Entering White Feather Castle

The black garbed figure crouched motionless beside the castle moat. Ears straining, the dark shape listened intently for any sign of movement. Finally, satisfied that all was quiet and there was no one near to see it, the shadowy form slipped silently into the water. The swim across the cold, mountain stream fed barrier took only a matter of moments. Reaching the outer wall of the castle, the figure quickly scaled up the roughly hewn stones that formed the wall's base, pausing only to adjust the katana slung across it's back and to wring out the long fall of hair that fell to it's waist. A few moments later, the intruder had ascended the wall and dropped down into the outer garden, the only sign of its passage a series of quickly drying water marks along the outer wall.

Standing next to the outer castle wall, Rinzo paused to get his bearings. To his left, dimly visible through the scattered trees, was the house of the Warden of the Eastern Gate. The bright points of lanterns were plainly visible, as well as the shouts of gambling and the laughter of drunken men.

Shaking his head at the behavior of the usurper's soldiers, Rinzo quickly crossed the ground that separated the outer wall and the keep. As he approached this towering pile of stone and timber, he began to glance about, looking for anything that might resemble the heavy grate that he and Yoshi had found while exploring the tunnels under the castle.

Pausing beside a low stone wall, Rinzo cautiously pushed aside a thick mass of weeds. There, before him, was a made grating made from wood and iron, secured by a rusted bolt a thick as his wrist. The shadows were far to dark to get a better picture of what lay below, but Rinzo felt sure this was the same place he has seen from underground. Letting the plants fall back into place, he continued to work his way closer to the inner keep.

Climbing the wall of the keep was both easier and harder than his ascension of the outer wall. Easier because the stones were smaller, and hand and toe holds were numerous. Harder because the wall jutted back out into an overhang, virtually impossible, even for someone as skilled as Rinzo, to climb.

The sudden change from shaped stone to cut timber startled Rinzo for a moment. He paused, clinging to wooden surface like some sort of giant, black garbed insect, slowly examining his surroundings.

He was hanging onto the outside of the wooden gallery that over looked the gardens below. Looking back the way he had came, Rinzo found that he could see over the outer wall and the surrounding moat. At the moment, everything was quiet, the only sound the soft whisper of the wind across the roofing tiles, the only light the soft glow of lamps from the Warden's house.

Continuing upward, Rinzo scrambled on to the roof, it's rough surface formed from what looked to be blue tiles in the faint light. Glancing over the crest of the roof, he could see an inner garden, filled with a number of small trees, a patch of water reflecting a silvery strip of moonlight. Settling himself, Rinzo continued his visual survey of the castle. There were two small buildings on the other side of the inner garden, and a low wall beyond that. This was followed by a large open area, probably a courtyard of some sort, and then a long, low building, lit from within. Rinzo pulled back from the crest of the roof and thought for a moment. To his right was the keep itself, all jutting eaves and balconies, an easy climb. There were lights visible in the upper reaches as well. Immediately in front of him was a slender tower, it's base near the low building across the garden. The tower overlooked the steps from the castle's main gate and seemed to be occupied, since there were lights visible near it's top.

Rinzo looked back over the peaked ridge of the roof, trying to decide upon his next course of action. The vista was deceptively silent, and no one could be seen moving about. Rinzo tried to imagine where he'd want to stay, if he was Kura. He'd want some place private, easily defendable, that offered him a good view of his surroundings...

Rinzo glanced over at the far tower and smiled.

 

Getting to the tower was no easy task. Creeping along the steeply slanting roof, Rinzo slowly made his way around the outside of the courtyard. Eventually, the building came to an end, and Rinzo glanced over to his destination. The tower was significantly taller than the building his was crouching on. It was almost as tall as the main keep, although nowhere nearly as massive. Aside from the lights burning near it's top, there was also light visible on the ground floor, as well as to men leaning against the wall. Rinzo paid these two closer attention. The two figures were dressed in ragged clothing and hold odd-looking long hafted weapons, Rinzo guessed that they were more of Kura's Chinese guard. Leaning back, he studied the top of the tower, noticing for the first time a fine stream of smoke drifting out of a window at the top of the tower.

The only real way to get to the tower was to climb down to the ground and follow the outer wall of the keep until he reached the tower's base. He'd have to be careful though, for the guard barracks were right below him.

The journey seemed to take for ever, with each step Rinzo half-expected to hear the shout of discovery. Finally he stood outside the wall of the tower, and taking one final look around to ensure no one was about, he went up the wall.

The climb up the tower was no different than his scaling the wall of the keep, but Rinzo couldn't help but feel uneasy. A sudden disturbance inside, a loud crashing noise as if someone or something had fallen down the stairs, made him freeze for several long minutes but nothing more seemed to happen and he continued to work his way upward. Reaching the top, Rinzo peered cautiously into an open window.

 

It took some time for his eyes to adjust to the dim light inside. It was very dark inside, especially when compared to the brightness of the full moon, and the only light came from a brazier of small coals. Eventually, Rinzo could make out the figure of a man, moonlight shining of his bald head, who he guessed could only be Kura. He sat on the other side of the room, near another window, bent over and looking at something he held in his lap. He spoke quietly, as if he was conversing with someone, although Rinzo could see no one else in the room with him. Rinzo swallowed apprehensively and tried to pay closer attention to Kura's words. He heard Ogame-sama's name mentioned, as well as something about Osaka. Rinzo grinned slightly under his mask, it seemed that Ogame-sama had escaped from some trap that had been laid for him and was still alive. More words followed, Kura wanted someone to send for shinobi, and he gave all to familiar instructions on how to leave a note and payment for them. Rinzo shook his head in frustration as he heard names mentioned, none were familiar to him. Finally Kura looked at the thing in his lap for some time and then laughed, announcing quite clearly, "The hero of Dan-no-ura and Ichinotani has been found and is with me now. Who could want for a better bodyguard? I have nothing to fear from this village rabble. We are nearly ready to close the noose on them. Finish your duties and return here. Your countrymen grow careless in your absence." Rinzo felt his heart grow cold.

Kura stopped suddenly and raised his head, Rinzo barely managing to duck back out of the way. Kura remained motionless for a moment, as if listening for something and then rose to his feet. He strode to side of the room, Rinzo watching his every move, and stopped in front of a small cabinet. Placing a finger inside his mouth, he opened the cabinet and placed what looked like a small bowl inside. He then returned to where he had been sitting a moment before, just as a man entered the room. Rinzo couldn't see the newcomers face, but his hair was elaborately arraigned, his robes were very expensive and he carried a daisho. He immediately sat down facing Kura.

"What are you up to tonight, shugenja?" the newcomer asked.

"Merely meditating."

The samurai snorted in seeming frustration, "It does my heart no good to wait like this. How much longer?"

"A few months, no more. If you follow my instructions, you will, as I said, be Shogun - and over a realm larger than any have dreamed of before now."

The samurai, who Rinzo figured must be Ogame-sama's uncle, tapped his sword hilt significantly before continuing, "How do I even know I can trust you? You say you are content in my success, but what I have seen - what I remember!" Rinzo decided that he and the samurai had one thing in common at least, he didn't trust Kura either.

Kura stood, "You are bored, my lord - not surprisingly, since you were a man of action. As for what you have seen, there will be greater horrors in the days ahead. But you should know better than anyone that a general makes what sacrifices he must. Yoritomo's treachery founded a dynasty which persisted many generations, after all."

At that proclamation, the samurai sprung to his feet and hissed, "I would not have that particular deed repeated - remember that, shugenja!" He then turned and headed out the door. Rinzo managed a quick glimpse of his face, narrow and aristocratic, although marred by a scowl and then he was gone down the stairs. Rinzo realized with a start that he couldn't hear him leaving, and, when he thought about about it, he hadn't heard him arrive either. A small knot of fear began to develop in Rinzo's stomach.

Kura chuckled at this display, and shuttered the windows behind him. He then turned and headed for the window where Rinzo still hung, having watched the drama of a few moments ago unfold with morbid fascination. Realizing that he might be discovered, Rinzo scrambled down the wall as fast as he could possibly manage, dropping into the growth below as soon as he felt it was safe.

 

Rinzo stared into the small fire burning in his hut and tried not to shake. Kura, he had decided, was to powerful to kill. He and Yoshi could speak about luring him out into the open and assassinating him, but now that planed seemed foolish, futile. Kura had powers beyond his realm of comprehension, and for Rinzo and Yoshi to even consider trying act on their plan was hopeless. Besides, with what he had seen tonight, he now had a more important mission. He must find Ogame-sama and inform him of Kura's powers and actions. And to do that, he must take drastic measures. Tonight, Torii Rinzo would die.

Rising from his place beside the fire, Rinzo quickly removed his igabakama and folded it into a small pile. His apparently slight frame was revealed to be surprisingly well muscled, thanks to a life spent acting as one of the lord's scouts, running through fields and climbing trees. Rooting through his collection of clothing, Rinzo donned a simple kimono and loose trousers, he had yet more work to do tonight.

His first act was to burn any papers he had lying about in the hut. Next, he gathered all his spare clothing, save for his best kimono, and bundled it with his night suit. This he would drop down into an abandoned well that lay lower down the mountain side. His jingasa, do and yari would follow. For a few long moments he regarded his katana. It was a reasonably fine weapon, and he hated to loose it. Reaching a decision he slid it into a spare obi, knotting the end to make a serviceable sword bag. Drawing his tanto, Rinzo then began cutting the roof apart, trying to open gaps in order to let the next rain in.

It was several hours later that Rinzo stood outside the ruined remains of his woodcutter's hut. He had considered burning it as a way of destroying all evidence, but the smoke would probably bring Kura's troops. Best to simply leave it. Tugging his kimono, patterned with a riotous display of maple leaves, into place, he then tucked his tanto into a fold of his obi. Donning his equally colorful haori, Rinzo then picked up his sword and pack. It was time to go.

 

It was some time later that he stood within the confines of White Feather Castle. Before him was an open field on which the ashigaru would drill and train. Trying to restrain the nervousness he felt, he waited for Yoshi's arrival. He was the very picture of a beautiful young woman. By disguising himself as Nishi he could get easy access to the drill fields and barracks.

After a moderate wait, Rinzo spotted Yoshi coming back to the barracks with a group of other ashigaru. He towered over them by a head or more.

"Ah! Yoshi-kun! I am so happy to see you!" Rinzo's enthusiasm at the giant youth's arrival was quite genuine.

Yoshi's homely features reddened, and some ribald comments from the group made him flush further. He broke off from the group and strode over to Rinzo.

Bowing low, Rinzo gave Yoshi an almost delirious grin, "Yoshi-kun, are you busy now? Nishi has some very important new for you!

"Uh... no. I guess not. I'm not busy, I mean."

"Uh... Yoshi-kun," Rinzo stammered, "Would it be okay if we went somewhere to eat, I'm very hungry."

Yoshi glanced around. "Yes, that would be fine. We'll go to an inn I know."

 

The inn was small and poor, and smelled of fish. Most ashigaru wouldn't normally go alone into the alleys here by the water, but Yoshi was well known.

For all his professed hunger, Rinzo didn't seem to touch his food. He drank his tea quietly for a few moments and then leaned towards Yoshi, his hand resting on Yoshi's massive forearm, his lips brushing along his jaw as he whispered faintly into his ear, "We must escape this place Yoshi, or I fear that we will all soon be dead."

Yoshi's arm tensed. "What have you found out?"

Rinzo shuddered slightly as he sat back and drank more of his tea. "I..." he paused and swallowed deeply before continuing, "I have been inside the Castle. I have seen Kuro..." He paused again, his face noticeably paler, "He is a maho-tsukai, Yoshi; a sorcerer who speaks with the dead. We must escape Ariki and warn Ogame-sama of Kura and his plans." Rinzo paused again, trying to restrain his emotions, "We are fools Yoshi, to think we could trap and kill Kura on the road. All we can hope for now is to try and live long enough to tell Ogame-sama what we gave found." Rinzo shuddered again as he sat back and drank more of his tea, trying to dispel a chill that existed only in his memory.

Yoshi frowned. "It is not like you, to be scared."

Rinzo set his cup down, silently staring into it's steaming depth. "I climbed Kuro's tower, and heard him talking into a bowl," he whispered not bothering to look up. "He spoke of hiring ninja, of some great plan nearing completion. I saw him speaking with someone I guess was Togai, telling him to be patient. I don't want to think about what may go on in that tower, Yoshi and I'm not going back."

Yoshi's frown deepened. "So Kura's hiring ninja, he has some plan, Togai is impatient, and Kura talks to bowls. This isn't news! Except the bowl, maybe," he looked slightly confused before continuing.

"You're being foolish. The cold night air has sapped your spirit. Enough of this girlish nonsense. Drink some warm sake, you'll recover yourself soon enough." Yoshi slapped Rinzo's shoulder playfully, half knocking his over with the impact.

Rinzo slowly picked himself up, rubbing his shoulder where Yoshi had struck him. Settling himself before their small table, he slowly shook his head, causing long stands of hair to fall across his face. Brushing them aside with one hand, he looked over at his larger companion, "Yoshi, I still think someone needs to find Ogame-sama and tell him of what has happened here. If he truly wishes to overthrow Togai and Kura then he needs to know what Kura is up to." He paused, and gave Yoshi a concerned look, "Do you still want to try and lure Kura out of the castle?"

Yoshi shrugged. "Killing him would be the best thing to do, I think. But we haven't found a good way to get him where we want him. I don't fear Kura as much as ten or twenty of his foreign soldiers."

"Heh," Rinzo chuckled slightly, "I think I'd rather face ten of his soldiers than Kura himself." He thought a moment, his face sober. "Yoshi, I... I saw some strange things when I looked into Kura's tower. I will tell you about them, but not here. Let's go to the beach, where there is no one to over hear us."

 

Rinzo sat upon a length of drift wood, staring out over the ocean, letting the wind ruffle his long hair and the folds of his kimono. Pulling his haori closer about his shoulders, Rinzo looked over at Yoshi. "When I looked into Kura's tower, he was sitting on the floor speaking into what turned out to be a small bowl. He seemed to be talking to someone, although the room was empty. He mentioned Ogame-sama, the city of Osaka and the need to hire shinobi. He said something about 'the hero of Dan-no-ura and Ichinotani has been found'..." Rinzo paused and looked up, "I wonder if he was referring to the box you found while digging the shrine..." Shaking his head and brushing his waist length mass of hair back over one shoulder, Rinzo continued. "He said something about being ready to close a noose about the city and warned who ever he was speaking to that 'your countrymen grow restless'... I guess he was talking to another foreigner."

Yoshi nodded. "Chinese, maybe."

Rinzo suddenly stood up, gesturing with his hands as he described the events he had witnessed in Kura's small chamber. "Then Togai entered the room, which I found interesting as I heard nothing of his climbing the stairs in the tower. He and Kura spoke, Togai wanting to know when things would be ready, Kura telling him to wait a few months more. Kura told him that great horrors awaited and mentioned someone named Yoritomo and how his treachery founded a dynasty." Rinzo suddenly stopped his pacing and gesturing and looked thoughtful, "Togai said he would not have that deed repeated... I think Yoritomo must have killed his own brother as well..." Rinzo turned back to Yoshi, his expression serious, "Now you see why we must leave Ariki and find Ogame-sama, he must be told of Kura's actions and of 'the great horrors' that await this city."

"No." Yoshi's jaw seemed carved of granite.

"NO?!" Rinzo exploded, "What do you mean by 'no'?"

"What would you tell the lord? That you climbed the wall, listened to the priest talk to a bowl, and got scared? You have learned nothing of substance!"

"YOSHI!" Rinzo screamed, voice sounding oddly shrill, "I have learned we only have a few months before something terrible happens! If Ogame-sama wants to take back his castle and lands he must act soon! That Kura is probably being aided by the Chinese! What more do you want?!"

Yoshi stood up, towering over the smaller man. "We already knew that Kura was in with some Chinese. We already knew that he had some plan, and that something was going on. What shall we tell Ogame-sama, when we arrive? 'Oh, noble lord, we come in duty to tell you things that are common knowledge in Ariki, and because we got scared like birds when the oxen fart.' That would get us a welcome, certainly!"

"GRRRR!" Rinzo fumed, face reddening in anger, "Are you calling me a coward?!" Stepping forward he he glared up at Yoshi, "And what about the 'the hero of Dan-no-ura and Ichinotani', eh? And what do you make of that?" He punctuated each question by forceably smacking his tightly curled fist against Yoshi's broad chest.

One of Rinzo's blows took Yoshi in the solar plexus, and he gaped for a second. His face, too, reddened in anger, and he placed one broad hand against Rinzo's chest and pushed.

Rinzo flew backwards to sprawl in the sand ten feet away, kimono akimbo.

Yoshi's lantern jaw fell open. He looked down at his hand, which had clearly felt contact with a woman's soft breast, not the hard chest of a fighting man. He looked up again at the person he had known as Rinzo and his jaw gaped even wider. Her kimono had gaped open in her fall, and she was clearly exposed as a woman. Yoshi's face went red, then white, then red again.

She quickly struggled to her feet, pulling her kimono into place and shrugging her haori back over her shoulders. Pausing to comb a wayward mass of hair from her face, she glared at Yoshi. "That hurt, you know!" she snapped.

Yoshi gaped like a fish, temporarily incapable of speech. He looked down at his hand, then back at the woman he had known as Rinzo.

"What?" She continued to glare, "What are *you* looking at?"

"Rinzo, ... you ... You're a girl!"

"Baka! Of course I'm a girl! So what?" She shook her head, feet slipping in the loose sand as she made her way over to where a very confused Yoshi stood in slack-jawed amazement.

"But, .. but, .. you've always been a girl?!"

The young woman stared at Yoshi for several long moments, trying to find her voice. "Y-yes Yoshi, I have *always* been a girl."

Yoshi was clearly still struggling with the concept. "All this time?" He tried to sit down, but missed the log he had previously occupied, and ended up flopping down awkwardly in the sand, still staring at her.

"All this time."

"But Rinzo is a boy's name."

She slowly shook her head, her waist length fall of hair swaying in the ocean breeze. "Yoshi, I've been just playing the part of a man. I never meant to, but it's how things turned out." She paused and sat down on a near by log. "I've been doing it for so long, I almost didn't remember how to tie my obi properly." She looked down and adjusted the folds of her kimono again, "I guess I didn't."

Yoshi's ears flushed red and he looked away.

"What... what do I call you, then?"

"My name is Nishi," she said. "Look Yoshi, forget that I'm a woman right now, we've got more important matters to discuss. Since you think it's a waste for us to look for Ogame-sama, what do *you* think we should do next?"

Yoshi shook his head absently, still staring at Nishi as if she was about to sprout wings.

"Ahhh..., I don't know. Something, anything. Try to do something, anyway, rather than just running away like frightened girls." Yoshi flushed immediately, realizing what he had just said.

Nishi simply sighed in response.

"I didn't mean girls like you, I meant ... I mean," Yoshi flushed even redder trying to recover before concentrating on what he was trying to say again. "... well, how would it look? What good could we do to the Lord, if we don't even try?"

"But try what Yoshi?" Nishi asked in a concerned tone of voice. "Kura says he has the hero of Dan-no-Ura as his bodyguard. How should we deal with that? We don't even know who or what that is."

"So we should give up? All that we have done is to hide in this town and kill two Chinese flunkies. We must try something. If Kura will not come to us, we must go to him. Didn't you say you found the grate we had been looking for? We can get back in the tunnels."

"I don't know Yoshi. I think getting into Kura's tower is a lot harder than it looks, even from the tunnels." Nishi gestured as she spoke, "I think he guards his tower with more than Chinese warriors... I think he uses magic."

"Magic?" Yoshi looked like he wasn't sure whether to puff his chest out, pretending he disbelieved, or act casual, or what.

"Yes... magic." Nishi's voice sounded distant, "I wonder why I never heard anyone enter or leave his tower..."

"But what can his magic do?"

"I don't know. That's what scares me."

Yoshi's face worked for a while as he chewed on that idea.

"If he is powerful, then why hasn't he caught us yet?"

Nishi shrugged, "Maybe he doesn't know who to look for. Or maybe he thinks we aren't worth using his powers on. Who knows."

Yoshi looked at her with exasperation. "Or maybe you are making his powers to be bigger than they are."

Nishi rolled her eyes, "Forget it, Yoshi. Since we actually haven't seen him do anything to us, we should stop worrying."

"I'm not the one who was worrying," Yoshi said petulantly.

"Look, Nishi," Yoshi asked, abruptly changing the subject, "Wasn't Dan-no-Ura a very long time ago?. How could Kura have the hero of an old battle as his bodyguard? Perhaps he meant his sword, or his spirit."

"His spirit..." Nishi looked out across the pounding surf, "You mean a yurei? That Kura could have summoned his spirit back from the netherworld? Is that why he had all the graves dug up?"

"His underground workshop was full of grave urns. Maybe he wasn't looking for _something_ in the graves, but for _someone_."

"That's what I said Yoshi, that Kura had found the hero of Dan-no-Ura. That sounds like a someone to me."

"But that's it!" Yoshi jumped up. "That's how we can lure him outside! If he is looking for dead heroes, we have a way to get him to come outside the castle! We know what he wants!"

"And where are we going to find a dead hero to lure Kura with, Yoshi?" Nishi asked sarcastically.

Yoshi waved his hand. "Don't be silly. We don't need a real hero. We just need something he _thinks_ is a real hero."

"Like who?" Nishi snapped, "The grave of Masakado is in Edo!"

Yoshi frowned at her. "There are local heroes too, stupid."

"Yes, and isn't that why Kura dug up all the graves in the Arai cemetary?"

"So choose a hero that is not as close as the cemetery here, and not as far away as Edo," Yoshi said, exasperated with Nishi's constant objections.

"And what do we do with this 'hero'?" Nishi asked, "Dig him up and give him to Kura? Or try and get Kura to come and look at the grave?"

"No, no, that won't work," Yoshi sighed and sat down again. "Last time he sent some flunky and two Chinese guards to dig. He might do that again. That wouldn't get us anywhere."

"So we are back where we started."

"But I don't think running to Ogame-sama will do any good, either." Yoshi pursed his lips to think. "But wait! How about this -- you disguise yourself as a nun, carrying the urn of a great hero for some reason. If he thinks that browbeating, bribery, or something more than simple reading gravestones and digging are required, he might come himself. Then we can attack him, and see how powerful his magic really is."

Nishi simply blinked by way of response. "You want me to do _what_?" She finally managed.

"A nun! Transporting the remains of a great hero! If you can be Rinzo, you can certainly be a buddhist nun!"

Nishi ran her hands through her hair, pondering the idea. "Yoshi, I don't have a nun's clothing."

Yoshi dismissed her objection with a wave. "Well, it surely can't be hard to get that."

"Yoshi, Kura is no fool, do you really think he'd fall for such an act?"

"Why would he expect it? And we don't do the act in front of him -- you just stop in the town for a day, on the way from one place to another, guarding the grave urn of the hero. We use his own information network against him -- he'll hear of it, and send for you or come visit you. Then we kill him."

"Hmm..." Nishi nodded in agreement, "Once you explain it that way it sounds much more practical. That might work Yoshi." Nishi thought for a moment and then looked over at her tall companion, "What do we do if his magic *is* too powerful for us to counter? I think that Kura has the power to speak with the dead, and none of our secrets will be safe from him."

"Hah. If he knew about us now, we would be dead. If he is asking the dead for my secrets, he is going to be surprised -- the dead don't know my secrets." Yoshi got a thoughtful look. "Actually, I don't have any secrets."

"Well I do..." Nishi looked thoughful herself, "or did anyway... Still I don't like the idea of Kura possibly being able to call me back from the dead to do his bidding."

Yoshi shrugged. "If I'm dead, I'm dead. As for Kura talking to the dead, after I crush his head he can talk to himself."

"If you can even get to him," Nishi pointed out. "What if he does come to see this 'great hero' and brings ten or twenty of his guards with him? I don't have any armor or weapons, and certainly couldn't deal with *that* many of them by myself."

"Then you run or hide. But he won't -- he's never had more than a few guards with him at once. And if he finds his `nun' has fled with the bones he is after, he will be even more interested in getting his hands on them."

"Possibly. Unless he suspects a trap to begin with."

Yoshi clapped the sea-worn log he sat on. "I have the perfect hero! You will be transporting the urn of Koneko Gohei!!"

"Koneko?"

"It's perfect! He is a dread warrior, a hero. He was wounded in the battle where the usurper took power, but his body was never found. If Kura can speak with the dead, he will want to get information from Koneko Gohei -- by rumour, only Koneko knows where Lord Arai's head is."

Nishi nodded appreciatively, "That's a great idea Yoshi, Kura couldn't resist such a tempting target!"

"If we know which building he is coming to, we can set up a real ambush. I can get my friend Nezu -- although he isn't great in a fistfight, he could be very useful throwing daggers from the roof above in an alley."

Nishi nodded, "I don't think his guards wear any armor." Nishi sobered, and gave Yoshi a concerned look, "And what if our plan fails Yoshi, then what? We must consider that."

Yoshi sat back. "Then we run like hell, I guess."

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