Yuki No Megami

by Piccolo Sky

A ROTG/Frozen Crossover, Feudal Japan. When a seemingly-evil ruler brings about eternal winter, the shogun is desperate enough to recruit a band of five supernatual ronin to assassinate her before her curse destroys the country. Yet in the course of the mission, one of the band will discover there's more to the situation, and this mysterious woman, than he can imagine...

4. Yuki no Hime

UPDATE (1/18/2016): Additional editing and cleanup.

---

Tensions, naturally, still ran high at Arender-ken castle. If anything, they were worse than ever. The various nobles and their associated retinues and soldiers had pooled their resources together considering the situation, but none of them liked the fact that they were forced to pretty much wait around and hope for the best. Of course, going out again was nearly suicide considering what happened to the last group, and that ended up leaving them in a state of limbo fearful about what would happen. By now, the rumor had gone out about how the Jido no Hogu-sha themselves had been brought in, but this caused considerable tension as well because everyone had been told to fear them and the power they represented for some time. And since the entire affair was shrouded in a great deal of mystery, to say nothing of what the daimyo was doing in the first place, no one knew what to make of anything. Some thought that the lords had made deals with demons in order to bring the five in. Others thought they were going off to join with the "yuki-onna". And all fears steadily grew worse as it continued to grow colder out…

By now, in spite of the citizenry wanting to stay indoors, Nakamura and Hachiro had been rousing them to start making preparations for winter. And now was a good time. Each day set a new record for coldness, and this evening it was actually beginning to snow a bit as fresh water iced over. That meant work had to be done to cut more firewood and see to whatever livestock was being raised. Certain homes and buildings had to be reinforced for winter weather and whatever boats weren't already in dry dock that could be needed to be before it got too cold or icy to work.

Naturally, those in charge were rather nervous. Nakamura himself had set three days, but he wondered if that in and of itself was too long. Already, he was trying to muster his forces again, this time hoping to bring Itachitoko and whatever other onmyoji he could with him. They needed to leave as soon as the three days were over. To be honest, he wasn't sure whether or not word should be sent to the shogun to muster a larger army himself. After all, if this cold kept spreading and it put the entire nation at risk, then the daimyo would have to be stopped before she created conditions too severe to even reach her. Although how anyone could hope to fight her now, other than the Jido no Hogu-sha, was a mystery…

Everyone was lost in their own thoughts as a result, and everyone was brooding. No one slept easy in spite of the guest rooms being comfortable and, for the moment, warm. An air of uneasiness and anxiety grew with each new flake of snow that fell outside in the middle of summer. No one seemed to notice much of anything unless they were talked to directly. The same went for the upper floor, where the suites for the nobles were located. This was where the shogun's own representatives were located, including Itachitoko.

As he walked along, he gave the occasional nod to a passing guard or noble, but the few that answered him in kind did so absent-mindedly, clearly more preoccupied with the current situation. No one really had much to say at this time or felt too much in the mood for talking unless it involved the next course of action, and this late people were turning in. After all, it probably wasn't going to be much longer before no one would be getting any sleep.

The onmyoji soon reached the door to his own chamber. Only once there did he pause. He straightened his robes and hair style, using the moment to look around, as if to make sure no one was spying on him. After that, he slid the door aside and stepped within. He closed it soon after.

The room was still done up from his own retinue bringing his personal travel effects. However, there were certain portions of it that the onmyoji had done himself. Namely the articles that pertained to his own magical artifacts. He sternly warned both his own men as well as the castle staff not to touch them or even come near them. In fact, his room was off limits, even to the cleaning staff. Now that he was inside himself, however, he looked around a bit, as if assuming there would be an eavesdropper, before looking to the foot of his bed.

A red cloth covered a small chest of sorts there.

He quickly approached it and uncovered it, revealing not only the chest but a double lock on it that required two keys. He removed two from a chain around his neck, hidden under his high-collared clothing, and began to unlock it. Once open, even if one wasn't a fellow onmyoji or magician, they would have been repulsed by what was inside. It smelled of sulphur and looked like a bit of carrion remains fashioned into a foul, heathen idol.

Itachitoko quickly removed this as well as four candles and some incense. He closed the chest after, placed the heathen idol on top of it, arranged the candles and lit them, and finally offered some of the incense in front of it. After that, he dropped into a kneel before the profane symbol, touching his head and palms to the ground in the lowest posture he could muster.

A few moments of silence passed, with a foul, brimstone scent coming from the incense rather than anything sweet, and the candles slowly burning softly…

Then, the idol suddenly began to glow with unearthly, hellish light. The eyes gleamed like red coals and the four candles all blazed forth eight times as strongly, turning them into true plumes of flame. A moment later, a low voice, deep and unearthly, began to speak from the idol.

"Is it done?"

"It is indeed done, my lord." Itachitoko answered, not lifting his head. "I did as you wished. I summoned the Jido no Hogu-sha, and they are going to slay her now."

"Good. How long have they given them to succeed?"

"Three days, the amount I suggested to that dog Nakamura, just as you wished."

"Wonderful…"

"But I've seen her power first-hand, my lord… I have a hard time believing even they can kill her…"

"There is more than one way to wound someone mortally. This is happening exactly as it should be."

"Even with Lady Akiko out there as well?"

"That only ensures success even more than before. Just be sure, in three days time, either have her head before you or notify me with whatever Nakamura is planning. The sooner she is finished…the sooner you will have your reward."

In spite of his head bowed low, Itachitoko's eyes lit up with ravenous greed. At long last…no longer forced to be in the relatively "lowly" position of court magician. No longer having to perform divination and tricks for the emperor. To actually be the emperor, a true emperor…one who would need no shogun to handle his affairs for him. One who would wield the power of gods. He had dreamed of this day ever since he started practicing magic. Ever since he learned it was possible to make covenants with these dark spirits and gain their power as a reward. To think, in less than a week…less than half a week…he would be a living god…

"Is there anything else you need from me?"

"Just contact me again if Nakamura decides to go out. I'll have instructions for you then. Rest assured…the Jido no Hogu-sha will leave the queen 'wounded' even if they fail to kill her, and you will find her much easier prey after that."

---

Unfortunately, the prediction was exactly right. The five, now six, continued onward from there, and the snow continued to get deeper as the temperature continued to drop, not just from the coming winter but also from the setting sun and the uphill march. The trees began to thin out and everyone began to breathe a little harder. Only an hour after meeting with Akiko, it began to snow. It continued to do so progressively harder as they went up. It wasn't too terribly heavy, but mixed with past snowfalls, it wasn't long before they were trudging along through a good foot and a half of it. The fine, powdery stuff, unfortunately.

Akiko, naturally, did the worst out of all of them, even Satoru. However, remarkably enough, she wasn't doing as bad as they thought. She had at least dressed herself very well and got good footwear before departing, and she kept such a good pace that she never shivered. She clearly panted and wheezed at points, but she never asked for a break. That didn't mean she didn't need one, and that they didn't have to stop once or twice, but she never asked to stop. She forced herself to keep an even pace with them too. Jiro and Takeshi were forced to give her at least a bit of credit for that. She wasn't slowing them down much. And once Takara was finally forced to land and get her translucent wings underneath her cape, she didn't slow them down at all.

As the trees thinned and the sun was blotted out by clouds, Akiko looked up while they walked and let out a breath of white mist. The air was filled with thousands upon thousands of puffy flakes, drifting around like clouds of white bees. She seemed almost captivated.

"It's so beautiful…"

Takeshi let out a snort. "Yeah…so long as you're rich with a nice warm castle to live in, plenty of money to spend on clothes and food, and don't have to go out shoveling or trying to grow anything in-"

"Ah, lighten up, you spring hare." Jiro snorted, giving him a rap on the head with his staff to cut it off. "She said it's beautiful and that means it's beautiful."

"I know it's cold and hard sometimes," Akiko added. "But still, it's so…I don't know…magical, it seems. Just watching the snow dancing like that…how it transforms the world into this white, mystical place… It's like nothing is the same now."

Jiro smiled a bit more at this, again crossing his staff behind his head and looking up. "I always thought the same too. I mean…you'd think that's typical for a guy like me. But no, somehow I think I loved winter even before I lost my memory. Sure it's cold and wet, but it's also a time when everything is 'magic' outside. When you can see everything in a new light…when you can walk around outside and feel everything is different and special… Even if you only see it as a season of death or hardship, you can still appreciate the warmer months more for it."

"I still say too damn cold…" The Ghost Hare grumbled.

"Oh, it's really not that bad, Takeshi." Nobuyuki went on. "It is like the rest of nature. Dangerous, but also beautiful. It must be respected as all the things in the natural world. Think…what would the world be if there was only summer?"

"Full of a lot more greenery, I'd think."

"Heh…you're not the first to think that…" He answered, but said no more.

The trees gradually began to fade away, and the trail became so covered with snow that it was impossible to see it any further. Here was where the going became very slow. The snow was still so powdery that it was easy to stumble on stones, rocks, or anything else that wasn't on the trail. They had to move more cautiously to keep from tripping and stumbling. As they went along, the "poofy" flakes gradually faded, being replaced by smaller flakes of snow that came down in more stinging sheets as the wind picked up. When the last of the woods were gone, it really hit them. At this point, Akiko, in spite of not protesting, was getting very tired. She stumbled into the snow more than once, which by now was two feet deep and took some time to get out of again. When she did, she had snow in her clothes and had to shake and beat herself off before she could keep going. Satoru couldn't possibly move anymore in this, and once again had to be carried by Nobuyuki. Takara couldn't fly in the snow, and Takeshi was ground bound too. Only Jiro was still casually taking it in stride, letting the increasing wind make him drift in circles around the group. Yet eventually, when the sun went down and both darkness and the temperature fell, they all began to shiver except for Jiro and Nobuyuki.

"We should probably take shelter for the night." Takara said in between shudders.

"Sure you want to quit so soon today?" Jiro casually asked. "We only have two days after this."

"I'm afraid it's too cold on our friends, kenshusei." Nobuyuki stated. "And Satoru does not like being carried. By tomorrow, this snow will be packed enough for him to walk on."

"But where can we stay?" Akiko called. "We're already above the trees."

"Not to worry." Takeshi answered. "I can hear the wind echoing just a bit further…"

Akiko didn't know what he meant by that, but soon found out when not much longer the group ran into a shrine along the mountainside. It was already well covered with the heavy snowfall, and it was dark inside, not maintained in the least, but it would provide sanctuary from the wind and snow. The group went in immediately on arrival and spread their things out. The Jido no Hogu-sha had taken the precaution of packing some light sources with them and began to light them. After that, any blankets, capes, cloaks or covers they had with them were spread out on the floor and around some of the cracks to provide insulation before moving around. Akiko was a bit reluctant, but soon found that Nobuyuki put out such a large amount of heat that even without a fire it grew much more pleasant and warm inside. She ended up loosening some of her own thick clothing and taking off her hat.

As the five sat down with her and began to get into the stores of food and drink, she saw Nobuyuki setting down his massive swords. She turned her head a bit at them. "You know, I don't really get why you bring those swords everywhere. I mean…they're too big even for you."

"Heh…perhaps I like the security, eh?" Nobuyuki simply answered as he got out a bag of tea cakes and started stuffing his face.

Akiko looked to the others, and then grinned a bit.

"This is kind of fun, actually. Camping out in a shrine in the middle of a magical winter… Hanging out with a gang of yokai… This is the kind of adventure I would have loved when I was a little girl."

A few of the others smiled back as they got out their food and began to eat a bit. Akiko looked to them for a moment, seeing them eat and drink, and her smile faded a little. She looked down to herself, and put a hand on her own stomach. A small noise came from it, which caused Takeshi's ear to shift, and him to stop in the middle of his drinking from the sake cask and grimace. Nobuyuki, who was the next closest, also looked a bit to her. Satoru, Takara, and Jiro were all far on the others side and kept eating, although they soon noticed the others. After a moment, Akiko looked up a bit, and formed a sheepish grin.

"Er, I don't suppose any of you have any spare food on you that you could spare, do you?"

Takeshi let his cask fall and groaned. "For the love of… Did you plan at all for a long trip?"

"I…kind of thought I'd be back in Arender-ken by dark." Akiko answered with a sheepish shrug. "I was on a horse, you know."

The others had stopped by now and frowned. As for Takeshi, he sighed, rolled his eyes, and then did something strange. He held up two fingers, brought them in front of him, and made a bit of a gesture, drawing some symbol on the air. Once done, he took up his liquor again and resumed drinking.

Akiko blinked, and looked uneasy. "So…um…that's a no?"

Takeshi sighed. "Take a look around you."

The young noblewoman blinked but looked around a bit. She saw nothing at first. Yet as she leaned back a bit, she felt a lump of some sort. She turned and realized something was under her cape. She dug under it and a moment later, to her wide-eyed surprise, she brought out a rather large egg almost the size of a bucket painted with vibrant colors. She was astonished.

Takara grinned on seeing it. Jiro looked up from his fish and snickered. "How 'bout that… I guess you really are a 'child at heart' if it was able to work on you. When's the last time you've seen Takeshi's power work on someone her age, Nobuyuki?"

"Heh…perhaps two hundred years ago, at best." The Jolly Bear answered.

Akiko ignored this, looking over the egg, holding it up and turning it around. However, her gloved hands slipped on it, and with a grimace she watched as it went out of her grip and crashed to the ground, cracking open. Yet on doing so, she was astonished to see a great deal of steam come out, followed by what looked like small pastries inside. She blinked, and then leaned her head over and smelled. Her face lit up.

"Pork buns! My favorite!" She snatched one up and immediately began to eat it. "Mmm! I've never tasted one so good before! That's an awesome trick!"

Takeshi couldn't help but give a hint of a smile as he took another swig. "You're welcome."

"But I don't get it…" She said around a mouthful of bun as she grabbed another one. "How come you didn't just do this before? You can have all the tasty food you want…"

"No, I can't." The Ghost Hare responded. "My power doesn't work like that. It's more selective than you think. It depends on a number of things, but the greatest of them is childlike hope. The hope that only a child can have for the future."

"The fact that it worked on you means that you must have the faith of a child." Takara explained. "You must really honestly believe when we find Eiko everything will work out just fine."

"Of course it will. Why wouldn't it?" Akiko answered as she stuffed her face with another bun.

Nobuyuki laughed. "Is that so? I am glad to have a 'child at heart' with us. We're at our best in such times."

The young woman looked to him. "Oh?"

"Not enough to have just a little hope." Nobuyuki went on. "If you had only a little, then maybe that egg would have only had bread in it. Or porridge. But because you are bursting with hope, it was filled with your favorite food. Same with me." He patted his big chest. "For me, childlike wonder is what gives me my power. Only I don't give eggs with treats. I give gifts. See now…look under your right arm."

"Huh?" The young lady answered, turning her head down. "I don't…"

She cut herself off with a gasp. Putting down…rather dropping…her latest pork bun, she quickly spun to her side and came up a moment later with what looked like a small yet ornate doll of a child with nearly-white hair. She stared at it in amazement.

"This…this is just like the doll my mom gave to me when I was younger…when she and dad had dolls of Eiko and me made… I thought I broke this years ago when I dropped it down the stairs, but it's exactly like how I remember… It looks just like her when she was younger…" She blinked, and then turned and looked up to Nobuyuki. "Did you just conjure this too?"

"Heh, oh no…I made it." The big man answered.

Akiko looked puzzled. "Huh? But you couldn't have. You didn't have time and-"

"When the person I'm making the gift for has enough wonder, I can be, how shall we say, quite fast. A blink of an eye or a nod of a head, even." Nobuyuki answered. "Why…Takara says I could make gifts for all the children of the world in a year if there was enough wonder in it."

Akiko, now more enthused, looked to Takara. "What about you? What's your power?"

She smiled. "I don't need to give you that one, Akiko. You already have it. You know I'm big on teeth, but there's a good reason for that. When a child loses a tooth, they lose a copy of themselves, in a way, with it. An impression of their mind and even their spirit goes with it. New teeth come in, and those are ones for an adult, when a child becomes a newer person. Stronger, wiser…but also lacking in a lot of the innocence they once had. Not having as much optimism or desire to change the world for the better. Losing sight of things that are really important." She smiled a bit more. "That's why I collect the teeth of children. When I have them, I can make an adult remember what it was like when they were a child…when things were simpler, when choosing good over evil seemed so much easier a choice to make in spite of how hard it might have been, when the world was still new and they could see things in the light of an innocent child. It's very important to some people. Those memories sometimes draw them out of dark places or despair or simply apathy."

The young woman hung on every word, and then looked to Satoru. "And what do you do?"

Satoru opened his mouth and let out a large tinkling sound.

Jiro snickered. "I'll translate. Satoru's specialty is dreams. Some people say that dreams are there only to seduce, tempt, and deceive you, and sometimes that's true. But it also helps you to see something besides the hardness of reality. They allow you to reshape your world and see it in a new light. They give you hope and happiness for the future rather than depression and fear." He waved his hand a bit. "Lots of other poetic stuff I don't care to repeat, but suffice to say Satoru's power is the essence of belief itself. Dreams are what make you see the impossible. Sometimes they come true, but even if they don't some dreams are worth having and pursuing simply because they're better than what is."

Akiko smiled at him. "And what about you? What's yours?"

Jiro's own smile faded. Not only his, but everyone else's as well. All of them began to look a bit uncomfortable. Akiko began to grimace a little.

"Um…did I say something wrong?"

Jiro didn't answer. He simply crossed his staff over his shoulder and bowed his head. The others looked likewise uneasy. Akiko, growing more uncomfortable herself all the time, moistened her lips, and looked to Nobuyuki as she put the doll down.

"Er…um…Nobuyuki-san? You were about to say something earlier when we were walking? About Takeshi-san not being the first to think that?"

"Hmm?" He answered, raising his head. However, it seemed to snap him out of the quietness. "Oh…oh yes. Heh, it reminded me of an old story. Even old by yokai. It goes back to before there were many men or women out there. My grandfather told me, and his grandfather told him, and his grandfather told him."

By now, the others were easing up a bit. Akiko, eager for this to continue, spoke again. "What's the story?"

The big man leaned back a bit. "Let me see… How did it go? Oh… You see…many years ago…long before any living yokai was born…when men first walked the Earth, they saw that there was light and dark; summer and winter. They went out to grow their food and catch fish, and in the summer things were good. But when winter came and froze everything, they could not grow or fish. Because humans were so young and they were not as accustomed to winter yet, they hated this. They grew to dislike it…even angry at it. They loved the summer and the sun, but hated the winter, the cold, and the dark. They made pleas to the gods again and again to give them endless day and summer sun so that they could grow all year long and have more than enough food. But the gods refused to answer them at all.

"Finally, there was a fire demon who heard the moaning and complaining of the people and, in exchange for tribute and prayers to him, agreed to give them what they wished. Thinking only of their greed to have no end to light and warmth, the people foolishly consented, abandoning the gods and praying to him instead. In turn, he made a second sun that would provide warmth all day and light every time the first went down. There was sun and warmth at all times, and the people rejoiced and cried for joy.

"But the joy did not last. With the second sun up, no clouds ever formed. Only the sun all day long. The people, so used to night for sleeping, now lay awake in bed unable to rest. They grew tireless. The heat lasted all day, and never did they get the slightest relief from it as it stayed warm at all times. As the sun continued to burn, it grew hot. No rain would fall. Soon the crops began to dry up for lack of water. Then so did the streams and lakes. The people began to languish from the endless light and heat, unable to get any respite. The land began to go from green to brown and dry, and grew hotter and warmer as time went on. The people suffered and cried out for relief to the demon, but he would not hear their pleas. Nor did he want to, for his kind of folk grew strong and fat off of the suffering of mankind. Finally, the heat grew so unbearable that dried out plants burst into flame. Not long after so did the homes. Soon there would be no shade and all of the people and animals would burst into flame as well.

"Only here did a single young woman fall on her knees and beg forgiveness of the gods for human laziness and foolishness. She knew now, as they all did, that snow, rain, cold, and dark were necessary to live as was the sun. And while the rest of the humans were too prideful even now to admit their wrong to the gods, she pleaded with them to have pity. In response, the winter kami came forth and immediately covered the earth in such a blizzard that it snuffed out the second sun and banished the fire demon. As for the world, it was buried in snow and dark for an entire year to give relief from the accursed sun, before day finally broke again and melted the snow to refill the rivers and lakes once again. Having been punished twice for their idleness, mankind vowed never to wish for something so rash again, and learned to accept all seasons, not just the pleasant ones."

Akiko seemed to enjoy the story a lot, and chuckled once it was done. "That young woman kind of reminds me of Eiko…except, you know, your story happened thousands of years ago and Eiko is just three years older than me…"

"Heh…even among yokai, this is mostly just a fairy tale." Nobuyuki answered. "A warning against thinking you can get away without taking the bad with the good or, more importantly, seeing the good in the bad."

"We'll see how much even you like winter tomorrow." Takeshi frowned. "I'm starting to hope it levels out pretty soon, but I think it's going to get worse before that. My feet are fine but when the wind started blowing I couldn't stand this happening to…my extremities. I think I'm going to have to put them under my hood…"

Akiko turned her head to him curiously. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

Immediately, he clammed up and recoiled. Jiro cracked a grin.

"…Nothing."

"Oh, come on." Jiro teased. "You planning on hiding it the whole time? I know they have to be getting itchy…"

Takeshi grit his teeth at him, but finally sighed.

"They are, as a matter of fact." He looked to Akiko soon after. "If I do this, you don't laugh and don't say anything."

The young noblewoman didn't really know what he was talking about, but gave a shrug. "Um, ok. Sure."

"I'm serious!" He nearly snapped.

Akiko recoiled. "Ok, ok! No problem!" She said as she put her hands up defensively.

Takeshi grimaced at her a bit longer. Finally, letting out a big sigh, he reached up to his hood. Grabbing the edge of it, he pulled it off. As he did, however, the ears were pulled through holes in it, and when the hood was fully removed it still had a pair of fluffy ears sticking out the top of his head, and only blank spots where human ears would have been. He grimaced as they twitched slightly.

Akiko stared for a moment, her body quivering, struggling not to make the slightest giggle. Her lips began to twist a bit, but she quickly covered her mouth. After a moment, she swallowed down and began to speak. "Oh…that is so cu-"

Takeshi's eyes shot daggers.

"I mean, that's interesting!" She choked out with a smile.

Takeshi grimaced as he leaned back. "Oh, everyone thinks it's cool looking whenever you run into a cat yokai…or a dog yokai…or a wolf yokai… But a hare yokai? Oh, they just look funny. You know how hard it is to get taken serious in a fight when everyone is laughing at your ears?"

"Hey, it's not so bad." Akiko shrugged. "Kids like to pet them, don't they?"

"I wouldn't know. I don't let anyone touch them."

"He's big on his 'image'." Jiro threw in. "My guess is you'll never see him the same away again." He chuckled. "I know I sure don't."

The Ghost Hare blustered.

"Alright, alright," Nobuyuki spoke up. "Let us not stay up all night arguing. You're right about one thing. It will get colder tomorrow and yet we will have more ground to cover. Everyone will need their strength."

---

You can't expect me to sit here and watch you die forever!

You have to! It's never going to change!

---

Jiro stiffened as his eyes shot open, spasming a bit. For a young man who always made things cold, one wouldn't think it would be possible to wake up "with a chill", but he felt a bit of coldness in the pit of his stomach as he came alert.

It was late now. The snow was still falling outside, but the inside of the shrine was dark. Jiro saw that he had one corner all to himself. Not surprising. Awake or asleep, morning, noon, or night, Jiro always generated cold. He actually had a layer of frost around where he had been lying. The others had mostly surrounded Akiko, and Nobuyuki had given her his own black-fur-trimmed travel cape and the cloak he picked up from Arender-ken to sleep in. It was only partially out of chivalry. The woman had neglected to bring anything of the sort with her other than her clothes. However, Jiro almost immediately looked to someone different: Takara.

After a moment, he rolled up from where he lay and went over to her. He grasped her shoulder and gave a shake.

"Takara." He said quietly.

She moaned a bit, but said no more.

"Takara." He said a bit more loudly.

She moaned again, but still nothing.

"Takara. Wake up."

She stirred one more time, and then her eyes fluttered. "Mmm…Jiro?" Her eyes opened, blinked a few times, and looked around. "Jiro…it's still dark… What's the matter?"

"I need you to try and use your power on me again. Right now."

Takara blinked again, but then gave him a dull look.

"Jiro…it's the middle of the night…"

"I know, but this won't wait. I just had that dream again."

The woman looked up a bit, some of her feathers raising. "You did?" She paused afterward. "…Even so, go back to sleep. I can try again in the morning." She began to roll over.

"No, Takara! I don't want to wait!" He insisted, putting his hand on her. "Please, try again right now!"

"I'm not at my best…"

"Just one more time!"

The woman held a moment, and then gave a long sigh. It wasn't of acquiescence. While normally child-like and excitable, Takara looked to him with a firmer, duller expression.

"Jiro…I don't want to have to be blunt with you, but you might as well hear it now. I can't bring back your memory. No matter how bad you want me to."

Jiro remained insistent. "Please…"

"Jiro, I've tried this at least two dozen times. It won't work."

His eager look suddenly vanished, replaced by one of irritation…even anger.

"Why won't it?" He nearly snapped, his voice almost raising in enough volume to wake up the others. He leaned back and sat on the ground, clenching his teeth and his hands into fists. It was enough to make Takara blink, and lean up more from her own position. "You're supposed to have power over memory! Why can't you bring back mine?"

The Tooth Dragon leaned up a bit more, looking at Jiro uneasily. She could see the pain in his face, the frustration and anger about this situation. She had seen it many times before, but her nature didn't make her pity him any less for it. She sat up fully and exhaled, folding her hands in front of her.

"I'm sorry, but I can't force people to remember things. Not against their will."

"What are you talking about?" The Laughing Frost retorted. "I want to remember! I want to more than anything!"

Takara shut her eyes and sighed, slowly shaking her head. "That's only your amnesiac self talking. But somewhere deep inside your mind, underneath your conscious self, you don't. That's the only reason my power won't work. Jiro…whatever happened to you to make you lose your memory; it had to be something horrible. Something extremely painful. So painful that if you try and remember who you are, you'll remember that as well, and your mind desperately doesn't want to."

The pale young man scowled. "…Then whoever I was before must have been a real wimp…if the 'real me' is so much of a coward he's willing to spend the rest of his life not knowing who he is or where he's going to spare himself a few tears."

"It's much more serious than that, Jiro." The woman responded. "If you can't remember, then it has to be something that could ruin you completely. It might destroy you."

"I'll take that chance. It's better than always feeling alone and meaningless."

"You're not alone. You have us…"

"But I'm not one of you!" Jiro insisted, his anger abating and turning to more anxiety. "I was just 'drafted'! You took me in, but I wasn't one of you! I wasn't a human who got killed and then had the moon god bring them back as something else! And if I was, why can't I remember like you can? You all remember being human…"

"It won't be forever, Jiro." Takara tried to reassure. "I know it won't. You just have to reach the point in your life where it won't hurt as much…or where remembering is more important than anything else."

"Remembering is the only thing important to me!" He insisted. "Why can't I know now?"

The Tooth Dragon didn't answer, for she had none to give. She merely sat there silently, looking to Jiro with concern and compassion, but able to give little else other than a listening ear. The young man sighed and continued to sit there for a time, but finally grimaced and looked away.

"…Sorry for waking you up. It was stupid of me. Just…just had another dream where I almost remembered something…"

"I understand. Don't worry about it." A pause. "Want me to get Satoru up? He'll give you some pleasant dreams…"

The young man shook his head. "No thanks." He said before beginning to crawl back to where he had been sleeping. "I'll be better tomorrow…when I start giving that 'snow queen' conniption fits trying to stop me…"

"You sure?"

Jiro hesitated, but managed a small smile. He gave her a nod. "Yeah. Thanks."

She softly smiled back. "No problem. I care about you, Jiro." She snickered a bit. "Nice having a young fellow like you in our group. And your teeth are the whitest I've ever seen. You know how I love clean teeth."

The Laughing Frost snickered again. "And I kind of like that obsession of yours, even if it is a bit demented."

"Dragons have that sort of thing going on."

"I'll just bet. Goodnight."

---

The next morning wasn't a very welcome sight.

The snow was still fine and still coming down steadily, enough to where six inches of it had mounded up to start spilling into the room. Outside, the shrine was rapidly being turned into a snowdrift. And it was still quite cold out. Akiko, Takara, Satoru, and Takeshi had been warm enough nestled into small little bundles and lying close together, but waking up this morning brought a rather sharp chill to all of them as they got up and tried to get the blood moving. They ate rather quickly this morning.

"Have to get a move on fast today…" Takeshi muttered. "Hopefully she's not too much farther. I don't think those men of Nakamura's could have gone much more."

"I hope you're right." Jiro added as he looked outside. "I love a good snowstorm as much as the next…er…whatever I am, but this is the kind that's looking a bit more problematic." He looked indoors. "It's likely packed enough for Satoru and Akiko to walk on. Still…it would be nice if we had some snowshoes…"

"My wings are going to be so brittle they'll feel like breaking off by the end of the day…" Takara sighed.

"You got one good thing on your side though." Takeshi stated as he got his hood back on his head. "You're better at breathing than the rest of us. When the high elevations start dragging Nobuyuki and Jiro down, you'll still be good."

"Yeah, if I can stop myself from shivering long enough to get out my jitte…"

"Alright, done!" Akiko said as she finished wiping her mouth from the last of the morning's food, which had been onigiri this time in one of Takeshi's eggs. "Now let's get out there and find Eiko!"

The Laughing Frost snickered. "You heard the lady. Let's get a move on, you thin-skinned louts."

A few minutes later, and everyone had loaded up and trudged out into the snow. By now, the landscape was so covered that it was impossible to make out almost any features other than the mountains and hills. Not that it mattered. They had left the trees behind already, and now it was packed enough on the lowest layers to keep them from bumping their feet or tripping on roots and rocks. Still, it was deep, and it was hard for the weaker members to trudge through. And the snow was still coming down heavily enough that you couldn't see more than fifty meters in front of you. Not to mention they still had to go uphill. Jiro knew right on that this was going to be a hard day. There was little reason to suspect Eiko wasn't still miles away from here, perhaps on the other side of a few mountains, but at the rate they went when they took off, he knew full well if she didn't show up quickly they were going to be in trouble. They were very slow going starting out, and there was no way Akiko would be able to stay with them even if she didn't complain or stop.

Still, they had only gone about a half mile up the mountain, reaching a much more level area which enabled them to move faster, before Nobuyuki pointed out the obvious.

"I'm afraid, given the time limit that we have been granted, we will all not be able to reach wherever Lady Eiko is currently residing in time."

"Oh, that's not a problem!" Akiko cheerily answered. "I'll make sure you guys don't get any trouble for being late."

"While I appreciate the sentiment," Takeshi answered. "Nakamura already overruled you once. I think he and Itachitoko would be more than willing to do so again. Sorry, but we're stuck with three days."

"You know what that means, right?" Jiro added. "I guess the rest of you will be leaving this to Nobuyuki and me. Better if you just head back to that shrine and hunker down until the 'spring thaw'."

"Just you wait a second, kenshusei." Takeshi shot back, suddenly stopping in his tracks and turning around to face him. "You haven't forgotten my power, have you? Not only will that be good in a snap but if I start using it instead of walking, I'll be faster than the rest of you lickety split."

"And you're nuts if you think I'm backing down!" Akiko insisted. "I have to make sure you all don't try and hurt Eiko!"

"I don't want to be left behind either!" Takara insisted. "I thought you said I had an advantage at higher elevations?"

Satoru, in spite of being up to his waist in snow at the moment, frowned and let out an angry chiming noise.

"Oh, come on, everyone. Don't be like that." Nobuyuki answered. "It's just too slow for all of us to go."

"Well you may be 'cold-tolerant', Nobuyuki. But I'm the faster of the two." Takeshi insisted. "If you're trying to get to her on time, then I should go."

"And I'll go without you all if I have to." Akiko shot back.

"Oh, come on…" Jiro groaned. "Don't make us all go just to babysit you…"

"I don't need your protection!" The noblewoman insisted.

"Oh, sure…that's why you needed us for both food and shelter over the past day…" The Laughing Frost answered with an eye roll.

A tingling sound went out.

"Everyone be calm." Nobuyuki stated. "Arguing is just going to make things worse. Look, we will-"

A loud whistle cut the big man off, and made everyone look to the source. They saw Takara grinning a bit and waving her hand, removing her fingers from her mouth with the other. Satoru sighed in relief, looking like he had been stressed out until then.

"Sorry, everyone. But I kept an eye on Satoru in case he needed to get our attention again."

Jiro blinked. "Huh…good move. Anyway…" He looked to him. "What is it, big guy?"

In response, the tension of trying to get their attention quickly vanished, and was replaced by more anxiety as the Sand Moth showed them something in the distance.

For a moment, they saw only the flying snow coming down so steadily that it made the world around them vanish into gray. Yet as they continued to stand there, they saw a change: a large, looming shadow within it. Not only that, but it soon became fairly clear that the shadow was drawing nearer. Jiro lost his smile, drew his staff out, and crossed it in front of him, even as the others similarly got ready. Takara drew her jitte and risked getting back in the air again with a flutter. Takeshi's kunai was up as he primed himself to throw it. Nobuyuki didn't touch his swords, but instead got himself into ready position with his fists at his sides. Even Satoru reached for his own belt and undid a pair of pouches, reaching inside for something. That left Akiko, who tried to look bold for a moment, only to realize she had no weaponry, and with a sigh moved to get behind Nobuyuki.

As for the shape, it continued to get closer. The sound of its movements gradually became audible over the flying snow. They weren't "pleasant sounding". Rather, it was the sound of one huge foot after another crunching into the snow. A bit closer, and the ground actually shook a bit. Yet that only figured...not due to the one shadow, but rather due to the fact that five other shadows of similar size began to appear in the snowstorm as well. Around that point, the first began to manifest itself.

To be honest, the Jido no Hogu-sha were as amazed as Akiko was.

In the strictest sense of the word, it was a snowman. However, it was a snowman made out of densely packed snow and jagged ice together, and had been made to stand at twelve feet fall and ten feet wide. It was clad in what looked like ornate, royal armor, all made of ice and snow as well. It also bore in two icy, armored fists a pair of axes. They looked slightly dulled, but they would still hurt if something that huge slapped you with them and were more than capable of being fatal. The face, however, was the worse. While most masks designed to instill fear would resemble oni, this one was of a more frightening visage of some sort of ice demon, complete with large, sharp teeth. Two pale blue lights glowed from where the eyes were.

As it came through enough snow to see the group, it let out a low growl that echoed long throughout the entire valley. It hefted the axes and picked up speed. Soon, the other five began to come out of the snow…and with more following them.

"Seems like your sister has some samurai of her own…" Jiro muttered.

"Er…I thought when they mentioned a 'giant' earlier, they were just exaggerating…" Takara gulped.

"Feh. You know what they say…" Takeshi answered as he flipped his knife into a ready position and cocked back. "The bigger they are…"

A moment later, he let it fly. Just as back in the village, in instantly began to spin around like a cutter boomerang, and shot straight for the one in the lead. It arced as it did so, so that a moment later it could shoot about and slice right through the neck region. The large snow ogre paused for a moment, spasming a bit as the knife sent out an eruption of snow both at the point of contact and through the other side when it came out and circled back to Takeshi…but that was all. The light in its eyes blazed, and it suddenly let out a much louder roar to the tune of ice spikes on its armor growing and its blades getting sharper.

Takeshi was a bit wide-eyed. Jiro frowned.

"…The more angry they get when you do something stupid to make them mad?"

Nobuyuki's eyes narrowed as he put his hands together and began to crack his knuckles. "We'll actually have to put everything into this one, I am thinking…" He muttered. "Lady Akiko, stay back and keep your distance."

"I can help!" She tried to insist.

"Help by not forcing any of us to rescue you!" Takeshi retorted as his kunai flew back into his hands.

"Akiko, do as Takeshi says this time." Takara added, in a quieter but still forceful voice. "This is going to be dangerous."

The noblewoman continued to protest, but no one was paying attention at this point; simply hoping she did as she was told. Jiro had already sprung into the air and wielded his staff before him.

"Alright, Takeshi. Let's see how fast these guys are."

In a snap, he took off, flying for the nearest one. He didn't go in a perfectly straight path. Rather, his body seemed to drift about along with the flying snow, matching it as he spiraled and twisted casually one way and another in a constant state of motion, but also headed for the target. As for Takeshi, he was more subtle. He simply stamped his foot against the ground where Nobuyuki cast a shadow, and fell into a "hole" a moment later.

The nearest snow ogre, seeing Jiro incoming, quickly dashed forward and bellowed again, raising his axes to attack as soon as he was in range. Yet just before Jiro could get close enough, he swung the end of his staff forward and made a lining of rime and ice crystals appear right across the vision of the beast. Apparently, in spite of their constitution, that worked to blind them because this one staggered forward wildly, not able to see what was happening. In the meantime, Takeshi popped out of the shadow behind it and sliced out with his kunai again, this time going for where the hamstrings would be. While it didn't seem to do lasting damage, the cuts he made maintained themselves for a moment, and the effect seemed to be the same as muscles before the beast slammed down against the snow face first.

Takeshi only had a moment to relish his victory before a bellowing, enraged snowbeast like the first stomped forward and tried to slice at him from behind. Luckily, these things were far from quiet, and the Ghost Hare snapped around, quickly tapped his foot, and vanished into the snow ogre's own shadow. His axe hit nothing, even as Takeshi popped back out of a hole from a shadow on his shoulder. The beast went wide eyed, and turned in confusion to see him perched there, a moment before his foot went out with terrible force and smashed in his head. Several ice teeth of the mask were knocked out; along with a third of the snowbeast's head. Yet in spite of that, it roared with what was left of its mouth and sliced at him with his other arm. In response, Takeshi vanished in another hole and popped up out of its other shoulder, but before he could aim another kick, a third snow ogre stomped up to him and swung his arm out to try and slice him with his axe. Quickly, Takeshi tapped his foot again and vanished, allowing this one to slice the arm off of his companion instead. He himself popped out of a hole behind the third one, and then quickly leapt and launched a double kick with enough power to crack the ice armor and send him spilling forward.

The other three were on Jiro already, for all the good it did them. Moving smoothly, effortlessly, and never slowing for a second, he spiraled around the three in, out, around, and every which way, as chaotic and effortless as a flake of snow itself. They all tried to swing at him, of course, but it did no good. It was like trying to smack a feather or a fly. He just seemed to ride the wind around them and was left cheerfully smiling and waving at them. He let them continue to rage and fume for a few moments, struggling in vain to hit him again and again, getting more erratic and moving harder and faster, when he finally struck. As he shot around, his staff went out and pointed for their feet. One by one, he encased each pair of legs in thick ice, and then, once done, he widened his "orbit" a bit. The snow ogres tried to hit him and, in response, snapped all of their legs clean off one by one, letting them all fall to the ground and flail. They roared in rage, but that didn't change the fact they were crippled.

"Heh!" Jiro cheered as he landed on the ground and braced his staff for the next wave. "Big, slow, and stupid…just the way I like 'em."

Takeshi, who was already backing up and priming his kunai for another whirl, didn't look nearly so confident as he stood over the remains of the snow ogre that was missing an arm and half of its head. His eyes were already above and looking to the next wave of incoming snow ogres; each one looking madder than the first wave.

"Don't get too cocky yet, kid. The fight's just getting-"

A smacking sound rang out, cutting Takeshi off. Jiro's confident look faded a bit as he looked to him and went a bit wide-eyed. The snow ogre that should have been dead actually raised its one remaining arm and smashed it into Takeshi so abruptly and fast that the Ghost Hare had actually gotten tagged for once, and sent flying back and crashing to the ground. Jiro looked back to the monster in surprise, and got an even nastier one. It was drawing snow to itself...rebuilding. Its face was reconstituting, and its arm was rejoining its body. The others that were injured began to rise too.

In fact, Jiro soon found himself having to take to the air and fly back again, for his own opponents had reconnected their legs during his distraction, and one lunged for him as the others around it began to rise. He quickly had to shoot backward, riding the wind again to get clear, and even so it nearly managed to cut him with its axe.

This could be more problematic… The pale man thought. However, that wasn't the half of it when the one who had tried to slice him immediately got to his feet and started to stomp after him, hoisting both axes and roaring all the way. Not only it, but other snow ogres behind it. Getting a bit tensed up, but not yet worried, Jack quickly swept his staff around to the side, and then began to twirl it in circles. In response, snowballs began to form and shoot out repeatedly at the monster's face. However, they weren't conventional snowballs that would just annoy and hurt a bit before breaking apart. These ones were compressed into more of an "iceball" nature, and the impacts actually fractured armor and knocked off pieces of the opponents, forcing them to halt and stagger back.

Unfortunately for Jiro, while this worked enough to protect himself, no one was protecting the stunned Takeshi. As the Ghost Hare struggled to rise, three of the snow ogres were running after him to keep pounding on him, and one was already almost on him. Before he had enough of his bearings to know what was going on, it was already there and bringing its axe down…

When, abruptly, Nobuyuki shot in front of him and slammed both of his massive palms around the ice blade, catching it where it was. The hulking man quickly twisted the rest of his body in front of Takeshi and planted his feet, his swords still at his side, and grunted and strained to keep the blade catch going. The hooded man came to his senses and looked up, took only a moment to react in shock, and then quickly tapped his foot to vanish into the Jolly Bear's shadow. But even before he did, Nobuyuki gave a grunt and shoved the axe to one side, letting it fall to the ground and embed on nothing. Another snow ogre roared and came on him, also with axe in the air. Yet for this one he shot forward and intercepted it, grabbing it by both axe-wielding wrists and digging his feet into the snow. In spite of that, even the bear of a man couldn't hold on completely. He was forced back, digging trenches into the powder and visibly straining and grunting under his much larger opponent. Yet somehow, he still managed to hold on. The two grappled for a moment, the monster snarling frost in his face and Nobuyuki gritting his teeth and hanging on as hard as he could. Finally he gave a yell and forced the arms up, before he shot inward and gave a colossal headbutt to the monster. In spite of being made of snow, somehow this stunned it and made it go back. Yelling again, the Jolly Bear swing out a massive fist and punched its lower helmet and jaw clean off, sending it sprawling back on the ground to the tune of a thunderous echo.

More of the snow ogres moved in on him, seeing him as the new biggest target. Large as he was, he couldn't hope to take out multiple ones. Five were spreading around him but more were coming out of the snow flurries all the time. Another eight were popping out right now, their weapons naked and bellowing all the way.

Yet they were suddenly halted before they could get closer to Nobuyuki, as if a bit puzzled, and looked down at their feet.

A small golden object was approaching them: the Sand Moth, his odd little face turned into a frown and glaring dangerously and silently at them.

The nearest snow ogres stayed put a moment longer before they hoisted their weapons and barreled right at him. Without blinking or showing any fear, Satoru yanked two scythes out of his pockets, and then snapped his hands out. Instantly, they extended almost ten meters by lengths of what looked like chains made out of gold moth scales, and solid balls appeared on the other end; making them a pair of deadly, golden kusarigamas. With a few flicks of his wrist and gyrations of his arms, Satoru swung one up in a graceful arc and lashed out, slicing a deep cut from the shoulder to the hip of the nearest snow ogre. The monster actually registered shock as the power not only ripped it in two but shattered what was behind into pieces. The other snow ogres actually froze momentarily, which was a bad move as with another gesture, Satoru's second sickle and chain sliced one into bits, and a follow up lash from his first split another down the middle. The others actually recoiled a bit at that. The little one, in spite of his seemingly harmless stature, soon seemed to actually be the most dangerous of the Jido no Hogu-sha.

Meanwhile, Takara flew in and tried to attack those going after Jiro. Unfortunately for her, in spite of her speed and maneuverability, no teeth were exposed; simply what was on the masks. As she darted in and tried to hit them, the monsters merely bellowed before trying to backhand her out of the sky like a bug, and nearly getting her more than once. The downdraft of their fists alone was enough to nearly catch her up.

"I need some help here!" She called. "I can't get to the teeth!"

"I've got it!" Takeshi yelled back, by now back on his feet and resuming his hole tricks. He hopped into one to avoid a charging snow ogre, and on popping out again he flung his kunai toward a swarm of them trying to attack the Tooth Dragon. Obeying his gesture perfectly, the knife went around and proceeded to shatter the facemasks of each beast, leaving behind equally cruel mouths with "real" ice teeth. Takara flew over one axe swing, and darted in to smash her jitte into one of the teeth of the wielder. Not only did it break it, the monster bellowed in agony and fell back. She quickly moved in to the next exposed one.

Having gained some breathing room, Jiro quickly took to the air, getting more altitude over the snow ogres. He whipped up his staff around him once again, swinging it in a circle and making a ring of ten long icicles form about him, then brought his staff forward to send them all shooting down and tear into a pair of other snow ogres. As he did this, he took a moment to look over the area that they were now fighting in and didn't like what he saw.

In spite of Satoru getting serious, which was rare enough for Jiro, the snow ogres were still putting themselves back together. His were taking more time, but the ones that Jiro and the others were taking down were coming back up in moments. Not only that, but more were still flooding into the battlefield from the storm, which was only seeming to grow stronger. What more, Nobuyuki was getting dogpiled on. Strong and tough as he was, four of them were attacking at a time. Even right now, he saw him backhand one, and another lunge at him only for the Jolly Bear to lean into him and flip him over his body, crashing him into another snow ogre, but leaving himself open for one to swing its axe out and hit him in the arm joint. For a moment, Jiro actually gasped, thinking he had taken his arm off. But fortunately, the axes were still dull and Nobuyuki's skin was hard. Nevertheless, he cried in pain…something extremely rare…and left himself open for another ogre to punch him across the face into his companions, who hit him from behind.

Yet Jiro soon had problems of his own to worry about. While he was so busy focused on the snow ogres attacking Nobuyuki, he failed to notice the ones on the ground put away their axes and aimed their fists at him. Not very threatening on its own, until small ice spears with barbed heads erupted from the end and shot out for him with the speed of a crossbow bolt. The stunned young man had to quickly brace his staff in front of him and generate an ice shield to deflect them, but even then the impact was so great he felt his arms jarring and himself getting forced back.

He wasn't alone. Takara was getting fired at as well, being the other airborne one among them and having the greatest impact on her opponents by crippling whatever spirits they had. Yet unlike Jiro, who was only relishing the cold wind and power the more time went on, she was getting numb and finding it harder to fly. She couldn't stay as maneuverable. The more she tried to fly in the icy weather, the more pain she put herself in. Therefore, one of the ice knives that fired past her got dangerously close. Not enough to hurt, but enough to actually graze some of her feathers. Still, she gave a cry of alarm and went to the ground, crouching in the snow a moment longer. Instantly, her foes seized on the opportunity. One rushed forward, arms raised, ready to give the finishing blow. And this time, Nobuyuki was too occupied with his own opponents to intervene and no one else was near...

Yet before the monster could strike, a much lighter, simpler ball of snow beaned it in between the glowing eyes. Not enough to hurt it at all, but it was enough to annoy it, and it looked up to glare with killer instinct at who had hit it.

It spotted the lady of Arender-ken grinning and pumping her first. "Yes! I mean…no!" She added a moment later when she saw all she had succeeded in doing was making the snow ogre mad, especially a moment later when the beast began to stomp for her instead, ignoring Takara. Yet it only got a few steps when a hole suddenly opened beneath one of its legs, and it immediately sunk into the ground. The snow ogre was alarmed, but not nearly as much as a moment later when Takeshi leapt out and into the air a good twenty feet before landing on his head with sufficient force to break his neck off.

"We aren't getting anywhere like this!" Takeshi shouted as he flung his kunai off at another raging snow ogre that had just put itself back together. "They keep coming!"

"We have to stop the source!" Takara answered as she got to her feet just in time to give a nearby snow monster a jab in the teeth with her jitte. "It has to be Lady Eiko! She must be near!"

"Then I'll go after her!" Jiro shouted back, swinging his staff just in time to deflect another wave of icicles.

In spite of whipping so fast and furious he almost seemed to be surrounded by a golden rain, Satoru still managed a jingle out to them.

"I know! I know!" Jiro answered. "So Nobuyuki's going to have to give me some breathing room!" Turning his head as he blasted a snowbeast with a stream of cold air to cut off its ice arrows, he called out to the yokai currently under a pile of snowmen yet still holding on.

"Nobuyuki! I think it's time you started using your swords!"

"Ugh…truly?" The man somehow called back at the battle turned less and less in his favor. "Hate to show it off…"

As Jiro was forced to start flying to evade another stream of ice darts, and Takeshi had to make more holes pop up before Akiko to keep her from getting smashed by the incoming snow ogres, not to mention Satoru was having to lash out more quickly and erratically to fend off the flood coming at him, he shouted back. "Now isn't a good time?"

"Heh…you have a point!" The man shouted as another snowman jumped on top of him, forcing him down to the ground. For a moment, Akiko, going for her only defense, another snowball, let out a gasp on seeing Nobuyuki in spite of the situation with everyone else. She thought for sure that he was in trouble after that, that the monsters had gotten the better of him…

Yet a moment later, she got a much greater shock when eight of the snow monsters seemed to explode off of him and go flying in all directions. An even bigger shock followed at what rose up from the ground.

Nobuyuki was gone…or, at least, replaced. What stood up from the snow bearing only bits of the loose red and black kimono he wore before was a hulking monstrosity that looked somewhat of a cross between a bear and a man with a long white beard just like Nobuyuki's. Akiko had never seen a bear before, but Jiro knew that even by bear standards the man was colossal, standing twice as tall as his previous form, which now made him bigger than his opponents by a good margin, and rippling with so much muscle that in spite of his thick fur you could make out several of them. Yet in spite of this, as well as the fact that his eyes were glowing like red, burning coals and his tooth-filled mouth was dripping drool ravenously, the long-clawed hands he had were still hands and not paws, and he reached down for his side and drew both blades. The two swords which before had been useless to him were now easily dual wielded. Bellowing a cry that echoed up and down the snowy pass for miles, Nobuyuki rushed forward into the ice warriors.

With each slash of his sword, he seemed both to rip them to bits as well as shatter them, breaking over half of their bodies into white powder. The monstrous bear struck again and again, fast as well as terribly strong, and no snow ogre could stand against him. Even when one managed to land a blow on him, it didn't even make Nobuyuki's form flinch. He had been formidable enough before but now he seemed invincible as he smashed aside the ogres as if they were nothing more than flimsy stacks of snow. Between him and Satoru, they began to shift the tide back in their favor, especially since the snow ogres finally stopped coming. While the ones Nobuyuki shattered began to rebuild, they did so only extremely slowly from that much trauma; giving Takara enough room to move in and hit more in the teeth with her jitte.

Jiro actually grinned a bit as the snow beasts attacking him thinned out to try and stop the rampaging Jolly Bear. It had been a while since he had seen Nobuyuki in that form. After all, it was senseless to fight any human opponents like that. But he couldn't just sit around and watch the fun. He turned his head forward to the storm, trying to find the most likely area the flakes were blowing in from. Once he had a heading, he took off like a shot.

Where before Jiro had flown around quickly only when dealing with foes, at this point he moved as fast as the most raging blizzard imaginable, venting his full power of flight. It was rather impressive. In moments, it enabled him to get a full overview of the battlefield before shooting further on into the snow and letting them all vanish behind him. His eyes went fully forward, focusing on the source of the snow, and flying straight at it with his staff out and at the ready. In no time at all, the weather began to pick up, the storm becoming more biting and fierce. Nothing to him, naturally, but he could guess that this was the kind of temperature that Nakamura's men had gone through, and for a mortal it would be brutal.

Watch out, lady…I'm coming to get you! He thought with a grin.

As he went on further, the snow continued to grow thicker, getting closer to a whiteout condition. His visibility went to 25 meters and then fifteen. Not too terribly good for him. After all, he may have been immune to cold, but his senses were only as good as the next man. Still, he could see the flakes and feel the wind. And although it was getting hard to push against, enough to where the force required him to fight against it, he was able to keep tracing it, and forced himself to shove through.

As time passed, however, he did get one other concern. This was taking longer than he thought. He supposed it only figured. If Lady Eiko was progressively freezing the entire country, then her power had to have quite a range on it. He had to be a couple miles away from the group…perhaps even farther. In fact, the more he flew on, the more he began to wonder if he had been mistaken. He didn't seem to be getting very close to anything. Perhaps he was wrong about the way she generated her power all along.

That line of thinking was abruptly aborted a moment later, for the snow suddenly split ahead of him. Not so much broke as traced itself up and to the sky. The rest of the air became clearer. Although it was still gray-skied, the snow decreased, and in response, with wind suddenly broken off, he found himself flying full force onto a small rocky mound covered with snow, and a figure perched on top of it.

He barely had time to recognize who or what it was. In fact, he merely gasped at first to see himself flying straight for it. The figure, likewise, must have seen the same. He caught a brief glimpse of arms in the air but they quickly cut off a moment later to the tune of a mild cry, before a hand was aimed at him. In a panic move, he suddenly saw an irregular globe of ice the size of him sail straight for him. He had been trying to slow himself down by now, but it was too late as he smashed into it.

The blow was more than a bit solid. He barely managed to get his head up before the object broke against him, smacking him out of the sky and batting him away a short distance before letting him fall to the ground and land in the fresh, powdery snow. His body radiated with pain, and dizziness and soreness flooded through him. He groaned, realizing that wasn't exactly the softest hit he had ever taken and that if he wasn't a supernatural creature it might have done some serious damage. Nevertheless, he grit his teeth and, with a nimble flip, forced himself out of the snow and back on his feet, staff in front of him. He looked up to his attacker.

To be honest, although the snow had lessened, it was still raging enough that he couldn't get a good look at it, especially after having just been dazzled by the ice sphere. He managed to catch a glimpse of what looked like a young woman's form. A bit to his surprise, although he had seen it on Akiko's doll, her hair was almost white blond, with some of its swept back and the rest in a loose braid. Far from being a tight hairstyle of the nobility, it was something more loose and carefree although still official. As for her attire, it was a light blue kimono that, even in the dim light, seemed to shimmer as if it was made of pure ice itself. Jiro actually wondered if it was.

That's a neat trick… I never could do that myself…

Yet he didn't have much time to admire her form, because, naturally, he had been a young man looking like he was lined with frost attacking her a moment ago and so she did what anyone else would do with her power. She fought back. Quickly, she snapped her hand out at him. In response, pillars of ice like spear shafts formed in the air and shot out for him in a flash. Jiro actually went wide-eyed. He wasn't used to seeing someone else would could do that…and better than him, for that matter. Immediately, he spun his staff in front of him and whipped it around in a circle, throwing up an ice energy shield to quickly shatter them as they came in.

"Not bad for an amateur!" He shouted back. "But let's see how you deal against a seasoned pro!"

In a flash, his staff went out, and turned the snow beneath the woman into a sheet of ice. She gave out a cry and splayed her arms out, beginning to fall back. Grinning, Jiro took off, intending to seize on her while she was flailing and knock her out with one blow. Yet halfway to her, he got another surprise as she suddenly gained her footing and faced him. He realized too late that the woman was a fast learner; that she used her own power over ice to make her footwear merge and hold her ground. Before he could get to her, she was already up and aiming her hand at him and a second later an "inverted deluge" of snow erupted from the ground, swept over him, and, to his shock, launched him high and up into the sky to the tune of a rather painful impact.

However, Jiro only went up for a few moments before, gritting his teeth, he pushed himself out of the snowy deluge and began to sweep back down and around in an arc, meaning to sail in a grand "C" that would let him evade the woman and then smash into her. To aid this, he actually stayed behind the deluge of snow as it went up, meaning to use it for natural cover as he went down and around. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. The woman still caught a glimpse of him as he went underneath her deluge. And as a result, she acted again. This time, the wind and snow suddenly picked up, and a blizzard-like gale lashed out at Jiro so fast and so quick he was knocked out of the sky and down to the ground at an angle. He was stunned at the whole thing; the power that the woman had unleashed in an instant. Yet he got another shock later when the woman waved her hand again and generated a rather solid ice wall before he hit the ground, smashing him into it with enough force to fracture it. A jarring pain flowed through him.

Yeah…definitely good for an amateur. She's getting the hang of this quick… Time to think smarter.

The woman held a moment after hitting him against the ice wall, for he grunted and then slid down, seeming to be stunned. She kept a hand up and aimed at him, as if expecting him to make a move. However, her gaze was so much on him that she failed to notice the end of his staff light up and some of the falling snow near her head literally formed a snowball in thin air. By the time she noticed something and turned her eyes to it, the snowball crashed in her face, getting her right in the eyes. Crying out, she pulled her hand back and went for her face to clear it, giving Jiro the opening he needed to grin and then take off into the air again.

She was only stunned a moment before she opened her eyes again and saw him moving. She put her hands out only for Jiro to instantly paste her in the face with another snowball. She cried out again and quickly cleared it, intending to fire again, only to once again get hit. The Laughing Frost was soon casually flying around, one hand generating one snowball after another before his staff in his other hand sent it flying into her face. It seemed she not only had issues with focus, but she needed her hands for the bulk of her powers. With that in mind, he suddenly swung his staff out again right after hitting her with another snowball, causing the very snow and ice underneath her to act like a pulled rug. This time, she couldn't stop herself and cried out before she was spilled back and dumped on the ground.

If this woman was wearing a kimono of ice, then it was obvious that she wasn't affected by cold. Too bad, because an easy way to end this right now would have been to cover her with a thick blanket of snow and let her body temperature plunge knock her out. As it was, he began to fly inward instead to hopefully give her a blow to the head. Unfortunately, no such luck. As he tried to fly in, great spikes of ice erupted around her body, each one lined with more spikes in a fractal pattern. He was forced to abort his charge and fly back and around, giving the woman enough time to rise again. Quickly, Jiro tried to back up to resume with the snowballs once more, but no such luck this time. She was protected by the palisade so that he couldn't get a good shot. Not only that, but she was quickly whipping up something herself. A moment later, the ice broke just in time to reveal her sweeping her hands around until she formed what looked like a glowing ball of cold in the midst of them, flinging the sphere right at Jiro. The young man answered by easily flying out of the way; only for it to actually detonate where he was a moment later, sending out what looked like an ice "explosion" in the form of a massive three-dimensional snowflake. The force of the power sent him up and to the sky, to say nothing of pain radiating through him. If he had been mortal, he'd probably have frostbite too.

He tried to right himself as fast as he could only to find that the woman wasn't wasting time, and was sending another one of those things at him. He barely managed to get his bearings and shield himself before the blast hit him, and even then he was wracked with pain yet again as he shot back through the air once more, sent hurtling even farther away

"Starting to think we got off on the wrong foot…" He moaned through the pain.

The woman shot off a third ice bomb at him, but she again failed to account for Jiro playing possum. When this one came for him this time, his staff lit up once more, and he abruptly halted himself in midair and swung his staff, smacking it and sending it right back at her. She barely had time to give a cry before she quickly recoiled, putting a wall of ice up around herself seemingly by instinct. Nevertheless, the force of the eruption shattered the barrier and ripped her back off of her feet, flinging her back to the ground.

This is getting a bit serious… Jiro thought. He was going to have some nasty bruises from that last one and he actually had a cut or two on his bare skin. He decided to escalate a bit more himself. Still in midair, he aimed his weapon down, zeroing in on the woman even as she tried to get to her feet, clearly stunned and maybe a bit hurt herself. He thought for a moment of the right amount of power to use. Too much and this could easily kill her, after all. Normally considering how much he had been beat around he wouldn't care…but Akiko would be upset. He had to be careful. This woman's body wasn't as durable as his, it seemed.

A moment later, the staff blazed and then emitted what could only be described as a pillar of frosty light. The young man wasn't sure how it worked himself, only that he rarely had the need to use it. While his energy was used mostly just for freezing things, apparently the power within him could be condensed to be a beam of magical force itself and he had seen in the past in a training experiment that at maximum power he could actually knock Nobuyuki in bear form to the ground with it. Of course, doing so would leave him drained, but he wasn't going nearly that strong this time. Not for one mortal. As the woman got up, he barely managed to see her reacting through the glow of the beam before it slammed into her.

He intended to see her body get knocked loose and go flying from the impact. Since she was apparently immune to cold herself, he didn't have to worry about her freezing from this. However, he didn't see anything go flying. It remained there. He continued to shoot the beam, and looked confused for a moment…before, in the midst of the energy, he saw an array of ice-like spikes spill out around it and begin to come closer as his attack started to shorten.

Jiro's eyes widened, failing to notice the woman had never been hit. She was back on her feet, her face tightened, and both of her hands aimed at him. In response, a bit to his shock, a wave of cold energy just like his was coming forth...only, once again, stronger. Yet what made it worse a moment later was when the woman gave another shout and suddenly her power doubled. The wave overrode his beam and went right back at him. The young man didn't even have time to bring out any more of his potential before he found himself being slammed by his own attack in the most painful blow yet, knocking his senses for a loop and wracking his body with pain.

A moment later, he slammed into the snow yet again, sore all over and groaning. That had gone rather badly. While the woman was inexperienced and fought mostly with raw power and instinct, he realized in terms of strength she had him totally outclassed. If he made any move which came to "his power vs. hers", she'd overwhelm him every time. The only way to win would be to chip away at her using speed and agility, but that could take forever and he had made the mistake of making himself an easy target too much already, letting himself get beaten into weakness.

He grunted and grasped his staff again, leaning up, and immediately stopped moving. A series of icicles were now growing around him out of the ground with their points aimed right for his neck and heart in multiple places. He actually went a bit wide-eyed. After halting a moment, he looked up.

The woman was approaching him, her hands aimed at him. He could hear ice crackling in the air. He knew only a thought from her would send the ice traveling into him.

Great…now what? He asked himself. Maybe I can get out of this, but even if I do, this could take forever. She's pretty deadly… And I don't think I could win without killing her either. Besides…she actually used my attack. Now I really want to know more about her…

It may not be my style but maybe it's time for a different tactic…

With that in mind, Jiro eased up, and gave a smile as he held his staff up simply; making sure to only lift it slowly so she didn't see it as hostile.

"Alright…alright…you made your point, um…" He eyed the icicles. "Literally. You win. I give up."

The only answer was for the icicles to extend enough to touch his skin.

"Hey, hey!" He instantly called out. "I'm serious! You beat me! I'm done! I'm just raising this staff to surrender! You wouldn't kill someone who wasn't fighting back, would you?"

The word "kill" seemed to strike a note, because even saying that word made the icicle on his neck retreat slightly. That was a bit intriguing. Seemed the woman reacted rather strongly to the idea of killing someone, even though she had already killed several. At any rate, she only paused in her step a moment, and then kept coming forward. As she did, the snow began to clear further. Not only that, but the gray skies overhead began to thin out so quickly it almost happened before Jiro's eyes. As the snowfall halted and he had a chance to recover, he finally got a good look at the woman's face.

She vaguely seemed to be the same shape as Akiko's, but there was more to it than that. For one, it was unnaturally pale and fair complexioned. It was the middle of summer and should have been redder, but her face was so light it seemed as if the winter had come just to suit her look. It was also harder. Not to the point of being cold and heartless. More like, unlike Akiko, hardened by misfortune and dark thoughts and experiences. It definitely looked wiser and older. Much older. She had to only be three years older than Akiko, but the sign of wear and care made her look closer to 40. At any rate, her own blue eyes were focused hard on Jiro, her lips turned just a bit downward, and one of her hands with fingers extended remained aimed at him.

In spite of her threatening look, Jiro had quite a different reaction.

His smile actually faded momentarily, and his eyes widened a bit more. She was a beautiful woman, to be sure. And more than that besides. Unlike so many other noblewomen, just looking at her he could tell she was not simply a pretty face. She had an air of regality about her…a power and wisdom the same as any other male ruler. He could tell why she had ended up being such a good ruler. She radiated "true" nobility from every part of her body and features, even without her inner power.

Yet it was more even than that. Seeing her face, he felt something inside him. Something he couldn't explain and had no idea where it had originated…

And yet, it made him feel…happy.

Happier than he had been in a long time.

He almost went starry eyed, but it seemed the woman didn't notice it as her eyes narrowed.

"…You have power like mine."

The words, the first he had heard from her, actually sounded like he had heard them before. Maybe not the actual words so much as the voice, though. At any rate, it shook him out of it.

"I heard of ronin who were yokai before…" The woman continued. "You're one of them, aren't you? You were brought in by the nobles at Arender-ken to kill me, weren't you?" Her brow creased, and the ice grew sharper again. "Where are the rest?"

"Whoa, whoa!" He immediately shouted. "Easy there! I told you I wasn't going to fight you anymore!"

"I'm supposed to believe an assassin?" The woman answered. "Where are the others? I won't ask you again."

"Gone, alright? Gone!" Jiro instantly lied, and did so flawlessly. "You think even yokai can stand up to this? You practically froze them all to death. I'm the only one who can even survive up here."

The woman was silent for a moment. After a short while, she held out her other hand.

"Your staff."

Jiro's smile blanched a bit. "Er…excuse me?"

"Give me your staff. If you've really 'surrendered', you don't need it anyway. But I'm not going to let you have it around me so you can try and shoot me with that beam again."

The Laughing Frost wanted to facepalm. If she had any doubts that he needed that staff to focus his power and fly, they had to have been dashed after that last move. He had practically advertised the source of most of his power. Now this was something he was reluctant to do. Without his staff, he barely had any powers at all that were useful, and he couldn't focus them. Nevertheless, the woman meant business and since he had shifted to trying to gain her trust long enough to find a weakness, he compiled. Sighing, he slowly shifted his staff to one hand and then passed it out through the ice crystals, rather delicately, to her.

She took it and immediately put it to her side. A moment later, the icicles backed off, although her hand remained aimed at him. He was free to move a bit more. He took the moment to lean down a bit and smile at her.

"So…you're the great 'Queen Eiko'? You're a bit more than I expected. It's a pleasure."

"How many assassins did they bring in to kill me?" The woman, Eiko, immediately cut off. "What are their powers? Are there any more that can use ice like you?"

"Nope. Like I said, you nearly killed them with that storm of yours, so they all headed home." Jiro answered. "I'm the only one who came this far. I'm the only one who could, after all…"

He began to pray mentally right then and there that the big snow ogres couldn't do any more than roar or that Eiko didn't have some sort of "psychic link" to them that allowed her to see what they saw, or when his story fell through he realized he was going to be in big trouble. At any rate, for now at least, Eiko seemed to believe him. She thought over it a moment, but in the end calmed.

"And what about you?" She asked; her voice firm but showing just a hint of curiosity. "Your power…how did you get it?"

"Me? I'm just a harmless little ice yokai, or something…" Jiro answered as he casually crossed his arms behind his head.

"Harmless?" Eiko echoed, her teeth gritting a bit. "You tried to kill me just now."

"Hey, hey…you're the one who said I was an assassin. I merely said we came up here." Jiro answered with a shrug. "We just came to tell you to stop your 'winterizing' and come back to Arender-ken castle to answer for murdering Lord Taguchi."

Almost immediately, he saw an emotional change on her face, going from angry to defensive.

"I didn't-"

However, she cut herself off a moment later, and went back to firm once again.

"I'm not going back to Arender-ken. Not now, not ever, and not even if the emperor himself ordered me to."

"Heh, well…" Jiro answered. "I'm afraid that the shogun's men aren't going to take that as an answer."

"I'm not going to let them have input on the issue." Eiko answered. "I'm staying here. Away from as many people as possible so that no one else gets hurt."

"Oh!" Jiro spoke up, turning his head. "So you did kill those men?"

The woman paled at this. "What? N-No!" She instantly responded, actually cringing a bit as she went defensive. However, a moment later, she shook her head and resumed her look. "Look, just…just get out of here… Stay away from me. And don't try to attack me again or I won't be held responsible for what happens to you…" She turned and started to walk away, still clutching his staff.

"Um, any chance I can get that back?" He said as he actually took a step after her. By now, the sky was clearing so much that bits of sunlight were starting to come down, leaving a clear landscape. He took a moment to look over his shoulder and, to his surprise, he was in a rocky set of snow-coated mountains that he didn't recognize. No sign of the others. He had to have flown ten or twenty miles. "I kind of need it."

"Make another one." Eiko answered without turning.

He chuckled. "Wow, you make that sound so easy…" He began to walk after her.

In a snap, she turned around and aimed her hand at him.

"Hey!" He retorted, stopping and putting his hands up. "How many times do I have to tell you I gave up?"

"You were dispatched to either kill me or bring me back and I don't care for either." Eiko answered. "Stay away from me."

"What am I going to do without my staff?" Jiro shrugged.

"I'm dangerous. You saw that yourself."

"Heh…I'm not about to be scared of a little snow. Or haven't you noticed?" He pulled his outer robe and shook it a bit, showing off the bare chest underneath. "See? Cold doesn't bother me one bit. In fact, since I can't take you back, and they plan to brand me a criminal if I come back without you, then I don't have much reason to go back at all."

Eiko's eyes had drifted when he shook his robe a bit, toward his chest, but they quickly blinked and went back up to his face with the same stern look.

"A guy like me could use a little trip through a winter wonderland. How about it? Care to show me about your kingdom, 'Snow Queen'?"

The woman frowned. "I'm not a fool. You're just trying to get close to me to either attack me or convince me to go back. Neither will succeed."

"And why would they? You have my only weapon, and I can tell you're much too smart to be tricked." He said with a smile.

"Then why bother following me?"

"Like I said…I love a nice winter. Besides, you could use some company, couldn't you? Who are you going to talk to up around here anyway? Rocks?"

Jiro smiled inwardly as he realized he found a weakness in Eiko. When he talked about company and talking, he saw the look in her eye soften. It seemed the woman may have run off, but wasn't the type who liked solitude. She wanted someone to speak with; to give her some companionship. In fact, he began to think that might be a bigger weakness than he originally thought. Akiko mentioned earlier how she always withdrew herself. Maybe it was against her will…

Finally, she sighed. Frowning again, she made a gesture with her hand.

Jiro gulped a bit as, to his surprise, a collar of ice as well as manacles and shackles appeared, and thick ice chains connected them all before tracing back to Eiko's hand, at which point she simply took the chain and gave it a big of a tug.

"Start walking."

Jiro was pulled forward a bit, although he was strong enough to stand his ground if he wanted. He rolled his eyes and groaned. "Oh, come on!"

"You're free to walk back to Arender-ken and have it melt off of your body." Eiko answered without turning.

This made Jiro raise an eyebrow. Back to Arender-ken… Wait, she doesn't know what's going on, does she?

But before he could think any more on this, he was yanked along on the chain and forced to go after her, further through the snow and up the mountain.

---

To be continued...