At dawn Rei and Koji rode out of Yonamura on fine horses with packs loaded with provisions supplied by Asuka. For a city girl Rei rode better than Koji who had been trained to ride into battle. Of course Koji wouldn't admit this and blamed his horse, Rei had been given the better horse. Rei had been riding horses for years, it was the best escape to leave the city and go riding through the fields outside of Jota.
The day sped by like the passing countryside. They desperately wanted to close the distance between Shuuya and them. They stopped at night fall, much to the horses' delight, at an inn. Both horses looked ready to drop and Koji and Rei were sore and exhausted from their hard ride. The stable boy took both of their horses and gingerly led them to water and hay.
The inn was open, airy, and welcome. The pair sat themselves on two cushions. The inn keeper fed them both fish and warm rice along with several generous helpings of ale. " Have any unusual men come to this inn in the last few days?" asked Rei, she doubted she'd get a straight answer, no way would Shuuya let himself be known so easily.
" Yes" said the inn keeper, a portly man with a very bald head, " a quiet man came here two or three days ago. He wasn't friendly, he sat in the far corner of the inn and did nothing but eat plain rice and water. I assumed he was running from somebody, this road leads to the port town of Shisyo, we get lots of people running for the sea. I would have never remembered him if he hadn't pay with this."
The inn keeper drew out a shiny gold coin from his kimono. It was not like the standard Ryu but it was marked with the symbol for Nokota. It was an old Imperial gold coin remarkable for having a large N on one side and a lotus blossom, the Nokota family's crest . " My grandfather was cremated with his last Imperial gold coin" said the inn keeper, " I never thought I'd see one of them again."
" Are you sure he was heading to Shisyo?" asked Koji.
The inn keeper shrugged, " I didn't pay any attention to him" he said, " I assume so, you don't come down this road unless you are heading for Shisyo, there isn't a crossroads for miles past here."
" Thank you" said Rei, paying him with a Ryu, " you have been much help."
The inn keeper grinned and gave them the best room that night. They slept like the dead, horseback riding was much more tiring than riding for the pair.

They left late in the morning, both had over slept and were very upset to have allowed Shuuya to get so far ahead of them. The horses gave both of them sorrowfully looks, they weren't looking forward to another thunderous ride.

The ride wasn't as furious this time, neither the riders nor the mounts were ready for a repeat of yesterday. The ride was still fast paced but both Koji and Rei had to be on the guard. Rei was surprised at herself, she was know developing something of a warrior's sense. She was scanning the forest, wondering if Shuuya was waiting to fire at them with his rifle. To add to the scene of danger they didn't see another person on the road for most of the day. They were starting to worry they were on the wrong trail when finally in the dying afternoon light a women appeared on the road. She was young, no older than Rei. She was carrying a large bundle of sticks on her back, heading down the road. " Excuse me" said Koji.
The women looked up, her chubby cheeks blushed at the sight of Koji. " We are looking for a man" he said, " have you seen anyone unusual on this road?"
" Yes" the woman said, " yesterday I met a man with a large black walking stick and a big gold medallion. He asked me if he was still on the road to Shisyo."
" And?" asked Koji.
" I told him this was the road to Shisyo, but there aren't any inns in the area so I offered to let him stay with us" she replied, " he said no and paid me a Ryu for my troubles."
" Do you still have it?" asked Rei.
The woman starred fiercely at Rei, " What if I do" she said.
" She is wondering if it was an Imperial coin, not a Ryu" Koji said.
" I don't know" she replied, " it is back at my house if you want to see it."
" No thank you" said Koji, " another time."
The pair rode off leaving the woman to make faces at the pair as they left.

They didn't reach the next inn until after dark. It was probably best they had arrived after dark, the inn was in very sad shape, having gone through several less than reputable owners in recent years and none of them had put any effort into maintaining the inn. Both probably would have had second thoughts of entering the inn if they would have seen it during the day.
After making sure their horses were well secured, the last thing either wanted was to wake up tomorrow and find that their horses were stolen in the night, they walked into the inn.
The inn was poorly lit, only a few yellowed and old lanterns hung from the ceiling giving them room a dull yellow glow. The pair could feel the eyes of the scant few locals inside the inn glaring at them with a mixture of curiosity and hostility.
The innkeeper approached them, " What do you want here?" he asked.
" Need a place to stay" said Koji.
The innkeeper glared at the pair, he didn't like what he saw. " Why?" he asked.
" There aren't a lot of inns on this road" said Koji, " besides we are looking for a place that is discreet."
" What are you two running from?" he asked.
Koji looked around to see if anybody was looking and leaned in close. " She's the wife of a powerful merchant in Yonamura, I was his bodyguard" he said, " I mean could you resist those? So we are heading to Shisyo to go north."
The innkeeper grinned a mouthful of yellowed and missing teeth, " Lucky bastard" he replied, " I got a great room for you two."
" Thank you" said Koji turning to nod at Rei.
" Sir" said Rei, " can I ask you if a man has come this way recently? He should be wearing a golden medallion and carrying a walking stick? He is one of my husband's men, he would be looking for us."
The inn keeper had very much the same story as the previous innkeeper down to the golden Nokota coin. It was an excellent sign, according to the innkeeper this was the last inn before Shisyo and that was the only town on the road.
They skipped dinner, if the place was any indication the food would not taste good. They went up to their room and looked at their accommodations. It was a straw mat that was so thin the floor showed through, and a jug of sake next to it. " I'll take the mat, you can have the bottle" said Rei.
Koji didn't protest, the bottle looking much more inviting than the mat anyways.

The next morning the pair left at daybreak, both were very tired, the mat did nothing but itch and the sake was very watered down. They were feeling the hard truth that they had been traveling nonstop for days but with Shiyso just a day away they knew they couldn't stop now.

The ride was quiet for most of the morning until they entered a large stand of trees between them and the sea.
The pair reached the tiny bridge over the softly babbling creek. On the bridge seven rough looking men were blocking their way. These guys were all dirty, it looked like they hadn't seen a bath or washed their clothes in weeks. They were carrying weapons, mostly crude farm implements that had been fashioned into weapons, the man in the front was carrying an old sword, probably stolen from a grave or family's mantel. It was rather obvious they were the local bandits and this was probably their bridge. But both Koji and Rei had a sneaking suspicion that the appearance of the bandits wasn't a chance encounter. " Halt" the leader announced, stepping forward, " no one crosses our bridge without paying the toll."
Rei looked over at Koji, he was smiling. Rei leaned back in the saddle and watched as Koji slid from his saddle to the ground. He casually strolled up to the leader and made his move. His sword sang through the air, there was a clash of steel. The bandits stared in shock as their leader's sword was broken in half, the tip of the sword was in the side of the little wooden bridge. " We pass?" asked Koji with a big grin.
The leader bobbed his head up and down and Koji remounted his horse and the pair rode through the stunned cheap thugs. Rei stopped just before leaving the bridge, " Can we have the gold coin the man gave you to stop us?" she asked, " please?"
The leader took the gold coin from his belt and threw it to Rei.

They reached Shisyo mid-afternoon, they exited the forest and looked down at the village.
Shisyo wasn't a great port city, it was nothing but a cluster of fishing huts and a few other squat buildings that sat on the beach. But if you wanted an easy escape to one of the off shore islands, or to another kingdom, they didn't ask questions and gratefully accepted the coins the mysterious travelers offered.
It wasn't going to be easy, these people were known for being very tight lipped. But they knew he was here, the goons on the bridge told them that. Hopefully they would find someone that would be forth coming, if not this was where their long chase would end.
They made their way down the small cliff that separated the forest from the beach upon which Shisyo sat. All the buildings were up on posts to keep the buildings dry when the tide came in. The town fishermen had finished bringing their catch in and were tending to their nets and boats as their women cleaned the fish.
" We should ask around" said Rei, " see who took Shuuya where."
" Yah" said Koji, " but who?"
" How bout him?" asked Rei, pointing to a man not cleaning a net or a fish.
The man was sitting on the porch of his raised hut watching the world go by. He immediately took notice of the two strangers in town and watched them walked over. " Greetings" he said in a casual manner, " I'm the town chief, how can I help you two."
" We are looking for a man" said Koji, " he may have come through here a day or two before."
The man's eyes flashed for a moment, he knew precisely who they were looking for but instead said, " We have many people who come through here, it isn't my manner to remember each of them" he said, " except those of exceptional beauty, those stay in my mind for a long time."
Rei flashed her prettiest smile at him, a little honey never hurt. " I'm sure you know who we are talking about" she said, batting her eyelashes at him.
The man shrugged, he definitely was a cool customer. " We are a small village in a remote area" he said, " we get by anyway we can, if it means ferrying people about then we will, if they want to keep their travel plans a secret we will honor that. Our word is our bond."
" The man we are looking for is very dangerous" said Koji, trying the direct approach, " he has killed many."
" Good, bad, they are just points of view" he said, " money is more a concrete idea to me."
Rei drew out the old Nokota coin and tossed it to the man, " And how many did our friend pay you?" she asked.
The man caught the coin and spun it around in his fingers. " He was generous" he said, " he paid many coins when he came here."
" How many?" asked Koji.
" His price was rather high, I think we could make a trade" he said.
" And what would your wife think?" asked Rei, folding her arms over her chest.
" You think I'm interested in you?" asked the chief laughing, " you shouldn't think so highly of yourself."
The color washed from Koji's face, the chieftain laughed enjoying making Koji uncomfortable. " You two seem honorable enough" he said, wiping a tear from his eye, " that man was bad news, no one pays the money he did to escape, people with that kind of money could just buy themselves out of trouble. Talk to the Hattori sisters, they took him north somewhere. They live in the last house on the beach."
The pair walked out of ear shot of the chieftain before Rei began to tease Koji. She teased him the entire walk to the Hattori sister's home.

The Hattori sisters were working on their small fishing boat when the pair arrived. They both immediately knew what they were here for. " We won't go back" said the eldest sister, who looked twice as old as she should have been.
" We will pay" said Koji.
" He went someplace evil" the younger sister said, " we wouldn't have gone but he only told us out to sea."
" We need to follow him" said Rei, " please help us."
The two sisters looked at each other, " He paid us 15 Ryu to take him" the older sister said.
" And that was for a one way trip" the younger commented.
Rei and Koji exchanged a small look, they had maybe 25 Ryu between the two of them and that was if they used up every last Tae. " We will have travel over night" said the older, " we won't be able to fish tomorrow."
The two sisters were really twisting the knife, " We can pay 25" said Rei.
The pair looked at each other, it seemed to be enough but they wanted to try and get some more. " You will wish to be picked up?" the youngest sister asked.
" 25 is all we have" said Koji, " we can give you no more."
" I bet there are others who know were you went" said Rei, " I bet they will be willing to take us for 20."
The two women quickly realized a good deal when they heard it and nodded. " We will set sail for the mansion now" the younger said.
" Where are we going?" asked Rei.
" Black Manor" said the older sister, " a terrible man once lived on that little strip of land. He is dead but his manor still stands. No one spends a night there and is ever seen again."
" That sounds about right" said Rei.
" Is it haunted?" asked Koji.
Both women shrugged, " We never had been there long enough to find out" the younger said, " guess you two will."
The two women pushed the boat into the water and Koji and Rei climbed aboard.

The small fishing boat left the sheltered cove in which Shisyo sat and broke into the open water. The pair sat at the bow of the boat wondering what trouble they would find at this island. They knew Shuuya would be there, they just hoped that was all they'd encounter.