Hayato's hand hovered over the handle of his sword. He had just finished procuring the makeshift sled. Lee told him that a glowing bear would emerge from the woods soon afterward, and Hayato's fate would be less than desirable if they didn't work according to the new plan...

The faint glow of ember orange shone in Hayato's eye, letting him finally commence the first step of their plan. Hayato searched the treeline, trying to make sure the concentration on his face looked solely devoted to searching the area rather than his real goal.

In one of the large oak trees above them all, a foggy gate opened. Out came Sora, shrouded in a black cloak they had stored for the colder weather of the summit to assure he wouldn't be seen.

The angry and glowing bear sprung from its hiding place in the brush towards Hayato. Keeping his wits about him, Hayato ducked under the beasts raised arm and cut into it as he spun on his heel to face the creature again. Sora only had six arrows left, and on top of that, he held the element of surprise.

Lee had already told Hayato the decision he would make, so he had no hesitation in sprinting past the bear and getting on to his makeshift sled. With a swift push, Hayato was clumsily bouncing down the hill, Sora following from the densely populated treetops.

Sora quickly got into position and looked for his mark, pulling back the string of his bow with an arrow ready to fly. As the stone pellets soared through the air and pierced Hayato's sled, Sora's target finally revealed himself.

Hayato heard surprised yelling as he crashed down the hill. Once he came to, he saw the glowing orange bear struggle and break free from its ember fueled fealty. Hayato raised his arm and opened another portal right in front of him, Lee quickly jumping out.

Anzen had to stay back, both so they wouldn't be set so much farther down the mountain, and that hand to hand combat was not the most efficient for fighting bears or men covered in stone.

Lee outstretched a hand, helping Hayato to his feet.

The angry and now arrow impaled earth manipulating samurai pushed himself back onto his feet and frantically searched the treetops before wildly turning his attention to the boy behind him and shouting. "Why did you let the bear go!?" Before the boy could even respond, the samurai turned as he saw Hayato and Lee approach in the corner of his eye. In desperation and fear for his life, the pathetic ember wielder grabbed the boy by the neck with his one functioning arm and held him as a human shield. "Stop! You'll kill him before you touch me!"

Lee and Hayato both stopped dead in their tracks. Sora couldn't get a clear shot with the risk of hitting the child. Lee desperately wanted to look into the future and see the easiest way to solve this dilemma, but with how extensively he used it the night prior he still didn't have the energy to use his foresight again.

Hayato raised his hands from this hilt of his sword, Lee sheathed his and similarly raised in surrender.

Lee was grimacing behind his blank-faced mask. He needed to be calm in this situation, but on the inside, he was anything but. He could have just led every single one of them to their deaths with his plan. Kenshi was always the one that made the plan. Without him, everything had far less certainty in Lee's mind.

With all the concentration he could muster, Lee focused on using his ember once more, for even a brief second. He saw both of their deaths from the same spike attack that killed Hayato in his first vision, but in his new foresight, he saw an opportunity. In the smallest whisper audible, Lee told Hayato of their only chance. "As soon as he raises the arm, get the kid out."

Hayato subtly nodded as they waited tensely. He prepared himself to work in a moment's notice...

Once the earth bending samurai was satisfied that they were vulnerable, he outstretched his only good arm. The boy he was using was free, but he could only take a few steps forward before the ground started to form into pikes to impale both Hayato and Lee. With the child still there, the ember wielder had as much cover as he needed.

As soon as the opportunity showed itself, Hayato opened a portal below the boy's feet. He fell instantly, revealing the now completely vulnerable ember wielder. Within the second, Sora's readied arrow shot through the earth manipulator's skull. Lee took a deep breath as he looked to the ground below him and saw how the ground had already malformed into bumps in that split second.

Hayato opened a portal below the branch Sora was perched on, letting him hop back to camp, then he opened a portal next to the sled. He gestured for Lee to go in. "I'll wait here. We need to bring the kid back."

Lee nodded. "Right... I'll be right back with him."

Hayato closed the portal after Lee went through and waited. First, he checked their makeshift sled to be sure they didn't damage it in the crash. Other than the few holes in the side from the rock attack, everything looked fine.

Once he was sure everything on that front was fine, Hayato moved his attention elsewhere. He looked down on the crazed earth bending samurai. With the injuries he had in their last fight, Hayato was surprised he survived to cause them trouble. As he looked the man up and down, Hayato noticed that while the one arrow that pierced his skull was bent and misshapen from impact, the one in his shoulder was still intact.

With a bit of hesitation, Hayato pulled the arrow out and kept it for Sora to use later.

Afterward, Hayato looked out towards where the edge of the forest should have been. He thought that he saw a faint glow, like torches. As he focused, he could hear faint murmurs and horses galloping.

Damn. Are they already this near to us? Hayato thought to himself as he walked closer to the noise to investigate.

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There were a lot of soldiers walking on foot, but in the center Hayato found a cart covered in white cloth. The Doctor sat in the driver's seat of the cart, although people were leading the ox in front of him, so he was merely a passenger.

Inside the cart was loud and rustling. There were moans and growls and chirps like yokai made when they were on Mt.Fuji. The Doctor called to one of the men walking alongside the carriage and ordered something. Hayato couldn't make out what exactly he said, but he understood when the soldier promptly went to the back of the cart and entered.

Instead of calming whatever it was in there, instead, the samurai was immediately thrown out of the cart like he weighed nothing. There was more shouting, but eventually, it looked like they no longer cared and prioritized moving forward from that point onward.

Hayato wanted to stay and see if he could look at the creature in the cart with his own eyes, but he had the tingling feeling in the back of his mind that he always got when Anzen was trying to open a portal. After a quick jog back to the sled, Hayato opened his end of the portal, and out came Lee with the boy behind him, holding a bag of supplies.

Hayato had guessed that the child had been forced to come along with the insane earth manipulating samurai. Lee spoke as the boy started to walk down the mountain. "They apparently stole a horse in the town we left them in. It's not too far from here and he seems to know how to ride well enough to get back there. We only have a day's walk from our camp, so we gave him the food we have left."

Hayato nodded, and right before the boy left his sight, he got his attention once more. "Hey. Good luck." Hayato was recruited by the Shogun when he was young as well. He knew the kind of manipulation that was used by your superiors. That boy deserved a better life, and Hayato genuinely hoped that he would find one.

Finally, Hayato opened a portal and they brought themselves and the sled through.

Sora was waiting with our little amount of supplies left and packed. Anzen was waiting with a frown, most likely because he had to simply stand around while the rest dealt with the crazed earth bending samurai.

Nevertheless, they were back on their way after getting the bodies secured in the sled. Hayato barely had enough time to give Sora the arrow he gathered.

Chilly weather quickly became frigid. Grass turned to mud, then ice, and finally snow.

Hayato kept looking at their backs. They could easily see the military's lights in the distance, there. It would take all the effort they had to get to the summit before they were within range of the shogunate's archers, now.

A lot of hiking and anxiety later, and they were almost to their destination. Everyone had moved to the warmest clothing they had on hand, which still wasn't much. Hours upon hours of pulling and walking in the shin-deep snow.

Anzen looked back at the lights just behind them and commented. "They're quicker than I first thought."

Sora replied through the cold. "If we slow, they will surely catch us before we make it to our destination."

Lee shook his head. "Even if we get to the summit, what are we going to do about the archers?"

Hayato kept pulling the sled as he kept his eyes towards the summit. "We'll figure something out. Right now we just need to keep going."

Lee sighed. "I guess you're right."

The military behind them was catching up, so the group moved even faster. Throats felt like they had frozen, trying to breathe the icy air of the summit. Snow soaked through clothing and made them wet. Still, none of them could afford the energy to complain.

They were almost to the plateau, but the shogunate was quicker. A strange sound of many objects piercing through the air could be heard. Turning their backs, the party saw what was doing such a thing.

The archers were finally within range. Dozens upon dozens of arrows were flying through the air towards them.

Lee shouted. "You guys!"

Anzen raised his hand, already with a plan in mind. "Hayato!" A portal larger than Anzen had ever made was created above the group. Hayato made another portal just as large pointed as well as he could aim towards the lights. Some flew into the snow around the portal, but most arrows were shot right back at the enemy. None of them could see if the arrows hit, but with so many, they were sure to have gotten some. Anzen shouted after he let the portal dissipate. "Shit! That was too close!"

Hayato nodded as he grabbed the rope to their makeshift sled and started pulling with all his strength. "We need to go faster!"

Anzen ran to the back of the sled and pushed as Hayato pulled. Sora kept his bow ready and watched the horizon. Lee ran ahead to the plateau to make sure all was safe.

Some tense sprinting later, and they had finally got to the very top of Mt.Fuji. The edge of the mountain was a long and flat area, but in the center, it dropped drastically into a pit that went farther down than the eye could see.

Hayato and Anzen pushed the sled to the edge of the mountain and looked down into the pit. Kenshi told them to reach the summit, but nothing had happened. They had literally nowhere to run and their last plan seemed fruitless.

For a moment, there was just the freezing wind of the summit and their beating hearts, waiting for a hope they thought was dead.

That was until the black pit in the center of Mt.Fuji opened its very eyes. Two ember orange obelisks peered at the group as the voice from this creature shook the entire mountain. "Giiiiiive theeem to meeee..." Whatever this thing was, it was the size of Mt.Fuji itself... No, the size of Nihon itself.

Hayato gave Anzen a look of hesitation, but he only received a nod in reply as Anzen pushed on the sled and pulled out the extra clothing and weapons they had stored in it. Hayato moved to the side and helped, sending the two bodies gracefully sliding towards the endless pit.

Shouting could be heard from behind them. The military was breathing down their necks. The great eyes closed, and for what felt like forever, nothing happened.

Lee ran from the edge of the large plateau and shouted. "They're coming!"

Sora pulled back his bow and arrow. Hayato looked away from Anzen and spoke. "I don't know if-"

A flash of light as bright as the sun itself shone at Hayato's back. Anzen covered his eyes immediately. Hayato was foolish enough to turn and have to cover his own eyes as well.

Blackness, I thought.

The extreme cold was the first sensation I felt, then, just as my vision came to me. I couldn't see much as my eyes grew used to the light once more, but I could look at myself.

I was wearing nothing, which explained why the freezing cold felt stronger than I had ever felt before. My left foot was still cut solidly in half, but it had now healed completely to a scar. My arms still bore the marks of my past. My body still showed the scars of all our previous fights. I was healed, but that didn't mean my lessons or sacrifices could be forgotten.

Amaterasu was next to me, holding herself as best she could to conserve warmth. The memory of heat and the physical form was still in my mind, but she had been gone for so long, being bathed in the snow and cold had to have felt a thousand times harsher.

I could finally see the twins. Hayato was still adjusting to the light once more, but Anzen was able to squint and see me. Without a word, he searched through all the extra clothes we had on our trip. Three sets of clothes. I threw the heaviest and warmest set to Amaterasu, dropped the lightest one, and held the last close to myself as I started to sort through it all. Before I began, Anzen threw one last object. A katana, finely crafted and gold-accented, sheathed and kept as pristine as the day the warriors of the sunlight reformed it.

Amaterasu and I got dressed as quickly as possible. I made sure my katana was tightly strapped and ready to fight. We had to move swiftly to be ready before the deranged Doctor and his followers would show themselves.

Bathed in the light of the sun and the luck of the elder dragon, we shall all make our last stand.

Now was the time to win.