Scroll 1 - Forgotten Blood Rain

Black Calendar



The air thickens and becomes difficult to breathe. Elderly and the young are first to suffer.

Kenji's tragic tale began with his death and subsequent resurrection, for the world had changed in the time of his departure. Seeking to find out what had changed under the shadow sky, his reappearance caused him to be mistaken for yurei, undead. More concerningly, it appeared that a number of his fellow dead revived alongside him. What choice had he but to determine what or who had brought him back, and his only lead was to track these undead warriors to their destination.

Hakusa's cessation of his hermitage to return to the world below was not what he had expected, despite the knowledge that in his time away, the land had plunged into the darkness of the eternal eclipse. He saw walking dead roam the slopes, descending to terrorise the travellers of Nakasendo. His calling prompted him to pursue them, to which he managed tenaciously until he lost sight of them through a village by the river. There had to be some meaning behind this first encounter, surely a priestly omen to interpret.

Ikari had chosen to cool his heels out of the city, to lie low until things could be smoothed over by his oyabun. With his leg injury he did not run, choosing to find a more secluded location to do so. The village of Itsuno fit the bill perfectly, no one would find him here, except that the circumstances that brought him here were troubling: the death of a constable, the madness of the elder's wife, and the crimson darkness that threatened to envelop them all.

Kayo had all but forgotten the reasons for her abrupt escape from the city, for something had confronted her truth in the unlikeliest of places, a remote village in the mountains, where for some reason the demented wife of the village elder seemed to know with extreme detail what appeared to be the facts of her dishonourable past. For some reason she was given a second chance to restore that honour, but that meant getting to the bottom of this dark mystery of the Ashikara.

Genji's journey of self-mastery took a curious turn; his regular session at the Iwata teahouse had turned into a confrontation of samurai and yurei, honour and death. And as the embodiment of true fighting spirit, there was no doubt what his next actions ought to be. His pendant spoke of an inexplicable connection between it and the undead, and suddenly he found it hard to remember how he had lost his eye, as if a darkness, like an eyepatch, obscured his vision. Now he had to look towards the route they had taken.

Satoshi's senior, missing. His fellow shinobi, missing. While the duty of a ninja was often one of solitude, he now surmised that some larger shadow was at play, by piecing together the clues left behind that brought him to the village of Itsuno and now further prompted him to investigate the meaning of Karekurenai Temple. At this point, he alone had the ability to fully understand what the crimson darkness meant, thanks to the fact that he was directly under its influence.

Itsuno was a tiny village by all accounts, all but forgotten in the terrible darker days of the present. It was reachable through the mountain path off Nakasendo, through which Ikari, Kayo and Satoshi arrived, as well as by river, which was how Genji and Kenji made their way, and in the case of Hakusa, across the river itself. Its seclusion made it ideal as a remote hideaway for the use of the Koga clan, although no one knew of that except Satoshi. It would have been a good place for Grendar to lie low from the chaos of the city.

Except that it was a village on the verge of some inconceivable tragedy. Of its seven homes, half of its residents were missing, houses abandoned with everything inside them intact, as if their occupants had suddenly departed or were whisked away, a fact Ikari, Kayo, Satoshi, and also Hakusa discovered. But that was not the most disturbing; that dishonour for that fell on Otona Koji's household because of the madness thet befell his wife, Yura. All signs pointed towards the temple in the heart of the forest as the place to find the answers. But no one knew exactly what they were looking for nor how to get there ...

... except one. The single-mindedly yurei who detoured through the village were evidently headed for some dreadful destination, killing everything in their path. To follow them seemed the most sensible way to find Karekurenai Temple. Hakusa, Genji and Kenji had lost sight of them in the night fog of the shoreline. And nnNeither Hakusa nor Kenji could fathom how to keep track of them, as the mist began to tint red with a light drizzle that seemed to swallow their arrival. Only Genji was blessed, or cursed, with the unerring sense where they might be.

There was not yet a chance to search the forest. Along the main thoroughfare that cut through the village came a loud cry, "Otona! Otona!", the honorific for the village elder, before the voice was cut off with a gurgle.

"That is Misao!" Echigo the woodsman exclaimed urgently in the presence of elder Koji, as well as Ikari, Kayo and Satoshi. Immediately Sawada, the night watchman from Idawata post station, ever brave to the extent of foolhardiness, dashed out of the elder's house towards the voice in the middle of the village, lantern in hand. Hakusa heard it too as he was searching the shack by the bank. And Genji and Kenji, only just arriving, feared the worst, that the yurei that they were chasing might have claimed the life of another victim.

All six converged at the small clearing in the centre of the village ...

"I'll check it out Kayo" Slowly follows Sawada out.
Middle-age plain looking man with a walking stick approaches.
"Oh did you all get lost in the fog too?
My name is Ikari, we were looking for our lost constable and found our way here."
What was that sound? Echigo, Who is Misao?"

Satoshi, a plain looking man in decaying black garments, his skin colored a strange red tint, rushes out after Sawada. But once back out in the night, he stuck to the shadows at the edge of the lantern light to watch the scene unfold.

A mountainous man stops agilely after moving swiftly into the center of the village. He is wearing a colorful long robe unable to contain his barrel chest. He grasps a talisman strung around his neck in one hand, and wears an eye patch over his left eye.

"Where did that cry come from?", he looks around nervously, but stops short to be polite. "I am Genji. We were chasing a yurei into the fog and lost sight of him."

Hakusa emerged from the fisherman's shack holding the fishing fly inspecting it as he did. His pallor, the sickly flesh of a leper, and his robes gone rancid from the weeping sores that covered him were masked by the scent of incense. The shugenja carried a bamboo bow, laquered with ochre color, seven arrows, and limped along stopping as he heard the scream. Tucking the fishing fly away he drew an arrow and advanced on the sound, leaving the sophists to deliberate, when there was a clear call to action.

"Are you going to stand there or render assistance to those in need?" The Manipulative Priest jabbed at the much healthier, faster, and better equipped people who had somehow fallen behind him. "Or does a dying man get all the glory?" with further admonishment He tried to laugh, but this reduced him to pathetic wheezing coughs as he limped towards the commotion.

Kayo pointed a trembling finger at the leper. "Ahhhh... a yūrei, you said? It's there!" With a startled cry, the vision of delicate beauty turned and fled in the opposite direction. In this blood-soaked tableau, her pristine skin and noble bearing were jarringly out of place. Her exquisite attire and ethereal beauty had momentarily silenced those who had never before witnessed the striking figure.

Kayo grabs a long stick that she could use like a staff and sneak behind Satoshi and Ikari.

"Baka! Watashi wa mada shin denai!"

"Misao is retired — an artisan — woodblock carving —" Echigo's answer was hurried as he rushed out in response to the cry of his fellow villager, with Ikari struggling to keep up with him, while Satoshi instinctively melded with the shadows beyond the clearing.

They were all too late. Sawada was a couple of steps ahead, replying anxiously to Genji who had already reached the spot where a figure lay crumpled on the ground, "A movement, it went that way!" Misao was still clutching his torso where the weapon had cut him mortally, unable to prevent his internals from bleeding out, made more slick by the dampness from the light drizzle. It was frustrating that they had tailed the undead such a distance, and yet could not prevent their mindless murderous instinct from claiming another life. Hakusa had them covered even as they arrived; there was but one direction he could loose his arrow, in the direction Sawada had indicated, for the path through the villageclearing led directly into the forest, and Ikari, Kayo and Satoshi had already made up their minds to seek answers within. The horror of both the dying villager and the disfigured leper was too much of a shock for Kayo though, as much as the otherworldly impression she left on everyone in a dismal scene such as this was as startling.

From Misao's spilled blood, a crimson taint began to colour the low mist that rolled over the dirt of the village ground, subtly spreading from the clearing in every direction. It would come in contact with everyone present in due course, but only Satoshi understood the implications of what that meant. Was it too late for him to warn the others?

The leper's presence and the unsettling mist rising from Misao's blood did nothing to ease Sarah's fear. The situation was spiraling rapidly. "To the temple!" she urged, her voice tight with a rising panic. "Quickly, while we still can!"

Seeing the crimson mist spread its tendrils toward the others gathered around Misao, Satoshi steps into the light and shouts "Do not let the red mist touch you, if you can! It carries a taint that will mark your skin and likely drives you mad in time." He says this even as he knows his own red tinted skin might make him untrustworthy with suspicion of madness.

As the yurei seems to have fled in the direction they must go to reach the temple, chains clink from within his rotted clothing as a kama appears in each of his hands. He rushes forward along the path, tightly gripping the sickles.

"To the Temple before its too late"

Both Genji and this new crowd seem headed in the same direction, into the forest, towards a supposed temple. A bit confused, Genji is certain the yurei headed that way, and follows with the group.

"Hei!", Genji says with a nod.

Hakusa hobbles along in the direction of the temple as that seems to be where everyone alive was headed. He wondered if The Buddha was still cross with him for eating meat in the last temple he visited, it had been years.

With Satoshi's timely warning, the rest who were gathered took precautions to avoid the tinge of miasma that was slowly spreading through the mist. All except Echigo, "We cannot leave Misao's body," the woodsman dashed to the aid of his fellow villager, heedless of Satoshi's fear. Sawada paused for a moment, then also stepped forward to help Echigo move Misao to the nearest house whilst the rest of the motley assemblage focussed on going after the elusive undead.

As they made haste, Koji the village elder had now also come out, presumably having calmed his wife down from her maddened response when they spoke with her last. "Forgive my distraction, but the hour is late. If you wish to tarry we can offer what simple hospitality we have." In midst of all their pursuits through river and valley under the everlasting dark of the sky, it was all too easy to forget the passage of time, for it was surely near the hour of the rat.

Pressing through the darkness, Ikari curses at the struggle of finding footing along the dark path.

Hakusa was struggling to keep pace with the more able bodied people. Focusing all his willpower on enduring even as the pace was causing his swollen joints to cause him pain.

The moment the words "skin falling off" and "going mad" reached her ears, Kayo's pace quickened to a near run towards the temple, putting as much distance as possible between herself and the corpse. But had the contagion already taken hold?

"It is regrettable that we could not help Misao, but the man was beyond saving," he says, bowing in remembrance of the dead artisan. Then he mutters to himself,"This world might be beyond saving as well."

"We must find the source of the karakurenai taint before it is too late. For the villagers... and for us," he says, observing the now red-stained appearance of Ikari and Kayo.

Us? (noticing the red blotches) Ahh! Kuso (futilely trying to wipe it off)

Kayo begins to panic, she can already imagine her perfect skin melting. - " Yikkkkkkkkkkkkeeeeeeesss!!! Lets leave this infernal place. " She runs toward the temple, hopping to find shelter or be able to stop this madness.

Genji was so focused on commotion the draw in the direction of the temple, must have missed the warning of yelled of the strange red mist. His hand held tight to his talisman, he moved swiftly... but carelessly.

The situation was too foreboding to risk tarrying, despite their rather callous avoidance of the dead Misao. The villagers, the few that were left, had to shoulder the responsibility of the death of their own. Their fate was a despairing one, bereft of half of their number for reasons surely associated with the doom of the crimson, one in madness, and now one more dead. Echigo could not respond affirmatively to Satoshi's earlier request to lead them through the forest, not with the death; there was no mutual help here to be gained.

It must have been that Ikari and Kayo spent a longer time immersed in the atmosphere of the village, for their clothes were now more damp with misty condensation. If anything, Kayo's more finespun fabric appeared bolder in colour, almost glistening like Rinzu silk. Ikari found that his leg was not as unstable as he remembered it to be, for he did not seem to need to lean against his stick that much. Hakusa found his skin pretty much immune to the effects of the drizzle, as if there was little that could blemish him further. Genji's largely exposed body seemed to relish the effect of the mist; he felt even stronger, if that made any sense at all.

---

The path beyond the village approached the forest very quickly, a wall of cypress and juniper greeted them as they left the dismal mood of Itsuno. Echigo had described the route he took that led past first a grove, then a cave, before reaching one of the residents of the forest, beyond which he had never ventured, not having seen the temple himself. Stepping into the heavily branched canopy, twisted and gnarled over the past year as the eclipse perverted all natural flora and fauna, made the night gloom even more foreboding than out in the open village, the six of them were assaulted by the sound of silence, punctuated by the occasional cry of some strange beast whose voice they could not recognise. The foliage began to thicken as the path narrowed, ironically this meant that they were now less wet from the drizzle than when they were out in the open.

The six of them had the opportunity to move past their hasty introductions earlier: Hakusa, Genji and Kenji were told about the severed arm of doshin Nira and Sawada's search for answers which brought Ikari, Kayo and Satoshi to Itsuno. (This was when they found out the name of the village.). In return, Ikari, Kayo and Satoshi were provided the graphic account of the yurei attack at the Owari bridge crossing and the relentless march of the undead.

They trudged for a while longer, with no way to keep track of time without sight of the moon, and with no sight of their yurei target either, except that they could hear the baying of the same beast come closer in intervals, until they could see ahead of them a clearing amidst the trees with a small shrine, which might possibly indicate the way to the temple.

Driven by a lingering unease, Kayo pushed on still agitated. Her gaze fixed on the small, unassuming shrine in the distance a potential source of answers, or at least a distraction from her growing dread. She quickened her pace, to examine it more closely.

Kayo could see more clearly once they stepped into the clearing, which now had the semblance of a stone path leading forward. Unlike the jizo statue that Ikari, Kayo and Satoshi travelled past earlier, which represented path markers that afforded safety to wayfarers, this shrine was a proper housing of stone, standing as as the waypoint to indicate the way to temple terrority.The route was dark; they had been navigating with the light of Ikari's lantern, though Hakusa had also brought along torches. The lantern light revealed the human-sized statue that stood in the shrine, framed by the square stone structure. A nio guardian. Nio statues came in pairs, so it was strange that this one was singular. On the steps of the shrine lay some indeterminate shapes.The baying of the beast they had heard still sounded in the forest, somewhere around them, but of the beast itself no one had spotted. Were they prey since they left the village?

As they enter the clearing, Satoshi notices the lone Nio statue. "Could the nio guardians be the twins the report mentioned?" he mutters to himself.

He looks around, trying to get a sense of what direction the howling was coming from and how close the source might be. "Be on guard. This feels like an ambush."

Then he moves to the steps of the shrine to check the shapes, worried they might be more dead villagers.

Satoshi's skill of lightfootedness meant that his cautious approach in stepping forward was as silent as it could be despite the dried leaves and dirt of the forest floor potentially rustling. It was an old shrine that shown its age in its moss-covered walls and worn stone, but its construction meant it stood the test of time as a marker to indicate that this was the correct path to the temple grounds, beyond which would be the temple building proper.

The guardian statue appeared much less worn than the little building. Either some caretaker had bothered to maintain it, or it was preserved by some other means. It was as grey as the rest of the stonework, except for its dirty legs and feet, and its discoloured hands.

Satoshi dared not move too close just yet, but was dismayed to see that the shapes on the ground in front of the steps were two crumpled human bodies. Unmoving. From the humble clothes they wore they might have been from the village; they certainly weren't the armor-clad yurei from earlier.

Kano took the lead and continued along the main path. With no compelling reason to risk a darker journey through the forest, her choice was clear.

Ikari will walk with her forward. "There is no turning away from this now"

Hakusa tries to remember the prayers to appease this particular deity. If he remembers he will begin to chant them.

Satoshi follows the others ahead to pass the shrine. He will watch the statue carefully, uneasy that it looks so much newer than the shrine. "Why would its feet be dirty," he mutters.

Hakusa closed his eyes and presented himself in a supplicative manner, beginning with the opening sutra of the Ogon no Soru no Inori, words which linked the kindness of the now forgotten deity with brightness and strength. His chant had a solemn twist to it given the dark times that had befallen the world.

As he did so, Satoshi discovered why the statue's feet was more grimy than the rest of it. The others watched in horror as the stone guardian's head began to animate from some inexplicable power. It turned to looked at each of them attempting to continue along the path, but ignored Hakusa completely. Then it took one step off its pedestal, then another, stepping down. Here was when its stout unbreakable arms began to spread wide. The left was already raised, its hand wielding a kongo, a golden vajra or bolt. The long arm swung in a terrible arc, intent to guard the path to the temple by eliminating all trepassers!

"Spirits of shadow and chaos,
Born of discord and the void,
Dwellers in the darkened folds of the Sky,
As when The God Izanagi no Mikoto
Bathed in the narrow estuary,
A river veiled by trees, ever leafy,
In the shadowed South region.
With trembling respect from the depths of our hearts,
We beseech you, spirits of malice, hear us,
With ears attuned to our desperate intent,
Alongside Spirits of the Sky and the Land:
Refrain from your badnesses, disasters, and torments,
Spare this humble monk, pure of heart.
Miroku Oomikami,
Shield this servant, guard him from harm.
Meishu Sama,
Enfold him in light, protect him from evil.
For the preservation of his soul,
And the fulfillment of divine will,
We beg you, forces of darkness,
Turn away, do not harm this monk in prayer."

Hakusa continued to shamble up the steps. At the same.time readying his bow. Nocking an arrow and turning to face the wrathful deity that had set itself against them.

- " Bloody moon, what is happening? " Kayo doesn't intend to participate in a brawl with a gigantic statue without proper weapons. She moves away from the battle, but still close enough for people to see her and search for a proper branch her size around the forest path. If she doesnt find anything useful for fighting, she is hidding behind a tree. 🌲

As the nio statue comes to life, Satoshi leaps backward, ready to dodge any blows aimed towards him.

Once he sees it lash out at the large rikishi instead, he whips his kurasigama at the animated statue, not wanting to leave the sumo wrestler to fight it alone.

Ikari pulls out his Tanto, swinging for the ankle as he runs past, ready to flee with with everyone.

Kayo needed something more than the tanto to deal with the now animated statue, especially seeing how Satoshi's struck home. The blades skirrtched against the guardian's torso, sparks flying, but didn't seem to slow it down much. Ikari decided to take his chance, seeing how lumbering the statue moved. He could certainly sweep past it to make his strike, but his knife didn't do much to the stone leg.

She looked at the two corpses on the ground, lying next to them were their walking staves, which would provide her more reach should she want to use them.

In lieu of attacking Hakusa looked for a means to cause the angry divine to stumble. He gestured that the others should lure the nio into the trap. And prepare to throw it from the steps to tumble to its destruction.

Kayo keeps her distance and let them deal with the statue.

Hakusa's wisdom was shortchanged by his inability to assess where would be the best place to slow down the inexorable statue. Satoshi's twin kama's had damaged the nio guardian, but it was not enough to slow it down as it sought to prevent whom it judged as unwelcome intruders attempting to get past it.

The idea was still very viable; Kayo had kept her distance, unwilling to engage it, though her quick wit could consider alternate solutions. Ikari wanted to flee past it, although his feet could not carry him as quickly as he intended. Genji still stood face to face with the statue, using his bulk to present himself as a target, but the statue now focussed solely on its attacker, the nimble Satoshi! It stomped forward in a heavy charge, stone arms ready to bring down a crushing strike.

Genji looks up from his talisman to find a stone arm swinging in his direction. He ducks under just in time, and uses the crouched stance to explode with power pushing towards the animated statue.

His hands connect but with no force or at least not enough to move this rocky foe. It would probably take more than brute strength to deal with this situation.

Genji, as the bulwark of the group, had stood firm in the direct path of the statue as it dismounted from its pedestal. Ducking, he found that even with his great strength he could not budge it enough to do damage. They could continue to whittle it down, at risk of harm to themselves. They could find some way of using its ungainly weight against it, for while it was solid and implacable, it moved slowly and deliberately. Or they could try to flee, but unless they vanished into the forest, the guardian was sure to pursue them along the temple path it was positioned to defend.

Kayo had retreated behind a tree, leaving the more capable to deal with the battle. This was not without its downside, for she was now further away from the rest of them, further from the radius of lantern, and closer to the rest of the trees. The animalistic noise of the beast in the forest now felt much closer to her. Did it stay away thanks to the nio guardian, but now Kayo had presented herself that much closer to this feral danger?

Kayo is startled by the forest creepy sounds and gets closer to the lantern, taking care not to put herself at risk with the statue.

Ikari stuck between not being able to flee the statue's monstrous stride with his bad leg, and his little tano barely able to scratch the stone guardian, he looked for what element he was missing from the situation
"There!" Pointing at the discovery.

Ikari was racking his brains to see how they could get past this resolute guardian. Whilst Genji and Satoshi engaged it in combat, Ikari considered the possibility that the shrine itself could hold the solution to either destroying the statue, or returning it to its dormant state on the pedestal.

The center orb of the Vajra is a sphere of Amber* entombing a prehistoric centipede.

"That is the Kami !!!
The red corruption has awakened it's violence. A predatory insect now has the body of a stone Titan."

Here goes nothing, Kayo is not really brave, a few months ago an army of samurai was always between her and danger. But she is known for unusual luck and keen eye.

Here goes nothing, she thought, throwing her tanto at the centipede.

- " Cursed land... I hate it. I hate this place! "

The taint didn't help, making her scream while keeping a smile on her face.

The Ōmukade were legendary yokai of monstrous size, centipedes the dimensions of dragons, inhabitants of the high mountains and deep forests. In the dark times that followed Nisshoku's endless shadow, the darkness that used to be the substance of myth became rumour, and then subsequently rumour became fact to those who witnessed the changes wrought upon this land.

The tip of the nio guardian's stone club or vajra housed a rock of amber, a gem inset to 'complete' the statue when it was commissioned ages ago. Now it was corrupted with the fragment of an omukade spirit, tainting its former purpose, which was to symbolically protect a holy temple, into a mindless destroyer of all who dared to approach. Ikari's sharp perception had spotted the yokai's touch, and it required a very precise strike to shatter its power.

Kayo had kept her distance, but struck when Ikari spotted the weakness. Her tanto flew out from under the folds of her sleeves, her only defensive weapon and arced straight and true. With a clang against stone they all heard a crack. The sharp blade lay wedged in the pommel of the vajra, now dulled and useless. But the guardian immediately froze mid-strike, almost about to smash into Satoshi. It was inanimate again, no longer standing on its pedestal, posed in an angle as if it would be ready to harm the next person who came near. The miniature centipede yokai scuttled into nothingness.

Kayo wiped sweat from her forehead and slowly retrieved her tanto. She also picked up the staff. While close-quarters combat was to be avoided at all costs, she'd need a means to defend herself as all hell seemed to be breaking loose.

Genji stumbles back in disbelief. He looks back at Kayo just recovering from her throwing pose.

"The spirit is quelled... For now. Let us be on our way!"

Satoshi lets out a breath as the animated statue is quieted moments before its heavy stone weapon smashes into him.

"Well spotted and well struck. My deepest thanks for your help," he says gratefully as he rejoins the others. "I was sure that nio was going to bash me into a bloody pulp," he mutters to himself as they continue toward the temple.

"That it perverts a Nio guardian... this does not bode well"

The Leper mused as he slowly clambered up the steps to the temple. It was obvious each step caused him immense pain as he groaned the way up.

Kayo didn't need encouragement to move out; she is eager to get to the main temple.

It would rightly be regrettable that they destroyed the nio guardian of a sacred temple, an act of defilement that would typically not be countenanced in their religious culture. But these were extenuating circumstances: the guardian, corrupted by a yokai spirit, was a perversion of the holy order of things, and a forewarning of what might be the state of Karakurenai Temple that they sought. They had shattered the gem that controlled it, ruining Kayo's tanto, but leaving her with the statue's stone vajra as a more substantial replacement.

They pressed on in the darkness. It was hard to keep track of time after they left the village past the hour of the Rat, but it must have been the early hours of morning, and no one had stopped to eat nor rest since Ikari, Kayo and Satoshi left the inn, and since Genji, Hakusa and Kenji left the bridge station. The raw miasma of the atmosphere, no doubt an effect of the red rain, made everyone less tired, but hungrier and thirstier than expected.

Kenji forged forward like a man possessed, determined to get to the bottom of the mystery of his revivication and those yurei that preceded him, not caring if he left the others behind. As they navigated their way past the shrine to continue along the path, Kenji was the first to discover the fate of the other nio guardian, for the nio always came in pairs. The earlier one was the agyo, and this one was the ungyo, and it lay shattered in pieces. Next to it was a twice dead yurei, one of those which they were pursuing. The guardian statue must have defended against the yurei zombies, and was destroyed in the process.

As if prompted by the now defenceless route to the temple, the baying in the forest now came closer again, no longer afraid of the now-demolished statues. And as if by coincidence, Ikari's lantern began to sputter; its oil running out.

At a distance, they could see a torii gate, whose steps heralded the trek to the temple grounds proper.

Ikari looks at the exotic weapon with interest, but couldn't imagine himself wielding such a heavy thing.
His stomach groans, having ate last at the Inn and having packed light in a rush, is now out of food.
"This expedition has taken much longer than expected"

Satoshi grabs a second packet of dried seaweed and pickled vegetables to sate the hunger gnawing his stomach.

As Ikari's lantern gutters and the bestial howling closes in on the group, the ninja says "Yes, and we must hurry to the temple. Lest we find ourselves hunted in the dark."

Satoshi was right about being hunted. As they hastened towards the torii gate, the rustle of leaves to their left signaled something of substantial size, which yet moved very swiftly through the foliage. A similar sound on their right, as well as the now-recognisable growl of the beast pursuing them, revealed that there was not one, but two of them.

The one on the right dashed forwards much further than them, and that was when the five of them noticed more dead bodies to the right of the torii. There were three persons, stacked atop each other in a macabre mound. The creature leapt from the bushes towards them, just as the one on the left had circled back to pounce on the five of them.

That was when they saw what was hunting them, who for some reason could not get beyond the nio guardians. (Was the torii gate another barrier to them?) A tiger, twice the size of an ordinary one, whose fur was pearlescent as if it were luminous in the reddish dark of the night, unstained by the blood mist that rolled off its rich coat in beaded droplets.

Kayo paused, then dropped her weapon. Unarmed, she moved towards the beast, her small hands open in a gesture of peace. "No hostility here. We need help from the gods to cleanse us, to purify this place. The blood rain must stop. Can you help us, or at least let us through? "

The leper groaned as he knelt facing the West and offered prayer and supplication. Taking a coin, he offered the metal to the Byakko, two pieces of precious metal for two kami.

Humbly, one faces the western sky, the realm where the setting sun descends. Gratitude is offered to Byakko Baifu of the Western Sky and Lord of Metals, for the beauty of this day and the peace it brings. As the day ends, a night of rest and renewal is prayed for. May one be granted strength, and may the heart remain pure and sincere. May one continue to live in harmony with the great nature, and may one serve and benefit all mankind."

Ikari never being a spiritual man stood mouth agape with the vision of such things before him.
Seeing the kindness of Kayo addressing them, he dropped to his knees in prayer.
Moon tiger, amber eyes,
Lunar light on velvet paws,
Spare our wretched souls.

Satoshi discreetly coats a throwing star in poison, ready to throw it if the spirit tigers did not respond to his companions supplications.

Although Kayo's gesture was one of peaceful supplication, the white tiger, now barely a breathspan away from her, bared its fangs and let out the most fearsome growl that shook the leaves of the canopy above them that echoed through the silence of the forest. Were they to clamp down, they would take her head cleanly off without resistance. Kayo could sense the revulsion emanating from the majestic byakko, and this was further confirmed when the other shimmering beast raised a paw to strike at the nearby pile of bodies. She could see that those that were killed had one thing in common, they were all also tainted by the blood rain, and the byakko did not compromise but instead sent their defiled bodies to a swift death.

This would likely be the fate of the five of them as well, except that both Hakusa and Ikari fell to their knees. The holy priest understood the proper ritual needed to show obeisance to the spirit beasts: to face the west, to offer metal. Ikari was more agnostic, his life revolved around the pragmatic values of society. Still, the poetic atmosphere of his haiku gave a meditative aspect to the moment. But would that be enough?

Both spirit beasts gave pause to their attacks, prompting Satoshi to exhale from holding his breath, shuriken at the ready. They moved to stand on either side of the pillars of the torii. It was to be understood that their tainted lives had been spared, but that did not mean that they were allowed to pass, as evident from the dead ones. They had to find some way to cleanse themselves, for only Hakusa remained unstained; the other four were corrupted by the blood rain.

As the byakko watch, Satoshi approaches the gate, trying to clear his mind. He had made many hard choices as a koga ninja, but he had also followed the unseen virtues for those decisions. How would the celestial tigers judge such things?

He stepped forward and passed through the gate, glancing sideways at the spirits as he did so, half expecting them to leap at him with their heavenly claws.

Genji approaches gate and faces these opponents. He is honored by their strength and pristine images. He kneels in seiza, formally bows with his face to ground, and speaks.

"White tiger, pure strength,
Western guardian, wind's roar,
Autumn's quiet grace."

The watchful gaze of the byakko turned on each of them in turn. Hakusa and Satoshi each received a piercing stare that seemed to last longer in their minds than in actuality. But Genji and Ikari could feel the hairs on their skin rise as the almost luminous gaze of the tiger eyes was accompanied by the baring of impossibly sharp teeth. They had been judged, and not all of them had been determined to be pure enough to avoid their wrath.

It occurred to Genji that they had to cross a river to get to the village, and he remembered that Hakusa had even forded through it to get there. The river's upstream had wended and curved, and disappeared into the thicket of the forest. Was there a different route to get to the temple, should they choose to travel over water instead?

Were they more careless, they might have transgressed the byakko's strict adherence to their spirit duties without realising. But Genji, Ikari and Kayo were honourable in their homage to what little light was left in this world. If these illuminating yokai denied them ingress through the torii gate, then they had to consider respecting the inviolate order of the temple grounds ahead (even if they suspected that Karekurenai Temple had been already defiled).

They could consider splitting up, for Hakusa and Satoshi were clear. Or they could search for another way in. Or look for someone who knew better or had access. Or defeat the tigers in the name of greater good.

Denied entry, Kayo's frustration morphed into chilling confirmation: she was impure, rotting. She groaned and step back. Fighting a good spirit was pointless; she is not a fighter and it would only worsen her corruption.

She found a stone and sat, grimly surveying their options. "Those who can, go to the temple and find answers. For the rest of us, it feels like the taint is inevitable. I don't know what we should do. We can wait for you guys to return maybe? "

"There are few taints that clean water will not cure. There was a stream not far from the fishing village.

All problems here have waited a year. They will wait another hour."

Hakusa was being his manipulative self as always. Attempting to shame the haste of the others and in so save them in the eyes of the kami.

"Haste is waste."

"I lost sight of the stream once we got to the village," Kenji nodded to affirm Hakusa's observation, and thoughtfully tried to visualise where the water trail was. "I think so long as you backtrack eastwards, you can pick up from where the creek joins the river. No need to go all the way back to Itsuno."

"I will remain here. The yurei who came this way is my responsibility. I must determine where and how they are making their way to the temple, and prevent more from reaching the temple." The one-armed samurai still looked very much like the undead they were following, but Kenji sought to put a stop to this inexplicable summoning of yurei to Karekunerai Temple.

"You all will make better time if I remain here. Besides running water makes my lesions ache."

Hakusa was a hard read, his voice sounded tired. But then he always seemed tired due to his stage of consumption.

"You all will make better time if I remain here. Besides running water makes my lesions ache."

Hakusa was a hard read, his voice sounded tired. But then he always seemed tired due to his stage of consumption.

There is hope again in the lady's eyes. - " Really? A simple bath will do the trick? What are we waiting for, lets move please! "

Kayo simply gives a nod to the one-arm samurai, they didn't had time to connect and build a relationship so she doesnt have second thoughts to leave him behind.

Genji backs away slowly from the Byakko. "Yes, the red mist has made us unclean. The Leper is right, we should bath in the stream wash off this filth. Come." Genji nods to Kayo and Ikari and beings walking back east towards the creek in hopes to find a pool or the river deep enough for a cleansing bath.

"They call me White Teeth." Hakusa grumbled, not used to the title "The Leper."

We should negotiate shelter before jumping into cold water at night.

"I have plenty of materials to build a fire. But I have no more food. I can set up camp. The malignancy is only contagious through my saliva. So you have nothing to fear from catching it." Hakusa promised. "We can shelter in the temple, after you cleanse yourselves. No make haste please you all smell worse than I do."

Turning to Kenji he nodded to the temple. "Lets secure shelter while they appease the kami."

Lets go back to the village, we've been hiking all day and all night. We can't engage the Moon Tigers in this state.

- " What are you talking about, Kageyama-san? We're going to the stream! We only need to backtrack eastwards and find the river after we go back to the village to find shelter. I don't want to spend one more second been filthy in the eyes of the gods. "

Tired and hungry, and not wanting to offend the kami of the forest that stood between them and the torii gate, the five of them backed away from the byakko to seek to cleanse themselves first. They didn't fully know what the long-term effects of the blood rain were, besides making them stronger but more aggressive at the same time. But they had seen the madness of the elder's wife, and wondered if the fallen temple they sought was the source of all the corruption they witnessed.

They backtracked, relying on their sense of topography to realise that the river which Hakusa, Genji, Kenji came must have tributaries that fed into it. Instead of keeping to the path that would take them to the nio guardian shrine and from thence back to the village, they veered off into the forest thicket, this time no longer surrounded by the predatory growls of the tigers. The forest was hard to traverse without a track, with the moon hidden by the foliage it was hard to navigate a proper direction. Ikari's lantern, not meant to burn throughout the night, was finally out of oil, and Hakusa had to resort to his torches to light the way so they could see where they were going.

After a spell, best measured by timing of a torch's use, they could hear the sound of running water, not just the patter of the red drizzle, instead of the oppressive silence. Encouraged, they moved towards the sound, confident the stream was not far ahead. Sure enough, after a last stretch of stumbling, the trees parted to reveal the stony bank of a creek. In fact, the gurgling sound came from a low cliff from where the creek originated upstream, not quite tall enough to be considered a waterfall.

The remoteness of the spot made it feel safe to take a rest should the motley crew desire to, and the murmuring stream gave a sense of secluded tranquility. What was dismaying though, was the fact that the water in the creek was also reddish in colour, casting doubt as to whether bathing in it would cleanse them, or worsen their condition. What could be noticed though was that the water above the cliff appeared clearer, clear enough for them to see through the cascading water to notice a dim glint of light coming from behind the falling water.

- " Can we camp more upstream? The water seems more clear in that direction? " She is determined to have a bath as soon as possible.

"Agreed, if we can find a clean bathing spot it is preferred."

Giving people some space to bath, he'll go in later. The light in the waterfall is hypnotic, he's drawn closer to investigate.

Genji and Kayo wondered whether it would be wiser to travel further upstream instead. One way would be to backtrack into the forest to find a route that would take them to a higher altitude, a lengthier, more tedious, but more assured option. Another would be to try to scale the sides of the cliff to reach the top of the embankment where presumably the water was clearer. To do so they would need reliable climbing skills and cooperation, and some appropriate equipment would help as well.

The third was to try to get to the exact centre of where the waterfall tumbled down. It seemed to them the water from above was pure, and only became tainted red at the level of the stream. Incidentally, that would be the same spot as where Ikari was approaching to investigate, behind which was the faint light source.

Satoshi twirls one of his kusarigama slowly in one hand and looks up for any place to attach it.

"I can use the chain from my weapon to aid in climbing, as long as I can hook the kama to something. And perhaps if I climb up first, I can also help pull everyone else up after." He looks at the large sumotori. "I might need another's arm as well for pulling you, Genji-san. But I'm sure your own strength will be a help on its own."

- " I'm fine with any plan that brings us closer to clean water. "

Genji makes an audible "Hmmm", while rubbing his chin. "Surely we can just make our way around the forest and get to the top without climbing.", the lumbering giant of a man peers left and right through the trees on either side of the waterfall

"I am not sure I would survive the climb. Therefore it will make for a glorious death. But it seems that Ronin espies something of aught in the fall."

Satoshi found a reasonable spot with which he could use to loop the weighed end of his kusarigama, long bulky gnarled roots protruding near the edge of the cliff belonged to a well anchored tree. The chain of his weapon could certainly bear the weight of almost all of them.

And while Genji's suggestion was sound, that they could trek back into the forest to find a route to emerge further upstream, his examination of the copse of trees led him to consider if they could use one of them as a 'ladder' of sorts to climb up. He shook at one of those that grew near the cliff, assessing whether with the right push, he could uproot it enough to lean it against the cliff wall to allow them to shimmy up without needing to vertically rock-climb with Satoshi's weapon chain.

Ikari got as close as he could to the base of the waterfall without stepping into the water yet. Through the mild spray of the cascade, he could confirm that there was something radiating light, what looked like a slab of crystal or gemstone of some sort. This meant that there was an alcove under the cliff, with the waterfall much like a curtain. From this distance he couldn't see much else inside the alcove, whether there was anything else inside.

Enthralled by the gem, he steps into the waterfall.