It had taken them at least an entire lunar cycle to journey to Kunashiri. When Rin and Kohaku had left Lady Kaede's village, the snow was just beginning to melt and the days starting to lengthen. By the time they reached Kunashiri, only stubborn patches of snow, hiding in the shadows, remained. The fields of grass were slowly turning green and flower buds sprouting from the barren tree branches.

They stopped at the base of the mountain to gawk at the sprawling city. It was larger than any of the previous villages they had ever been to. At the bottom of the mountain, heavy wooden gates were set into metal hinges, requiring the strength of three men to open and close. On either side of the gate were watchtowers patrolled by armed archers. The city walls were repeating wooden stakes, tied together with twine, and strengthened with some sort of clay mixture. The walls weren't very high, probably only three to four metres in height, but they encircled the entire city at the foot of the mountain.

In the mid-afternoon sun, the gates were left wide open with a steady stream of people, horses and carts pouring in and out of the city. The gates lead into a bustling community square with a large statue dead center. Smaller cobblestone roads branched off from the square leading to other significant areas. The largest path, wide enough for the passage of four or five horse-drawn carriages side by side, lined with blossoming trees, continued straight forward into the city, reaching higher and higher elevations. The path wended its way through various neighborhoods, ending at the top of the mountain where the various noble houses lived in their massive villas perched on precarious cliffsides.

The pair had been swept up by the quickly moving influx of people and were able to break away from the torrent at the city square. Rin stood in the statue's shadow, peering at a crudely drawn map and turning it this way and that.

"I'm not sure which way we need to go. Maybe east? Maybe I'm looking at the map wrong…" She trailed off as she flipped the flimsy paper upside down to gain a new perspective.

"Give it here, I'll figure it out." Kohaku snatched the paper from her, a bit more impatient than he would like, but a month's worth of travelling was wearing both of their nerves thin.

Grateful for the shade, Rin examined the statue they were currently standing under. It was made of a lovely ivory-colored marble with blue-black veins running throughout. The statue depicted a woman - from the cut of her clothing, she looked to be a priestess. Stone flower blossoms were caught in her long hair, her arms were stretched outward in an incomplete embrace and a look of calm serenity was carved on her face. She looked as if she was about to embrace an imaginary lover. Rin was still studying the delicate features of the statue's face - almond shaped eyes and small lips with exaggerated cupid's bow - when Kohaku nudged her and pointed in the direction of a smaller cobblestone path.

Without wasting another breath, Kohaku gathered up the reins of their only horse and began trudging single mindedly towards their new home.

888

"Out of the way! Make way!" Alarmed shouts came from behind them as Rin and Kohaku leisurely made their way up a small hill, following the paved road.

Glancing back, Rin seized Kohaku's arm and pushed him to the side of the road, startling their horse and knocking some items off their cart. A pair of men, carrying a stretcher between them, were barreling up the hillside, a grim expression set into their faces. As the men drew closer, Rin was able to see - and hear - what was on the stretcher.

A constant low pitch moan streamed from the invalid man, his head lolling uselessly from side-to-side. The man's hair and clothing were dripping wet, as if someone had dumped a bucket of water on him. His arms dangled off the side of the stretcher, limp and shining with a sheen of water.

The medic in Rin kicked into action, for the past twelve years at Lady Kaede's side, Rin had become practiced in the healing arts and often performed medical procedures for others in the village. She broke away from Kohaku and their cart, easily catching up to the men bearing the stretcher.

"What's wrong with him?" Keeping pace with the stretcher, she felt for the man's pulse at his wrist and found it beating wildly. The beats were erratic, lacking any consistent rhythm. Next, she checked his damp forehead, the skin slick with sweat. He was burning. It was a dangerously high fever. The kind that did not leave patients unscathed.

"Overdose. Probably," said the man at the front of the stretcher.

The one at the tail end helpfully chimed in, "Emi has been addicted to Shifuku since the autumn. Things have been extra rough after his girlfriend left him."

"Shifuku? What's that?" Rin asked, rather lamely.

"What? You don't know what Shifuku is? I thought you were a healer from the Temple! Stop bothering us then!" The man at the front shouted at her, annoyance evident from his drawn brows and scrunched nose.

They left her then, picking up speed and racing to the top of the hill, leaving Rin wondering about the condition of the man named Emi.

At the crest of the hill, just a small ways off the paved road, stood massive twin trees that created an archway with their interlocking foliage. They were in full bloom, their branches littered with small white blossoms - some of the flowers coming free in the breeze and showering the passing villagers with a sweet fragrance. A varnished wooden plank connected the two thick tree trunks and proclaimed the entrance to the Kunashiri Temple.

Rin and Kohaku paused at the entryway, admiring the white flowers that fluttered gracefully to the ground. Their petals were entirely white with purple-blue veins radiating from the center pistil. Beyond the archway, trees lined steep stone steps that lead up to the Temple. There were at least eighty stone steps separating the bottom to the top. From her vantage point, Rin spotted Emi and his bearers just reaching the peak. A flurry of figures dressed in white poured out from the Temple's front entrance and surrounded the stretcher.

Shifuku. I'll remember that name, Rin thought as she turned away from the Temple steps and towards their new home.

The man named Emi died three days later.

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A/N: Okay, I think I'm finally done with set up. Please read & review! :)