The blackness was encompassing, the wind, haunting...and if one cared listened very carefully, the voiced of two people, could be heard over the calls of the nightly predators...
 
"Oh, no!  Genshu, are you ok?"  Valeria asked, studying the unconscious form of the samurai.

"Looks like he's still out, Valeria." Lorelai responded, her arms folded in a nonchalant fashion as she watched her companion with disinterest, try to revive the unconscious man, tied to the tree.
 
"Damn!! I thought HE was the guy who knocked me out!!  Great, now he's going to be even MORE angry with me when he gets up..."
 
"He wasn't the guy that knocked you out?"  Lorelai inquired.
 
"No, I don't think so.  Hi, Lorelai, I thought it was you, but I was a little lightheaded and had to make sure...This is the man who was accompaning me to help out with the Temple of the Moon, or something. I don't think he'd be knocking me out here..."
 
"Temple? Moon? What are you talking about?  I'm just trying to find a little boy."
 
"Yeah...The capital of Jowston is having big problems...There's been kidnappers all over the city."

"I had heard, but I had no idea it was this bad. What are you doing in Jowston anyway?"
 
"Ummm...I...You know President Lepant??  He wanted me to come here to check things out, so everything could be under control...Well, it doesn't look like it to me....Dammit!"
 
"I am a little confused as to why Lepant would care about Muse's kidnappings."  Lorelai continued, turning away to ponder the thought.

Valeria recaptured the memory of the scene in the Tenzan Pass.  The slaughter of the Unicorn Youth Brigade; and the image of such a pointless massacre driving into the forefront of her psyche.  With the image burned into her mind, Valeria finally let lose the frustration of her confusion since her arrival into the City-State, the killing of children, and the enigma of this man Genshu.
 
"Lorelai, up north, there's not only kidnappings....up north,  men...no, heartless beasts killed children....they burned, beheaded, and slaughtered mere kids at a camp up north near the Jowston-Highland border....It was horrible!"  Valeria answered, her eyes clouding in the image of the senseless act.
 
"What?!?! Who's responsible for this?"
 
"I heard rumours, from Lepant...That something bad happened....but it was worse than we had both feared...I don't know.  Everyone says it's Muse, but Stallion, the blue haired Elf...you remember him, right?  He says it's Highland troops."
 
"Highland? But why would they butcher their own children?"  Again another question posed, that Lorelai nor Valeria could contemplate.
 
"I don't know-"

"It makes perfect sense."  Genshu answered, revealing to the two women that his prescense was not to be forgotten. He opened his eyes wide, to stretch and exercise his relaxing eyelids. Valeria could only stare, and Lorelai was dumbfounded.  Just how long had he been awake? “If the lords of a country seek to declare war, they must gain the support of the citizens by inciting them into a desired state of revenge.  To do so, you must discover that which is dearest to them, and destroy it.  A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and as such, the families who lost those children, their safety and security have been shattered.  If you wish to declare war, you need support for that effort.  How much support will one achieve if they believe their
perpetual enemy murdered their child?"
 
"What?  What do you-"
 
The sudden shock of realization sent Valeria reeling, almost into Lorelai. Valeria knelt down, to think about what Genshu had just revealed. Lorelai could only keep the same expression of shock, as she came to an understanding of what Genshu just had said as well.
 
"Ummm...Lorelai, he's certainly more on top of things than we are.  Maybe we should let him loose.  I mean, he's probably right about the whole Highland incident.  It certainly makes more sense than any other I had in mind."

"Do you really think that’s wise?"  Lorelai inquired, stealing a suspicious glance at the samurai.
 
Valeria swore she could almost see a smile cross Genshu's face, if he ever smiled.  She had to wonder why he was so obsessed with the dismissal of emotion.  "There is no need to concern yourself over that." Genshu responded, rising to his feet from the sitting position Lorelai had tied him onto the tree; the ropes falling freely to the ground.  Staring intensely at Lorelai, he walked away from the two before settling into a meditative position some distance away from his companions.
 
"Oh."  The two-lettered statement summed up what Valeria and Lorelai felt  about what they had just experienced.  How far are we out of our league?
 
***Later***
 
Valeria spoke to Lorelai, trying to catch up on old times. Lorelai, for the most part, kept her eyes fixated upon Genshu.  And Genshu was leading them towards the temple, invaritably getting closer and closer...
 
"...And squeeze." Valeria was finishing an earlier sentence.  "Hard."
 
"That'd be going a little easy on them, wouldn't it?"  Lorelai called. She was still staring at Genshu's backside. Perhaps she was pondering the same thing Valeria had, how could this man know so much about what it is they seek to find?  Could he really be trusted.
 
"Haaaahhhh.... You're right.."  Valeria was trying to catch up from being behind the pack of three.  "Hey, Genshu, when are we going to get there? We've been travelling for hours and there's been no sign of anything!"

"It does not matter when we get there, nor where the Temple is.  The question to be asking right now is if you will be ready to face the enemy when confronted."  Genshu didn't break stride nor gaze as he continued his relentless march forward.
 
"However," Genshu started.  The two girls froze.  "I shall share with you the first rule taught to my student. When you fight, in any war, use any means necessary to win, for losing equals death. These warriors have been trained to fight with honor to the death.  Do not maim, do not wound, kill.  Remember this, and you might survive."
 
The rest of the trip was carried out in silence.

***More time passes***

"Hey, Val, it's getting dark."  Lorelai was a little at ease, as she glanced at her surroundings a little more, and stared less at Genshu's backside. Valeria looked around as well.  Sure enough, darkness approached.  It seemed to come earlier than expected.

"Sure, Lorelai.  Let's break camp here.  Hey, Genshu, we're packing for the night, ok?"

The samurai wordlessly reversed course and approached the site where Valeria and Lorelai had already started gathering wood.  Though, as before, rather than sitting in the campsite with his two companions, Genshu walked a fair distance away and sat down cross-legged, and meditated.

Lorelai looked rather oddly at Genshu, pondering his reaction, however Valeria simply continued to set camp, familiar with the samurai’s private ways.  After the fire was alight, there was silence to the tune of fire crackling and the wind whispers....
 
"So, Lorelai, I thought you were in Toran!!  What are you doing up north, here in the City-States of Jowston?"
 
"You mean Grenseal didn't tell anyone?"
 
"I thought this recon mission was to be a private matter, not to be known to outsiders..."
 
"I can't believe he covered THIS up.... "
 
"Maybe he didn't know about Lepant sending me up north.  Nobody in Toran missed me; that was for sure.  Doing formal delivery boy jobs with no action...Ugh."  Valeria responded, slamming her sword in disgust.
 
"Sounds like fun." Lorelai smiled sympathetically, yet the sarcastic tone in her voice was all too apparent.  "Hey?  What the-"
 
*A darting shadow in the darkness attracts Lorelai’s attention, causing her to stare into the woods and darkness of the night empty night.
 
"What?  What is it, do you see something?"
 
"There was a shadow, someone’s out there."  Lorelai answered, leaning toward her weapon.
 
"You need not fear the shadow, fear that which moves, and cast no shadow." Genshu, still meditating in the distance, spoke in his hushed voice.
 
Lorelai and Valeria turned to look at each other, quite confused by the cryptic dialogue from the ronin.  When they returned their attention to Genshu, seeking meaning for his words, he was gone.  No noise, no movement, simply gone.
 
"Uh…Genshu?"
 

Within the darkness of the forest, the conversation between two shadows is under way. Only the two conversationalists can hear the dialogue that ensues, for only they are meant to.
 
The shadow spoke first.  “I was wondering when you’d show up.”
 
“Yes.”
 
“What, not in the mood for conversation?”
 
“Just speak what you must tell me,” Genshu responded, his mind wearily screaming from fatigue.
 
“Fine.  I scouted out the temple.  I counted about 32 fighters in there, but they brought in a new group of kids from the west.  It wasn’t normal, these kids just walked in without any resistance.  It’s possible the temple has improved its recruiting technique.”
 
“That would keep the attention down,” Genshu mused, glancing back at the campsite, the fire shining in the far distance.

“So, what are you going to do?”
 
“I’m going to burn it down,” Turning around, back facing the hidden figure.
 
“I wasn’t referring to that.”  The shadow said, somewhat hesitant as to how to word the next inquiry.  “I meant, what are you going to do with them?”
 
The respondent paused a moment.  He really wasn’t sure how to answer that. It would be better, perhaps safer, to march off on his own.  He never invited the brown haired fighter nor her now equally impetuous dark-haired, possessed comrade.  He could simply leave them here; march off on his own.  Just forget them. At least he wouldn’t have to deal with the constant
distrust he held for them, especially the dark haired woman, Lorelai, he believed her name was, though he really didn’t care.
 
Then his mind returned to Valeria.  She was very strong, and her mission to help him had been noble.  Why then, if he admired her courage and strength, was he so unwilling to accept her help?
 
“I haven’t decided yet.”  The tone, was flat and devoid of expression.

“Well, I’m impressed.  It’s not everyday you agree to accept help from someone who kicked your ass.”  The figure had to be smiling at that comment. It continued to speak.  “You know, I saw the fight.  I can see why you’re unwilling to trust the one woman.  Though, I have to admit, the other one, Valeria?  She reminds me a lot of Marai.”
 
At the sound of this remark, Genshu tore a glance at the shadow that could twist steel.
 
“Hey, that damn samurai stare-down of yours doesn’t work on me, so just…cut it out.”  Despite the protests, however, it was most evident that the vicious glare had unnerved the speaker slightly.
 
“Never, mention that again.”  The speaker turned around and headed back to the camp, pausing briefly to again answer, sorrow tainting his voice.  “There will never be another Marai.”
 
“So…have you figured out what you plan to do?”
 
Genshu didn’t answer, for he really wasn’t sure himself how to respond.  He simply continued his trek toward the campsite.
 
“Damn arrogant ass.”  The last comment made before the shadow faded to black, returning to the forest.
 

"He could be some kind of weird hermit...like Liukan was!"  Realization.  "Hey, don't remind me, Lor."  A stick could be heard, thrown at the jibe.
 
"If he WAS a hermit, what would he be doing in Muse?"
 
"That too...God, there's so many things we DON'T know about him, like where he's from, what he's doing here...and who or what he works for!  I wonder how good he is in battle..."
 
"Exactly my point... I can tell you one thing, however."
 
"What's that?"
 
"He's not from Jowston."
 
"How do you figure? "  Valeria asked.

"His manner of dress, his way of speaking, it doesn’t fit."
 
"Yeah...I'm not too good with accents, but he does talk differently.  He looks like one of those samurai guys without their armour, truth to tell. At least, I keep on seeing him like that."

"And who's behind the kidnappings?"
 
"I...I don't know!!  This is just too hard to understand!  He's just full of all these damn riddles!!"

"Only the evil hide their intentions..."
 
"I don't want to think about it if this is a trap or not.  All I'm here to do is save those children and return them to their parents, as safe as possible."
 
"Then I guess I'm coming too."
 
"If he's evil, we'll just have to take him out when he reveals his true nature...If he has an evil nature."  Valeria responded.
 
Omnious.
 
"I hope it does not come to that.  He's kinda cute."
 
Grin.
 
"If you say so."
 
"Thanks for the support, Lorelai.  I'll think we'll need all the help we can get for this."
 
"Yes, I know we will."
 
"We have to, for the sake of those children."

“Yes,” Genshu’s voice echoed from behind Valeria, as if he materialized from thin air.  “the children should be our main concern.”  With eyes narrowed, Genshu stood, studying these two women warriors.

“Uh…hi Genshu, where’ve you been?”  Valeria asked, hoping to change the subject, that maybe Genshu didn’t hear the conversation of these two.

Genshu did not reply, he simply stared at the two women, his eyes, though hard, still reflected no indication to his intentions.  “You two are dismissed.”

“Huh?”

“You question my integrity and my motives.  I have not given proof to contradict the contrary.  But remember,” Genshu turned to face Valeria, “You volunteered to help me, I did not seek you out.  And you,” To Lorelai, “Were not even invited.  If you do not trust me, you may go.  I surely do not seek assistance from one who is in doubt of my honor.”

Genshu turned away, walked to his usual position, and sat to meditate.  “If you wish to come, I will leave early tomorrow.  Be prepared to depart when I am ready.  And do not ever question me again.”