. I was just barely good enough to pass my trial. If Himari-san were so taken with it, I suspect she would trounce me quite handily in fact. But we all know my value does not lay in my ability to swing a blade. It’s-”

Before the thought could finish, the sight of a pair of riders coming opposite them put the two Chosen on guard. While not impossible for other riders to travel these paths, it was certainly rare. And the fact that the two seemed to be riding faster than was advisable suggested two things: either the riders were in danger, or the two Chosen were about to be. Wordlessly, the two drew weapons and closed ranks.

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As the two riders drew closer, Misao was naturally the first to begin picking out details. The hints of violet on one of the riders immediately caught their attention, and they started to relax their bow. “Keep vigilance, Eighth,” they spoke, authority in their voice as they seamlessly switched their thoughts to acting as Chosen. “But we may just have found our missing Tenth.”

To their relief, it was Himari riding south, almost shooting straight past them as their paths crossed. Misao didn’t ask about the second rider - at the moment it seemed irrelevant. What was important was the news that the pair brought.

“You are certain that Takahashi-sama is going so far?” They didn’t mean to sound doubtful, but they had to keep questioning. “You’ve exhausted every possibility?”

“With respect, Chosen-sama,” the second rider spoke candidly. “I saw those plans clear as day.”

“With respect, Friend,” they tried their best to sound pleasant, but the promise of two more days traveling back the direction they had just come from threatened to exhaust them, “I do not know you. And I do not have any reason to trust you. What assurances do I have that you are not obfuscating the truth for some other design?”

“I trust her in this,” the Tenth spoke sternly. “Please accept that as enough.”

In that moment, Misao saw Kosuke in Himari. His sureness in himself. His clarity of purpose. They couldn’t help but chuckle. “Very well, Tenth. I shall trust your friend.”

The rest of the day’s ride passed without words. They had to push their mounts as hard as they reasonably could, after all. The three Chosen split the watches between them as they set camp, deciding collectively that they would rest as little as they could get away with before moving on.

Try as they might, sleep wouldn’t come to Misao. The idea of Takahashi Makoto, the famed Imperial General, turning traitor didn’t sit well. So instead of wasting their time, they finally rose and walked over to the frost covered tree that Himari had come to lean on.

“Ah, Seventh Chosen,” Himari bowed low to Misao. “I apologize if I disturbed your sleep with my patrolling.”

“At ease, Himari-san,” Misao’s return bow was more shallow, but still respectful. “I simply could not sleep. So I thought I might relieve you early so you can get some extra time yourself.”

“Your offer is appreciated, but I don’t think sleep will take me either,” she returned to her leaning position, eyes looking out to watch for any signs of danger. “I keep thinking about how unbelievable this all has been. Truth be told, I don’t want to believe what I found.”

“Do you not trust your friend?” As they leaned against the tree, their eyes watched the tent where Maiko slept.

At the edge of their vision, they caught a flicker of a change from Himari’s eyes. “Truth be told, I do not know if I should. I desperately want to, she’s the first friend I’ve really had since I was a girl. But she’s lied to me at least twice now, and I would have to guess that more of what she has told me is a lie. The only thing I feel any sort of certainty regarding her is that she is not lying about what she saw.”

Misao closed their eyes and reached out with their Aura, expanding their awareness. The watery Aura of Himari was getting more impressive, considering how readily visible it was to them without her putting effort into expanding it. “If you can’t trust her on most things, what makes this different?” It wasn’t meant to be an accusation. The vague hints of air Aura was curious, but they certainly didn’t detect enough of a concentration to suggest that she could obfuscate her words magically.

“I… don’t know,” she admitted. “Maybe I just wanted to trust her. But the method makes sense at least, if not the motive. And despite the fact that she has definitely lied to me… she probably saved my life. Her and Sakura.”

“Sakura?”

Himari looked down and sighed. “Another friend. A fox, I think maybe a Kitsune. She helped me heal after we were beset by bandits. She disappeared after that, I still don’t fully understand why.”

“It makes sense,” they assured. “Just as we have rules and laws we must follow, so too does it work with the Spirits. If her healing you broke one of those rules, she is no doubt facing some sort of punishment.”

“What do you think that might be?” The hesitance in her voice suggested care. Admirable.

“I don’t know. I don’t think you need to worry about her safety, if that is your concern. Her entire life for healing your wounds seems an utterly unfair trade. But much about the spirits is pure speculation.” Seeing that the thought didn’t seem to give her much comfort, Misao switched tactics. “May I perhaps offer a free bit of advice? Chosen to Chosen.”

Himari looked back to them with a start. “Ah, of course, Misao-sama! I am always willing to learn.”

They smiled at that. It was good news. “First, next time you are going out like this, make sure to tell the Chosen first. We largely try to work in pairs for a reason. We all have blind spots, and so we travel together to help ensure that we are covering each other’s weaknesses.”

“I… see. I apologize. After discussion with Masashi-sama, I thought that expedience was the better path in this instance.”

Misao had to fight to stop themselves from physically cringing. “Ah, that’s the other thing. Be careful about trusting Masashi-sama.”

“I should not trust the Imperial Advisor?”

“I understand why that sounds bad, Himari-san. He has always given good advice to the Emperor. But you must understand, he is an ever ambitious man. And I’ve never had reason to believe his ambition is sated. I can’t say that he is up to anything, but my gut says that he pushed for you to investigate without discussing the matter with us first for a reason. Let us hope that whatever reason it is isn’t connected to what seems to be happening.”

Himari was quiet for several moments. When she finally spoke, it was a bit more cautious than Misao would have liked. “Thank you for the advice. I will guard myself cautiously. For now, though, I think I’ll take you up on your offer and try to get some sleep.”

They frowned as they watched Himari make her way to her bedroll. “Sleep well, Tenth,” they said, before looking out to the night mountain sky. Whatever the truth was, they suspected it was going to come out sooner than later.