Detective Yuki

17. Amis

1. Amis

"yes, I have seen these little men. They go into houses and take all the food in sight, but they are not alone. Above them wail horrible cries from ghostly beings as white as sea foam. Not only the food. I have travelled these streets after hours. I hear people crying out and being carried away by the little men. Why do you ask?" Tao told Yuki.

 "I need a guide to help me find these beings. If they are keeping hostages, they need to be stopped. Trust me, I have payment for your time" Yuki boasted to the man.

 "your gift is touching, but I do not need your money. I only would want to make sure that these people are safe. If you are up for the task, I know where they left off to, but it will take a trek" Tao warned Yuki, who willingly chose to join Tao for the sake of the city.

Wearing a long white cloth tied with a red rope as a belt, Tao led Yuki on the journey out of the city and off into the steep misty mountains inland. Supported only by her guide across the treacherous terrain, Yuki's sweat was alleviated by the forest fog along woodland trails of Asian pine giving way to mountain ways carved into the sheer rock hundreds of feet above the ground. On the way, the two spotted the small camps, farms and huts of other aborigines who had sought refuge away from the chaos of the modern city, making a living that was more in tune with the forces of nature. Finally, Tao stopped behind a large rock in front of a large vine covered cave in the gravely mountain forests, concealed by bamboo and tall groves of aspen. "their footprints end here, at the entrance to the cave.

The people are likely to be in there, in whatever state that may be" Tao stood holding a spear and a blunt stick with Yuki and her small brown handbag before the dark gaping circle in the rock. With a nod of approval, the two entered the cave, swallowed up by the darkness. Yuki discovered a situation similar to that on Okinawa: the inhabitants of this cave had filled their alcoves with lit torches and centered their communal life on a single large space in the center of the cave. As Tao and Yuki stepped deeper into the cave, the sound of human voices and cries became more ominous and apparent. Soon taking shelter by an alcove, they saw the large lit space in the cave, a small group of squirming humans encompassed by flying white specters gorging on food that was thrown up to them by the pudgy gray mountain demons that shared the cave with these ghosts.

In the nearby alcove, Yuki silently took out a small silver pistol from her handbag, while Tao signalled to her that something was about to happen by their accord. The ghosts and demons continued to circle around their frightened hostages like cat and mouse, but their ceremony was rudely interrupted by the lit torch of Tao and a gunshot into the sky from Yuki. The sudden burning light, speeding bullet and two other humans sent the demons and ghosts into a frenzy, making them speed out of the cave to avoid any impending wrath from the newly arrived, leaving behind their hostages from the city. Tao and Yuki were to emerge from the cave as the grateful saviors of the hostages, ordinary city folk who had been kidnapped from their homes. Yuki and Tao were following the civilians back across the mountains to Taihoku, but two mountain demons sprung out from the forest and grabbed Tao by the legs, dragging him back into the cave, snarling and giggling as Yuki gave chase to save her guide.

She held her pistol down to the floor and grabbed a torch from one of the alcoves in the cave and proceeded once again into its dark depths. The demons now held Tao in the open space of the cavern, holding small sharp knives made of stone and preparing to use them on Tao, before Yuki took aim and shot the two monsters down, injuring them and giving Tao enough time to get to his feet and run with Yuki back out of the cave and through into the safety of the forest.

 "thank you for saving me, miss" Tao rushed as fast as he and Yuki could through the trail of footprints left by the demons back to the resting sanctuary of Taihoku.

 Passers-by looked on as the two sprinted back to the open square near the Taihoku government offices, where the morning crowds had almost for the afternoon.

 "I want to thank you again. That was one of my greatest adventures. I am not sure what you would have done if you had not come to me first" Tao finally came to rest at his tall and bid his new friend farewell by shaking her hand.

"that was very eventful, what a rush!!. Thank you for guiding me, but I am afraid I have to get going now. Goodbye Tao" Yuki recomposed herself after settling down and walking back up to the hut of the shaman just outside of town, leaving the money she had promised to Tao on the bench of his stall, earning a loving smile from a good friend. 

Yuki returned to the hut and the welcoming embrace of Aibo and the shaman, spending the remainder of the day enjoying green tea with a beautiful view of the city to their north at night. For the hut, morning came bluntly to the duo as a booming foghorn echoed across the city. Yuki went out to investigate the noise then called to Aibo worryingly "Aibo, you need to see this".

 Aibo ruggedly strapped on his uniform half ajar to find Yuki with a pair of binoculars from her handbag. Given the binoculars by Yuki, Aibo could see the white battleship washing up on the fore of a manmade canal leading from the coast into the outskirts of Taihoku not far away.

On the ship came the familiar mask of Senbi, who stepped out onto dry land from a boardwalk plank as a large golden bull statue was lugged by several men off the ship and through the city streets to clapping crowds as if it was the time of a local festival, led by Senbi and his aide Namida under a black umbrella.

 "where are they taking that thing?" Aibo laid down the binoculars and ran back into the hut, with the shaman in attendance.

 "one thing is for sure. Senbi is finally here, and whatever that thing is he has, it is obviously part of his plan. We have to go, now!!" Yuki ordered Aibo as the shaman came to meet the duo, who quickly packed themselves up and prepared themselves for the final phase of their journey. Little did they know that the golden bull statue was actually a container of a given payload, specifically the explosive device Senbi had assembled in Okinawa.

"wait here, I have to get my things. We have no time to lose!" Aibo ran into the hut to gather his mementos.

 "it has been pleasant to have guests up here. It can get lonely here when you only have spirits to talk to" the shaman joked to Yuki as they waited for Aibo to emerge.

 When he did, he appeared armed to the teeth, with a bandolier of grenades, a red bandana, a sidearm holster, a sword on his back and a long bayonetted rifle in his hands for a man ready for war.

 "be prepared for what lies ahead, good people. You must be careful and clever to defeat your foe" the shaman advised beside the duo, who thanked him for his hospitality and ventured down the mountain to find Senbi. 

The elderly shaman saw off the two as they waved goodbye down the mountain, running across the suburbs in pursuit of their target, who was proceeding with the golden bull out of the city towards the ruins of an abandoned temple complex overlooking the azure coastal waters of the east china sea. Yuki and Aibo crept up to the temple slowly as Senbi entered the temple with his bull.