When Avery steered the ship to port, the storm was still raging overhead as they managed to anchor safely back on the mainland. The crew all stumbled off the ship, everyone shaken by what they had encountered in the midst of the storm, and when Naoyuki collapsed to his knees on the dock, he turned to look at Sen, who was helping Hashi navigate down the gangplank and attempting to keep him from throwing up, if the slightly sick tinge to the yokai's face meant anything. "What," the mercenary asked as he turned on his hands and knees, "in the seven hells was that?"

"Dragons," Maru replied flatly, still trying to wrap his head around what he had just seen.

"Yeah, no shit!" Naoyuki squeaked as he shakily got to his feet. "We... we got saved... by fucking dragons!" He spun back to Sen, "What exactly did you do?"

"I... I don't know," Sen admitted with a shake of his head. "I just held up the magatama and then... Then they showed up." The memory of Watatsumikome came to his mind, and suddenly he began to believe that he wasn't just having vivid hallucinations. The magatama was a gift from the sea dragons, and the fact that it had done exactly what she claimed it would meant that the legends were turning out to be a little more than just legends.

"So the stories..." Emi turned to look at Sen.

"I think we need to start putting a little more stock in these local legends," Avery's voice came from behind him as he walked up to them with the startled captain in tow.

"You speak," Naoyuki stopped and held his hands up as he spun to him next, "near perfect Japanese!"

Avery stopped in his tracks and slowly turned to look at Naoyuki, "I just evaded a massive water demon with the help of two enormous dragons, and the only thing you're worried about is my speaking skills?"

Maru shook his head as he watched the two argue and looked over to Sen, who helped Hashi sit down on some boxes and patted his back slowly. "Got any more tricks up your sleeve?"

"Doubt I can top the sea dragons," Sen replied as he glanced over his shoulder at Maru. "Know anything about Murakami?"

Maru shook his head, "Just that we don't have any sects there. Every time we tried to set one up, the whole place would get wiped out."

"Ah," Sen nodded, "wonderful. Hopefully our reception is better." He turned his attention back to Hashi, who was losing the seasick look on his face as he sat with his eyes closed. His breathing ahd evened out, coming in steady inhales and exhales. He was still looking somewhat ill, but Sen figured that this was better than nothing. He reached up and felt the Rotted arm. It was almost like it had a fever of some kind.

Hashi opened his eyes and looked down at him, giving him a small motion of his hand. I am okay.

"Take it easy," Sen smiled up at him before he looked back at Maru. "Think you could get him some food for me? I don't want to leave him."

Maru nodded and left the group to recover as his mind began to process what he had just seen. If these Deishi were capable of forging pacts with the sea dragons, of all prideful people, then he could understand why Kazegumo was so worried about their influence. Still,he had heard the stories on his previous trip to Kyushu. Watatsumikome was revered as a hero. Her journey to Ryugu and her pact with Ryujin, the dragon king of the sea, was something out of a fairytale. At the time, he had only been interested in learning about how to defeat umibozu, but after seeing Sen standing on the bow of the ship, magatama in hand, he started to wonder just how many of those stories he heard along his trips had actually been true.

He paused when he saw people rushing past him carrying bowls of food and small censers of incense, and he followed them with his eyes to a crowd of people. They were gathered around something, and when Maru managed to see what it was, he couldn't help but stare. A shrine had been erected around a small, old, weathered statue of a woman, and in her hands was a magatama. The crowd was praying and leaving small offerings at the shrine's base, and he overheard them talking about who it was.

"It was Watatsumikome! It had to have been! She called for the dragons! You saw the light!"

"She's been dead for hundreds of years!"

"But the light! The dragons! It's just like the stories, and you know it!"

Perhaps, Maru considered as he looked down at the statue, Avery was more right than he knew.

---

"What other languages do you speak?" Maru asked Avery as they made their way down one of the dirt roads. They had been walking for several days when their attention finally turned to Avery and his rather miraculous linguistical abilities.

"Hm... I speak Chinese, Japanese, English, some Spanish..."

"Where did you learn ours?" Sen asked, genuine curiosity in his voice as both he and Hashi stared at Avery in wonder.

"In Ming, we first heard about this place from some Portuguese traders. They had this prisoner who they claimed robbed their ships. I... bought him," Avery rubbed the back of his neck. "Let him go immediately with a writ of pardon and all that, mind you! Why would I keep him arrested for robbing the Portuguese?" Avery wrinkled his nose and gave his head a small shake before he continued, "He felt like he owed me something, so he offered to be a guide for me and my brother. Well, Conner had no interest in learning your language, but I did, so the whole time we were readying ourselves for the voyage, I was studying." he paused and lowered his eyes, "I never did get to thank Riku properly."

"You speak very well," Emi smiled and nodded. "Bit of an accent, but you're perfectly understandable!"

"Always did have a knack for languages," Avery chuckled. "One of my finer points."

"Did you learn Chinese in Ming?" Emi asked again as excitement seemed to creep into her voice.

"Yeah. I needed to if I wanted to actually make money. The grammar wasn't too hard, either, so that helped out a lot."

Maru had to admit that Avery was more impressive than he assumed, and he had to wonder how much of his complaining the large man genuinely understood all of the times he sat there and gushed about his problems. He almost felt the need to apologize. There was a grunt behind him and he turned to see hashi hunched over, clutching his arm. "Do we need to rest?" Yuzuha asked as Maru watched her walk around and rest her hand on Hashi's back.

Hashi shook his head, but Sen nodded, "We should - regardless of what he says." The scolding tone made Hashi glance up with an apologetic look as the group moved off of the road and began setting down their things. Sen moved off alone to start getting a fire pit set up, and Maru figured it was about as good of a time as any. He approached Sen and cleared his throat, prompting the shorter man to stop arranging the stones for a firepit and look up at him. "Can we talk now?" Maru asked, quickly glancing over his shoulder at the rest of the group as he took Sen by the arm, "Alone?"

Sen nodded as Maru half-dragged him further into the woods, stopping when they were a decent ways away from camp. Maru looked over his shoulder again as Sen frowned, "This had better be important with all of this secret nonsense."

Maru sighed and put his fists on his hips and he closed his eyes and grimaced. He was trying to find the right words to tell Sen what was going on, but nothing even moderately the right side of eloquent was coming to his mind as he wracked his brain for ideas. "Fuck it. Listen," he stepped closer, prompting Sen to give him a suspicious glance, "my leader, Kazegumo... He-he has been looking for a sword that was used by your predecessor, and I get the feeling that he doesn't like your people."

"My people," Sen scoffed as he stepped away. "I don't even know if I'm really supposed to be the Deishi! I don't even know who "my people" are!"

"I know!" Maru snapped, prompting Sen to stop and look at him. "I know that! I just want you to know that the Sayonakidori might wind up being a problem for you down the road if they catch wind of what was said on Kyushu. That's all."

"And why would they?" Sen narrowed his eyes, "Unless you plan to say something?" Maru clicked his jaw shut and tensed, prompting Sen to narrow his eyes further into a glare, "Do you?"

"I... I..." Maru wanted to say that he wouldn't, but every fiber of his being told him that Kazegumo needed to know.

Sen stepped forward, closing the gap between them rather quickly, and grabbed hold of the front of Maru's kosode and yanked him forward so that their faces were mere hairs apart. Despite being half a head shorter than Maru, Maru couldn't help but feel threatened. "Tell him whatever you want, but do it after Hashi has been cured. I don't want this causing problems for him, do you understand me?" As Maru nodded, Sen shoved him away, "After that, they can send whoever they want. I won't be hiding."

Maru turned to watch him leave and felt a pang of regret. Hoshiga's words rang loudly in his head like temple bells. 

Their influence clings to you like a dark mantle. You can pull it back all you'd like, but until you rip it off, it will always threaten to fall back over your eyes.

---

"Okay," Hachirou wracked his brain as they walked around before he looked to Avery, "then how would you say... tera in your language?"

"Oh, easy. Temple."

"Is that what you call your places of worship?" Emi asked as she trotted along beside Hachirou, her eyes glowing and face bright.

"No, we usually call them churches."

"Do you go to this... church... often?"

"Me? No, not really. I'm at sea more often than not. I always figured that if God was that much of a stickler then he wouldn't have given us free will." Avery looked at Emi, "How does it work with you bunch? Having two sets of Gods, I mean. Speaking of that, what's the name of your God of the Sea? You have one, right?"

Sen glanced at Naoyuki, who sighed and shook his head, "Theological discussions..."

Nobuhiko chuckled beside them, "I think it's good that they are getting along."

"...and the god of the sea and storms is Susano-o, or sometimes Ryujin or O-Watatsumi. Sometimes, we have multiple deities, depending on what it is."

"Huh," Avery listened to Emi intently and stroked his stubbled chin, "Fascinating... I should probably find a shrine. Don't want to piss those guys off, that's for sure."

Hashi chuffed a laugh out from behind Sen and gave a fond shake of his head. He had gotten progressively stronger over their time travelling, but Sen was still concerned about his companion's wellbeing.

"According to the map," Maru spoke from the head of the group, "we should be getting close."

"You're holding it right side up, right?" Yuzuha asked from Sen's other side with a cock of her eyebrow.

Maru frowned at the question and heard Naoyuki snicker beside him, followed by a smack and a small "ow!" that, when he looked, seemed to have been from Nobuhiko slapping him upside the head. "Of course I am!"

"Forgive me for doubting you," Yuzuha leered as Emi did the same thing to her as Nobuhiko had done moments prior.

While the group bickered, Sen turned his attention to Hashi. He had slowed down since the trip to Kyushu, but he was putting up a good effort. They would have arrived at Murakami a few days earlier without the frequent stops, but the general pacing meant less to Sen than his friend's health. Hashi plodded along beside him with a small smile on his fanged face, looking as content as could be beside him, and it made Sen smile as he fell in step with him at the back of the group. They didn't need to talk. Sometimes, just walking along in silence was enough for both of them, and that day felt like one of those times. Though when Yuzuha and Maru started bickering over the map, Sen sighed, "They can be so..."

Hashi chuckled beside him and gave a  small gesture with his hands, Rowdy?

"Yeah," Sen sighed.

"Oi! I think we made it!" Maru called from the front of the group, and Hashi gestured for him to go and join them. 

Murakami was a beautiful area, Maru and Sen realized as they crested the hill that looked down over the town. Flowering trees were everywhere and were in full bloom in the heat of summer, and the smell of a distillery permeated the air even where they stood. The town was old, from the looks of it. Its buildings bespoke the Heian Era with how they were built with a heavy leaning to aesthetic over practical, and a pagoda of a temple jutted up from the leafy canopy that covered much of the outskirts of the town. It sprawled out over a decent area but not quite the size of a city.

"There's so much greenery in this place," Avery muttered in awe as he looked out over the town with a shake of his head. "I don't think we've had a landscape like this in England since... well, a long time."

"So, this is where Seikogimi lives," Naoyuki whistled with a small shake of his head. "I had heard that Murakami was beautiful, but this is something else."

Sen had to agree. It looked like something out of a painting. Nobuhiko made his way to stand beside them, "I had heard of Murakami. It has no samurai and somehow manages to remain largely at peace. No one is quite sure how."

"And their lord?" Yuzuha asked as she stood next to Sen.

"Apparently, Seikogimi runs this area by herself. From what I have heard, she is widely beloved by her people," Nobuhiko replied as he shifted one of the group's packs on his back. "It is always a profitable area, too, so whatever she is doing is making headway."

If all of that was true, then the Lady of Murakami was an impressive woman. The group continued down the road and through the open gates of the town. It was quiet and peaceful with the air filled with the sounds of mills and people talking. It was far different from the ports that they had been in and the wartorn towns that they had passed through. They followed the road out of the main stretch of the town and passed the pagoda, where chants from the monks within filled the air. Beyond them was a massive estate hidden within the woods. Ginkgo trees rustled overhead and dropped leaves that mingled with the thin leaves of bamboo as they tumbled to the forest floor. The gates were draped with banners with the kamon of the Murakami clan emblazoned in white upon the deep blue fabric, and standing guard at the gate were two heavily armored men. They lacked the two swords of the samurai, so Sen guessed that Nobuhiko was right about that much, and one of them wielded a massive spiked club that he rested his arm on lazily as they approached.

"What do you want?" The other man asked, his accent thick and sounding unlike most of the accents Sen knew.

"Tosa," Maru supplied upon seeing him try to figure it out before Emi stepped in with a bow.

"Forgive the intrusion, gentlemen, but we are here to see Seikogimi. Is she available for an audience?"

"Why do you need to see her?"  This time, it was the large man with the spiked club that asked. 

Emi didn't even flinch as he rumbled out his question, maintaining her ever cheerful optimism as she replied. "Oh, we were sent here by Owari no Hoshiga! He mentioned that Seikogimi could get us to Heiankyo..."

The large man and the regular sized man exchanged a glance before the shorter of the two whistled loudly and a short, older man, his long greying hair tied back form his face, hurried up looking inconvenienced before he noticed the group. "Tama," the shorter man began, "you know anything about this?"

"No, I don't," the older man frowned as he looked between the group. "I am Tama, Lady Murakami's steward. I wasn't informed of any visitors, so I must ask that you leave at once."

"Wait, but we-!" Emi went to speak, but Tama held up a hand to silence her.

"We get far too many requests exactly like yours on the daily, sister, but I am afraid that I must ask you to depart at once."

"Tama!" A woman's voice called out from behind them, and soon a younger woman appeared hurrying as quickly as her kimono would allow before halting beside him, her long hair waving heavily behind her. "The Lady is expecting them!"

Tama paused and looked from the group to the woman, "I-Wha- How did I not know?"

"It was an urgent missive that arrived last night. Her Ladyship simply didn't have time to inform you," the woman nodded and turned to the group, cocking one slender eyebrow at them, "though I fail to see what the fuss is all about from such a motley crew."

Tama hissed and frantically waved his hands, "Kanko-! Manners! Forgive her, friends. Please!" He gestured through the gate and hurried inside, barely leaving time for the group to catch up as he began to lead them through the estate grounds. 

Trees loomed overhead and rustled in the breeze as they passed beneath them, the shad providing ample relief from the hot sun's rays. The gravelly soil crunched under their feet as the followed Tama up a small set of wooden stairs and onto one of the open air walkways that led to a large section of building that Sen quickly took to be a reception hall. He cast a sideways glance to the garden and saw a statue of a man there carved in stone. Tama slid the door open and slipped aside with a small nod before vanishing down another walkway, leaving them with Kanko. The woman glanced at them before leading them into the room and sitting them down before taking her spot towards the head of the room.

"So..." Naoyuki began as he cleared his throat, "with lady Murakami, is there anything that we should know?"

Kanko frowned at them and sighed, "Don't be idiots and don't waste her time. Our Lady is a busy woman. She shouldn't have to deal with freeloaders like you - regardless of whether Hoshiga sent you or not."

She was... charming. Sen looked up at Hashi, who in turn looked down at him with a tint shake of his head before they both glanced at Maru, who shot them a small worried look over his shoulder. 

"Who spit in her food?" Yuzuha whispered to Sen as Kanko turned her attention to her nails.

The door at the opposing end of the room slid open and Tama entered before turning back and bowing, and that was when they saw her for the very first time. She was the most beautiful woman that Maru had ever laid eyes on. When she walked, her kimono fluttered out by her feet and her uchikake dragged behind her, and her long black hair hung like an ebony waterfall down her back. She had a heart-shaped face framed by the layered bangs of a noblewoman with two beautiful golden brown eyes and full lips set on a small mouth, willow branch eyebrows, and skin the color of a pale peach. She was, for all intents and purposes, utterly stunning. She was dressed in a summer ensemble with rich warm tones that seemed to make her almost glow as she sat down across from them, framed by the light from the open door behind her. She smiled at them and bowed her head in greeting, "I received the missive from Hoshiga. Welcome to my home, and do forgive Tama for his refusal to let you inside. I was the one who forgot to tell him that you would be coming."

"We should be thanking you," Sen gave a small bow. "Any help you can give us is appreciated, my lady."

Seiko laughed, a rich melodic sound, and shook her head, "Hardly! Hoshiga could ask me to catch him the moon and I would oblige. According to him, this cause is time sensitive, so we should make haste." She stood up and walked to the group in small, fluttering steps that halted in front of Hashi, "I know of you, Hashioni, friend of Myugou. Any friend of his is a friend of mine. We will get you to Heiankyo." She looked down at Sen with a smile as well, "And I know of you as well, Sen, Wolf of Ebume."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Myugou spoke fondly of you. More than that, I am honor-bound to help the Deishi candidate. One of my final wishes of my late husband was that should anything happen to him, I should continue to help the Deishi and the Blades of Hachiman however I can." She looked down at the rest of the group and gave them all another smile, "And the rest of you, I would like to get to know over dinner. For now, rest. You have come a long way."

---

Sen had never worn clothes that were so nice before, and when he looked over at Hashi, he saw the yokai humming contentedly as he fit his clothes on, seeming to enjoy the feel of the smooth woven fabric. Naoyuki strolled in, still wearing his smoky jinbaori, and behind him came Maru, who was rubbing the sleeve of his kosode with a small grunt of approval. "I take it that the clothes are good?" Sen asked as the two sat down next to him.

"I mean... Yeah, but," Naoyuki frowned, "now I'm scared I'm going to mess them up."

"I haven't worn anything this nice in a long time," Maru admitted as he adjusted the haori he wore with a smile. Sen had to say that he hadn't expected the nightingale to wear one that was finch yellow, but something about the bright color suited him nicely. Maru, however, fully expected to see Sen in the dark blues and blacks he had put on. He couldn't see him in bright colors if he was being honest.

"I've never worn anything this nice," Sen muttered as his hands ran across the fabric as Nobuhiko walked in, rolling his shoulders with a yawn as he did before sitting down beside Maru.

"The lady has a lot of handmaidens," Nobuhiko turned to Maru as he spoke, "and I felt like all of them were staring at me."

"Shut up."

"Naoyuki-!"

Maru sighed as the two began bickering and turned to Sen, who was adjusting Hashi's zukin and using his tanto to adjust the shape of the holes in it for his horns. "Need some help?" He asked as he scooted over to sit closer, reaching into his sleeve and producing his own knife to began widening the hole of the left side while Sen did the right. Hashi made a small gesture with his hand and Maru turned to Sen, "What does that one mean?"

The question seemed to catch Sen off-guard, and he replied, "Oh, it means 'thank you'."

"Oh," Maru looked back up at Hashi with a smile, "You're welcome."

The door slammed open behind them, ending the argument between Nobuhiko and Naoyuki and making Sen and Maru stop adjusting Hashi's zukin holes and turn to see who it was. Standing there in a kimono and an uchikake was Yuzuha, looking more angry than at ease. Sen had never seen her looking... well, looking feminine. "I hate this," she grumbled as she stormed in, "and it's uncomfortable." Unlike Seiko, she didn't walk in trained fluttering steps. Instead, she walked in full force, causing the layered garment to revel her under-robes before stopping in front of Sen and glaring down at him. Her hair hung loose down her back and was parted down the middle, and the look was so extremely different that it was taking Sen a moment to process everything. "What?" She snarled as Maru coughed and quickly scooted away from her.

"You look nice," Sen's words came naturally and honestly, making Yuzuha stop and blink at him, all fight seeming to leave her upon getting the compliment.

"How is he so easy?" Naoyuki whispered to Maru as he rejoined them at a safe distance. "Look. She's not in her murder-state any more."

"I... What?" Yuzuha asked as Sen saw a blush begin to creep onto her cheeks.

"You look nice," Sen repeated as he stood up, noticing that the small flower he had made her had been tied to an otherwise plain hairpin. "Oh, the flower," he reached up and touched it, prompting Yuzuha to go even more red, "you kept it."

"Uh... Ah, yeah," Yuzuha coughed as Sen lowered his hand. "I, uh... I guess it's lucky or something so I... When's dinner?" She quickly turned away and looked down at Naoyuki, Nobuhiko, and Maru, who all moved back slightly when she did.

The door slid open again and Avery appeared, looking a bit confused, but strangely excited, "I'm lost!" He proclaimed proudly.

The group wasted no time in getting up and deciding to find the main hall together, soon seeing Emi and Hachirou adjusting their zukins and beads just outside. "Oh!" Emi waved them over excitedly, "Good! We were just about to come looking for you!"

They all entered together, finding Seiko and her cadre of servants putting the finishing touches on the dinner preparations when they walked in and took their places. She smiled at them, a pretty warm thing that made Maru's chest warm up when he saw it, "I am happy that you all seem so comfortable with the clothes. You will need to have them for when we reach the capital. I understand that they are not nearly as versatile as armor, Yuzuha, but I hope that you can put it aside for a little while."

"Just let me get them adjusted," Yuzuha grumbled, "and then I can kill anything I need to."

Seiko chuckled, "Trust me, parting the skirts just right can let you wield a naginata with ease. I'll show you after dinner." That made Yuzuha perk up almost instantly and a smile came to her face. "Now," Seiko began as Tama returned and sat down beside her, "I do believe that we have a trip to Heiankyo to plan."