擊鼓催人命 (격고최인명) -둥둥 북소리는 내 생명을 재촉하고,

回頭日欲斜 (회두일욕사) -머리를 돌여 보니 해는 서산으로 넘어 가려고 하는구나

黃泉無客店 (황천무객점) -황천으로 가는 길에는 주막조차 없다는데,

今夜宿誰家 (금야숙수가) -오늘밤은 뉘 집에서 잠을 자고 갈거나

성삼문·(1418–1456)

As the sound of drum calls for my life,

I turn my head where sun is about to set.

There is no inn on the way to underworld.

At whose house shall I sleep tonight?

Seong Sam-mun (1418-1456)

With the fires of war on my back, I run. There is no place for me in a land. I am hunted, and no mercy will be afforded me if I am caught. The drums of war shake my bones. I am called to fight but know there is nothing more I can change. The heavens call me, but I cannot go home. The innocent weep for a saviour that is not me.

I walk fast, almost at a jog through fields and woods. I pick the few plants I know to be edible. I follow game trails for the hope of a morsel of meat. When I see flowing water I take a drink and fill my water skin taken from a dead guard. As night falls I light a fire, eat and disguise myself. I have lost many powers of a spirit but I can still create a ward and make my nights safe.

I was first chased by the lord’s guard. I lost them in the maze of streets and ran into the fields. They were fast but I was faster, more agile and more alert especially with fox ears to detect pursuit, fox tails to help with balance and fox muscle enhanced with Qi cultivated for more than a hundred years. Once I pass the walls I was chased by horses but the rice aided me in small ways and I am faster than a horse when it is avoiding roots in a wood.

I created traps as I went, weaving illusion to make the soldiers fight each other thinking they are attacking me and question their path. Within a day I had lost all immediate pursuit and was searched for by many people instead. I switch to full fox form when I am far from any path and lost in a cherry tree grove. I have killed samurai from the lord’s personal guard now, albeit indirectly. I am certain they are hunting me with their full capacity now. I am dangerous to them.

There have been many "monster hunts" performed by humans. It is why many other mortals avoid them and live in separate communities. Humans have been known to be cruel, smart and efficient in these hunts and have even managed to wipe out entire other species. The same would never happen to the kitsune. When pushed into a corner we can become far more dangerous than any hunt as the warriors chasing me discovered.

As I walk I admire the world around me, as I weave between oak and cedar trees among mountains. I know there is a sea across from these mountains and the sea of trees. I avoid the few villages hidden deep in the mountains. I am close to one when I pause. Something feels wrong. I create an illusion that continues to walk ahead of me as I remain still. A shadow shifts following my illusion through the trees. It is evening so the shadows are long and dark. My pursuer is doing an amazing job of remaining hidden. It is a shame I am the target. A less observant target with less experience would undoubtedly not have acted upon a simple feeling of wrongness.

The figure is dressed in black with gaps allowing the free movement of a long, striped tail and pointed ears. If their tail was bushy they would be easily mistaken for a kitsune between human and fox forms. The hands are clawed, and soft pads muffle the movement of their feet. I wonder if the person is seeking the reward for the kitsune or if they have some other reason. I will confront them either way.

I move behind them shifting into my part human form and place my pursuer in an arm lock using my magic to cause the grass to remove hidden weapons on her person - there is only one small knife. Using my weight, I push her face into the ground to prevent any loud noises.

"Why were you following me?" I ask in a harsh whisper. I lift her head up slightly and she replies that she was not following me but was following animals to practice stealth. I take her tanto sword and step back wearily. I slowly walk away but the girl calls out to me "come back and eat with us!" She cries. I am shocked by her change in tone. I don't trust her but it is nicer to stay in a house than in some woods. At the first sign of an attempt to capture or kill me I will leave.

I slowly follow her as she moves towards the village, relaxing slightly as she talks to me. It seems she does have selfish reasons to be kind. She wants her tanto back and would like to know how I surprised her. She wants to learn the kitsune arts. I am surprised. For someone so quiet she can talk up a storm.

The village seems to be a quaint farming village at first glance but the sheer number of large traps and potential ambush sites and choke points around the village shows a completely different story. I quickly decide on the best potential escape route and continue forwards.

The girl who chased me is called Meri. She waves to those in the field and calls out to them. They respond with a measure of hostility towards us. The presence of Meri is probably the only thing preventing them from taking actions to remove me from their valley. As it is they seem just as tense as me but worse at hiding it. I wave too.

Meri dashes ahead and is admonished by one of the men in the field. I overhear the conversation. “Why did you bring her here? This village is supposed to remain hidden. There are too many powerful people who would see us dead if they had the chance.”

Meri looks sad and guilty as she replies. “She probably already noticed this place as she was so close and she is probably a ninja too.”

I perk up at that. The good news is that they probably don’t know about the bounty on my head and don’t have a good relationship with the authorities so may ignore it. The bad news is that they might hear about the reward, are mercenaries and would probably try and kill me to protect their secrets, reward or not. I had feared as much.

It was fun to find out that Meri has no idea I am a kitsune. The man groans and seems to accept that attacking me now whilst they are exhausted, and Meri is here to protest, is probably a bad idea. I am led into the village to more hostile gazes. An old man comes out to greet us. “Hello Grandpa!” Meri shouts jumping into a flying hug. Her grandpa has the same ears and tail as Meri only they are tattered with age and old wounds.

"Who's this?" Asks the man. "My name is Gyōma." I reply. Meri jumps back and starts talking again about how we met in the woods as she was chasing a fox, "...and she was so strong. She even offered to teach me something." I have no memory of ever having offered but I guess I should play along for now. The old man looks at me for conformation and I nod slightly. A moment later I am hit by a huge wave of killing intent from the old man. I respond with a bit of my own and he nods back at me. Meri's grandfather is dangerous.

"I would like a change of clothes, a place to stay and meals for as long as I am here in return," I say to the grandfather. "How long will you stay?" he asks.

"A few days at the most." The old man nods and I grin. The geishas' yukata is restricting, ripped and dirty from my time on the run. The change will be worth a few basic lessons. "You can stay in the old house on the mountain over there." He points to a small cabin in the woods. There are clothes and a bed in there at least. I don't like the grin on his face as he tells me where I should stay but it can't be that bad.

I am dragged off by Meri and we start our first lesson immediately. I show her the technique I pinned her with earlier. When she performs it correctly and with enough fluidity for it to be useful, I demonstrate how to escape. It is a long while before she manages to perform the escape herself. I decide to end the lesson there telling her that the best defence is to avoid the hold altogether.

I walk to the hut and am immediately attacked by a pair of sandals and a broom. I ignore the sandals as they don't hurt and tie the broom down. I notice there are no other shoes in the room, but I need shoes because my feet will be seriously damaged if I walk the rest of the way in the shoes I have now even with magic to heal faster. The fox form is the only reason this hasn't happened so far. I perform axe kicks on the shoes forcing them to the floor. I put them on and after a while they stop struggling. They are very comfortable.

I walk further into the room and nothing jumps out at me except for a tiny money spider. I don't believe in luck or my chances of becoming wealthy any time soon. I quickly find a shrine maiden's outfit and beat the dust out of it. It reminds me of the heavens and is comfortable and mobile. I like it. I put it on and twirl before hanging the outfit back up and redressing myself in a blanket for sleep.

I groan slightly as I am shaken awake. Mari is sitting over me singing "Get up, the day has begun." Over and over again whilst shaking my shoulder. "You're awake!" she cries before running away. The girl is certainly fast for her size. I smile and get dressed, almost stumbling as my sandals misbehave. I have been living in this seemingly illogical world far too long to question its absurdity too often.

I walk out too see Mari standing among other children from the village. They all ask to join in the lesson. I refuse but am immediately offered some money and supplies for the journey so accept. Over the next few days I organise elaborate challenges for the children to train with, based loosely off those I was presented with in my training only less difficult and confusing. I find it amazing how quickly the hostility towards me has disappeared. By the time I leave there is a group composed of half the village waving me off. I feel like I am beginning to enjoy the road and get some small attachment to the village with its unreasonably trusting assassin spies. I guess I was never told the nature of their style or defences and I guess I was constantly watched to some degree.

I wander through the forest for the rest of the day and a half with regular breaks for food, sleep and rest. I feel safe from my pursuers in the wilderness. After a while I come to a river and notice a path of stones across it a long distance downstream. A low mountain rises along the bank between myself and the crossing, so I begin to climb it. Nearer the peak of my climb I sit down with a piece of dried meat from the village and look back over the path behind me. In the far distance a trail of smoke is visible. No controlled fire would create such a plume of smoke. It seems to be where the village was positioned.

I ponder if I should go back and then remember I am on no schedual but my own. I set of back down the mountain at a fast hike. After walking non-stop it is dark in the early hours of the next morning when I approach the village. Noticing that I can hear no voices I spread out fox fire to illuminate the blackened houses and ash covered fields. I see a samurai’s helmet and the old man among the wreck of a house. My sandals tremble and I sit down, hidden in the forest and let them rest. The next morning, I hear a sobbing. I walk towards the source and see Mari over the corpse of a child, crying. For a few minutes I stand there watching. I had long overcome my own grief. Mari turns and looks surprised. With a roar she draws her tanto and jumps at me. I calmly side step the blade and grab the following wrist. Twisting the arm around I restrain her. Mari is muttering about my treachery and crying.

I stare at the bodies littering the ground. I need to give a ceremony to calm Mari but don’t have the time or knowledge to do it properly. I need to make it a little flashy but heartfelt. I gather grasses and build a small shrine to Inari. Drawing some rice from my pack with some soy sauce I place it on the shrine as an offering. “please help Inari,” I whisper under my breath. I gather my power and a ball of foxfire appears floating out of each body. I cremate everyone with their fire and shape the fire roughly to the form of each person. I create the illusion of a gate on a cloud. Each of the figures disappears into the gate. Mari is looking at me in awe. I slam my foot down and will foxfire to spread out in a wave. Mentally I call out to my god and wild rice grows in the wake of my wave of flame covering the ash and rubble. Soon there is little evidence of a village.

I walk over to the silent Mari, untie her and then we embrace with her sobbing until she falls asleep. I smile down at her. I may regret showing my powers later, but I doubt it. I take a blanket from my bag and cover the sleeping figure from the cold before meditating to rest whilst not letting my guard down. A long while after the rays of the sun hit my face I hear sounds of movement in front of me. I open my eyes and smile. “If you have nowhere else to go you can join me but we have to go now.” I tell her, folding the blanket she had removed and placing my bag on my back to walk off. It is a few seconds before Mari scrambles to her feet and scurries after me. I slow my pace slightly to match hers.

For an entire week we walk in silence communicating only to indicate when we feel it is necessary for food or sleep. I give my sleeping equipment to Mari. She needs it more than I do. Occasionally my shoes nudge me as if to signal I should say something to the dead eyed youth, but I ignore them. Mari will talk when she needs to. Finally, we leave the mountains and Mari tugs on my sleeve. “They are all gone aren’t they,” Mari whispers. “Yes,” I respond in a solemn tone. “They are.”

“I was in the forest when it happened,” Mari continues. “We were talking just that morning. I was tracking a rabbit. It didn’t notice me but was spooked by the sound of fighting and burning. My grandfather used his energy to send a message. He told me he would die but I had to run, find someone I could trust and live. I know now you didn’t reveal our location, but I was so angry. I want to kill those that burned my village, but I don’t know who they are and I am too weak. I want to be strong; strong enough to kill those that did that.”

“You shouldn’t take revenge. It would not be right for you to dedicate your life to become a killer. It would betray the memory of those that died.”

“I know,” Mari mutters.

“I will teach you to get stronger as we move though. It is good to be able to prevent anything like this happening to you again and for that strength is required.” Mari stares at me with eyes a little less dead than before. “First lesson. Smile and live. As long as you can do that there is a hope things will get better and you can proudly say you are not abusing the memory of the old man.” Mari gives a weak smile. “There we go.” I grin back. “We are close to the coast now. Let’s make every minute count.” The final few days of walking are more cheerful with Mari brightening with every step and working on her skills at every stop. As we enter the port city we will be sailing from, she is every bit the ball of energy and life I met nearly a month ago. I disguise myself and we wander down to the docks. We need to leave quickly. The wanted poster at the gate reminded me that this land is hostile to us.

Due to the excess of light left in the day we head straight to the dock master’s post and ask for ships heading to the main continent. Two coppers later I am informed in a professional manner that there is a ship leaving the next day at noon. I bow to the well-built man at the desk and follow his directions to the appropriate ship. I ask one of the sailors for the captain and am quickly introduced to a beaming man behind a desk with a marvellous feathered hat, strong jaw and stylish coat. “I hear you are willing to pay for passage,” he booms. I pull out three silvers. “This will not be enough,” he says. “Two extra mouths for food and I will have to clear out a room of cargo for passengers, as is only right. You would have to pay at least a gold coin to cover these costs. Not to mention it is bad luck to have a woman on board.” I nod. “We could work for the rest.”

“I would not let you work with the ship for the sake of those among the crew that believe in superstitions nor would I employ a young lady like your companion in any case.”

“We could work as guards. I believe that there were reports of pirates on the route recently and I am sure that I am capable.” The captain looks dubious but sighs. “If my current guards agree you are capable you can sail for seven silvers. If you can beat one in a spar you can travel for five.” He calls for a member of the crew and whispers to them. They wave to me and I follow them out. We are guided through the city to a field decked out with training equipment, next to a larger building. Our guide calls out and three of the five men their wander towards us. “Hello.” The largest of the three says offering a hand. “I am Ben. Our little band is the one you are trying to impress. Let’s go and see if you can.” His crushing handshake seems to be the first test. I give him a vice grip of my own and with a nod enter the field. I approve of our captain’s choices.

“Let’s get this over with quick.” I say. “Let’s spar one against three.” They look surprised but agree after a nod from Ben. The spar is quick and decisive. I boost my speed a little with Qi and knock the one of the three out of the ring with a kick. My attempt to do the same with his shocked companion is stopped by Ben’s use of a well-balanced punch. I use my momentum to pivot and duck catching the arm of the now wide-eyed Ben and sending him flying over my shoulder. A few seconds and three punches later the spar is over. Ben calmly stands up and gives me a nod. “I’ll see you at the ship before noon tomorrow.” I nod and walk away. Mari bounds after me with a grin, recounting the whole event in detail all the way to the nearest inn. We book a room and fall asleep.

The next day I meet the captain and hand him the five silvers after a bow from each of Ben’s group. The bright weather is possibly the only thing preventing the captain from being bitter. He stands at the rudder wheel and hands his hat off to a sailor before ordering the ship to depart.