Flight of the Warrior Chapter 12 - Running from the shadow

He was much faster than her even carrying her weight so they had been forced into this uneasy partnership.

She had been stoic at first, ashen-faced but stoic. Then she had started to wriggle and began to complain they needed to take a break. She was polite at first, the requests made quietly, and when he whispered they needed to go a little further she would hang her head. Then she started to beg, plead and reason with him. Surely he was tired, perhaps they should stop and get him some food. Maybe if they stopped they would be able to get a sense of how far away the kage was. They may have more time than they thought she had reasoned.

Then she started to lapse in and out of consciousness. Each time she was out cold for longer and longer, and woke groaning in pain. Finally with the small shelter in sight, he moved off the pocket of prevailing wind he had been using to glide over the high passes. Landing as softly as his fatigue would allow, he fell onto his knees in the soft snow. She had been unconscious for a few moments before he landed, but she woke with a start. Almost instantly she clawed away from his grasp and on all fours was sick in the snow.

He was not sure if it was the hours flying or his mind playing tricks but the sight of her struggling to get away from him only to throw up repeatedly broke his spirit. There had to be a way to release her from the curse, but this was outside his area of expertise. It plagued him that the kage had a talent he did not know how to wield, could there be other surprises?

After a while there seemed to be nothing left inside her and he motioned she should come inside the mountain shelter. He had used this hut several times before. It was nothing special, but provided some warmth and protection from the harsh storms that regularly drew up and covered the area. It was also the most direct way west and he knew the area was uninhabited.

She moved slowly and with some relief he noticed her cheeks had some colour. He silently prepared the hearth and she watched him as he made tea and a small dish of rice and beans. She ate little so he encouraged her with every bite.

After eating she fell into a fitful sleep, tossing and turning and murmuring to herself. He found it hard to watch her. So he left the hut and went to check on the weather outside. It would be better to leave first thing in the morning to allow them both to rest, but he did not want to get stuck in a storm and be snowed in for days, losing precious time and allowing the kage to close in on them like caged birds. When he met this man it would be on his terms.

If a storm was coming he would let her sleep for a couple of hours and then wake her to leave again.

Looking at the sky it seemed clear and blue in all directions with light winds. No threatening cloud formations. Then he drew his focus inward to see if there was anything further he could learn, any warnings on the wind. He was struck immediately by the silence. There was nothing, like he was in a void. No messengers flapping around him vying for attention. There was only one vibration far away in the distance that he sensed, hard to make out. He went back inside to check on her. She was sitting up sipping some tea, looking worn.

"Anything?" she asked.

He was not sure what she was asking, what she knew he could see, so he answered, "Nothing close by. But something, maybe bad weather coming our way. We may need to leave."

She got up and moved to the open door, leaving the cup on the table near the hearth.

He looked with amazement at the clouds rushing toward them, they were incredibly close. Where there had been a clear sky before, the area to the south west was almost entirely black. She looked at him stunned, "Was it this close before?"

"No," he replied with uneasy concern. He moved to stand in front of her so she could not see his eyes glowing red as he took his focus inward, and saw instantly a tremendous wind on its way to her. A message, a warning.

Not caring about his eyes he turned to her, "A message for you."

She had gone white, in shock he thought. Then suddenly before either of them had a chance to move, they were immersed in cloud, complete with a strong wind that did not seem to know which direction it was going. Then as if entering a different weather zone, the cloud was gone and a thick mist descended. He could only just make her out so he took a few steps closer, unsure of what was going to happen next. Then as if in a vacuum the whole mist seemed to rush at them and he inhaled sharply.

In a surge of wind the cloud and mist was gone, they were standing on the snow, surrounded in blue sky again.

He glanced at her, and was instantly alarmed. She was kneeling down, grasping at handfuls of snow and rubbing it viciously against her wrists.

"What are you doing? You will hurt yourself." But unable to grab her without causing her pain there was little he could do.

"At least tell me what is wrong?" he pleaded.

"The jasmine, he is following the trail of jasmine." At this she started to wrench at her clothes, to get to bare skin, grabbing handfuls of snow and scouring herself with it.

He came up behind her, grabbed the cloak that had been thrown off and placed it around her shoulders, saying softly, "That is enough. We should go inside."

She stopped raking her skin but sat for a moment looking down at the snow in her hands, her wrists red raw. She nodded and stood up drawing the cloak around her and he led her inside the hut.

"We have to go west to an island off the coast. A woman will meet us there. She said his name is Nakano, he is a ronin. He is some way east from here so we have a small lead, but she warns to not waste a moment. Should he fly he will catch us quickly, at present he is riding a horse. He is following me because I sent you a message and the jasmine..... ," she added almost to herself.

"Do you think you can trust this woman?" he asked.

"I was going to go to her after I met you in the forest. I don't know how she knew I was going to do that. I had heard she has special skills. I wanted to learn from her."

"Do you know her name, where she is from?" It was his job to protect her and he would not go to the island without being satisfied it was not a trap.

"Tomoe I think, she lives in Tsurugajo."

He smiled to himself. She was a famous female samurai. Even Finn with his limited knowledge of bygone conflicts knew of her. She would be quite old now, but certainly a good person to have on side if she could help Bianca. Finally some luck was falling their way.

"We need to go now," she said "If you feel up to it I mean you must be very tired. I can fly myself for a while, although I am not as fast as you."

He nodded. "Let's go then." And he shut the door with the hearth still burning inside.