Chouko stood up straight as a rod upon hearing the elderly woman’s reprimand and quickly clasped both hands over her mouth to prevent herself from offending further. Had Harida’s number one messenger failed to deliver a message? How shameful! Swift to heed her elder’s rebuke, she dropped to the ground cross-legged, awaiting further instruction.

Chouko was still trying to figure out how to ask for permission to speak without opening her yap again when the sounds of pained screams echoed across the valley. That voice, that unmistakable tone of suffering... she would know it anywhere. It could be none other than her faithful friend Onna-sama, clearly in trouble and desperately in need of help. And it was Chouko’s responsibility to bring her that help, paradoxical granny rules be hecked! Hesitating no further, Chouko shot her hand towards the ever-present stars, and, without waiting for approval, raised her voice again.

“Permission to speak, sir yes sir!”

After Umiko spoke, Hitomi's torso heaved once with the force of a great sigh. When she pulled her face away from her knees, she wore an almost serene expression. "Thank you. Pardon my outburst." She said as she picked up the blade at her feet and cautiously stood up, intending to hand the sword back to its owner. "Uh..." The ninja had already turned her back and was walking away. Right. The calligrapher supposed she'd just take it with her. With Umiko presently occupied, Hitomi turned her attention to the other person that had addressed her, the effeminate archer. She fixed him with a humorless glare before turning and heading back to camp.

As Hitomi hobbled back toward the fire, anybody would be forgiven for thinking she was some sort of undead creature. Umiko's sword dangled from one hand, while the other was pressed against the small of her back in a vain attempt to assuage the pain in her tailbone. This served to do little more than make her gait more lopsided. What's more, she was covered head to toe in red ichor, and it was no stretch to think that the substance could easily be mistaken for human blood. The calligrapher herself was clearly unconscious of how she must have looked at the moment, because she made no effort to explain herself as she nonchalantly sauntered up to the fire and rested Umiko's blade on the ground. With that, she acknowledged those present with an 'ugh' and a half-hearted nod before picking up a lantern and starting off in the direction she and Chouko had gone earlier.

The guard who had lent Yoko his tinderbox and the one who had put the stew on the fire were in a deep discussion about whether or not the latter’s cooking had gotten better or worse since the sun fall. The cook himself was adamant that his cuisine had never been quite up to par since the moment that he could no longer clearly see his hands at work, but his discussion partner maintained that the permanent night air added a certain desirable musky flavor to all the dishes. It was a slow discussion, neither rushed nor particularly interesting, the kind that soldiers only allow themselves to entertain when they are quite certain that there is no immediate danger.

Nearby, apparently oblivious to the great forum of culinary exchange occurring beside him, Oshiro waited in silence for Chouko to continue her discourse. He neither rebuked nor elaborated on Yoko’s contribution, content with gazing into the fire as he patiently expected the young messenger to speak. Though the austere wrinkle in the samurai’s brow changed little, a twinkle nonetheless appeared in his expression when Chouko finally spoke up. A reflection of the moon, probably.

“Permission granted, Sasaki-san.”

---

The injured insect had little time to recover from its ill-fated leap before a spear was already thrust through its center. To Oniwakamaru’s surprise, there was silence where the clang of metal against stone should have been. To his greater surprise, the samurai that stood before him moments ago was now crouching beside him. With the unfathomable speed born from lifetimes of battle, Kaguya had anticipated the movement of the stone insects and rolled away from the coming impact centered on his previous location. A deft motion of his katana had quickly rid the lame insect of its outer shell, cleaving a path for Oniwakamaru’s spear to finish the job.

As the monk moved on from his first target and prepared to intercept the other still-airborne rock bugs, Kaguya was already on his feet, dashing in a tangential direction. When the monk’s swing landed cleanly on the converging group of stone bodies - a resounding peal sweeping through the clearing as shards of rock collided and tore each other apart - the ancient warlord was already in position. With a single running thrust, the six stone figures that Oniwakamaru had teed were soon skewered, all of them impaled by Kaguya’s blade.

Though the pose that the samurai struck after his maneuver was unquestionably dramatic, a loud, dull thud nonetheless came from the ground as he immediately dropped his sword-kebab: it had become far too heavy to hold.

Kaguya and Oniwakamaru had yet to exchange words, but as they stood before each other, one thing was quite clear: their side of the battlefield.

---

Hitomi hadn’t gone more than a few steps before a hand was on her shoulder and what seemed like a dozen voices asked her all at once where she thought she was going, and if she was all right, and oh my goodness is that blood, and wait isn’t that Ryuujin-san’s sword, and you didn’t kill her did you? Before long she had been forcibly sat down by the fire, handed a towel and a bowl of stew, and asked to explain herself.

With a silent nod from Oshiro, the two guards promptly ended their discussion and hurried off in the direction of the combat.

While Mocharatte's antics had prevented her from escaping, the smoke that Umiko set at least helped in obscuring the humans from the insects' vision. This made it easy for the young princess to catch one of them unaware and strike it just above the thorax, lodging the blade in its head until an arrow sailed in from afar and ended the critter's life for good.

Kimura had kept up the fight on his own front, his powerful strikes slaying a beast without aid. The strength of his blows was quickly wearing him down, however, and he was too slow to dodge a pouncing insect. It bit into his left arm, clawing and gnashing at it until he drove his sword into the head. Crying out in pain, the guardsman left himself open to an attack from the single remaining insect. Fortunately for the soldier, the beast was knocked to the ground by Umiko, who then proceeded to drive a spike of ice through its core.

After her scarf returned to her neck, Umiko concentrated her full energy on giving the princess a death glare for her disobedience. Kimura, on the other hand, wincing through his own pain, offered words of comfort. "Do not worry, Hime-sama, the danger is over. Shall we return to camp so they can treat your wounds?"

The guards from the campsite had now reached Hideki, looks of both wonder and worry across their faces as they took in the mauve-stained battlefield. Seeing that whatever action had taken place had now died down, the soldiers hailed the nearby archer. The slimmer of the two - the cook, if Hideki had been paying attention - asked if anyone had been hurt.

Yes! A second chance. The little farm girl would show Oba-san just how clear Harida’s number one messenger could be!

“Sir! Official report sir! Among those things of busyness there are to address!

Itchi! That strange blue light from the sky gave birth to many strange rock babies, that it did!

Ni! The pretty onna-sama is stuck in a tree! She is requiring much helping, that she is!

San! Menpo-sama is fighting the rock babies, that he is!

Shi! The onna-sama with the bow and arrow is also fighting the rock babies, that she is!

Go! Both dragons are also there in addition and fighting the rock babies, but one of the dragons is hurt, that it is!

Roku! There is a blood ghost sitting at the campfire and eating a bowl of stew, that there is!”

A job well done, if she did say so herself. But something was not quite right. The last item. That one was a new development. Campfire. Sitting down. A blood ghost. Hold up. A… BLOOD GHOST?!

Quick as an arrow from the long-haired woman’s bow, Chouko grabbed the elderly lady by the sleeve – for everyone knows that elderly ladies are quite vulnerable to blood ghosts – and hid the both of them behind Captain Oshiro. It seemed that the blood ghost had not yet spotted them, or that it was, at the least, content with its meal at present. After the initial panic had subsided, the messenger girl dared poke her head out from behind her sturdy protector. She watched the creature with morbid curiosity is it consumed the stew, lifting spoon to lips in hypnotic rhythm. It gave the impression of having very good manners for a blood ghost – surely it had the soul of a member of high society – but there was still an otherworldly quality to the way it ate. It stirred. It slurped. It swallowed.

Eugh.

Hitomi rolled her eyes dangerously far as she was stopped and lead back to the fire, where she was handed a towel and a bowl of stew. She grudgingly wiped away as much of the reddish sludge from her face and hands as she could, though she scarcely cleaned enough of it away to avoid the threat of getting any of it in her food. The rest she would have to worry about later. As the two guards left to investigate, the calligrapher couldn't help but be reminded of the two soldiers that had escorted her to the palace. In particular, the way they casually debated over trifling things was quite reminiscent.

As her mind wandered, Hitomi absently fished a chunk out of her stew and bit into it. Expecting the same bland peasant gruel she had become accustomed to eating over the past year, she was pleasantly surprised to find that her food had a certain musky flavor. It wasn't anything particularly special, but any change over the norm was welcome. She wouldn't have long to dwell on it, though. As soon as Chouko was finished speaking and subsequently ducking behind him, the captain turned to Hitomi expectantly. She sighed, setting her bowl down.

"Sasaki-chan is mostly right, that she is." She began, though her eyes widened when she realized what she had said. The calligrapher moved on quickly, praying that everybody would think it had been a joke. "Of course, I'm not stuck in a tree, and Hide-..." She paused again, glancing toward the younger girl. She decided that perhaps now wasn't the best time to correct her on the matter of the archer's gender. This explanation was hitting entirely too many bumps for Hitomi's taste.

"Regardless," She pressed on. "The falling stars we saw turned out to be hostile creatures. I believe the barbarian princess has sustained minor injuries, but Ryuujin-sama and the others are handling the beasts quite well. They don't seem particularly dangerous. Even I managed to kill one, and I wasn't trying to. That's when I was covered in this substance. After that, uh..." Hitomi crossed her arms, and her eyes flicked to the side for the briefest of moments. "...Ryuujin-sama told me to retreat. She gave me her sword in case I needed to defend myself."

Certain that Oshiro would be satisfied with her report, Hitomi returned to her stew. Just as she was about to take another bite, however, she stopped herself. "Ah, one more thing. There was another person in the fight, a man I didn't recognize. He was using a spear, and he was dressed like a monk."

Hideki gave a quick glance to the foot of the hill and noted that all the insects had been dealt with. He lowered his bow and walked over to the one he'd shot to retrieve the Straight Arrow. Before returning it to his quiver, he attempted to clean the reddish liquid with his sleeve, with moderate success.

He looked up when he was greeted by the guards. Once again adopting a polite tone, he informed them, "The princess and the guard are the only ones injured. I'm not sure about the others over there," he gestured towards Kaguya and Oniwakamaru, "but all the creatures have been dealt with." His report concluded, Hideki made his way past the guards towards camp, in the hopes of getting some stew.

Mocharatte was covered in a mix of the reddish fluid and her own blood. She laughed, her voice pained and relieved. Her dragon relic walked behind her and sat down, and they looked over the corpses of the creatures.

"Who killed the most?" She asked.

Chouko gawked, incredulous, as her friend’s familiar face appeared on the blood ghost’s head. What’s more, after a few more bites the creature spoke up and… it had her voice, too? Could it be? Had Harida’s number one messenger been too slow? In the time that she had wasted explaining herself twice, had this foul monster devoured her friend and stolen not only her face, but her voice?! Or could it be that what stood before her was, in fact, Onna-sama, who had somehow managed to get herself covered in gross red goo? Both scenarios were equally likely.

Chouko had to be certain. And to be certain, she had to be brave.

“Stay here, Oba-sama. I’ll protect ya.”

Gathering her courage, Chouko pulled a branch from the pile of unused firewood. Stealthily as she could she crept out from behind Captain Oshiro, hoping the blood ghost had returned its focus to its meal after delivering its speech. She recalled that her friend Kenshiro had told her once that blood ghosts were afraid of fire. It was puzzling to Chouko that one would get so close to their camp if that were the case, but she surmised that the phantoms must only be afraid of fire if they were on fire. They were a lot like people in that way, if that was the case.

Regardless, this would be the moment of truth. Either Kenshiro was right, and Chouko would free Onna-sama’s soul by setting the creature on fire, or he was wrong, and she was going to her death. The blood ghost would laugh at her, maybe shriek, and then devour her along with the rest of the camp and steal all of their faces and voices.

Gulp.

Chouko lit the branch and sprung forward. She tripped. And fell. Face down in the dirt. Thankfully, her messenger instincts had saved the flame and she was close enough to the hem of the phantom’s garment to swing the branch in its general diection, all while shouting a muffled “burn for eternity, foul being!” (Kenshiro had neglected to mention whether or not the exclamation was vital to defeating blood ghosts, but Chouko figured that it couldn’t hurt.)

When nothing happened – and she dared not look up to check – the would-be ghost slayer started reciting prayers as quickly as she could (face planted in the earth).

She feared this was not going to end well.

"Get that thing away from me, moron." Hitomi said and promptly sent the ignited branch skittering across the ground with a solid kick. Her response was perhaps a bit tame given that Chouko had just attempted to light her on fire, but it was understandably difficult to take the girl seriously. Perhaps she would fill her in on the concept of peripheral vision sometime. Or the inanity of announcing your intentions in the presence of your target. Then again, why make things more difficult for herself?

The calligrapher looked down at the hem of her kimono to make sure nothing had been burnt. To her surprise, she was met with smoke rising from the spot that had gotten closest to the flame. Instinctively, she reached down to pat out the fire, but there was no heat. When her hand came away, the smoke had cleared, and some of the slime was gone. It had solidified to a powder and now clung to her hand where she had brushed it. Almost immediately, an idea sprung into her head. Abandoning her stew, Hitomi retrieved the scroll that had been soaked in spider guts, then reached out for the branch she had knocked away. She held the tiny flame up to the paper, careful not to get it too close. Once it had dried, she gingerly tried to blow the resulting residue away.

Oniwakamaru's intentions were rewarded. The swordsman had moved like quicksilver. His agility spoke of training, a honing and refinement of the body that only a master of the art could accomplish. The yari swept all abominations aside as the sword moved to end their existence. As the clearing descended in to the relative silence of the night, all Oniwakamaru could do was breathe a sigh of relief. There were no more abominations in sight. He only could give a brief nod to the swordsman before a familiar voice caught his attention.

"Who killed the most?" it asked.

It was the voice of a young girl. The sound of it carried a light oujo-sama lilt of worldliness. He moved closer, making no pretense at silence. The figure that came in to focus was recognisable to him. Despite the blood that matted most of her tunic and robes, the armour was familiar as was the dragon that followed ever behind its childish mistress. A small smile spread along his face despite himself.

"It matters only that they are killed," he replied, "and now our paths cross once again child."

His eyes honed in on her injuries quickly but she didn't seem in mortal danger. So for now he was content with a cursory examination until he could fully examine the wound. His worry could come later. A fateful reunion such as this could only be a good omen.

Well, Kaguya thought as he reviewed the destruction he and the monk had wrought, that was fun.
He turned, intending to say as much to his companion, only to see the giant venturing towards the camp site. Mentally shrugging to himself, he turned his attention to his trapped weapon.
"No worries Katana-sama, Ill get you out of there." he muttered to himself.
Planting his foot on the pile of corpses attached to his trustly blade, he grasped the handle and pulled the weapon free. Sheathing the sword, he picked up one of the less damaged bug-things and headed back towards the camp.
However, upon reaching the camp, he nearly froze in panic. Tea-chan was covered blood. He was about to rush over to her, when he realized that it was not her blood. Calming down, he saw Ninja-chan standing by the fire and approached her.
"It appears the battle went better than expected Ryuujin-sama, I havent had a fight like that in a couple centuries. Is anyone seriously injured?" Placed a gentle hand on her shoulder as he spoke and surveyed the others.

Mocharatte heard a voice from behind her and turned around. Her face lit up when she recognized his face. "Monk-sama!" She said as she ran to greet him. She grasped his hand excitedly. "I killed so many!" The girl held her unwounded arm up to show off her arm muscles. She then pointed at her dragon. "Ryuu-chan killed some too." The dragon nodded to Oniwakamaru. Mochas stomach growled loudly, and she looked surprised. "Umm, let's go eat!"

Hearing a new voice, Hideki briefly glanced behind him to see the monk, the newcomer. It seemed that he and the princess were familiar with each other. It was curious, but nothing more than a fact to file away for future reference. The man with the strange helmet moved past him, carrying one of the insects. Momentarily stunned into inaction, Hideki simply watched in confusion, trying to make sense of this. Kaguya was not forthcoming with an explanation, and Hideki could come to no satisfactory conclusion from what he saw.

The gap-tooth girl was on the ground, praying? The woman by the fire was still soaked in the insects' fluid, and was currently holding a flame to the scroll she'd been writing on earlier. Unexpectedly, the scroll was not catching on fire.

He'd just wanted some stew.

Instead of trying to make sense of the situation that was unfolding, Hideki decided that it might be best to just stop thinking. Silent, his face neutral to pretend he wasn't completely baffled, he poured himself some stew and sat down to start eating at what he deemed a healthy distance from Hitomi.

There are two things Heiwa hates most in this world, leaving her ship in the hands of her first mate and the emperor. Today was one of those days where she had to leave her ship in the hands of her first mate due to the emperor’s summons. Storms had delayed her ship's departure so she knew she was several days late but she was in absolutely no hurry.

Her travels landed her once again in a boring village on a murky “night”. She walked through the middle of town listening to others whisper among themselves as she passed. Most recognized her. Try as she might Heiwa couldn’t help but chuckle under her breath as she heard the newest legends that had begun to sprout about her. She was used to hearing how much her ventures had changed as they were passed around by word of mouth. She paused a moment to smile at some admiring children.

Heiwa tipped her hat at them then continued along her path to a large rather old building with the lights from lit oil lamps illuminating it. With a sigh Heiwa pushed herself inside.It was crowded and noisy. It smelled of sweaty men, burning oil, alcohol, belches from drunken men, the hickory smoke of the fire, and freshly roasted boar. The patrons chatted noisily among themselves as they clanked their dishes on the wooden tables. There was the clatter of dice in the corner and then a whoop of triumph from one man while the others groaned. As Heiwa walked to the back, she felt dirt under her boots . She leaned against the bar, its wood was polished smooth from innumerable people doing the same.

“I need a Baijiu.” Heiwa said as she glanced around the room.

“You must be from Hakoto or Song.” The old bartender said in his tired rough voice.

“I’m from Hakoto but I fail to see how that matters to what I ordered.”

“I’m sorry to tell you that we don’t carry that here. It’s pretty limited except for the islands and few higher end bars.”

“Fine, get me the strongest thing you have.” Heiwa let out an audible sigh. Then she mumbled under her breath “I hate the mainland so much.”

After receiving her drink, she walked over and sat near the wall. She sighed and began to drink her brew. Before long she noticed a large map of the town on the wall. She took a moment to look over the layout of the town. Before long she was interrupted.

“Excuse me, are you Captain Heiwa Yoki?” A young man asked her as he stood in front of her with several others.

“That depends, are you wanting to hear a story or trying to recruit me for some ignorant waste of time?”