Outlaw: Champions of Kamigawa

CHAPTER 17

Toshi wasn't sure exactly what to make of the kitsune party. He knew the foxfolk straddled the line between the forest and Towabara, two places he himself tried to avoid. They were little people, all in all, but he never took armed strangers lightly.

He kept one eye on the three warrior foxes because he understood the kitsune to be fast and agile. The other two, Pearl-Ear and the unarmed male, barely warranted a second glance. Their group was traveling light, food and weapons only, but it was clear that the foxes were there to guide and protect the humans. The tall girl in white was gorgeous, but she looked as nervous as a bird. The other girl wore student's robes, but Toshi spotted ropy muscles rippling on her bow arm. She stayed close by the pretty one, staring daggers at Toshi and Kobo both. Boss Uramon often employed female bodyguards and assassins-perhaps the student outfit was a disguise.

Toshi fought back a sneer when he spotted the white-haired boy. Something about the student's expression put Toshi on edge. He recognized the look of anxiety and distress that only comes from privilege. The fact that it was draped in student's robes made it all the more galling. Here was an elitist, an academic, no less, who was put out by a hard day's slog and having to carry his own bedroll. Toshi's usual reaction to this sort of person was to dream of taking them into the depths of Numai and leaving them there. They would experience more real life in ten minutes than they would in a year's worth of academic lectures.

"What are you sneering at, friend?" The male student was clearly not happy with the two new arrivals.

"Not much," Toshi admitted.

Still, they were an unthreatening lot, albeit somewhat aloof and guarded. They offered to share their food, and while they did not invite them to use their campsite, they did propose to extend their night watch to include him and Kobo.

"Thanks," Toshi said, "but that's not necessary. No offense, but I think Kobo could eat the lot of you for breakfast and still be hungry. We'll take our chances on our own."

The fox party seemed relieved by Toshi's announcement, but also offended by his reasoning. Part of him wanted to dig a little deeper, find out why this odd little group was delving so deep into the forest. Their adventure might be profitable to a pair of rough-and-tumble hyozan reckoners, if it wouldn't take too much time away from their pointless quest to find monks in the forest.

He rejected the idea of tailing them when the smallest of the kitsune, the unarmed male, said, "And you? Have you seen any snakes?"

Pearl-Ear swatted the little male with the back of her hand. The samurai grew tense while they waited for

Toshi to respond. Interesting, he thought. But ultimately, not compelling.

"No," he said. "And I intend to keep it that way. If you are headed for orochi country, I wish you luck. You couldn't drag me there at swordpoint."

The little male shrugged. "We are forest folk," he said breezily. "We are not afraid."

Toshi pointed at the wizard boy. "He is."

The white-haired student reacted as if struck. "What did you say, lowlife?"

"Choryu," the student girl/possible bodyguard warned.

"I said you look as if you're about to foul yourself," Toshi said. "Or perhaps you already have. Good luck with the snakes, snow-cap. I hear they love the taste of soft muscles, unspoiled by hard work."

The boy rose, blue light flickering in his eyes. He opened his hands, but before he could do more, two of the fox samurai appeared, one on each side.

"We don't have time for this," one said.

"Why are you defending him? Look at the big one! He's dressed like a budoka monk, but he can't find any others? How do we know he's not leading us into an orochi-bito ambush?"

Toshi watched in mild amusement as Choryu the boy wizard's cheeks colored. Excitable fellow, he thought. Must have been spoiling for a fight.

"Settle down," a fox said. "He said he was going. Just sit still until he's gone."

Choryu was still struggling, almost frothy. "No mere ochimusha filth can talk to me that way."

"This one does." Toshi smiled. "No offense, foxes and ladies, but your friend here is one short push away from panicking. Cut him loose before he drags you down."

"Not a bad idea," muttered the fox on the boy's left. Toshi waggled his eyebrows at him as the wizard fumed.

"Sir," the fox woman said. "You are abusing our hospitality."

"Not at all. I'm abusing that cowardly streak of piss over there."

"I may be frightened," the wizard flared. "But at least I'm going. One mention of orochi-bito and you're ready to rabbit. You're just wandering bits of trash that gets blown about by the wind. Why don't you and that bloated, tree-hugging freak blow away now and leave us alone?"

Toshi's eye flicked over to Kobo, seated on the ground with his back against a sturdy tree. He looked back at Choryu and grinned.

"You're even dumber than you look. And with that hairstyle, that's not easy."

Toshi stepped back as Kobo set aside his meal and rose to his full height. He wrapped one meaty hand around the other clenched fist and squeezed until all his knuckles cracked. The muscles in his arms and shoulders bulged.

"Did you say something to me and my oath-brother?" Kobo asked quietly. "Little man?"

Toshi could tell that the kitsune did not want this to turn in to a fight, especially not over the boy wizard. But all he had to do was clear his throat and Kobo would pounce. Toshi paused, drinking in the delicious pre-brawl tension.

"Stop this." The knockout in white stepped in between the newcomers and her own party. Toshi liked the way her hair fell across her shoulders, and the starry sparkle in her strange, bright eyes.

"It's hard enough to survive in this wild and unfamiliar place," she said. "Without us all trying to kill each other. Why don't we all just part company now and go our own ways?"

"Ann, she's right," Toshi said. He nudged Kobo and said, "Let it go."

The huge youth grunted and slid back down against his tree. "I'm not done eating." As Kobo settled into the loose soil, the kitsune relaxed their grip on their swords.

"You know," Toshi said casually, "you really are heading the wrong way. The orochi aren't as friendly as I am, if the tales are true. Unless you've got something they want, they'll probably just skin you alive and prop you up as a warning. You've been so kind to us, I'd hate to think of that happening to you." He leaned around the pretty girl and made eye contact with the boy wizard. "You, I hope they get."

Choryu merely grumbled and gestured dismissively.

"Listen, friend," the unarmed fox-man said. "Actually, we're not friends and we don't have to be. But we don't have to be enemies, either. If you keep needling the grumpy members of our troop, we're never going to be free of each other."

"Troupe? So you're performers, then?"

"You could say that. Every one of us has a role to play," the fox-man said. His eyes twinkled. "What about you?"

"Me? I'm an independent operator. Right now, I'm partnered with him," he tilted his head at Kobo. "It's an arrangement that suits us both." "Independents are very rare these days. So you're, what searching for his budoka brothers? What happened, was he expelled?"

Toshi blinked. The little one was sharp. "Not really. He took a better job."

The fox-man made a high-pitched whistling sound. "Oooh, they hate that," he said. "Are you sure you're looking for them and not the other way around?"

"Tell you what," Toshi said. "If you find any monks, send them our way. We'll do the same with the orochi. Let's see who lives longer."

"That's no fun," the fox countered. "How will we tell who won?"

Now Pearl-Ear stepped in between the groups, alongside the looker.

"Enough," she said.

"Oh, let us boys have our fun," the fox-man said. "I just wanted to see if our new friend can take it as well as dish it out."

"This is getting us nowhere." The gorgeous girl tossed her head fetchingly.

Toshi cocked his head to one side. He liked her. She had a patrician air about her, but she wasn't afraid to step into the thick of things. If only he could convince her to drop this whole orochi business and come a-wandering with him and Kobo. Or better still, without Kobo.

As he mused, the girl wizard, the female fox, and all the armed samurai stepped closer to the knockout. Perhaps they didn't like the look of Toshi's leer. Perhaps, he corrected himself, he should learn to mask his thoughts better when looking at a pretty girl.

The mercenary part of Toshi's brain began to whir. She was important to this group, the central figure. Rich? Ransomable? He eyed the tall girl some more, trying to gauge her weight. He was sure Kobo could carry her, but he wasn't sure if there was room in the bald brute's pack.

Kobo shoved the last of the jerked meat into his mouth with a loud smacking sound.

He spotted the hyozan brand on Kobo's breast and wondered if the angry red character would ever heal properly. Then Toshi sighed. Kidnapping rich girls would get the hyozan no closer to solving his soratami problems.

"Thanks for the food," Toshi said. "We'll be-"

Kobo suddenly sprang to his feet. His tetsubo club appeared in his hands, and all three kitsune samurai drew their swords, stepping in front of the tall girl.

Toshi opened his hands to show how unthreatening he was. "One step behind, Kobo, as usual. No more fighting. I was just-"

"They're all around us," said the ogre's apprentice.

"Who is? Who's around what?"

"He's right," said one of the samurai. "Something's out there. We're surrounded."

The little fox growled angrily. "How did we miss their approach?"

A low, menacing hiss rose up from the ground nearby. It was echoed on the opposite side of the camp. More hissing came, joining the chorus, until it was the only sound in Toshi's ears.

"Orochi-bito," Choryu muttered darkly. "The snakes are upon us."

Toshi looked at each of their faces, with expressions ranging from shock to fear to steely resolve.