Welcome Back, Old Friend (3)

"I refuse."

There was no more to say on the subject. How could she consider he would take that child as his next bearer? Lack of a proper foundation aside, surely Kozue had not forgotten the hardships she'd experienced with others attempting to rend him from her grasp. He'd grown disdainful of the vying souls whom looked at him as no more than a tool for their ambition. Their spiritual pillars were undoubtedly poisoned at the roots and he had no desire for their hands to ever touch his hilt, let alone the depth of his mind. He'd hoped those words would have been enough but Kozue did not rise from her prostration.

"Reconsider, Shizukesa-sama," she spoke to the ground, and he grimaced at such obesiance.

"And stop referring to me as such, you were never this overtly polite before."

To his relief, Kozue raised her voice in a waspish snap, "Well, I am asking you for a favor."

A favor, is that what she called this? He would have sneered at such mockery if he possessed a face, but instead could only radiate his displeasure in the open air surrounding them. Kozue did not move at the disturbance but her aura butted against his own with the intent to cool his apparent anger. He could feel the touch of her inner energy as though it were her hands wrapping around him in a tight embrace, fingers stroking from his pommel's ring to the inscriptions carved onto the length of his blade. She used to do so during the height of their journey together as a means of offering comfort.

When he'd asked why, she claimed that it was to soothe him - a lesson learned from her mother who did the same for her when she was a little girl. Kozue never spoke long on her parentage and at times could be driven to distant silence from the mere thought of her childhood village. But in acknowledging those small things about her, he believed she would heal in time. It did no good for either of them to press further, so he asserted the belief that a dulled blade would have been dangerous to her and his alertness was necessary for their survival. That had earned him a laugh and a bit more petting, perhaps out of thankfulness for not asking further of her past.

Reflecting upon those memories now, he wished he had asked more of her.

"Are you dying, Kozue?"

Her head jerked up in utter surprise, eyes widened, "No, of course not."

The world had been utterly debilitating from the moment he'd been thrust into consciousness. There were similarities to the world he'd fallen asleep in and also differences considering it'd been forty years. However, one thing remained and it was his skepticism of Kozue's wanting to take care of her health. He let his consciousness scatter around her, examining the outer layer of her aura. There were no cracks for him to slip a thread of energy through but that in itself should have spoke to how well she'd been keeping with her training. He drew his consciousness back to himself, and turned his attention away from her, ignoring the pain deep within himself from the sight of her kneeling.

"Then we have nothing more to speak of."

He could hear the rustle of cloth, and imagined her rising in indignation as she cried, "Shizukesa-sa—!"

"Kozue," he snapped, hoping to channel all of his discontent and unwillingness to continue.

The last thing he wanted was for them to argue now but his wants had not always been aligned with Kozue's desires. While she may have taken joy that they could argue and speak to one another again, he would have rathered it be on anything else but her mortality. That was one subject he could not face.

"Fine," Kozue eventually relented, and as he turned his attention back to her, she'd settled into an upright sitting stance. Her eyes lingered on him with an expression he could not exactly place with how much she'd changed. But he knew an approximation of it and accepted the unspoken apology.

Before another word could be uttered and break their tenuous peace, his attention drifted off into the distance far to the right of Kozue. It was the shoji that drew his focus, yet not the divider itself, but the world which lay outside of it. His consciousness began to drift once more and scattered beyond the little room he'd been sequestered in. He paid no mind to the immediate surroundings of the palace and ventured further past where the lion-dog statues sat in watchful silence at the gates. His mind expanded farther, and took in the portion of Mount Teneboshi. While a portion of the land had been carved out for the Amanogawa, much of the mountain was still subsumed by forest and the thickened fog spilled over the darkened forest alloted for a great deal of places to hide.

He scoured the mountain's face, crossing over the terraces cut into the side of the mountain and the downward slopes curling around its veins. A flock of birds the size of lions took to the skies, squawling to one another urgently as they ascended further up the mountain to its peak. He tracked the path in which they flew and followed it in a steady descent to the ground, condensing his energy once he'd broke free through the trees. The branches twined their long fingers together and blotted out what middling sunlight remained in the evening sky. Wind slipped through the leaves, and as his consciousness traversed throughout the clumps of bushes and over where small animals built their dens, he noticed barely visible trails of darkness snaking throguh the undergrowth.

"How many are there?"

Kozue's voice echoed within his mind as though she were speaking directly into him. The foreign presence butted against his consciousness but he lowered his defenses rather than fight against it. Gradually, it turned into something much warmer and familiar like the touch of Kozue's aura against his. Her mind brushed against his own and saddled there like it'd never left, with her thoughts and feelings pouring into him. When he focused his consciousness again, he could see through her eyes as well. Kozue stood before the altar with her face turned toward the shoji, and the shadows from the waning sunlight slanted across the hardened lines of face, while her brown eyes glowed with the reddish hue of her coming rage. He turned his attention back to his searching and drifted closer while listening to the distant calls of wolves and foxes, their beating hearts mingled with the chittering of insects, and the unmistakable breathing of a human.

"Three," he whispered to her, then corrected himself as he watched two of the trails disappear into the undergrowth, "No… five."

He could only hear the heartbeat of three, quickened by their haste in climbing the mountain, while the others had gone silent.

"Two are using concealment techniques, and separated moments before we became aware of their presence."

He noted the positions of the three before gathering his consciousness once more and allowing himself to slip back into the hold of his vessel. When he looked up to Kozue, she was standing in front of him with her hand outstretched.

"Kozue?"

She made quick work of the fastenings, and reverently undid the rope tied around his middle. The bells rung out a lonely quall as they thudded against the floor. Brandished in her hand, he felt a surge of energy rush through him and recognized it as Kozue feeding her spiritual energy into his vessel. He hadn't realized how empty he'd felt until the first drop of her spiritual energy touched the parched earth of his core and thrummed with such vitality that the world itself doubled in vibrancy. Somewhere in the mix of the headiness, he heard Kozue liltingly coo, "After sleeping for so long, a walk may put you in a better mood. You wouldn't leave a lady unaccompanied, would you?"

She flicked her wrist to the side and he stilled a gasp, rocking with the force of the swing and stunned to silence as he swayed. He could see the smile on her face but it did not quite reach her eyes. Still, she looked to him tenderly and tightened her hand around his serrated grip at his answer.

"Never."

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Three individuals cloaked in darkness raced across the uneven rise of the mountain's green-covered face. One had taken to the trees. Cold, dewy leaves slid across their skin as they reached back for the quiver on their back and counted the number of arrows in their possession. Another twisted and jerked their head at every sound, careful to coax the earth to settle back where their steps had left an indentation. While the one between them ran ahead, ignoring the scratch of thorns against their hands as their white-knuckled grip twisted around the scroll-shaped peen of an ax. Fleeted footsteps scarcely slipped upon the heads of mushrooms and raised roots, cobwebs dutifully ignored where they clung to their faces as their eyes were firmly ahead.

Sunlight drained out of the sky with glimmers of moonlight slipping through the lattice of leaves. As they passed a small clearing oft by the side of a path cut through the woods, the one within the trees stopped short with a staggered breath alerting their companions to halt. They hid within the darkness provided by the denseness of the woods and watched as an old woman dressed in the robes of a priestess made her way along the path in a leisurely stroll. She hummed softly to herself, the sound terribly loud in the forest's stillness. Not a single insect chirped, nor did the wind tousle the leaves, and small animals scurried into the underbrush to avoid her path. She walked with her hands tucked behind her back, eyes shut as though lost in thought.

When her footsteps came to a halt at the treeline, she turned her face up to the trees first. Then, forward and oft to the side.

"Good evening, you three," she greeted, her eyes crescented as they opened with a barely-there smile upon her lips. 

The three didn't respond to her greeting but they exchanged uncertain glances. Their mission was top priority, and it mattered not which one of them completed it. Mount Teneboshi was a devestatingly tall peak with numerous routes to climb it, but a common thought was shared between them. Should any of them turn to flee, whomever was not quick enough to avoid this woman would meet their end. Small and feeble though she appeared, her spiritual presence flowed out of her like a tidal wave and washed over them with piercing intent.

"You've traveled a troublesome ways to get here." At first listen, one would think her words pitying but the three tensed at the underlying steel in her drawl. She tipped her head to one side slowly, her voice dropping softly, "But I'll have to ask you to leave. I'm afraid we aren't accepting visitors currently."

They did not respond, but they found it difficult to move either as the pressure of her presence intensified.

"So, you won't leave then?"

The air hummed with energy as the smile upon her lips sharpened, a faint crackling stirring within the quiet forest like the prelude of a coming storm; moonlight threw shadows across her eyes as she glanced between each of them with pointed accuracy.

At last, her eyes closed and the air went still.

"Very well then.."

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Kozue, be on your guard.

Oh, how she'd missed his voice. Kozue knew she was not alone, but it'd been ages since he had spoken to her from within the array between their consciouses. The weight of his blade shifted in her grasp as something darted out of the corner of her eye. A sharp whistle broke the silence and she spun around, blade raised in a parry against the axe's head. Sparks skittered from the clashing metals, tremors running from her wrist to her elbow as she pushed back against the grunting assassin's weighty swing. From behind the cloth mask covering most of their face, two dark eyes watched her with growing fear and determination.

She almost wanted to smile but the wave of displeasure crossed over from her blade diminished the potency of her adrenaline. Time slowed to a crawl as her energy rose from the pit of her belly and surged through her chest, hurtling down the veins and ligaments of her arm. Like water slipping through her fingertips, her energy slipped free from her palm and into the waiting vessel of her blade. Shizukesa-sama hummed with vitality, stirring and strengthening as the golden clouds shone luridly in the night's dimness.

Kozue swung her arm upward and sent a wave of aura in a crescented arc. The arc wave solidified in a rich deep shade of gold emanating a reddish hue, and barrelled into her assailant who cursed violently as they were thrown off their feet and hurtled back into a tree. Leaves shook free from the boughs, falling onto the spine of Kozue's blade as she spun around and sliced an arrow in half mere centimeters away from her face. She searched the darkness and pushed her senses outward until her aura brushed against another which burned with the coldness of ice. Streams of vermillion gold swirled around her wrist, twining in jagged arcs as she bent her knees before leaping into a lunge toward the treeline.

Her foot nearly cleared one of the lower tree branches of a tall oak when an acrid scent filled her nostrils, burning and dizzying. She covered her nose and mouth with her sleeve and squinted her eyes halfway against the stinging pain causing her vision to water. The silhouette crouched in the treetops with bow and arrow in hand fled into the canopies, and whens he looked down, the warrior was stumbling to their feet with a glare filled with murderous intent. She scoured the ground for the third, even sparing a quick glance behind her to no avail.

The poisoner fled further up the path after releasing the cloud, and the archer went westward. It seems he intends to face you alone.

Kozue looked down once again at the warrior who'd begun to take another stance.

"We should part here, Shizukesa," she thought. "Do what you must, but capture one alive; they cannot be allowed to reach the palace."

She stood taller when the blade stirred once more and the spiritual energy within it began to travel in reverse. A delicate touch brushed against her core in its passage through each meridian in her body. It was as though something was rooting around inside of her alighting each vein in its path, and as she kept her eyes trained on the warrior, the forest burned red. Kozue pressed her hand over her mouth to keep the air within her lungs as they seared with pain; her vision wavered and the warrior's stricken gradually lost its focus. She prayed she wouldn't lose consciousness from this, only to gasp with relief when the breath funneled back into her body as though offered by a careful hand.

Gradually, her vision cleared and she blinked slowly at the presence of an ashen grey hand hovering centimeters from her face. The large palm of it was riddled with cracks; golden spiritual energy flowed between like blood and sinew keeping the ashen grey flesh stitched together. When the hand withdrew, she glanced over her shoulder and caught a glimpse of the spirit hovering behind her. He was human-like in appearance, heavily built with the same golden cracks stretching across every inch of exposed skin. Dark, unruly hair rose around his head and flowed on an otherworldly breeze. Thick red markings arced around his eyes and formed a three-spined crescent in the center of his forehead while a black slash painted the contours of his mouth. She'd almost forgotten how imposing he appeared like this; her breath hitching when the endless abyssal voids where his eyes should have been began to emit a red glow. When his lips parted, Kozue could feel the air still at the sound of his voice — gravelley, and layered with another she'd only scarcely recalled.

"Kozue," he murmured breathily, leaning forward. Heat poured off of him and enveloped her with vigor, the aching in her throat from what little poison she'd inhaled soothed. She looked up to him but his eyes were trained past her toward the ground where the warrior stood in a horrified stupor. Foolish, yet bold enough not to have fled at the mere sight of him. That much, she could commend.

"Then, I will leave this to you, Shizukesa-sama."

She leapt past him and darted into the cover of leaves, but for a second of weakness, she looked back. Perhaps the potency of the poison had affected her sight; but in the face of the fierce spirit, for a moment, she thought that she'd seen the face of a man.

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Once Kozue's presence vanished, Shizukesa turned his attention to the ax-wielding human. He wondered what had kept them from attacking all this time. The poisonous vapor drifted around the clearing in a heavy cloud and claimed a few of the small animals sleeping within their dwellings. Their material energy floated through the air, confused and terrified at the suddenness of their deaths. A measure of pity stirred in Shizukesa's chest but it was subsumed by annoyance funneling deep within his being as he stepped into the open air, then allowed his being to drift closer to the ground. His ears picked up the faint murmurings of a chant, and a soft breath parted his lips.

"The great enlightening mantra…"

It was the voice of the warrior, deep and hoarse from lack of use, but overlapped with another echoing from deep within Shizukesa's mind. The image before him flickered. While he knew he stood within the forest of Mount Teneboshi, when he blinked, the vision of an elderly man sitting upright in a strange-looking bed was there before him. The man's head was bent low, and a faint murmur arose from his lips bearing the same words.

"The supreme and peerless mantra.."

He watched as the man traced his fingers along the pages of a book, its contents half-hidden from his eyes.

"It can remove all suffering."

Slowly, the man raised his head and drew in a deep breath with his eyes shut.

"This is the truth beyond all doubt."

Then, he turned to look in Shizukesa's direction and smiled gently with the setting sun causing the edges of his being to lose focus and grow hazy until even his face was a blur. His lips had begun to move but Shizukesa struggled to hear what sounds he'd attempted to make, instead following the motions of his lips —

Ta..da.. shi..?

Shizukesa snapped back to focus in time to catch the ax's blade with the palm of his hand as it cleaved through the air. The warrior grunted, struggling to press down on the shaft of the weapon while Shizukesa held it aloft with a distant gaze.

"That prayer… was the Heart of Perfect Wisdom," He murmured to himself, ignoring the choked gasp from the human. "And that man.."

His gaze lowered in a swift snap, boring into the warrior's terrified eyes.

"Thoughts for another time.." HIs palm pushed back against the ax, struggling little as the warrior was forced onto his back foot then stumbling backward with a strained vein beginning to bulge at the corner of his eyes. "Right now, I wish to see what is stronger…"

Shizukesa lowered his voice, and curled his hand around the ax, claws carved into the iron blade.

"My devotion or your faith."