I felt my injured leg. A large burn scar covered the area where I was stabbed. Cauterizing the wound was better than bleeding to death, but even that was debatable.

Ever since I lost my Ember all those years ago I had an aversion to being burnt. Something about that seething, unforgettable pain changed my thoughts on the matter. Jumping off the cliff so many months ago trying to escape seeing the Shogun. Being bit and cut by the yokai at the base of Mt.Fuji. None of it made me as anxious and feared as being burnt did. I tried to hide my anxiety from Hayato and Anzen when they applied the white-hot knife to my leg, but I doubt I did that good a job at it.

It's what I get. I can't forget who I was, the choices I made. I was still a bad person, just because I was trying to do something good didn't mean I became perfect. Just the other day I had slept past everyone else while the twins were off looking for food, then I made Hayato pack for camp because I didn't want to help. I still had much more to work on if I wanted to be the person I once was. Or the person I once thought I was...

Hayato looked up at me as we walked. I couldn't walk far distances with my leg so I was atop the horse, which meant we had to let go some of our less needed supplies. He leaned his head over and spoke. "You look deep in thought. What's on your mind?"

I shook my head and looked out to the road. It was wet with the beginning of spring. Countless rice paddies to our right as a random mountain steeply rose to our left. I responded with a lie. "Oh, I was just, uh, thinking about our current situation."

Hayato put a hand to his chin as Anzen spoke up. "Yeah. We have a bounty on our head which pretty much guarantees any samurai or ronin are going to be on our back. But now we also have the criminal underground looking for us... Is there anyone that doesn't want to skin you alive, Kenshi?"

I scratched the back of my neck as I thought. That was a surprisingly difficult question, but I had at least two answers. "I have two friends up north, they're named Sora and Lee. They seemed to be at least somewhat tolerant of me."

Hayato questioned me as Anzen quieted down. "How far up north?"

"Just above Mt.Fuji, towards the path that will lead us to Amaterasu's palace actually. My home town."

Hayato nodded and continued. "So that means we'll meet up with them eventually, right?"

"That's the plan. They should be waiting for us as Lee trains his Ember. We could use all the help we can get with the Shogun on our tails."

"Another Ember user, what does he do?"

I shrugged as we kept trotting along our path. "When a person first gets their Ember it's exceedingly powerful, so I don't know what it looks like now that he's gotten more control of it and tamed it. But at the time it seemed like he could see what people were doing before they even did it. He could read every movement instantly."

Hayato thought about it for a second, then spoke once more. "Wait. What exactly do you mean by being more powerful when you first get it?"

"Well, remember when I told you to train with your Ember all that while ago?" Hayato nodded in response. "I told you that Embers were a lot more abstract things than people make it out to be now. It works off of the power of your mind and will. So if you have a weak will or weak mind, your Ember will be weaker because your mind will have to conceptualize it into a simpler idea to actually be functional, but when you first get an Ember your brain doesn't know to do that yet, so it just lets you use the Ember with reckless abandon, the Ember has more control over the user than the user control of the Ember."

"I remember feeling something like that when Anzen and I got our Ember, yeah..."

"Eventually you gain control of it and it's much less powerful than when you first got it. But with enough concentration, training, meditating, you could make your Ember even stronger than when you first gained it because you'd actually know how to use it and how it works."

Anzen commented. "You sure know the ins and outs of this."

"I had the first Ember. If you were the first to have such a thing you'd be just as curious I'm sure, especially when you have the goddess to answer all your questions."

"Fair enough."

Hayato looked at me with hesitant curiosity. "I sometimes forget that you actually spent all that time with Lady Amaterasu... If you don't mind me asking, what was she like?"

I was somewhat reluctant, as I was always when the topic of my past with Amaterasu was brought up. But hiding and secrecy was only another problem I had, so I obliged Hayato. "She was the kindest, energetic and caring person I ever knew... I really loved her."

"She sounds really nice... I, uh..." Hayato tripped over his own words. "I'm sorry you... She... Um..."

I shook my head, crossing my arms. I could feel my demeanor becoming colder, but I didn't bother to act otherwise. "Don't be. There's no one to blame but myself."

Hayato sighed. "You're a good person, Kenshi. People make mistakes."

It made me upset to hear that. I knew Hayato was trying to be comforting, but it was still more of a sensitive subject than I thought. I didn't say anything in return, just letting the conversation turn to silence.

Anzen eventually broke the silence as he pointed forward. "Looks as though there's a large city ahead. We should make camp outside of it."

I looked ahead. Our small dirt road eventually met with a larger one, leading into a bright and bustling city, which most likely had our names and faces plastered with a price above them. "That's a good idea..." I inspected our surroundings. The rice paddies at our right were no place to camp. Wet and most likely full of farmers in the early morning. The unremarkable mountain to our left was a safe bet, but climbing it would be taxing on both the horse and my leg. But as I thought, Hayato pointed forward.

"There looks like a little path up the mountain, maybe we can use it and camp there?" Hayato's finger led to a small and almost unnoticeable staircase leading up the large and vegetation filled hill.

Anzen nodded. "Seems suitable."

A staircase was much easier for both me and the luggage bearing horse. "I agree."

We climbed up the mountain with haste. It was just turning evening and we wanted to be rested for the next day. The shogunate was right behind us, and while we had staggered them, we would need to be able to move quickly and as far away as possible before they started tracking us again.

We moved slowly up to the top of the hill, where a very old looking and very large tree sat in the very center.

We set our tents strung up against the tree next to a very steep drop, which made for a rather comfortable looking camp.

Once a fire was lit, our work seemed to be over for the rest of the night.

We sat on a dead and fallen tree branch from the ancient oak as a pot of whatever Hayato was cooking simmered above the flames.

Hayato sighed with a smile as he finished stirring. In one fluid motion, he poured his soup into a bowl and sat on one of the fallen branches next to Anzen. He spoke as we took our share of the food. "It's nice to get an opportunity to rest after that fight we had."

Anzen slightly grinned as he sat. "Yes. I regret not finishing the fight with that shielded bastard though... Kenshi said his name was Eizo, right? I think I remember hearing about him from the higher-ranked Samurai. I can see why the Shogun keeps him close. He knows how to fight at least."

Hayato thought as he took a break from chewing. "You're right. Eizo does sound familiar..."

The conversation faded from my attention as I stared into the woods beyond our camp. Something was moving, but I couldn't tell what. Any regular animal would stay away from our camp, but this was moving straight towards us. It was too large to be that damned owl... Maybe a starving bear, looking for any meat it could find? Even then, it would most likely try to scare us away and scavenge out supplies, which meant it would be making sound. There was only one thing it could be. At that size. With that temperament...

Hayato spoke to me, breaking my thought. "Wouldn't you agree, Kenshi?... Kenshi?" My eyes didn't turn away from the forest, causing Hayato to grow curious. Standing from his seat and turning backward along with Anzen, he caught a glimpse of what I was watching so intently.

A tall and hunched figure crept ever closer to camp. As it grew closer to the firelight I could see it's ashen black skin, with a sheen of purple. It's eye sockets were hollow. It didn't need them to see. It had no ears but could hear. Where its nose should have been was nothing but smooth skin, yet it could smell our scent. It's mouth unhinged all the way down its neck, forever with an unsated lust for flesh... A yokai.

I started to stand, but the shooting pain in my leg made me realize that I was in no shape to fight the demon.

Anzen spoke softly. "I thought they targeted villages, not solitary camps?"

"We made camp next to a large city. It most likely thought to take us then move to the town."

Hayato unsheathed his sword and took a few steps toward the yokai's direction. "What should we do, Kenshi? You have more experience with killing these things than we do."

I thought to myself anxiously. I hadn't planned to so quickly give instructions or advice. "Ummm... Try to keep your distance from its hands. See if Anzen can distract it while you advance." That was all I could think of, and I prayed it would work.

Hayato started sneaking in from the side after I instructed him to. Anzen reluctantly listened and started shouting at the creature to gain its attention. "Hey! Look here!" It seemed as though my plan was working as Hayato grew within range of the creature.

Slowly he crept next to it as Anzen shouted and cursed at the yokai. Hayato reared his sword back, ready to strike. But before he could, the yokai instantly switched its attention from Anzen to Hayato and swatted his sword from his hands, sending it flying into the forest.

Hayato turned on his heels and started running once he no longer had a weapon, and the yokai gleefully followed suit. Anzen turned to me and yelled. "It didn't work!"

"Shit..." I should've known that yokai were smarter than they first were, but I grew panicked and forgot. I thought quickly, and one method of killing this thing came to mind. It was a stupid idea, but it was possible, and my stupid ideas seemed to work for me until then, so why not again. "Anzen, I need you to create a portal without any points to attach it to. Mid-air."

"I don't know how to do that!"

"Hayato doesn't have any time. We talked about how your Ember is stronger than you think. Just concentrate!"

Anzen growled at the thought, but Hayato was running out of stamina and the yokai was catching up, so he finally decided to try. He reached his hands into the air and closed his eyes. A foggy portal dimly appeared over the steep drop off the mountainside. I looked over to Hayato, who was quickly running out of breath. His expression changed once Anzen opened his portal like he could sense when one side had appeared.

With the yokai stumbling right behind him, Hayato passed through a set of trees and opened the portal. The yokai could neither cease its momentum in time nor understand what exactly running into the fog would do.

It went in one side and emerged out the other. With a yelp, it fell down the bluff. Bouncing and crashing until it went out of sight.

I moved over to the drop and looked downward where it seemed the yokai had cracked its head open on the condensed dirt road, its body quickly decomposing to ash.

Turning back, I saw Anzen plop down on the tree branch as Hayato went deeper into the forest, most likely to fetch his sword.

Anzen panted as his nose bled. After a few coughs, he spoke. "That was certainly an interesting way to end the night."

I shook my head. "We can't seem to have peace for a single second. Yesterday the Samurai, and today the yokai..."

We had all forgotten about yokai until that point. But we would have to remember from there on out. Climbing Mt.Fuji would be no easy task with the many yokai and Samurai looking for us. Time only helped the odds grow against us, but we persevered. We had a long way to go if we wanted to be strong enough. Strong enough for her.

But somewhere deep inside. In the rubble of what used to be an optimist, I felt we could do it.