5 February 1856 in Osaka, Japan

Tsume stared through the rising steam and across the powdered forest to his mission. The castle looked to be more the work of gods than men. The walls glowed white by the sun and snow. Gold arches and green eaves peeked out from the snow, exposing the mountain's artifices for their human makers. The trees themselves bowed before this mighty shadow of Tokugawa's trophy of victory over Toyotomi. He was not impressed by the size; he had climbed mighty Edo castle once before.

He was hoping that a soak in the hot spring could wash out his grief. That was a foolish thought. The Assassins had joined a tribe of monkeys in this bath. Tsume could not imagine much to kill a relaxing evening than a pack of thieving animals.

"Kozuki Sasuke was a historical ninja who is best known for his exploits among the Sanada Jūyushi {Sanada's Ten Heroes}," Joseph read off the parchment he held so precariously over the hot spring, "He was given the name 'Sarutobi {Monkey Jump}' for his supposedly supernatural climbing ability. Some say that he was orphaned and raised by a troop of monkeys."

"Does this matter?" Tsume sunk to his chin with hopes that the water's warmth would overcome his other senses. He would have chosen to relax without history lessons.

"Apparently, it does," Joseph rolled up his parchment and dropped it on his clothes folded on the ground, "Otherwise Arkwright wouldn't have sent it with us. He said that we need to know as much as possible if we want to find Tiago's treasure."

"What if we don't care?"

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"Think about it," Tsume clarified, "How much trouble did we go through on Fuji for one of these pages?"

"We almost died," Azusa added from over Tsume's shoulder. She dropped her folded kimono to the ground, exposing the rest of her skin to the frigid air. As she lowered herself into the spring, water filled in the crevices between her bones and muscles. She beamed, "Oh, look at all the monkeys!"

"I forgot what we were saying," Joseph's eyes had lost all connection to the conversation to focus on her body, "But I love Japan."

Azusa finished submerging herself to the shoulders, "You were talking about the treasure."

"Yeah," Tsume continued, "I don't think that Lopes wanted this treasure to be found."

"You don't leave breadcrumbs if you don't want to be followed," Joseph posited.

"Tsume, Fuji didn't try to kill us. The Shinobi did."

"I'm not talking about that."

"But you are."

"It's not just- Joseph, what are the clues? The clues that Virginia gave us."

"Oh, erm," he reached to the pocket inside his jacket, "She says that she was able to pick out the words saru {monkey}, shiro {castle}, and hanran {rebel}."

Azusa nodded, "We know that Sasuke was one of us and he fought against Tokugawa in Osaka. So it makes sense that we should look here."

"How does it make sense?" Tsume shrugged.

"It's the best we have," she answered.

"That doesn't make sense."

"Tsume," Joseph included himself, "I don't think you get how this works. Perry got the first page before we even met. You got the second at Fuji so the Templars had nothing to work from. Virginia decoded that page, but the Templars intercepted her letter, so they still know what we know."

"And we can't let them get ahead of us," Azusa added.

"About that. What if they see us there? Tokugawa wouldn't appreciate the extra bodies in his summer home."

Joseph cupped his chin in his hand, "Yeah, we don't want to raise any unnecessary alarms."

"The only people in the castle are guards and cleaners, so we need a good cover," Azusa suggested.

"Do you have any ideas?" Tsume asked.

"I'm a gozen {lady}. I know how to tilt my head."

Joseph wordlessly moved his his gaze from the monkeys around him to Azusa's general direction.

"Yes, Joseph?"

"I was wondering how that's going to help us."

She switched her tongue to English, "Lord Shimazu is marrying his daughter to Tokugawa."

"And?"

"And he's the lord of Satsuma," her face curled like she wanted to raise an eyebrow, "Do you know how they do things in Satsuma?"

Both men answered with silence.

"You both live in Nagasaki. Surely you know more about Kyushu."

"Nagasaki is a Tokugawa-run city," Joseph returned his attention to the monkeys sharing their bath, "So we never got curious about the rest of the island."

Her hand covered her face from the sight of her ignorant comrades, "It doesn't matter. No one here knows lady Atsuko, so I can masquerade as her. I'm just inspecting the castle to see … To see it."

Tsume raised an eyebrow, "I don't think anyone will trust a noblewoman traveling alone."

Azusa's mouth curled into a most sinister grin with eyes upon Tsume, "Not without a bodyguard."

"Joseph, I believe she wants you to be her bodyguard."

"Tsume, no one will believe that lady Atsuko is traveling with a foreigner."

"Actually," Joseph countered, "Tsume needs to find it, because he has that sense."

"A lady doesn't travel alone," Azusa quipped.

"Who said you had to be Atsuko in the first place?"

"Lady Atsuko is the best cover," Azusa looked hurt, "I spent the last week planning this."

"You just made it up," Joseph glanced over to her, "I should know. I was there. In an onsen {spring} with monkeys. Just like this one. Tsume was there too."

"No, I really have been planning- … I don't even know why we're having this conversation? You clearly aren't going to use my plan. Tsume, what you have in mind?"

All human eyes fell on Tsume, "Don't give me that look. I say we find out if the Templars are still there first. Once we know that, we know how to get in and do what we need."

"And they know your face," Joseph reasoned in the scar.

"But we look suspicious if we don't have a good story."

Azusa added, "Like how you're a body guard protecting a noblewoman who intends to marry Tokugawa? One who happens to be a major Asashin target?"

"How much do we know about the treasure?" Tsume asked.

Joseph checked his paper again, "I've already told you."

"Then I definitely need to go in, because I'm the only one who can find it."

"And since we don't have any other information…" Azusa said.

Joseph crossed his arms, "Only one person can tell us for sure."

Tsume dropped his head back. "Sasuke," he and Azusa said in unison.

"Okay," Tsume sighed, "But we still don't know if the Templars are here."

Azusa asserted, "That's why we need a cover."

"Yes," Tsume clasped his hands, "So let's scout the area first for anyone suspicious who may be a Templar. Once we know what to avoid, Azusa -pardon, lady Atsuko- can keep them distracted while Joseph and I find the treasure."

"I know an easy way to scout."

Joseph leaned forward, "Do tell."

6 February 1856, in Osaka, Japan

Tsume had been in a castle only twice before. Neither time had he bothered to examine the interior. The room was a great cavern supported by brown beams. Elaborate murals adorned the paper doors, each depicting a different event in history. Naturally, Azusa seemed elated to be in such a place.

One which paused her in her tracks depicted a great castle city surrounded by a fleet of encroaching ships. Sailors stepped onto the beach with their spears held lowered to the ground. A solitary heroic figure stood in the midst of the chaos, issuing orders to the men from the ships. Behind him, another army of foot soldiers held their spears outward.

"Do you like that?" the guide asked over Tsume's shoulder.

"It looks like an epic," Azusa answered.

"That is Toyotomi-sama's conquest of Kankoku {Korea} over two hundred years ago. Tokugawa-sama wanted to keep all of Toyotomi-sama's accomplishments on display."

"Interesting, and the next one?" Azusa pointed to the hallway's middle door.

Samurai were trapped within the walls of a fortress, surrounded by foreign soldiers. The great figure stood here again, this time with his sword in hand, leading the samurai who defended from an encroaching invasion. Some poured oil from the ramparts, while others pushed down massive siege ladders, and yet more fought men atop the walls. It looked a desperate struggle for the samurai involved. Tsume could not help but to notice that all of the Japanese in this image had faces painted in great detail. The foreigners, however, did not have faces at all.

"That is from his second invasion," the guide explained, "Forces from Chuugoku assisted the Kankoku-jin in fighting Toyotomi-sama's forces, but they were easily repelled."

"And what is the last door?"

This final door was a more distant image. Two great fleets of ships clashed in the sea. One navy was so large as to encompass the majority of the door. They were not larger by the numbers of their ships, but also the sizes. They were also burning. Men fired arquebuses from both sides but great fires spurned only from the larger ships, quenched by the hungry sea.

"That is from the battle of Nankai, where your ancestor, Shimazu Yoshihiro, fought against the combined navies of Chuugoku and Kankoku. Unfortunately, he was not successful."

"He also was not my ancestor. That would be his brother Yoshihisa-sama."

The guide smiled faintly, "You are a credit to your clan, Atsuko-gozen."

"Shall we continue?" Azusa motioned down the hallway.

"Of course," the guide walked down the hallway, turning a corner and opening an outside door.

The Assassins stepped onto the balcony with him. The treetops and rooftops of Osaka were hidden under a sheet of snow painted gold by the sunset. Tsume looked out to them in all of their glory, but a speck of motion caught his attention.

"This is such a beautiful castle," Azusa remarked, "and the history of it is so rich."

Tsume pulled together his gift. He wanted to better observe what fluttered about down below. He felt a presence down there. It seemed friendly. That was all he could determine. It was likely Joseph. If that were true, it was a relief to be reminded that the Assassins' white still protected them amidst the snow.

"It is the pride of Osaka, I have worked here my entire lie and I never cease to be amazed by this place."

Something else begged to be noticed from the ground. His focus lowered to the wall. A singular spot was tugging at his mind from there. He could see that it was on the other side of the wall, but that was all he could see.

"I can certainly understand how."

Tsume snapped his senses back, "Excuse me, but I have a question for you."

The guide nodded, "Please ask."

"Did anything happen down there? Along the wall."

"Nothing of significance, I don't think. Except for the moat."

"The what?"

"It was a western invention. Essentially, a river was dug around the castle walls to make siege almost impossible, but it could not stop Tokugawa-sama. When the Toyotomi clan was ended, Tokugawa-sama had the moat filled."

Azusa chimed in, "I heard the famous Sarutobi Sasuke fought against Tokugawa here. Is that true?"

"Hai, he was among the ten heroes who fought for Sanada Yukimura, who defended Osaka. There were others, but I forget their names,"

Tsume looked out again, "What happened to him?"

The guide's face grew puzzled, "I do not know. Some say he died here. Others say he joined the Asashin. There are many tales, but they're all so different. Is there anything else you would need from me?"

"No," Azusa bowed to him, "But thank you, Tomichii. It has been a pleasure seeing the palace."

He seemed flustered to have received a bow from a woman of such great station, even if she was a farce. The guide returned her bow, "The honor is mine, Atsuko-hime."

The false noble gave a closed grin, and the guide left. With that, she sat on the balcony, "I wish I could stay here."

Tsume peeked a single eye to her, "Of course you do."

"Don't act like you wouldn't."

"Castles are nice, hai, but what would you do with one?"

The corners of her mouth curled up a bit, "Live in the library."

"Of course you would."

"What about you?"

"Sell it. Get rich. Then I'd do whatever I wanted."

"What do you want to do with all that money?"

"I would start with two girls at the same time."

"Seriously?" her glance was disbelieving.

"When is that ever not a serious answer?" Tsume smirked.

"Sit down. Have you found it?"

"Found what?" he hung his legs from the balcony.

"The thing we were supposed to find."

"There's something down on the wall where the moat used to be. I also saw Joseph monkeying around the city."

"And Templars?"

"Nashi {None}. They must have given up."

Azusa stretched herself a great yawn and dropped her back onto the floor, "Saiko {Great}. I need a rest."

"Yesterday's hot spring bath was pretty exhausting."

"You try training under Kasai-gozen. Every day before dawn, we run the perimeter of Edo. The winner gets to practice five hundred sword swings."

"You say that like it's some kind of a reward."

"Everyone else does a thousand. Then she makes us broker business deals in Edo under false identities."

"Why?"

"Something about income and stealth. Problem is that the businesses all take up so much time that we don't have time for our Asashin work."

"Or your books."

"Hai, or my books."

Tsume looked over at her. Azusa did not look like her usual bony self under the moonless dusk. Her features were softened and expanded by the torchlight. With her white kimono and her hair tied up and her superior diction, it was easy now to see that she was once an aristocrat.

"This reminds me of when I was growing up in Ise," a smile cracked at the corner of her lips, "I miss those days."

"You grew up in a castle?"

"Of course. The Ishikawa are daimyo {lords}. We were samurai blessed by a decision made by an old relative we never met."

"That reminds me of an idea I had."

"What is it?"

"You go back to your family. Don't tell them that you're an Asashin. Just tell them that you found a new friend and want your father to adopt him."

She scoffed a little, "It doesn't work that way."

"I'm sure it doesn't. I'm a burakumin {outcast}," he looked out over Osaka, where colorful lights were appearing long the eaves of every building, save one district where his kind resided, "Although, when Sensei took me in, he cleaned off my kegare {defilement}, gave me my daishō {swords}, and now everyone calls me samurai."

"Does it bother you?"

"Does what bother me?"

"Everyone knows how much you hate samurai."

"I hate what samurai are. They are still a necessary part of our society," Tsume scratched a nail into the wooden balcony, "I also hate our society."

Concern flooded Azusa's face.

"Would you go back?" Tsume asked her.

"I've thought about it, but no. I'm an Asashin now. We're devoted to fight against people like my father," she looked up to the stars waking in the sky, "All of that seems seem so far away now. It's been hard on us. We've lost another."

Kennosuke's last moments surged his mind. Only a month had passed, but the memories were as fresh as the moment he died. The funeral helped a bit, but it only served to remind him of death's permanence.

Despite his instincts begging him to console Azusa, Tsume's mind was wrapped around Kennosuke's memory. His mouth struggled to find a gentle word or her, so it resorted to his usual conversation pieces. He asked, "Who?"

She swallowed her hesitation, "Shimoda."

"Igarashi finally got his wish. He can be Yūdai now," he saw that she was not amused by that, "What happened?"

"He was caught stealing. He yelled something -I don't remember what- and started a riot. The samurai killed him and stopped the riot," she heaved a sigh, "And then there was Kennosuke."

"Could we stop talking now?"

Azusa ignored his request, "I know how you feel. I felt the same way about Fumito. He was someone special and he died. I blamed Rangiku, and she's gone too," her hand found his laying on the balcony, "Tsume, we've lost so many."

"What were you expecting?" Tsume pulled away, "We are Asashin. We kill people who don't want to die."

"I don't know. I thought I knew, but I don't," she wiped the tears down her eyes, smudging her white makeup and showing her darkened skin.

"You wanted to be like your heroes."

She silently nodded, hand still covering her mouth. Her face clenched to withhold more tears. She must have understood now the price of her heroism.

Tsume stood and offered a hand to raise her, "I know it's early, but we should get some sleep."

Azusa accepted his offer. Her eyes avoided making contact as she poised herself back into a noble stance. She managed to avoid rubbing her face any further and keep what remained of her disguise.

"Atsuko-hime," the guide from earlier appeared in the doorway, "Some men have come to see you."

Tsume's stomach dropped. Joseph would never be allowed in this castle, and there no other Assassins in Osaka. His first guess was that the Templars had come. If that were the case, then they would know that Atsuko was not meant to be here. Azusa was already looking to Tsume for a plan, eyes widened by fear.

"Atsuko-gozen is having some nervousness," he slid his hand up the back of her neck, guiding her face into his shoulder, "She is not presentable right now."

"They said it was urgent," the guide replied. Definitely Templars wanting to prove Atsuko's presence. Azusa could try, but she would never pass with her makeup betraying her ignobly tan skin.

"Tell them the answer is 'No.' She needs her rest. I'm just going to bring her to the bedroom."

"Hai, sama," the samurai bowed and left the Assassins to their plan.

Tsume pulled up Azusa's head. Worry still trickled from her eyes, revealing skin too dark for a proper lady.

"Azusa, we need a plan. Now."

Her eyes frenzied about, looking for some kind of scheme, "We have to stay here. They'll expect an escape."

"But they know we aren't supposed to be here."

"The servants' quarters. They're almost empty."

"Where are they?"

"Across the building."

"Lead the way."

She hastened along the path from where they had come. Their socks helped to keep their feet quiet against the wooden floor. Tsume recalled the months of training he underwent to keep his steps quiet at all times. He could hear mens' voices approach from the other end of the hallway.

Azusa checked over her shoulder before turning the corner. Her face did not become more distressed, so it seemed safe to assume that the Assassins hadn't been seen yet. Tsume followed her through the majestic corridors, keeping the Templars always just out of sight.

She arrived upon a wall in a plain white room that the guide had overlooked. Her hand pressed into a section of the wall framed by black boards. It caved a little and slid to the right, revealing the hallway it concealed.

They entered together into this dim corridor. The walls were white in here as well, but Tsume could only determine that around the torches which lit each corner. He could see the stars through the windows which lined the ceiling, but the moon hid himself tonight, so torchlight was all the Assassins would get.

Azusa stopped at a door along one of the walls. It was as nondescript as a door could be, so she slid it open with an eye cast to Tsume. He glanced inside. It was empty. A single short table sat in the corner with a mound of scrolls atop it. A few other scrolls hung from the walls with simple poems about tea and silk and the moon.

She pulled a sleeping mat from under the table and cast it to the center of the room, "You make the bed. I need to change."

Tsume laid out the mat across the floor. A quilt was sewn into the side, probably to keep the bed as a single piece. Within seconds, the bed was ready for sleeping.

"Is there another?" Tsume asked.

"Doesn't matter," Azusa stripped off the outer layer of her kimono, leaving on the lower layer, "We only need one."

Tightness grew between Tsume's legs. Azusa was rubbing her makeup into the white kimono she had just removed. Her face was barely visible behind the weight of every foggy breath. Maybe she wasn't the most attractive woman Tsume had ever seen, and sex seemed like an odd thing to have right now, but he didn't want to turn her down.

"Tsume," Azusa's eyes locked onto his as her intricately tied aristocratic hair fell into curled locks, "I just need someone to hold me right now. I don't want to wake up and hear that another one of us is dead and I don't want to die alone. Promise me we won't die alone."

He extended the hidden blade from his wrist and tried to retract the one above his knees, "We won't die tonight." She showed her own blade and nodded wordlessly.

Azusa spread out her noble kimono between her forearms, "Put your other weapons here." Tsume removed both of his swords and dropped them into the makeshift silken basket. Then he added his throwing knives as well as their ropes. Then he drew his revolver. "Keep that one," she added, "We may need it."

"You take it," Tsume offered.

"Thanks, but I already have my own," hastily she stashed Tsume's weapons under the table covered in scrolls and returned to the bed. She got down on the floor and slid under the quilt, "Join me."

Then he heard voices. Male voices. Accusatory voices. Nearing voices. He threw the cover from Azusa and dropped over her. He then grabbed the quilt and pulled it over them as a pair.

The voices were at their door, saying things Tsume could not understand, but he may have been able to pick out words like 'impostor' and 'Asashin.' The door pried open. Shadows of samurai obscured the torchlight. Tsume threw his arm forward, hand strategically placed to obscure his own face. He then yelled the first thing to come to mind, "Please don't tell my wife!"

The door then closed and the voices drifted away. Tsume released all of his weight onto Azusa. Together, their hearts beat so frantic that he could no longer tell which was his own. He raised himself up and locked his eyes directly into Azusa's through their clouds of breath. He could feel himself knocking on her door, ready to enter. He leaned in to kiss her, but her hand pushed his cheek away.

"Not tonight," she said with mourning heavy in her tone.

"Tell me you don't feel that."

Azusa looked down, not that she could see anything through their chests, "I feel it, but this is not the time."

He pushed himself off and fell to her side. She rolled over, facing the doorway. He pressed his chest against her back, where he still felt her heartbeat. He kept his hips away from her hips, so as not to make the situation any more awkward for her. Her loosened hair filled his face while his lower arm pressed under her belly. She lowered her body until she was effectively sitting on Tsume's lap.

He spoke up, "I thought you said-"

"I can still like it. Just don't try anything ... Do you think they'll come back?" Azusa worried.

"No."

"What if they do?"

"Then you have my gun."

"Tsume, what if the guns aren't enough?"

"Then we can fight them."

"What if we're asleep?"

"Do you always think about things like this?"

"Every night."

Tsume embraced her with his free arm and clasped his own fingers together, "They won't come back. Just think about something else. Anything else."

He could feel the pistol she had hidden under her kimono. It gave him a sense of peace that, even in her vulnerable state, Azusa managed to maintain enough composure to fight. The two laid in silence together for what felt like seconds or minutes or hours. It was impossible to tell, but it was somewhat pleasant.

"I was thinking about those paintings," Azusa broke the silence.

Tsume responded by nodding into her hair.

"That first one. It wasn't Toyotomi invading Kankoku."

"Then what was it?" Tsume feigned interest.

"It was Jingu-tennō invading Kankoku."

"I don't know who that is."

"First woman tennō {god-king}. She invaded Kankoku a long time ago using something called the tide jewels. It's said that she defeated an entire navy alone without killing a single man because of the jewels."

Tsume held his silence.

"The second one was Toyotomi's invasion."

"And the third?"

"I don't know. Toyotomi didn't use guns in his navy. He thought they would burn the ships."

Azusa continued talking, but Tsume was falling asleep.

7 February 1856, outside of Osaka Castle, Japan

Tsume and Joseph stopped at a part of the outer wall. Tsume's sense guided them to this corner, where the beacon of energy had been calling for them. Here was a scream amidst silence.

"What do you see?" Joseph asked.

Tsume brought back his regular senses, "A rock."

"That's good," Joseph ran a hand along the wall, "We have so many good choices."

"It's this one," Tsume touched a stone carved with three flowers which sprouted from five hanging leaves.

"Donated by Ishikawa Kazumasa," Joseph read the inscription under the crest, "I bet he's related to Azusa."

"Possibly," Tsume slid his fingers between the bricks' edges, "The map is behind this." He was able to make a grip under the façade. His other hand grabbed the opposite edge and he pulled. A single tile came loose, revealing more stone underneath. Tsume inspected the tile's reverse, hoping to see a map, but he was not rewarded so easily.

"Where is it?" Joseph asked.

"I don't know," Tsume answered.

"What do you mean, you don't know? Use your gift."

"I can't always do that."

"Why not?"

"Because of the headaches."

"Drink some tea."

"It's not that simple. I get nosebleeds if I use it too long."

"Wait," Joseph felt in the grooves around a rock near the one Tsume removed. He pulled out another tile, leaving a single brick between the two gaps. A third tile, between the two Tsume and Joseph pulled, fell to the ground, unhiding a cavity in the wall. The two Assassins exchanged glances and looked into the cavity.

Joseph reached inside. "Ah!" Something pulled him in to his shoulder.

Tsume grabbed his chest and threw him away from the hole, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, nothing actually got me. I just wanted to see how you'd react. Good instincts."

Tsume glared at the American for his ridiculous sense of humor, "Sorry, I'm still tense from last night."

"Not as much as she is. By the way," Joseph added, "There really is something in there."

Tsume redirected his attention to the gap they had just created, "Like what?"

"It felt like a box."

Fueled by curiosity, Tsume extended a hand into the hole. Surely enough, a wooden box-like structure awaited him inside. It was just narrow enough that he could wrap his fingertips around the edges.

He removed it from its prison. It was plain, probably made of bamboo. Inside was a pair of curious mechanisms with a small parchment. They looked strikingly similar to the Assassins' hidden blade, but had a single hook where the blade's point would be. Written on the parchment were the words 'jump like a monkey.'

Joseph claimed one of these devices and fit it onto his left arm, where he did not already wear his hidden blade. He extended the hook with a flick of the wrist, the same as a hidden blade. Then he pushed the curved part of the hook toward its base, revealing a sharpened blade underneath.

"I guess these are ours now," Joseph mused.

Tsume silently agreed as he turned over the parchment. It showed a map of the Fuji area. A small circle had been drawn in a forest north of the mountain. He inspected the map for some more information. The trees were bizarrely drawn. Some had only two branches held upward, not unlike a person, but not so similar to be confusing.

"I think I know where we need to go."

"What?" Joseph called from above.

Tsume looked and found Joseph halfway up the castle wall, gripping the spaces between the stones with his new hook.

"What in the hell are you doing?" Tsume reprimanded him.

"I wanted to see why they called him 'Monkey Jump.' I think I understand now."

10 February 1856, In Aokigahara forest, Japan

From time to time, frozen human corpses would peek from the white veil of death at the foot of a tree. Their bones were not picked by even the crows. No birds chirped. No foxes scurried. No monkeys called to one another in this winter silence. The only animals to be seen were the dead. The wind wailed in grief for their souls, interrupted only by the crunch of snow beneath Assassin feet.

Here the trees were often too close to allow man or horse to pass. The naked branches reached up to the heavens and begged for salvation from this damned land. Each tree's roots snaked within and around another's; binding their collective fates to the Earth.

"Machiko," Azusa repeated Joseph's words, "I think I know who she is. She's a geisha from the Sakura Okiya, right?"

"Yes, that's the one," Joseph hung from a branch by his new hook.

"That's so precious," she beamed, "a geisha and her American."

"I like to think that I'm bridging diplomatic relations between our countries," he pulled himself back up to the forest canopy, "You're doing the same thing with Garen."

"I would rather not talk about that."

Tsume checked over his shoulder for something he knew to be following him. As they had since coming to the forest, Azusa walked slowly by his side while Joseph scurried about the treetops. He hoped that their presence would be more reassuring. After all, Joseph was more nimble than any man in Japan, especially with his new hook. Meanwhile, Azusa was arguably as adept of a trickster as Tsume himself. Still, something unseen was scratching at the back of his mind.

"Tsume, I know you said you're okay, but I'm not sure that's true," Azusa said.

"I'm fine, thanks, but," Tsume sighed, "Do you get the feeling that we're being watched?"

"I've felt that way since Osaka castle."

"I swear, I'm hearing someone."

"What does it sound like?"

"Like a funeral."

"Probably just the breeze. If anyone else is here, I'll be the first to know," Joseph joined, "but everyone I've seen has been dead. Like that guy."

Joseph pointed to a bump in the snow next to Tsume. It was vaguely human-shaped, if curled into a ball. Tsume considered removing the snow to see if Joseph was correct about another person hidden here by the forest. He couldn't. He didn't need that fuel to his mind right now.

Azusa glanced up at him, "That's something Tsume would say."

"Tsume hasn't been Tsume since we came here, so I'm going to be Tsume for now. The sooner we can leave, the better," Joseph hopped down to to the ground for the first time since leaving their horses outside these forsaken woods, "I think we've found the place."

Tsume circumvented the tree and saw the clearing. It sloped into the frozen bank of lake Saiko. The trees here stood higher than the others, their clawed limbs touching the sky above to bend the ears of the unforgiving gods. Here the wind's frosted lament stung his face unrestrained by the trees.

Joseph rubbed his hands against a rather tall trunk, "We are supposed to find a tree with a sword stuck in it. At least, that's what I think it says. The maps says it's in this clearing."

"But the map is two hundred years old," Tsume added "I know trees can be really old, but shouldn't it be different by now?"

"That's what I don't understand. The map doesn't look right at all. I'm not sure if these are supposed to be trees or people or something else. It's all twisted."

"I don't see any swords in the trunks," Azusa chimed in, "Tsume, could you use your gift?"

He nodded, pulling his senses together into one. An energy emanated from the hook blade that once belonged to Sasuke. A miserable gust roared, stumbling him forward.

Joseph caught him, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just the wind."

"What wind?"

"Don't worry about me," Tsume straightened up. Shadowy humanoid figures stood around them all. They did not have any kind of malicious feeling about them. Tsume shut off his gift and reached for a knife, but nothing waited for them in this forest.

"Tsume," Azusa cautioned.

"It's fine. I'm fine," Tsume probably reassured them.

Tsume used his gift again, noticing a distinct lack of shadows. Following the hook's energy, his hand pointed up to the treetops until he found a match. There someone waited for them with a branch through his belly. This man had kept his vigil even in death, and now he would be rewarded. Luckily for him, he never fell, else he would be dead again. "There, Sasuke is up there."

"Alright, Tsume," Joseph extended his own hook, "Let's go get it."

"No," Tsume's eyes fixed on the foreigner's blade. Joseph was taking his place. He said so himself.

"What do you mean 'No'?"

"You should not have come here," Tsume glanced up the tree where Sasuke hung, "You should not have returned!"

"I don't think I've ever been here before. I'm sure I would remember, because this place is terrible."

"You come to our land. You soil our blood. You make us impure."

"What are you saying?"

"I will purge the unclean. You are not the first."

"Yamero! {Stop!}" Azusa shouted.

Tsume felt a distinct violation when his regular senses returned to him, like ice plunged into his body. Every breath he gasped sawed it deeper into his core. He looked down. His hands were clamped around something that trickled red over his hands. He dropped to the forest floor as his grip released the handle of his knife.

The other Assassins gathered over him, muttering something about a physician and finishing their mission. Tsume paid them no mind. His eyes wandered to the treetops, where the branches shielded him from the realm of the gods. The wind howled in laughter. Across the woods, he spotted the white slopes of Fuji, whose shadow was growing over everything; clouding it all black.