Niro awoke in the temple. A number of Lin Kuei surrounded him in the Grand Hall. As his eye lids fluttered, he could see only dark shadows of people, what little features that would have been visible, where blocked by his misty vision. "Wh-Where… is my – brother." He asked grabbing one of them by the sleeve.

"Niro," a voice said, "your brother has left."

"Why?" he asked.

Hanzo made his way down the side of the mountain with his men. The terrain had been rough, so they had to set up camp the night before. Now as they charge forward, an all out blizzard has gone into full effect. All but stopping them in their tracks.

Through the roars of the wind Hanzo, swore he heard the voice of a man screaming behind him. But he was at the end of the line. He turned to find a Lin Kuei warrior - a blue ninja behind him, his face covered. He drew a sword from the man ahead of him, but the warrior only put up his hands defensively.

"Ichiro?" Hanzo asked.

"No, my name is Niro. I've come to warn you. This storm," he said screaming over it, "it's my brother."

"What!"

"ICHIRO!" he said putting his hands up to block the snow. "Before you attacked the Lin Kuei, the Grandmaster gave my brother permission to order a raid on your village! That's one of the reasons we suffered such losses from your attack, the force had already left!"

"We came up both sides of the mountain!" Hanzo said skeptically.

"There's a path blocked by ice which only my brother and I can open. We share the sacred gift."

"You control the ice?" Hanzo asked remembering his fight with Ichiro. " - Like a god?"

"We can control it – Cryomancy."

"Sorcery." Hanzo assumed, this did not make him happy. Nothing despised him more than sorcerers.

"I don't know what it is! We just can. We always have."

"And he can do all this!" Hanzo asked gliding his hand up toward the sky, again he was skeptical.

"No, he's just making it worse. - Listen to me. For my brother and I, this is no different than walking on a beach on a sunny afternoon. When he discovered I was alive, he left immediately - through our passage. He's trying to stop you from getting to your village before you do!"

"Why?"

"Who is Hanzo? The temple Masters said Hanzo." Niro said looking around.

"I am Hanzo Hasashi." he said with an urgent nod.

"Then my brother has vowed to kill your family."

Hanzo was dumbfounded. "This!..." he said angrily grabbing the cloth across Niro's chest, "Is a trick!" he pointed his sword up at him.

"It is not." Niro said. "I have to make my way down the mountain, this path is the quickest, but if you go you'll freeze to death. I do not wish for our clan to be labeled murderers, killing without decency. Nor do I wish to have innocent blood shed for any reason. I ask permission to move ahead, to warn your family so that they may be spared."

"How do I know you're not Ichiro?" Hanzo asked him. Staring into his icy blue eyes.

Niro removed his mask. His face was similar to Ichiro's, but he was younger, his face was rounder and his nose wider.

Hanzo let go, then seemed to absent-mindedly stroll down the pathway, he turned around quickly, but still walking in the same direction. "You've been wasting my time telling me all of this, trying to stop me from returning to my village to give your brother a head start." He pointed his sword.

"I swear, I do not lie. You have to let me warn them."

"How can I know you plan to save them? You swore your sacred oath to bloody assassins."

"As did you hypocrite!" Niro fired back angrily, "I'm wounded, tired, and I'm down here trying to save the life of a man who very well may have tried to kill me. Coming to you alone after that assault, might as well be suicide, yet here I am." He said extending his arms. "Why?"

"What are we supposed to do!" Hanzo asked.

"I'll take you to a cave in the side of the mountain, you'll have to keep out of the snow, at least until the blizzard dies down."

"We'll have to find my men." Hanzo said out of annoyance. "They've pushed ahead without us."

"They could not have reached the cave yet." Niro insisted. "We'll make it but we have to hurry."

"Then let us not waste time."

Once they found the others, Niro grouped them into the cave at the face of the cliff. Then he warned them once again; "You cannot leave until the blizzard is over."

As he prepared to leave Hanzo grabbed him at the shoulder just below the neck. "How can I repay you?" he asked.

Niro looked at him. Then down into the snow, he sighed and his eyes pierced like Hanzo's spear, "Don't ever attack my people again." With that he ventured into the white out. Disappearing like a ghost through the bright white passage, framed by the pure darkness of the cave Hanzo now felt himself trapped in.

Kenshi heard, but more importantly felt the light ripple of feet slapping against the wooden floors. He had been sleeping, not at all unsoundly. He sat up wiping saliva from his mouth.

"How are you?" Yuki asked.

"Oh," he said scratching his head, "I had no idea you were here. I am fine. I suppoose. You've treated me very well. You and your husband are as kind as each other."

"We were not always kind people." he could sense her sitting down close to him. "We've had are problems. He likes to say I fixed him. - He forgets that we were so alike."

"If he feels that way then it must not be untrue."

"We fixed each other."

"Sounds like a hard task." he said admiringly.

"Not when you have a daughter to raise."

He laughed, "Actually - sounds even harder. So what were your problems, if you don't mind me asking?"

"No I don't... mind." The sound of feet continued to smack against the floor. "Hanzo's father was an assassin for Shirai Ryu." the stomping stopped "And I... I - you don't want to hear about me."

"Indeed I do." he said "I asked. Or is this... information indiscreet?"

"I've said more than I should have already." she whispered slightly "Maeko's listening."

As she got up, he felt the little one sit down in her place. "Mom has made tea."

"Wonderful." he said drooping his arms over his knees.

"You're blind?" she asked.

"Yes I am." he said.

"You can't see anything?" She knew what it meant, it was kind of hard for her to fathom.

"I've been seeing more than I expect." he admitted, "But not with my eyes."

"What does that mean?" She asked.

"It's complicated."

"What about with your eyes?" Somehow he came under the impression that she was closing hers.

"It is daylight outside?" he asked.

"Yes." she said shuffling.

"If it's bright enough, I can make out the light, but that is all."

"So you can't see if I do this?"

He could sense her moving but couldn't tell what she was doing. He laughed "No."

"How about this?"

"No." He said laughing harder

"What about this!"

"Hey come on! I told you I can't see anything!"

"I'm just trying to make you laugh." she said drooping down contentedly.

"Mission accomplished." his muscles tightened across his back. "AH!"

"You okay?" she asked moving closer. "Want me to get my mom?"

"No," he said raising his hand. "It's my back, my back muscles are tightening."

"I know a plant for that, I'll be right back."

"That's not -" he heard her skitter across the floor. "necessary."

"She's very proactive." Yuki said handing him some tea "be careful, it's almost at the top."

"This a family traight?" he asked with a smile.

"No it isn't actually. I am very passive. My husband only reacts when he feels it's necessary. Though sometimes that means he is too late. Other times he makes rash decisions."

"Like joining the Shirai Ryu." he took a sip.

"Yes... precisely." she said quietly. "He used to do bad things, as I mentioned before. - But he never killed anyone, at least not that I was aware of. He was still a good person underneath."

"You don't feel that way now."

"I do. I do." she said immediately. "But now they... in an attempt to be a good person, a good husband; good father. He has made the decision to do something he would never have done before. The worst things imaginable, in order to be good - for us. So that we wouldn't starve. Murdering, for the Shirai Ryu."

"The world is a strange and unusual place. It keeps its own balance. A debt that we are not all aware of. You can't always do right." he insists.

"Do you think ill of his decision?"

"It would be wrong of me if I did. Did you see the sword I was carrying? I had another before that. Stained with blood, clean only by appearance. Many of the men I killed were my friends. Fellow swordsman, who wanted nothing but to prove themselves in battle. I refused anything less than the geniune blade. If your husband has only ever had a reason for killing, I have only killed needlessly."

"But they all knew?"

"I was only trying to prove myself - like they were. A futile business. Trying to prove you're better. What have I ultimately proven? That I am easily fooled. No matter how many others are doing the same; trying to validate your existence is not a good reason to kill someone. I needed not the sorcerer to be fooled, I had fooled myself already." he took another drink of the tea. "This is better than the tea I make. A feat, if I do say so."

"I killed someone." she said quickly.

Kenshi set his tea on the floor.

She sounded slightly distraught "When I was young. Only a few years older than Maeko. A man - boy, he was almost a man. Invited me into the woods. He was very kind to me. But some girls had gone missing and - and so - I panicked. I was afraid. I didn't know what he wanted. He didn't do anything bad, but... eventually he was dead. I didn't know how to handle myself. I don't remember breathing on the way back to the village. He could have been anybody. He might have been nice. Maybe he liked me."

"Maybe he was taking young girls into the woods and killing them." Kenshi interjected.

"This is the thing. I didn't wait for him to turn, I didn't bother to see if he was only pretending to be nice. I just killed him. The killing in the village stopped. I thought - I convinced myself maybe I had done the right thing. A few years ago, I heard of another village, where someone was doing the same thing - with the girls there."

"You think you scared him away."

"I've wondered it. - I was unkind to people before I met my husband. I'm still a bit of a loner. I try not to get close to people. I feel like a murderer."

"Did you ever kill again?"

"No... Under no circumstances."

"Then you are not a murderer. Believe me."

He could feel her soft gaze. "Thank you." she said, almost under her breath, it felt thunderous in his ears.

Maeko came trampling in. "Got it. I have it." she said collapsing next to him. "I don't know what it's called, but it grows just outside of town, at the base of the mountain. Here." she said handing it to him. He had to move his hand several times in order to find it.

It felt like a small weed. He tried to bite into it, but Maeko giggled. "You're supposed to put it in your tea." she said grabbing it from him.

"I'm sorry." he said feeling foolish.

"Why? I didn't tell you that." she said tearing up the plant. He was even able to hear the pieces dropping against the surface texture of the tea. "We wait a few minutes, it has to work properly. It tastes good too." she added. "I always put it in my tea. - You know... You are an interesting person." she told him.

"Am I?" he said amused. He wasn't so sure. He wondered to himself momentarily "Because I'm blind?"

"No." she said. "I don't know why..."

He thought nothing of it, "They say everyone has an aura." he said picking up the tea.

"Nah-ah" she said lowering his wrist, "I don't think it's ready yet. Give it a few more minutes."

Niro made his way down the last bit of the mountain. Unwrapping the scarf around his face. He looked off into the distance, but saw only wilderness. There was one beaten path, so he followed it.

He came under the realization that he did not know where the village was, or what it was called. As it housed members of a secret society, finding it might be a bit difficult. All he could do was keep going on the only path and hope that it lead in that general direction.

He wasn't so sure. He wondered if he could track his brother, or his men. But this seemed wishful thinking. They were trained to leave no traces behind. So were the Shirai Ryu, so following Hanzo's path back from the mountain seemed equally unlikely.

That's when it occured to him that he did have one piece of information he could use to his advantage.

"Excuse me." he said when he came across a traveling merchant. The man was stuffing something into a blanket on the back of an Ox.

The man came back around to the other side, pulling at a rope tied around the animal. It chewed away at grass between it's teeth. As the man walked he looked up at Niro, "Yes."

"I'm looking for a Hanzo Hasashi." he slid a satchel over his chest reaching into the pocket. "I have a letter for him, it's hugely important. Unfortunately for me, he seems to have moved. - " He took out a piece of parchment folded into a square holding it up. "Do you know what village he might be in."

"Such nonsense." the man said shaking his head. Hanzo Hasashi would never move.

"Maybe somebody just gave me the wrong information?" he said clutching the parchment at his waste, his thumb and forefinger of both hands, gripping it in front of him innocently. "I would appreciate the help." he said holding out his hands. He looked down at his feet.

The man hung his head. "That must be a letter from his father, huh?"

Niro sensed this was a test, but he knew not how to react, "No." he said bashfully.

"No..." the man said glaring into his eyes. "I suppose you aren't that stupid."

Niro blinked raising his head. "Your name is Hasashi?" Niro guessed, straightening up.

The old man shuffled his feet. Straightening himself, just as Niro had. "You going to kill me now?" he asked.

"On the contrary old man." he said putting away the parchment. "Only by fate could I have found you at this moment."

"You are Lin Kuei are you not?" the man asked him.

"I am, sir. I have come to do something very unlike our clan... What our clan has become. - I'm here to rescue your family."

"Why?" he asked.

"Please there isn't time. The Lin Kuei are going to raid the village. We have to warn your people."

"You're a spy?" the man asked.

"Not exactly - I must hurry. Which way is it!"

"It's down the path, to the right."

"Which house!" Niro asked desperately.

Ichiro entered the village. He looked around for a moment. There was almost no one outside, the clouds were gathering and many of the villages men had been trapped on the mountain. There were some kids playing in the street.

He was the first member of the Lin Kuei to make it into the village, the blizzard must have hit his men before they could make it down the path as well. They had also taken the longest route. He was isolated, and it felt that way.

But he was also determined, and he wasn't going to let the fear of death sway him from his task.

He could smell chicken cooking in one of the houses, as the sun sank down.

He grabbed one of the playing children by the arm.

"That's rude." the kid informed him.

"Sorry." he said letting go, "I wasn't sure how else to get your attention. Do you know where Hanzo lives?" Ichi asked him.

"Maeko's dad?" he looked over at a little girl standing near one of the houses on Ichi's right. "Actually - I-I don't think I'm supposed to tell you."

Ichiro looked over at the little girl. "Maeko?" he asked.

She ran into the hut. "Mom! MOM!" she said, with cautious alarm, "There's a man outside I don't recognize."

"What?" her mother asked.

"There's a man outside I don't recognize."

The mother stepped out onto the porch straightening her clothes.

BAM!

He had fired too fast, he would have assumed it would hit her stomach, but instead it pierced through the center of her chest. She fell over immediately. He, dropped the now cumbersome firearm into the mud in front of him. Water began to rain down on his head.

"MOM!" Maeko screamed inside.

Kenshi's head shot up and he moved behind himself, to the end of the room. "My sword, he asked, where is my sword!" He gave up on it, and ran towards Maeko, who was shivering in terror. He picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder. "Don't worry." he said. "I'll get you out of here. Do you see my sword?" he asked.

"NOOO-" she screamed. It was cut short by the sound of the blade sliding against flesh and scratching against bone. Kenshi could feel the sword jammed through his shoulder. When he brought his hand up to find where the blade had exited, he found it slice the skin between his fingertips, as his hand pressed against Maeko's chest... where her heart would be.

"Is this what you're looking for?" Ichiro asked him, pressing it in deeper.

He withdrew the blade, and the two of them fell over into slump upon the floor. Then dropping the sword, he fled from the house.

Niro found his brother in the rain, looking as guilty as he was, but without remorse. He simply looked surprised to see him.

Niro's eyes fell on the corpse of Hanzo's wife on the porch.

"Oh my god!" he said running to her. He examined to make sure she was dead, then he swung around. "How could you do this."

His brother never moved from his original spot. He stood static. With his head low.

He looked into the house. An injured man lay curled up in a ball holding a wound near his chest. He is breathing heavy, but not moving. Next to him is a young girl, stabbed through the heart.

He marched over angrily grabbing his brother from the back, shaking him. "Hiroshi was right! HE was right GODDAMN YOU!" he flung him around grabbing him by the collar. He wanted to ring his neck. - HOW could you do this! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS!" he repeated it over and over, but his brother would not answer. Until Niro curled into a ball himself. Crying at his brothers feet.

In the rain. In the cold.