Ichi turned to Danberu as he knocked the paw on his shoulder aside.

"I have limits. This is my limit. If I have to cut through you to get out of here, I'll do it. Let me be stupid, or I'll become even stupider!"

Danberu stared silently at the small young tanuki below him. He knew little about Ichi, but Danberu's experience dealing with roughhousing tanuki informed him of the proper choice. There were no end to tanuki who had no sense of seriousness in their speech, who thought nothing of others and spoke out of turn ignoring the atmosphere of the situation entirely.

Moreover, Danberu mused to himself that he had no responsibility to the son of Danzaburo. In fact, he was aware of his own hatred for Genji Danzaburo, and he had transferred that to his son on first meeting. Since Danberu knew he felt that way, he acted polite on purpose, despite Ichi tossing his beloved troops like rag dolls.

His mind moved to Ichi's words as well. 'I'll become even stupider'. This is a rash youth, of that Danberu had no question, however, in this case, it would be the wise decision to let him make his own mistakes. Danberu remonstrated himself sliently for attempting to control someone he barely knew. He let out a long sigh.

"Do you mind if I accompany you? I am worried for your safety."

Ichi balked at Danberu's unexpectedly calm response. He was half sure the next action Danberu would take was a fist to his face. No luck, huh? Ichi just about wanted to spit on the ground out of spite, before realizing that he was literally wishing to fight someone who looked like they could crush him if they rolled over in their sleep.

"Ah... sure. Guess I lost my head there. The," Ichi gestured to the little girls, "slavery got to me."

"We all have our faults. Come, let us clear out some of those bothersome furballs that occupy my lands."

Danberu started walking towards the fortress walls, Ichi following behind him after a startled start.

"Aren't you a furball as well?"

"One worthy of not being referred to as a mere furball, but still a furball, I suppose."

Danberu grinned as he turned into a massive four winged beast. The lower part had the black and red stripes of a tiger, and the upper part and wings burned with flames. Danberu took flight, and Ichi turned into an eagle to follow. He marveled at Danberu's form. A phoenix tiger? Either way, he wanted to learn that one. Maybe the elder kraken form too?

Ichi silently said yes to himself. The Elder Kraken brought back memories of that night. That was a fun night. At the time, it felt like it would never end and he was sure he should have died, but looking back on it let him feel glad.

Danberu's phoenix flames cracked sparks into the air as they soared over the fortress battlements. Looking down, Ichi saw the bakeneko camped outside. A mountain towered nearby. Scanning the area, his eyes caught sight of a waterfall near the foot of the mountain, a small skirmish between bakeneko had broken out.

What drew Ichi's eye was one of the bakeneko. With his eagle vision he saw the cat clearly. A white eyepatch, and in his hand a katana.

Though surrounded, bakeneko fell one by one with clean strikes. The effortless movement entranced Ichi. His curiousity peaked, he flew near Danberu's side, pointing with his eyes towards the waterfall. Danberu gave a nod in response, and the two of them winged toward the fighting cats.