Rei and Koji entered the town at dawn, they had been washed out of their resting place along the road around midnight and realized the only dry place was on their feet so they walked, all night, but they had managed to get back to town. Soldiers were everywhere, they seemed to be the only people on the streets. The found the gates to the castle were sealed as if for war and guards were prowling the battlements. But they had left the secret side entrance open. Both just raced up the steps without a single thought, something very terrible had happened and they may have had a hand in causing it.

They reached the side door and found the entire hall was empty but there was a great thundering of panicked feet rattled above their heads. Rei and Koji hurried for the stairs and found guards blocking their path. " Halt" the first shouted, " no one may pass."
" How did you get here?" asked the second, " we have sealed the castle."
Before Rei or Koji could think up an excuse there came a great scream from the floor above them of unimaginable pain. Rei just shoved her way past the two guards and raced up the stairs.

Laying naked on her bed, twisting and whimpering in terrible pain was Asuka. Her doctors were debating among themselves if they should cut her arm off, bleed her with leeches or let her slip away. Rei burst in and rushed over, alarming the guards, the ministers, the attendants and the doctors. " Idiots" she said, " this isn't an ordinary wound."
" But we can't seem to figure out why she is in so much pain" one doctor said.
" There is poison all over these bullets" said Rei, flipping her bag open, " I don't know what it is but you can't just chop the arm off, the bullet has to be removed and medicine must be applied.
Asuka looked up at Rei and smiled although the smile was hampered by the pain. " Sorry for being late" she said.
" Its okay" said Asuka, " I'm not dead yet."
Rei took out a small vial, " This is going to dull the pain" she said, " I don't want to put you to sleep because I'm not sure if you can wake up from it."
" It will be okay" said Asuka, " I'll be a big girl and take it."
Asuka drank the liquid down and Rei rolled her surgical tools out. She picked her probe up and gently slipped it into the wound. She was unsure of herself, she hadn't been able to help Jinzo Yamsada but she had to remind herself his wound was days old this was still very fresh.
Asuka hissed a bit as the probe came in contact with the bullet. Rei gently traced around it, it wasn't in the bone. Rei smiled it would easier to remove. She took the tweezers out and gently slipped them in. She gripped around the bullet and began to gently draw it out. Blood bubbled and spurted a little as the bullet was removed.
Rei dug in her bag for a special jar, she hoped there was enough left. She plucked the small jar from the bottom of the satchel and pulled the cork out. Inside were seeds from the Yellow Sea Dragon, a plant that had near mythic healing capabilities. It grew in deep, deep water and the only way anyone could get it is when they rarely washed up on shore.
Rei had four seeds left, each was probably worth 100 Ryu. Rei took it out and placed it her mortar. She took out more moon ferns and called for spring water. One of Asuka's attendants brought it over, her eyes staring at Koji with blind fear.
Koji had taken up his place as bodyguard to Rei while she operated, scowling at everyone in the room. Rei gently ground the ingredients together into a pale green paste. She gently applied it to the wound and gently sewed it closed.
The bandaging proved to be tricky, the placement of the wound required a great deal of gauze to be used in wrapping the wound, the shoulder, and half of the upper arm. Rei gently tied the sling around Asuka's neck and let her lay about in her drug induced haze.
Rei sat back, Asuka was softly breathing, and the entire room breathed a sigh of relief. " When will she wake up?" asked one of the ministers, the one sweating the most.
" A day, ten, never" said Rei, " this isn't an exact science, we are dealing with a strange type of poison."
The other ministers began to mumble among themselves. " This is very bad indeed" said the sweating minister, " her brother was killed last night and if she doesn't wake up in four days Lord Keiyo will assume the rule of this area for himself."
" You won't keep your jobs I bet" said Koji.
The sweating minister nodded, " She'll pull through" said Rei, " the bullet is out, now we just have to let her heal."
The ministers huddled in a corner and began to whisper amongst themselves. " Do you think she'll make it?" whispered Koji.
Rei slowly nodded, her logical mind told her that Asuka would die just like Jinzo but her heart told her that she would pull through. For a girl who had followed her mind for most of her life, she really wanted her heart to be right this time.

Rei and Koji sat vigil for three days waiting for Asuka to get better. At first it never seemed that she would, the fever seemed like it was going to burn the last bits of life from her. But Rei used every trick in her bag to finally break the fever and late on the third day she sat up.
The ministers who had come and gone all three days all rushed in a mass. Asuka immediately dismissed them, the servants, the doctors, everyone except Rei and Koji. " We need to talk" said Asuka, her words low and intense, " in case he returns to finish the job."
" We are listening" said Rei.
" Our family has a secret, a dark terrible secret" said Asuka, " it consumed my brother and nearly consumed me. I am no longer willing to serve my ancestors for the sake of my life."
Asuka looked out the window, " My family knew what the Shikami Family was doing. They paid our family a handsome tribute every year to look the other way. The Shikami worshipped some ancient god and to appease it they routinely served it child sacrifices. They were fairly careful about it, they took poor children or children from outlying villages, those with the least chance of having their complaints heard by high officials. It went on like this for years, many a century or more until the great famine. Children always die, poor children die first in famine and it dried up their resources. They became desperate and began taking chances. Then sixty years ago their luck ran out when they kidnapped the son of a renowned samurai. My grandfather was unable to continue the family tradition of looking the other way and he knew precisely where to look."
Asuka sighed, the weight of the story hung around her fine neck like a great millstone. Rei gently took Asuka's free hand into her own and gently squeezed it to give her strength. " It wasn't hard to find the evidence, the Shikami family had many of them buried under their floorboards. The warrants were placed, Shikami were wealthy they knew nothing about running or hiding. The few that managed to elude capture died that winter in hiding. All except Shuuya.
" I don't know how, but Shuuya managed to escape the soldiers, and the bounty hunters. My grandfather knew all too well one day he would return and the secret he carried with him would destroy the family. The tale is told to all of us when we turn 18 when we assume our family's great shame. My brother didn't believe, in truth neither did I until one night when Shuuya returned. It was him, the description our father gave us was exact, down to the odd look in his eyes. He carried with him a rifle made of black wood, his kimono black as a moonless night. He took a liking to me, we couldn't do anything, if we let on that we knew anything our family would be ruined. So we let him torture us by attacking random citizens, he wanted us to suffer."
Asuka looked down at her wound, " He killed my brother because my brother snapped under the strain. It is understandable, this weight could crush anyone and my brother, my dear brother, was always sensitive. Now I am the last to carry this shame."
Both Rei and Koji were dead silent, it was a rather heavy story that was put on them. " I want you to kill Shuuya, cut his head off and throw it into the sea" said Asuka, " I will bear my shame the best I can but I want him dead. He is not human, he has not aged in sixty years. Maybe that ancient god they worshipped had real powers, I don't know but he must be stopped so no more innocent people will be harmed by him."
" Do you know where he is hiding?" asked Rei.
" That is our greatest shame of all" said Asuka, " he is hiding underneath this castle."
They were all quiet for a moment, they all privately believed Shuuya would appear any second and attack them now that his secret was out. " There is a cave" said Asuka, " at the base of the cliff this castle is perched upon. It isn't easy to get to, the Shikami family had a secret passage that has long since been bricked up so now the only way is to scale down the cliff side."
" What will we find in that cave?" asked Koji.
" I don't know" said Asuka, " only one member of our family ever went down there, a great uncle of mine is believed to have made it way down to the cave out of youthful curiosity. Whatever he saw down there broke his mind, he hung himself a day later."
Asuka looked out the window at the ever sinking sun, " It is too late to attempt the climb now" she said, " at first light one of my servants will show you the best way to climb down."
" Agreed" said Koji.
" Yes, but before we retire for the night I want to check your wound" said Rei.
Asuka nodded and put on her bravest face as Rei removed the bandages. Rei was expecting festering and rotting green skin but was rather pleased to see a wound that was knitting cleanly with no sign of infection. Rei smiled, she had gotten to it in time. " It looks like you'll mend" said Rei, proud and relieved all at the same time.
Asuka smiled, " Please stay with me tonight" she said, " I don't want to be alone."
" I won't argue" said Koji.
Both women smiled at his boyishness, it was much needed to lighten the air in the room.

After a filling meal Rei and Koji stepped onto the balcony to look at the night's sky. " You think he is down there?" asked Rei.
" I doubt it" said Koji, " he must know that with the lord dead his days are numbered. If I was him I would run, run as fast and as far as I could."
" You think we'll catch him?"
" Maybe" said Koji, " we will try our best."

Rei found Asuka laying in bed staring up at the ceiling. She slipped her kimono off and laid next to her. Asuka hugged her and began to cry letting all her fear pour out of her eyes. She cried for over an hour before exhaustion put her to sleep. Then it was Rei's turn to stare up at the ceiling, wondering what the next day would bring.

At dawn the servant showed them to the edge of the cliff and pointed down. It was a long way down, straight down. There were a few jagged rocks that looked big enough to step on, barely. " After you" said Koji, waving his hand over the edge.
Rei gave him a dirty look and Koji bravely put his foot over the edge. Rei held her breath as Koji began to snake his way down. Rei took a deep breath and followed him, making sure to follow his instructions on which ledges were wide enough to step on.
The trip down took less time that Rei expected, looking from the top it looked like miles until they reached the bottom but once they started down it wasn't that long at all.
Rei reached the bottom and saw it. From down on the ravine floor the cave was as plain as day, a black gaping maw in the cliff face. Both could clearly feel the pure evil leaking from the mouth of the cave. " And I thought the cliff would be the scariest thing" said Rei, taking out the torch the servant had given her.
" Tell me about it" said Koji, suddenly very edgy.
" What's wrong?" asked Rei.
" I don't like that place" he said, " it isn't right."
" Yah, it is a monster cave, the kind told about in tales" said Rei.
" It isn't that" said Koji, " there maybe ghosts in there. I hate ghosts."
Rei couldn't help but laugh, " Big tough guy like you?" she said between gasping giggles, " afraid of ghosts?"
" What about you?" asked Koji.
" Me? No" said Rei, " I use to go into haunted houses and old cemeteries as a girl" said Rei, " but have no fear, I have something that will keep those big, bad ghosts away from you."
Rei fished about in her bag until she found a disc with symbols carved into it on a black cord. " Here" she said, tossing the necklace to Koji, " it will keep you safe."
Koji slipped the necklace on and it began to faintly glow blue. " What is it doing?" asked Koji.
" There must be ghosts in the area" said Rei, " I didn't think it would be glowing yet."
Rei found her second necklace and slipped it on herself. " Let's go" said Rei.
The pair made their way to the mouth of the cave. The air inside the cave stank of death, the smells of old death, and fresh spilled blood mingled together. They stepped into the cave and Rei held the torch out to try and cut through the inky blackness of the cave. Step by step they cautiously made their way deeper and deeper into the cave, the stench becoming more and more powerful. Neither dared to breathe too deeply let alone speak, they both knew he was in here somewhere and he could be watching them now, aiming his first shot.

Slowly as the light from the mouth of the cave died away both became less and less fearful of Shuuya, he hadn't attacked them yet and other than their footsteps the cave was silent. They finally couldn't take the silence anymore and both let long exhales go. " I think we're alone" said Rei.
" I think you're right" said Koji, " he is gone."
The pair slowly made their way deeper into the cave, they weren't sure what they were going to find but now that they were here, they would go all the way.
They rounded and corner and the torch illuminated the walls. They were made of bones, human bones, small bones, the bones of children. Skulls were set into the walls of bone, their empty round sockets staring at them. " By Rupan" said Rei.
" How many bodies are here?" asked Koji.
" Hundreds, god maybe thousands" said Rei, sweeping the torch over the walls, " this is inhuman."
They slowly made their way down the corridor of bones, the staring skulls filling both with an indescribable dread. They came to the end, nothing could have prepared them for it.

There was an altar in the back of the cave, bloody and gore was dripping down the finely carved side of the altar. Bodies lay stacked on either side, like the discarded child's dolls. Each was in a in a different stage of decomposition. Their faces wore the expressions of their last terrified moments, the more decayed ones were the only ones able to manifest the true horror. On the floor next to the altar were several square holes, small holes not behind enough to hold much. Rei knelt next to one, she concentrated hard on the holes, she was terribly sick and staring into the hole kept her from vomiting. " What are those?" asked Koji.
" Traveling money" said Rei, the idea just rolling out of her mouth.
Rei looked up at Koji with a glimmer of brilliance in her eyes. " He dug up the rainy day money and made a run for it" she said, " he's gone south."
Koji had a cute look on his face like a dog after you tossed a blanket over his head and then whisked it off suddenly. " Why south?" he asked.
" He can't cross the borders, soldiers are there" said Rei, " he's go south, deeper into the kingdom. I'll bet he'll try for the sea, he'll want to escape by the sea."
" How?" asked Koji.
" This place is speaking to me" said Rei, the talisman between her breasts was glowing so brightly it was nearly white, " they are telling us where to go, to take their revenge upon him."
Koji shivered, he didn't want to know that all these dead bodies had ghosts that were around him. The blood started to drain from his face, he could see shadows, shadows that were filling the entire cave as far as the eye could see in the dark light. The shadows were all child sized, there were so many of them.
" Come on" said Rei, snapping Koji from his trance, " there isn't any time to loose."
Koji was more than happy to jog from the cave, he would have liked to pick Rei up and run from there as fast as possible but they stuck to jogging. They emerged from the cave and both promptly threw up.

The climb back up was torture, the cliff now seemed three times as large as the way down. Both were weak from the experience in the cave making the climb much more of a struggle. They finally pulled themselves up to the top and laid back gasping for air as the servants cautiously circled around them, the stench was enough to keep them away.

Asuka limped down the hall and into the baths with her ministers circling around her telling her to go back to bed at once. Both Rei and Koji were washing the stench of the cave off them as fast as they could. " What did you see?" Asuka asked.
" Bodies" said Koji, " lots of bodies."
" Shuuya has fled south" said Rei, " he is trying to make for a port to escape back across the Sea of Storms."
Asuka smiled, " That was a brave thing for you to do" she said, " here."
She set a bag of money next to Rei's satchel, " That is the 100 Ryu reward for Shuuya's capture" she said, " it should be enough to track him wherever he goes."
" Thank you" said Rei, " so are you going to take over ruling the province?"
Asuka nodded, " Can we talk for a moment? Alone?"
Koji nodded and whispered, " If there is any kissing make sure to tell me."
Rei playfully slapped the back of his head as he beat a hasty retreat. " Congratulations" said Rei, tying her kimono closed, " guess that doesn't leave me much room."
" We are too different people" said Asuka, " I can't argue that we had a good time, but now I have 120,000 people to love."
" I fully understand" said Rei, " I couldn't stay here either, I have to keep an eye on Koji, he probably can't go twenty feet without getting into trouble."
" Don't worry" said Asuka, " you'll find someone."
" So will you" said Rei, slinging her satchel up, " I was great, really great."
The pair shared one last goodbye kiss before Rei left the baths.

Koji was leaning against the wall, " Taking care of me, huh" he said.
" You certainly need someone to watch your back" said Rei, " besides, could you see me as a proper lady?"
" Nope" said Koji, " come on partner, we have to run down a very bad man."