Wolf and Keeper

Chapter 11: Nine Symbols, Nine Sins

Sen stared out over the camp and exhaled long and hard through his nose. Many long days of trekking through the land had finally led his group to Mikawa, a province he had heard along the way to be full of strife and contention. The whole area around Mikawa had been embroiled in a civil war with clans fighting one another and themselves. It was messy and brutal, and the land was showing the scars. More and more, he found himself becoming increasingly grateful that his little home was as far away from the carnage as it could get.

Hashi had ambled up next to him and done the same, and Sen looked up at his large friend with concern lacing his face. He didn't say it, but the fatigue Hashi was beginning to show was worrying him more than he cared to admit. He knew that Hashi didn't want to worry him, but he also knew that their time was starting to grow thin. They had to get to Hoshiga, and the sooner they did, the better it would be.

Emi heaved a sigh behind them and hiked up to stand beside them, a bright smile coming over her face before she stared up at him expectantly. When he didn't say anything, her smile fell slightly and Sen saw a look of concern come over her eyes. "What is wrong, Sen? You seem rather tense."

Sen frowned and tried to fumble for words before he sighed, "I... I'm just concerned."

She watched his face for a long time before that gentle smile he had grown to enjoy returned to her face and she rested one hand on his arm. "We will get there, Sen. I know that we will."

Something about her ever-beaming confidence made him believe her. Emi was like that, Sen realized with a small smile as she grinned up at him, and it filled him with a small, warm sense of confidence. However, as they began their trek and got further and further into Mikawa, the sky began to turn dark and the wind slowly began to pick up until it became a full on gale. It carried with it the heavy sound of thunder and the sky briefly flashed white from time to time as snake-like threads of lightning zigzagged angrily overhead. The rain began falling in heavy sheets unlike any Sen had seen in years, and he soon found himself barely able to keep his eyes on the road as the water stabbed at his eyes and what little skin he had exposed.

"These storms keep getting worse!" Aoi called over the howl of the wind as Sen stayed close to Hashi's side, using his friend's larger body to block some of the wind.

"We need to find shelter!" Yuzuha also shouted, her voice carrying easily over the sound of the wind and rain. "There's an inn just up the road! We should stay there!"

Sen didn't have any will or desire to argue. He glanced up at Hashi and saw his friend's arm smart before he growled in frustration and pain. They trekked on as the wind snapped tree limbs and threw them across the canopy overhead.

They followed the road, all gripping one another so they could all remain close throughout the horrible weather, but Yuzuha finally shoved them under the awning of the inn she had mentioned, and the group stood breathlessly as they looked out at the torrential downpour before them in awe.

"How in the hells did it get so bad so quickly?" Aoi snarled as he tried vainly to wring out his clothes.

Yuzuha reached behind her head and let down her hair, wringing it out with both hands as the water fell from it in a small waterfall, "No idea, old man, but if I ever get wet again, I'll scream."

Emi pulled off her zukin and started to shake the water out before taking Hachirou's from his head and doing the same before she draped them both over her arm. Sen looked over and saw that Hachirou was completely bald, but that Emi's hair had started to grow back, and it hung just past her cheekbones. The nun sighed and looked over at her companion, reaching up to brush some water away from his nose. "This is a mess," she muttered before she looked to the rest of the group. "What do we do? Go inside, I suppose."