It really is quite unbelievable. After a mere day outside of their mountain fortress, Kiara and Kagemaru are traveling with two new friends and en route to help one of them with his troubles. But it is all in service of delivering the "present" Kagemaru carries in a thick glass vial near his heart. Or, failing that, the sword he hides in the folds of his clothes.

Taking care to avoid the main routes of commerce, the small group travels in the direction of the Forge, a large industrial and trading hub in the Valley of the Gold Sun (as the ninjas learn from Toshi's explanations). Ramma, the wandering hunter, proves his worth in keeping them fed: he takes game for their meals, while Kiara scours the area for roots, berries and water, allowing them to cook and enjoy warm meals at day's end. Meanwhile, Kagemaru uses his medical expertise to soothe the pains of other travelers on the way, earning the group some more coin on the way.

Toshiro proves to be a much better traveling companion than farmer - or, for that matter, horse thief. His feet are used to long walks, and he has both a passable singing voice and a natural sense of rhythm. At the campfires, he quickly becomes a source of entertainment, tapping two wooden sticks and performing the old songs of the land. Together with Kiara's dancing, it makes a good distraction from the exhausting overland marching in daytime.

After three days, their route finally meets up with a proper trade road again, and so it is that they enter the outskirts of the Forge. A small trading community has sprung up along the road into town, with backyard blacksmiths and trading houses lining the area. In the distance, larger steel mills and weapon furnaces dominate the sight, belching fire and gray smoke. Toshiro volunteers himself as a guide to the fledgling city, telling the ninjas of the factories, a large industrial harbor at the immense Kun-lan river that spans half the Empire, and the rich quarters of the trader kings and the land-owning nobles they seek to emulate. In one of the small palaces of the rich quarters, the Old Fox - Aotaka Matsumoto - lives.

"Matsumoto holds a grand estate," Toshiro explains, his light-hearted travel persona making way to fear again. "And he rarely leaves it. But he has guests, and concubines, and surely they or their personal servants venture outside the grounds into the markets or the parlors of the Forge on occasion. If we could find one of them..."

'Stupid Toshi' has clearly given this some thought.

Arriving at the Forge, Kagemaru is flabbergasted by the sheer size of the place. Fire, steel and smoke wherever he looks. After a minute to take in the scenery, Kage starts to think through various plans. Finally, he decides that finding the horses would give them a better bargaining hand.

"Alright guys, I'd say we try to find a stable first and ask there for the horses. I assume you can describe what they look like, Toshi?"

"Oh, yeah, of course!" Toshi says, trying to look confident. Kiara nods her assent, Ramma merely follows his new friends. Stolen horses, eh? Maybe they can be fenced for cash.

---

"...and one has white spots over its eyes, and they're both branded with this," Toshi finishes explaining to the stable master, handing him a quick sketch of the brand.

The team has worked through three stables along the trade route now, and it seems they're going up. This is the nicest stable so far, with a whole row of horses being cared for and minimal funky smell. Still, not exactly where they'd choose to spend the rest of their lives. However, at least Toshi has straightened out his rambling description into something approaching efficient brevity, and the stable manager's eyes flash with recognition when he sees the branding sketch.

"Them darn Matsumoto horses," he says. "Reckon everybody and their mama are lookin' for 'em. You fellas get yerself in line, lotsa nasty types been asking 'round town for those."

[Editor's Note: Not actually the stable master's much more Japanese accent. But you get the idea.]

"But - have you seen them?" Toshi pleads.
"Seen 'em?" the stable master laughs. "I'd hardly be chattin' with ya, son, if I had. From the brouha 'round them you'd figure they crap gold. If anybody's got them, they ain't told me - and they can't exactly sell them round these parts without the Old Fox himself descending from his throne and cutting them from shithole to skull. Trade road to the capital's blockaded, Matsumoto's retainers are turnin' the harbor upside down, there ain't no place you could get rid of the darn things, if you had 'em. I don't want nothin' with those beasties and if you're not soft in the head you walk away from that idea real fast like."

With his last line, Ramma's gaze sweeps the stables again. He's an experienced hunter, so movement just outside his field of vision is something he picks up easily. His eyes meet that of a thin man standing at the other end of the stables, near the front entrance.

"He's listening to us," Ramma says simply, directing the attention of his fellow travelers with a nod. The ninjas look at the man, who suddenly realizes that he shouldn't be there. He turns and runs out.

"After him!" Kiara shouts, and so the chase begins. Ever hotblooded, she runs right after the man, Ramma just behind her. Kagemaru takes the back entrance, working to cut off any possible escape route.

Ramma's first overt proof that he's been hired by someone special is Kiara's shortcut: instead of going through the main exit, she vaults through a window, cutting valuable distance off the spy's lead. He's still a good distance ahead, heading into a small, thickly populated market.

The spy runs as fast as he can, weaving and crashing through the crowds, but he's no match for Kiara's moves - she swims through the crowd like a fish through water, vaulting stands and sliding through small gaps with the grace of, well, a ninja. Ramma has his bow at the ready, but there's no clear shot through the crowd.

The spy almost runs head first into a large stand selling exotic fruits, but catches himself just in time to avoid a collision; he slides to a stop and starts around it into the alley behind, but he's lost a lot of ground. Kiara decides to cut it short right there before the man can fade into a hiding spot and lose them in the labyrinth. As if out of thin air, Kagemaru appears in front of the stand and slides to a kneeling stop; in her run, Kiara takes his shoulders like a step and launches herself upward, jumping onto the stand. The spy turns around at the noise behind him only to see Kiara jump again, landing on him and tackling him to the ground. Within seconds, Kagemaru and Ramma catch up, and together, they easily drag the spy deeper into the alley, away from the beginning of a commotion over their activities.

"What the hell?" the spy blabbers, clearly out of breath after the intense burst of activity. "What the hell?" he repeats.

Wordlessly, Ramma steps up, nocks an arrow and draws back.

"50 pounds of tension," Kiara says, nodding to Ramma's action. The arrow is aimed straight at the spy's head. "How long do you think he can hold that?"
"Screw you!" the spy shouts, trying to wrestle away. Too bad he's not very good at that.
"Getting tired," Ramma says. He lets it look like his bow is wavering a little.
"Oh...oh crap," the spy whispers, seeing the arrow inch closer to his face. "Oh crap! Okay, okay! I'll talk!"

With a tap on Ramma's shoulder and a little nod, Kagemaru signals him to lower his bow. Then he takes slow steps towards the spy, still writhing under Kiara. For a split second a joke about Kiara's weight shot through his brain. But the seriousness of the situation and the thought that he'd be the next to hit the dirt if he said anything like that, at any time to Kiara makes it easy for him to suppress it and not show the hint of a smile.

Close to the enemy's head, Kagemaru kneels down and starts talking in a calm but firm voice. "Who sent you? What are you supposed to find out? And what have you found out already?"

"The Crane! I work for the Crane! I was supposed to look out for anyone who might know about Matsumoto's horses, but then I heard you were gonna search the woods and I know everyone else is combing the city, so I ran off to tell!" The spy closes his eyes. "Please don't kill me!"

---

In the rush to catch the spy, nobody seems to have spent a second thought on Toshiro. The young farmer tries to keep pace, but only reaches the middle of the market before he has to stop running. It's just as well, as he's completely lost track of you.

Toshi bows over, hands on his knees, breathing hard. After a few deep breaths, he stands back up and sees a well-dressed woman standing just a few feet from him, wearing a humorless half-smile. Her raven-black hair is bound into a tight bun.

"Ka...Kasumi?" Toshi spits out. "What are you doing here?"
"A much better question would be what are you doing here?" Kasumi asks, and grabs Toshi by the arm, leading him out of the main square of the market and into a side alley. "What part of 'stay the Hell away from the Forge' was so hard for you?" She slaps him over the back of the head. "I helped you get out, and this is what you do?"
"Oh, come on," Toshi whines. "Do you have any idea what those horses are worth? And they were just standing around there, no guards, it seemed so easy, Kasumi. I mean, it's not like I planned this!"
"Not worth more than your life, Toshi," Kasumi says. "If Matsumoto-sama captures you, he'll tear your fingernails out until you tell him everything, and then we'll both be dead. Think, Toshi!" She looks back into the market. "And who are those friends you're traveling with? I saw you chasing after them. Not exactly subtle, are they? Chasing Youta through the market like that."
"Jeesh, Kasumi, they're just helping me! I don't usually have bodyguards, and they think I'm a farmer. They actually want to help me. You don't look a gift horse like that in the mouth."
"Well, as of right now, their days of helping you are over. You're going to go back to...where did you run off to, anyway?"
"Ohhhhhhh no," Toshi says. "I'm not telling you that. I'm through telling you things, Kasumi. And I'm going now, because my friends have your man, and they probably already got him to talk! Hah! We're gonna find those horses, and I'll be out of trouble, and you're not gonna get anything this time!"

Kasumi uses her grasp on Toshi's arm to flip him around into a shoulder lock and pin him up against the wall.

"Look," she says. "I tolerated your ineptitude when you were working whatever little con you had going with Matsumoto-sama and helped you out because it benefited both of us. Now, you are angling to get me killed, and that is not acceptable. Take me to your friends, and we'll see what happens, hm? You can keep your precious horses for all I care, but when we find them, you will vanish. Understood?"
"Ow ow ow ow ow!" Toshi whines. "Lemme...lemme go!"

After Kasumi finally releases him, he steps back, tries to assume what he thinks passes for a defensive pose, but soon gives up under her withering glare.

"O...okay. Okay. Fine! I'll bring you to them! But don't touch me again! I will...my friends will hurt you if you do, you hag!"
Kasumi smooths out her clothes out and pats the dust off them. "Silly Toshi," she says, her stern look flipping to a smile as she straightens her hair. "I only reserve such treatment for when it's deserved." She pats him on the cheek. "Just keep up the farmer ruse, and everything will be fine."

---

The spy keeps babbling about details that are ultimately not relevant in the least to your search for the horses (though he does reveal where you can get fake coins and where you can bet on cockfights). Just as he runs out of trivia and seems ready for a new round of questions, Toshi finally rounds the corner to the interrogation, trailed by an unfamiliar woman.

"Hey!" Toshi shouts, smiling painfully. "You fellas are...you're all pretty fast! I had to run after you, I couldn't just stand there...in the stables...that'd be, you know, weird and stuff? But, ah, it's good that I had to run! I met, uh, I met an old friend of mine! Kasumi, these are my very good friends Kagemaru, Kiara and Ramma! Uh, guys, this is Kasumi. She's, uh, she's very familiar with the city, so...I think she'd be helpful to have, right!"

Toshi closes his eyes, holds his hand behind his head and grins sheepishly.

"Oh, good, they didn't kill him," he mumbles.

Smooth, Toshi, Kasumi thinks. "My friend here is too modest. I am a part of Matsumoto-sama's court, and I know this city and his court very well. I was sent out here to assist in the search for my friend Toshi here, but he is lucky that I treasure our friendship over Matsumoto-sama's orders. What can I do to assist?"

"Who's The Crane?" Kagemaru asks, while pulling the spy closer to him "and how's he affiliated with Matsumoto?"

Shortly after Kasumi and Toshi come around the corner. Kagemaru stands up and looks behind him. He takes a close look at Kasumi to figure her out, but is abruptly torn out of that when Toshi mumbles something that finally pushes Kagemaru over the edge. He lets the spy fall to the floor, walks up to Toshi to poke him in the chest.

"I've had quite enough of you Toshi. I've been onto you for a while now and found out some stuff. I know you're no farmer. Your stamina is laughable and your hands are too smooth. The way you looked at people on our travels I'd say you're more of a con.

How you're acting around Kasumi and talking to her, you to have either been intimate or working together. From how she treats you on the other hand and obviously the difference in looks I can safely assume that it's the latter.

Last but not least, you must be extremely greedy AND stupid, to go back to the place where the powerful guy lives you stole horses from." Kage says, calmly and almost intimidating, while pushing Toshi further until his back is up to a wall. "And you're trying to use us to achieve that I assume. What do you have to say in defense?"

"I don't know!" the spy pleads. "I get my orders through a dead drop! I don't know who the Crane is, it's just how he signs his orders!"

All through Kage's accusations, Toshi's stance grows defensive. It's enough to suspect he's got a hidden weapon, but he does not get close to drawing it.

"I left all that behind!" Toshi says. "It was an empty life and I was never happy. When I met Yukio, I gave it all up! I tried to go straight. But you're right. I'm not a very good farmer. When our horses died to the snakebites, I didn't have any money to buy new ones. I thought I'd just borrow some horses from the stables, but then I saw the two with Matsumoto's brand and I thought I could save our cart and ransom them back for a nest egg, two birds with one stone! One last con to ensure our future. I didn't know someone would steal the horses right from under me!"

One more for the lie pile: Toshi can be quite the speaker when he wants to.

"Look," he says. "I'm sorry for deceiving you. But please believe me that I never wanted any harm to come to Yukio. Don't you think I could have just run away when I found out the horses were gone? I would've been far away before anyone could come looking for me. But I couldn't just leave her alone with the problem. Please. I have to fix this. All I can do is for you to forgive me and ask for your help. I'll find some way to make it up to you, I swear!"

"For all we know, every word out of your mouth is a lie. For now, let's agree that we have a common target," Kagemaru says calmly, walking over to Kasumi.

"I'd appreciate your help with finding Matsumoto's horses," Kagemaru says. "We thought we should find them to help Toshi at first - but they should also work to gain the Fox's favour."

Kasumi bows to Kagemaru. "I would be glad to help you find Matsumoto-sama's horses. If you're looking for a way into his court, there's no better way right now. Do you have any leads as to where they might be?"

"Since everyone is burning to find them right now, our best bet is that they're hiding in the woods," Kagemaru says. He points to Ramma and adds "At least that's what our wilderness specialist here thinks."

As you turn to leave for the woods, Kiara expresses her displeasure with Toshi's actions though a simple slap on the head. The con man winces and ducks, rubbing his head, but says nothing.

---

The road into the woods takes you past a large sawmill and several teams of lumberjacks. The city is clearly growing a shantytown where the forest is cleared, and there's a healthy bustle. Over the next half hour, workers become more and more scarce, and finally, as you cross an old stone bridge over a small tributary to the valley's big river, you realize it's been a while since you've seen anyone. The path through the forest is an old one, formed with large stones and trampled into place, but ever since the Forge has experienced its boom, most traffic goes through it, over the mountain passes and on the river.

Toshi's mood elevates, and you soon find him whistling along to the bird songs that fill the air. Sunlight shoots through the canopy of trees, forming a golden glow cast over the land.

[img]http://lh6.ggpht.com/_Xi3z_ZJZy7o/Sv1W9IngmjI/AAAAAAAAAh4/wYSnZrzopZo/s800/095.JPG[/img]

Ramma's ears perk up when he hears a twig snapping behind him. He shouts "On Guard!" just in time, as four bandits spring out of their hiding places, ready to attack!

Kiara slips the ninja-to out of its hiding place and closes the distance with the nearest bandit, hoping to bring him down quickly. Ramma has his bow drawn in the blink of an eye. As if in slow motion, he nocks an arrow, draws it back and lets it fly, catching another approaching bandit right through the neck. Kasumi rallies her defenses, but the bandit that comes for her swings his club at her, slipping it beneath her defense; it slams against her side and causes her to spit out her breath. The last bandit sizes up Kagemaru; the ninja tenses his muscles and effortlessly strikes the bandit's chest with a dim-mak death touch. The precise strike instantly stops the attacker's heart, and he falls over, dead on the spot.

Kiara's bandit tries to attack her, but her counter is instant and deadly; she rams her blade through his ribs and sticks it in good and deep. With her left arm, she pushes the bandit off the blade and runs over to the last survivor, eager to end the fight. However, Kasumi has already recovered from the bandit's attack; his next blow disappears into a flurry of kimono sleeves and flashing limbs, fast enough that even Kagemaru has trouble keeping up. After a few seconds, she stops, gives the dazed bandit a smile and puts her index finger on his forehead, easily pushing him over. He hits the ground with a thud, completely out of it.

As the fighters disperse from the fallen bandit, Ramma takes the tension off his bow and lowers it. In the middle stands Toshi, looking around at the carnage.

"You...you guys are good!" he stammers.

Kasumi waits for the bandit, now with his hands bound behind his back and sat upright against a tree off the road, to rouse himself back into consciousness. As his eyes flutter back open, she smiles warmly at the man she knocked out just a few minutes ago.
"Hello," she says in a sing-song tone of voice. "My friends and I were wondering what you were doing out here, ambushing innocent travelers like ourselves. Care to explain yourself?"

"Huh," the bandit says, still stunned. "Where...where Kenshiro at, and -"

He looks up and around, seeing you surround him.

"Oh shit! Fuck, you iced 'em!"

[Editor's Note: Not the bandit's much more Japanese accent, either. But, again, you get the idea.]

"Woah, lay off me, sista girl! I'ma spill if you let me scoot, we cool?" He looks around again. "Man, we repping with Eagle's set, he's the man who got the forest on lockdown. So this morning Eagle come through with his crew and a pair of horses, tell us to lay down any and all motherfuckers coming this way! He got his camp two miles down this way, rollin' like twenty deep. That's all I know!"

You wait until dusk to make your way to the bandit camp. As per the plan, you split up: Kasumi and Toshi will try to retrieve the horses, Kagemaru and Kiara will go after the "Eagle", whoever he is, and Ramma will support them with his bow from a distance.

Ramma tries his luck climbing into a nearby tree. [1d20 = 9] His first attempt ends with a cracking noise and a broken-off tree branch in his hand. Unfazed, he reaches up again. [1d20 = 11] This time, he finds purchase and pulls himself up, slowly but steadily.

Kasumi and Toshi steal their way into the camp, disguised with the clothes of the dead bandits. It doesn't take long before they're in the middle of the camp, walking between tents. The main campfire and smaller lanterns inside the tents cast a minimum of light onto them. Kasumi can hear horses neigh in the distance - maybe another tent further and they'll be able to see them, just a little further...

"Hey!" a voice comes from behind them. "Why aren't you at your posts?"
Kasumi straightens up and puts on her best "What the fuck are you doing" pose. "I'm takin' a leak. Would you rather I go off into the woods and get us spotted?" [1d20+11 = 12 + 11 = 23]

The bandit looks you over. [1d20+2 = 18 + 2 = 20] After a few tense seconds, he shakes his head. "Just make it quick, alright? Eagle's pissed off tonight and I don't want to get shouted at no more."
Kasumi nods. "Right." After the guard leaves, she motions for Toshi to follow her. "This way, I heard the horses over here."

With a nod of his head, Kagemaru signals Kiara that he's ready to sneak into the outpost. Just as they've learned in their training, they slowly move through the forest, closer to the biggest tent. Carefully, they avoid making any noises and hide from the unsuspecting eyes of the bandits. [1d20 = 5 + 9 = 14] Kiara follows right behind Kage. [1d20+9 = 12 + 9 = 21]

Kiara and Kagemaru easily slip past the handful of bandits patrolling the perimeter. The noises and the sheer number of tents however promise a serious number of bandits in the camp - at least two dozen, from Kiara's estimation. They sneak into what they believe to be Eagle's tent.
Meanwhile, Kasumi and Toshi have made their way to the "stables", if you can call them that - it's essentially a few trees where horses are tied up for the night. Not very comfortable for the horses, but convenient for quick getaways. There doesn't seem to be anyone guarding the horses, so they quickly set to work searching the horses for the Old Fox's brand. Kasumi doesn't even get two horses in before Toshi whisper-shouts at her. "I've got them! I've got them! Over here!"

"Keep it down, Toshi," Kasumi says as she sneaks up. She motions for him to crouch down with her below the level of the horses' backs, giving them some degree of concealment from the bandits. "We have to wait for Kagemaru and Kiara to create our distraction before we ride out of here."
"Uh, okay," Toshi says. "Hey, horsies, did you miss me?" he coos. "Yes, it's alright, Toshi is here to take you from these evil people." He looks back to Kasumi. "So, uh, how will we know when they're distracted?"
"Listen for screams and shouting," Kasumi says with a grin. "That's usually a pretty reliable sign that they've done their job."

Inside the Eagle's tent, Kiara and Kagemaru face a little problem - though it's probably not quite appropriate to call the mountain of a man lying on his mattress "little". His somewhat finer clothes and collection of weapons nearby identify him as the leader of this band of brigands, but - seriously, this guy has got to be 8 feet tall and 300 pounds heavy. Kiara unsheathes her ninja-to and mimes stabbing the man, motioning for Kage to follow her lead.

In a flowing motion, Kage removes his garotte from its hiding place and slowly moves next to Kiara, getting ready for a quick and lethal attack. The Eagle doesn't move, save for his mouth. "You're in the way of the light," he says.

INITIATIVE!
Kage: [1d20+7 = 11 + 7 = 18]
Kiara: [1d20+7 = 12 + 7 = 19]
Eagle: [1d20+4 = 10 + 4 = 14]

Kiara does the simple thing: try to stab Eagle, twice.

Her first attack [1d20+5 = 20 + 5 = 25] easily finds purchase in Eagle's shoulder, inflicting [1d8+4 = 7 + 4 = 11] a serious wound, nicking a major artery. Never one to leave a job half-done, Kiara stabs down again [1d20+5 = 3 + 5 = 8], but the Eagle rolls out of the way of that attack just in time.

With an agile leap, Kagemaru jumps on top of Eagle and tries to get the noose of his garotte around the enemy's neck. [1d20+7 = 17 + 7 = 24] The Eagle bucks under him, trying to slip away [1d20+9 = 19 + 9 = 28] and finally escapes from Kage's grasp, rudely throwing the ninja to the ground.

With a loud battlecry, the Eagle grabs his trusty axe and swings at Kiara [1d20+6 = 11 + 6 = 17], parting the air (and ripping a bit of cloth off her sleeve) [1d10+3 = 2 + 3 = 5].

Kiara's pretty much left with only one recourse: stab, stab, stab and stab again at the mountain of meat before her. Her first attack [1d20+5 = 14 + 5 = 19] [1d8+4 = 6 + 4 = 10] inflicts another gash on the Eagle's chest; her second try [1d20+5 = 19 + 5 = 24] [1d8+4 = 4 + 4 = 8] sinks into the Eagle's arm, producing another shout of pain. The big man is now swaying through his tent like a wounded animal in its last throes, trying to simply swat the lithe ninjas aside, but he's still standing.

Meanwhile, Kasumi and Toshi have gotten the signal they've been waiting for. After Eagle's first scream, the camp has slowly roused from sleep/eating/random debauchery, and the sounds of a struggle from their leaders tent have attracted attention. It can't be long before the bandits send someone to investigate.
"Okay, time to go, Toshi," Kasumi says, and starts untying one of the horses. "We head straight into the forest, stay together, and we should be alright." She finishes undoing the reins, looks up at Toshi, and smiles. "Okay, are you ready to go?"
"Yes, yes, let's go!" Toshi says, then climbs onto one of the horses. [1d20+5 = 14 + 5 = 19]
Kasumi climbs up and throws a leg over the second horse. "Come on, girl, let's get out of here..." [1d20+3 = 11 + 3 = 14] The horse sways nervously in response. [1d4 = 3] After a moment of hesitation and some more kind words from Kasumi, the horse moves.
"They're coming for us," Toshi says loudly. Kasumi looks around to see some hollering bandits heading their way. The fight in the tent is still going on. "What now?"

Kasumi looks into the forest, at Toshi, the horses, and the tent. You don't owe them anything, Kasumi, she thinks. A twinge of guilt shoots through her mind. Damn. "Okay, Toshi, let's go save your friends. Stay right behind me, alright?"
"Al-alright, Kasumi! Ho!" [1d20+5 = 4 + 5 = 9] Toshi's horse trots half-heartedly in the direction he wants, but it's not exactly the big gallop Kasumi had foreseen.
God, we're all going to die... "Hyaa!" [1d20+3 = 6 + 3 = 9] [1d4 = 2] Kasumi's horse, at least, gets the hint, and gallops off towards the big tent, where the shadows speak of a mighty struggle indeed. "Kasumi! Kasumi!" she hears Toshi shout behind her. "Argh, these stupid horses! Nothing but trouble!"
"Maybe you'll think twice before stealing them again!" she shouts back, focusing on navigating the winding path to the Eagle's tent.

Landing in a roll, Kage is quickly back on his feet. Without thinking twice, he jumps at the Eagle again, trying once more to catch him in a grapple. [1d20+7 = 10 + 7 = 17] [1d20+9 = 11 + 9 = 20] The Eagle buckles again under Kagemaru before throwing the ninja off a second time. In doing so, his mighty axe spins again, heading for Kiara once more. [1d20+6 = 9 + 6 = 15] His first swing goes wide; [1d20+6 = 20 + 6 = 26], but his second catches Kiara off-guard, sinking deep into her flesh. [1d10+3 = 8 + 3 = 11] The slicing motion opens Kiara's side, and she barely manages to suppress a scream, holding her quick-bleeding side with her free hand.
Kiara's response is more knife-play: [1d20+5 = 16 + 5 = 21] [1d8+4 = 2 + 4 = 6] Her first strike draws more blood, but doesn't show a sign of slowing the Eagle down; [1d20+5 = 18 + 5 = 23] [1d8+4 = 4 + 4 = 8] the second is more of the same.

Trying not to doubt his abilities, Kagemaru once more tries to get the Eagle into a good grapple. [1d20+7 = 5 + 7 = 12]
[1d20+9 = 3 + 9 = 12] Incredibly enough, Kagemaru finally gets a good grip on the Eagle, now that the mountain of muscle has slowed down some from raw attrition. His garotte inches ever closer to the man's neck...

The Eagle has to stop swinging his axe - well, that's not quite true, he keeps swinging his axe, but he can't aim for Kiara anymore, being busy fighting off the ninja on his back. [1d20+9 = 10 + 9 = 19] Kage is understandably reluctant to let go and tries like hell to stay on [1d20+7 = 5 + 7 = 12] but the Eagle maneuvers close to one of the tentposts and rams his back against it, shaking Kagemaru off and bringing the whole damn tent down on them.

The mixture of tentcloth and tipped-over lantern proves to be predictably uncomfortable; after a moment of digging themselves out, Kiara and Kage are on opposite sides of Eagle, the large man standing between them bleeding, burning and not the least bit happy about it. Kasumi rounds a corner and sees Kagemaru and Kiara standing on opposite sides of a huge flaming, bleeding brute of a man who she surmises must be Eagle. hinking quickly, she snatches a lantern off a post as she rides past it and charges for the bandit leader. [1d20+7 = 6 + 7 = 13]

Kiara nods to Kage, waiting for his move. The lithe ninja whips his garotte at Eagle, faking an attack. [1d20+9 = 16 + 9 = 25] [1d20+4 = 6 + 4 = 10] Eagle, distracted by - well, everything - falls for it, overstepping and almost tripping over the remains of the tent. Kiara jumps at him with another attack [1d20+5 = 17 + 5 = 22] [1d8+1d6+4 = 5 + 5 + 4 = 14], finally bringing the goliath to his knees. Another swipe [1d20+5 = 9 + 5 = 14] only hits air, but it doesn't really matter: Eagle is clearly way beyond any hope of winning this bout. Kage sizes the fallen giant up and [1d20+4 = 10 + 4 = 14] tries to get in one last kick, but the giant actually collapses out from under him, as good as dead.

That leaves just the matter of the screaming bandits surrounding you.

One charges at the wounded Kiara, but a whistling sound rushes past her, striking the bandit in the chest and dropping him - Ramma finally had a clear shot at something. Kagemaru whips around and sees Kasumi riding for them, lantern in hand.

"Get on the horses!" she shouts as she pulls the horse to a stop. She looks behind her for Toshi.
[1d20+5 = 2 + 5 = 7] "Uh, hey," Toshi says to the bandits surrounding him with spears. "You, ah, you fellas like horses, huh?"

"Idiot," Kasumi says. "Did they teach you how to throw?" she asks Kagemaru.
"There's nobody better," Kagemaru replies.
She hands him the lantern. "I think Toshi's friends could use a little warming up."

Kagemaru takes the lantern, sizes up the target and hurls the unwieldy contraption [1d20+5-2 = 4 + 5 - 2 = 7]. The lantern...does not go where he wants it to go, mostly because throwing lanterns is not quite the same as shuriken or even smoke bombs. The lantern does hit another tent, though, setting it ablaze and momentarily distracting the bandits surrounding Toshi. [1d20+5 = 19 + 5 = 24] For once in his life, Toshi gets the hint and grabs the reigns hard, flashing past the bandits with his now-galloping horse.

"I'm coming!" he shouts. "I'm coming!"

The bandits are, by now, fairly overwhelmed. Their leader is dead, their camp is on fire, and anyone who tries to flee is being peppered with arrows from afar. Kiara can't quite tell how much longer the confusion will last, but finding out isn't high on her list of priorities.

Kasumi moves her horse up next to the injured ninja. "Come on, get up here," she says, offering Kiara her hand. The young ninja accepts and swings up onto the horse behind Kasumi. Kage has less luck with his ride; Toshi doesn't quite seem to know how to stop his horse, so Kage has to swing onto a galloping horse from a jump. With a burning bandit camp behind them and more whooshing arrows covering their retreat, the four disappear into the night, with one dead bandit leader and two stolen horses to their names.

After a half hour of riding across the forest, doubling back several times to shake pursuit, you're back at the rally point. All the way, Kiara's been clinging to Kasumi with one arm and pressing down on her wounds with the other, but throughout the ride her moans of pain have gotten quieter. Finally, with the help of Toshi and Kagemaru, Kiara climbs off the horse; you carry her to the next tree and sit her up against it. Kage gives Kiara some herbs against the pain, and Kasumi sees to Kiara's wounds (Take 20) [2d6 = 8] but can't do much more than disinfect them and haphazardly bandage the cuts. (Back to 7/14 Wounds, 21/22 Vitality.)

"You...you can't ride like this!" Toshi blurts out, looking at Kiara.
"I can," Kiara says, "if I have to."
"That's...you're nuts! You're totally nuts!" Toshi says, gesticulating wildly.
"I thought you ninja were supposed to be untouchable," Kasumi says with a grin as she wraps some crude bandages around Kiara's waist.
"We weren't trained to fight mountains," Kiara replies, wincing from the pain.
"Alright, that should hold for now," Kasumi says. "But we need to get her into town and get rid of these horses quickly."

Kagemaru takes a look at Kiara's wounds and tries his best to fix her up. But a while later he realizes they're deeper than he thought.

"I'm sorry Kiara, I can't do much more for you. You'll have to take some time off to get this to heal without complications. I'd say we bring you back to Yukio. I'm sure you can stay there and wait for your wounds to heal."
"Bullshit," Kiara says, trying to get up and smack Kage on the head for that, but the pain in her side forces her to sit back down quickly. Without the adrenaline to work with, she's in even less of a fighting shape than she seemed like five minutes ago. "Fine," she says, quieter. "But I'll take a caravan back to Golden Harvest. You have other places to be."
"Heh, I gotta remember that: 'Kiara is reasonable when she's heavily wounded!', might come in handy sometime." Kagemaru says with a warm smile.
"Just get me out of here," Kiara says. "Back to the city." She looks around. "Anybody seen Ramma?"
"Not since before the fight. Probably ran off after things became nasty back at the camp," Kasumi says, and ties off Kiara's bandages. She offers the wounded ninja her hand. "Come on, we have to go."
"Damn mercenaries," Kiara says, wincing as she's lifted up by Kagemaru and Kasumi. With their help, she makes it onto Kage's horse; Kasumi and Toshi share the second.
"Now we just have to return these horses to their rightful owner, and poor Toshi here can get back to his life," Kasumi says. "Isn't that right, Toshi?" she whispers in his ear, a threatening edge to her voice.
"Yes!" Toshi laughs. "Right back to my wife and my simple life."
"Right... simple life," Kagemaru says slowly, leaving no doubt of what he really thinks.

---

The clearing is full of burnt tents. What they could take with them, they did – the rest, they left behind. Even the bodies of the fallen were left to rot, with no thought given to their burial. In short, the entire camp was first devastated and then abandoned with great haste.

In the large tent that was Eagle’s home, there is more – things the underlings did not think to loot. Mostly, there are weapons, but they are crude and heavy, not worth the effort of taking them into town to sell them. But within the chaos, there are shreds of cloth that are not from the bandits or their leader. The fabric is a quirky one, more flexible and less coarse than the simple rags of a common brigand.

There is no doubt now. Only one place nearby where such fabric is used. Only one sort of people who would wear it.

Toshiba Shiretoko is tracking an Ayami-clan ninja.