Setsu held out her hand as an offer of friendship. Kenji gladly accepted it and didn't let go. He had made a fool of himself falling in an avoidable mud hole, and she had the kindness of making him forget all about it.

Wisteria trees had a melancholic look at times. With drooping branches that looked to be weeping. Kubo might have draped himself in such sadness, when encountering setbacks, but had chosen not to give in. The wind blowed a cool breeze that night. Shaping falling petals in the impression Kubo could have sworn depicted his mother's smile.

Kenji, Setsu and Kubo all saw the wisteria tree in different ways—a discomfort, a blessing and for Kubo, confirmation. A nod that everything was going well.

These precious dreams tinged in a lavender light, melted away back into The Land of the Rising sun, where the three adventurers would have to continue their quest to find the Golden Flower.

"We should eat." Kenji declared, after waking up from such a lovely dream. The three had gone to bed on an empty stomach and had scarcely used any time to dine.

Kubo rubbed the sleep from his eye. "I only brought enough provisions for one person."

On the opposite side of Kubo, Setsu let out a yawn. "I can forage some wild vegetables to make a meal big enough, for the three of us."

Good thinking Setsu. Kubo thought, surprised that wild food tracking was also part of her outdoor repertoire.

"I'll help gather wood!" Kenji volunteered, compelled by his encounter with the dorotabo to pitch in. There was no need to rush into action among friends, but Kubo appreciated Kenji's generosity anyway.

"Kenji, you're with me. We'll look for kindling and water and meet back here in half an hour." Kubo instructed his new foraging partner and the three hungry travellers went their separate ways.

Setsu's travels took her to a glade within a secluded, but flourishing woodland. The forest floor was an inviting place adorned with fallen leaves, fallen logs and edible treats waiting to be found.

With so many mushrooms, leafy green plants and edible flowers as far as she could see, Setsu's footsteps wavered back and forth, uncertain where to start. Did Kubo want many mushrooms or a variety of greens? What if they were too bitter?

Don't overthink it. Setsu told herself and wandered over to the nearest leafy green and ripped a handful of wild spinach leaves. They would complement whatever dish Kubo cooked up well.

Following a trail of ferns and green patches in the land, a stream bed eventually revealed itself to Kubo and Kenji, much to their relief. This stretch of land was ideal for gathering twigs and boulders for a campfire and replenishing Kubo's canteen for cooking water.

While Kenji contented himself with piling twigs in his arms an occasionally grumbling when his bare arms got poked with their sharp ends, Kubo walked over to a trickling stream and began filling up his canteen.

Clear water rippled across stones as it flowed across this peaceful spot. A soothing sight that only lasted one moment. An aged piece fabric floated across the water, sending a wave of dread to Kubo's stomach. It was telling him, they weren't alone.

Eyes darting to the last place he had seen Kenji, Kubo rushed over in the hopes of preventing a crisis.

Bored of collecting kindling Kenji put the completed pile of sticks on the ground and looked for the odd herb or mustard leaf. Sometime to spice up breakfast. Over there, growing by a shrubbery was his prize. A cluster of yellow flowers ripe for the picking.

Excited to snap up the flavourful plant, Kenji jogged over to his prize when he heard an ominous snap nearby.

"Was that me, or…?" Kenji asked, and felt a shiver across his spine. Something was looming behind him. And whatever was with him now, wasn't human.

Sporting the pale body of a long-haired woman, and the bulbous mid-section of a spider wearing a loose, tattered kimono. The inhuman jorōgumo shrieked at her prey.

"Searching for food, are we? SO AM I!" The spider woman reared two of her furry hind legs, and lashed out at Kenji with her sharp talons.

Too slow to completely avoid her attack, the arachnid abomination clawed Kenji across the forehead. Kubo's hand was already unsheathing the Sword Unbreakable by the time he heard Kenji's scream. Charging towards her with all his anger, Kubo sliced the offending legs that had dared hurt his friend, nicking her abdomen in the process

Hissing with pain, the jorogumo clamped her hand on her belly and glared at one of her chopped legs, now reduced to a bloody stump. She had lost the fight this time. The delectable young man would not become her meal. Conceding defeat, she scuttled away with a limp. Leaving nothing behind, but a small pool of amber blood on the forest floor, two severed legs and an injured man needing medical attention.

Dropping his sword to the forest floor, Kubo crouched down and gripped Kenji's shoulder.

"Kenji, I'm so sorry. I should have been there in time." Kubo apologized, his voiced strained with guilt.

I never should have left him. If we hadn't split up, he wouldn't have gotten hurt, Kubo thought. His mind turning to his grandfather for an instant. No! That's not what I was thinking about. Kubo rejected the notion. But the impudent thought had already planted the seeds of doubt in Kubo's mind.

What kind of protector was he, if his thoughts turned to his own flesh and blood instead of focusing on his friends?

"You couldn't have stopped it, Kubo. It had so many legs and claws, one of them would have struck me anyway." Kenji interrupted his friend's train of thought. His understanding words putting a stop to Kubo's doubts for a little while.

"Kenji, you need to wash the wound with water so it doesn't get infected." Kubo curtly changed the subject. He wasn't having any of it.

Kenji sighed, disheartened by Kubo taking his injury so hard. Determined to show Kubo that nothing would bring him down, Kenji dragged himself over to the stream and splashed his face with water.

The cool water washing over the burning wound, made him wince. But that was the price of going on a dangerous adventure, he thought and chuckled to himself.

"How can you find this amusing?" Kubo snapped, baffled by how Kenji could laugh at a time like this.

"The farmers in my village thought I was incapable of doing anything. With a scar on my face, I'll get to dictate the story of how it came to be." He said solemnly.

Kubo gaped at what he'd just heard. It all made sense now. Kenji didn't need a trophy to repel yokai. He wanted one to repel the harsh treatment of his peers. Picking up the severed spider's limb as long as his leg, with the tips of his fingers, Kubo gave the morbid trophy to Kenji.

"If the villagers don't believe you. You can prove it with this."

"Thank you?" Kenji accepted the offer with tentative fingers and tucked the fuzzy appendage under the strap of his leather armour.

When the two friends returned to the camp site with their own supplies, Setsu was already a space away from the wisteria's roots, sitting cross legged while she brushed specks of dirt off a bunch of wild spinach.

"You're finally back!" Setsu cheered, until her gaze turned to the angry, red mark on Kenji's face.

"Kenji, you're bleeding!" She cried out and rose to her feet in a hurry and raced over to him. When Setsu stared at Kenji's pained, but collected expression, she didn't know whether to be proud or concerned. It didn't matter in that moment, because her friend needed tending to.

Though parting with her pink, silk scarf left Setsu with mixed emotions, she knew what needed to be done and unwrapped it from her neck.

"Kenji, my mother gave this to me before I lost her. It would make her happy, if I used it to help a friend."

Setsu didn't wait for Kenji's expected reply, and took the liberty of tying the scarf around his head, in a makeshift bandage.

"That should stop the bleeding for a little while." She blurted out and withdrew before he could make a snarky remark about how close they were standing to one another.

"And it will strike fear into the heart of that creepy crawler!" Kenji winked at Setsu, making her scoff with laughter.

After boiling the combined spoils of their foraging in a bowl—mustard leaves, mountain leeks, and the soybeans from Kubo's sack. The trio enjoyed a delectable meal, before going on their way.

The air was crisp at the top of the summit. Narrow, winding mountain roads, had carried the three to the top of a rugged peak. Where pine trees were strewn haphazardly on the landscape surrounding a single cliff face. Growing one resplendent, yellow chrysanthemum

Setsu rubbed her hands over her arms, which did little to keep the cold winds from stealing the warmth from her body. Their journey was about to come to an end, but there were still so many uncertainties.

"Kubo, what do you really know about this flower? The places we visited before were crawling with yokai. For all we know, they could have been planted here as a trap to keep people away." Setsu voiced her concerns and shuffled closer to Kenji, hoping strength in agreements would convince Kubo.

"The spider yokai's kind are known to roam the land, in search of fresh meat. It could have come from anywhere." Kubo said, unswayed by Setsu's reasoning. They were too close to give up now. Two yokais were not going to stop him from achieving his quest. His family was depending on him.

Kenji cast a worried look at Setsu, sharing her fear. He scanned the area desperately for any sign that could talk Kubo out of this. Until he found one that would do the talking for him.

"Kubo, look at this armour..." Kenji showed Kubo a bloodied samurai breast plate. Long abandoned by its owner. There was a reason not one person had claimed the golden prize and he was holding it in his hands.

Kubo glimpsed at the armour, but saw only rust while the others saw the truth.

"We're so close to the flower, we can't give up now!"

Setsu frowned with frustration. "We're not giving up, we're being careful. Let us help you." Setsu armed herself with a rock, while Kenji did the same with a discarded dagger.

Kubo took the first steps towards the precarious cliff face with a heavy, yet anxious heart. Having overcome all the challenges that stood in their way. The three heroes were now at the mercy of whatever threat, this final obstacle threw their way.

Kenji and Setsu stood guard behind Kubo, as he inched his way towards the chrysanthemum, ignoring the gusts of wind buffeting his hair in all directions. But before Kubo could even lift a finger to pluck the flower from the ground. He heard a dreadful, scuttling sound from underneath his feet.

Using her remarkably strong, yet slender arms. The jorogumo hoisted and dragged herself upon the surface of the cliff face. Regaining her composure after that ghoulish entrance by straightening her kimono like a geisha, the bewitching yokai conjured a wicked illusion with a face Kubo knew too well.

"Could it be? Is this my grandson before me?" An apparition of Kubo's grandfather, Raiden suddenly appeared. Looking every bit as earnest as the Raiden back home.

Crouching down to scoop the golden flower, Kubo was mesmerized by his grandfather's miraculous appearance, which swayed like smoke.

"Yes, grandfather it's me and I've found the remedy that will save you." Kubo answered, blind to the yokai's deceit. The devoted grandson held out his palm flat, ready to place the flower in the illusion of Raiden's hands.

Although Setsu and Kenji not within earshot of the conversation, to know whether Kubo was in control. They both knew they had seen enough of the spider's façade.

"Kubo, he's not real, snap out of it!" Setsu cried out and sent a rock hurling over Kubo' shoulder, hitting the jorogumo directly on her greedy mitts.

"Insolent prey! You will witness as I eat the ones that would defend you and then your fear-soaked carcass will be next!" The jorogumo growled with displeasure and promised death upon Kubo and his allies. She nursed her hand, as she began skittering away.

Kubo did not take long to come to a decision. Allowing the lives of his new friends to be stolen from them was unacceptable. He could not picture a future without them.

Though saving them, meant letting go of another close to his heart. Kubo tore the chrysanthemum to shreds.

Seeing that their conversation had come to an end, Kenji rushed to Kubo's aid, and placed a scabbard firmly against the beast's throat, while Kubo pried open the jorogumo's pincer and jaws and shoved the bitter medicine down her throat.

Hissing with pain from swallowing the flower's divine properties, welts of light appeared on the jorogumo's body and engulfed her. Shrinking and transforming her enormous body, until all that was left was a common orb weaver spider.

Taking in the sight, Setsu's eyes widened at the unexpected transformation. "It purified her."

Kubo breathed heavily with exertion and also stared in disbelief at the arachnid that would have eaten them for lunch, mere moments ago.

It might have been amusing in hindsight, had it not cost Kubo everything. Loose chrysanthemum petals remained in Kubo's clenched fist, a reminder of the life he would not be able to save. But as much as Kubo wanted to cry. His tragic loss spelled something entirely different in his heart—the realization that Setsu and Kenji were more than just his friends. They were his family, too.

Setsu's heart ached at seeing Kubo look so defeated, but a warm, tickling feeling in her gut told her his quest was not over.

"Kubo, I don't have any experience with miraculous flowers, but I think there's still a chance a brew could be made, that would improve your grandfather's health in his final days." Setsu spoke words full of hope to Kubo, trying to console him.

"The flower can still help him, even though most of it was lost?"

"Yes and I'll prepare the medicine myself." Setsu smiled and slid her hand over Kubo's and took the stray petals, to lighten his burden.

Dwelling on the realization the journey was coming to an end. Kenji considered the future he would face back home, and took his turn to make a decision amongst friends.

"There's somewhere I have to go to first, but if you don't mind, I'll join you later."

"It's settled then."

Kubo lead the group back to his village, with an efficiency to whine home about. When a shortcut presented itself he took it, when dawdling was observed, the offender would be chased by magically animated origami birds.

Setsu and Kenji couldn't blame Kubo for rushing them, out of worry for his grandfather, but if they weren't careful anytime soon, then all three of them would be needing the flower to treat their own exhaustion!

When the time came for Kenji to split up from the team, Kubo didn't know what he would miss more—his lovable brashness, masking an uncertainty or the bravery he had demonstrated in overcoming danger. But no matter where Kubo's fondness lay, he was sorry to see the fledgeling warrior go.

After an adoring embrace with Setsu, Kenji unwound his arms reluctantly and waved good-bye to his two friends. He then went on his way. Undoubtedly to freak out his former bullies with a fuzzy, dried up jorogumo leg, Kubo imagined.

Kubo was never used to a hero's welcome, no matter how many times he received them. Though not everyone from the village was present, on account of the gloomy, cloudy day. The sea of faces made Kubo's heart swell with gratitude, tinged with sadness and weighed down with guilt.

'Who's your new lady friend?' Some of them teased, insinuating he had found himself a partner. Such sense of humour they had. Others were relieved to see Kubo back so soon, from his perilous mission.

Mari's presence, however— the one person Kubo was hoping to see, was sorely missing.

That could only mean she was still dutifully taking care of grandfather. Kubo told himself. When Kubo next opened the door to his home, it was done with the pride of returning with the answer his prayers. A stark contrast to his evening exit with hardly a good-bye.

Raiden was sleeping on his futon, just as Kubo had left him. A sentimental, yet ideal situation that would allow Mari to brief him on his grandfather's condition with dignity.

"He talked a lot about you, when he wasn't resting, you know." Mari told Kubo, with a tender smile.

"He asked what his monster-slaying grandson was up to! Those stories of yours kept him livelier than any of the tea and meals I ever made for him." Mari mused, with a hint of false jealousy, making Kubo snicker.

"But the more days passed, the more he slept. I did the best I could by waking him up for meal times, but it was like he was trapped in an unending nightmare."

Grandfather… Kubo felt a pang of sadness and sudden warmth in his hands, as Setsu wordlessly gave him a cup of tea to provide to Raiden.

"Grandfather, I brought you something." Kubo kneeled down beside Raiden, as he stirred from his sleep and sat up.

"Kubo, you came back." Raiden coughed and gratefully accepted the cup of tea. "Not just to give your old grandfather some tea, I hope?" He teased, with a twinkle in his milky eyes.

Sounds about right. Kubo's mind chimed in, as he watched Raiden drain the cup of the contents, he'd fought so hard to obtain.

"I feel as though I have been gifted with several sunsets, that I never would have lived to experience." Raiden remarked appreciatively, not knowing how true his words would come to be.

Partially restored by the flower's rejuvenating properties, Raiden was blessed with seven more days to live. Seven days savoured with his grandson. Regaled by his stories and introduced to his two closest friends Raiden knew Kubo could depend on.

Raiden spent his final days with the peaceful knowledge that he had lived a good life, and that his grandson would do so as well.

After Kubo paid his respects to the man with the most tempestuous, but loving relationship he'd ever shared with.

Kenji, with Setsu by his side told Kubo a story.

"The road ahead is very unclear, my friend. Some people say they would find a samurai to save them from monsters, or protect their rice paddies, to be very useful."

"Who's offering?" Kubo entertained the tale Kenji spun, with amusement. His words weren't far from the truth, were they? And he was meaning to see more of the world anyway.

"I don't know. It could be a beautiful maiden or a coffin maker, but whoever they are, they're waiting for you."


End of the story, yipee! But what kind of 3300 word length chapter do you call this, muse?!

Readers, please tell me if I need to split the chapter at the point where Setsu laughs at Kenji's bandage. I've never written a chapter this long, and I don't know how long people's attention spans can be comfortable for.