Iuchi Kanjin could not surpress a laugh at the Ikoma's face. "A good friend of your family?" the shugenja magistrate said, "It is little wonder why the Lion are famous for their anger when they treat one another this way."

The other magistrate slowly rose up onto his horse and smiled darkly. "The words of Ujiaki are quite far-reaching," he said, looking to the north as the Sun set quietly behind them. They would have to find shelter soon, and the home of Matsu Kyono was no longer an option that Hatori thought it had been. Hatori sighed, and turned his horse to the road. "We should continue north, to the Dragon provinces. There is another small town about an hour's ride north. He laughed a little, "Let us just hope the bandits are not too ambitious tonight."

Kanjin nodded, and rode after the Lion down the darkening path.

Kanjin leaned toward Hatori, not taking his eyes of the scene, "A bandit trap, Hatori-san?"

The Ikoma nodded, "It is likely."

"I see," Kanjin said, and drew his katana. "There is but one way to deal with that," The shugenja slapped his horse, and charged the campsite.

"Kanjin!" Hatori cried, urging his horse after the Unicorn, "Stop!" He drew his blade as well, and lowered himself, preparing to leap off his horse.

The small man at the camp spun when he heard the thundering hoofbeats, and dropped the small pot he was cleaning. Without hesitation, he struck the ground with an open palm and shouted a plea to the kami. The earth shook, and both horses reared up in terror. Hatori was thrown from his mount, but Kanjin held tightly, his experience in the saddle obvious. The Lion hit the ground with a sickening crack, and the tremors died down.

"Stop!" Hatori yelled again, through clenched teeth. His left arm had been broken above the elbow.

Kanjin's horse settled down almost instantly, and the Unicorn looked down, close enough to see the mon on the stranger's kimono. "Monkey?" He said, slightly confused.

Hatori came to his feet, and the little man adjusted his jingasa. "It worries me," the shugenja said, eyeing Kanjin critically, "when the Emperor's right hand tries to protect travellers by charging them at random."

Kanjin dismounted wordlessly and walked over to his companion. "Are you allright, Hatori-san?" he asked.

"My arm is broken," Hatori walked past Kanjin, leading his horse to the campsite the Monkey was setting up, "but it will heal, provided you stop 'charging people at random' as this man said."

Kanjin kept his back to them a moment, chastising himself inwardly. It was rather unlike him to do something so short-sighted as that. Perhaps the wars were beginning to wear down on his nerves. "We should stop here for the night, Hatori." He turned to the other men and walked to them. "I will be able to reset the wound, but the bone will mend on its own."

"Agreed," Hatori said, then looked at the short man, who was lighting a fire with his bare hands. "Would you allow us to share your fire, shugenja?"

"As long as you stop trying to run it over." came the reply.

Hatori peered at the funny little man closer, "Do I know you?" he asked. "Your voice sounds familiar..."

Kanjin had led his horse to the fire and secured him to a tree by this time. The shugenja looked up at Hatori with a cunning smile, "You forget me so soon, Hatori-san? I should be insulted."

The confusion passed, and Hatori smiled in understanding, "Garou-san," he laughed to himself quietly, and looked the man up and down. "You've gone from a honored Yasuki noble to the dusty servant of Toku's Clan?"

Garou shrugged, "It's a long story," he said, sitting back on a log. "Who is this friend of yours? A Unicorn? Shouldn't you two be killing each other or something?"

"He almost did," Hatori shot a dark glance at Kanjin, who had joined them by the fire wordlessly. "This is Iuchi Kanjin, Garou. A magistrate and general of the Unicorn armies."

Kanjin knelt beside where Hatori was sitting, "Let me see your arm, Lion." The Iuchi grabbed it without further warning, and quickly twisted with both hands. Hatori's teeth sunk into his lip to keep from crying out in pain. The sensation in his arm deadened as Kanjin whispered a prayer.

"That's good medicine you have there, Iuchi." Garou poked at the fire some with a stick. "So, tell me, Hatori. How is it that two of the Emperor's magistrates, who are incidentally at war with one another, have ended up on a northern road out of the Lion provinces?"

"That, too, is a long story," Hatori replied, running his right hand over his broken arm.

"The Dragon have sent Hatori to find me, so I may help my friend, who has been taken by an evil force from the Burning Sands." Kanjin took his sleeping rolls off his horse and laid it out on the ground.

Garou smiled, "That was quite a story," he said, "but I think mine is a little more interesting..."

Kanjin laid down on his bedroll. He was tired and still mad at himself for being so hot headed. If the two storytellers wished to talk into the night, they could take watch and tend the fire.

A dream.

Kanjin looked down at the smoldering embers near where Hatori and the man called Garou had fallen to sleep. The last few wisps of smoke curled up from the dying heat, and the Unicorn's mind flashed with an image from the dream that was slipping from his memory already.

He had been riding with the speed of the wind through a black forest. The trees themselves seemed to appear from nowhere, attempting to slow him endlessly. The darkness was absolute, challenged only by a small point of light that had sped in front of him, leading him deeper into the woods. After what had seemed an eternity, he had come upon a clearing, where a single man had stood in the simple kimono of a monk.

"Help me," he whispered, and faded into wisps of smoke, blending into the shadow that surrounded Kanjin. Getting down from his horse, the Iuchi shugenja looked around the clearing, his hand on the katana at his side. The trees seemed to breathe a steady, slow wind.

"Help me."

Kanjin spun on his heel, his sword drawn now, to find a tall man practically nose to nose with him. No eyes, a smooth nose, and the mouth of a gaijin were the features of this man's face. Kanjin froze in horror as the man grabbed him by the arms and lifted him into the air, "HELP ME!" he screamed, blue fire spouting from his mouth. Kanjin reached out to push the man away from him, but the towering gaijin unravelled into smoke and shadow.

And now Kanjin found himself standing over the fire, reality slowly coming back to him. The smoke came to his nostrils, and the sound of a lone morning bird rang in his ears. It then occured to Kanjin that Fuzake Garou was regarding him with one open eye from the ground.

There were plently of remarks the Monkey could have made at that point, but he chose to simply say, "Good morining, Iuchi-san."

Kanjin looked away from the man, to his bedroll, and slowly closed his hands, putting his arms back at his sides. "Hai, Fuzake-san. I trust you slept well." said, busying himself by rolling up his bed. "I hope Hatori and you did not spend all night trading tales, for we must depart soon."

"Indeed," Garou said, rising and stretching, "Hatori had much to say about your journey."

"Did he?"

Garou patted the dust off the edges of his kimono. "Hai. It centered mostly around the fact he didn't know what was going on."

Kanjin tied his travel pack to his horse and turned to face the Monkey. "The less he knows," he said, his eyes narrowing, "the better off he is."

"And you, Unicorn? How much do you know? How much danger does that place you in?"

"Enough, storyteller."

Both men turned as the sound of Hatori waking split the silent morning. Lady Sun had just began to peer over the horizon, and the promise of the day was again fufilled.

"Do we leave now?" the Lion asked.

Kanjin raised a critical eyebrow at Hatori. "We do. He," he pointed at Garou, "does not."

Hatori looked at the Unicorn, then to the man he had spent most of the night talking to. His eyes became distant, and Hatori nodded. "He is right, Garou. One thing I do know is that the journey we take, we must take alone. You would stand to only lose much."

The Monkey nodded, "I understand, Hatori-san. Very well, I shall return to the Emperor's City. I am sure since you have left, many of the soldiers have missed the comfort of your words. Perhaps I can serve in your stead."

Hatori bowed low to his friend, "Be careful, doshi. Otosan-Uchi is not the city of peace and light it once was."

Wordlessly, Garou bowed back and mounted his horse. Smiling a little crookedly, he reached into his obi, "Before I forget, Hatori," the little man threw a medium sized black pouch, which Hatori caught. "A gift. From a mutual friend." With that, Garou rode down the road to the south.

Hatori felt a slight warmth through the fabric in his hand, but before he could open it, Kanjin called out to him, "We cannot wait, Hatori-san. We must be away now. If we can make it to the edge of the Dragon lands before nightfall, we will be well."

A bit akwardly, Hatori rose up on his horse again, and almost had to chase after Kanjin. After an hour or so, Hatori began to gaze upon the horizon.

"Hai," Kanjin said, "we must head that way soon."

"We cannot," Hatori replied, his face showing a hint of sorrow.

"Why is that?"

"To the east lies Shiro sano Kenhayai, Kanjin-san." the Lion said, unblinking in the direct light of the Sun. "The Tombs of the Kitsu."

A slight chill ran down Kanjin's spine as he recalled the foul sight of the Lion army charging into battle, an Oni at the vanguard. It was something he had seen on the Day of Thunder, but the men were in the hands of the Dark Kami then. The Lions that attacked the Unicorn encampment days ago were normal, living men.

"Alright, then." Kanjin said finally. "We will ride into the night." The shugenja raised his hands above his head and began a prayer to the kami of the wind. Closing his eyes, the Unicorn's body began to glow softly, and Hatori was completely enraptured by the sight. Kanjin continued like this for several moments, then suddenly brought his hands down on the horse's reins, and spurred it forward with a yell.

Instinctively, Hatori followed suit, and his horse began to sprint, and when he thought the horse would go no faster, the grass along the road began to blur even more, and the wind against his face pressed harder, and harder. The two magistrates were travelling three times faster than any horse Hatori had ever seen. They would make it to the Dragon lands by nightfall to be sure.

When they reached the edge of the Dragon lands, Ikoma Hatori beheld a sight that he could not beleive. From the hill they stood atop, they looked down upon a small valley along the border of the provinces of the Dragon. The fields were still war-torn, a reminder of the Naga army that had left only recently. A large camp was spread out below them, with several fires dotting the darkness of the night, and in the center of the camp, one large tent was illuminated by something else.

"Hai," Hatori replied, his awe matching the shugenja. "A kami." They both knew, despite the distance.

"And those banners?"

"The Scorpion." The Lion's breath shallowed, for while he had allies within the Hidden Clan, they risked the death of themselves and their captive children by returning.

After a long silence, Kanjin turned to the other magistrate, "What do we do now?" he asked.

"Follow me." Hatori urged his horse forward slowly, into the heart of the Scorpion encampment. As they drew nearer, the two men eventually were noticed by scouts, and were quickly approached.

Three Scorpions and a Unicorn, all on horseback, rode up to them in a trapping pattern. Hatori stopped his horse, and Kanjin stopped beside him to wait for the approaching scouts.

"A Unicorn among them, Kanjin-san," Hatori said quickly. "Your Clan seems quite busy."

When the patrol reached them, it was the Unicorn who spoke, "Iuchi-san," he addressed Kanjin, giving Hatori only a slight glance, "I am glad to see you and not another of the Emperor's war parties." He turned his horse, and his Scorpion companions did the same, though one paused to give Hatori a long look. "Follow us back to the camp, cousin. There is much to speak of tonight. You will have the honor of being in the army of Shinjo herself."