On the other side of the Iuchi, an ex-Mantis samurai name Hatori held his no-dachi firmly. "I suppose we'll have to cut it until it matches the description in your books, son of Shinjo." his voice grumbled over the sounds of surprised troops in the war camp quickly readying for war.

Iuchi Kanjin simply gazed at the fierce army of Lion samurai... No, he corrected himself. These were not samurai. Any man who would follow a screaming Oni into battle were nothing more than howling madmen.

Kanjin's army had camped near the fortress of the Matsu for days, and the small Lion war parties he had encountered had shown no signs of the corruption his Emperor had accused. Moments after he had began to doubt his Emperor, Kanjin's watch officer had raised the alarm. And now, he and his two karo watched as the Lion army advanced from seemingly nowhere, a beast of the Shadowlands leading the vanguard.

A junior gunso ran up to the three men, and bowed lowly. "The spearmen are prepared, and the first ranks are forming already, lords." he said quickly.

"We have less than a minute before we are in the range of their bowmen," Tama muttered, his eyes darting on the horizon, numbers and calculations spinning in his head. "Our men should be prepared for that, sama. What orders?"

"Standard charge reception. Have the spearmen ready." Kanjin's eyes didn't move from the oni. "I will dispatch the thing."

Tama bowed quickly and ran off to deliver the orders. Hatori looked Kanjin over carefully. The former Mantis turned away and asked, "And what would you have me do, sama?" Since joining the Iuchi's small army, Hatori had not left Kanjin's side. The minor skirmishes they had been involved with rarely involved more than the forward troops. But as the Lion army advanced, Hatori knew he would see battle at his new lord's side at last.

Kanjin reached into his obi and produced a small pouch. "Apply the jade powder to your blade, Hatori," he said. "You're coming with me."

Ikoma Hatori gazed over the fields, and scowled. He watched the Lion army advance on the Unicorn camp with an oni at their vanguard. In the camp, the man he sought was preparing his troops for war. Hatori pulled the reigns on his horse, and commanded him down the hill, into the Unicorn encampment. If he did not make it in time, Hatori would have to make a stand against his Matsu cousins once again. After the Clan Wars, many of the Matsu made it quite clear what would happen, should he make that choice again.

"Return fire!" Shinjo Tama yelled over the sounds of horses dying to the first volley of Lion arrows. As the horsebowmen aimed and fired in a single fluid motion, Tama dropped his open hand and screamed for the charge. The green field was quickly trampled by the two advancing waves of yellow and purple samurai. At the head of the Lion army, the oni screamed with its fury. From the vanguard of the Unicorn, Kanjin and Hatori rode forth with the speed of the wind.

The Unicorn spearmen broke into the line of Lion just as they had began reocvering from the Shinjo's arrows. The stifled cries of the dying surrounded Kanjin as he raised his hands to the sky and called forth the power of Osano-Wo from his soul. The flames struck the oni in the chest and it threw back its thick head, screaming in pain. Hatori charged into the fat beast's reach, deftly avoiding a killing blow from its claws, and slashed along the oni's side, riding smoothly out of reach.

The Lion and Unicorn were giving the fight between the two samurai and the oni a wide berth. Kanjin attributed that fact simply to the oni's presence, if not its smell. With a sudden burst of speed, the Oni lunged out at the Iuchi, and cut across his chest with the tips of its fingernails. Kanjin pulled his horse back too slowly, and he found himself in the oni's grasp from the other hand.

"Kanjin!" Hatori called out from behind the oni, and cleaved at the thing again. With a swift twist, the oni swung its free arm and knocked Hatori off his war horse, into the skirmish.

Iuchi Kanjin was raised up by the foul thing, and it opened its huge mouth. Kanjin turned his head away from the stench and sight of the oni's unnaturally large gullet, flames flickered around Kanjin's eyes and hands, but they were not enough to make the oni drop him.

"For Tsuko!" a great cry split the sound of war, and from the edge of his vision, Kanjin saw a Lion samurai strike the oni's arm off from behind. The Unicorn shugenja fell to the ground with the arm. Kanjin looked up to see a young Lion free him from the severed hand as his vision began to darken. He reached to his chest, and noticed the wound was a little deeper than scratches.

"Don't worry, shugenja. You'll live to tell your children about this day," he heard a cultured voice whisper into his ear as he was hefted over someone's shoulder.

Then Kanjin's world faded into darkness and silence.

What was the rest of the plan, Hatori asked himself. Ride in, get Iuchi Kanjin, ride out. Hmm. Perhaps this required more thought. Hatori turned his horse, when he also saw several Lion samurai turn their attentions to him. One looked from him, to Kanjin, then to where his horse was pointed. Towards the Unicorn camp.

"Hatori!" the Matsu screamed, "We will hand your head to Ketsui for this!" and they charged.

Hatori spun his steed and galloped away from the scene, towards the command tents of the Unicorn. The Shinjo that had pursued him seemed to make the same connection the Matsu did, and quickly blocked the Lion so Hatori could get away.

It was all he could do to ignore his cousin's shouts of his cowardice.

First, he could hear the quiet murmur of men. His men. As he began to open his eyes, he realized he was in a pavillion tent. "My men?" his voice came out rougher than he expected. Kanjin reflexively coughed, and tasted blood in his mouth. The oni's wounds had been deep.

"We suffered minimal losses," the voice of Shinjo Tama came from Kanjin's left, and the Iuchi was reassured. "The Lion were routed, chased, and killed to the last man."

"Murdered, you mean." A quiet, almost sad voice came from Kanjin's right. He thought he recognized the voice. A silence hung over Kanjin, and he suddenly remembered.

"You," the shugenja turned his head to Ikoma Hatori, his eyes still bleary. "The Lion who rescued me."

"Hai," the Ikoma responded.

Kanjin remembered the image of his other gunso, the former Mantis Hatori, thrown into the thick of the battle by the oni. "What of Hatori, Tama?"

"I..." Ikoma Hatori began, but was cut off by Shinjo Tama.

"Hatori's body was found, sama."

The Lion, Hatori, looked confused for a moment.

"The other man the Tsuburu Oni held, Lion," Tama said, knowing the queston on Hatori's face. "His name was Hatori as well. He was once a Mantis."

"He died well, then." Hatori responded, looking down as his hands as he rubbed them together slowly, "He died defending the Empire from a foul army of the Shadowlands."

"Your cousins, Lion," Kanjin said, sitting up slowly. He winced in pain and leaned against the post his cot was next to. The shugenja realized he was in the hospital tent of the camp, and the smell of blood and death was suddenly apparent to him.

"Those were not my cousins," Hatori spat and looked out an open flap door of the tent. "They are my cousins just as much as Tsume and his horde are yours."

Tama raised an eyebrow at the Ikoma's remarks, but Kanjin nodded, "I understand." After a moment, he said, "Why did you save my life, Lion?"

"My name is Ikoma Hatori, Unicorn," Hatori said quietly, turning back to Kanjin, "As I told your gunso." He stood, and adjusted his obi, "And I have come to escort you to the lands of the Dragon."

Tama's face became clearly confused now, and Kanjin's eyes lit up with a hint of amusement. "The Dragon provinces?" he asked.

"I..." Hatori's serious face suddenly melted into a sheepish grin, which both Unicorn could tell was closer to his true nature. "I think so." The Lion just shrugged and shook his head at himself, "Dealing with Dragons is never an easy task."

Kanjin nodded somberly, "Yes. Dragons are..." his voice trailed off as the shugenja suddenly reached an understanding. "Who sent you on this mission?" he asked the Lion.

"An ise zumi. One of Hitomi's followers. I beleive his name was Daitan."

"What did he say to you?" Kanjin asked, sitting up straighter now.

Hatori noticed that the Unicorn was practically hanging on his every word. "There were two of them, actually. A shugenja and a samurai. The shugenja told me to retrieve you, for more than I could realize was at stake."

"Amadan," Kanjin whispered to himself. He stood up, again flinching at the pain. "I'm leaving, Tama. The command is yours."

Shinjo Tama stood, his eyes betraying his obvious concern and confusion, "Sama, you would leave this minute? What of the Emperor's commands?"

"The Emperor commanded the Unicorn to strike against the Lion. You will continue to carry out those orders. I must go to carry out a duty to the Empire that Shinjo laid down for us long ago." Kanjin pulled the kimono around him as he moved to the flap door of the tent. "And no, I am not leaving now. Prepare my travel belongings. I have one duty to attend to before I leave."

With a quiet prayer to the Fortunes for Hatori, Kanjin stepped away from the pyre platform to the Lion waiting for him. Ikoma Hatori was on his horse, staring at the flames as they reaching up to the night sky. Around him, many of the Unicorn soldiers had gathered to see their commander off.

"You will have to tell me his story sometime," the Ikoma said. He watched Kanjin mount with a small amount of difficulty. "Will you be allright for this journey, Kanjin-san?"

"I will have to be, Hatori-san." Kanjin looked over his troops, and addressed them, "My brave soldiers. Your brother Tama is your commander now. I leave, following the will of the First Unicorn, but I promise you this.

"I will always return."

Kanjin turned his horse, and looked at his Lion companion. "Where are we going, Ikoma?"

"To the lands of the Dragon, I suppose. The ise zumi told me they'd find us, but I do not think it would be a bad idea to make us easy to find." Hatori adjusted his obi as he spoke, readying for a long ride.

The Iuchi glanced northward, and nodded. "We will ride at night, then. The enemy that we will gain the attention of will move faster at night, and it is only when they are active that we can truly flee them."

Hatori nodded, someone slowly, knowing that the journey would be a long one. "Everyone seems to know what's going on but me," he muttered to himself, as Kanjin spurred his horse forward. Hatori followed the Unicorn, and behind them, the small army of Shinjo samurai raised their katana at the two magistrates in silent salute.