Of Arrows and Men (Ghost of Tsushima prequel)

7) The messenger of Inari

An occasional dead boar on her back was nothing.

The cold weather wasn't the only thing settling in. Bears began to frequent the area more often and it was Rin's luck that she stumbled upon one now. She was close to the woodcutter's shelter, not too far from the village, when she heard a low growl up ahead. The sound startled her, but luckily they were still far enough so Koyami managed to stay calm.

Rin's bow was tied to the saddle and she reached for it, however, it would be sheer madness to attempt to kill the bear by herself. An experienced hunter could probably do it, but it was still very dangerous.

Instead she kept her distance and headed south into the forest, keeping an eye on the animal just in case it decided to charge them.

"It would be nice to have some help," she said out loud, half to Koyami, half to herself.

It wasn't a complaint, but a mere wishful thinking. She spent most of the days alone or in a company of an aging, often grumpy bowyer and other than Yuriko she didn't get to talk to many other people. Her mother was in Azamo Bay visiting her sister for a change, and her father was yet to respond to the last letter she sent to him.

To top it all off, she was still moping over the moon viewing festival, which she had to spend watching Ryuzo stuff his face with dumplings and rice.

She couldn't believe Jin would send him as his substitute. What was he thinking?

Of course she knew there was a chance Jin and his uncle couldn't make it. She still kept her hopes up. However, those hopes were crushed the moment she spotted Ryuzo in the crowd. Alone.

She let out a deep sigh and looked up at the clouds above. It was probably close to midday, but it was difficult to tell, not seeing where exactly the sun was.

Suddenly she heard a rhythmical sound coming down the hill up ahead. Hooves hitting the ground at a slow pace. She saw the horse first, as it was pure white, creating stark contrast with the general brownness of the forest around. She had to blink twice upon seeing the rider, who seemed as surprised as she was.

Jin made it halfway to her, sitting up straight in the saddle, eyebrows raised. He looked confused, as if he forgot who he was and what he was doing there.

For a moment Rin thought she was dreaming and shook her head in order to wake up. She was just thinking about him, yet he was the last person she expected to see right now.

"Jin?"

"What are you doing here?" His voice was quiet and soft, and she almost didn't hear him. He studied her face for a while before looking down at the bow attached to her saddle.

"What does it look like?" was the first thing that came to her mind, still shocked from the sudden change in her surroundings.

Jin looked around. The path to Omi he was following was nowhere to be seen. They were in the middle of a forest. Then he recalled why he came here and quickly looked at her.

"There was a fox." His eyes shifted to the ground again, scanning the intertwined tree roots spreading across.

"I followed it here."

Rin looked at the leaf covered ground as well. There were trees in all directions with roots covering one another in a chaos of twists and turns. Any of them could be hiding a fox den.

Then a realization struck her and she grew suspicious. Wouldn't that be a perfect excuse for somebody to show up out of nowhere?

"Do you often follow foxes to unknown places, Lord Sakai?" She was trying to sound like her mother, using her judging, doubtful voice. At the same time she couldn't help but smile.