Before him stood the tanuki that had killed the rest of his band of men. For days Kazu tracked it through the forest, and while the creature knew this particular mountainous area of the forest better than he did, Kazu never let up. Unbeknowst to Kazu and his band at the time, the tanuki had killed one of the men and taken his form. Over a period of a few days it proceeded to kill the remaining men one by one, each time shifting into someone else, until finally the remaining men had no idea who was real or not. That’s what the tanuki enjoyed. The chaos. The fear. The last two men accused each other of being the beast and died with their swords in each other’s hearts as the tanuki laughed above them.

Kazu wasn’t particularly close to any of the men; they all needed to make a living and they did that better together than alone, especially on the road. Regardless of his personal feelings for those men however, this creature needed to die. It had stalked them and played with them and murdered them. Kazu was the only one left. Now it was the tanuki’s turn to know fear.

He loosed an arrow and leapt towards the tanuki before it even landed. The creature turned at the sudden noise and took the arrow in the chest, right above its heart. It had no time to react as Kazu’s sword pierced through its eye. The creature dropped, trying to shift into a man, any man, while its claws struck wildly at Kazu. Blood fell from his cheeks as claws connected, but he felt nothing. The sight beneath him was horrific, as though the wounded, panicking tanuki couldn’t fully form the man it wanted to be. It was a constantly shifting wave of man and beast.

“You’re next!” it screamed, the voice unnatural and blood curdling. It continued swinging its claws at him, Kazu’s sword hanging from its eye. Foam speckled its mouth. It tried to hurl more abuse but the fear and panic were taking over. Kazu held on for dear life, he wasn’t going to let it escape again. He tried to squeeze his hands around the creature’s throat, but the constant shifting made it difficult to keep hold of anything.

“I know who you are, Kazu,” the creature finally spat out. “What you’ll be.”

Kazu, eyeing the sword hanging from the tanuki’s eye, stopped.

“What did you say?”

The tanuki laughed, a horrible, choking laugh.

“Oh yes, I know, Kazu the clanless, Kazu the common born, Kazu the poor merchant’s son. Kazu the drifter with no family name who floats from place to place fighting and thieving and trying to find the one thing he’s missing.”

Kazu swallowed but kept his eye firmly on the sword. It could just be another trick. Perhaps the creature had gotten the information from one of the men before he died. It made more sense than a tanuki that could see into the future.

“And what am I missing, huh?” he asked.

The tanuki gave up trying to shift and instead lay back on the ground, blood running down its face and chest, its breathing becoming more and more laboured.

“Acceptance. Family. People who will love you despite who you are… and what you’ve done.”

Kazu let out a surprised laugh. Ever since his father died and left him orphaned as a young boy Kazu had done whatever it took to survive. Some of those things were regrettable, but he’d done what was needed to survive. No acceptance or love could change that now.

“I’ve seen what’s in store for you, Kazu the wanderer. Achieve great things you will, oh yes. Amazing things.”

The tanuki coughed up more blood.

“But you’ll never get what you’re looking for. Never find what you seek. Thousands of men at your command and all you’ll feel is a crushing loneliness.”

Kazu could no longer tell if the creature was laughing or choking.

“Be careful what you wish for, Kazu the forest bandit. You might not like it when you get it.”

This had gone on for long enough.

“You can see the future, huh? Well then how come you didn’t see this?”

Kazu pulled his sword out of the creatures eye, stood up and rammed it into the creature’s heart. He took a step back and then swung the bloodied sword down with all his might. With a sickening crunch the tanuki’s head split from its body. The remains of the creature twitched a few moments longer before it finally stopped. Blood pooled slowly on the ground where its head had once been. Kazu collapsed to his knees, blood drenched and face burning. He had finally done it. After endless days of very little sleep and very little food, he had finally done it.

The tanuki’s last words spun around in his head as he fell forward and the world turned black.

***

Kazu sat up, his head pounding and body aching with fatigue and hunger. His face burned from the tanuki’s scratches on his cheek. He wiped his face a few times and the cuts began to bleed again. He looked around. He needed food. He needed shelter. He needed somewhere to recuperate for the night. The sun was rising in the east. He followed it. He knew the way.

The sun was high in the sky when he finally reached the edge of the forest. He could see a castle in the distance. Oohara Castle. Finally. Kazu was born in the south of Miharu province, the lands ruled by the Yashiro clan, and while he’d never been to their main stronghold himself he’d heard enough stories about the splendor kept there. Enough to keep a ragtag bunch of criminals going for quite some time. That plan was up in smoke now.

He stumbled forward, leaning against a stick he picked up in the forest. He wouldn’t mourn for the men, they had known each other barely a few months. But he would miss the safety in numbers, and the ease of making a living that a larger group of men provided.

Soldiers were marching towards the castle in the distance. They were wearing the crest of Yashiro. He kept as far as he could from the main road, doing his best to keep out of sight. More samurai and their men were advancing towards the castle. They were getting ready for war.

Kazu found a small farm on the outskirts of town. While soldiers continued their march to the castle he snuck inside and closed the door behind him. The world was spinning again. He put a hand against the wall to steady himself and looked around. A small pot of rice sat over a long burnt out fire. He knocked a chair over in his haste to get to it and began shoveling the rice into his mouth. Even cold it was the most delicious meal he’d ever tasted. Within minutes it was gone.

He sat back against the wall and closed his eyes. Just a little rest, before the owners…

The door opened. Two faces appeared.

“What is… who are you?”