Chapter three:

The Road Home.

Kuhey and Nera spent the winter helping rebuild the village. The dojo however wasn't rebuilt. With no master to train pupils, it would be just an empty reminder of how things had been, a state to witch things were unlikely to return to. Instead, they built a shrine to the old master of the dojo, the walls of the dojo were rebuilt, and the dojo itself as well, but the interior walls were removed, and filled with poems and dedications to the master. The courtyard became a qi garden. Every plant and every stone and every pathway placed and orientated to focus the qi flow towards the centre of the garden where, over the grave of the old master, a statue of him was erected.

Kuhey and Nera left on the opening of the first cherry blossom. And behind them, as they walked, spring followed. Orehime was captured by the beauty of the land, and by the absolute dedication with which the people cared for it. Every patch of farm and every garden existed in complete harmony with the nature in and around it. The vegetable gardens weren't weeded, and yet the vegetables grew well and were large. The roads in the villages were loosely paved. The rocks weren't set into the ground, but stood on it loosely, and the openings between them were filled with grass and blossoming plants.

She was anxious to explore the country. Beyond every bend and over every hill, lay a surprise. Every village was unique, and yet they all shared one thing, their absolute dedication to their work and to protecting and nurturing the nature in which they lived.

Though she couldn't stop admiring the people of this land, she felt great sorrow well up inside her. The people of her land raped and pillaged it; they did not care what happened to the nature around their farms or for the woods around the cities of the towns. They only cared what happened the nature as long as it benefited them. She managed to hide her feelings of sorrow from Kuhey only by sheer force of will.

Finally they reached the mountain range that marked the border between Nibusashi and the rest of Japan. At the very top of the range, stood a great wall. Twice as high as any ever built before, and twice as thick. It was said that no force in the world could pass the wall without the permission of the king.

When they reached the base of the wall during the night. Kuhey explained his plan.

"You stay here. I'll scale the wall, take out the guards, and open the gate for you."

She nodded. She desperately wanted to tell him. Tell him the secret that had been haunting her since she saw the men in the caves. But she could not bring herself to speak. She watched him as he scaled the wall. She was astonished at how easily he did it. It looked as though he was running up a moderate incline, not as if he was climbing up a vertical wall. A couple of seconds after he disappeared over the top of the wall, the gate opened. She walked through, and it closed again behind her. She found Kuhey waiting for her just on the other side of the second gate.

"What did you do to the guards, I didn't even hear anything." She asked, fearing the answer that came.

"I killed them and laid them down in the towers. It should be about two or three hours before they are found at the change of guards... We'd best hurry."

They set off and sure enough, they could see the commotion behind them just before dawn, hundreds of lights went up all along the visible wall. But there was no reason that the lights weren't lit up all the way to the shores of the seas on either side of the country. Shortly after dawn, Kuhey led her off the trail and they continued to the capitol, and the royal palace, in the woods. Once in the city, they disguised themselves as palace servants – they wouldn't have been able to sneak in, in the same manner as the passed through the walls; there were just too many guards. They made their way to the throne room. There they found the Emperor seated on his throne. Kuhey removed his disguise and lunged at the Emperor. The four guards, two on either side of the Emperor's throne, jumped forwards to protect their Emperor. The first thrust forward with his spear. Kuhey didn't even unsheathe his sword. He stepped sideways, grabbed the spear by the shaft just behind the point. He brought his right elbow down on the spear and broke the shaft. He did a full twist and thrust the spear into the eye of the guard. The second dropped his spear and unsheathed his sword. He swung the sword at Kuhey from left to right. Kuhey dropped into a halve split and threw his head back. The blade passed a mere four millimetres from his face. He came erect and regained his balance before the guard was able to bring his sword to bear again. The sword came back at him from his right. Kuhey jumped and did a forward flip over the guard. In doing so he grabbed the guards head and broke his neck before he landed on his feet. Using his momentum he threw the dead guards body in the third's spear. The guard let go of his spear. But before he could unsheathe his sword, Kuhey lunged forward and hit him on his throat so hard that he crushed his airway. The guard collapsed to the ground holding his throat and gasping for air. The fourth guard stood in astonishment and looked at his three dead companions. He was completely paralysed by what lay in front of him. He dropped to his knees, his mouth open. Kuhey walked up to him brought his left hand down on the rear of the guard's neck, knocking him out.

"Good afternoon Emperor." Kuhey said tauntingly, returning his gaze to the Emperor. Kuhey wore a smile on his face and spoke in a business-like manner.

"I think I can safely say that you know of the order that you gave to begin 'Uniting' all of Japan... You no doubt also know of the men you sent out to the far side of Japan to burn a specific village and dojo to the ground. The dojo that you knew was the only one that could train soldiers capable of defeating you!" Kuhey's voice started to bubble with fury as he spoke the last sentence. "Well?!"

The Emperor nodded "I know of which village you speak."

"Well I have come to avenge the death of my master!" Kuhey said unsheathing his sword. He lifted it above his head, but just as he was about to behead the Emperor, someone hit him on the back of his neck, the same place he had hit the fourth guard. He fell to the floor, but because of his training he didn't pass out immediately. He was on his knees now. He saw Nera remove her disguise.

"My daughter!" Exclaimed the Emperor with uncontrollable joy. They hugged.

"Why?" Kuhey asked, fighting back the darkness of unconsciousness creeping in on him.

"As much as I owe you for saving me, I just couldn't let you kill my father." Kuhey looked at her, he couldn't be angry; because he could sense the pain she was feeling betraying him. He finally gave in to the unconsciousness.