The pair traveled the rest of that day in silence, as the loud chorus of cicadas washed over them and drowned out their bitter thoughts. They stopped briefly at noon for a meager meal and then continued until sunset. The forest was still dense and thick with pines, bamboo, and humidity, and sweat rolled down their foreheads and spilled onto the ground. Eventually, they made camp, and sat down, both mentally and physically exhausted.

Gin was eager for food, but Saru was eager for conversation, for the quietness of the day soured her mood, and her thoughts grew dark and melancholic. She wanted to clear the air.

“I’m sorry for this morning,” she finally said. “I didn’t mean to leave you there, but they came in slowly, one by one. If I had shown myself too soon, they would have fled and regrouped. I needed to make them think I ran off.”

“You had me fooled,” Gin admitted, keeping his hand from massaging the wound on his chest. “But thank you. You could have left me, and you didn't.”

“I suppose that we’re even then,” she said with a grin. “You saved me, and now I’ve saved you.”

“Not quite. You did try to kill me yesterday, remember? So, I’d say we are still two to one.”

“Right, I suppose I forgot that part,” Saru said with a laugh, finishing her bowl of rice gruel. “The All-kami must have been watching over me. Of all the people who could pass me by in the middle of the forest, it was the man who would be most sympathetic to my plight. It’s a good thing I’m so young and beautiful, or you may have left me there.” She batted her eyes in mock flirtation.

“That was not why I did it,” Gin replied bluntly.

Saru lifted an eyebrow. “So why did you then?”

“You mentioned that you are an oni hunter. That’s a very unusual thing to say. Most people around these parts consider oni to only be the stuff of legend. If you told almost anyone else on this island that you hunt oni, they would have thought you to be either drunk or crazy.”

She shifted uncomfortably. “What do you think?”

Gin said nothing but gently pulled open the very top of his kimono to reveal the wound he suffered from the Hairohi. However, also around his neck was a thin chain necklace, and at the bottom of the necklace was a polished, black stone, with a distinctive curved shape.

“A magatama…” Saru whispered, transfixed. “You’re one of those wanderers, aren’t you? I’ve heard stories about them when I was a little child. No wonder you’re so strong.”

Gintaro shook his head. “I was once what some call a Kaijin. But that was a long, long time ago.” There was a faraway look in his eyes when he said this. “During that time, I also fought my fair share of oni. I thought that when I disavowed that order, it would be the end of such things. But this spring I had another encounter with one after so many years.” He lowered his voice and spoke as if he did not want to be overheard. “There are no oni tribes on this island, and even in the heart of Nakashima, oni are nothing more than inspiration for storytellers. At least that is what I used to believe. But this past spring, I had an old man from the village come to me and ask me a favor. Something was eating his animals, and he had spent considerable time tracking it down. When he found what it was, he immediately came to me for help, though he had usually avoided me before. Why he thought I had any experience with such things, I am not sure, but he asked for my help with sincerity and tears in his eyes.

In my village, the appearance of an oni would have caused a great uproar, and the old man could have lost everything and been run out of town, or worse. He feared that the oni would cause others to believe that he became cursed in some way or committed great wickedness that would bring an oni to these lands. To be honest, even I did not believe him at first. But since he was an elder in the community, I obliged.

He took me to the place. It was a cave high up on one of the mountains that overlooks the valley where we lived. There we laid in wait for it, as he said that it usually hunted at night.”

“That is true of oni,” Saru agreed, looking thoughtful. “They prefer the darkness. Their red eyes can see well in the gloom.”

“It took some time for it to come out,” continued Gin, “It was well into the evening when I saw it emerge from its cavern. I could not believe it. It was one of the largest oni I had ever seen. It was taller than me by a head or two. Like other oni, it stood on two feet like a human, but it was clearly not human. Its skin was hard and reddish, mingled with ashen grey as if it had been burned and charred. Its frame was wide and sturdy, and its legs were thick and strong. Its head was massive, and black horns were emerging from it, pointing upwards towards the sky. Its face was badly scarred, and it appeared ugly and fierce. It lumbered from the cave, sniffing the air, searching for food I presume.”

“Was it armed?” Saru interjected. “Did it wear armor of any kind?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “Not that I could tell, besides a foul rag around its loins.”

“It must have been a scout,” Saru stated. “Rank and file oni these days rarely are seen without arms and armor unless they are scouts and need to survive for long intervals in the wilds. But for it to be so large, that is strange. Scouts are usually smaller.”

“That had to be what this one was doing. But how and why it got there, I will never know. All I know is that two good arrow shots to the chest did nothing to hinder it. If anything, it enraged the creature. It charged our position, and to protect my friend, I ran out to meet it. I had borrowed his son’s sword, as mine…” he paused, looking down at his own sword with disdain, “It had not been used since the war, and I did not trust it. I landed one strong strike to its flank, which would have brought down an average man, but it merely roared back with a wild fury. As I turned around, it lashed out at me with his great claw.”

Gin opened his kimono further to show his abdomen, which bore four long scars. Saru winced, for they were ugly wounds, only now just beginning to fade.

“I almost fell right then and there. It had been years since I had used a sword, and even longer since I had fought this kind of unnatural opponent. But his attack had not crippled me, and I was able to escape his reach and line up another strike. I managed to hit the same spot as before, and this time it seemed to work. The oni shuddered and dropped to its knees but was not yet dead. Fearing a revenge strike, I did not hesitate, and thrust my blade into its exposed throat, pushing as hard as I could through the thick, sinewy neck.

The oni did not move after that, but it was a battle that I will not soon forget. I have received quite a few wounds from all my days of fighting against the strange things of this world and men. But this wound still aches, and I see the red eyes from time to time in my dreams, watching me. The most frightening thing was the realization I had lived in these lands for many years, and I had forgotten that such a thing could exist.

When I was a young man, I wandered the Islands, seeking vile creatures like that to destroy. But then the war came, I was so consumed by it that I simply moved on. I suppose I wanted to forget.” Gin paused for a moment. “You said that you hunt these monsters regularly. What else do you know of them?”

Saru looked uneasy. “Too much. We usually don't speak of such things at length in the darkness, but I will oblige since you told your story without fear. Even so, your story of a large oni coming this far south makes me nervous so I will keep it brief. The oni have harried our borders for many centuries, coming south from Kitashima, the lost island, in search of supplies and food, we presume. For many years my ancestors managed to resist them along the beachhead so that they could not gain a foothold on Nakashima, but over time the persistence of their attacks wore us down, and within the last few decades they have taken a number of our strong places. Yet we maintain our fierce resolve. Our capital, Shiroha, has never been besieged and most importantly, the pass of Akaii is defended, preventing any horde of oni from migrating further southwards, into the heart of Nakashima.”

Gin rubbed his chin. “I've often heard of the Shōgun sending troops north, but the reason was always to put down rebellions, or so it was said.”

“It's a lie. There are no rebellions in the north nor have there been in recent history,” Saru said with obvious annoyance. “But to maintain public order, the Shōgun has to give such a pretext. Peasant rebellions in a far, foreign territory are much easier to swallow than the truth. It is our burden, and we do our part and often pay in blood. But our aid from the Shōgun has decreased with each passing year, so we in the north wonder how long they can cover up what is really happening.”

“Aid?” he asked curiously.

“We are not responsible for paying the Shōgun’s taxes or participating in his wars, and in old times we were provided with food, weapons, armor, and even soldiers. But now, since the war began, we haven't received much in the way of provisions, and the men sent to us are more spies than soldiers, making sure we are heeding the Shōgun’s wishes. Yet we are not ultimately beholden to the Shōgun. We defend our lands for our own sake and only accept these provisions as a form of tribute for keeping the rest of the nation safe. We have always far paid more than we have received.”

Gin said nothing, as he had lost himself in thought. The outside world, the one he had once been immersed in, one of political factions, of money and loyalty and pride, of soldiers and monsters and death - it felt so far away. Had he really been gone so long? In Kokoro, he had known the warm earth, the hot sun, the cool rain, and the golden harvest. It was simple, much like it was when he was a child. But just like that time, it was not meant to last. He was now returning to the world of violence, deceit, pride, and vainglory. He would have to change his mind quickly, or he would not survive. And he had to survive for his daughter’s sake. She did not know, and she had not seen the evils that existed in the world.

“Let’s speak no more of this,” he said with a sigh. “My teacher used to say, ‘One day ends, and so do its worries. Tomorrow will bring its own challenges.’”

Saru smiled and nodded, curling up across the fireplace, as the embers died and gave way to a silky mist of smoke.

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Dawn had already broken when Gin opened his eyes once again. His body, despite aching from the prior day’s trials, felt lighter and his head was less hazy. He was lying next to the same tree he had leaned against the night before, but the bag that was used to carry their supplies was folded underneath his head to make a pillow. “It must have been Saru,” he realized. “That was kind.”

He slowly sat up and looked over to see her squatting at the edge of camp, urinating on the ground. She noticed him stir but did nothing but smile at him. “Good morning,” she said cheerfully as if nothing unusual was happening.

Gin whirled around, as his face grew red. “What are you doing?” he cried.

“What are you doing?” she repeated indifferently.

“Y-y-y…you’re!” he stuttered but dared not say any more.

Saru finished and stood up, washing up with the flask of water. “Are you alright? For a man who has fought oni, you sure scare easily.”

He slowly turned around and glared at her. “Couldn’t you go further off into the forest?”

“I am already quite far into this forest.”

“You!” he almost shouted but then stopped. It was useless. He was getting redder by the moment.

“In Akaii, many women fight,” she said matter-of-factly, scooping the rice from the pot with a wooden spoon, the only utensil they had. “They go out into the wilds, sometimes for months on end. They bleed and they die like men. Most don’t sit in pretty castles and sew stitches. I chose to fight, and I’ve earned the right to piss wherever I want. If you don’t like it, close your eyes.”

She shoved the bowl of rice into his hands.

Gin frowned but did not protest further. Surely her unruly northern customs were to blame. He ate quietly, as Saru packed the rest of the items and put out the small flame. Everything was already nearly prepared, as she had seen to it well before he had woken. Gin was pleased by this, as there was little time to spare and much at stake. He watched her move; she was deliberate and precise.

Despite her awful manners, he could not help but admire her as the sun cut through the clusters of bamboo and arrayed her figure in a glow of warm light. He knew her to be strange, arrogant, and even vulgar at times, but she appeared softer as she deftly moved about the camp. It had been such a long time since he had seen a woman who was made of finer quality than those he had known in his small village, and even at her worst, she was fair to look at.

Men often called the people of Akaii ‘snow monkeys’ because of their ears and sharp canines, their strong muscular frames, and of course their crude customs. But she was no mere snow monkey. Her body was strong but supple, balanced in a way one could say was precisely beautiful. Her eyes had a spark of boundless energy.

Yet he quenched the thoughts as quickly as they came, as his focus shifted to his daughter and her dire plight. He sat up and began to set himself in order for the day.

“Did you sleep?” he eventually asked as they started along the path northeast.

“A bit,” Saru returned gruffly. She seemed angry, so he spoke no more to her after that.

The two proceeded along the thin dirt trail that meandered and seemed to be gradually rising. The forest was still quite dense with brush, thick trees, and groves of bamboo. The air was humid and heavy, and it smelled of mugwort and moss. The trail did not appear to follow a stream or water source, as many did, but they were never too far from a brook that flowed down from Mount Omukae, one of the great peaks on Minami-shima. In the daylight, the occasional deer could be seen bounding over thick roots and swallows fluttered up and over branches above. Although the heat was still severe, Gin considered the canopy overhead to be a blessing, as it shielded them from the sun.

For the rest of that day, they remained in the lowlands, where the trees grew tall and close together. There were no signs of civilization other than the sporadically placed stone markers, which seemed to be getting further and further apart. They lost the trail once but managed to find it after some searching. They stopped twice, briefly to eat, and then proceeded on. By nightfall, they both noticed some slight changes in the land, as the air was not as thick, and it had a tinge of freshness to it that reminded him of the mountains.

The next day it rained from morning to evening. Both travelers welcomed it as it had been so hot for so many days, and the rain cooled the air and gave relief, though it made traveling more difficult. The path had become notably steeper in some areas, forcing them to go single file and use their hands to keep balance. The path was muddy, and when the rain picked up, it slowed their pace considerably as the way was slick. They could not cook rice as the rain made it impossible for them to make a fire, but Gin managed to find some wild berries that were edible despite tasting bitter. Saru had returned to her jovial self, which was a relief as she made for a good talking companion and a much-needed distraction from Gin’s ever-prevailing thoughts of rage and despair.

The forest gave way to more mountainous terrain and at last on the next day, they reached a clearing where they could see the grey and brown conical figure of Mount Omukae, rising tall in the distance and the outline of the sea in the east. Although the region was already mountainous, Omukae was the lord of them, as none could compare to its height or splendor. The peak was wrapped in a grey cloud, but it still struck wonder in the hearts of the two travelers. It was said that in ancient days there was a great battle in the plains west of the mountain, and many perished there. Legend said that lying upon the battlefield, many warriors beheld Omukae before passing, and so the mountain was named ‘The Receiving Mountain.’ Gin wondered if it was a comfort to them to see its lofty heights as they composed their death poems in the inner recesses of their minds.

The one thing that was more impressive than the east face of the mountain was the sight of the distant shoreline which signified that they were making good time. Soon the path would slope downwards, and the pair could reach the coast and Kagiminato in a few more days if they kept their current pace. Gin strode on with renewed vigor, now focusing his thoughts on what he must do in the upcoming days and the possibility that he might be able to rescue his daughter.

When they set up camp that night, Saru was more cheery than usual. After their meal, she began rummaging through their bag until she found what she was looking for.

“I've been saving this for when we got to the coast, but the sight of it today lifted my heart, and I think it's as good as time as any,” she said, taking out a small sake cask and popping open the top. “It's not much, just a swig or two left, but it's a bit tastier than rice and millet.” She took a gulp and then handed it to her companion who sat across from her. He eyed it apprehensively, not wanting to partake in anything that resembled a celebration until his daughter was safe.

“To finding your daughter,” she insisted, her arm still extended.

He then nodded and took the last gulp. It was not good sake to be sure, but it was at least refreshing.

“I never thought that I'd be this far from home,” Saru said with a sigh. “It’s too bad it is under such unfortunate circumstances. The view we had today was mesmerizing. The mountains of my land are sharp and jagged, often tipped with snow. The forests here are so lush and vibrant.” She looked around, taking in their surroundings. “You know, I'd never really considered what the other provinces were like. All I've ever known was Akaii. I've seen the maps and heard the stories, but seeing it now makes me wonder about what else is out there.”

Gin could not help his face from softening. “Tell me more. I have never been to your land, and I have seen nearly all of these Islands.”

Saru paused and thought for a moment. “Well, it’s a hard place to be sure. Children are brought up from an early age to fight. Boys and girls. A sword for boys and a naginata for girls are placed into their hands as soon as they can walk. And they are expected to be proficient by their twelfth birthday. The winters are hard, snow can fall up to one’s head on some days. Yet there is beauty in the mountains, and on the quiet plains after a snowfall. It’s as if nature had just put on a cloak of crystal and white. And the summers are marvelous! The sun is warm, but the air is crisp, and the smell of the sea is never far. Our people honor the old laws, the laws before there were Shōguns or even the mighty Emperors. If you wrong someone, they may challenge you to a duel, and you are obligated to fight or make amends. But we also love well. You will never find a more loyal friend or passionate lover than someone from Akaii.” She smiled to herself as if her words had taken her back home for a moment or two. “What about you?” she finally asked. “Tell me about your homeland.”

“My homeland?” he asked himself quietly. “I don’t really have a land to call home. When I was a young man, I traveled almost every day,” he explained. “And before that, I remember little. I've walked the entire Nagamichi Highway there and back again, I have seen the Great Mountain and all of its faces, I've been in the East Sea and the West Sea, I’ve crossed the tranquil waters of Lake Heiwa by boat and soaked my body in the hot springs of Akayu. I've stayed many nights in the Old Capital, and even a few in the New, before it was so grand. I've been through nearly every province, save Shizu in the far south and Akaii in the north.” He paused. “These islands are astoundingly beautiful. It's a shame that they have often been spoiled by vain wars and the evils of men.”

Saru looked impressed, if not a bit jealous. “That’s not so bad. So how does one become a Kaijin anyway? Must you sacrifice your soul to some kami like the other religious zealots? And just how much money did they pay you that you could travel so freely?”

Gin chuckled. “No, no, I don’t think you understand. The way of the Kaijin is a hard way. Perhaps, one of the hardest ways there are. I was in training, and my teacher had unusual methods. He was a vagabond of sorts and made his living by helping local villagers, so as his pupil, I had to follow him across the lands. It was not easy, as we always traveled on foot, and ate only the scraps we could find ourselves or what was given to us by others. We would stay here or there for a few weeks and then move on to the next village. By the time I had come of age, I had seen much of Nakashima and had even traveled onto this island as well, though I don’t think I've ever been in this forest.

To be honest, I despised it at the time, never having a home, and always being on the move, but now as I look back, I am grateful to have had such an experience. I realize now that most people do not get to see much of the beautiful world around them.”

“Well, I didn’t really have a choice in the matter,” Saru said with a grimace. “One minute I’m staking out an oni stronghold, the next I’m locked up and shipped halfway across this beautiful world of ours.”

They both laughed for a moment and then paused, taking in the sound of the forest at night. It was comforting to hear the choir of bugs and other wildlife, filling the air with their songs which blended to create a strange harmony.

After a few minutes, Saru asked, “So you left home and became a Kaijin. Why? It must have been hard leaving your family.”

To this Gin’s face became solemn once again. “I didn’t have much choice in the matter either. My mother died before I could remember her, and my father was a peasant farmer. We were extremely poor, and the villages where we lived were frequently savaged by the war. Many times, we went days without eating anything. One day, my father finally took me from the small hut we had and sent me off with this man that I did not know. I never saw my father after that, and though I despised him at first, looking back, I understand why he did it. There was no hope for me there.

Whether it was hard to give me up or not, I do not know. But he knew that to have a chance at a better life, I needed to be free of him. So, he sent me away. Last I knew, the village where my father lived was completely destroyed during the war, and all of its inhabitants put to the sword. It is likely that he doesn’t even have a proper grave.”

“That’s awful,” Saru whispered, regretting that her question had struck upon a memory so painful. “I didn't mean to…”

“Do not apologize,” he said after several moments. “My new teacher was strict, and his methods were strange, but he took me at once and never threatened to abandon me. He taught me many things, most importantly, how to use this,” he said, staring down at his sword. “He taught me how to survive in a cold and hard world. And though we parted ways under unfavorable circumstances, I will never forget my debt to him.”

“He seems like a good man.”

“He was. We saw many strange and wonderful things together, but the last time I saw him was many years ago. Perhaps he too has departed from this world. After I left him, I fought in the war, which consumed me for many years. Finally, the war ended, and I came to Kokoro to settle down for the first time in my entire life. I came with almost no possessions, but I was grateful for a fresh start.”

“Just a man…” Saru mused aloud, looking off into the distance.

“That's right.”

“But you are a man with a daughter,” she added, shifting her gaze to meet his.

He nodded.

“And you will find her.”

Gin did not answer, but the look of unwavering determination was evident in his eyes.