UPDATE (1/17/2016): Edits and corrections.

"Ah! I have died and gone to heaven!"

"I'm taking about eight of these casks with me when we go…"

"Oh, this pork is fantastic… What in the world do they feed the animals here to get it so juicy?"

The servants of Arender-ken castle were somewhat dumbfounded at the moment, keeping their distance and not sure what to do about what had just happened. The five supernatural creatures known as the Jido no Hogu-sha had just broken into the kitchen area and were proceeding to raid it. Nothing was safe from them as the "Band of Five Demons" helped themselves. And it turned out the five each had ravenous appetites. One could sort of expect it from someone like Nobuyuki, but the others seemed to inhale food just as easily due to their yokai nature. Even Takara, who prided herself on being a vegetarian and a delicate cook, was boiling up about a dozen large daikon for herself over the cooking fires, and that was her second serving. Takeshi had helped himself to a vat of ramen along with four large bowls of rice, washing it down with the rice liquor of the house. Jiro was polishing off all of the prepared sashimi and sushi, as well as whatever other fish was available. Nobuyuki had already eaten all of the uiro in the pantry, and, not satisfied with that, was moving on to namagashi, not really seeming to care to wait for tea ceremonies. Even Satoru, who had taken a side trip to pick up a collection of scrolls from somewhere inside the castle and sat down to read as he ate, had an entire half of a boar to himself.

As Takara stirred her "cauldron" full of vegetables, she turned to the others with a hesitant look. "…You sure we're not overstepping our bounds?"

"Not at all." Jiro answered as he popped up a bit of rice and caught it in his mouth. "He asked us if there was anything we needed. We needed food and a good night's sleep. Or are you thinking we should insult our gracious host by not accepting their generous offer?"

The Tooth Dragon shrugged as she went back to her pot and added some seasoning. "I think we're just kind of taking advantage of them…"

"They exploit us…we exploit them." Takeshi answered as he finished draining one of his bowls of broth and chased it down with liquor. "I haven't ruled out them backstabbing us when all is said and done, but until they get the chance I intend to get all I can out of them."

Jiro snickered as he kicked off the ground and glided into one of the chairs in the kitchen, landing and leaning back in it with his staff over and behind his head. "Aren't you the one who always lectures me about 'doing this for the code of honor' and 'the way of bushido'?"

"I also believe in karma, kenshusei." The rabbit-hooded man answered. "Besides, that applies to the innocent and the honorable. The shogun is neither."

"This is not exactly the shogun's things we are dealing with, however." Nobuyuki answered as he helped himself to another tea bun. "Mmm… For one thing, his own buns don't have bean paste this sweet… This would be the queen of Arender-ken."

"All the more reason." Takeshi answered as he began to eat another bowl of rice. "Don't know if you've all noticed yet, friend, but seems like our pals Nakamura and Itachinootoko are already moving right in. Calling the shots…putting the castle and whatever resources it has at our disposal…"

Nobuyuki let out a chuckle as he took up a plate of the buns and began to walk over to the others. "Yes, that is quite true. They made with all of the pomp and circumstance of how important it was to actually install the older sister as the daimyo and yet, now that she is gone, there is hardly any mention of the younger one. They simply rule this castle as if it is already theirs to govern. Princess Akiko, it seems, is not even married yet to Lord Hachiro, and yet already he is the one making the grand decisions."

"And leaving her out of the loop as well." Jiro chimed in as he tossed another sushi ball into his mouth. "I'm going to be totally honest here. I'm not exactly one hundred percent 'good' with how we're setting out on this. They pretty much hinted at us that they want it kept a secret from her as well. Should be easy enough since we're going to leave before dawn, but still…"

"You should focus more on how we're supposed to actually carry this out." Takeshi answered as he opened his third cask, although it seemed the liquor still hadn't impacted him yet. "Because while these fringe benefits are well and good, and it would be even better if the impossible happened and the shogun did keep his word, there's still the fact we have to somehow stop an ice demon."

Takara grimaced. "That's a pretty good question. I mean, all of these benefits are nice, and normally we could handle whatever she put out, but…" She flitted her wings a bit. "I never could fly that well in winter. I burn too much heat."

"And Satoru might end up caught in a snowdrift if he's not careful." Takeshi added with a gesture. "Not to mention I'm no arctic hare myself…"

"Bah, just leave it to Jiro and I." Nobuyuki said with a chuckle. "What others call blizzards I call 'refreshing', after all. And good as this yuki-onna might be, she is nothing compared to Jiro's talent."

The youth chuckled, but just the same hesitantly ate another bite of sushi. "Well, much as I like to be flattered…if that story was true we've got more to worry about than her just trying to make us die from overexposure. She seems a bit tougher than that with more tricks up her sleeve."

"Good point." Nobuyuki threw in. At that, he gestured nearby to the fifth member of their group. The others looked, and saw Satoru, in between bites of pork, was looking over a scroll.

"Luckily, I think Satoru's got the right idea, even though I'm normally more of the 'more-action, less-thinking' type, heh. Looking into our quarry a bit. And what better place than the castle she grew up in, yes?"

"Find anything yet?" Takara called out.

A tinkling sound came from the Sand Moth as he looked up from his meal/work, and took up one of the scrolls with him. He traced one of his odd fingers over it, and, in response, gold dust came off of his hand, went over the paper, and marked off sections. After doing so, he rolled it up and tossed it over to Takara. Leaving her pot behind, the woman flew over to intercept the toss. After that, she unrolled it as she returned to the stove, looking it over where Satoru had marked.

As for the man himself, Satoru looked rather intrigued by what he had found, if not a bit perplexed. It didn't take long for Takara to look over the same reading of the scroll.

"Hmm…that's odd… I mean…not terribly odd, but definitely unexpected…"

"What?" Jiro asked as he leaned his head back along with the chair. "Did she really like summer when she was younger or something?"

"Not that…" Takara answered. "This is a notary list of various decisions Lady Eiko made. Apparently even when she wasn't fully the daimyo, they allowed her some authority as the highest noble. One of the things she enacted was a 'progressive tribute'."

"'Progressive'?" Takeshi asked. "Progressive how?"

"Once every year, she set the tribute at a fixed level based on what she anticipated the expenses would be from her advisors." Takara continued. "She set that as the cut-off point. Everyone was required to give her that much in tribute by the end of the year, but after that all remaining goods they produced were theirs for the remainder of the year."

"Really? And what did she do if they failed to make her cutoff?"

"That's the 'progressive' part. If they were under, she took a smaller portion. Progressively smaller and smaller as they made less and less. Essentially just enough to keep the citizens out of abject poverty." She shrugged. "Kind of interesting… It makes a cushion but also motivates the people to produce as much as possible since they'll keep everything after a point."

"And what if the year ended up being bad?" Takeshi snorted. "I suppose her little 'progressive tribute' goes out the window?"

Takara moved along the scroll a bit more, unrolling and letting it fall to the ground as she scanned down the paper. At last, she seemed to find one entry in particular.

"Actually, the country usually made far over their need for tribute to the shogun, good years or bad. There was only one bad year on record where they couldn't come up with the emperor's tribute based on the quota at the beginning of the year."

"What'd she do?" Nobuyuki asked.

Takara blinked a bit in surprise at what she read. "…She sold part of her hereditary property to make up the difference and left the quota where it was."

Satoru had already read this, but the others blinked in surprise. For someone who was supposed to be an ice demon, this was a bit unusual. However, maybe that was the whole point. A "real" landowner would never do such a thing; diminish their own estate when there were peasants to bleed. Or perhaps it was an attempt to ease anyone being suspicious of her.

"There's more right here." Takara said as she pointed to the next item. "Apparently since this area is so productive, one of the surrounding areas tried to move in for an invasion to annex it. They had drummed up some charge of Arender-ken possibly selling to enemies of the shogun, and used it as a pretext to move in. This country has little in the way of a military, so once they occupied there'd be no way to tell them to 'leave' again. So what the lady did was immediately give all of her trading partners a 15 percent decrease in their incoming tax fees along with knowledge of what was happening."

Jiro's gaze went back to her on hearing this. He snickered a moment later. "How about that… She's pretty clever."

"Oh?" Nobuyuki asked.

"Don't you get it? She just made it profitable for all of her trading partners to keep her around. She didn't have to draw a single sword among her own forces. She'd let the surrounding nations do it for her. They'd all come to her aid if things got bad. I'm guessing they backed down off their charges after that, huh?"

The Tooth Dragon gave a nod. "You guessed right…"

She looked to another entry, causing her to blink again.

"Whoa…that's something."

"What?" Jiro asked, leaning up a bit and getting more intrigued along with the rest of them.

"Her own personal fields were worked, by royal edict, by the poorer members of society. The law itself only was looking for those without means and at risk of becoming destitute. Yet what this ended up doing, in reality, was draw orphans, widows, and a great number of the kingdom's outcasts. Basically people who were not only too poor but couldn't possibly support themselves enough to become 'un-poor' due to everyone in society frowning on them… As for their wages, those she brought in weren't given a quota. They were simply told after the royal court took their contribution, everything else that was left behind was free to their use, no matter how much of it there was." She gave a shrug as she began to move along. "Needless to say, her own lands are the most productive in the kingdom as a result…"

"Heh, seems like our 'ice queen' had a warm heart at one point." Nobuyuki commented.

"A bit more than that, possibly." Takeshi answered. "Sure, she was getting something out of this, but any ruler could have just thrown money or food at these people. By letting them actually have a position and earn their food, she gave them some dignity and pride as well." He took another swig as he leaned back. "After hearing all this, it's almost a shame this queen went mad. Seems like she was one of the few landowners I wouldn't have spat in the face of…"

"I will admit, she seemed to be a bit forward thinking." The Jolly Bear added, tossing the last bun into his mouth, but then crossing his arms. "It seems almost odd that she would turn this way…"

Takara rolled up the scroll and shrugged. "I hate to say it…but you think she might have had a good reason for killing those people?" Pause. "As bad as that sounds?"

"Doesn't change the fact she's freezing the country, her own people included." Takeshi reminded her. "People can change…or maybe she was just hiding that she was really a monster this whole time."

"She isn't a monster!"

In a heartbeat, all five of the Jido no Hogu-sha had snapped around. Takeshi himself was immediately on his feet and going for his weapons at the sound of the voice, but even Jiro had snapped out of his chair. After all, they thought they were alone aside from a few eavesdropping servants, and they appeared to have pulled back as the five had continued to stuff their faces and talk. Yet now, they found a few face.

Framed in the doorway to the kitchen area was a noblewoman, although "woman" might have been a strong descriptor as she still looked very young. She was dressed in a dark emerald green kimono that was the kind of silk only the rich would wear, and the adornments she wore with it were made of more expensive metals as well, all but confirming her wealth and rank. Her face was youthful and innocent, and she almost seemed to radiate a warm glow from her expression. At first, her blue eyes had been fiery; glaring angrily at the five of them. Yet when they all snapped to her, some of them doing so in alarm at hearing her sudden outburst, they immediately recoiled along with the rest of her body as she drew back.

"Er…um…that is, I have to respectfully disagree with that comment…?" She said in a much quieter voice, risking a weak smile with it. She paused. "Please don't eat me. Technically I'm 18, but I'm a 'child at heart'."

The five rapidly broke. Most of them just exhaled and relaxed. Takeshi, on his part, let out a groan. Jiro himself placed a hand to the bridge of his nose on hearing yet another individual who thought they were carnivorous demons. Satoru began to pick himself back up after spilling his chair over.

After a while, the Ghost Hare spoke up. "Who are you and why are you in here?" He stated crossly.

"I'm L…" The young woman began to say, recovering a bit on her own, before pausing and thinking. "Wait a second, this is my castle. Why am I explaining myself to you?"

"The fact that you don't want us to 'eat you' may have something to do with it…" Jiro murmured.

"Your castle?" Nobuyuki answered, before drawing himself up and smiling in response. "Heh, well then, you must be Lady Akiko." He said as he began to walk forward to her. As for the young woman, Akiko, she managed to rise again, but on seeing the large and imposing Nobuyuki approaching her and literally casting a shadow over her body, she visibly had to suppress the urge to swallow. Yet on arrival, he immediately bowed.

"Honored to meet you. And my compliments to my host. Feels like the first time in forever I have had sweet bean paste buns so tasty."

Akiko blinked, but then straightened. "Oh…um, thank you, sir." Clearly taken aback by that sort of response.

She nearly jumped again a moment later when, to the sound of flitting through the air, Takara came from around the bulky Nobuyuki. "Say…that's a lovely kimono you're wearing, my lady." She flitted closer and soon hovered around her, admiring it. The result unnerved Akiko a bit, but she rolled with it. "I've never seen silk so fine… And I love that floral design! You must have all the men fawning over you… I wish I could have something like that…" She paused near her face, and looked up and into it. Akiko soon got another surprise as she leaned in closer, literally trying to look at her mouth. "And those teeth… You must clean regularly. They're so nicely formed…"

"Er…thanks?" Akiko answered, progressively leaning her head further and further away as she got closer. "...I'd like to keep them along with my soul, if that's alright."

Takara pulled back a bit, blinking in puzzlement. "Huh?"

"I heard that you're the one who pulls out the teeth of her enemies and then devours them to have control over their souls..."

The woman slumped to the ground for a landing and groaned. "Oh…that. Listen, that's just-"

"When we have an enemy." Takeshi cut off abruptly. "Never for an innocent. We may be yokai, but we have honor."

Takara looked to him, but he silently kept his gaze on Akiko. After a moment, she broke. It was important to keep up appearances, after all. While the citizens could know the truth about them, the nobility had better keep thinking they were every bit as horrible and nightmarish as the stories went. Although the feathered woman didn't seem to like it, she finally rolled her eyes and accepted.

Jiro spoke up soon after, putting his staff over one shoulder again. "So…seems you know about us, huh?"

Straightening herself up again, Akiko gave a shrug. All in all, her demeanor seemed to be relaxing. "Well...not exactly. I mean, I managed to overhear the news a couple days ago, that the shogun had sent someone to fetch a gang of yokai ronin… I honestly didn't believe it. I thought those were just fairy tales." She paused, then grimaced and shrugged. "But I guess I should have had more faith after what happened with Eiko…"

This gave the five a moment of pause. If this was Lady Akiko, and she didn't yet know "why they were there", it made things a bit tense. After all, Lady Eiko was supposed to be her sister. The five realized they probably needed to choose their words carefully around her. After looking to one another for a moment, Jiro turned back to her with a smile.

"Well, see it and believe it." He gestured around him. "Here we are: the Jido no Hogu-sha in the flesh."

Akiko looked over the five of them for a moment. She turned her head. "So are you five really yokai? I mean…" She looked to Takara. "Er…pretty sure most people can't fly and…" She looked to Satoru afterward. "You, um…well…er…uh…seem kind of odd…uh, no offense…"

Satoru gave a shrug.

"But you pretty much all look pretty…normal."

"Heh…appearances can be deceiving." Nobuyuki answered as he drew himself up and pounded himself against his chest. "Yokai come in all shapes and sizes. Many can transform to walk like men or animals. But me? I like this best of all. Do not let it deceive you. I have more than a bear's strength in these bones."

Jiro, meanwhile, had taken the opportunity to start wandering over toward Takeshi. "And if you think this guy here really looks human…" He mused out loud as his staff began to raise, the crook going for his hood...

Abruptly, the Ghost Hare snapped around and slapped the end of the staff out of the way. "Don't you dare, or I'll stick you to the wall."

The youth gave an innocent shrug. "What…me? I'm just walking here. Stretching my legs after a meal…"

At this point, Akiko looked up a bit more. "Wait a minute…'the Jido no Hogu-sha'? I remember you now! Eiko used to tell my stories about you when we were younger!"

"Really?" Nobuyuki asked after a moment. "What did she tell you?"

"Well, nothing like what I heard people talking about in the castle today." She answered. "She said you five were…nice. That you looked out for children, especially those who didn't have parents to look out for them."

On hearing this, the five softened a bit. Even Takeshi lost a bit of his gruff exterior. Takara actually smiled a little.

"I heard you did things like helped children who were scared and alone have pleasant dreams, or kept their memories from when they were innocent, or that you would bring them gifts or leave them surprises to teach them to hope for good things." Akiko went on. "…Is that true?"

The five looked to each other, not sure about what they should do or answer.

"Well…"

"Er…"

"Sort…"

"Uh…"

They continued to stammer and debate it for a moment, before Jiro finally exhaled.

"Guys, I think we can be a bit honest with her. She doesn't exactly seem like the type to be leaking all of our secrets back to the shogun."

Takeshi was still hesitant, and even Nobuyuki was, but Jiro turned back to her. "I'm not sure how you got that story but…yeah, it's pretty much true for the most part. We really do go around the country beating up daimyos and their men and ruining their stuff, but only those who are corrupt. Only those who are being cruel to their own people. And we don't spare children simply because of some mystic code or bar. It's because we all want to protect children."

Seeing as Jiro had already spilled the beans, Takara sighed and joined in. "We do act like what you said sometimes. Nobuyuki loves making toys and clothes for children and he's really good at it in spite of how big his hands are. And Takeshi likes leaving little eggs that have money or treats inside for children to find. But...we can't very well show adults all of that."

Nobuyuki patted his chest again. "They see us as big, strong, terrible monsters. And they need to. Because if they see us as monsters, they're afraid of us. If they're afraid of us, they won't hurt their people because they know we'll be back. That's how we protect the villages and their children."

"Just don't go thinking we're too innocent." Takeshi spoke up. "In our hearts, we're ronin. Just like any other samurai, we abide by bushido. If someone oppresses the weak or acts unjustly, we believe we're fully in our right to kill them. And we have killed in the past."

Akiko took all of this, looking them over. She seemed far more at ease at this point. She appeared to have readily taken Jiro's explanation that they weren't as terrible as they seemed. Yet after a moment, she turned grimmer.

"…And I'm guessing that's the reason you're here, isn't it? To kill someone?"

The five were silent

Akiko waited for a moment, but then exhaled, seeming to have gotten the answer.

"That's what I thought. You want to know why I'm here? That's simple. I want you to leave my sister alone. I may have spent a lot of my life in this castle, but I've been hearing what everyone's been saying. I heard what happened to those people sent by Nakamura when they came back. I know that's why you're here, and I'm telling you not to. My sister isn't a monster. This is all just one big misunderstanding."

"I'm afraid it's a little more than that, my lady." Takeshi answered with a cynical voice. "Men are already dead. And in case you haven't realized, it's getting mighty cool outside."

Akiko grimaced, the words seeming to make her uncomfortable, but she shook her head. "Listen…I know this all looks really, really bad right now… But like I said, this is all a terrible mix-up. Believe me, Eiko's not a killer."

"Then why did she kill those men and why is she freezing everything?" Jiro simply answered. "Why did she go so long without using that power and just decide to sentence everything to death one day?"

Again, the young lady seemed at a loss. "I…I really don't know. I didn't even know she had that power…"

Jiro let out a snicker. "Really. Your sister looks like an ice goddess, you live with her in the same castle all your life, and you didn't know… I may not have any siblings but sounds like you're not the best sister in the world…"

"It's not like that!" She shot back, before her tone softened and her face turned anxious. "Eiko…she…well…she always hid herself. I remember when we were little kids that we'd do everything together. We were best friends. Then…weird things started happening. Our room would be ice cold in the morning in the middle of summer… Our water pitcher would fill with ice… We'd be walking through the garden and snow flurries would start falling. Mom and dad brought in all sorts of doctors and magicians, and they all swarmed around Eiko. I was too young to recognize what was happening, but…suddenly it stopped, but Eiko stayed away from me as much as she could. We'd still talk, but…she wouldn't want to play or get physical. She always looked like she was afraid whenever we wanted to do something. And she just got more and more aloof and apart from time, locking herself in her chambers, only issuing letters and couriers with her decrees, not making public appearances... And whenever she did she'd always wear these long-sleeved kimonos so she'd cover up her hands… I never knew what any of it was supposed to mean..." She exhaled. "Not before I asked for her consent to marry Lord Hachiro."

"Oh?" Nobuyuki answered. "We heard of that. What exactly happened?"

Akiko stepped into the room a bit more, going for the nearest chair and moving to sit down in it. The others likewise sat on tables or leaned against walls in response. "I met him when Eiko officially became queen and the proper daimyo of Arender-ken." She smiled a bit, seeming to think of him. "He's everything I've always dreamed of… He's smart and sensitive, he listens to everything I have to say, he's affectionate and kind…and…" She blushed. "He's so dreamy compared to the rest of the nobles I've seen…" She sighed. "All of the rest of the daimyo present thought we'd be a perfect match. But not Eiko. When I went up to her and asked for her consent…" She frowned. "…She immediately said no. She took me aside and told me all sorts of things…about how…" She exhaled and then began to mimic her sister's voice in exaggerated tones and manners. "'Our kingdom spent hundreds of years forcing the girls into arranged marriages and now that you have the chance to be courted you immediately cling to the first man you meet after knowing him only a day… I thought mom and dad told you better than-'"

"Wait…wait a second…" Jiro suddenly spoke up. "Back up. Did you just say you knew him only for one day?"

"Yes. Now as I was saying… I got in an argument. I told her that I couldn't stand being as isolated and alone as her anymore…always pushing people away… She told me that she wanted me to not 'charge into marriage and end up regretting it like you charge into everything else in your life any end up regretting it'…"

"You only knew him…for one day." Jiro spoke again.

Akiko sighed. "Yes…pay attention. I called her something I shouldn't have and she stormed off into the next room. Before I know it, there's screaming and Eiko comes running out-"

"You were going to marry a man…you had only known…for one day."

The lady frowned. "Don't tell me you're going to start lecturing me too."

"Well, someone has to since your sister isn't around."

"Ladies get into arranged marriages all the time! I at least got to meet him first!"

"That may be true, but many ladies only marry for political purposes," Takeshi answered. "And many regret their husbands too."

"You are quite fortunate to have the right to take your time to choose, young lady." Nobuyuki added. "I would not be quick to give up that right."

The young woman rolled her eyes. "Look…the point is, my sister isn't a monster. So please, I'm asking you not to go after her. She doesn't deserve to be hunted like she's a common criminal."

"Again, I hate to argue with the lady of the castle, but your sister is a common criminal whether you like it or not." Takeshi answered. "She committed murder and then she ran rather than tried to explain her crime. Can't get much more cut and dry than that."

"Of course it can!" Akiko protested. "You weren't there! You didn't see that power! Eiko…" She paused, her own look softening as she remembered. "She…she looked so scared… Like she was terrified of everyone… And she had to be. The reason she always hid this was because of exactly what's happening right now. Everyone's calling her a demon and a monster…saying such terrible things…accusing my father of having an affair with a yuki-onna…" She looked back up to the five, imploringly.

"But she's not like that at all! Please…you have to believe me! I know she's done some bad things, but I swear they were accidents! They had to have been! Eiko wouldn't hurt a fly willingly, let alone another human being!"

The five hesitated yet again. Akiko looked insistent, and the sound of her pleas as well as her distinct, tangible belief in what she was saying gave them pause. She honestly did believe what she was saying with all of her heart, and if she wasn't lying or confused then this changed a lot. Yet in the end, Takeshi sighed.

"My lady, even if what you're saying is true, the land is getting colder and colder fast. This 'accident' of your sister is going to end up hurting a lot of people. It might end up killing a lot of people. You included. What exactly do you want us to do? Sit in front of a window and watch the snow fall?"

"Of course not." Akiko answered, drawing herself up. "Just stay here while I go instead."

The five stared blankly.

"…And then?"

Akiko blinked. "Then what?"

"What do you do if…er…when you find her?" Nobuyuki answered.

"Oh." The lady answered, before smiling. "I'll talk to her and get her to stop freezing everything."

The five stared almost dumbfounded. Even Satoru had an eyebrow raised and his jaw a bit loose.

"My, you're quite the optimist." Jiro said after a moment. "Takeshi, I apologize for always poking fun at your negativity. I think this is much worse."

"You do know what happened to the last people who went after your sister, yes?" The Jolly Bear asked.

Akiko gave an innocent shrug. "I'm her sister. I don't have to be afraid of her. She wouldn't hurt me."

Takara swallowed. "Um…my lady? Exactly how far have you ever been out of the castle?"

"Once, when I was younger," She beamed with pride. "I almost walked to the first farm outside the city all by myself!"

Now the Jido no Hogu-sha looked very uncomfortable.

"How about in winter?" The Laughing Frost asked.

She paused. "Ok…I'm not really too 'winter crazy'…but I can take it no problem! I mean, once I went for a walk outside in the winter for almost two hours. Sure, it wasn't snowing, but it was cold…so that counts, right?"

The youth answered by facepalming.

"Uh…my lady," Nobuyuki spoke up. "It'd be best if you stayed here. The wild isn't a place for a young lady like you."

Akiko's smile turned into a frown. "Who says it isn't? That's my sister out there!"

"Look, calm down." Jiro added, holding up a hand in a stopping gesture. "It's better that you leave this to us. We run around the great outdoors all the time."

"But what are you going to do when you find my sister?" The young lady answered. "Are you going to kill her like you were hired to?"

The five paused only for a moment, before Jiro spoke further. "We're ronin…more or less. We go by the code of bushido."

Akiko crossed her arms. "What is that supposed to mean?"

He sighed. "It means I promise we'll try talking first, but that's all. And even if she surrenders, she's still coming back as our prisoner and a criminal of the shogunate. Sorry, but that's what happens when you murder other daimyo and then run for it and resist arrest."

The noblewoman practically stamped her foot as her hands went into fists at her sides. "With Eiko gone, I'm the ruler of Arender-ken, and I order you not to hurt my sister!"

Jiro merely snickered. "Yeah…and maybe if I was a citizen of Arender-ken, that would mean something."

Takara gave Jiro a bit of a frown, but then flitted closer to Akiko with a more sympathetic look. "My lady, I'm really sorry…but this order came from the shogun and, for now, we're following his authority. And unless he orders us to do something 'unjust', then his word is the one that stands over yours."

"I give you our word," Nobuyuki spoke up solemnly. "If what you say is true, then we will not lay a finger upon Queen Eiko unless she makes the first move. By our honor as samurai. But she too has committed wrong, whether it be accidental or not, and she must answer for it as is proper. It is our duty to bring those who do wrong to justice."

"And all we are here is lawmen." Takeshi added. "If you really want to dispute the case with your sister, you need to go to Nakamura or even Itachinootoko. Not the 'recruited help'."

Akiko's face only turned to anxiety. She actually clasped her hands together. She went from ordering in an instant to pleading with the next as she looked to them desperately.

"Please don't go after her! Just give me a chance first!"

"A chance for what?" Jiro answered. "To get lost, freeze to death or starve, and then bring down the wrath of this country and the shogunate on us for letting the only remaining member of the Arender-ken house kick the bucket?"

Takara sighed. "I'm really sorry, my lady. But I'm afraid what Nobuyuki said is all we can offer."

Akiko held and looked desperate for a few moments more. However, on seeing no change from anyone else, and not even looks of sympathy from Jiro and Takeshi, her desperation eventually turned to anger. Forming a pouting face and a upset look, she finally let out a noise of exasperation, got up from her chair so fast she knocked it over, and then turned and stormed out of the kitchen. In a few moments, the sound of her stomping echoes died down, and the five were left in silence.

The Tooth Dragon gave Jiro a dark look. "You could have been nicer, you know."

"I'm nice to kids…not overgrown spoiled brats." The youth answered with a shrug. "You heard what she said. How she doesn't know a thing about the world outside her palace. She'd get herself in trouble out there, and then they'd be calling on us to bring back two noblewomen. I'd rather her be angry at me than a load."

"For once, I'd say the kenshusei has a point." Takeshi answered as he began to stop up his bottle. "She seemed like a nice enough girl, but I don't have patience for fools. I wouldn't trust a woman from the village who made her living gleaning through the forest with this; let alone some noblewoman whose hands didn't look like they had ever seen a callus in their lives."

Satoru let out a jingle.

"He has a good point." Nobuyuki said as he gestured to him. "Clearly, the queen has no love for other nobles and their men. But perhaps she could be persuaded more easily by her own sister?"

"Come on, big man." Takeshi answered as he began to slip the cask at his hip, clearly intending to keep it. "We got two different stories right now, but of the two we know which one is more likely to be 'rose-colored'. Even if Queen Eiko was an archdemon that girl would say anything to keep us from killing her. And what if we show up with her and she doesn't come quietly?"

The Jolly Bear sighed and bowed his head. "Then she would only try to stop us in the middle of a battle against a dangerous opponent. And in the end, she would have to watch us slay her own sister."

"Exactly." Jiro chimed in. "I'm already kind of unhappy to begin with that we're having to do this. I honestly would like to ask this woman a thing or two."

The other four looked to him. Takara blinked as she flitted in the air again. "Oh…oh, that's right! Jiro, I almost forgot… If she's anything like you, then maybe…"

The youth cut her off with a smile. "Maybe…and I'm pretty sure even if it comes to killing her I'd like to ask her about that first… I'll be honest. Back in that room when I heard about her power, I was pretty excited. I actually thought like I might get some answers. I'm not eager to let that slip by."

He shrugged.

"But, at the same time, while I like a nice winter wonderland, I'd prefer if someone wasn't making it the 'eternal' type. After all, what good is having all the snow in the world if everyone you want to have a snowball fight with is a frozen corpse? Believe me, if she's as nasty as we heard and she doesn't have anything useful to say, I'll be the first to take her out."

"Same here." Takeshi answered as he rose and stretched. "Now it's probably a good idea we all collect the other half of our advance pay and hit the sack. We'll want an early start tomorrow."

Takara lit up. "Oh yeah! I forgot about that too! We're actually going to get to spend the night in real beds! Nice ones with sheets and not made out of hay!" Her smile faded a moment later, though. "Speaking of things I forgot, is that burning radish I smell?"

Nobuyuki chuckled as he turned, scooped up the plate of bean paste buns to take with him, and began to make his way out. "Bed does sound good, yes? I just hope they're sturdier than the last ones I tried. They always seem to break in the first hour…"

The five got a fairly early start the next morning after freshly raiding the kitchen once again, just as the castle servants finished cleaning it up from last night. Some of them, in spite of their fear, were almost ready to curse a blue streak after they were done eating, especially since they helped themselves to what was left for packing. In a similar vein, they helped themselves to whatever was in the castle for travel gear, as their current material was a bit shabby. Even so, they didn't take too terribly much. Most of what they kept was on them already: clothing and weapons. Nakamura met them as they prepared to set out. Sure enough, there was not only frost covering everything, but the edges of the water around the castle were also tipped with ice, and many of the guards were huddled or beating their arms to stay warm. Nakamura, however, seemed oblivious to it as he looked to them.

"You have three days to return with the queen's head."

That caught them off guard. "This might take a bit longer than that. We may not even find her in-"

"Three days." Nakamura coldly cut off. "Then the deal is over. We know what you are, after all. And Lord Itachitoko had advised to not put too much faith in you even if we must rely upon you. You might side with the yuki-onna, after all. Now go."

"Long life to you too, friend…" Takeshi snorted as they walked past him.

With the newly imposed deadline, which they had never agreed to, firmly in place and, furthermore, not one horse given to them for their disposal, the group didn't waste much time picking up the pace. As soon as they were out of the main gates, they took off at more of their full speed. Takara, obviously, could fly and had the biggest edge. Jiro wasn't quite as fast but managed a steady clip. Takeshi could simply "jump holes" to quickly gain ground. That left the ground-bound Nobuyuki and Satoru; the latter of which was in the worst shape. Luckily, Nobuyuki could hoist him on his back and run rather fast due to his long stride. Jiro knew if he had time, he could use his natural animal magnetism and ability to craft to make himself a snow sledge and have stags pull it, and such a thing might be advantageous for where they were going. However, he didn't at the moment and kept to running. In spite of his steady clip, everyone else had to slow a bit to keep up with him, but they still made good time. In only an hour they had already left the territory limits for the dwelling areas of Arender-ken, and even the large castle had already vanished. They began to go into the wilds soon after as a forest grew around them.

It didn't take much longer from there to see effects get worse. Rather than get warmer as the sun came up, it grew colder this time as opposed to staying even. Soon it was securely below freezing. Not much farther after that, the frost gave way to a dusting of powder; snow on the ground in the middle of summer. The trees had seemed to already respond, rapidly losing their leaves and becoming covered with fresh white flakes. Such couldn't be healthy for them, but it was more than enough to create the illusion of winter. If not for the position of the sun and the length of the day, it would have been easily mistaken for that season. It didn't help that yokai like them were especially in tune with nature. This was driving their natural rhythms wild. Them and every other creature, it seemed. The birds and other forest animals ran around in a state of near confusion, not sure what to make of the season changes.

However, it soon went from being early winter to a worse one. As they went further north, slowing down a bit to a more gradual pace, and the city vanished completely, letting the woods surround them and the trail they took collapse on them a bit, the snow grew thicker and thicker on the ground. Soon it was an inch…then two…then four…and, at the present, was a foot deep. Rare in this part of the country, but when the trees broke and the Jido no Hogu-sha were able to look far to the north they saw ominous dark clouds awaited them, indicating it would get much colder and the snow much deeper when they made it that far.

Unfortunately, although they were only about 40 miles from Arender-ken and still had a good amount of daylight left, they were already feeling it.

Takara panted a bit as she fluttered along, by now, like the rest of them, having slowed to more of a marching gait; at least relatively speaking. "I don't think I can keep myself in the air for much longer unless we stop for a break…"

"Just flap your wings a little slower." Nobuyuki answered. "You've been flying too hard."

"I have to." She protested. "It's too cold to not make myself warm doing this…"

"We do have cloaks, you know." Jiro answered. "Not to mention thicker clothing."

"If I put that on, I won't be able to fly at all. And then I'll really be cold."

"Maybe just the same it wouldn't be such a bad idea to stop for a bit a little further on." Takeshi answered. "I think Satoru could use it."

The shortest member of the group only wanted to be carried for so long, desiring to pull his own weight. When the group had slowed enough, he had hopped off and trudged after them. Unfortunately, he had to move even faster to keep up with them with his short height, and by now the foot of snow on the ground was very hard to move through given his stature. He frowned a bit at the comment Takeshi made, but at the same time had to admit he was red faced with footwear that was soaked, and could use a break.

"Bet your ears could use a thaw too, eh?" Jiro asked Takeshi with a bit of a smile. "By tomorrow, you'll probably be waking up with frost on them."

"Don't remind me. But you're right on one count. I need to keep them in top shape. Don't want anyone sneaking up on us again like they did the other-"

At that, the Ghost Hare went silent. His face formed an unusually stern look.

Jiro, snickering a bit and not getting it immediately, turned his head to him. "Like wh-" However, on seeing his expression, he stopped as well, his own face losing its smile. The others, seeing this too, quickly paused in their step and froze. Apparently, Takeshi had learned from his mistake the other day. Now he was on high alert. The ears on his hood twitched a bit, angling themselves around to slowly sweep about them. They had picked up a sound, and were now trying to find exactly where it was. The other four waited, looking about for anything out of the ordinary.

A few moments of silence passed, then Jiro began to hear a noise a short distance from them. Not too loud, but also not typical forest noises that the five were used to. It didn't take long for the others to look in the same distance and hear it as well.

Narrowing his eyes, Takeshi gave a nod in that direction.

A moment later, Jiro held up a hand. To the tune of a cold mist seeping into it, he formed a snowball. He palmed it a moment later, then yanked his hand back, took careful aim, and snapped forward, letting it fly like an arrow bolt.

The snowball vanished into the trees surrounding the group, but apparently Jiro's aim was good for a moment later the sound of snow crashing against something rang out, followed by a loud "oof!" from a female voice before a louder crash.

The five took off. Not too fast, however. After all, they recognized the sound of the voice.

Jiro rolled his eyes as he ran along, and Takeshi let out a bit of a grumble. In just a few moments, they were working their way around the trees and cleared enough to start seeing a figure getting up out of the snow and complaining a bit herself as she dusted her body off.

She had switched to more suitable attire, wearing a cape, hat, and a thicker kimono of green, blue, and pinkish colors that was clearly made for winter even if it was more on the dressy side, but as the five rushed up on her and saw her newly-styled hair bound behind her head and her posture and frame, they knew who it was before she faced them.

Akiko looked ready to give the five a piece of her mind when she whirled around. "What's the big…" She began to say, and promptly trailed off on spotting the five. "Oh…hello there."

"Hi." Jiro answered with a wide smile as he came to a stop and balanced his staff over his shoulder again. "Looks like you broke your record on a walk, your highness. Why not quit while you're ahead and head on back now?"

"My lady, what are you doing out here?" Nobuyuki asked as he halted as well.

"Well, I was taking my horse… But after losing the trail two hours ago I tried to find it, and a bunch of snow fell off of this tree and spooked him, so he bucked me off and ran back for Arender-ken. After that, I got up and tried to go on foot, but I hadn't found it yet. And then you beaned me with a snowball."

"Great shot, wasn't it?" Jiro grinned.

Takara blinked. "The trail is right over here…and you couldn't find it in two hours? I'm not sure you're the 'outdoorsy' type…"

Takeshi ignored all of this. "Not how did you get out here, why are you out here?"

"I already told you. I'm going to find my sister and talk to her."

"We told you we didn't want you coming with us!"

"Who said I'm going with you?" Akiko retorted, crossing her arms. "I'm out here by myself! This is a solitary mission!"

Nobuyuki let out a groan and held his palm over his face for a moment. "Lady Akiko…it is not only dangerous out here for a young woman, but it is dangerous for you to be with us. If you are to suddenly leave the castle when we do, they will suspect we were behind it."

"Oh, don't worry about that." Akiko smiled. "Lord Hachiro is covering for me. He's the one who said I owed it to my sister to go after her. He would have come too, but he's going to make sure Nakamura and Itachitoko don't know I'm gone."

Nobuyuki removed his hand and exhaled, approaching a bit more. "Why not help him out by going back to the castle? Look…the wild is a dangerous place. You've already been lost for some time, and it will only get colder the further north we go."

Akiko frowned. "No way! I told you, I'm going after my sister, and that's final! And neither you or anyone else is going to stop me!" She held for a moment afterward, then blinked, and looked around from side to side. After a moment, her look turned sheepish.

"Er, incidentally…which way did you say was the trail again?"

The Jolly Bear grimaced. He held up his hands in a beckoning motion. "All in. We need to think for a moment."

At once, the five drew in close and formed a huddle. Akiko, in the meantime, began to look around a bit, making gestures with her hands as if trying to place the direction the Jido no Hogu-sha had come from. A moment later, she began to take off…in the wrong direction.

"What do we do now?" Nobuyuki asked.

"I'm tempted to just say 'leave her and keep going'. She's not our problem." Jiro answered. "But if we bring back Eiko dead or alive only to have Akiko missing, and we find out she got lost and ended up dead, and they find out we ran into her but left her to wander around until she froze…"

"Then we'll have to run her back." Takeshi stated.

"Nakamura only gave us three days." Takara answered. "And the way this terrain is going, not to mention how bad this forest is, we're going to go slow until it clears up. Maybe slower soon since I noticed we're starting to go uphill… I suppose he might give us more time because of this."

Satoru grimaced and gave a bit of a tinkling sound.

"Well, if she decides to ride off again after that, it's not our problem anymore. We'll be too far to run into her." Takeshi responded.

"I don't really feel like delaying us that long, though." Jiro answered. "It took us six hours to get this far and we stopped making good time a while ago. We'll really be making bad time from here on in. She can't go that fast, which means the best chance of getting her back quickly is Nobuyuki, and it'll take him six hours to get back to Arender-ken and six hours to get back. It'll be dark by then, and considering the progressively greater amounts of snow on the ground, it'll probably be snowing. That's fine by me but you other three will probably suffer for it."

"We can't just leave her to freeze." Takara protested. She sighed. "Maybe we should do what she says and take her with us. She seems like she's not too afraid of us. Plus maybe we'll be able to negotiate with Eiko more if she's along…"

"True, but she'll really slow us down." Nobuyuki answered. "She may still look full of energy after walking around for two hours on her own, but she could tire any minute. And even if she doesn't, she's not nearly as strong as we are. She couldn't possibly keep up."

Satoru chimed again.

"That's right." Takara maintained, pointing to him. "I'm going to be ground-bound if this forest clears up and we're heading up any freezing mountains, so that means I won't be going too fast myself."

The Jolly Bear thought over what they said for a moment, crossing his arms and rubbing his beard. "Hmm...having her along for Eiko might indeed be a good plan. And if she really did tire along with you two, I could always move you in my other form…"

Jiro groaned. "You really want to bring her with us? In spite of how dangerous this could be and the fact that if she dies on our watch, then we'll definitely be blamed for it?"

Takeshi exhaled. "I don't like it much myself, but I only feel like she's going to be safe if she's with us, and I, for one, want to keep moving." He turned slightly to Jiro. "Why you getting so bent out of shape about her, kenshusei?"

"I'm not getting bent out of shape. I just don't like the idea of having to look out for a clueless mortal noblewoman when we're pressed for time and against an opponent like this. I can't really cut loose with her around. And what if she starts talking about how her feet hurt…taking a hundred breaks…saying how cold she is…"

"She really doesn't seem the type, to be honest." Takeshi frowned. "…If for no other reason than I think she's so clueless and deluded about her own ability she'd try to climb a wall of solid ice and risk breaking every bone in her body before she'd admit it was a problem."

Nobuyuki took the moment to give the Laughing Frost a firmer look. "Now Jiro, be honest. You can tell like the rest of us she's not like the typical noble. She wasn't even mad about us raiding the pantry, yes? Doesn't even seem to know us enough to be scared of our reputation. Do you really want her to suffer harm because we weren't willing to bring her?"

Jiro grimaced. His head turned, and he saw Akiko continuing to wander off in the wrong direction. His face softened a bit and he sighed.

"Hey." He called out. "Hold up. Stick with us. We know our way through the country better."

Immediately, Akiko turned to them with an excited look. "Really? I can come with you?" She chimed, before shaking her head and trying to look more proper. "I mean…very well. I'll accept you five as my royal escort."

The Laughing Frost sighed. "Sometimes I wish I did have a 'frozen heart'...or whatever…" Jiro muttered, but also smiled a bit at Akiko's cover up.

"Best come this way, my lady." Nobuyuki stated. "The trail still lasts a bit longer yet before it fades completely."

To be continued...