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Chapter Two

"A skilled hunter has no need for weapons beyond those given to her at birth. Even so, the wise hunter knows to turn back the weapons of her prey." -- Third Proverb of Ayako Ueda Nezushi

Sergeant Kikyo's fears were proven beyond imagination as the skies lightened before sunrise on the morning after the fog broke. It was not just the features in the night sky that were wrong. The entire world surrounding the camp and ferry terminal was twisted into an impossible form.

The raccoon craned her neck to take in the alien landscape as a whole. Where the Takiyama mountains, from which the Ima river flowed, should have reached the sky there was instead an ocean. When she drew in a breath, she knew from the quality of the air's scent that this was not the vast Taiheiyou but rather some other strange sea. The anomalous full moon was even now setting below the horizon formed by the ocean that should not be. There was no forest of fir and spruce trees growing in rich volcanic soil, only scattered clumps of grasses and thorny shrubs struggling to survive in the salt-polluted sand. Looking eastwards towards where the sun would soon be rising, the beach gave way to a series of steep ridges seemingly plucked up from the Scab Lands and deposited by the sea. The ridges extended nearly unbroken far to the north and south. The only visible gap was a canyon, through which flowed the unknown river upon which the ferry now floated. Some distance to the south, a long-extinct volcano weathered into the shape of a fang towered up from the waterfront to stab the sky.

Panic and dismay began to spread through the civilians in the camp as the enormity of what had happened during the night began to sink into their minds. The soldiers were also feeling fear, though to a lesser extent than the civilians. Beasts began to clump together in small groups for comfort as they stared at the strange world surrounding them.

A fox who worked for the University of Shou as a courier and delivery driver looked at the raccoon graduate student accompanying her, "I do not believe that the museum's curators will be getting their new exhibit, Kenichi."

Kenichi stared at the vixen for a long moment, her fear betraying itself with lowered ears and muzzle wrinkled into a half-snarl. The raccoon broke the moment when she climbed out of the truck's cab and prostrated herself on the alien beach's sand. Tears began to flow down her muzzle as she cried out in the anguished wail of a kit separated from her mothers in a strange place, "Oh sweet Momma Weasel, what have we done to deserve your wrath?!"

Elsewhere in the camp, a pair of short-tailed stoats who were traveling through the Republic with their first-born kit were trying and failing to understand what had happened during the night. "That terrible fog is gone. We can be thankful to Itazou for that at least, Rumiko," one of the stoats said in reassurance to her wife. However, her limp tail and drooping whiskers proved the falseness of her cheery mood.

Rumiko hissed in anger and poked the other stoat's belly, heavy with new life, to punctuate her words, "I think not! Yes, the fog is no more, but look around you and smell the wind. The entire world has gone insane! Itazou had nothing to do with this. If anything, she has cast us out and abandoned us to our fates!"

Momoki slapped her wife's hand down, "Watch out for your daughter-to-be there, Rumiko. One would think that you were the pregnant one judging by your foul attitude. Except that you never acted like this when you were carrying Sakura. What is with you lately? And don't say that you're going into heat, because we both know that's impossible."

Rumiko sighed and lowered her gaze, "I'm sorry, my love. I fear that the aggressiveness stemming from my responsibility for you and the kit you're carrying has made me quicker to anger than I should be. Though I still hold the sentiment behind my harsh words. Itazou has abandoned us."

The young stoat kit Sakura squeaked and sniffled as she tugged on Rumiko's kilt, "Momma Rumiko, I'm scared. I wanna go home!"

"I know, dear kit of mine, we all do. Momma Momoki and I will do everything we can to see us back home safely. Until then, dearest Sakura, we must have faith that our love for each other will see us through." Rumiko picked up her daughter and hugged her tightly. Momoki joined in the embrace, though she was mindful of little Sakura's sister growing inside her. The small family cuddled together, churring softly as they re-affirmed their love.

Scenes much like these were repeated many times throughout the camp and terminal.

Major Shukko walked out of her tent and surveyed the chaos within the camp. She inhaled deeply and roared forth the command "Silence!" in her best parade-ground voice. A wolverine's voice is on a par with her teeth and claws as a force to be respected. While the command's last syllable was still leaving Shukko's muzzle, the soldiers under the major's command snapped to attention and bowed to her as one. For their part, the civilians and sailors were stunned into obedience by the sheer power of Shukko's voice. More than a few kits ran to their mothers' sides crying in fear of the wolverine and her scary loud voice.

"Captain Asuko, Keiko, in my tent, now." Shukko's ice-calm delivery of the summons was, in its own way, just as frightening as her bellow. When Shukko would rage and bellow, her enemies knew to flee from her fury. If Shukko chose to speak softly when angered, it was a sure sign that she wished to hold the fury within her Center. She would only release the storm when its force would truly devastate the object of her enmity. Many soldiers, when sent to Shukko for discipline, would prostrate themselves and blubber for mercy if Shukko questioned them calmly.

So it was with no small amount of trepidation that Asuko and the priestess entered the tent. The Major was sitting at her desk, idly sketching on some paper. "Sit down, the both of you, " Shukko calmly ordered without looking up from her sketchwork. The stoat and otter sat in the two seats that Shukko had readied for them, and waited for Shukko's next move. For five minutes they waited in silence until Shukko completed her sketch.

Shukko set down her brush and turned the sketch over to hide it. "Captain Asuko, you will order Sgt Kikyo's squad to go on reconnaissance duty. They are to avoid combat, but if an opportunity to capture a rodent suitable for an oracle presents itself, they are to secure it and return with all haste.

"You have your orders, Captain," she said in dismissal.

Asuko stood and bowed, "It will be done as you have ordered, Lady Major."

Once Asuko had left the tent, Shukko turned her attention to Keiko, "I had a strange dream last night, Priestess. I saw myself, wearing the traditional armor of a daimyou, standing at the gate of a fortress. The stones of the curtain wall were red like blood. Barring my entry was a male mouse wearing priestly robes of green. Over the robes, he was wearing a steel breastplate. In his left hand, he was holding a wooden shield. In his right, he was holding a sword that was nearly as long as he was tall. He spoke to me, saying 'You will not prevail here. My Champion shall destroy you, and scatter your horde to the winds.' His words to me were spoken forcefully and with hatred. Beneath his brave words, I could scent a trace of fear.

"Suddenly, a short-tailed stoat wearing a red beret on her head stood at my left-hand side. She whispered in my ear that she knew of a weakness in the fortress and would guide me to it. She led me to a burrow entrence near the wall. A creature like none I had ever seen before poked its head out from the burrow and gabbled to my guide in a strange dialect. As the creature spoke, my stoat guide would translate his words for me, 'He says that your mother appeared to him and promised wonders of architecture and engineering to his people in return for their assistance. His people shall faithfully carry out their side of the bargain.' That was when the dream ended. When I woke this morning, I was inspired to draw this," Shukko turned over the sheet of paper she had sketched on and pushed it towards the otter.

Keiko examined the drawing. It was of a heavy sword. Along the blade, the words "I am that is" were written in the script of the rodent's language. "'I Am That Is' What kind of name for a sword is that?"

"I do not know that answer. However, I do know that this weapon is a symbol of hope and defiance for our enemies here. I need you to meditate on my dream, and this sketch. I am hopeful that Itazou will provide Sgt Kikyo with a suitable sacrifice for the oracle I would like you to perform."