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The sound of hoofbeats could be heard from outside of the dojo but Keiji just sat there meditating. Although aware of his surroundings the young man refused to sway from the discipline of this technique. There were many forms of meditation, all of which held their own benefits. Sensei walked outside to speak to the people that were visiting.
Keiji would be told to do his kata over and over again later but after that he went to the gardens to think. There sat the most attractive woman that he had ever seen before. Long dark hair trailed down past her shoulders to reach the chinese red that was the colour of her kimono. Green eyes looked out beyond their sockets. There was an otherworldly feel about her.

"Sensei, what is it?"
His face seemed sad and pale. "It seems they have found out about who you are."
"Who?"
"Remember when your father died?" He paused. "The same clan that killed him is after you, they found out that you are his heir."
Keiji stood there, speechless.
Sensei's head hung low, he was visibly stirred at this problem.
"W-What, do I do Sensei?" Keiji stuttered.
"You will either have to fight, hide, or run." He took a long breath, letting it out in a sigh, "But the choice is yours."
"I am not finished training, I can't surive an attack!"
"Keiji, you have been ready a long time. The extra training was to make you even better" He smiled, "You are one of the few in these situations that can wield a sword with a masters speed."
"But, why did you always tell me I wasn't ready?"
"Because you never had a reason to leave here, and now you do."
"If I leave, how can I defend myself against an entire clan?"
"I have something that might help." A wide grin spread across his face. "follow me."
Keiji followed him to the back closet of the sensei's room. The sensei slid open the door, revealing a set of daisho on their stand. The Saya of the swords gleamed in the light, a metalic radience shone under they enameled surface. The Ito a crimson red, like blood covered tha hadle, and the tsuba was ornatly carved with the kanji "Rei", or "soul". The Shoto's smaller tsuba was ordamented with the carved kanji for "Kami no seigi", Devine justice.
"What are these?" Keiji exclamed, fascinated at the swords.
"This is one of the seven sets of the great swords, said to have "The power of god."
"How did you get these?" Keiji was still in awe of the swords beauty.
"You father somehow recieved these two swords, some type of gift from a noble-man."
Keiji sat silently pondering the swords.
"Keiji, you need to prepare for your departure. That woman will gather her allies and be here soon. You must leave before nightfall."
Keiji quickly stood up. "but where am I going to go?"
"Follow the wind, so it is always at your back, giving you speed."
"Thank you sensei, For everything you have taught me."
The master just smiled and gestured him away. Keiji followed the silent order and went to prepare his things.
"Matsamura-san, I hope your son fares better in the river of life than you did. He deserves to flow freely, and become an unstoppable waterfall."
The air was calm then, soft with a cool breeze, the sunset casting a glow across the earth. But Keiji's mind was a twisted tree of turmoil and thoughts. What was to become of him now?

Yume sat in the garden.
Why doesn't anyone see me? she thought, gazing at her surroundings, That boy, he saw me for a moment, she felt she needed to warn him. The Clan was coming, that deadly clan that killed his father, but I couldn't warn him. He probably thought I was just a dream...but I was sent to protect him. I am his guardian...but his sensei thinks I am the problem. What do I do?

When Sakura returned to the dojo that evening it seemed like a ghost town. Immediately after explaining the details of what had happened to the higher ranking Jade Assassin she went forth to find Keiji. She had missed the way in which he smiled and told her of his rather petty (but certainly awkward) training dillemmas. What she found was an empty room. She stared at the night from through the shutters of the room's window and wondered what had happened whilst she had been gone. It was all so unpleasantly quiet with the room so lacking in his vocalisations.
"Sensei Hitobe will know, surely..." she sighed as she went to find the boy's mentor in the chill air of that cold night. She wasn't sure if it was just the night or simply her feeling of shock at her friend being gone.

>You guys might find it useful to throw in elements of the pair of travelling mercenaries upon the road. Perhaps something interesting will happen to them... Then again, they might show up later... Its up to you. xd

Sakura had been suspicious of any spirit that had come before her over the years and there didn't seem like any difference with this beautiful 'ghost'. If Sakura had known the truth about Yume then she wouldn't have brought the blade out and fly into a flurry of attacks. Fortunately for the stranger known as Yume, these same offensives actions did not harm her chaotically incorporeal state.
Sakura swung at the female for over a minute without any success, beaded with the sweat that her effort had rewarded her. Yume just looked at her with the slight raising of her left eyebrow, "Lady Assassin, I shall offer you something in return for your peace then. I shall speak the solution to the dillemma that you faced upon your past mission. You must promise not to attack me after that though. You must promise it over the shrine."
Sakura was angered for the first time in ages. Not sure if this phantasm would inevertedly use the Jade Assassin to harm Keiji, Sakura felt hesitant. "I cannot trust you!"
"The shrine binds even spirits to this contact. I will promise to do neither you nor Keiji no harm as my part of this. I can do no less than that."
Sakura was sure that this was some sort of trick that the spirit spoke. No spirit that Sakura had ever known had been trustworthy so it was understandable that she had a twinge of doubt still running through her brain.
Yume thought of something, "You trust Keiji's master, yes?" Sakura nodded in confirmation, "Then understanding that he has the means to destroy me, he will do an invocation upon me to annihilate my soul should I harm or work to harm either or you in any way. Does that suffice?" Sakura seemed more content at this though she still held her doubts close.

Koei and Jubei woke up with the biggest shock. Instead of being in the same campsite as before, they were surrounded by the walls of an old temple. Koei made some nervous remark about sleepwalking but Jubei simply got up to search for food to fill his tender morning belly. As Koei sat in the same spot wondering where she was a cold fog entered the building like an vaporous vampire seeking its prey. Recognising it, "Chicamun, what the hell do you want?" She was not happy to find herself in the spirit's lair again, the third time in five months.
A booming voice came down on her angry at her impertinence, "I am Chicamun, Mistress of the Western Winds. Do not defy me or I shall put an end to your small and pointless little life, Tengu!"
Although Koei wasn't afraid of the spirit she decided to play servant. Crouching down she 'dutifully' begged forgiveness from the spirit before it seemed satisfied with her behaviour. "What is it that you seek of me, Mistress Chicamun?"
"I wish you to act as guardian for my son until he has met those that have murdered his father. Do this for me and I shall not cast my magicks upon you that would make you wish that you were dead."
Knowing that her friend had been watching, she didn't need to relay the information. Jubei sat leaning against the outer wall of the back entrance eating some sort of berries that may not be as beneficial as the taste would make the consumer think. Most of the plants around this place were for medicinal, some relieving simple things such as constipation, to more drastic illnesses such as cholera.
When the spirit finally left in mist form via the front door Jubei returned carrying some food for his companion. "Another job from that spirit, huh? Do we look like her personal mercenaries? Let somebody else deal with it, I say!"
Koei looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "She said that it was her son. I didn't even know that her species could bear children..."
"Not likely to earn any suitors with a mannish voice like that, either." This comment was rewarded when she gave him a quick slap on the back of his head. "Don't tell me that you like that damned b***h! She is a bully and inhuman..."
She stared at him, "You said that about me, remember? And besides, we might actually learn something this time 'round."

Sakura looked over the terrain with a critical and strategic eye. The young woman had difficulty in seeing anything out of her normal residence as anything but a potential threat. Maybe she'd been an assassin for too long but somehow the commonsense of it all made her feel secure. Sakura looked at Yume as they travelled. The being seemed to float along like a phantasm. Sakura couldn't rely on her but she would at least give her a chance to prove herself.
Sakura thought of Keiji for a moment in between a study of a queer bush that they'd passed. The young man was an innocent in all of these troubles. Sakura had spent numerous hours talking to Master Hitobe about her friend and had learnt much about his situation. She also knew that he was a half-human, a being that was the product of a spirit and a human's mating. It was unpredictable how the offspring of such a union would turn out but it was certain that his spiritual power needed to be channeled through training. Sakura hoped that the Sword of the Heavens would help the youth in this but he'd been so awkward with it in the past. In the night Keii had been called to the weapon, sleepwalking and wielding it in his unconscious state. Nobody but the small few had seen him do this but it was obvious that he had an attachment to the weapon regardless of his inexperience with it on a conscious level.
"It should take us a while to get there..." Sakura said, impatient at the time that it was going to take.
"He is safe for now. There is no need to concern yourself with his health..."
"I find it hard to trust you, spirit Yume. Do not betray me or Keiji or I will hunt you to the ends of the earth."