Outlaw: Champions of Kamigawa

CHAPTER 12

A thousand thoughts churned through Pearl-Ear's mind but she remained speechless. As Lady Silk-Eyes lit a lamp and filled the room with a soft yellow glow, Michiko struggled free of the mattress.

Why had she come here? How had she managed the journey alone? What Shockwaves had the princess's disappearance sent through the Daimyo's tower?

As Lady Silk-Eyes quietly left the hut, Michiko's feet found the floor. She rushed into Pearl-Ear's waiting arms.

"The spirits led me to you," Michiko said. "I was lost in the forest and the spirits sent me a guide. Foxfire brought me straight hereit even helped me battle a kami!"

"Breathe," Pearl-Ear whispered, hugging the child close. "Start from the beginning. What were you doing in the forest?"

Michiko hesitated, then said, "I was on my way to the Minamo Academy. I was separated from my party by an unnatural storm."

Lady Pearl-Ear pushed Michiko back and held the princess by the shoulders. "Was it a kami attack?"

"No, that came later. I lost Riko and Choryu in the woods and-"

"Riko? Choryu? What were they doing there?"

Michiko's eyes never wavered. "We were going to the Academy to look for answers." "What? That is sheer madness."

"It is not, sensei. The kami attacks grow worse all the time. They even attacked my father's advisors in council. He would not let me seek help from the Academy, so I sought it on my own."

"You are a very foolish girl, then. There is far more at stake here than your pride or your need for the Daimyo's attention."

Michiko frowned. "I did not do this for me. Not for pride or the rare gift of my father's approval."

Lady Pearl-Ear felt her expression hardening. "But you disobeyed your father, and you disobeyed me. The Daimyo forbade you to leave the tower, and-"

"And I am the Daimyo's daughter," Michiko replied with a rebellious flip of her head. "I was acting for the good of my people and all Kamigawa."

"Sharp-Ear should have stopped you. I will tell him so when I see him."

"Sharp-Ear didn't know. And he couldn't have stopped me if he did."

"Sharp-Ear didn't know," Pearl-Ear echoed sarcastically. "And that makes everything all right?"

Michiko suddenly crossed her arms and scowled. "I thought you'd be happy to see me. I didn't expect a lecture."

"You quit your father's house in secret and exposed yourself to unimaginable danger. You dishonored my brother, and me for leaving him in charge. A lecture is the least of your worries."

"But don't you see? My journey was decreed by fate and guided by the spirits. I dreamed of taking a larger role in the Kami War. I escaped the tower as easily as crossing a room. And despite freak storms and angry kami, I am here, where you yourself came to gain better perspective on the dangers that threaten Kamigawa. Think how much I can learn here, how much I can help you learn."

Pearl-Ear paused. After the initial shock of seeing Michiko and the reflex scolding that followed, she was noticing something new about the princess. Michiko had always been lighthearted and energetic, but now she was something more. She seemed to have a purpose, something that was driving her. And she was far more confident than Pearl-Ear had seen.

"Tell me more," Pearl-Ear said, "about this journey. You were caught in a storm?"

"We were attacked by a storm. It changed direction with the wind and swept right over us."

"Describe the storm."

"It was a large, fast-moving windstorm, a spinning cloud of dust. The wind was very forceful. It tore down an ancient tree standing alone on the plains, but the forest protected us."

Pearl-Ear nodded. Some things were starting to make a little more sense. "And the spirit guide?"

"A glowing ball, about two fists wide. Like the light from a small lantern without the lantern. I thought it might be kitsune foxfire. It guided me through the Jukai and defended me from a horrible grasping kami made of roots."

"Foxfire. I see. And you went on this ill-advised trip because of a dream?"

"I have been dreaming about the horrors of war, and of me standing by, doing nothing. I took it as a message, and acted on it." She fell to her knees and grabbed the hem of Lady Pearl-Ear's robe. "Sensei, please. I was sent on this trip and guided through it by friendly spirits. Don't you see? This means that not all the kami are against my father. It is their love that sparked this journey, and their concern that got me here safely."

"It was not friendly spirits," Pearl-Ear said. "It was my foolish brother."

Michiko accepted Lady Pearl-Ear's hand and got to her feet. "Sharp-Ear? We left him back at the tower."

"Not so. The storm you describe? That image is from an old teaching story we kitsune show our kits. It demonstrates that the world is alive, interactive, and always changing-a tree grows on the flatlands, a great wind levels the tree, but the forest halts the wind.

"And the foxfire? That is an old kitsune trick many adolescents use on travelers to lead them astray. In harsher times, our samurai would use it to lead enemy forces into traps or away from populated villages. These days, it's just another prank played by tricksters."

Michiko's mouth hung open in shocked silence. "But it led me here"

"Which is where I imagine Sharp-Ear wanted you to go. This business about fighting kami supports my theory. An adolescent wouldn't be able to use foxfire as a weapon. But he can."

The princess seemed on the verge of tears. "But why would he frighten us and drive away my friends?"

"He must have figured you'd be safest with me. I'm sure he meant no harm to Riko and Choryu, it's just that he doesn't usually stop to think about all the consequences of his actions."

Michiko sagged as if all the vitality had been drained from her body. "So we have no friends among the kami. Their war against us is total."

In that moment the princess was the image of her mother, complete with Yoshino's ability to infect everyone nearby with her mood. Pearl-Ear suddenly felt so sorry for the devastated princess that her anger melted and she swept Michiko up in her arms again.

"Not so," she whispered. "Your father has powerful allies in the spirit world as well as this one, else his tower would have fallen decades ago. This is a foolish thing you have done, Michiko, but we can derive some good from it. When we return to Eiganjo Castle, I will petition your father again for a trip to the Academy. I will insist upon it. Only this time, I will go with you and we will travel with a phalanx of armed guards."

Michiko laughed, her eyes still moist. "Thank you."

"Now," Lady Pearl-Ear said. "We must find your friends. Where did you lose them?"

Michiko's eyes brightened. "We were halfway to the academy. I searched for them after the storm, but they were gone. I expect they returned to the tower, or went on to the school to wait for me." "Very well. I will assemble a search party-"

"That is not necessary, Lady Pearl-Ear." Lady Silk-Eyes spoke from the doorway leading outside. "Our patrols picked up two Minamo students in the woods only this morning. They claimed to be lost on their way back to the school. They are being seen to on the far end of the village."

Pearl-Ear brightened. "There, you see? Your friends are safe." She turned to the elder. "And my brother?"

Lady Silk-Eyes shrugged. "That I do not know."

"Thank you, elder." To Michiko, she said, "We can travel back to the tower together, you and I and the wizards. On the way, we can work out what to tell your father."

"Then you should make haste, Lady Pearl-Ear." Lady Silk-Eyes came back into the hut. "There are powerful forces gathering all around us, and they are about to converge on this village."

"Of course, elder. We will go at once."

Lady Silk-Eyes reached out, took Pearl-Ear's hand, and squeezed. "Be careful, Lady Pearl-Ear." She nodded toward Michiko. "Some humans from Towabara think we can see the future, but in reality we are merely observant. We see the world around us clearly, which makes it easier to tell what can happen. From there, it's all down to experience and guesswork.

"I see that your trials have only begun," the kitsune elder said, squeezing Pearl-Ear's hand. She reached out with her free hand and took hold of Michiko's. "And your journey, my child, is far from over."

Lady Silk-Eyes dropped their hands and folded her arms into the sleeves of her robe. "Off you go, my dears. If you are still in the village come midday, come see me again. We will share a meal and conversation." She looked meaningfully at Lady Pearl-Ear.

"I would be honored," Michiko said.

"Excellent. Perhaps we shall see each other again." Lady Silk-Eyes moved over to the fireplace and began assembling a pile of sticks. Whistling, she poured water into a teapot and broke out a bundle of tried tea leaves.

"They're waiting," she said, without turning.

Pearl-Ear guided Michiko from the hut, gently pushing her ahead. She hesitated for one moment after Michiko was out the door, glancing back at the elder.

The touch of Lady Silk-Eyes's hand on hers lingered. The village elder's somber prediction weighed likewise on her mind.

But the old fox did not look up from her fire building, and Pearl-Ear quickly joined her own student outside.

Lady Silk-Eyes had said Riko and Choryu were being attended to, but Pearl-Ear suspected they were being guarded instead of pampered. As she and Michiko approached the kitsune samurai compound, she found the sights, sounds, and scents of warriors preparing for battle.

A gleaming white kitsune male stopped them at the heavy wooden gate to the compound. He made no introduction as he held up his hand, halting Lady

Pearl-Ear and Michiko.

"The elder sent us," Pearl-Ear said. "The humans you found were separated from Princess Michiko." She waved towards the princess, who bowed formally.

The kitsune samurai kept his hand on his long sword. He thumped the closed gate with his free hand, narrowed his eyes over his long snout, and then jerked his head toward the compound.

The gate creaked open. Another pair of armed kitsune rangers stood inside, each dressed for the deep woods in gray-brown robes.

"They're here for the wizards," the gate sentry said.

The new kitsune both gave Michiko a long, appraising look. Lady Pearl-Ear could tell they were drawing in the princess's aura. Apparently satisfied, they waved Lady Pearl-Ear and Michiko through the gate.

"Follow," one said.

Pearl-Ear's unease grew as they crossed the compound. The camp was not large, but there were more than thirty kitsune samurai and rangers visible which meant there were far more hidden or patrolling nearby. Each of them was armed and dressed in drab colors that would serve as camouflage among the trees. Immersed in her own meditations on the far side of the village, she'd had no idea so many warriors were gathered here.

The samurai led them to a small hut near the back of the compound. Pearl-Ear counted ten more warriors as they went. This was more than a defensive force for the village-it was a small foxfolk army.

Inside, they found Riko and Choryu eating from rough wooden bowls at a long table against the wall. Riko let out a happy yelp and almost upset her meal as she sprang up.

"Michiko!" she cried. The princess went to meet her friend, and the two embraced. "We thought we'd lost you. Were did you go?"

"Where did you? I spent hours looking for you."

"Praise the spirits you're all right," Choryu said. "I would never have forgiven myself if-"

"Forgiveness is something you should seek, not grant," Pearl-Ear said. "All three of you."

Choryu defiantly held Lady Pearl-Ear's glare. "Something had to be done. We were only attempting-"

"I don't care, Choryu. I just want to get us all safely back to the tower."

Choryu scowled, but said no more. As Michiko recounted her adventure in the woods, Pearl-Ear checked the interior of the hut. Four kitsune samurai and one officer stood along the walls, silent but alert. Riko and Choryu seemed slightly haggard and distressed by their experiences, but they were largely unhurt. Each bore a series of minor cuts and bruises. The white-haired student remained at the table, sullenly stirring his soup with a wooden spoon.

"We searched," Riko was saying. "And never stopped. But we never saw your horse's tracks once we left the road. The more we searched, the deeper we went into the forest. I've never been so lost."

"How did you find your way here?" "We didn't. The kitsune found us, perhaps half a day's walk from here. Choryu guessed you'd come this way, and here you are."

"Choryu," Michiko called. "You're awfully quiet. Don't despair, my friend. We are safe here."

"I am not despairing," Choryu said. "I am humbled by the generosity of our hosts." He fixed his penetrating eyes on Michiko's. "And I am eager to complete our journey safely."

This last remark went by without comment as the girls went over to the table, still chattering away. Pearl-Ear took a closer look at the white-haired wizard. He was sporting a deep purple bruise over one eye and his left arm hung stiffly by his side.

"Where is the leader of these warriors?" Pearl-Ear asked.

A large gray samurai officer stepped forward, accompanied by a single ranger. "Here," he said. "I am Silver-Foot."

Silver-Foot was taller and broader than the rest, with two white stripes running along the fur on top of his head. He bobbed a perfunctory bow to Lady Pearl-Ear, and the ranger followed his lead.

"I hope you weren't put to too much trouble by my charges."

The lower-ranking samurai grinned. "The boy resisted, but we reasoned with him."

Pearl-Ear traced a soft-furred finger under her eye, outlining an area as big as Choryu's bruise. She raised an eyebrow.

"He attempted to cast a spell on us." The samurai shrugged, opening his hands to the sky. "But no harm was done. Besides, he was easy to carry."

"Indeed. Please accept my thanks on behalf-"

"You are Lady Pearl-Ear from the Daimyo's land." Silver-Foot's handsome exterior disguised a brusque personality

"I am." "We have reports of an armed and mounted party making its way up the western border of the forest. They came from the tower in Eiganjo."

"That is the path my student and her friends took. They are most likely the Daimyo's retainers, searching for Princess Michiko."

Silver-Foot's face wrinkled. "So they aren't coming here."

"I suppose they could find their way here if my charges left tracks. But no, there is no reason to expect them. What is it, Silver-Foot-san? Why are there so many warriors here, and why are you so dour?"

Silver-Foot bobbed again. "No offense intended, Lady Pearl-Ear. But your students being here is a bad thing, one that you should have prevented. They are lucky we found them when we did."

"What do you mean?"

"Two days ago, far to the south," Silver-Foot said, "we found the remains of a scouting party. One scout had had his skull cracked by a hard, blunt instrument. Another had been stabbed repeatedly with small, dirty blades. We found the third hung up in the branches of a tree with arrows through his legs and chest."

Pearl-Ear tilted her head. "Bandits? This far north?"

Silver-Foot shook his head. "Worse."

Pearl-Ear's voice dropped to a whisper. "Hostile kami?"

The officer sneered again. "Spirits don't use crude clubs and dirty knives, milady. But to continue: yesterday, before we found your wandering wizards, we came across a single felled tree. It hadn't been cut down with saw or axe, but instead had been chiseled down, bit by bit, with something small and hard. Whoever did that also carved a trench in the trunk and lit a large fire there."

Over at the table, the wizards and Michiko were done re-acquainting themselves and had begun to listen to Pearl-Ear's conversation with Silver-Foot. Pearl-Ear stepped forward and bowed her head. Silver-Foot lowered his own until their foreheads touched.

"I don't understand," Pearl-Ear whispered. "What felled the tree? What does this all mean?"

Before the officer could answer, a cry came from the main gate.

"All hail Elder Lady Silk-Eyes!"

Pearl-Ear and Silver-Foot straightened up. Through the open doorway, she could see the wizened elder approaching, escorted by the same two kitsune samurai.

"I will answer you," Silver-Foot whispered, "as soon as the elder makes her wishes plain."

Lady Silk-Eyes swept into the room, and all the kitsune present fell to one knee. Michiko and Riko rose from the table and likewise genuflected in honor of the elder, but Choryu remained seated at the table. The proud youth was probably unaccustomed to being treated so roughly. Perhaps, Pearl-Ear thought, he would learn from this experience and not invite such rough treatment in the future.

Lady Silk-Eyes steadied herself on her gnarled walking stick. "Reunions complete, then? Everyone all caught up?"

Lady Pearl-Ear rose. "Yes, elder. Thanks again for the village's assistance and your own kindness."

The old fox smiled, her eyes twinkling. As the rest of the kitsune returned to their feet, she said, "And you, captain? You have made the arrangements we discussed earlier?"

At the word "captain," Silver-Foot's ears flattened. Hierarchical ranks were rarely used in kitsune society and even more rarely observed. Except for age and experience, all members of the community were roughly equal in terms of status. Silver-Foot did not seem comfortable hearing his military title on the lips of the village's spiritual leader.

"Yes, elder. I sent my fastest riders west to meet the Daimyo's men and fetch them here."

"Excellent. When will they arrive?"

Choryu looked up from his bowl. Riko seemed nauseated by this news as she nervously bunched her robe in her fist.

"That's not necessary, elder." Pearl-Ear tilted her face down and folded her hands over her stomach. "A small escort will be more than enough to take us-"

"They can be here in less than two days," Silver-Foot cut in. "Assuming they listen to my riders and respond quickly."

Lady Silk-Eyes nodded. "That gives us time to prepare. Very good." She turned to Pearl-Ear and said, "Gather your children and follow me. Leave matters of war to warriors."

"But elder," Lady Pearl-Ear said, the panic in her voice rising. "We are not at war with the Daimyo. They are only looking for the princess, and if we-"

"Less than two days," Lady Silk-Eyes mused, ignoring Pearl-Ear. She looked up at Silver-Foot. "And how far south did you find the tree and the scouting party?"

"A day's march for kitsune," the officer said.

The elder nodded. "I see. Too close to call, then.

Well, this will be exciting, won't it?" She took Pearl-Ear by the hand and said, "Come, Lady Pearl-Ear, and bring the children. We have much to do and a whole village to rouse. We have two sets of visitors coming, and I want to have a proper reception ready." Lady Silk-Eyes turned back, still clutching Pearl-Ear's hand. "Tell me, Silver-Foot, which do you think will arrive first? The goblins or the Daimyo's troops?"

Pearl-Ear might have stumbled if not for the elder's firm grip. Across the room, Choryu's head sank almost into his bowl. Riko stood in open-mouthed astonishment, and she turned to Michiko just as the princess mouthed, "Goblins?"

"Come," Lady Silk-Eyes said again, tugging on Pearl-Ear's hand. "You came here for answers, and we have less than two days to find them."