I saw a cold and merciless ocean, gray waves crashing at my feet and wind howling through my hair. There were ships sailing in the distance, tall warships side by side with small and fragile fishing boats, bobbing up and down with the tide. I heard someone shout my name.

“Imekanu!” said a woman’s voice, somewhere behind me.

That was my name, I was sure of it, but I could not recognise it.

“Hoshipi!” the woman said.

I knew that language too, and I knew its meaning, come back, but I could not find how to answer her. I was holding someone’s hand, a little boy with dark hair and olive skin standing by my side and shivering in the cold.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

Pain flashed through my head, like an icy spear piercing through the back of my neck. I closed my eyes, letting out a scream.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and found myself panting in my bed, in my hut. Himiko was kneeling down beside me in her white kimono, her eyes reflecting the dancing fire with worry.

“You were in pain,” she whispered softly. “I heard you speak.”

I sat up against the wall, massaging my head.

“A dream from my past life,” I said. “You need to hurry, I cannot resist dwelling on it, even less so in my sleep.”

Her eyes darkened and her smile faded.

“I may have a theory on what is happening in Umeshima. Be patient, Akira-kun. I will free your mind, in time.”

I nodded and wiped some cold sweat off my forehead.

“Why don’t you get some sleep,” I said. “I’ll take and keep watch.”

She laid down beside me after a moment of thought and slipped into the furs. She handed me the oil lantern that I had given her and wrapped herself tightly into a nest.

“It’s a quiet night,” she said, pensively staring at the ceiling. “Leave the lantern, keep watch in the darkness. Pray, listen and feel the forest, stare up at the stars. You may just begin to comprehend the mystery you witnessed last night.”

“Would you not just tell me?” I asked with a sly smile, full well expecting a dismissive answer.

She smiled too, tenderly reaching for my hand.

“How I wish it were that simple,” she said. “Our world is vast, and complex, frighteningly so. For one that was not born in it, or somehow forgot that she has, it is akin to drowning a thirsty man.”

She readjusted herself slightly, pulling some cover above her chin and nose.

“Good night, Akira-kun.”

I stood up, and my fingers slipped from her grip. How peaceful she looked, a woman, a princess, a priestess, who with words alone could give life back. No doubt she could take it as well.

It was dark outside, so dark that I could barely see my own feet. Rarely did I go out this late at night without a light. The moon was weak, merely a thin curved line between the clouds, and the stars concealed behind them. I sat down on the ground, leaning against the door of my old wooden hut.

I had insisted upon this, with Himiko, that I would stand watch in the night, in the event that the wolf would come for her. She had only accepted when I agreed to share the watch with her. “My brave guardian, you’re no use to me standing if your head is still sleeping,” she had said.

A few snowflakes were falling timidly. I could barely see them, but I felt their sting on my face as they melted.

I raised my eyes towards the sky and closed them, imagining the comet. How beautiful it was, that shining flame across the stars. How powerful it was, in its silence, how majestic.

And then it was snuffed out, taken from the sky like a swatted fly. I breathed in the cold air, repeatedly bumping my head against the wall of the cabin. If a meteor was a helpless fly, what was I to be? If a word could change the world, if a sentence could bend the universe, what was I but noise? What agency did a lone huntress have on the plans of gods, beasts and dragons?

When I opened my eyes, the complete darkness had abated. I could distinguish the shape of the old cherry tree, on my left, and the stone wall in the distance. My hands felt cold against the ground, and when I pulled them close I felt melted snow dripping down my arms. As I closed my fist, some of it solidified into an icicle, before melting away as well.

I heard a faint rustling sound, and reached for my knife, jumping to a knee. I saw two bright spots on the cherry tree. After a long few seconds, they disappeared, and a shadow flew away in complete silence.

An owl, another huntress in the night.

Since my knife was out, I kept it in hand to cut myself a piece of dried meat. I noticed that its edge had chipped, most likely against one of the deer’s bones. I would have Gin-san sharpen it in the morning.

Did it know, I wondered, of the circumstances that had led to it there? To the two of us crossing eyes, sharing these few seconds? Did the mice and rabbits that it would hunt tonight understand how their death would feed its offspring, how their death spared other mice and rabbits, at least for another night? If I were to point a rifle at that owl, would it understand the grave danger that it was in? If it saw my shadow, on a wall, would it fly away in fear or it, or of what cast it?

I felt sweat, rolling down my neck, despite the cold. I was feeling anxious, unnerved by my own train of thought. Himiko’s voice echoed in my head, on the power of words over the world around us, starting with minds. I closed my eyes and sat up straight, legs crossed and hands joined with fingers interlocked.

“Peace, peace…” I whispered softly, to no one but myself.

I remembered an old poem, read to me in a foreign language I could scarcely remember. There was but one line left:

“Waves… break upon me,” I said.

I felt my muscles loosen as I expired. The air I breathed now felt warm and soothing, and my mind felt still. I felt content, and smiled, opening my eyes once more to gaze upon the shaded forest. Perhaps my power did not reach up to the stars, but at least it was strong enough upon myself.

A few more quiet hours later, dawn’s rosy lights peaked over the mountains in the east. I fetched my two thickest fur coats, my shortbow, quiver and satchel from my shed. With Himiko, and the untold abilities of her voice, perhaps we truly could find that so-called wolf. I opened the door of the cabin and let out a gasp of surprise.

There it was, the white fox, nestled in a ball of fur atop the covers of my bed. She had her nose covered by a paw, but her bright amber eyes found me as soon as I entered.

She leapt down to the ground and stretched with a wide, fang-adorned silent yawn, back and tail curved like a crescent moon. She shook off the rest of her sleep, but to my surprise she did not turn back into human form. Instead, she trotted towards me and climbed up my back with agility, slithering around my neck like a scarf. I felt her claws as she sat into my hood, her head next to mine as if conjoined.

“Are you going to stay here?” I asked, holding back a chuckle.

All I got in reply was a gentle snarl.

“Fine, I suppose I’ll carry your coat then,” I said as I wrapped it over my satchel.

The air was cold, so early in the morning when the sun was timid, but I could tell that it would be a blue sky day. There would be no snow and no rain to spoil whatever tracks it may leave, no strong wings to carry our scents.

I set off towards the village, fox in tow and bow in hand. I could no longer bear the dead empty eyes of Tsumugi and the others, so I kept my head down when we passed through the marketplace. Himiko, however, observed them all intensely. None seemed to notice the fox perched on my shoulder.

We passed through and walked towards the spot where Aoto-kun had seen the wolf at a brisk pace. I could already feel the pain in my head creeping back. I tried, futilely, to keep it at bay by whispering “waves, waves break upon me…” over and over again. I noticed that Himiko was staring at me, but she averted my gaze as soon as I looked back.

“I’m sure you’ve seen it,” I said, without expecting an answer. “They all seem starved and thoughtless, like worker ants. Yesterday, I heard Tsumugi telling the same story, over and over to her son, who did not seem to notice or care.”

Without as much as a grunt to acknowledge my rambling, Himiko jumped off my shoulder and stuck her nose to the ground. We had arrived at the location of the wolf’s sighting, and she seemed to have caught a scent, her ears twitching in all directions. She took off into the forest, following the same path that I had found yesterday, her nose still close to the ground. Like me, she made her way down to the creek where I had lost the trail, but she crossed it in a swift leap and kept on going uphill on the other side. I followed as quickly as I could, splashing some water on my boots when my own jump came up short.

I followed in her footsteps, feeling my breath tire as I approached the top of the hill. It felt like hours, running after that tiny line in the snow, and I felt my heart beat grow stronger. How careless she was, to bolt ahead like that; that wolf was after her, more likely than not, and it would surely delight in finding her alone.

The forest grew thicker, and the trees closer together as the hill only got steeper. Suddenly I saw her, standing in the distance. She was at the very top, on the edge of the cliff where the trees cleared slightly, with the waves crashing below. She stood naked, unbothered by the cold winds, her arms wrapped around her as she gazed pensively into the ocean. As I approached, slowly, catching my breath, I wrapped the fur coat around her.

“Somewhere, over the water, I had a home. A temple to which I had dedicated my long life, friends who helped me, friends whom I helped. Songs I sang, poems I composed, dreams… so many dreams.”

She turned towards me, eyes reddened with tears.

“I’m sorry, Akari,” she whispered. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to help you, I don’t know how to help myself. I’m not a huntress, like you, I’m not a soldier. For so long I cared for rites and relics, but what use is it to me now? To you?”

I paused. The pale early light was bright upon her face, her eyes shining like golden jewels. She looked so fragile, a lonely plum blossom wrapped in that huge coat of mine. She looked so tall, facing the winds upon that cliff with her legs firmly planted in the snow. She looked so proud, red hair flowing in the breeze like a warrior’s banner, catching the morning sun like flames. If I were only to take a step forward, to take her to the safety of my arms… I saw a sob rising to her throat as her lips tensed up. I laid a reassuring hand on her arm. I tried looking into her eyes, but she averted my gaze.

“You took me out of my reverie,” I said, after a moment of thought. “Look, even diminished, my thoughts are my own now. Thanks to you.”

She chuckled, but she did not seem relieved.

“Yes, I snapped you out of a dream, but what for? What tells you that you weren’t happier then? Look at you know, risking your life to help me, running after a beast you know nothing about.”

“Well, now I’ve met you. I know that makes me happier.”

She laughed out loud this time, new tears mixing with the old ones.

“What will you do,” I asked. “After we find it? Once you’re safe?”

She looked to the horizon again. She took a step back, and her hands slipped from mine.

“I don’t know,” she said, pensively. “I miss my home, but will I be happy there again?”

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She turned to smile at me.

“Come, brave Ainu huntress, the trail continues north towards the mountains.”

I tried to smile back.

“Let’s find that wolf.”

It was only more climbing from here on as we approached the north-eastern mountains. After about an hour, dirt and trees became more scarce and gave way to rocky hills. Running gave way to climbing, and very quickly I was drenched in sweat from head to toe. I caught up to Himiko after another hour of slow and excruciating ascent. We had arrived on a slight plateau, and her tracks led to a cave concealed between a fallen boulder and a gigantic spruce tree.

I found her inside, kneeling by what looked like an old campfire.

“He was here,” she said. “And I think I know who it is.”

She raised a torn rag, stained with black.

“Is that blood?” I asked, kneeling down next to her.

“Dried up,” she said. “But look at this.”

She handed the rag to me while I wrapped the coat around her, again.

It was a fine piece of white silk with gold and purple embroideries, turned gray by dirt and blood. At its center, in golden threads, there was a strange symbol; it looked like a flower, with dozens of flowing lines curved onto themselves into thin, blade-like petals.

“The crest of house Kuma,’ Himiko explained. “A thistle flower.”

“So it’s one of their soldiers,” I said. “Someone on the boat you sunk?”

“Not just anyone,” Himiko said.

She pulled something else from the fireplace, a rough looking piece of metal bent out of shape. It looked like it used to be a work of art, with traces of engravings now worn out.

“It’s a shin guard,” she said. “Commoners and Kuma’s foot soldiers do not wear such fine armor. There were only three officers on that boat, two of whom I killed.”

“And that would be the third…”

“He went overboard, he must have floated here like I did.”

“How dangerous is he?” I asked, and Himiko’s face darkened with apprehension.

“He’s a lieutenant, Masuda, I believe. He was strong, but I had no idea he was a shapeshifter too. It’s a rare skill,” she explained when she noticed my confused look. “It is attainable by all, but requires more work and years of study than are within most people’s lifespan.”

“More years than… wait, how old are you?” I asked, baffled.

“Akira-san, such an undignified question to ask a princess,” Himiko said with an exaggerated motion of shock. “I’m coming up on 150 years, I mastered shapeshifting in around 90. I was considered a bit of a prodigy. With another hundred, I might even master another form.”

“One hundred and fifty?” I said, choking in surprise. “How… how is that even…?”

She smiled.

“You really don’t remember anything, do you?”

“Please don’t mock me…” I grumbled. “We have a lieutenant to track.”

Himiko’s eyes wandered around the cave, her lips curled in a deep thoughtful pout.

“When he comes back here, he’ll know we’re here – if he even comes back.” She reasoned. “There is no ambushing him in this cave.”

“Shall we return to my home then, wait for him there?” I said. “There's a good reason for him to be coming after you.”

Himiko nodded. After a moment of thought, she took an arrow from my quiver and used it to cut off a lock of her hair.

“And now he has my scent. He’ll follow and try to bring me back to his master, like the good hound he is.”

She turned back into a fox, and I picked up her coat. We set off together this time, with her trotting next to me and around me. She occasionally went to investigate a sound, but always came back to walk by my side.

It was a harsh descent at first, with Himiko staying in my hood while climbing down cliffs, but it quickly turned into a pleasant hike downhill. The trees gave us shade as the sun grew stronger, and our stomachs grew hungry. I was about to reach for some dried meat in my satchel when Himiko took off like a bolt of lightning. I heard a squeal, a struggle, and a few seconds later she came back with a white rabbit between her fangs.

We set up camp by a river. Himiko rolled up into a ball and waited while I built a fire and prepared the rabbit. She stayed in her fox form gnawing on bones and breaking them with her powerful jaws.

It must have been barely a few hours past noon when we came in sight of the village again, but night was already beginning to set. I remembered my chipped knife and decided to go by the workshop. When we approached, Himiko jumped into my hood once more.

“Gin-san!” I shouted, when I saw him sitting on the bench in front of his workshop, talking with his son while smoking from his longpipe. He raised a hand, the size of a skillet, while Daisuke waved at me energetically.

“Out for a hunt, Akira-san?” he asked. “What’s with the fox?”

“I fed it and I think it likes me now,” I said as I approached. “I’ll see if it’s any good as a tracking hound.”

I chuckled internally as Himiko sunk one of her claws in the back of my neck.

“I’ll find the wolf, Gin-san,” I said, standing before him.

He nodded slowly, taking a long breath from his pipe.

“The boy will be relieved to hear that. He has gotten back to work, though I can still see him tremble from time to time.”

“I’ll put him at ease, worry not,” I said with a confident smile. “In the meantime, do you mind taking a look at my knife, it’s lost some of its edge.”

“Of course,” he said as I handed it to him. “I’ll have it sharpened by tonight, will you–”

He stopped suddenly, looking at something on its grip.

“What is this?” he asked in a whisper.

He turned it towards me, and I saw a strange symbol engraved in the pommel. My heart stopped for a beat and I felt Himiko’s body tense up on my shoulders.

Thin petals, like blades.

“I don’t know,” I answered, baffled. “I never noticed it.”

“Where did you get this knife?” Gin-san asked, under his breath.

“I don’t know, didn’t you give it to me?”

“I have never seen this blade before,” he said.

He pulled it back towards him, staring at the crest of Kuma.

“I didn’t make this…” he whispered.

I exchanged a worried look with Daisuke, who seemed as disarmed as I was.

I knelt down before the old man.

“I’ll come back tomorrow morning,” I said. “We’ll talk more.”

He looked at me, and I saw that his gaze had changed. It was dark, pitch black, filled with swirling thoughts that neither of us could understand. He nodded slowly at me.

“Good night, Gin-san, Daisuke-kun.”

On the walk back towards my home, I noticed Himiko admiring the valley. At that time, the sun was setting, shedding orange hues of light over the orchards. It made me smile, and I slowed my pace to let her enjoy its beauty.

Suddenly, she turned her head towards the cabin at the top of the hill, her nose quivering as she tasted the air. We exchanged a look and she jumped down, turning back into human form before my eyes.

“I’ll go talk to him alone,” she said with assurance. “You stay hidden, watch from the shadows, take him down if he tries anything. Go for the heart.”

I nodded and handed her the coat. It was cold, after all, as the sun was on its way out, and she was naked again. She smiled with silent laughter.

“Put that down, dear.”

She walked up ahead. I took out my bow and nocked one of Gin-san’s yajiri arrows. I walked into the forest, to the south, away from the path leading to my home. I made my way silently up the hill, snaking my way through the trees and around the top to emerge from the west, on the side opposite from the path. The trees were dense here, with prickly bushes of young maple blocking my view. I pushed my way through and knelt down, bow and arrow at the ready.

I saw him, and felt a sharp pain pierce through my brain. I contained a grunt of pain, clutching my head as I breathed through gritted teeth.

He turned to me, as if he had heard me, but it was too dark for him to see me in the cover of the forest. Himiko appeared over the hill, and he turned back to face her.

I knew him. Somehow, somewhere, we had met before. Even from this distance, I could tell. It was a man with graying hair, still strong despite his age. He stood up when he saw Himiko, his back still arched over like a humpback, but he did not shake. He was strong, standing like a pillar in the snow in his large flowing gold and purple robe, his hands held behind his back as if locked together.

“Himiko-sama.”

I could barely hear him from this distance as the wind started blowing. That voice, too, sounded familiar. Deep, powerful, charged with authority and command.

“You look radiant as ever, milady.”

She stood a safe distance away from him, by the stone wall, arms along her side, unbothered by the cold.

“Masuda-san,” she replied, unimpressed. “You live.”

“Despite your best efforts, milady,” he said, with a hint of dry humor. “Come, we have stayed on this wretched island for long enough. We’ll say that there was a crash. Storms are frequent hereabouts, anyway. No need for pointless violence.”

She laughed.

“Is that not what you adore? Do not play the coy old man with me.”

“Milady, for the sake of my lord and his unborn child, I will not leave you here. There is something deeply wrong with this island. I know you’ve felt it.”

His voice had lost some of its gravitas. I knew that sound, I had heard it often enough in the last breath of many animals.

Fear.

“Who knows what dark machinations are occurring here?” he shouted, over the wind. “Some wicked sorcery the sort of which I have never seen. A whole island, slowly drained away like–”

“Enough!” Himiko shouted, her voice tainted with rage. “You and that foul princeling, snakes clothed in gold.”

“Milady,” the old man pleaded, more calmly. “Please, let us return to Hokkaido, you can still make your peace with Lord Kuma.”

Himiko smiled, and her eyes turned towards me.

“Masuda-san,” she said, gently. “You won’t be returning anywhere.”

Immediately, I sprung out of cover and let my arrow loose, straight towards the old man’s chest. It flew true and silent, like a needle piercing through the cold air. One second before it struck, he turned his head ever so slightly, and caught it with one hand. He squinted to see me, but the last lights of the setting sun covered me in blinding rays of gold.

I barely had enough time to understand what had happened that Himiko was at his throat, fangs flashing red with blood and claws scratching at his chest. The old man stumbled back, but did not fall, shouting in pain. They spun around in their struggles, arms and tail flailing around wildly.

I feared that I might hit Himiko with another shot so I approached at a quick pace, another arrow at the ready. Masuda managed to rip her away from his throat, throwing her away. She rolled on the ground but came back on all fours immediately, growling menacingly. I slid into a stop and fired one more time. The old man deflected it with the back of his hand, like swatting a fly, while holding the blood flowing from his neck with the other.

“You have found a pet, I see,” he grumbled. “No matter.”

He fell to the ground, and for a moment I thought he would collapse. But he held strong, both hands digging into the ground, back arching over as he roared. He started growing, like Himiko did all those times. I fired another arrow, before he could complete his transformation. It struck his shoulder, and fell to the ground, barely leaving a scratch on his skin.

White fur sprouted over his skin, like grass in the spring. I shot arrow after arrow, and each bounced off like sticks. His large, flowing robes spread over him without tearing, revealing one metallic shin guard on his leg, metal bracers on his front paws, and a heavy steel carapace on his back.

From the corner of my eye, I saw that Himiko was transforming too. She writhed on all fours, shaking as her flesh cracked and moved under her skin. She had grown to be taller than me, a gigantic, powerful fox.

I looked back to Masuda, and there it was, a beast I could barely call a wolf. Pale like a bone, red, fuming eyes and a snout covered in scars. It stood taller than me, taller than even the cabin, a huge mass of growling muscle and rage, foaming at the mouth.

After a second, the two beasts launched at each other, clashing with the sound of broken bones and skin tearing.

They rolled on the ground, each trying to pin the other down and find its neck while I stood by helplessly. They roared so loudly I felt the ground shake under me.

They struggled on, briefly separating before rushing at each other again with unrelenting ferocity. Masuda’s white fur was stained with blood now, and Himiko covered in snow, but they did not tire.

Yet, she was smaller than him, and seemed to gain the upper hand. Her fangs and claws were only scratching at his armor, and he shook her off every time she approached his neck, pushing down over her with all his weight.

Finally, he seemed to have her under his control, her tail flailing on the ground desperately.

It lasted all but a moment, as he raised his head, jaws wide open. I loosened one last desperate arrow, and it found its way into his mouth, piercing his snout through and through.

He roared in pain. Before he could recover, Himiko’s head sprung forward and her jaws locked around his neck.

It was too large for her though, and despite her best efforts as he grunted and struggled, she could not chew through or choke him. Still firmly locked around his throat, she got back on all fours, and they began spinning around each other as he tried to pull away.

They were gaining momentum, and suddenly she managed to lift him off his feet, ejecting him towards the shed. He landed violently, crushing it under his weight.

He tried to get back up, this gigantic beast. I was about to nock another arrow when I saw that Himiko had reverted to her human self.

She had a strange stance, one foot in front of the other, her back arched back as if taking a deep breath. She held her hands in front of her stomach, palms apart but each finger connected with its opposite, as if holding an invisible ball. After a second, that felt like a silent eternity, she leaned forward.

From her tightly held lips came a stream of blinding light, erupting into a blast of fire as it struck the wolf square in the chest. It writhed and shrieked under the inferno, its fur and pelt melting over its bones. Even from a dozen yards away I felt the heat burning my face and had to turn away. The shockwave forced me to take a step back, blowing wind over me like a hurricane. It lasted for almost ten seconds while I covered my face with my arms.

Finally, the light abated. When I opened my eyes, I saw Himiko standing there, her hands still joined, out of breath. She immediately looked at me and ran over.

“Are you hurt?” she asked, panting.

“No, are you?”

“I’ll live.”

Her body was covered in blood and scratches, none of which looked deep. I looked past her. The shed had been burnt to cinders. At their center, a human looking body was sitting against the last vestiges of a wall. It coughed.

I walked towards Masuda, and kneeled before him. His whole body had turned to black coal, filling the air with the stench of burned flesh. His hair had burned away, and his face had melted over one of his eyes. The other, however, was fixated upon me.

“I… – I know you… soldier,” he said weakly.

Looking closely at what remained of his face, I felt the now familiar pain creep up once more in my head. No more.

I took another arrow from my quiver, holding it at the tip, and plunged it deep into his throat. The lieutenant of Kuma gargled on his own blood, and fell to his side in a silent heave.

I looked at Himiko. She had stayed there, unflinching in the cold. We exchanged a silent look of understanding. It was done, but it was far from over.