Maru and Ran had been on the road for several days when they first came across the village of Tomoemura. One thing that Maru had effectively gotten used to was the rather frosty reception he often received when he would arrive in some smaller towns. More often than not, he and his people had refused contracts from towns like this. There simply wasn't money to be made and, at the end of the day, yokai hunting was their profession, not a civil service. This town was looking to be no different.

He got a good look at the town as they approached and paused before the old gate the led into it. The old wooden houses with their thatched roofs were all charred and marked with marks from blades and arrows. Some of the buildings had totally collapsed or seem to have been pulled down. Others were torched completely through and left their scarred and scattered bones in heaps. Despite the initial destruction, he was able to see where they had taken the wood from the collapsed buildings and begun repairing other stable homes. Ripped paper doors were being mended, roofs were being fixed, and he could see the debris being lugged into piles and stashed away for further use. The town was hurting once, but a part of him couldn't help but give a tiny smile to see recovery on the way.

Atsumori often told him stories of Tomoemura when he was younger. Legend had it that it was once the home  of a great lady warrior of the same name: Lady Tomoe, Disciple of Living Lightning. Her warriors, the Blades of Hachiman, were said to have started there as well, though if Kazegumo was right then they had all died out during the Onin Wars. How many of those old legends were actually true, he wasn't sure, but he recalled being utterly captivated of her story of training with the tengu and meeting a so-called Lightning God who taught her how to wield arguably one of the most powerful forms of onmyodo. He briefly thought back to his time as a child pretending to have been in her place and briefly wondered as his eyes came upon the gate if that fabled woman had once tread the very path he now walked.

The thing that gave him pause was the pile of yokai corpses at the village entrance. One of the beasts had been beheaded, it's fanged mouth hanging open as the head itself sat on the sharpened tip of a spear.

"There isn't a way in hell that they did that," Ran whispered as they paused at the gate. He turned to look at Maru as he adjusted his pack, frowning as he did so. "Think it was one of our guys?"

Maru looked the bodies over before he shook his head. "No chain burns. Protocol and standard tactics for these yokai are to use the kusarigama to inhibit movement. Whoever killed them was a master with a sword, though." The cuts were perfect, precise, and one yokai had a large wound where it had been struck by an arrow with a tremendous amount of force behind it.

Samurai? Possibly.

Shinobi? Also a possibility.

Not onmyoji. No signs of magic, no shikigami.

"No blood either. This grisly little totem was left postmortem," Maru reached up and felt along the fangs of the yokai. The great creatures head stared endlessly ahead, and he'd be lying to himself if he didn't think that it was more than a little morbid.

Ran snorted from behind him, "What did they even do to make these people so mad?"

Maru exhaled quietly through his nose and looked past the front gate into the town. It was in shambles. Slowly being repaired, sure, but in shambles all the same. He had heard rumors about bands of yokai starting to roam the countryside and sacking villages sometimes just for the fun of it, and upon closer inspection of the limbs of the dead yokai, he couldn't find a single trace of the Rot. None of them were his yokai, and that suited him just fine. "Don't know. Can't say I care. A dead yokai is a dead yokai, and they aren't getting us any closer to the one we're looking for."

"Is it me," Ran began as they both started into the village, "or did those look a lot more... feral than the one we're hunting?"

"They did," Maru nodded. Again, not uncommon. Depending on the circumstances, humans that eventually became yokai could look as varied as demons as they did as men. Ran knew that - or should - so Maru kept his lecture to himself.

As they entered into the village, all eyes seemed to go to him and his friend. The head of the town made his way forward almost hesitantly as they approached, and Maru let Ran take the lead on introductions as he scanned his surroundings. The town looked like it had been through hell save for the lone shrine that sat towards the back. The building looked almost untouched compared to the charred husks and badly damaged wooden shacks that seemed to surround it. "Good morning. My name is Ran and this is my partner, Maru. We're part of the Sayonakidori, and-"

"We could have used you a week or so ago," the village's leader frowned and folded his arms across his chest. Yeah... Maru could have guessed that.

"We're actually looking for a yokai in particular," Ran handed the the picture, and the man took it, looking it over before passing it to the others who had gathered around them. Maru took stock of them for a moment. They were all the typical peasant, all dressed in simple patterns and dull fabric, covered in dirt from a hard day's work, and tanned from working outside. He never really interacted with small villages much, and it was always slightly awkward to a certain extent. This time was looking to be no different, especially when he saw a few of the townsfolk quickly glance between one another when they saw the picture.

"What exactly did this yokai do to warrant demon hunters?" Their leader asked. Maru saw his skeptical look and figured he'd be hard pressed to get them to actually help, but it was worth a shot regardless.

"This particular yokai killed the son of a samurai," Maru picked up where Ran had left off. "We believe he may also have the Rot. Under the Sanjo Accords, we have orders to exterminate any and all Rotted yokai for a minimal fee. He's just one on our list."

Maru kept his eyes fixed on the crowd. they all seemed to look between one another before casting quick looks at their leader. When he glanced at Ran, Maru could see that he noticed it, too. One of the older men in the crowd spoke up, "And why should we help you? Your people ignored our contract offers for these demons!"

"Yeah!" Another man chimed in, "Are we getting paid?"

"It would be possible for us to pay..." Maru went to begin, but he was cut off.

"Even if we were," the leader cut in to silence the growing protests, "the circumstances do not warrant us helping you."

"What?" Ran blinked in surprise and looked over the crowd.

"Guuji Annen's teachings told us that all life is sacred - even that of yokai and oni. Without proof that he acted out of malice, I doubt that anyone here would help you," their leader frowned. "You are welcome to our inn and what food we have, but we have no information for you and no contract."

As Ran went to protest, Maru quickly bowed and jumped in before he could insert his foot into his mouth. "We understand. Thank you for your time. We may buy a few things before we go on our way." He grabbed his friend by the arm and quickly hurried him back towards the gate as the villagers all began to mumble amongst themselves.

"Do you get the feeling that we're getting lied to?" Ran asked as he glanced over at Maru as they stopped by the gate and moved in close to one another, their voices dropping down to murmurs.

"Just a bit..." Maru admitted as he glanced back over his shoulder at the townsfolk, who were still looking warily over their shoulders at him even as they went back to work. "I get the feeling we won't get any help here, though."

"Bribes?"

"Doubt that would work. See the way no one really reacted about the offer for money? These people are actually serious about what they preach here." Maru sighed and passed a hand back through his hair. He always figured it wasn't going to be easy. "Alright, what would you do in a situation like this, then?"

"Keep moving," Ran snorted and looked again at the villagers. "There's no money and time's wasting."

"What did we learn here?"

Ran paused for a moment and tapped his foot as he cast his eyes downwards. Maru smiled. He was actually thinking for once in his life. "That the yokai was here. I'd guess about the time these were killed. It's got a week on us, sure, but he's also sick... If they were heading our way, we would have seen it, so that means... We... Uh... We keep going the same direction?" He asked the question more than he declared it, and Maru laughed at the almost sheepishly unsure look on his companion's face.

"Good! And you're right. My guess is that it's moving towards Mikawa." Maru wasn't sure why it were on the move, but all reports he had received over the days they had been travelling pointed to that one conclusion. It was like it was going somewhere with a  purpose.

"Our only choice is to catch up," Ran pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut. "Time?"

"Not soon enough."

---

Ran and Maru were in hot pursuit of their prey. At least, Maru figured they were if following the eyewitness reports was enough to go on. What became consistently apparent as they progressed was that this yokai was, surprisingly, travelling with a group.

Of humans.

Who knew full well that it was a yokai.

And it wasn't just one or two crazy people. It was an entire group. Estimates put around five people plus the yokai, and how anyone believed that was a good idea, Maru was beyond confused. Maru could understand a mujina or a kitsune. Those sly devils could transform into any shape they wanted from a beautiful maiden down to an ugly old man, so being deceived by something like them was commonplace. To willingly travel with a massive yokai that was likely obviously Rotted was so beyond his range of acceptable ignorance that he was left with the singular conclusion that it had to be willful.

"But really," Ran spoke through a mouthful of old rice as they walked along the road and the ruins of an abandoned monastery came into view, "who would just willingly travel with a yokai? Don't people know how dangerous they are?"

"Dogs can be deadly, too," Maru added as his eyes were drawn to the old monastery as they passed it by. The abandoned temple had an eerie feeling to it, but something else was there. There was an imprint left behind of something in that courtyard...

"Yeah," Ran's voice drew him back to their conversation, "but a dog doesn't get Rotted and start indiscriminately killing everything!"

"Ran?"

"What?"

"You are aware that certain ailments can make animals lose their minds, right?"

"...Are you kidding me right now? If so, not funny."

"Your naivete is refreshing, Ran. Never change."

They continued their trek down the forest path and through the woods. The great pines gave way to an open field, and there at the end of the worn dirt path came yet another tiny town into view. Its ancient wall was crumbling, but Maru could see signs of repair attempts on the worst sections of it. There were broken weapons scattered about everywhere as the telltale signs of a fight scarred the landscape, but what caught Maru's attention most were the makeshift watchtowers that had been built and the obvious presence of monks in the village proper that passed by the entrance with large casks and buckets.

A horagai sounded as they came into view, and before long Maru caught a glimpse of more men clambering up onto the old wall to get a better view of them as they began to approach. "Greetings!" Maru called out with a friendly wave as the two made their way to the village's entrance.

Several of the men on the walls jumped down and made their way to meet them, spears and swords in hand. The weapons were nothing special, mostly poorly made ashigaru weaponry, but the one who looked like he knew what he was doing stood at the front of them all. He was tall and somewhat disheveled, but his most outstanding feature was that he had one eye. "Looking for trouble?" The one-eyed man asked as he looked between Maru and Ran as they approached. "This is a peaceful farming town. We don't want to fight, but we will do what we have to to defend this village."

"No worries. We're friends," Ran nodded and produced the sketch. "We're looking for this yokai. Have you seen it?"

Maru watched the one-eyed man take the picture and look down at it as the others craned their necks to get a look at it, too. Maru watched their faces and mentally let out a long sigh when he saw the guarded look begin to cross the faces of all of the men present. "Who are you, for starters?" 

"We're Sayonakidori," Maru supplied with an easy smile, only the look was met with mistrustful scowls in return. "Demon hunters from Kai. You may have heard of a few of our local sects."

"I haven't. Don't wanna, either," the man handed the picture back and frowned as he did.

Maru coughed and shifted, "Well... Regardless, we're looking for the yokai."

"Why? You got an issue with Hashi?" One of the men snapped as the one-eyed guard watched them carefully. "He's a good guy! Wouldn't hurt nobody unless they started it!"

"You named it?" Ran asked, and Maru heard the disgust in his voice leak out in the question.

"Him," One-Eye corrected with a scowl, "and no, he named himself. Yeah, him and his friends passed through here. The only reason this town is still standing is because of those guys. We won't be giving you any details on where they went or why they're going. You want that? Get it yourself."

"Then, can we at least-?" Maru went to ask, but One-Eye held up a hand.

"No. You can't stay here. Move along."

"Daigo, perhaps we should..." Maru looked past him and saw one of the monks hurry forward until he saw their clothing. He paused and glanced back and forth between Daigo and Maru before he whispered something to another junior monk beside him. "I rescind my objections. Sayonakidori upset the balance of things. They would bring calamity on us if they stay."

"I just don't appreciate anyone coming in here hunting my friends. Get lost. If we catch you skulking about, you'll have more than the bandits to worry about tonight."

Maru was willing to push the issue with a lot of people, but Daigo? The guy had one eye and still looked like he could rip him in half. When he glanced at ran, the anxious look on his young partner's face told him that he had the same feeling. They bowed their courtesies and quickly hurried their way through the town. They felt the villagers all watch them as they passed quietly through, word seeming to quickly spread as to why they were there since every look that they received was one of malice if the frowns and the quick slam of doors and windows meant anything.

The two continued on in silence until the sun began to creep down over the horizon and they put a sizable distance between themselves and the town before Ran finally spoke, "I swore he was going to stab us."

Maru let out a breath he didn't quite realize he had been holding and shook his head. "I can't quite say that I blame you. I was pretty sure they were going to give it their best try," as he spoke, he looked back at Ran. "You good?"

"Yeah... yeah, I think so. We heading to the next town or...?"

Maru glanced at the horizon and shook his head, "Let's make camp. It's getting too late to travel safely."

"Camp" for the duo was just a small fire and blankets on nice evenings. That particular evening was warm and the wood was dry. Before long, the fire roared between the two of them as they sat and ate some of their dried food in silence.

"Do you believe them?" Ran asked with skepticism written across his face in a frown and a raised eyebrow as he looked up at Maru for the first time in several hours since they had finished setting up camp.

"Why are these people protecting this thing?" Maru muttered as he passed a hand back through his hair with a shake of his head. "This is a Rotted yokai that we're talking about." Truthfully, Maru was becoming more and more intrigued with the identity of the people he was with. The descriptions he received sounded like something out of a bad joke: two Buddhists, an onna-bugeisha, and apparently two ronin. People. Traveling with a yokai. A Rotted yokai. There was no way that they didn't know what that creature was or what condition it had. The reason for it was completely eluding him.

Ran sighed and stood up, grabbing his weapons as he did, "I'll cover night watch if you take the early one."

"Fair enough."

---

By the time Maru had gotten ready, Ran had already drifted off to sleep. He quietly exited the proximity of their little camp and found himself standing there was watching the early morning sun begin to filter through the leaves of the trees and dapple the floor of the smaller forest in the golden glimmer of dawn. He liked being out alone early in the morning. It helped him collect his thoughts with no one there to disturb him, and he took the one sparse chance to fully begin to think about what exactly he had learned so far.

This yokai travelled with a group of humans. These humans had to be aware of what he was and his condition. This meant that somehow, they were perfectly accepting of this creature and its condition. When they retraced the creature's footsteps, they kept encountering towns that were more than happy to lie and posture to protect it - even fight for it. The whole thing was bizarre in its own right, but none of these things were making any sense. Hell, that Daigo had even called this yokai a "friend". This wasn't lining up with the image of a cold, heartless killer that he had been given by Kazegumo and the client.

Nearby tree branches rustled, and Maru halted in his tracks. His body went completely still as he closed his eyes and listened. The branches rustled again. This time, a bush accompanied them. Maru's hand slowly slid to his sword, and he unsheathed it as quietly as he could as his ears tried to pinpoint exactly where the sound was coming from.

Bushes rustled again. 

He raised his sword and slowly opened his eyes as they fixated on the spot where the noise came from, and he braced himself for whatever emerged from the underbrush. Maru paused when he saw the creature pass by the trees, and he lowered his sword when it came into view. "A kirin," he whispered with a breathy laugh as he looked the creature over from afar. 

Its scales caught in the sunlight as it walked so lightly that Maru was convinced that it wasn't even touching the ground. It's antlers stretched back from its head out from a mane of silvery hair, and from them hung small bells and tiny braided cords like good luck talismans left at shrines. When it turned to look at him, the bells chimed their small twinkling noises as its head stilled in his direction. He wasn't sure what to expect as it watched him. Legends always said that barely anything could compel a kirin to fight and that they were the most peaceful beings in the entirety of the world, and he was quietly hoping the rumors were true. When he looked, he could see the soft velvet tips on the antlers, and when he looked at the small cloven hooves, he finally realized that they were stepping so lightly that the grass around its hooves was barely disturbed at all. Without so much as a single sound, it snorted one and walked away further into the woods, it's feathery tail swishing behind it as it went.

"Wonder who the great leader is," he snorted and sheathed the sword, quietly just grateful he hadn't decided to just go all out and kill whatever was making the noise. He felt like he could justify a lot, but killing a kirin wasn't one of those things.

Kazegumo likely would have wanted it killed. Kirin scales and horns were often used to forge powerful weapons that were particularly effective against yokai. For once, Maru was genuinely thrilled that the man wasn't there. He hadn't seen anything so beautiful in his entire life, and the thought of being made to kill it didn't sit right with him. He watched it until it completely vanished as a small smile came to his lips. Every now and again, he decided silently as he turned around to return to camp, maybe there were some yokai that just didn't deserve to die.