Kagemaru carefully studies the map of the valley the painter's apprentice has laid out for him. He learns that

- The village they are in now is called "Bountiful Harvest". It sounds better in the old language.
- Crossing the valley to get to The Forge (which does not sound better in the old language) should take about two days. The only major landmark en-route is a grand river that bisects the valley and provides the water for the various irrigation projects that fuel the valley's food production.
- There's a fork in the pass up to the mountain fortress that leads out of the valley and north, closer to the Imperial capital. According to the notes, it cuts low enough through the mountains that the route is accessible for most of the year - in contrast to the fortress being cut off for all of winter.
- Speaking of which, the fortress has been politely excluded from the map. The path leading up to it is drawn as ending a short way after the fork in a dead end.

"I hope I could help you," the apprentice says.

---

Kiara's busy watching the streets outside. The brief bustle of business has ended as the villagers have gone to work the fields. The noodle vendor waves and smiles at her from the distance, as if to lure her back for another bowl.

There's a strange clacking sound traveling up the road swiftly. Kiara takes a moment to realize that it's a horse in a fast trot. As it comes into view, she sees a dark brown steed carrying a man in a black kimono, with dark purple pants and belt. The sword at his side and his top knot leave little doubt as to his occupation.

He climbs off the horse, ties its reigns to a nearby building and walks straight up to Kiara before she has a chance to get out of the way without looking like she's getting out of the way. He carries himself with a straight back and an expression that might as well be hewn out of granite.

"You, citizen!" he bellows, loud and clear but not quite yet impolite. "I am looking for a man named Toshiro Mohime. Do you know of his whereabouts?"

Before Kiara can honestly say that she doesn't know anyone by that name, a small memory muscles into her consciousness. Toshiro - hm. Could that be...Toshi, Yukio's allegedly good-for-nothing husband?

Kiara had to remind herself that she was posing as a lady of noble birth before she gave any sort response to the fellow. The young ninja took a moment to ponder whether to act timid and meek, or haughty and indignant. Well, meek probably wouldn't have gotten a noble out this far in the middle of no where, "I can't say that I remember." Her words were polite enough, as she didn't care to ruffle feathers, but she made sure to tinge her words with an insulted air about her.

When it came to politics and acting, Kiara's confidence in herself only went so far. She was itching for that map to get on their way, but wondered if she would be obligated to inform Yukio of this newcomer's questions of a similar name or not. The woman did, after all, manage to put up with the traveling duo. Still, her curiousity had been ever so slightly piqued, "What has such a man commited as to permit you to demand knowledge of him without so much as a proper greeting?"

The samurai gives her a humorless look. "Before the brilliance of the Emperor's law, even a horse casts the shadow of a mouse!"

That is, of course, a common bastardization of what Nahami Tse, the Flatland Scholar, so famously wrote in his treatise on justice. As Kiara recalls it, it was supposed to argue for abolishing the nobles' superior privileges under the law, not for treating everyone equally dismissive.

Whatever did happen to Master Tse, anyway? Kiara doesn't recall, but it probably wasn't good.

"The peasant Mohime has stolen two horses from the farm of the peasant Chiba. He absconded with the horses from peasant Chiba's stables in the dark of the night. He was seen in the act but managed to ride away before he could be apprehended."

The samurai sneers.

"I foresee no difficulty in finding him, but if your sense of justice has awakened your memory, I am authorized to offer 20 pieces of silver for your help in catching Mohime."

"You sure did, thank you." Kagemaru says with a smile. Finally they had a lead to the Fox. As he turns around to go out and tell Kiara, he hears a loud voice talking to her.

Toshiro? This can't be good. Better stay here until he's gone.

He has to smile at the thought that he's trying to bribe Kiara. Even if there wasn't the strict Ninja training, she would never betray someone for money.

Damn, we need to speak to Yukio before he can find them.

That wasn't a good sign. The man appeared to be knowledgable and skilled, but the dangerous part was that he was backed by the Emperor's money. No matter how loyal a town might be to one another, there was always some poor outcast that no one noticed, but that noticed them all. It would only be a small amount of time before the man reached his goal, whether they interceded or not.

Still, horse thievery was a crime. Kiara didn't want to condone a guilty man to freedom, though she also didn't like not knowing the whole story and the situation surrounding it. Well, she could warn Yukio and let them decide on their own from there. She owed her that much at least.

Kiara arched a brow with a haughty huff, but decided not to give in to retorting with quotes of her own, "Give me half that, and I'll take you to the woman who knows everyone, everything, and every rumor of this town. It'll save you plenty of time."

Hey, if he was going to find her eventually, might as well just cut to the chase. If she ran off to Yukio first thing after talking to him, that might not be a good sign and would raise his suspicions. The best way to ensure she was warned was by bringing the man himself, though Kiara hoped Yukio would catch on quick enough to not accidentally reveal anything, if indeed her husband was the same man.

Good thinking Kiara, let's see if we can use that for our own ends.

Hoping that Kiara will look around before leaving, Kagemaru gets ready to signal with his hands that she should not take the direct route to Yukio.

Kage easily times his walk to coincide with the discussion between Kiara and the Samurai, slipping past the lawman's eyes and avoiding a seperate questioning. Kiara sees him sign...something. What was that sign again? She must have missed that lesson.

"Hah," the Samurai smirks. "Very well, citizen. Lead me to this woman of which you speak."

While Kiara knew it would be unwise to give any indication that she saw her companion, she really wanted to give him a look that accused him of being a nut, waving his fingers to and fro. How was she supposed to remember signals when she hadn't actually practiced or used them in ages? They needed to work on that.

With a light turn on her heel, the young ninja lead forth through the town towards Yukio's dwelling. Down this road.. or.. was it that road? A quick circle around.. um.. no.. wait yes, definately this. She wondered why she hadn't waited inside to get a few more maps.

Kiara casually peered around, trying to determine if Yukio was there or not as she knocked on the front door.

Just a minute earlier...
---

Kagemaru arrives at his destination and quickly barges in through the door. "Yukio," he says, looking at the startled woman he was searching for. "There's a Samurai in town asking everyone for Toshiro Mohime, because he supposedly stole two horses from some guy Chiba's farm. Since we assumed that this is about your husband we thought we'd warn you. We have to hurry though, since he's already on his way here."

Yukio's face goes pale.

"Stupid Toshi...what did you do now? Oh, this isn't good at all! He's out in the back, repairing our well! Please, you -"

---

A slightly circuitous route takes Kiara and the Samurai to Yukio's house. Kiara's face lights up a little when she recognizes that they're in the right alley; the Samurai merely grunts. Kiara steps up to the door and knocks.

---

"You have to go," Yukio whispers to Kagemaru. "Find Toshi and hide him somewhere, please! I will try to buy you some time! Go, go!" Yukio shoves him in the direction of the back door, then hurries forward to the front entrance.

"I'm coming!" she shouts with forced cheer.

As silent as he can Kagemaru opens the backdoor and goes to Toshi. "If you don't want to have to answer to a Samurai for stealing two horses, you should come with me now." Grabbing Toshi's arm, the Ninja starts to quickly move away from the house.

Kiara finds herself face-to-face with Yukio when the door opens. The farmer woman looks confused for a moment, then scared when she sees the Samurai. The lawman, for what it's worth, easily muscles Kiara aside without ever quite touching her.

"I am looking for Toshiro Mohime," the Samurai says.
"Hmm?" Yukio tries to lie. "Yes, I know him, but he's not here. What brings you here, anyway?"
"Do not try to entrap me with trivialities," the Samurai says, "Mohime-san."

Kiara's eyes fly, inevitably, to the clay sign hanging next to the door. Sure enough, it reads "Mohime Residence".

"My husband isn't here!" Yukio insists. The Samurai takes a step forward and pushes past Yukio into the house. Against her continuing protest, he quickly looks through the house, trained eyes searching for anything amiss. By the time Yukio swears she doesn't know where her husband is, he swings open the back door and examines the backyard.

There's nobody there.

The Samurai steps closer to the well in the middle of the yard, looking for something. The area around the broken well is wet, and the large bucket lies to the side - clearly, someone was in the middle of fixing it. Kiara and Yukio follow the Samurai outside. Yukio looks like she's about to grab onto Kiara for comfort any second. Finally, the Samurai rises and walks back towards them.

"Very well, Mohime-san. It seems you are either innocent or clever, and those are both affectations I have been known to have a weakness for. But your husband's situation is not improving. The eyes of justice grow harsher with time. It would really be for the best if he surrendered himself. Do tell him that when you see him next. A good day to you."

Wordlessly, he rummages around in his purse and retrieves a small slice of Jade, then hands it to Kiara and walks away. The writing on the Jade piece reveals it to be an Imperial chit, admonishing the recipient of the piece to pay out 100 (one hundred) pieces of silver in exchange.

---

Around several corners by now, Kagemaru and Toshi hurry their steps, as the ninja almost drags the hapless farmer away from his home. Washing their shoeprints out of the mud with the bucket of water was one of Kagemaru's better ideas, destroying their trail for the moment. But it does not solve their larger problem: where can they actually hide? If the Samurai is still combing the village, they can hardly hope to avoid him forever on the streets.

Kiara's eyes followed the samurai as he left to begin combing through the village once more. Kiara graced the Jade with a glimpse, deciding that she really wasn't in the mood for any psychological analysis on why the samurai gave her much more than even the full reward amount. After all, she practically handed the guy over to him.

"Stay here, we'll find out what's going on." The girl spoke swiftly to Yukio, briefly grasping her shoulder as a gesture of comfort before flitting out the front door to follow the hunter. She needed to find out why a homely peasant man married to such a kindly woman was, allegedly, stealing horses. Her partner was running with half the story, so really it was up to her to gather the other half.

Having started not that far behind, Kiara found herself caught up to the Samurai before she had figured out what to say. Dreading having to deal with witty conversation, and still trying to think of how to stay in character of a noble, she went with what came to her mind first, "Sir, you overpaid our agreement. Do you take me for a pity case? I am no poor peasant of whom asks for charity."

Technically she wasn't poor anymore with the Jade in her pocket, and she didn't really consider herself a peasant either, so at the least she wasn't lying. While she wasn't greedy in the material sense of things, Kiara did see use for the Jade and wasn't too keen on giving it up, "However it would be rude of me to refuse something once accepted, so I shall let it pass this once."

Kiara arched a brow at him, noting to keep her strides shortened, "What sort of horse was taken that a lawman such as yourself would pursue? Justice has no reason to hide the truth, I should hope."

Although Kagemaru isn't really the sporty type, as Toshi gives up on running - with a lot of gasping and panting - the Ninja is barely out of breath. They left the town behind and were running between wheat fields for the last 5 minutes. So Kage decides to go into one of the fields to rest, careful that he leaves no traces of their entrance.

"So Toshi, what the hell is going on here? Did you really steal those horses? And keep in mind, that we risked our heads to help you, so don't risk yours by lying to me!", Kagemaru growled lowly between his teeth.

"Yes!" Toshiro mewls, clearly afraid of the ninja. "I...I didn't mean to steal them, just...borrow them. I left Chiba a note, I was going to bring them back, honest, but -"

Mistake Nr. 1: leaving your signature at the crime scene.

"Look, it's not about the horses, I mean, it is, but I just needed them to pull my honeydew's cart back to our home! Where else was I supposed to get horses that quickly? So, I...Chiba has a stable. I never thought he'd walk in at that time! I didn't - I didn't explain myself very well, I guess."

Mistake Nr. 2: Why not just ask for the horses?

"And I don't know what, but when I checked in the morning, I wanted to bring them back, but they...they weren't there! I think they ran off..."

Mistake Nr. 3: Not tying up stolen horses.

Kagemaru can clearly see that Toshiro is no criminal mastermind. Looking at Yukio's husband all dirty and huddled in the mud, it's hard not to feel...something.

---

The Samurai stops in a small alley. He looks around to see if anyone's nearby to listen in, then answers Kiara in hushed, almost desperate tones.

"Please, assassin, do not toy with me. When my liege's prized horses are stolen from the stables while he rests at a waystation on his journey, it falls to me to retrieve them. I have given you as much of my money as I can spare, and we have no quarrel with your clan. Just let me be on my way."

'Assassin' was really too strong of a word, but she didn't feel like debating such details when her cover had been blown regardless. Kiara frowned at him, then gave a short sigh. She knew as much as the next warrior that she couldn't bluff her way out of a box. "His wife has given us shelter, and I would like to repay such kindness if at all possible. They are a family of simple manners." At least, that's what she gathered from the town and their dwellings, "What is your liege's policy on punishing crimes?"

"You cannot speak in his defense," the Samurai says, "if that is your question, assassin. The facts are not under negotiation. Neither is my duty. There is no place he can run, no higher law to appeal to that will change what he has done. The law could not be clearer."

The Samurai does not appear to be considering the idea that you simply don't know what the legal punishment for stealing two horses would be. It's one of those "Grew up in a ninja monastery" things that, in a different time, might be called lacking socialization.

Kiara was feeling rather frustrated at this point. The arrogance of that assuming, stiff, better-than-thou attitude was grating on her nerves. All this subtle talk and no action wasn't helping her mood any either.

"Alright, first of all, I do not wish to speak on his behalf. I was not present at the crime, nor did I know of it until you showed up so I think myself hardly qualified. I do not care to go against the law, I seek only knowledge at this point. I want to know that you have the right man, and if you do, that his penalty does not leave his wife to fend for herself for the rest of her life." It was all she could do to keep her voice even and low, though her anger did tinge the tips of her words, "I would even try to help you find the horses if they're worth that much, since you're obviously preoccupied with hunting down a man who left on foot and whose stable is empty at home."

She really didn't want to dally too long here, but the inexperienced ninja was feeling antsy and wanted to try and find a swift, but fair, end to the issue. And, she might admit, being called 'assassin' again was really hitting a nerve.

The samurai curses at Kiara in the old language. She's fairly sure he just called her something to the effect of 'stupid little girl'.

"It is not my duty to return my liege's horses! They will be found eventually. I am to retrieve Toshiro Mohime, and however I may feel about taking this man away from his wife, that is my duty, and it will be done!"

His hand rests uneasily on the grip of his katana.

"Now get out of my way, assassin, or I will go through you!"

As Toshi explains what happened that night, Kagemaru wonders if one person alone can be this stupid. But at the end of the explanation, he can't help but feel bad for Toshi.

"Alright alright," Kage says in the hopes to calm him down, "you know you messed up and surely these horses aren't worth that much, so the punishment shouldn't be too big, especially if we're able to bring them back."

"No, no!" Toshi whines. "That is what makes all of this so dreadful! I recognized the brands on them when I brought them to our house - they weren't Chiba's own. The - the horses, they belonged to Aotaka Matsumoto."

Forestalling the obvious follow-up question, Toshi adds "I stole the horses of the Old Fox!"

Toshi's and Kage's little heart to heart is interrupted when a horse cart slows down to a stop just outside the field. Amidst various curses we will not reprint here, the driver climbs down from his seat. Kage motions for Toshi to shut up (and the farmer is at least smart enough to do that) and moves to the edge of the field to observe.

Under more curses (also unfit for print), the driver drags a dirty man off the back of the cart. The vagabond, if he can be called that, is wearing heavy, dark clothing and carrying an assortment of gear that speaks to an independent existence, but he also looks like he hasn't seen the inside of a bathhouse for a few months.

"You lazy bum!" the driver shouts. "You think I wouldn't hear you snoring back there? Get out of my sight!"

The vagabond rights himself as the driver climbs back onto the cart and sets it back in motion. Before Kage can draw himself back into the cover of the wheat, the vagabond turns his head and looks straight at him.

A murder of crows chooses this moment to cry and start, flapping away into the distance.