Scott McGough: Outlaw:Champions of Kamigawa

"Hello?" he called. "I just saved us all? Anyone care to thank me?"

Tough, unyielding hands seized him and pinned his arms behind him. Toshi smelled blood and fresh meat, felt coarse, muddy fur against his skin. Someone kicked his feet out from under him.

"Thank you," one of the kitsune warriors said. Two of the foxfolk held him down while the third relieved him of his weapons.

Toshi struggled, but they held him fast. He craned his neck to view the entrance to the cave, but no one was emerging yet. The foxes holding him growled, and Toshi bared his teeth, smiling savagely.

"Here," he said, "is where things get interesting."

Michiko hardly dared to believe her eyes when her friends came rushing into Toshi's cave. Pearl-Ear, Riko, and Sharp-Ear all looked as if they'd spent a month in the woods and they stank of meat and musk. How long had they been searching, and what trials had they endured?

Before she could say a word, Michiko was swept up in Lady Pearl-Ear's arms. Her teacher's embrace almost brought them both to the floor of the cave, but then Riko and Sharp-Ear were there, propping her up as they joined the embrace.

"You're alive," Sharp-Ear said happily. "I'm really quite relieved."

"Is this real, my friends? Have you truly found me?" Michiko muttered.

"You're safe now." Pearl-Ear pushed back and peered into Michiko's face. "Are you hurt? Did he harm you in any way?"

Michiko paused before replying, daunted by the intensity in Lady Pearl-Ear's eyes. Was that blood on the sensei?

"No," she said at last. "He had a great deal to contend with. He was too preoccupied to pay me much mind." Michiko realized that Riko was still clinging to her.

"Riko?" she said, gently pushing her friend back.

"Sorry. I'm just so glad to see you. Choryu will be delighted." She put her hand on Michiko's shoulder. "I am delighted. I'm very glad you're safe, Princess."

Michiko nodded. She turned to Lady Pearl-Ear and said, "I know what my father did. I know why the spirits make war."

Sadness crept across Pearl-Ear's joyful face. "Hush now, my child. There will be time for such things later. But first, we must get you away from here."

Michiko peered over Lady Pearl-Ear's shoulder toward the mouth of the cave. "The snakes are gone?"

The fox-woman nodded. "And their kami with them. Your abductor managed to beat them back almost single-handedly. Where did he acquire such power? He didn't have it when the orochi attacked before."

Riko added, "And if he did, he chose not to employ it."

Michiko reddened. "He and I came to an arrangement while we waited. We agreed to help each other." She shrugged. "We were both at risk, so we put aside our differences."

Sharp-Ear laughed. "Fair enough. Why don't we ask him ourselves?"

Michiko nodded. "Yes. Take me to him."

The sunlight outside the cave stung her eyes, but Michiko adjusted quickly. She noticed the bodies of many orochi-bito, but she did not dwell on them. In the tower, she had rarely seen violence and death up close. Since she'd left, she seemed to see nothing else.

They led her to the bottom of a hillside, where two muddy kitsune warriors held Toshi pinned to the ground. A third stood over the struggling ochimusha, wielding Toshi's own sword.

"Princess," the sword-bearer called. "I am Frost-Tail. My brothers and I welcome you and pledge our service."

"Thank you, Frost-Tail." She bowed curtly. "Let him up."

"Hear, hear," Toshi grunted.

"I think not," Pearl-Ear said. "He will return with us to Eiganjo, bound if necessary. He has done you a great service today, but he also-" "I said let him up." Michiko strode forward and planted her feet as she glowered down at the kitsune. "He works for me now."

"Michiko," Pearl-Ear said gently. "I understand that you're grateful to the outlaw. But he must-"

"I am Princess Michiko Konda," she said. "The Daimyo's daughter and heir to the throne of Towabara. But I am also in league with this man. For my life, for the answers I seek, and for the foreseeable future, I have retained the services of his hyozan reckoners."

Pearl-Ear started to speak, then was silent. Sharp-Ear's face showed surprise, but his eyes sparkled with mischief and mirth. Riko stood as if pole-axed.

"Michiko?" she squeaked. "You didn't join a reckoner gang."

"No," Michiko said. "But I am hiring the services of this one."

"If you'll let me up now," Toshi said from underneath

Dawn-Tail, "I still have business to conduct."

Toshi knew it had been a long shot, but successfully soliciting a commission from the princess was worth it, just for the look on the kitsune party's faces.

"How could you agree to this?" Lady Pearl-Ear demanded. Her maternal demeanor and warm tones had given way to the cold, sharp voice of a disappointed mentor.

"I didn't trust him," Michiko said. "In fact, I feared him. This was the only way I could think of to ensure he wouldn't harm me before you arrived."

"But he's a criminal. These hyozan, they're all criminals. What will you do when they come knocking and tell you you're obliged to go a-thieving with them?"

"Doesn't work like that," Toshi said. "What we have is a for-hire arrangement. A business deal between enlightened individuals."

"Is that what they're calling murder gangs these days? Enlightened individuals?" The largest kitsune sneered. Each of the foxes looked as if he'd like to get his arm around Toshi's throat one last time.

"He is using you, Michiko, using your good nature and trust to exploit-"

"My father used me," Michiko said evenly. "The orochi tried to use me. The kami want to use me. Everyone seems to want me for something. Toshi is the only one who offered to be of use in return.

"I have much to tell you Lady Pearl-Ear… Riko… all of you. I have seen the cause of the Kami War. I am more committed than ever to stopping it. And I will use… yes, use… whatever and whomever I can to make this happen: my father's trust, the knowledge archived at Minamo, and the services of hyozan criminals. They are all my tools, and I will make the most of them. It is no different than what every leader does for the sake of her people."

Pearl-Ear stared at Michiko, then sadly shook her head. "I think you have made a terrible mistake," she said. "But I will be there to help you survive it." "Thank you, Lady Pearl-Ear."

The fox-woman turned to Toshi and said, "And you, ochimusha? What will you do now?"

Toshi had been waiting for this. While he had been pinned by the kitsune, the white-haired wizard had come out of the brush. He had stayed to the rear of the group, saying little. Toshi had not taken his eyes off him.

"First," he said, pointing at the wizard boy, "I'm going to settle up with your friend there."

Choryu blinked. "Me? What are you talking about now, you cutthroat?"

Michiko stepped up to him. "What do you mean by this?"

Toshi raised his voice, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Kobo… my partner… wasn't killed by the orochi. He was killed by that waste of space right there."

Choryu's face went slack. "No," he said. "You all saw.

The snakes tied him up and smothered him."

"They smothered him enough to subdue him," Toshi agreed. "And they tied him up. But they didn't kill him.

"Kobo had water in his lungs. He drowned. It would take more than a rainstorm to force liquid down the throat of an ogre's apprentice. It would take a river, or an ocean tide, focused right at his face. The orochi don't conjure powerful streams of water, as a rule, do they? But I know someone who does."

"It's a lie," Choryu said. He looked pleadingly at the faces all turned toward him. "Why would I kill the big man?"

"Because you couldn't find me. Because you saw him fight and feared what he could do if he stood against you." Toshi looked from face to face, challenging anyone to refute his accusation. "Because you panicked when you thought you might not lure Michiko to the Academy." Toshi gestured impatiently. "Come on, kitsune forest-folk. Tell me you didn't smell his scent on Kobo's body."