Chapter 4.1
Katashi listened intently, patiently. The sound was indeed voices and they were fading away. He was content to let them too. Regardless of what was on the ground near him he had no interest in inviting trouble with who ever the voices belonged to, especially if things were laid out as they appeared to be. As they trailed off he intently studied the form on the ground. It was a person and it wasn’t moving. The light was ever dimming but still he searched for any sign of life and saw none. Silently he raised up and quickly walked over to the form taking the chance that no one was on the other side of the clearing waiting for him to do just this.
He knelt beside the figure and put fingers to the persons neck, breathing a sigh of relief that an arrow, or some other missile wasn’t coming his way. There was no pulse. He rolled the figure over and in the dim light saw the face of his friend, Hayato. Katashi was visibly shaken. He had of course seen death before, but this was Hayato. Just a day or two ago he had talked and conversed with him. He was contemplating what the proper thing was to do and was leaning towards putting his mission on hold and taking Hayato’s body back to the temple so they could give him the appropriate rites when he hard the voices returning. There was only seconds to make a decision.
He could try and deal with who ever they were. He was confident in his ability to handle them as long as there weren’t too many of them, and they weren’t too skilled. This was a real risk though as Hayato was lying in front of him, evidence that they were good enough to dispatch him. He remembered the last conversation with his Master and decided that the mission he had been tasked with was his top priority, especially now that Hayato was gone.
He therefore rolled Hayato back over to the position he had found him in and silently moved out of the clearing. He moved away from the voices and began a slow pace to put several miles distance between him and the body of his friend. Finally, under the star lit moonless night he walked off the trail and secured himself a place to spend the night at the base of a tree. Sleep came slowly. Katashi tried to calm himself and was almost successful. There was a dark premonition in his mind that this mission he was on would not end well, and he may not survive. Eventually the thoughts faded away and a troubled fitful sleep overcame him.
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