Laughter is the Worst Medicine, Part 16

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15

Ichiro ducked behind the town well out of habit and watched bandits alerted by the cry spill out of the town hall stop and stare at the tornado moving slowly towards them. The two minding the stew stood up, then sat back down again. The confusion on their faces was comical.

They argued about what to do. Some wanted to run towards their comrade who screamed, others wanted to go back inside for safety from the storm.

“We need to fight alongside our man!”

“How can we get around a tornado? Oh, it’s not moving…”

“How do we fight the wind? This is Kitsune magic! A Kitsune cursed us.” Ichiro suppressed a laugh.

“No, this is one of those cops from The Capital, the magic ones!” Said one of the men cooking. The other agreed with him and they both took off running into the fields. They’re the smartest of the bunch, thought Ichiro, relieved they chose a direction away from his sister.

Some bandits went back in the town hall and slammed the doors. The rest ran towards the man who altered them to the attack. They ran behind the two stores next to the town hall in order to avoid Lord Taira.

It was time. Ichiro walked to the bound man. He was still unconscious. None of the bandits were around to notice when he vanished into thin air or when the cut ropes appeared on the ground.
—-
Reizo walked slowly down the street as he waited for Ichiro to rescue the guard. He watched bandits rush out of the building and into the street. He couldn’t hear anything over the rushing kami. He looked with his kami-sight and saw Ichiro waiting.

“Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!” the tornado kami said.

Reizo watched two bandits run into the field away from Suki, four walk to assist the now-dead one who called for help, and several skitter back inside the town hall and slam the doors closed.

Ichiro rushed to the guard, kami-hid him and cut his ropes. He half carried, half dragged the man away. It was time. He stopped seeing with kami-sight. Listening to them scream “Destroy” is more annoying than the sound of wind. Reizo’s heart pounded as he walked to towards the town hall.
—-
Meanwhile Taru waited with his back against a building. In happier days, Junko would love to shop here for raime and dye. Then he heard pounding feet, and his moment of reverie was over. Violence and killing brought Taru no pleasure. Every time he drew his bow he weighed who or what he was saving in the future because of who he allowed to live. Over the years he’d come to accept the fact that it was an unfortunate part of his life, while magic, politicking, and setting things in motion was Yoshi’s path.

Brigands were all too common outside of the order and safety of The Capital. Killing all of these men wouldn’t end banditry in this province. By next spring’s thaw a new horde would take their place. But there was no way he would sacrifice his life by showing trash like this mercy. However, some of these men would choose a different life after today. I hope I know the difference, and it’s not just Yoshi’s arrogance rubbing off on me after all these years.

It was easier to fight smaller groups than a large group. Even if they couldn’t see him, if enough men threw spears one might hit. Only four ran towards him.

He could see darkness surrounding the men who ran towards their two fallen. This darkness wasn't kami, this was from a long history of violence. Two of the four men exuded menace and desperation in the way they gripped their bow and spears. Do others see the same on me? No matter how much I didn’t chose this, they probably do. Taru pondered in the moments the brigands ran right past him and stared at the bodies.

I might let them live after all, they look pretty spooked. One did run. He lives, and I was right. He had no darkness.

“I told you a Kitsune did this. A Kitsune killed them!” One yelled.

“Shut up about Kitsune,” said a second.

The third man stared around him wide eyed. He was panicking.

The first one tried to run, but the second stabbed him with a knife. He screeched in pain. “Stay and fight, or I’ll kill you. I’mna track down Po, Ku, and Baka and do them after this.”

"If you surrender now, you can be far away before we report this to the Ministry of the Law in The Capital," Taru said. He walked back and forth, so he couldn't pinpoint where his voice was coming from. When he was finished speaking, he stepped again. Taru’s feet made no noise, and the compact dirt road didn’t betray his footsteps. This one won’t surrender.

The stabber ran towards Taru’s voice and threw his spear. It bounced off the building close to where Taru had been moments before.

The third man ran. Another life spared for now. Perhaps he’ll choose a different path in the future, or maybe he’s looking for another gang.

An utterly vile smell touched Taru’s nose. The smell was so overpowering and unique that it distracted him. Then he dismissed it as unimportant and raised his bow.

"It's death for me either way, I've already been branded a criminal. The next time I'm caught, it won't matter if it’s a prisoners release holiday or not." The stabber smiled grimly as he shifted his knife back to his other hand.

Taru shot him.
—-
Reizo checked his Ofuda. The connection from the paper to the leading edge of the tornado was faint, but still there. The tornado was under control because of the Ofuda, so he could get away with opening the door to the town hall.

He concentrated. Kami didn’t have to hear his voice, they just had to be aware of him. Kami were always aware of him because he’d spent years talking to them.

After opening and closing for so long the doors instantly obeyed Reizo. Three arrows flew towards him. The tornado kami grabbed them. Two kami fought over one arrow and splintered it before flinging the pieces away. One caught an arrow and threw it back towards the door. Another kami threw an arrow to an unknown fate.

One of the kami grabbed the cooking pot and flung it into the air as Reizo walked to the veranda. Another smothered the fire. The wind grabbed the sliding front doors and tried to tear them off the building.

The men inside the town hall panicked and attacked blindly. The tornado returned some weapons and bad aim directed others. A spear lodged in the ceiling. A knife stabbed an ally in the leg. Several men scurried for the back door.
Suddenly, all of them grabbed their heads in pain and terror and fell to the ground.

Reizo looked around for the new threat and saw…

Picture by Daphne Zaras - http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/headlines/dszpics.htmlOriginally uploaded at en.wikipedia; description page is/was here., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2130165