Yuki No Megami Chapter 1: Jido no Hogu-sha, a Rise of the Guardians + Frozen Crossover fanfic

UPDATE 1/14/2016: Trying to clean up this story to get rid of a number of mistakes. Hopefully this edit is neater.

Hello everyone. Piccolo Sky here. This is a bit of a departure for me so you might be seeing me for the first time here...especially since this is my first attempt at a "shipping". A fairly standard one that's a dime-a-dozen to boot... Jack/Elsa. Let's see how I do since I don't normally write romance.

As you may have guessed, this is a "Rise of the Guardians"/"Frozen" crossover, but set to a period piece. It's very unusual for me so hopefully it works.

And I WANT feedback on this, not so much for the plot as what I'm doing as far as details. I'm setting this story in Feudal Japan, which also makes this a bit new. Although I'd like some artistic license for it being fantasy, I still don't want to make glaring mistakes. So please let me know if you see them in regards to Japanese culture.

Hope you enjoy.

YUKI NO MEGAMI

The boy continued to cry loudly and cling for all he was worth to his mother. But for all the tears the woman gave the man standing over them, her eyes pleading for pity and mercy, neither she nor her son received any as he roughly seized the boy and dragged him back so hard he painfully toppled onto the ground. Not giving him a moment to recover from his rough jostling, the soldier seized him by the back of his neck and began to drag him to where many other boys, and a few girls, stood with tears in their eyes as their hands were roughly tied by cruel ropes. Many of them were bleeding around their bonds, but if any yelled too loud in pain they were slapped so hard that when they fell to the ground they would drag their companions with them.

The rest of the village could do little to help. They shared the same fate as the soldiers walked about, picked out the families who had more than two children, and promptly dragged the eldest out of their beds or wherever their parents had struggled to hide them, and then out to join those being herded like livestock in the square. There was loud wailing all around, mostly from mothers begging them to stop. Surprisingly (at least, to one not from that district), there were no fathers protesting or even to be seen. There were a few elderly or late middle-aged citizens raising defiance, but one of them was already in a bloody, beaten pile in the gutter; possibly never to rise again for trying to intervene. The people here had little chance against the stronger armored men.

Several of the larger, better-armed, and more well-equipped men stood in the center, supervising all of this. There was one with the full regalia of a samurai in the middle, who, based on his coloration, clearly belonged to the local lord Yamashita. Like many of the various daimyos who the shogunate didn't have the time or resources to bother putting under his boot, he was free to wage his own personal attempt to increase his wealth and prestige by fighting wars with whatever daimyo around him seemed small enough to be easy prey. Unfortunately for Yamashita, he had many thugs but not one brain among his soldiers. He frequently consumed both resources and manpower alike to fuel his ambitions with very little return; causing him to squeeze as much as he could out of his already impoverished people. It was little surprise that the peasants here looked dirtier, shabbier, and all-together darker and unhealthier than most others as a result. But as his ambition hadn't been stymied, he sent out his greatest goons to take even more. That included his "greatest" samurai clearly carrying out this operation. By the standards of most others who followed bushido, he was nothing more than a lout who had been given swords and a title in exchange for being a well-paid muscle. However, that was more than enough in this situation.

An older man came up to this samurai, practically groveling on his knees.

"I'm begging you…on behalf of all of the people… Lord Yamashita has taken everything we can tribute…"

"Not quite everything." The samurai darkly answered. "But you should be grateful that he doesn't command me to burn this village to the ground and do away with you freeloaders. He's been kind enough to give you all of this land to tend and all he desires in return is a proper tribute. And yet, time and again, you fail to ever meet what is demanded of this province."

"We have told the daimyo again and again…" The old man protested. "The weather has grown unseasonable. The harvest is delayed. If he but waits two more weeks…"

"This is not a two week problem, old man." The samurai snapped. "It's a three season problem."

"But my lord…he already commanded service of all of the able bodied men…"

"And if they had been worth anything, they would have not died so easily in battle." The man snapped in response.

The old man swallowed, but continued. "We're left with only the children to work the fields…"

"Children who fill their lazy bellies with rice that should be going to Lord Yamashita. We're merely doing you a favor: eliminating those who keep you from meeting your tribute and replenishing the ranks of your lord in humble gratitude for him protecting you and giving you this land. Your children have proved inadequate as farmers. Perhaps they will have some usefulness as soldiers. You can get to work raising ones who can work harder."

The amount of cruelty and heartlessness in these words cut both the old man and those nearby to the quick. The women burst out in fresh tears. Ones desperate enough to cling for their children were immediately slapped aside by the men tying them up. By now, the last of them had been herded into the square. Surrounded by at least fifty armed men, there was no hope of freeing any of them. The mothers could only weep as whatever children were left behind desperately tried to keep them from going forward to get struck again.

"But…the girls…" The old man struggled in vain. "You're taking the girls with you. You have no use for them in battle…"

"No, we do not." The samurai answered, before flashing a dark smile. "But since you give us neither rice or fish, how else is Lord Yamashita supposed to pay for our services?"

The old man went white as a sheet. Again, those nearby nearly gasped as they looked to the thuggish men and saw, indeed, many of them had lusting, almost ravenous, looks at the young girls who weren't even old enough to have their first periods. Even more despicable, they made no secret of it this time, for some of them were looking for excuses to have the younger mothers do something desperate so that they could make them join their daughters and sons.

Bored with talking to the man, however, the samurai reached out and gave him a shove, knocking him down so roughly that it might have done real harm. Not that he nor the soldiers cared. He looked around a bit afterward, at the some forty children they had taken.

"I guess this will have to do for this village…but considering how much trouble it was," He mused aloud, before looking up and around again, this time at the village. "I don't suppose there's anything else in this filthy hovel to make this trip worth our while?"

In response to saying this aloud, one of the thugs suddenly raised a hand and waved a bit.

"Over here! Seems this slum at least has an eatery with some rice liquor!" He shouted.

The samurai looked to the fallen old man and snorted. "Wasting some of the tribute on brewing liquor? And you have the nerve to ask the daimyo for lenience…" He smiled a bit more. "I suppose we'll just have to take that as well." He looked up and to the distance. "Go take whatever they have and call the wagons. These urchins are too puny to walk the whole way."

One of the soldiers gave a bow and began to run to the edge of the town, where they had left half of their forces along with cage-like wagons designed to transport large numbers of people. Three of the other soldiers immediately went into the only illuminated building in the entire town, and also the largest and best off although those were relative terms. The building was designed to be a public eatery, but was obviously little more than a converted house. It couldn't have fit more than a few tables and chairs on one floor, and the glow was so dim they didn't even seem to have enough to spend on lighting. It was likely coming from two lamps and a fireplace, in spite of how hot it was during this time of year. At any rate, they vanished inside, already flexing their muscles.

And about ten seconds later, they rapidly staggered out again. The samurai, who, done with the children, had been keeping his eye on them, saw that they looked a trifle pale and that they backed out of the doors rather than walked out again. He also saw they didn't have the liquor.

He frowned. "What's wrong?"

Two of them continued to look frightened, but the third, swallowing a bit, nervously pointed at the eatery. "There's…a…bit of a problem, sir."

The samurai frowned a bit more. "What sort of problem?"

"There's…a patron there."

"What of him?"

"He…says he already paid for all of the liquor within the establishment and that it's his…"

The man scowled. "Well, did you explain that you are representatives of Lord Yamashita?"

The man only swallowed again. "…He…he said we were welcome to try and take it from him…"

"Then why didn't you?" The samurai snapped.

The soldier didn't respond. He only trembled along with the other two with him.

Letting out a scowl, the samurai adjusted his own armor. "Have to do everything myself… Miserable cowards…" He motioned to the four largest men in his group. "You're with me. Apparently those three incompetents need to be shown how to teach a traveler a lesson…"

At once, the men fell in behind him as he began to walk for the eatery entrance. All of them put their hands on their swords as they did so. After all, if this one was large enough to threaten away other human muscle, then perhaps he would blanch before a blade. Of course, the samurai was already assuming that this was a man who had a weapon of his own. In that case, five of them should be more than enough to deal with any sass he might have. Still, he couldn't believe that those three weren't enough to deal with one miserable traveler. And he had to be a traveler. They had long since broken the spirits of anyone else in this town. Yet if he was a traveler, so much the better. They could safely kill him and be done with it.

Soon, the samurai reached the entrance and pushed open the door.

"Alright, who is the dead man who dared…to…"

He trailed off.

For a brief moment on entering, he thought the man who ran the eatery had, for whatever reason, erected some large object near the front. Perhaps a vase or a pillar or a curtain…something odd but nevertheless quite large. Yet after taking a moment to have his eyes adjust, he slowed as he walked into the chamber and stopped; realizing he wasn't looking at an object but a man.

Sitting at the counter up front was a towering figure. Most people in Japan had never seen or heard of a bear before, but this would be the best explanation for it. He was at least seven feet tall, but as he was hunched a bit it was easy to imagine he might be taller than that, and he was so broad that a small child lying on their side would not extend from shoulder to shoulder. He had received a large glass to drink liquor from, but in his massive hands it might as well have been a teacup as he slammed down the entire amount like it was a spot of water. His body was a mountain of muscle, sparsely covered with red and white attire that barely stretched around his frame and trimmed with what looked like wild black animal fur around a few edges. His own head was a flowing mane of gray and white, with a long beard to match that went down to his chest. Yet his body looked so hardy and healthy in spite of this that he seemed like a mountain of muscle; protruding from his kimono which had been ripped in so many places that it was only capable of covering the bottom chest and "essentials", exposing his massive forearms. Most of all, he had not one but two swords lying next to him in easy reach. One could say it was technically a katana and a wakizashi, but even the strongest among the samurai's group wouldn't be able to wield the wakizashi like a nodachi considering its size. It was practically a pole of iron.

For a moment, the samurai felt his courage abate. Never before had he ever seen a man like this. It was likely there were few who had. He didn't even look human. Still, he realized after a moment that to back down merely from the appearance of such a man would ruin their control over this city. Besides, as large as he looked, he also seemed rough and uncouth, and even a man that muscular couldn't wield blades like that with ease. They were too big even for him. With that in mind, he drew himself up and began to walk forward, thinking again to how he was the master here, not a wanderer who looked like a wild man.

As he neared, he came to a halt about six feet away.

"Where is the eatery proprietor?" He spoke out in the boldest manner he could muster.

"Hiding, I'd wager." The large man responded, not turning his head. Even his voice didn't sound human. It was far deeper, almost animalistic, and with a thick, strange dialect that the samurai had never heard before. "You and your good friends scared him away. He was making me manju." A pause, before his voice turned a bit grimmer. "I love manju, and this place makes the best. I am more than a little unhappy about this."

The samurai, in spite of his best efforts, felt a twinge of fear go through him as he heard that, but he ignored it as he gripped his sword hilt. "Is he in the back? I'm here to collect whatever sake he has on hand."

"You're too late, as I explained to your men." He answered as his massive hand reached over the side of the front table…easily, without getting up…and he pulled back a bottle which he used to refill his glass. "I have already paid good money for it. And I am not eager to part with it when I have been deprived of my manju. As I told your men, you are free to try and take it from me."

The man held for just a moment, but then forced his fear back. Instead, he let his indignity push him on. He was a member of the local daimyo's personal army. He wasn't about to be talked down to by some wandering peasant, no matter how large he was. After all, he would still bleed as easily as anyone else before a real blade. With that in mind, he drew his sword with a sound of metal scraping.

"You can have it your way, if you like." He challenged back, prompting his men to draw their weapons as well. "You don't appreciate your situation. We are vassals of the local lord and this is his province. Everything within this village belongs to him. Therefore, I do not care if you have already paid for the sake as it was never the proprietor's sake to sell in the first place. It was always the daimyo's. And we will be taking it now...over your corpse, if you prefer."

The big man did something unexpected at this. He burst out into a laugh. And it wasn't a dark laugh or a mocking one. Rather, it was from someone who seemed both jolly and highly amused by the entire situation. Almost as if the threats had done little more than make him happy. The samurai's face honestly fell a bit as he blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected that. It unnerved him quite a bit…

"Ha!" The large man ended with a boom. "I was hoping for just such a thing! I never did enjoy beating around the bush…not when a chance comes to flex these muscles…"

With a creak that sounded like it would snap his chair in two, the large man pushed back to get away from the counter and began to rise; making the floor and, indeed, the entire eatery creak as he stood up. As he stretched to his full height, every muscle in his body seeming to make a noise, the samurai's resolve began to fade. His own grip on his sword loosened as he began to step back.

The giant of a man cracked his neck. "I won't even take up my swords. After all, heh-heh…" He snickered in a merry, deep voice. "I am a ronin, after all. And what sort of ronin would I be if I used steel on such little, frail boys, eh?"

He turned fully to the five, causing the samurai to step back yet again. So did his companions, but he made sure to step back even more as he looked up to the man with a small gasp, effectively putting them in front of him. His beard just had a few flecks of black in it, but as he turned to them they remembered the stories that had been circulating throughout the entire land of Japan. Tales of the band of five warriors not of this world; how one of them was larger than any man-giant, with a face broad and round and scarred by three rough talons from the top of his right brow to the bottom of his left cheek. In other words, the same face looking at them now. Even the most confident and brave among them began to wonder how they could have been so foolish to not see it…or so unlucky to come across this one.

He chuckled again on seeing them. "Allow me to introduce myself. My friends call me Nobuyuki."

One of the men on the samurai's right stammered. "Nobuyuki…the 'Jolly Bear'…"

"The monster who would splinter a spear if it were thrown by an oni into him…" Another spoke quietly.

The man boomed out another laugh. "Ha-ha! I don't know about that one…but I would think it would at least give me an itch."

The samurai began to shake in his armor. He couldn't believe his unfortunate luck. To actually run into this creature. Although he looked like a man, he knew full well the stories, about how he was a monstrous beast from the underworld who chewed up and spat out bones and steel alike, who feared not even a thousand men armed to the teeth. They said the only mark he had on his body was the scar on his face, and that supposedly was from the lord of the oni…and after he had received that blow, the legend was that the 'Jolly Bear' ripped the oni's head off and cast it so far that it would never touch the ground again.

Yet worst of all…if Nobuyuki was here, then that mean the other four weren't too much farther.

His cowardice flaring now that he realized there was an opponent here that couldn't be beaten or threatened unlike the peasants he was used to grinding into the dirt, the samurai did the only thing he could think of.

"Attack him!" He ordered even as he stepped back. "Now!"

The men froze for a moment. After all, they knew the legends as well as the samurai; how no man could kill or even draw a single drop of blood from the Jolly Bear. Yet whether it was stupidity or desperation, or perhaps a faint glimmer of hope that his very human-looking skin could indeed be pierced, they ended up crying out and lunging forward, driving their weapons into his body.

They were doomed even before they reached him, for the giant of a man merely laughed and held his hands up, leaving himself completely open. The samurai saw the tips of blades hit his skin, and the skin gave just a bit, but then they merely knocked off harmlessly. He saw only little white traces left behind on the skin of the giant man, similar to what a baby trying to scratch an adult might do. Those sword were razor sharp, and they failed to even skin him. The next two came in and stabbed as well, trying to go straight for thrusts, but they merely jarred their arms trying to pierce the giant man. Laughing out loud at all of this, he merely stood there as he let the first two try to slash him, again with no luck. But by then, he seemed bored with this. He reached out and seized one of the sharpened blades in his bare hand and merely yanked it out of that soldier's hand, ignoring his partner furiously trying to stab him nearby. He then seized the disarmed soldier by the neck, raised him into the air, and smashed his head into the ceiling with such force he went limp in an instant. Using this soldier as a club, he swung him around and knocked his partner so strongly that he was ripped off of his feet and launched across the room and out the window, sending him crashing into the street. The other two with him froze, gasping in horror, and leaving them open for the giant man as he laughed in joy and advanced on them.

The samurai saw no more. He had burst for the door, leaving his men to their fate. As he heard both crying out and bones breaking mixed in with the sound of monstrous laughter, which, in turn, petrified whatever soldiers were outside and had just seen their companion flung through the window like a doll, the samurai retreated outside and back for the square, where the bulk of the soldiers still were. He, like the rest of them, stared at the eatery as it seemed to shake and shudder from the hulk moving about inside of it.

For a moment the man panicked, not sure how he, or any of them, could hope to stop that monster. But then, enough of his wits came to him to quickly spin to the armed men with him. In particular, he looked to ten of them that had firebrands, carrying them in case they needed to burn some of the buildings. They seemed to now have a use.

"You! All of you!" He shouted, before pointing to the eatery. "Burn that building at once! Do it quickly!"

The men were mostly shocked by the sounds of battling and laughter, but the noise distracted them from their thoughts and caused them to snap to the samurai. However, after a moment, one of them blinked.

"But…but sir, two of our men are-"

"Burn it now!" He cut off. "If that monster gets free we're all doomed! It's not a human in there! It's one of them! One of the Jido no Hogu-sha***!"

That last title took a moment to spread over the soldiers gathered. Among the smarter, it sank in and began to change their expressions and their moods. Mostly to looks of shock and fear. The younger ones hesitated, however, not knowing of that name so much. But before anyone could make any move, streaks of light shot out. Almost in unison, every man carrying a firebrand cried out in agony and dropped their torches to the ground, letting them go out on landing. As darkness began to extend over the group, both they and their companions looked to their hands in alarm and found kunais embedded in each one. The throwing type, to be exact. And it looked as if ten of them had been thrown at once from ten different angles with sufficient force to embed through their palms.

Yet a moment later, they cried out again as the blades, as if they had a mind of their own, yanked out of their palms and shot through the air right to the roof of one of the nearby homes. Perched on top of it was a caped figure with what looked like animal ears sewn into the hood, a looser gi colored with gray earth tones underneath scarcely visible, standing out from the gleam of light above the rooftops in the night sky. His eyes gleamed like small jewels from beneath the hood, showing his gaze was upon them. As one, the throwing knives went into one hand, and with a gesture he spread them out like a fan, flicked his wrist to collapse them in one, and then soon began to casually flip only a single kunai up and down. All of the others had appeared to literally vanish into thin air save this one that he casually flipped, arms crossed, one foot over the other, and glaring down at the men with eyes that almost seemed to glow from under the hood.

"Now, that just isn't right…" The figure spoke in a smooth, dangerous voice; not nearly as "merry" as the first. "Burning two of your men just to get rid of one opponent? No wonder your brainless lord keeps losing every war he starts…"

The sudden appearance of this strange new individual caused a pause among most, although a few more experienced began to realize what he had to be. However, the samurai soon rallied them yet again. "Shoot him!"

It took a moment, but the eight or so men among them who had bows did as they were told and went for them. The figure calmly waited, not even shifting weight as he saw them take out the shortbows and knock arrows. Yet just as they took aim and pulled back their strings, he casually uncrossed one foot and tapped it against the shadow of a chimney coming from the roof of the house he was perched on. A moment later, as the arrows flew, his body turned into ink and melted into the shadow as if it was nothing more than a hole in the ground. The arrows hit only air; causing the men to gasp in shock as well as the civilians with them. Yet they got another shock a moment later when they heard a loud whistle, causing them to snap their heads to the source, and saw the same figure standing on a roof on the opposite side of the square.

That confirmed all they needed to know. One of them men screamed it.

"The Ghost Hare! It's the Ghost Hare!"

The samurai knew his name better as 'Takeshi the Ghost Hare'; a creature who was said would appear in your room and kill you in your sleep within three days if you said: 'Nousagi-Takeshi'* aloud. A monster said to have been the offspring of a human woman and the night itself. His body could become one with the shadow, not only allowing him to easily move in and out of all the darkness in the world, but making him as fast and silent as a black tomb when a light was put out inside. They said a volley of arrows fired by three divisions of archers could be shot at him and it would hit only air. Worst of all, his kunai was said to be alive, going wherever he wished and in as many impossible ways as one could think of…but especially into the hearts of his enemies.

Again, fear and desire for survival seemed to end up driving the men, as five of them drew their own swords, clubs, spears, and whatever they had on hand as the archers aimed and fired again. This time, he didn't merely slip into shadow. Instead, his hand went out and flung his kunai again, which shot out not in a straight line but like an angry bee, smacking each arrow out of the air before returning to his grip. As he did, he leapt off of the top of the roof and went down to the level of the men. The opponents ran right up to him and began to swing away.

"Far too slow, gentlemen." He answered with a bored tone, not even breathing hard as he proceeded to nimbly and easily dodge each and every blow meant to stab or cut him. He actually humored them for a moment doing so before he counterattacked. He easily leapt back to allow a club to swing uselessly in front of him before he came forward and lashed out with a thrust kick so strong that one could hear the bones snap before the man's body was violently thrown into two men behind him. Apparently it was more powerful than that, for on impact one could hear their bones break as well. Without missing a beat, he brought his leg back and bent over, letting a stabbing blade go right over his head, before he lashed out a kick at his assailant, this time to the arm, that hit with such force that it was broken in four places in spite of making contact only in one spot.

"Come on…try and give me at least a little warm up." He grunted before swinging his feet around to swipe out the legs from another attacker, breaking both ankles in the process. Each sound proved the legends even more, that for all of his speed and agility the Ghost Hare was inhumanly powerful as well.

As he struck another attacker while flinging his kunai again, making it actually spin around like a shuriken as it whirled through the air, the samurai realized that between the lack of fire and the fact that the second of the "five" had shown up they were in a bad spot. These two had defeated far greater and more numerous opponents on even footing. They couldn't risk fighting them like that. With that in mind, he again turned and bolted for it, a group of about ten soldiers following him. This time, he forced himself to run in front of the eatery again, in spite of the fact the Jolly Bear was currently smashing through the front, no doubt looking for more heads to smash in. Most of the archers were separate from the rest of them at the edge of town. He had to get to them and have them start firing volleys into town or at least reinforce the men. Perhaps if they fired arrows at the Ghost Hare while he was preoccupied with dodging others…

However, his group hadn't gone far before they halted again.

On the edge of the village, they were just able to see the prisoner wagons that had been left with the group of fifty. However, it had grown much easier to see them now than it had a moment ago; the result of a golden dust or pollen seeming to rest over all of them and giving a residual gleam. Every last one was on the ground, completely unconscious. Their firebrands were out as well, meaning there was no way they could shoot flaming arrows into the village now even if they were awake.

A lone individual still stood: a short, squat, rather unassuming-looking man who seemed like his body and kimono had been rubbed down with the same golden dust, allowing him to give off a soft gleam as he walked forward. He was neither very stately-looking nor impressive, almost as if he was a tad physically deformed. His clothing, however, despite being covered with the golden dust, was also etched with patterns from the larger moths that dwelt in Japan, and as he walked he almost seemed to make a tinkling chirp that, soft as it was, echoed all the way down to the group.

As innocent and unassuming as this little man would seem normally, he filled the samurai and his companions with even more fear than the first two. By now, the samurai realized there was no hope that they had escaped the Jido no Hogo-sha; now that he had seen three of them with his own eyes. Hopes of getting away alive grew dimmer and dimmer.

Unlike his companions, this little man didn't boast or telegraph his appearance verbally. Just as the stories said, he never spoke a word: Satoru the Sand Moth. That golden dust he was surrounded with was actually the dusty remains of thousands upon thousands of moth wings degenerated into powder; some of his own generation. But just as when it had been alive and part of him, the "dust" responded to him completely. If one was more fortunate, they would meet the same fate that had happened to the reinforcements: simply being put to sleep with a mere gesture. As squat, diminutive, and weak as he looked, no force could stand against him when all he needed to do was send a cloud of the powder at them to put them into an endless sleep. He could do it forever if he wanted, but worse than that was that he could also control your dreams once that was done. He could torment you with a nightmarish hell showing nothing but visions full of pain and fear and no way to escape it. Whereas any other man could always force themselves awake whenever a nightmare grew too much for them, there was no escaping him.

Yet those people were the lucky ones. His dust could also be breathed into the lungs, slip into the eyes, and be absorbed into the skin. Once inside, you were nothing more than his puppet, as easily manipulated as the rest of his dust. Your mind lost in a living dream. He could make a group of samurai hack each other to pieces without making a single move. It was small wonder he looked so odd and harmless, and that no one had ever seen him draw a weapon against them. What would he need with weapons when all of his opponents became their own weapons? The legend said if he ever got ahold of you and had no other opponents to use you as a weapon against…seppaku would be preferable to what he would do to make you destroy yourself…

Although it would take him a while to reach them, the samurai knew that the Sand Moth had blocked off their exit. Unable to let fear paralyze him anymore, he quickly turned around and bolted back for the square, leaving the ten men behind to stare in shock and fear. As it turned out, they provided good decoys a moment later when the Jolly Bear smashed through the entrance and seized the two nearest ones, clonking their heads together before using a massive fist to smash another man to the ground like he was nothing more than a bug. However, their leader managed to get back to the square, where ten more men were already helpless on the ground, bones broken and possibly dead. The survivors had their weapons out but were backing off in terror, none of them daring to charge the Ghost Hare.

He knew now there was only one possible way out of this as he ran back up to them.

"Get the children! Everyone seize one!"

There was, once again, hesitation. The men didn't quite grasp why the samurai would still be bothering with the children when demons were crawling out of the woodwork to attack them. However, it lasted only a short while. In spite of being monsters, he heard the Jido no Hogo-sha never assaulted children. They somehow had a cosmic law or rule forbidding them from hurting them. If that was the case, then perhaps they could be used as hostages. Soon the men began to spin on their captives, each one looking to seize one for himself. But as they were all bound together, they would need to be cut free first…

The samurai was already going for his shorter blade when he heard a much lighter, female voice pipe out from in front of them.

"Taking kids for hostages? How low can you get?"

The men halted yet again, as a light blue form shot out in their path. However, this figure didn't just pop out and stand her ground. On the contrary...to the tune of a rapid flitting sound that seemed like the world's largest hummingbird, this individual barred their way and then hovered in midair before them, suspended by a gigantic pair of translucent wings. At this time of night, they'd be invisible if it wasn't for the fact that they moved fast enough to strike whatever dim light was around several times each second, creating an almost spectral appearance. The figure was distinctly female, dressed in light blues and greens dyed into her own gi that melded together in a pleasant, aquamarine arrangement. At least half of her attire seemed to have been stitched together from bird feathers, yet considering the fact that no bird in this part of the world had that sort of coloration it looked almost as if it was growing out of her. In fact, the feathers that she had around her head arranged as some sort of bright hood seemed almost to flex as she talked.

"How about you throw down your weapons before you get hurt?" She said as she fluttered in front of them, darting about a bit in place like a hummingbird would. "I don't think you want me to 'add to my collection'…"

The soldiers had been making foolish moves until now, but at this moment the samurai noticed his men making the dumbest move yet. While he automatically recognized this creature flying in front of them, the soldiers with him took her for a simple woman, seeing how small and frail she looked and ignoring the fact that she had translucent wings and what looked like feathers growing out of her. They failed to put her in the same category as the others and, as a result, without fear, they immediately ran on her with weapons drawn.

A horrible mistake.

In a flash, the woman reached behind her and came out with a jitte. Her eyes almost seemed to turn serpentine as she saw the men coming at her, and then moved. As the first one got close enough to stab, she shot forward, using her wings to drive into his range, and drove the tip of her weapon into the man's top teeth. It was only a light blow, not even enough to make the roots bleed, yet the soldier immediately went rigid, seized with pain and thrown into agony great enough to make him drop his weapon and collapse like a stone. She easily flitted above another who tried to slash her from the side, and a moment later drove the tip of her weapon into that man's teeth as well, causing him to actually gag as if having a seizure before falling. She swept the weapon around to catch two more blades aimed for her a moment later and then used the thrust of her wings to easily push them aside before launching out two more stabs into their teeth, making them collapse in agonized piles, practically choking on their own drool as they contorted into horrible positions.

The samurai was spared this simply because he had been smart enough to see her face and recognize her from the descriptions: Takara the Tooth Dragon. She seemed to be the smallest, most child-like, and most innocent of the Jido no Hogo-sha. But she was a monster just like the rest of them. Supposedly she was the wretched spawn of a wrathful dragon who ripped teeth from the mouths of his victims and subsisted on them; literally draining years of life from its prey as it consumed them, for they somehow had a connection to the individual even after being removed from their body. The stories say somehow she could touch the core of one's being through the tooth. It would happen either by her directly touching them or tapping them with the tip of that jitte she was using. In either case, the result would be the same. She could light every fiber of a man's being on fire with just a tap. Even the strongest and toughest man in the world couldn't survive her driving raw pain into the core of their spirit. No matter the opponent, she could fell them with one blow. Some said she could even shatter a soul if she ever hit any harder. And as nimble as she was, with those wings giving her added power, she could overthrow any opponent's blow aimed at her. All she needed to win, after all, was a tap on the teeth.

And if she managed to extract a tooth from her victim, it was even worse. They said she now had ownership of your soul…

"Ugh!" She cried as she struck two more of them. "Look how pitifully you care for your teeth! How do any of you ever plan to get married with mouths like that? I feel like I need to wash my weapon after I'm done with you…"

The samurai recoiled a bit more as she laid into more of them and took a second to look around. By now, the Jolly Bear was approaching rapidly, easily smacking aside anyone who tried to stop him. The soldiers might as well have been ants compared to him. The Ghost Hare continued to fling out his kunai again and again, disarming soldiers and then following up with bone-crunching kicks to drop them. The Tooth Dragon was moving around so fast that she was impossible to even mount an effective counterattack against. No one saw her moving until it was too late to keep her from striking their teeth. All the while the Sand Moth continued to come down the street, streams of gold dust coming from him and going down every road and alley. He was cutting off any escape. Half of the city was already blocked off and the rest was coming along.

Over half of the soldiers who had been the group in town were dropped now, with the other half coming quickly. As the four supernatural creatures continued to put down one after another, the samurai saw what few soldiers were left got the sense to run for it. With the Sand Moth cutting off any escape, they had to flee now while they still had time. They began to drop their weapons, turn, and dart off down whatever road way or alley they could. Yet even then, they found no peace. Leaving those brave enough to stay behind, the Jolly Bear, the Ghost Hare and the Tooth Dragon alike took off to start chasing after those who fled. With the ability to fly of the latter and the ability to move through shadows of the former, they had no chance. There would be no escape. The samurai began to fill with fear as he realized this. They weren't going to let any of them get away. They would kill every last one of them…

Yet as he feared the worst, luck came to him.

Abruptly, he felt a small bump. He looked down, and saw a boy had just collided with him. He was still bound to the others, but by now the children were rather shocked at what was going on and had begun to uncertainly spread out. And in the course of doing so, one of them had backed right into the samurai. At the moment, neither the Tooth Dragon nor the Ghost Hare were anywhere near, and neither of their companions had seen.

The boy whirled around on seeing what he had done and nearly cried out in alarm. However, the samurai wasted little time. With one hand, he seized the boy by the throat and crushed, choking him into silence. As he struggled against the grip, the samurai's sword went out and quickly cut the bonds. After that, he put the blade across the child to keep him from moving, scooped him up, and then quickly turned and bolted for it. He was a bit far from access out of the square, but luckily fortune seemed to favor him enough to have everyone else be too preoccupied with what was going on around them to catch him. Soon he had managed to get into one of the spaces between building and run clear to the other side.

Holding the squirming boy in his grasp, he quickly turned in the way opposite of the Sand Moth and tried to run for the edge of town. To keep a grip on the boy, he was forced to ease up on his throat, but luckily his clenching grasp had both hurt him and made him gag for air, and as a result he stayed quiet as he put his arm and the blade around him and carried him on. The village wasn't too large. He feared he'd be spotted easily even if he managed to evade the monsters initially. And he didn't bet on them being quite merciful enough to obey their own demented code and not attack him just for holding onto a child hostage. With that in mind, he moved diagonally, trying both to get to the edge of town as fast as he could as well as away from the battle.

At first, it seemed to work out rather well. Although he continued to hear his men cry out behind him and fall one after another, they grew more distant. He realized, as fast as the Tooth Dragon and the Ghost Hare were, they could only be in so many places at once. Their awareness had to be that of normal people. Perhaps he would get free after all, he began to think as he turned a corner…

"Look what we have here…"

But soon after, he froze in place. Immediately he yanked the boy close and made sure his blade as at his throat before turning to the sound of the voice. He realized who it was even before fully turning to him. The final member of the Jido no Hogo-sha.

A young man, scarcely past the age of a teenager himself, was reclining casually against the wall of a building. His skin was so pale one would swear he was either sickly or an albino. His hair was even paler, looking like it was coated with frost in spite of the warm weather. He had a simple weapon with him, if one could even call it that. It looked like some sort of staff or even "walking stick", perhaps even with a crook. He balanced it across his shoulder like a bo staff. He seemed to only be wearing a haori and hakama; having eschewed a proper kimono and letting his own pale, toned chest show through. Aside from that, he had a scarf facial covering, but it was loose and only put casually around his neck. He didn't even look at the samurai. Instead, he calmly tossed a white ball up and down in one hand, keeping his gaze on that.

He snickered. "How fair is this… They get to have all the fun and leave me doing clean-up duty? They could have at least been nice enough to let more than one of you escape…"

Instantly, the samurai's lips pulled off of his teeth as he pushed the blade in tighter. The boy didn't dare move. Even resisting too hard might break his skin as a result. The samurai glared as fiercely as he could force himself to at the young man. "Don't try anything stupid. I can end this child's life in a heartbeat." He stated, secretly hoping the pale young man valued the child's life enough to care.

He certainly didn't seem to as he flicked the ball in the air and waved his hand, making it disappear. He grasped his bo and began to rise.

"Attacking the helpless and unarmed… Seizing girls as plunder… Abandoning your men… And using a child as a human shield…" He mused idly as he stood at full height and looked the man in the eye.

In addition to being tinted such an icy blue that it almost made the samurai feel cold to look at it, the boy's face was not only youthful, handsome, and fine-featured, but also full of mischief and confidence. As if nothing could upset him or make him feel fear. Certainly not this situation.

"And you call yourself a samurai?"

A bead of sweat rolled off his brow, but the man tightened his grip. "I mean it."

The boy in his clutches swallowed, quite visibly scared as well. Fearful not only of his life but for this unnatural-looking creature in front of him. However, the youth wasn't miffed at all. He looked away from the man and down to the boy.

"Hey…don't be scared." His voice was calm and friendly. "You'll be fine. We're going to have some fun with this guy."

The samurai's eyes widened, not only at the comments being said but how casual the young man was about it. Pretty much insulting him to his face and treating him like a joke, in spite of his fear of the individual. It didn't matter that the boy didn't quite believe it. It almost made him want to strike just out of spite. He gnashed his teeth at the pale man. "You insolent little-"

He got no further. Abruptly, the young man grasped the end of his bo staff and swung it out. The samurai braced for impact…but nothing came. He was too far for one thing. For another, he aimed the staff at the ground instead.

With a crinkling sound, a thin sheet of ice condensed from the air and formed a trail which, like a crack of a whip, extended out to right beneath the samurai's feet. As he had reacted by shifting weight, he met with the ice the moment he did so, which was as frictionless as the air itself. In an instant, his footing gave way and, with a cry, he found himself slipping completely off of his feet. He did the instinctive thing and removed his blade from the boy's neck to attempt to reach out to stop himself. In the process, he gave the boy a shove, and soon the child cried as well as he spilled forward. Yet it was for naught, as the samurai was unable to regain his balance or stop himself before his feet slipped completely out from under him and he crashed rather hard on his back. A painful jolt went through his rear and shoulders as he grunted from pain.

The boy, on the other hand, cried out in a bit of alarm as he slid forward, but the pale man calmly gestured to one side, causing the ice on the ground to sweep around slightly before terminating. A moment later, the boy slid to this end and was deposited on the ground. It took him a moment to gain his footing, but when he did he was safe and sound, and blinking as he realized he had been rescued from his captor. The pale man calmly laid his bo over one shoulder and began to walk forward.

"Now that that's taken care of, how about fighting someone without hiding behind a kid?"

The samurai grunted again, but forced himself to look up. He saw the pale man made sure he was well in front of the boy before stopping again. In spite of having faced several monsters today, the samurai was still more insulted than anything. With that in mind, he quickly scrambled to his feet, slipping on the ice again a few times in the process. The young man smiled all the while, patiently waiting. When he finally did get off the ice and rise, he quickly drew his sword and braced it in front of him.

"Ooo…that's sharp." The pale man taunted. "How often do you hit something with it?"

Sneering, the samurai darted forward and stabbed out for him. In response, the young man whistled as he planted a foot on the ground, causing ice to form around it before he calmly slid back on his own bare feet. The people of Japan weren't familiar with skates, but the effect would have been the same as he let the sword stab only air.

"Oops. No good."

Gritting his teeth, the samurai swung for his head in a slash afterward. The young man instantly dropped into a squat, letting the blade fly harmlessly past, and again pushed off of the ice to make himself slide back further.

"Oh, so close."

Fuming, the warrior raised his sword again and advanced after him, only to step on the same sheet of ice and immediately spilled forward and landed on his face. The impact was so rough that he nearly loosened a tooth. As for the pale man, he simply slid back further, again crossing his staff over one of his shoulders.

"Watch you footing." He said as he held a hand out in front of him. This time, frost seemed to condense out of midair and collected in his hand. After a moment, he had a snowball inside it. "My turn."

Then, to add insult to injury, the young man casually snapped his wrist and let the snowball fly, pasting the samurai right between the eyes as he groggily tried to rise.

"Direct hit!" He cheered as he began to easily "skate" around on the ice, casually doing circles and figure-8s without even trying.

By now, the samurai was livid. He struggled to rise again only to spill on his face once again, hitting his chin in the exact same spot and driving him into more agony. He finally got enough of his bearings to get onto the bare spots of ground and rise, and chased after the pale young man again. However, now he really had fun with him. When he got close enough to strike, the pale man would simply skate away from him to the opposite side, forcing him to run around to try and catch him again...but not before the pale man would make another snowball and give it to him between the eyes again. The first two times or so only made the samurai more infuriated as he struggled to get around. But by the third time, the boy, watching all of this, began to smile and snicker at how easily the samurai was being humiliated. This only made the samurai angrier as the pale man evaded him again, and he tried to run from behind on the bare spots of ground.

"Slow around ice!" The young man called out in response before removing his staff, aiming it at a place where the samurai's foot was headed, and turned it into a patch of ice...instantly causing him to collapse again. And, once again, the young man humiliated him by smacking him in the face with another snowball. This was too much for the boy. He began to laugh out loud.

Growing progressively more humiliated, the samurai tried to rise again, but by now the young man was fully in his element. As he tried to get up and chase him again, he would create new patches of ice under his feet every once in a while, until the samurai was trying more just to keep from falling again than being able to get close enough to strike. It didn't help that the young man, while idly watching him trying to navigate the ice patches, would hit him with another snowball every once in a while. He soon had the samurai so disorientated that he had more than enough time to casually slide back over to the boy, make a new snowball, and pass it to him.

"Go on. Let's see what kind of arm you got on you."

The boy was hesitant only an instant before he smiled and accepted the snowball. A moment later, he took a shot at the samurai. Unfortunately for him it was while he had gotten turned around, and the snowball ended up hitting the back of his neck. Melted snow ran down his collar and into his back, making him go rigid. The boy laughed even louder than before, this time with the pale man joining in.

"Heh…that was a great shot! I wish I had thought of that…"

Having had the last straw, the samurai roared in anger as he drove the tip of his own sword into the ground, using it as an anchor. Not caring if he mistreated the weapon, he twisted himself around toward the pale man and tried to go after him one more time, this time keeping his feet on the ice and actually pushing off of them to slide forward.

The young man raised an eyebrow. "Oh look! You can learn! I wondered how many knocks to the head it would take…" He mused as he easily pushed himself away from the boy, not to try and get clear but to keep him well out of range. After that, he placed both of his hands on his bo and held it before him, smiling at the samurai and seeming to dare him.

"Here I am! Come kill me!"

Bloodlust in his eyes, the samurai pushed himself off harder, increasing his speed and sliding faster and faster toward the pale individual. He didn't move in response. He kept his bo at the ready and waited for him to come. No attempts to escape this time, and the samurai made sure he had enough momentum to crash into him. And sure enough, with his speed, and the fact that he was approaching him from the side of the building stretch this time, with less room to dodge, it seemed like he would make it; especially since the young man didn't make the slightest effort to evade.

Then, at the last moment, he did something very unexpected.

With another calm whistle, he swung his staff down, stuck it in the ground, used it as an anchor to vault himself into the air…and then simply hung right there.

The samurai's anger abated as he opened his eyes in shock, his body sliding freely underneath that of the pale man, who calmly pulled his bo up so that it wouldn't get hit. He smiled cheerfully as he watched him shoot by.

"Oh, sorry…forgot to mention I could fly, didn't I?"

The samurai didn't have time to react; only enough time to look back down into his now-unstoppable path and saw himself sailing straight for a wooden post that was supporting one of the small houses. Right before his head smashed into it, sending him into unconsciousness, he had time for one last thought.

So that's why he's called the 'Laughing Frost'…

Ten minutes later, the soldiers had been piled up in the square in the place of their would-be captors. Standing over them were the Jido no Hogo-sha, all five of them gathered together and using the same ropes they had undid from the children to tie them up. As for the citizens, they regarded them with only somewhat less fear as they had toward the soldiers. Some of them still kept their distance from these monsters. After all, it was quite clear not one of them was human, and they had heard the same stories about how bloodthirsty and savage they could be. As time passed, however, the five had become calm, friendly, and even amiable. Especially toward the children. Even the dark, hooded figure with the throwing knives smiled warmly and talked in a relaxing manner as he undid their bonds. By the time they were done, the children, at least, were wondering if these were really monsters at all or rather some sort of divine servants sent to help.

By the time the situation had been flipped, the lead samurai and some of his men were coming too. Others would be out for hours yet, if not longer. After all, many of them had broken bones and serious injuries that needed medical attention. Some were permanently injured, their muscles or nerves cut. However, all were still lucky enough to have their lives, at least for the moment. The samurai had mostly injured himself with bumps and bruises through his own flailing, but his head was bloody from where his head had run into the post, and as he looked up, he paled again to see the five casting their shadows over him and the rest of his men.

"Now then…" The Ghost Hare spoke up. "What shall we do with the lot of them?"

"Isn't that a tricky question…" The Laughing Frost added. By now, his staff was planted on the ground and he sat cross-legged on top in an act of imbalance impossible for a human. "Obviously if we let them live, they'll either be back or they'll just find another town to extort… But if we just kill them all and be done with it, we'll lose any chance to send a 'message' to their daimyo… What-to-do, what-to-do…"

The mention of being killed sent a wave of fear through all of the soldiers. However, the Ghost Hare soon stepped forward, placed the tip of his kunai on one of their noses, and began to wiggle it with the tip.

"I suppose we could shave off a little something that will make you think twice about ever doing this again…" He mused.

"We could let Satoru put them to sleep for about 10 years worth of nightmares…" The Laughing Frost said with a shrug.

The Jolly Bear stomped forward, grabbed one by the chin, and pulled his head high. "Perhaps we remove a tooth from each… Give Takara some nice souls to eat, yes?"

This made them rather pale indeed. Here, the samurai got enough of his bearings to speak.

"That…won't be necessary…"

At once, he paled again as five sets of eyes were on him.

"Oh really?" The Laughing Frost answered. "What makes you say that? Or…more importantly…what should make us believe that?"

The samurai swallowed, but then smiled sheepishly. "We…we really didn't know that you were watching this town… We'll leave and not come back…"

A flit of wings later, and the samurai leaned back as he found the Tooth Dragon flying in front of him, hands on her hips and frowning.

"So you'll just find some children who aren't being guarded by us, instead? Don't take us for dummies. Like Jiro said, even if you don't want to, you'll do what your daimyo says, won't you?"

The samurai sweat a bit, but then asserted himself. "And if we do? We don't have a choice. We are loyal to our daimyo. It's the code of the bushi-"

"AUGH!"

The man was cut off as the Ghost Hair suddenly yanked his knife off of the tip of the man's nose he was toying with, leaving an amount of blood before glaring darkly at the samurai.

"Your faithfulness to the 'code of the bushido', friend, went out the window the moment you thought like treating eight year old girls as pieces of meat for your pleasure. Next one of you tries to claim you're even a quarter of a samurai loses half of a nose."

"Exactly what can you do to convince us that you won't be carrying out any more of your daimyo's orders in this regard, even if you put your own lives at stake, hmm?" The Jolly Bear asked. "I'm all ears."

The samurai stammered a moment. He had to think fast. Both he and the few men with him that were conscious were quivering with fear now, desperate to find a way out of this. Finally, he came up with something.

"We'll tell him that the shogun took an interest in this province! We'll say he's the one who caught us trying to extort the people…he beat us down as a warning…and then he told us to be off to tell him that he's keeping his eye on this province from now on!"

The five paused on hearing that. They thought of it a moment.

"…Not half bad." The Jolly Bear stated.

"Hmm…I'll admit even I almost believe it." The Tooth Dragon added.

"I guess that leaves only one thing…" The Laughing Frost stated as he began to climb down his staff. On landing on the ground, he took it up and balanced it over a shoulder again. "How do we know you're not lying?"

The samurai opened his mouth, only to have the Sand Moth reach out, put his hand under his chin, and force it closed again.

The pale man snickered. "Aw…you didn't really think we were going to let it slide with a 'we promise we'll only do good for now on', did you? I think we'll need a bit more insurance than that…" He looked up to the others. "Suggestions?"

"Give them good old test of truthfulness." The Jolly Bear cracked his knuckles. "Rip an arm off with my bare hands… If they scream, they're lying and they die. If they keep quiet, they are telling the truth and get to live."

Naturally, the soldiers looked twice as terrified from this.

"Too messy, Nobuyuki." The Ghost Hare answered.

"Let's call up the Mia-Mia Bird!" The Tooth Dragon cheered. "If they tell the truth they're safe, but if they ever told a lie she'll peck their eyes out and place red-hot coals in the sockets!"

The woman looked entirely too cheerful saying that, making the soldiers worse than ever. However, as they feared this would happen, a light tingling sound suddenly went out. The four looked to the only one who hadn't spoken, the Sand Moth, as he held up a hand as if to say he had an idea, although he was so quiet he couldn't even make loud breathing noises.

"Oh, Satoru!" The Laughing Frost exclaimed. "We forgot all about you. Let me guess…" He grinned a bit more; almost devilishly. "You want to use that on them, don't you?"

The Sand Moth smiled dangerously in response and nodded.

"Sounds good to me." The Jolly Bear answered.

"I've got no objections." The Ghost Hare added.

"I guess I make it unanimous!" The Tooth Dragon cheered.

The samurai looked ready to soil himself. "What…what is…is he talking…"

Before he could finish, however, he trailed off as the Sand Moth turned his full gaze on him and the men, who nearly shrank back. He held his hands out at his sides. Almost immediately, the gold dust around him seemed to slough off, gathering in his palms, and launched itself into the air, forming golden streams of shimmering powder. It might have looked beautiful if the men weren't so terrified of it, for soon it snaked around, whipped and twisted, and came over their heads before breaking and sending a shower of gold down on them. They cringed away from it, but were powerless to keep it from falling and landing on their bodies and immediately "soak in". In moments it was done, and all of the men glowed a moment before it dimmed.

The samurai turned to them in panic. "What…what did you…?"

"Just a little something we like to call 'the Curse of the Six-Eyed Cat'." The Laughing Frost calmly responded.

The Jolly Bear let out a chuckle. "Never heard of it? Allow me to explain. Satoru here sees your dreams. He knows all your secrets…all your desires…all your fears…and he just slipped something new to be afraid of into them."

"From now on whenever you head to bed or take a nap, you'll see a little someone in your dreams: a nice little kitty-cat with six eyes." The Ghost Hare explained. "She's a demon, you see. A very hungry one at that. But luckily for you, she's stuck in your dreams. And she can't find you in them…unless, of course, you go about doing misdeeds like lying and stealing kids and beating up on old folks. Then she can smell you real nice."

"She starts out, you see, as a mere cat." The big one continued. "But the more evil you do…the bigger she gets. The more her eyes start to glow. The more her teeth poke out from her jaws and drip drool. And she never gets smaller again. She just gets bigger and bigger as she smells you…and gets closer and closer…"

"Eventually you'll only dream about an ox-sized cat from Hell chasing you…every time you go to sleep." The pale one went on. "And with each new sin you commit, she gets a bit more ground on you…and a little more…and a little more…until you start waking up with scratches on your body…then bloody scratches…"

"And finally, one day…" The Tooth Dragon concluded. "You'll wake up just as she's about to seize you…and when you open your eyes, the last thing you'll ever see is her on your bed, mouth open wide, ready to devour you whole."

The samurai and his men looked on the brink of dying from fright after hearing all of that, especially as the five grew darker and more malevolent-looking with each description. Finally, the Laughing Frost leaned forward to the samurai, smiling ear-to-ear.

"So I'd make sure you live a good, honest life from now on. Sweet dreams."

As if on cue, the Sand Moth curled his hand and snapped his fingers. The gold that had landed on the men before suddenly lit up again, despite seeming to have faded before. And immediately after, the still-panicked soldiers rolled their eyes, moaned, and all passed out.

The Jolly Bear immediately burst out. "Ha-ha! See the look on their faces?"

"I have to admit, I thought they really would take dumps in their pants that time…" The Laughing Frost answered as he stood up.

"Ugh…don't remind me of the time that actually happened…" The Tooth Dragon moaned.

"Um…sirs?"

Again, the five went quiet. As one, they turned around behind them. It soon became clear it wasn't the soldiers alone who had been scared. The adults were, by now, shrinking back in abject terror from the five. The children still remained, but even they were looking a bit uncertain and fearful. The only one who was still staying forward was the boy the Laughing Frost himself had rescued. And on seeing he was looking at him, seeming rather anxious and uncomfortable now, he swallowed.

The pale man, however, smiled back at him. "You can call me Jiro, kid."

"…Jiro…you…you all aren't really going to do all of that, are you?"

The Ghost Hare snorted. "Considering the fact he was going to throw your friends into slavery and kill you to secure his own escape, you think you'd hate him a bit more than-"

"Of course not, kid." The Laughing Frost cut off. "It's all a gag." He gave the Sand Moth a pat on the shoulder, who waved with an innocent smile. "Satoru here just made sure they see a six-eyed cat in their dreams for the next year."

The Tooth Dragon nervously brushed back some of her feathered headdress, as if it was hair in the process. "We're really sorry if we scared you all saying that, but…you know…it's kind of important that we scare the living daylights out of people like this."

"Otherwise we really do have to go for 'bloody massacre'." The Jolly Bear answered with a helpless shrug.

The children didn't look terribly convinced. They seemed like they were uneasy around the five now. The adults, on their part, began to eye them with distrust as well as fear. The five continued to look around to them, trying to seem innocent and friendly, but the looks didn't abate. After a time, their own smiles began to fade. They too began to look uncomfortable. The Tooth Dragon's wings slumped as she pouted and frowned at the others.

"I told you a hundred times not to tell people I 'eat souls'…"

The Ghost Hare, however, merely grimaced before exhaling. He began to turn around. "Come on, the lot of you… Looks like we wore out our welcome again…"

The Sand Moth frowned a bit himself as he let his shoulders slump and began to waddle to turn around. The Jolly Bear looked likewise downcast as he reached out and tapped Jiro's shoulder. "Come on, kenshusei**…"

However, the young man held a bit longer. He let out a bit of a snicker and a shrug. "Hey…why the sad faces? You believe me, don't you?"

The children didn't change. Even the one who had smiled and laughed with Jiro earlier stared at him uncertainly, almost keeping himself withdrawn.

The big one sighed. "Jiro…"

"Come on…" The pale man continued, advancing a step toward the one from before. "You saw how much fun we…"

He trailed off. The boy, on seeing Jiro step toward him, immediately recoiled as if a fire had been shoved toward him. His eyes widened a bit, apprehensive now; even possibly fearful. The young man stared a bit longer, but then his smile faded. He realized it was over. There were no more friendly looks for them now. Just the same fear that their own opponents had. And as a result, he almost looked hurt himself…

Finally, a massive hand clapped on his shoulder. "It's time." The big man said quietly. "Let us be gone."

Jiro continued to hold, staring longingly at the children. Their parents were coming forward now and starting to drag them away. Not one offered thanks, praise, gratitude, or even a smile. Just fear. Seeing this, at last the young man gave in. Sighing, he turned and began to walk away with the others.

The village was already fading behind a hill and the cover of the woods the five walked left through when they began to talk again. They had no qualms about traveling at night, even in a place like this where they could barely see and was riddled with places for bandits to hide. After all, if there was one thing that the incident about thirty minutes earlier had demonstrated, it was that they had little to fear from ruffians or assailants. Besides, it wasn't like they could stay in that town now. None of them were in too high spirits. It wasn't just that they had already traveled a long way just to make it to that village and already had to move on. The reaction stuck with them.

"…We could have been a bit 'nicer' back there." Takara finally said. "I mean, how would you react if someone said that in front of you?"

"'Nicer' nothing. We did them a favor." Takeshi snorted. "What did you expect us to do to those worthless men? Spank them? Make them say 'oh, I promise with all my heart that I'll never do bad things again'? The world isn't that nice of a place."

"Takeshi has a point." Nobuyuki threw in. "I knew it just looking at those men… They wouldn't get 'scared'; they would get 'angry'. They would make that village pay even if it was us who were the ones who opposed them. Or they would have just gone somewhere else and done the same. It is important that they fear us. Otherwise, like I said…then we would have to kill them in such a way to strike fear into the heart of their masters. Do you think they would have forgiven us for that?"

"It was only a matter of time, anyway." Takeshi crossed his arms. "You saw the look in the eyes of their parents. They were scared of us even when the kids were smiling…"

"Well…we are the Jido no Hogo-sha…" Takara helplessly shrugged.

"Say it like it is…we're yokai." The rabbit-hooded man retorted. "Even if we sat around farming rice everyone would come up with reasons to hate us."

"We aren't exactly doing any favors for ourselves going around doing things like this."

The four turned their heads slightly to the one who had been silent until now…well, the only one who was silent other than the one who was mute to begin with…Jiro. He had pulled his scarf out into a hood and put it over his head as his bo balanced across one shoulder again, but his face was downcast.

"Maybe next time we should cause a bloodbath. If the reaction will be the same either way, then who cares?"

Takara grimaced. "Jiro…don't take it too personally… They gave us all the same look…"

"Well, all of you hadn't tried 'playing around' with the ones you saved." He retorted. "You hadn't actually rescued one personally and then went to the trouble of cheering him up and even getting him 'in on the fun'."

Nobuyuki gave a large shrug. "Different in every town. Luck and circumstance. Sometimes they send you off with gifts…other times with rocks."

"Too many send us off with rocks. Too many send us off with those stares…like they actually hate us and fear us worse than the 'real' monsters we just saved them from…"

"First of all, kenshusei, it's not all bad." Takeshi responded. "Heck, just two weeks ago we got a hero's sendoff from that one city. You had kids dancing circles around you. Second…we're ronin, in case you forgot. We aren't doing this to get praise and worship. We're doing it because it's the right thing to do."

"You all are ronin, not me. Remember?"

There was a moment of silence from the four around him. They slowed in their step as they walked along. After a few seconds, Nobuyuki exhaled.

"Jiro…you may not be feeling your best right now… But we did do a good thing today. We made a big difference, just as we always do. And I know once you calm down and think on it, you'll realize that's what matters."

The young man sighed. "I used to believe that when you guys first took me in. And I'm sure that's the truth for all of you. But…I'm not sure that's 'enough' for me anymore."

Takeshi snorted again. "I can't very well say I'm surprised at your lack of nobility…"

Takara took a different route, moving to the young man's side. "Jiro, what are you saying? You used to tell us how much you loved all of this… That you liked having a 'life without rules'?"

Jiro raised his head and pulled back his hood, softening a bit. "And I do…or, at least, I did. But I'm starting to think if that was just because that was the situation. I mean, when you can't remember anything else other than not fitting in and getting stares due to the way you look, anything has to be better, right? And I do love having fun with creeps like those jackasses back in that village. But…I can't just live off of 'fun'. I want to live not feeling like everywhere I go and everyone I run into is just another opportunity to be hated."

A tinkling sound came from Satoru.

"He's right." The big man added. "We all care about you. Even Takeshi if he won't admit it."

The tall man scoffed and looked away.

"And I used to think that was enough." Jiro went on. "But you all don't understand. You know what it was like before. You know what it felt like to be comforted by a code, to have the respect and admiration of people, to even know what it was like to have people care about you growing up. Me?" He sighed. "All I know was waking up nude in a pile of snow one day and then having people scream in fear of me."

"I still say you're just whining." Takeshi answered. "You have a lot to be grateful for. Look at me. You don't see me letting one bad experience get me down…"

"I'm just really starting to wonder if it was such a good idea for me to tag along with all of you."

Both Satoru and Takara looked anxious on hearing that. The latter's feathers smoothed and she shrank a little while Satoru looked more nervously at him. A chuckle came from the rabbit-hooded man, but also tinged with bitterness. "Hear that? Now it's 'tag along'? Little stripling looked like an abandoned puppy when we found him who didn't have a friend in the world…now he's acting like he did us all such a 'big favor'…"

Nobuyuki interjected here, speaking in a softer voice. "Jiro, even if you don't exactly have the same story as us, you can't say you don't 'belong' here. You said that doing this made you feel alive. And while you may be…how do we say…a bit of a trickster, I know inside you that you adhere to bushido the same as the rest of us. You know that you make a difference here; that you do things that no one else can do. That this is the best way you can use the power you have."

Jiro lowered his head again. "I know…I know… But…I'm just having second thoughts, is all. I do still feel good doing this most of the time but…there's just something that's still missing. I still don't feel like I'm fully 'one of you'. Maybe it's because I can't remember anything…but it honestly feels as if there's something I can't recall that I used to have that I'm not getting here. And nights like this…it just makes things worse…"

He looked up a moment later when he felt a massive hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up and see Nobuyuki had moved next to him.

"Like I tell you time and again…" He smiled at the smaller man. "Give it a night to think it over. Never make a decision like that." He snapped his fingers for effect.

"Nobuyuki is right, Jiro." Takara added, coming in closer again. "Besides, you mean a lot to us too after spending almost a year together. Just relax. I bet by tomorrow morning you'll barely be thinking about what ended up happening and then you'll be raring and ready to go to the next town." She smiled a bit more. "You know, deep down inside, the children love you more than the rest of us. You're the one who can give them a snowball fight whenever you want, after all."

She said this last part with a tease, elbowing Jiro a bit. In spite of his mood, the pale man smiled a bit at that.

"I guess you're right… But I'm not sure how much they'll want that after next winter. It's only the middle of summer and already looking pretty bad…"

"I'll say." Takeshi threw in. "This is the fourth village in a row we've run into with a bad crop. I used to leave my 'little presents' with a mix of money or food. The past two towns it's been nothing but food…"

"I feel we'll be 'awful busy' in the next few months." Nobuyuki stated as he removed his hand and began to step forward again. "More men like this daimyo will demand tribute besides rice and fish when they cannot get it… More war may break out for land…"

"Hear that, kid?" Takeshi called back to Jiro. "You can't quit now just as the 'workload' is hitting it's worst point."

Gruff as this was, Jiro couldn't help but smile a bit on hearing it. It was pretty much the closest he would ever get to hearing Takeshi saying he wanted Jiro around.

Takara, however, was already looking a bit worried. "More fighting…I hate it whenever things like that break out. I mean, as strong as we are we can only be in so many places at once…"

A light tinkling rang out.

The rabbit-hooded man frowned. "You got a point there. Even good as I am I can only jump around a mile at the most, and then only when there's plenty of shadows. I really hate it when we have to start a 'triage'…pick and choose when people we can save…"

Another tinkling rang out.

"Perhaps it would be a good idea to work on our 'splitting up' tactics, yes?" Nobuyuki suggested. "More effective that way…"

"But I always thought we worked best as a team." Takara protested. "I mean, it kind of suits us, doesn't it? How a whole gang of us 'creeps out of the shadows' at once?"

Yet another tinkling…too soft to realize it was 'fiercer' than before.

"Aw, come on." Jiro answered the feathered woman with a smile. "You saw what happened back there, didn't you? Even one of us was almost enough to make them cry for mom." A pause. "Then again…they did do the incredibly stupid move of taking a swing at Nobuyuki…"

The tinkling went off constantly now, but still was too soft to notice.

The big man gave a laugh. "Yes, but where's the fun if they don't try to attack me, eh? How am I supposed to clonk their heads if they run away from me before I can grab them? I'd actually like to be a bit smaller…get them to come to me. After all, my favorite type of fight is when my foes just come out in front of me to face me head-"

Nobuyuki was cut off as a light suddenly flashed in front of him. He came to a halt, along with the other four, and they all went for their weapons as the light grew brighter and bathed the entire section of road within the woods in fiery light. Their heads snapped forward and got a rather unpleasant surprise.

There were sixty armed men in front of them. And unlike the peon soldiers from back in the last village, these all had the look of higher rank and training. There were a number of actual samurai among them as opposed to just one hired thug. But the ones in front of them were only part of it. A quick glance to the peripheral vision would show that the trees on either side of the road were filled with twenty archers to a side, bows and arrows already knocked and aimed at them. Even Takeshi tensed on seeing this. He was fast to be sure, but even he had a limit. As for the others, there was little hope. Takara instinctively began to flit her wings and got into the air, but she dared move no more. The bows were already on her. The archers here were apparently good at doing things besides firing volleys. They actually had marksmanship. Jiro tried looking behind them as he got his bo out, only to see that another forty soldiers were crawling out of the woods like ants from a mound and filling in behind them.

The five were silent, looking about at how they were suddenly surrounded. This was a different situation from before, in spite of the similar numbers. Now their opponents had the advantage of surprise and getting into position. They also seemed to have better trained individuals who were better equipped and with more confidence, not stricken with fear as the last ones were. It wasn't enough to guarantee their success, but the five realized that it was enough to make the odds far more in their opponent's favor…and actually introduced the possibility that they might not be able to fight them off. That was something none of the five were used to.

"Alright…" Takeshi said in a quiet, grouchy voice after a moment. "Did no one manage to spot us walking into an ambush and think to say anything?"

A tinkling went off. Jiro and the others looked to the source, and saw Satoru's eyes were practically bugged out of his head, his hands in fists, as he had obviously frantically been trying to tell them that they were walking into a trap for about thirty seconds now and only making a light "tinkle" as a result.

"We really must get Satoru a bell or somesuch…" Nobuyuki muttered.

"Why didn't he just smack his blades together?" Takeshi griped.

"Why didn't you hear them coming with those big ears of yours?" Jiro retorted.

"Could you guys clam up for now?" Takara interjected. "In case you haven't noticed, we're in a bit of a bad spot and I don't think we want to let them think we're planning something!"

The five looked around a bit more. The soldiers and samurai gazed at them with steely eyes. There was, perhaps, a touch of fear in some of them, but they were highly disciplined enough to control it.

"Bad news, my friends…" Nobuyuki said after a moment.

"I kind of guessed that already…" Jiro sighed.

"These men have the colors and insignia of the shogunate."

Takara gulped. "Which means they've been dispatched by the shogun to deal with us specifically…"

"Guess the bounty finally got so high he didn't want to have to pay it." Jiro said with a laugh…although, deep inside, he was as nervous as the rest of them.

"Over a hundred and forty men just for us? I suppose we should be flattered…" Takeshi stated.

"If you're trying to make a desperate plan for escape, I would advise you not to try it."

The five went silent again. Numerous lamps had been struck at once to bathe the area in a visible glow; more than was necessary, one would think. The five could actually make out details on many of the men's faces. However, two of the samurai in front parted to allow another man through. This one didn't have his weapon drawn although he was in full regalia as he stood in front of the others. Out of all of the soldiers, his eyes were the coolest and most void of fear. His features were sleek and strong, his eyes cunning and focused. He wasn't too old, but he had a wisdom about him that betrayed his years. Definitely a devotee of the military and great at his job, if nothing but an obedient pet of the Shogun. At any rate, he was someone that the five all recognized as well.

Nobuyuki smiled. "Ah, Lord Nakamura. It's been some time, yes?"

"Yeah…" Jiro chimed in. "I think I remember you. Nine months ago back on the eastern provinces…"

The man's, Nakamura's, eyes narrowed. "And I remember you as well, 'Laughing Frost'. As well as spending two painful months recovering from the ankle I broke when I slipped on the ice you made."

Jiro snickered. "Well, if you had stopped chasing me when I told you to, that wouldn't have happened, now would it have?"

"The people of this country may fear you all as devils." Nakamura went on, ignoring this comment. "But I know whether you be onmyoji, yokai, or kami…you all bleed. You can all die on the ends of blades like any other mortal man. Therefore, do not be so foolish as to think you can escape this with your lives."

"Saying we can't 'escape with our lives' is one thing, friend." Takeshi spoke up. "But perhaps you and your men should be asking themselves if they're in the 'half' that we will manage to kill before you take us down in the best-case scenario?"

The samurai paused. His steely eyes swept over the five. Yet after a time, as if this was paining him to do so, he exhaled. "I did not arrange this interception with the intention of killing the five of you."

"Yeah right!" Takara piped up. "Think we're going to fall for that?"

"You haven't forgotten the fact that the one who appealed to the shogun to declare us enemies of Japan and wanted us brought in dead or alive was you, have you?" Nobuyuki asked. "That puts a slight dampener on our relationship."

"Believe me, if I had my way, I would not have bothered giving you a warning." Nakamura answered. "I would have simply had you shot walking into the forest. However, that is not in my code and, more importantly, that is not what the Shogun requests. I put aside my loathing, along with everything else, for his desires."

"And just what are his desires for the Jido no Hogo-sha?" Takeshi asked. "To bring us before him so he can personally remove our heads before a crowd of his 'adoring public'? To show how even so-called demons are powerless before his dynasty?"

Nakamura stiffened.

"…As much as I dislike it, my orders are to escort you to Arender-ken castle and explain the situation at hand on arrival."

This actually gave a bit of pause among the group.

"Really now." Jiro answered. "And what's so important about Arender-ken castle that it can only be told to us there?"

"The Shogun has specifically ordered that nothing be told about the matter outside of those present within the Arender-ken province, and even then solely on a need-to-know basis. That said…I can tell you that he wishes to recruit you for your services and abilities."

The five were silent. They stared back in incredulousness for a few moments.

Nobuyuki broke it with one of his chuckles. This time, it wasn't just him but everyone else with him as well.

"Ha-ha! If this was not a true samurai, I'd say this was a weak joke!"

"The Shogun wants to recruit us." Takeshi echoed. "The Jido no Hogo-sha…the Band of Five Demons…terrorizers of the countryside, scourge of men, and the most fearsome supernatural threat to the shogunate's rule."

"You dispatch every bounty hunter within Japan and the coast of China to deal with us over the years to say nothing of hundreds of men and soldiers," Takara added. "And now you claim you want our help? We'd have to be insane! What sort of idiots do you take us for?"

"You're hardly in a position to be refusing such an offer regardless of its veracity," Nakamura continued, clearly not that pleased with this reaction. "But my lord speaks the truth. He needs you and your abilities specifically. You are, after all, a bit of an anomaly. Most other yokai are either the stuff of legend or things to be feared. To actually have five wandering around like common ronin is something else entirely."

Jiro eased up on his bo, putting it around his shoulders and letting his arms hang over it. "And what is so terribly important or special that only the five of us can deal with it? I thought part of the reason the shogunate wants our heads on poles is to show off how little their dynasty needs to fear things such as spirits and demons. That having us as 'trophies' would make the shogun look rather good compared to his forebears…"

"Be that as it may, he still believes he has need of you. As I said before, I am not to tell you why until we arrive at Arender-ken. However, I will tell you this much now. The Shogun has decreed that if you do this task for him, he will revoke your death sentences throughout the whole of Japan."

Again, this gave the five pause.

"…Truly?" Nobuyuki asked.

"Obviously a trap…" Takeshi grunted.

"Normally I'd be inclined to agree with you," Jiro responded. "But not this time as this guy is my least-favorite kind of shogunate dog: the kind who always does as he's told and never deviates. Unlike those bastards back at the village, these guys would rather die than tell a lie. It'd haunt him until the day he died if he knew the only reason he got us was by tricking us."

"I think you give the shogunate a bit too much credit." The rabbit-hooded man answered. "No one sticks to an honor code too long when it starts becoming 'inconvenient'…"

"True, but keep in mind…" Takara answered, giving a quick look around at the still-posed archers and swordsmen. "They think they have the upper hand at the moment…and…I've got to admit they aren't too far from the truth…"

"If they are sticking to their word, then all we have to do is follow them to this castle, right?" Jiro asked with a shrug. "Seems simple enough."

"Unless they've got an even bigger ambush waiting there…" Takeshi pointed out.

Nobuyuki rubbed his beard a bit, seeming to think the matter over. "I suppose if we refuse," He said after a moment to Nakamura. "You are ordered to destroy us?"

"I'm ordered to take you there willing or unwilling." The samurai answered. "The shogun said he wanted you all alive at least that far if at all possible, but if not…I am free to use whatever means necessary to get at least some of you there."

"So being killed here is still a very real possibility, eh?" The big man answered. He turned to his side, looking to Satoru. "Well small friend, we haven't really asked you for your opinion yet. What do you say?"

The small, squat man seemed to think for a moment. He scratched his head, letting a few gold flakes fall from it. He looked to Nobuyuki for a long time. At last, however, he made a "thumbs up" gesture, indicating the affirmative.

Jiro gave a shrug as well. "If Satoru has no problem, I've got no problem."

"It would be nice to have the shogun off our backs for a while…" Takara shrugged.

Takeshi still looked hesitant, but seeing as the vote was 4 to 1, he merely grumbled something as he removed his hand from his kunai, which he had been holding onto the entire time. After that, Nobuyuki turned fully back to the samurai.

"Well, Lord Nakamura, you may withdraw your weapons. It seems we have made an agreement to accompany you to Arender-ken."

"My subordinates will continue to train their weapons on you until such a time as I see fit to dismiss them." The man almost coldly retorted. "But if you are coming along willingly, then we shall set out right away." With that, in spite of what Nakamura just said, some of the soldiers began to put their weapons away while the others at least eased up a bit. Soon, all of them were turning and getting ready to move out again. "We only have so many horses with us, so you, along with the bulk of my men, will have to walk. Arender-ken is three days march at a rapid pace, and that's if we start now, so I hope you can all keep up."

"Three days march, eh?" Nobuyuki echoed. With the exception of Satoru, who gave an uneasy grimace, none of the others seemed that affected by it. The big man let out a laugh as he rubbed his hands together. "I would hope they have a feast ready for us when we get there… Can't go doing the shogun's work on an empty stomach."

"I still say this is a big mistake." Takeshi grumbled.

"Probably." Jiro said with a shrug. "But who knows? Maybe it's a nice change of pace. It could be fun."

Takeshi grimaced. "Weren't you the mopey one five minutes ago talking like he wanted to quit?"

"Yeah…but it feels nice that someone wants us around for a change, even if it is the guy who'd prefer us drawn and quartered." The pale man admitted. "Besides, there's something else about this."

"Oh yeah?" Takara chimed in as she began to hover forward, moving out as the soldiers did. "What?"

"I dunno." Jiro answered as he began to walk as well. "Just that when I heard the name 'Arender-ken'…something inside me felt a bit…excited."

To be continued...

*Nousagi" is the word for "hare", as opposed to "usagi" which is for "rabbit".

**"Kenshusei" is a term of endearment the Jido no Hogu-sha use for Jiro. It's a variant on "rookie".

***"Jido no Hogu-sha" means "child guardians".