Kaguta - Or, Ankūro - The Warrior, The Thief and The Killer

19

Within dark places.
Secrets and lies propagate.
Held by the cruel.
- Bushubō.

Dojūru appeared in no rush to set out to this hidden fortress and that only left time for Kō to suffer the indignation of Kiriho for leaving her and the child in the care of the monks within the monastery. Even as she ate breakfast, alone upon the steps of the courtyard, she could feel Kiriho's eyes burning into her back.

She had no choice, however. Although the baby had started to pass the worst of the fever, Kō could not put them in such danger as taking them with her. It already turned her stomach that she had dragged them along the length and breadth of Kaguta on her crusade of death, to knowingly take them to a place where even Dojūru thought it was not safe would prove too much.

"You are willing to abandon us." The voice, dripping with annoyance, drifted over Kō's shoulder as Kiriho came to her. "Who will care for you? Who will keep you safe? Who will keep you calm?"

"I'm not abandoning you." The leaf wrapped rice felt unappetising, of a sudden. They had had similar conversations through the night. "The child is unwell and you are exhausted. This isn't like the other times, this time ... this time is different."

This time, Kō did not feel at all certain she would return. From what Dojūru had told her, the fortress held a large number of warriors and an uncertain number of Sansui. Alone, with cunning, she could stand a tiny chance against one Sansui. Against more, and regular soldiers, she had no confidence in leaving the fortress in triumph, or with her life. Yet, she could not let this opportunity pass.

If her brother, the former Haūdo, Ginka, was, indeed, held within those walls, she could not live with herself if she didn't try to free him. If they did not hold him, she needed to know why they had insulted the Divines by placing a fortress upon the slopes of the most sacred of places. Upon Kūmū-Nē. Kiriho could not, would not, understand why Kō needed to go to the fortress alone.

Dojūru appeared, finally, and stood upon the sun-bleached white stone chips of the courtyard. With a bag over his shoulder and a stout wooden stick to aid his footing, he reminded her of another warrior and another of her tasks that she had yet to fulfil. A task that, if things did not go well, would remain forever unfinished. She placed the bowl to the side and reached for her spear, leaning against the balustrade.

"Go, then. And if you don't return, I shall tell Norūmo how stupid her mother was!" Kiriho cried. Kō could hear it in her voice. Before Kō could move away, Kiriho caught her sleeve. "Come back to us."

"Don't name the baby." She didn't say it in anger, her hand resting on Kiriho's, even though she did not look at the girl. "And I'm not her mother."

Without saying another word, she stepped down from the walkway and felt the tug upon her sleeve fall away. As she neared Dojūru, he looked past her towards Kiriho. He appeared curious about the situation, but said nothing, only turning as Kō reached him and heading towards the tall Jōiji gate that led towards the Sacred Mountain.

After leaving the monastery, Dojūru kept up a fast pace, turning eastwards and following the contours of Kūmū-Nē. He seemed to know exactly where he needed to go and Kō could do nothing but follow his lead. They held no conversations as they moved, preferring to use their energies to run through the dried, browning forest that carpeted the lower regions of the Sacred Mountain.

For almost an hour, they ran and Kō started to have difficulty keeping up. She did not feel it prideful that she considered herself healthy and strong, but this former-Sansui had a stamina far greater than her own. She didn't doubt that he could run all day and fight a battle after and still barely sweat. Such was the difference between Sansui and everyone else.