Exhausted and still reeling from the day’s events, Gin internally regretted his decision to free the young woman from Akaii. However, Saru’s presence did bring some immediate benefits. The first and most obvious was that she remembered to grab one of the large rucksacks abandoned by the Hairohi, which contained certain essentials that he had completely forgotten, such as rice and tools to start a fire. Although he had lived without such amenities before, that was a long time ago, and he was much younger and more able to bear such hardships.

A few hours later, he was once again on the verge of exhaustion. This time, however, he did not have reserves left to continue. Saru protested his stubborn effort after watching him carefully, arguing that it would be impossible to reach the coast alive if he continued to deny his body food and rest. After a long and arduous dispute, he finally consented to take a brief rest. He was weary and disoriented, but the thought of resting while his daughter was out there, afraid and in pain or worse, drove him on with unearthly fervor. He also recognized the wisdom in Saru’s admonishments. So, at last, he gave in and sat down, slumped back against an old tree, while his new companion made a fire and then cooked rice.

He had a tough time remembering the last time he had a satisfying meal. It must have been with his daughter, in their home, a place that he may very well never see again. The image of her limp figure tied atop the merchant’s horse was seared into his mind, and it burned so intensely that it felt like a splitting headache. The only thing that helped him carry on was the faint hope that he would be able to find her in Kagiminato. He was so focused on this hope that he did not feel Saru push a bowl of rice into his hands.

“You will die,” she said plainly. “Before you even make it to the coast you will be dead unless you treat yourself properly.”

She said it so pointedly that it distracted him for a moment.

“You never told me,” she continued, making sure he was gripping the old ceramic bowl tight enough that it would not fall. “You never told me who took your daughter, or why. It’s clearly driving you to such foolish lengths.”

“I don’t really know,” answered Gin, his voice hushed. “But I have my suspicions.”

He could see the merchant’s face in his mind, the rough cut of his jaw, and the cruelty in his eyes. He could smell the tinge of his breath and hear his rabid grunting repeating over and over again. Gin knew that he would have to face that man again if he did find his daughter, and he knew from experience that he was a skilled fighter. He would need to be ready for him. He lifted the bowl to his lips and ate. It was surprisingly good.

“I’m sorry,” Saru said, hastily consuming some of her own meal. “How is her mother holding up?”

Gin looked down. “She is gone. If she were alive, I am sure she would be with me right now, doing everything she could to find her. I am all she has now.”

“Ah...” Saru said. “I see.” There was a brief silence before she spoke again. “Something similar happened in my family, and it has nearly torn us apart. But we were innocent.”

Gin’s face hardened at her not-so-subtle accusation, and he shot her a glare.

“Well, are you innocent?” she asked pointedly, swallowing a large clump of rice, and then grabbing another.

Gin took in another mouthful and pondered for a moment. “I’m not sure if anyone is innocent, especially me,” he said. “But if anyone was, it was Yuki.”

Saru nodded, and both continued to eat in silence. Gin finished the last of his meal and set the bowl down beside him. Already his stomach was feeling better, and the headache had subsided a bit.

“So,” he began, initiating the conversation for the first time. “Tell me about the kidnapping that happened in your family. I find it intriguing that two strangers should meet with this rare thing in common.”

Saru lifted her head, surprised that he had asked her a question. “If I tell you, it will also explain why I attacked you.”

“Please,” Gin said, trying to be polite. She had shown him some measure of kindness after all.

The woman from Akaii exhaled slowly before starting her tale. “Two years ago, my oldest sister, the apple of my father’s eye, was attacked by the Hairohi in the forest near our lands. But before I go into detail, please let me explain a few things. I suppose you are not especially familiar with Akaii, as very few outsiders are.”

Gin nodded his head, indicating that she had assumed correctly.

“Before the War of Ashes, very few outsiders came to our province, but towards the end, the Grey Flame began growing in number and were building shrines in the mountains and deep woods. We thought little of it at first, as there are many sects and shrines on these islands, but this is a strange breed, for they worship oni, our most dangerous and deadly foe. Many of our people despised them for it, and they were largely shunned, and only a few converted to their side. They lived meager lives in isolation and began to detest our people in return. But up until a few years ago, they had never attacked us openly.

My sister was out riding one day when she ran across a band of them. They accused her of befouling a shrine of theirs and took her captive. My father, a man held high in honor among our people, roused a host to help him find her and a vast number rode out and raided the enclaves of the Hairohi. Yet, despite their best efforts, she was nowhere to be found. A day, then a week, then a month passed, and people began to give up hope. I went out every day to look, setting out at the first light of dawn and returning late into the night. I kept going, even when the search parties ceased.

My father was mentally broken from grief and fell sick from the strain, and my second oldest sister inherited responsibilities she was not prepared for, and quietly suffered under the burden. The cost of the search had also been great, and our house nearly came to financial ruin. But one day, several months later, she returned.

She was unharmed and strangely jovial for one who had been gone so long. However, we soon discovered that her mind was altered, and she was different from when she left. She remembered little of her captivity except for a few details of her primary captor. She described a fair man who she claimed had saved her from the Grey Flame, though he was their leader. Unfortunately, she could not remember where she was taken, or the man’s name. Most bizarre of all was that she could not understand why he let her return.

My father, who was at first overjoyed at her sudden return became obsessed and questioned her day and night. But his investigation yielded nothing. She became a recluse, quiet and strange, and spent most of the time staring off into the forest. This broke his heart, and even to this day he has not fully recovered his strength.”

“You said that I had the same sword as this villain?” Gin asked, greatly interested despite his ever-growing fatigue.

“Well,” Saru said, seeming a little embarrassed, “My sister could not describe the man, but she often drew pictures of him. They were rudimentary things, like that a child would make, but every time she drew his sword, it was always as black as the night. It reminded me of yours.”

“There are many of those who favor the color black for their sword scabbards.”

“But there are few whose blades are as black as yours. It looks as if it has been dipped in the river of the underworld.”

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Gin made a grim smile. “My sword resembles my master’s swords. He had them crafted to be nearly identical to his so that he could easily identify his disciples. But he would never do such a vile thing, for he despises the Hairohi more than most, and has destroyed enough of them to be forever banned from their ranks, let alone from their leadership. It must have been a strange coincidence.” He said this confidently, but his gaze wandered off into the distance as if he were lost in thought.

Saru’s face flushed with slight embarrassment. “I was wrong to assume it was you. It has all been very strange and has sent my father into great distress. Nowadays he stays in bed and rarely leaves. My second oldest sister now largely runs our house’s affairs in his stead, but she is bitter and harsh. And the eldest, well, she wanders the estate, speaking to herself in strange riddles. Thus, it has left a great scar on our family. Moreover, since our raids, the Hairohi have become increasingly aggressive against the people of Akaii, and there have been some violent clashes. As if we didn’t have enough to worry about.”

Gin acknowledged her with a nod, but at that moment, his eyes closed, as he was fading fast to sleep.

“You should get some rest,” Saru suggested, sounding almost gentle for the first time. She sensed that he was beyond his limit and was not going to last much longer. “I’ll take the first watch, so do not worry.”

Despite his lingering anxieties, he managed to set them aside along with his mistrust of his new, strange companion, and let himself get carried down by the great anchor of sleep. Within moments he was gone.

“Get up!”

The startling sensation of cold water blasted Gin in the face, pulling him from his deep slumber as it washed down his body. He lurched forward in surprise but was held down by several strong arms. Pinning him down and hovering around him were several figures in distinctive grey robes. They wore wide-brimmed conical hats made of woven bamboo leaves so that he could only see their mouths. A few of them wielded long ceremonial daggers that glittered in the light. One, the apparent leader of the group, towered over him, with his blade pointed down at him and in his other hand, a crude empty bucket dripping with water.

“Where is she?” the leader hissed. His voice was quiet and sinister. When he spoke, Gin could see that his teeth and mouth had turned black from dye, a tradition used by some sects, which made them look more formidable and esoteric.

Gin looked around. He could not see Saru anywhere, nor did he see any of her belongings, including her naginata. It had to be late morning, as the sun was already rising in the sky.

“She left…” he realized, his heart sinking in his chest. She could have left him long ago when he first fell asleep. She would be far away by now if she had left right away. He peered around once again. The other acolytes that stood around the campsite were as still as stone, but he could feel their baleful eyes upon him.

“I do not know,” he finally said, testing the men’s strength who held him. They were young, but they were also strong, and their collective grip was secure.

“Why did you release her?” the man asked, stooping down so that he was uncomfortably close. He rested the edge of his sharp blade on Gintaro’s chest. “She did not belong to you.”

“She does not belong to you either,” Gin replied, glaring at the man darkly.

With a flick of his wrist, the acolyte made a gash in Gin’s chest. Although the wound was not deep, it hurt terribly. Bright red blood began to seep from the wound. The man collected some of the blood on his dagger and then held it up to his face, studying it as if it were speaking to him. Then, he put it to his mouth and licked the blade clean.

“You have good blood,” the leader said in a murmur. “And I will take it from you. I can do it quickly, or I can drain you drip by drip. Now, tell me where she is! We know she was here!”

“I told you; I don’t know!” Gin repeated, trying to force himself up. He was thinking of his daughter, who without him would not stand a chance. He could not go down like this, not now, not this soon. But what could he do in his dire position? He was still weary from the day before, malnourished and tired. He was not as young as he used to be, and the years of rest had sapped him of his vigor.

The acolytes shoved him back down against the rough tree bark, carving up his back. He groaned with agony, as the leader straddled him and prepared the knife as if he were about to gut him like taken game.

“This cannot be it!” Gin lamented to himself, trying to wrench free once again. “I cannot die now!”

“You want me?” a voice rang from across the glade. “Try and take me now!”

The attention of the acolytes immediately shifted, as they peered over at one of their brothers several yards away, who stood stunned with the sharp edge of a naginata protruding through his chest. The blade then suddenly retracted, and he fell forward, revealing a woman standing tall and defiant in the light of the mid-morning sun.

Gin could feel the grip on him tighten suddenly and then slacken, as the men instinctively took a step back at her coming.

Saru twirled her naginata deftly and then pointed it at the leader, who was still on top of Gin.

“Last time you took me through stealth and treachery, but this time you will taste the full fury of my wrath. I told you this day would come, didn’t I?”

The leader removed himself from Gin and stood up to face her. Gin could feel the fury of the acolytes building, as they quietly began to encircle her like ghosts. Two of the men remained to hold him down, but their attention was now on Saru.

The acolytes sheathed their daggers, knowing they would prove useless against the range of a naginata, and instead loosed sharp sickles from inside their billowing robes. These sickles were themselves short, but they were attached to long chains, so they could be thrown around or into an enemy, and pulled back, rending limb from body. At once, as if they had one mind, the acolytes began twirling the chained sickles above their heads, spinning them faster and faster.

Saru’s eyes flashed from person to person, trying to anticipate who would strike first.

Gin remained deathly still, waiting for his moment, waiting for them to loosen just enough. They did not know who he was and likely assumed that he was a simple country farmer, and so their grip continued to wane.

At once, one of the sickles flew through the air and coiled around Saru’s weapon. Then a second, and a third. Saru had managed to keep them from reaching her body, but now they had disabled her weapon, and would soon disarm her.

With a grunt, Gin burst forward with all the strength he could muster and loosed himself from the acolytes’ grip. He ran forward and scooped up his weapon from the earth. With a prayer he unsheathed it, and this time it came free. The acolytes barely had time to turn when Gin lifted the leader off his feet with a powerful swing. He could not cut with the sword, as it was still terribly blunted, but with enough power, he could incapacitate his foes.

Saru used the distraction to shake off the snares from her weapon and charged the nearest acolyte, who was unable to respond. She drove the naginata through him and then flung him aside, slicing through the next man who assaulted her with his ceremonial knife.

Gin heard the faint buzz of an arrow coming toward him and dodged just in time as it whizzed by his head. He traced its origin and saw one of the acolytes standing atop a small hill about a stone’s throw away. This one had apparently fled to find an elevated position in which he could use his range to pin down his enemies. Saru was also vulnerable, as she was contending with the other acolytes, who harried her like a pack of wild dogs.

Gin rushed forward, as he could see the bowman notch another arrow. The acolyte raised his bow, took aim, and then let it fly, but this time Gin deflected it with his sword, and it spun off behind him. The archer now looked panicked and fumbled with his next arrow. This gave Gin the critical seconds he needed, as he bounded up the slope and leaped high into the air. The man did not have time to raise his bow again, as Gin was already above him. With a quick snap of his blade, the archer crumpled to the ground just as he landed.

When Gin turned back around, he could see that Saru was too much for the pack of acolytes. She had already felled two more and was dueling with another. The leader, whom Gin had knocked down in his escape, was stumbling away, leaving his last fellow acolyte to perish by a well-aimed thrust from Saru’s spear.

She turned quickly, remembering that there was one remaining, but by that time the man was already quite far off. She hoisted her spear, settled into a stance, and took aim, but before she could throw Gin was beside her and put a firm hand on the shaft of her spear.

“Let him go,” he urged.

Saru’s eyes were wild with bloodlust, and she reset her stance, preparing to try once again but this time Gin was in front of her. His eyes met hers.

“Don’t do it. You don’t need to kill him.”

“How can you say such a thing!” Saru screamed, her sharp fangs bared with flecks of spit.

“He’s gone. Let him go,” he repeated. “You don’t have to do this. The fight is over. Don’t lose control. It’s not worth it.”

Saru moved to throw but then, slowly, let her naginata drop to the ground. She lowered herself to her knees, and in a wave of adrenaline and emotion, wept.

Gin knelt beside her and put a hand on her shoulder for comfort.

“I have never had to kill another person before,” she said after a few minutes.

Gin nodded and was silent for a few moments before speaking. “It’s a terrible thing. Killing monsters like oni is in a way, easier, for they know only evil. But men are a mixture of dark and light. You may eradicate the darkness, but with it, you also extinguish the light.”

“I had to do it. They would have never stopped pursuing us,” Saru whispered, but she sounded uncertain.

“Sometimes the darkness is too great,” Gin said with a sigh. “That is why we should not forsake the sword.”