Torakichi raised an eyebrow as he and the others approached the Forest of Whispers.

What caught his and the attention of everyone else was a small shop that was just off the path.

In it, was an old, skinny and grey woman.

Her wares ranged from cracked shell jewellery to ornate wooden carvings of butterflies.

“Please… cant’s any of ye spare scraps for this poor soul?” The woman wheezed as she sat in her rickety shop.

“Kindness often sows a thousand blessings, no?” The woman said before cackling. This, unfortunately, led to her painfully coughing.

Torakichi then noticed a small bronze dragon statue half buried in the ground next to the path and so he walked towards it while Keii walked towards the shop.

“Hello, my name is Keii Umihara and I’d like to ask you some questions, if you don’t mind.”

“But of course, ask away.” The woman wheezed.

“Alright. Many people have been said to have gone missing around here. Do you know anything about this?” Keii said with narrowed eyes.

“Oh, travelling souls enter those woods from time to time. Although they never seem to return.”

“Do you know why?” Keii asked.

“Although one as I cannot truly say, it’s almost as though whenever people enter that forest, they are compelled to stay wherever they find themselves.” The woman said prompting Keii let out an understanding drone.

“So, do you know what’s haunting this place?” Torakichi asked.

“No. I suggest that we proceed with caution. Hanabira and Amai aren’t anywhere near ready for real combat, so we’ll have to strike swiftly should we encounter any threats.” Keii said before looking at the path that led into the misty forest.

“Shall we?” Keii asked before stepping into the forest.

Torakichi and company followed him closely as they entered a the forest to find that it was surprisingly silent.

No birds chirped and no leaves rustled.

The dark, tall, mostly dead trees moved not with the wind that blew above and not a single animal crawled across the forest floor.

The air was cold and had a strange smell to it. Almost as though something had been burnt, but then quickly doused in water.

“Mr. Umihara?” Hanabira called.

“Yes?” Keii asked before turning to face Hanabira.

“Where are Mr. Kanemoto and Amai?” She asked as Keii slowly realized that Torakichi and Amai were nowhere to be seen in the sea of dark dead trees and mist.

“Dammit! Do you think we walked too far ahead of them?” Keii asked as he placed his hand over his katana.

“I don’t think so.” Hanabira said as she inched towards Keii, who carefully surveyed his surroundings.

Keii then froze as he heard the sound of someone crying.

He turned around and spotted something deep within the mist and so he quickly unsheathed his katana before gesturing that Hanabira follow him.

“Why would you leave her side when she needed you most?”

A familiar but distorted voice cried.

Keii then spotted a naked man kneeling on the forest floor.

“Hey! Are you alright-“

Keii stopped upon noticing that the figure held something in its trembling hands.

“Sir?” Keii called as the man slowly lifted its head revealing the face of a man who looked exactly like him. In his hands was the head of a woman.

Keii slowly stepped away while the man who looked like him stood up. His face drenched in tears.

“Why did you leave her?” Keii’s copy asked as he inched closer to the original.

“What’s happening?” Hanabira asked, but Keii failed to answer as he his eyes trembled.

“Look! Bear witness to the fruits of your cowardice!” The copy yelled as he raised the head in his hands. The head of a woman whose beauty knew no equal.

.

..

Torakichi’s eyes narrowed to a slit as he slowed down to a stop.

“For how long have we been walking?” Torakichi asked.

“Not too long.” Amai said.

“Mmm… then something is definitely wrong. We couldn’t have gotten separated from the others in such a short time. Not by normal means.” Torakichi said as he tried surveying his surroundings, but he could barely see anything that was more than a meter away.

“What are you doing?”

A familiar, but distorted voice asked.

Torakichi and Amai turned around to find a figure approaching them.

It looked like a woman, but they could see no more than that.

“Why are you standing next to the person who got Nagare killed?”

The voice asked.

Amai gasped as the figure got closer, revealing that it was a woman who looked exactly like her, only she was naked, her face was covered in tears and she held in her hands the head of man.

Amai quickly hid behind Torakichi as her copy inched ever closer.

“Why do you cling so closely to that murderer?” Amai’s copy asked as she glared at Torakichi, who placed his hand over his katana.

“And what about you, old man? Do you bear no guilt for leading those dogs to our house? Or did you enjoy watching an arrow pierce my husband’s flesh?”

“No!” Amai cried.

“No? No what?” The copy asked as she stood a few centimetres from Torakichi, who’s expression remained unchanged.

“It wasn’t his fault.” Amai whimpered.

Her copy’s face twist in response.

“What? Is that what you tell yourself? That he just happened to be passing by that day. That those soldiers would have found us either way. How could you be so stupid as to not see that he and that northern sow don’t care about you. They never have and-“

“Shut up! That’s not- you’re not me! That’s not how I feel!” Amai screamed as faint streak of blue mist poured out from her body.

The mist then slowly flowed into her copy, who tried walking past Torakichi to get closer to Amai, but blocked her path with his arm.

“Move aside, killer.” The copy hissed, but Torakichi quickly unsheathed his katana before placing its edge against the copy’s neck.

He then slid the edge against the clone’s skin, but to his surprise, the blade passed through her neck with no real effect.

Torakichi lowered his katana and watched as a trail of pale blue mist poured from the supposed cut he’d made on the copy’s neck.

“I’m sorry, but your sword will not be able to destroy that thing.”

A familiar voice said and this time, Torakichi’s face actually changed as his eyes landed on a figure that slowly emerged from them mist revealing itself to be Tetsujin only his entire body had a pale blue glow and one could almost see through it.

Tetsujin walked up to Amai’s copy before casually wrapping his arm around her neck.

“This is a construct made by a butterfly spirit. I’m positive that you passed one by before entering the forest. Although she looked quite starved, if you ask me.” He said.

“Unhand me!” Amai’s copy yelled before struggling away from Tetsujin who simply chuckled in response.

“How-“

“How am I standing before you? It’s simple really. After you robbed me of my physical form, I did everything in my power to return to you. Even if it meant treading into the forsaken value again.” Tetsujin said with a shudder.

“So the one haunting this place is a butterfly spirit.” Torakichi said as he turned to face Amai, who blankly stared at Tetsujin.

“Yes. Do you want me to tell you how to escape the snare?” Tetsujin asked, but Torakichi ignored him as he looked into Amai’s trembling eyes.

“The apparition seemingly stole some of your Ne. How are you feeling?” He asked.

“I… I feel fine.” Amai said before looking into Torakichi’s eyes.

“I-“

Torakichi gently placed his hand on Amai’s shoulder, silencing her in the process.

He opened his mouth to speak, but just as he did so, strange growls and groans filled the air.

Torakichi looked deeply into Amai’s eyes before placing his hand on her cheek.

“Hold close the words you so dearly wish to say. You and I will speak again soon enough.” He said softly.

Amai gently held his hand before he turned away.

“Ahem! As I was saying. Your foe is a butterfly spirit. A drinker of Ne.” Tetsujin said with crossed arms.

“And you are?” Torakichi asked as he carefully listened to the ever intensifying growls and snarls.

“I am a an ordinary spirit, although I do enjoy feasting on hateful flesh, but that’s neither her nor there.” Tetsujin said as he rubbed his naked body.

“I see. You spoke as though you knew a way out of this. Would you mind sharing?” Torakichi asked.

“Yes, but it’d be best if you dealt with our guests here first.” Tetsujin said before his body rapidly dematerialized.

Then, from the forest deep, did they emerge.

Countless men and woman dressed in clothes that varied from simple and worn woollen garbs to fine silk dresses.

Some wore armour and wielded weapons while others we empty handed.

One thing was common among the bunch and that was their dark, almost blackened skin and their whitened eyes.

One of them lashed out at Torakichi, only to get decapitated, but some of the dark blood from his kill landed on his skin, burning it slightly in the process.

“Look at all these pitiful husks. Go on. I know you’re more than capable of giving them swift ends.” Tetsujin said from a place Torakichi couldn’t see.

The horde of husks then swarmed towards Torakichi, who hacked apart any who dared approach him and fortunately for him, the husks had brittle bones and little to no muscle so hacking them to pieces was a trivial matter.

The ones with weapons posed slightly more of a threat, but their lack of coordination made them quite easy to deal with.

The last of the husks eventually fell and Tetsujin eventually reappeared while Torakichi caught his breath.

“Magnificently done!” The spectre said while clapping his hands.

“Now, you happen to be trapped in a bubble of Ne. If you were to aimlessly wonder in this place, you’d travel in circles until the butterfly drained you of all your Ne or you died. But, I’m sure both of you are smart enough to know what to do with this bubble.” Tetsujin said before disappearing again.

Torakichi and Amai exchanged perplexed glances.

“Do you think he meant we should pop this bubble?” Torakichi asked as he wiped his katana.

“Maybe. But we don’t know where the bubbles ends or begins.” Amai said.

“Mmm.” Torakichi droned before deeply sighing.

“Here’s a thought. What if we coat my katana with Ne and use it to pierce through the Ne surrounding us.”

“That could work, but…”

“I know. That’s why I’ll leave it to you to gather the Ne surrounding us and use it to coat the katana.” Torakichi said as he placed his katana in front of Amai, who’s eyes widened in response.

She then took several deep breaths before placing hid hands above the katana.

Strands of pale blue mist then began gathering around the blade from all around.

They eventually settled around the blade, much to Torakichi’s satisfaction.

He then raised his sword before striking at the fog in front of him, but as his katana glided through the air, all of the Ne coating it dissipated.

“Mmm… let’s try again, but this time, try infusing the blade with Ne, rather than just coating it.

Amai nodded and they repeated the exercise from before, only this time, the surrounding Ne gathered around the blade before seeping into the blade.

Torakichi noticed that Amai had a strained expression, but he remained silent as she worked.

After a few minutes or so, Torakichi eventually raised his sword and with all the force he could muster, he swung his sword downwards, cutting through the fog.

“Ah!”

A distant, but familiar and rather aged voice screamed as the fog split in two.

However, just as it did, it began gathering and settling again.

Torakichi struck the fog several more times, resulting in several screams and ultimately leading to the fogs complete dissipation.