It was dark when Kai opened her eyes again but unlike the previous blackness she could make out vague shapes. She had a terrible headache but when she tried to put a hand to her forehead something stopped her. It took her a moment to realize that her hands were tied behind her back and she tugged at her restraints with a frown.
"Stop that," a familiar voice said and Kai turned her head as best she could. She couldn't quite make out his face but it wasn't hard to figure out that she was tied to Nami.
"What happened? Where are we?"
"Mt. Kaou," Goh said. "They knocked us out and brought us here. I think they're serious about starting a war this time."
"Dammit," Kai said, trying to kick out her legs and discovering that they were bound at the ankles. "So now what?"
Before anyone could answer her, there was a creak as if of iron gates and a light came into the room. It was a lantern, and in its light Kai could see a large bandit holding it. He surveyed the prisoners and nodded, seeming pleased with what he saw.
"Good evening," the bandit said cordially. "Glad to see you're all awake." He looked over at Goh, whose legs weren't tied, Kai noticed. "I do apologize for your injury, I assure you it wasn't my idea."
"What do you want with us?" Kai looked up at him, taking in his fine clothes and long, flowing hair. He looked more like a politician than a bandit and she somehow knew that this was the Yushan that Genrou had told her about. If he was the leader and they were still alive, she could only assume that there was something he wanted from them. "Expecting our brothers to come after us?"
"You're a smart one," Yushan said, unable to hide his surprise. "And you're quite right. Our efforts to get the Mt. Leikaku bandits to come attack us have all failed, thanks to that leader of yours. I'd heard when I was building up this place that he was a young hothead and thought it'd be easy to start a war and wipe you out."
"Guess you were wrong," Nami said, not bothering to hide his contempt. "Kashira's only interested in protecting the mountain and villagers, not gettin' involved in your petty games." At this, Yushan laughed and shook his head.
"You and your moral code. Don't you know we're bandits? We're not supposed to help people, we're supposed to get rich! But we can't do that if you guys keep helping the people that come down the road. I thought maybe I could convince your leader to join forces with us but I see now that's not going to happen." He shrugged. "I'm sure he'll come to rescue you, though, and we'll finally get to wipe out the Mt. Leikaku problem for good."
As much as she wanted to say that Genrou was too smart to fall for that, she knew that Yushan was right. Genrou would never leave his men in the enemy's hands, even if she hadn't been one of the ones captured. While she was trying to think of something to say, she noticed that Yushan was looking at her closely. He nodded and took a step toward her and Nami.
"This should do," he said, yanking off Nami's eyepatch to reveal an empty socket obscured by a thick, dark scar. "And this," Yushan said, reaching down and pulling off Kai's necklace, "This is for me. It's awfully nice." He held it up to the lantern and inspected it. "Doesn't look like something a kid like you should be wearing anyway. Not that I'm surprised with as much jewelry as that leader of yours wears. For someone who only cares about the poor and needy, he's rather flashy."
"Go ahead and take that," Kai growled, leaning as far toward him as the ropes would allow. "But I'm coming to get it back."
"Are you now?" Yushan laughed. "Well, I'll be waiting for you." Still laughing, he turned and went back through the gate. Before he left, he used the lantern to light the torches in the hall. "Here's a little light so you can all look at each other. Go ahead and try to plan an escape, I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with."
Now that she was able to see, Kai looked around as best she could. If she twisted her head all the way to the side she could see the side of Nami's head and the scar where his eye had been. She wanted to ask him about it but knew it wasn't the right time. Knowing that she had something to look forward to only made her more determined to get out.
In the corner of the room Kai could see the woman who had been injured on the road laying in the corner with her son, who was tied up. They didn't seem to think the woman warranted the same treatment and Kai scowled. She looked up at the ceiling, then at the gate. The lock didn't look like anything she hadn't picked before and she glanced around, trying to see if there was something she could use to open it. Before she searched, though, she had to get out of the ropes.
She twisted one wrist and the rope cut into it painfully. Kai gritted her teeth and twisted the other wrist in the opposite direction. Nami turned his head and looked at her with his one eye. He seemed to know what she was trying to do and let his half of the rope go as slack as possible to give her more room to maneuver.
I can get us out of this, she thought, her eyes darting back to the lock on the gate. I just have to get free of this damn rope first. With that in mind, she moved her wrists faster and repeated in her head the same thought. I'll get us out, guys. I swear I'll get us out.
000
"They're not on the road," Kouji reported to Genrou, who had gone down to the restaurant in search of Kai and the others. The sinking feeling that had been building in his stomach turned into a knot instantly. Four of his best bandits had disappeared without a trace and among them was Kai, whose loss was more than just a passing worry.
When night had fallen and they hadn't come back from their work on the road, everyone had been brought from their locations and sent out to look for them. Even Yuta had been drafted to search for them and the only option left was one he didn't want to think about. Genrou closed his eyes and tried to think. Being in a foursome was a precaution he thought would keep this from happening and it didn't seem to have made a difference.
"Let's get back up to the fortress," he said. "We'll figure out what to do next." Kouji nodded and whistled for the others. They followed their leader, whose mind was working overtime.
It was the Mt. Kaou bandits' work, he knew it as surely as he knew his name. As soon as they hadn't returned from the road he had known they were in danger, which was why he'd called the search party so quickly. Now that he was sure they were gone, he knew he had to do what he'd been putting off. There was no way of getting around it now.
When they arrived back at the fortress, the guards at the front gate were standing together with a man in a cloak between them. He was grinning as if he was waiting to tell the best joke in the world and Genrou was immediately suspicious.
"Who're you?"
"My name's not important," the man said. "But I've got a message for the leader of the Mt. Leikaku bandits."
"You're starin' right at him, aren't ya? Get on with it!" The man's attitude was infuriating. He had more important things to think about than some messenger.
"The message is this." He opened his hand to reveal an eyepatch Genrou immediately recognized as belonging to Nami. "It's a gift to you from Yushan. He says if you want to see your friends again before they're dead you should come to Mt. Kaou. If you don't come, the next time you see them will be in pieces."
"Tie him up and toss him in the storage room or somethin,'" Genrou said in disgust. "Just get him outta my sight." He pushed past the guards and went to his room, where the map the scout had drawn was still on the table. As soon as the doors were closed, he slammed a fist into the wall. It was the final straw.
More than anything else, his guilt threatened to overwhelm him. For months he had known that Mt. Kaou was planning something but he'd chosen only to fight them when they started something. He'd thought the best option was to protect the mountain and his men by not acting aggressively, something Hakurou would have agreed was the right thing to do. Besides, they hadn't given him any indication that they would do something like this.
It hit him then. Of course they had. They had killed Kyohei and wounded Kai in an attempt to kill him. If he had really wanted to protect the others he would have gone on the offensive much sooner. Now they had left him no choice.
Genrou paced the floor. They were all important to him, but Kai most of all. Not just because he cared for her, he was more concerned by the possibility that they would find out she was a woman. If they found out, it was almost certain that they would do something terrible to her. An image of Reirei, the girl he hadn't been able to save years ago, came into his head and he shook it away along with the smell of her blood.
Gotta calm down and think, he told himself. We need a plan. We need-
The door to his room opened and Kouji came through without any of his usual jokes and Genrou's head snapped up.
"We're all ready," he said. "Whatever you want us to do, everyone's armed and ready."
"Right." Genrou picked up his tessen and started for the door, surprised when Kouji stood between him and it. "What's up? I thought you said everyone's ready."
"Are you ready?"
"What are ya talkin' about? Of course I am! We gotta get over there and get her before-" Genrou realized what he'd said an instant too late and Kouji stared at him, his mouth hanging open. "I, uh, I mean we should get goin.'"
"Her? Are you trying to tell me that kid is a girl?"
"This ain't the time," Genrou said. "We hafta get over there before they find out. I dunno how many of them we're lookin' at, but if they were able to get the jump on Nami there has to be a lot. Unless they were drugged or somethin.'"
"If I was to guess, I'd say we're gonna be facing all of them. They went to a lot of trouble to make sure we got the message they were alive and they're not gonna give them up without a fight." Kouji shook his head, then looked sideways at Genrou. "She's really a girl? Since when?"
"Let's send a third of the guys around the back of their stronghold," Genrou said, ignoring Kouji for the time being. "Make sure none of 'em can get away. We should put our archers in the hills. Too bad they've got two of the best right now. The rest of us can go in from the front. I'll go after Yushan myself, you look around and see if ya can find out where they've got Kai and the others."
"Got it." They went out together to lead the rest of the bandits into battle and Genrou looked down at the eyepatch in his hand. He hadn't realized he was still holding onto it. No, he wasn't going to let anyone else get hurt. He'd already failed his men once, he wasn't about to do it again. "Hey, you don't think they've found out about her do you?"
"I hope not," Genrou said, sticking the eyepatch into his pocket. Nami would be wanting it back. "I don't even wanna think about what they'd do if they figured it out." A grim look passed between the two men and Genrou shook his head. "We've gotta get over there before they do."
The front hall of the fortress was filled by the rest of the bandits, all of whom were wearing armor and holding weapons. Genrou and Kouji stood in front of them, their own weapons in hand. In spite of the size of the crowd, Genrou made it a point to look into each of their faces. There was no hesitation among them, and not a hint of fear. The only thing on any of their minds was getting up to Mt. Kaou and bringing their brothers back.
"All right," he said finally. "Let's go kick some ass!" The bandits cheered as he and Kouji walked through the crowd to lead them down the front steps of the fortress and out into the night, leaving behind the guards at the front gate. "You guys got it here?"
"It's under control," the larger of the two guards said. "Nobody's gettin' in here while you're gone, Kashira."
"I'm countin' on ya," Genrou said, slapping his shoulder before motioning for the others to follow him down the mountain. They had a lot of walking to do and not much time to do it in. But there was no waiting, not with more lives on the line. If he had to fight every bandit on Mt. Kaou by himself until the sun came up, he wasn't leaving Kai to the mercy of Yushan. He couldn't even bring himself to think about this for fear it might somehow make it true. Wait for me, Kai, he thought as he looked across the mountain range. Just stay right where you are and I'll find you.
000
"Hey," Nami muttered to Kai, who was still trying to loosen the rope around her wrists. "He's comin' back."
"Dammit," Kai said. "I almost thought I had something there." The bandit leader's bootsteps were dull and muffled by the packed earth floor but she could still hear them coming. She relaxed her arms again, feeling somewhat defeated. Then the door opened.
"Good evening, my friends. How are you finding the accommodations?
"Oh, just fantastic," Kita said acidly. "Were you planning on tossing some rice in here so we could have a nice dinner?
"No, I don't think so. You're just going to start dying in a few hours and I abhor wasting food. By now your leader will have gotten our message," Yushan said, leaning on the wall. "And if my assumptions are correct, he will be on his way here now. Unless of course he has decided to just write you off."
"Genrou wouldn't do that," Kai said disdainfully. "I'm sure you would, though."
"Of course I would." Yushan shrugged. "No need in spending my time trying to save a couple of men when I have so many others to work for me. In fact, I've already given up the one I sent to give him the message as lost. Whether or not he decides to kill him is of little consequence to me."
"That just shows what kind of a creature you are," Nami growled. "You may think you look high-class, but you're nothing more than a filthy bandit leader."
"Look around you, one-eye. Well, as best you're able," Yushan laughed. "You'll see the same thing I do; a bunch of filthy bandits whose leader has probably abandoned them."
"He wouldn't do that," repeated Kai.
"Maybe he would, maybe he wouldn't. Only time will tell." He stood up, brushed off the sleeve of his jacket, and opened the gate. "See you later. At dawn I'll start killing you whether he shows up or not. And I think I'll let the shrimp decide." He looked at Kai and smirked. "How about it, kid? You can either pick one of your friends or die yourself. It's completely up to you. Think about it, won't you?" Laughing again, he slammed the gate shut and disappeared.
"Like hell I will," Kai said as soon as the door was closed. She went back to twisting her wrists back and forth to loosen the rope. It had been hours by this time and her wrists had gone from painful to numb but she continued. Before too long she had made enough room to maneuver one hand a little more easily and picked apart the knot. The rope fell away and she rubbed some of the feeling back into her wrists. She leaned over to untie the others but Nami shook his head.
"Get outta here," he said, looking directly into her eyes. "It's dangerous for you here. Get back to Mt. Leikaku and get the others."
"I'm not gonna leave you," Kai said, looking from face to face. She knew what Nami meant but she couldn't leave without them, knowing that they'd do the same for her.
"You're gonna have to," Nami said. "Goh's leg's injured, he can't run. You're the fastest one of us here and I know you can figure out some way outta here to get the others with that skinny little body of yours."
"But-"
"Just shut up and listen to me," Nami interrupted. "Get outta here and bring the others. As soon as they figure out you're free, they're gonna be lookin' for you and it's gonna be even harder to get out. We'll be fine," he went on, seeing the way Kai was looking at them. "Besides, it's not gonna be for long, right?"
"All right," Kai said. She went over to the gate and looked around. There were no guards by the prison or in the hall so she pulled at the locked gate and examined it. As she'd thought, it was a fairly simple lock, but she didn't have anything remotely like a lockpick. She looked around, hoping she would see something she could use; a belt buckle, even a sliver of sturdy wood could work. Her eyes fell on the woman in the corner and she smiled.
Going over to the woman, Kai knelt down beside her and touched her hand. The woman opened her eyes a crack and looked up at her. "I'm sorry," Kai said quietly. "This is all our fault. But don't worry, we'll get you out of this and to a doctor as soon as possible." The woman said something in reply but her voice was too soft for Kai to hear. "Just lay here and stay quiet," Kai said. "I think they'll leave you alone. May I use your hairpin?" The woman nodded and Kai smiled. "Thank you."
Carefully, so as not to disturb her any more than she had to, Kai took the long metal pin out of her hair. She ran to the door and squatted in front of it, sliding the pick into the lock while the other bandits watched. After less than a minute's work, the door swung open. Kai slipped the pick into her own hair just in case she needed to unlock anything else, then looked back at her friends one last time before she darted out into the hall between the cells and toward the stairs.