Wolf and Keeper

Chapter 43: Whispers on the Wing

The group continued to travel towards Dewa, and Hashi's condition continued to worsen as the trip proceeded. Before long, he could no longer do most of the walk by himself. The carriages quickly became the best decision the group had made about their travel as Hashi began to take more and more of his time to sleep and conserve what energy he found himself having. As they rattled along around the paths, Hashi screwed his eyes shut and let out a long, quiet groan. His entire body felt like he was on fire and his joints felt as if they were being fused together.

The physical side of things was bad enough, but what felt even worse was what was inside of his head. Some days, it was as if he was trapped in a fog, barely conscious.  Other days, it was like there was something screaming inside of his skull. He tried his best to keep it so that Sen didn't know exactly how bad it was, but he couldn't ever be completely sure that Sen didn't know. If anyone could see through his ruse of just being tired, it was him. Living together for most of your lives would do that to people.

He heard the rolling curtain on the back of the carriage open and someone hopped in. He turned as best he could to see Sen crawling forward on his hands and knees unsteadily towards him, settling for sitting down cross-legged beside him. Wordlessly, he brought the back of his hand to Hashi's forehead, and the yokai saw him frown. Hashi closed his eyes. Sen's hand felt so cool from being outside in the evening air, and it helped cool his burning skin. 

"You still have a fever," Sen muttered as he pulled his hand back and frowned down at Hashi. 

Hashi could see the worry on his face, something he knew that he would put away once he left the carriage. Hashi reached up and patted his head with a weak smile. It will all be okay, he wanted to tell Sen. Everything will work out like it always has. You'll see. It felt like a lie, but he wanted to say it. He doubted he could even speak anymore even if he wanted to, though. He settled for crawling closer and resting his head in Sen's lap with a large, heavy sigh as Sen began to run his hand through his mane. He was so tired...

"We'll get to the wellspring," Sen's voice sounded so small as he spoke quietly to Hashi, "and we'll heal you. Then... Well, we can figure out what to do next when we get there."

Hashi closed his eyes. He hoped that Sen was right. He had lived for so many years, seen the rise and fall of many Shogun, many Deishi, and never once did he ever really feel like he would have regrets if he died. Now, though... He closed his eyes just a little tighter against the thought that began to rip through his mind.

Now, he wanted to live. He wanted to live so badly that it hurt.

The carriages lurched to a halt, and Sen quickly popped the small window open in time to see several men ride past on horses. What drew his attention to them was the fact that they all had guns, the same kind as Naoyuki, from what he could see. "We figured you'd be here!" One called out as they reigned their horses to a halt past where he could see them.

Outside, Maru turned to Naoyuki, whose eyes lit up in recognition as he passed the rest of the group and stood in front of the three assembled men. "Well, this is a surprise, boys! What's the occasion?"

"Magoichi needs you back." Their leader responded first, shifting on his horse with an easy yawn.

Maru caught Naoyuki blink briefly before putting a hand on his hip, "Which one?"

"All of them," the Saika replied before looking past him at the group, "and he's willing to refund your clients for whatever you were paid for the remaining time on your contract."

"It's Naoyuki," another one scoffed, "do you think he got paid? Honestly?"

"Never mind that," Naoyuki waved his hand dismissively. "Why do I need to get back? What's the big deal? I never get recalled."