Kariudo reached Iron town by dawn, when the guards had already been posted. There were no arguments this time, they let him in.

Further away in the forest, San was just beginning to stir. When she woke up, the wolf girl found that Kariudo had already gone. In his place, she found the short sword. Had he left it here by accident? Immediately she dismissed that possibility. The warrior had already proven himself to be powerful, and San had no doubts he had left it for her.

Drawing it from the scabbard, the sword gleamed, even in the darkness. Along its surface were markings carved into it. One of the markings was the figure of a wolf, below a full moon. Testing it, San found the sword to be very light. It was as if it was made for her.

-----

Kariudo sat in his room, calming his thoughts as he had been taught to do. Listening with ears that heard no physical sound, he heard the whisperings of the forest. They were of great sadness, but also of great strength.

There was a knock on his door. "Come in." Kariudo stood on his feet to greet the person.

There stood a young man about his age, his sword at his side. "I am Ashitaka," the person greeted.

"And I am Kariudo," He replied. "Tell me, Ashitaka, what brings you here?" He invited him to sit down.

"Lady Eboshi sent me," He said. "She wonders what you were doing at night."

"Is that not clear to her who I am?" Kariudo replied calmly.

"She knows who you are, but there are many things in the forest. The Lady just wants to make sure."

"I am who I claim to be, Ashitaka. But you, of the Emishi tribe, I believe you would be of more interest to her."

Ashitaka was taken aback for a moment. "How do you know?"

"I can tell. And I've been to the east before, nothing has escaped my view." For a moment, Kariudo was deep in thought before asking his question. "Tell me, Ashitaka, have you heard of a girl named San?"

"Have you met her, Kariudo?"

"In a way, Ashitaka, in a way."

"Then you must have met her…brothers."

"Don't worry, Ashitaka, they are not hurt, although their ego may be."

"I am glad…." Leaning forward, Ashitaka became more serious. "Listen, that demon you're hunting….Can demons shape-shift?"

"Not that I know of," He replied. "Why?"

"Because we've been suffering attacks from several monsters for the past few weeks now. We were able to drive them back, but now there are more of them."

"I also have to tell you something as well, Ashitaka." He leaned closer. "The king of demons has arrived."

Ashikata looked at him in shock, then quickly ran outside.

A few days later the messenger sprinted into town. "Lady Eboshi!" He blurted out. "There are samurai camps not far from here!"

"Well, it seems that the samurai has decided to resume their siege," Eboshi said calmly.

Kariudo stood up. "Milady, I believe that I can drive back the samurai, as well as making them never bother us again, with blood only being spilt on their side."

"How so?"

"I will go there and challenge the leader to a duel."

"Yes…Yes, now I see your plan. But what happens if you lose?"

"I won't."

Eboshi considered it for a moment before giving him her reply. "Very well. Go."

-----

Lying on the floor cross-legged between two candles, Kariudo meditated deeply. He gathered all of his strength for this battle, gathering everything that he had learnt. Considering what he had heard about Samurai, he would need it.

Stepping up, he took a cup of red dye and, dipping his finger into it, placed the markings of the wolf clan which had raised him onto his face.

He took his white demon mask and strapped it onto his face. Kariudo walked to his bag and took out his twin swords, strapping them to his belt. The hunter slipped on his black garments, then walked out into the night.

Further off, San watched the hunter step out of the gates and run through the night. "Come on," She said to her brothers. "Let's follow him."

-----

The hunter sprinted along the path towards the makeshift samurai camp. Crouching beside a rock, he surveyed their movements before getting closer.

He lay low beside a tent, realising to alert the leader, he would need to cause a little havoc.

Stepping out, he walked casually to one of the samurais then knocked him out with a punch. As the other men gathered their weapons, he yelled, "Call your leader!"

They did so, and the shogun stood before him.

"I am here to make a deal for you," Kariudo said. "If I beat you in a duel, then you and your samurai leave Iron town in peace and never disturb them again. However, if I lose, then we hand over Iron town to you."

The shogun smirked and took out his sword. Kariudo drew one of his swords slowly, switching himself into a defensive guard.

The shogun attacked first, slashing his sword incredibly fast. The hunter casually parried them, stepping backwards slowly.

Kariudo swiftly crouched down when the shogun tried to strike his head, then quickly stood up again. The force slammed the shogun onto the ground, but he quickly recovered to resume the offensive.

The demon hunter clearly was the better swordsman in this fight, however good the shogun was. He fought and deflected with mocking ease, switching his fighting styles swiftly so his adversary was constantly confused.

Eventually the shogun stepped back, realising that he had made a mistake. Yelling to his troops, they immediately drew their swords and attacked.

"Kariudo!" San yelled, standing from his hiding spot. There was no way he would win now, he was totally overwhelmed.

But the demon hunter was smiling. He drew his second sword, and with both of them he attacked, slashing in several angles at once, felling many samurai.

Crouching underneath the crowd, he scurried towards the shogun on all fours. Then when he was right in front of him, Kariudo took out his sword and thrust it deep into the shogun's heart.

He gasped, looked at the sword sticking in him, and then slumped onto the ground as Kariudo removed his sword.

The samurai turned around to look at their fallen commander. Then, they reared up to attack their assassin.

But Kariudo took off his mask, revealing his face smeared with the red marks of his wolf clan. His right arm suddenly seemed to be swarmed in red tentacles.

They fell back in terror, stumbling over one another as they ran to their horses.

Smiling, Kariudo howled a perfect triumphant wolf howl.

A few kilometres away, San and her brothers howled back.

Author's note: PLEASE R & R!

Also, did you know that Ashikata and Kaya from the Emishi tribe are not actually brother and sister! They may say it, but they don't mean it that way. Miyazaki said that Kaya was looking to marry Ashikata, but he chose San over her.