She landed on the balls of her feet just in time to see a slender shadow on the other side of camp. They tried to break away and run, but found themselves face to face with Rin. They whirled around but Kaze bounded out of the shadows and blocked them. With no other way left to go, the stranger rushed straight for Kaede, reaching for their obi.
She didn't give them a chance to draw their blade. She lunged, grunting as she collided with the intruder. Her shoulder met their chest, and the two of them tumbled onto the ground, locked in a fierce struggle. The stranger fought desperately, but Kaede had the advantage. She brought her wakizashi to her opponent's throat, letting them feel the sharp edge. "Don't move. I'd rather not spill blood tonight."
The intruder stopped struggling and placed their hands above their head in surrender. By that time, the entire camp had awoken. The others came rushing over, blades drawn and eyes wide.
"What happened?" Hayate panted, staring down at the pinned stranger in surprise.
"It seems Rin and Kaze have caught a thief," Takeshi said.
Kaede took another look at the person beneath her, a woman and a familiar one at that. She hadn't noticed before in the dark, but she recognized the stranger's features. She was indeed a thief—one they had encountered before. "Ishikawa Gin?"
***
"Oh, great," Gin groaned, rolling her eyes. Despite having a sword at her throat, she didn't seem appropriately frightened. "The Ancestors must despise me. Of all the camps in the Empire, I had to stumble into yours. Look, I was just trying to score some food and a few pouches. I didn't know it was you lot. Trust me, I don't want to fight any of you again."
"That's because you lost," Imari said, approaching the pinned woman and stopping at her side. She was surprised by Gin’s arrival, but she doubted the thief would be much of a threat this time. Her heart rate had already slowed down. "Let her up, Kaede. She isn't going to run—not when our friends can chase her down."
Kaede removed her wakizashi from Gin's neck, and the thief rubbed sulkily at the spot even though it hadn't broken skin. "What are you going to do to me?"
"That depends on why you're here," Imari said.
"Wait," Hayate said, sounding confused, "you know this person?"
"Kind of," Kenta said, putting away his sword. "She runs a small gang of thieves a few miles beyond the Homura border. What are you doing all the way over here?"
"The same thing I was doing there," Gin said. "I couldn't stay so close to Homura after almost killing the daimyo's daughter, so I headed east before someone came after me. I know this area pretty well."
The beginnings of an idea stirred in Imari's head. "You do? Explain."
"Well, it's in the name, isn't it?" Gin said, as if it were obvious. "Ishikawa. My ancestors served the daimyos of Asahina centuries ago. We were here even before Mirai was."
Imari's brows lifted. "Ishikawa is your real name? I thought you were being dramatic."
"Nope, it's real," Gin sighed, as if she was already weary of explaining. "The ‘legendary’ Ishikawa was one of my ancestors. He came from my village, too, you know. Iga was a thriving town back then, of course, and now I'm just trying to keep the place afloat."
"Even if it means robbing travelers?" Hayate asked, clearly skeptical.
"Only the rich ones," Gin said. "I'm not about to rob some poor sap with nothing. Even thieves have standards."
Imari gave Gin a scrutinizing look, and then glanced over at Suanni, who was hanging back from the rest of the group and observing quietly. "You knew this was going to happen, didn't you? I don't know how, but you knew."
Suanni merely smiled.
"I know what you're thinking, Imari, and it's not a good idea," Rin growled. Her hackles were still raised, and she glared at Gin with her lips peeled back. "This woman almost killed Kaede last time."
"I wasn't going to kill her," Gin protested, edging away from the wolf. Rin seemed to be the only member of the group who made her truly nervous.
"And ransoming Imari is better?" Rin said.
"Don't dismiss the idea yet, Rin," Kaze said in a calm voice. He held his tail much lower than his sister. "We needed a way into the fortress, and now we have one. This is all to the good."
"Wait, fortress?" Gin did a double take. "You mean Asahina? The top-of-the-mountain, crawling-with-shogun-and-samurai fortress? Not to mention it’s the seat of power of the Toyotomi clan! Do you know how many times they tried to kill the original Ishikawa? No way am I going up there, even if you try and make me. I'm not stupid enough to risk my neck."
Despite Gin's words, Imari jumped on the opportunity. "What if I gave you a really good reason to say yes?"
"No way. There's nothing in the world you could give me to make me go up there."
"What if I relayed how dire the situation in Iga is directly to the Empress?" Gin snorted, but Imari continued. "No, it's true. I had an audience with her yesterday. I’m sure she’ll want to help you, but if she doesn’t, I'll personally make sure every member of your village has enough food and supplies to last them for the next ten years. I'll even get my father to repair the roads so more travelers come through."
Gin's eyes narrowed. "Why are you trying to bribe me, anyway? Why do you want to get into that fortress so badly?"
Imari sighed. The truth would be best. "We think an evil fox spirit is there right now, trying to manipulate the shogun."
"What?" Gin let out a bark of laughter, shaking her head. "Now I know you're crazy. Fox spirits and seeing Empress Tomoyo. Sun and Moon, I never should’ve come here."
"Look, we're telling the truth," Kaede said. "Kyuubi has already possessed one shogun. The others could be in danger. Her Majesty has ordered us to sneak in and find out what's going on as soon as possible."
"You're all crazy," Gin repeated, but Imari could see that her resolve was weakening. The thief was chewing thoughtfully at her lip, and her eyes were cautious, but not mistrustful. Against her better judgment, she was starting to listen to them.
"This story is too crazy to be made up," Imari said. "That's what you're thinking right now. But you should be thinking about all the people in your village. I give you my word as a samurai that I'll restore it to its former glory, even if it requires emptying all of Mirai's coffers to do it."
Gin hesitated, clearly wavering.
"Besides, if Kyuubi is controlling the shogun, where will her eye turn next? Homura and Toyotomi lands, which includes Iga. We can't let anything happen to our homes.” She stepped forward. “Come on, Gin. Just show us how to get in. There has to be a way, right?"
At last, Gin gave a loud groan. She shook her head, pinching her brow for a moment, and then stood up, brushing the dust from her threadbare kimono. "Fine, I'll help you. But if you go back on your word—"
"We won't," Kenta interrupted, barging into the conversation with a grin. "I'll put on a hat and build those roads myself if I have to."
"Cool it with the enthusiasm," Gin said, holding up a hand. "You've convinced me for now. There's only one way into Asahina that doesn't involve the front gate. My father told me about it. It's a tiny path up the steeper side of the mountain, and it's usually snowed over. I hope you all brought tall sandals, because you're going to need them."
"I still don't like this," Rin muttered.
Imari prepared to argue, but Kaede put a hand on Rin’s back, reassuring her instead. "Well, it's the best option we've got. So, are you in?"
"She'll get over it," Kaze said. "All right, Gin. Lead the way.”
Rin and Kaze were forced to take the lead as they made their way up the winding, snowy mountain trail. Imari did her best to keep up, but she found it difficult even though she had dressed for snow. The trail Gin had spoken of was hardly a path at all. At best, it was a series of barely-connected patches along the mountainside where the rocks didn't reach up to a person's shoulders.
"Are you sure this is the right way?" Gin raised her voice to be heard above the wind as it barreled down the mountainside, wh
ipping painfully past her face and lashing through her hair.
Gin turned back, glaring over her shoulder. "Do you see any other way up? I know what I'm doing."
Imari doubted it, but she didn't have much of a choice. Gin had little to gain by taking them the wrong way, at least. She slipped over a patch of ice, and she would have fallen into a snowbank if Kaede hadn't caught her elbow.
"Careful," she whispered, and for a moment, Imari felt the heat of Kaede's breath against her cheek.
"You, too."
After that, Imari made more of an effort to step in Rin's pawprints. They were large enough to hold most of her sandals, and at least that way, she could be sure of her steps.
"Should have…taken the stairs." Kenta panted behind them. Imari couldn't blame him. He was carrying the only pack they had decided to bring with them. "I'd rather fight guards than this."
"You wouldn't," Takeshi said darkly. "Besides, it's not much further."
Imari raised her hand to shield her face from the spray of fallen snow the wind had picked up from the ground, looking up at the top of the mountain. Takeshi was right. They were approaching what looked like a large square shadow from one side. The rear walls of Asahina were hard to make out from below in the dark, but she could at least tell that they were getting closer.
"I see why no one tries to come up this way. Look," Hayate said from a few paces back, pointing.
Imari followed his gesture. Instead of a steep slope, the section of mountain behind the fortress was a sheer drop down, almost like the face of a cliff. Beneath, gales of wind howled at them and the drop ended in a sea of sharp rocks below.
"You've got that right," Gin said. "That's why Ishikawa Goemon managed to escape this way without getting caught. All the guards assumed he slipped out the front. This is before the part where they tried to boil him and his daughter alive, of course."
"Of course," Suanni said. Though they were at the rear of the group, they had no trouble climbing the icy slope, just as they hadn't struggled to cross the Jade Sea.
"What are you going to do when we get to the top?" Imari asked them.
Suanni gave their usual cryptic answer. "That depends entirely on what we find when we arrive."
Kyuubi. We need to find Kyuubi. Though Imari knew the shogun needed to be her priority, the desire for justice burned brightly within her. It kept her warm and strong against the snow, and she picked up her pace, catching up with Rin and Kaze. Without speaking, they closed ranks in front of her, shielding her from the worst of the wind.
The path leveled off a few minutes later. Up close, Asahina was even more impressive. A thick wall of solid stone climbed up into the sky. Only a hundred meters of empty space sat between the foot of the wall and the cliff, all covered in fresh, undisturbed snowfall.
"How do we get through?" Kenta asked, craning his neck.
"Through the door," Gin said, as if it were obvious. She pointed toward a small wooden door set into the wall, one Imari had completely missed in the dark. "You didn't think I'd take you up a treacherous mountain path that didn't lead anywhere, did you?"
Imari approached the door for a closer look. Thick bars of iron were set across its front, but it didn't look as though it had been opened in years. "So, do we break it down?"
Gin snorted. "You're welcome to try. Don't come to me expecting me to pop your shoulder back in."
"I think there's a better way." Hayate glanced over at Kaede. "Do you want to, or me?"
"You go ahead," Kaede said. "You're better at it."
"All right." Hayate rolled his shoulders, standing back several paces and stretching. He broke into a run, and quick as a flash, he was up and over the wall, practically hovering in midair as he scaled its side.
Even though she had seen the same feat before, Imari gaped. The way Hayate defied gravity was incredible, and she blinked in case her eyes were playing tricks on her. But it was no trick. Gin sputtered in a satisfying way, and Kenta grinned.
"Did he just climb straight up a wall?" Gin asked, glancing from face to face as if looking for confirmation.
Kenta nodded. "He sure did. Just wait."
They waited, only to hear a muffled thud followed by a soft crunch. Imari guessed that Hayate had removed the wooden bar keeping the gate shut from the inside. A moment later, it swung open, revealing the inside of a courtyard as well as Hayate's pale face. "Come on, let's go in before anyone sees us."
Together, the nine of them crept into the fortress courtyard. From their new vantage point, Imari saw that they were at the top of the castle itself. A pyramid of tiered squares built directly into the mountainside lay beneath them, each larger than the last and holding its own buildings. They led down like a giant set of stone steps, and Imari realized that coming through the front would have been a terrible mistake. Climbing through all those floors without giving themselves away was surely impossible.
"Thank you, Gin," she whispered, half to herself.
"I try," Gin said, overhearing the comment. "So, I'll head back down now, okay?"
"Wait." Takeshi stepped in front of her, blocking her path back to the door. "I don't think so. You aren't leaving until we find the shogun."
Gin backed away from him, reaching for her sword. "Hey! The deal was that I get you up here. I did that. I never promised anything about helping you fight."
"She's right, Takeshi," Imari said. She stepped between the two of them, placing a hand on his arm. "Gin never said she was going to come with us."
"Well, she should. If we don't stop Kyuubi, her village is right in the line of fire." He ignored Imari, looking past her toward Gin. "I thought you were a thief with principles, like Ishikawa Goemon. Now's your chance to prove it."
Gin groaned, casting her eyes skyward. "Sun and Moon, the stupid things I do. Fine. I'll stick around, but I'm not making any promises as to how long."
They turned back to the smaller building on their level. In the daylight, it would be grand indeed. The slanted roof was trimmed with what looked like black and yellow, the Toyotomi colors, and wide, impressive steps led up to it. The mon of Toyotomi, a black symbol indiscernible at night on a pale-yellow field, waved back and forth eerily on their poles lining both sides. "This says 'throne room' to me," she said, gazing up the steps. "Should we start here?"
"You should." Suanni peered up the steps, concentrating heavily, and Imari caught Kaede shuddering beside her, as if she had felt something stir in the air. "I cannot tell you where the shogun are, but I sense Kyuubi's ki nearby."
Imari didn't need to hear anymore. She started up the stairs without waiting for the others, already reaching for her jian.
"Imari, maybe we should come up with a plan first?" Kaede asked, jogging to catch up and whispering beside her. "You know, stake out the place or something."
"We have a plan," Imari said. "Find Kyuubi and kill her."
"You'll need to chop off all nine of her tails," Suanni reminded them. They had taken the stairs at a run as well, although they weren’t out of breath. "That's where she keeps her power."
"Okay. Find Kyuubi, chop off her tails, kill her."
Kaede sighed. "At least there aren't any guards—"
Fast footsteps came from behind them, followed by several loud shouts of alarm. Imari whirled around to see a band of guards approaching, clad in armor with their swords drawn. They headed straight for the foot of the stairs, where Takeshi, Kenta, Hayate, Gin, Rin, and Kaze met them. The guards drew back at the sight of the two wolves, but not for long. After a moment to get over their shock, they charged forward. Rin and Kaze lunged for one while Takeshi engaged another, his katana a flash of silver against the night.
Kaede made to run back down the steps, her own katana already in hand, but Imari grabbed her arm, pulling her to a stop. "No, don't! We have to keep going up. This might be our only chance."
"She's right," Suanni said. "Kyuubi won't stay long once she hears this."
With one last desperate look at their frien
ds, Kaede shrugged off Imari's hold on her arm and started up the stairs. They covered the distance in record time. The tall set of double doors to the throne room weren't locked or guarded, and Imari shouldered past them, bursting into the room with Kaede and Suanni at her heels.
Sitting between a set of painted screens, Kyuubi perched on the red and gold platform reserved in honor of the Empress.
Chapter Twenty-Six
"SUANNI," KYUUBI SAID, STANDING up and striding toward the edge of the platform. "I'm not all that surprised to see you here after my little game in Yukimura, but I wasn't expecting you to bring company. And what interesting company it is."
Kaede gripped her katana tighter as the fox's gaze shifted to her. "You won't find the rest of the shogun here, Aozora Kaede. Setsuna was only the first. I've already sent the others down the mountain with an army at their backs. They're marching on the capital as we speak."
"It doesn't matter," Suanni said. "The Empress isn't there."
"Exactly. That was the plan." Kyuubi licked her lips. "The dragon magic that makes Seinarukyo impregnable is conditioned upon the Empress actually being there. Just imagine the chaos on the streets of a city that has not been touched by strife in centuries? Whether the shogun succeed or fail in dethroning little Tomoyo in the end doesn't even matter. I'll get the chaos I want, and there's always plenty to keep me busy during a war. Lots of pain and death to drink in. I'll be able to gorge myself for years."
A shudder of fear raced down Kaede's spine. "Suanni, there has to be something we can do."
Kyuubi smirked at Imari. "And Homura Imari, I certainly wasn't expecting to see you here. I thought you'd have done the honorable thing and taken your own life by now. Isn’t that the way you humans atone for your disgrace? Tell me, how have you been sleeping with the eyes of the dead on you?"
"Oh, I'm still alive and well," Imari spat. "I thought about killing myself, but the thought of killing you was much more satisfying."
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