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Chapter ten: The long road home.

It was a land locked in an eternal winter. An archipelago that stretched out in the shape of a crescent moon. A land affectionately named by its inhabitants as the Winter Islands.

"Welcome to werewolf paradise." Koji spread his hands in an attempt to hold them all. "You won't find a human settlement for miles around."

"Yeah." Shiro had to focus on thinking warm thoughts. "I wonder why." Most of the crew are human and they're all huddled together inside the engine room. It's only moderately warmer in there than out here in the biting cold.

The high altitude combined with the freezing winds created an effect that defied description. And Koji was loving every minute of it.

Shiro stamped his feet and pulled his thick fur coat tighter around himself. Shooting his friend an envious glance.

Koji had shifted into his beast form. A perfect blending of human and wolf attributes, his entire body was covered in a thick layer of insulating fur.

He probably doesn't even feel the cold.

It was definitely taking some time to get used to. The fur on his tails would stand on end whenever he looked at Koji and he had to control the urge to hiss at him.

He sent a mental reprimand to the part of him that was all cat. You're not helping, so knock it off.

The cat merely flicked its tails in response and feeling slighted, began sulking in a mental sunbeam.

It didn't help matters any that his own body refused to shift. The cool mountain air of Seirei was one thing, in comparison to this frozen wasteland, it was a tropical paradise.

"He seems to be happy." Nelo wrapped her own fur coat around him, adding her warmth to his. Shiro leaned back into her, luxuriating in the additional warmth.

"Cheaters." Said Koji.

"Says the guy covered in fur." Shiro started purring. I could get used to this.

"Yeah, well don't get too comfortable." Koji marched towards the door in a huff. "We'll be landing soon."

"Don't pay any attention to him." Nelo nuzzled Shiro's neck affectionately. "He's just jealous."

From behind the door Koji yelled. "I am not!"

* * *

Sanreal was a bustling port town. Built on the tip of the crescent it was open to both sea and air travel. Koji had no doubt elected to arrive here rather than simply at the to delay his arrival home that much more. Making me wait. He's going to get an earful!

Serena Fafnir had raised eight children. If there was one thing she had learned it was this. Emotional blackmail was a mother's greatest weapon. And Koji had earned the full force of her wrath.

Koji had barely stepped from the landing ramp before she threw her arms around her errant wayward son. "Oh my darling little Koji!"

He patted her on the back. Acutely embarrassed to be seen being hugged by his mother. "Hey . . . mom. Good to see you." He was surprised to find her once cinnamon colored hair was now peppered with silver. No doubt she had gone prematurely gray from stress.

"You never visit, you never write." She sniffed and began to cry fake tears. "You're a horrible son for making your mother worry so."

Koji returned the hug with more feeling. "Hows. . . the old man doing?"

"You know you can call him father."

"Yeah. I'll call him that. The day he acts like one." He was surprised when a little girl started tugging on his tail. "Who the hell is the brat?"

"Well, if you came home more often, instead of gallivanting around in that airship of yours."

"Mom!"

There was a glint in her eyes. "Why, she's your sister of course."

Koji looked into her secretly laughing face. His own mind making the connection. "You mean. You and he. Your still."

"Of course we are." Koji's eye began twitching in its socket.

There, that had showed him. Now she was free to hug him to her hearts content. "Oh it does a mother's heart good to have her family together again." She spotted her daughter staring avidly at Shiro. "I think Serenity likes your friend."

* * *

Serenity had been named in the hope that she would bring a measure of peace to an almost all male household. Unfortunately, without many female role models she had taken on a rather tomboyish bent.

So it came as no surprise to Serena that her daughter would show as much pension for curiosity and mischief as any boy her age.

Her hand came up and pointed at Shiro. "Kitty."

Dozens of ears perked up as soon as she said it.

Shiro had one thought which defined his entire world. Uh oh.

"Koji!" He ran past, Serenity hot on his heels.

"Koji?" A second run. This time he was being followed by Serenity and a whole host of others.

"Kojiiiiiii!" Shiro screamed as he ran past, hoping to somehow awaken his friend. Whatever his mother had said or done had left him a senseless drooling idiot.

No hope there. Shiro looked around. Desperate to find someplace, anyplace, to hide.

Houses, alleys, carriages, everything was covered in a thick blanket of white. Even the trees seemed to vanished into the frozen mirage.

Now if only he could.

Shiro was unused to running in such cold weather. The freezing air was stealing the warmth from his body with every breath he took, slowing him down, robbing his body of strength.

He glanced over his shoulder. They were gaining. And there were more of them.

Screw this. He thought. Lets see how well the little buggers can climb.

Ditching his gloves Shiro flexed his fingers and hit a tree at a run. He scrambled up as his claws found solid purchase in the thick trunk, and didn't bother stopping until he had reached the top.

Shiro had chosen this particular tree because of its lack of low lying branches. Since He was an avid climber and doubted that any of them could have duplicate his feat.

I think I'm safe up here. Maybe . . .

From his vantage point Shiro could see them circling the base of the tree. Lowering himself until could hear them whispering about something every so often one of them would pop their head up to make sure he hadn't gotten away.

Shiro sighed in relief when he spotted Nelo walking towards the tree. Oh good. Nelo will save me.

They opened up a space in the circle for her.

A cold wind blew across his soul. Betrayed by my own familiar. "Nelo! You traitor!"

Snowflakes began drifting down around his head. Only, it wasn't actually snowing. Shiro looked up at the branches above him. They were all bowed beneath the weight of snow.

Shiro felt the tree begin to shudder. His face falling when he realized exactly what was happening.

They had started pelting the branches with snowballs.

For a moment, he entertained the thought that maybe it would have been better to stay on the ground and take his chances.

He was suddenly swept from the tree amidst a wave of white.

Or not.

Serenity placed her foot atop the pile and with a triumphant grin said. "We win."

The pile of snow that was Shiro rumbled once. And then exploded.

Shiro took a moment to recover his balance. Being caught in an avalanche, even such a small one, had been one hell of a wild ride.

The children around him were all wide eyed with fear. He had instinctively shielded himself with magic. And when he had freed himself, instead of simply releasing his shield, he had pushed it outwards. And like a bubble bursting . . .

No doubt for many of them it was the first time that they had ever seen real magic. And it hadn't been like the kind practiced in theaters and plays. Where the audience was merely a spectator to the event, rather than a participant. It was real, and it had scared them.

Wiping the snow from his coat he had an idea. It's only snow so. He stretched out a hand. Forming the magic was easy, after all, he already had a shape in mind.

Shiro started laughing maniacally. "You think you've won." He spread his hands and a legion of Forty-Nines stood ready to do his bidding. "Well my invincible army of snow golems say otherwise."

One of his golems crumbled to powder, struck by a well thrown snowball. Nelo dusted off her hands. "I say we can win." She sent up a rallying cry. "Who's with me?"

"Defeat the evil snow wizard!" Said Serenity. And with a few simple words she had transformed their fear into wonder.

The children all yelled as one. "Yeeeaaahhhh!"

Thus began the furious battle for Sanreal. With legions of menacing monsters made entirely from snow the defenders found themselves hard pressed. One courageous child stood against the swarm. And rallying others to her cause began to turn the tide of battle.

Shiro directed his forces from atop a massive golem. Issuing commands as snowballs flew through the air. He was one against many. His forces made manifest from imagination itself. Soon, all manner of creatures made from snow gamboled about, causing havoc to those adults swept up in the game. And more than a few were left wondering if all the animals they had just seen had been real.

All too soon it came to an end. But not before Koji and Serena had been swept up in the mayhem. Their laughter was healing. A sound Shiro had longed his whole life to hear.

For a brief shining moment, it had felt as if he had had a family of his own. And that was enough.

Koji lay on the ground. He was panting from exertion. "That was crazy Shiro." He was smiling. Something Serena hadn't seen him do in years. "Fun though."

Shiro lay back in the snow. "Yeah. It was, wasn't it?"

"I haven't done anything like that since I was a pup." Serena scooped up Shiro, snow and all in a tender embrace.

Whoa. So this is what having a mother feels like. He returned the hug with feeling. Its . . . nice.

"So thank you. For making my son smile."

* * *

With their luggage already sent ahead of them, a sleigh was waiting to pick them up at the edge of town. The driver, a portly fellow who carried most of his weight around his middle, had the look of a banker to him. Or a merchant. Someone who spent long hours behind a desk pushing papers around. A sedentary lifestyle that seemed wholly at odds with the weather. So it came to Shiro as something of a shock when he stepped from the sleigh and greeted Koji with an enthusiastic. "Little brother!"

"Klay." Koji poked him in the stomach. "You haven't changed."

He patted his belly proudly. "My wife's cooking. Best food in all of Arcadia."

Shiro looked at the two of them suspiciously. "Little brother?"

"Didn't I ever tell you. I'm the runt of the litter, the last to be born." Koji eyed Serenity who was fast asleep in Serena's arms. "Well, I was."

"Come, we'll talk on the way. We have much to catch up on."

The sleigh ambled on at a sedate pace. The trees passed them by, one looking exactly the same as the other. Within minutes Shiro was well and truly lost. He doubted if he could even find his way back to Sanreal with using a locater spell. Even the gently falling snow covered their tracks and obscured the way.

"Always running away from home." Said Klay. "Getting into whatever trouble he could find or conjure up. My brother here is considered to be something of a rebel."

"Says you. The one who flaunted tradition and actually married his mate."

"Don't werewolves get married?" Asked Shiro. There was an uncomfortable silence following his question.

"We have a saying amongst the clans." Said Serena. "The children of the pack are the children of the clan. As such, werewolves . . . do not marry in the traditional sense of the word. Instead, they form alliances with other packs. Sometimes the clans will exchange pack members. Other times, they exchange bloodlines."

Koji touched the collar around his neck. "What my mother is really saying is. Its a marriage of convenience. Two wolves from separate packs get together and have kids. Then the clans bargain over which side gets to raise them. Its a fairly screwed up system if you ask me."

"The coastal villages have already begun to change." Said Klay. "They still pay a tithe to the clans. Though even that too is falling into question." The surprise must have showed on Koji's face because Klay continued by saying. "You've been gone a long time Koji. Things are changing, even here."

For a while, Klay spoke of trade with Arcadia, of how fortunes were being made that rivaled the power held by the clans. About whole families that were being built around second sons who weren't content to live at home. And how those who weren't strong enough to hold their position by force of arms were finding a world beyond their borders, a world that offered them chances they would never have found at home. Shiro absorbed it all in silence, his mind sifting through the information, silently making the connections.

The Winter Islands were a harsh land that required strength to survive. Diplomacy and trade would soften the rigors of life that such a land demanded. Those who rose to prominence under such conditions would be a new breed. Those best able to survive would not be unlike Klay. Though ill suited as a warrior he had the keen mind and intellect required of a merchant. He was one who could foresee the needs of a changing people, and could help them to survive.

The shifting sands of politics seemed to spill forth across the world as Koji's home finally came into sight.

It could almost be called a palace. Thought Shiro. Certainly it was big enough to qualify. With its sloped roofs kept free of snow by its long walkways, it was a great house carved from stone so pale that it looked almost like ice.

Klay passed the reins to a servant who appeared to take them from him.

"Welcome to clan Fafnir." Said Koji. "I haven't even stepped through the doors and already I want to leave." He slung a bag over his shoulder. "Well, let's get this over with so I can go home."

* * *

All seven brothers stood assembled in the great hall. And there was no small amount of jockeying for position amongst them.

Called there by their sire they shared the same coal black hair, though their eyes were all of different colors. Shiro and Koji both drifted silently to the back. Content to let the others tire themselves with such games. They stood firm in the knowledge of their own abilities. And there was no reason to reveal them to anyone. Yet.

The patriarch of the family, Hugen Fafnir sat on a throne carved from a single massive opal. He was every inch the ruler of his household, wearing the wealth of his land upon him. A circlet of silver wolves held his steel gray hair in place while across his shoulders was a cloak of midnight black fur. He wore them with all the bearing of a king, his power absolute, unassailable. But Shiro could see beyond the facade, inside he was weak. Age had robbed him of his once great strength, leaving only the cunning that now twisted his face.

Old and dying Hugen now ruled through fear alone. Keeping his sons cowed with the power of his legend was a trying task. Now, now the burden of that weakness weighed heavily upon him. And soon his games would end. His legend faded to dust.

Hugen spoke and his voice echoed with command. "My sons are assembled before me. But who is this I see in my house? Surely my son Koji has not taken to bringing home strays."

It was one of the oldest games. Played in the oldest way.

"Perhaps I should come closer. So that your eyes will not be so strained." Shiro approached the throne amid silent gasps of indrawn breath.

Hugen's face lost all semblance of welcome as he recognized Shiro for what he was. "You are a but a kitten." He spoke, his voice a harsh and grating whisper. "Lost amongst a den of wolves."

The threat was implicit. He would find no sheltering hand. No savior should he cry foul.

"I see no wolves here." Shiro looked into his storm gray eyes. "Merely whipped dogs."

The specter of death clung to Hugen. It whispered into his ear: I am the death of your house old man. I am the end of everything you know. My servants have come and gathered before you. They are all mine. So choose; choose the one who will be your downfall.

Shiro spoke to that fear. "The whirlwind has not claimed you yet old man. And he shall not trick my heart. Nor shall I let him claim my friend's."

Hugen stared into the mirror of his own self. The man that he had once been. And found himself wanting.

That another would stand before him. Hale, powerful, and speak to him of the very secrets he kept in his heart. Rage stirred within him. Bringing that sweet strength that had once betokened his youth but was no more.

He reached out. To twist the throat of that, that wretch who would dare challenge him in such a way! Who would put the lie to all that he was.

Shiro slipped beyond his grasp. Untouchable. The very air around him thrummed with mirth. No one would ever claim mastery of him. He had the scars to prove it.

Shiro returned to his place at Koji's side.

"Trust me." Koji whispered, feeling some need to defend his sire. "For him, that was downright friendly. I think you might actually have impressed him."

"The Coldfire Academy is willing to take you back." Hugen left under his own power, none of the weakness that ate at him evident in his stride. Serena followed silently at his side. His parting words echoed in the air. "At least there you wouldn't be wasting your time in the company of mongrel strays."

Shiro let the intended insult slide off him like water. The slight meant nothing to him, it had merely been an attempt to wound Koji's pride.

Koji ground his fist in agitation. "I take that back. Even dying my old man's still an asshole."

Skuld lifted him by the front of his shirt. "You will address him properly."

Skuld was older than Koji by a few years and was at least twice his weight. Most of which he carried in his arms.

"Don't." The subtle threat in Shiro's voice made even Skuld pause. "I may be a guest in your home and Koji may be your brother. But I won't stand by and watch you beat someone for not showing the proper level of respect. Besides, respect is earned, not given."

Skuld dropped Koji, finding a new target on which to vent his scorn. "Well, well, well. So the cat has a spine." He sneered at his brother. "More than this pathetic excuse for a wolf anyway."

Shiro rose to the unspoken challenge. This was a struggle for dominance. Win or lose it would determine how he was treated while staying in the Fafnir household. The tension in the air was electric. "Koji has to live with you. Whereas I don't. He's just being civilized."

The insult was clearly lost on Skuld who merely responded with. "Outside."

"Here is fine." Shiro placed a finger against Skuld's chest and forced a compulsion into him. "But you can go outside if you want to. I won't stop you."

Shiro stepped aside.

Skuld reached out to try and grab him. A torturous war was playing itself out on his face as his body went against his own will and marched him out the doors.

Koji couldn't help but smile. To see his brother humbled like that. It was worth the world. "He is going to be pissed when that compulsion wears off."

"Maybe. But hotheads like him could stand to spend some time cooling off. This just seemed, fitting somehow."

* * *

Most of the resident staff were looking at Shiro with a newfound level of respect in their eyes. No doubt the story of how he had beaten Skuld had already circulated throughout the house.

Shiro was just a little uncomfortable around unexpected admiration. "Is it always like this?" Everyone around him seemed to be speaking in tongues. Or rather, tails. It was a confusing mix of scents and posturing. A subtle language made up of things he could barely begin to interpret.

"You've impressed them." Said Koji. "Among werewolves its eat or be eaten. You beat Skuld clean. You showed them how much stronger than him you are."

Shiro wondered if he looked as confused as he felt. "Oh . . . kay."

"Course that means the weaker pack members will come to you looking for protection. And the stronger ones will try to challenge you. Don't go too hard on them. Most will just be young pups looking to make a name for themselves. Among werewolves rank and nobility only matter so long as you can hold on to them. Or as we like to say. One day a servant the next a king."

"And you grew up here?" Shiro shook his head. "How did you turn out so . . . so normal?"

"By keeping my head down, staying out of the way of anyone looking to be an alpha and acting submissive. You'd be amazed how much trouble you can get into just by being in someone's way." Koji hugged the wall as he said it. Leaving Shiro alone in the path of someone looking for trouble. Shiro lowered his eyes and quickly stepped out of the way.

"See. You're learning already."

It was all so confusing. Shiro longed for the simplicity of his life in Seirei's imperial court. At least there he had known where he stood. Adjutant to a monk, a disciple in training. Someone who was ignored more often then they were acknowledged. It had, he decided, been a comfortable position to be in.

At least there no one bothered to associate me with the grand dynastic politics that moved kingdoms. Or empires.

Shiro's mind was busy reassuring itself that life in the Fafnir household was merely bound up in its own etiquette and tradition; a social dance that he would have to master quickly or else find himself at the mercy of forces beyond his control, when it came to him as something of a shock that a young woman was rushing down the hall towards him.

Or rather, towards Koji.

She was breathless when she stopped. Her light blue dress swishing gently around her ankles. Hair the color of honey fell to one side in a tight braid. "Koji. I'm so glad I found you."

Koji studied her for a moment. It had been a few years but. "You're Maya," He said snapping his fingers as it came back to him. "Klay's wife."

She seemed pleased that he would remember her.

Koji eyed the weight she was carrying around her middle. "Wow. You've really gotten. Bigger."

Maya positively glowed as she ran her hands across her swollen belly. "Well, it is a joy that only women can know." She looked at him hopefully. "You can use magic. Could you tell me . . ."

"Whoa! No way. Not me." Koji backed away slowly. "Shiro here can tell you." Koji pushed Shiro forward, a proper sacrificial offering. When she began to look disappointed he was quick to add. "He's good at that kind of thing."

Shiro forced himself to smile. "Thanks a lot Koji." He said through gritted teeth.

"So you are a student at Veil as well?" The hope in her voice was palpable.

"Yes. Um, spiritual sight is something of a specialty of mine." Shiro could have told her without using magic. "You have twins. A boy and a girl. They're both healthy from what I can tell." Shiro felt a tinge of premonition. This might be Nelo someday. Would she want children? Could I give them to her? Never having known my own father, could I even be one?

Maya placed a hand on top of Shiro's. "Thank you." Their eyes met, and in that instant, a secret passed between them. An understanding shared without the need for words.

Shiro removed his hands reluctantly. "You're welcome."

"Oh, I almost forgot the reason I came to find you." Turning to Koji she said. "Your father is looking for you." Koji adopted a silent stoic expression. Maya carried on oblivious to his inner turmoil. "He said he's waiting for you in his room."

* * *

Hugen stood before a roaring fire, his hands outstretched. The cold sapped the warmth from him more quickly these days. And the shaking, he could barely keep his hands still anymore.

The fire did little for him. Not even Serena could keep him warm these days. Though she did her best.

His greatest regret was that he would leave her behind. Defenseless against his enemies his death would be hers as well, along with any children of his line if his successor was not strong enough to hold the clan together.

His youngest son Koji was the last to be told. The weakest, the disappointment. The perpetual nothing of a failure. Coldfire had banished him and rightly so. A waste of a talented bloodline they had called him. A stain on the Fafnir family name.

When Koji had elected to run away to Veil Academy Hugen had secretly pleased. At least there he could do no further harm to the family name. But now. He had planned to tell his sons all at once in the grand hall. Until he had been unmanned by that insolent upstart Koji had brought with him. Damn his eyes! He was a rogue element, and He needed to be dealt with.

All this he considered as his son ranted uselessly against the injustices of fate.

"You brought us here for a succession challenge!" Koji swore as he slammed his fist into the wall. "You're out of your mind old man! Why couldn't you just pick someone to be your successor."

"You are bound by the laws of the pack." Hugen's word was final. His voice as cold as iron. "You will follow through with tradition."

Koji was as insolent as ever. "And if that tradition says we should all kill each other until only one of us is left?"

"Leadership is the burden of the strongest. Those too weak to bear the mantle will be crushed by it."

"That's bullshit and you know it." Koji had never stood up to his father before. It felt good. It felt. Liberating.

His mother reached out him. "Koji." It was what she always did. She would never stand up for him, so she would always move to console him.

"No." He refused to stay silent any longer. "Don't either of you get it. I've never wanted to lead the clan. I only came here to say goodbye. Not to die in some meaningless fight."

Hugen spoke with all the weight of his authority behind his words. "Your family needs you."

Koji tapped the emblem of the Azure Sky he wore on his chest. "My pack needs me."

"You would claim outsiders as pack." Hugen felt a stirring in his anger. It was the same emblem as that cat wore. "You would flout our highest laws. Our sacred traditions!" He struck Koji with the full force of his fist. His son did not flinch away, but merely received the blow, as if he was being struck by a gnat.

Koji could have done any number of things to stop him. He wasn't some weak pup anymore, someone too small to defend himself, a powerless child to be pushed around.

Instead, he looked at his father with tears in his eyes. Gone was the once proud visage of a wolf who had done everything to hold his family, his pack together. Everything except love them. Koji thought sadly.

Only a man stood in its place. A bitter withered husk who couldn't even reach out to his own son.

Koji laughed, even as the tears fell from his face. "Your punch sucks old man." He cried not for the man before him. But wept for the father he had never known, and now that he was dying, never would. "I know a guy. He can do more with one finger than you can do with your whole fist." Emptiness filled him with terrible sorrow. For their's was a parting now. Koji stood before the door and severed his ties to the past. "And he doesn't even have to beat people to prove it."

* * *

A silent unease had made Shiro escort Maya to the nursery. A room filled with soft muted colors She had begun to pick through clothing fit for toddlers, asking his opinion on which he thought would look best. His mind was only half on the task. Koji's sudden disappearance had left a bad taste in his mouth. Now the very air reeked of conspiracy. It was an ominous sensation to find in a place originally designed to be calming.

Originally designed. Something about those two words felt off somehow. The intentions left behind by previous occupants were nagging at him. Something he had felt in a room like this before was familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.

Shiro felt a wave of disorientation from Koji's mind, but when he reached out to him through the spirit bell, all he felt was an endless sorrow, and a pain beyond description.

Shiro reached out to open the door.

"Please don't leave." Maya's voice was meek, timid. "I don't think I want to be alone right now."

So, she senses it too. "Something's wrong with Koji I have to . . ." Blood on the air. Blood soaking into the walls. The smell of blood so thick that the world is drowning in it. Shiro's inner vision ran red with the sight of it. "What's going on. Why is everything . . ." A chill ran across his skin that had nothing to do with the cold. "It's this room. This is a seraglio, isn't it?"

"Yes. It used to be called that, but?" Maya failed to make the connection.

A dark premonition took root in Shiro's soul. "Where is your husband right now? Where is Klay?"

"I don't know. He should have been here by now."

She was afraid. And Shiro could do nothing to console her. Merely prepare her for the coming storm. "Werewolf politics right?" She blinked in surprise. "Where ripping your opponent's throat out is considered an acceptable argument." Shiro drew Road to the Dawn. "Or, and stop me if you've heard this one before, because its a classic. Killing your rival's wife and unborn children." Shiro stepped back as the door began to open. So much for Koji's happy homecoming.

* * *

"So you've already noticed." Said Koji's mental voice. "Looks like I got you wrapped up in something dangerous. Sorry."

"Don't be. We both knew what we were getting into when we joined the Azure Sky. I just never expected it to hit so close to home."

It wasn't just thoughts that were transmitted by the spirit bell, feelings were as well. And Koji's were. Conflicted. "Shiro?"

"Just get here as fast as you can. Things are starting to get . . . messy." Shiro stepped back from the widening pool of urine.

Klay had pissed himself in fear when he had opened the door.

* * *

Dinner that night was held in the grand hall. A sordid affair to be sure. Though the food was excellent Shiro found the conversation to be stilted. And silence reigned supreme.

An undercurrent of unease held the room in its sway. They were a family made rivals. To sit down to dinner with someone who was soon to be your murderer effectively killed any opportunity at striking up a conversation.

Alliances were made one moment and discarded the next as each weighed their ambitions in silence. The prize was more than just the leadership of the pack. It was life itself. And some were more suited to claim that prize than others.

Shiro merely sipped his wine. His eyes searching for that indefinable something. Only one brother stood above the rest. Only one looked back at him with cold passionless eyes. Eyes that held more than just the will to win. Kai. The one they had met in the forest.

Only a few years older than Koji he was the fourth son to be born. And the one that sat at Hugen's right hand. A position that was not lost on anyone in the room.

Hugen raised his glass and spoke to Shiro, the distaste was evident in every line of his face. "Koji has named you as his pack, and so bound you by our sacred laws."

Shiro had expected something of the sort, and idly began pushing a potato around his plate. "Alright. I'll fight."

It was clearly not the reaction Hugen had hoped for. "It is to the death!"

"Then its a good thing we don't plan on dying. Right Koji."

Koji was enjoying seeing his father thwarted at every turn, and it was all he could do to keep from laughing. "Right."

* * *

So it has come to this. A choice to be made. Fate's dice have been cast, we wait only to see were they will land.

Stand and fight for those who cannot defend themselves, knowing full well that such an act will tip the balance of power?

Or walk away and leave innocents, those who have not yet been born to fend for themselves. Against an enemy they cannot defeat.

It isn't even much of a choice, is it?

_~~ Words of the endless path: The haiku engraved upon the surface of Road to the Dawn.

My sword stands ready.

I will not hesitate.

I shall not waver._