The Dream Shifter

Chapter 121

There was a slow swallowing of his words as Tamotsu tested and measured out his next words carefully. "Lord Masahiko took me in when I had nothing and treated me like his own son. Lady Chiharu…I—"

"Then you must feel the same desire to see those that ordered his murder brought the point of the Chinen's blade!"

"But what about the consequences of what you're planning! The three clans have not been enemies in centuries, Lady Chiharu!"

"I'm quite aware the history of the old ninja clans. It was not us that broke the truce between the three clans, but the Higoshi Clan. Their arrogance will cost them gravely, Tamotsu." Chiharu began to walk again with her temper fading to an even boil as it had been since she awoke. She could not listen to his whining any further.

Tamotsu was forced to keep her pace through the underground until they came back out to the main level of the mansion. The smell of nature was thick through the rooms despite the doors and windows being shut. He had adjusted his senses before focusing back to Chiharu. "The last time this happened it meant war. It is no secret in the location of the clans, but they've been competition and not enemies. This'll change everything, Lady Chiharu! Please rethink your plan!"

"I never knew you were so much of a coward, Tamotsu…" Chiharu continued through the mansion with Tamotsu coming to a halt. He stared at her back as she disappeared around a corner.

Worry and frustration had blended on his face as he tried to search out for his place. "It's not cowardice to be concerned about your well-being, Lady Chiharu…"

One of the men in the mansion slowly approached Tamotsu as he witnessed the exchange between the two. He was a young man in his twenties and carried a healthy grin. "Lady Chiharu is in good spirits today, sir!"

Tamotsu tilted his head over to see one of her subordinates nearby. "Yes, I'm grateful that she's better, but her recklessness concerns me…"

"You've always looked after her like a father, sir. The Lady may be reckless at times, but that's why we're here to protect her. Right, sir?" The man had a strangely comforting smile on his face that played at naïve innocence while burying the dark jaded side that existed in all of them. It was an odd attitude for a killer.

"I suppose you're right…" A momentary break of his stern appearance allowed a warm smile to appear on his face. It was gone in an instant as he corrected himself and walked on dismissing the man. His mind had been in deep thought even while he was trying to prevent Chiharu's attack. Plans of his own were being created and trashed as he tried to figure out his own strategy. '…however, what concerns me the most is the child. She took on the weight of the family without hesitation and her strategies are surprisingly intelligent. I didn't think she'd cause my plans this much trouble… I'm still ahead, but this'll be far more interesting than I expected from her…Lady Chiharu…'

In the right wing of the mansion, where most of the bedrooms were, there was a low echo from Chiharu's feet marching through the hall. Only a few men were posted along the path with many still trying to carry out the recent orders. Clearing the forest was not reasonable, but making a road out into the city was small enough. It still proved a pain staking task, however Chiharu's plans could not be put into action until there was a way out.

She acknowledged the low pounding and grinding from her men outside working on the trees. Chiharu kept her stern expression for her entire walk until she came to a stop in front of her room. There were two men guarding the sliding doors. Their expressions quickly changed stiffly as they noticed her approach, trying to look as though there was nothing wrong. Her eyes narrowed immediately reading their complaints. "Something wrong?" she pressed.

Both men became even more rigid than seemed possible. Sweat was quickly beginning to build up on them as Chiharu leaned in at the two of them putting her head up towards them, which actually was pretty difficult considering her age (fourteen year old intimidating two grown men). The slow breaking down process in their faces eventually came to loosen their lips. "It's all really creepy, Lady Chiharu!"

The guard on the left of the guard nodded in agreement with the other. "Yeah, it's like something unnatural is at work."

"I didn't know I had such children in my ranks that they'd be scared with a little tree growth."

"But it happened so fast!"

"It's not possible! How can you not be unsettled by it?"

Her two guards had completely lost any composure that they might have had turning into complete shaking wrecks before Chiharu. It was annoying for her to see them acting so embarrassingly in front of her. "You simply accept it as reality. Nothing more, there's no point in thinking about something you can't understand. Once you realize that, it's not an issue." She snapped at the two him with a cold glare that put them back into their positions. The guards quickly opened the doors for her so that she could enter.

"We're terribly sorry, Lady Chiharu!"

"We're an embarrassment to the clan! Please forgive us!"

Chiharu walked in ignoring the two. "…and they say I'm the child…" The guards closed the doors promptly behind her giving her privacy.

"It's amazing…"

"Lady Chiharu's so mature!"

A sigh escaped her lips as she went further into the room. The poor sunlight made her room dark and thick. It felt small and wrapped around her as though every part was connected to her. It made it seem less empty and alone than she actually felt. There were men all over her home and yet despite that it always felt as though she was walking alone unable to find anyone. No connections could be made. Her only solace had been Tamotsu and it seemed that she was distancing herself from him even though she was not meaning it. She could not help it throwing them all away from her; it was instinct.

Chiharu slid open the doors to the back of her room. In the distance she could see a couple men making patrols; always watching so that no more intruders could break in. '…so empty…' She turned back and approached a small table display with a picture of her grandfather at the center. Chiharu knelt down in front and brought her hands together quietly. 'Please watch over me grandfather. I won't fail you. I'll show you that I can lead the clan. Grandfather…'

As Chiharu was finishing her prayers a small fox from the forest came running into her room and brushed against her back. It startled her enough that she spun around and bore out her short bladed sword at the innocent animal. Chiharu's mouth hung open for a moment as her words were cut short seeing that it was not an intruder. The fox froze for a second before starting to lick the blade out in front of it. There was brief countdown for Chiharu before a scream was unleashed through the mansion.

The two guards at her door were the first ones into the room. They stopped a moment later seeing that Chiharu was not in danger of being assaulted, at least by anything threatening. The guards could not help but sweat a little watching her chase off the fox back into the forest.

"Stupid damn forest has to surround my house! And they think they can all just start going anywhere they want!" Chiharu fumed from the edge of the stairs to her room. She marched back in still going about how much trouble everything was for her. It took her a moment to realize that she was not alone. "What?" A narrow glare to her guards sent them back to their posts pretending that they did not see anything. "How can anyone be calm when the world's going to hell?!" She had let out a puff of air before dropped herself down to the mats crossing her legs as she went.

Night eventually came to the town. Chiharu's men had finally finished making a rough path out to the entrance. It was a stump filled mess of vines and broken greenery unceremoniously being flattened into the ground by roaring land rovers. Each of the off road vehicles carried heavily armed squads of five men dressed in black. Riding at the head was Chiharu in the backseat running her fingers along the blade of her short sword uninterrupted by the bumps of the terrain. Next to her Tamotsu quietly sat with his eyes closed looking displeased.

Chiharu sheathed the sword and tightened the belt on her pants. All she could do was run through her equipment waiting for the time to arrive for her. 'Tonight…we have revenge!'