【一度失われたもの...】
Who are those men?
Why would they kill an old bowyer and an unarmed woman?
What do they want with Rin?
These and a million other questions were running through Jin's mind as he was crossing the stone bridge into Otsuna.
What is happening?
Disregarding his heart pounding in his chest, he rode straight to Kishibe. Due to the heavy snowfall, each heartbeat brough a painful realization of the disappearing tracks.
Toshiko...
The horrid gash on her neck seemed to have been stamped into his soul. He blinked the image away along with a few snowflakes that accumulated on his eyelashes.
...and Yukihiro...
With his consciousness kicked into override, tactical training began to infiltrate his panicked thoughts.
The storm was moving north. Riding directly into it would be a great way to lose even the most experienced tracker.
Time, location, visibility...
But why?
Jin considered checking Genzo's Inn but decided against it. The path led to the coast and there was nowhere else to go other than back north. Instead, he pressed on south. After inquiring about the horseman in Okada with no luck, he recalled another farm further south.
Soon he found himself knocking on the wooden gate.
A man wrapped in a heavy boar pelt opened up and gave him an apprehensive look, scanning him from head to toe. Another man stood not so far behind, features similar to the first one, eyeing Jin suspiciously.
Given the blood on his kimono, he couldn't really blame them for being suspicious.
"Have you seen a samurai pass through? With two horses?" Jin made it as short as possible.
"A samurai? On a horse?" The man had a cold and uninviting demeanor.
"Why would anyone be out in this madness?" The second man chimed in, looking up at the sky as if to make a point.
Jin didn't have time for this.
"Have you or have you not?"
The two men shook their heads in disagreement. Jin gave them a quick nod and without further delay spurred Kaito back onto the path. A faint thud could be heard as the men shut the gate.
Ignoring the cold biting at his fingertips, Jin looked around, taking note of the quickly darkening forest. The snow-covered landscape made everything look unreal, aggravating a similar feeling in his chest.
He was growing desperate.
After he killed the ronin back in the village, he didn't have much time to think the situation over. Now he strongly considered the fact that he missed something.
He recalled seeing the man tuck a little item in his kimono and was now cursing himself that he didn't think to search him before rushing out.
It might have been a valuable clue.
But why was this happening in the first place?
He imagined Rin down the range, raising her bow for a kill shot.
Was she scared?
His heart skipped a beat when a thought invaded his mind.
Did they kill Toshiko in front of her? Did she see her die?
YOU ARE READING
Of Arrows and Men (Ghost of Tsushima prequel)
Historical Fiction"I can hunt." He followed her line of sight and once again took the bow into his hands. His face was void of all emotion when he came forward. "I don't need a hunter. I need a killer." With fingers gripping the weapon on both ends, he leaned in and...
